Results tagged “music” from BrainDrain

The recording session went beautifully - picture perfect, one might say. We were able to get into the studio to setup our instruments the night before, and we started tweaking mics about noonish on Saturday. We were able to record the drum tracks for seven songs in roughly 7.5 - 8 hours, which was pretty good if the reactions of our producer was any indicator. It was tough, though - we played each song a minimum of three times before taking a break to listen to the recordings, and there were one or two that we had to do more than that (my fault). In fact, any extra takes we had to do were my fault because in this session, it was really only my performances that mattered - the rest can be fixed later and elsewhere. Well, that's not entirely true; I think that the bass tracks were also being monitored but there was a lot more leeway for Travis on the mistake front than there was for me. However, we did get all the drum tracks we came for, and probably the bass tracks as well, and even had some time to do some vocal tracks, background vocals, and auxiliary overdubs of various instruments. We ended up leaving the studio about 11:30pm on Saturday night, almost 12 hours after we got there. That, my friends, is a long freakin' day!

Here's some pics that Gavin and I took during the day to help you get the feel for the Life On Loan recording experience (and to prove that I'm not just making all this up - we were actually there! Honest!):

In some ways, this was what I expected and in other ways it was not. On the one hand, it was a very long day - playing drums for 8 hours in a day (with probably the equivalent of 25-30 songs in that time) was physically demanding. So much so, in fact, that I knew it was time to quit when I got cramps in both my forearm and leg attempting to redo our fastest song at the end of my time in the session. I was worn out! On the other hand, I brought a legion of extras - extra snares, extra cymbals, extra mallets and sticks, extra drum heads, etc. - and was under the impression that we'd do a lot of retakes with different sounds and such, but we did not. I'm guessing that's pretty much dependent on the producer and what kind of sounds he wants, and the Tama recorded beautifully. Listening to the tracks as they were finished, I was amazed that the sounds I was hearing actually came from the kit I had just played and honestly, I don't think that any additional sound textures or anything were needed for this record. Perhaps if we do a full-length album, we'll do more of that.

I also gained a newfound appreciation for Pro Tools. I had come into the session with the impression that Pro Tools was just a tool to make bad bands sound good, and that a heavy reliance on PT was kind of a crutch. From reading Modern Drummer, you'd think that only real bands complete records without using it and that anyone else who does is somehow "cheating". Well, that's not the case. What PT allows a band to do is fix some minor discrepancies without having to do an entire re-take of a whole song just for one small spot. Case in point: on the third take of a song, everything came out good except for one spot where I missed a beat due to getting my sticks crossed up. It was a three-measure repeating pattern and the third one didn't sound right (although the rest of the band decided that they kind of liked it). Patrick was able to copy one snare hit from the previous "good" measure and put it in right where the missed shot was to fall in the "bad" measure, making it sound as if I had played it just right in the first place. That meant we didn't have to go back and record a whole song just for that one hit. Technology is amazing when used properly and sparingly.

All in all, it was an amazing experience, ranking right up there in the handful of "best days of my life" at the top of my memory pile. I want to give a shout out to Michael Landon over at Premium Recording, who was an immense help to us during the day and is probably one of the nicest guys I have ever met, and also to our producer and lead engineer, Patrick Conway, who is helping us to craft the most awesome album EVER!!! My world has been rocked and I hope to rock yours soon, with the help of my band. Stay tuned, true believers!

So the big news around my water cooler is the fact that Life On Loan is finally heading into the studio this weekend to record our first EP. We'll be working on getting at least five songs recorded at Premium Recording on Saturday from 1pm - midnight, and maybe have to trickle over into Sunday if something relatively untoward and unforeseen happens. My personal goal is to have the EP ready to release by the end of the year, but that may not happen. We'll see.

I will admit that I am really enjoying being able to throw out the "yeah, well my band's going into the studio this weekend, so..." line in conversation - whether it's an excuse why I can't do something, or in response to the ever-popular "got any big weekend plans?" question, or just telling someone what's new, being able to say I'm going to be in the studio totally kicks ass! I totally feel like a rock star now, and I'm loving every minute of it. God's allowing me to participate in so many cool things musically this year, and the studio thing is just a great way to cap off the year. Truly amazing!

