Also, check out our brand new myspace April 26, 2009
The creative process, or lackthereof…
Today, it was my goal to finish the lyrics to a new song that I’ve un-creatively titled “New York, New York.” In other words, this meant that my day consisted of me sitting in my living room watching whatever mediocre movie/show happened to be on TV, while painstakingly chipping away at this granite block of a song that I hoped to form into the statue of David. While not quite reaching this lofty goal, I think I did come up with lyrics that are at least somewhat clever. In other words, the statue isn’t quite David, but at least you can tell that it’s supposed to be vaguely human-shaped. Maybe that’s the best I can hope for, I don’t know.
Here’s what I was enriching my mind with during this process:
Semi-pro
Baby Mama
Rock of Love Bus: Reunion
Nitro Circus
Real World, Road Rules challenge: The Duel
Star Trek: Generations (currently still watching!)
And a load of “Preacher” comics. If you haven’t already read this comic, you definitely should. That is, if you’re in to vampires, people with no faces, cowardly deities, and lots and LOTS of violence. And who isn’t?
Disclaimer: this is NOT a religious comic... exactly.
In other news: after numerous revisions, the EP is completely mastered, and will be posted in several convenient places to download for free. Also, big ups to Long for helping out by contributing the album art. Check out the basic concept for the design on his blog here.
April 13, 2009
Empty Shelves
Lately I’ve taken to studying in the fourth floor of the Suzallo library near the poetry / literature stacks. I just happened to wander up there one afternoon and found myself alone in the middle of a maze of books (think The Pagemaster). I find it to be just the right balance between creepy and peaceful. Anyway, this particular floor of the library is half taken up by empty bookshelves that look like this:
creeeeeeeepy
It almost feels like a weird, nerdy nightmare walking through all these empty shelves. I can’t help but think about how oddly symbolic this is. Maybe it’s the world’s way of telling me to get my ass in gear, because there’s still all of this space to fill. On the other hand, maybe it’s the universe’s way of intimidating me in to giving up on my aspirations, because after all, no matter how hard I work, I could never fill all these empty shelves. Or maybe (and this seems more likely) the mysterious unknown isn’t trying to tell me anything at all. Omnipotent cosmic forces tend not to associate with guys like me.
April 5, 2009
World, meet ANARCHY COWBELL
Today Bryan and I went to Guitar Center to pick up some new bass strings. Imagine, if you will, you are an innocent pedestrian, walking through a music store minding your own business, when suddenly, you happen upon this:
Oh Fuck...
That’s right folks, that’s an anarchy cowbell. Hide your daughters, because whoever owns this cowbell is NOT fucking around. Notice the large anarchy symbol in the center, and what’s that? That’s right, spikes; this cowbell has spikes. With one look at this, my world was shattered. This is truly the pinnacle of rock that we lowly peons can only struggle to imitate. Rock and Roll has a new name, and that is Anarchy Cowbell.
In other, less mindblowing news, Bryan also bought a tambourine today. In doing this he fulfilled a lifelong dream: he IS the tambourine man. Unfortunately they were out of stock on tambourines with anarchy symbols and spikes attached, so yet again we were thwarted in our struggle toward greatness.
The rest of the day was occupied with recording tracks for The Meantime, the lyrics for which are posted below. This one’s turning out to be pretty epic. I can’t wait for everyone to hear it.
April 4, 2009
Modern Hype
Everybody should check out my Our Favorite Year bandmate/bff Aaron’s blog entitled Modern Hype. It’s only been up for a day and already I’ve seen a giant robot octopus, a sweet Nintendo glove and an amazing jellyfish lamp. Also, after only three posts there’s already been a reference to peeing on things. It’s off to a great start.
April 4, 2009
The Meantime
Tell me how you’ve learned to fill the meantime.
Tell me where the cracks began to show.
I watched them as they widened to a fault line
and showed us both the emptiness below.
And i’ve tried to find
a place to rest my head
but this jagged crack of sunlight
bares its teeth above my bed.
But I’ll stay here for forever,
or at least a day or two.
It feels bad enough now,
But I’ll pull through.
Now I’ve found my way
out of here.
Maybe you should do the same.
After all this, the truth is
I’m missing what I’ve never had to start with.
You played me like a note,
but I won’t ring.
Take me back to where this all got started
Show me all the joy that you have seen.
Then tell me all the things that you’d forgotten
and I’ll fill all the silence in between.
I’ll make a note
of every word you say.
And I’ll take apart the meaning
til the meaning goes away
and there’s nothing left but lonely soundwaves
bouncing off the walls.
It took so long to climb
for one short fall.
This song is still a work in progress, but I figured I’d post the lyrics I have for it so far. It could either be a simple slow song or an epic jam, time will tell.
April 4, 2009
The Studio! (kindof)
Yo, check it. Most of the recording that I do is done on my laptop at home, so i thought it was high time that I post some pics from the “studio,” you know, like real musicians do! Bryan and I have spent countless hours sitting on this couch in front of the computer screen. See it, know it, love it.
This is where the magic hapens.
See that fat wad of cash in front of the computer?! Yeah, that’s how we roll. For those of you who are interested, right here we’re set up to record some creamy acoustic guitar for a new track we’ve been working on, temporarily entitled “The New Song.” We’re clever with names.
Also, here’s a pic of my brother-from-an-asian-mother Bryan Nguyen. Check out this epic pose, he’s definitely a rock god in training.
...lets rock.
April 2, 2009
Year of the Knife
Recently I’ve gotten really into Tears For Fears, and this video rocks my world every time I watch it. It’s one of the most perfect live performances I’ve ever seen.
April 2, 2009
Pride and Prejudice… and Zombies!
Have you ever been reading a classic romantic novel and thought to yourself, “you know, this could really benefit from some bloodthirsty zombies”? Well, if you have, then prepare to soil your britches. Seth Grahame-smith has made the day of every zombie-loving literary fiend by inserting the undead into the story of Pride and Prejudice with clever insertions and re-editing. You can read about it and download the first three chapters of this masterpiece for free here.
April 2, 2009
The Silver Lining
By the way, despite the coma-inducing mediocrity that was my black hole of a spring break, I was able to work on some music. Bryan and I recorded an acoustic version of a new song, so that should be up on one of the various self-indulgent band sites fairly soon.
