The Musical Schizo

GO HERE TO READ THIS BLOG...

2011-01-02T23:39:00.000-06:00

I've officially moved over to the blog on my actual site. It's just more flexible. Head on over there, if you dare, and update your bookmarks/favorites!

(like ANYONE would favorite my blog!)

http://www.musicalschizo.com/blog
TMS

Migration...

2011-01-02T01:56:00.002-06:00

I'm going to move this sucker over to my own web server here in a little while and change blog software to something more editable and customizable that works better with multimedia content.

Not just yet, though this blog will exist in both places for the time being.

The new blog (and its permanent home) will be at http://www.musicalschizo.com/blog (how original!)

I'll be redesigning that site soon, and once that's done, that's where this blog will live (not that anyone reads it).

Happy New Year!
TMS

So I've trimmed the list...

2010-12-31T16:09:00.000-06:00

I took "I Know That I Can't" off. It was always kind of on there tentatively, since it's one of my older songs and it's really not all that great. The best thing it has going for it is a little lift to a D augmented chord in the hook of the song (much like what Eddie Money did on "Baby Hold On"), and that's just not enough to get past the crap lyrics I wrote. I was in a phase of writing about guys who aren't good enough (which apparently comes and goes in my writing), and this was one of my lesser attempts at telling that guy's story.

I'm actually hoping to write a few that can replace the older ones, but since my writing has been crippled by my "creative bladder's swollen prostate" (hoping it's not cancer), it's just a trickle these days if at all.

I'm hoping to get 15 songs on the final album (up from the 13 I originally picked), and there are 17 or 18 in contention now, so here we go!

Happy New Year to all!
TMS

New Album Preliminary Track List

2010-12-30T02:35:00.000-06:00

Some demos are present on the site, but many are not. There will be sonic experimentation with some tracks - layering sound and heavy production - while others will remain fairly spare. Anything that serves the song best.

I am SO EXCITED!

Anyway, here's the list of titles (subject to change...):
A Smile
Better Than I Used To Be
On My Birthday
Even If I Don't See You Again
I Know That I Can't
I Want You
I'll Be Fine
Jellybox (Song For You)
Miserable Bastard
My Old Man
Only Just The Start
Send Me Far Away
She's Got It All
The Path Of Eternity
To Be Free
We Really Just Don't Care
Why Didn't You Show?
Without You With Me Tonight

No gigs recently. I'm missing the band camaraderie and general silliness. And the money.

I went to an open mic night tonight and met a local singer/songwriter named Julie Nolen. She was nice. I'll be back out there soon to play some of these songs for people. Now to compile and rehearse these little song bitches so I can determine what I need to do to get them effectively recorded!

Happy New Year to all!
TMS

Announcing the very first official Musical Schizo album...now in pre-production

2010-11-16T22:07:00.000-06:00

Yes, folks, I have decided to shit.

Well, instead of getting off the pot (as the old saying goes)...

I am going to be recording my first album of songs. I've picked what I consider to be my 13 strongest songs to date, and I will be putting together proper recordings of all of them. Hopefully I'll be able to get a real drummer to cut the drum tracks...if not, I might pull a Jason Falkner and just record everything myself.

The album will probably have "Musical Schizo" in the title, and will feature cover art designed by me. It will include an electronic booklet (probably in PDF format) that will contain all lyrics and chords (most musicians don't do that), and credits for all who contributed to the record (of course).

My bet would be that it shifts styles some, since that's what I do, but since most of my strongest material was written on an acoustic guitar, there might be sort of a strummy Americana/roots feel to a lot of it - that might be the way it plays out for cohesiveness' sake. I want it to really "fit".

Some of the songs need some production work, structurally and lyrics-wise, before I record them, but I anticipate a finished product in the spring or early summer of 2011.

When it's done, I'll be releasing it on iTunes and Rhapsody, so you can buy it.

Unlike some people I know who have self-released stuff digitally, mine will be properly mastered and very high quality. I'm going for good songs, recorded beautifully. A little Musical Schizo ear candy, if you will.

So let's see if this goes the way of the never-seeming-to-get-off-the-ground acoustic project...
TMS

Moving the Blues, Opportunity, etc.

2010-11-08T21:15:00.000-06:00

Saturday night I had a great time filling in on bass with Moving Blues at Rabbit's. It was just nice focusing hard on the groove and just worrying about playing bass.

Over the past couple of weeks a few friends of mine in another band previously mentioned on this blog have been asking me if I'd be interested in playing lead guitar with them with this singer-songwriter from a little north of Austin. I listened to the music, and though it's not bad at all, one thing always comes to mind when I explore making music - especially original music - with other people: What about my music? Why don't I focus on doing that instead of learning other people's music. I mean, being in an original band where you're not a songwriter is one step down from cover band. So why would I do that and not be paid for it, and not advance my own writing?

I know the answer I'm going to give them, and I do always appreciate when people are interested in playing with me at all and see some talent here. I just have to do the same thing I did when the guitar seat opened up in that band back in Jacksonville - say "no thanks" and make a commitment to my own music for once.

It's just time. Now that Casey is taking back her drum kit (after almost two years, I might add) I might do a little re-arranging of the studio to better suit my creative needs (and clean the damn thing up - it's a pig sty).

I need to start writing songs again. It's been a long time since I cranked one out.

Maybe I'll go try and do that now...peace to all!
TMS

Excited about the future...

2010-10-25T14:36:00.000-05:00

I really feel like things are going to go pretty well with music. I've come to terms with the limited time that I have to devote to it, come to terms with the reality that Roman Holiday is evolving into something else (which is good), and am super excited about rehearsing my acoustic set. I'm going to be posting a series of videos of me sitting in my bathroom singing songs, just me and a guitar. Mostly covers, but I'll probably throw one or two of my originals in there for fun.

Inspired by the new Steven Page album, "Page One". I really didn't expect it to be as good as it is. I love it. No. I LURVE it.

Okay. Back to work. :)

Peace be the journey...
TMS

Wow...I thought I had been neglecting the blog in my LAST post...

2010-10-15T00:07:00.000-05:00

Apparently it's too difficult for me to remember to write some thoughts here on a regular basis, so I guess a periodic summary will have to suffice.

So this past month has seen more action than earlier months. Greg quit the band. Fortunately we've got Lee to help us out with bookings. He's in if he wants to be. This lineup played a fraternity party over at UT that was a combination of nightmare and fun. Nightmare for all the surrounding stuff, fun for all the playing.

Just last weekend was one of my best weekends in a very long time, music-wise. I got to play a GUITAR gig. No singing necessary/required, just fill in, play guitar and try not to suck. I sucked a little at first, but once I calmed down, it was a blast. Truly an enjoyable experience. Made me realize I need more reliable equipment, though.

Then I got to see Muse play live at the Austin City Limits Festival. It was awesome from beginning to end. A truly transcendent experience for me.

Outside of all that happiness, more parties and frat parties on the horizon for the new Roman Holiday. Which is EXCITING. Kind of. Definitely need to get the acoustic shit or some sort of guitar gig going, though.

And even better - a dude was selling a Tascam 464 Portastudio on Craigslist for $50, and I snagged it. It's the same exact model Portastudio my brother had that I used back in the olden days when I had no life and could record stuff all the time.

I've been going through and transferring the OLD 4-track stuff to digital.

Here is a sample.

Take care and be well!
TMS

So I've been neglecting this site for a while...

2010-08-29T10:21:00.000-05:00

And it has a lot to do with what's going on in my musical life - just endless uncertainty.

Roman Holiday is on life support - we're trying to get some gigs and not meeting with great success. We did have a really fun "last gig" at the wedding we played on August 14th, and we committed to continuing, which is great, but so far we haven't been able to lock anything down.

I auditioned with another band that is losing their bassist - my friends in UNB (who I may or may not have mentioned before on here). The rehearsal didn't go all that well, not terrible, and it got better as we got more comfortable with one another, but it made me think about what I really want to do with music, and I respectfully pulled myself out of the running because I've come to the realization that I don't really know what the hell I want to do with music. And there was no way I was going to lead them on when they need to find someone just right for their band who would be completely focused and dedicated to it.

Now, to outline my indecision:

I've been talking about doing an acoustic show for a while, and I'm now going to start putting it together. My lovely wife enabled me to get a Digitech JamMan Stereo looper pedal, and I'm going to establish a set list, record some patterns into the looper and play around with it to see if I can get good at using it, and start finding venues where I can play. I know I'll do a fun show that people will enjoy. I'm going to have to start listening to and learning more modern pop music so that the random request off Top 40 radio can be played, but the staples of my set will be everything from the 60s to today - many great songs, many great sing-along songs. I'm even going to do the full version of "American Pie" and maybe even "Hotel California" (complete with guitar solo) and possibly "Stairway To Heaven". We shall see...but I'm excited.

Another thing that I've been wanting to do is to play original music and put together a great band for that purpose. That is very possibly coming as well. There's a great multi-instrumentalist/songwriter guy that I want to work with and I think we're going to do a sort of "Sloan" thing where we recruit other guys who write and form a sort of songwriting/performing collective where we all play each others songs. That's still up in the air, but we had a nice chat about it the other day, and I think there's a good possibility that we'll get something together and have something memorable to show for it.

I also have a potential 80s band in the works - that one will be musically very strong when it's ready, and will focus on 80s pop music with lots of delicious synthyness.

I'm excited about all this stuff - and even if only one of the things comes to fruition, it'd be good because there'd be something new.

And I hope that we're able to keep things going with RH...it's so much fun.

I'm going to start posting youtube videos soon of my goofy takes on stuff. There's one up there now from a while back.

See you around the bend!
TMS

Worst. Gig. Ever.

2010-06-13T23:25:00.006-05:00

I never want to have an experience like Saturday night again. It's the kind of show that makes you quit performing music.

No crowd, middle of nowhere, wrong band for the venue, sequestered in the un-air-conditioned outside part of the venue where no one wanted to go because it was too fucking hot and humid, plus the owner wasn't pleased with us because of hearsay and ignorance (she didn't know that when we were sounding unrehearsed it was to make her customers who were outside with us happy by playing their requests).

Look - I know we suck sometimes. I have limits as a singer and I own them. My voice doesn't always do what I want it to do. When it's humid and moldy outside, I sometimes have no idea what my voice will do. But that's not most of the time...it's occasionally. For the most part, we didn't suck on Saturday, and we're not a band that ignores our crowd and just does "our show". We asked them what they wanted to hear, then tried to give it to them. I even learned a song between sets just for a couple of guys in the crowd who wanted to hear it. It just happens that some ignorant assholes inside didn't like that, and didn't understand what was going on, so they verbalized their frustration with us to the management who was then looking for any moment devoid of perfection which colored their opinion of us. And the tactless way the owner approached us with her concerns is one for the ages, flying off half-cocked with basically no understanding of what was happening. Sad.

We had a small, strong group of people who loved us and stayed the whole show, even though they hung out in the inside portion most of the time. On most nights, that would have made it worth it, but Saturday was not like most nights.

We are a PLEASER band. We do whatever we can to please the people we're playing to...and it went and bit us in the ass on Saturday night.

Might be time to reconsider that and start just doing whatever WE want to do...or time to give up and move on to something else in music.

The gig is probably tied with one I played in Slaphappy (South Street) for my worst gig ever. I'm glad it took seven years for it to happen again, and I hope it's at least another seven before I have to go through a night like Saturday, if ever.

Love to all,
TMS

Music in May for Le Schizo

2010-06-01T21:00:00.000-05:00

So the past month has been hit-or-miss active for me, music-wise. But mostly really fun!

On May 5th the cover band (Roman Holiday) played a Cinco De Mayo show at Pappasito's and it was really good and fun. Definitely made up for how much we sucked ass last year when we played their event.

Then we didn't do much for a while, partially because I was in Jacksonville, FL, where on May 14th I played a little acoustic show with my good buddy Dennis and we reunited 3/4ths of our old cover band from there, Slaphappy (Brent joined us as well). It was weird only because I've conditioned myself to sing everything 1/2-step down, so a lot of the keys were trickier to find than usual. But overall, it was a BLAST and made me sad that we don't live closer, because we'd have a killer acoustic duo. Joy!

I came back to town to some drama, but we cleared it up and played a show at Johnny Fin's on the lake on May 22nd. It was a pretty good show - the sound on stage was great (helped by my resurrected Carvin PM15A speaker), and we played well as a result, even though my voice was all over the place due to an upper respiratory thing. The crowd was pretty typical for the venue - tepid and asking for music we don't play. One part of the show that was particularly awesome was when I got to play guitar on "Rebel Yell" and "Crazy Train" - I went completely apeshit on those two in the solos and amused myself. We got our biggest crowd reaction from that part of the show, which was weird - they were even cheering me along DURING the song. Another weird point - the song that brought people onto the dance floor was "Semi-Charmed Life" by Third Eye Blind. Seriously. Not "Super Freak", not "Brick House" or "Play That Funky Music". Fucking Semi-Charmed. Go figure.

Before that show, I was called to fill in for the missing bass player of a band at Latitude 30 on Thursday the 20th. It was an adventure learning the songs as I played them (well, only in a few cases - I knew most of the songs), and I had fun playing with the drummer. Working out some creative interplay is always sweet - and he's great because he's always listening.

I look forward to Roman Holiday's June shows and the fact that both our Marble Falls venue "The Sports Arena" and our Killeen venue "The Duckhorn Tavern" are coming back on our schedule. Now if we could only find someplace awesome in Austin where all our local friends could come see us play...

Oh, and I've decided that I am definitely going to be putting together a set/song list for my acoustic show. At least then I'll have an established repertoire that I can use when I play those shows (if I ever get around to booking them).

Peace to all!
TMS

Killeen show 4/23

2010-04-24T10:44:00.002-05:00

Ho-ly crap.

Though we were sloppy and the crowd was mostly sort of occupied with other things, it was pretty fun.

It's kind of amazing how just a little bit of alcohol can make your fingers not work.
It's less amazing how a little more than a little bit of alcohol can make your fingers REALLY not work. Yeah, that was me last night.

My bass playing/singing-at-the-same-time skills suffered.

And yet, I played guitar and sang better than I had at any other show. Weird.

Anyway, it was a fun show, I'm not hungover, which is AWESOME (though I am tired), and I think all three of us realized how much fun we have playing together. Just endless silliness.

Thanks to Paula and the Duckhorn staff for being cool to us, our best fan for hanging out all night, and from me to the rest of the fellas - I love you gahz.

