12.12.2005
Poland Palace, California. One night off here in Yucca Valley at the Warsaw hotel for some dog walking, laundry doing, fire tubbing, and of course some of this fine computer work. Sorry for the delay on email responses and such. Internet opportunities are few and far between sometimes.
We pulled in last night coming off of a few weeks out. Top of the trip from JFK to AZ was crowned with a 2 hour layover in Las Vegas - and a hundred dollar video poker win from a ten dollar investment. The first show of the tour was in Tucson, with a beautiful launch off and a great show - albeit yet another sort of losing band battling contest - seemingly rigged. The instrumental flamenco kids took the title of winner, as well as a Budweiser logo covered electric guitar. True music.
Anyhow, we flew out to Iowa thereafter for 2 shows and a friend of the band's wedding. First stop: layover in Texas. Here we encountered a Dave Chappelle lookalike, who informed us of our first line of misfortune - we were getting booted off the flight and being put on stand-by for another flight hours later. Of course this would mean we would miss the gig that night, which was no good. We pleaded, we argued, we screamed and cursed, and he gently repeated his story to us with a slow southern smirk - was it Dave Chappelle setting us up for his show? Who knows? He seemed to enjoy the whole debaucle so much. We argued further into the loading process, took it up with his manager, made a fuss and finally got aboard the closing flight. The flight touched down in Iowa, but none of our gear showed up. It all happened to get loaded onto the next plane that we were supposed to be shuffled onto. Needless to say, more screaming, arguing, pleading, and self demeaning commentary went down. With apologies, the airline set us up with a couple nice hotel rooms and meal vouchers. We took the rental car to the gig and borrowed the equipment of Iowa City band, 3 Pounds Of Love. More stress than necessary to get to one gig, but we made it. The rest of the weekend brought us another fine show in Indiana, and the long awaited wedding. A tropical biosphere in a glass dome produced awfully rough sound that night, and near violent confrontations on stage kept the stress a flowin, but we finally wound down the trip with plenty of drinks, and breakfast compliments of Zap - ex-roadie for the Scorpions. To cap it off, we drunk dialed Rudy Schenker just to say hello.
Upon return to Arizona, we jumped back in the rig, knocked out an impromtu open mic, and started off for Colorado. The Colorado dates gave us plenty of snow, plenty of all star guest appearances, mind altering donations of all sorts, moments of dance floor nudity, and not one single opportunity to get on a snowboard. From there we hit many familiar spots, fake beer and drunken songery in Utah, Zutto sushi, double night rockin, and debauchery in the house of strangers in Idaho, roadslides and falling boulders crushing multiple cars on the freeway and making us sit in the van in the snow for 4 hours with the engine turned off so we didn't run out of gas in Oregon, missing 2 shows because of the highway mess in Oregon, still bringing in the dirty dozens to the club for after hours even though we didn't get there in time to play in Oregon, rocking the evil headed clown bar directly under the space needle in Seattle, binge eating complimentary top notch sushi in Ashland, reintroduction to beautiful sunny weather and breathtaking North California coastal views in Caspar, and of course losing every penny in my pocket at every table available in Reno. Las Vegas = good. Reno = bad. And back to California for some Irish eats, drinks, and tunes on the way home. Well, home for some anyway. Another week to go, should be good times to revisit Arizona and Colorado before heading back out to New Jersey for Xmas - not to mention a costume-clad Sketchy Testates experimental spectacle at the Stone Pony, and the potential completion in the player hunt for Blazed.
And then the eagerly anticipated Boise...
10.26.2005
Back in the flooded trenches of New Jersey. The rain has been relentless for the past few weeks, with but only several breaks for sun and smiles. Living across the street from the Atlantic, our neighborhood has been getting good rips of wind and water. Plenty of street closures and flooding to go round, making it difficult to get around, and even less pleasant to be working outside on the jobs we've been up against. 2 weekends ago I was nearly trapped here with no escape - but finally made it to Newark to catch a plane to Phoenix for a weekend with Warsaw. After several hours of waiting at the airport, and missing the first 2 sets of flights out of town, I went for a first class upgrade and was treated with a few minutes of turbulence followed by sunny skies above the clouds, and a relieving warm weekend in Arizona. Not to mention the hospitality of our AZ friends and the usual Warsaw debauchery.
