really haven't written lately. i feel like writing a few articles about music, possibly in a musical format to base a composition off of. or maybe just to help me review my own philosophies.
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what exactly is the modern composer doing? i used to feel like good music was that which lived up to certain standards established by those who have a comprehensive understanding of music. But in the past year and a half or so, it's become obvious that no sound in itself is good or bad it just exists. then why, why is something good or bad? to even make a personal judgment you have to establish standards, but what do those mean, and where do they come from? should these standards apply to all? why such judgment on sounds?
i feel like human kind, at least here in the west, has a feeling of self importance. especially in america, everyone is a critic and an expert. especially on things that have no factual basis, faith, art, movies. since there is no definite answer, you can't be proven "wrong." ever hear someone say a movie sucked, but realize they aren't exactly a fil connoisseur? ever read a review of something, usually negative? you'd find that most music critics aren't musicians. what's the point? why do we put down things that don't fit into our standards that are based off of taste and not universal fact?
perhaps it is fear of there being no concrete answer for the things we feel strongest about. We need to know that our opinion means something because it feels so right to us. i think the composer and performer face this dilemma. however, i feel like clinging to these feelings full-heatedly severely stunts their growth, and also doesn't make logical sense. we all will have tastes though, and may even feel strongly that certain types of art aren't valid.
But to be someone bringing out an honest expression, that demonstrates one's love of sound, all sounds have to be fair game. How can you truly express yourself if you rule out an area of sound? Isn't music about the love of sound?
This doesn't mean you have to be avant-garde, but i think too many musicians are discriminatory about which sounds are good or bad and cling heavily to this judgment. There's so much here to explore, and once you explore it you can find what you personally like to utilize in your music, or you'll find something you really like simply because you gave it a chance. Once a musician has done thorough sonic exploration, or simply retains a willingness to be put in an unfamiliar place sonically, the distinction of what they want to do becomes way clearer.
A musician does not have to be anything really. It is the standards which we apply which require them to be anything.
"The first question I ask myself when something doesn't seem to be beautiful is why do I think it's not beautiful. And very shortly you discover that there is no reason." --John Cage.
though this is all just my own opinion.
more to come on this.....
Sunday, May 3, 2009
Monday, February 16, 2009
resolve
So Gavin Castleton's Home is incredible. I don't think I have liked a single body of music as much as I love this album. The music is amazing, and the words remind me of a time where life was really difficult for me, but I somehow was "saved by ladybugs," so to speak haha. It's really an amazing thing how relating to music can make you feel. It almost can make you re-cope with things but in a much better way, though some music i suppose could just remind you of bad things with overly negative lyrics. I suppose that's not as good. Buttttt, Gavin's music truly makes my life better and it's okay that he probably thinks im some dork fanboy because I've written him way too many fan letters telling him how great he is. OOP.
Something About Horses played a show on Friday at Firehouse 13. Minus some minor issues, and one song fuck up, we rocked hardcore. There were sound issues, as there's a lot going on in our music and if we don't double check what's going on it can get kinda muddy. We recorded it though, and the biggest problem was not hearing the synth which is most always the melody. We need to work on getting a good sound, but ya know we're a new band so it's understandable. I think if we could make everything clearer, we'd really floor people. Though at the show I felt a weird feeling from some people and even the other bands. I didn't feel very welcome, I didn't get many compliments after the show besides my friends. Not that I want everyone to tell me how amazing we are, but like even just a feeling of unity or something. I've complimented bands I've seen or played with that I didn't necessarily like that much, but I think it's really important for musicians to stick together and help each other out. I hate that exclusionary bullshit usually coming from groups who feel like they're better than anyone else.
I also really felt like some people, and I may be wrong, didn't "get it." Again, I never thought I was in some sort of hip LOOP of music. I know I write some strange music but, it really isn't that weird. I feel like people who proclaim they listen to a lot of music, or musicians who proclaim to play such "high" music, they aren't very educated about the kinds of music out there. Fuck man, something about horses is so conventional compared to a lot of other music. And I'm not talking about the obscure music some guy makes in his basement out in Montana, there's a lot of popular music that is really fucked. I just don't get what is so strange about Something About Horses. It's mostly tonal.
