First rule of ENY: You don't talk about ENY. Wait, does this blog break the rule? Oops. Amazing that I could ruin a headline by breaking my own rules.

Alright, let me relax a moment and recount the last week in my brain. I will try hard to pull out all entertaining anecdotes found within.

And once again, I have come up empty.

I had a very good weekend though. Satruday saw myself and Amanda driving all over the Winter Park area. Found a cool coffee chop, relaxed by a fountain, saw the park where Doug wants us to take our new promo photos (someday!), and then we visited Targets, Wal-Mart, and a video game store for our amusement.
Sunday we packed up the van and headed up to our home-away-from home. The dry, barren, guaranteed-to-get-you-lost city of Ocala, FL to play a birthday show for our friend Jillian. We saw familiar faces and rocked the place. Whenever we play birthday shows (I think this makes about 4 total) we always like to do something interesting. For this particular birthday we decided it would be fun to have partygoers draw our songs from a hat to determine the order in which we would play them. After one song was over, another was pulled from the hat and played. Oddly enough, the people managed to pull the songs out of the hat in the order in which we normally play them. So much for "mixing it up."
Oh, and it was really hot.

Good times.

More on this story as it develops.

This weekend we return to Lakeland and then we invade the WPRK radio station and take over the airwaves. We'll mainly be playing our songs live on the air and possibly splicing in some Judas Priest tunes played backwards.

No one reads this.

Moogerific!

This is Bob Moog.
He changed the way I think about and write music.
He changed the the way a lot of people think about and write music.
In fact, I'll go so far as to say that he just changed music.
He died a year ago today.

People ask me... "Wes, what's so great about this Moog stuff you always talk about?"

First off, I am NOT a keyboard player. I cannot sit down and play a piano. I can barely read music as it is.
What's so great about Moog Synthesizers and why do I make such a huge deal about them?

Let me ramble a bit:

I had always heard synthesizers on CD's that I listened to growing up. I would go so far as to say that my first introduction to them was probably from bands like Weezer and The Rentals. I thought Matt Sharp's use of Moogs on "The Return of the Rentals" was exciting and brilliant for that time. Amazing how these little monophonic keyboards could make a note or a sound that just rounded out the rest of the music.
Personally, I love them because after laughter, it's my favorite sound ever.
I find it amazing how different it is using an analog synth vs. a regular digital keyboard. Menu's and buttons have little personality. Analog synthesizers require you to use your ears and choose what sounds blend well rather than just going with a number on a little screen. You listen to and feel the way the frequencies blend together to create a rich, full sound. I love it when the highs scream and the lows rumble. There's something to be said about tweaking the knobs while you play. It's a fully interactive instrument, much like a guitar. I know it sounds crazy, but I've read some books and done a lot of research of the history of how the Moog synthesizer came to be. It's a fascinating story considering that the man who made them wasn't even considered a musician. It all started by him designing a box that made noise. Once musicians got ahold of it, they offered up suggestions on how to make it more user friendly for performance and Bob took those ideas and the synthesizer evolved into what it is today.
Having recently gotten my hands on the 55th Little Phatty ever made, it's so much fun to play even by itself. I can get lost just making noises for hours.

I don't use the term "genius" lightly, but aside from Brian Wilson (who used Moogs!), Bob Moog is the only other person I consider to be a genius.

The rambling is over.
Thanks for reading.

Ninja Basics 101

On Saturday night we drove through a tepid downpour on our way up to Gainesville. The rain was pouring so hard at times that we had to slow to 35mph on the turnpike. Craziness. Once we got to Gainesville, it just kept on raining. It was a dank, wet night at best.
Eddie C's Backstage Lounge is a really cool venue. Reminds me of the way that Will's Pub here in Orlando is set up. They had the bar area and then a whole separate closed off area where the stage and back bar were. We got there around 8pm only to find out that 2 of the bands had dropped off the bill, so we were one of three acts playing. When it came time to load in, we could not open the back van door to save our lives and had to pull everything out the side. Not a great start. After loading the rain began to pour again and we retreated inside to the safety of the pool tables, bar, and jukebox!
Yes, that's right. Another town, another jukebox. This time my Washington got me 3 plays, so for the next 10 minutes I owned the bar. Or at least the audio radiating throughout the bar. The barflys were treated to a nice playlist of Sublime, The Strokes, and I topped it off with a little Blondie. It was the best I could pull from a jukebox full of Creed and Creed-esque bands.
We arrived at 8pm but the show wasn't starting until 10:30 so we had lots of time to kill. We spent it visiting with the other bands and wondering when the crowd would start rolling in. Doug and I adventured into the storm for food while Bert and JoAnna hoofed it across the street to a Winn Dixie and got caught in the rain. It ended with JoAnna being soaked and walking around the bar barefoot.

Ed, owner of the venue had a really cool setup in the soundbooth equipped with a soundboard, lighting board, and a whole camera system which would record bands from 3 different angles recorded straight to DVD.
Along the Sidelines played first, which is our friend Josh and since the last time we'd seen him, he added a bass player named Dmo to the mix. The songs sounded much fuller and I've heard that he's currently working with a drummer to fill out the sound more. As they played Doug and I watched Ed work the camera system. It looked cool so we decided to get a DVD made of our performance.
We took the stage second, and even though we had quite a few technical issues (Mics falling, Bert's bass crapping out) we powered through our 11 song set and were pleased with the response we got from the small crowd. It's always nice to see a line of people waiting to buy your CD when you get done playing. By the last note of the last song I'm usually wondering what people are thinking, but sometimes we had loads of people waiting to talk with us, other times there's no one. Overall I think we made some new fans, and I can't wait to play at that venue again. All the bar tenders were awesome and everyone we talked to was really nice.

Thanks for being fun, Gainesville.
I might rip the DVD and post a few of the songs on our MySpace.

The rest of the weekend was spent relaxing with Amanda while Doug visited the House of Blues to catch the Head Automatica tour.

Next weekend we're playing a birthday party for some friends and possibly tacking on a last minute Saturday show. We keep busy.

The new CD from This Day & Age called "The Bell and the Hammer" is coming out soon. I was a big fan of their last disc "Always Leave the Ground" as it was very catchy, but very smart and musical at the same time. I've been listening to the new tracks they've been adding to their PureVolume page each week and so far I can say that I'm not all that impressed. I think the songs are good, but it a sleepy, relaxing kind of way. They seem to have lost the kick that made me like them to begin with. I'll probably still pick it up eventually and talk about it here to either rip it apart or explain how it's better than every CD you like.

For now I will sit here and listen to the Smashing Pumpkins while wondering why they never got the respect they deserve.

Quick! Name one band that sounds like the Smashing Pumpkins.
Trick question.
You can't.

Show me what you've got!

When one door closes, another opens, right?
More and more doors seem to be opening for us as of late. Enough doors that were my father here, he'd yell "What are you doing? Air conditioning the neighborhood?"
Actually that was a lie.
My father never really yells, and my parents house has no air conditioning.
He'd make some smartass comment though. Trust me on that.

In the last post, I spoke of recording some songs with a friend. This is something we're still hoping to do in the near future. We're going to be demoing some of the newer songs to see how they shape up with the full band playing. I'm hoping for the best. Some of these tunes we've been playing live and have become second nature.

At present, we only have one to two songs that you've probably never heard. Only three of our non-Sarcasm songs that we play live on a regular basis will likely be on the next CD. Speaking of which, I'm still writing, thinking, and dwelling on the final product. I'm challenging myself to write at least 8 more songs at the very least and go from there.
From this point on, everything will be kept tightly under wraps. (Hopefully) No demos will be posted on MySpace or PureVolume and we probably won't play anymore of the "next album songs" live. Just the 2 or 3 we've been rotating in and out of our set.

I'm still working on getting the new Moog up and running, but it will probably still be a while before that thing finds itself on stage with me. It's pretty. It glows a lot.

So thank you for reading what I like to call a "Time Filler Blog."
I hope you wasted as much time reading it as I did writing it.

Kitlers will inherit the Earth. Look out.

