Hey Everybody,
It seems I’m WordPress illiterate and can’t embed a video. I know, I know. Eight year olds can embed videos. But not me apparently.
So go over to YouTube and check out my application for the Evil League of Evil!
Evil League of Evil Application
And just in case you’re not familiar with the League, you should go watch Dr. Horrible. Several times.
It’s tough being in a band sometimes, especially in New York City. The “scene” is so overly saturated with bands (some good, others not so good), and it can be overwhelming trying to differentiate the quality stuff from the seemingly endless supply of anonymous White Stripes clones. And from the musicians’ perspective, it’s pretty hard to convince people to come to a midnight show at a dive in Bushwick on a Tuesday night, where they have to pay $10 to wait through five other acts before you finally take the stage. There’s nothing worse than waiting for your friend’s band to play while a mediocre sort-of-ironic indie pop outfit stumbles through a 45-minute set and the cheapest beer is $6.
So if you’ve been to this site more than once before, you probably know that I’m in a band called Astronaut Down. We’re four not-so-hip guys with glasses who play progressive rock in a city where there seems to be a scene for every genre except progressive rock. And sure, there are times when it gets a little discouraging playing for seven people on a sticky-floored stage, but I still love it. I do, however, have to occasionally beg for support. This is where you come in. In case you have trouble deciding the best way to keep my dream alive, below are three great options to choose from, in no particular order.
Option One (the $10 option): Buy our CD.
Option Two (the $6 option): Come to our show Wednesday night. We’re playing at The Delancey at 10 pm.
Option Three (the $0 option): Vote for us daily in the Bodog Battle of the Bands.
Now don’t worry, you can of course elect to support us with two or even all three of the above options. And if all three of those are too much hassle, you can just download our music illegally and rock out to it on your own time. That’s cool too.
And hey, since we’re on the topic of supporting local musicians, some of my friends from college are in a band called Fire Flies, and they’re great. I saw them at Crash Mansion last night and they had the place packed. If you like smart, infectious pop music with lyrics about robots and aliens, or if you’re just looking for something new you can dance to, I highly recommend their new CD Two New Sciences. It’s 45 minutes of pure bliss. They recently won the 2007 Emergenza Festival, so they probably won’t be “unknown” for long, but at least this way you can feel cool saying you knew them a couple months before everyone else did.
I know my readership consists primarily of people who I see on a regular basis (thus rendering this announcement somewhat redundant) and people who I never see due to the geographical distance separating us (thus rendering this announcement somewhat irrelevant), but bear with me.
My band Astronaut Down is having a CD release party next Friday, 05/25, at Exchange. For those of you in the city, take pretty much any train to Fulton St. For those of you not in the city, take the Fung Wah or Jet Blue or whatever. It’s free, the drinks are cheap, and it should be a lot of fun. We’ll be hanging out, playing some acoustic songs, and listening to the CD until the wee hours. Hope to see you punks there.
Jeff and I saw an ensemble called So Percussion play two pieces by Steve Reich at Miller Theatre on Friday. Although it could be argued that Columbia University is perhaps a tad over-enthusiastic about the man they seem to consider “America’s greatest living composer,” in this case I would say that their excitement is justified. The music of Steve Reich seems to have attained some newfound accessibility, or at least popularity, as of late. With multiple remix albums and countless re-issues and re-recordings of his back catalogue, it seems like he is the minimalist composer of the moment to name drop. I’m pretty sure the same people who put Reich Remixed on in the background while they sautee a Rachel Ray recipe, are the same ones I saw giving So Percussion a standing ovation after nodding off for 2/3 of the second piece. But enough about them.
My air of superiority aside, Steve Reich is definitely one of my favorite composers. I love his affinity for polyrhythms, and the way he will repeat a section over and over, before finally displacing one of the voices by a 16th note to make sure you’re still awake. The first piece played on Friday, Music For Pieces Of Wood, was performed by five percussionists hitting blocks of wood with various pitches. Although there isn’t much going on dynamically (or obviously tonally), the piece has some amazing rhythmic ideas. The individual players will be playing along in different time signatures, and everything will be on the verge of just sounding like noise, when they suddenly all pull together and play in unison for a brief moment. It’s a fairly simple premise, to keep building more and more contrupuntal movement, and stripping it all away at once, but the effect it has is pretty incredible.
The second piece is probably my favorite by Reich, Music For 18 Musicians. For the most part, all 55 minutes are built on a couple suspended chords that alternate gradually. The main reason I find this piece so beautiful is the different orchestration techniques he uses, and the various timbres he is able to create with his pallette. You will hear the same chord swell several times in a row, but each time it evolves. First it might be three female voices, a marimba, and a cello; next it might be a violin, baritone sax, bass clarinet, and piano, etc. The colors of the piece are amazing, and in the end, it really can’t be described. If you haven’t heard this piece, you should really check it out. It’s even more moving in a live setting.