I'm trying not to totally let it go to my head, though. It's funny - people sort of respond with the same awe and wonder when I mention going into the studio as the non-technical folks do when I say that I work for IBM. Going into the studio is something that pretty much anyone can do if they have the money and the time, and the current state of the music biz pretty much makes it possible for any band to get well-produced music out there to a niche market. You could have five fans and make an EP or a full CD if you have the money to block out the time at the studio.

However, I think that the phrase "going into the studio" still carries a lot of weight behind it from the old days when the only people that ever did that were bands that were backed by a record label. I think that phrase shows that you're really serious about your music - either someone likes you enough to pay your way into the studio (rare) or you believe in your stuff enough to spend the hefty chunk of change to get a professional recording done. I think the studio for musicians is akin to the minor leagues for baseball players - it signals that while you're not quite there in the "big show" yet, you're definitely more serious than just playing pickup games on Saturday nights.

So, yeah...this is kind of big for us. Big for me. Another personal dream, and I'm looking forward to having something in my hands that I can play for people and say, "yeah, that's me on the drums and my band made a recording. Me and three other guys took songs from nothing, created them, crafted them, and recorded them and here they are." The songs have been reworked, sound very little like the ones that we recorded for the demo, and will hopefully come out the other side sounding professional and ear-catching. This is one of the most awesome things I have ever done, and I am thankful to God that He is allowing me to do this.

I'm also hoping to tweet and twitpic the studio recording process, so hopefully I'll have a good real-time diary going on of how things are going and what the experience is like. I also need to update the MySpace page as well.

This is going to be so much fun!

I headed down to the Parish Room on Friday night with Ballenger to see one of my new favorite bands, Telegraph Canyon, play with Quiet Company and The Morakestra. While Quiet Company was the headliner, I was really there to see Telegraph Canyon:

The other bands were good, don't get me wrong. If you like Rooney, I'd suggest you check out Quiet Company - they were really tight, had a ton of style, and stage presence to last for days. The Morakestra was also good, with a lot of tight instrumentation and jamming (although their stage presence needs a little work).

Telegraph Canyon is just really interesting to watch because they have so many musicians on stage and such different instrumentation. Their music is quite varied in dynamic volume, and they have a lot of good fun and are not your run of the mill band. I guess that's why they got a writeup in Rolling Stone's online edition last month. It's not the kind of music that I would normally listen to (and thus I don't have any comparisons to make of the "if you like {x} you'll like Telegraph Canyon" kind) so I think that speaks to how good their music is because it has earned me as a convert. Plus, they've released their latest album on vinyl, and that's got to count for something.

So if you're looking for some new music, check out any one of these three bands and I think you'll be glad that you did.

A conversation had with Jacob whist we were tooling around Houston before the gig on Friday has had me thinking ever since. It was about the sacrifices one has to make in order to pursue music seriously and with the advent of my second coming at IBM, it has me wondering if I'm willing to make them.

Editorial note: From this point forward, the term "musician" will refer to those individuals trying to make music a major part of their monetary sustainment. A "professional" musician, if you will, but not necessarily a signed artist or one with big-label or studio backing of some sort. I get tired of repeating myself.

Being a musician is a big commitment: a commitment to style (hair, tattoos, attitudes, clothing/image), a commitment to learning to play the instrument well, a commitment to the fans, and also a commitment to gear. Musicians don't have company subsidized health insurance, so most of them go without. Gigs pay but they don't pay much once it's all divided up amongst the band members, and even though you may be playing four nights a week, two to three of those nights might be weekday gigs with low numbers and therefore low pay. Everything costs money: gear, touring, recording, threads, practice space. Sometimes shows come up at the last minute and a band that is limited in time is also limited in audience. Particular style choices can be detrimental to corporate jobs (or even some service jobs). Mohawks and tattoos are generally frowned upon by corporate types.