It also sucks when you face the inevitable group that doesn't like your music. Not everyone will like you, and even knowing this it's still hard when you're playing a show and you feel this small group, maybe out of a big crowd, but this small group who doesn't give a shit about what you have to say. During the end of our set, I heard a lot of people talking loudly and it really pissed me off. I felt so insulted. BUT, this is what EVERY musician has to face. Every artist for that matter too.
I really feel like there's such a problem, at least here in America, of just not giving a chance to things you don't understand. I suppose this is obvious, but it's weird when it's your baby, your art, your whole ENTIRE being that is just tossed aside. Even if it's 5 people out of 100. You will eventually hear or feel what those 5 think of you, and unless you are very sure of yourself, which Im not a lot of the time, it hurts. When I found out our sound got kinda muddied, I way over-reacted cause I felt like we may have turned people away because the information wasn't clear. But I also felt in general that a good amount of people didn't like us, and I even felt that one of the Other bands didn't really care for us.
It was different at our first show though. Our debut, for which we really weren't that tight. Had a lot of friends there but we did have a good number of people who didn't know us. And I felt like that reception was very nice. The other bands were very kind, and supportive. Herra Terra complimented us along with the other bands in the midst of their set, saying these bands were making "fucking amazing" music and that almost made me teary as weird as that sounds. And I had my fucking IDOL Gavin Castleton say we "fucking murdered it" and complimented us to my face. He complimented us before this night, but for some reason then I could tell he was being even more sincere. And the rest of Ebu Gogo was very supportive, as I have become decently acquainted with them over the past year or so.
It's probably good though for me to go through this. No, it's DEFINATELY good. I need to know these things. What matters are the people who actually take the time to listen to you. And I should be really upset or really happy at first when I hear good or bad things. Cause your music should be YOU, entirely. If it isn't, then what are you doing? Even if I'm imagining these things, I still need to deal with these thoughts. Some people will hear us and say "Wow, what the fuck happened? That was amazing!" and others will say "Jesus, you guys suck hardcore." Maybe even to my face. But what matters is I'm making the music that makes me happy, and once I discovered that approach to writing and performing, I've never gone back. Those who take the time will understand that there is a lot we're saying. It's plain and simply honesty, and just having fun.
I want to fucking rock and bring the walls down. Rock and Roll is all about people having a problem with what you do and not giving a fuck.
yea.
Something About Horses played a show on Friday at Firehouse 13. Minus some minor issues, and one song fuck up, we rocked hardcore. There were sound issues, as there's a lot going on in our music and if we don't double check what's going on it can get kinda muddy. We recorded it though, and the biggest problem was not hearing the synth which is most always the melody. We need to work on getting a good sound, but ya know we're a new band so it's understandable. I think if we could make everything clearer, we'd really floor people. Though at the show I felt a weird feeling from some people and even the other bands. I didn't feel very welcome, I didn't get many compliments after the show besides my friends. Not that I want everyone to tell me how amazing we are, but like even just a feeling of unity or something. I've complimented bands I've seen or played with that I didn't necessarily like that much, but I think it's really important for musicians to stick together and help each other out. I hate that exclusionary bullshit usually coming from groups who feel like they're better than anyone else.
I also really felt like some people, and I may be wrong, didn't "get it." Again, I never thought I was in some sort of hip LOOP of music. I know I write some strange music but, it really isn't that weird. I feel like people who proclaim they listen to a lot of music, or musicians who proclaim to play such "high" music, they aren't very educated about the kinds of music out there. Fuck man, something about horses is so conventional compared to a lot of other music. And I'm not talking about the obscure music some guy makes in his basement out in Montana, there's a lot of popular music that is really fucked. I just don't get what is so strange about Something About Horses. It's mostly tonal.
