Sisters! Song for Stan

I am back in good ol' Seattle visiting with the family. It's nice to be here. Anyone who knows me well knows how much I like little friends and find them all over the place. I brought my good friend Stanley Otto Jefferson the Dinosaur with me from New York and man are we having fun together. So much fun in fact, that we were inspired to write a song for him! It's also just a song about enjoying life and appreciating the little things that help to make it fun and special. Here is our song and video, we hope you like it!

Movement

I went for a run this morning. It's not too cold today. The sky turned completely black with clouds and I thought about turning around. Then it broke and the sun poured through onto my face. I stopped for a moment and soaked it up. Then this song came on my I-pod:



It was quite the moment. But I still turned around because I decided to come home and listen to music instead.

Artist Crush: Sister Rosetta Tharpe

Ummmm......did you guys know bout her? Cause I didn't. And she is awesome. And she is playing in a train station. And it's like the 50's. And her shoes, her guitar, her hair, her everything. Her song to sing. And she loves god. She had a musical calling to preach. Seriously? Have we lost our souls? Can we ever get back to there? I don't think so.

Project Lazer Cake Photographs of Rad

So...like a week ago my friend Robby of band Lazer Cake contacted me and was like
"I'm doing a photo shoot for my upcoming EP and I want you to be in it and be an evil alien in striped spandex who chases me through Coney Island on roller skates and shoots lasers at me through your eyes.." I was like, "you had me after the first five words. yes." So we did all of that. And I met the lovely Lisa (my co-striped alien) and Chris (who took this rad photo at Robertas after shoot feast and all the others too) and we all made something together. Of course I will share when it's done and I am allowed to see it, but in the meantime be teased by this little video I made:



It was such a fun day! And check out Lazer Cake's music here.
Also, join Chris here on his "field trip through time..."

Guitars Visit in NYC

If any of you have been reading this blog here for a while, you know I am a fan and friend of what was a Brooklyn band, but is now an other places band Guitars. They recently came to visit in New York and played a show, which was great, but what's even better is I got to hang with them for a little bit in the East Village apartment they were staying at and record an exclusive performance just to share with all y'all. We sat around for a bit and talked about being homeless, which set a really uplifting tone to rock out on. Wah Wah. But in all seriousness, it was a welcome opportunity to let a little music make us all feel better about some of the things we've been dealing with, hopefully that same healing will pass on to you. It makes the choice of song all the more fitting as well.

Here's Guitars with a very special stripped down performance of their song Guru Bob's Unvarnished Truth:



Guitars are out and about and you just might have a chance to see them play wherever you may be! For more of their music, free downloads (ummm, do that), and music videos (I'm in one!), go to their blog and be glad you did: Guitars.....

Family Time

I was recently in the small town of Bellevue, Iowa to celebrate my Grandmother's 90th birthday. Her family has been in this town for many generations and it was really humbling and eye opening to meet extended members of my family as well as the friends she has in her life and the strength you create and nourish in a true community. The birthday party was a blast, ham sandwiches, potato chips, and lots of cake. My father and sister sang to her and it is quite the tear jerker, I am honored and touched to share it with you:



You are your family, no escaping that. Keep in touch with them and hold them close.

Artist Profiles: Crawl Babies

This interview was such a long time coming. It survived multiple disasters. Diseases, almost deaths, evacuations, things like that.

But Artist Profiles is back y'all. And I couldn't be more proud to introduce you to Crawl Babies!

A few moons ago Mythical Legends was doing an open mic and these three guys walked in afterward to play a set. Bug and I thought we would check out a song or two and ended up enjoying it so much we stayed for the whole show. I have kind of been fanning out on them ever since. Phil (guitars, vocals), Clayton (drums) and Jake (guitar) have all known each other and been playing music for a long time, their bond is a true delight to behold indeed.

I kept hoping they would invite me on a summer trip where we would load up our backpacks with canned goods and sodas and hike on rail road tracks and look for dead bodies.

but they didn't.

Hanging out with them in Sunset Park and having a couple beers was pretty cool though. I also would highly recommend you check out their current album Tangles, which I have really been getting into. It's like dreamy summer surf pop, but it cuts deep. Should I dance or kill myself? I don't know..? And the guitars. They do rad things. My favorite song keeps changing (a sign of a good album), right now it's Two Nights in Philadelphia, but it has been Ginger's Gone (I will play lasers on this song. I will.) so I was stoked when they played it for me right there in Clayton's bedroom! Enjoy the show:



Then we sat down and did this. RIP Triceratops'. Seriously? I don't know what that means, but it worries me:



Crawl Babies blog here
Crawl Babies music here

Thanks so much guys! And for my new friend Timmy the silver bird. He lives in my bag and keeps me safe.

Home back Home

See my new blog template? I don't know how I feel about it, but I had to do something to stop the widescreen videos from being cut off now that I'm using so much more exciting media, so let's see how this all works out. I hope you don't hate it. I think it'll be ok.