Musicians also tend to have lower-strata jobs tending bar or working retail or service and the like because those jobs can be more flexible (due to fluid schedules) and can be easily blown off in the event that a big opportunity comes along. Some places are more understanding of the life of a musician and are much more flexible to absences on short notice. The problem is, these jobs don't typically pay much. I recall reading somewhere about one band who would get minimum-wage jobs when they weren't touring to barely make ends meet because they could quickly leave them to go back out on the road. There's no attachment to the company or much loyalty, and there's not a career ladder to be left. Jobs that don't require the arduous trek up the corporate ladder structure are a dime a dozen (and pay about that much).

Not to mention the fact that lugging your gear around (especially if you're a drummer) is a gigantic pain in just about everywhere.

All of this flies completely in the face of any type of career job where the work ethic seems to be the unspoken mantra of "overtime is expected". Companies expect their employees to give more and more to them, and that conflicts with the similar demands that music makes on a musician. The career job supplies all those things that makes music possible - money, insurance coverage, etc. - but demands more than its share of time which means that music must take a secondary place. New bands have to start at the bottom of the ladder, which means early-week shows at night; the more popular your band gets, the later the shows get because headliners always go last. That makes it really hard to get up for work the next day, my friends, and that lifestyle doesn't make good bedfellows with a corporate culture that prizes high output over a healthy work/life balance.

So here I am, newly back into the corporate culture, struggling to come to terms with my new hourly status (you mean I have to actually be working at work for 8 hours a day and I have to clock out to eat?), unsure of how much my new team toes the IBM party line when it comes to the unspoken policy of the expected 55-hour work week, and I've just come off of one of the better musical experiences in my life and wishing I could do that for a living. I really like to make music, and I really want to be part of something big musically. Life On Loan may be it; Five Dollar Friend might be it; or it could be some other opportunity with another band that I haven't even thought about yet. I want to be a part of that, but deep down inside I'm not sure that I'm willing to risk the hand-to-mouth potential that being a professional musician requires just to be in the (hopefully) right place at the (hopefully) right time with the (hopefully) right band. I don't know that there is a such thing as a "moderately successful" musician - you either have to make it big or you're always going to have to supplement it with some other work.

There's not really too much that can make me miss an opportunity to play music, and so I know that music is a driving passion in my life. But how much of a passion is it if I'm not willing to risk it all for its sake? Can it move me to the edge, and can I stay there long enough to wait? I had seven months to do that, and I failed to turn it into anything beyond a few experiences here and there. Am I Jack-Black-in-School-of-Rock hardcore? Is that a desirable place to be for me?

I don't know. That's my quandry.

Five Dollar Friend asked me to play a show with them last night at the venerable Fitzgerald's in Houston. Fitz's is kind of like Texas' version of CBGB - a lot of really good pre-signed and signed acts have played here over the years, and usually the bands that play upstairs on the main stage are pretty good local acts. If you show up to a weekend show at Fitz's, you're pretty much guaranteed to hear some good music. Thus, for me, this was another personal goal realized as I got to rock a relatively famous club with a good band and with decent sound.

Deep Ella headlined the bill as they capped off their latest tour with the last show in Houston until next year. They're currently going back into the studio to record their next record and won't be touring again until the new joint is done. The rest of the bill had a band from Austin called Eyes Burn Electric (formerly Dremnt The End) and Floorbound, with Five Dollar Friend starting the whole thing off with a 6-song set at 9pm. It was kind of rough for the other bands as we had to work around Deep Ella's stage setup, but things went well and all the bands were great.

Fitzgerald's is a great club, with an actual backstage area for the bands to congregate in and relax before or during the show. They have a bathroom back there and a room with a bed (ostensibly for "napping"...yeah, right), but I pretty much stayed away from all of those places because they made that hotel that rents room by the hour that you know sound like the Ritz Carlton. But it was nice to have somewhere to stow gear without it being in the way of the crowd and also have a place to get away from the noise for a few minutes. I wish I had thought to take some pictures when we first got there, but I failed in that mission. Next time I play there, I'll be sure to take more pics. I was more concerned about getting my gear in and setting it up for sound check than I was about taking pictures, though.

