www.tomskillman.ca

So I haven’t updated my web page in ages… do you really care? Do you really care?

Hey… 5 bucks to the person who can name the song that contains the line “Do you really care? Do you really care?”
(Another five bucks if you didn’t use google). *payable in monopoly money only. CANADIAN monopoly money.
Look, life is … problematic. We all know this. Things don’t always go …according to plan. Sometimes, this can bring me down. At the end of the day though, we have one life to live whether there is an afterlife or not.
I am in no rush to find out, let me tell you.

I have noticed some changes in my perspective and life as I approach the magic of 40. One of these “things” is that I finally care less about what others think than I did in the past.

This is a good thing, as I have learned there is such a thing as caring too much. My goals though, have also changed. Where I saw myself at 37… (when I was 28 or 30) is not where I am actually at!

That’s the problem with long-term planning and seeing the big picture… ifs the logistics change, resources change, or our lives change… the whole plan changes!

These days I’m trying a new approach. I have no idea if it is working yet, although it seems to be. Basically, I’m reaching lower, and getting closer to my plans. Instead of trying to see it all at once, and absorb my entire perspective, I’m digging into a specific point.
A good example is a simple one.

Instead of focusing on how our bed room needs paint, a new window, an additional layer of drywall with green glue for sound isolation (just imagine why…tee hee) and a better light fixture, I now …just put my laundry away.

Suddenly, the room looks neater. Yep. It’s amazing the detail I will go to just to avoid putting my clothes in a drawer. You ever time how long it takes to put your clothes away? I mean ALL your clothes. (Hey…they pile up). Well, it takes no longer than 15 minutes, and the room is suddenly neat, and more inspiring. 37 years to learn that taking five minutes each night to put my clothes away has more than one tangible benefit. The room is neater, the clothes are away, and I’m CLOSER TO THE NEXT GOAL.

This is how I’m trying to get things done. Stay focused on the little details for once, and the simpler, daily things.

I’ve still got plans though… and as the nature of this site is supposedly about my musical life, I’ll share what and where I’m at.

In short, I first recognized that I have a variety of musical goals, all (naturally) unrelated in intent and stylistic perspective!
I have been working at my guitar playing recently, trying to take my speed, touch and melodic perspective to a new level. So, I have arbitrarily decided that my agenda is to hit a new “high” as a guitarist, lyricist and drummer, and then develop and write an album of material that is heavy and metal in style.

As I told my wife, I’m starting to feel the “mellow” creep into my playing, so I’d best get my most immature “in concept” project finished before I don’t have the vibe to pull it off!
She said “so… you want to work on your most immature ideas? Is that what you’re saying? hmmm….” and then fades out in an almost paternal way.
Heh.

Hey. I don’t expect anyone to get it… but I am looking for a vibe and a sound that takes me back to what metal music does and did for me. If I have to explain it, you wouldn’t get it anyway. I know however, that there are quite a few people out there who do. If they dig it… then awesome. If not… well, I guess I suck then. heh.

So… that’s it… I’m working on the technique, developing my riffs, and a few songs, and when I’m done, whenever that may be, I’ll let you know, and then probably quickly turn my attention to the reggae/ska project I got in mind… or maybe finish off that last Bonafide album with Paul and Nick that we’re often talking about!

Until next time… which at this pace should be about a year…. later!

• Leave a comment... (0)

Back in March of 2006, I entered a competition with some of the people who hang out at Songfight called “Nur Ein“. It was an interesting project to say the least!

The basic idea was to have 25 or so contestants write original material based on a title that was provided by the organizers within five days. You had to write the song, record it, and post it up as an mp3 to qualify. The judges would then vote on the merits of each tune and eliminate entries that didn’t cut the mustard. A further kink to the game was that each title had a “challenge” that had to be met.

I did okay in this thing, I ended up in the final round, where I came in second to Glenn Case…24 votes to 22. Calfborg placed a respectable third with 14.

