on a quest for glory, riches and the punk rock way

The state of affairs

2009-06-19T07:14:00.000-07:00

The old adage is you get promoted to the level of your incompetence. Lately, everywhere I turn I see this more and more. It seems to me that we have accepted laziness as the norm and it's being rewarded by society. Sure I can go on about golden parachutes and companies failing left and right but I'd rather keep it on an individual level.

I like to walk around the city and look up at the buildings. The level of detail on the flourishes like the gargoyles, the extensions, etc have disappeared from the newer buildings. I know it boils down to the bottom line but at the same time I think it signifies a level of disinterest in workmanship/craftmanship which is seen throughout. Homer (Simpson) asked, "do you want it done fast or do you want it done right?" Which speaks volumes on the dedication to their work that society has labeled as acceptable.

Why can't we have things done right and fast by everyone, or at the minimum reward those who do things fast and right.

Maybe I'm glamorizing,

2009-06-07T06:32:00.000-07:00

or my notion that at some point in human history there was a time where people lived up to their word is faulty. I go back to the years of mercantilism where traders and merchants would meet at the docks haggle on a price and commit to it. A deal is a deal. I may be romanticizing these olden times since my opinions are formed from the positive portrayals of the deals going through and the disneyfication of the evil merchant who backs out of the agreement for their own benefit. Anyone who broke their word was vilified and their future business deals were in jeopardy based on their untrustworthiness.

I've always seen my word as my bond and if I've made a commitment it should be considered as good as a few droplets of ink hitting some paper. Lately, I feel that society has changed and has subtly dictated that backing out or changing your mind is not only acceptable but encouraged if something better comes along. It's sad really. If our words mean nothing and we have to hide behind lawyers because honor means nothing anymore, I wonder that means for society in the future. I'm fascinated by what day to day life will be like in 3 or 5 or 10 generations, will everyone have to sign (or future equivalent) for everything they say? Or will we revert to a more civilized age where our word is enough?

The constant exploitation of the poor

2009-02-09T13:14:00.000-08:00

I'm not a television watcher, but due my new found love of the gym I watch a lot more tv. In particular, I've been subjected to a lot more day time television.

What struck me today were the amounts of the court type shows that air. It wasn't just the amount of shows that made an impression but the people who chose to be on them. In what amounts to a glorified small claims court, you have people subjecting themselves to public humiliation and ridicule for basically a few hundred dollars. If it wasn't bad enough that society set up a culture where people feel the need to "keep up with the joneses" and live outside of their means, but it then takes these people who can't afford a $200 dollar cellphone bill and parades them out over the air to make the networks even more money. It's really a sad state of affairs when we are more concerned about watching and making fun then genuinely helping the problem at large.

I suggest that either these shows get pulled or a fraction of their profits be donated to the homeless or to agencies that do financial planning for the underprivileged.

Sometime labels just don't understand.

2008-06-06T07:23:00.000-07:00

The fire burning in my belly has significantly cooled on this topic but when it pops back into my head or I hear of new offenses, I get a mini flame flare up which causes me to look down at the concrete and shake my head in a mix of shame and disgust.

In an interview I was asked if I could give any advice to someone starting their own label, here is my less than lucid response, "People have entrusted you with their art and a piece of themselves; keep that in mind when you are neglecting to mail out promos or orders to play Nintendo. Running a label is not all glitz and glamour but a lot of thankless hard work that you are doing because you love the band and want them to do better. I guess what I'm trying to say in a convoluted way is respect the band and know what's expected of you."

The more I speak with people in bands about the labels that represent them the more I find that these labels don't seem understand or gloss over the first and last sentence of my response. Any release is created by the artists, not by you, you should be looking after their best interest first and foremost. Yes, in Friedman economics you are trying to make money and that's all; but when we are trying to make money off of art it's vital to respect the artist and remember that you as a label would not exist without them.

I really don't understand how labels on this level (who normally don't pay for recording sessions) give out paltry amounts of band copies. I'll define paltry as less then 20-25% of the run. I don't understand how labels feel it's acceptable to take and ship orders before the band gets their copies. I don't understand how labels put themselves first by doing releases after the band has said they'd rather not see that specific material released. I most certainly don't understand how labels feel justified in going ahead with releases or represses without either consulting with the band and/or the label that did it in the first place.

Maybe I'm the one who has done it all wrong all this time by doing whatever was in my power to help the bands that I believe in by putting them first. Maybe my perspective has been on the larger scale even when there was no larger scale to be seen. In any case, I can sleep at night knowing that I've never done anything that I felt was egregious towards any of the bands that I've worked with and that I've always had their best interest at heart. Hopefully, the bands that I've been privileged to work with feel the same way.

