This Week.
It still doesn't feel like school has actually started. Probably because I missed an entire schoolday yesterday. But I have an excuse. The power was out. When I was little, the power being out was like a get out of jail free car.
"Mom can we have hot cocoa and graham crackers and stay up mad late?"
"No!"
"But Mom, the powers out."
"Oh all right. But just this once."
Then we'd all bust out the candles and get all freaked out when you have to go to the bathroom in the dark by yourself, and you can't see where your peeing, you just judge by the sound of things. "Yea I must be doing this right."
Thats sorta what happened monday night over here. I was reading before Iwent to bed and all the lights and clocks shut off in my room. So I go downstairs and Jim and Jeff are frying canadian bacon. That did it for me, we all fried up all kind of meats and eggs and ate at a table filled with candles. It was fantastic. But then I refused to get up on time for school, and finally got up at like 1 thirty or something. Pretty terrible. But nothing new.
The night before I saw Melt Banana, which is a Japanese Noise-Core band form Tokeo Japan. Yes, it was just as awesome as it sounds. No words can describe the "video arcade getting trampled by a herd of buffalo" sound this band conjured up. Actually those words almost do it. I got a t-shirt.
I've been writing a new song for Epylogue that I'm very excited about. I'm also very nervous about this show coming up. It could go either way. Really well, or really awkward. I just hope the crowd has an open mind to non emo-punk slower music.
I listened to both of Anberlin's albums with headphones while I tried to sleep. Their both so good. The second one has all these tiny things that you could only catch fully with headphones on. I love hearing those things for the first time. After that, to try and go to sleep I pretended we were playing the show and I was singing all the songs in my head and then doing between song banter. That usually helps me get to sleep, but this time it didn't.
I bought a tellatubbies video at record archive and I'm dying to try setting it to music. I just need Joel. And fortuneately, he is coming over today.
Wednesday, April 27, 2005
Monday, April 25, 2005
Friday, April 22, 2005
Thursday, April 21, 2005
Wednesday, April 20, 2005
Saturday, April 16, 2005
Thursday, April 14, 2005
There are some wonderful people on this planet.
I feel very compelled to share this link to Stephen Christianson's blog. He's the singer in Anberlin. (you know, that band.) And he is quite the thinker/writer. Very inspiring stuff. Please read.
Stephen Christianson: www.modesty.blogspot.com
Related: www.RealLivePreacher.com (another good blogger)
I feel very compelled to share this link to Stephen Christianson's blog. He's the singer in Anberlin. (you know, that band.) And he is quite the thinker/writer. Very inspiring stuff. Please read.
Stephen Christianson: www.modesty.blogspot.com
Related: www.RealLivePreacher.com (another good blogger)
Tooth and Nail Records.
This label has always treated me right. No other label on the Christian market has the uncanny knack of signing some of the best music around, and wrapping it in a drool worthy package. (praise the lord for Asterisk Studios! Prasie Him on high!) Even haters have to give TnN props for signing Mewithoutyou, when we were all like "whats this singer doing?" the first time we heard them. Turns out that band happens to be filled with madmen. Go figure. And signing the mighty Joy Electric ten years ago? bravo brandon ebel, bravo.
But, is anyone else disturbed by the growing number of teen-punk bands on the label? This should come as no suprise, Tooth and Nail did sign MxPx back in the day, who opitimized teen-pop-punk. But still, TnN seems to be at a sort of awkward crossroads. There are the teeny-emo-punk bands, right along side the intelligent, indie-rock bands, and other bands that just plain rock.
But this split in the style of music on the label must be on purpose. Hawk Nelson, FM Static, and Thousand foot Krutch must be selling tons of records on the CCM market, and that must be what make them so attractive to the label. (God forbid they should like the music.) And it wouldn't flip me out so much if the contrasts between the bands weren't so large.
I mean, Tooth and Nail has some really original bands. Like Joy Electric, and Mewithoutyou. Both have very distinct styles, and seem pretty content doing their own thing. Both top my lists of favorite artists too, which make Tooth and Nail something Im in a sort of relationship with. (which is why I pick it apart so)
Then you have the teeny bopper music. FM Static and Hawk Nelson rule this catagory. Throw Side Walk Slam in there if you want. All of them sing highschoolish anthems with more pop than 94.1 would dare play.
Then you have the bands that are a step up from these. They rock, and may fall into "emo" or screamo, or "rock and roll" catragorys, but there is a decided maturity. Look at Sullivan, Waking Ashland, Slow Coming Day, Number One Gun.
Then there are the bands that absolutely without a doubt tear it up. In my opinon, Emery rules the emo world with an iron fist. They bring an original take on the typically uniform emotional yelps, and their songs are unique and flowing and have freaking texture for crying out loud. Mae, a band that many people describe as "girly music" are phenomenal musicians, and bring a fresh take on everything sweet rock has to offer. Their new album "the everglow" should lay to rest any fears of them taking a turn for the worse. Anberlin has transformed into the greek god of pure arena rock. And their new album drips with so much sass and testosterone, it will make you want to wear tight leather pants while riding an elephant. (the afformentioned Mewithoutyou and Joy Electric fit in here as well)
Then there are these new dorky bands that I'm exited about. They've signed five bands recently, the grungy looking Terminal (don't ask), the emotional car wreck Sullivan, the sweet girl boys Waking Ashland, and the more indie sounds of Eager Seas and Discover America.
Those last two bands are the ones im pumped about. Finally Tooth and Nail is watching out for the nerds. Discovering America is the project of Chris Staples, the former lead singer of Twothirtyeight. Here he's made some sort of weird half synth, half guitars, dirty lo-fi beats with clean vocals kind of band. In other words, it sounds good. His stuff on Myspace and Purevolume sounds dope. And frigging Eager Seas, born out of remains of Watashi Wa, have some how made music that is incredible, immediate, and simple. I don't know why, but their really great.
www.myspace.com/eagerseas
www.purevolume.com/discoveramerica
This label has always treated me right. No other label on the Christian market has the uncanny knack of signing some of the best music around, and wrapping it in a drool worthy package. (praise the lord for Asterisk Studios! Prasie Him on high!) Even haters have to give TnN props for signing Mewithoutyou, when we were all like "whats this singer doing?" the first time we heard them. Turns out that band happens to be filled with madmen. Go figure. And signing the mighty Joy Electric ten years ago? bravo brandon ebel, bravo.
But, is anyone else disturbed by the growing number of teen-punk bands on the label? This should come as no suprise, Tooth and Nail did sign MxPx back in the day, who opitimized teen-pop-punk. But still, TnN seems to be at a sort of awkward crossroads. There are the teeny-emo-punk bands, right along side the intelligent, indie-rock bands, and other bands that just plain rock.
But this split in the style of music on the label must be on purpose. Hawk Nelson, FM Static, and Thousand foot Krutch must be selling tons of records on the CCM market, and that must be what make them so attractive to the label. (God forbid they should like the music.) And it wouldn't flip me out so much if the contrasts between the bands weren't so large.
I mean, Tooth and Nail has some really original bands. Like Joy Electric, and Mewithoutyou. Both have very distinct styles, and seem pretty content doing their own thing. Both top my lists of favorite artists too, which make Tooth and Nail something Im in a sort of relationship with. (which is why I pick it apart so)
Then you have the teeny bopper music. FM Static and Hawk Nelson rule this catagory. Throw Side Walk Slam in there if you want. All of them sing highschoolish anthems with more pop than 94.1 would dare play.
Then you have the bands that are a step up from these. They rock, and may fall into "emo" or screamo, or "rock and roll" catragorys, but there is a decided maturity. Look at Sullivan, Waking Ashland, Slow Coming Day, Number One Gun.
Then there are the bands that absolutely without a doubt tear it up. In my opinon, Emery rules the emo world with an iron fist. They bring an original take on the typically uniform emotional yelps, and their songs are unique and flowing and have freaking texture for crying out loud. Mae, a band that many people describe as "girly music" are phenomenal musicians, and bring a fresh take on everything sweet rock has to offer. Their new album "the everglow" should lay to rest any fears of them taking a turn for the worse. Anberlin has transformed into the greek god of pure arena rock. And their new album drips with so much sass and testosterone, it will make you want to wear tight leather pants while riding an elephant. (the afformentioned Mewithoutyou and Joy Electric fit in here as well)
Then there are these new dorky bands that I'm exited about. They've signed five bands recently, the grungy looking Terminal (don't ask), the emotional car wreck Sullivan, the sweet girl boys Waking Ashland, and the more indie sounds of Eager Seas and Discover America.