This project represents the only time I worked on a series of material in a focused and sequential manner as a solo writer/performer. I think it represents the most comprehensive and solid work I’ve done yet, and it’s been the inspiration for the latest project I am working on, which I simply call “100″. I’ll get to more about 100 later, but for now… Nur Ein!
What I’m going to do here is post a link to the mp3 of the song as I entered it, identify the challenge, and spew about about what I was trying to do! Overall, while I think the sound and mixes are decent, I am not happy with the harshness of the drums in particular, and the mix overall. Bearing in mind that I had five days to try and pull this stuff off and it was recorded in a garage, these are small criticisms. Still… I’m one of those guys that wants to do it my best… and since  the ceiling on “my best” is always climbing, there’s always something to tweak!!

PENCIL ME IN

Challenge: Include Handclaps
How I faired:Tied for second (82 pts) with Wrekdom and Sven Mullet. Thornberry took the cake with 83 pts.

My Approach: This was my first entry, and I wanted to show a side of me that I don’t think was too familiar with my fellow songfighters. I’m pretty big on heavy riffs and rockin tunes, but I also have a great love for Canadian bands like The Northern Pikes and The Grapes of Wrath with their countrified rock… coupled with a few years of slinging out classic rock in the local bars I thought this would be a fun direction to start. I also wanted to meld my love of the Clash, and present a tune that would announce my presence in Nur Ein! The title was damn tricky, and I did what I could to tell my story without feeling too cheesy! The handclaps are everyone in my family, clapping together into a room mic, which gives it that loose quality. I had fun with this one, and was pretty happy with the end result.

SLEEPER

Challenge: Lyrics can not Rhyme
How I faired: I won this round with 71 pts!

My Approach: You know, I can hear some Sabbath in here, and some Nirvana, a little Rage too. This song is an amalgamation of a lot of my influences from my early twenties… The main verse riff is actually influenced by the Beastie Boys though!! I really dig this tune. After I was finished, I wasn’t super happy with the way the last verse came into play…it felt like it “just happened”. Really, I had no clear cut idea how to meld that together. I still think it works, but I also think it could have used a little… something. But hey, that’s what happens when you have five days… compromises! Still, this is one of my favourites from this session. I’ve been thinking of re-doing this one sometime… I think it’s a good track, with even more potential! Interestingly, my voice was totally gruff on this puppy cause I ended up doing the vocals at 1 am… but I think that fits the direction of the tune!

EL BALAZO

Challenge: Opposite Sex Vocals
How I faired: I won immunity from this round… good thing too, Ross Durand’s entry was kick ass!!

My Approach: This is the first track that I tried to create my own loops with. I went for a radically different approach, at least for me! Usually, when I’m tracking instruments, I go for complete performances… I start the recorder, I play the part, I hit stop. I’m a little more liberal with guitar parts, but drums are usually front to back takes. I wanted to get brave on this one, so I recorded a bunch of drum tracks, and then selected grooves I liked and made “loops”. I really started to enjoy the process of making my own loops, so I started doing the same thing with the bass and keyboard tracks too! It was a lot of fun. For the challenge, I got my wife Dana to do some super sexy, breathy vocals for the track. Basically, my interpretation of “El Balazo (the shot)” was to work with it lyrically as if the male was trying to get his “shot” with the female. The rap portion of the tune makes me shudder… I’d love to blame it on the time constraints…but it’s really cause I’m not Mr. HipHop!! Some day I gotta remix this one and scrap those!! haha! I love Dana’s vox on it though, and the bass line is slinky fun! I really had a great time working on this with Dana too!

LIKE A VILLAIN

Challenge: Plagiarize from the Jurors
How I faired: Won the round with 40 pts.

My Approach: Well, if El Balazo was the start of my fling with homemade, organic loops, then Like a Villain was the affair!! Now I didn’t mention this before, but the primary reason for this looping of the drums was simply because I was getting paranoid about pissing my neighbours off with all the racket!! I figured cutting some drum tracks and then messing with them in cubase would minimize the noise. For this track, the first thing I did was track a variety of drum grooves. I then tracked a variety of riffs to a click track. Over the next two days, I played with the guitar tracks and the drum tracks, seeing which ones would work together, and how I wanted the arrangement to flow. At the same time, I poured over the lyrical selections available on the Songfight lyric archives for each juror. I think I did a great job of telling a story while still using other people’s words. The chorus is mine, all the verses come from each of the four jurors previous entries on Songfight. At this point in time… I can only recall that Niveous was a juror! This is definitely my favourite track from Nur Ein. I love this piece!

