So I'm told it's Halloween, and as you all know that's the best time of year to scare the crap out of yourself, and with my self appointed title of "Biggest horror movie fan in Early Next Year". I thought I'd use this day to recommend a few good horror movies for you to check out tonight and really whenever you wanna feel uncomfortable for an hour and a half. Some of these you've probably seen and some of them maybe you haven't, but they are all worthy because I said so.
1. High Tension - This one came out of France a couple years back and ended up doing really well enough to warrant an American release (and it must have done AMAZING over there for Americans to release something from France, but that's another blog entirely) and I'm glad they did cause I might have missed out on it otherwise. Anyway all the elements for a great horror movie are here. Slowly rising suspense that builds to the boiling point by the climax of the movie. Fantastic gore, special effects make up, and a twist ending that would make M. Night Shyamalan realize that it's just time to give up (seriously dude, you made 2 and a half good movies hang it up). So this one tops my list for this year.
2. Audition - The director of this film, Takashi Miike(whose work was considered so extreme that Showtime refused to air his installment into their Masters of Horror anthology) has been been unfortunately omitted from the flood of Asian horror to make it's way to America in the past 4 or 5 years since "The Ring" came out and made people think it was OK to make horror movies that were rated PG-13. Not that I didn't enjoy "The Ring",I did, but the movie itself better be damn good to cut gore in favor of tickets sold at the box office to 14 year olds looking for a way to spend their paper route money. Alright enough with that rant and back to the business at hand. Takashi Miike's "Audition", this is the most uncomfortable a movie has ever made me feel. If you'd like to see where Eli Roth got the inspiration to make "Hostel", look no further than "Audition", and prepare to cringe during the final act. This is probably the most famous of Miike's films but a very honorable mention also goes to his "Ichii The Killer".
3. Halloween - King of all the slasher movies, the title is Halloween, and there isn't much scarier than a mental patient with a butchers knife in a William Shatner mask. Need I say more?
On a side note the original Halloween is playing in certain theatres tonight (Oct. 31st). If you have one of these screenings in your area please do me a favor and go see it for me. Early Next Year is going to be in the studio tonight, thus rendering me unable to be there.
4. Dead End - Who says direct to DVD movies all suck? Well, normally I would and this one is definitely the exception to the rule, and it's fantastic. Here's a quick synopsis. A family is driving to grandma's house for the holidays when Dad decides to take one of his famous "shortcuts". The family ends up on a road that never ends, and strange stuff starts happening. A good portion of this movie is set inside the car which really gives sort of a claustrophobic mood to the whole thing. Scary stuff. Rent it wherever you do that sort of thing.
5. Alkaline Trio: Halloween Live at the Metro - Ok this DVD really isn't scary at all, but this is the Trio at their best in their hometown. This was filmed on Halloween of 2002 I believe so all the songs are predate the band's two most recent albums "Good Mourning" and "Crimson". So if you've gotten into the Trio more recently pick up this DVD and brush up on their early material. Great B-sides and rarities are peppered into the setlist some highlights include "Hell Yes", "Queen of Pain", "My Friend Peter", and "Private Eye". I wish they would have done "Enjoy Your Day", but that just wouldn't be appropriate for a Halloween release now would it? If you are asking yourself right now if I'm aware that I'm typing over the head of anyone who isn't an obsessed Alkaline Trio fan like myself, the answer is yes I'm aware of that, and no I don't care.
So there you have it. Five DVD's that will make for a bone chilling and face rocking Halloween. If you start finding them and watching them right now you should just be able to finish up before the clock strikes midnight.
Happy Halloween everybody!
Doug
Tuesday, October 31, 2006
Tuesday, October 24, 2006
This calls for a suckerpunch.
I hate Martha Stewart. I've said time and time again that she's the only woman on planet Earth that I would punch. Maybe it's her deep voice, overly-masculine vibe, or the fact that she's famous for doing arts and crafts on TV so that lazy, obese people can sit around watching her do arts and crafts.
She did go to jail though. Funny stuff.
THIS JUST IN: I've just added someone new to the list of women I would punch.
Now, before I begin, I do realize that this blog is going to make me very unpopular with most of the universe. Punching women is not funny, and I would never actually do it, but I think it's so funny to talk about in this scenerio that I have no qualms about putting it out there. I was raised on good morals and won't ever be accused of domestic violence. (end legal red tape here)
First, allow me to introduce some interesting backstory in order to make my final punchline even funnier...
This story takes place in my car.
I've always had this thing about turning right during a red light. In most cases, it is completely legal to do so, and in Orlando it could totally get you killed, so when this situation arises I prefer to look at the situation and proceed with caution. If I do not feel safe turning right while the light is red, I will not.