It also sucks when you face the inevitable group that doesn't like your music. Not everyone will like you, and even knowing this it's still hard when you're playing a show and you feel this small group, maybe out of a big crowd, but this small group who doesn't give a shit about what you have to say. During the end of our set, I heard a lot of people talking loudly and it really pissed me off. I felt so insulted. BUT, this is what EVERY musician has to face. Every artist for that matter too.
I really feel like there's such a problem, at least here in America, of just not giving a chance to things you don't understand. I suppose this is obvious, but it's weird when it's your baby, your art, your whole ENTIRE being that is just tossed aside. Even if it's 5 people out of 100. You will eventually hear or feel what those 5 think of you, and unless you are very sure of yourself, which Im not a lot of the time, it hurts. When I found out our sound got kinda muddied, I way over-reacted cause I felt like we may have turned people away because the information wasn't clear. But I also felt in general that a good amount of people didn't like us, and I even felt that one of the Other bands didn't really care for us.
It was different at our first show though. Our debut, for which we really weren't that tight. Had a lot of friends there but we did have a good number of people who didn't know us. And I felt like that reception was very nice. The other bands were very kind, and supportive. Herra Terra complimented us along with the other bands in the midst of their set, saying these bands were making "fucking amazing" music and that almost made me teary as weird as that sounds. And I had my fucking IDOL Gavin Castleton say we "fucking murdered it" and complimented us to my face. He complimented us before this night, but for some reason then I could tell he was being even more sincere. And the rest of Ebu Gogo was very supportive, as I have become decently acquainted with them over the past year or so.
It's probably good though for me to go through this. No, it's DEFINATELY good. I need to know these things. What matters are the people who actually take the time to listen to you. And I should be really upset or really happy at first when I hear good or bad things. Cause your music should be YOU, entirely. If it isn't, then what are you doing? Even if I'm imagining these things, I still need to deal with these thoughts. Some people will hear us and say "Wow, what the fuck happened? That was amazing!" and others will say "Jesus, you guys suck hardcore." Maybe even to my face. But what matters is I'm making the music that makes me happy, and once I discovered that approach to writing and performing, I've never gone back. Those who take the time will understand that there is a lot we're saying. It's plain and simply honesty, and just having fun.
I want to fucking rock and bring the walls down. Rock and Roll is all about people having a problem with what you do and not giving a fuck.
yea.
Monday, February 2, 2009
Whoa
So no post for awhile. I know you missed me. Well I'm back in North Dartmouth, MA at UMass for college. 2nd Semester of my junior year. It's really strange how fast this is going by.
Well, Something About Horses recorded some stuff yesterday for our 3 song Sampler we are releasing quite soon. It was a grueling 7 hours and there is still work to be done, but it will be worth it. It sounds great so far, and our excellent engineer Dan Warren will make it even better. I'm really happy to be in a band I love playing with that's actually getting things done, and might go somewhere. Who knows where music is going to go now? The interwebs have destroyed record labels and it's about time. Fuck.
We are also playing a show with California Smile and Irepress at Firehouse 13 on Friday the 13th. That should be swell.
What else? hmm. Well classes are alright. I'm learning how to use this crazy software called MaxMSP which can pretty much do anything with audio you can imagine. Gonna make some crazy noises. Expect that on a few SOmething About Horses releases in the future.
Also, now a composition major, and also preparing material for a composition concert in the spring at school. I'm really looking to do something entirely different lately, because I've been writing for the band for so long I wanna just do something different with different instruments. The first idea i have is to make a horror movie piece. Sort of an homage to the good and the hilariously bad ones. It will be for voice and maybe percussion, and maybe one more instrument. I'll probably use MaxMSP on it. I'm gonna make a lot of creepy atmospheric noise and put some loud screams and percussion and shiitt. It's gonna be terrifying. Some clips from horror films would be swell too. I'm really just gonna go as avant-garde as i can on this one. I wanna just push myself to not care about any sort of normalcy and just scream and make a lot of weird noise.