My new Tama Starclassic was the belle of the ball back stage, with every drummer from the other bands making a comment on how great it looks and sounds. I was able to swap some gear tips with some of them as well, and even may have found a buyer for my nicked up K Custom crash that I had to replace. The green sparkle looked pretty fantastic under the green/blue light setup that they had at Fitz's, and it was a total blast and a half to play with FDF again. I posted some pictures that I took with the Pre of Deep Ella on my flickr page (see left sidebar), and as soon as I can get my hands on any pictures that were taken of FDF rockin' Fitz's I'll post them as well. Here's a sample:

And, this was the highest-paying gig that I've had so far, especially if you count the money that might result from selling the K Custom. All in all, a spectacular night and I hope to do it again before FDF calls it quits officially before the end of the year.

One last thing...it was kind of intimidating for me to play on a bill with such accomplished musicians, some of whom have been playing drums for 20 years or more. I always face that demon whenever I get on stage, wondering which person is watching me like I watch other drummers and critiquing my performance. But every one of the other drummers in the bands after us had great things to say and that they enjoyed my performance and my sound, and that just boosts my confidence like no tomorrow. I think the perception outside the bands is that each band is out for themselves, but almost every band that I've been on the bill with in Austin or Houston has had many complimentary things to say to the other bands. Yeah, we're all trying to get signed and make it big, but it's not a cutthroat thing and people have been willing to share instruments, drum keys, guitars, etc. and that's a great environment in which to make music. Being able to play in front of "elder statesmen" in the band scene and have them say that they enjoyed our show or specifically my interpretations of the music are worth their weight in gold to me.

Last night was an amazing show, and I had the time of my life. Super ultra mega awesome! I hope I can do it again in the near future!

According to Everything Pre, Apple has made the first move to screw Pre users by pushing an iTunes update that breaks the Pre's ability to sync with iTunes. It is irritating that Apple would do this because they do allow the Amazon MP3 Downloader app to sync purchases from Amazon with iTunes on a PC, and the Pre comes with an Amazon MP3 Store app already installed.

This move doesn't make sense to me because the only reason that anyone uses iTunes is if they already have an iPod or iPhone, and so I can't imagine that Jobs & Co. are somehow losing revenue from having a raft of Pre users using free Apple software but that won't buy Apple hardware. I haven't used the terrible iTunes store for several years now (due to playback problems with Apple's own hardware in regards to DRM'd junk from the iTunes store) and have bought all my music via Amazon. So, limiting me from being able to do this on the fly with my phone just because it happens to not be an iPhone seems to serve no other purpose than to add additional ill will in my mind towards Apple.

The "we're so cool, we don't need customers" philosophy is getting pretty close to causing you to lose another one, Steve-o. Interoperability is the key here - when will you get that?

LIFE ON LOAN
RED EYED FLY (715 Red River, 1 block south of Stubb's)
FRIDAY, JUNE 26
9PM

Tonight's show will be the best lineup we've played with yet - a LOT of fan favorites on the bill. Just take a look at this lineup:

The Soles - 8pm
LIFE ON LOAN - 9pm
Matchsticks for Memories - 10pm
Sixes & Eights - 11pm (EP Release party - free EPs for everybody!!)
Mike Truth & the Replacement Killers - 12:45am

If you've never come out to hear us, now is definitely the time. If you have been out to hear us, we would love to see you back again. We're adding some of the old favorites back into the set due to popular demand and we're looking forward to having a good time. This will definitely be one to remember and we hope to see you there! Bring some friends!!!

Here's another pointless Top 10 of things that make me tick. While this list is not up for debate (since it's my own personal prefs and therefore not open to discussion), feel free to add your own lists to the comments.