DON’T GO TO…

Challenge: Bass Solo
How I faired: Tied for second with Ken Mahru (18 pts). Calfborg crushed the opposition with 26 pts.

My Approach: I was pushing the envelope on time and energy on this one… and I really think I was lucky to scrape by this part of the competition. I was trying for some kinda Stevie Ray vibe, but this track is the weakest of the bunch. I was tired, tired tired! It shows… the riffs and drums are not connected, the lyrics are pointless… yeah. I’m not a fan of this one! Still… I do like the verses… they should be their own song! I think there’s lots of good ideas in this track, but I just didn’t have the time (with work) to really nail the parts. I like where I was going, I just don’t think I got there! My voice is so stretched out and tired too…another 1 am vocal track… and it suffered! I wonder how this one would fair if I took another crack at it? I’ll probably never find out, because I got too many other ideas cooking up!

CONDESCENDING PRICK

Challenge: Call and Response
How I faired: Tied for second with Calfborg (11 pts). Glenn Case took the fight with 12 pts.

My Approach: Oh… how I liked this title! The main groove is totally an ACDC vibe… with those “hoos” chanting in the background. My wife loves ACDC, so I wanted a bit of that hard rock vibe in there. At the same time, I wanted to explore some alternative timing ideas, so the intro is a little 11/8 riff, which re-surfaces at the end. I love the chorus… totally up my alley with it’s gentle approach as it admonishes the target of the lyrical direction! I really dig this tune. I really enjoyed the ending. I played out the 4/4 vibe at the end, and wanted that triumphant, huge vibe at the end. I then recorded a whole section in 11/8, and then cross-faded the two grooves so that the 11/8 would “sneak” up on the listener. I fucking love that!!! Yeah, I enjoyed this tune immensely.

SORE WINNER

Challenge: Bring your A game!
How I faired: I placed second, as I mentioned at the start of this piece!

My Approach: Ok, first off, too many back up vocals. That’s my biggest irritation with this tune. Otherwise, I dig it. I am a super competitive person… so I admit, there was a definite pointed target of this tune. It certainly wasn’t any of the other Nur Ein contestants, but it was certainly directed at my perspective of some of the judges. Boo hoo. There’s a big time Green Day thing going on there, with a little Nomeansno vibe off the top.

I think I should have kept writing after this… but the whole process of writing and working and competing (probably the worst aspect of it!) just killed me.

You might notice that I have a habit of comparing my ideas to my influences. Simply put, comparisions don’t worry me, and are simply a part of my musical direction. Simon Cowell might not like it, but Simon Cowell, bless his awesome english heart, isn’t into music for the same reasons I am!

So, Nur Ein. It was a good experience, but it took me over a year to really absorb what I learned from it. Recently, I started a new project… really, the first time I’ve started something without any competitive point of view (as a solo writer/performer) since I was 21. I’m calling it “100″. I’ll have more about that in a future post!

• Leave a comment... (0)

How can it not be? It’s my birthday!!

Whhooo. Hmmm. How does one go from having a cynical, negative day to feeling damn fine? Simple. Go to the country bar and drink and play pool and forget you have to work in the morning!

So, happy birthday me! Self serving? DAMN STRAIGHT IT IS.

I’m starting a new thing to amuse myself…it’s called “taunt the spammers”. Each post, I’m gonna imbed some spammer taunt, just to see if they’re paying attention…today’s message: Spammer’s can’t read.

Suck on that!! whooo!

So, in my usual fashion, I’m totally on topic. That’s ok… that’s ok, last night, while enjoying the dulcet tones of Mr. Brian Temple as he supported the Molly Hogans on their world tour extravaganza, I was made aware that my musical mystery tour saga is only one page deep. This must be corrected.

Of course, if I keep writing stupid shit like this post, I may never get it done… what was that previous rant about “responsibility”?

Well, it’s all about perspective, isn’t it? Today’s perspective… it’s a damn fine day. My wonderful partner is gonna cook me up a mighty fine meal, my daughter is going to sing, my family is going to call, Face CRACK has allowed long lost friends to wish me well on the day of all days, and my big toe on my left foot is throbbing. What’s not to like?