This was somewhat of a decompression weekend for me to revisit my Burning Man companions. Just last month we all experienced the wonders of Burning Man for the first time. We didn't have the facilities to be fully prepared, but were generously taken care of by our Reno hosts - Jub Jub's Flying Circus. The tour schedule put us there for only 3 nights of the madness, and we made the most of our short stay. I'd like to show you pictures of everything we saw, but I really had no ambition to carry my camera around the desert. In fact in the 2 months I was traveling, I didn't take my camera out a single time. Yep. Who cares, right? Not me. Regardless, the sights were swell and a great time was had by all. We managed to play 2 (or 3) times at Burning Man. One day and night we played on a double decker 2 car art train. It was literally rockin - and we canvased the entire desert with music. The following night found us on a stationary stage back at camp. I suppose it was about 10 o'clock at night when we started, and 7 o'clock in the morning when we finally stopped. Marathon. It all seemed like a great time and wonderful idea until we had to load up and drive to Boise. In an altered state of consciousness, I climbed in the back of the van to find some well earned rest, and not even an hour later I was being shaken by our in house Cousin Balki to do some driving. From my coma, I floated to the driver's seat and took the dust filled van through the mountains for the next 8 hours to Boise. I think some of the other passengers may have been awake for a moment or two during that drive, but I know I never really gained consciousness until I came burning down a mountain in Nevada and got the van bouncing on its freshly ruined shocks. After a few bounces I could have sworn we got our wheels off the ground, and everyone's sleeping bodies were launching off their seats. Naturally they all were shaken awake and started to scream, and I naturally reacted to their screams by slamming on the brakes. The flying bodies were then thrown against the seats in front of them, I gained control of the van and kept us cruising down the highway. Within seconds, the gang was snoring sound asleep as though nothing had ever happened. This was enough excitement to get me to Boise, although the sleep depravation and detox action put me in horrible shape for that night. Nothing a little whiskey couldn't take care of though...
The rest of the Warsaw trip was fantastic as usual. My leg of the trip wrapped up with a week in Hawaii with the band. Definitely a highlight of the tour, we had several great shows, multiple days of surfing, virtually no sleep, and took in one Testament concert. Ahh, good times. From there we hit the mainland, and I got back out to Jersey for a reality dose, and to spend the next week or so with Rayden. We've been having a good ol' time and somehow the weather usually manages to cooperate when he stays here.
Since being back, the Jersey crews have thrown down with some local shows, and some not so local. Sketchy Testates keep the chaos coming, and will be taking it to a new level this weekend for a Halloween bash. The DoDads jammed it last weekend to good response following the smokin write up in Jersey music rag, the Aquarian. And an all-star cast has put together a hippie flavored rock and roll band - tentatively called Son Of Scarab. We did the New York Brotherhood Winery gig that is usually taken care of by Jade Monkey, and we'll be doing a Halloween farm party in North Jersey this weekend.
A little further up the road in NYC, Blazed has been on the hunt to fill the guitar spot. We've been trying folks out, and I think we've found our man. More news to come on that. When the band is finally complete, the label deals will be ironed out, and the fun begins - or perhaps the party starts. Ahem.
Beyond that, the plans are being made for a possible fall tour with Warsaw, an extended winter stay in Boise, and a tour in February for Skeleton Key - who by the way finally has a new record out. The label hasn't really been the most professional bunch of fellows with us, but they finally got it together enough to get this thing out. Check it out and buy one for yourself online at http://dotellrecords.com
8.25.2005
Looks as if this department has been neglected as of late - but I finally have a quick chance to put up an update for the 2 folks that read this. The several summertime weeks I spent at home offered some time to hang loose with Rayden - many weekends at the beach, lighthouse, and playgrounds of New Jersey. The rest of the time was filled with catching up on work at the photography studio, and sweating profusely on a couple of house framing jobs. Yep. Got to pay them bills somehow.
In the world of rock and roll, Blazed had the pleasure of sharing the stage with Twisted Sister for a weekend in Philly and Long Island. Definitely one of my favorites, and once again they blew us all away. Back in New Jersey, the ever developing Sketchy Testates had a couple more debaucherous shows at Brighton. The growing trend is to drag in more metal noisemaking junk, more confusing costumes, and more people to freak out and make the noise with us. By the end of the night, the entire room has been taken over with musical absurdity.
For the last few weeks, the Skeleton Key troop has been on venture across the mainland. We went for a one way trip from New York to LA, hitting a good slew of stops on the way. The trip was solid and successful, and gave us the chance to finally visit a number of good friends in the west that we rarely get a chance to see, not to mention eat ground steak burgers at Danny Elfman's place. The gang went seperate ways upon arrival to Southern California, and I now await departure with the Warsaw Poland Bros. A good long tour awaits, with a highlighted visit to the infamous Burning Man in the Nevada desert. Perhaps more news will find its way on here, someday...
5.30.2005
The travels in New Zealand were nearly perfect. 2 weeks in the country was just barely enough time to learn how to drive on the wrong side of the road, visit with several dozen relatives in the North Island, fly along the coast with my helicopter flyin pal in the South Island, climb to the summit of Rangitoto Island, and hit up a few beaches and taverns along the way. Many thanks to our many hosts down there - I can't wait to return.
Left the Islands for another week in Boise, to see the rest of the family and have the mark of the Naked Cult finished up by Travis at InkVision (thanks to Jay's untimely visit to some place called jail.) Got to sneak in a few more viewings of the local rock and roll outfits at a plethora of bars, basements, and bedrooms, and headed back to the East.
Upon return, I took on the tasks of not only finishing the move into the Studio in Highlands, but also developing it as an avenue for business in the portraits department. So the past few weeks has seen us putting together a presentation for a bridal show, and arranging a gallery open house for this very weekend. Many, many hours invested. This of course has consumed most every free minute of my life for the past month. In amongst the madness, I've managed to have a fairly good variety of particularly unique Tri-State area shows.
More fill in the blank rock dives have had the pleasure of Blazed showcasing it's currently rotating stock of musicians. The two monumental highlights in the past several weeks would have to be 1) acquiring actual musicians to cover the bass and newly added second guitar parts. Makes playing so much more enjoyable when the rest of the band actually has an idea of how to play their instruments... and 2) driving all the way to Philadelphia to play to a little crowd of South Street folks, some of which who didn't like us, and one of which that got his head beat in by our leather-chap weilding frontman. It appears he doesn't like people throwing things at him and trash-talking his band. Regardless, the band is tighter than ever, and gearing up for some bitchin rock and roll meltdowns on some bigger stages in the area.
Another trip to Philadelphia yielded an actual night of rest, in an actual hotel room, and no Philly Cheese Steaks whatsoever, followed by a 5am wakeup call for 6am stage load-on for Amfibian. We did the Race for the Cure, and played in front of thousands of people, with the stage facing in the opposite direction. Don't ask. I still can't figure it out. Definitely a new personal record for earliest show. Amfibian got together for a farm BBQ the following weekend, and over some burgers and beers, the word was that only one show was left for the band - at least in that incarnation. Of course that final show was but a few days away, and fell on the same night as the DoDads CD release rager in New Brunswick.
The George Street playhouse had the pleasure of hosting the DoDads last week, along with a number of theatre and dance performances, and an art exibit. With matching suits and an overflowing cooler full of brew in the dressing room, DoDads nailed a perfect set and rocked the house. It was truly a great night, and pictures on the site are most certainly on the way. Another fine showdown is on the way for this weekend, with new NY favorites, Country Club. Any smokin band that not only has a blistering horn section, but pulls off Van Halen's "Romeo Delight" is top notch in my little black book.
New things in the mix for me include hitting horn lines on a few tunes for White Owl and the Gotham City Players. Funk punk stylings with various members of White Trash and some of us Skeleton Keyers. Other impromptu projects that have been popping up are the Sketchy Testates - comprised of a Brighton Bar All-Star cast doing freeform indy noise riffery in which I get to finally pick up the bass guitar again; and the Juxtaposed Angels - which is basically a juxtaposition of several jazzers, several rockers, and a pirate, vying for sound waves. I'm back on the slide trombone in this troop. The result of course is way too many people on stage, and a lot of sound. While the Sketchy Testates will be attempting a repeat performance this month, the Juxtaposed Angels may have been a literal one-off production. Select members from both bands make up the cast in Mau Mau Tsunami, a band of high volume and tiki madness in which I occasssionally get an invite to blow bone over. Last night was without a doubt their best performance ever. After reconstructing the Brighton Bar the previous night until 8am, the place looked like an island tiki bar - grass skirts covering every wall, tiki statues, straw accessories, and bamboo as far as the eye could see. In honor of Jacko's birthday, a full-on chief's suit was created out of skulls, grass, bamboo, coconuts, and Long Branch voodoo. The rest us decked out in grass skirts and tribal face paint and marched into the room with bongos bangin and spears twirlin. Truly a sight to see. Needless to say, pictures were taken, and will be on the site here very soon.
More rock to commence through the summer, as it finally warms up and the beach across the street beckons. I'm thoroughly pleased that Skeleton Key has finally booked another cross-country trip. Can't help but love returning to the West Coast. Hope to see some friends, and keeping my fingers crossed that there will be no major injuries or visits to any hospital emergency rooms this time around...
4 . 1 . 2005
Back in Boise for the week, en route to New Zealand. The past couple months have been non-stop and well stocked with travels and tunes. Got to put another few weeks in with the Warsaw gang up and down the West Coast. Yet another pleasure cruise through a number of familiar stops, and a few new ones – for me anyway. Some of the highlights - seeing the newest member of the Poland family at only several weeks of age, commandoing our way into a sold out concert and hitchhiking our way out of $100 cab fare during X-Games in Aspen, musical collaborations with former Mosquitones Eric in Denver and Theo in Boise, saving a drunk man’s life in our hotel in Boise, Boise in general, unlimited Guinness at the Bullet Bar and unlimited losing in the casinos in Reno, and losing band members along the tour until only the Queen of Ska and I were left to drive the Jager van from Reno to LAX on our own. Check out the new Warsaw live disc featuring plenty of tracks from my first tour with the band in 2001 at www.invisiblemass.com.
