sekali lagi aku tido lewat semlm.. kali ini Fakrul tak dapat sertai kami dengan alasan belum basuh baju.. huk2..
so, aku berdua je la dgn Zaid dengan misi  kami untuk mendapatkan tiket ke MAA..

kali ini kami pergi awal sebelum acara bermula.. seperti semalam tiket diberi dgn mengajak hopeful wannabe ke pentas untuk menjawab soalan atau membuat sesuatu untuk menunjukkan betapa gilanya mereka untuk tiket ini..

tapi hari ini ada satu lagi tambahan aktiviti iaitu 'Mosh-Pit Audition' dimana penonton yang dtg perlu bersemangat dengan menari or wutever movement untuk mendapatkan stiker dari VJ Taya dimana stiker itu menjadi pass ke Mosh-Pit di award nanti.. Zaid berjaya dapatkan stiker on first round dimana Pop Shuvit buat persembahan.. aku x dpt sebab sibuk ambil gambar.. well, kaki da cramp.. harapan aku mula menjadi pudar tapi masih ada semangat utk cuba mendapatkan lagi.

on second round, masa persembahan Faizal Tahir, aku berjaya dapatkannya setelah merayu dari officer yg bagi stiker itu dgn alasan Zaid seorang pergi sana nanti, not fun.. so dia dgn baik hatinya memberi aku stiker itu.. yehaaa..
kami berdua akan kesana nanti!..

penonton yang dapat 'Mosh-Pit' MTV stiker perlu mendaftar di backstage dengan mengisi borang dan diberi invitation letter dari Mtv dimana kami perlu menaiki bas yang disediakan kesana 2 Ogos nanti.. seronok! tak sabar kesana.

dalam surat itu, terkandung peraturan-peraturan dan terma seperti perlu datang 15 minit sebelum bas bergerak dan Mosh Pitter wajib menaiki bas yang disediakan kerana jika mereka menggunakan kenderaan sendiri kesana, mereka tidak boleh menjadi masuk ke dalam majlis nanti.. very strict.. tidak boleh bawak kamera (huhu) tapi handphone boleh dibawak.. tiada beg sandang or wutever handheld item.. so kami kesana berlenggang saje la..

Mtv Asia Awards, here I come!

and during the week a call came through Kia Ora said the SMS. Do you still need the gat player ?

Turned out to be Dave. We don't know Dave who is a guitar player with a decidedly Kiwi accent - but he cheered things up no end did Dave from Brisbane and one day just might be here in this area with said guitar.

IZZY FOREAL

Dengan mata yang masih terkebil mengantuk, ringtone SMS berbunyi lak.

Dari Zaid rupanya.. 'Zul, jd x?.Ko gerak kul bp?.'

aku balas 'start kol 3 kan?'

Zaid pulak balas, 'Ntah. Bkn kul 1 ke?.'

dengan laptop yg tersedia diatas katil, aku segera melayari laman web.

Argh, bukan pukul 3 atau pukul 1, tapi kul 12 tengahari!.. haha.. aku lihat jam.. dah pukul 11.30. Tu la, tido lewat semalam..

dengan segera, aku call si Fakharul beberapa kali, tak angkat, masa Zaid call, barulah die tersedar.. rupa-rupanya dia silent mode hp.. memang pandai betul la mamat ni.. :p

dengan segera aku bersiap sedia. dalam pukul 11.45, aku bergerak ke rumah Fakharul sambil hantar SMS kat Zaid aku dah gerak..

kami dengan segera menghala ke LDP. Zaid call tanya di mana kitornag. Walaupun belum masuk LDP, aku seperti biasa cakap 'dah nak sampai ni'.. haha..

Aku decide parking di The Curve, weekend memang ramai orang datang, nasib baik dapat tempat kosong akhirnya. dengan segera kitorang ke the Street dan menuju masuk kedalam Cineleisure..

Event yang kitorang pergi ni adalah roadshow MTV Asia Awards 2008, yang akan diadakan di Arena of Stars, Genting Highland. Actually, dah beberapa minggu aku dengan Zaid plan nak gi ke roadshow ni. Misi untuk dapat tiket memandangkan tiket tidak dijual.. huhu..

Kami melilau mencari Zaid sambil call dan SMS, majlis masa kami sampai sudahpun bermula dengan catwalk fashion dari model2 EDC by Esprit.. sambil menunggu Zaid, aku tidak melepaskan peluang tangkap gambar sekeliling acara..

Kelibat Zaid pun kami nampak selepas catwalk habis.. mamat ni rupa2nya gi shopping sweater rupa2nya kat Giordano.. hak2..

selepas catwalk habis, VJ Taya dari MTV naik ke pentas.. memang cun! hehe.. sesi untuk mendapatkan tiket free ke acara anugerah ini bermula.. begitu ramai hardcore yang tanpa segan silu melolong agar dipilih untuk mdapatkan tiket free.. kami trio yang masih bermaruah (hehe) just lambai2 tangan dgn harapan dipilih.. ada yang bawa banner sekali.. memang dahsyat.. rata-rata budak remaja (kami separuh remaja) hak2..

dengan tiket pas terhad sebanyak 5 pair, kami yakin tidak akan dapat hari ini.. tak pe cuba esok.. esok masih ada lagi event ni..

selepas habis acara, kami mencari tempat untuk lunch, nak makan kt McD didalam Cineleisure, tapi penuh pulak seat.. so kitorang ke the Curve mencari tempat makan yang affordable, almaklum poket kosong..

kitorang berjalan dari Cineleisure ke masuk the Curve, keluar the Curve, masuk Tesco keluar Tesco dan melintas jalan seberang ke McD disebelah Courts Mammoth.. sanggup tu jalan jauh.. cam filem komedi Harold and Kumar gi ke White Castle lak (sape yg da tgk faham..) hak2..