For some reason though, people will waste no time in honking at you if they see the area as clear even though they are six cars back. Do not force me to go when I am not ready. I will make poor judgments and harm myself or others. Wow, it's almost like I'm a good driver, right?
A few days ago I was introduced to a new experience that I found to be equally annoying to the situation I just described. I was sitting in my tan 1994 Geo Prizm (AKA - The Broke White Boy Car) waiting in the left turn lane. While I waited, I did what I always do and gazed into my rear-view mirror in an attempt to spy on the person behind me and possibly catch them doing something silly. The woman behind me looked to be middle-aged and was perched behind the wheel of a blue Dodge Caravan. Come to think of it, she kind of looked like a soccer mom. And not the good kind of soccer mom. The kind where she's on the sidelines yelling at her child and punching out referees who make poor calls that she doesn't agree with.
I refocused on the the road, wondering why the light had not turned.
Now, once in a while with lights in Orlando, they take a while to turn green and sometimes your mind goes other places while you're waiting. If you're first in line at a light, you had better not drift off because you have about 10 people behind you just waiting to be somewhere very very important and they will honk if it takes you more than 15 seconds to begin moving. When I'm first in line at a turn light I become completely paranoid of this occuring so I focus on the light. I become one with the light. I know that as soon as I see green, I'm going for it!
At this particular light, I was first in line. FInally, after what seems like months the light turns green and I move my foot to the gas pedal. Keep in mind this light has not been green for more than a 3 seconds. Suddenly, from behind me, the soccer mom begins to lay on her horn. I glance into my rear-view mirror and watch in horror as she slams on her horn repeatedly while foaming at the mouth. Actually, she wasn't foaming at the mouth. When I say "foaming at the mouth" I really mean "being a complete bitch."
So what do I do?
I don't go anywhere.
The honking gets louder and I... well, I just don't care.
She may as well have been honking while the light was still red.
So, to the lady in the blue Dodge Caravan: Screw you.
If I see you again, I'll probably punch you.
You couldn't wait 5 seconds for me to put my foot on the gas.
You gave me 3 seconds.
And now I hate you.
Enjoy your kids soccer game. I hope his team loses tonight.
She did go to jail though. Funny stuff.
THIS JUST IN: I've just added someone new to the list of women I would punch.
Now, before I begin, I do realize that this blog is going to make me very unpopular with most of the universe. Punching women is not funny, and I would never actually do it, but I think it's so funny to talk about in this scenerio that I have no qualms about putting it out there. I was raised on good morals and won't ever be accused of domestic violence. (end legal red tape here)
First, allow me to introduce some interesting backstory in order to make my final punchline even funnier...
This story takes place in my car.
I've always had this thing about turning right during a red light. In most cases, it is completely legal to do so, and in Orlando it could totally get you killed, so when this situation arises I prefer to look at the situation and proceed with caution. If I do not feel safe turning right while the light is red, I will not.
For some reason though, people will waste no time in honking at you if they see the area as clear even though they are six cars back. Do not force me to go when I am not ready. I will make poor judgments and harm myself or others. Wow, it's almost like I'm a good driver, right?
A few days ago I was introduced to a new experience that I found to be equally annoying to the situation I just described. I was sitting in my tan 1994 Geo Prizm (AKA - The Broke White Boy Car) waiting in the left turn lane. While I waited, I did what I always do and gazed into my rear-view mirror in an attempt to spy on the person behind me and possibly catch them doing something silly. The woman behind me looked to be middle-aged and was perched behind the wheel of a blue Dodge Caravan. Come to think of it, she kind of looked like a soccer mom. And not the good kind of soccer mom. The kind where she's on the sidelines yelling at her child and punching out referees who make poor calls that she doesn't agree with.
I refocused on the the road, wondering why the light had not turned.
Now, once in a while with lights in Orlando, they take a while to turn green and sometimes your mind goes other places while you're waiting. If you're first in line at a light, you had better not drift off because you have about 10 people behind you just waiting to be somewhere very very important and they will honk if it takes you more than 15 seconds to begin moving. When I'm first in line at a turn light I become completely paranoid of this occuring so I focus on the light. I become one with the light. I know that as soon as I see green, I'm going for it!
At this particular light, I was first in line. FInally, after what seems like months the light turns green and I move my foot to the gas pedal. Keep in mind this light has not been green for more than a 3 seconds. Suddenly, from behind me, the soccer mom begins to lay on her horn. I glance into my rear-view mirror and watch in horror as she slams on her horn repeatedly while foaming at the mouth. Actually, she wasn't foaming at the mouth. When I say "foaming at the mouth" I really mean "being a complete bitch."
