Me 'N" Tony

There's me and Tony Chadwick, owner of Po' Boy Drums, at the "Drummin' For Lou" fundraiser for the ALS Foundation.

Way Back Stage

Here's something people don't often post: the rest room at the last place you gigged (maybe I'll make it a regular feature). Yes, this is the Men's Room at The Toad Tavern. Right there on the entrance to the stall is a poster for the Po' Boy Show! I was good enough to take the picture when nobody was actually using the restroom.

Back Stage

Here's a shot from back stage at The Toad Tavern (well, side stage really, because they don't actually have a back stage per se', but anyway, you get the idea) from the "Drummin' For Lou" benefit show. That's a lot of drums. Even more drums on the other side of the stage.

Toad Stage

Here's a lovely view of the stage at The Toad Tavern in Littleton, Colorado. Of course it had a lot of drums on it when I was there last weekend. There was also a big monitor next to my head which managed to thump my brain pretty good. There were people there as well, so this photo is misleading. After my performance, I stood at the end of that bar you see in the foreground and drank a beer. Hooray for me. Hooray for beer. Hooray for The Toad Tavern.

Hotel Room Post

It's 12:41 a.m. here in Littleton, Colorado and I have just finished rehearsing the material that I will be presenting at the clinic tomorrow at noon. Hotel rooms are interesting places to practice drumming! You have to use a practice pad and try to play very quietly. I was at Tony Chadwick's house earlier this evening checking out the new Po' Boy line and I must say it was a lot easier to practice there. I am excited to show these things off tomorrow. The Venus is excited too because she knows I'm going to play her favorite song: TVOWA (that homage to art history and anthropology that everyone loves so much). I wonder if it's obvious that I'm wound up and may have trouble getting to sleep? I sure hope I hear that wake up call I scheduled!

Progress Report

Wow. Here's a pic Tony sent me of the new bass drum. Very different look on the lugs from other Po' Boy stuff. I like it a lot, and look at that grain. Once you see this with the rims and heads and the toms, you'll drool. I'm so stoked about this. This is the new line and I guess I'll be premiering it next weekend... in what I'm told is going to be a good sized turn out. Hey, no pressure! Damn that's a beautiful drum!

Anima Art

Yes folks, here it is. Illustrious Anima Obscura E-flyer art for your personal viewing pleasure. Each of these is a genuine original advertisement promoting good clean fun for you and your friends. My personal favorite is the one on the left there. That artwork is actually from the cover of a little pulp comic book that I bought in a small town in Pakistan three years ago. The text is in Urdu, so I have no idea what the story is but the cover art probably sums it up pretty well. I added all of the text stuff with Photoshop.

Next Big Gig!

Can't wait to see how this one goes... five other bands I've never heard of, at a club I've never played at, through a "promoter" I've never met, on a night none of our fans will come out, across the street from a toxic waste clean up site! Oh well what the heck, music is all about meeting new people and having a good time, isn't it?. Or is it all about organizing and manipulating sound with some regard for melody, harmony, and rhythm? I'm never quite sure. Anyway, I will not be daunted by the whispered lies of the Spider of Negativity! I will charge once again into the breach! My sword is tempered, my loins are girded in steel! I shall prevail... and I will drink a beer and have a good time playing really loud music!

On a side note, is that E-poster kind'a weak? If you know me... I didn't make it. Okay? My E-posters are all better than that one. Really.

New Club

Looks like this is the next place I'll be playing. Anima Obscura is booked to play on March 21st at 11:30. I drove by the other night and realized it's right across the street from a Motorola plant I used to work at. Have I ever mentioned how much I detest Motorola? Probably not, because there's not enough server space to store the volumes of derision that I could type about the house that Galvin built. Chances are I've skipped that subject because it has nothing to do with music. Thank God. I certainly hope my proximity to that cursed cesspit won't have a negative effect on my performance.

Freakin' Bars

So I quess we're playing this place or maybe not or ... huh? Right so I sent them a note and asked can we play and they said sure they've got a Friday and Frank and Eliot said we could get more people if it was a Saturday so I asked them if we could play a Saturday and they never responded. Then a guy sent me a note and said we can play on Friday March 15 and if we had a good response they'd have us back and I asked if they could have us on late like 10 or 11 so I wouldn't have to take too much vacation time at work and they never got back to me. Then some other guy sent me a note and said he's booking a show on the 21st and we're good to go. So I'm like who the hell is this guy and I sent a note back to the other guy and asked if we're playing the 15th the 21st both or never. Who freeking knows? I'll let you know when I know. By the way I'm experimenting with limited punctuation and run-on sentence structure to see if I can capture a true sense of the frustration I feel when dealing with the local music scene. Let me know if you think I've been successful. Does this stream of consciousness writing technique have the kind of on-the-fly style you would associate with say french avant garde film making or is it merely pretentious and annoying and/or is pretentious and annoying something you just can't get enough of? Gosh I'm dying to know!