And on a completely unrelated note, I give you this, for a little Saturday listening: We Really Just Don't Care

It's one of my original songs.
TMS

Exciting news from the world of me

2010-04-17T01:29:00.003-05:00

Okay, not really, but I did find this one amusing:

Someone on the Jacksonville Craigslist asked about Slaphappy (like "whatever happened to...") It prompted a couple of responses, both complementary, that detailed what we've been up to, and one even linked to the Roman Holiday page.

I didn't think anyone would even remember that band. Anyway...

Haven't been writing much - I did put together a few musical bits I might turn into songs at some point. Two of them I LOVE - just finding the right melody and vibe for the other parts of the song will be the key.

Things are weird in Roman Holiday land, because Greg's been busy with the other band and we haven't been busy at all. Also Ned moved to Bum Fuck Egypt (which is an actual place near Lakeway, TX, apparently). We did play a fraternity gig last weekend that was fun but sort of rough because the party was pretty dead (it was a WEIRD night...)

More to come in the ensuing weeks. Next Friday we're back in Killeen, so it should be fun. That's all for now...much love!
TMS

Inching closer to my goal...

2010-03-04T22:05:00.002-06:00

Started spending at least a little time every night tinkering with music - either writing something new or revising something old.

I really need to just pick 15 songs that I want to record, get some proper recordings of them, and put together a digital album I can sell. Finally...

I really really badly want an electronic drum kit now. I have nowhere to put it, but I want it. I just figured I'd share.

Hopefully moving the acoustic drums that aren't mine up to Ned's place soon. I'm tired of them being here simply because I haven't really been able to enjoy having a nice drum kit around (no space, too loud for the boy (who has autism)).

Very few Roman Holiday gigs on the horizon, but the other two thirds of the band is doing a great job at exploring opportunities. I've done jack shit except come up with some ideas for new songs.

I really wish I knew of some really good cover band bars that will actually pay so we could have a more consistent schedule.

And I'm dying to play an acoustic show. In fact, I really wish I had a place to go so I could just sing through all the songs in my books. I'm going to go learn some more acoustic songs now.

Later!
TMS

NEW SONG DAY!

2010-02-24T00:53:00.004-06:00

I wrote a new song. The first one for 2010. Hopefully not the last one for 2010!

Anyway, here it is:
To Be Free - Stream MP3 - Get MP3 - About

I hope you enjoy it.
TMS

Self-criticism follows. Do not read if you don't want to hear me whine.
My apologies for the mix. I had to mix it late at night when everyone was asleep. Actually, the singing would have been better, too, if I really could have belted it out. Actually this is just weak, and I'm only sharing it because I'm thrilled I actually fucking wrote something!

Random thoughts. Try not to make sense of it.

2010-02-16T11:01:00.003-06:00

So I was trolling the Craigslist ads yesterday, and I saw an ad for a riff-rock band looking for a bassist. I listened to their music, and it was okay. I didn't love it. The sound quality was pretty weak.

Then I was watching a Radiohead concert on DirecTV that they did in a studio. It reminded me why I don't like Radiohead, but sonically it was great. The bass sounds and overall textures were beautiful, even if the songs were repetitive, droning and just flat out boring.

It just made me think about how I haven't managed to do anything with MY music. No proper studio recordings, certain songs barely even have recorded demos. It got me really wanting to get something together.

Saturday night I went to a show that my friend's band was playing. They got me up to play a few songs, I met their new drummer (who is awesome, even if he didn't know all their material), and had fun.

Ned (Roman Holiday guitarist) just moved into a new place up near Lake Travis where he's going to set up a jam room with PA. I think that will be good, because we can have proper band practices in a place where we don't have to pay and we can just hang out without being annoyed by the shitty, bitchy customer service at the local rehearsal place where all the out-of-tune metal bands will be playing next door at full volume in tiny rooms.

Bought Sloan's "B Sides Win" compilation album. I don't love them as much as I once did (especially in the One Chord->Navy Blues->Between The Bridges era), but I still enjoy hearing new music from them, even if it's not new music.

Listened to Butch Walker's new record "I Liked It Better When You Had No Heart". I enjoyed it immensely. Must buy it when it comes out...you should, too, if you like hooky rocking power pop music. Butch has gotten more into folky americana textures these days than in the past, but it's still great.

Also - tired of people who lie to themselves to maintain a fictional understanding of the past. Face the truth. Let it set you free.

That is all for now. Peace and love and good happiness stuff...
TMS

Weirdness

2010-01-26T21:33:00.002-06:00

Sometimes I just feel off, musically. We played a show in Killeen last Friday and I was really just not right at times - like I was sort of learning how to do things that I already knew how to do and had done tons of times.

It doesn't exactly create self-confidence to not really know what your limbs or voice are going to do when you give them the same message you've given them hundreds of times. It was weird.

I feel better now, but I still don't get it. Maybe I'm just overly stressed and my neurons aren't firing as cleanly as before. Either way, we have a weekend off to collect our thoughts, and then we're going to be doing our first "two night stand" in as long as I can remember with this band up in Marble Falls. I'm going to figure out a way to record the show this time. I just bought an 8GB SD card for my Zoom Q3 video camera, and I'm going to figure out a way to rig it so it captures the stage and you can really see our show.

Once those videos are done, I'll edit them in Vegas and post them here. Hooray!

For now, I might just record an acoustic song and post it. Hmmm...perhaps the next post will be a link to a YouTube video. We shall see...
TMS

New Year's Eve - 2010 musings...

2010-01-01T22:11:00.002-06:00

Last night had a great show for the Rockdale Chamber of Commerce's New Year's Eve party. It was so much fun playing in a big hall like that. Broke my headset mic, but it happens.

Now for 2010, musically. Ten things. For this year, I plan to:
1. Start using my Zoom Q3 to record videos of me playing my songs solo and acoustic.
2. Start using the same Zoom Q3 to record videos of me playing cover songs solo and acoustic.
3. Start using the now oft-mentioned Zoom Q3 to record videos of the band so we can truly know what sucks and needs to improve in our live show.
4. Write more songs. One a month at the very least.
5. Master MIDI and using virtual instruments in ACID.
6. Start another fun project - one that exists without a profit motive that will just play whatever the fuck it wants to. It will be good because I will be in it.
7. Realize that #6 sounds egotistical, but like Dizzy Dean said, "It ain't braggin' if you can back it up."
8. Realize that even with #7 as justification, I'm not comfortable with that sort of arrogant confidence, and I will retreat from that statement and re-state my intent with the last line of #6: It won't completely suck because I'm in it.
9. I will take a more active role in getting the main band marketed effectively.
10. I will learn all the words to all the songs we play and be so good at them I won't even bring my book to shows anymore.

Happy New Year from me, your humble Musical Schizo!
TMS

Blues gig good...

2009-12-07T23:14:00.002-06:00

I had a great time playing with Moving Blues last Sunday (11/29).

I had fun having a little "bass practice" with Ned yesterday (12/6).

This Friday (12/11) Roman Holiday plays up in Killeen at our "home bar", The Duckhorn Tavern at the Killeen Mall. It should be fun.

As for other aspects of my musical life, well, there haven't been any. My non-musical life has trumped it all these past few weeks.

Hopefully I can get back to practicing and writing stuff at some point in the future.

That would be nice.

The Musical Schizo Plays The Blues

2009-11-25T13:24:00.002-06:00

This weekend at Rabbit's - Sunday night at 9pm I'm filling in on bass with Moving Blues for a benefit show. Come out and check us out - East 6th Street and Chicon.

Roman Holiday had a good show this past weekend, though I think I need to sit down with Mr. Ned and teach him how to play bass better. We aren't booked very much, but everything coming up is good for us, so here's hoping we can add to it.

Still going to figure out another musical venture that involves me playing guitar, whether it be the always-talked-about, never-realized acoustic act or another power trio with me on guitar.

We shall see. Come see the blues show - show up early for some really great blues on Sunday, then you can watch me guess my way through a show!

MUSE-ic is the best.

2009-10-22T20:03:00.004-05:00

I've been inspired by a few dorks from Teignmouth.

The new Muse record, "The Resistance" came out recently, and I've been wearing it out.

I just love their complete abandon, stylistically, and their willingness to pretty much try anything that suits them. It WORKS on this record.

And so, it's inspired me to remember what's important to me where music is concerned: Fun!

Taking that brave leap and writing a sexy electro-R&B song with slap bass even if you're a progressive rock band known more for distorted bass lines under soaring guitar and operatic vocals. Unabashedly aping Queen's "massive choral harmonies and orchestral-sounding harmonized guitar parts". It's just great stuff, and all done well.

I've always been a bit of a genre-bender, at least in spirit, so for me, The Musical Schizo, this is MY prog band right now.

So thank you, Muse (Matt, Chris, and Dominic) for making a record that really touched me and reminded me what's important.

I think I'm going to go record a song right now. We'll see if I post it...

Happenings...

2009-09-29T11:32:00.003-05:00

Had a great (though too sunny) show at Lake Belton for the 3rd Cavalry and their families. It was cool. Big props to George and John at Veteran Sound (www.veteransound.com) for their great work. Also to the Army for having us. It was truly an honor.

Had a less great show two weeks prior at Hayashi. Well, the show was great, but a discussion about our fee after the show soured the night. We won't be back there, not because we don't like the place, but apparently we're too expensive, even with the discount we gave them.

We've been playing "Rebel Yell" at the shows, with me on Ned's guitar (and him on my bass). It's been pretty fun, but it's still weird because I'm just not really used to playing his guitars. They feel weird to me, especially after playing a bass for the rest of the show. It's harder to play and sing than I remembered, but only from a rhythmic standpoint - I can get through every part, it's just kind of pat-head-rub-belly at times.

On the songwriting front, I wrote a chord progression yesterday, and had some ideas for a melody, which is good. I also recorded some drums just for fun and they ended up sounding pretty decent despite my crappy playing. I definitely need to plan out times when I can cut real drum tracks for all my songs. That would be splendid.

I think I just need to start writing as much as possible again. The juices need to be kickstarted to flow, and they just haven't been.

And away we go! Roman Holiday's got some time off now, perhaps we'll schedule a rehearsal or two. Or not...

So what's the word this week...

2009-09-07T21:17:00.003-05:00

Mother Nature is a cruel BITCH.

Our gig on Friday got rained out. In the driest summer in recent Austin history (AFAIK). First a light sprinkle that didn't seem like it was going to lead to anything that lasted for a while, then slightly more driving rain, followed by immediate deluge, Florida-style. We were set up outside on a deck next to a pool in a really dangerous thunderstorm. Needless to say, lightning hit really close, scaring the shit out of us more than once.

Seems like everything's okay - we went to a dry garage (thank you Greg) and toweled everything down. Fortunately it's supposed to be really hot all week, so the stuff should dry out well.

My biggest bummer was not getting to use my new bass. I got a great deal on a used Carvin B5 bass, and so far, at least at home, I'm loving the thing. It's a little "loved" (way more loved than I expected based on the pictures on Craigslist), but worth the money I spent on it, for sure. It's light, very flexible in tone, and an utter joy to play. Here are some pictures:

Public gig this Saturday night at Hayashi up in Cedar Park...it should be a gas!
TMS

So I'm gonna jam with a different band...

2009-08-19T17:11:00.003-05:00

It should be fun.

It's definitely made me realize that I'd really like to get another band going to play maybe once a month or so, booked around Roman Holiday. I'll probably play guitar and sing lead in the new band, which will most likely be a trio (to keep it lucrative), and most likely feature a lot of different songs than we play with Roman Holiday.

More liberties will be taken with song selection, though many of the usual suspects will appear. And my original songs (at least a few of them) will be part of the repertoire.

I'm not sure who else will be in the band with me, but we're going to work that part out before the end of the year and hopefully get the band up to speed and ready to gig by early next year.

Time to put on my big boy pants and take control of something for a change.

Of course, we all know (from reading this blog) that it will not happen, since I haven't managed to get my acoustic act (which is just ME (!)) up and running, either.

But you never know...
TMS

Cancellations, frustrations, machinations...

2009-07-25T10:21:00.003-05:00

Cancellations:
So the two gigs I previewed in my last post, the apartment party on 7/16 and the Tilted Kilt gig on 7/18 were cancelled. The apartment party because Greg was still recovering, and the Tilted Kilt because they had new owners. So all gigs with them are cancelled, meaning we don't have another public show until - get this - SEPTEMBER!

Which is fine by me. Public shows are nice to have friends come, but they tend to pay really crappy.

Frustrations:
Not enough time to write music or do anything creative musically, and even less inspiration right now. I don't know why this is, but it's extremely frustrating.

Machinations:
The tracks are coming along well - we should be ready to go with at least five of them at the next show. It's exciting...and scary. And I need to invest in some really good rechargeable 9v batteries, because buying them over and over is not only environmentally insane, but EXPENSIVE.

Peace!
TMS

H1N1? Seriously?!!

2009-07-13T00:14:00.003-05:00

So in the past couple of weeks, here's been the deal with the band:

Scene One:
We played up in Killeen, and saw a lot of our favorite people from up there - both the awesome staff (including the great waitress-who-I-managed-to-forget-her-name but who decided to actually work on her day off because WE were playing), and our great friends/fans who made the trip up there. It was a fun show, though a little weird.

Scene Two:
We played a 4th of July party for the same awesome lady who hired us last year - but this year was a little fucked up. Why? Well, Greg had just returned from a trip to Florida to take a cruise with family, and it seemed like he had a good time but was a little under the weather. Add his "coming down with something" to the BLISTERING heat (it was 104 degrees that day), the fact that our covered stage was situated facing the setting sun, a few unfortunate hot dogs, and well, it was a rough night. Oh, and did I mention what it turned out Greg had? A little thing most people know as "swine flu" - H1N1. He's been sick all week, sometimes worse, sometimes better, but he's going to be okay. I feel horrible for him, but I'm thankful I didn't get it. Fortunately he had basically zero contact with people at the party (he was usually off laying in the trailer, trying to save energy to finish the show, which he did as much as he could, and he's a real trouper.

A nice side note was that while he was tearing down his stuff, I kept playing - did acoustic solo stuff for the remainder of the show. Here's what I played:
Don't Stop Believin'
Hotel California
Baby One More Time
Cheap Sunglasses
Brown Eyed Girl
and maybe a few others - I can't remember.

It was fun, and people really enjoyed it (from what I could gather).

Scene Three:
Because of Greg's illness, we were left sort of scrambling for someone to be at the ready for this weekend's big wedding gig - it was a big payer for a kind of high-profile person - so we wanted to make sure the show could go on even if Greg was still too sick. Enter (or more appropriately, RE-enter) Rob Wade.