So what do I do?
I don't go anywhere.
The honking gets louder and I... well, I just don't care.
She may as well have been honking while the light was still red.
So, to the lady in the blue Dodge Caravan: Screw you.
If I see you again, I'll probably punch you.
You couldn't wait 5 seconds for me to put my foot on the gas.
You gave me 3 seconds.
And now I hate you.
Enjoy your kids soccer game. I hope his team loses tonight.
Monday, October 23, 2006
MeWithoutYou is not fun live.
It takes a lot to drag me out to a show that's not ENY related.
These are my 3 stipulations for going and paying for a show:
1. There has to be at least 2 bands on the bill that I know that I will like.
2. It has to be at a good venue.
3. The door charge cannot be higher than my expectations.
On Saturday there was a show that I actually went to. A show off mass proportions that I had been eagerly anticipating since the moment tickets went on sale.
The entire band ventured out to House of Blues to partake in a show consisting of the bands Days Away, Piebald, MeWithoutYou, & Say Anything.
Sure, I was really only there to see Piebald and Say Anything, but I figured I'd give the other bands a chance. I'd never heard of Days Away and found them to be very forgettable. They played a quick 20 minute or so set and took off so that Piebald could play and so that Wes would be happy.
Piebald was up second but only had 30 minutes to control the stage because MeWithoutYou was coming up after them to put everyone to sleep. I'd never seen Piebald live before so this was a fun experience for me. They had fantastic energy and sounded really solid. A good mix of old and new songs, drawing mostly from "We Are the Only Friends..." and "All Ears, All Eyes...." they even tossed in "Grace Kelly With Wings" and their newest tune "Getting Mugged and Loving it."
They pretty much played everything I expected and it was a great time. They also had the best merch of the night. Myself, Doug, and JoAnna all walked away with something from their table. They need to come back to FL more often. Glad that they made it onto this tour. They deserve big things.
MeWithoutYou was up next and made noise. I don't get the band or their music and I was a little ticked that they got to play longer than the 'Bald. I spent the majority of their set outside with Doug making fun of them. I'm such a terrible person. Actually, no I'm not. How can I be expected to tolerate nine minute long songs with each consisting of a drum circle midway through each tune? Ugh.
Say Anything was the obvious headliner and played for nearly an hour and a half. They managed to play every single song I've ever heard by them with the exception of about two. It was awesome. The band was super tight and barely missed a note. The crowd was rowdy and almost everyone was singing along with each word. I didn't realize just how popular that band was. Crazy that they released their record 2 years ago and are just now picking up some steam. It gives me hope that it can happen to other bands, not to mention us.
I left a happy camper. Then we got back to the house and the gunshots started... but that's a story for another time.
These are my 3 stipulations for going and paying for a show:
1. There has to be at least 2 bands on the bill that I know that I will like.
2. It has to be at a good venue.
3. The door charge cannot be higher than my expectations.
On Saturday there was a show that I actually went to. A show off mass proportions that I had been eagerly anticipating since the moment tickets went on sale.
The entire band ventured out to House of Blues to partake in a show consisting of the bands Days Away, Piebald, MeWithoutYou, & Say Anything.
Sure, I was really only there to see Piebald and Say Anything, but I figured I'd give the other bands a chance. I'd never heard of Days Away and found them to be very forgettable. They played a quick 20 minute or so set and took off so that Piebald could play and so that Wes would be happy.
Piebald was up second but only had 30 minutes to control the stage because MeWithoutYou was coming up after them to put everyone to sleep. I'd never seen Piebald live before so this was a fun experience for me. They had fantastic energy and sounded really solid. A good mix of old and new songs, drawing mostly from "We Are the Only Friends..." and "All Ears, All Eyes...." they even tossed in "Grace Kelly With Wings" and their newest tune "Getting Mugged and Loving it."
They pretty much played everything I expected and it was a great time. They also had the best merch of the night. Myself, Doug, and JoAnna all walked away with something from their table. They need to come back to FL more often. Glad that they made it onto this tour. They deserve big things.
MeWithoutYou was up next and made noise. I don't get the band or their music and I was a little ticked that they got to play longer than the 'Bald. I spent the majority of their set outside with Doug making fun of them. I'm such a terrible person. Actually, no I'm not. How can I be expected to tolerate nine minute long songs with each consisting of a drum circle midway through each tune? Ugh.