I have a weird relationship with avant-garde stuff. I go through periods of loving it, and times where i don't so much. Not like I hate it, but I for some reason don't understand it anymore. Not talking about musical phases either, I just don't get it at points. Though at my heart I am just a rocker, and avant-garde is just another genre, but it did change my music quite a lot and actually enabled me to write music I liked. I couldn't finish a rock song very often until I wrote my first electronic concrete piece. So it always comes back. It's like zen. Always coming back to me.
My other band now called "Impeach the Wizard," now needs a bassist. but we're writing some kickass songs. It's a lot more listenable than my other stuff but it rocks hard. It's cool to be in a band where I don't write primarily, and just come up with parts on my secondary instrument (drums). It's a lot of fun, and helps me out with my own music in someway.
I need to travel. I've been pretty happy at points lately. But I feel like I need to get away for even a day to just put some things into perspective. And plus, I've barely ever left massachusetts.
Oh and Gavin Castleton's album "Home" comes out next friday the 13th, and what he's released so far is amazing. I really encourage you to check out his page and buy the album when it comes out. This guy's music has literally saved my musical life so many times. It's incredible. http://www.purevolume.com/gavincastleton
Well, once the sampler is done and we play some shows I'll be writing more for my adoring fans (LOL).
ta.
Well, Something About Horses recorded some stuff yesterday for our 3 song Sampler we are releasing quite soon. It was a grueling 7 hours and there is still work to be done, but it will be worth it. It sounds great so far, and our excellent engineer Dan Warren will make it even better. I'm really happy to be in a band I love playing with that's actually getting things done, and might go somewhere. Who knows where music is going to go now? The interwebs have destroyed record labels and it's about time. Fuck.
We are also playing a show with California Smile and Irepress at Firehouse 13 on Friday the 13th. That should be swell.
What else? hmm. Well classes are alright. I'm learning how to use this crazy software called MaxMSP which can pretty much do anything with audio you can imagine. Gonna make some crazy noises. Expect that on a few SOmething About Horses releases in the future.
Also, now a composition major, and also preparing material for a composition concert in the spring at school. I'm really looking to do something entirely different lately, because I've been writing for the band for so long I wanna just do something different with different instruments. The first idea i have is to make a horror movie piece. Sort of an homage to the good and the hilariously bad ones. It will be for voice and maybe percussion, and maybe one more instrument. I'll probably use MaxMSP on it. I'm gonna make a lot of creepy atmospheric noise and put some loud screams and percussion and shiitt. It's gonna be terrifying. Some clips from horror films would be swell too. I'm really just gonna go as avant-garde as i can on this one. I wanna just push myself to not care about any sort of normalcy and just scream and make a lot of weird noise.
I have a weird relationship with avant-garde stuff. I go through periods of loving it, and times where i don't so much. Not like I hate it, but I for some reason don't understand it anymore. Not talking about musical phases either, I just don't get it at points. Though at my heart I am just a rocker, and avant-garde is just another genre, but it did change my music quite a lot and actually enabled me to write music I liked. I couldn't finish a rock song very often until I wrote my first electronic concrete piece. So it always comes back. It's like zen. Always coming back to me.
My other band now called "Impeach the Wizard," now needs a bassist. but we're writing some kickass songs. It's a lot more listenable than my other stuff but it rocks hard. It's cool to be in a band where I don't write primarily, and just come up with parts on my secondary instrument (drums). It's a lot of fun, and helps me out with my own music in someway.
I need to travel. I've been pretty happy at points lately. But I feel like I need to get away for even a day to just put some things into perspective. And plus, I've barely ever left massachusetts.
Oh and Gavin Castleton's album "Home" comes out next friday the 13th, and what he's released so far is amazing. I really encourage you to check out his page and buy the album when it comes out. This guy's music has literally saved my musical life so many times. It's incredible. http://www.purevolume.com/gavincastleton
Well, once the sampler is done and we play some shows I'll be writing more for my adoring fans (LOL).
ta.