From the airport in Los Angeles, I flew the friendly skies back to New Jersey to spend 24 hours at home and set out on the next trek with Skeleton Key. The trip started in Brooklyn and worked south to Florida and back. The on stage pyro antics made a familiar reappearance on this tour, and brought trouble for the first time. On a considerably small stage, in quite possibly one of our least favorite venues to play, my puddle of burning alcohol seriously offended the sound man, and caused him to cut the sound system, turn on the lights, evacuate the building, and throw a rather impressive fit. We finished the song and packed up for our exit - sans payment and with absolutely no invite to return. The rest of the trip was considerably more successful, and brought us throughout the South East with perfect timing to escape extra helpings of cold and miserable weather in New Jersey. Definitely memorable was our guest stay in a friend’s fraternity house in Atlanta. Needless to say, obnoxious activities ensued, and the house kept us well entertained for 48 hours while Erik shipped off to NYC and back. Oh and we also had the opportunity to visit the local Laundromat, and you know. Do some laundry. More friendly encounters met us through the rest of the journey with a revisit to our Florida compatriots, Landing On Land, and a visit with friends old and new in Nashville. Rounding out the tour was a stop in one of our favorites: Dayton, Ohio. The show seemed to be a winner, and even more impressive was our ambition to wake up and motivate at 9am the following morning to get to the studio and record 3 tunes for a release on Dayton’s Do Tell Records. The guys have always been terrific hosts to us, and have now offered to put out a split EP with music from High On Fire, as well as some of our own. They also talk of travels to Europe in our future. In the 5 hours studio time they allotted us that morning, we managed to track all our instrument tracks for the EP, consume a sickly assortment of coffee and cream puffs, and have our van’s alternator assembly taken apart and put back together. The goal was to have it replaced, but this didn’t end up happening until early in the morning in Du Bois, Pennsylvania 2 days later. Fortunately we realized the van’s battery was draining at a dangerously rapid rate, just as we were passing that lovely town in the middle of the night. So we decided to grab drinks at the Hitchin’ Post, and bunk at the hotel that the bar’s staff recommended to us in the name of: 1) waking up alive, and 2) not waking up staring down the barrel of a loaded weapon(?).
Upon return to New Jersey, I was swindled into doing the one man band production again, with the usual 24 hours notice, which happily transformed into an amalgamation of music from three drummers and a pirate. The few folks at the club took pictures of us, and left the building confused and with ears-a-ringin’. I also had the opportunity that week of playing the worst attended show in my life with Blazed, and then having to retire yet another bass player. Fortunately, we made up for it with a couple of well received shows the following weekend in Long Island and upstate New York, both featuring the thundering guest bass riffs of the infamous Craig L. More Blazed shows are to come upon my return to the East Coast, and as of right now, there is no one to fill the cavernous black hole we have on the four-string. We do however have a new CD released and up for sale on the band’s website, as well as through www.skrew.com.
Also on the horizon is a somewhat impromptu daytime gig doing jazz standards with the Bone Tones, and a long anticipated CD release party for the Do Dads new album “Mermaid Parade” on Unsmashable Records. A good deal of time was put into making the disc, and the music came out amazingly satisfying. I don’t know a lot of details about the upcoming release show, but it’s rumored to feature a plethora of showcased artwork, and will be fun to play as I’ve been out of town for the past few Do Dads gigs.
The most anticipated highlight of the year so far is about to take place in only 9 hours – a return trip to New Zealand. Stay tuned for pics and notes from paradise…
1.23.2005
10 to 20 inches of snow are piling up outside my door as I pack up and prepare for spending the next few months (or years) on the road. If they can clear the runways at Newark, I’ll be flying to L.A. and won’t be in front of my own computer for a very long time.
So 2004 flew by in no time, and ended with a blast of illegal concerts and Chartreuse. I can think of no better way to ring in the New Year, than by taking part in a Boise tradition of recent years. When a house party wouldn’t let its invited bands perform, they revolted by taking over the grocery store parking lot across the street. At the stroke of midnight, the soothing thrash of Torn Anus fills the cold night air, along with the fists of the crowd, the spray of booze, and exploding fireworks. What a damn good time. This year was repeat success, and followed with an encore performance by fellow rockers AOC. Unbelievable. I can’t recommend a party to remember anywhere in the world better than Boise for New Years. I’m going to try and get some pics from the night up here to check out. Anyway, a ton of good time and great friends, including those that passed out in the lawn, had their jaw broken (and consequently wired shut), and made out with a live fish.
The rest of my Boise visit was equally satisfying, aside from it’s melancholy moments. Upon arrival, I had the honor of performing 3 times in one night in tribute to my friend, Jack Barsness. In honor of the life he ended on Thanksgiving, a reported sold out crowd was in attendance for a night of music and art. I had a truly awkward feeling and mindset through the night, and watched as everyone in the place succumbed to their vices in celebration, just as I’m sure Jack would have. Nevertheless, it was an amazing success in raising money for a detox program in Boise, and it was really comforting to see his family members enjoying themselves and taking in the response from all of Jack’s friends. Since leaving Boise, I rarely had the chance to spend time with Jack, but as little as two weeks before his passing, I sat alone in a completely empty bar in Manhattan (exception being the kindly bartender that put up with me), and chatted with Jack on the telephone for nearly an hour. He would always nail me with a random text message at just the right time through this past year, and I couldn’t have asked for a better call to take and share my bourbon with long-distance, than from Jack himself. By the end of the conversation, we had planned to celebrate New Year’s together in Boise, one way or another. Unfortunately, we had our reunion one night before New Year’s in a very different way than I had planned – me at a bar again, and he in a little square box of ashes. I’ll miss hearing from Jack, but never forget the fun times we shared in Boise, and all across the country playing music and getting by.