Say Anything was the obvious headliner and played for nearly an hour and a half. They managed to play every single song I've ever heard by them with the exception of about two. It was awesome. The band was super tight and barely missed a note. The crowd was rowdy and almost everyone was singing along with each word. I didn't realize just how popular that band was. Crazy that they released their record 2 years ago and are just now picking up some steam. It gives me hope that it can happen to other bands, not to mention us.
I left a happy camper. Then we got back to the house and the gunshots started... but that's a story for another time.
Thursday, October 19, 2006
I'm Having a Candy Dinner!
I'll admit, I really like the fall season. Not because of the cooler weather or the sights of Pumpkin sellers on every street corner but because of the massive surplus of candy that seems to be everywhere I go.
Let me tell you, candy has gotten way cooler since I was a kid and I intend to sample anything and everything I see. There's nothing more perfect than a bite-sized 3 Musketeers bar. Mmmmm.
Halloween is on a Tuesday this year. That's kind of lame. The people who invented the calendar and the holiday should have teamed up to ensure that all national holidays occur on weekends. Except for Columbus Day, Labor Day, Memorial Day, President's Day, and generally any other day that actually gets me a day off of work. Those need to stay put.
Halloween, Thanksgiving, and Christmas should always be Saturday Holidays.
Back me up people! We can start a revolution!
We'll be spending our Halloween evening in the recording studio laying down some tracks and re-recording some songs. New demos are currently high on the priority list, so we'll see what we can rig up.
Intense practices starting soon.
Blah blah blah. Go eat some candy.
Let me tell you, candy has gotten way cooler since I was a kid and I intend to sample anything and everything I see. There's nothing more perfect than a bite-sized 3 Musketeers bar. Mmmmm.
Halloween is on a Tuesday this year. That's kind of lame. The people who invented the calendar and the holiday should have teamed up to ensure that all national holidays occur on weekends. Except for Columbus Day, Labor Day, Memorial Day, President's Day, and generally any other day that actually gets me a day off of work. Those need to stay put.
Halloween, Thanksgiving, and Christmas should always be Saturday Holidays.
Back me up people! We can start a revolution!
We'll be spending our Halloween evening in the recording studio laying down some tracks and re-recording some songs. New demos are currently high on the priority list, so we'll see what we can rig up.
Intense practices starting soon.
Blah blah blah. Go eat some candy.
Wednesday, October 18, 2006
One more record to check out.
Didn't get this one in yesterday but I've had it on repeat all morning.
Circa Survive - Juturna
I think I might be late to the party on this one but it's fantastic.
Doug
Circa Survive - Juturna
I think I might be late to the party on this one but it's fantastic.
Doug
Tuesday, October 17, 2006
Listen... to these CD's.
Here are some recommendations for ear candy directly from 3/4ths of the band:
Bert
1. Emery - The Weak's End
2. Tourmaline - Strange Distress Calls
3. Blindside - Silence
Wes
1. Sugarcult - Lights Out
2. OutKast - Idlewild
3. Say Anything - ...is a Real Boy (yeah, for the 100th time)
Doug
1. Hit The Lights - This Is A Stick Up....Don't Make It A Murder
2. Me First And The Gimme Gimmes - Love Their Country
3. Bayside - Sirens And Condolences
That's it. Short and sweet. Go listen.
More news when there is news.
Bert
1. Emery - The Weak's End
2. Tourmaline - Strange Distress Calls
3. Blindside - Silence
Wes
1. Sugarcult - Lights Out
2. OutKast - Idlewild
3. Say Anything - ...is a Real Boy (yeah, for the 100th time)
Doug
1. Hit The Lights - This Is A Stick Up....Don't Make It A Murder
2. Me First And The Gimme Gimmes - Love Their Country
3. Bayside - Sirens And Condolences
That's it. Short and sweet. Go listen.
More news when there is news.
Sunday, October 15, 2006
Recording Wrap-up
I almost didn't write this blog due to inner turmoil over whether or not the title of this blog was correct. I couldn't remember what to do when you combine the words "Wrap" and "Up" together to form a word. It didn't look right smooshed together and I didn't like keeping it separate so I instead chose to go with the hypen there in the middle.
Okay. Moving on...
My 5 day recording binge was a complete success. I completed the writing and recording of three new jams. Plan B, Say Hello, and The Sick Charade are being heavily guarded in hopes that they won't be leaked out so we can have songs for an eventually album that you haven't heard for a year beforehand. I think at this point the song count is up to 8 as far as new tracks go. We're close to having a complete record. Woot. Everyone was receptive and seemed to like what they heard. Good thing too. If they hadn't liked it, heads would have rolled. Well, maybe not that, but a lot of time and effort went into them.
So somehow this bit of news slipped my mind and I figured better late than never, right?