Yes, our dear departed drummer Rob came through for us this weekend - we called him early in the week to find out if it was even possible for him to make the trek to Austin to come play with us if necessary. As it turned out, he was available - and actually excited at the prospect of playing a show again. The money didn't hurt, either. So Ned sent him the setlist and he got to work, and we hoped Greg got better, happy to have a great back-up plan. Come Thursday, Greg's fever came back a little, so we had him make the call, and he said to get Rob to do it. So having no idea what to expect from a guy we hadn't played with in over a year, who really hadn't been playing all that much himself since he moved from Austin, we nervously all got set up for the show. We ran through a few songs as a sound check at the beginning, and it went surprisingly well. Save for a few moments during the show, no one who even sees us regularly would have any clue that this wasn't the "regular" band. Rob did an EXCELLENT job, and the couple who hired us were VERY pleased with our performance. Greg's still recovering (baby steps), and we hope he's all better soon.

For a variety of reasons, we're still not running the backing tracks yet, but they are coming. And if things go well enough, we'll be identifying more songs that could use the help and just fleshing it all out. I plan on tracking bass and backing vox on the "acoustic" songs I do with the band, and we'll go from there.

Thanks to Greg for trying so hard even though he's suffering from our current plague, to Rob for driving all the way down here to play with us again (and for investing the individual practice time to get everything together this past week), and to our clients for being so awesome to us. Honorable mention goes to the staff at the Stephen F. Austin Intercontinental Hotel for being great, too.

Public gig at Tilted Kilt on 7/18 (come see my ever-so-sexy headset mic). Private party at some apartment complex (I don't know which one) on 7/16.

And I am really going to start booking my acoustic show. After sitting in with Alon and half of "More Cowbell" last Tuesday at Molotov, I find it just stupid that I'm not doing that. I LOVE just strumming a guitar and singing - I love the creativity involved in coming up with interesting ways to flesh out arrangements of songs with just one guitar and one voice. It's rad, and I'm actually pretty damn good at it.

It's a gift, and I find it sort of shameful that I don't share it with more people (and have them pay me for it...)

Until the next outbreak...
TMS

The Tracks cause me tears...

2009-05-28T17:16:00.002-05:00

Roman Holiday is becoming a robo-band, at least partially.

Yes, we're acknowledging our shortcomings on certain songs and fortifying our performance with some backing tracks.

I'm not sure if I'm happy with the concept, because I feel like tracks are better as an all-or-nothing proposition. But I'm not sure what it's going to mean or how it's going to work for this band.

I think (sub?)consciously I'm really frustrated with my current situation, because almost everything we do engenders some sort of negative reaction in my brain, usually leading me to shooting off a semi-pissy e-mail. I'm just now recognizing this, although it's been going on for a long time. I don't know why, because I do like these guys, and I like the songs we play, and I like playing bass and singing lead. I just have this weird chip on my shoulder about all of it. Maybe my previous blogs about being burned out were manifestations of these same feelings.

I feel like a psycho, because it's almost like I'm denying something just to deny it, but I like it, but when I think of doing anything else I hate those ideas even though they seem appealing, too.

I think it's just facing what change would mean: a lot more work.

Which brings it back to the tracks - I think the fact that now I'm not allowed to mess up and come back around on the tracked tunes makes me realize I have homework to do so that doesn't happen, and I guess I hate the fact I have homework.

I've always thought I really had something to say as a songwriter or an artist, and as I get older, I just feel like I don't, mostly because I don't allow myself the luxury of concentrating on writing songs and creating stories or messages through music. Recently I've been more satisfied just parroting other crap and noodling around.

I'm such a whiny titty baby.
TMS

Thank you, Butch Walker...

2009-05-21T10:35:00.003-05:00

for reminding me that music should be about fun and passion. The show at Stubb's last night was loose in composition, but really tight in performance. I love it when a band is really loose with the stage show and song selection, but super tight when they're playing together...and that's how his band was last night.

Special kudos to Ponderosa for taking the blues and rocking it HARD.

And shame on American pop culture for not recognizing how great Butch is. You are truly missing out.

So, things have gotten a little bit better...

2009-05-18T16:20:00.003-05:00

The band has played a few decent gigs since the debacle that was Pappacito's. We're still figuring out how to move ourselves in a more fun direction, since the stuff we've been playing is getting kind of stale for all of us.

I've actually grown tired of making the set lists, so I'm going to ask the other fellas if they'll make them for a while.

I finally tweaked my Variax so that it's not too loud and sounds more authentic as a 12-string. It really helps on the two acoustic songs we do, since both were originally played with 12-string acoustics.

I definitely need to find an outlet for playing guitar soon, though. It might mean that the Acoustical Schizo (www.myspace.com/acousticalschizo) comes to life. We're so absurdly booked for the summer that I think I'd get it together just in time to book some dates in August and September. I might see if Dave can hook me up to play a few solo acoustic shows at Latitude 30, just to warm up the material in front of an audience. I'm having a hard time finding regular acoustic venues.

We'll see what happens. This coming weekend we're doing a sonic overhaul to Roman Holiday's PA - organizing it, getting really good monitor mixes without feedback, and basically putting together a system to make load-in and load-out easier (including labeling everything). I find that stuff fun, so that's cool.

We have received regular bookings for the summer at a few places, including Hayashi Sushi Grille in Cedar Park and The Tilted Kilt in Round Rock, so we have some public shows - yay!

I do dig the private parties a little more, though, most of the time, because the load-ins are usually easier and the pay is pretty much double on average.

No gig this weekend, but we're at a new venue (for us) in Pflugerville called "Hanover's" - they have their own house PA and pay a sound dude (I think) so we should be in good shape playing there. I don't anticipate a return gig there, because I don't trust all our peeps to show up, but we're going to have as much fun with it as possible.

Until the next time...

Feeling a teeny bit better about things

2009-04-29T14:09:00.004-05:00

So a few days ago I posted a big, whiny "I think I'm burned out" blog, and it was precisely true to my emotions that day. I still sort of feel burned out, but I think that has more to do with how constrained our playlist feels than anything. I need to play some more new songs, and the ones we've been adding just haven't been dazzling me. "Walk This Way" sounded pretty weak the one time we tried to play it (who knows, it could get better), and we haven't even really tried the other two ("We're Not Gonna Take It" and "Livin' On A Prayer"). Plus we're learning "La Bamba" and "Tequila" for our Cinco De Mayo gig. How original. Any-way...

I did spend some time in the studio and recorded a little demo of a previously unrecorded old song of mine. It's super rough, but I figured I'd share it:
She's Got It All - Stream
She's Got It All - Download mp3
She's Got It All - Info about the song

I really need to get back to writing. I think that will solve a lot of my "issues".

I was also considering asking my friend mAndy (she likes to spell it that way) if she'd be interested in starting a little fun duo thing. I don't know if she has the time or interest, but I'm fairly certain she doesn't read my blog, so I can talk about it here before I ask.

She's a really talented singer who can play a bunch of other instruments. Along with me, I think we have the voices and arms to be able to cover a lot of sonic ground and still keep it really fun for the crowd. I actually asked her if she'd want to play with the full band a while back, but she thought that might be bad (too many conflicts with her band UNB), and before that, we were going to try an acoustic thing that never really panned out.

Regardless, my wife's been pushing me to ask her to do something, since we both (me and mAndy) will play pretty much any song and I think our voices will work well together.

We'll see what comes of it. She might not be interested, or might be too busy, or something else, but it never hurts to ask.

I think I'm going to start figuring out which venues have acoustic acts and call them to book some shows as a solo. If stuff works out with mAndy, maybe I can convince them to pay a little more for a duo.

Come see me play these next few weeks - 5/1 at Hayashi in Cedar Park (on 1431), 5/5 at Pappasito's (on I-35, I think), and 5/8 at The Tilted Kilt in Round Rock.

Burnout

2009-04-21T23:35:00.003-05:00

I think it's finally happened. I'm actually burned out.

I can do music, but I feel particularly uninspired these days. No writing, no creating, no real connection to anything I hear. I am even wondering if it's just a phase, or if I've crossed over into "go through the motions"-land.

I hope not. I play in a good band, with two gentlemen I really like. I am always praised for my singing and playing (probably because no matter how I'm feeling, I act as though it's the last show I'm ever going to get to play). We just played an awesome wedding at the Trois Estate north of Fredericksburg. All good shit with music. New venues, new opportunities, new songs...and just a blah feeling from me about all of it.

I think it might just come down to this: I feel constrained.

Constrained by the fact that Ned isn't a walking encyclopedia of songs (not even the songs we've played in the past because of his lack of memory).
Constrained by the fact that I have to drive all the way up to Round Rock to practice (which makes them impractical).
Constrained by my inability to manage time well enough to feel like I'm forging the close relationships with my wife and kids I want while also satisfying that artist in me who is crying out to create something, internalizing all that frustration and pain and not turning it into something productive.
Constrained by not having someone who has my same weird, diverse-but-still-sort-of-mainstream feelings about music or my same desire to create both the perfect Beatles-esque pop song, a ripping, angry punk song, a thrashy metal tune, and cutting the funkiest, most dirty groove.

I feel like I need a musical counterpart. As much as I've found a lot of musicians I admire and would collaborate with any time, I really don't have one. I don't know anyone who has the same affection for Rush, Van Halen, Green Day, Zappa, Sloan, Jellyfish, The Meters, Chicago, Billy Joel, Anthrax, Living Colour, Led Zeppelin, Extreme, King's X, The Beatles, The Beach Boys, Grand Funk, Dave Brubeck, Motown, Stax, Operation Ivy, Reel Big Fish, Katy Perry, Butch Walker, early Wilco...you get the picture.

I have a feeling that unless something just happens, I'm not going to have an opportunity to ever really find one, because I just feel I can't invest the time in that sort of selfish pursuit. I feel it's unfair to my family.

So I think this constraint is more internal than external. It has everything to do with how I've lived my life. The endless conflict between the worldview of the obsessive artist - the loner who needs to concentrate to create - and the responsible member of society, making a contribution, dutiful to their responsibilities, not chasing their fanciful dreams.

Okay, now I'm going to cry - this cuts too close to the bone for me. This was meant as more of a "thinking it out as you write" thing, so of course I had to travel through a range of feelings to reach any sort of conclusions.

And here's my conclusion/plan for a resolution:
-I'm going to start to allow myself a little time each night to focus solely on musical pursuits. I'll do it when the children and wife have gone to sleep so as to not take away from potential time with them.
-I'll fight the feelings of burnout by finding new ways to enjoy what I'm doing (maybe play around with settings or something).
-I'm going to really focus on my music - improving what I've got and creating new music and hopefully finding some like-minded people here in Austin to play it with me. Hopefully the drum throne in this new endeavor (which will include me on vocals and guitar) will be occupied by Greg from Roman Holiday - he's got such a healthy attitude about music I still can't believe we ever considered anyone else after Rob left.

And if nothing comes of any of it, here's hoping it doesn't turn me into a cynical sourpuss who wants to sell all his gear and quit because he's never going to have the time to do it the way he wants to do it.

Love and funk,
TMS

I recorded something!

2009-02-21T00:44:00.004-06:00

I spent a few hours in the studio tonight...this is the result, a song I've "cleverly" titled "Miner Fusion":
Download it
Stream it

More information about the tune (the nerdy info) can be found here.

I think it sounds pretty cool, even though it's just one of my instrumental experiments.

Last week I also wrote and recorded a song about a son's love for his dad called "My Old Man", but I haven't quite finished it yet, so I'm not posting it.

You can always find my latest music at www.musicalschizo.com

Gut check

2009-02-03T17:27:00.002-06:00

I've heard this phrase at other times, mostly in the context of sports, but I've really done a musical "gut check" and decided that there are ways that I do my job as a singer/bassist that I view as wrong. It's always a challenge to be an instrumentalist and front a band, I think moreso on bass, personally, but in all cases it can be a real challenge to balance getting everything right with putting on a good show.

For this reason, I've always carried a meticulously-kept lyric book and a nondescript-but-tough music stand to my shows. I have an incredible tendency toward brain farts when I'm concentrating so hard on multiple things at a time.

The truth is, though, I do know just about everything that's in the book, and I rarely need to look at it. I actually keep the book in line with my bass' neck so that it just looks like I'm looking at my hand when I'm eyeing the lyric sheets.

I also like being able to cover songs that I haven't done enough times to have memorized completely. It really expands the repertoire without the investment of too much time in rehearsal for things that aren't a regular part of the show.

There are a lot of musician Nazis out there who are against music stands in all circumstances - that you should have everything memorized. Most of them are not singers, and most of them do not have to know over 100 songs.

Even seasoned pros who wrote their own songs (like Michael Stipe, for instance) will use lyric sheets from time to time to get themselves through older songs they don't do all the time. And that's usually bands who in their entire history have around 100 songs. I've learned over 400 songs for the different bands I've played in, not all on vocals, but it amazes me how easy it is for me to remember the intricate musical details of a song even when just about all the lyrics escape me.

And then there are songs that I played for a short period of time that I've internalized so well that I can play them without any assistance.

So (sorry for the roundabout way I've arrived at this), I've performed a musical gut check. I CAN know everything and not need a sheet to help me. I AM capable of it.

I just need to make it happen, and it shouldn't be all that hard. It's just a matter of playing the songs enough times for the arrangement and lyrics and my bass parts to merge together to reinforce each other as one solid memory.

This is why I can still do "Surrender" any time I want, even though we only played that for about 6 months back in 1999-2000. Or why I was able to get through "Centerfold" with no lyrics at practice one time. Simply experience. I put in the time with those songs, and they were songs I already loved.

I can do that with everything on our list, and I will, and I think it's time to take the band (Roman Holiday) in the direction of putting songs together as part of a bunch of mini-shows - rehearse transitions and ways to polish what is already a pretty damn good product. If we do this successfully, then we can move to bringing in some more elements and expanding our sound.

Thanks for your patience.

Cedar Street

2009-01-21T21:31:00.003-06:00

Played there Sunday with the Roman Holiday fellas.

Friends David and Caleb from The Empire came out (along with Dave's cool roomie). They hung around for about one set...it was the 80s pop/80s hair band set. No idea what they thought - still haven't heard the post-mortem from Dave.

Sound was great - big thanks to Gregg. He was very complimentary about my skills as a singer and bassist. I'm such a good faker.

I appreciated the kind words...ego boosts are nice. Sennheiser Wireless was excellent...I've got to start using that more often. Might be time to pick up a wireless headset mic just to be more active and crazy on stage. It might be too "Garth Brooks", though. Headset mics are not very rock. Ah, well.

Thinking about doing something else so I can play guitar...I don't know what it will be...but we shall see. I like bass, but it's time to play guitar...even if it's acoustic.