I just got back home from being home. It was good. I took my new flipcamera and had a lot of spare time so I made a little movie and I thought I would share it with you! This is a taste of my family life:



It was nice to be with them.

Artist Profiles: Mikal Evans

Mikal Evans is rad. She is my friend. Sometimes she puts pieces of paper next to me that tells me things to do and I have no choice and I get grumpy, but that's not her fault. Originally coming to Brooklyn by way of South Carolina, her southern drawl is subtle but certainly present....what a charmer indeed. Mikal studied acting and is in commercials and other things sometimes, but I like it best when she sings sweet songs and plays her guitar. Her style is versatile, at times more rock and roll and at times simple, soft, and pretty. Sometimes I even hear a little Lucinda in there and that's pretty cool. I recently went over to her place and we hung out; drank a little wine, ate a little Jarlsberg and discussed the fate of the world! She performed one of her newer songs "The Pirate Song" in her kitchen and then the interview of epic proportions came to fruition. Enjoy the show!






Please check out Mikal's site here for more of her music and story!

And if you're lucky enough to be in New York Monday, April 11th Mythical Legends has the honor of opening for Mikal Evans at Trash bar in Williamsburg.....whoa!

New Music Friday!

Check out this adorable music video from DC duo Birdlips. I actually saw them play quite some time ago at Union Hall in Brooklyn. I enjoyed the show a lot, but unfortunately, I got so drunk on white wine (who me?) I think I said a bunch of words at them that sounded like one sentence and then woke up the next morning with an awesome tote bag of theirs that I'm still using.... wah wah. I was so pleased though when a friend of mine (who's a real gay blade by the way, old school definition that is, and who also taught me the phrase) sent me this track and video the other day. While I do have a soft spot for couple bands, guys and girls playing together is just a beautiful energy to behold, that is beside the point (or is it?) that this is just a really cool song. It has old school sleepy beach surf all over the place and then some grungey I'm going to drink coffee and look at the rain mumblings and whispers through the vocals, and what a nice little bass line indeed to boot. But I hate trying to categorize new music like that, really, what I'm trying to say is that they should just have babies and travel around in a caravan.

I look forward to whatever else is coming from them, you should too!

Artist Profile: David Smith

I recently went over to David's rad apartment in Greenpoint, Brooklyn to learn more about him and talk about art and things like that. He made me a cup of coffee and we sat down and had a thoughtful conversation. Artist's stop frontin'! Let's get together and encourage each others work! Stuff like that. He has been working as a photographer, musician, visual artist, and most recently, an art teacher at SUNY college and he is just really nice to spend time with. His apartment is currently in the works to become more of an open space for projects and collaborations, I certainly look forward to seeing what comes into fruition there as it is such an inviting place to be. I remember well the first time I ever saw David play under the 2nd best band name ever, Doom Trumpet. I was like "WTF." Yeah, it was so awesome to see a solo performance with so much sound and layers...just one man, a microphone, an amp and a looping pedal. I was so inspired by the fact that you can rock out by yourself, which he certainly does (ummmm Space is the Place). It was an honor then to have a live performance right in David's apartment just for us, the debut of his new song (officially named in my presence) Waterfalls. The more I watch this video the more I realize what a bad ass song it is, he is so humble and generous in his performance.........



But there was still so much important information to be uncovered about David.....so without further ado, I bring you a glimpse into the mind of David Smith in this shocking and controversial interview............



Please do yourself a favor and check out David's work here as well as listen to some Doom Trumpet originals....(ummmmmmm, Space is the Place)!

How Did I Not Know.....

....about Chet Baker?

Dad, you dropped the ball on this one! How dare people who know me well not know to inform me that I just might be into this guy? I was working in the bar last night and this song came on and I was hooked. I woke up this morning and bought three of his albums and they are gorgeous. His playing is like his singing, so soft, light handed, but certainly not weak......and he is sexy.



He did a bunch of drugs, got his teeth knocked out and couldn't play for a while then got dentures and played again. Moved to Europe in his later years then apparently died falling out of a hotel window.

Typical.

Mugen Hoso in NYC

A couple weeks back Bug and I played an open mic at Spike Hill in Brooklyn. Mugen Hoso was the first band to play the open mic and we were like "WTF" "OMG". This two piece group from Japan is electric, their energy together is so tight and while they shred and offer genuine rock n' roll as well as punk and new wave timings, they are overwhelmingly happy and you can just feel their love for playing to an audience and sharing their music. We were instant fans and went to see them last night at Fontana's in the city. We hung out with Igaki (guitar and vocals) and Taro (drums) after the show for a bit and made a little video outside the club. I sound like such a dork, "say some words about love..." (seriously?) and the language barrier is apparent, but more importantly so is their personality which totally comes through and if you don't try to go see them if you're here in New York this week, well, that's a god damn shame. Here's some of what went down:





My video's were uploaded wide screen, so the format is kind of annoying to look at, please watch them in their proper aesthetic if you are so inclined here on YouTube

They will be playing tonight, Sunday 3/6 at Piano's
Friday 3/11 at the Delancey bar
Saturday 3/12 Otto's Shrunken Head
Tuesday 3/15 Lit Lounge

Then they are back to Japan....! Visit their website here for more information and muzak

New Music Wednesday with Guitars!

