Today was a HELLA long day...
Work at 5:30 (got up at 4:30)
Intense work out at work
Quickly ran out to buy replacement drumsticks, gas, and a bike pump
Ran home to watch Torchwood and pump bike tires
Bike rode to ETSU
Played lady Bucs game (GO BUCS!)
Bike ride back..
....just in case you don't know, it might be a small bike ride to ETSU from my apartment, but it's so damn hilly that it's a very intense bike ride. So...
I
AM
FRAKING
SORE.
And tired....no sleep...going to watch Conan and sleep. Night 'yall.
Monday, January 31, 2011
Friday, January 28, 2011
Progress!
Wait, you mean we have progress?!?!
Well, SORT OF. It's still in the early works, but we are working on about five to eight songs. From stuff that I've done in the past (songs like 'Knives of Ivy' and 'Cubed'), and some of the stuff I'm just now writing (song titles yet to be determined...mostly because I haven't written the lyrics) about five to eight licks have been composed and are being worked on to complete the entire song.
I spent some time yesterday working on some Moog riffs that I forgot and I believe I still have them in mind. All sounded rather badass and I can't wait for the rest of the band to hear them so we can work together to come up with those songs!
Perry's working hard as well, spending private time on some original stuff and expanding on the MIDI and samples I've been sending him via e-mail. Currently he is stuck with a lot going on, so I'm letting him work privately while Jonathan and I try to meet up and collab on more symphonic and keyboard patterns.
So, just a head's up. As for a release of those five songs/EP, I would want to push for sometime around May, but that's just me talking about it. We, as a band have yet to discuss that, so it would need to be something discussed with the band before we get anything in stone. Plus, we would need the songs as well.
So, we are making some good progress right now. The machine that makes the concrete is here, now we just got to lay down the cement and watch it turn to concrete. And we all know how long that can take.
- Foochy
Thursday, January 27, 2011
Music...the complex and the KISS method.
Also named: Complexity vs emotion.
This is something that I've been noticing a lot when it comes to a lot of the rock music I've been listening to. For those not aware, I have a wide array of music ranging from Symphony X, Mozart, Chopen, Fisher Tull, Jethro Tull, KT Tunstall, Kamelot, The Beatles, etc. I don't like to keep to one genre in my musical resume, but my main form is hard rock and metal with a concentration in Progressive/Power/Symphonic/Gothic (and not in that order).
But lately, I feel that rock music as a whole is starting to decline when it comes to emotion. We're still stuck in the 80s (can you blame us?) because of how the mainstream took us, and we drastically miss that. But, we still look at "power ballads" as cliche and overdone, when not realizing the full potential it can possess.
Now in the mainstream metal and hard rock of today's standards, the majority have kept to the KISS (Keep it simple, stupid) method and follow the simple pattern of pop music: Intro, verse A, pre-chorus, chorus, Verse B, Chorus, Bridge, guitar solo, chorus, end (give or take the guitar solo).
This is a theory that is still very prevalent in almost every genre now because of how mainstream and easy it is for the ears. When looking at that pattern, listen to a lot of the "top 40" songs and tell me I'm wrong (without stating the outliers).
Then there's progressive metal (which is a complete contradiction of the meaning of Progressive) which took that theory and gave it the skullfuck of it's lifetime. To this day, I'm still confused how bands like King Crimson and Frank Zappa came up with the sheer complexity they did that gave progressive metal it's "name".
....OK, aside from LSD. ;-)
But nevertheless, it's taken a turn for the worse lately and it's really starting to bother me. Bands like Dream Theater and the new Redemption seem to alienate most listeners by making the music so complex, that it has become almost inaudible. It's nice to be able to easily move the complex patterns of a 4/4 to a 7/8 to a 15/8 and then to a 7/4 and then back to a 4/4 to complete a phrase, you lose a lot of your audience who are not educated enough to understand how complex that is.
Thus why Rolling Stone and various radio stations have aptly named progressive music as "termally unhip".