We had a busy weekend.
Friday was a whole lot of me sitting around waiting for my new synthesizer to come via UPS. It took forever. I was late to the show at the Science Center due to waiting. I had already waited almost 3 months for this thing and was not going to miss it. The show itself was very fun. We played with a couple Ska bands, which isn't a usual event for us, but the second band, Underdog Trio was great and the audience was up and dancing on the floor, in the aisleways and on stage. They did the same during our set. There were many dance breakdowns, conga lines, and some little kid spinning around on stage on his butt. Everyone seemed to enjoy themselves and I know I had a good time. People were hitting up our merch table before we even played, buying CD's, shirts, and grabbing stickers. Hopefully no one asked for a refund after they actually saw us play.

Saturday we spent the day shooting our music video for "Through My Eyes" with Joel Black who drove up from Palm Bay to spend the day with our crazy selves. He had some great ideas and hopefully he was able to capture what he wanted to. We listened to the song a lot. We faked playing it a lot. Then we crowded into my bathroom, pushed each other around, sang, acted poorly, and got really really warm.

Such is the life. Hopefully you guys will be able to see the video somewhere down the line. I think it will be entertaining. He seemed happy with the results, as did we. We even took him our for an ENY sponsored dinner at Ti'Juana Flats. We love that place.

It's looking like a possibility that tomorrow night we may be recording some songs in our friends studio. We'll see how that goes.

This weekend we visit Gainesville for the first time. We're playing at Eddie C's with our buddy Josh McCabe and his band/solo act "Along the Sidelines."
That's gonna be a good time.

A walking, fire-breathing Nun.

Friday.

In other news, I somehow found myself at Wal-Mart last night around 10pm. It had been probably a year since I stepped foot into such an evil place, but Amanda and I were determined to find what we needed. However, before we found what we needed, it was obvious that food was needed so neither of us passed out. Our only option at that point was the in-store McDonald's restaraunt. She and I both avoid that eatery like the plague and tend to have bad experiences at fast food restaraunts. This time was no different.
Amanda quickly got her food and grabbed a table. As anyone would do, she had to grab a bunch of this little cups to fill with ketchup. Usually the pumps that dispense this stuff are fairly manageable and simple machines. Not this one. What she did not realize was that this dispenser was pressureized and when she unloaded the condiments into the cup, it knocked it out of her hand and sprayed her with ketchup. That's one strike against the place.
After waiting seven minutes to get the one item I ordered, I joined her at the table to hear of her traumatic experience. She insisted that I also dispense some ketchup even though I didn't need any. Sure enough, that sucker darn near knocked me on my butt. I jumped with surprise and like her, also got my hand covered in ketchup. That's 2 strikes.
I don't want to go there again anytime soon, but I would like to spray someone I don't like with pressurized ketchup. I think that would be amazingly fun.

You don't care.
If my story bored you, please refer to the top of this posting and just gaze at the picture.

Oh, and I set up a new webstore for us. It's a work in progress, but looks really professional!

http://earlynextyear.bigcartel.com/

016812

Thanks for a great show on Saturday, Ocala.
Thanks to Josh from Along the Sidelines for playing.
Thanks to Rory for playing (even if it was in their underwear).

Listen to these CDs as recommended by people I know:

Bert:
Breaking Benjamin - Phobia
Billy Talent - II
Unearth - Eyes of Fire

Doug:
The Format - Dog Problems
Smoking Popes - At The Metro
Less Than Jake - In With the Out Crowd
Gym Class Heroes - As Cruel As School Children

Wes:
Say Anything - ...is a Real Boy
The Progress - Merit

And I still don't know what JoAnna recommends because I still don't work with her.

Auto Insurance sucks. Don't grow up.