I will make that mention in every blog from now until it happens...about the acoustic thing. I'm so pathetic. Rock on!

It's been interesting...

2009-01-15T09:50:00.003-06:00

As Ned has built the light show for Roman Holiday, we're really starting to look as professional as we now sound. Don't believe me? Listen here: Roman Holiday's new demo reel.

We shot video and audio at our La Zona Rosa private party back in November (Happy Birthday to John), and the audio came out great, but the video looks kind of lame. I'm going to go through it and find some good clips to use - I'll probably edit the video to match the demo reel as it is and post that to Vimeo or YouTube or something.

Anyway, the band's back at Cedar Street for the first time in over a year this coming Sunday, and though we're not looking forward to the meager payday (we usually make a lot more money), we're hoping they realize how good we actually are and give us the chance to play on better nights and pay us better. It's a fun venue when the weather is nice, and the people who work there are great.

The calendar's looking kind of empty, unfortunately, but we've really been fortunate and we look forward to any surprise bookings we may get (because they seem to happen more often than we expect).

I'm a broken record, but I'm really excited about the prospect of finally getting my acoustic thing together. I have a song list (it's HUGE) and a song book so that I can play requests and stuff. I'll probably print up complete song lists for people to peruse at the show in case they want to throw in some money and make a request. Now I just need to find some good venues to get it going. I'm even going to incorporate a bunch of the Roman Holiday songs acoustic-style for something different, which will make the list even longer! Look out for The Acoustical Schizo, coming to a restaurant or coffee house near you.

I haven't written anything since last May, and that kind of makes me sad. I haven't really been all that inspired, though, so it's not a shock. I've just been enjoying life and keeping busy with my wife, kids, job, and band.

I'm going to make a concerted effort to improve my understanding of theory and relative pitch this year, and really push to make myself an excellent musician (instead of one that sort of skates along on his natural talent).

I hope you all had wonderful holidays and you have a happy and profitable 2009!

STUBB'S RULES.

2008-10-29T10:55:00.002-05:00

Roman Holiday played at Stubb's Barbeque for a private party last night, and it was incredible.

We went into the show thinking it'd be like the last time we played there, where we played inside, and it was pretty cool but nothing earth-shattering, just a nice private function.

So first we find out we're playing after Joe Ely (he was playing a different private party before ours), which sounded pretty cool.

THEN we find out we're going to be on THE BIG STAGE! Wow. They had a full crew, including roadies to carry our stuff, a separate engineer in charge of monitors (like at a real concert),

We loaded in just as Joe was playing, so we got to hear his whole set - it was great. Then they tore his stuff down and loaded us in. We got all set up, set the monitor mix, did a soundcheck song ("She" by Green Day, just for fun), and started our show. It was a really fun crowd - most of the first set, they were just eating, but they would cheer after each song. We took a 20-minute break and got to eat a pile of Stubb's barbeque, which was DELICIOUS, and then went back down to do the next set, which was AWESOME! From the first song to the last, people were really into it, dancing and whooping it up - it was a PARTY.

I had forgotten how much fun it was to do a big-venue show like that, with a relatively large PA, a full crew, and a nice-sized stage to run around on (complete with drum riser).

Probably one of the best gigs, all considered, that I've done with the band (Roman Holiday)...and much love is extended to my bandmates for playing a good show, too: Ned (on here as ned911) and Greg - you guys rocked.

We made good money, played a really great show, and were home by 11pm. You can't beat that.

Here's hoping we get to do that again sometime soon.

October Observations...

2008-10-21T10:40:00.005-05:00

I haven't had much time to even think about music, even though Roman Holiday's played some really good gigs the past few weeks. I guess I've been DOING music too much to think about it.

We've added a bunch of new songs, some of which will die immediately because they sound bad (like Nothin' But A Good Time and 867-5309/Jenny). We've got a good core of stuff now, and now we need to tighten up and then decide what the next step will be musically. Most of our gigs through the end of the year are private parties, so a lot of the more risque songs we do will not make the cut for those shows.

We're playing in Temple for Halloween (at O'Brien's), which is a problem because Heather's got other stuff going on that night that I'd really like for her to be able to attend. We're playing in Killeen on November 7th. Those are the only two public shows for the rest of the year, and neither of them are in Austin.

I suppose you make a trade-off when you decide to focus on the lucrative private party circuit, and you stop being a "bar band", but the biggest issue is that we don't have a regular gig at any of the good-paying venues here in town. It's a shame, because I know a lot of people who want to come see us play, if only to tease me. I really don't want to waste my time playing for next to nothing just so people can come see me play, so I don't see this situation changing, but it is a mild bummer.

There are times I really wish we had a fourth member, and then I check my wallet and realize I don't wish for it that much. I suppose if we were regularly snagging gigs worth more than $1500, I might be cool with it, but right now it doesn't seem to be worth it.

I suppose we could hire someone as our regular soundman/light tech for a few hundred or so, which wouldn't be bad, especially at larger venues, but that's another schedule that would need to be coordinated, another ego that would need to be dealt with.

I like what we've got...I just wish we could do more with it.

But moving on, I still kick that acoustic idea around, and it still never materializes because I simply don't have a lot of time to work on it or make it happen. I suppose if I was unemployed, it would be easier, but I like having a consistent paycheck and time with my family.

It occurred to me earlier this week that the last time I wrote a song was in May, and the last time before that was almost a year prior...that's not good. It's like I can't do it anymore. I walk around with little bits of ideas and none of them ever coalesce into something bigger. It's FRUSTRATING.

Well, love from the Schizo - if you read this regularly, you rock, and if it's your first time, welcome. I imagine I could write more about a specific topic, like I did when I started the blog, but I don't even have the mental energy for that right now. Perhaps soon I'll go into the wonders of using a Line 6 POD X3 rig and my awesome Digitech VL4 harmony machine.

Until then, take care!

Ponderings...etc.

2008-09-10T17:10:00.002-05:00

Why do people like Emo?
Apparently neutered men talking about their feelings is okay so long as you yelp the words.

Why does there seem to be a "uniform" for people who like certain genres of music? So they're unique - just like everyone else.

Why can't I seem to find another musician kind of like me here in Austin, who likes a lot of the same stuff and is around my age and can play multiple instruments well, and who might be interested in collaborating with me on some music?
I guess it's time to post an ad to Craigslist.

Why is it that I never seem to be satisfied, no matter how fun and awesome my band experiences are (like my current band, which I LOVE)?

Why can't an avowed agnostic or atheist even dream of winning any national political office in the USA, when it EXPLICITLY states in the Constitution that no religious test is required? Wait - that's not a musical pondering. Moving on.

Why does it cost so damn much to fix electronics? It cost me $147 to fix my $200 speaker (mind you, $30 of that was a rush charge - otherwise it would have taken 2 months to have it even looked at). It's too bad they don't have some sort of gear insurance policy or something - like a total replacement warranty.

Well, peace and love. Playing a frat party Friday, then two weeks after that we're back in Killeen (YAY!). Still have some serious woodshedding to do on the acoustic stuff for the wedding in October. It's still nowhere near as good as I'd like it to be (although I'm sure it's passable).

Until next time.

Ch-ch-ch-ch-CHANGES...

2008-07-21T11:46:00.003-05:00

So, Roman Holiday's gone through yet another drummer change.

Ned and I decided it was more important to have someone who can sing behind the kit, and we were kind of frustrated at how long it was taking the new drummer to learn the songs, so we decided to go with our gut and make a change.

So, the new new drummer in Roman Holiday is a fellow named Greg Gonyea. He's currently playing in another Austin cover band called "Capital Suspects", and he'll be playing most of our gigs coming up (save for a few he already had booked with CS).

I'm sure some people will think we're assholes for making the change so quickly, but the reality is, you have to do what's best for the band, and the road we were headed down would have led to frustration for me, mostly because the band sounded pretty bad without a decent third vocalist. I've learned to stomach quite a lot of mediocrity over the past decade, but I really don't want to completely suck, and I felt like we were headed that way.

We've had another guy filling in on the gigs Greg can't make, who also sings, and though he does a good job, one thing he does reminded me of an annoyance I have. I can't stand it when people add harmonies for no good reason. I wanted a drop button for his mic at some points, because it was honestly messing me up. Dude can play and sing his butt off, but was adding harmonies all night. Just a pet peeve of mine - a BIG one, mostly because it completely distracts me and makes it even harder for me to maintain my pitch (since I'm already struggling having to focus on playing the bass).

On this subject (and the experiences with recent drummers), the last two months have reminded me of something pretty standard in music (and in life).

There are people (like me) who go all-out when they're planning on doing something for someone, and others who sort of do just enough, which invariably ends up being NOT ENOUGH.

For example, if I have a fill-in gig, or I join a new band (or even consider the idea) I map out all the songs, listen to them intently and learn all the bits that I need to cover. I make sure I have copies of the exact versions the band does, and if I can't get copies, I get explanations on how things start and end, any arrangement changes, and note it all on my charts for the songs. Then, at the show, I pay close attention to what everyone is doing, and follow accordingly, so it sounds as tight as conceivably possible.

I don't understand the mentality of not working the stuff out and really learning it (as opposed to just casually listening to the songs and sort of winging it). It doesn't take THAT much time to put together the arrangement for a song you've heard hundreds of times on the radio (like the vast majority of our setlist, which consists almost entirely of top-40 hits from 1965-present).

But I guess that's just the difference between anal-retentive assholes like me and the average musician. I think I'd rather hire the asshole if I needed a fill-in, though. He might be a particular bastard, but he'll definitely know his shit.

A wedding and a private party this weekend. Next weekend (8/1-8/2) the band is at Carlos & Charlie's on Friday, and MAYBE singing some tunes with Sprung at Cool River Cafe on Thursday night.

Acoustic demos are up at my acoustic act's MySpace - more to come on that front. Looking to score a bi-weekly night gig somewhere singing songs solo sassily.

Pieces!

Musicalings

2008-06-26T20:28:00.004-05:00

I really have nothing to say, except that summer must be a time for me to be musically unsatisfied. I did add an old demo of one of my tunes to my site. I'm also working on some remixes of the more recent songs on there (tweaking because I don't like the mixes I have posted).

As for the band - it's a never-ending fight for me to make time to dedicate to it. I'm still not completely up on all the words to all our songs yet, and it's kind of frustrating right now because we haven't played in a while (July 1 is the next show), so it's not really a good situation, in general. It's weird because I really love to spend time with Ned...and we have fun with the shows. When there's a lag, that stuff sort of falls to the side.

I'm dying to play guitar live. I mean, to the point that I've almost considered posting an ad on Craigslist to see if anyone wanted to start another band to play a different set of songs than what Roman Holiday does. I might build tracks for the band that have my bass on it, too, for certain songs where two guitars would be helpful. Make a little mini-set of guitar, too.

The reality is that I really need to just get a grip and accept the reality - the only way I'm getting out there and playing guitar is if I start the solo acoustic project I'd like to do. I should probably just buy one of those Digitech harmony thingers (because I could use it for the band as well) and start making contacts. I know I'm good enough to do it, and I know I want to do it. I'm just piss-poor at making time for this stuff. I'm sure I could get in and play a happy hour at Cedar Street.

I know I've been blathering about that for a while now...and I'd really like to make it happen. Back to not practicing...

Musical Consumption Variances

2008-05-20T10:19:00.001-05:00

The title of this blog "Musical Consumption Variances" (MCVs) sort of sounds like something from some marketing analysis company, but it's something I've been thinking about a lot because I've been observing the different ways people I know listen to music, and not just in a practical, "iPod or cd player" sort of way, but rather the way they respond to it.

Some people seem to have a deep connection to the lyrical content of songs, others are solely concerned about the technical aspects of the music, some just want a strong beat. Most people are a mish-mash of all these things, but everyone favors something.

I think I'm more of a technical guy, though at times I'm a sucker for a well-spun lyric. I like hearing clever voicings on the keyboards or guitar or vocal harmonies. I like cleverly-structured songs and odd time signatures. I think it's partly because I was raised on classic and progressive rock and far more concerned about putting all the music together than the end product, necessarily.

But then I was also raised on punk rock and hip-hop, so the songs, the lyrics, the energy, and the beat are a big part of my musical experience. And beyond that music, let's not forget to include the oldies from my parents - the British Invasion bands (Beatles, Zombies, etc.) and Motown (which taught this white boy how to groove). "The Music Of My Life" (ah, memories of WPDQ)

But I guess that's part of the reason I'm such a schizo - there isn't much I don't like.

I'll be honest, though. I get really tired of "super-extra-dramatic" music, like slower U2 stuff, some Bruce Springsteen, almost all of Coldplay's music, and all those cheesy "extra-deep" new bands like Snow Patrol and The Fray. Don't get me wrong, I like a well-written pop song. I LOVE a well-written pop song.

I just can't understand the appeal of their music...which I think goes back to my different MCV than many people.

Their music does nothing for me, because though it's well-produced, it's not interesting in its production. It's a lot of the same textures, and very "perfect" in a bad way.

I like dirty stuff that sounds like it was made by people. None of that "dreamy" new stuff sounds that way to me - the vocals all sound autotuned, the dynamics on the recordings are completely SLAMMED so that even quiet parts sound sort of loud.

Heather (my lovely wife) was just saying the other day how she finds it interesting how I listen to music, because it's nothing like how she does it or how anyone else she knows listens. It's very clinical - almost as though I'm diagnosing the song by looking at its symptoms: the chord progression, the timbres used, the instrumentation, the beat, the overall vibe it gives, the way the song is structured and the lyrics and melody composed.

I never realized that I listened to music like that, but I do. I can recall one time when my little brother was sharing some of his music with me, and he pointed out something I used to do all the time, which was to immediately relate what I was hearing to other music I've heard. Of course, this was the wrong answer for Rob, because he just wanted me to listen to it for what it was, which was truly an excellent lesson for me to learn at the time. I needed him to be a little offended by my automatic pigeonholing of his music. It was unfair, because I wasn't really letting it settle in and move me.

So I guess you can even learn things in situations where you wouldn't expect to - like when your little brother, ever the nascent songwriter, decides to share some tunes with you.

Regardless, I've decided that my MCV is fluid. Sometimes I like a piece of music purely because of how visceral it is, and other times I'm enamored with the way it's constructed. I suppose that might be the problem I have with that new moody music - it does neither thing well enough for me. It's not powerful enough (kind of drab), and not interesting enough (often simplified to convey the not-strong-enough emotion).

Just some things to ponder...

Fill ins, New Drummer - News from Schizoland

2008-05-20T09:20:00.004-05:00

So...things have been pretty busy/interesting in Schizoland.