Sunday, January 11, 2009
Plans...
so the band met up today for our first recording day with our engineer. but, there was a change of plans.
First of all Taylor (teh piano player) got a flat tire after meeting up with our engineer in new bedford, and Davis (bass guy) also had the same problem elsewhere. So the day wasn't starting off well nevermind all the ice and snow. So after changing the tire with the help of taylor's dad, we were off.
We arrived at Dylan's abode eventually, discovering Davis would not be able to make it. And also the fact that we're an incredibly unorganized band. So, a talk was had and here now are the plans for Something About Horses:
Instead of recording an album right now, in about 2-3 weeks we're going to track a 3 song-ep that will be given away for free if you so want one. We're gonna give this out everywhere, and give it to radio places, etc.
Around Spring Break in March we will be recording our debut album. It will be epic. Expect a Mid-spring to Early Summer release, and extensive area touring in the summer. We're designing a really epic show right now, so you gotta check it out. The album release will also be accompanied by extensive multimedia, band interaction, etc. And of course, an album party.
This EP is really gonna help us play some shows in the near future, so expect Something About Horses shows soon. They will still be epic, but the Summer is going to be crazy.
We have a lot of ideas bouncing around for our live show, so it's going to really be something special. I always wanted to be part of an epic live show, and I know now that I'll probably never be supremo rock star, so why not just act like one? Expect cool displays, theatrical displays, crazy costumes, audience participation, and much much more.
It's taking awhile but I'm really happy with the band. We're beginning to find our sound together and fully understand the meaning of the songs. I love these guys, and I really really think this band is going to do a lot of positive things and be (relatively) huge. I'm very excited.
I know some people, and myself included, want us to release the cd and do everything right away, but we feel that it's better to take our time with this. Really, just wait till the summer. You won't even know what to expect. We're putting all our energy into bringing everything we love about huge epiclive shows to the small venues in whatever way we can, and while fulfilling oujr love of performing, definately interested in entertaining the crowd.
I also feel like not enough bands interact with the people. In so many cultures music is a community thing, and I think it should be with us. Also, people like to get to know the entertainers, and at least feel friendly with them. I know I do. So we're gonna try to reach out and interact with the crowd, and post video blogs, and all the extras that will make people enjoy the show that much more.
So the EP will be out probably by the end of February. We will be playing shows soon, and they will rock. But just expect the really epicness in Mid-Spring to Early Summer. The album and the full force of our show will be out there and it will be love, entertainment, and just fucking beauty for all to experience. I really do believe in the power of music.
In other news, I've been writing a fan letter to Amanda Palmer of the Dresden Dolls because, well, I just felt like I had to for some reason. Here's a rough draft:
"Dear Ms. Palmer,
First of all Taylor (teh piano player) got a flat tire after meeting up with our engineer in new bedford, and Davis (bass guy) also had the same problem elsewhere. So the day wasn't starting off well nevermind all the ice and snow. So after changing the tire with the help of taylor's dad, we were off.
We arrived at Dylan's abode eventually, discovering Davis would not be able to make it. And also the fact that we're an incredibly unorganized band. So, a talk was had and here now are the plans for Something About Horses:
Instead of recording an album right now, in about 2-3 weeks we're going to track a 3 song-ep that will be given away for free if you so want one. We're gonna give this out everywhere, and give it to radio places, etc.
Around Spring Break in March we will be recording our debut album. It will be epic. Expect a Mid-spring to Early Summer release, and extensive area touring in the summer. We're designing a really epic show right now, so you gotta check it out. The album release will also be accompanied by extensive multimedia, band interaction, etc. And of course, an album party.
This EP is really gonna help us play some shows in the near future, so expect Something About Horses shows soon. They will still be epic, but the Summer is going to be crazy.
We have a lot of ideas bouncing around for our live show, so it's going to really be something special. I always wanted to be part of an epic live show, and I know now that I'll probably never be supremo rock star, so why not just act like one? Expect cool displays, theatrical displays, crazy costumes, audience participation, and much much more.