sambil2 makan, kitorang pun berborak dan gosip pasal sekitar kehidupan dan juga Uniten.. dan kami xtau nak ke mana selepas ini memandangkan malas nak balik awal.. aku ajak Zaid dan Fakrol gi ke Istana Budaya malam ni coz ade Laman Santai

Jam menunjukkan pukul 4.. masih lambat lagi.. sambil memikir tempat sesuai dituju, kitorang ke Borders, konon nak carik ilham destinasi sesuai. x jumpa jua. akhirnya kami ke kereta Zaid.. first time tu die bwk keter MyVi (kakak die punye)..

dalam kereta masih cari ilham tidak jumpa.. masuk ke KL ke Taman Tasik Perdana. kebetulan ada Festival Antarabangsa Landskap dan Taman 2008 (Laman 2008). Nak masuk, tapi parking full. so atas alasan itu, kitorang batalkan niat ke Festival and heading to Bukit Bintang ke The Pavilion..

masa disana, mak Zaid call suruh beli buah kelapa. Mana nak cari buah kelapa kt Bkt Bintang? Kami pun berjalan sekitar Bukit Bintang dari Pavilion ke StarHill Gallery hinggalah ke Giant ke Sg. Wang untuk mencari buah kelapa tapi tidak juga jumpa.. masa berjalan tu, rasa jadi pelancong pula.. Changkat Bkt Bintang ditutup kerana Festival Samrah sempena KL Fest akan diadakan malam ini.

Selepas itu, kami menuju ke destinasi asal ke Laman Santai di Istana Budaya, hampa coz malam ini tiada makan free.. haih.. so aku dan Zaid beli kopi utk dia, teh 'o' utk Fakrul dan teh susu utk aku.. disertai roti bakar.. fuhh

malam itu, persembahan akan dimeriahkan oleh Zehra Zambri, Refflesia, Nash dan beberapa artis lain.. sebelum balik, kami singgah sebentar ke Istana untuk ke tandas dan masa nak heading back to car, ada Suria FM road crew dtg beri freebies.. x sangka aku join salah satu acara, makan susu dgn air karbonat.. pergh.. nasib baik menang coz kakak yang team dgn aku pandai main tipu.. hak2.. so aku menang VCD Legenda Sundel Bolong dan kakak tu menang CD kompilasi Wings.. ok la tu.. hehe..

selepas tu, kitorang menuju balik ke the Curve ambil kereta aku. Sebab dah melebihi masa, kitorang terpaksa guna manual pay..

esok misi tiket ke MAA bersambung lagi..

In daylight she was desperate

But thats ok because I was desperate too"

Its lyrics like this that have made the Hold Steady the greatest band in the world....ever.  Their music won't change your life but it will make it more fun. They hold sing-a-longs and anthems up as the pinnacle of musical achievment, the type of band you listen to solely to fit in at the live show; bouncing and screaching your lungs out, arms locked tight over the shoulders of complete strangers and soulmates.

 Its Americana with a sound thats all too common but an attitude that smooths over all the cracks because this is music for people who like getting fucked up, singing along and filling their nights with passion and their mornings with regret......or something like that, less pretentious than I make them sound though.

They're playing in San Fran next Tuesday, I've got my ticket, I'm getting drunk!

Selling CDs is one of the best ways to make money. I have gotten over being embarrassed about announcing that I have CDs for sale . . . shameless plugs are not shameless if you are making money… how are people supposed to know about your great product if you don’t tell them? CDs at live events tend to be more lucrative than CD sales online. But keep directing people to your website… tell them about it in person and direct all of your other websites (myspace, facebook, whatever) to your CD sale site. Also I’ve tried a few gimmicks. Buy 2 get a free poster and sticker, or sign up for the mailing list and get a CD half off, etc etc. I try to be original because everyone else is doing it one conventional way. It seems to be all about catching someone’s eye. Once you’ve won their eye, you have a few seconds to win over their ears, and once you’ve done that, the heart is close behind. Once you’ve won their heart, you’re in, as the heart is directly connected to the wallet.

There’s no shame in supplementing your gig money and CD sales with an additional job. Many musicians feel that they would be shifting focus away from their passion if they found a day job, especially one that wasn’t even related to music. I have found that there are several ways to fluff up the old bank account without compromising my musical integrity. First off, I teach private piano lessons. In just 4 hours a week, I can make half of my rent, and by teaching piano, I have become so much more proficient at my main instrument that I feel like I should be paying them. (Don’t tell them that!) Taking cues from my successful piano lessons, I figured out what else I love, and decided to teach that. In the summer, it’s abs classes, or guiding kayaking tours. Of course, location is important, but finding flexible people to work with you around your busy life is extremely advantageous. Even though I’ve toured for weeks at a time, my piano students enjoy a break and feel they can cancel if they are feeling stressed or scheduling doesn’t work out. I am equally flexible with them, which I believe is the key to keeping my students for the long haul.

There are a slew of in-industry jobs as well, which are great if you’re taking some time to write, or do local shows, or stay in one area for a bit of time. Interning, answering phones, or starting out as an assistant at ad agencies, record labels, jingle houses and recording studios is a great way to learn some industry jargon, get a chance to play with cool technology, and meet critical connections. Advertising agencies are a hub for creative talent- graphic designers, web designers, copy editors, music supervisors. The works. After 3 years of working at a jingle house, I had written music for nationally airing commercials, just by starting as an assistant tech. The connections and recording facility that I had access to were invaluable.

Tickets will be �5.50 at the door or there will be an advance booking option were you pay only �4.50.

The advanced bookings system will be intergrated into our website in a couple of days. We will also be advertising this on our myspace page.

Gig times will be 6pm til 10pm, drinks will be served all night.

More info soon...