Those last two bands are the ones im pumped about. Finally Tooth and Nail is watching out for the nerds. Discovering America is the project of Chris Staples, the former lead singer of Twothirtyeight. Here he's made some sort of weird half synth, half guitars, dirty lo-fi beats with clean vocals kind of band. In other words, it sounds good. His stuff on Myspace and Purevolume sounds dope. And frigging Eager Seas, born out of remains of Watashi Wa, have some how made music that is incredible, immediate, and simple. I don't know why, but their really great.
www.myspace.com/eagerseas
www.purevolume.com/discoveramerica
Monday, April 11, 2005
So the show went suprisingly well for us.
The night before we were practicing late, and we decided on "the Epilogue" for our name. We then realized that we didn't know if anyone was actually coming to the show besides about 8 friends. So saturday morning good brother Jim called everyone in existance for me while we cleaned out matts basement for the show.
5pm, me Paul and Joel started practicing, and run into trouble with "geralds daydream"... just can't get that synth solo to flow right for some reason.. grrr... Brian Jackson shows up and starts setting up his array of equipment. No sign of Brice yet though... we begin to perspire.
5:30pm We get very frustrated with geralds daydream and almost decide not to play it. Jeff still has not shown up. Cameron does. We stop practicing. Cam sets up his drool worthy dj equipment/noise makers. (and hooks us up to the PA system, which was wonderfully loud.)
6pm People begin to show up, Emily, Beth, Cori, Kate, Matt, Sean and the Twenty Ps gang, and then, more and more people. Jim, Sam, Ben (looking like he had just taken some speed), Chrystal and such. Still no sign of my parents. Will they catch Ju-jajuba? Laughing and talking fills the basement as Cameron unleashes a torrent of hip-hop and bizzare indie rock.
6:30pm Brice shows up! He convinces us to keep "geralds daydream" in the setlist, (he didn't hear the touble we having previously, thank God.
7pm The place is absolutely packed. I start to get butterflys. I go to the bathroom for the 5th time, recite the entire Ju-jajuba song, and then go downstairs. Everyone was there, it was wonderful, I get John to get on the drums, I don the guitar and me and Cori perform as Ju-Jajuba for the first time. I ask into the microphone if my parents are here yet. They aren't. I stall... then finally decide to start the song. It went wonderfully, probably due to the fact that everyone was very amused that me and Cori started a band, and that we were'nt kidding. Or were we? Thanks to everyone who sang along, that made it alot easier. My parents show up while we're playing. Hooray!
7:45 Me and Brian finally manage to get Twenty PS's stuff all sounding decent. And their set begins. I had never seen them play before, and was very exited. They really took me back to highschool with their Dashboard meets Indie rock triple guitar melody laden songs. Adam is a really good frontman for them, commanding the attention of the room with bleeding heart sincerity. Jake added some nice acoustic backup melodies for adam, and Matt stole my attention the entire time by laying down some nice sounding solos on the electric guitar the entire time. Sean does what only he can and picked up, slapped, and revamped some of the songs with new energy on the drums. It was very nice. In between songs everyone was shouting nice things at them, which really helped start things off in a very loving way. Thats what was so great about having all of our friends there. There was alot of love between everyone. I was smiling ear to ear for most of the night.
8:30ish It was time for us to get on stage, so we all started setting up, and tuning and attempting to calm down. I must say that Jeff and Brian are two of the most chill looking people to play with, I just had to look at them and I realized that everything was fine. I was very nervous about remembering alot of the lyrics, and was saying them over and over out loud while doing a sound check. Finally we were ready. I really tried to make sure the atmosphere was loose, and shared a little about the story, and then started playing our first song. The whole set went like a dream, and we were showered with applause in between songs like anything. Some highlights were Paul's newfound double bass talents being unlocked live. He absolutely destroyed some of our songs like he never has in practice. It was awe inspiring. I nearly put down my guitar because he drums starting talking at some point I swear. Brice also held it down on the bass like only he can. Despite not practicing with us at all recently he played every song beautifully. I couldn't hear Brian or myself very well on the guitar but I think we did fine... Joel nailed the songs on the keyboard/synth end. And despite some odd vocal moments by me, the songs played well, and everyone had a really good time. I really didn't know if anyone would like it that much, because while I like all of our songs, they don't really have choruses, or extremely catchy one liners, or bouncy energy... so I didn't know how they would come off in a live setting. Everyone sat down, and listened intently, which turns out is the best way to hear us I suppose. Like your listening to a story.
