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.....
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.
Last night a great show went down at Lit Lounge. It was a fairly small crew that rolled out, but a lot of love in the room. And the music was great, we were all there to support each other and have a good time. Doom Trumpet, Mythical Legends, Thurlow. Here's a little taste of what you might have missed, or what you saw, or what you played. It depends on who you are I guess.
Doom Trumpet: Valya
I strongly suggest you watch this video all the way through, David is really doing some rad things with layering and he was singing last night in such an unrestrained operatic way. We were all stoked and I was like "whoa." Keep it up man, whatever the note is that's calling you, you are hitting it. Whoa!
Mythical Legends: Mermaid
This is the first recording we have of our new song Mermaid. It's about a Mermaid who falls in love with a sailor then accidentally drowns him. Because it's me I'm like "oh man, I don't like the way it sounds there." But ultimately, this song is one we are very very proud to call our own.
Thurlow: Invisible Eyes
Our new BFF's from Los Angeles by way of Virginia closed the set down beautifully. I was geeking out about a lot of their stuff, especially that old Casio that makes me drool. But they are lovely, this song really spoke to me as well. A true friendship was planted last night. Can't wait to see you guys again!
When I first met Joel I had only recently moved to Brooklyn. I was at a local bar visiting a friend of mine who was working. The DJ was having technical challenges with his equipment and was like "don't worry, my friend is coming to fix it." That friend was Joel. He walked in and pulled out a little flame torch, proceeded to break apart the equipment and use fire to do something magical then put it all back together again and there you have it. Wizard. He was. Then. We've been good friends since and I consider myself very lucky to consider us as such. He is truly an artist and the band he plays with, The Collected Works of Lenin have an intensity and approach to sound I choose to admire and have been honored enough to have a small taste of when playing with Wizard myself. We have jammed a couple of times and I intend to continue to do so. Without a further mention, this is Wizard. and me. hanging out.
A song we began to work on the first time we jammed, here's us playing it:
Lyrics: Wizard Cat Man. Wizard Cat Man. Do what you can. You're the Wizard Cat Man. I saw you. I saw you. You were over there. You were over there. I saw you. I saw you. You were over there. Over there cause you're the......... Then we just jammed. With Wizard, the typical interview format is unnecessary. We communicated through sound mostly. If you don't understand, that's ok. It's not what we're saying, it's how we say it.
She was born Talitha Pol until she married John Paul Getty and then they did a ton of drugs and hung out with rock stars in the 60's. They lived in Morocco and Italy and other places all over the place and basically non stop partied and had a kid and looked amazing all the time. She died of a heroin overdose when she was 30. The same 12 month time that Jimi, Jim, Janice and co all died. So she matters. But she looked like this:
Damn. The 60's. I must have been there in some way.
A while back I shared a piece with you from a collection of stories I have been writing. It was about visiting a local restaurant to write a letter to my Grandmother and people responded really positively to it, which meant a lot to me. Since all this craziness has gone down in my world and seems to be taking me for quite the ride, I find much comfort in writing these little scenes based on my life. It's like collecting small fragments and memories, past and present and trying to recreate them in a way that makes sense, though they are very dreamy, and I have the worst grammar ever. Many of the stories reference the weather and the weather has been pretty shit lately, which isn't all that difficult for me (twenty years in Seattle will do that), but it has sneaked into my writing in some cool and interesting ways. The discussion of umbrella usage has surfaced and unintentionally possibly become a metaphor for something. I honestly have no idea how it all comes out....it just does. I thought I would share. Cause I like to do that. And we all been feeling the rain, umbrella or no.
Here's two grey weather pieces with mentions of umbrella's from "This Thing I'm Working On":
14.
These grey mornings, a little misty. Damp, perpetually damp, but never pouring. They remind her of home, which is at times comforting and at times just annoying. She left that blanket of dark clouds and constant drip behind her.....though it is warm and smells of her family. Sweaters and fireplaces, Evergreens and Mountains. Longing for things and people is not the same as missing them. She has never missed anything she’s left or that’s left her, but she pulls at the memories of places and people past, they surface often, requesting recognition, and she nods, after which she pushes them back down. takes only what she needs to keep her going, to make something of use to her, but always for them. little tributes, then tucks the rest away, where she cant see them. for now. Carrying so much around, all these people, thoughts, memories, ideals, places, wonders. Sometimes, she has to keep it all inside and sometimes it has to be down deep. Her parents phone her and she just doesn’t answer. They know they’re there, she brings them wherever she goes. She just needs to sit some out. She still has yet to find an umbrella that actually works, she never even had one back home come to think of it. 22.
This weather is so depressing. Everybody seemed to be saying that. She didn’t notice that though. It seemed like a good time to be outside. Just at this moment. She was walking to the bar. She wasn’t working, she just thought she would go stop by and say hi. To be outside in the grey air that was misting and cooling, dampening the world all over. She took an umbrella this time, but kept moving it away from above her head. it felt like it was blocking out the world and she wanted to see it all. feel it all on her. The mist and the mugginess made her hair curl and rise. she kept it down too, she didn’t care how crazy it looked. Moved the umbrella away. Closes it this time though, wrapping the velcro latch tightly around it. There was no sun to be seen, but the light of the sky was almost too bright for her eyes. The birds sounded out through the rain, echoed calls from some distant jungle it seemed. through the rain it sounds that way. She felt open, she felt so open to all these elements, she let them penetrate and dance around her. Walking on the concrete blocks, she took it all in. there was no protection from this air, this mist, this damp, the dark, the bright. she didn’t want any. Protection that is. Takes it all in. These moments are so freeing.
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:
