"Plus - A Music Project" or, "Getting High With A Little Help From My Friends"

So I have an idea for a new project and I've already started to work on it. I am going to write some new songs, both by myself and in collaboration, and then I want my friends to perform on them. I want to write a song for each person who wants to do this, and then have said person sing or play an instrument on the track. I think that'd be awesome, as I could flex my creative muscle and try to come up with diverse ideas. It would also give me the opportunity to work on my mixing and editing skills, while figuring out what I can and can't do with my limited means. Get the most out of my equipment y'know?

So, anyone who's reading this that I know personally who wants in, contact me somehow (email, facebook, comment here, etc.) and let me know how you'd like to contribute. I'll write a song for you or we can write one together. It'll be fun I promise.

-- Damien

Happy 4th Everypeople!

In Honor of July 4th. The Ramones



Note the Mosrite guitar Johnny is playing and the white w/black Precision Bass that Dee Dee is playing. Classic Punk instruments.

short post about me.

It's weird talking about myself to other people. Not so much saying "I'm a musician" but more like saying that "I'm a songwriter" or "I play bass and sing". I never say I'm a singer either. It's always "I sing". Being in a band where I am a songwriter and I am a singer means I have to come to terms with my own shyness and timidness over not just performing but selling myself as well. I have to be able to say "I'm a musician. In a band where I'm the bassist and one of the lead singers. I also write some of our songs." Because I usually feel odd or ill at ease talking about me it's something I have to work on.

Swayed

I revisited Green Day's American Idiot the other day and I forgot how much I like it. I can say with no apprehension that it's a good album in the story it tells and how it tells it. Back when the album first came out, I was less kind to it, but mostly because I was too easily swayed by other's opinions.

Back in high school I was totally a follower. I liked what I liked sure, but I also was totally into whatever my friends liked. This went double for a few specific girls, but it was true in regards to my male friends as well. No one in my social circle were huge fans of Green Day to begin with, and when the new album came out I liked it, but came to "dislike" it once I found that my friends didn't really care for it. This happened with a lot of stuff from those days, and I have to wonder what I would be into now if I didn't put so much stock into my friend's opinions.

These days I try to keep an open mind, and when a friend weighs in on something, I try not to hold that to whatever that something is. So I can say I like American Idiot (I'm not a big fan of the videos that accompany them aside from the Holiday video), the Smashing Pumpkins had some Metal in them, and I am completely justified in liking whatever the hell I want.

Booze, Bands, and getting sick

Well now. Where to begin? I guess I should start with last week. Last Friday the band and I headed to San Jose to record our 2nd set of tracks and our first with Kendra. We spent three days recording drums, guitars, bass, and vocals and just hanging out in the studio and shooting the shit when we weren't working. Sunday we wrapped up with the promise of finished tracks within the week.

On Monday I had to leave musicland and go back to the real world. Work was looming over my head and I wasn't looking forward to it. Ultimately though, things were alright. I finished the last of my computer training (so I thought anyway) and when I went down to the floor I felt a little better about it. So that was cool.

Wednesday I had work, then band rehearsal, and then I hung out with folks for a Cinco De Mayo party. There were margaritas involved. I got really drunk.

Thursday I woke up with a hangover and I still had class and then plans to jam with Matt and Max (RUN AMOK). I pulled myself out of bed and was able to do all of it, but may have over exerted myself at the jam.

Friday (yesterday) was the final round of the Gorilla Productions Battle of the Bands at DNA Lounge. I woke up achy and with a sore throat. Still, I got to the studio, we loaded up, and we got to DNA. We got all set up, I took a nap in Jim's truck, and we went on at around 9:15. The audience seemed to like us, and we rocked pretty hard, but when I got off the stage, I crashed big time. I had used up pretty much everything I had on stage. Now I was all achy again and we still had a few hours to go before the judging. Ultimately, we came in 4th place.

After the judging I got a ride back to the studio where my car was waiting. Sarah came with me on the drive home, and I tried to sleep as soon as I got in. See, I had work today at 6am. I was feeling really sick, so I knew I wasn't going to make it, but I still had to call in to let my boss know. This happened at 5am. Until then I tried to sleep. I thought I'd just fall in bed and lose consciousness, but I actually couldn't fall asleep from 12:45 when I got home all the way to 5 when I had to call. I finally slept for a bit after that, but I was kind of a mess.

Now I'm getting a bit stir-crazy from just sitting in my apartment all day.

Genre and Classification

I was at rehearsal last night and I was chatting with Kendra about a song of ours in which she raps the verses. As we discussed it became clear that neither of us could really define the genre of the song. We originally thought of it as a rap song or a rap/rock song, but Kendra doesn't think it sounds all that rap or hip hop like, and I don't think it sounds like other rap/rock songs, although as a song with rapping verses and rock instrumentation I suppose it is technically a rap/rock song. Neither of us really thought of it as such.

It made me think about classification of music and how sometimes we can be totally turned off of a song just by hearing how someone else defines it. Take the song that I was just talking about. I told some of my friends about the song and my buddy who can't stand rap or anything like it groaned. I totally understand why he reacted the way he did, but at the same time he hasn't heard the song yet, and I think ultimately he'll like it since he has liked the other stuff my band has done.

Genre matters. We like the things that fall into familiar categories. Whether it be music, movies, video games, comics, etc. We will be more likely to check something out if we know that it's similar to something else that we know we like.

Music related activites

It's finally happened. After almost a year of playing with Run Amok and then six months playing with the new band (Lunate Sigma for those of you playing at home), I finally have to buy clothing for a gig. Specifically, a white t-shirt. Now that Kendra's in the band (she's our new vocalist) she's been asking what we are wearing to gigs and such. While Chris was talking about some kind of syncing of dress-code I was never all that into it, thinking that we'd still all have unity even if we didn't coordinate. Now that Kendra and Chris have been talking about it together, it's become a definite thing, so this evening I went on eBay to find a shirt. I settled on an Ampeg logo t-shirt, which is cool, but I kinda forgot that I always wanted a Zildian tee as well. Next time I suppose.

I bought a 1-spot today for my pedals and by extension my new pedal board. I went into Guitar Center looking only for the 1-spot, but of course I take a look at the used section and find a Gibson Les Paul Special Faded (single cut, cherry finish, no pick guard) and an Epiphone Triggerman 60 amp. The Les Paul I def can't afford, but I'm thinking of trying to trade my Roland BC-30 amp for the Epiphone. The only real knock against it from what I've read is that it's a heavy motherfucker. We'll see.

That's all I got.