A few weeks ago we went into the studio for 2 nights recorded some updated demos of Lifeless and Something That I Miss. They were a bit rushed, but we wanted to see where we stood as far as how well rehearsed the new songs were. Sounding good.
So lots of good news overall in the ENY camp. New shirts will soon be a reality so everyone who was deathly offended by the black shirt design will be able to rest easy.
If you don't care about non-ENY related things, this would be a great place to stop reading.
Other Ramblings:
During a free trial of NetFlix I watched a lot of movies. Here's what I saw that was new to me:
Highways: At least, I think that's what it was called. It starred Jared Leto and Jake Gylenhall. Or however you spell it. Anyway - good flick. It made you feel like you were on some drugs while watching it. It was one of THOSE movies. But good. Check it out. Older film.
Everything is Illuminated: Starring Elijah Wood and some other guy I vaguely recognized. It was about Jews and collecting random things. I didn't get it and don't have any real desire to do so again.
X-Men 3: Lots of action, lots of killing major characters. They were killing mutants as fast as they were introducing them. Better than the last. Director Bret Radner is still a tool.
Underworld Evolution: Did you see the first Underworld? It was pretty much the same. Vampire Girl and Werewolf-Vamp love child Guy run from the bad guys. Oh, and then I feel asleep.
To everyone who came out to see us in Daytona Beach. Um... thanks. And sorry. Again.
Okay. Moving on...
My 5 day recording binge was a complete success. I completed the writing and recording of three new jams. Plan B, Say Hello, and The Sick Charade are being heavily guarded in hopes that they won't be leaked out so we can have songs for an eventually album that you haven't heard for a year beforehand. I think at this point the song count is up to 8 as far as new tracks go. We're close to having a complete record. Woot. Everyone was receptive and seemed to like what they heard. Good thing too. If they hadn't liked it, heads would have rolled. Well, maybe not that, but a lot of time and effort went into them.
So somehow this bit of news slipped my mind and I figured better late than never, right?
A few weeks ago we went into the studio for 2 nights recorded some updated demos of Lifeless and Something That I Miss. They were a bit rushed, but we wanted to see where we stood as far as how well rehearsed the new songs were. Sounding good.
So lots of good news overall in the ENY camp. New shirts will soon be a reality so everyone who was deathly offended by the black shirt design will be able to rest easy.
If you don't care about non-ENY related things, this would be a great place to stop reading.
Other Ramblings:
During a free trial of NetFlix I watched a lot of movies. Here's what I saw that was new to me:
Highways: At least, I think that's what it was called. It starred Jared Leto and Jake Gylenhall. Or however you spell it. Anyway - good flick. It made you feel like you were on some drugs while watching it. It was one of THOSE movies. But good. Check it out. Older film.
Everything is Illuminated: Starring Elijah Wood and some other guy I vaguely recognized. It was about Jews and collecting random things. I didn't get it and don't have any real desire to do so again.
X-Men 3: Lots of action, lots of killing major characters. They were killing mutants as fast as they were introducing them. Better than the last. Director Bret Radner is still a tool.
Underworld Evolution: Did you see the first Underworld? It was pretty much the same. Vampire Girl and Werewolf-Vamp love child Guy run from the bad guys. Oh, and then I feel asleep.
To everyone who came out to see us in Daytona Beach. Um... thanks. And sorry. Again.
Thursday, October 12, 2006
2.5 in the bag.
Bloggers and Bloggettes....
I bring news. News I should have reported long ago, but didn't. My bad.
First. We lost the Bamboozle Contest. Big surprise right? Turns out AbsolutePunk.net didn't actually send judges to the shows, so they based the winners off of who brought the most amount of people to the show. I feel bad for the band who came from Jacksonville who brought five friends. Although, I think that's more people than we brought so whatever.
Second. We're not going to be on the "Rocking Idol" show anymore. We got bumped due to lack of space on the bill. We won't be making our television debut anytime soon.
Wow, that was all bad news, eh?
Guess I'll balance that out by letting you know that I officially finished 2 new songs this week with a third close behind. The new tunes are "Plan B" and "Say Hello" and the new one is yet to be named, but I bet it will be something really simple and not incredibly long and having nothing to do with the song's actually message or meaning. I even have half of a fourth song recorded but have little direction on where I want it to go or how I want it to sound. I was attempting to write as I went and realized it doesn't work for me too well. Live and learn.
So 3 new songs in the bag? Looks that way. Soon enough anyway. I'll try to finish up the untitled gem tomorrow. Just needs vocals and some guitar elements. They're all stuck in my head. That's gotta be a good sign.
