I meant to write this awhile back, got sidetracked, and must write it now before I forget some the things that went into making this record.
All of songs save for "Krim" were written the first 2 weeks of February, written here at the Hobbit Hole on my trusty old Tascam DP-01CD. I started using presets on the 8-track for recording guitars as I didn't yet have my combo amp out of storage. Most songs were also recorded to a click track (Mobile metronome app on my Droid). This came in very, very handy later when tracking drums. Also 95% of arrangements were kept as-is when I wrote them. And most of these tunes were written in one sitting using my original guitar track, totally stream of consciousness.
1. Leap of Faith: Symphony in D Standard.
I started with the opening riff and took it from there.
First version was almost 10 minutes long and quite symphonic in its breadth and scope. Chord changes were improvised on the first pass, as was the spacey riff at the end of the song. Melody lines written on the second and third pass. I was thinking of calling it Symphony in Drop D cause it was a cool title, but the song wound up being in D Standard so there ya go. But just so happens the song has 4 distinct movements, much like an actual mini-symphony so I wasn't totally pulling phrases out of my ass.
All guitars are my Paul Stanley Iceman which was in D Standard for an Arcana Mundi song. I used my JCM800 2203 with a V30-loaded Marshall 4x12. Rented Adrian Conner's place to track guitars as she was out with Hell's Belles and was cheaper than the Music Lab, in addition I'd rather give that money to my friend than a corporation. Guitar effects are my trusty old Phase 90 and the tremolo pedal I built. Cosmic phase sound on the last movement was 2 separate guitar tracks with phase which I thought were both busts. But played together sounded amazing.
Drums are my late-70's Slingerland student kit recorded in Music Lab room 115, did drums for title track, "Brief Ties to Space" and "Rare Earth Metals" on the same day, with a warm-up session a few days previous to fix up my drums, try beats, test sounds and get back into shape. On the warm-up session I learned I could finally play to a click track, which opened a whole new world. I could now go back and put drums ON TOP OF the existing arrangements, rather than having to re-write them when tracking drums and hope to God I got the arrangement right and the tempo wasn't so fast I'd have to retrack. Mic placement as follows: Shure SM58 about 18" away from kick drum into first input. Second input was line out from my mixer with two overhead mics and a snare mic that was turned down a bit.
Bass was recorded at Music Lab room 93. Knocked out bass for the 4 songs that needed it on the same day, and bass is always last but certainly not least. Used the 'Ocean of Stars rig' as I call it, an Epiphone Valve Standard 15w tube combo chassis pushing a 200w Ampeg 4x10. Dirt provided by a Fulltone Bassdrive. There is phaser on the 4th movement, and yes that is bass feedback on the end. To date this is probably the best bass tone I have ever recorded, and with dirt pedal added is some of the gnarliest bass tone since Rollins Band "End of Silence." Yes, I was very pleased!
2. Luna en Sombra
The original idea was written on electric as something that just popped into my head.
Heard the possibilities for it on a nylon string classical and bought new strings for my Yamaha. Both original and album versions were recorded here at the Hobbit Hole in the entryway room, a single mic sitting on the edge of the table cause I forgot to grab a mic stand. In the original version it was raining and you could hear it hitting the patio on certain tracks. It was beautiful but the song was a mess. Wanted to grab the sound of the rain from previous pass and add to the newer one but never got around to it.
The title means "Moon in Shadow". I wanted to call it a beautiful-sounding Spanish phrase, so got on an English-to-Spanish website and tried different combos of words until it sounded right.
3. Brief Ties To Space
This one proved a challenge, because the original version which was improvised almost exactly as is but was not done to a click. That was stupid. Tried to redo with a click and careful charting, the tempo fluctuated from verse to chorus and the arrangement was stream of consciousness and not always even. No dice. Lost all life whatsoever. So I tried adding drums to the existing arrangement, no click whatsoever, just guitar tracks. And it fuckin WORKED. Holy crap, this was a huge leap forward for me.