That makes me a little nervous about playing bars, mainly because the people there would not be our friends, and also because its not as homey as matt's basement. But none the less, I think we will sometime...
9ish Me and John and JJ and Phil take the "stage" as Alethie's Metanoia, and for some reason despite a good and funny soundcheck song, our songs comepletely fell apart on us. Which was VERY frustrating, because we played them FINE at practice. I think that there was a lot of nerves, and whatever else. We also didn't get to practice since Sunday, so that didn't help. So after a VERY frustrating four songs, I layed down on the floor, while they played an instrumental and a piano based song that came out wonderfully. Whew! finally the night was over! and I could relax..
Cameron played late into the night... mixing all sorts of funky things, he is definelty the BESTdj I have ever heard. It was heaven just to sit and watch him do his thing. You can watch for any shows he might DJ at over at the A/V. His moniker is Dummy Destroy.
Thank you so much to everyone who came and watched us play. That was very nice of you all. We may have to do it again sometime. For those who are curious about the story, some lyrics may be found here.
Also, it turns out the Epilogue is the name of about four bands on Purevolume.com alone, so we may need another name... suggestions are encouraged. I like: O Gentle Doves, Sing! Tree! Sing!, or The Forest League, The Singing Tree, Trail of Embers, Giving Ends. Sudden Leaves, Tiny Embers...a giving end. Thoughts?
The night before we were practicing late, and we decided on "the Epilogue" for our name. We then realized that we didn't know if anyone was actually coming to the show besides about 8 friends. So saturday morning good brother Jim called everyone in existance for me while we cleaned out matts basement for the show.
5pm, me Paul and Joel started practicing, and run into trouble with "geralds daydream"... just can't get that synth solo to flow right for some reason.. grrr... Brian Jackson shows up and starts setting up his array of equipment. No sign of Brice yet though... we begin to perspire.
5:30pm We get very frustrated with geralds daydream and almost decide not to play it. Jeff still has not shown up. Cameron does. We stop practicing. Cam sets up his drool worthy dj equipment/noise makers. (and hooks us up to the PA system, which was wonderfully loud.)
6pm People begin to show up, Emily, Beth, Cori, Kate, Matt, Sean and the Twenty Ps gang, and then, more and more people. Jim, Sam, Ben (looking like he had just taken some speed), Chrystal and such. Still no sign of my parents. Will they catch Ju-jajuba? Laughing and talking fills the basement as Cameron unleashes a torrent of hip-hop and bizzare indie rock.
6:30pm Brice shows up! He convinces us to keep "geralds daydream" in the setlist, (he didn't hear the touble we having previously, thank God.
7pm The place is absolutely packed. I start to get butterflys. I go to the bathroom for the 5th time, recite the entire Ju-jajuba song, and then go downstairs. Everyone was there, it was wonderful, I get John to get on the drums, I don the guitar and me and Cori perform as Ju-Jajuba for the first time. I ask into the microphone if my parents are here yet. They aren't. I stall... then finally decide to start the song. It went wonderfully, probably due to the fact that everyone was very amused that me and Cori started a band, and that we were'nt kidding. Or were we? Thanks to everyone who sang along, that made it alot easier. My parents show up while we're playing. Hooray!
7:45 Me and Brian finally manage to get Twenty PS's stuff all sounding decent. And their set begins. I had never seen them play before, and was very exited. They really took me back to highschool with their Dashboard meets Indie rock triple guitar melody laden songs. Adam is a really good frontman for them, commanding the attention of the room with bleeding heart sincerity. Jake added some nice acoustic backup melodies for adam, and Matt stole my attention the entire time by laying down some nice sounding solos on the electric guitar the entire time. Sean does what only he can and picked up, slapped, and revamped some of the songs with new energy on the drums. It was very nice. In between songs everyone was shouting nice things at them, which really helped start things off in a very loving way. Thats what was so great about having all of our friends there. There was alot of love between everyone. I was smiling ear to ear for most of the night.