Tomorrow I believe we're playing a show in Daytona Beach. I'll be honest... I've been so busy recording that I've really done absolutely no promotion for this show. I usually hit the MySpace hard and let everyone know, but I didn't do that. My bad again. There's three other people in this band. Maybe one of them did something. No clue.
Time to wrap this up as I have places to go, people to see and music swirling around in my head.
I bring news. News I should have reported long ago, but didn't. My bad.
First. We lost the Bamboozle Contest. Big surprise right? Turns out AbsolutePunk.net didn't actually send judges to the shows, so they based the winners off of who brought the most amount of people to the show. I feel bad for the band who came from Jacksonville who brought five friends. Although, I think that's more people than we brought so whatever.
Second. We're not going to be on the "Rocking Idol" show anymore. We got bumped due to lack of space on the bill. We won't be making our television debut anytime soon.
Wow, that was all bad news, eh?
Guess I'll balance that out by letting you know that I officially finished 2 new songs this week with a third close behind. The new tunes are "Plan B" and "Say Hello" and the new one is yet to be named, but I bet it will be something really simple and not incredibly long and having nothing to do with the song's actually message or meaning. I even have half of a fourth song recorded but have little direction on where I want it to go or how I want it to sound. I was attempting to write as I went and realized it doesn't work for me too well. Live and learn.
So 3 new songs in the bag? Looks that way. Soon enough anyway. I'll try to finish up the untitled gem tomorrow. Just needs vocals and some guitar elements. They're all stuck in my head. That's gotta be a good sign.
Tomorrow I believe we're playing a show in Daytona Beach. I'll be honest... I've been so busy recording that I've really done absolutely no promotion for this show. I usually hit the MySpace hard and let everyone know, but I didn't do that. My bad again. There's three other people in this band. Maybe one of them did something. No clue.
Time to wrap this up as I have places to go, people to see and music swirling around in my head.
Wednesday, October 11, 2006
VACATION.
I'll admit. I totally forgot about this thing.
Perhaps it's because my mind has been other place. Perhaps I wasn't in the blogging mood. Or perhaps the mafia threatened me to not blog if I cared about the lives of my friends and family. Actually it's just because I've been on vacation all week!
What am I doing for my vacation?
I'm locked away in my bedroom writing songs, editing video, and recording demos.
It's been a blast. It's been my goal to record 3 new demos for the week. 4 if I get super ambitious. Although, spending two hours writing the Moog parts for one of the tunes really killed my productivity.
So far I've completely recorded one new tune I'm calling "Plan B" and have half-recorded another tune I'm tentatively calling "Say Hello."
That has drums and guitars recorded, just waiting on the vocals, bass, and moog polish to be complete.
I'm going to try to build one song pretty much from scratch and another tune just needs a bridge to be ready for the record button.
More on this as it develops. Chances are these demos won't be posted anywhere, but you just might hear the tunes live sooner or later. Who knows.
I'm off to demo. Again.
Perhaps it's because my mind has been other place. Perhaps I wasn't in the blogging mood. Or perhaps the mafia threatened me to not blog if I cared about the lives of my friends and family. Actually it's just because I've been on vacation all week!
What am I doing for my vacation?
I'm locked away in my bedroom writing songs, editing video, and recording demos.
It's been a blast. It's been my goal to record 3 new demos for the week. 4 if I get super ambitious. Although, spending two hours writing the Moog parts for one of the tunes really killed my productivity.
So far I've completely recorded one new tune I'm calling "Plan B" and have half-recorded another tune I'm tentatively calling "Say Hello."
That has drums and guitars recorded, just waiting on the vocals, bass, and moog polish to be complete.
I'm going to try to build one song pretty much from scratch and another tune just needs a bridge to be ready for the record button.
More on this as it develops. Chances are these demos won't be posted anywhere, but you just might hear the tunes live sooner or later. Who knows.
I'm off to demo. Again.
Friday, October 06, 2006
Why Not?
Thought I'd just give a quick rundown of the Bamboozle Left Break Contest show that we played on Wednesday at The Social.
In 3 words or less?
It was awesome!
We arrived at the venue at 6pm, an hour before the doors opened. As we hopped out of the van, the promoter was quick to let us know that we were late. Ouch. We hate being late. Once we loaded in our gear we found out that the only other band that had arrived and loaded was Between the Trees. They were set to play last, and we were to take the stage in the 3rd position, right before them. We were the two locals on the bill. Harloe from Jacksonville had to bring 2 or 3 cars for all their stuff so they all arrived 20 minutes or so apart and Fallen From the Sky who was supposed to open the show had to drive up from Boca Raton and blew out a tire on their way. Somehow they arrived at the venue right as they were supposed to play and the show went on as normal.