The guitar was a challenge as well, did my best to re-do on the Marshall all of the original preset tracks. But was running out of time and wound up leaveing some of the original preset tracks as they were fine as is. The solo at 2:15 (the first actual guitar solo on the record, 3 tracks in... ha!) was the original preset lead. The solo that comes in at 3:56 and is almost 2 minutes long was a single-take Hail Mary pass. It was the end of the day, my hands were shot from recording 3-4 guitar tracks each on 4 songs. I could have come back to it, but I said fuck it and left it as-is. All the glory and all the warts. And I like doing things like that as a reverse-homage to the Joe Satriani and Steve Vai guitar-fetish masturbation albums that my HS friends were so into at the time. Yeah, this is a guitar album: and this solo is almost laughably sloppy but also works perfectly and totally improvised. And I include a pic of my damn DRUMS in the artwork. Fuck you guys.
The title was a phrase I heard on NPR. They were playing music from and talking about a band from Gambia in Africa, who for a few years in late 80's-early 90's had a NASA emergency landing facility and therefore "Brief Ties To Space."
4. Rare Earth Metals
Another stream of consciousness arrangement that started with the verse and chorus riff over a click track. Even tho you can hear the drums speed up in places to catch the click, on this song feels like I really came into my own as a drummer and knocked the take out of the park, fills and everything.
In putting the song together wanted to write a straight-up metal song, but with few of the metal traditions. You don't hear much tremolo in metal. There are no power chords played at all until 3:25 into the song. The second bridge part at 4:48 sounds like a chorus effect on the arpeggiated chords, but that is 2 guitar tracks with no effects.
The title came about as I wanted to name it something metal-related, as I felt I was throwing down the gauntlet and showing my metal roots to be alive and well. Googled some metal-related phrases and chose the existing title, as "Reforging of Metal" would be a little too pompous.
5. Give Us The Key
The was the most challenging track, as it has a weird time signature (7/8) on the verse. Original pass had no click and the tempo was different between the verse and chorus, which was a problem. But reworked it to a click keeping the tempo steady all the way through. Sounded weird at first but quickly got used to it as I filled in the other tracks.
Drums recorded again in Music Lab room 115 but this time I had fixed my snare, the snare chord had broken last year, I fixed it but the snare was not sitting right on the bottom head. You can hear it big time when the drum tracks are isolated, but was passable in the mix. Now my snare sounded night and day better and wish I had fixed it for the first run of tracks. I struggled a little with the time signature, but the natural breaks in the song helped with recording the drums parts-at-a-time. I am very proud on my John Bonham drumroll going back into the chorus at 3:12.
The song is straight up Stoner Rock, again in keeping with some of my musical roots. Stream of consciousness arrangement. This was also the only song in E Standard and using my 1979 Ibanez Iceman. Only the L guitar track was my JCM800. The middle and R guitars are presets. Something about the way the neck pickup with tone rolled back and the preset, sounded so damn fuzzy and tubey I just left it rather than re-doing it. Guitar solos also presets.
I really went nuts on the bass tone for the chorus and bridge, again getting some of the gnarliest bass tone since Rollins Band "End of Silence." My God that crappy little rig sounds amazing.
This was the last song I wrote a title for, and was having a hell of a time trying to come up with one. "Offtime" was just boring and obvious. My theory on song titles, especially for an instrumental album with no lyrics to get a title from, is such: you want people to read the song titles on the back of the CD and have them be anxious to hear what certain songs sound like based on the title. So yeah, fuck "Offtime" as a title.
I spent a lot of time on the Hobbit Hole patio waiting for CDs to burn, waiting for shit to upload. Spring was setting in (yes, Feb is pretty much springtime in Central Texas), and there are lots of doves in the trees making various calls. Some of the calls had a certain speech pattern to them, sounding like the doves are saying "GIVE US THE KEY." It was funny at first, but then I couldn't UN-hear it. After a week it was starting to weird me out. And I swear that I am not on acid right now. Either way, hello song title.
