the plane touches down, without any meals...very unscheduled...

originally typed up about a month ago...


Well things have been rolling along. We have gotten in there as consistent this month, probably the most consistent in several months. I really can't remember the last good month that we got to practice this much. I would guess right before the beach house?! That is a bit too far back if you ask me, but things are going really well for us.

Our second track (tentivealy called "Full Tank of Gas (and nowhere to go)") is coming along much better and quicker than any of us could have imagined. It is a unexpected surprise to me. Not that I didn't think we had it in us, just that it came together so quickly. Also, that we seem to be on schedule. That is just something we haven't done in quite sometime.

I am not going to say that it was easy, but it just seemed to come together nicely. It's a track that could suite a style we would like to play. Does that make sense? It's something that I would say is us, more so than "In This Corner". Hell at this point, "In This Corner" might never be hear by human ears. It might not make it out of our studio. Who knows!?

In any event, things are looking up for us. If things continue to stay on track, we could have two to three more tracks before the new year. Let's not get crazy or anything, but you never know....we are definitely going to try our best....

taste the fist when I get pissed...

Well, we have gotten off to a tremendous start! I, or we couldn't have imagined getting off to any better start then the one we just pulled off on Wednesday.

We talked a little on Tuesday, figured out a schedule to try and stick to, picked out what tracks to try working on and we pretty much did that the very next day. Well, picking the piece that I could remember the most and with the main riff in place already, we tried getting familar with it again and tried to think about what changes or whatever we can add to it to make it a more complete track. The new part we created was quite a surprise. A surprise that it came so quickly and a surprise that it was so good, or at least as good as we all think it is. It's still not pieced together perfectly, and there are so many different directions to go, but it shows some growth and it is more of a feel that I would like to play, or would be comfortable playing. There was a moment when we first started improvising, that sounded so great and just had a amazing feeling while I was playing it, it was very fun again. It was almost perfect.

I would like to think that my little bit of playing at home helped me in creating in the studio. After all, what I played in the studio was very similar to what I was messing with while playing at home. Thinking about that when playing in the studio really made me feel pretty damn good too. To think that I could come up with that with very minimal playing time at home is something that I can probably build on. I have to keep that musical focus in my head and keep reminding myself that it can only be positive for me, and the band.

I was definitely a step in the right direction. This should be a nice building block for us, but we have to keep it going. If we can do that, then we will finish the year out very strong.

Life is perfectly sad...

(originally written on 9/28/07)

Well, I was able to practice again on the guitar for just a little while last night. It wasn't for very long, but I feel good that I did. I am seriously going to do my best to pick up the guitar when at home and have the free time. I figure even if it is for 30 minutes or whatever. Every little bit, no matter how little, has got to be positive for me. Yeah, yeah, I have said this countless times, and I probably will keep saying it. It's still up to me to keep it up though and actually do it. Sometimes I think that is it a little pathetic that I have to keep saying shit like this, when I never keep it up….but still….

But I really want to keep this thing going and finish the year out really strong. I want to continue to grow and evolve, musically. Consistency is the probably the only way that I can achieve this. There was a time that I thought to myself that I would never have a problem creating pieces. I felt that confident about it. That feeling is all but gone. Need to get that feeling back. At the current moment, or actually a few weeks ago leading up to this, I felt a little lost when trying to create something on the guitar. Trying to force something, just isn't the way to go.

I also want to be more dynamic on the guitar. I think about the only pretty much full track that we do have, "In This Corner", and think that there probably can be more dynamics to it, guitar wise. I don't know how to go about it at this point, but something can probably still be added. I don't know to exactly get started in that. When I think about this, I don't know how to start, or that I have a hard time getting this initiated. It's all part of the process though, and it is half the fun too. It's going to be hard work, but that suits me just fine. I feel that I am limited, skill-wise. I am not a naturally gifted musicial, and I have never taken formal lessons in my life, but I am pretty confident that I can create some catchy and good things. I just have to focus on this and really just work hard at it again. I am sure that I will, I just feel in that mode, or zone again. I mean, I might not be there quite yet, but I want it. I can feel that good things will happen before the end of the year....

more soon!

I wanna suck like lovers do, I want to lose a grammy too...

It's tough to keep this thing going. I mean, don't get me wrong, we don't plan to on stopping. It's just amazing that sometimes we, or I, find the time to keep working on music. Really what I am talking about is getting in the studio and do what we call "rehearse". When I think about this, it isn't surprising that there are times when we don't get in the studio space for like a week or two. Sometimes, it seems that happens more often than times we do get in there. It's just the way it goes, I know that, we all know that, but yet it is still frustrating.