So our show last night at Back Booth was a lot of fun.
We found out the day before that we were due to play last.
A Thursday night show with 5 bands starting at 9pm is not a time where you want to be last. However, I think we made the best of it. We're doing this new thing called "networking." Apparently it's where you talk to people or something.
We befriended the touring band from Austin, TX called Meryll. Really nice guys and good music. Look them up on MySpace and give a listen.
The coolest thing about this whole show was the fact that everyone did a great job of sticking to their time limits and breaking down/setting up as fast as possible. We had anticipated not playing until about 1am but I think we were jamming our first notes around midnight. Big thanks to anyone who was there and stuck around. I counted about 30 people in the crowd, and I recognized about half. It's cool when people who don't know you stick around to give you a chance, and it's even cooler when they're still there by the end of the set.
We played nine songs, and things went very smoothly.
I can only hope things go just as well, if not better, on Saturday in Ocala. We've been looking forward to this gig for a while and I hope we don't disappoint.
Oh, who am I kidding. We won't disappoint.

Big thanks to our friend Donnie for mentioning the gig to us, Chris at Back Booth for letting us on the show, and everyone who said hello or watched us play.
By far one of our best Orlando shows to date, with hopefully many more to follow. We'll have a fanbase there yet!

I couldn't have asked for a better 70th show.
We've been scheming plans for our 100th gig as well. It's just around the corner, you know. We've decided that regardless of where we play or who we play for, it's gonna be a party.
More on this as it develops.

I'm paranoid about being paranoid.

Tomorrow is our 70th show ever. SEVENTY.
That's kind of a big deal.

Has your band played 70 shows? No? Shut up.

5 things I enjoyed about July:

1. Moving out of my old apartment.
2. Finally seeing Inkwell live.
3. Discovering the Say Anything record "...is a Real Boy"
4. Our first show with Bert and JoAnna in their rightful places.
5. Getting new a perspective on so many things.

Hello August.

5 things I'm looking forward to in August:

1. Moog's Little Phatty synthesizer
2. Moog's Little Phatty synthesizer
3. Shooting our first music video
4. Moog's Little Phatty synthesizer
5. Demo recording. It's time.

(did I mention we're playing our 70th show tomorrow?)

You have reached a number that's no longer in service...

Two weeks?

Dear friends and family, once this is in my hands, expect me to drop off the face of the earth for a few days.
Only a few.

I prefer normal Tang over the Wu-Tang clan.

Finally after many days at work listening to the 5 tracks on Purevolume, I finally managed to grab a copy of the Say Anything record "...is a Real Boy". Alright, fine... so Bert grabbed it for me, but I got it nonetheless. I really don't know why I waited so long to pick up this record. I think it's one of the most inspirational albums I've heard in a long time. If you know me (which you only think you do) then you're probably aware that I'm a HUGE sucker for concept albums. I honestly believe that every album should be one. To me, ...is a Real Boy takes that to the next level. Written in the format of a "rock opera" and similar to Green Day's "American Idiot" it takes the listener on a trip through the mind of the main character who, in his day to day life, will stop and break out into song anywhere about anything. It's really nice to hear an artist say whatever he wants about anything he wants to and keeps it brutally honest. No sappy metaphors or blanketed analogies, he keeps it real.
I've been listening to it non-stop, and I suggest that you do the same if you haven't already.

It makes me want to sit down and finish our next album. Almost.

In other news, we picked up a show this coming Thursday at Back Booth in Orlando. We'll be sharing the stage with Worth Fighting For, who we haven't played with since Jennannapalooza was it? And Woodale, Derek Stroker, & Meryll whom we'll be seeing for the first time.
9pm, 18+, $5 cover. Should be a blast. This is kind of a live rehearsal for our show in Ocala. Those are the best.

Keep it real. 4-eva.

Objects in mirror are closer than they appear... and backwards.

As usual... behind on the blogging.

THURSDAY - All ENYers went downtown to catch the awesome show happening at Back Booth. Inkwell, History, and some other bands I can't remember right now played. Good show overall. The opening bands were all fairly decent and there was theme for the evening where nearly all the bands had a female bass player. JoAnna feels that much cooler for being a drummer.
History, the remnants of what was Sound the Alarm, played a great show. It was my first time ever seeing them and I would definitely go out of my way to do so again. Their songs were catchy and they had a Moog player which was fun to watch. Interestingly enough, we both share the same tattoo. I geeked out on that with him for a minute.
Inkwell closed the show. Our first time seeing them too. Doug and I had verged on the obsessed with that band for quite a while and were super excited to finally see how it went live. It went awesome. It really was an inspiring performance. Everyone on stage looked like they were having the time of their lives and the music was super tight and I don't think anyone missed a note.
We ran into a lot of friends throughout the night and made a lot of new ones as well. Familiar faces included Donnie, Touch, and Phil from Fellsmere, Marc from Rory, Drunk Jenn, and Anna.

