Tueday, March 24, 2009
I recieved an email telling me that a video of the acoustic session I was lucky enough to attend was up on YouTube, Well, you don't have to search for it. Here it is!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ot-0sXXmBNM
For a point of reference, I was sitting RIGHT next to the camera that is looking at him from stage right. Front row.
This song is All I Want off of Illusions of Progress.
hw7online.com/blog
Sunday, March 8, 2009
So I got a new bass for the upcoming Thrown to the Wolves tour.
I actually got 2. But only one of them was psychotically important to me.
One of them is an Aria II Pro. Not a big deal.
But the better one is an ESP LTD Viper-104. Killer bass with active pickups. Yes, I went 4 string this time instead of 5 string. I will still use the 5 string Rogue for certain things, but the ESP will be my main. It also came with a hardshell case. Here's a picture of it:
Bring the noise
Bass! how low can you go?
Death row what a brother knows
Yeah, motherfuckers. Now THAT'S a bass.
hw7online.com/blog
Friday, February 27, 2009
So as I previously stated, I won tickets to see Aaron Lewis of Staind live, solo, and acoustic at the Seneca Niagara Casino last night. With that, I also won 2 passes to a private acoustic session with Aaron today (Friday) at the 103.3 WEDG radio station. We went to the show last night, and met Aaron today.
Anyone who knows anything about me will know I am a card-holding member of Staind's fan club. So in short, this was a dream. Aaron was very nice, and very stoned. Talked to him for a few minutes, and he signed my copies of Tormented and Illusions of Progress, as well as signed my old acoustic guitar. Here's some pictures of the 2 events.
Here's Aaron at Seneca Niagara in the Bear's Den lounge. It was very intimate. Only a few hundred people. He could hear every person in the room.
It was actually so intimate that Aaron sat on the forward monitor and played and sang completely acoustic. It was amazing
Here's Aaron at the EDG session. We sat in the front row. There was only 15 or so people there. He played like 10 feet away from us, and man he can sing loud.
Here's Aaron with Meg and I in front of the EDG banner.
Here's the signature on the guitar.
I brought my own paint marker for him to sign with. I opened it right before we left, so it had never been used. He got it working, signed my stuff, then asked to keep the marker because it was better that the one he was using. So he kept it.
It says "To John. Aaron Lews 2009"
It was awesome, and I really lucked out on a lot of things here. I was sent my copy of Tormented by a friend about 10 years ago. A woman brought a copy to be signed that she bought on eBay recently for $55. It's really rare. Some women at the show said that they drove 3 hours and bought the tickets on eBay because it was sold out. We got it all for free.
Plus, Taco Bell sponsored the EDG session, so we got LOTS of free food.
Great experience.
hw7online.com/blog
So, I got an email fromt he local rock station (103.3 WEDG) that they were giving away tickets to see Aaron Lewis of my all time favorite band Staind. I have been a card-holding member of the Dysfunctional Fan Club for quite a while now, but never got a chance to meet the band. Well, with my tickets for the show at Seneca Niagara Casino, I also won A MEET AND GREET WITH AARON LEWIS! He's playing a couple of songs at the radio station on Friday, and I get to go in and fucking meet him! THIS IS FUCKNG AWESOME! I am going to bring my Tormented CD to get signed.
By the way, the way I won was I listened for a 1 second audio clip. What was it? It was emperer Palpatine saying "WHO'S THEY!?" like on Robot Chicken. Lol. I always did love Popa Palpa Palpatine.
hw7online.com/blog
Friday, January 16, 2009
My head hasn't been correctly functioning lately, and my memory has been crapping out. But everytime I listen to certain music, it reminds me of specific things in my life, kind of in visions like my life flashing before my eyes. Here's a bit of a list that I compiled.
Cake
The first couple tracks of Cake's album Fashion Nugget remind me of my youth. When I was young, my best friend Pete got me a casette tape of Fashion Nugget for my birthday. I remember him giving it to me at a basketball game. We probably lost. I remember that since it was a casette tape, it sucked to have to fast forward or rewind, so I really only got into the first couple tracks: Frank Sinatra, Friend is a Four Letter Word, and Distance. The reason Pete got me this specific tape was because of The Distance. It was one of my favorite songs. I remember going with my parents to Carousel Center to sell raffel tickes for CBA, and listeing to KRock.
Later on, this album came back. When I was at Bishop Grimes, I bought the CD, but didn't really listen to it. I let Bob borrow it, and for weeks he sang Nugget. So I got into it again.
A couple years after that, I went on a trip to Florida with my parents, and listened to Fashion Nugget the entire time. When I hear Stickshifts and Safety Belts as well as It's Coming Down, I see Orlando. When I hear Italian Leather Sofa, I see ghetto Miami.