I think in our case, well..mine and Mike's for sure, is our full time jobs. Not to exclude Rook in this case, but it seems to get in the way with Mike and myself much more. It just gets in the way the more often than anything else. As of now, there isn't anything that I can do about it. I have to have my job. I have to have the money come in. I think that is the case for all of us. Yet, we still find the time in our crazy schedules to try this thing, to try and make music. It's one of the things that keeps us going. It keeps us alive. It makes us happy. It's hard.

I am trying my best to work on stuff at home. Yes, I have said it again. I actually am trying my best to keep my end of the bargin. I mean, I am not going to get any better not practicing. It hurts me not to. How can I expect to get better if I don't practice? So, I am trying to keep it up. I shouldn't have to force myself to practice. If this is really want I want, what I love, it shouldn't be a chore, or work, right!? I AM trying.

I hope to finish the year out with a bang. I think that we can do it. Hell, I almost say, that we have to. We have to come out of this year with something concrete, and to have a sense of accomplishment. I think that it will be some sort of a measuring stick for us. I have gotten a bit refocused, and hope that the guys are ready too. Next week, we start to bust our ass. From next week, until the end of the year. It is way past time.

We will see what we are made of. We have wasted too much time.

I know the pieces fit cuz I watched them fall away,

Well, things have been moving for the most part. It might not be the fastest pace in the world, but at least we are moving. Our rehearsal history has been very inconsistent, if you sit and think about it. A lot of times, it is because of things that we really can't control, be it due to illness or work. There isn't a whole lot that we can do about that. Other things are other things. We just need to make sure that we avoid those things too. It's all good for the most part. Sure nobody wants to be sitting around waiting on someone else, but as long as we get good rehearsal time in, I don't have a major problem with it, and I think that we do no matter what the situation.

Well, after a rough practice and a great "band discussion" after that, we picked up the pieces and started moving on the only real track that we have. The rehearsals got much better after that. Sometimes talking about things can really bring a new focus out. It certainly did in our case. We really started focusing on getting the track down. It has really come together too. In the month of April, we didn't get in the studio a whole lot, but the sessions that we actually did get in there were very productive. I guess it really was a case of quality over quantity. To me, that is important. It really isn't the number of times you get in there as opposed to getting good, productive session out of the times when we are in there. Of course, I would love if we were able to get in there a little bit more, but we get in there when we can.

The month of May, we hit a bit of a snag. I got pretty damn sick, and then the beach house came and went, and before you knew it, the month was over with. We were able to get a little studio time in, and again, it was productive for the most part. I must admit that we have fallen a little bit behind schedule, but as long as the progression is there, then I have no problems.

Well, after all of that, we finally got the chance to get some time in on a Saturday and experiment with getting the track recorded. It was nice to do, and I think that by the time were done, some progress was really made. If we can continue do get good quality time in and a bit of a more constant schedule we will be just fine….

...if only I could be as cool as you...

Things are certainly progressing now. We are almost getting in there consistantly now. It is definitely helping already. We have gotten refocused and are really working when we are in there. All in all, things are just looking up.

We have decide to go back to our original plan on focus working on a single track, the track tentivaley named "In This Corner". It's hard for me to describe the vibe or sound of the track. It's a fairly simple track. It has a quiet part and a loud part which alternate a few times, no real change, and then a curve ball of an outro. Besides that, I really couldn't tell you what kind of a sound it has, or tell you who, or what band, it might be compared to. I basically hesitate to do that. I won't do it.

The track itself is still fairly raw. Of course it is, but we have made a little progress with it I would say. For the first time we are really, really paying attention to the details of the song. We even took a little time to let just Mike and Rook work together on the outro part, to make sure that the sound of the drums and the bass were matched and smooth. That is something that I really don't recall ever doing. I mean, we took some signifcant time out to do this. It seem to make a difference to. I was glad to just spectate at them work together and try to get on the same page. I was very impressed, and very proud. We also made some simple, but significant, realizations while doing this. Nothing earth shattering or revolutionary at all, but something that we need to do. Keep it simple for now, get the track down as much as we can, and let the changes and fill in's come naturally as we progress through the song.

All it all, it seems as if we have made huge strides and signifant progress since that one bad rehearsal night, and the discussion that soon followed. For now, we are trying our best to stick to what we say and just continue to work hard and get the first real track finalize, or at least for now. It's a great feeling of accomplishment already, and of course it should only continue to get better as we keep on going!