• Leave a comment... (0)

In no particular order… why is it that the things that suck look suspiciously like the things that don’t?

For example… responsibility. Sometimes, doesn’t responsibility just suck the life out of you? I tell my kid to “be more active”, “get off the computer”, “life isn’t in a machine’… yet I spend more time on the computer than maybe anyone I know… outside of the internet of course!

I am so fucking listless today it’s almost funny, if not for the fact that my 36th birthday is tomorrow. I like to call it “the day my family forgets to call”.

It’s my own damn fault, I’m not exactly Mr. Punctual with the gift giving, unless it’s on Face Crack, then I’m all about the Naughty Gifts. Although, to maintain my pessimistic perspective today, I’ll emphatically state Face Crack “crapplications” suck too!

*crapplications is a registered trademark of Smalltown productions….
Don’t get me wrong, I’m not in a shitty mood… I’m LISTLESS. I don’t want to do what I’m supposed to do today. In my typical fashion, I have justified bitching about the listlessness as an acceptable alternative to actually performing my responsibilities.

I’d have to say the biggest problem with responsibility is that it’s so fucking boring. The biggest problem with turning 36 tomorrow is that I have to go to work. I hear the Beastie Boys in my head when I type that….”it’s time to wake up and go to work! I ride on the bus to the city every day… I sit on my seat and I dream myself away…”

I suppose I could contrast this with stating that I genuinely love my job; but that’d be a far cry from the theme of this post, now wouldn’t it?

Yeah. Shifting gears back to things that suck: I haven’t played a significant gig in ages. Not that the gigs I’ve done didn’t have elements of fun, but they sure seemed too much like work. FUCK THAT. I could care less if the room is packed (although that’s certainly better) but I hate playing like it’s a job, and the music has no purpose or meaning… yeah, THAT SUCKS. I’m happy that I only have one more gig this month, cause I need to refresh.
You know what else sucks? Blogs that complain about typical every day things…. whoops.

I think I can sum my entire perspective today up in a fact my Mother ( a physician) recently told me. Apparently, “they” have discovered that children who are exposed to multi-media before the age of two have their brains physically wired for rapid, sudden shift in focus. Doctor’s are starting to recommend that children do not watch T.V. or have much media exposure before the age of 2. Once the brain grows it’s neural net it’s pretty much too late to re-program that human… it becomes a matter of learning strategies for dealing with it.

Well holy fuck. It’s all starting to make sense! The “thing that sucks” is my own little head… wired to be random at a moment’s notice. I can blame Richie Cunningham and The Beave… those fuckers.

I sure hope tomorrow I can party like it’s 2007.

Just to keep proving my (lack of a) point, how about this one: The first spammer to post “you know what else sucks? Hoovers” gets to have their post actually posted and not deleted. Yeah, that’s right, spammers suck.

I’ve been tempted to post some of their “clever” attempts at fooling me into thinking they are genuinely interested in my bullshit, but I’m afraid the other thousands of readers would misinterpret the humour as a “sucka” moment. my favourite is when they post:

“Jenny’s Blog:” (click it and it’s ALWAYS a shitty porn site).

“Great post, keep up the good work”.

Or:

“I really agree!”

Oh yeah, you agree with me? Do you even know what the fuck I’m talking about when I say something like ” another day, another lack of interest in the grand scheme of things”?

Oh well. One person asked “what would it cost to put a banner ad on your site?”

They must know something about my rarely updated site that I don’t… but here’s the answer: A LOT.

Take it easy people, while responsibility, shitty gigs, too much T.V. and spammers all suck, the weather doesn’t… and tomorrow my family won’t call and I’ll be that much closer to 40.

P.S. I heard a rumour Gert is starting to get it’s shit together… shhhh.

• Leave a comment... (0)

A Butterfly’s Revenge

Oh god, it’s true. I spend far too much time playing solitaire. I’ll come home from work, sit around, trying to top out from my previous best score. I’ll think about my day, my plans, and I’ll “coach” myself to attain higher scores… it’s rather sick actually. So, here I am, playing this ‘game’ when a thought runs through my mind… “hey, mic up your drums and record… something”.