It's an issue that you have to face as a rock musician to this day. If you're huge into bands like Dream Theater, you might want to copy them and not realize the fate that has been dealt to you, or you might take it a different direction... as some would call it, "selling out". It's that curse of trying to "sound progressive" as what "they" consider progressive, not taking yourself as a musician and applying that term to the actual dictionary usage.
Don't get me wrong, though. Dream Theater (and others) are a bunch of talented and very good performers, but my personal opinion still thinks that something is missing there.
And that would be emotion. It's something that seems to have faded away just as much as the hair metal days did. When I hear solos and when I hear a lot of newer bands, while I like the sound, it gives me a power of wanting more. I feel like I'm listening to technical musicians, and not those who bleed out the music. Those songs that put chills down your spine and give you tears seem to have faded away.
...Well, not all. Kamelot's Abandoned still puts tears in my eyes at the triumphant return of Khan's vocals and the hammering power chords of the guitar.
But where is that in the progressive movement? It seems to only be about how fast we can play or how slow we can play, rather than how can we show emotion in the song. I don't know if it's laziness or lack of time in the studio, but it just seems to have put a stop in a lot of the music I have on my iPod.
By the way, personal note, when writing a ballad to show pain and anguish or hurt and putting a guitar solo in, starting out slow and then building to insane licks doesn't make you a BETTER musician. It's just building to crap.
I think there is hope that's out there, though. Gothic and Symphonic metal seem to be doing a good job of bringing emotion back into metal. It's not always about how fast they can play or how many notes they can fit into one beat, it's about the band as a WHOLE and getting a message across both physically and mentally. I listen to bands like Kamelot and Sirenia and others who have got good names in the gothic/symphonic/power catagory, and the strength of emotion is there. The power of music is prevalent and meaningful, and it's not about the speed. It's about the concept and the art behind it, which makes for a much better performance live and in the studio.
This is something that I've been noticing a lot when it comes to a lot of the rock music I've been listening to. For those not aware, I have a wide array of music ranging from Symphony X, Mozart, Chopen, Fisher Tull, Jethro Tull, KT Tunstall, Kamelot, The Beatles, etc. I don't like to keep to one genre in my musical resume, but my main form is hard rock and metal with a concentration in Progressive/Power/Symphonic/Gothic (and not in that order).
But lately, I feel that rock music as a whole is starting to decline when it comes to emotion. We're still stuck in the 80s (can you blame us?) because of how the mainstream took us, and we drastically miss that. But, we still look at "power ballads" as cliche and overdone, when not realizing the full potential it can possess.
Now in the mainstream metal and hard rock of today's standards, the majority have kept to the KISS (Keep it simple, stupid) method and follow the simple pattern of pop music: Intro, verse A, pre-chorus, chorus, Verse B, Chorus, Bridge, guitar solo, chorus, end (give or take the guitar solo).
This is a theory that is still very prevalent in almost every genre now because of how mainstream and easy it is for the ears. When looking at that pattern, listen to a lot of the "top 40" songs and tell me I'm wrong (without stating the outliers).
Then there's progressive metal (which is a complete contradiction of the meaning of Progressive) which took that theory and gave it the skullfuck of it's lifetime. To this day, I'm still confused how bands like King Crimson and Frank Zappa came up with the sheer complexity they did that gave progressive metal it's "name".
....OK, aside from LSD. ;-)
But nevertheless, it's taken a turn for the worse lately and it's really starting to bother me. Bands like Dream Theater and the new Redemption seem to alienate most listeners by making the music so complex, that it has become almost inaudible. It's nice to be able to easily move the complex patterns of a 4/4 to a 7/8 to a 15/8 and then to a 7/4 and then back to a 4/4 to complete a phrase, you lose a lot of your audience who are not educated enough to understand how complex that is.
Thus why Rolling Stone and various radio stations have aptly named progressive music as "termally unhip".