It's taking awhile but I'm really happy with the band. We're beginning to find our sound together and fully understand the meaning of the songs. I love these guys, and I really really think this band is going to do a lot of positive things and be (relatively) huge. I'm very excited.
I know some people, and myself included, want us to release the cd and do everything right away, but we feel that it's better to take our time with this. Really, just wait till the summer. You won't even know what to expect. We're putting all our energy into bringing everything we love about huge epiclive shows to the small venues in whatever way we can, and while fulfilling oujr love of performing, definately interested in entertaining the crowd.
I also feel like not enough bands interact with the people. In so many cultures music is a community thing, and I think it should be with us. Also, people like to get to know the entertainers, and at least feel friendly with them. I know I do. So we're gonna try to reach out and interact with the crowd, and post video blogs, and all the extras that will make people enjoy the show that much more.
So the EP will be out probably by the end of February. We will be playing shows soon, and they will rock. But just expect the really epicness in Mid-Spring to Early Summer. The album and the full force of our show will be out there and it will be love, entertainment, and just fucking beauty for all to experience. I really do believe in the power of music.
In other news, I've been writing a fan letter to Amanda Palmer of the Dresden Dolls because, well, I just felt like I had to for some reason. Here's a rough draft:
"Dear Ms. Palmer,
This is a strange thing for me to do, but for some reason I have this ominous feeling I HAVE to write a letter to you. I’ve never written a fan letter totally, and what I’ve written to musicians I look up to I often find makes me look like a fan boy and I just feel embarrassed. So I won’t spend the majority of this letter telling you how great you are. Believe me, I think you are SPECTACULAR, but you must receive thousands of letters telling you that. This is something I have to do. Even if you don’t read this.
Amanda, you have saved my goddamn life musically. To be honest, you and a few other artists, but some of them aren’t exactly reachable and I have already told one how great he is. But I would want to write to you even if you were super duper famous (I promise).
I have been going through one of the biggest fucking composing slumps in my life. I have thought way too much about music in just the most unproductive way, and been getting frustrated at my own creative abilities, wanting to smash my guitar more than play it (not in the awesome way either). It’s really awful. Writing and playing are my meditation, and my life. I found myself at times to not be able to enjoy the music I normally love. Writing was a drudgery.
Music is such an incredible thing. If I were to believe in some “higher power,” personally, I would believe in music. I could not live a life not doing something in music. Writing is just so meditative, and I don’t know. Once I chose to do music, I never doubted my decision. This is me, and I believe music can save the damn world, I really do.
And what’s interesting about your music is, I only started listening to your fabulous “Who Killed Amanda Palmer,” album very recently (along with the Dresden Dolls). My girlfriend has been listening to that and the
Not just the music too, YOU fucking rock my goddamn world. Your attitude, and just how you approach things just rocks. Even just reading your blog is inspiring. it’s such a relief to see an artist not bowing down to the industry and following the current trend. Your ability to just be honest, is really what has saved me, and reminded me of why I pursue music.
To me that’s really what good music is; honest music. No matter if it’s the most whacked out avant-garde noise piece, or a guy with a guitar and 3 chords, if you say what you mean musically, you have succeeded. So Ms. Palmer, in my eyes, even if you were broke out on the street, if you were still making music the way you are, I’d still think you have succeeded.
So while this is part fan-mail, it’s also a thank you note. Thank you Amanda, for being honest, and by chance I found your music and it really helped me out.
Oh and I hoped you liked some of the food I made for you at the
Oh and by the way, I really don’t know if this would be possible for you, but I may be putting a sort of music festival together for charity in the area of Somerset, MA for a charity in the future (summertime-ish), and I’d love you to play if it’s at all possible (I know how financial situations are and it might not work.) This is in the baby stages of planning so if it really happens and you can do something like that I can contact your booking people.
Well, that’s about it. Take care on the road, and hopefully I’ll catch you at one of your shows. If you ever need a guitar player for a show, I’m totally willing haha. And Thank you so much if you’ve read this far. I really appreciate it.