So I did… I started micing things at 6 pm, and did 4 test takes of some funk jamming to get a sound. At 7 pm, I started out thinking I was doing a songfight tune, going for a funk dance groove. Half way through, I digress into this Ginger Baker Trio-esque melodic drum thing.

As I listen back to this take, I am drawn to the section that started about 3 minutes in, and decide to work with it.
The bass line started out with a root of G, over a mixolydian funk groove, but half way through I got it in my head to work around C major… without actually using the third so it could be open to a mixo-aeolian-harmonic minor approach on the guitar.

At least, that’s what I was telling myself. I get in a groove and I think I know what I”m doing but really I’m just playing and listening. Sometimes with this kinda stuff, I’ll literally tell myself “it’s all in your head, don’t think about it, just let it out”.

So I laid down the bass, around the “C” idea, just a simple ostinato, and the drums work around it beautifully. It does meander off at the end,and I couldn’t resist trying to accent it with some guitar later. Before I knew it, it’s 9:30 and time to put Drayja, my daughter, to bed.

So, one night of goofing around with cubase and seeing what the hell would come out if I’d just let it, resulted in the track posted here.
I wouldn’t call this a “song”… I’m not sure what to call it. Other than fun.

At least more fun than solitaire.

• Leave a comment... (1)

Well.

May 1, 2004 will always be a day of reflection… not just for me, but for many of my friends. It’s a day to remember, a day to wonder what might have been… and a day things changed.

Many years ago now, I shared a dream with three close friends. It’s a dream many young men have… to conqueror the world, to make our mark, to immortalize ourselves. To change the world, to be the centre of the party…hell, to BE the party! Our method of proof was to play music. We favoured the funky sounds of Parliament, the reggae grooves of Peter Tosh and Spearhead, the new ska sounds of Sublime, the heavy vibe of Rage Against the Machine and the hip hop and rap stylings of N.W.A. and countless other influences that are lost to me now.

We called ourselves Bonafide, and we had a plan. We’d write the best music we could, we’d hone our sound and playing by jamming five nights a week, we’d perfect our image and take pictures and make a CD and tour. It seemed so simple when I was 23. Funny thing is, real life has a habit of catching up with our fantasies, and when I turned 26 and the band was ready to move off of tiny Quadra Island for the big time challenges of Vancouver, I had to quit. I have my reasons, my daughter just turned 1, I had just been married that August. I had a family to think about… but it meant leaving my … other family.

Bonafide was a family. We seemed to do everything together. I really don’t think I’ll ever experience a band like that again. Don’t get me wrong, I’d like to… but I can’t help but believe that Bonafide was special. When I left, the other guys were pretty hurt. I was the organizational leader, the musical conductor. Each guy had a specialized role in the band, each one as important as the next…but when I left it cut off an arm, a leg, a piece of the brain. The feelings between us were strained, and it was painful. As time wore us down, we forgave each other… because the love, no matter how deep the pain, was stronger. At least, that’s what I’d like to believe.

A few times over the years, we all played together, but I don’t think we ever had a time when the four of us played again. We never will.

Joe Skogan was our guitarist, he had the strongest voice when it came to deciding upon musical ideas and direction. In many ways, he was the spiritual leader… we looked to him for advice on our look, our sound, our style. He was very well read, he listened to new, cool, exciting music. Before it was cool to be a laid back, in the pocket style player on the guitar, he was honing those very skills. His voice, when we could get him to sing, was magic. Each of us loved to sing, but had our unique challenges, and Joe could just open his mouth and have a tone that felt perfect. I admired him. I’d go to his place, sit on the couch, and we’d listen to music…without speaking a word. I don’t know what was going through his mind, but for me it was comfort. I love to talk… but I could hang with Joe and not feel like I had to… even though I often did anyways! Joe was a great guy… but I’m not so sure Joe knew this. I listened to every single note he played when we performed and jammed. I can recall many a gig where he’d turn, and look at me…doubting his performance. I’d yell at him “dude…you’re ripping it up!!” He could sit in the pocket, skanking on a chord… playing his guitar like it was a drum. I loved that. He also had a sublime, and occasionally mean sense of humour… and I loved that too!! Bonafide loved pranking any member that dared to not show up for practice!
On April 30, 2004, I was playing bass with a local band at the Heriot Bay Inn. Joe was there, and honestly, it made the evening and my performance far more important to me. He asked me to play a song for him… The White Stripes “Seven Nation Army”. The band didn’t know it, but before the set started, I played the opening riff on the bass. From around the corner, I heard an uncharacteristic “whhhooooaaaaa!!!!” from Joe. It made me smile. I didn’t realize it then, but I loved that guy. It made me happy to give him…something.

