Wow, the past couple of weeks have just been crazy as we’ve continued auditions for Psychanaut plus getting our acoustic/electric set ready for the Cozmic Pizza benefit July 29. Tonight we’re trying out some congas and hand drums which will be an alternate to our normal trap kit for this show.
Archive for the ‘Random’ Category
I’ve been pondering the intense changes that are happening among many of the wonderful people I know right now – precipitated by the BP Oil Genocide/Disaster. I have noticed that I am not the only one who feels deep changes happening.
This is an update of part of a previous post – but people keep asking me, so I’m posting just and updating it today. If you want to read the rest, it’s in the posting entitled BP Gulf Oil Disaster. I apologize for the length of this post; I hope to revisit this again and make it more succinct. It’s a work in progress.
PS – (If you’re just here to find out what’s happening with the music, mixes and shows, this post has basically nothing about that. Sorry.)
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You ask me what we can DO?
Apr-27-10
Just a thought about creativity
In working/playing in the studio, It’s easy to forget the actual moment of the song’s original beginning. The writing and performing flow together into the production, and it feels as though the song always existed…we just give it a form in which to express itself.
DaVinci said his sculpting was to free the form from the stone, rather than to create it. Music is the same way. The creative process is often one of discovering rather than invention.
And there’s a cycle to any creative process – if you’re an artist, writer, musician, or whatever your creative path, you pretty much have no choice but to go with the cycles. You can’t force it.
Dreams pass into the reality of action. From the actions stems the dream again; and this interdependence produces the highest form of living.
- Anais Nin
Feb-25-10
Skill Variations
A human being should be able to change a diaper, plan an invasion, butcher a hog, conn a ship, design a building, write a sonnet, balance accounts, build a wall, set a bone, comfort the dying, take orders, give orders, cooperate, act alone, solve equations, analyze a new problem, pitch manure, program a computer, cook a tasty meal, fight efficiently, die gallantly. Specialization is for insects. ~ Robert Heinlein
I keep thinking of this quote lately! “Specialization is for insects.” These evenings in the studio continue to be both fun and intense. It used to be somewhat frustrating to be both musician and engineer; switching from right brain (creativity and spontaneity) with performing to left brain (precision and deliberate focus) for engineering and editing. I can recall the guys in the band and I all having difficulty with it not so long ago. But it’s getting easier to just shift from one to the other. It used to drain the creativity right out of me to have to do analytical work on the computer. This more flexible feeling is so liberating! It feels so empowering to be able feel confident about various skills.
Nov-11-09
Friday the 13th – a day of luck and love
It always strikes me as odd that most of us don’t even know the origins of everyday words that we all use, much less the origins of holidays and supposedly “bad luck” numbers, items, and days.
Most people are unaware that each day of the week is named for an ancient God or Goddess sacred to our forbearers. (Monday is Moon Day, generally personified as a Goddess, Tuesday is Tyr’s day, the Norse God of war… etc.) We live in a culture that is somewhat isolated in time – we celebrate some holiday traditions but most of us just skim the surface, not knowing or caring why. Or perhaps even sillier, many people continue to believe that their favorite holy day has something to do with their favorite contemporary religions (Christmas, Easter, etc). Despite the signs they put in their lawns, it’s simply not true. Contemporary religions subverted and/or borrowed holy days from older beliefs.
But back to Friday the 13th.
Sep-21-09
Autumn Equinox ponderings
Wow, already that time…Autumn Equinox! I’ve been pondering energy and connections the past few days; people connecting in person and over the internet…people who love the music, or enjoyed an article I’ve written, just sending an email or speaking a kind word at a show.
Jul-24-09
Twitter and Facebook
Some time ago a couple of friends urged me to join facebook. Admittedly, I’m often negligent of this blog, much less logging in and writing what I’m doing on facebook. So it was with some reluctance that I finally made the jump and created not only a facebook account, but a twitter account as well.
Jul-1-09
New songs…
Working on a few new tunes that are going to be a bit more dynamic and airy than our usual fair, but definitely still rock. Finally, it feels like we’re creating the musical energy that goes with the lyrics.
May-3-09
Rehearsal and updates
Last Wednesday we had a great rehearsal; we’re working up a bunch of new tunes, rearranging bits and getting them ready to perform and record. We’d skipped last week, and we’ll skip this upcoming week too… so it was important to really get a bunch done in the time we had together. It was great to smooth out some of the rough spots in songs like Egypt Eyes. We’ve dropped the metal style bridge in favor of a more Egyptian, airy, haunting bridge – the song finally feels right!
We’re also working on studio overdubs for a bunch of songs – there’s two or perhaps 3 CDs worth here recorded or partially recorded, and we really need to buckle down and get them done. Meanwhile, Brian came up with some new riffs and new songs are happening, too… so we’re busy both in the writing energy as well as the recording.
No shows in the next upcoming weeks, we’re hoping to use this time to get some of this stuff done. And it’s also spring, and all the great springtime emerald valley things are happening – flowers, gardening, sunshine, spring rain, walking, biking… I like to take time to be very “present” in the moment and not take anything for granted; it’s an ongoing challenge to keep my mind on the activity at hand and not always be thinking of all the stuff that needs doing. But the songs are just running through my mind all the time, new and established tunes… there’s a music traffic jam in there clamoring for attention.:-)