It's an issue that you have to face as a rock musician to this day. If you're huge into bands like Dream Theater, you might want to copy them and not realize the fate that has been dealt to you, or you might take it a different direction... as some would call it, "selling out". It's that curse of trying to "sound progressive" as what "they" consider progressive, not taking yourself as a musician and applying that term to the actual dictionary usage.
Don't get me wrong, though. Dream Theater (and others) are a bunch of talented and very good performers, but my personal opinion still thinks that something is missing there.
And that would be emotion. It's something that seems to have faded away just as much as the hair metal days did. When I hear solos and when I hear a lot of newer bands, while I like the sound, it gives me a power of wanting more. I feel like I'm listening to technical musicians, and not those who bleed out the music. Those songs that put chills down your spine and give you tears seem to have faded away.
...Well, not all. Kamelot's Abandoned still puts tears in my eyes at the triumphant return of Khan's vocals and the hammering power chords of the guitar.
But where is that in the progressive movement? It seems to only be about how fast we can play or how slow we can play, rather than how can we show emotion in the song. I don't know if it's laziness or lack of time in the studio, but it just seems to have put a stop in a lot of the music I have on my iPod.
By the way, personal note, when writing a ballad to show pain and anguish or hurt and putting a guitar solo in, starting out slow and then building to insane licks doesn't make you a BETTER musician. It's just building to crap.
I think there is hope that's out there, though. Gothic and Symphonic metal seem to be doing a good job of bringing emotion back into metal. It's not always about how fast they can play or how many notes they can fit into one beat, it's about the band as a WHOLE and getting a message across both physically and mentally. I listen to bands like Kamelot and Sirenia and others who have got good names in the gothic/symphonic/power catagory, and the strength of emotion is there. The power of music is prevalent and meaningful, and it's not about the speed. It's about the concept and the art behind it, which makes for a much better performance live and in the studio.
Monday, January 24, 2011
All work and no play make Homer go something something...
Seriously. It seems that's all that I do now. Not that I should REALLY complain because I actually really enjoy both jobs I have, but I do need a break and to "relight the flame" that I have.
So, I get up at 4:15am four days a week in order to be at work and wide awake to unload boxes and boxes and pallets and pallets of crap. I work maybe 5-8 hours during the time, so that puts me getting out at around 12:30-1:00. Not a bad time to get out of work, but by then I'm BUSHED. I'm so tired that caffeine is the only thing keeping me awake from time to time. Not to mention how sore I am from moving all around the store and up and down stairs for around 4-5 hours at a time.
But, in reality, the work environment is the best I've actually had and it's worth getting up for. And I'm getting great exercise to help get my body in shape, so I'm glad. And I have my afternoons free to basically chill and watch a bunch of nerd stuff.
...But my nights are for my night stuff, working at [local radio station], which is what I went to college for. And yes, I'm uberly obsessed with that job. Sure, I live about 30-40 minutes away from it (and driving home late at night sucks when you have to get up only hours later for work the next day), but it's something I wouldn't give up at all.
Oh, and having the extra cash is nice for a geek like myself.
Nevertheless, it just doesn't seem like I have as much free time as I should to have "me" time. And yeah, that can have some issues with you mentally, but a vacation would be nice. Some time away from work and stress and this shit-hole of a town would be nice....rather than spending every night (that I'm not working) drinking and watching sometime monotonous on TV.
But I got some due, which is nice. MTAC will be a nice break from some of this, but the A-sun touney would be a GREAT getaway from a lot of this stuff, and it's soon...
Oh, college basketball....How I miss thee SO much. :-)
More on those two LATER!
So, I get up at 4:15am four days a week in order to be at work and wide awake to unload boxes and boxes and pallets and pallets of crap. I work maybe 5-8 hours during the time, so that puts me getting out at around 12:30-1:00. Not a bad time to get out of work, but by then I'm BUSHED. I'm so tired that caffeine is the only thing keeping me awake from time to time. Not to mention how sore I am from moving all around the store and up and down stairs for around 4-5 hours at a time.
But, in reality, the work environment is the best I've actually had and it's worth getting up for. And I'm getting great exercise to help get my body in shape, so I'm glad. And I have my afternoons free to basically chill and watch a bunch of nerd stuff.