And now, my fave bands/artists:

1. Dream Theater
2. Duran Duran
3. Motley Crue
4. The Police
5. Armin Van Buuren
6. Nine Inch Nails
7. Megadeth
8. Porcupine Tree
9. Schiller
10. Paul Oakenfold

Rounding out my musical performances for the weekend was a gig with my friends from the GHBC worship band in a decidedly non-worship capacity. We were asked to play an hour set of cover tunes for the big memorial day bash for the Cedar Park Parks & Recreation Department at the Veterans Memorial Park pool. However, we had to do different cover tunes than what we usually do - no worship music - and we only had one rehearsal beforehand. I must admit, I was a little nervous about doing it after that rehearsal because I had never heard most of the songs we had to play and some of the funk tags and endings are not something I'm used to hitting off the top of my head.

However, it turned out to be pretty fun and we had a great time. We played some surf tunes, some funk/jazz songs, and a couple of pop songs. Most of the people were busy playing in the pool and stuff, but we had a few people that were listening to us and drew a crowd of girls with our version of Taylor Swift's "Love Story" - but that was probably due to our lead singer on that song being 6-year-old Madison McFeeters. It was a new experience for me, but it turned out to be pretty interesting - for the most part, the bass and I just setup a 12 or 16-bar groove and let the sax, guitar, and keys solo for however long they wanted to. I know that someone got it on video, so I'm hoping to see it at some point to hear what it sounded like from the outside.

Our set list was as follows:

"Wipeout" - The Beach Boys
"Pipeline" - Dick Dale
"Chameleon" - Herbie Hancock
"We Won't Be Quiet" - David Crowder
"Stratus" - Billy Cobham
"Upshot" - Grant Green
"Love Story" - Taylor Swift
"Footprints" - Wayne Shorter

It was a blast and the response that we got was pretty good, especially for us having just one rehearsal and totally playing by the seat of our pants (or maybe I was the only one playing that way). It was a totally different thing for me and I'm hoping that maybe we can do more things like this as it exposes me to a little different style of music than what I'm used to playing. I kept telling Danny that we needed to come up with a name, but he didn't agree with me. So, I'm going to stick with my original name for our little group which is "Danny Lacey and the Last Minutes". Perhaps you'll see us again at some point at a pool or mall opening near you.

Friday night's show was fantastic - A BIG THANK YOU TO ALL YOU FANS THAT SHOWED UP!!! Unless something amazing happened for The Organics after we left at 12:30AM or so, we had the biggest crowd on the bill - which is a pretty great thing for the opening band on a weekend card. It was also great to see a lot of new faces in the audience - so for all you new folks out there, we hope you enjoyed yourselves and we also hope that we'll be seeing you at some later shows now that you've gotten a chance to witness the awesomeness that is the Life On Loan live show. I know that some of our "regulars" were out of town due to Memorial Day, so hopefully you'll be able to make it out to our next show. For all of you that continue to come out to the shows time and time again, you guys TOTALLY rock our world!

Speaking of which, mark it down on your calendars that we're hitting the REF again on June 26th (another Friday) at 9pm. This is going to be a killer show as we're not only sharing the bill with Mike Truth and the Replacement Killers, but also Sixes & Eights - and from what I hear, Sixes & Eights are one spiffy show and have a HUGE crowd of their own and we're looking to put on a great show for any of their fans that happen to show up early.

Once again, thanks for the support, thanks for coming out to see us, and also thanks for spreading the word to your friends and bringing them along with you! It's so much more fun to play for a roomful of people, and we hope that you enjoy the shows to come. We can't do it without you guys, so continue to spread the word and we'll see you in a month!

Clarity comes about in odd times and situations sometimes. Today's revelation started as I left the HEB after doing some grocery shopping and continued as I munched my sushi for lunch. Somehow I got to thinking about the whole Five Dollar Friend scenario that went down this week and the idea of me playing other people's music. I have always had a problem playing music that a fan base already knows because I put a lot of pressure on myself to play it exactly like it was originally recorded. I tend to assume that people listening to the music listen the same way I do and that they're counting on hearing specific fills or patterns, and I never really know which rhythmic cues the band is counting on in order to be comfortable with the song and perform it well.