Adam

You gotta love this guy. He sends me a note on myspace out of the blue and says, "Hi, my name's Adam and I'm a local promoter . i do booking for bigtime and im working on an all ages show at the sets that i think your sound would fit well onto. its on 4/6, would yoube able to play that show?i can get you all the info and stuff, just email me at my booking email account phx@bigtimeentertainment. net (i cant really do any booking through my myspace account, the myspace inbox is horrible to work in) didn't see an email address so i figured best to just msg you to get the ball rolling. -adam"

What a pile of crap. Here's my response,

"Okay Adam, I'll bite (mostly 'cause that date's a Saturday and we like to play Saturdays). How come you think we'd be a good fit for this gig? Who else is on? Do we get paid? What's Phx bigtime entertainment? Do you want me to sell tickets, 'cause I'll tell you right now I don't sell tickets. I play music, I get paid. Promoters sell tickets. Bars sell beer. I play music. I get paid 'cause people pay money and buy beer to hear me play music. So don't scam me, don't sham me. If you're legit, I'm okay. If you're shit, go away. Simple as that.

Michael, Anima Obscura

P. S. our bass player says The Sets sucks. Better be good or he won't even think about it."

What d'ya know. Adam hasn't responded.

Spooky Weirdness

This doesn't happen every day. Last month we played a gig at a local favorite called Hollywood Alley. The opener was Thankful Birds. The T-Birds were scheduled to play a new club called The Haunted Castle. They told me who to write so we could play there too. I emailed and sent messages through myspace. I called the number and I drove by the place. This went on for a couple of weeks with no response, no results. Then my buddy Ken sends me a news article about a guy who wanted to open a Halloween themed bar called The Haunted Castle. It so happens that when the city of Tempe turned down his application for a liquor licence, the owner of said house of horror snapped. He sent letters to city officials and newspapers saying that he planned to teach them all a lesson. He was planning to go to the Superbowl with a high powered rifle and start shooting football fans. He drove all the way to the Glendale Sports Arena armed to the teeth, then changed his mind at the last minute and turned himself in to the police. I still haven't heard anything back from those guys. Guess we won't be playing there any time soon. Neither will the T-birds. But hey, the bar's myspace page is still up if you want to send 'em a note: www.myspace.com/scarizona

After Gig Blues

Wow. I'm suffering with that odd depressing melencholy that sometimes follows a really good show. I'm asking "what now?". We had a great gig, but we have no shows scheduled to follow up. We have no recording time scheduled. We have some new song ideas, but nothing's worked up and it's kind of left me feeling a little weird and kind of blue (thank's Miles). Being an artist is so bipolar. I get this incredible high from performing, be that on the stage or in the gallery, it doesn't matter. Then a day or so after the performance or the opening, you kind of go, crap... now I have to work again. I have to practice, or write, or paint some shit. And I like practicing and writing and painting, obviously, but still there's this transition period that always occurs right after the performance or presentation. As an artist, I have two strangely seperate personalities. There's the guy on stage and there's the guy in the studio and they are very different individuals. That strange period in which one personality is forced to give over to the other is, at times, very disturbing. That's why I stuck disturbing art with this post.

Very Good Gig

Wow, that was one cool gig! Wok Star is a crappy little bar on a crappy little restaurant, but what the hell. That was a lot of fun. We had, at the most 25 people, but they loved every note. Marc Rizzo was humble, gracious, and complimentary. Not only that, but he is one freaking outstanding guitar player! It did not rain on us, although the awning did drip water on my drumset. Oh well, nothing a towell can't take care of. Friends from work came out and they were blown away by both Marc and us. Eliot thought he played like shit, but only he and I know that. Most of the audience hasn't heard this stuff and has no idea anyway. Were we electrocuted? No. Was our equipment ruined? No. Did we make any money? No. Oh well, we're alive, our gear is ok, and we had a good time. Enough said. Oh, I also had a very tasty sixteen year old single malt islay called Lagavulin.

The Show Must Go On!