So I'm not a good writer

2007-08-31T13:56:00.000-07:00

and with that (and the help of human nature) I don't write often or at the very minimum put it off for as long as humanly possible. What I should do is force myself to write more in a vain effort of becoming a better writer but again human nature steps in and causes me to avoid the things that I'm no good at, all the while gravitating towards those things that I'm more less good at. I finally got my act together and wrote the stories a mess of releases that I've been putting off for far too long. They never end up as poetic as I picture in my head but that's probably due to the constant ringing from the tinnitus. Anyway, here are those stories:

The 20 Belows “Headaches and Moodswings”

The record making process is almost always laborious. It’s a series of back and forth that starts with where to record, recording, mixing, mastering and finally art work. Everyone involved has their own ideas of how things should be and you are working with a bunch of people and their schedules. After the music is done the art work process takes months and from there the pressing takes about another month. This is standard and everyone accepts the scrambling that is involved with the process to make deadlines and release dates. “Headaches and Moodswings” was not like this at all. It was so different from the norm that it has ruined the process for me. In some kind of record time the album went from my hands to the pressing plant in about a week and a half thanks the tremendous job by the band and Sern their former bass player and graphic designer.

This album was also a real treat for me because it felt like a home coming of sorts. I’ve always held the 20 Belows (similarly with the Zatopeks and the Ergs) close to my heart because of being luckily enough to help out with their first release and seeing them get bigger as a band.

The Vents/ Teen Sensation Glasses Split

Back in the day when I was out on tour with Dirt Bike Annie, the very first show was with the Vents. My hopes for the rest of tour were quickly raised about the quality of bands that I’d be seeing for the next two months. Shortly there after my hopes were dashed but that’s a different story. The Vents had the knack to really add themselves into their music and not be a three chord copy of their influences, which is really a make or break for me when I’m listening to a band. Around the same time as when they sent in an EP of 6 killer tracks I got a new batch of demos from the Teen Sensation Glasses. Never say never (gulp) but I don’t really like CD EPs. I think CDs should be albums and 7”s should be EPs. That being said I like splits because they instantly form a connection between two bands that you may never have thought of before and it gives their respective fans a dose of something else that’s just as terrific. After a couple of phone calls everyone was on board for the split and as they say the rest is history or splitstory. At some point in time I’m going to pay and pay big for “splitstory.”

The Unlovables “Heartsickle”

I’ve been privileged to have been lucky enough to work with some of my favorite bands. Bands where I get genuinely excited at the prospect of hearing more of their music. If the Unlovables aren’t at the very top of the list of these bands they are damn close to it. I remember being at one of their shows and hearing “Have You Ever?” for the first time and instantly being floored by the chorus, it was literally knee buckling good. After the show I quickly cornered Hallie and demanded to know the lyrics. At that point before half of the album was even written, much less recorded, I knew that their second album was going to blow away the first one, which isn’t an easy task considering the CBH is flawless and one of the best albums to come out in the past 15 years. I got on my soapbox and shouted to the masses that the second would be better. There was a lot of scoffing done by the masses but I’m happy to report that I was right.

The Ergs/ Lemuria Split 7”

There’s not much of a story on the Whoa Oh side of things for this release. I had seen Lemuria in a basement in New Brunswick and of course they completely and utterly ruled. I knew instantly that I wanted to work with them in some, any, all capacities. A few months went by and Joe Erg mentioned to me that Art of The Underground were going to do a split with Lemuria and the Ergs but they were looking for another label to help out with the costs. It was simply a no-brainer.

The Ergs “Books About Miles Davis” 7”

There are a few stories that go hand in hand with “Books About Miles Davis.” The best one involves the band fighting over the inclusion of the egg shaker on the track and compromise of non-egg shaker version on the album and they’d figure out what to do with the egg shaker. Here’s where I come in. I told the band that they should look for the biggest, best label that would have them because the world should know about and be thankful for the Ergs. After the band agreed with Dirtnap, it dawned on me that bands don’t do singles in anticipation for their upcoming album anymore. So I pitched idea of a teaser single with the egg shaker and everyone agreed. As always art work was a problem and no one liked the ideas that the graphic artist came back with and it seemed that we weren’t going to be able to get everything done in time. Mike asked everyone involved what was wrong with the first idea again and no one had a good answer, so after some tweaking we were able to get the 7” out before the album, making a true teaser single.