...But my nights are for my night stuff, working at [local radio station], which is what I went to college for. And yes, I'm uberly obsessed with that job. Sure, I live about 30-40 minutes away from it (and driving home late at night sucks when you have to get up only hours later for work the next day), but it's something I wouldn't give up at all.
Oh, and having the extra cash is nice for a geek like myself.
Nevertheless, it just doesn't seem like I have as much free time as I should to have "me" time. And yeah, that can have some issues with you mentally, but a vacation would be nice. Some time away from work and stress and this shit-hole of a town would be nice....rather than spending every night (that I'm not working) drinking and watching sometime monotonous on TV.
But I got some due, which is nice. MTAC will be a nice break from some of this, but the A-sun touney would be a GREAT getaway from a lot of this stuff, and it's soon...
Oh, college basketball....How I miss thee SO much. :-)
More on those two LATER!
Friday, January 21, 2011
Dear January, please end.
So, 2010 ended with an awesome bang. Doctor Who Christmas ON Christmas, Blu-ray player (finally), and a lot of extra work to help pay bills and such.
However, it seemed that 2011 just let me dark cloud shimmer to this level five planet and gave me quite the clusterfuck that I did not need. Without any notice, it seems that my life turned on it's own head and went from joyous celebration to cataclysmic chaos. Some things I simply cannot go into detail about. I don't know who reads this, so certain nouns and palces will be omitted for the safety of myself and everyone else. With that being stated, I will simply write this to the best of my ability and reword and/or change those things to help show confidentiality.
So, take everything as you will.
First off would be all he hellacious snow that we've had. Now, I know that places up north got WAY more than I did, but I'm sure a lot of them didn't have to travel in it at 5AM. And slide everywhere. Almost dying. On more than one occasion. But I need that money to pay for rent and bills and my extreme nerdom. :-)
Next on my list would probably be the amount of crap I have to put up with. Like I said above, I leave my apartment at 5AM to get to work; and trust me, it's a strenuous job. I work my ass off (with very little regard for it if I personally say so) and I'm basically sore and tired by the time everyone gets up. I don't want to do anything for the rest of the day. However, I force myself too, and it adds a lot of stress when I have to travel to things like band practice only to find out it's been cancelled. I understand things happen, but I would love notice from time to time....
Plus, that puts me in a "not so Foochy mood" which can add on to...
Losing friends. That would be third. Sure, it's for a short time, but it still pisses me off so much when someone doesn't text me back or doesn't want to talk to me for whatever reason. I'm the type of guy who thinks that I did something wrong with myself and I will never figure out if it was me or something else entirely. That bothers me. I would like to know what caused the delay and/or abandonment of the friendship so that I could not let that happen again. And this happened in a very powerful way at the beginning of this month...almost a foreshadow to look out for the rest of the events. Needless to say, I didn't pay attention to it. That event, though, has traumatized me and I really feel like something like that will never happen again.
Even if I dream about it all the time.
In the same realm as the above motion, the death of yet another band has me really looking outside of my body and trying to figure out what the next step should be. More on that later, but it's a huge issue I'm dealing with.
And finally (at least, the stuff I'll willingly admit here), the girl I was dating since GMX seems to no longer talk to me. I don't know why, but it's been way over a month now since we last texted (grammatically correct..?) each other, and my friends are hinting that it's over. This really saddens me because I really liked her.
Nerds are rare here. Epically the cute ones. Anyone that was THAT cute and KNEW of Rush and watched Star Wars all the time gave extreme props in my book....
And I'm also down 160 dollars because of that, too. I asked her if she wanted to see Rush live and she agreed, so I went ahead and got the tickets...yeah, roughly 80 a ticket. So, that's 160 basically down the drain now unless she calls me back. It's hair pulling, I'll tell you that.