Prior to this evening, we had started writing some songs together, and posted two on Songfight. I had thought that a band with him and whomever was in the makings… sadly, I was cautious, and wanted to take it slow. If this sounds like someone getting back together with a girlfriend…you are right! We seemed to click right away. I knew, I knew we could write good stuff…but I was afraid of my ideas being rejected… so I took it slow. One time, while jamming, (I was on the drums) he asked me, in a sad sounding voice… “Is that all you do now? Complicated weird stuff?” The answer was yes. It’s what turned me on musically.

At the end of that night in April, I was packing up my stuff. I went to the bathroom behind the bar…near a pool table. Joe was there when I came out. He told me the scene here was looking grim, too many people doing coke. He wanted to know if I wanted to go to a party with him… but I didn’t want to. He persisted, and was sad. I honestly thought he was sad because he was drunk…

I still said no. I knew I couldn’t keep up with them and would just end up falling asleep. I would’ve hung out with Joe, but these types of “parties” have never really been my scene. I asked him if he wanted to write more, and he said “yes”. I asked him to come by on Wednesday, and we’d write together. He said “sure man”. Then he left.

Could I have changed things? Who knows. Joe was sad. It’s virtually impossible to really know what goes on inside another person’s mind… simply listen to the words you use when you talk to people, and contrast that with your thoughts. Think about how a word can have a deep meaning for you, maybe one that can evoke a memory, and realize that for another human being… this word could mean so much more…so many different things. It’s rare for humans to refer to “dictionary definitions” and maintain a semantically correct conversation.

I want to believe that if I had gone, I would have stopped things. I would have saved him. I want to believe that when he was missing, for three years, that I could find him. That I could take away everyone’s pain…but my own. I am that kind of person.

The truth is… I am hurt by his lost. I miss him… just when I thought things would change, when we could start over, when the dream would be renewed…he was gone. I miss you man. You were a talent, you were a friend, you were a genuine soul. Take care. I love you.

• Leave a comment... (2)

So, I’m in this band… “Badfish”. Not to be confused with the Sublime tribute band, although we do cover some Sublime tunes!

We played a pretty good show on Saturday night in Campbell River at a place called “The Sportsplex”. Now, this event was a Charity Ball, with aims of raising funds to support “The Evergreen House” which is a social services establishment that assists people in need. As the gig was on St. Patrick’s Day, the evening certainly had multiple purposes!

Campbell River’s resident soundman of choice, Hugh Schmid, brought in a monster PA system… complete with a rather decent light show and smoke machines. If we played every gig through that system, I’d be just fine… although judging by the rather large fellow who stormed in at 1 am, I’m not so sure everyone appreciated the eight 18″ subwoofer speakers with matching eight mid-high range speakers powered by thousands and thousands of watts of top quality power… this guy starts yelling at Scott (guitarist and maker of fine instruments)

“Hey! There’s people who have to work tomorrow!!”

To which Mr. Heatley responded “fuck ‘em!”.

To which the rather large, angry fellow responded “no… I have to work tomorrow“.

Scott’s off-handed response was a rather witty, “oh. We’re done”.

