Still Suck
I still suck at keeping a log.

Constipated
Obviously I suck major ass at keeping a log.

Hope to see everyone on the 11th!!!

Pee Sells
I worked on the rough mixes of the new album today (the 8th), with my bud/producer Jose, in his apartment for about five hours. After going into Supraphonic for mastering and cross-fading, we'll be good to go! Things went smoothly, and I'm very happy with the results so far.

Bourboned Up
(I'm wayyyyyy behind here)

CAFE BOURBON ST.
MARCH 25th
w/ JOHNNY LA ROCK & MUSH MOUTH, SUBROC

I invited the La Rock crew down to do this ill-timed show; ill-timed because of Spring Break for OSU, many other shows in the 'bus that night, combined with the fact that I had already made everyone promise to come to my April 1st show. So essentially, no one came.

BUT, overall I had a splendid time, and so did the La Rock crew. Subroc impressed the thousands with his video-game tunes (actually, despite the sparse attendance, he did get good feedback from the few who were there, and gave away a few CDs. Which leads to to this brief tangent:

After that night, I decided I would never again give away CDs for nothing. I'm not talking about demos or promos, I'm talking about my full-length LPs that I put my heart, soul, and money into. This is a matter of me having self-respect for ME, nothing else. It's one thing if I give it to a friend or musical colleague who I know will appreciate it; but if you're a stranger to me, and I give you my CD for nothing, you're gonna treat it like it's nothing. That's how it goes for everyone.
Why'd I do it that night? I felt desperate, cuz nobody came. SO, I gave away my CD, without a sleeve or song titles, to a few drunk kids...pathetic. Never again my friends, and I would encourage Subroc and JLR/MM to never again give away their cool shit for free. Do I feel that people should be so honored to pay for my CD? Of fucking-course not! It's a matter of my own self-respect. How many times have you been given a free CD, which you then toss? I just don't want that to happen to me anymore...and trust me, it has. I used to "sell" my CDs on Ebay for a penny, to people who were in the habit of purchasing things for under 25 cents (got me)? Anywayyyyy...sorry about that, hope you're still reading...

Johnny La Rock and Mush Mouth tore it up next, with some MC action and some beat action. All night, the crowd clamored for "Speak Our Minds," and man, did the two of us ever get it. I felt really bad watching the La Rock crew with no crowd, cuz they deserve a big one. They're all hella-talented, and some of the nicest guys I've ever met.

Leroy of Ocean Ghosts, who often works the door at the venue, took off before I went on, cuz well, there was nothing to be had. Completely understandable, except for one hitch...no cover for the rest of the night? ENTER THE DRUNKEN FRAT BOYS!!! Which only PROVES my point about the CDs for free, the SAME rule applies. If you gotta pay a cover, you may think twice about paying to see the bands, if you just came to drink; very few people pay a cover to harass you on stage. I never got heckled so much in my life (well, besides middle school). There were plenty of "YOU SUCK(S)!" and "SHUT THE FUCK UP(S)!" for these non-sitcom-core fans. At the end of my set, I flipped them off (no retaliation, thankfully) and slinked off the stage. I was talking to JLR afterwords, and we were discussing about how we're both really sensitive people, and that stuff can get to us. It sure pissed me off, but hey, it's all part of the biz, right gang? Eh?

Well fuck it then, party at my pad! The whole gang came back to our house to pound girl drinks and wax philosophically. Pound we did! It was a great time, the best after party since JLR and MM played the keyboard for me in the parking lot of the Hi-Fi.
Around 7AM, we went to pound some McGriddles and hash browns, which later made hash browns come out of my butt (sorry, I get dizzy when typing long blog entries). Fun times with rad companions, and I hope we can do it all again one day soon, with a better crowd.

Disrupting Things
Taken from a Ray Bradbury message board:

"Hello all! I am a new teacher, teaching grade 11 core english at the academic level in ontario. One of my topics includes the electric grandmother as a possible resource. every time i try to look up something on the internet about it, some band with the same name comes up. can anyone lead me to a good site that gives me info on the film, poems or stories that may be connected to it, or even some hints on how to use the film as a teaching tool."

I'm so rad!

Anyhoo, this coming week I'll have some entries about the last three shows, including tonight at Supraphonic Studios.

Later Gators

Make Money Money
All right, so I'm working again, at a semi-real job, making money for the bills/album this summer.

I'm pumped for the next two shows, Johnny La Rock & Mush Mouth at Bourbon St., and then Andyman's with Infinite Number of Sounds, Scotty Boombox, & Ocean Ghosts.

We're probably looking at sparse attendance at Bourbon Street, as I already made everyone commit to Andyman's a while ago. Ya don't wanna overdose on Grandma......yes you do.

Circle Gets The Squares
I had a blast last night with my boys The Squares, we got 'em sent off on their tour of Russia, or something. Check 'em on the link page! They'll rock your shirt.

Supermercado was there, doing an enjoyable acoustic cover set, including "Alex Chilton" by The Replacements. Turns out I did a 2002 show at Little Brother's with Lee of said band, when I was doing that Upchuck Berry thang. Small world, Merle.