8:30ish It was time for us to get on stage, so we all started setting up, and tuning and attempting to calm down. I must say that Jeff and Brian are two of the most chill looking people to play with, I just had to look at them and I realized that everything was fine. I was very nervous about remembering alot of the lyrics, and was saying them over and over out loud while doing a sound check. Finally we were ready. I really tried to make sure the atmosphere was loose, and shared a little about the story, and then started playing our first song. The whole set went like a dream, and we were showered with applause in between songs like anything. Some highlights were Paul's newfound double bass talents being unlocked live. He absolutely destroyed some of our songs like he never has in practice. It was awe inspiring. I nearly put down my guitar because he drums starting talking at some point I swear. Brice also held it down on the bass like only he can. Despite not practicing with us at all recently he played every song beautifully. I couldn't hear Brian or myself very well on the guitar but I think we did fine... Joel nailed the songs on the keyboard/synth end. And despite some odd vocal moments by me, the songs played well, and everyone had a really good time. I really didn't know if anyone would like it that much, because while I like all of our songs, they don't really have choruses, or extremely catchy one liners, or bouncy energy... so I didn't know how they would come off in a live setting. Everyone sat down, and listened intently, which turns out is the best way to hear us I suppose. Like your listening to a story.
That makes me a little nervous about playing bars, mainly because the people there would not be our friends, and also because its not as homey as matt's basement. But none the less, I think we will sometime...
9ish Me and John and JJ and Phil take the "stage" as Alethie's Metanoia, and for some reason despite a good and funny soundcheck song, our songs comepletely fell apart on us. Which was VERY frustrating, because we played them FINE at practice. I think that there was a lot of nerves, and whatever else. We also didn't get to practice since Sunday, so that didn't help. So after a VERY frustrating four songs, I layed down on the floor, while they played an instrumental and a piano based song that came out wonderfully. Whew! finally the night was over! and I could relax..
Cameron played late into the night... mixing all sorts of funky things, he is definelty the BESTdj I have ever heard. It was heaven just to sit and watch him do his thing. You can watch for any shows he might DJ at over at the A/V. His moniker is Dummy Destroy.
Thank you so much to everyone who came and watched us play. That was very nice of you all. We may have to do it again sometime. For those who are curious about the story, some lyrics may be found here.
Also, it turns out the Epilogue is the name of about four bands on Purevolume.com alone, so we may need another name... suggestions are encouraged. I like: O Gentle Doves, Sing! Tree! Sing!, or The Forest League, The Singing Tree, Trail of Embers, Giving Ends. Sudden Leaves, Tiny Embers...a giving end. Thoughts?
Tuesday, April 05, 2005
WovenHand Live Dates? no love from Cornerstone. No love.
WovenHand @Cornerstone Festival, Bushnell, IL June 30, 2005
Coming Soon: WovenHand US tour in July/August 2005 ....Check back soon for details.
WovenHand @Cornerstone Festival, Bushnell, IL June 30, 2005
Coming Soon: WovenHand US tour in July/August 2005 ....Check back soon for details.
I just found this on the SoundsFamilyre site. No love from the c-stone organizers the past two years... now they decide to get friendly with Woven Hand. Its far too late.
Monday, April 04, 2005
Real Live Preacher
Recently published a really good article on real Christianity, honesty, and bumping into strangers. Its really good. Really, actually, pretty interesting and good. Here it is.
Recently published a really good article on real Christianity, honesty, and bumping into strangers. Its really good. Really, actually, pretty interesting and good. Here it is.
Saturday, April 02, 2005
Upcoming show! Sunday! April 10th at Matt's Basement. 7pm. free admission obviously.
For those of you who didn't know, me and a bunch of my friends are putting on a show soon. This will be the first show we've ever assembled and will feature all the friends of ours who are in bands. Well... a few of them. This will be Epilogue's 2nd show ever, and Ju-Jajuba's first, making the evening super special. Also, matt's brother Cameron, will possibly be DJing in between sets, dropping beats like its all he's got left. His one man band Dummy Destroy, if you haven't seen him play before, is sick. So watch out for that.