Fallen From the Sky had fantastic energy and a very punk sound. Everyone was jumping around like crazy and they had a lot of fans there to help them sing and scream.
Harloe took the stage second. You could tell that they were an upstart band, so I'm sure this show was big for them. They brought some friends with them who rocked out down by the stage, but overall I wasn't really feeling their music. It was all screaming. Nice guys though.
We took the stage third for a fairly big crowd. We had time to jam out about 10 songs and did so like it was our last show. Doug had a few problems during the course of the show, but only because he was rocking out so hard that he would accidently step on his tuner and cut off his guitar. Only happened a couple times. He also broke a string during Lifess, which never happens to him, and after setting his guitar down after the set he managed to break off a tune roff his guitar. If you don't play guitar, or don't know anything about them, let me just tell you it's not good. Poor guy can't get a break.
We had a lot of friends in attendance who took pictures, Amanda got some fantastic video of our set (which we will release online at some point as a new video series) and the crowd was great about giving us feedback and helping to keep the energy up while we played. All around, it was a great time. Lots of new friends and fans.
Between the Trees played last and did their thing. Everyone was pretty much there for them, and they delivered. They played a solid set. We had never met those guys before but they turned out to be some of the nicest dudes we had met in a while. We hope to share the stage with them again in the future, but they could blow up big any day and we may never see them again.
We spent the rest of the show chatting it up with everyone around and JoAnna "celebrated" her 21st birthday.
Lastly, if you've seen us in concert before then you know that Bert jumps around on stage like a madman during the shows. Our unofficial photographer Tiffany finally managed to catch Bert in one of his many rock poses and forever made his year.
Thanks to everyone who came out and supported. We had more fun than a barrel of monkeys ever could.
Did that make sense?
Whatever.
In 3 words or less?
It was awesome!
We arrived at the venue at 6pm, an hour before the doors opened. As we hopped out of the van, the promoter was quick to let us know that we were late. Ouch. We hate being late. Once we loaded in our gear we found out that the only other band that had arrived and loaded was Between the Trees. They were set to play last, and we were to take the stage in the 3rd position, right before them. We were the two locals on the bill. Harloe from Jacksonville had to bring 2 or 3 cars for all their stuff so they all arrived 20 minutes or so apart and Fallen From the Sky who was supposed to open the show had to drive up from Boca Raton and blew out a tire on their way. Somehow they arrived at the venue right as they were supposed to play and the show went on as normal.
Fallen From the Sky had fantastic energy and a very punk sound. Everyone was jumping around like crazy and they had a lot of fans there to help them sing and scream.
Harloe took the stage second. You could tell that they were an upstart band, so I'm sure this show was big for them. They brought some friends with them who rocked out down by the stage, but overall I wasn't really feeling their music. It was all screaming. Nice guys though.
We took the stage third for a fairly big crowd. We had time to jam out about 10 songs and did so like it was our last show. Doug had a few problems during the course of the show, but only because he was rocking out so hard that he would accidently step on his tuner and cut off his guitar. Only happened a couple times. He also broke a string during Lifess, which never happens to him, and after setting his guitar down after the set he managed to break off a tune roff his guitar. If you don't play guitar, or don't know anything about them, let me just tell you it's not good. Poor guy can't get a break.
We had a lot of friends in attendance who took pictures, Amanda got some fantastic video of our set (which we will release online at some point as a new video series) and the crowd was great about giving us feedback and helping to keep the energy up while we played. All around, it was a great time. Lots of new friends and fans.
Between the Trees played last and did their thing. Everyone was pretty much there for them, and they delivered. They played a solid set. We had never met those guys before but they turned out to be some of the nicest dudes we had met in a while. We hope to share the stage with them again in the future, but they could blow up big any day and we may never see them again.
We spent the rest of the show chatting it up with everyone around and JoAnna "celebrated" her 21st birthday.
Lastly, if you've seen us in concert before then you know that Bert jumps around on stage like a madman during the shows. Our unofficial photographer Tiffany finally managed to catch Bert in one of his many rock poses and forever made his year.
Thanks to everyone who came out and supported. We had more fun than a barrel of monkeys ever could.
Did that make sense?
Whatever.
Monday, October 02, 2006
"WHAT DO YOU WANT, WES?"
Well - I for one had a very relaxing weekend. After finishing up my latest stint on the Real World I decided to just chill and hang out with my favorite people in the world. My girlfriend and bandmates.
Okay, so I wasn't really on the Real World, but we are determined to get this rumor all over the 'net.