40% chance. It's currently sprinkling on my house. It's 5o degrees fahrenheit and we're still scheduled to play outside at 10:40 tonight. We have a one hour time slot and Marc Rizzo is set to play immediately after us. A lot of my friends from work have taken off early to catch this show. My buddy Ken is letting me use his Suburban to transport gear so it will be dry and safely locked up while I hang to hear Marc Rizzo tear it up. Frank (my guitar player) says there is an awning over the stage and everything is grounded (that's nice!). He also tells me Marc is a super nice, humble guy, not a prima donna at all. All my friends have said they're going to buy me a drink after we play... which definitely means someone else will have to drive that damn Suburban! Okay, it's all hinging on the rain. This could rock or this could suck. If you can't be there, be here and I'll let you know how it goes.

I'm melting...! Melting...!

The national weather service says there's a 60% chance of showers tomorrow night. Crap! Our gig with Marc Rizzo tomorrow is OUTSIDE! Hell, this may be even more fun than I first thought. Maybe it will rain, our gear will be ruined, and we will be electrocuted! You have to make sacrifices for rock and roll. Or maybe we won't play. Or maybe it won't rain. Who knows what will happen. Aint life full 'o mysteries?

This Friday's Gig

Okay, I love to write about what's going on, what my expectations are, and then what actually came of it! This Friday, my band Anima Obscura is scheduled to open for The Marc Rizzo Band. Rizzo is an international recording artist - lead guitarist for the metal band Soulfly and the death metal band Sepultura. It so happens Marc resides in my home state, Arizona. It also happens his cousin works at a restaraunt/bar owned by my guitar player's Brother In Law. Marc Rizzo is touring a new CD and is going to be in Phoenix for a day. The Cousin asked him to play at the Bar. The Brother In Law told him he knows a band that would be great to open for him (mine). The Rock Star said, "Yeah, whatever". The Brother In Law told us, "You go on at 10:00 or 10:30". The Rock Star's website says the show starts at 8:00. The cover charge is $5.00. Will we get paid? God only knows. Will the Rock Star play at 8:00 or let us warm it up? Will anybody show up, since it hasn't been advertised? Will global warming wreak such havoc on the environment that the show will be cancelled due to catastrophic weather conditions? Will the Israeli's and Palestinian's ever admit that they love each other and long to consumate their relationship? Is the Great Ziggurat at Ur actually the first Pyramid, or is it merely a megalithic mastaba and not an actual architectural precedent to the Egytian pyramids of Khufu, Khafre, and Cheops?

By the way, the restaraunt is called The Chop And Wok (Chinease take out) and the bar is called Wok Star (he he). Between the restaraunt and the bar is a small, open air courtyard. The owner got a permit from the city of Scottsdale to have an open air, live show. This should prove to be an interesting experience indeed. I will be sure to let you know how it goes!

Local Proggy

Okay, I've been playing around the Phoenix area for a bit and I've noticed that there are actualy a few local bands who are proggy. Since none but about three people read this blog, I think I'm safe to mention them (I won't mention the definitely non-proggy bands we've played with). First up I'm gonna say Straylight. They have a very prog vibe, very experimental. Maybe that's why they're playing more underground clubs. They have a nice blend of commercial heavy rock vocal and rock jam band. Very good stuff.

I also like Attack of the Giant Squid. They have a really tight fusion jazz jam sound with a very Zappa improv edge. Very fun stuff that is definitely not commercial. To make matters worse (commercially) they're instrumental and they have some horns. Oh my god, talk about the commercial kiss of death. What the hell are they thinking!? Please keep it up.

Another I like is Thankful Birds. They played before us at Hollywood Alley last Friday. Unfortunately, I had to stand by the stage door with drum cases while they played (the drummers bummer). But what I heard through the door, and subsequently on their myspace, was blissful. A real Nina Simone kind of vocal with some sweet fusion backup. Like the Squids and Straylight, they're too good to be popular, but if you want a treat check out their myspace site. I think you'll like what your hear.

Please, if you're reading this blog, go hear these bands live. Music is a performance art and it is best experienced live. Sometimes best experienced in crappy little dark bars with shitty sound systems where the bands only get paid a piece of the door. Please, support live music.

Prog In Bars

I played a show at a local club last Friday night and I was pleasently surprised to hear prog on the PA while we were setting up. First I noticed Night School from Zappa's Jazz From Hell playing while I was hauling my drums in. Then, while I was setting up, I heard The Construktion of Light by King Crimson. While the sound tech was miking my drums I asked him if it was his mix. It turns out he's a huge prog fan and he actually knows Emmet Chapman. Very cool. He was stoked to see that I would be playing Chapman Stick and he did a very good job mixing it (I ran direct). I find that few of the bars we play actually know what prog is, so this was a very nice change. I had a long chat with members of the first band, Thankful Birds, and it turns out they love prog. They stayed around for our set and they were very complimentary. All in all it was a very good gig. Gives me hope for the future of America.