Simple Kid at Dolans a while back. He's cool I like him. He even sang a duet with Kermit during this show using video projected behind him. I like when bands put a lot of work into their live shows, using visuals etc. really adds to the experience.

Saw Batman last night, flipping awesome movie. I had been doubtful of Ledgers performance, I kinda thought it was being extra hyped because of his death, but it is an amazing piece of work. The whole movie is really good and it's such a pity that he is gone, I could happily watch him and Bale play off one another for years to come.
Also saw Wall-E last week, another brilliant film, one of the most beautiful pieces of cinema I have ever seen, which is crazy when you think that it's a CG movie about robots. Pixar have managed to create a world that seems more real than this one and a hell of a lot prettier too. This is the future of movies.

1. Talking during quiet songs - ELM is not calling for a blanket ban on speaking at gigs. That would be silly. No, ELM's ire is reserved for those muppets who wait til the quietest bit of the loveliest song before deciding to turn to their mate and regale them with a tale about how the Bourne Supremacy was on Sky Movies the other night and isn't as good as the first one. I once had the good fortune to see Sigur Ros perform a magnificent show in Edinburgh. Some of the moments of ethereal beauty were almost other-worldly in their magnificence. And so, of course, some walking haircut decided to tell his friend about how Harvey Nickels were having a sale and listed the savings he'd made. Why would you do that? Why pay money to go and see a fabulous band and do that? You prick?

2. Synchronised Dancing - Many charismatic frontmen have certain shapes to throw during gigs, particularly arena and stadium bands who can't simply get away with plugging in and playing. It's all part of the show, and in fairness to each audience, they tend to replicate it most nights. Whether that is against the spirit of spontaneity is another argument.  I recall seeing Michael Stipe doing some obviously rehearsed and co-ordinated moves at a show in 1999. So, sadly, did the girl next to me, who'd clearly spent many an hour watching them and then practicing them, except she was skittering around like an arthritic elephant who'd become inebriated after eating rotting fruit. On and on and on she went. Until they played a new song. That fucked her.

3. Exhorters - Sometimes at a gig, it's just not enough to be enjoying the music at a show. You just aren't demonstrating enough commitment to the cause, man. So that's when a guy, always a guy, decides to exhort you to give more. 'Dance you bastards! COME ON!' is the cry. Quite why the feel the need to cheerlead is beyond me, but there you go. Usually best to avoid eye contact with these nutters.

4. The Perennial Requester - I actually feel sorry for these blokes. One song, just one song they are desperate for. Would it be so much trouble for the band to play it? Yes, usually. They start off all nice and quiet, just the odd shout, but by an hour in, as they realise that the band are not going to change their set-list and go for it, it becomes a tsunami of pleading. It never works.

5. Fat Lass on Skinny Blokes Shoulders - Always waving like an imbecile, flabby chebs in imminent danger of popping out. And it's not that they block your view - you can always move round them - but that they bloke a whole rows view because they are tottering about as the poor bugger is in serious danger of collapsing under his wildebeest of a girlfriend's weight. Surely it breaches H&S?

Well, that's a moan, but lets face it, gigs are still great! Have a good one ELMers!

Stay tuned for a repeat performance with Wade In The Rhythm sometime in August at the 5 Spot!

And it doesn't matter. And I don't want to provoke even the slightest curiosity that might lead to selling even a single one of his songs on iTunes, hahaha. But "has been" isn't quite it; "never was" is closer to the mark. Shit, I never was, neither, but I ain't making claims. I've played some real good music with some real fine musicians, though, and I'm proud of the ridiculously eclectic and eccentric musics this haunted little rift in the spacetime fabric of Texas seems to consistently produce.

Where to start, where to start...

I got a call from a booking agent I know, he said, "Hey man, I got a coupla gigs if you want them, this guy Fuckstick McHair* outta LA, he's amazing, man, and I told him all about you, and he really wants to play with you."

As it happens, I'd actually played a little with Fuckstick in 2007**, but he was working his way up the Austin foodchain, and I was insane at the time, so I may not have really registered on his social-climbing radar or answered his phone calls or emails for like 8 months or something. I do remember through the cloud of madness thinking, wow, this guy's really a smarmy, unpleasant fuck, and I really loathe this fucking Los Angeles studio musician 11th chord suspension and modulating shit with this 53rd string Mose Alison vocal on top of it crap.

But that was last year, and, as you might have gleaned, I wasn't exactly functioning at peak mental efficiency back then, and besides that, there was a certain wheedle to my booking agent pal's (he's also very, very sick) voice that told me I'd be doing him a solid.

I'm all about doing a solid, so I said yes, telling myself, maybe it was just the fog I was in, maybe the music wasn't that awful, and learning a book, doing two gigs, it'll be good discipline.

I was already sure, if it came to pass at all, that I'd only do the two shows, because I am sick to death of guitar music; fucking cliché-ridden electric guitar bluesrock swill is about the most tiresome thing on earth. I'd played with one of the best guitarists in the world at doing that stuff, and one of the reasons he's not famous-er than god is precisely because he tried to play out of that horrible tired box those fuckers live in.

So anyway, I said, "Well, tell him to call me, he has my number, I'll see if those dates are open."

"Oh, thankyouthankyouthankyou, Seven, man, I really appreciate it, and this could be like a ton of road work, recording, fame, fortune, limos, lear jets..."

uh-huh.

About 30 seconds later, Fuckstick called me himself. He told me how great I am, that he wanted to learn my songs, send him an mp3 -- and I already I feel like I'm being played. He tells me the dates, pumps the gigs up like I'm gonna be in Carnegie Hall before I know it, and the second one, the really important one, it's a show with up and coming guitar acts -- and there's gonna be Fender reps there.