Got a new drummer in the Roman Holiday - her name is Rachel Fuhrer, and she totally kicks ass, both as a drummer and as a person. We're looking forward to having her with us as part of our little "gang".

Let's see...what else...oh, I'm filling in with one of Central Texas' best party bands this weekend for the first time - it should be fun. Lots of tunes from back in my Slaphappy days, so it'll be a nice walk down memory lane. Plus I get to do a 30-minute acoustic set to start the night, so it should be just dandy!

My pals in Something Distant just released their debut EP on iTunes - go check them out and buy the album. It has 6 new songs and 2 live bonus tracks. They kick ass in a mainstreamy sort of way, and it has my favorite rhythm section in Jacksonville, Florida on there - Jon Kretzer and John Palmer. A lot of the tracks (perhaps all the studio ones?) were produced by former Monkey The Fish (Jax people might know them)/current Story: Side B frontman/musical genius Lu Rubino.

Also, this Friday up at the Duck in Temple will be our last Roman Holiday gig with Rob Wade on drums - we will miss him immensely.

I'm going to be working on some new music and some remixes of my songs really super soon, so hopefully I'll have some new shizz to share within the next week or two.

And as a footnote, I'd like to share this:
www.coolsucks.com/tripperph.mp3

I loves me some Jimi Hendrix. And Chef.

Wow, It's Been A While...

2008-05-07T12:56:00.002-05:00

I just realized I haven't posted in quite some time, so here it goes...

My musical life is pretty much the same, with one notable exception:
Roman Holiday's drummer is quitting the band!

So, my FAVORITE process begins again, going through and hearing drummers, trying to find just the right guy to fit our weird little "80s-and-more-power-trio" dynamic...let's just say it's something I really don't enjoy. I like playing with people, but sometimes it can turn out so bad...just either a complete asshole personality or bad drumming. I'm not absurdly picky, but being a singing bass player, the drummer needs to have solid time and consistency, otherwise it makes my job really hard, holding down a groove while singing.

Our recent shows have almost all been pretty awesome. I just wish I had more time to work on music - I essentially have just about none...not even time to really rehearse the songs we are currently playing.

I haven't written anything since the American Idol song (which didn't make the finals - no shocker there), but I have remixed a couple of the songs with Jon on drums and those mixes will hopefully make the site soon.

I think my next step is finding a means to get out there and play some acoustic shows - I know I've mentioned this scores of times on this blog, but I think it would be super fun to do. I got a teeny taste of it after our show at the Duckhorn up in Killeen, and it reminded me how much I really want to do it.

Time to make a demo!

Also, time to find a good drummer!

Until we meet again...

American Idol Songwriter

2008-03-24T14:32:00.004-05:00

I entered the competition, wasting $10, probably, and writing one of the sappiest songs of my songwriting life.

EXTREMELY ROUGH DEMO: Only Just The Start

Lyrics:
It's always been my passion, it's always been my life
It's time to take action, I just want to get it right
Will they see just who I am, will their words cut me like a knife
Can I give my everything so my star can shine so bright

I have waited all my life to sing a song for you
I have battled through the tough times and worked to see it through
And now I stand before you, and open up my heart
This is not an ending, it's only just the start

You've shared with me your courage, you've given me such hope
Don't want to be discouraged, I just want you all to know
That it's taken me so far, all the love and all you do
That I'll give my everything, and I'll give it all to you

I have waited all my life to sing a song for you
I have battled through the tough times and worked to see it through
And now I stand before you, and open up my heart
This is not an ending, it's only just the start

All the times I will cherish, memories of you and me
And our love will not perish, you know it will forever be
And as I walk uncertain, to a future where we part
This is not an ending, it's only just the start

This is not an ending, it's only just the start

This is not an ending, it's only just the start

Schmaltzy almost to the point of being disgusting, but I think it's appropriate for the "I just won American Idol" song.

But who knows? Maybe by some freak act of chance I'll be a finalist. It took me 20 minutes to throw it together, so not too much time wasted on the effort.

Nice visit

2008-03-17T23:47:00.003-05:00

As I mentioned in my last post, my "little brother" Caleb came down for South By Southwest and I got to spend some time with him on Saturday.

It just reminded me how sad I am that I don't live closer to him, because I think that more than just about anyone I've actually written songs with, Caleb and I could really come up with some amazing music together. He hears the same things I hear, he notices the little things/chord progressions that I use that no one else pays attention to. He has that same level of care about the little things that make simple sound great.

I guess if it's meant to happen, it'll happen. Anyway, Caleb - thanks for making time for hanging out with me. Next time we'll take more time...

Also, much love to my cousin Ryan who came up to visit from Houston. You've grown up into a pretty kick-ass guy, and I enjoyed wandering aimlessly around downtown Austin with you on Friday night.

And this (the Roman Holiday demo video - it's all we've got for now):

Video, Narcissism, SXSW

2008-03-09T21:44:00.005-05:00

So my throat performed reasonably well at the gig on March 1st. I've even got video proof of it that I'll be cutting together pretty soon for a brand-spankin' new Roman Holiday video promo reel!

I already made a live DVD (warts and all) for family and friends of the band. As much as we appreciated David's work with the camera, there were starts and stops in weird places (endings and beginnings cut off, etc.) and it was just super-sloppy, partially because the way we have to set the lighting up in that particular club just doesn't lend itself well to videotaping.

The bizarre part about it for me was that it was the first time I've ever really seen myself perform. I've been doing this for the better part of 10 years, and I never had the occasion, save a couple of brief shots on Channel 4 in Jacksonville in the background of a news report, to see myself singing and playing on stage.

Shockingly, it wasn't horrifying. I think I do need to learn how to sing without closing my eyes, and I think that I could stand to lose a few pounds, but overall, I was relatively pleased.

It was funny to me that I screwed up Super Freak, and funny to see me take bass solos and groove with Rob - I actually look like I know how to play the damn thing. It kind of weirded me out, to be honest.

The best part? It made me want to do it again, and to do a whole show this time with a good board recording as well instead of the on-board camcorder mic.

Anyway, hopefully I'll be able to cut that thing together in the next couple of days and post it here.

South by Southwest is this coming week, and I'm thrilled that I'll have a chance to spend some time with my "little brother" (from another mother) Caleb. He's coming down for the festival from his current home in Arkansas. He's become quite the songwriter and guitarist, and I'm so happy to have been able to know him since he was just a little kid, trying to convince me that his GTX guitar was actually something a lot nicer, and listening to the progression of his music and songwriting from its Pollen Dance beginnings through all the great stuff he writes today. Not to mention the leaps and bounds he's taken as a guitarist. He impresses me endlessly, and I figured I'd give him a little tribute here on the blog. I really wish he lived closer so we could make some seriously funky-ass music together. Or whatever. I just love the guy, and I'm happy to have him coming to my town, even if only for a few days.

Look out for the video, and enjoy yourselves. Life is short even when it's long.

In closing, much love to my dear departed Grandma V. - we loved you and we will miss you. I hope I'm wrong about the afterlife, so you can have a wonderful time in Heaven with Grandpa and Uncle Peter and all your friends.

Vocal problems

2008-02-15T08:55:00.002-06:00

I just can't control my voice, because there's so much phlegm and crap down deep in my throat - it's like I can't clear it. The break in my voice used to be easy to manage, and now I have no idea what it's going to do. It's like my voice is changing all over again.

I don't know if it's allergies or what, but it's annoying. I need to see the doctor.

Grit never hurt before, now it does.

Anyway, I'm sure there's a scientific explanation for my vocal maladies...and if I have time, I'll be sure to have it checked out. It is getting a little better, so hopefully I'll be back to normal soon. I just hate sounding like this - it makes me feel like I've taken a 10-year step backward in my vocal abilities.

Sorry, had to vent. :)

Next show is in Killeen, Texas - The Duckhorn with Roman Holiday (not that anyone actually reads my blog...)

New Project?

2008-01-21T17:21:00.000-06:00

I'm starting a new thing with a guy from work who plays with a fun (though ragtag) local band called "The Empire" (at first I thought they were a Queensrÿche tribute band).

It's interesting, because I think he's a talented cat, and I think we're going to have fun, but putting it together will be a process, because I don't think he's ever worked with anyone quite like me. It might scare him off completely, or it might be inspiring.

Either way, look for our little duo out playing guitars and singing sometime before the summer. It might end up as another trio, too, but I hope not, because I want to play guitar.

If we go by the songs he picked from my "I already played this crap" list, it's going to be mostly modern rock stuff. Of course I'll be doing my acoustic show standards, Lionel Richie's "Hello" and Britney Spears' "Baby One More Time" (Fountains of Wayne style). We're probably going to incorporate our original stuff, too, so it might be a really fun project.

I'm sure that it will just inspire the work I'm doing with Roman Holiday, and just make me better as a singer...plus it scratches my guitar itch.

Switching it up

2008-01-11T16:55:00.000-06:00

Sometimes it can be really fun to switch it up some.

Wednesday night, Ned and I rehearsed some of the band's tunes, but Rob (percussionmeister) couldn't make it, so I grabbed the mic and brought it over to the drumkit and rapped/sang the songs (two rap tunes, one funk) while I played the drums. It was borderline scary, performance-wise, but it was a whole lot of fun.

It reminded me that if I ever really wanted to be a decent drummer, I probably could if I just invested the time. Plus it sort of freaked me out that I was able to keep a beat at all while I was singing (rapping).

It really made me want to buy a drum set, actually, but I don't have any room for one. Perhaps when I finally get my garage cleaned out I can do that.

I really want to come up with a tune where we can switch it up during the song, since Rob plays guitar pretty well and I'm sure Ned can figure out the bass. Almost like a chinese fire drill, but with instruments!

Tonight is Killeen - it should be a blast! We love the duck!
(and no, that "u" is not supposed to be an "i")

End of year, Start of year...

2008-01-06T13:42:00.000-06:00

Commentary on the the year that was:
I started 2007 playing bass and singing a little bit in Roman Holiday. That was my only job at the time (other than taking care of the kiddos).

In May, two major things happened:
1. I began working at Clear Channel radio, and it's been great, but it's really sapped my energy. I don't play nearly as much as I used to, and rarely have a whole lot of time to concentrate on music stuff, resulting in a lot of "half-assedness" in my performing (forget about my writing and recording...that's been nearly nonexistent).
2. I was all of a sudden thrust into the position of "frontman" for the band (as well as still having to fulfill my bass duties).

The first part is difficult for me to take, not wanting to suck on a regular basis, but I feel that my idea of "suck" tends to be most people's idea of "not so bad", so I'm fine.

The second part has been nothing but enjoyable, stretching me to the limits of my multi-tasking ability. Who knew that I'd be able to play such "pat head-rub belly" tunes as "Brick House" and "This Love"? Certainly not me.

I'm a very conflicted musician at my core, though, since I want to play guitar as much as I want to play bass, and I can't do both at the same time.

As an "artist" (not a title I generally apply to myself, since I consider my compositional ability at more of a pop garage band level), 2007 was incredibly unstimulating. Just hashing out covers I've been playing for years. But you know what? I had a whole lot of fun.

Thanks go to everyone in the extended Roman Holiday family: Ned, Rob, Mike, Patrick, and Casey, and to Luis for giving it a shot (though we ultimately didn't seem to be on the same page), and to Lee Thompson from The Extractors (my former band) for filling in on one gig and then being able to tolerate me when I finally gave you a call months later (and profusely apologized for not calling after the fill-in show in the first place). As tumultuous as this year has been, it was a fun one, with the exception of the period from July to August when we were auditioning invisible drummers and bassists.

Looking ahead, I'm sure 2008 will be more fun with Roman Holiday - hopefully we can keep this lineup together and keep enjoying ourselves (which seems likely, since we all get along really well). I really want it also to be a year when I'm finally able to get those songs I've got posted on the website re-recorded because there are so many that I can play and sing so much better now than five or six years ago when I recorded them. (I can even record them better now than then...)

So I think it'd be wise, if you give a crap, to keep an eye on this page. I'll be tracking all the progress with songs - re-recording, writing, etc. - and hopefully I'll have a really productive year. It shouldn't be too hard if I can manage a little self-discipline and not watch so much TV. The writers' strike is helping that quite a bit, I must admit.

Have a great '08!

Wow, it's been a LONG time since I posted!

2007-12-14T17:25:00.000-06:00

Well, life has been pret-ty damn good for ol' Schizo. We've had a few successful gigs with the band - private parties, both great clients and really fun shows. We've also added three new songs, which I always enjoy, because I'm very tired of the vast majority of songs we play, though you'd never know it from the way I perform them - gotta SELL IT, BABY!

I wrote a very personal song to my wife on her birthday. I can't really listen to it without crying, because it's so emotional.

I really want to write songs that touch me that deeply, that really move me like that, but it's just not been something I can really handle, because as much as I love being emotional, I usually try not to drive myself to tears like that.

You can hear the song over at my site. I doubt you'll have a similar reaction, because it's too "inside", but I don't mind coming off cheesy. It's who I am, to some extent.

Well, another private party tomorrow night, and hopefully a lot of relaxing guitar playing over the holidays (I'm definitely going to do it at work as well). Maybe I'll be able to put together a few more demos and update some of the old songs (perhaps re-sing them). We shall see...

Until next time...

Unintentional Vacation

2007-11-04T17:22:00.000-06:00

I've been sort of taking an unintentional vacation from playing - the band hasn't been ridiculously busy, and I haven't been feeling my best, so I noodle here and there, but I haven't been playing as much as I usually do. I actually have enjoyed it - picking up the guitar after a relatively long pause makes you realize even more why you do it.

I bought a new toy for my live playing, and have yet to figure it out - it's a POD X3 Live - basically similar to my old PODs in tone, but WAY different in terms of how the brains of it function. It's actually kind of frustrating, because I was used to the old system - it seemed a lot more intuitive - more "plug and play" than this one. The little beast can do so much more than my old PODs, though, so I'm actually excited about Line 6 releasing some updates (which are supposedly coming within the next couple of weeks) so that I have better functionality for my Variaxes (especially the Bass), and hopefully clean up the confusing aspects of the interface (I'm not holding my breath).

We've got a private party this coming Friday and then a long break, so hopefully we'll really get some good stuff together for the Christmas parties we're going to be playing. We're really trying to get out to public shows more (and trying some new venues), so hopefully in the new year you'll see us at a lot more places where our friends and family can come see the show. I personally think this is the best lineup of Roman Holiday, which says nothing to the other lineups (especially the trio version with Mike - that was excellent as well - Rob's singing takes us over the top of that one).

