Sunday, October 20, 2013
Thursday, October 17, 2013
Trying not to sound like a ponce // The Coathangers
So I went to see the Coathangers and Guitar Wolf. Lately Ive been asking myself "hey wheres the passion?" Ive kinda had this feeling that I know it was in there somewhere, but I didnt really know what the deal was it seemed like it had been a while since Ive seen it. Well, I'll tell you, after hanging out with Youthbitch, I kinda realized that it was OK to get all excited about certain things, like when youve been listening to a band for a year and you think they are awesome and then they are spending the night on your floor! sick!! it feels nice to feel good in a way where its like the new day actually brought something that expresses the vastness of life rather than the same old same old.
So yeah, I didnt even know there was a Coathangers show today until this morning I saw it online they posted something that they were playing with Guitar Wolf who Chris had mentioned the night before he was thinking about hitting up but he didnt say anything the Coathangers playing. I got really psyched. Also, after seeing the Growlers I had a really good recording session, but today I think was pretty much crap (I donno ill have to go back and check) and so I wanted to go out and see a really good band in case that magically helped me record better the next day from being closer to the pumped up energy. But yeah, seeing The Coathangers imagine like this new version of me is psyched to take the trip and see an awesome band and that part of me wants to turn every time i see an awesome band into people crashing on my couch, but then sub in really hot girls for the band, and that kinda changes how it goes. I definitely wanted to hold on til the end of the night and find my way back to my buddy's house where they are crashing, but something in me felt like it was a bit dicey. Or dicey is not the words, but it didnt seem like a probable thing that would probably happen where my life was different than the same old same old in that particular way on that night. It seemed like it was plausible but might be a little bit of a stretch. Which leads me to the question Im still not able to answer, which was if the only thing that kept it from being a reality was my own skiddishness. I knew the baseline was I would see a kickass show and try and talk to them or something. Chris ended up not making it to the show, so I was there by myself, so my loitering skills were left a pretty thin margin of error. There were some cool dudes there and they were so nice to me like bringing me into conversation and stuff, but eventually the topic turned to shows and booking and shit and I fear I started to sound like a ponce. Its really hard to sound cool around girls sometimes, especially ones that get lots of attention. During their set some dude brought them beers or like reached out his hand or something and then like involentarily kissed it in a weird dog slobbery kind of way. The whole thing was like slow motion trainwreck style. So then you are trying to go talk to a girl after seeing some other dude do this shit which you know happens to them every night and it just seems like a minefield, you know, like love is a battlefield, because the enemy is within all of us in that way as far as brain short circuiting, and it seems like to get anywhere I would have to pitch like the equivelant for me of 9 shutout innings (improbible). I think there is this weird thing left over from childhood, awkwardness about being like the 4th person walk up to a group of kids and say like "hey can I play?" But yeah while talking with these cool dudes, if I hadnt started talking like a ponce, which is to say talking about boring shit like what my bands are doing and how great everything is, they would have probably kept just talking to me forever and that is a major cool guy attribute, and had i been able to do that I probably would have gotten a chance to talk to the girl in the band i wanted to talk to in a natural conversational way, not in a dog slobbery way, but too bad i fucked up / pussed out and left. But it was still a kickass show, and I found out they are dropping a record in March so Ill bet theres a good chance they are back to promote it. And furthermore talking with those dudes now we might end up playing a show with them who knows, so it would be cool to play with some cool guys, id definitely love to set that show up so it wasnt all for naught i guess.
One song they played during their set I saw online afterwards called Trailorpark Boneyard. I was watching it on the internet after the show and I heard the lyrics and they made me really made me sad. Great song, i like wanderlusty type stuff, and like driving thru the desert rock, and the low chord comes at a really good time. I think the second verse is really sad. And Im trying to figure out, is the 3rd verse, like she comes back thru a town and then some guy she was with last time wants to get with her but then her reality has become like rejecting all these dudes from different places, so now shes trapped in this cycle where theres always these dudes with like hurt feelings because theyre not gonna get laid again and people are always getting mad at her when she hasnt done anything thats her fault? Maybe that would be a good question to ask her, if I get a chance.
Oh Sike, i get it, its really about she went back to try and get with this one particular dude, but the relationship didnt work out, and its about the dichotomy of how she cant be with someone while living nomadically, but that you go back and it doesnt necessarily work out. So its kinda frustrated in that way I guess, but I think its cool that she's still searching for the true love, thats a very idealistic thing to do. Solid!