Zatopeks second album

The Zatopeks have the uncanny ability to take a song that they’ve demo’d and take it to the next level when they record it. They manage to take what originally appears to be a good song and make it an unforgettable song by honing the hooks, the backing vocals and of course the instrumentation by adding layers and nuances to every aspect. A few years back I was vacationing in Europe and the soundtrack to those few weeks were the demos of their first album “Ain’t Nobody Left But Us.” This past summer was fortunate to have the final version of this album and not just the demos, needless to say the Zatopeks provided the soundtrack once again. The band, much like the Unlovables, has such a way with words that you picture their lyrics so vividly that you see the images as if they were a movie. True poetry set to music. It’s one of the countless reasons they have been one of my favorite bands ever since I heard track one on their demo years ago.

The 20 Belows “Headaches and Moodswings”

The record making process is almost always laborious. It’s a series of back and forth that starts with where to record, recording, mixing, mastering and finally art work. Everyone involved has their own ideas of how things should be and you are working with a bunch of people and their schedules. After the music is done the art work process takes months and from there the pressing takes about another month. This is standard and everyone accepts the scrambling that is involved with the process to make deadlines and release dates. “Headaches and Moodswings” was not like this at all. It was so different from the norm that it has ruined the process for me. In some kind of record time the album went from my hands to the pressing plant in about a week and a half thanks the tremendous job by the band and Sern their former bass player and graphic designer.

This album was also a real treat for me because it felt like a home coming of sorts. I’ve always held the 20 Belows (similarly with the Zatopeks and the Ergs) close to my heart because of being luckily enough to help out with their first release and seeing them get bigger as a band.

The Vents/ Teen Sensation Glasses Split

Back in the day when I was out on tour with Dirt Bike Annie, the very first show was with the Vents. My hopes for the rest of tour were quickly raised about the quality of bands that I’d be seeing for the next two months. Shortly there after my hopes were dashed but that’s a different story. The Vents had the knack to really add themselves into their music and not be a three chord copy of their influences, which is really a make or break for me when I’m listening to a band. Around the same time as when they sent in an EP of 6 killer tracks I got a new batch of demos from the Teen Sensation Glasses. Never say never (gulp) but I don’t really like CD EPs. I think CDs should be albums and 7”s should be EPs. That being said I like splits because they instantly form a connection between two bands that you may never have thought of before and it gives their respective fans a dose of something else that’s just as terrific. After a couple of phone calls everyone was on board for the split and as they say the rest is history or splitstory. At some point in time I’m going to pay and pay big for “splitstory.”

The Unlovables “Heartsickle”

I’ve been privileged to have been lucky enough to work with some of my favorite bands. Bands where I get genuinely excited at the prospect of hearing more of their music. If the Unlovables aren’t at the very top of the list of these bands they are damn close to it. I remember being at one of their shows and hearing “Have You Ever?” for the first time and instantly being floored by the chorus, it was literally knee buckling good. After the show I quickly cornered Hallie and demanded to know the lyrics. At that point before half of the album was even written, much less recorded, I knew that their second album was going to blow away the first one, which isn’t an easy task considering the CBH is flawless and one of the best albums to come out in the past 15 years. I got on my soapbox and shouted to the masses that the second would be better. There was a lot of scoffing done by the masses but I’m happy to report that I was right.

The Ergs/ Lemuria Split 7”

There’s not much of a story on the Whoa Oh side of things for this release. I had seen Lemuria in a basement in New Brunswick and of course they completely and utterly ruled. I knew instantly that I wanted to work with them in some, any, all capacities. A few months went by and Joe Erg mentioned to me that Art of The Underground were going to do a split with Lemuria and the Ergs but they were looking for another label to help out with the costs. It was simply a no-brainer.

The Ergs “Books About Miles Davis” 7”

There are a few stories that go hand in hand with “Books About Miles Davis.” The best one involves the band fighting over the inclusion of the egg shaker on the track and compromise of non-egg shaker version on the album and they’d figure out what to do with the egg shaker. Here’s where I come in. I told the band that they should look for the biggest, best label that would have them because the world should know about and be thankful for the Ergs. After the band agreed with Dirtnap, it dawned on me that bands don’t do singles in anticipation for their upcoming album anymore. So I pitched idea of a teaser single with the egg shaker and everyone agreed. As always art work was a problem and no one liked the ideas that the graphic artist came back with and it seemed that we weren’t going to be able to get everything done in time. Mike asked everyone involved what was wrong with the first idea again and no one had a good answer, so after some tweaking we were able to get the 7” out before the album, making a true teaser single.