Everything has chains... absolutely nothing's changed

It's still a growing process after all of these years. I mean, I don't know it if every ceases to be one, but it is the case with us. I don't know how long it is been since Me, Raymond, and Mike decided to get the studio space together and to try creating music on our own (maybe a year and half…longer?! - I would have to check that out), but what it boils down to is that we almost essentially feel like we are at square one. It might very well be the case, it might not, it all depends on how you look at things I guess.

Things haven't moved as we probably all hope it would. For whatever reason, things get pushed back, postponed, or what ever, but that is ok…that stuff happens. We just have to make sure that we stay on top of things. We probably lost a little time. You can probably say that we dragged our feet a little this year, but there has been situations (mostly work related situations) that have caused this to happen. Ok, there isn't much we can do about this, outside of looking for a new jobs. So, we all deal with it the best we can. In my mind, this has got to be the biggest contributor to slowing us down.

Every so often we realize what is going on and have to step back and have an open discussion of sorts. We talk about what has happened and try to map out something's. I think that we are pretty good at that. We all know what needs to be done. At the same time, it is good to have that open forum. It's a relief to know that we are all on the same page, or seem to be any how. We had to do this again this past Thursday, which just so happen to come after a not-so-great practice (on Tuesday). It was very positive, and necessary to do.

Having said all of this, it is so cool and such a great feeling to see this thing grow, not matter how slow that might be. I mean it has started from nothing...no direction, no plan, just nothing, and has started to take some sort of shape. Sure, we have a long, long way to go, but already you can see that some positive things have happen, and it will continue to get better, I have no doubt about that. I think that we have grown, musically, from when we initially got in the studio and plugged in. You can see and hear that. We still have to find our identity, and which direction, musically that we plan on going in. That is going to be the exciting part. Watching it continue to grow and move. From this point on, I think that we are going to "get back on the horse" and start to make things happen.

when I am king, you will be first against the wall

Wow! A third straight week in the rehearsal studio and actually plug in! Well...they were only Tuesday's, but it's a step in the right direction. Things still feel great, and the little piece that we came up with sounded just as good as ever too! We even went one step further yesterday and put the little piece/track onto tape. That in itself was a great feeling to me. I can only assume that Mike and Rook' felt the same, but I hesistat to put words in other people's mouth. (But I am still going to assume that)

Mike got his snare drum worked on recently and I noticed the difference and improvement in the way it sounded last night. I sounds really good. With his new heads on his kit and the new snare, it just sounds really great. I still have a thing or two to work on as far as my sound/tone comes out. I mean, I am not totally unsatisfied with my settings at the moment, but I am not entirely happy with it either. For now, it is ok, but I definitely have to work on improvement there.

The little track that we put to tape, sounds really good. I can really hear other elements that can be added to it, but for now, we just learn to crawl. It has a lot of potential. I won't compare it to anything or any other band, I really don't like to do that, but it is something more similar to an instrumental band. I mean, that is the first thing I thought when we kind of put it together. There is definitely room for more stuff to be added too. I really dig it...

On a more personal note, I am finally starting to feel a lot better around things that are around me. Work and energy levels, really. Things seem to be getting a little bit normal. There is still a lot of things to do around house and all that good stuff, but I am feeling much better. I actually thought to myself on two or three separate occasions about how much better I felt today. This despite two back to back nights of not sleeping well. I have held up great so far. I hope that this trend continues for me. I especially hope that Mike's job situation and Rook's family situation calms down a bit too. If for some reason they don't and things get crazy for me again, I know that there is always studio time to make us all feel better...

...I haven't felt like this in so long...

For a second straight Tuesday, we (Mike, myself, and Rook') were able to get into the studio and plug in. Good things usually happen, at least in my mind, when we do this. This past Tuesday was no exception. I don't know exactly what it is, but we fair pretty well when we want to. I mean, some of these little things that we end up playing, sound really nice...very decent. Of course, I am a little bias in my opinion, but I try to think back and keep an honest opinion. When I think back, I like what I hear.

I think that a lot of it stems from us genuinely having fun. When I say that, I mean in every aspect of it. We enjoy hanging out together and joking around, we enjoy being in the studio space (and it is finally decorated up a bit!), and I think that we enjoy making music together. All of that adds up. It really does. We have been able to keep it that way ever since we all decided on this. It hasn't felt like "a job" or hard work persay...at least not like it felt at times in our previous experience in a band. I hope to maintain this for as long as we can. You know, keep it free of stress, worries, anything negative. I think as long as it stays fun, then there shouldn't be any of this.