I have to admit, I did feel a little bad for the guy. It turns out, we were LOUD. Maybe too loud… the lead singer, Ray Payne, lives about 300 meters from the venue, and his family told him that they could hear everything as clear as if we were in the room, when they were inside their house!  Ah…the glory of rock. On the other hand, maybe this dude needs to get a job that doesn’t interfere with “the rocking”. Yeah…
The hall is a large gym-convention type room that can be divided in half for smaller events. This event had 250 people at it, and the room size was kept small, which made for a fun and intimate evening of rock. There were people dancing from the start, and it was a fun night for everyone…no dramas, no car salesmen beating on Realtors, no hot chicks getting their skirts pulled up accidentally by their boyfriends as they twirl them around thus revealing their bare bottoms (that was LAST week’s gig… a highlight. I mean, c’mon, who wears a mini-skirt that barely comes down to the crotch level, without panties on? Obviously that chick. Not sure why she’d dress like that at a WORK function…or get embarrassed when things got a little… hiked. Talk about a lack of consistency…but I digress…that was last week).
I just got a new double kick pedal, and I wasn’t so sure if I was going to try it out on the gig just yet, as I’ve only practiced with it  three times. I actually promised the band that I’d leave it at home for fear of getting messed up using it… but when it came time to pack up my gear… I HAD to bring it! Now, trying to fit double bass drum riffs in country songs can be tough. It can’t seem out of place. Heh. Fortunately, I didn’t embarass myself trying out licks that were a bit beyond my means… and on the last tune of the night (the Ramone’s “Sedated”) I let it rip! Man, I love that pedal. I’ve been more motivated to practice since getting that thing than I have been in years! I tell ya, if you’re practicing something and you’re losing motivation, GET MORE GEAR!!! hahaha. Totally works.

Ray sang his ass off at this gig. He’s turned into a solid frontman; dancing, talking to the crowd, jumping up and down, tons of energy, and he uses a “southern charm” to woo his audiences. I think this was a pretty significant gig for him. I’ve only just joined the band, and it takes time to gel with a different player. In fact, the drummer I had replaced showed up at the end of the evening. That’s the thing with a music scene in a small town…sometimes, band relationships play themselves out, but you gotta stay on good terms. The scene is too small! They all looked like they were on good terms, which is nice. They want me to stay in the band… which is nicer.
Kevin, on bass, had his game face on.

If game face is defined as 8 or 9 brews.

His energy was smoking, just totally into the show. He ran into some trouble late in the evening as his hand cramped up so bad he had to stop playing and ice it up! That’s the thing about playing through a PA system 10 times more powerful than what we’re used to… we practice in a room that’s fairly quiet, and when you get on that stage and start slamming it out, it takes a lot of energy!! If we keep using this soundman, we’re gonna need a kinesiologist or physiotherapist on staff.

Scott seemed to have a tough time getting into the show. I’d speculate on the reasons why, but the facts are that he played great, and the audience didn’t know, so really, who cares. Certainly not me. heh. He had a few solos that night that were awesome… well played, soulful, killer tone. It just goes to show, a musician is the last person anyone should trust about how they played… really, only the audience knows what they think. If more of them like it, it was good, whatever the reason!

Hmmm. That last sentence almost discredits this whole “review”… oh well. This isn’t’ a review…it’s a “recap”.

We had some rough spots…namely on the ending of tunes! I learned all the arrangements from the original artists versions, but Badfish likes to take liberties with arrangements at times. It can fun trying to figure out what’s going on… I’m sure after ten or so gigs we’ll have all those little bugs worked out.

So… that’s it. We played, we rocked, I was so sore the next day I didn’t get out of bed until after 1 pm! I’m not used to drumming that hard for four hours!  We got a couple more gigs out of it (all ways a great sign of a good gig when you’re in a cover band) and I’m stoked that I got a band I can play drums in where I can let loose!

later!

• Leave a comment... (0)

Something dramatic and significant occurred to me a few days ago.

It goes a little something like this:

Part “A”: I have a problem.

Part “B”: I go through all the bullshit of sorting out that problem. Introspection, disgust, revelation, agony, defeat, elation, you name it, something happens, and a ton of time passes before…
Part “C”: I GET OVER IT, and move on with my life.
So… that middle part… the part “B”? Why the fuck does that take so freaking long sometimes??? It occurred to me that NO MATTER WHAT THE PROBLEM IS, I inevitably get over it!! It makes all the ridiculous B.S. of Part “B” seem like a colossal waste of time. So… my new personal life goal (until I get distracted, bored, or just solve it) is to eliminate as much of the wasted time that occurs in Part “B” as I can, seeing as I always make it to Part “C” anyway! Here’s an example of the “old way”.
THE OLD WAY
Part “A”: I have said something that has offended a person… yet I personally believe my opinion. For example, I inadvertently told someone I know that this guitarist I had heard sucked… only it turned out the guitarist I heard was him! Whoops… time for part “B”…