Ps: YOU ROCK.
-Jay Kohler"
that's all for now. see you soon.
peazz.
Sunday, January 4, 2009
Thank you
I wanna take this moment to thank Bjork, The Smashing Pumpkins, Gavin Castleton, Tom Waits, Amanda Palmer, and Mike Patton for currently saving my life.
New post soon. Something About Horses is going into the studio this upcoming Sunday!!
----------------
Now playing: The Smashing Pumpkins - 99 Floors
via FoxyTunes
New post soon. Something About Horses is going into the studio this upcoming Sunday!!
----------------
Now playing: The Smashing Pumpkins - 99 Floors
via FoxyTunes
Tuesday, December 30, 2008
oh hai
hey you all. i assume you are all my friends reading this at this point. so don't expect anything too new. but maybe when i'm super famous i can be on that vh1 show about the current web sensations.
so why am i doing this? i've had blogs on myspace and facebook, and i did the blurty and livejournal thing talking about my feelings, blah blah. Well, I've found I enjoy reading the blogs of my favorite musicians and if my friends happen to write any. I never really wrote down honest thoughts, or if i did, i didn't really care to make them of interest to others reading them. So this is kind of for both of us. If my musical endeavours go anywhere, perhaps my 10 fans will read this and can further obsess over my hot bod. And for me, well, this gives me something way better to do than browse facebook. Also i figure this is a good vent for frustrations or at least a way to reason them out instead of wanting to break my guitar.
So what will be here? Well first of all, I'm going to chronicle the recording of the first Something About Horses album that we will be recording soon. And also ramble about things i like or hate.
maybe some heart to hearts lolz.
So you're probably wondering, the album, the album, the ALBUM?! Yes, THE ALBUM. No title yet. Taylor, our keyboardist, is a god-send because he pretty much knows everyone. Including a recording engineer who is doing this for FREE. We've been really fortunate to know a lot of people to keep our costs down for whatever expenses we need to make.
The idea initially, as most bands have at first, was to put out an ep. But, we started to pile on more songs, and extend our already finished songs, so this will be somewhere in between a full-length and an ep. Hopefully everyone has practiced enough so we can actually pull this off. This band hasn't had any major problems so far, and with my awesome defeatist attitude, i always assume something will go wrong. But, there will be an album. And yes, there will be a record release party that will be insane.
The list as of now:
Tommy Twine
Portrait
The Piece
Snow Score
Scrabble
Mountains out of Molehills
Jumoanji
Intermediary Idea (maybe as of now)
We all have a bunch of songs too we could always throw on.
The problem with getting this done quickly is that our music is HARD. I really don't mean to flatter myself with this statement. We challenge the shit out of each other. It's really part of what the band is about. ANYTHING goes with us, which is what I love. We're all here because we love music, and have the urge to always grow, expand, challenge others, as well as ourselves. There's no urge to be famous, or to write madd hitz, or to copy anyone. Too many people want to make it big, or copy whatever they've heard. Fuck that.
Usually when I write a song, it starts as a vague idea or emotion; "Angry, heavy, slow begining, fast end, disjunct, etc." And it mostly ends up entirely different towards the end. I think Tommy Twine is the only one of our songs I knew almost exactly how it would go before I wrote it. It is one of our best I feel though. Most songs encompass a lot of emotion, despite being pretty silly. I just dig humor. It makes me feel better. If I'm sad, I may write a serious song, but mostly I'll write an upbeat, funny song. It makes me feel better. Though I think there is a stigma about humor in music being a gimmick, or independent from the music itself. ie; once it stops being funny it's not a good idea anymore. This is true in a lot of comedy music. BUT, just cause something sounds funny doesn't mean it's not a good musical idea. Humor is an emotion just as much as any other.
I think I've been forgetting to laugh lately. I've been getting more and more frustrated with my music. Hating it, doubting my abilities, it's really not productive. I get crap sometimes for my music being weird, which is kind of an absurd criticism. I enjoy the avant-rock style.