I finally finished cleaning and moving the crap out of my apartment. It took a couple nights, but cleaning up three years of filth was easier than I imagined. Thankfully I live with some strong fellas who could lift the heavy crap and have a great girlfriend who volunteered to clean a guy's bathroom. I pretty much owe her big time for that.

We might have a last minute show this week, but we don't know yet.
However, we're still going to Ocala in a week. With Rory.

Rock.

Did Timmy fall in the well again?

I'm sorry that Doug used this blog to invade your lives.
I apologize that he had the audacity to bump a critical post about where to buy our CD down a notch in order to talk about his Pokemon games, or whatever it is he's into these days.

It just occured to me that I haven't explained in explicit detail the events that transpired during our last few shows. Perhaps that's because nothing special happened. I could tell you about how hot in was in Ocala or how we had to haul our crap up the stairs again at AKA in Orlando... but I won't.
Ocala was hot, and we did haul crap up some stairs in Orlando. The sound at AKA Lounge was bad. All I could hear in my monitor was Doug's guitar. I couldn't even hear the snare drum despite the fact that I was standing less than five feet away from it. We botched some songs. Most of them, really.

We are super exicted about our next K&K Show. Hopefully we'll have a few more heads out this time around. We'll be playing a big set. 11 songs if we have the time. So come out, rock out, and bring your friends along.

In other news, we're back on track for getting new promotional photos done, as well as setting up a time to shoot our music video. It looks like Through My Eyes is currently ahead for being used as the song. It has more substance lyrically and could have a better overall treatment.
I'm still waiting to hear back as to what the treatment is exactly.
It seems that we'll be filming most of it within our house and shooting performance footage at a location that's still TBD.

I was reading MSN news during a break from work today. The big news was that one of the dudes from NSYNC is gay.

Shocker.

Practice continues this weekend. Expect us to be amazing on the 5th.

What the heck is up with MySpace these days. Takes me 3 hours to load my page, and another 2 just to read each message. Can the youth of the world please migrate to another voyeuristic website site already?

I'm Batman.

"There are two things to aim at in life; first to get what you want, and after that to enjoy it. Only the wisest of mankind has achieved the second."

Mario Bros. is my ringtone

So, it's been a while since anyone other than Wes has touched this thing. I actually just wanted to come on here to let all of you know that I do have a life outside the band and most of it is spent with my eyes glued to my XBox 360 so if you share my addiction and would like to join me online for a game of whatever feel free to send a friend request to gamertag ENYGuitar. I know you probably could have figured that out on your own but now I'm putting it out there. So come kick my ass at some game to make yourself feel better. Street Fighter 2 is coming out for XBox Live Arcade in a couple weeks and I will never be heard from again, so you'd better hurry.

Doug

I drop my cell phone a lot. No, really... like, a LOT.

Hello my fine, feathered friends.

If you live in the sunny state of Florida and you have yet to grab a copy of our Sarcasm is Your Friend EP due to not having a credit card, or not attending one of our shows, here is a list of indie record stores that you can walk into and order our CD from.
Once ordered, it will ship overnight, and you can pick up the next day.

So please keep that in mind. There's no excuse not to have a copy!
I've also included the zip codes so you can see just which store to order from.

Tell you friends.