Unrelated to the band, I did have a funny thing happen at work on Halloween - I actually played the guitar and sang a little for my co-workers, and it was pretty horrible by my standards (bad cold), but now everyone who saw it was like, "watch out for that guy - he's a rock star" which I haven't decided is good or bad (since it's mostly women saying it, I'd say it's good...) Goofing around like that reminded me that I really should do something in the style of the acoustic show - either with someone or solo.

I'm going to keep saying that until it happens. Until then, check me out in Roman Holiday, and rock on!

So get this...

2007-10-08T20:27:00.002-05:00

It's been a week since I really even gave anything for the band much thought - after the last weekend with Carlos & Charlie's and then a private party in the boonies, it was time for a mental break.

I also had a lot on my mind trying to compose some music for a new multimedia project, too. Here's a sample of what I came up with: www.musicalschizo.com/inthegloryfunkrough.mp3

I think I'm finally accepting that this is the music I create. Instead of forcing things in the future, I'm going to make this funky crap work for me.

I recorded it using some ACID loops and my brand-spankin' new, cheapo Line 6 TonePort GX. I dig it. If I ever hooked up with a few more guys like me, we could put some white boy STANK on some funky shit. :)

More to come on the stank front. I am also going to work out a few of my folkier numbers, too and record them. It's just time.

A few cool new places with the band in the next few weeks - Duckhorn Tavern in Killeen on the 19th, and Cedar Street Courtyard on 4th on the 23rd (a Tuesday).

It should be interesting...

Private Parties

2007-09-25T11:40:00.000-05:00

Fun. Always different. People tend to be both calmer and crazier, depending upon the scene.

The best part? Almost always MORE MONEY.

We had one on Saturday at Texas A&M (WHOOOP!) at Delta Tau Delta (which looks a whole lot like Delta Tau Chi if you just glance at it, and it made me feel like I was in the movie "Animal House" if but for a moment).

The ride up was a lot of fun, a good chance for the three of us to chat about all kinds of stuff and get to know each other better. Rob - "you so NAASSTY!"

We arrive at the large house in the middle of nowhere (down a long dirt road), and can't find the entrance to the party. Turns out it was around back. Ned actually went into the house looking for the hosts, and Rob and I walked around the side to the back. A bunch of nervous-looking brothers walking around, putting the final touches on their great party - the scene decked out in bamboo and camouflage, but empty. As we finished setting up, it started to fill up. Eventually the place was packed. Beautiful, vapid girls, all decked out in camouflage like some sort of weird sexy cross between "Platoon" and "The Hills".

It reminded me of something very integral to my personality, though. Entitlement and narcissism make me angry. Both were in full force here, as with most college parties (and especially ones affiliated with the inherently "superior" greek system). To be honest, I don't like that scene all that much. The vast majority of people were patently unfriendly (though there were exceptions, like many of the brothers from the fraternity and a few really nice young ladies), but I'll chalk that up to most of them being young, possessing that "cooler than thou" attitude. Of course, I'm a huge dork, so they're not going to be interested in me in the least anyway.

It was funny to play to those people, though. Most were very nice when they'd come up during the set requesting songs, and most of the time, we really tried to indulge them. It was night and day the way I was treated when I was walking around compared to when I was on stage, and it illustrates something in the way people interact with one another. There's something about a stage that can turn a dork like me into someone people want to talk to. Of course, it's only because they WANT something from me - for me to play "their song" - but I'm happy to oblige if I can, because that's why I'm there: To entertain.

It did speak to my strange inferiority/superiority complex (yes, I'm even a schizo that way) that the gig made me feel that way.

Like most private parties we've played, the volume has had to go way down after a short period of time, and honestly, it makes it harder to really rock when you have to do so quietly. The saddest part is, it's not like we're even a loud band. Well, that's enough about that. Thanks to Delta Tau Delta for a fun night, all things considered, and thanks to all the nice people that were there Saturday night.

The ride home was fun as well, but I was BEAT.

On the songwriting/composing front, I've got an interesting project in the works - when the music is done, I'll post it here. I'm writing music for a multimedia project. I can't go into details (confidentiality and stuff), but it's sexy. (Calm your pits, it's not porn or anything - though I'd enjoy composing for that because it's so ripe for all the fun wocka wocka cliches).

Take care, all, and keep playing! :)

Frats, scat...

2007-09-18T16:42:00.001-05:00

So we (meaning Roman Holiday) played a house party this past weekend. It was uneven musically, but fun. Part of the reason we had some issues was related to having to keep the volume down ridiculously low so it wouldn't carry far enough for the neighbors to call the police. It didn't work. The cops eventually shut us down a little after 11pm.

I was going to give the Dean ML bass its debut, but it didn't pan out.

It was pretty fun, though, and showed us what we need to work on. The hosts were awesome, even if one of the meat dishes they made for the party smelled like poop to me. I have a weird sense of smell, though.

This coming weekend we're playing at a fraternity party at Texas A&M. It should be interesting, since these guys have a specific idea of what stuff they want to hear.

I'm going to try and work out a Nine Inch Nails tune ("Closer") for this weekend, but I'm a little scared about it because I need to know exactly where to come in or it'll be a fustercluck...I'm also going to have my 80s hair metal ballads at the ready for the schmaltz factor. Apparently they want the girls to have a good time, which is pretty much our raison d'etre.

Problem? I don't know exactly what 20-year-old girls think is cool, but I'm fairly certain it isn't on our song list. We'll see.

It will be interesting. I'm looking forward to the three of us piling into Ned's truck, though. That will be cool.

Dean Blues

2007-09-08T00:46:00.000-05:00

So I went to Centro Chitarra's Labor Day blowout sale.

And I bought some crap.

Two Dean guitars, in fact.

One, a Vendetta - a solidbody electric that is as light as a Parker Fly (no lie)
Two, an ML Bass - think Dimebag Darrell, only a bass. (think of the Chat Stew on The Soup) "So metal..."

Total damage? $138 for BOTH guitars.

How are they? They ROCK.

Take a listen to "Dean Blues" (imaginative title, eh?):
Stream it
Download it

Blues in A - how original...I had to finally do one, though; I live in Austin.

Though I do admit, I can play forever in the 12-bar format. I guess that's true of most guitarists worth their salt. Vendetta on guitar, ML on bass, Processed Drumkit 217 on the skins. My hands did it all.

Peace to all!

So it's been a little while...

2007-08-31T17:01:00.000-05:00

And I have to say, things, musically, are looking pretty damn good.

Roman Holiday is getting some really good private parties and our foot in the door at some really respectable venues. We're about to enter "the land of the backing track" soon, so we'll see how that goes. It'll definitely fill out our sound.

Tonight Ned (RH guitarist) and I are heading over to check out another good Austin cover band called "Sprung". A guy I work with is their drummer.

I restrung and cleaned up my old #1 guitar, "Grandpa" (a 1990 Fender H.M. Strat Ultra), leaving the locking part of the locking nut off.

I think I'm going to modify it and put an Earvana nut or something like that on it. Maybe just graphite. I'm definitely going to have a luthier/tech do it, though, because I really want the guitar to be as awesome as it once was, only without the annoyance that is a stripped locking nut. Or, the more likely scenario: I'll do nothing and just enjoy it for what it is.

Anyway, no new songs since last post, but I do want to write some soon. Maybe I can gank a few free hours this holiday weekend and write and record a song.

We shall see... :)

Fun times...

2007-08-18T12:30:00.000-05:00

So I moved the family piano into the studio, because our house just isn't big enough to have it out in the den (it really makes the room small).

Then I set up the mic and recorded some stuff just for fun. Here's a sample.

I also recorded some covers with just me and an acoustic guitar for fun. I was constantly being interrupted by the kids, and I forgot some words here and there (not to mention missed a few notes), but I think these show you that a good song is a good song regardless of how fleshed-out the arrangement is:
Just Like Heaven (The Cure)
Sunday Morning (Maroon5)

I like goofing around when I can. I encourage you to do the same!

Cajun Man would be proud...

2007-08-13T12:09:00.000-05:00

I'm into the "tion"s these days.

Aggravation - as in, I get aggravated when I'm not feeling like the machine is churning behind me musically, especially when I'm giving a LOT like I was at the Light Bar last Saturday night.

Frustration - from having a complete night of clusterfucks.

Dehydration - having nothing to do with alcohol, but purely based on too much heat - no matter how much water I drank, I still felt like diarrhea the next day.

Remuneration - or more accurately, not much remuneration for all our troubles.

Destination - or perhaps...

Vacation - as in, it's time for me to have one, and it's good that the band has a break so we can get our crap together.

Circumnavigation - feeling like you've circled the "globe of emotions" in the course of one show.

Creation - I wrote part of a song...but just part, but it was still new and creative.

Isolation - I need some sometimes. I get really short and snippy if I don't get it.

Recreation - taking the kids for a swim Saturday was actually quite awesome.

Violation - talking about other band members on here isn't kosher with "band code", but I was really frustrated by their performances Saturday night - I love 'em to death, truly, but I felt like I needed to get Casey angry so she'd actually hit the drums with some power (it just seemed really weak up on stage - I hope it was more "together" out front), and I wanted to get Ned some replacement nerves, because apparently the ones connecting his brain and hands (and his thinking and memory) weren't working all that well Saturday night.

Conflagration - could be something that happens from my brash honesty on here.

Migration - moving to a new drummer will make things a lot different for this band, which isn't a bad thing.

Satisfaction - that I used "tion" more than anyone probably should.

Salutations!

Ego boost...

2007-08-09T23:49:00.001-05:00

This was sent in response to a Roman Holiday e-mail list post by Ned:
"The other band that has rocked my world is Roman Holiday (http://www.romanholidayband.com/). They stepped in when The Recliners had to cancel out on a reception I was hosting for a conference last week. Roman Holiday is a three piece with one of the most amazing bass players I've seen on stage in a long time. He plays like John Taylor and sings like... well, whoeverthehell he wants to. They do AC/DC, The Beastie Boys, Smash Mouth, The Ramones... well the song list is on the web site. AND they'll be adding Duran Duran soon! Woot! They are playing on Saturday at 10pm at The Light Bar, which is located across the street from the Frost Bank Building at 4th and Congress. Their regular drummer had to drop out due to work but the sit in (a chic drummer and she's hot!) is really great and if they hadn't told me I would not have known they hadn't rehearsed."

...and that was a show with barely any rehearsal, played with Casey, who had barely picked up sticks in five months.

Comments like these just remind me of the reality that no matter how much you think you suck, someone probably thinks you're awesome. Thanks to the folks who came out to Stubb's, and especially the hosts of the party for reminding me of that by sending these wonderful comments along.

Jason Falkner is MY American Idol

2007-08-08T15:23:00.000-05:00

I've been on a huge Jason Falkner kick these past few days, soaking up just about everything he put out - Presents Author Unknown, Can You Still Feel?, Bliss Descending, and even his guitar work in Jellyfish. The dude is just supremely talented, and completely overlooked except by songwriting musos like me.

His music almost sounds like prog-pop, in the sense that it uses very dense, complicated arrangements of guitar and voice. It's just weird enough to not sound completely mainstream, but everything is a hook. It's kind of like XTC, only an American version, with all the instruments performed by one guy (he plays everything on his albums).

I encourage everyone who reads this to go to your nearest record store or used CD store, and grab any of his records you can find. OR if you're a Napster or Rhapsody member (the unlimited kind) check him out on there.

He has a new album out, but it's still unavailable in the states except as an import from Japan. They get all the good stuff, including bonus tracks on almost all releases that aren't available on the American versions.

Why is America so consistently denied the best in power pop?

In a world that actually judges its art based on merit rather than fashion, Jason Falkner would be a superstar.

So, here's to you, Jason...I hope you're able to shed those sideman shoes and get the recognition that befits a talent as great as yours.

Two days of happy.

2007-08-03T18:08:00.000-05:00

Wednesday and Thursday were good in Roman Holiday-land.

Wednesday night, we auditioned a great drummer (Rob). Thursday he decided to join the band. YAY!

Wednesday night, we played with Casey (who we love). Thursday, we did it again at Stubb's. It was great.

We're going to take our time finding a fourth member of the band.

I think we'll be pretty stellar as a trio (and we'll make more money).

Rock!

Roman Holiday blather...

2007-07-31T13:51:00.001-05:00

So we played The Light Bar. It was relatively fun, but load in and load out sucked.

I saw a dude I work with there. It was funny seeing him out of context. It was funnier seeing him singing along to the songs I was singing. The staff at the Light Bar was great - especially Jennifer. It's a cool place, and probably a really fun "hang" if you aren't working (as in, playing music in the heat and humidity on the roof).

It was probably our last gig with Mike, which is sad. We've got a gig Thursday evening at Stubb's to play for two hours for a private function. It should be cool - especially since Casey's going to play with us (Casey was the drummer in Roman Holiday up until February).

It's an uncertain future, though. We want to have good people who can also play to add to our little family, and so far, the guys we've auditioned have been good people, but none have been all that right for the band (either from their perspective or ours).

We've got another audition on Wednesday, and then we'll rehearse with Casey for Thursday's gig. It should be an adventure of sorts, since I haven't played with Casey in months. I'm looking forward to it, though. The drummer we're auditioning seems to be quite excellent from the stuff he's recorded. We'll see if he wants to play with us.

Well, off to do some more work...

Structure

2007-07-25T12:30:00.001-05:00

I was listening to some XTC yesterday (a great and highly underrated group) and reading an interview with principal songwriter and lead singer Andy Partridge, and something he said struck me as interesting.

If you want to become a better songwriter, you should pick apart your favorite songs and analyze why they work, structurally. Eventually, you'll come upon formulas that will help you express what you want in your own writing.

I realize that this isn't something I've ever done consciously, but I've always done because that's just the way I am - I pick things apart to better understand them as a whole.

I think that's why when I listen to even the first songs I ever wrote they had good structure - distinct musical themes, good bridges between sections, the strongest hooks in the chorus, etc.

I guess it's just the way I always thought songs should work, and so when I started writing, that's how they came out. I even plot out rhyme schemes sometimes.

I wish I could have the same discipline with my technique. Then I'd be able to execute the songs a whole lot better.

Guitar World magazine just published Steve Vai's 1990 workout again, which I'm going to accept as a sign that it's time for me to really get into practicing guitar again and getting my fretboard memorization together. I want to shred. I'm tired of being a half-assed guitar player. I have all the relative and perfect pitch lessons (the David L. Burge stuff), and I want to work on those, too, especially the relative pitch lessons, because not only do they teach you great relative pitch, it's a rigorous theory curriculum as well.

So in concert with the discipline I've always had as a songwriter, it's time to achieve it as an instrumentalist.

After I tackle all that stuff (especially the fretboard memorization), I'll work on reading music again.

