Time for a quick check in on how things are progressing with the band; yesterday we did a 4 hour block at the studio and are continuing to work on 2 songs which are sticking in the song list and a 3rd one was introduced as well. Also, yours truly started to take a stab at some vocals on the fly… however with our songs being so rough, it was kinda pointless.
As mentioned in the last post, Derek was the front runner for the spot as bassist in the band and he’s officially in. The dude brings a wealth of input that takes these songs to a whole different level and his playing fucking rocks. I think by the time we feel ready to hit the stage, I have NO DOUBT in my mind that we are going to be bringing something extremely unique to the music scene.
The laptop, even with running Windows 7 still wouldn’t record due to a driver issue with Andrew’s Line 6 Pod XT so we’re going to be trying something different next weekend with Derek’s M-Audio box. This is the 3rd time the laptop has failed in it’s duties… it’s officially becoming the “failtop” at this rate.
So to wrap up what’s going on; we got a full line up, we got some songs going, and the laptop is being a douchebag about recording our practices. Next weekend… think positive thoughts for the laptop.
Well now obviously something is happening since this is my 2nd blog post in the same month. Now theres something that hasnt happened in quite some time…
The band name has been chosen, and we are going to use Dissentiate! So for the site here, there are some major changes coming. The look and feel is going to change, band members will be added to where they can post (and their bios/headshots), and there will be a place for whatever kind of media we put together.
Now back to business. At the moment we have 3 bass guitarists in the mix. One has auditioned already and we love what the guy brings to the table. Ironically enough, this bassist is Derek… the same guy that I was working with almost a year ago. Bottom line, a year ago I acted like an ass towards the guy, apologized for it, and he accepted. And I’m extremely grateful for that. Not only that, he took our loose and rough material and fucking killed it in the studio.
The other 2 bassists, one of which has been hard to get in due to scheduling conflicts, could be available this weekend. We also have another bassist as mentioned who Andrew might be meeting up with soon to try out in a one on one environment. Man things are getting busy!
My laptop wasn’t up for the task for recording at the studio last weekend due to a driver issue for the Line6 POD XT Andrew brought, but instead of just sitting around waiting for a magical fix, I contacted the developer of the open source driver and let him know of my issues. Hopefully that will get squared away soon.
So I guess it’s still hurry up and wait as far as progress on the site and with the band, but it feels damn good so far.
Posted on: January 14th, 2010 MAJOR UPDATE
Holy shit, things have been seriously quiet over here. Well there is a very good reason for that though. Over the last few months I became involved with a local band that was just starting to form as their rhythm guitarist, however the project fell apart. On the upside of this, the drummer Kyle, lead guitarist Andrew and myself have decided to keep the project alive and start with brand new material. When I say brand new, it’s more like the riffs and beats that we’ve held onto or never had a chance to share in our previous lineup. From where things are so far, it’s fucking phenomenal in style and sound.
Now the big question; what is the name of the band? Well naturally I pitched dissentiate and it was received warmly, but I really don’t want to be a dick and insist on a name I choose; this is a group effort just like everything else we do. So we’ll see where that goes.
Currently we are lacking a bassist and have one guy auditioning in a couple of weeks, so we’ll see where that goes. In terms of vocals, I’m going to take a stab at it and see if I’m a good fit that we feel comfortable with or if we need to get someone else. Whatever works…
This Sunday we will be spending time in the studio hashing out some tunes and letting it go where ever it may. I will be recording it on my laptop (tentatively), so maybe I can share some of that here on the blog. I mean afterall, thats what this blog was for in the first place right?
So there you have it… music is being developed, things are happening and a new chapter is being written.
If I could hand someone a rule book before we talk about politics or social issues, these would be the rules.
- Turn off mainstream driven tv.
- Turn off mainstream radio.
- Stop listening to punditoids for your news.
- Talk AND listen when discussing politics or social issues.
- Accept that your side can’t always be right.
- Accept that without the other side, fascism would be in effect.
- Accept that if it was only your side, fascism would be in effect.
- Accept that your opinion is not original.
- Accept that I do value your opinion.
- I may disagree with it, I may not. It all depends on how you deliver it.
- Go to official sources of the story.. but more importantly…
- RESEARCH IT FIRST BEFORE YOU FORM YOUR OPINION ON IT!
- Be ready for opposition.
- Be ready to debate respectfully.
- Ask me questions about my point of view.
- Be ready when I do the same.
- You’ll never get the kind of respect and recognition for your opinion you want if you only share it online anonymously.
- Don’t melt down like a child when you think you’re point isn’t getting across.
- Name calling or violence is not an option to get your point across.
- If it is an option, seek help. You need it.
ok… I feel better now…
First song, still pretty rough….
Lyrics.. cuz there are some...
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Posted on: August 14th, 2009 3 months later
Yikes, 3 months went by pretty damned fast. Well, long story short; new job, less time to record, dead computer. I guess you could call that a dead end, but it’s really just a lull. In the last 3 months I have been coming up with plenty of new guitar and bass pieces, and I think at this point I just need to stay on it. They compliment what’s already been recorded and what I have planned, so I feel good about taking more time on this.
I will write more again after I get some downtime this weekend.