The players themselves are obviously very talented, to be able to pull of something so complex, so effectively. It was definitely entertaining to watch, as the performers wandered about the stage between instruments, with three people sometimes squeezed in to play on a single marimba. Of course, the question now is how I will take this experience and use all these ideas in my own music. Jeff and I agreed that we would need another melodic instrument before we could pull off any additive rhythm type stuff, but it’s definitely something we want to do more of. King Crimson was able to do it on Three Of A Perfect Pair with just two guitars, so it is possible.
To summarize, here are the things you should take away from my ramblings:
1. Steve Reich is awesome.
2. So Percussion are awesome.
3. Rachel Ray is lame.
4. If you know anyone who plays guitar, tell them how they’re really not reaching their full potential unless they’re playing with Astronaut Down.
That is all.
Last night was the second (annual?) Waterwell Cabaret Benefit at Joe’s Pub. It started off good, and I was definitely having a fun time, until the evening came to an abrupt end in the most random and disappointing of ways. Not even halfway through the set, while the lovely Hanna Cheek introduced the next song, a large portion of the attendees began noisily making their way toward the door. When the disruption finally couldn’t be ignored any longer, she asked what was going on, and it turned out there was a fire downstairs, and the room was filling up with smoke. Awesome. The ensemble did their best to persuade the audience not to retrieve their coats and to wait in the lounge next door until the smoke was cleared, but eventually we had to be evacuated as the fire department axed their way through the floor of the venue.
Words can’t express how bad I feel for these guys. All the schmoozing and crazy amounts of organizing that it took to set up this show, with all the sponsors and performers and auction items and everything, and it all ends because of a stupid fire. I didn’t see anyone buying a 50/50 raffle ticket on their way out either. The thing is, it’s incredibly expensive to put on an independent off-Broadway show, and the proceeds from the benefit were going to be a big part of the funding for this year’s show. So if you have any tax refund money left over that you don’t know what to do with, or if a wealthy relative unexpectedly dies and leaves you with a huge inheritance, it would be really cool if you could head on over to waterwell.org and put a drop in the bucket. And if you STILL have money left over, there’s a sale at Threadless! Wooo.
So Jeremy and I went to see Killswitch Engage at Roseland last night, and they were amazing. If it’s all right with you, I’ll just skip over He Is Legend and Chimaira, except perhaps to note the following common mindset between the two bands: “This is called 4/4. Here is the downbeat. This is where we change the chord, if we decide to change it at all. Now everybody join the pit and see who gets injured.” Both bands were mind-numbingly boring, but maybe that’s because I was too lame to participate in either (a) the moshpit or (b) the smoking of copius amounts of weed. Those engaging in either of the aforementioned activities seemed to have an OK time.
Luckily, Dragonforce was all kinds of awesome. Sure, they’re silly and over the top, but that’s the point, because they have so much fun doing their thing. Their singer struggled to hit a good 30% of the notes, but I forgave him because of his enthusiasm and leather pants. Both guitarists were absolutely sick, and their keyboardist, who had the best stage presence of all of them, even rocked a pink keytar for a couple songs. I don’t know that their music is anything I would listen to on a regular basis, but their songs have so much wacky energy, making them a great band to see live.
Now on to Killswitch. Unfortunately lead guitarist Adam Dutkiewicz is sitting out this tour due to back problems, and Jeremy and I were both excited to see him play. Luckily the very skilled Pat Lachman (of Damageplan) was sitting in for him, and the band didn’t miss a beat. The huge, chunky riffs in songs like “My Curse” and “The End of Heartache” sound amazing in a live setting, as do the faster songs like “Unbroken” and “Breathe Life.” Vocalist Howard Jones was spot on all night, whether unleashing his trademark blood-curdling scream or singing the anthemic choruses (with the help of the sold out Roseland crowd).
There were of course a few songs I wish they had played but didn’t really expect them to, like “For You,” but there were also a couple surprising omissions, like “The Arms of Sorrow.” All in all, it was a strong setlist, except perhaps for the ill-advised cover of Dio’s “Holy Diver.” No matter how flawlessly the song is performed, it will always conjure images of South Park for me. But overall it was a great show. In a world full of so many “studio bands,” the live precision of Killswitch Engage is definitely an inspiring thing to see. If you get a chance to check them out on the No Fear tour, do yourself the favor and go. You just might want to show up an hour or two late to miss the weak openers.
In celebration of my 26th birthday, Aryn took me to see The Apple Tree at Studio 54 last night. Knowing nothing of the original 60′s show, I wasn’t familiar with the story or the music, but I was there pretty much just to see and hear the lovely Kristin Chenoweth. And she was there. And she did sing. Although the songs themselves were decidedly less showy, and perhaps less memorable than something like Wicked, she performed them so flawlessly, and had so much fun with them, that it’s hard to say anything bad about the show. Throughout the night, Chenoweth showcases her versatility by playing three characters, jumping from a chesty vibrato to a piercing nasal voice and everywhere in between.
