Commercial Radio 08/05/2009
 
I've officially gone to the dark side. I have produced a COMMERCIAL RADIO AD!!!!!!

Oh maaaan. I've been in physical mode, a season of working in the yard, doing push ups and sit ups and having no interest in staring at a computer screen anymore than I have to.  Therefore, I haven't made music in months.

But, Best of Chico is upon us at the CN&R and we wanted to do some radio promotions.  I had the technology, and we wanted to maintain creative control. Click to listen. Notice the unoffensive NOVA/PBS beat in the background. 
 
Sick on my Knees 06/12/2009
 

I got SIIIIICCCCCKKKK this week.  Like I was hit in the chest with a baseball bat.  Done.  On my back. 

My body is purging.  I'm going to quit smoking.  New music will be made.  It's going to sound different.  I feel different.

 
 

So the bookshelf is finished in my front room and all the books from the garage are now inside, clearing way for me to navigate the garage a little bit better and get working on a garage sale.  Slap some hooks in the ceiling for the bikes and bam, room to put together a little music studio.  I fell ill today and am home from work.  I've been going through all this old stuff I found and I stumbled across a journal of poems I had started in 2004 or so.  There's about 100 poems in it that I hadn't read since I wrote them.  There's a prose piece I wrote right after my first son was born.  Thank God I found this stuff.  Here's a poem I found about writing music:

Composing

Quiet time
inside insight
feeling waves
emoting angels
it hurts sometimes
eyes ache
back gets sore
ears sweat and ring
surrealistic beat
juggle break dance
apocalypse strutting
brain pulse
electronic composer

 
 

I am very inspired and know exactly what I want to write when I get to write it.  Thing is, I need studio space.  So I have this garage that is finished and perfect for a little studio in the corner.  There are many books and other crap in the garage.  I just turned a closet in our living room into a bookshelf.  It took all weekend and that will clear out some space.  Next step...garage sale.  Then Hooks for hanging bikes and turning an extra closet door into a big huge table with milk crate legs.  I need milk crates by the way. 

Once these things are done, I'll be in business with a whole new musical direction and purpose.  I'm working hard for this new evolution. 

 
 

This track was made by ProtoBasic.  It was one of my first tracks I made when I got back into electronic music in 2002.  I hope you enjoy it.  I was just listening to it in the car with the windows down and it seemed to fit perfectly with this strange weather.  I dug it on my drive to this meeting I'm waiting for so I thought I would give it to whoever wanted it.  Enjoy.

tropical.mp3
File Size: 12071 kb
File Type: mp3
Download File
 
Tequila Coming 05/22/2009
 

I'm going to drink and work on music tonight.  Hopefully at Innerspace.  That's all there is to it.  I have little more to say other than, it's been too long since I've worked on my tracks.  That usually means there's something different down there waiting to bubble up.  Peter...call me dude.

 
 

http://www.propellerheds.se/products/record/

Check out this link producers.  I did some reading on propellerheads' site (makers of REASON) and am very excited about the program.  It fully integrates with all of their other apps, so you basically can have one of your Reason Rack instruments be this entire recording program. 

This app will inspire me to start my folktronic career.  If they brought the ease to recording they did to sequencing, i'm predicting a run away success for this program. 

Can't wait to get my hands on it.  They're expecting to sell it for around $300 and are planning to release it in September 2009. 



 
Chikoko?? 05/07/2009
 

So I have a babysitter that isn't calling me back, surely because she has something going on this Satuday and doesn't want to break my heart by telling me "no." 

We were keeping our fingers crossed so that we could see Elemental at the BMU.  But it just doesn't seem like it's working out for us!  Anna would let me go, but it just doesn't sound as fun without my partner in crime next to me.

It's going to be packed and super fun.  Chikoko has been in virtually every publication in town.  Nice work Chico Mamas.

So, contact me if you know of a babysitter who wants to watch a 3 year old and a 1 year old on a Saturday night...ha.

Maybe we'll just bring them.   

 
 

Enjoy this track, called Baptism.  Thanks for listening. 

 
Swine Flu Blues 04/27/2009
 

This weekend was a bit rough on my wife and I.  The boys are sick and Coleman puked at Trader Joes on Saturday.  Thanks to the Swine Flu panic-strickened public, the looks we got were pretty much murderous.  Never trust a scared mob.  I was ready for them with my pitch fork so I wasn't too worried.

The weekend progressed with fevers and a gnarly whooping cough coming from the baby. 

Needless to say, there was no music making activities...except for on Thursday night:

new piece, two versions being produced at once.  It started out as a string piece for a part of the movie I'm working on.  That went where I wanted it to so I saved it.  I wanted to take it somewhere else though too, so I SAVE AS'ed and took it to another place entirely. 

I spent a lot of time on a four part string movement in 3/4 time and I had a lot of fun with that and am pleased with the result.  I felt like a "real" composer.  Then I added the beat.  I'm looking forward to getting back on it but we'll see if we all have Swine Flu or not.  We're going to the doctor today.