In other news, I'm playing drums in another band tentatively titled "Hose Down," though looking for a new name. We should be playing shows in the next few months hopefully. It's more of a basic rock thing but we're experimenting, finding a sound. It's really in the baby stages, but I enjoy it a lot. It's a really different experience for me.
This post had no aim or focus. It's kind of like my music.
Check back for more news. I'll post some recording pics and videos in the upcoming weeks.
so why am i doing this? i've had blogs on myspace and facebook, and i did the blurty and livejournal thing talking about my feelings, blah blah. Well, I've found I enjoy reading the blogs of my favorite musicians and if my friends happen to write any. I never really wrote down honest thoughts, or if i did, i didn't really care to make them of interest to others reading them. So this is kind of for both of us. If my musical endeavours go anywhere, perhaps my 10 fans will read this and can further obsess over my hot bod. And for me, well, this gives me something way better to do than browse facebook. Also i figure this is a good vent for frustrations or at least a way to reason them out instead of wanting to break my guitar.
So what will be here? Well first of all, I'm going to chronicle the recording of the first Something About Horses album that we will be recording soon. And also ramble about things i like or hate.
maybe some heart to hearts lolz.
So you're probably wondering, the album, the album, the ALBUM?! Yes, THE ALBUM. No title yet. Taylor, our keyboardist, is a god-send because he pretty much knows everyone. Including a recording engineer who is doing this for FREE. We've been really fortunate to know a lot of people to keep our costs down for whatever expenses we need to make.
The idea initially, as most bands have at first, was to put out an ep. But, we started to pile on more songs, and extend our already finished songs, so this will be somewhere in between a full-length and an ep. Hopefully everyone has practiced enough so we can actually pull this off. This band hasn't had any major problems so far, and with my awesome defeatist attitude, i always assume something will go wrong. But, there will be an album. And yes, there will be a record release party that will be insane.
The list as of now:
Tommy Twine
Portrait
The Piece
Snow Score
Scrabble
Mountains out of Molehills
Jumoanji
Intermediary Idea (maybe as of now)
We all have a bunch of songs too we could always throw on.
The problem with getting this done quickly is that our music is HARD. I really don't mean to flatter myself with this statement. We challenge the shit out of each other. It's really part of what the band is about. ANYTHING goes with us, which is what I love. We're all here because we love music, and have the urge to always grow, expand, challenge others, as well as ourselves. There's no urge to be famous, or to write madd hitz, or to copy anyone. Too many people want to make it big, or copy whatever they've heard. Fuck that.
Usually when I write a song, it starts as a vague idea or emotion; "Angry, heavy, slow begining, fast end, disjunct, etc." And it mostly ends up entirely different towards the end. I think Tommy Twine is the only one of our songs I knew almost exactly how it would go before I wrote it. It is one of our best I feel though. Most songs encompass a lot of emotion, despite being pretty silly. I just dig humor. It makes me feel better. If I'm sad, I may write a serious song, but mostly I'll write an upbeat, funny song. It makes me feel better. Though I think there is a stigma about humor in music being a gimmick, or independent from the music itself. ie; once it stops being funny it's not a good idea anymore. This is true in a lot of comedy music. BUT, just cause something sounds funny doesn't mean it's not a good musical idea. Humor is an emotion just as much as any other.
I think I've been forgetting to laugh lately. I've been getting more and more frustrated with my music. Hating it, doubting my abilities, it's really not productive. I get crap sometimes for my music being weird, which is kind of an absurd criticism. I enjoy the avant-rock style.
In other news, I'm playing drums in another band tentatively titled "Hose Down," though looking for a new name. We should be playing shows in the next few months hopefully. It's more of a basic rock thing but we're experimenting, finding a sound. It's really in the baby stages, but I enjoy it a lot. It's a really different experience for me.
This post had no aim or focus. It's kind of like my music.
Check back for more news. I'll post some recording pics and videos in the upcoming weeks.
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