6. Krim: The Sound of Kali
This song was written as a request from our good friend tattoo artist Karen Slafter. She asked me to write a song about Kali. I said I'd see what I could do... time was running short on the Feb 29 midnight deadline. So with little inspiration other than my limited knowledge of the often misunderstood Hindu goddess, I sat down and just started playing. Stream of consciousness. I got done and hit stop. Song was 9 minutes long. Wow. Went back and did two additional passes to add embellishments and melodies. Then I stepped away from it to finish rest of the album.
Only went back to really LISTEN to it when I did one final run through to clean any rough spots. Only ones I could find on original pass was a few melody cleanups for around the 2:30 mark. Rest of the song was done that first time, and I was very pleasantly surprised listening back to it. Thought was just the same thing over and over (I barely remember writing it, and didn't listen to it until the final track cleanups) but was not. It's a rather introspective and involved journey. When Karen first heard it at her studio she remarked to Triniti: "How can a song be happy AND sad at the same time?!?" Hell I don't know, I'm just a conduit for the Music every February.
Wednesday, March 14, 2012
SXSW is here...
And I plan on sitting this one out.
I've been doing the hustle for almost 12 years, playing up 7-8 shows with 3-4 diff bands. One year Shandon Sahm did 4 gigs in one day. I could go downtown and schmooze/hustle, I have a new solo album and its now re-printed precursor. I could go and see a bunch of great music and see a bunch of great people whom I haven't seen in awhile, prolly since SXSW last year. I could try to get some exposure for myself and every band I play with, sniff down some label options for myself and ETB.
But I'm tired and need a break. ETB wound up not getting accepted to the SXSW festival, even with David Cotton and Susan Antone in our corner. We've only been busting our asses for the last year here and on our 99-day summer tour. This is all we do, we support ourselves by playing music for a living in the Live Music Capital of the World. Altogether the three of us have put 30 years + into this music community.
And like most other local Austin talent, they took our $30+ submission fee put our presskit into the "local" pile, which they open after the out-of-towners and big names. Remember when the SXSW Music Festival was all about showcasing Austin indigenous unsigned talent? Yeah me neither.
Anyway, end rant. Hope I don't come off as bitter, tho there is a difference between that and simply telling it like it is.
So yeah. I am taking this SXSW off.
No official gigs, no unofficial showcases (the festival is very particular what is and what is not an OFFICIAL SXSW showcase, tho 1000+ bands and who knows how many folks coming into town is still called SXSW as a general blanket term... again, just saying). I missed the tuesday free kickoff show at Red Eyed Fly which I go to every year. I could have seen a buncha great people and a buncha great bands. But I just felt like staying home, even tho I could have taken a cab to avoid the parking nightmare downtown. I was going to miss the Small Stone Records showcase (go every year, have reviewed in past for Rank and Revue mag) in favor of another firewalk with Triniti, but looking online it is Friday and not Saturday. Ok, that's pretty cool, but again see how I feel. I could wheel and deal and stay visible/promote my records, but at the same time it'd be more to let people know what I have been up to rather than looking for a record deal.
And I may make appearances at the Whoopsy Magazine party(s), have played that in the past with Shandon several times, and now Trophy's is in walking distance.
In the meantime I am trying to type with my thumb in a splint and my forefinger wrapped up. Looks much worse than it is, but have these nagging and constantly shifting joint pains/issues in my pick hand. Thought my forefinger was on the mend by a guy shook my hand onstage Monday night and the knuckle screamed back to life. That and constant random motions aggravate the tendons on top of my thumb. Immobilizing the whole works feels great so far. Maybe it's also good I'm sitting this SXSW out, as I'd be shaking a lot of hands...