The bands playing are:
Alethis Metanoia: If you haven't seen these guys you really need to. Comprised of JJ Givens, Phil Herford (on the what? oh the violin), John Lake (I know him), and me fillin in on the bass until they get a real one and kick me out. These guys have written some epic, sweeping, intelligent rock and soul that will beat the mess out of you or something.
Epilogue (although thats not our name really) This is the band that I'm the most involved in so far. Its a collection of some of my best friends: Joel Dow, Paul Scota, Brian Jackson, and Jeff Brice. We write songs that tell a story about a little boy and a little girl who meet and build a raft and go to a magical forest on an island. Its really a ton of fun to write and play with these guys and at this particular show, we have a few suprises in store...
Twenty PS : Emotional, heartfelt, triple guitar threat from my pals Adam, Sean, Jake, and the esteemed Matt Farrish. These guys put together some very nice melodic, electric-acoustic songs that sound fantastic live. Bring tissues.
Ju-Jajuba: This is a band I just formed with Cori. We aim to create evocative, hook laden preschool power pop. (Don't worry we only have one song so far)
The show is basically just for our friends and our friends friends, and we just want to have a good time and hang out while hearing some great tunes from our friends. All are welcome, I think my neighbor Sean is coming, and may do an improv performance at some point...(8 yr old east coast hardcore)...My parents may even make an appearance at some point... It's going to be rediculous. Please come if you can. Even if you hate music, come just to hang out or something. It would mean alot for us to have some people to watch us play a few songs.
Here is a link to a beautiful watercolor joel did, that doubles as a flier for the show: www.geraldandscarlet.blogspot.com.
And here is TwentyPS's purevolume link: www.purevolume.com/twentyps.
And here is a link to Cori's blog which talks about Ju-Jajuba a little more in depth: www.corisgarden.blogspot.com.
For those of you who didn't know, me and a bunch of my friends are putting on a show soon. This will be the first show we've ever assembled and will feature all the friends of ours who are in bands. Well... a few of them. This will be Epilogue's 2nd show ever, and Ju-Jajuba's first, making the evening super special. Also, matt's brother Cameron, will possibly be DJing in between sets, dropping beats like its all he's got left. His one man band Dummy Destroy, if you haven't seen him play before, is sick. So watch out for that.
The bands playing are:
Alethis Metanoia: If you haven't seen these guys you really need to. Comprised of JJ Givens, Phil Herford (on the what? oh the violin), John Lake (I know him), and me fillin in on the bass until they get a real one and kick me out. These guys have written some epic, sweeping, intelligent rock and soul that will beat the mess out of you or something.
Epilogue (although thats not our name really) This is the band that I'm the most involved in so far. Its a collection of some of my best friends: Joel Dow, Paul Scota, Brian Jackson, and Jeff Brice. We write songs that tell a story about a little boy and a little girl who meet and build a raft and go to a magical forest on an island. Its really a ton of fun to write and play with these guys and at this particular show, we have a few suprises in store...
Twenty PS : Emotional, heartfelt, triple guitar threat from my pals Adam, Sean, Jake, and the esteemed Matt Farrish. These guys put together some very nice melodic, electric-acoustic songs that sound fantastic live. Bring tissues.
Ju-Jajuba: This is a band I just formed with Cori. We aim to create evocative, hook laden preschool power pop. (Don't worry we only have one song so far)
The show is basically just for our friends and our friends friends, and we just want to have a good time and hang out while hearing some great tunes from our friends. All are welcome, I think my neighbor Sean is coming, and may do an improv performance at some point...(8 yr old east coast hardcore)...My parents may even make an appearance at some point... It's going to be rediculous. Please come if you can. Even if you hate music, come just to hang out or something. It would mean alot for us to have some people to watch us play a few songs.
Here is a link to a beautiful watercolor joel did, that doubles as a flier for the show: www.geraldandscarlet.blogspot.com.
And here is TwentyPS's purevolume link: www.purevolume.com/twentyps.
And here is a link to Cori's blog which talks about Ju-Jajuba a little more in depth: www.corisgarden.blogspot.com.
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