Audition weekend...a partial (and potentially complete) bust.

2007-07-23T14:29:00.000-05:00

So we had two drummers and a bassist audition on Saturday, and I really liked all the guys who auditioned.

Of course, that doesn't mean that they'd want to play with us or we'd want to play with them.

The bass player didn't have any time at all to learn the material, so he was forgiven for his mistakes. He had a good enough ear that it wasn't terrible, and was a heck of a nice guy. The jury's out on whether he'll want to play with us, though we liked him enough to want to hear more, for sure.

The first drummer brought my monster to the surface. I really did not enjoy playing with him. Talking to him, sure. Nice fella. BAD drummer. I kind of knew it when I heard the way his drums were tuned, but I felt like giving him the benefit of the doubt (sometimes drummers are quirky). My suspicions were true, however, when we started to go through the audition songs. It was just a mess. Within the first song I knew he didn't have the ability we were looking for, and I have to say I honestly felt Simon Cowell coming to the surface - I had this desire to ask him "why are you here?" because it was obvious that he just didn't have the man-hours (or perhaps the talent) to be able to cover the various styles we needed for the band.

His time was nonexistent, his drums were all tuned too high (which sucked all the tone out of them), and it was just a slopfest.

As you can tell, I'm just talking about his playing - let me say again that he was a nice guy and definitely a personality fit - he just wasn't there, skill-wise.

The second drummer was a pretty nice dude from San Marcos. He came in with a reissue sparkle Ludwig drum kit, and played it really well (with the exception of playing almost every song too slowly). I don't think, even with his skill, he'd be happy with Roman Holiday, because he seems to be much more interested in funk and dance music, and that's something this band will never be. Which indicates to me that he should find something that suits him better. I don't want him to expect something that's not going to happen.

He seems to be a bit younger, and still thinks bassists who play with picks are not worth his time. He'll learn. I think Carol Kaye, Paul McCartney, Mike Gordon and the ghost of Allen Woody might take him to task on his criticism of pick playing. It's an extremely silly thing to be anti-pick. If it grooves, it grooves, no matter what you're using to strike the strings. Half of the best soul bass lines were recorded with a pick. I play fingers, thumb, pick, and slap because the songs that we play were recorded with those techniques. Bassists in cover bands who don't master all the techniques cause the sound of the band to suffer. It's similar to a drummer who never learns rod or brush technique, but plays songs that require it using sticks. It's never quite right. But I digress...

In summary: Good drummer, probably would hate being in our band. We've been through a situation like this recently, and the sad part is, we really need to have someone who WANTS to be in the band as it is, and doesn't need it to completely change for them to be satisfied, because that simply is not going to happen.

So we didn't find a drummer fit at this audition. Both guys are great, personally, but neither seems to be right for the band.

If my honesty is painful, remember that I named no names, and if pressed by these gentlemen, I would be glad to share these criticisms to their face. I just needed to confer with my co-conspirator in all things Roman Holiday (Ned) before I could comment.

I'm seriously wondering if this is at all worth it anymore...can anyone blame me?

M-Audio IE-10 Earphones...and other ramblings

2007-07-20T15:18:00.000-05:00

So, I broke down and purchased a new pair of isolation earphones, because the cheapie Philips ones I bought sounded like horsecrap.

Talk about night and day...these things are AWESOME! I hope they sound as good when I use them in the band, because they sounded fantastic even with the mp3s on my iRiver H320.

The only thing that worries me is the size of the cable - its length - but I'm no size queen...I'll make it work.

I changed guitars at work. I brought my Ibanez. It's cool. I use it with my old Korg Pandora (the PX-2 from many moons ago). People always look at me weird when I crack it out, though. Such is life as a guy who doesn't really give a hoot what the folks at work think. If I've got to wait around for a computer that won't run fast enough (or co-workers who aren't working fast enough), I'm going to have something productive to do while I wait.

There's a patch I made on the Pandora that sounds utterly fantastic. One of these days I'll record a sample and post it. I didn't think it was capable of that good a sound, but I managed to make it work. Yeehaw!

Next gig is a week from Saturday at The Light Bar. We have two drummers coming in tomorrow for auditions. I really hope we find just the right guy...I'm tired of looking.

No progress on the creation front, but I think I'm going to start writing lyrics just to write them at work. More "be productive with forced downtime" activity.

Oh yeah, and I do love music. It just doesn't always love me back. Reminds me of a girl I once knew...who am I kidding? Most of the girls I once knew... :P

I can't stand music.

2007-07-18T11:24:00.000-05:00

I think I've finally figured out my problem.

I have musical ADD.

Even with music I love, I always end up changing the track before it's over.

I think about the task of creating something in a studio, and it makes me go, "that takes too long".

I think about spending time learning the words to the songs I have to sing, and I go "I'll memorize them eventually" because I simply do not have the patience to sit through the original recordings of the songs we play for any amount of time, especially not over and over again.

I'm constantly flipping stations on the radio, and I can never decide on a CD, and when I do, it usually goes in for about four tracks and then I move on to the next disc...

So it comes down to this: I can't stand music...and yet I love it.

It really has become the PITA girlfriend of my life. You love her, but she's a bitch that treats you like crap.

Thank God my wife isn't like that...then I'd have two.

I keep thinking of a silver lining in all this, or at least an explanation, and I think it comes down to these two things:
1. I'll still do it, no matter how much it wrongs me, because it is such an important part of who I am.
2. The reason it happens is just an overabundance of stimuli in my life, from work to traffic to kids. Sometimes peace and quiet is in short supply, and music isn't exactly peace and quiet for me.

So let it be known that the MUSICAL Schizo can't stand music. A truly Schizo behavior...

Jesus F. N. Christ

2007-07-16T16:57:00.001-05:00

Apparently Jesus can't forgive bad language.

We had a drummer come through who we loved, who we really wanted to be part of the band, because he seemed like a "bro". Apparently that's not the case.

You see, he's a "Christian", and it would look bad if he played drums for songs with dirty words or dirty messages. They're not satanic messages, even, just songs about crazy bitches who like to fuck and the expression of the man who is hated - fuckin' hated.

"Christians" apparently don't think God can handle bad words or bad messages expressed in music. So much so, in fact, that they think a bad word or hanging around drunk people is going to harm their faith and bring them closer to eternal damnation.

A long time ago, I invented a word to describe this phenomenon, where "Christians" are more concerned with how they look than their actual relationship with God: Christivanity.

I've only ever seen it one other place, and that was years after I invented it. I hope it becomes a word people use to describe those sorts of folk - members of churches concerned with looking good in the face of other humans.

If I may be flip and assume I know God for a second:
God knows YOUR deeds. Concern yourselves with that.
God knows YOU didn't say those words you found objectionable, and I think he can handle bad language - after all, his son hung out with the dregs of society.

Although, he did say to not use his name in vain, so maybe he is a big pussy after all.

I'm sad that Jesus (to me a fairytale with a nice message, for the most part) is such a domineering force in people's lives. It's sad that these folks can't even comprehend that their avoidance of things their pastor told them are "evil" is childlike behavior at its peak.

God gave us a brain, we should use it.
God gave us a moral compass to know what's right.
God gave us reason to help us avoid things that are bad for us.
God also gave us compassion to understand the weaknesses of others and to let us know when to help.

Of course, I say "God gave us" but I really mean "our parents gave us" or "nature gave us". If I was really wanting to be controversial, I'd say "Evolution gave us" - but I know that's a non-starter for Biblical literalists.

Coming right down to it, though, it was his choice, and I understand why he made his decision. I'm just not as beholden to a fantasy man in the sky (or the opinions of my fellow church patrons and "friends"), so it's hard for me to understand the logic behind it.

He could have just lied and told us we sucked. That would have been easier to take... :)

Corporate Parties and IEMs

2007-07-16T16:44:00.001-05:00

I love playing corporate functions.

This weekend the band played a pool party in Belton, and it was hot as balls, but it was worth the drive and effort, as the client seemed pretty happy and we all walked away with a fat check at the end of the show.

I keep going back and forth about the in-ear monitors, though. Sometimes they just sound like complete garbage, and my guess is that it's the pathetic excuse for headphones I'm using with them. They're "isolation" earphones, but it just helps you hear their pathetic fidelity even more explicitly.

I really need to just break down and get myself a pair of Ultimate Ears or something similar. I can't afford to drop more than about $100 on a pair, so the molded ones are out for now.

I will say that any singers out there who really want to hear themselves on stage should invest in a good pair of IEMs - it's so much better than trying to hear yourself over the din of drums and loud guitarists. Used with care (and not blasted), your ears will thank you at the end of the night - I haven't had ringing or a headache since we started using them, because they take the levels of the drums down between 10 and 20 dB - helpful for those of you with loud drummers (like my band).

The side benefit? They're AWESOME headphones! I wouldn't use them if you were out running or biking, because they'll most certainly keep you from hearing your surroundings, but on an airplane, or any time you want peace, they're incredible. They're a much better concept than noice-cancelling headphones, because instead of electronically messing with your surroundings (and therefore your music), they just give you a direct, clean version of the sound. Get a pair with more than one driver and it's even more amazing, because the sound is clearer and often has more bass.

Okay, enough raving for now. I'm going to go write another post on another topic. You probably already read it because it'll show up above this one.

Well...after giving it some thought (and listening to some convincing begging...)

2007-07-11T20:14:00.000-05:00

I've decided to "un-quit" the band.

Why, you might ask? Well, it's pretty simple. The band's demands were becoming too much for me, and I really wasn't all that excited about it anymore (when it becomes WORK, it's time to move on).

Standards have been put into place that will make the time worth it for all concerned.

So, I'm back as lead singer of Roman Holiday. The jury is still out on whether I'll remain bassist/lead singer or move to guitarist/lead singer, but I will be the lead singer.

We don't have many gigs booked, so we're in a major period of rebuilding. We need a drummer and a bass player.

If you know anyone, send them to www.myspace.com/romanholidayband or www.romanholidayband.com.

I'm still going to do all the other things I want to do musically, I'm just going to work with Ned to try and keep this band going, because we sound really good, and we can sound even better.

Next gig is July 28th at the Light Bar in downtown Austin (4th and Congress). Probably the last one with Mike on drums...who knows if we'll have a new bass player by then. Ah, life in a cover band that's falling apart...

Bourbon Rocked

2007-07-05T19:37:00.000-05:00

So we had a pretty good show last night at Bourbon Rocks.

If there was any script I'd write to the last few gigs leading up to some time away, this would be an acceptable draft - we had a few really nice fans hang out all night, and the flighty BR crowd hung out for a while to begin with, then almost all the way through the second set, and bailed before the third set. After that, the second wave came in at about 12:45 a.m. and went APESHIT.

Special thanks go to the nice ladies who I will call "Pittsburgh D.C." and "You're a CPA?" (because I am so tired, I have no idea what their names were). They kept it fun all night with their enthusiasm and their kindness. (And PDC's Oneders jokes...)

I actually drank three beers last night, too. I don't generally drink more than one.

My voice held out through all the abuse until we tried to do "Any Way You Want It" by Journey - it was pretty horrible and hilarious. The voice came back after massaging it with some Sublime ("Santeria" and "What I Got"), and I was fine for the whole show. That's pretty good vocal endurance for a guy who generally doesn't have much time to work on it.

I was listening to my songs at work today, and I realized I need to go in and re-sing just about everything with vocals on it. I've improved so much vocally in the past couple of years that the recordings I made before that sound like crap to me.

So I think that's the first thing I'm going to tackle - re-singing (and in some cases, re-arranging) my songs I've already finished.

Then, I'll go through and make good demos of every song that doesn't have one yet.

THEN, I'll do some more writing.

Unless inspiration strikes first...

Further contemplation

2007-07-03T20:18:00.000-05:00

I've been thinking a whole lot over the past few days about my decision to step away from being in a band, and I really feel it's right for me right now. I still want to play live, and I'll miss the money, but to be honest, I want to be better than I am, and I want the people I play with to be even better than me.

So many times in my musical life I've accepted the fact that I'm going to probably be the best musician in the band (the kind that can show everyone else how to do their job or play their role), or at least the guy with the best ears. It's been a compromise, because it leads me to behaviors I don't really enjoy, like being in people's faces about getting things close (if not exactly right) or about the arrangements or timing. I hate it. It feels like babysitting, only the kids are adults and they don't need to be babysat, so I just seem like a complete prickazoid.

I think it's time for me to be in a situation where it's just me for a while, so I can avoid being "Captain Know-it-all" about stuff. I really hate that side of my personality. Having it reflected back at me recently (by a new band member that quickly became an old one) was bizarre. The thing is, I think it's just a complete misunderstanding of where it comes from that leads to people assuming I'm such a dick about this stuff.

But back to the music...time to get good and write something profound (unlike this tripe).

Time Is Running Out

2007-06-30T12:17:00.001-05:00

I think I'm finally fried for the cover band thing for now.

Don't get me wrong, the money and camraderie are great, but I'm tired of being a half-assed musician.

Tonight I'll talk to Ned about the future of our band, and basically tell him that I don't think I want to do it anymore (after July).

We've got two major holes to fill (drums, vocals), and so far, it hasn't gone well in that department.

The more I think about it, the less I feel the time spent away from my family justifies the amount of money I make.

Plus, honestly, I think I want to really get into songwriting again, and this cover stuff is sapping all my energy, not because I have to prepare for it so much, but rather because it takes a lot of mental energy I could be devoting to other musical endeavors (not to mention non-musical endeavors like my kids and wife).

We had a good gig as a trio at Carlos & Charlie's last night, and if we have a few more good ones, it'll serve as a fitting end to my time playing in bands for money. I will probably still do cover gigs as a solo acoustic act (speaking of which, I have a duo gig next Friday, July 6th at Johnny Fins, provided it's not completely under water), but for now, the full-band thing isn't very appealing. Too much rehearsal, too many gigs, not enough control.

I love the guys in the band, and it's not really about them. I've just reached a point where I don't feel up to doing it anymore - it's too tiring, mentally and physically.

I've always driven home from gigs with the thoughts that I never want to do it again, but I never woke up with those thoughts until this morning. I've got a gig tonight in Round Rock at a place called "The Rock Room", which should be good, because the crowd there is pretty receptive; it's small, so even a small crowd fills the room, and that's always a more enjoyable experience, in my opinion. Then a gig 4th of July at the old standby "Bourbon Rocks", the aforementioned Friday "Johnny Fins" acoustic gig, and back at "The Rock Room" on July 7th. After a private party up near Temple on the 14th, nothing until August, so that'll be when I will say goodbye, unless Ned begs me to play the Light Bar gigs...