But let's see: ETB's Monday residency was cancelled this week due to Friends being boooked for a private party (see above paragraph about SXSW and local artists), but they booked us at their sister bar Agave instead. It is long and very narrow, I was not very happy when we first got there (but that might have also been from carting our gear around the block due to the barricades). But regardless by 9pm 6th Street was packed like midnight on a weekend. That is a good sign. So we blew into our set not worrying about noise ordinance violations of if we were too loud for a venue that was about 10 feet wide in front of (and including the width of) the stage.
Turns out that is always the best course of action. Few songs in and we had the place packed with a crowd outside as well. I will say this, small places are easy to pack. They loved us and we were on fucking fire, good God that was an awesome show. And a fairly profitable night, people were dumping their wallets into the tip bucket. And laughing at my stupid jokes about "Wow, it's pretty packed downtown for a monday... is there a convention going on or something?" Heh.
Good times. Looking forward to enjoying my time off. And waiting for my CDs which should arrive today.
I've been doing the hustle for almost 12 years, playing up 7-8 shows with 3-4 diff bands. One year Shandon Sahm did 4 gigs in one day. I could go downtown and schmooze/hustle, I have a new solo album and its now re-printed precursor. I could go and see a bunch of great music and see a bunch of great people whom I haven't seen in awhile, prolly since SXSW last year. I could try to get some exposure for myself and every band I play with, sniff down some label options for myself and ETB.
But I'm tired and need a break. ETB wound up not getting accepted to the SXSW festival, even with David Cotton and Susan Antone in our corner. We've only been busting our asses for the last year here and on our 99-day summer tour. This is all we do, we support ourselves by playing music for a living in the Live Music Capital of the World. Altogether the three of us have put 30 years + into this music community.
And like most other local Austin talent, they took our $30+ submission fee put our presskit into the "local" pile, which they open after the out-of-towners and big names. Remember when the SXSW Music Festival was all about showcasing Austin indigenous unsigned talent? Yeah me neither.
Anyway, end rant. Hope I don't come off as bitter, tho there is a difference between that and simply telling it like it is.
So yeah. I am taking this SXSW off.
No official gigs, no unofficial showcases (the festival is very particular what is and what is not an OFFICIAL SXSW showcase, tho 1000+ bands and who knows how many folks coming into town is still called SXSW as a general blanket term... again, just saying). I missed the tuesday free kickoff show at Red Eyed Fly which I go to every year. I could have seen a buncha great people and a buncha great bands. But I just felt like staying home, even tho I could have taken a cab to avoid the parking nightmare downtown. I was going to miss the Small Stone Records showcase (go every year, have reviewed in past for Rank and Revue mag) in favor of another firewalk with Triniti, but looking online it is Friday and not Saturday. Ok, that's pretty cool, but again see how I feel. I could wheel and deal and stay visible/promote my records, but at the same time it'd be more to let people know what I have been up to rather than looking for a record deal.
And I may make appearances at the Whoopsy Magazine party(s), have played that in the past with Shandon several times, and now Trophy's is in walking distance.
In the meantime I am trying to type with my thumb in a splint and my forefinger wrapped up. Looks much worse than it is, but have these nagging and constantly shifting joint pains/issues in my pick hand. Thought my forefinger was on the mend by a guy shook my hand onstage Monday night and the knuckle screamed back to life. That and constant random motions aggravate the tendons on top of my thumb. Immobilizing the whole works feels great so far. Maybe it's also good I'm sitting this SXSW out, as I'd be shaking a lot of hands...
But let's see: ETB's Monday residency was cancelled this week due to Friends being boooked for a private party (see above paragraph about SXSW and local artists), but they booked us at their sister bar Agave instead. It is long and very narrow, I was not very happy when we first got there (but that might have also been from carting our gear around the block due to the barricades). But regardless by 9pm 6th Street was packed like midnight on a weekend. That is a good sign. So we blew into our set not worrying about noise ordinance violations of if we were too loud for a venue that was about 10 feet wide in front of (and including the width of) the stage.
Turns out that is always the best course of action. Few songs in and we had the place packed with a crowd outside as well. I will say this, small places are easy to pack. They loved us and we were on fucking fire, good God that was an awesome show. And a fairly profitable night, people were dumping their wallets into the tip bucket. And laughing at my stupid jokes about "Wow, it's pretty packed downtown for a monday... is there a convention going on or something?" Heh.
Good times. Looking forward to enjoying my time off. And waiting for my CDs which should arrive today.
Friday, March 9, 2012
Busy
Been too busy/sidetracked to update.
That and my tweaky thumb have made typing on my phone rather uncomfortable. Became aggravated towards end of RPM album tracking. Doesn't really hurt to play, but doing everyday stuff like lighting a cigarette or doing tasks on my phone are either painful to first joint or causes tendons to lurch over top of the 2nd joint respectively. Needless to say stopped doing either activity, got a thumb brace from CVS, and have been taking Ibuprofin and Glucosamine when I can remember to.
But RPM Challenge album is done. In ordering copies of it, had trouble with the company's website (was my internet connection... bah!) and lost almost 2 days of production time trying to look at the art proofs. Needless to say, with that delay if I wanted them by SXSW I would be forced to pay out the ass. Making the order not even worth it.
But stumbled across another company, AMS Rabbit. Not only could they rush order 150 copies of 'Leap of Faith,' but they could also print 100 digipaks of 'Ocean of Stars' for less total than what it would have been to rush 130 copies of LoF with the other company. Sold. They'll be here Tuesday or Wednesday latest. Holy shitballs, I just inadvertently started my own record label.
OK so I've been thinking of that recently. Having my own label to put out my own music until an actual label (or investor) wants to step in as a business partner/financier. Much like Henry Rollins' label 2.13.61. Only calling mine 9.18.74 would be very cheesy. Going with Hobbit Hole Records, in honor of the nickname for our humble abode. Not the greatest name, but it sure is fitting. Just getting my music out there, and it's a nice tax write-off as well.
And AMS Rabbit needed to artwork so quick I had zero time to even add it to the album art, much less come up with a logo. Going to somehow work the upside-down bike hanging in the tree out front into it. CDs should be shipping today. Cool, I guess the next logical step is to sell them and get them played/reviewed.
Anyway. ETB songwriting rehearsal yesterday was a success. Came up with a new song then and there. Great groove to it. Also wrote down a list of the existing ideas and possible songs to re-record for new album. Almost an albums' worth of material already. # righttrack
Monday ETB residency at Friends went great. Getting back to the busier-season crowds. By first walkaround we had the dance floor full and swinging. We were on fire, had a blast and was a profitable night as well. I played my backup bass Cate Blanchett, as I ripped all the strings off Minnie Pearl at TX Independence Fest and forgot to get more (out, and been too busy ordering CDs to finalize SIT order). Goddamn she is a nice bass. Played great, felt great. Doesn't share Minnie's quirk of it seems the strings are different volumes. May have to rotate them out for awhile.
ETB @ TX Independence Fest was a blast, turnout not as good as last year but still people there whose faces were melted clean off. Damn feels great to play a short set (45 mins) and just totally unleash. And playing both my 2x15 bass cabs is fun as well. Finally got to meet/hang with comedian/former radio personality Charlie Hodge, who was hosting the event. He was awesome, and super nice.
ETB Saxon Pub gig Friday was a mixed bag. Last minute confirmation so no real time to promote, so crowd reflected that. But the people there (mostly new faces) loved us. My performance felt like a mixed bag as well, but always enjoy playing there. And always sounds great there while doing walkarounds. Seems turning down at other venues kind of takes the life out of us, but never the case at Saxon.
The ETB Friends residency has been cancelled for this coming Monday before SXSW. Venue rented out as a private party. Well there went my one money gig the entire week. Hopefully some out-of-towners will rent my now useless gear.