When we do create something and play, I think that so far,we have been our best when it is real mellow and soft. I don't really know why this is, but it has just happened that way. Sure, we still have a lot of work in front of us, but that is the way that it has just worked out. I don't know what this says about the type of band, or the type of music that we are going to continue to make, but for right now, it is what it is. I really don't know what my ultimate goal is, as far as the music goal and what style, but I just want to continue working on it and continue to "evolve". I think that we have grown a bit already, musically, and that it both surprising and wonderful. This will no doubt continue if we keep working at it. Now, if we can only get a consistant streak going on rehearsals, we will be a lot better off!

It all will happen, I know it will. The more we get in there, the better we will get, the sooner we are out playing, and the "blogs" will be more frequent! Can't wait until next Tuesday!

It's just a day to day that I seek I gotta find a way to the end of the week

Ok, if you didn't know, the title of this entry is a lyric from Local H's "Everyone Alive", and has a whole lot of meaning to me at this point in time (and for probably Mike as well). We are getting worked to death. I would say even more so for him. Well, at least for me there seems to be a small break, but work keeps me busy for the majority of the day anyhow. It doesn't take much to ruin the day at work, which is why I cannot wait for Friday to roll around, and I can start my weekend!

Well, for the most part things are starting to calm down for me. Man, I cannot not explain how much work through everything out of wack in my life. I was just exhausted. I was getting pretty much nothing done. For the most part, as I said earlier, it seems like it has calmed down, and everything is getting just a little bit normal. We will see for how long this keeps up, but for now, I just try to take advantage.

This past weekend was fun. It actually seems like I am having full weekends now. I don't have to work every other Saturday now. I finally realized this past weekend, how much of a relief that is going to be. I did a lot...well, much more than I had been doing. BBQ'd and drank it up until about 4 in the morning with Rook' and Mike....man, that was so much fun for me. On the next day, Sunday, me and Ruby went to check out 300 (a DAMN good movie) on the IMAX, ate a good, good Jax Grill burger after then I rested at home before seeing Public Enemy at the Warehouse Live. It was a good two days for me. Seeing PE was just the "icing on the cake" as they say. It was an amazing show. I really had fun seeing these Legends of Rap perform.

Anyhow, lost in all of this is the fact that we actually got some playing time on Tuesday in the studio. It had been a very long time since we last plugged in, and it was severly overdue. That ended up being a great night. We just basically screwed around, you might even say jamming, but we had a little ditty or two that sounded so nice. Creating music is such a great thing, especially when you get to share that with people that you enjoy and get along with. I am feeling really great about things, at least on the music side of it. Now, if we can get in there in a consistant manner, I think things will really work them selves out.

Well, I am still a bit tired from this past weekends activites, so I think I am going to call it a night....more updates to come, in more frequency......I promise....or at least I will try my best...

I've got an open invitation, to shoot my mouth off...

Ok, so it has been sometime since my last post, update...whatever. There has been way too much going on. I wouldn't even know where to begin, and this post would be several days long. So, I will skip it. It was, after all, in the past, and I am doing just fine.

Things are finally starting to calm down a bit around these parts...well, everything, except the weather. It's been a little bit cold outside. It's all good. It's great drinking weather, and you will get no complaints from me.

We are finally getting organized to the point that we are going to start rehearsing again. That is a welcomed topic for all of us. We went up to the studio last week, to just meet up. It was nice to get in there again. We plan on sprucing up the space really soon. Good thing that I have a lot of pictures that I cut out over that last 8 years or so. I haven't had anything current, but at least I have something. I think that they studio space is going to look great once everything is said and done!

I actually got on the guitar tonight and came up with two little "ditty's". It's a real sense of accomplishment on my part. I even got a call from a frustrated Rook'. He just felt frustrated about creating something on the bass. I know how he feels all too well. I have gone through a time when I felt I didn't know what to play on the guitar and ended up putting it up. Luckily I don't feel that way anymore, and was able to talk him through it (I think). I felt good about that too, that I was able to lift his spirits, that is. I feel, especially recently, that I can come up with little pieces of music a bit easier than I ever have in my life. I don't know why this is, but I am not going to try and figure anything out. I am just happy that I can try to create something and actually create something...if that makes any sense at all.

All and all, things are starting to look up. We have some "goals" for this year that we want to accomplish as a band, and it all gives us that warm, special, feeling. We are going to do our best to actually come through this year!

That's all for now, and oh yeah...the show "24" rules!