Got a pretty exciting update from Dissentiate HQ for today. For the last couple of weeks, I’ve been spending all of my time working on drum tracks.. more specifically, getting them to sound more human instead of being computer generated. Currently I’m using Hydrogen to handle all of the drum sequencing, and more specifically I’m using a kit that is supposedly used for death metal. Not that I’m doing death metal (and I never would either), but the kit has a strong sound to it overall. Very natural and heavy. When I program any double-bass pieces, it’s like the fucking world is being destroyed. Just the way I like my drums to sound.
Anyways, enough about that. The point of this post is to make an update to what’s going on. I’ve been deep into programming the drums for 3 songs right now. This weekend I hope to complete tracking the bass and guitar on one of these songs. To keep the flow going, after stringed instruments get handled, it’s back to the more drum programming so I can get the foundation for each song put in place asap. It’s tedious, it’s time consuming, it’s boring sometimes.. but I’m still enjoying this all the same.
Without a doubt this album is gonna be fucking unreal if I can transfer what’s in my head into actual audio. Based on the recent turn of events with other musicians out here, it’s totally obvious that it’s up to me to make this happen as a soloist. Now with a couple of weekends past me since it all fell apart in terms of outside collaboration, I actually feel really good about those events and where I am now. I have total control on the direction of this thing. Like Trent Reznor… minus the gobs of cash and multi-million dollar studio.. oh yea.. and the millions of fans….
ps – that is a real picture of me.
Wow, what a weekend…
After some shit going down this weekend I have decided to push forward alone on recording. Derek, unfortunately, is not going to be on board for recording or possible gigging in the future. Also, after jamming with some guys last night, I came to realize that what I want to do, and what they’re currently doing, well… two different ideas entirely. Don’t get me wrong, these guys were awesome musicians and were really tight, but they primarily focus on learning covers. For me personally, been there and done that. Don’t want to do it again simply because I’m not a jukebox.
All this back and forth crap with trying to get people involved in my project has cost me dearly in terms of doing actual recording. I’m months behind where I wanted to be at this point, so now I’m going into damage control mode to do my best to catch up. I’ll do the best that I can and see if I can make some progress in the weeks to come.
To be honest, I’m kinda bummed about how this all turned out. When I was driving home last night I couldn’t help but to question whether or not what I want to do musically is even worth doing at all. I’ve played my riffs in front of a handful of people and haven’t really gotten back the kinds of responses I would have hoped to have gotten. Not necessarily negative, but more along the lines of indifferent. But then again, the guitar is only one part of the song and what I hear in my head might make up for the lack of positive response once it’s all put together. Who knows…
Anyways, it’s Monday and I gotta get started on wasting company money and time. Fuckers…
No seriously, I have no idea what the hell is going on. I’m somewhere in between jamming with other people or just saying fuck it and continuing on solo for the album. Needless to say, the original idea of having everything ready to go by October of this year has been scrapped. Just too much stuff going on in real life and in terms of this project to even contemplate a solid date to get things done. Sooooo…
I have no idea what the hell is going on.
Stay tuned I guess. Or something.
Wow, 2 posts, back to back in one week. Like the title says, you must feel special. And you should!
So what the hell do I gotta blab about today? Well I’m sitting here with the usual lack of sleep going on while I’m in some weird mental state bordering exhaustion and interactive day dreaming; thinking about what I want to accomplish musically and what I see going on musically around me. On that later point, I’m starting to wonder if my age has made me obsolete to what people seem to be into now. Screamo. Hardcore. A wall of noise that represents nothing more than frustrations and an “alpha male” posture packaged in the same riffs and growls piercing decibel levels found on the flight line of a military base. And people are responding to it out here. They come to the shows. They get their eardrums beaten profusely and somehow meld into the moment given by angst ridden 20 somethings who are riding high on their own lack of talent and originality.
Maybe I am getting old.
Maybe not.
I’m not sure really. When I was younger, I was also about the shock factor of what ”my music” represented to older people… namely parents and authority types. It was my way of trying to make sure I stand out above the rest… my peers were all sheep… this is how I will get noticed and respected. Through audacity and anger. Interestingly enough though, here I am at the ripe old age of 33 as a family man with a career and my inner-anarchist is still alive and well. A little quiter and a little wiser, but he’s still there to remind me that I’ve got a more legitimate reason to be disguisted with authority and establishment. My reason trumps the new generation; I’m stuck in the establishment making a living and having to play the game so I can survive. The new guys are on the outside looking in, mistaking me for the enemy.
I used to believe that you could buck the system and still live the way you want to regardless of age and societal standards, rules, norms and pressure. Time passed and I learned that isn’t the case. You’ll starve to death. You’ll be broke and homeless. When I started getting down on myself for playing my part in the rat race, I would still escape to my guitar, close my eyes while I played and pictured what that could have been like if it was only possible to not be caught up in the adult routine. It’s a nice vision to have sometimes… helps me to feed that rebellious side of me and keep my drive going. Which brings me to the other thing I’m thinking about.
Where do I want to go musically?
Shit, I have no idea. I guess I just go where it goes naturally. I should be grateful that I can still make music for myself that makes me happy if anything. Will other people like it? No clue. My wife thinks the music that I do like is “crazy music”, which some of it is, and that’s why I like it. It’s not normal. Not status quo. Knowing that I’m in the drivers seat for a music project really puts some questions in your head. It’s like being in charge of painting a mural; you got the paint and an idea, but you have no idea what it’s going to turn out like and you’re not sure of how well your intentions are going to be presented when all is said and done. You just hope for the best and that the different scenes in the mural come together enough to paint a full picture.
The painting is starting, so I guess we just wait and see.