Well, hang on a sec, let me just empty my diaper, there, partner! You say a guitar company is gonna be there? And 2 other mediocre-ass bluesrock trios are on the bill? Lord, have I died and gone to heaven?

Truth is (I'll bet you're way ahead of me on this, hahaha), I shouldn't have taken the gigs. I was already looking at a crazy nosleepnosleepNOSLEEP! upcoming two weeks: I'd just joined another band, my increasingly full roster of students needed more thought and planning, I could barely walk because I'd torn a muscle running, my day gig (it still feels strange, typing that) was, well, taking my days --

-- and oh, did I mention I fucking hate guitar bands?

But I did take the dates, against my better judgment, mainly because I'm an idiot and because it came to me in the form of a favor for a friend.

So we set up a CD and chart exchange, a couple of rehearsal dates, and Fuckstick emails me a songlist. At some point I set aside 5 minutes to peruse at the materials, and I realize, oh, no! -- make that multiple oh, nos: these are the worst charts ever written; virtually every song shows up in this pile of 5 CDs in at least 3 different versions (seriously); almost every song is a cover (a bad cover); the originals are bad-Jeff-Beck-as-played-by-the-knowitall-fuckhead-salesman-at-the-Guitar-Center-on-Sunset Blvd., and each and every arrangement offers all kinds of little squirrelly details: little unison rifflets that you're only supposed to play on the 3rd and 8th repeats (complexity in arrangements isn't a bad thing -- in fact, that was the element that sustained me through this whole ordeal. What you hope for is a reason for every gesture a composer makes), multiple modulations (oh, yuck)...

and some of the songs are MEDLEYS (oh a medley is a loathsome thing).

The charts -- they're like this (only handscrawled, hahaha):

BBBB F#___________ Gb A#A# !!!!

(BbBbBbAbGGGGCD#D#)

-- for, like, a whole page. For real. The !!!s? That wasn't commentary from me, apparently that means accents, or hits... oh, boy.

The CDs -- studio, live, different band, studio, outtake crap... with 3, 4 different arrangements, tempos, everything -- which version should I learn?

Covers -- well, I'd sworn off playing covers years before, which is not to say I'd taken a vow against playing songs by other people, but rather that I'd made a commitment to original music. The covers here -- well the only way I can think of to characterize them is as novelty covers... I'm not gonna go into it too much, but imagine a Stevie Ray song emasculated, reharmonized, the melody given a whispery, faux-jazz reworking and delivered in a horrible imitation of some desperate, irradiated, dropped-on-its-head lovechild of Astrud Gilberto and Mose Alison...

...okay, I'm hyperventilating...

Gratuitous modulation is the first refuge of musical morons everywhere. I've studied classical music almost my entire life; I'm such a dork that I'll buy a score and pass on bread for a month. Modulation (which means changing keys) is a subtle emotional art that composers go to considerable lengths to achieve seamlessly, but more importantly, musically. This stuff -- BLANG - new key - BLANG - do it again -- it's jive, it's jarring, it's a cheap coat of yellow paint on a rusty piece of shit '78 Ford Maverick.

Medleys are of course both the work of SATAN and proof of his existence, hahaha.

And this crap is slick. Slippery doo doo. That's the the worst thing of all for music to be - slick. I'd rather hear some 4 year-old clawing at an out-of-tune banjo than listen to somebody's slick fuckin shit. The players on Fuckstick's CDs are LA session types, great players with plenty of chops, and I've gotta tell you it's some toneless, souless fuckin bullshit. But look. I'm a bass player, right? I agreed to play this dreck, and so it was time to man up, learn the shit, play the gigs, and take it as a pure exercise in learning -- and, may the gods of music assist me -- forgetting.

So I was actually cheerful about it -- hard to believe, given the bilious nature of every single paragraph in this piece so far, I know, but in the timeline of this association I truly welcomed the challenge, and Fuckstick was certainly very nice. It's also true that I felt like I was being groped by a skeevy porn mogul, hahaha, but hey! -- it's nice to be wanted, right?

A couple of days later Fuckstick came over to my apartment, and, as we began to set up, he started telling me what a fucked up town Austin is, how much he hates it here, how every single musician (except me, of course, I'm different) in my fair city plays nothing but strumsy-wumsy bullshit, how the guitarist I played with for so long (and whom I love as a brother) wasn't all that, didn't listen...

... then he launched into Stevie Ray, Alejandro, and several other leading lights, all Texans (except me), the weather, our dogs, the shape of our clouds... I don't know, it was a stream of spew, it's hard to describe the unpleasantness that was coming out of Fuckstick's mouth, all delivered with a big smile and the kind of new age, fake Buddhist homilies. Takes the edge off, don't you know, to say, "Everyone in Austin is a pig -- but I love them and all is bliss."

Inwardly reeling before this onslaught of arrogant bigotry, I muttered something about how I never had really belonged to any Austin cliques, and it wasn't really about all that, anyway. Dark murder was in the room, and I was trying my best to master the lizardbrain within that commanded me to rend and tear Fuckstick limb from limb.

Typing this now, I'm wondering why I didn't just throw him out on the spot. I think it was shock -- shock at how violently I reacted. Only a week before, one of my coworkers was gently kidding me, and said, "Oh, Seven, when was the last time you got mad at anyone?" And I couldn't remember! And there I was with medieval scenarios dancing in my brain...

Look. There's lots of folks that need to elevate themselves, but since they have no lift, they have to bring everything down; you know them, I know them. My theory about Fuckstick (and why he thought this approach was going to what? -- gain him a loyal minion?) goes something like this:

Fuckstick had come into Austin expecting to be worshipped in Guitartown, and discovered the painful truth, as true here as it is in LA, NYC, and Nashville -- no one cares. On the strength of his jive and his resume and his connections, he was able to quickly insinuate himself among the Austin elite, aided by his cutthroat seduction technique, the very essence of survival among the second and third-rate in the SoCal desert. Because guess what, everybody likes to be told they're beautiful, even by skeevy porn moguls, hahaha. But the thing about us Austin players is, you can seduce us, but you can't change us. It's not really Guitartown, Stevie Ray and Eric J notwithstanding, it's Eccentrictown, and that's the real truth and the real heart of Austin music.