I woke up this morning and checked ye ol' book of face. To discover that Guitars have released a 4 song EP available now for free download! I just downloaded it and have only listened through once so cannot give my super educated, timely thoughts on it, but it sounds super clean and offers more straight forward song structures and a certain sense of humor (OMG the cover!!! you must see!) that could be the ticket to get their sound out there to those "other people" without losing the integrity of meaning and harnessing of the Universe so apparent in Soundtrack For Your Future Nostalgia, which you should also make sure to listen to if you haven't already. Yay! New music. Right now, my favorite song on the EP is Them Mysterious Places...which is yours?

Download the New album here
Check out their blog here for other stuff and more music

Ariel Pink

Ariel Pink. You heard of them (him)? Lo-fi. LA. Dude. likes to star in his own videos. Surprised? The music is kind of epically awesome though. You can hear such a crazy amount of layers...70's disco, 80's new wave pop, like Hall and Oates meets David Bowie and the Bee-Gee's and a little Itali-disco....I don't know. I like it though. Especially when he sings high. The videos make me like him less.... or more? Does he want to be funny? Is he funny? Ah, god, I don't know! I just don't. He is singing with a muppet sometimes? yes? I hope so.

My Dad. and his Music.

I remember it was quite a few years ago when my father told me he wanted to do a piece of music that would conceptualize a whole day of sound and condense it into an hour or so. At the time I was just like, "oh, cool." And that was that. I lived randomly here and there at my parents house between then and now, before moving to New York, where upon visiting home could still hear the tinkerings of sound coming from his music room. He shared bits and pieces of it as it was coming along and we were all excited when one of the tracks was chosen for a dance movement not too long ago in Seattle. But recently, he sent me an e-mail to let me know that he had put the whole day (hour) up for sale in its entirety and is curious to see if there will be any response. I am too. It is asking a lot of listeners to put aside an hour to listen to one piece of music, especially in the quick to judge, static, and increasingly low expectations of consumers in today's music industry. Each track breathes it's own life, but as a concept album of a whole day, you can only really understand the wind down drugged out feeling of going to work after lunch if you actually have the lunch.....The album (1d1h..one day one hour) playfully weaves real, everyday sounds such as cars honking, alarm clocks, and news reports with a musical soundtrack sometimes electronic and fast paced, or at times slow and jazzy and very..cool. It is a conceptualized "day in the life" of a contemporary office worker explored through sound. From dreaming to waking, then on to the commute, it is just screaming with visuals. A true auditory movie. Now just to get someone to animate this bitch and we've got a true work to behold. I salute you dad, your vision is coming to life. Please take a moment to listen to some samples of the piece and I encourage you to purchase the whole work as it only really translates when experienced from start to end. Check it out on CD Baby here.

I love my daddy.

Gary....sigh

I was so lucky to find the Telekon vinyl in San Francisco, it sounds so beautiful in record form. This song isn't initially my favorite, but there's something very hypnotizing about it. I woke up with it in my head today. Numan. Done. Gonna dedicate my next DJ set to him.........

What we did during the day....

I love Brooklyn. I love these kids.

Bug and I have been working on a cover of previously mentioned "Drop the World" by Lil' Wayne and Eminem. As we were at her place practicing, the homeboys across the street were bumping the song out on the stoop. We knew then what we had to do. So we played for them. They recorded it and now we share it. It was truly a special moment. Then we drank Hennessy and chatted for a bit. What do you guys think?

He can put.....

He can totally put.

I always knew there was a huge buzz around Lil'Wayne, I finally decided to check him out and I'm in love. He's a creative little shit, his music is dope and he's sexy as hell. He is mom, okay, you just don't get it.



"Unique people get noticed and you're noticing..."

This is the performance from the Grammy's that he did with Eminem. It's edited so it's kind of annoying to watch, but I love that he went out there and said his shit the way he wanted to. And this song "Drop the World" is amazing. I'm a pick the world up and drop it on your fucking head." Say it, it feels really good.

Spreading the Word

Good news. I just discovered that my interview with Guitars is on the NUMU Arts Collective website! I know that the interview was originally posted here so you've probably already read it, but please revisit their thoughts and music as well as checking out NUMU, which is an awesome community of gorgeous people (body and mind) doing good things for the world. I am going to their Fuck Valentine's open mic tomorrow night, see you there! More news about my recent musical ambitions and unemployment to come........the anticipation!