The rest of the nights in Boise were spent with the good friends who are still around. Gordie Howe Trio Unit worked out a set of oldies, including a few favorites by one of the first bands I was welcomed into: Haggis. The songs came back to everyone smoothly enough, and we got to throw them down in a downtown bar with North American rock icons: Manville, and also at a North End house basement with an amazing band from Colorado called the Great Redneck Hope. Hopefully we’ll be able to get together again for some GH3Unions in the future. Pics from these shows will likely show up on my picture page too.
Midway through the Boise family and friends visitations, I got a call from Warsaw. They put me on a plane to L.A., where I spent the weekend with them in the absolute pouring rain. We played in Hollywood, and Santa Barbara, and I caught a plane back to Boise before I even caught up to where I was. It was a great weekend though, and made even better by the appearance and company of some California transplant friends from Boise. I can’t wait to do it again! Nevertheless, it wasn't until I returned to Idaho that the real business was to be taken care of. The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly got together for a Pro-series poker tournament. The competition was hot and heavy, and the Melvins and Rush were in full volume, but I still managed to walk away with over a dollar in winnings, and a belly full of potato chips. I took my money and ran to Grainey's to watch the SpindleBomb gentlemen get the boogie woogie together. After enjoying ourselves till 7:00 am the previous night, we vowed to take it easy and actually go home before the sun made it's daytime appearance.
And that brings me back to New Jersey, where I have spent a short week, to shovel snow, do some laundry, and prepare for the next round. Blazed got to sneak in one well done show in Gloucester last night, and our CDs will be done and ready to go out in a matter of weeks. The website has also been completely redone – check it out: www.Jesseblaze.com. Now the clock approaches 6:00 am, and I’m going to find my way to my bed one more time…
12.1.2004
Guess it’s time to update this thing. Finally a quiet streak to be at home and have some family time. Amfibian played its final performances of the year – which seemed to get a little better each time. The group has disbanded for now, and will be throwing around ideas for new songs and a new album to come around in 2005. The line-up is questionable, and so is the direction of the music it seems. Nevertheless it was a great project to be part of in this incarnation. Thanks to Chris, Tom, and the gang for the experience, as well as the midnight cornfield excursion at the Farm.
October brought Skeleton Key on a quick romp through the Northeast as support for Rasputina from NYC. Our first night out was in Boston, and just happened to fall on the night the Red Sox won the World Series. We had the pleasure of witnessing the results of a broken curse in Major League Baseball on the sidewalks and streets of Boston. Needless to say, plenty of honks and high-fives were exchanged, and somewhere across town a legion of riot cops lined the streets to save the people from themselves. Rasputina closed the show that night with their trademark sound of 2 singing cellists and drums. We wound down the night over some fine bourbon and a few rounds of Kaiju DVDs with our gracious hosts Chef Nate and Joanne, and special guests the brothers V – Matt and Ben. Always a highlight to see the Boston transplant gang…
The rest of the trip with Rasputina took us through a few more nights of cello folk rockin’. The most memorable surely was at Mr. Smalls in Pittsburgh. The place is truly a compound of coolness. The music venue was a massive and ancient stone church that had been refinished and set up with a bar that supplied the free drinking all night. The stage was complete with altar as the drum riser. Rasputina recorded the night’s show for future release, as this place has facilities set up upstairs a couple stories up to do so. In fact a complete assortment of recording and rehearsal studios are built into the joint, as well as a cottage arrangement with several rooms for guests. Just an amazing setup overall. The next two nights were essentially 48 hours of Halloween which included Mike Watt, overindulgence, a real-life version of Bender from Futurama, giving away my clothes, overnight driving (sleeping), the return of the Mustache, the return of the 3 piece suit, the foul taste and quick disposal of fake blood capsules, and return to my own bed. It looks like the Skeleton Key recording session originally planned for December will be put on hold temporarily. However, plans are already in order for a tour down the East Coast in February.
I’ve had the pleasure of spending other time in the studio, aside from doing the new Skeleton Key musicale. 3 of us did a rather impromptu session, apparently for a CBS network media file. Perhaps you’ll be lucky enough to hear our bone-crushing riffs looped in the background of a Monster Truck Showdown clip in the near future.