Zatopeks second album

The Zatopeks have the uncanny ability to take a song that they’ve demo’d and take it to the next level when they record it. They manage to take what originally appears to be a good song and make it an unforgettable song by honing the hooks, the backing vocals and of course the instrumentation by adding layers and nuances to every aspect. A few years back I was vacationing in Europe and the soundtrack to those few weeks were the demos of their first album “Ain’t Nobody Left But Us.” This past summer was fortunate to have the final version of this album and not just the demos, needless to say the Zatopeks provided the soundtrack once again. The band, much like the Unlovables, has such a way with words that you picture their lyrics so vividly that you see the images as if they were a movie. True poetry set to music. It’s one of the countless reasons they have been one of my favorite bands ever since I heard track one on their demo years ago.

Notes

2007-07-18T15:14:00.000-07:00

I’m far more than annoyed when people ask for my opinion then when I give it, they don’t like it to the point that they keep locked up to only at a later point in time bring it to the table; than if they outright tell me that they disagree.

Here’s a lesson that I have to learn as well, other people know just as much if not more than I do and not being in complete control is a good thing. Success doesn’t make you smarter, or more knowledgeable, only more successful. Don’t forget that there’s always someone better.

If my heart isn’t in it completely, it’s not worth doing.

Why do it for anyone but yourself?

We often spout philosophies but don’t take the time to examine what’s around us and how contradictory the philosophy and the situation truly are.

Everything is incremental and judging yourself against others is plain unhealthy.

How do you react when you are knocked down? Do you get back up and fight even harder or do you lay there?

Genius is in the details

2006-08-07T12:33:00.000-07:00

Far too often I think I as well as others fail to take the time on things that are genuinely important and reevaluate them from a fresh perspective. I know it's easier said than done, especially when you are already in a specific mindset and you don't see other points of view or options. But with only being in that one mindset you end up neglecting the small things that truly add to mix more so than their weight, ala spices or condiments.

In general I feel we need to stop accepting the normal or the adequate and push each other to look into and for the details in order to get to that next level. Then when we are at that level, we should push further for even more details. Mediocrity should be a four letter word.

Old Comfortable Patterns

2006-08-06T16:43:00.000-07:00

There’s a strong pull to go back to the things we know after a long peroid of being alone. Is it because misery loves company? Or is it because the devil you know is better than the devil you don’t? Or could it be that you are just tired of being alone. Does any or all of that mean that you should give up hope and go back to old comfortable patterns? Or is it better to continue drudging along waiting for something new to come along? I don’t know but more and more I feel that the allure of new seems to be less and less powerful, but is that just weakness or frustration rearing its ugly head?

Age and learning

2006-03-10T06:28:00.000-08:00

I find it funny that no matter how old you get you still can learn things about yourself. Maybe they are more along the lines of realizations or suppressions that you allow yourself to come to the surface, in any case yesterday I learned that I don't handle rejection well. Instead of psycho-analyzing it to pieces I thought about my past and a few different instances of rejection and how I handled them, long story short not well. Now the question is are you supposed to take the logical high road and let it roll off like water on a duck's back or be completely emotional and let it permeate to your core, sinking you into a depression and the knee-jerk reaction of cutting off your nose to spit your face? I don't know, but I do know it's a strange sensation to learn about yourself after years and years.

overheard

2006-02-21T19:02:00.000-08:00

Girl #1: I just don't think I'm his type. He's very intellectual.
Girl #2: What do you mean?
Girl #1: He's all "yada yada yada" and I'm very "What's your favorite Starburst?"

--Cosi, 31st & Park

I think I know this girl and everyone of her girlfriends who live in the city.

Perspective and inspiration

2006-02-05T14:01:00.000-08:00

About a week ago I returned to my old high school to judge the annual Sing competition. I was tremedously impressed by the kids and their willingness to dedicate themselves to some despite having to deal with school, colleges, jobs, social obligations, etc. I was inspired by their drive and willingness to give up so much of their time to do something that they loved and with that I question why I'm willing to say no to things because of being overtired. Or to not even try to push myself as hard as I could. Well, these kids really inspired me to regain my perspective and inspiration.

Appreciativeness

2006-01-30T13:05:00.000-08:00

It's funny and sad that it usually takes alcohol for us as people to truly relate what we feel about each other. It would be better if all took the non-inebriated time on a daily basis to tell each other that we appreciate and respect one another if indeed that is the case.