And that's the heart of Austin. People come here thinking they'll change this place, and oh, they upchuck their stripmalls and condotowers and prefab music, but they always either wind up hating this town and leaving it forever or being transformed by it. I believe there's some deep and serious juju on this land, myself. I think it predates even Native American cultures, and goes all the way down to the core of the planet. There are places like that, you know, weird little pockets of magic, not always benign -- New Mexico, Utah, Peru -- LOTS of them, and this town is one of them, no doubt. I know; I've been everywhere, man.

Meanwhile, back at the rehearsal

Well, I could see this was going to go badly: bad charts, too many song versions, complicated, over-arranged material, all of that is easily surmounted, but you add in a despicable human (you'll see) and dreadfully bad music, and oboy, where's my motivation, as they say in Hollywood, hahaha.

Our next rehearsal, a few days later, was with the drummer at a house of one of Fuckstick's pals out Manchaca way, one of those ridiculously large places they build on the outskirts of every city in America. Inside, the decor was Dissolute SoCal Whiteflight Alcoholic Coke Dealer. Trash everywhere, piled high, but it was cartons of soy milk, tofu dog packages, and vodka bottles. We set up inside of that sprawling mess in a studio that must've easily cost over $100k. As we trudged through the musical muck, I observed a very good young drummer thoroughly cowed into removing all personal aspects of his playing to serve the Aesthetic Vision of Fuckstick McHair.

Depressing.

Out of solidarity for the drummer, I joined him in the task of soul removal -- it was what our 'leader' wanted, you know? In a weird way, it was the musical thing to do -- putting some soul into this crap would've actually made it worse by highlighting its fundamental hollowness. But the implicit oppression pained me. Why accept bullying from this little man with his small prospects? I know why I was putting up with it, a favor, two gigs and I'm out, learn a lot of stuff real fast is good brain exercise, etc... but why was this drummer putting up with it? -- he plays with him on a regular basis.

And I thought back to when I was 20-something...

no, hahaha, I would've put a severe hurting on Fuckstick, lacking all the civilized restraint I now enjoy

Late teens...

Yeah, maybe. The music is hard, ultra-arranged, well-played, I wouldn't have understood the chords very well. I suppose I could've easily been cowed by an LA session dude with an aggressive demeanor and famous musician stories to tell.

I felt for the kid. But he's more like 27, voluntarily playing this bullshit -- hell, he may like it, not for me to judge for anyone except me.

There was one more rehearsal before the gig. Unexpectedly I had a chunk of time open up, and I told myself I'd devote it to learning this dreadfully bad songlist before it rolled around.

But on the day I was paralyzed, man, it was like trying to pull out a healthy tooth, hahaha. Instead I learned Relaxing at the Camarillo, a Charlie Parker tune , one of the coolest blues heads ever.

Austin slacker.

Still, by the time of the last rehearsal I felt I had a pretty good grasp of the tunes -- how to decipher both the indecipherable charts and Fuckstick's particular language (for example, "bomb" means "whole note").

After his usual fellow-musician-slagging, Austin-hating preliminaries, we got down to bidness. As we went through the tunes, much to my bizarre combination of professional horror and profound human indifference, I couldn't seem to retain anything about his horrible fucking music!

This is where I lay off of Fuckstick and take my own fuckhead self to task. Music is sacred to me, man. If I didn't want to do it I should've said so, up front. All subsequent revelations about his mean-spiritedness and the profound terribleness of his music ain't gonna get me off the hook. There I was, after THREE rehearsals, and ample time to review (ridiculously crowded schedule notwithstanding), incapable of remembering pretty much anything, hahaha. And sitting here right now, intellectually recoiling from this severe, unpardonable lapse, in my heart, I remain, in truth, unmoved.

I guess I just can't forgive dissing SRV, hahaha -- not to mention my best friend, the city where my daughter was born, the state where my ancestors lived and died... but you know, I'm a musician, I mean if, well, if Charlie Parker did that, I wouldn't think twice, hahaha: Yeah, you right, Bird, Austin sucks! -- can we play Donna Lee now?

Inexcusable. This is an instance where I'm going to ignore my emotions and learn the lessons my brain commands me learn, which is (alone in) telling me I done wrong. My heart? My gut? They're telling me I should've sabotaged his car, or superglued his face to a city bus.

And still Fuckstick was telling me how great I was, all about my spirit, my life, what I should be doing to be happy, did I wanna hook up with this woman he knows, and I'm thinking, it wouldn't really even BE murder, right, I mean aren't there instances where there's implicit cosmic approval?

Come gig day, heeding my higher consciousness, I actually got up early, before my students started rolling through, and seriously knuckled down with the CDs for a few hours. After my last student left, I had a solid hour before I had to go to load in, and I filled it with more study on those horrible tunes. Dutifully, I wrote down questions about rifflets I didn't have time to ear out (the charts were absolutely useless), arrangements (as in which of the many recorded versions should I heed), ectetera.

When I got up to the big, multi-room, something-for-everyone entertainment complex (which means you can listen to really loud country music while you play!), I loaded in my stuff, helped load in everybody else's stuff (I'm a good guy to have in your band, honest I am), set up, asked my questions, clarified my rifflets, got the songlist in order. Then Fuckhead asked me if I'd go with him to grab a bite, and I said sure -- my curiosity about other people is nearly bottomless, and it certainly wasn't hard to get him talking about himself. We went to a Subway at a nearby freeway truckstop. I grabbed some trailmix and juice while he ordered up a sandwich. While we sat in the fluorescent yellow glory, eating, a family walked in --

"Look at those fat fuckers," he hissed, "and LOOK! That one woman is wearing a Jesus t-shirt, she's fat and ignorant."