Bush
Bush is a great band with tons of memories for me. The song Glycerine was the first song I ever learned on guitar, I ever danced with Meg to, I ever performed live with a band, and the first song I performed as a married man. However, the song Glycerine reminds me of the Cornell campus in Ithaca. Why? I remember listening to it on repeat staring at sheep.
When I hear specific songs of Golden State, I think of different things. The album in total makes me think of Ben Stith. We were both big fans of them. However, most of the songs on this album remind me of the desert, specifically in Souther California. We went on a family trip out west, and I listened to this album on repeat the entire time in Cali. When I hear the song Inflatable, I can see the rolling hills of sand in Palm Desert, overlooking miles and miles of desert. An absolutely beautiful site.
Staind
I've always been a huge fan of Staind. I'm even a card-carrying member of the Dysfunctional Fan Club. Back in 2000, I was given a pre-release of Break the Cycle by a friend of the band. I recieved it the day that I left for our annual fishing trip in Ontario. I listened to this album the entire trip (yes, that's a developing pattern.) When I close my eyes during the song For You, I can still feel the boat rocking, and hear the waves crashing.
A couple of years later, I discovered the roots of Staind in their album Tormented. I was planning on taking it on my trip to Branson, MO. But I had an accident.....A couple of weeks before we were to leave, I slipped into a hole (This will come up again later) and tore all of the ligaments and tendons around my ankle. I was bound to a wheel chair for a couple of months because of this, but I still went on the trip. I remember listening to Tormented the entire time in Branson, feeling so angry and depressed because I couldn't do anything. When I close my eyes during Namelss, I can still see this little building that sold lawn decorations around a sharp curve.
System of a Down
Well, System has done a lot for me. I covered System repeatidly in bands for years. But suprisingly, none of that is a visible memory for some reason. What specifically sticks out in my head is the song Sugar. It reminds me of the old get-togethers my brother Matt used to have with his friends. His friend Rob used to love System, and back then, I didn't. I remember sitting around in the kitchen playing Rosk listening to SoaD. When I close my eyes, I can see the Risk board, and all of our asses being kicked by Matt.
Later on, the song Ego Brain sticks out to me. When I went to OCC in Syracuse, I spent close to 12 hours a day at school. Studio classes were long, and they were not well-scheduled. So during the day, I would go out to my car and take a short nap. I remember having the song Ego Brain on during one of my naps, and I remember how bitter cold it was outside. I also remember how dark it was from the clouds. I can still smell the wood from the ceramic fire pit.
Roulette sticks out in my head from my many bus rides back and forth from Syracuse to Buffalo to see Meg. When I close my eyes during Roulette, I can see the onramp getting onto 490 in Rochester after our stop there.
Hoobastank
I hated this band when they were big. Annoying as all hell. But it reminds me so much of Porzio. I can hear his horrible attempt at trying to sing The Reason.
Aaliyah
Odd, I know. Not my style. But it's a good memory, none-the-less. The song Are You That Somebody reminds me of all my friends from Saint Matt's. but specifically Beth Gratien. I used to have a huge crush on her. One year (when this song was big), Kenny and I had a huge Halloween party at our house in East Syracuse. I remember going upstairs to my room with a binch of people. I remember thinking "Beth is in my room!" when this song was on. Then my head went another direction. Lol. But I digress, when I close my eyes, I can hear all of my friends laughing and talking, and the smell of all of the people in the room, and this song in the background.
That's it for now. I will expand it more later.
hw7online.com/blog
Thursday, October 23, 2008
So today I was talking to my Folklore professor in her office, and she mentioned Bruce Springsteen. I told her that I wasn't a huge fan of his for a couple of reasons. 1.) He slurs his lyrics like he's drunk, and B.) he overcompliactes the music with like 50 different instruments all filling similar positions. Literally too many bells and whistles. Well, she then said to me "Well then, you're not going to class today." I was upset because I thought I was being punished for not liking Sprinsteen, but then she said that I had to sit in her office for an hour and listen to him. I decided Springsteen is actually somewhat good, but I really only like his Seeger Sessions stuff.
Speaking of folk music, Peggy Seeger (daughter of the famous Pete Seeger) is releasing a new album, and she just released a new song called Sarah's Hard Rock Candy. It's a political song about Sarah Palin. She posted a video for it on her YouTube, so check it out
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e5OWPQlyeuA
Another good song to look up is The List by John McCutcheon. It's a funny song that anyone from Syracuse should relate to if you lived there post 911.
hw7online.com/blog
Friday, August 22, 2008
I got the new Staind disc today. It's called The Illusions of Progress and follows their last album Chapter V.