I'm sure there's a ton else going on, but I need to eat instead of type. First meal of the day (leftovers), it's 3:36pm CST and I've been up since 9-something AM.
That and my tweaky thumb have made typing on my phone rather uncomfortable. Became aggravated towards end of RPM album tracking. Doesn't really hurt to play, but doing everyday stuff like lighting a cigarette or doing tasks on my phone are either painful to first joint or causes tendons to lurch over top of the 2nd joint respectively. Needless to say stopped doing either activity, got a thumb brace from CVS, and have been taking Ibuprofin and Glucosamine when I can remember to.
But RPM Challenge album is done. In ordering copies of it, had trouble with the company's website (was my internet connection... bah!) and lost almost 2 days of production time trying to look at the art proofs. Needless to say, with that delay if I wanted them by SXSW I would be forced to pay out the ass. Making the order not even worth it.
But stumbled across another company, AMS Rabbit. Not only could they rush order 150 copies of 'Leap of Faith,' but they could also print 100 digipaks of 'Ocean of Stars' for less total than what it would have been to rush 130 copies of LoF with the other company. Sold. They'll be here Tuesday or Wednesday latest. Holy shitballs, I just inadvertently started my own record label.
OK so I've been thinking of that recently. Having my own label to put out my own music until an actual label (or investor) wants to step in as a business partner/financier. Much like Henry Rollins' label 2.13.61. Only calling mine 9.18.74 would be very cheesy. Going with Hobbit Hole Records, in honor of the nickname for our humble abode. Not the greatest name, but it sure is fitting. Just getting my music out there, and it's a nice tax write-off as well.
And AMS Rabbit needed to artwork so quick I had zero time to even add it to the album art, much less come up with a logo. Going to somehow work the upside-down bike hanging in the tree out front into it. CDs should be shipping today. Cool, I guess the next logical step is to sell them and get them played/reviewed.
Anyway. ETB songwriting rehearsal yesterday was a success. Came up with a new song then and there. Great groove to it. Also wrote down a list of the existing ideas and possible songs to re-record for new album. Almost an albums' worth of material already. # righttrack
Monday ETB residency at Friends went great. Getting back to the busier-season crowds. By first walkaround we had the dance floor full and swinging. We were on fire, had a blast and was a profitable night as well. I played my backup bass Cate Blanchett, as I ripped all the strings off Minnie Pearl at TX Independence Fest and forgot to get more (out, and been too busy ordering CDs to finalize SIT order). Goddamn she is a nice bass. Played great, felt great. Doesn't share Minnie's quirk of it seems the strings are different volumes. May have to rotate them out for awhile.
ETB @ TX Independence Fest was a blast, turnout not as good as last year but still people there whose faces were melted clean off. Damn feels great to play a short set (45 mins) and just totally unleash. And playing both my 2x15 bass cabs is fun as well. Finally got to meet/hang with comedian/former radio personality Charlie Hodge, who was hosting the event. He was awesome, and super nice.
ETB Saxon Pub gig Friday was a mixed bag. Last minute confirmation so no real time to promote, so crowd reflected that. But the people there (mostly new faces) loved us. My performance felt like a mixed bag as well, but always enjoy playing there. And always sounds great there while doing walkarounds. Seems turning down at other venues kind of takes the life out of us, but never the case at Saxon.
The ETB Friends residency has been cancelled for this coming Monday before SXSW. Venue rented out as a private party. Well there went my one money gig the entire week. Hopefully some out-of-towners will rent my now useless gear.
I'm sure there's a ton else going on, but I need to eat instead of type. First meal of the day (leftovers), it's 3:36pm CST and I've been up since 9-something AM.
Tuesday, February 28, 2012
RPM update
The album is finshed, being recorded at least. Just touched up a few guitar parts on the last song 'Krim: The Sound of Kali" which I wrote imrov by request from good friend Karen Slafter. It's 9 minutes long, and other than the minor tweaks was written and remains as is.