You go, boy, I thought, you're actually dissing entire religions now.

Then he was off on Texas again, then all Southerners, with an aside for every human that walked in the door.

Walking back into the club, he looked at a couple in front of us and said something so vile I can't repeat it here, not even in this invective-filled posting of mine. With that fucking Buddha twist on the end, too, and I realized, this is just one of the worst humans I've ever known.

You know, I did a pretty good job on the gig. I played the shit out of most of the songs, and expertly covered up the places where he changed thing up, or I'd completely forgotten. I definitely had a couple of brainblanks, but anyone would've on their first time on a gig as involved and arranged as that one.

On the first break he told me to put the rig on the ground, and I needed to play with more presence, man, music is about presence -- this is Old Fart for turn up, I'm deaf, hahaha. My good nature finally crumbled away and I said, "Back the fuck up. My rig stays where it's at, my volume is fine, shut the fuck up."

Well that drove him from the dressing room, and I fear it may have cast a permanent pall on our relationship, as well, hahaha. Just then, the soundman put on a CD of me and my best friend, the brilliant guitarist Dervish, in all our ragged glory, and everything dropped into place, somehow.

And so it went, through 2 more sets. No one was there -- why would they be? At the end of the night he called out the well-known sentimental standard he ends his nights with, and as I looked for the horrid chart to remind me of the modulations, hahaha, he said loudly, dripping with sarcasm, "You don't need a chart, do you?" and I hollered back, "I do when the changes are wrong and stupid," hahaha, but he didn't hear me. Listening ain't exactly Fuckhead's long suit.

After the gig, I quickly tore down, loaded up my rig, and drove away. Before I left, the drummer said we should exchange numbers. He liked me. I liked him. Good player.

Halfway home, Fuckhead called me.

"Hey, where are you? I have your money!"

"Keep your fuckin money, I don't want it."

"You feel pretty bad, huh?" undoubtedly thinking I was agonizing over missed rifflet #9 on the second coda's repeat in embarrassing cover song #33.

"Nope, I feel great," I said, and I did -- I was driving away from him and his lousy ass music.

It was dawning on him, at last. "Will you play that Fender showcase?"

"I will," I said, "because I said I would. But here are my conditions. One rehearsal, no more, the drummer has to be there, and that's it. And after that, you may never call me or email me again, ever. Is that clear?"

I haven't heard back from him.

__________________________________

*Not his real name.

** Watch for my upcoming post (it's still in draft form) called "Everything I did in 2007 was wrong"

Okay, I'll rephrase.

[fangirl] I WENT TO A CONCERT LAST NIGHT~~~~! [/fangirl]

It was the world premiere of Sculthorpe's new work Memento Mori, which utilises the Dies Irae plainchant from the Requiem on violins and horns etc.; but it was really good because he sets it to didgeridu - William Barton <3 He's so amazing, and he holds the record for longest sustained note without circular breathing - 46 seconds!

But yes, next the conductor played with him, a violin-didgeridu duet based on a number of Australian folk songs (including Waltzing Matilda); but it was really amazing because of the awesome contra-rhythms they were both playing, 7/8, 7/4, 15/8, you name it.

So next, the Canberra Symphony Orchestra played a Beethoven Piano Concerto, the pianist was absolutely stellar! I didn't really connect with this work as much as I did with...

Dvorãk's Concerto for Orchestra in B Major!

This piece... O.o SO AMAZING~!!$(*@#()q5ujrlgz

It just ends... and then starts... and ends... and starts again... and then modulates, ends, starts, brings in the horns with a HUGE solo...

and then it starts! It's such a rush! but then it ended.

And so encore time.

It was the Slavonic Dance, also by Dvorãk, which is even more stunning... I guess it's something you'd have to see live to really appreciate.

Anyway, that's that for today.

Keep wandering~

Trailer Park Bonus Disc Details:

01 Safety
02 It’s Not The Spotlight
03 Galaxy of Emptiness [live]
04 Pedestal
05 Touch Me With Your Love [instrumental]
06 It’s This I Am Find
07 Bullet
08 Best Bit [early version]
09 Best Bit
10 Skimming Stone
11 Dolphins [feat. Terry Callier]
12 Lean On Me [feat. Terry Callier]
13 I Love How You Love Me

Scroobius Pip vs. Dan Le Sac - The Beat That My Heart Skipped

YILA feat. Scroobius Pip - Astronaut

Scott dug up a badge for my father who had made the trip out to Oklahoma. My dad is a scientist…and he looks like one. I wonder how many people saw his badge and began to worry about what band he might play drums for.

I have to say that the crews at Rocklahoma were the best I have ever seen. From the stage guys, to the people who drove us around, to the really nice ladies at the merchandise tents, everyone treated us with the most respect and professionalism that I have encountered. These people were truly the top of their profession. I can not find the words to sum up the appreciation that Axe has for everyone that helped us out on Sunday. This festival ran like clockwork and I sure hope to get to play it again.

We opened up the show again…this of course meant that we got to do a soundcheck and that was nice. The stage was huge with two of the giant screens on each side. Everyone gave out 110% and I feel it was probably one of our best shows since I have been with the group.

Afterwards we had several interviews to do. Interestingly enough, they do not like you walking 40 feet to an interview at Rocklahoma. They drive you on a golf cart. Again, I can not stress enough how great everyone was the participated in making this event happen. I felt very privileged to be there.

We spent the rest of the day watching bands. The bass player from Steelheart played the national anthem. I’m going to try to get the spot for that next year. I have to say that Tesla rocked out as well.