We laid our horn tracks for the Do Dads album in October too. This project is coming together nicely, and is going to feature some percussion work by our friend Matt from the band Sunny Daze. Now all that remains to do is mix it down and edit the final production for release. Do Dads have been at it still working the house at the Brighton Bar. The last couple outings have been sounding good, and have been opening slots for Sunny Daze – who has swindled me into jumping on stage to jam a number of their crazy smooth fusion tunes. Check ‘em out: www.sunnydaze.ws
In another studio far, far away (in NYC) we finally got the chance to get cracking at the Blazed demo. My drum tracks have been on tape for months, and the rest of the guys have been plugging away at getting their tracks on, but everything changed with the new addition to the band. Bobby (previously from the band Shotgun Messiah) has jumped on board to fill bass duties, and as such we had to get the songs in his noggin and get his version of the riffs on tape. That being done, the production game has begun. The material is being produced by Denny McNerney (Twisted Sister, Sevendust) at Beatstreet Studios. He is makes quick work of making the band sound good, and got a good deal of it done with our bumbling help in the studio this week. Now the dilemma of cover art starts.
Not much to speak of coming throughout the remainder of 2004. Just enjoying the time at home and preparing for next year. A trip to Boise after this Christmas brings the opportunity to enjoy whatever New Year’s pandemonium arises, as well as some live shows with Gordie Howe Trio Unit. Can’t wait. Upon return to New Jersey, the cards appear to hold a flight back out to the West Coast for a 3 week tour with Warsaw, followed by a flight to the East Coast for a 3 week tour with Skeleton Key. Followed by a long awaited return trip to New Zealand. Who knows? I may never come back!
10.5.2004
An all-star cast of Mosquitones alumni and friends showed up in Denver for the holy matrimony of Ejric and Cheryl in late August. A few nights of celebration for the couple was a terrific vacation and chance to imbibe with some familiar fools and enjoy the mountain air + roadhouse whiskey taverns. Here’s to them newlyweds, to a easy trip to Paris, and to a painless welcome back into the real world!
I departed from Denver and flew into New York, just in time to pack a bag and jump on the bus with Warsaw. One show in Manhattan, and we were off for a few weeks worth of gigs en route to the West Coast. The tour was great, and as usual improved nightly with every mile we drove away from the East Coast. The Warsaw fortuity rode high and mighty with us once again, as I ended up winning $300 in Minnesota on a pull-tab bar lotto ticket. (and consequently investing most of it back into the bar) The trip revealed its zenith in the Rocky Mountains of Colorado. The only thing that topped the shows out there was the 5am ride into the mountains to hop aboard a hot-air balloon with the Jayder. We sailed the sky and cruised the Rockies as the sun came up with Captain Bubba – look for pictures here on the site. The tour later brought us to Hollywood for an amazing gig, and ended up at the Poland Brothers headquarters in Palm Desert with some Polish sausage and a side of Crix Poland himself. With a couple days off, I took the liberty of trekking all the way out to the Pacific, to visit some family and friends. Upon arrival, an old friend, Dylan, hosted an afternoon surfing excursion in Oceanside, and a couple evenings of relaxation – to prepare for return to the Warsaw van and a few final dates in Arizona. Thanks to Shoshanna and the rest of the Arizona gang, the southwest ruled yet again, and care was well taken of us before I boarded flight back to the Beast.
Back on the East Coast, I was able to return to the wonders of rock with Blazed. We jumped right back into things with a fantastic show in upstate New York, an awful show in Manhattan, and one right in the middle out in Long Island with team Unit Breed (followed by an unplanned stop to watch the Unit Breed indulge on White Castle, and vomit it all back up in the parking lot.). While I was touring with Warsaw, the rest of the Blazed gang had been hard at work in NYC’s Beatstreet Studio, and nearly finished tracking guitars and vocals over the drum tracks I laid 3 weeks previous. The rough mixes sound full and flavorful, and feature some background vocal works by the legendary Dee Snider. More work is scheduled in the studio to finish the tracks in the coming weeks – followed by the release of the demo EP upon completion.
A short visit to my house by the aforementioned Unit Breed yielded yet more chaos. Previous appearances by the band have produced crashed computers, tainted hot tubs, broken glasses, busted kitchen appliances, and more – creating an omen of destruction in their presence. To top all events that have come before, the band walked into the house and out onto the back patio. As we quietly admired the dark backyard in the still of their first night in town, something rustled high in the 100-foot trees. Within moments of noticing the sound, a deep crackling sound commenced, and rapidly turned into a massive breaking and crashing sound as a tree branch snapped off up above and fell hundreds of feet to the ground, smashing off other limbs and eventually destroying 30-feet or so of my fence. I now am the proud owner of a huge pile of broken trees and fence particles in my back yard. While some may be quick to blame the recent sweep of residual hurricane and tropical storms, I know the truth of the Unit Breed omen of destruction. Beware.
In other news, Amfibian played yet another sold out show last weekend – this time at the Crossroads Theatre in New Brunswick, NJ. This was definitely the best night out I’ve had with these guys. The group is really solidifying, and we actually had the chance to work out a couple horn tricks for the night. Another highlight of the evening was getting the chance to meet and chat with Trey Anastasio, who showed up for the majority of the day to spend time with the band and kick back. Unfortunately, when show time arrived, he managed to kick back right out the back door and head home. It would have been great to have him sit in as planned, but the night was a blast nevertheless. Amfibian has a couple more promising shows on the books in the coming months, and plans to write and record some new music this winter.