In addition to her crazy mutant vocal range, she has perfect comedic timing, whether going for something subtle or completely over the top. In the end, the show itself might be a little fluffy and insubstantial, but her performance is so captivating and she is so charasmatic, that everyone from the hip locals (us) to the out-of-towners in sweatpants (directly in front of us) gave her a standing ovation at the end.
My birthday also featured lunch at Swich and dinner at Burgers & Cupcakes. And I think I had oatmeal for breakfast. Overall a good day. The Apple Tree ends its limited engagement next month, so if you’re unable to see it, I recommend that you make it to the next show Kristin Chenoweth is in, whatever it may be. Just don’t wear sweatpants, that’s not cool.
Talking to my mom on the phone tonight, I realized just how bad I am at keeping people up to date on what’s going on in my world, so I thought I’d give you all a quick update. I’m still hard at work in the studio (my apartment) recording and mixing the “new” Astronaut Down album, which I hope to have done by March. All that’s left to record is a handful of vocal tracks, so we’re making good progress. I just have to work my studio wizardry and somehow make sonic sense of this densely-layered concept album madness.
We’re also trying to put some shows together for this summer around the northeast with Edensong. It’s a lot of work, but hopefully the payoff will be exposing our music to a lot of people who wouldn’t otherwise hear it, and maybe even sell a CD or two while we’re at it. And, you know, maybe we’ll get discovered by some random A&R guy in Boston or Toronto and be catapulted into superstardom. Maybe.
Of course, the trade off for being this busy is that my mind is constantly preoccupied and I can’t seem to manage more than a single coherent thought a day. Today I used it up on a discussion about different laser sounds (specifically the red laser sound vs. the blue laser sound) with my friend Sandy. Tomorrow I think I will proclaim my hat itchy. It’s hard to say. With just one thought, you have to make it count, you know?
Oh, and it’s almost my Birthday! If you want to buy me stuff, I started a Wist, and of course there’s always Amazon. Or if you’d rather buy yourself a present, I recommend Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell (which I *finally* finished) or the debut Damiera CD. It’s crazy, in the best possible way. I just might bore you with a long and meandering review of that at some point.
OK, that’s all for now. Come see Astronaut Down at The Mean Fiddler on Saturday, OK?
1. I’m having another song featured on RedFizz tomorrow. It would seem their standards have lowered. Or maybe they just really like my new, more mysterious picture.
2. Also tomorrow, Astronaut Down is playing at The Blarney Stone, 410 8th Ave between 30th and 31st St. We go on around 11, should be a good time.
3. I wasn’t drunk when I called Archie last night. If you talk to him and he implies otherwise, he’s lying. I just wanted to set the record straight.
Jeremy Enigk played at the Bowery Ballroom last night and it was one of the best shows I have seen. The only real downside was the first two bands – I have to wonder if he only allows such mediocre opening acts so as to avoid being upstaged (as if that were even possible). The Digs were an overly sincere ambient/emo trio that were apparently pretty big fans of themselves, but their songs were little more than a single chord progression with maybe 25 words repeated slowly for 4-5 minutes. The King Left suffered from the opposite problem, avoiding sincerity altogether by affecting pseudo-British accents and stumbling through a series of indistinguishable bluesy jangling rock tunes. Their lead guitarist had a tendency to repeat the same bad jokes between songs and their drummer sped up every time he switched from the hi-hat to the ride cymbal, but by the end of their set, I think I was the only one who noticed.
Enigk’s band then took the stage and started with an extended version of “A New Beginning” from World Waits, a perfect overture to an enthusiastic 90-minute set, before kicking into “Been Here Before.” The song selection was well-balanced, covering both solo albums, as well as two covers and a song from The United States of Leland soundtrack. The band complimented him well throughout, adding energy but never getting in the way of the main attraction. Enigk’s voice (previously referred to as “the main attraction”) shined from start to finish, from the bottom of his raspy baritone in “City Tonight” and “Damien Dreams” to the anxious cries at the top of his register in “Shade and the Black Hat” and John Lennon’s “Mother.” He added a couple new vocal flourishes to increase the intensity in several songs, but still honored the album versions by keeping the big payoff moments largely intact.
Though it would have been great to hear “Ballroom Blitz” or “Burn” in a live setting (not to mention a Sunny Day Real Estate song or two), there was enough essential Enigk, old and new, to keep everyone happy. What struck me the most was just how humble and appreciative he was, stopping repeatedly to thank everyone in attendance for their support. I had spent the previous night agonizing over the track listing for the demo CD I intended to give him, but when the moment of truth came, I headed for the door. I was tired and I had to work in 8 hours, what can I say. Also I would have ended up in some embarassing combination of a shameless gush/swoon while I drooled over him, and making no impression at all might be better than making a bad one.
On the plus side, I received an e-mail this morning from a guy who stumbled across my music on Myspace and wanted to buy a CD, so I figure I’ll mail Enigk’s to him. Balancing the universe and all that. I’ll meet him one day. *sigh*