I was walking around backstage when I heard somebody yell out “Nice Hat.” I looked up and there was Fozz from San Antonio. I was like “Hey weren’t you just in San Antonio…How did you get here?” He looked at me with a puzzled facial expression for a moment and then said “Oh…we’re headlining tonight.” And that is how I learned that Fozz is part of the management for Queensryche. Boy do I feel like a moron. He did not seem fazed by it at all. Come to think of it…all the guys I met from Queensryche were pretty cool.

My dad tried to fit in the best he could. Ace had just got done playing and he leaned over and said “That was Ace right….from STIFF?” I started laughing as I tried to explain that he was Ace from KISS. He tried so hard and I am very proud of him. My dad rocks.

Anyway, everyone got back home alive and well. I am very proud to be part of this band and can not wait to get back out on the road again soon. I hope to see each one of you out there as there are many big things cooking on the Axe stove for the near future.

Until the next road journal….this is Dr. Froth…signing off.

(Please Note: The opinions of this article ONCE AGAIN reflect that of the bass player and not necessarily that of the rest of Axe or Axe’s booking management…despite the fact that the article is nothing but the untarnished, unblemished truth of what went down.)

We were about to go down to Rocklahoma and set up our Merch, when the weather turned foul. There was mass quantities of wind and rain blowing all over the place, cascading over everything like a parvo stricken wildebeast. Due to the wonderful turn of events, we decided to wait it out a little while longer before heading to the venue. Not long after that we heard that the salamander had begun to frolic in the eggnog of Rocklahoma. The wind had caused the two side stages to collapse to the ground…supposedly severing some girls arm. This news mortified us, but thankfully it turned out to be incorrect. A girl broke her arm, but at least she got to keep it (and not like in a jar or something…she still has the arm and everything is going to be fine). It is really a miracle that no one was killed…anything under those stages during a collapse would have been squashed so thin that he/she/it would only have had one side.

They were not letting anyone through, but after awhile the bands did kick up again and Rocklahoma continued to roll forth. We did not actually get there, however, until the next day.

(Please Note: The opinions of this article STILL reflect that of the bass player and not necessarily that of the rest of Axe or Axe’s booking management…despite the fact that the article is nothing but the untarnished, unblemished truth of what went down.)

It is truly amazing just how much stuff you can cram into a van. We packed several guitars, a few boxes of merch, everyone’s bags, a keyboard case so long that it created a divider between the bucket seats, Dave, the rest of the band and Stogen the sound guy. At first I was wondering if I would have a space to sit that was slightly smaller than a snake’s hind legs, but it turned out fine…I guess it always does.

10:00am. No finer time to be a rockstar. It was at this amazing hour (one that truthfully, I rarely see) that Axe made it to Southtexas Rockfest. Remembering my previous adventures as “Captain Crispy” the last time I was here, I quickly applied sun block before checking things out. A lot of sun block.

Axe began to get our pre-gig checks done. Scott worked with the drum techs to get everything prepared for his performance. This involved, to what I could tell, trying out a variety of positions for equipment as well as different equipment all together. Brad and Dave began setting up processors and evaluating the various amplification that the backline had provided. After that, they both tuned up a multitude of guitars. I on the other hand tuned the five strings on my bass, grabbed a guitar cord and waited…and waited. After I got done waiting, I waited some more and then we had a soundcheck.

Soundcheck went well and then it was time for some more waiting. Fortunately I have become very proficient in waiting around so this was not a problem for me. Another exciting point was that the venue had a tent that sold Turkey Legs. I think all venues should sell Turkey Legs. Venues that refuse to sell Turkey Legs should have the promoters drowned in a tub full of rabid, angry gerbils. (In any case, if someone is wondering…I did buy a turkey leg. It was good).

We met some interesting people backstage and I tried to make some new friends. There was a guy with a hat just like mine named Fozz who I talked to for a while. He was pretty cool. At the time I thought he was a local in charge of lights or sound.

Ahhh Go Time. Once we hit the stage and the music started it was all ducks and checkers. Everyone sounded very good. Rick, who had only been subjected to a couple of rehearsals prior to this, did an outstanding job. Bob Harris sounded great on vocals as always. Brad and Dave hit a fine lick on the guitars. Scott and I did outstanding too, though I am a bit biased on Axe’s rhythm section. (Probably because I am a large part of Axe’s rhythm section.)

We spent some time in the Merch booth signing autographs for all the cool people who had come out to see us, despite our early timeslot in the day. Our friends in San Antonio always have treated us very well and we all love coming back to entertain them as often as we can. (Except for the guy at the gate on the one side of the venue…he was rude and somebody should introduce him to a cattle prod and teach him some manners).

After talking to everyone that wanted to talk to us (We love to meet anyone who enjoys Axe as much as we do, and we stay until we’ve met them all) we packed up and began the journey to Oklahoma.

(Please Note: The opinions of this article reflect that of the bass player and not necessarily that of the rest of Axe or Axe’s booking management…despite the fact that the article is nothing but the untarnished, unblemished truth of what went down.)

Several members of the inaugural board of directors met on Sunday in Kansas City.  Here's a group shot:

We expect concerts in May 2009.

ohmygod i'm not over it yet!

first off.

I'M GOING TO WATCH DAUGHTRY LIVEEEEEE! THIS WEEKEND! FOR THE SONY ERICSSON TRAFFIC JAM STREET PARTY!

i couldn't believe my ears when Moots! called me up and said "hey Joycceee! you know who this is? (me: yeaaahhhh?) do you want Daughtry tickets? (me: ohmygod YESSS???)"

yup. HEE HEE.

don't hate me okay. Moots just randomly called me up to ask me whether i wanted those passes or not. HOW EFFIN COOL IS THAT?! must be because i've been bugging them about the MAA passes. since, well, I CANNOT GO :( haaaa.

but heeeeeeyy! i have not one, not two, but FOUR passes to catch Daughtry this weekend! i still don't know who to give the other two passes to! i just really don't know. i'll decide later i suppose :)

that's one. and there's another.

jasmine (my sister, if you nincompoops don't already know), won herself two passes to catch Chelsea FC in their training session!

thanks to non other than Mr. Kenny Sia!