Also heading into the studio is New Jersey’s own DoDads. The rhythm section has laid down some surprisingly satisfying tracks for us to work over, and have introduced a new guitar player into the mix. We had the chance to sample the line-up in its current complete form the other night at the Brighton opening up for Sunny Daze. In the coming weeks, Varga and I will be refining the horn lines and heading in for overdubs. Where will demo attempt numero five-o lead us? No one can know for sure. One can only guess and imagine. Nevertheless, it will be gratifying to finally have a finished product everybody can be happy with from the first full-time band to bring me into the bowels of live music in New Jersey on a regular basis.
8.19.2004
Welcome to the new and improved site. Enjoy. In the process of all this website modifying, I managed to lose the epic entry of mundane information I had prepared. I’ll attempt to recite the highlights for you…
The Skeleton Key tour returned us to most of the South, and many other familiar spots on the East half of the continent. We managed to skip the hurricanes and tropical storms, but did not escape the traditional summertime pleasures of heat and extreme humidity (enhanced by our ride’s lack of functional air conditioning). Thankfully, the shows were terrific and infinite enjoyment was had (for the most part.) As for man vs. road, I think we broke even, with visits to two different hospital emergency rooms (once for my propane tank crushed foot, and again for a rusty nail through my other foot), one day of physical therapy (for Erik’s mangled spinal system), and several hundred dollars of rig repair (belts in NY and joints in Texas). Check the pictures page for plenty of images from the trip (thanks to Chris in Austin and Jessica in Chicago!), as well as some newly acquired shots from our June set at the Metro in Chicago (care of Carlos Canario.)
In the world of Blazed, things have been busy as well. After a decent warm up gig in NYC at Don Hill’s, we trekked to Pennsylvania to perform as support for Twisted Sister. As if this wasn’t good enough, they bestowed the pleasure of allowing us to jump on their equipment and use it for our own set. Definitely a memorable gig, we played to a good size crowd in the Penn’s Peak theatre that holds roughly 1,800. The show was recorded to video and will likely be available on DVD - check back soon for sample clips here on the site. Needless to say, Twisted Sister completely rocked the foundations in that place, and I was loving it from the 20 minute cowbell sound check that afternoon, until the final encore of the night. Plenty of pictures are up from our set (thanks to Liz for sharing her photoraphic skills). A third gig this week in Long Island helped to work out the bugs and prepare for the studio session we put in yesterday at Joe Franco’s Beat Street in NYC. We tracked drums to five Blazed songs in a few hours, and while I’m back on the road this month, the other guys will be recording everything else. The studio captured a good and meaty drum sound, and I’m looking forward to hearing the final product – to be tracked elsewhere…
Through the course of this last tour and several local gigs, I finally had a chance to put the “THECLAPP 2004S” signature Custom Drumsticks to the test like a tight leather vest. The sticks came out looking great, and Jeff got them to me lightning fast. They played (and quickly shattered) much like any other brand of stick when beaten against beer kegs, propane tanks, and broken bits of metal garbage. However, when played on any of the standard drum kits I’ve used recently, not a single one broke. They seem light for how large they are, but the wood definitely took a beating. I used a different pair for each night’s gig, as well as in the recording studio, and had no problems at all. I’m contemplating another design I’d like to try from Custom, a bit thinner, with butts at both ends. (No heads are better than one. Or is it two butts?)
7.18.2004
So this New Jersey place has managed to improve upon the monumentally horrid weather impression it has given me in my brief time as a resident. The skies have been clear and the climate has been simply amazing for so many consecutive days. We even broke out with the 4th of July out-of-state illegal fireworks display in the back yard without getting rained on. And with no casualties.
Being in town for these past few weeks have finally given BLAZED a chance to make some area appearances. The most memorable being in NYC last weekend at Sin-e. Apparently the cameramen on site were covering our gig for VH-1's reality show based on the family of Dee Snider. He came down to the gig as well, and showed up in style in a black stretch limo, complete with the rest of the family - a very cool and easy going bunch. Turned out to be the best performance by this BLAZED lineup to date, aside from the complete train wreck that started, and then re-started the show. Ouch. The band will be busy throughout the summer in NY, NJ, and PA tightening up the live show and preparing to get into the recording studio.
This week starts off another round of action for the SKELETON KEY ensemble. The trip will be just over 3 weeks long and will take us back through the south - in the heat of the summer. Yep. Sweatlodge supreme rollin' down the highway once again. If you're into hearing the set from last month's tour, the METRO in Chicago recorded our show and it can be found at www.emusiclive.com for download. You may also enjoy seeing some recent pics from that very same tour here on my site: our stop at Niagra Falls, as well as the show at Nyabinghi in Youngstown, Ohio (complements of the lovely Maria Bahruth)
Be on the lookout for THECLAPP 2004S signature series drumsticks - similar to a classic 5B. I recently connected with Jeff at Custom Drumsticks who finished production last weekend and shipped a batch just yesterday!!