But the thing I have to remember is that I'm different than the guy that recorded the song. I'm sure that seems obvious, but what it means to me in this context is that the original drummer played a part that made sense to him and was comfortable for him, and that part may not be comfortable for me. I play a certain way and that means that I think a different way and construct rhythms a different way, so it only makes sense that I wouldn't be readily able to completely duplicate someone else's thought process and rhythmic patterns. Every time I try to exactly duplicate another drummer, I find that my performance suffers because I'm not capable of being them and I'm concentrating too hard on doing things that I'm incapable of doing. I'm starting to learn that other musicians are far less concerned with exact reproductions of parts than I am. If they really want an exact duplicate, there are plenty of drum machines and loops that they could play along with instead of getting a real flesh 'n blood person such as myself.

So, I've decided that unless someone tells me that I need to play the song exactly as recorded (or at least what the key fills are that need to happen), I'm going to play the song my way while keeping the same feel and groove intact. I'm finding that the only person who expects me to be someone else is me which is impacting my performance and probably my credibility with that band. For all I know, they may secretly dislike the way the original part was played and are really looking for someone else to play it differently. All I can do is be true to myself, play to the best of my ability, maintain the integrity of the song, and don't worry about what someone else is going to say until they actually say it. This has borne itself out time and time again - whenever I try to play like someone else, things turn out horribly but when I play like myself, people tell me that I'm great to have in the band and want me to play with them again.

It's just that for the first time ever, it's finally sinking in. I get it.

JDev sent me this little bundle of awesome humor goodness....check out Austrian Death Machine's Total Brutal. It's a hardcore metal band with a lead singer who talks in the worst Arnie accent I've ever heard (with Arnie soundbites from the various movies thrown in for "authenticity") and who's songs are based on Governator one-liners from his extensive filmography. With lyrics and song titles like "Get to da Choppa", "Come With Me If You Want To Live", and "Here is Subzero, Now Plain Zero", how can you NOT give it a whirl? Any Schwarzenegger fan should check this out for sheer comedic value.

It's totally silly and yet totally awesome in the same vein as Metalocalypse. Checkit.

9AM alerted me to the fact that Galactic was going to be playing in Austin tonight for the Louisiana Swamp Thing & Crawfish Festival down by the Bullock, so he and I and a couple more of our friends headed down there to chow down on crawfish and see Galactic bring the funk all New Orleans style. Stanton Moore is one of my favorite drummers and he comes here to Austin in various capacities all the time, and yet I keep missing him - so I was bound and determined that I was NOT going to miss seeing him again. Stanton is one of those drummers that inspires me not only by what what he plays, but by the way he plays - he looks like he's having a total blast the entire time, and that's what I want to be like. I wish that I could have gotten some clear pictures that show his facial expressions, but all I had was the Centro, so this is the best I could do:

That shot was taken during his awesome drum solo. But now I've finally seen Galactic and Stanton Moore, and I will definitely be going to see him again the next time I possibly can. I want to grow up to be him someday - maybe I need to get me some horn-rimmed glasses. I think that's where his drumming awesome is contained.

ArcAttack uses two ten-foot Tesla coils to create music. That's right, they've been able to modulate the frequency of the electric bolts coming off of the coils to create music. Sometimes a guy gets in a chainmail suit and plays around with the arcs to add to the visual appeal. Witness the majesty:

ArcAttack playing the Imperial Theme from Star Wars on Tesla coils

These guys are Austin-based, and apparently played Texas Rockfest for SXSW this year (the same venue that I played with Five Dollar Friend). I've been here for nearly nine years now...how could I have missed this? Apparently there's also some guy calling himself Dr. Zeus that does the same thing, except he uses florescent lights, cds, and boards (which he sets on fire) to add to the effect. You can find some of his videos in the "related videos" section of the ArcAttack YouTube video channel.

Life On Loan has made some connections with a few other bands in recent days, and we've had the pleasure of having one of those guys come in and spend some time with us to help us do some production on several of our songs. We spent some time on Saturday working through four of our songs, with fairly radical revisions coming on two of them. Hopefully, we'll get a chance to sift through the other songs we have in our catalog and work through some of the other songs that we've been having trouble with to end up with songs that people enjoy while still keeping the message solid and communicating what we want to say.