WHAT A WONDERFUL DAY :)))))

psst: is there anybody who wants to swap passes with me? i'd give you FOUR daughtry passes for TWO MAA passes! please let me know if you want to make a deal, ay? ;) hee hee!

Oh yes! Love their version of 1234!

This Friday @ SMU Green!

Listen!

+++

Ok, ok. One day, one day soon.

Until that day though, I am pleased to report that I have been finding plenty of fun things to do in and around Cork that cost little to no money. all it will take is a little imagination, car-pooling, money pooling and creative accounting.

Dead Cool

First up on Tuesday at the Pavillion, Carey's Lane, there is a really great idea for a slightly different night of fun and music with every wordplay and music lover's dream 'Let's Get Quizzical' followed by 'Dead Cool.' Dead Cool is just that, very cool. All the tracks on the night are by dead people. And every week, just to mix things up,. there is one track by a living person who everyone thinks is dead. This is a lovely venue and a night I think is worth checking out. All this and, it's FREE. Ah the word just gives me a little glimmer of excitement when I type it. FREE...mmmmm.

Doubletime

If you're not sick of the Pavillion by Friday, then I seriously recommend checking out Doubletime, upstairs from 8pm Friday 25th July. On the last Friday of every month for the last 5 years, the sax-playing-swing-loving-bebraced legend himself, DJ Gary has been satisfying the needs of the romp-lovinf, swing-dancing, jazz-hungry masses. Playing the best jazz fromt he 1930s and 1940s, Gary has the gift of actually making you forget what year it is. With the usual venue being the Spailpin Fanach, the decor usually plays a part in that as well. But there is something about a room full of people stomping and swinging to 1930s jazz in low-light and high-heat that really makes you feel like you shouls be hearing a war siren at any minute. It really is a fantastic night out. This week is extra special because it is Doubletime's 5th birthday. So for just €10 you can enjoy a rip-roaring night of fun, and possibly (if you're quick and lucky) leave at the end of the night with one of Doubletime's famously aesthetically pleasing posters.

When it seems like all is lost, and you've spent the last of you earnings on a ticket to see the Dark Knight in Cork's most over-priced cinema, and you feel like you need your next cheap dirty fix of entertainment, along comes an absolute glowing-white knight on a majestic steed in the form of Cork's most exciting new festival: Indie-Pendence.

Indie-Pendence 

Indie-Pendence is running over the course of the August bank holiday weekend in Mitchelstown. The line-up includes acts such as Gemma Hayes, Fight Like Apes, FRED, Dirty Epics, Hope is Noise, the Blizzards.... I could go on but the excitement might make my fingers grab the keyboard against my will and throw it out the window. And as already pointed out, I'm a little bit poor to avaoid such setbacks in my carefully reginmented budget. The festival takes place throughout Friday, Saturday and Sunday and the absolute best thing about it is it is completely FREE (that beautiful word again. After hearing reports from Oxygen on Fight Like Apes, and great feedback on Dirty Epics and considering the speed at which the stars of the Blizzards and Gemma Hayes and of course

FRED have risen in the last couple of years, this really is an opportunity to school yourself in the talent that Cork and Ireland has produced in recent times. It is also a prime example of one of the many fantastic events that makes Cork worthy of it's title as the Real Capital. Don't miss this!

So, I've given you at least 2 weeks worth of free music, alternative club nights, fun and games and adventure there for the bargain price of €10 + petrol money. But remember : faint heart never won free lift!

Enjoy your week.

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(As to a scarp enharmonic note, my Russian term a la mode my discourse delineation seems for boast disappeared and sinker. The Gremlins sure are about a excitement towards better self these days! ...No other au reste extend worrisome so as to take to my featherweight, though it’s currently unplugged, likewise that’s at littlest a unmistakably impossible object lesson.)

The speakers were Rebecca Caughey of Funktion Music Media who gave us loads of great information including how to put together Press Kits and the whole process of how to do tour promotion from time of concept to the actual event and of course how to get people to your gigs and loads of useful people who can help in the various media.

Next was Lauren Clough of Maiden NZ Entertainment.  She not only gave us lots of information but challenged us with loads of tasks to make sure we did more than just take notes. A major part of her presentation was about understanding your target market indepth and making sure everything you do is consistent with that market. She gave us a truckload of information about Press Kits, both physical and EPK. How to get the right media to cover you gigs and story in a way that makes it easy and relevant for them.

The last speaker was Matt Turner of Kurb Promotions. Now I've been a fan of his blogs for some time and he did not disappoint. Now Matt reckons he is not practiced in public speaking, well he could have fooled the audience who were frantically taking notes on top of the excellent handout he left with us. If you are serious about marketing yourself on the web, this guy has studied it in depth and made it his lifework. You really should make contact and at the least follow his blog on MySpace.

What did I learn? Well you should have been there yourself. I took pages of notes and together with the tasks I gave myself, including creating this new blog, it would take me longer than the day I spent to tell you everything. Next time Artspace put on a seminar, go support them.

Oh and also a shoutout to Tabitha Frazer of Yellow Beatle records who was the only person who gave me a business card, it was a great one too. I hope to find out more about your business soon.

So thanks for reading this, I hope you will subscribe and encourage me to do more posts and also will pop over to my MySpace page, have a listen and send me a friend request, maybe eve give me a vote on the Demand It banner:)

Oh and do leave a comment please:)