6.28.2004
Hot damn. The heat is on. And so is the air conditioning. So after knocking the paintings down and putting a hole through the wall in Indianapolis (sorry U.S.O.M.!!), we caught a thirteen hour drive back to NYC for several more hours of slow motion traffic jamming in the ultimate heat and humidity. Another Skeleton Key venture in the bag - this time through Canada and the Midwest. The Mounties at the border were gracious enough to hold us up for an hour or two, and finally allow us entry for a few days (during which they stopped me for driving sober, and administered a blood alcohol test to prove it to themselves). Due to our brief admittance, some shows were cancelled, and a dash for the border at midnight brought us back to US soil, just in time to invade the Son of Dad compound for a number of days and nights filled with frisbee, Stroh's, and Frank Zappa. Muchas Gracias John y Maria.
The following dates snowballed into a satifactory slew of shows and fine hospitality throughout the Midwest. One mentionable favorite was at the Metro in Chicago. A great turnout at a fine joint - the show was actually recorded live and may find itself released for sale on an upcoming Skeleton Key tour. In all, the sweat lodge on wheels treated us fairly well (aside from dragging tailpipe and breaking windsheild wiper motor in the rain); and the folks of the midwest were great to us (aside from the host who blacked out several feet from his bathroom, and proceeded to snore his way onto his feet, drop trou, pinch a loaf and piss a puddle on his own living room floor. Special thanks to his dog for cleaning up the mess.) Pics from the trip will make their way up here very soon. (no there are no pics of Mr. Dumpy and his dog)
Now it's time to let my hamburger knuckles swell back into shape and return to the realm of Rock Crusading with Jesse Blaze and gang. Looks like the opportunity to compete in MTV underwater air guitar contests for OzzFest just aint going to happen. But there are a number of area shows coming up for us, and plenty more ideas in the works...
5.26.2004
After numerous rehearsals, Amfibian heads into NYC for the one of three gigs I am actually in town for. The band proceeds to perform a great night of music - complete with costumes and light effects - to a reportedly sold out crowd. Hour after hour drifts by, until approximately 3:45AM when the band finally decides to invite the other horn players and myself on stage. To my dismay, some fantastically brilliant person had found their way into the closet sized backstage area, and grabbed the mouthpiece from my horn. Needless to say, the horn don't play without a mouthpiece. However, the Vargasonic ingeniusly managed to concoct an amazing makeshift mouthpiece replica with plumbing peices and duct tape, all within the span of 2 minutes. I had no choice but to step up and make the attempt. What followed was about 4 minutes of the worst music I have ever played - all thanks to some ignorant passers by who reportedtly forgot their rolling papers.
Early the next morning the friendly skies took me to Boise for another quick visit. Good times, wonderful weather, and a bright yellow Manville T-shirt greeted me there. 5 days later, the delayed return flight from Boise finds me in a Seattle hotel overnight (or for a few sleepless hours anyway), paid for by the disorganized folks at Alaskan Airlines. Rather than going home, they then fly me to Boston just in time for the first of two Skeleton Key shows. Of course my luggage caught it's own seperate flight to New Jersey, and I got to spend a few quality hours at the Boston airport with Chef Nate, Rayden, and more disorganized folks from Alaskan Airlines trying to track it down (with brief cameos from the mildly unfriendly characters at Continental). Nevertheless, the show goes down extremely satisfactarily, and our wonderful Boston associates make the trek more than worthwhile. Massive thanks are in order for the tremendous hospitality.
Looking forward, the new Blazed lineup finally has a full set of songs and will be bringing it to the rock and rollers of Long Island. Memorial Day weekend brings BBQ jam fest in Princeton, NJ with the DoDads and Amfibian, and June 1st puts Skeleton Key back on the road. I'm looking forward to seeing more of Canada - the 24 hours I've spent there previously just wasn't enough.
5.19.2004
A succesfull two and a half week run of sparatic shows through the South brings me back to lovely, humid New Jersey, and a whole lot of lawn to be mowed. Thanks a bunch lots to the folks down yonder, especially for the overwhelming floods of hospitality in San Antonio - as well as to my Boise transplant amigos in Austin. The trip was definitely a dandy, and a seemingly perfect maiden voyage for research of the Skeleton Key ensemble, and the intricacies and wonderment therein. Thanks one more time to the Leviethan for orchestrating this chapter in noise. Some pictures from this latest tour are sure to find their way on to the site very soon. Meanwhile, the immediate musical missions at hand involve: intense rehearsing with Jesse Blaze and crew for this line-up's first gig, studio horn tracking and mixing for the Do Dads upcoming release, and the persuit of prospect junk and instrumental debris for Skeleton Key's upcoming summer tours.
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