Part “B”: [internal-mental-battle] “ah fuck, why did I have to say that, now this person feels bad” (spend a period of time struggling with the realization that I made this person feel like a shitty guitarist)….”ah, now this person thinks I’m an asshole”…(spend a period of time struggling with the realization that this person thinks I’m an asshole) …. ” man, I’m having trouble reconciling my opinion which is mine, and I believe to be valid, with the amount of insult I laid on”…(segue to concern about whether or not my opinion IS valid, feel arrogant, mope about possible arrogance (such a loathsome quality), develop additional concern that I can’t keep my mouth shut, that I didn’t get all my facts, that I care too much about what someone thinks). TIME PASSES.

Realization that I’ve been moping, pre-occupied with concern for this person ’s feelings, concern that my opinion isn’t valid, question the meaning of life and my place in it, curse the gods for not making these things easier, TIME PASSES.

Finally admit to myself that my opinions belong to me, and I can share them if I want… sharing them does not change them, it only brings possible repercussions. Recongize that I do this frequently… fall BACK into moping and concern that I can’t seem to keep my opinions to myself… TIME PASSES.

Realize that this person just may in fact be… a shitty guitarist. That if they can’t deal with the facts, too bad. Feel bad about being blunt about it, think about how badly I can suck at things at times, yet my view of my potential pushes me forward…wonder if this person was merely working out issues in their playing, or just sucks, plain and simple. TIME PASSES.

Get back to realizing that it’s done, the damage has occurred, counter opinions have occurred, everything is now BEYOND MY CONTROL. Decide if I’m going to do something about it… TIME PASSES. Finally decide, either a) say something nice to counter the negative, or b) immediately move to Part “C”. If a), continue on with TIME PASSES.

hmmm. With all this time passing, not a lot has gotten done… realize I have other issues to fry, move to part “C”.

Part “C”: GET OVER IT AND MOVE ON WITH MY LIFE.

WHOOOOOAAAAAA. What a fucking complicated way to live my life! Let’s try the “new way”, picking it up from Part “B”:

NEW WAY

Part “B”: Whoops. I screwed that up. Oh well. Either a) apologize, move to part “C”, or stick to my opinion with confidence, move to part “C”.
Part “C”: GET OVER IT, get on with my life.

Now, isn’t that so much better?
Why waste my time with all the bullshit feelings I put on myself, when the only thing that needs to happen is either to make amends, or stick to my guns?

And that’s my random musing for the day. I got some gig updates too. As relevant as that may seem.

• Leave a comment... (0)

Deshead and the Hipcola.

You know, it just wouldn’t be right if I didn’t throw a shout out to my friend Des McKinney, and for multiple reasons!

Let’s list them, shall we?

1. Des is the internet. No … seriously, this guy can find you an answer to anything, and fast. He is what google is based upon.

2. Des is the only reason my site looks decent… it’s true. I could not get wordpress to install. Oh… I tried. Believe you me…but damn it, I kept screwing it up. In a moment of desperation (DESperations….) I asked him if he could help. FIVE MINUTES later, I’m in business. The guy is a rock solid computer professional. Many thanks, I owe ya some brews man.

3. Des is a FABULOUSLY talented musician. Please, please, go here: Waking up in August.

Buy this guy’s album. It is so good. If you like Canadian Rock, this is for you. Do you dig the Northern Pikes, 54-40, the Grapes of Wrath, the Tragically Hip, hell, even the Barenaked Ladies? Then you better buy this album. Do you like catchy, well produced tunes you can sing along too, or drive for hours while listening too… or just mellow out by the pool? Get off your ass and buy this album.

4. He shares. He shares his music… If you clicked on that link, you’ll note that you can download the whole album, in MP3 format, FOR FREE. He’s an active member of the songfight community, and he’s always quick to help people out either with their mixing techniques, playing, repairs, finding equipment or a good blast of clever but cheeky humour.

5. He created  hometracked ; a place where the home recording enthusiast and even pros can learn and exchange recording techniques and tips.

6. He has a pool.

7. He knows where the liquor store is.

Yep. Des is a dude. Thanks to Des for helping me out with the site! Now, what are you still doing here? Go check out his stuff!!

• Leave a comment... (0)