Tonight's rehearsal was spent entirely working on a single song, putting the recommendations into practice and trying to work out which ones we'd accept, which ones we'd reject, and just overall hammering out the new doo-dads. In the end, I think the jury's still out - but I, for one, absolutely love the new version of the song we worked on and had a great time at rehearsal tonight. I'm really looking forward to working through the other songs that we have on deck and putting together some really tight music for our next show (which happens to be May 22 at the Red Eyed Fly). Heck, these songs might even be the core of the first Life On Loan EP....who knows?

All I know is that if we can really implement the suggestions and put things together, I'll be really proud of those songs - more than I already am! I love playing our music, but anything that makes it better and increases the enjoyment of our fans is definitely something that I want to try. Keep an ear out!

Getting to play at South By Southwest this year was an amazing experience and it was one of the most memorable experiences of my life. I put this in my memory box right next to my most treasured experiences which range from my private tour of Kelly Air Force Base (where I got to crawl all over an F-16, sit in the flight simulator, and put on flight gear) to my 10th grade band tour to Niagara Falls. Playing with Five Dollar Friend may not be the last time that I get to play SXSW, nor may it be the last time I play anything noteworthy, but it will always be the first. Accomplishing a personal goal (in whatever manner that occurs) is always a thing to go in the mental scrapbook.

I think that the reason this is so important to me is that I've mentally put the SXSW festival on a pedestal such that bands really have to be good in order to be included in it. Because it's an industry junket, it seems like those who get there are the serious musicians, the ones whom someone somewhere believes has a shot at the big time. The electricity in the air of the bands hoping that the right set of ears hears them at the right time is something that can't be matched - and being on the band side of things rather than the observer side only serves to intensify that feeling (even if I'm not an official part of the band). And, no matter where you are and how you say it, there's a certain sort of exhilarating feeling that comes along with saying, "I'm with {the band}" and being able to perform music for people. I don't think I'll ever get over it, and I can only hope and pray that the next time I make it to "the show" that it'll be with Life On Loan.

I also learned a lot about myself and about my obsession - although since playing music is the last thing that I got paid for, I guess that makes me a professional musician in all technicality, so maybe it's gone beyond obsession. Anyway, in the interest of space on the BrainDrain front page, I'm going to continue this entry after the jump and delineate some of those things that I learned for posterity. Maybe some other burgeoning musician will stumble upon this and find it useful. Some of it I may have already said in previous entries (I'm too lazy right now to doublecheck and not repeat myself), but hopefully there will be some new content in there that I haven't mentioned for those of you who read my noggin dumps on a regular basis.

And without further ado, let us get on to the things I learned...which may or may not apply to anyone but Yours Truly.

I just got off the phone with Jacob Trevino of Five Dollar Friend, who just asked me to fill in on drums for their two shows at South by Southwest next week!!! W00T!!!! Yet another personal dream realized (well, assuming something doesn't go horribly wrong and it doesn't happen)! I'm meeting up with Dave to get the material (it's just 4 songs) and then meeting up with Jacob next Tuesday to run through the stuff.

Sounds like the schedule is going to be Wednesday at 5:30pm on the main stage at the Heart of Texas Festival (outdoors - 6th & Lavaca) and then Thursday at 1:30pm at Darwin's Pub (223 E. 6th St).

I'm so excited that my fingers are cold and shaking...YESSS!

UPDATE: The Heart of Texas Rockfest stage is at 7th & Neches, NOT at 6th & Lavaca.

The word Christian has become so loaded these days. Hearing that word evokes an instantaneous response based on whatever the person hearing it has come to associate with that term, ranging from a simple distinction between the major religious segments of the world to prejudice. It all depends on the context in which the term Christian is uttered. In the church world, it is often perceived as good and as a source of identification for like-minded individuals who follow Christ; in the secular world, it is often perceived as bad due to the dismal interaction between those who follow Christ and those who don't.

