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March 2, 2009
Greetings fellow initiates.
It's late at night and I have to get up early in the morning for a recording session for the Nickelodeon children's TV series "The Backyardigans" which I occasionally do in order to pay my Netflix bill. The sessions are pretty fun, mostly because fellow musicians such as Evan Lurie, Doug Wieselman, Gina Leishman, Steven Bernstein, Kenny Wollesen, Smokey Hormel and Art Baron are usually around, lending their mastery to an array of genres. Not to mention the priceless stories one can only hear from over-worked musicians that run that gamut. Today, Bernstein likened Scarlette Johansson to Miles Davis in her steadied use of timbrel minimalism. Anyway, I'm starting to find, in my old age, sleep is less demanding than it used to be. So I'll have another glass of Pinotage and update this website like the good virtualist that I am.
It is my hope that 2009 will witness the true birth of my new band MadLove. Here's the update: I finished mixing the record with Joel Hamilton at Studio G in Brooklyn. Joel is a mind-reader who understands the goal of music and the emotion of sound. He references Bill Withers, The Latin Playboys, and Christina Aguilera between mixes. Enough said.
MadLove is Sunny Kim (vocals) Hilmar Jensson (guitar) Ches Smith (drums) Erik Erik Deutsch (keyboards) and Trevor Dunn (bass, vocals). It is highly likely that Ipecac will release our debut recording as, it seems, no one else seems to give a shit. It's my humble opinion that this will be Ipecac's most "commercial" release. I'm super excited about it; really happy about the recording, and nervous as to whether it will be "noticed" or not.
We had our world debut live performances in England last year and you can find some of that footage on youtube. We also have a myspace page: www.myspace.com/whitewithfoam.
The state of music in the consumer world continues to disturb me. I grew up in the 70's when purchasing a 12-inch record with artwork, texture, information and smell was an EVENT. I'll never forget staring at X's Los Angeles in the store for 3 days before deciding to buy it--or finding Master Of Reality at a garage sale for $0.50 in the early '80s. I still own and listen to those same records. I probably spent as much time studying the lyrics of Elton John's Madman Across The Water as I did writing papers for sociology class. Those days are really gone, aren't they?
I'm worried I won't be able to survive as a musician by making records. I mean, I look forward to touring my ass off, but it sure would be nice to know that the money I spent trying to perfect a recording isn't pissed into the arid and claustrophobic wind of the mp3.
I continue to play The Stone in Manhattan and Barbes in Brooklyn. My band PROOF Readers continues to play the gorgeous songs of Ornette Coleman. My favorite burger is Bonnie's on 5th avenue in Park Slope. You can often find me at Beer Table, Brookvin, Buttermilk, or Lucky 13.
2009 also sees the typical Euro circuit with the likes of Zorn and Erik Friedlander and some U.S. stints with some fools called the Melvins doing the Houdini/Lysol songbook. I have no reason to judge anyone. Bon Scott continues to be my all-time favorite rock singer and he died in 1980. I've gone black. Shall I go back?
In the words of a small town high school teacher whose name shall be forgotten by all who passed his course, "onward and upward". |
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