ORANGE PARK:
CD Warehouse - 32073

ST. AUGUSTINE:
Music Matters - 32084

DAYTONA BEACH:
Atlantic Sounds - 32114
Nite Fire Productions - 32117

JACKSONVILLE:
Johns Records/Gmc - 32203
Smash Music - 32204
Big Al's - 32208
Smash Music - 32250
CD Connection - 32250
CD Warehouse - 32257

TALLAHASSEE:
CD Warehouse - 32301
CD Warehouse - 32303
Vinyl Fever - 32304
CD Warehouse - 32312

QUINCY:
House of Music - 32351

PENSACOLA:
East Hill Cds - 32503

FORT WALTON BEACH:
Jazz - 32548

GAINESVILLE:
Tone Vendor - 32601
CD Warehouse - 32608
Gospel Den Music - 32609

CHIEFLAND:
Billy Bones Music - 32626

DELAND:
Steves Downtown Music - 32720

FERN PARK:
CD Warehouse - 32730

ORLANDO:
CD Warehouse - 32803
Park Ave CD's - 32803
Rock n Roll Heaven - 32804
East - West Disc & Tapes - 32806

SEBASTIAN:
Ma's India - 32958

DANIA:
Captured Image - 33004

MARATHON:
Blind Hairys Music - 33050

MIAMI:
Hi-Fi Music - 33131
Base - 33139
Uncle Sam's - 33139
Route 66 - 33180
Walk of Fame DVD's - 33185
Confusion Records - 33403

WEST PALM BEACH:
AB-CD Sound & Cinema - 33405

DEERFIELD BEACH:
Audio Center - 33441

SEFFNER:
Explosive Sounds - 33584

TAMPA:
Krush Grooves - 33615
Cd City Tampa - 33618
Vinyl Fever - 33629
RF Productions - 33637

ST. PETE:
Asylum Sights & Sounds - 33707
Bananas Records - 33710

CLEARWATER:
Distribution Video & Audio - 33755

LAKELAND:
Cheap Thrills - 33813

FORT MYERS:
Record Trader - 33901

PORT CHARLOTTE:
Tj'S Cd'S & More - 33952

BRADENTON:
Boogie Woogie - 34207

SARASOTA:
Boogie Woogie - 34231

DUNEDIN:
Music Exchange - 34698

Cheers!

PETA needs to chillax.

Since our EP has been out for a year, and we've only sold a few hundred copies, and have a few hundred more to get rid of, we need everyone to help us out by posting this flyer on their websites/livejournals/myspaces.



Just right click it to get the photobucket code and go nuts.
I know it's cool. The girl who made it is even cooler.

Show tonight. Shocker, right?

I just went through a Matthew Good spree on my iPod. I feel so intellectual right now that I want to leave work to go play chess in the park while sipping on foreign teas and eating exotic biscuits. I feel so utterly pompous that I could crap in a bag, give it to someone and expect them to treat it as the best present ever. In fact, I think I'll try that and give it to Doug.

Now comes my music marathon from The Progress. All 3 CD's in a row. That's gonna be over with in about 20 minutes.

I get to sleep in tomorrow. I'm ever so excited. I want to celebrate by napping.

Last night on the History Channel I watched a special on the origins of Soda Pop. I'd love to tell you all about what I learned, but it was so freaking boring that I fell asleep. I'm drinking a soda right now and have no idea where it came from. Ignorance is bliss.

We finally got the plates for Van Diesel last night. I managed to put them on in the middle of the night with no light source. We can drive again!

Doug's parents are coming to the show tonight, as are JoAnna's, I believe. Bert and I will entertain ourselves by lounging on a couch, sipping on cheap beer and quoting "Anchorman."

I wish I invented the Salad Shooter.
I once imagined an idea for a mechanical device that would pick things off of the floor for you. Turns out I reinvented the vacuum cleaner.
I think I told that story before.

I believe everything I read on the internet, unless it's on Lies.com.

I cannot do long division in my head.
On that same note, I cannot do multiplication in my head either.
Or basic addition. Or subtraction.

The new Gym Class Heroes album, "As Cruel As School Children" comes out next Tuesday. Does someone want to buy it for me?

Okay, for real, time to get back to work.
It's been 15 minutes and I already miss being cursed out and hung up on by these people.
I do appreciate the tough love.

Today is National "Wear Your Boxer Shorts Backwards Day."
Okay, not really, but mine are backwards and I seriously need a good excuse for it.

Peace.

Can't believe I love something as yellow as you.