Stick a fork in me, people. I'm done. But this blog and my music site will get a lot more interesting because of it.

Johnny Fins Acoustic

2007-06-16T01:33:00.000-05:00

So half of Roman Holiday played a gig at Johnny Fins tonight.

It was decent, though there were times I wanted my cohort to just stop playing. We hadn't rehearsed enough, so the rhythm work was pretty all over the place on the songs we played together.

The crowd hung around, though...that was so cool. I guess we didn't suck.

The staff was friendly and nice, and I got to play "Elenore" by the Turtles and "Hello" (my acoustic show staple) by Lionel Ritchie.

I enjoyed it. No ringing ears after the show, and a nice check in my pocket. I think I could get used to this sort of thing.

It was good practice for becoming the singer, because it really showed me where I was inconsistent.

I think my next bit of therapy will be recording every song we do acoustically so I can hear where I need to improve.

I think that might be a helpful thing. I also need to learn how to breathe like a singer, because I was running out of air all night. It was really pissing me off.

Well, enough about me...oh, wait, no, this is my goddamn blog! Peace to all!

Triumph (and I ain't talkin' 'bout the dog)

2007-06-03T09:23:00.000-05:00

So all my singing fears were pretty much pointless. Some songs I tanked, most songs sounded great, we were very inconsistent musically, but in the end, it was a pretty damn good gig!

The ROT rally folks were pretty cool, and I got to see Leslie's freckled man-butt through a thong (a uniquely Austin experience), and the staff at the Iron Cactus was AWESOME.

So I view the show as a triumph. The next test? An acoustic show at Johnny Fins in two weeks. It should be quite interesting, because I don't know how well it's going to go without a drummer.

We will be trotting out a very cool version of "Pour Some Sugar On Me", though. :)

Gotta find the fun anywhere you can get it. I might slip in a few originals, too, just for good measure.

Singing

2007-05-31T10:12:00.001-05:00

I'm scared.

I have to sing a whole night of songs tomorrow night, and I know I can do it, but I'm worried simply because I haven't done that (sing the whole night) in over a year.

We're gigging as a trio tomorrow night (which means a nice fat payday), and it's downtown on 6th street during the ROT rally (a big biker event this weekend in Austin). It should be an awesome crowd.

It's weird, as much as I know I can do certain things, vocally, I don't want to be overconfident. I realize that most people won't notice an out-of-tune note here and there, but I will, and being the guy I am, I want to be as close to perfect as possible, because it adds weight to demanding that of others.

It should be a great time, though.

We auditioned two more people, both very different. First was a bassist named Luis - he was good, sang pretty well, and won major points from me because his tester riff was "Glamour Boys" by Living Colour. Then we had a singer, Rob - more of a karaoke singer than a musician, but not terrible. Too inexperienced to join the band without other musical skills, though. I won't take anyone fronting the band who can't sing better than me, especially if they don't play an instrument.

That's all for now...come see the show tomorrow night at 10pm at the Iron Cactus - 6th and Trinity. The Musical Schizo comes to life... :)

It's been a little while...

2007-05-28T19:21:00.001-05:00

Life is really good at intervening.

Another lesson of making music...no matter how much you want to get stuff done, sometimes life (your responsibilities to yourself and the ones you love) is simply much more important.

Right now I've been working on getting the Roman Holiday demo with me singing together, because, well, we don't know what the future holds, and we might as well have something that will sound like what we sound like (i.e. with me singing lead) for getting new venues.

It's all up in the air as far as auditions are concerned...especially considering last Thursday's auditions were horrifying. First, we had this nice gentleman named Scott. He belonged at the American Idol auditions, because he was completely deluded. The man can't sing. He can barely play guitar. His tone was horrible. Not to mention the fact that he would be a William Hung-esque nightmare fronting a party band.

The second auditioner (Whitney) didn't bother to show up - "oh, I forgot..." Look, girl - show a little goddamn respect. All I know is that if I tell someone I'm interested in being a part of their band, I'm actually interested in the band and I will fucking remember to show up. Truly pathetic.

Well, that's all for now. I'm sure you can tell I've been stressed. More auditions this week...I want this to be over so we can just get back to the band and I can get back to making my own music. As of right now I have to learn our entire songlist, because I don't want to have a music stand with a lyric book on stage if I can help it. I'll probably just put the book on the floor, just in the event of catastrophic brain farts...

I'm a musical arsehole.

2007-05-16T23:53:00.000-05:00

The singer for my cover band just quit, and that leaves us in an interesting transitional phase with a lot of options:
-we stick it out as a trio for a little while, pocketing more cash (good, but our sound suffers)
-we find a direct replacement - a singer that doesn't play anything (NO is my answer to that)
-we find another bass player and move me over to lead vocals and occasional guitar (sounds fun to me)
-we find essentially another "me" - a multi-instrumentalist who can sing lead - and split the frontman duties

So far, no replies to our well-worded Craigslist ad, and it leads me to ponder the circumstances of the departure of members of this band over the past five months.

Casey quit because it wasn't fun anymore
Patrick quit because it wasn't fun anymore

I have a theory about that. The problem? Me.

I loom over the others in the bands I inhabit, because to me, part of the fun is getting it as close as you can while still maintaining your personality. I believe in dedicating yourself to improving your performance as much as possible. It isn't just a release for me - it's a job, too, and the crowd deserves the best I can give them. That takes work outside of practice. When people don't do homework, well, there's nothing that pisses me off more, because I see it as disrespectful, even if it's simple laziness.

I view being in the band as a part-time job that demands excellence.

I think that's the fundamental difference that led to their departures. It wasn't musical differences, it was two people who, for whatever reason, didn't want to put in the same amount of work as the other members of the band, because to them, it was more a "okay, now let's go play" situation. No outside-the-shed actual work, just show up and expect to be able to pull it off.

That was fine in the old days of the band, (when, honestly, they sucked ass) but if a band wants to grow and be fairly compensated for their time and effort, there has to actually be some effort. Some dedication to the cause, and respect for the others who really want things to get better.

As much as I procrastinate about things sometimes, I'm anything but lazy if work needs to be done on a song. I feel I owe it to the others who are working as hard or harder to get their parts together to show up knowing more than they do.

The mere fact that the two recently-departed members of the band (and I love them both) weren't up for that makes me both sad and angry, not only because I pushed them away from something they found fun, but also because in my view my actions should have inspired them to want to grow instead of just sucking the fun out of it.

Such is the life of the musical asshole...

Emotion

2007-05-14T20:22:00.000-05:00

Sometimes I have a hard time allowing myself to be really naked emotionally when I write. I think many self-conscious songwriters go through this. Some hide behind metaphor, some hide in their characters in songs, and some simply don't have to write songs that are personal.

I've spent the vast majority of my time as a songwriter toeing the fence. I want to write really dark songs about the depths of my psyche, but every time I get in that mode, one of two things happens: 1. I wimp out and the song ends up sucking. 2. I go all the way and scare myself to the point where I don't ever share those songs with anyone.

I started thinking about the emotional connections people have to songs. Some relate to the characters in the narrative, some relate to the simple joy of the melody, some really think that the lyricist managed to express exactly what they have been thinking. This was the case for me on the new Rush tune "Faithless":

I've got my own moral compass to steer by
A guiding star beats a spirit in the sky
And all the preaching voices -
Empty vessels of dreams so loud
As they move among the crowd
Fools and thieves are well disguised
In the temple and market place

Like a stone in the river
Against the floods of spring
I will quietly resist

Like the willows in the wind
Or the cliffs along the ocean
I will quietly resist

I don't have faith in faith
I don't believe in belief
You can call me faithless
I still cling to hope
And I believe in love
And that's faith enough for me

I've got my own spirit level for balance
To tell if my choice is leaning up or down
And all the shouting voices
Try to throw me off my course
Some by sermon, some by force
Fools and thieves are dangerous
In the temple and market place

Like a forest bows to winter
Beneath the deep white silence
I will quietly resist

Like a flower in the desert
That only blooms at night
I will quietly resist

Neil Peart, drummer and über-lyricist, captured the "zeitgeist" of my recent emotions in this piece.

My wife often has a hard time listening to music because it affects her so personally - it really gets inside her and moves her. I've never had that same experience - it might be the more clinical approach to music I've had over the course of my life. My daughter is showing signs of being just like my wife. I just hope it doesn't keep her from wanting to play music. I think both she and the boy will be fantastic musicians, if they want to be.

Either way, emotions about and in music are such an integral part of the experience that I thought I'd muse on them a little bit.

Whatever moves you musically is good - and if it sounds good (to you), it is good (to you).

Strike that balance when you create, and it's a satisfying experience.

Acoustic Guitar

2007-05-10T14:02:00.000-05:00

Today I reminded myself how much I adore the sound of a good acoustic guitar.

I hadn't picked up my Larrivée in a few days, and was looking to just plunk a little while I was downloading some stuff, so I grabbed it.

Immediately, I was just strumming a simple G chord just to enjoy the fullness of its sound - then I was ripping off some little bluesy licks and playing my standard "solo with thumb bassline" thing I often do when I'm testing a guitar.

After that, I started to play a few of my songs - even a couple of the more electrified variety - because they work so well on an acoustic. I've heard many songwriters say that that's the test of a good song - if it survives well with just an acoustic guitar. I don't quite agree (Pearl Jam's "Alive" comes to mind), but it is a nice sentiment.

I was listening to some tunes on Rhapsody (I'm a member), and I saw that Green Day re-released their first two albums (the ones from Lookout! Records) on Reprise. It was way cool - especially the bonus tracks on 1,039 Smoothed-Out Slappy Hours. They were from a pre-Kerplunk radio interview on WAAF in Boston. They played a few songs totally acoustic, with just Billie Joe and Mike singing (and Billie Joe also playing guitar, obviously). They sounded great...even in this "way before they were stars" session. I've always wished they'd go back and re-record those first two albums with their current production. They would sound huge.

Jumping back to my acoustic, though, I also was playing some of the chord/tab things I had saved from the "internets" years back, including some Monkees, Soul Asylum, and Turtles songs - and they all sounded just wonderful with just my singing and playing. It got me thinking - I need to just record me singing a ton of songs and playing acoustic. Sort of like Ed Robertson's "Bathroom Sessions", only with covers as well.

Ed plays a Larrivée, too. Or he did. Now I mostly see him with Taylor guitars.

But as some say, "that's neither here nor there..."

For you guys who compose in other ways, grab an acoustic, and take a crack at your tunes. I bet you'll get a kick out of the result.

Clever examples of songwriting, to me...

2007-05-08T11:32:00.000-05:00

Here are a few examples of wordplay I enjoy:

From Fountains of Wayne's "Hung Up On You":
And I can't dial the phone just now
Even though I know your number
Can't bring my broken heart to be untrue
Like you did today you'll say
Goodbye the same old way
Ever since you hung up on me
I'm hung up on you

From Sloan's "Autobiography":
I'm writing "young and gifted" in my autobiography
I figured who would know better than me
I'm certainly the former, but I'm not so much the latter
But no one's gonna read it, so I'm sure it doesn't matter

Or how about the Odds' "Someone Who's Cool":
In natural selection
I've avoided all detection
And the - tender bits underneath
All with window dressing
And calculated guessing
And a bark bigger than my teeth

These merely scratch the surface of what I was talking about in the other post. I just wanted to give some props to some bands you may not have heard before.
TMS

Wordplay

2007-05-08T11:12:00.000-05:00

One of my favorite aspects of songwriting is wordplay.

I almost invariably try to find ways to twist words or come up with clever lines to basically make myself smile.

One of my favorite things to do in a song is a thing you often see in poetry - essentially using the same sounds in alternating lines, but varying the words.

A good example (from "We Really Just Don't Care"):
Nobody sings a little song just to sing
Nobody brings a little wrong just to sting

Or maybe this one (from "Without You With Me Tonight" - written with my brother Rob):
So I know that I'll spend this evening lonely
But I can wait 'cause you are my one and only
'Cause I really think you are the one for me
I would even look past infidelity
My evening just couldn't be right
Without you with me tonight

It's little things like this that make me feel like I'm accomplishing something as a lyricist - telling the story, but doing it in a tuneful and lyrically clever way - not just stringing things together in some sort of weird baroque stream-of-consciousness thing (a la Alanis Morissette - but she's not always like that).

The bottom line is, it doesn't work for every song, but I find it really fun to find new and interesting ways to make words go together and work together both rhythmically and sonically.

I'm sure if I wrote stories my prose would be quite flowery and precious.

More to come...
TMS

Inspiration

2007-05-07T19:45:00.000-05:00

I find inspiration in the weirdest places - it could be a touching scene from a movie, the look on a child's face, a fruit display in a grocery store...it really doesn't matter.

The challenge I have is taking that inspiration and turning it into something before I destroy myself with self-editing.

Too many songwriters participate in the folly of denying their gift.

Even if what's coming out is crap, you should let it out. There is time later for editing and fixing things - turning them into something great. Let the inspiration take you to a place that allows you to create - don't crap all over an idea before you allow it to come to fruition, or you will end up dazzlingly unsatisfied with your ability to create, and with a healthy helping of writer's block, because you've gotten into a pattern of intentionally blocking inspiration because you're judging it before its job is done.

Being open to everything gives you far more material from which you can create a masterpiece (at least for you - we can't all be Lennon and McCartney or Randy Newman).

Personally, I've been working past my inherent need to self-edit when it comes to songwriting, and it's freed me up a lot. Getting ideas out is much easier when you aren't artistically constipated by your own fears that it "won't be cool enough" or "won't be good enough".

Considering how happy I've been with my wife and family, it's been hard to write things that are emotionally raw, because they feel sort of dishonest (as I'm not really sad) - but we all have things in our lives that drive us to create. And we all have topics that we find easier to write about than others. Heartbreak is an easy and obvious one. Concern and pain for someone you love is another less obvious choice, but that often comes across as preachy. Writing about a subject works well, but only if you're a good storyteller or good at description.

Basically it all comes down to allowing something to move you to the point that it creates musical inspiration, whether it be a cool chord progression (I've always been fond of the motion and tension of C#m-A-E-G#7), some assholes you know (see the song "Miserable Bastard"), certain world leaders, or just your favorite bass or guitar.

Don't kill inspiration before it has a chance to take bloom. That's my songwriting tip of the week.
TMS

Welcome!

2007-05-06T22:56:00.000-05:00

I Just wanted to welcome everyone to my new Musical Schizo blog.

In this blog I'll introduce new songs, talk about inspirations for my songwriting, reveal the methods I use for writing and recording my compositions, and share "war stories" about my various gigs around Austin and elsewhere.

I hope you will enjoy it as much as I will creating it!