Friday, March 30, 2007

"Basically they are all a bunch of sick bastards"


Currently listening to: Dance Disaster Movement

Check out the fun we had with Disheveled Mag a couple weekends ago! It's a pretty sweet little 7-minute video/interview/performance.

Tuesday, March 27, 2007

Happy Birthday to me

Currently listening to: Silversun Pickups
Currently reading: Everything I'm Cracked Up to Be (Thanks Rebecca!)


Today is my special day. My gift to myself is a month off work and a three-week tour. I'm pretty happy.


And, if anyone has ever wondered what's up with the 27 on my arm, it's just today....and a little bit of influence from this chick.

Friday, March 23, 2007

When a song gives you chills

Currently listening to: The Velvet Teen - Chimera Obscurant
Currently reading: lyrics to Chimera Obscurant

I love The Velvet Teen and I love Judah's angelic singing, tight and interweaving harmonies, and intelligent lyrics. I bought their album Elysium a few years ago and, if it were a tape, I would have worn it out. But, because I'm drawn in by sounds more than words, I never really took the time to pick out the vocals of this epic song which, in my opinion, are unfairly buried on the mix.

Anyway, you should buy this song here (or, better yet, buy the whole album) and then read the words at SongMeanings.com along with the song. It's incredible. It's moving. It's frightening. It's uplifting.

I would fall over and die if I ever tried to put together a masterpiece like this, but I don't have a problem with doing that thang I do, either. I just wanted to share the goosebumps I still have.

Thursday, March 22, 2007

Punk Rock High School

Currently listening to: Rush
Currently reading: nothing new

Our last 24 hours were a blur of some of the delightfully crazy things that one can experience as a member of one of Seattle's lesser-known indie rock bands.

Yesterday afternoon we all piled in the van and drove to Portland to play KPSU's Pop Tomorrow showcase. We enjoyed some dinner at Escape from New York Pizza, then headed to the venue, Towne Lounge, drove around it about five times because there was no signage indicating the location of said venue. The website isn't kidding when it says, "Look for the green light." because it's the only goddamn thing to home you in. Once we found the venue, we also found that the door was locked. So, we knocked and a cranky guy in sweats pants, slippers and a half-buttoned-up shirt informed us that they weren't open.

After having driven three hours to play a show, this isn't what one wants to hear. I thought A) we have the wrong venue, B) I got the date wrong, or C) the booking was screwed up.

The man (apparently the owner, manager or high-ranking bartender) in sweats and slippers turned out being very helpful, but in the most unpredictable way. This man gave a performance as he ripped the promoter and booker up and down over the phone for being unorganized and not following their established procedure of alerting the venue of nights there would be shows. Highlights from his phone dialog include diatribes like, "You are a giant dildo. You are one of those huge, mail-order dildos from Spartacus and you have shoved it down my throat, through my gastrointestinal tract and now I'm going to be the first man to be f***** out the ass!"

Hilarious and helpful. The night was saved by a bartender who was willing to come in on his night off and work. So, people came out, the other bands, Chores and Qwong were awesome AND they quickly picked up the "HOORAY!" torch.

Then, we drove home. We left Portland at 12:30 and, after three hours of discussing death, the after life, the meaning of life, ways of dying, the year 2012, and caffeine-infused truffles we arrived home safely.

But oh no, the rock just kept going, and it went straight to Ingraham High School at 10:00 this morning. Our buddy Jason from Juhu Beach (that makes it sound like he's from the place Juhu Beach, not the band...funny) is a teacher who is starting to bring in local artists to play for/talk to the creative writing classes. So, at an hour much too early for rock, we played our set to the future of America. I haven't been in a high school since....high school and, wow, the self-consciousness jumped right back in my brain like it had never left.

Nevertheless, it was fun. We played for too long and didn't have much of a chance to answer the kids' questions, but at least a couple of them seemed to not hate us.

So, people, we only have one more show before our big tour and that's our tour kick-off show on Thursday, April 5th at the Mars Bar. Then, it's 3 weeks, a mini-van, 19 shows, and 5600 miles.

Wednesday, March 07, 2007

Gettin' hitched


Currently listening to: Jay Farrar

The whole tour thing didn't feel real until this morning - I dropped my van off to get a hitch installed so we can load all of our gear into a trailer. I'm modifying my vehicle for this endeavor. It's pretty exciting.

In other news, the nice folks at Disheveled Mag invited us to record a live podcast and interview with them last Sunday afternoon. We had a fantastic time throwing back some PBR and sharing scatological stories and tales where the punchline is, "BOOYAH! I'm not gay!" The podcast should be up some time next week.

Friday, March 02, 2007

Working 9 to 5. Or 23:00 to 02:00


Currently listening to: the hiss of about 200 fans

People. I am at work right now. This has nothing to do with being in a band other than I wish I were playing music right now.


We had practice tonight. We worked on a new awesome cover that we're going to bust out at our tour kick-off show on April 5th at Ye Ole Mars Bar. Then we talked about the tour, whom we'll get into a knife fight with, how David will sleep with his guitar and how Ben will NOT drive across medians to ensure we take the correct freeway exit.
All of this is to say (or ask) how many people end up doing what they really want to do with their lives? Not just career-wise. I've known people who felt their sole purpose was to raise a family. Other people want the job that will get them very financially ahead. There are about a dozen things I've thought I could do with my life (computer programming, medicine, federal law enforcement, a mother, etc) but only one thing that has always been at the core of who I am. I've always been the guitar-playing, red-headed weirdo.
But I'm sure the guy at the Shell station doesn't want to sell beer and gas his whole life, but it gets him by. My job is by no means bad, and I do get a lot of intellectual stimulation out of it, but it's not who I am. When I was growing up, I remember my parents identifying their friends by what they did for a living. Does that still happen? It seems like so many of the people I'm surrounded by don't identify themselves by their career. Maybe it's because I hang out with a lot of artists.
I have to remind myself that I am a musician at heart because I know there are people who just want status or money. It's nice to step back from all the work of the business side, booking and promoting, to make sure I'm doing this for the right reasons....and remember why I essentially have the H Is for Hellgate business as a second job that eats up the vast majority of my free time. I've been playing songs to almost nobody for years and if I had to choose between that or a house in the suburbs with babies, a secure job and a static relationship, I'd gladly choose the empty bar on a Monday night with the band. I want to make a living at playing music that I've written. If I can't, I hope to at least be creative throughout my life. Music is the means through which I interact with the world on a daily basis. Being creative with it is how I cope with the junk. And, occasionally, I have the ego to think that other people could get something out of the stuff I write. Just like social workers have a desire to get people through their crap and sales people want to land those deals that will make them rich, I want to create something with which I, and others, can deal with life on a small or large scale.
This is starting to sound like I'm on Oprah or something. It's late. I'm still at work. I'm cold. And I have about 327 ideas for new songs and I'll never have the time to get them all down.