Last night, kind of on a whim, I got a good 85% of my hair chopped off. I must say, I didn't realize how much weight I had been carrying around, and it's nice seeing my ears again. Poor lady at the hair salon had to use a chisel and a hammer to disconnect the shag from my head. After leaving there, I sped over to Amanda's place. After several looks at me she admitted "If you looked like that when I met you, I never would have dated you."

Ain't life grand.

(she was kidding...right?)

SHOW TOMORROW!

If you let the ferret out... you're gonna have a bad time.

Last night turned out to be our last full band practice before the show this Friday. In the previous entry, I mentioned that we have hit the semi-awesomness level, but I'm happy to report that the alert status has been kicked up to pretty-awesome. So hide the kids in the cellar and prepare to get your eyes, ears, and noses blown into next week.
Holy crap, I kind of just threatened everyone didn't I?

Regardless, I'm no longer terrified of taking the stage. Everyone has worked their butts off to make this a good show and I'm quite happy with how things are shaping up.

Anyone who really knows me is aware of the fact that the only form of sound that my 1994 Geo Prizm pumps out is from an ancient cassette deck through several cracked speakers. I'm old school.
Because I'm cheap and busy, I never bothered to get a CD player installed in my vehicle. Instead I would spend countless hours dubbing cassette tapes every time I bought a new CD so that those albums could be mobile. Over the last few months, this cassette deck of doom decided to slowly start eating the tapes one by one. I lost the oldest ones right off the bat, but that didn't quench it's thirst for analog blood, so over the last few months, it ate the newer tapes as well. Weezer, gone. Old 97's gone. The Progress, gone. Many others too indie and pretentious to list... gone. Luckily there were a couple of tapes that stuck with me including my cassette copy of Motion City Soundtracks "I Am The Movie" which I had to listen to for about 6 months straight because my only other tape, Limbeck's "Hi, Everything's Great" got too warm and the audio was pitched shifted down a couple notches making it unlistenable. Since I had about two albums in car rotation, I'll take on anyone in a trivia contest over those two records. I can sing them forwards and backwards in my sleep. Sometimes I still do. Why didn't I just dub more tapes? Because my home stereo broke as well! What are the odds, right? For future reference, do not buy RCA products.
Anyway, I swear I'm getting to the point here...
A week or so ago I burnt a CD for Amanda with some of my favorite songs on it. We never really see eye to eye on music. She's into a lot of 80's rock (which I enjoy as well, but do not appreciate on quite as deep a level as she) and she also enjoys some good booty-shakin' tunes as well. I made this CD for her in an attempt to force my likes upon her. So last night when I show up to her place she was eager to show me that she had purchased a boat-load of blank tapes and had already dubbed me one for the road.
On this tape was the same CD of my favorite songs that I'd made for her plus Weezer's Blue Album.
Yeah. That's the bee's knee's right there.
In fact, if that's not love then I don't know what love is.

If anyone wants to bring me cassettes at future shows, feel free, but if they suck or have hardcore songs on them, they're getting tossed out the window. In fact, if anyone makes me an old-school mixtape that I actually like, maybe they can win some new merch or something.

For those of you who read the Moog Music website on a regular basis (Yes, I'm well aware that I'm the only one who does) they've been working on getting a new synth out to the masses called the "Little Phatty." It's gonna be the coolest thing the world has seen ever. I preordered this monster several days after it was announced. They're only making 1,200 of them total, so right now I'm on a waiting list waiting to hear my fate on the matter. Will I get it? I'd better.
I've been interested in upgrading my synth for a variety of reasons. First off, my current synth, the MG-1, is from 1979 and has some problems staying in tune and isn't quite ballsy enough for what I need it to do. I bought a Prodigy last year in hopes of getting a better sound, but that synth needs some TLC and rarely leaves my closet. Now us Moogheads are on the verge of getting a piece of gear that's new, stable, reliable, and sounds unlike anything I've ever heard.
The other reason I wanted to upgrade so badly is because as soon as people see me lug the synth on stage, they immediately start the comparisons between ENY and Motion City Soundtrack. I think these comparisons are pretty ridiculous since I know we don't sound like them.
I can't count the amount of times at shows that people have asked me if I bought the synth because of them. The answer is no, I did not. I was in the market for a Moog long before they came onto the scene. Consider this... ENY has been a band for 3 years. How long has MCS been in the spotlight? Maybe two years max. That's why I see them as more of a contemporary. I don't try to copy them, I see them as band doing something very similar to what we are doing, and right now, they're just doing it better. So if the synth player in that band has any common sense, he'll purchase a Little Phatty as well, so one day when we're back to using the same synth, it's not because I'm copying him.
I have original thoughts, you know.