Friday night Amanda and I went to see the movie Little Miss Sunshine. Hilarious. Check it out of you get the opportunity. Perfect DVD rental material. On the way into the movie some guy outside the movie theatre hollered "YEAH! EARLY NEXT YEAR!!!" really loudly at me. I quickened my step.
Saturday I did a lot of sleeping and then Amanda and I braved the perilous lanes of the Aloma Bowl where we both attempted to break 100. I never succeeded. She had the unfair advantage of having been bowling at least 3 months prior to this excursion. She even has her own ball. Yeah. She's that cool. Does YOUR girlfriend have her own bowling ball? Didn't think so.
On Sunday, ENY did our first real photoshoot with a fellow by the name of Andrew Tremblay. Good guy and great photographer. We hooked it up so we could invade Park Ave. CD's... a little indie record store here in Orlando and shot stuff all through the store then ventured out to a baseball diamond and took photos in the grass, the bleachers, and in the shady looking alleyway behind the record store. We even invaded the most pretentious coffee house in the state and were photographed while sipping on $1,000 coffees full of imported spices from Mars.
We should have the photos soon and look forward to sharing them with everyone. It'll be nice to have REAL photos. Then we can get some wicked posters made up to promote ourselves all over the place. It's gonna be neat.
I mentioned us playing a battle of the bands thing a while back at the AKA Lounge in Orlando. We actually tied for 7th place (out of 20some bands) and will get to play the next round at the Hard Rock Live down near Ft. Lauderdale on the 22nd of October. That's coming up. It's for a TV show that will (possibly) air on FOX called Rocking Idol. So you might see ENY on national TV. Maybe. We'll see. Empty promise, really.
We have to play a cover song for this event. Yeah. A cover. I'm not thrilled either.
We're going to be playing for some "celebrity judges" and if they dig our cover, we're gonna get to bust out one of our tunes. What's the cover? We're keeping that under wraps for now, but we're scambling to put it together and will likely give it a go during our set at the Coffee Connection in Daytona Beach on the 13th of October.
So. Crazy things all over the place. I feel like I've mainly typed in senteces fragments for this blog. I'm truly A-OK with that.
WEDNESDAY WE'RE PLAYING THE FRICKIN' SOCIAL!
Had to get that plug in there.
Enjoy your evenings.
Okay, so I wasn't really on the Real World, but we are determined to get this rumor all over the 'net.
Friday night Amanda and I went to see the movie Little Miss Sunshine. Hilarious. Check it out of you get the opportunity. Perfect DVD rental material. On the way into the movie some guy outside the movie theatre hollered "YEAH! EARLY NEXT YEAR!!!" really loudly at me. I quickened my step.
Saturday I did a lot of sleeping and then Amanda and I braved the perilous lanes of the Aloma Bowl where we both attempted to break 100. I never succeeded. She had the unfair advantage of having been bowling at least 3 months prior to this excursion. She even has her own ball. Yeah. She's that cool. Does YOUR girlfriend have her own bowling ball? Didn't think so.
On Sunday, ENY did our first real photoshoot with a fellow by the name of Andrew Tremblay. Good guy and great photographer. We hooked it up so we could invade Park Ave. CD's... a little indie record store here in Orlando and shot stuff all through the store then ventured out to a baseball diamond and took photos in the grass, the bleachers, and in the shady looking alleyway behind the record store. We even invaded the most pretentious coffee house in the state and were photographed while sipping on $1,000 coffees full of imported spices from Mars.
We should have the photos soon and look forward to sharing them with everyone. It'll be nice to have REAL photos. Then we can get some wicked posters made up to promote ourselves all over the place. It's gonna be neat.
I mentioned us playing a battle of the bands thing a while back at the AKA Lounge in Orlando. We actually tied for 7th place (out of 20some bands) and will get to play the next round at the Hard Rock Live down near Ft. Lauderdale on the 22nd of October. That's coming up. It's for a TV show that will (possibly) air on FOX called Rocking Idol. So you might see ENY on national TV. Maybe. We'll see. Empty promise, really.
We have to play a cover song for this event. Yeah. A cover. I'm not thrilled either.
We're going to be playing for some "celebrity judges" and if they dig our cover, we're gonna get to bust out one of our tunes. What's the cover? We're keeping that under wraps for now, but we're scambling to put it together and will likely give it a go during our set at the Coffee Connection in Daytona Beach on the 13th of October.
So. Crazy things all over the place. I feel like I've mainly typed in senteces fragments for this blog. I'm truly A-OK with that.
WEDNESDAY WE'RE PLAYING THE FRICKIN' SOCIAL!
Had to get that plug in there.
Enjoy your evenings.
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