EDIT: actually after listening again, i have no fuckin clue what its about but im pretty sure my theories make no sense. And if i get a chance to talk to her im gonna ask her how tall she is and if she played basketball.
DOUBLE EDIT, 3/30/14: Ok i think i finally get this song, its about liking a dude in a band, and then at the end "where you go ill go, what you see ill see" refers to her going out there and being in a band to get that perspective the dude she likes has, so she is close to him in that way, but its kinda frustrating because really she wanted to be with the dude, and its not quite the same. Its kinda like when the drummer from Cherry Glazarr put out an open invite to get in the hot tub, but i was stoned and just didnt say anything or take her up on it, and then she got back from the hot tub, looking refreshed but kinda bummed because the moment had already passed and i was like "oh yeah, hot tub" and then i just went into the hot tub then, but obv it was too late to hot tub with her which would have been sweet. But the hot tub was still bad ass, i was just cashed on the night at that point, although next year, ill wait until more ppl leave before hitting the weed, so i can still interact socially gracefully in case something like that happens again.
THE COATHANGERS:
Tuesday, October 15, 2013
Woodshed // The Growlers w/Burgerama Tour of Stars
Im in the shed yall. I got my 8 track set up in the house for a while while one of my roommates is out of town and all 3 bands are gigging and practicing. My 2 weeks are done over at JJs although I can still pick up shifts there. After my last shift (wednesday 2 pm) i went home and then Friday night I came out of my house to go to a band practice only to realize I still had one of the carr toppers on my truck. ha. Ive been demoing new Spiked Punch and a lot of things are coming out of the process which is cool. I am working on my drumming mechanics on a drum pad currently, which is really something that came out of RXR practice. Different stuff is coming out of different practices, I feel like I have the luxury of concentrating on different techniques than how I previously thought about music. Playing bass in Party Plants and having no responsibilities in that band has been super awesome. I love playing Graham's songs and I love being in a rhythm section with Charlie. I usually think about keeping the song going in that band, which is I think a key to making music sound good. With drumming if I drum a 4 bar loop I am really concentrating on the last bar, and not having it slow down or speed up. Being able to do that 4 times is ok, or 20 times is better, but eventually you have to be able to do it for a whole song, every song. Ive been practicing slow quarter notes because I want to get that more precise and in my head after watching the drummer from Chris Catalina pull that off to great effect this summer. The tempos on the demos so far are a little all over the place....maybe just for a mesaure or two, but its definitely making progress. That's the other thing I'm secretly hoping comes off all the drum practice....that for instance no matter what instrument i track first, that it is in tempo the whole way thru without me needing to have a metronome playing along. I think its just about getting that internal clock built up. I think drum pad stuff is going to prove to be more of a morning/(sober) thing. NEXT SHOW ---- REVERSE X RAYS PLAYS AT JOEYS HOUSE WITH SLUGBUG + POLIO CLUB -- KICK OFF HALLOWEEN RIGHT, Fri Oct 25th. Then Party Plants and Spiked Punch are playing with Polio Club, David Israel, and Ruby Frey @ Beerland Wednesday November 13th.
I saw the Growlers at The Parish which was a mind-numbingly awesome show. They are on my list of top bands in america right now. I am getting really into this idea of hybrid-style as far as being a style for your band. Kinda like how people are "its the first blend of hip-hop and opera....hits a hip hopera!" I am all about the idea of trying to combine things, but I think they have a really interesting synthesis. I liked watching all of them, but maybe its cause I play bass a lot lately, i felt at most home watching the bassist (when not watching the front man, who was great). Cant wait to see those guys again. The Burger opening lineup, sad to say I didnt catch all of it, we waited for a break in the rain before heading over. I am excited about the Halloween show at Hotel Vegas, Im gonna get there super early I guess. I think that is their "A" lineup (that will play Haloween) and they were promoting their "B" (or "fakey style") lineup having them open for the Growlers. Those guys are incredible promoters, i think the way they have stuff organized shows they really care, or maybe they are geniuses. I donno. I think it stems back to the emotion of your formative period where you just really really love music, so bad that it hurts, and that is the origin of all musical expression that people make later in life. Its not the worst thing to be bound to.
Check out the Spiked Punch facebook page if you dare, we are trying to upgrade it some.
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