Glad to get that off my chest. It'd been bugging me for ages.

Yeah, so the music video discussion is heating up over on the ENY MySpace group. Cast your votes now while you still can.

Oh, and hardcore music still sucks.

Is your house on fire, Clark?

WES implies the following:

ENY has become a practicing machine.
We're trying to pull our crap together for our show on Friday so we don't look like it's our first show ever. Will it happen? Who knows. I'm really hoping to look and sound professional.
I would highly recommend coming to the Friday night gig at the AKA Lounge in downtown Orlando to see what we've been cooking up.
We recently began to realize that our live set was becoming a bit... well... blah, so we huddled inside our laboratory, mixed chemicals, gauged fusion reactions, noted all possible outcomes in the ledger, and maybe even mixed a few drinks here and there. The result? Semi-awesomeness. We're hoping to kick it up to Pure Awesomeness, but I hate making promises I can't keep. Plus, if this show sucks, then I'll probably just quit the band.

Moving on.

We're in talks to shoot a music video for one of the tunes off of our "Sarcasm is Your Friend" EP. Right now, we have it narrowed down to two songs.

Through My Eyes vs. Completely

Cast your votes here, on MySpace, or by calling Carson Daly and requesting it on the TRL countdown.
Speaking of Carson Daly. He's a tool. In fact, he's the only woman I would ever slap... aside from Martha Stewart.

Now I'm just making things up.
Most of us have new gear that we'll be showing off at the show. Come tell Doug that just because he can be loud, it doesn't mean he has to be.

I leave work now with scraps upon scraps of paper riddled with witty lines and dodgy innuendo. Time to put together some songs.

Anyone been watching the World Series of Pop Culture on VH1? Amanda and I have been doing a good job at keeping up with it. I don't care who wins, I just like watching a quiz show where I actually know some of the answers. I can watch Jeopardy until I'm blue in the face, but when it's over, all I can think is "didn't Alex Trebek used to have a mustache?"

$5 to anyone who can identify the reference in the title of this blog post.
No purchase necessary. Not applicable to friends, family, or members of ENY. Void where prohibited.

Apologies to anyone who has ordered merch from our online store and not received it. Moving took me three months longer than I expected. You'll have it soon.

I went to the mall this weekend. Granted, it's probably been about two years since I went to a mall, but when did scene kids take over as resident Mallrats? I remember the "Abercrombie" crowd being the dominant species the last time I was there, but apparently, they've all gotten $100 mullet haircuts and put on eyeliner. I've never seen so many people standing outside of Hot Topic arguing about which hardcore band has the best lyrics. I wasn't aware hardcore songs even had words. Unless "Chugga-chugga-wheeee-oooooh-WAGHUAGHUAGHU!" means something now. I'll have to consult my "Scene Speak Dictionary."
Speaking of mullets... to the trendy kid who had an actual mullet, white belt, and the mildew-yellow tshirt on: You're a tool. No one will ever love you and you will probably die alone.
I have decided never to go to the mall again if it can be avoided. I'll sooner put on clown makeup and create questionable balloon animals at birthday parties.

In fact, I may do that anyway just to amuse myself.

Van Diesel's temporary tags expired after our last show. We don't have plates yet. This could present a problem.

My bathroom is possibly the coldest place on earth aside from the heart of Bob Barker.

I wish promoters at venues would email me back. Not like it's their job or anything...

I built a lot of new bridges today. I can't wait to go home and burn them.

Don't play with fire.

END TRANSMISSION.