Now to mix it down and create some artwork. Thinking of calling it 'Leap of Faith.' Just a fitting phase that popped into my head yesterday. Now to call the first song that or be really melodramatic and title it "Leap of Faith: Symphony in D Standard." It's my album, so fuck you I'll do what I want. Heh!
Mixdown should be quick. I've already been remixing these songs the last 2 weeks and know where I want to go with them.
Yeah. Feeling now a bit more like myself after running myself into the ground trying to finish it amongst a full multiple band schedule. The aforemention-in-this-blog neglect of eating properly caught up with me big time Sunday afternoon.
ETB played a double previous night. Stomach wonky most of afternoon, half a bowl of cereal before tracking drums. Went straight from Music Lab to pick up Triniti from work at Tattoo 23. She stopped me outside the van, gave me a grave look and said, "Are you OK? Your color is really weird."
So we went postehaste to Threadgill's for a big meatloaf dinner for me. Was feeling malnourished at that point. My musician's hunter/gatherer metabolism can keep me running on fumes for only so long before I can feel my body start to devour itself.
Then tracked bass for4 hours before ETB Monday residency last night. Needless to say I spent most of today in a zombie state until finally making a grocery run later in the afternoon. Cooked myself a big hamburger for the protein and starting to feel myself again for the first time in many days.
All in all, I feel I made a really good and worthwhile album. And it ain't done yet.
Back to work.
Here's a little story....
About a hard-working band who was burned out and tired from a residency gig on 6th Street and who hadn't even had time to recover from the 6-hour double they played 2 nights earlier.
It's the end of the night. The van (let's call it 'Boss Hoss') is parked outside with hazards blinking, back open awaiting gear. The bass player is outside smoking a ciggie when a gaggle of about 8 drunk younger douchebags approaches from the East. Their nationality is irrelevant, as douchebaggery is a plague affecting all of mankind equally.
So this gaggle of douches take note of our van (they are walking up a street that is not blocked off as it is on weekends) get all pumped, and some of them start sitting in the back while the others laughed and took phone pics. I was dumbstruck. And slightly amused. I got Eric's attention inside the bar, and him and Rob come out. Rob immediately takes control of the situation and goes into bartender-at-the-end-of-the-night mode: "We are working musicians. That van is part of our livelihood. You are fucking with our livelihood. So GET THE FUCK OUT OF OUR VAN."
This disperses the gaggle with some protest, who pass us on the sidewalk and continue West towards Congress Ave. Rob and Eric went back inside after we made damn sure they kept walking by the do-not-even-consider-fucking-with-us-right-now looks on our faces. As they neared the corner, they started taunting me saying, "Oh, you're fucking with our LIVELIHOOD!" To which I gave them the finger and started walking towards them. They continued on, some douches pretending to break off from the gaggle and other douches pretending to restrain them.
Probation be damned. Had one of those assholes actually broken off from the pack and attempted to be in my face he would have been laid out before getting the chance. Principles. Maybe pride.
If those worthless fucks had ANY idea how much I, as well as Rob and Eric, have sacrificed in life to play music full time, they would have (hopefully) thrown a few bucks into the tip jar and maybe bought a CD. Instead they gave us a bunch of shit for trespassing into our private property and being respectfully yet forcefully told to leave.
Fucking people, man.
And it gets better. So after they start haranguing me from the corner about "fucking with our LIVELIHOOD" I gave them the finger and got Eric's attention and informed him of their particular taunts. His blood immediately boiled, and we both started walking towards them to see if they were up for a little "talk."
But it gets even better from there. No sooner had we left the bar that suddenly there were three transient musicians who just happened to be walking the same direction at the same speed at the same time. So they started talking to us as we pursued the douchegaggle. Turns out they were at another venue and took a bunch of acid, and were tripping quite hard. Were talking about Jimi Hendrix Experience and being experienced. By now Eric and I were laughing. This was fucking awesome and had to be, well, EXPERIENCED to be believed.