I got it as a special fan edition with 3 bonus tracks which are acoustic performances of It's Been a While, Devil, and Schizophrenic Conversations.
I have to say that the past two albums (14 Shades of Grey in 2003 and Chapter V in 2005) were somewhat disappointing to me, seeing as I've been following them since their demo album Tormented in 1998. They seemed to have drifted from angry, heavy music to happier, poppier music.
Well, the heaviness is back!
It may be in short supply on this new album, but short supply is better than none. But the thing I've noticed on this album is the depth put into the music. Some Staind songs in the recent past have lacked a more sophisticated depth to them. The music seemed, in some songs anyway, to be merely a platform for Aaron Lewis' vocals. While this is fine for a solo artist, a band needs to put focus on the strengths of ALL of its members.
The Illusions of Progress in no way lacks this depth in pretty much any of the songs. The album opens with a nice heavy song called This Is It, and continues to push power through the entire album. Even on softer songs, like track 9 Tangled Up in You, the power is still there. The songs sound more devoutly composed than the most recent two albums, and as a result, I think it's one of the best CDs to come out this year. I mean, put Chapter V in your CD player and listen to a few tracks, then throw in Illusions of Progress and you will hear a band evolve.
I can't say exactly why the sound has developed so intensely as it has, but I'm happy that it did. I'm awe-strick by this album.
Another interesting detail is that the music seems to take up more minors, giving much of the music a rather eerie twist to it. On top of this, they add in things like steel guitars and organs, as in the songs Tangled Up in You, and The Corner.
I personally greatly enjoy this album, much as I did with Tormented, Dysfunction, and much of Break the Cycle. It brings back their old flavor, with a modern twist.
hw7online.com/blog
Saturday June 21, 2008
Today I ran in to some more old friends of mine. Again, I was at Wegmans with Meg, and I saw two creepy guys waving at me from a car to next to us. At first, I didn't recognize them, so I just continued talking to Meg. Then, I looked back and saw them still waving. Then I realized it was Ian Horrace and Eric Khan. We go way back. I was in a band back in 2004 called Flux, and we needed a drummer for shows. We auditioned a couple, but didn't really like any of them. John Coleman then said he knew someone, and had him come over one day. It was Ian. We auditioned him and loved him right away, and he was with the band until the bitter end (literally.) At the same time, Ian was singing in a band called The Secret Life of Owls with Eric on bass. After Flux broke up, Ian joined me in Someone You Know, and then Eric and Ian joined me for a show with ex-Flux lead guitarist Alex Ridgel in Xyster. Then, Ian and Eric joined me in recording my album under the name Indrid Cold. But that time, he was on guitar, which he is miraculously better at (that's not to say he's not a good drummer, it's saying that it's a miracle that he could be better at anything than he is on drums.) Ian also played at my flop-of-a-benefit Christmas Eve 2 as we both played acoustic sets.
They are both growing beards! I take it as an homage to me. Lol. They actually look good on them. Neither are red though, but I'm positive it's because neither are as Irish as I am.
All of us in Indrid Cold (Ian, Me, Eric, and Stephen Bender)
Flux (Ian, Dylan Brown, Me, Jim Covert)
Ian and Pat at a Someone You Know Practice
The new blog is still up
Lights out, guerilla radio...Turn that shit up....
Friday June 20, 2008
I ran into an old friend today at Wegmans. It was Javee Javier, the old singer from Someone You Know, the Pop-Punk band I played in in 2005. He was working at the Pharmacy, which an old friend of mine, Alex Ridgel from back in the Days of Flux, used to do as well. Javee looked like he's been working out. Lol. Definately buffe up a bit. But it got me thinking: If there was any one band in my history of performing in bands that I would put back together, it would be SYK. I mean, if some magical fish-genie appeared to me one day and said "You can reunite any band you've been in" I can say full-heartedly that it would be SYK. Anyone who knows me knows that Pop-Punk is not my cup of tee, not my forté if you will, but those guys (Pat Becket, Javee Javier, Jordan Jeong, and Ian Horrace) can turn any music into fun. Seriousely I think i can confidently say that it's the only band that I've ever been in that never felt like a job, it felt like pure, unadulterated fun. Ian could probably attest to this seeing as he doesn't like that style of music either (can't really blame him because Green Day's drum lines SUCK.)
I think if i were to pick a favorite song that we did, it would probably be B Song. I also have some old-school pictures of some of the merchandise we had at the time, too. So dig in.
SYK Hat
SYK Shirt
Here's the band
And obviousely, my blog is back up. I re-installed the software to my server.
I can keep a rhythm with no metronome, no metronome, no metronome....
I can lead a nation with a microphone, a microphone, a microphone.....