In the music world, most people don't think that "Christian" and "rock" go together very well. Rock music is about angst, anger, rebellion, and the "screw the establishment" mentality while Christianity is (ostensibly) not about that. Having raw and gritty music which speaks about and glorifies God - or even mentions God in any way other than using his name as an epithet - doesn't make sense to a lot of people because it is perceived as watering down and taking the edge off of historically edgy music. Taking this even further into the music production world, oftentimes the tag of "Christian" is synonymous with the term "low-quality" when it comes to the production value of the music itself, and labeling a band with that moniker can get them discarded out of hand simply due to those connotations.

Let's go one step further, to the local club scene. Having the Christian label applied to a band means that their job of booking venues becomes much harder because to a club promoter, Christian band = mostly church people to see the show = low (or no) drink sales. Club promoters want to get bands in there that bring in people who will buy alcohol, and a mostly church crowd is probably not going to do that. The club will get money in the form of a cover charge, but with drinkers they can get three to five times that amount from a single individual. And, club owners are worried that if a Christian band gets up there and goes off the rails trying to proselytize or preach to people that their customers will leave and they'll lose out on that money.

I've been thinking about these things quite a bit since Saturday's show, and I wonder how Life On Loan can engage the culture of the club scene and get booked while still maintaining our integrity as Christian men. I want us to be judged on our music alone rather than some label, but I'm not sure if it's kosher as a Christ-follower to downplay that label because of my perceptions on how other people perceive it. I had a chance to talk to Mike Boudreaux, the booking agent for the Red Eyed Fly, when I went down to pick up our cashola from Saturday's show, and he had some interesting things to say that gave me even more food for thought.

Aside from Life On Loan, here are my favorite local bands/artists based in Austin that you locals should make a point of getting to see at some point and you fereigners should make sure to see if they happen to tour to your town. All of them have MySpace pages, so look 'em up. And thus, in no particular order, my favorite local rockers are:

Distant Lights: Amazing live show, great compositions, super tight, and a cellist as a lead instrument. I think I'd classify this as prog rock, although on the mild side and pretty radio ready. I will definitely be watching out for these guys. They reminded me a lot of Porcupine Tree.

Language Room: Excellent modern rock sound and stage presence to fill the whole room. High intensity shows and well-written music make Language Room a good show. Fans of Coldplay will probably enjoy this band.

Naked Empire: One of the few bands that brings their own lights. If you're a fan of Muse, you'll love these guys. Intensity on stage? Yeah. They've got that.

Lug: Hardcore to the bone, Lug is the kind of music you listen to when you want to break something. My chin-goat wants to be the lead singer's goatee when it grows up. I thought of Static-X when I heard them.

Mostly Dead: Swing funk done right, excellent vocal arrangements and harmony, and a chick bass player! This band was really fun to watch and was super tight. Bands like the Squirrel Nut Zippers and Big Bad Voodoo Daddy come to mind.

Five Dollar Friend: Third Eye Blind and Counting Crows comes to mind here, but I like the vocal stylings of FDF a lot more than those bands. Lots of passion in live performance, good hooks, and well-written songs. And they're not on this list just because we've played a show or two with them. They're good people.

So there you have it - when scouring the Chronicle club listings, here are some bands to look for and go see. There are tons of other great bands out there, but these are the ones that have sort of risen to the tippy-top of my internal heap of awesome. In case those weren't enough for you, some of the bigger acts that you can also catch around are peeps like Storyville (blues/rock), Gary Clarke, Jr. (blues), and Monte Montgomery (guitar virtuoso).

Go ye therefore and listen.

Oy vey, I'm not sure how I forgot to mention this here. For you Austinites, if you're looking for something to do on Friday night, March 06, as a warm-up for the big Life On Loan show on Saturday, come on out to the Language Room CD Release Show at La Zona Rosa! Doors open at 8pm, show starts at 9. Language Room will be joined by Distant Lights and Deep Ella, both great bands that have great music.

The link above will take you to the event listing for this show on www.do512.com where you can RSVP to the show - and save $4! Tickets are only available at the door for this show for $10, but if you RSVP you can get on the guest list for $6 tix instead of $10. What a deal! That means that you have more money to spend on the Language Room CD. :)

So, sorry for the late notice but hopefully this will give you something to do this weekend, a weekend full of great music and lots of fun! See you at the shows!