So Eric, myself and the hippies got to the corner of Brazos. Douchegaggle still far ahead and hadn't stopped walking. Still yelling and taunting. Pussies. I yelled "FUCK YOU" at the top of my lungs at them. To which one of the now-departing hippies spun and yelled to no one in particular, "Fuck YOU bro!"
Fuck YOU, bro? I am laughing so hard I can barely type. Holy shit. What starts off as a near rumble turns into another awesome catch-phrase and inside joke to add to the ETB repertoire. Eric and I were in tears on the drive home. Fuck YOU bro!
Just wow. Sometimes my life can be pretty fucking awesome. That's why I keep this blog.
RPM update coming soon.
It's the end of the night. The van (let's call it 'Boss Hoss') is parked outside with hazards blinking, back open awaiting gear. The bass player is outside smoking a ciggie when a gaggle of about 8 drunk younger douchebags approaches from the East. Their nationality is irrelevant, as douchebaggery is a plague affecting all of mankind equally.
So this gaggle of douches take note of our van (they are walking up a street that is not blocked off as it is on weekends) get all pumped, and some of them start sitting in the back while the others laughed and took phone pics. I was dumbstruck. And slightly amused. I got Eric's attention inside the bar, and him and Rob come out. Rob immediately takes control of the situation and goes into bartender-at-the-end-of-the-night mode: "We are working musicians. That van is part of our livelihood. You are fucking with our livelihood. So GET THE FUCK OUT OF OUR VAN."
This disperses the gaggle with some protest, who pass us on the sidewalk and continue West towards Congress Ave. Rob and Eric went back inside after we made damn sure they kept walking by the do-not-even-consider-fucking-with-us-right-now looks on our faces. As they neared the corner, they started taunting me saying, "Oh, you're fucking with our LIVELIHOOD!" To which I gave them the finger and started walking towards them. They continued on, some douches pretending to break off from the gaggle and other douches pretending to restrain them.
Probation be damned. Had one of those assholes actually broken off from the pack and attempted to be in my face he would have been laid out before getting the chance. Principles. Maybe pride.
If those worthless fucks had ANY idea how much I, as well as Rob and Eric, have sacrificed in life to play music full time, they would have (hopefully) thrown a few bucks into the tip jar and maybe bought a CD. Instead they gave us a bunch of shit for trespassing into our private property and being respectfully yet forcefully told to leave.
Fucking people, man.
And it gets better. So after they start haranguing me from the corner about "fucking with our LIVELIHOOD" I gave them the finger and got Eric's attention and informed him of their particular taunts. His blood immediately boiled, and we both started walking towards them to see if they were up for a little "talk."
But it gets even better from there. No sooner had we left the bar that suddenly there were three transient musicians who just happened to be walking the same direction at the same speed at the same time. So they started talking to us as we pursued the douchegaggle. Turns out they were at another venue and took a bunch of acid, and were tripping quite hard. Were talking about Jimi Hendrix Experience and being experienced. By now Eric and I were laughing. This was fucking awesome and had to be, well, EXPERIENCED to be believed.
So Eric, myself and the hippies got to the corner of Brazos. Douchegaggle still far ahead and hadn't stopped walking. Still yelling and taunting. Pussies. I yelled "FUCK YOU" at the top of my lungs at them. To which one of the now-departing hippies spun and yelled to no one in particular, "Fuck YOU bro!"
Fuck YOU, bro? I am laughing so hard I can barely type. Holy shit. What starts off as a near rumble turns into another awesome catch-phrase and inside joke to add to the ETB repertoire. Eric and I were in tears on the drive home. Fuck YOU bro!
Just wow. Sometimes my life can be pretty fucking awesome. That's why I keep this blog.
RPM update coming soon.
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