These are my options for that: A) hope she texts back soon and all will be well
B) Sell the tickets and hope she forgot
C) Lose 160 and call it a day
D) Grab another friend to go with me
E) Give her the tickets so she can see them with a friend
F) Go alone and see if anyone wants the ticket at the show
G) Wait and see if she texts back
So many choices, so little time......
And then, on top of that, I don't know if this thing is done or not. It could be that she's bogged down with school, or lost her phone, or got a new number, etc. etc.
So to me, it's such a hard deal to figure out the right answer to this. I just hope I get a text real soon...
*sigh*
But yeah, I'm just ready for this month to end. It's sucked all month, so I'm ready for February....which will suck as well. EPICALLY the 14th......
However, it seemed that 2011 just let me dark cloud shimmer to this level five planet and gave me quite the clusterfuck that I did not need. Without any notice, it seems that my life turned on it's own head and went from joyous celebration to cataclysmic chaos. Some things I simply cannot go into detail about. I don't know who reads this, so certain nouns and palces will be omitted for the safety of myself and everyone else. With that being stated, I will simply write this to the best of my ability and reword and/or change those things to help show confidentiality.
So, take everything as you will.
First off would be all he hellacious snow that we've had. Now, I know that places up north got WAY more than I did, but I'm sure a lot of them didn't have to travel in it at 5AM. And slide everywhere. Almost dying. On more than one occasion. But I need that money to pay for rent and bills and my extreme nerdom. :-)
Next on my list would probably be the amount of crap I have to put up with. Like I said above, I leave my apartment at 5AM to get to work; and trust me, it's a strenuous job. I work my ass off (with very little regard for it if I personally say so) and I'm basically sore and tired by the time everyone gets up. I don't want to do anything for the rest of the day. However, I force myself too, and it adds a lot of stress when I have to travel to things like band practice only to find out it's been cancelled. I understand things happen, but I would love notice from time to time....
Plus, that puts me in a "not so Foochy mood" which can add on to...
Losing friends. That would be third. Sure, it's for a short time, but it still pisses me off so much when someone doesn't text me back or doesn't want to talk to me for whatever reason. I'm the type of guy who thinks that I did something wrong with myself and I will never figure out if it was me or something else entirely. That bothers me. I would like to know what caused the delay and/or abandonment of the friendship so that I could not let that happen again. And this happened in a very powerful way at the beginning of this month...almost a foreshadow to look out for the rest of the events. Needless to say, I didn't pay attention to it. That event, though, has traumatized me and I really feel like something like that will never happen again.
Even if I dream about it all the time.
In the same realm as the above motion, the death of yet another band has me really looking outside of my body and trying to figure out what the next step should be. More on that later, but it's a huge issue I'm dealing with.
And finally (at least, the stuff I'll willingly admit here), the girl I was dating since GMX seems to no longer talk to me. I don't know why, but it's been way over a month now since we last texted (grammatically correct..?) each other, and my friends are hinting that it's over. This really saddens me because I really liked her.
Nerds are rare here. Epically the cute ones. Anyone that was THAT cute and KNEW of Rush and watched Star Wars all the time gave extreme props in my book....
And I'm also down 160 dollars because of that, too. I asked her if she wanted to see Rush live and she agreed, so I went ahead and got the tickets...yeah, roughly 80 a ticket. So, that's 160 basically down the drain now unless she calls me back. It's hair pulling, I'll tell you that.
These are my options for that: A) hope she texts back soon and all will be well
B) Sell the tickets and hope she forgot
C) Lose 160 and call it a day
D) Grab another friend to go with me
E) Give her the tickets so she can see them with a friend
F) Go alone and see if anyone wants the ticket at the show
G) Wait and see if she texts back
So many choices, so little time......
And then, on top of that, I don't know if this thing is done or not. It could be that she's bogged down with school, or lost her phone, or got a new number, etc. etc.
So to me, it's such a hard deal to figure out the right answer to this. I just hope I get a text real soon...
*sigh*
But yeah, I'm just ready for this month to end. It's sucked all month, so I'm ready for February....which will suck as well. EPICALLY the 14th......
Thursday, January 20, 2011
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