Working hard, or hardly working? hahahahahaha....
So, I'm working away at my prospective summer release. Ya know...I do what I do, baby.

I turned 27 years of age a couple days ago. It's a little different.

I need cash. Everything is broken.

Losing My Virginity
Last night at Pat's was the first time I ever did a show without the aid of Foxy Girl on slide-show, as a result of her recent moratorium against shows outside of Columbus. We both agreed it's for the best, as she gets grumpy on long drives, among other cute grumpy tendencies.

It went swimmingly; Jeremy from The Squares operated my slide-show, and he kicked major ass. My buddy Steve Barrett did sound, and it was great. I got exhausted after a while with my thrashing about, and I needed to be hauled offstage, a la Bret Michaels in that one Poison video. The Squares kicked it all the way live, I was rockin' out totally. I left with Jeremy following the band Your Friend, who were fun despite technical problems.

Keeping with the trend as of late, I had nothing to sell...except buttons. I gave two buttons to a couple members of The Squares. It was rad.

Redemption Song
Yo dawgs...as the titled indicates, I was redeemed at Cafe Bourbon Street last night, on the bill with November Loop. After a sound check that took a million years, with help from my friend Colin, we were able to get the show on the road with the new direct box hookup. Only Growing Pains caused me any problems, but they were minimal. I felt stiff up there, but no one seemed to notice. NL rocked, we had a time, great fun.

I'm told I get too uptight about my performances...it's true. However, there's a world of difference between sounding not-so-great and being unable to perform. That's all I wanted to do, to perform, and it was great. Thanks to everyone involved for their help and calming influence.

Mecca Lecca Hi Mecca Heiney Ho (Or however it's spelled)
Funny stuff. I had my ass-kicking, text-only website up on bandmecca.com for two years. I sort of forgot about it/stopped caring when I became a rock star, except for when doing Google searches, Band Mecca would always come up first, as opposed to my real site. This always kinda bugged me, so I sat down today and took the time to put my real website up there. I couldn't get them to send me my password for the longest time.

Band Mecca is a site with band listings, most of whom you've never heard of. Matt from Infinite Number of Sounds told me about it; they're on there, and they've never sold a single record through Band Mecca.

The band Bowling For Soup (carbon-copy radio pop/punk), who has found mainstream success, is listed on the site. Guess we all gotta start somewhere.

When I Wake up in my Makeup
So there's a makeup date with the Squares, at Pat's on February 17th. Radical.

I got my digital processor, and I'm having a blast. I also got my direct box, and I'll be able to properly test it at Bourbon St. next Friday.

Sweet.

Also, my friend Josh (see the Hair, Teeth entry) said that I did not paint him as treacherous enough. Here goes: "HE'S A FUCKING MOTHERFUCKING ASSHOLE WHO LIKES BLACK METAL!!!" I hope he appreciates it.

"12 Inches of Snow" - Snow
Ok, so the Pat's gig with The Squares got cancelled, along with about every other Cleveland show on the 22nd. Well, that's a bummer, but I wasn't looking forward to making a two hour trip with the other boys only to play to an empty house. I wasn't feeling very well anyway, I'm still not.

I ordered a Direct Box today, and it will hopefully be here by the Bourbon St. show on the 11th. That should help prevent any future PA fiascos. This may or may not be my last gig for a little while; honestly, a lot of it hinges on how that show goes...don't ask me why.

Ok, so Portland wasn't our town...
Son of a bang, it happened again. I'm not pointing blame at anyone, it's just that the music puppy (or as J Rhodes calls it, a "beat box") faltered again last night, in a similar fashion to my debacle at Cafe Bourbon Street last August, as a result of a PA misfire. Again I maintain, it's hard to blame anyone, shit happens. It's just that on December 20th, when I did my last show at Bernie's, everything was fine, and I don't know what was done different this time.

Bottom line being, I need better equipment for my stage show. It's unacceptable for me to go up there and not be able to perform to my full capacity. No one has ever said I've done a bad show, but when I can only get through 8 minutes of my set (according to a patron) before my shit starts fucking up, there's a big problem, if not for everyone else, for me. Twice is too many times, and I'm thinking that after February I'll take some time off from live performances to get my audio equipment upgraded. I love you all who said to me both times "It was fine," but it's embarrassing for me to go up there and barely be able to get through any of my set.

Hopefully in the coming months, my friend Jill will be doing guitar accompaniment to some of my live shows. We've also been discussing a side project. But before then, I'd like to get the equipment situation in order.

Thanks to Bernie's and the other bands for their loving me anyway. It sucks too, because I left early without a cut, and it would have been a nice one.

Happenings
Ok, I'm gonna be back at Bernie's Tuesday, January 18th, opening for Kill Crush Destroy from New Jersey. They have a CD on Amazon.com, that's all I know about them.

Saturday, January 22nd, I'm at Pat's in the Flats. This will probably be my last Cleveland show for a little while. It costs a lot to go up there, and nobody ever shows up anyway. Ideally this year, I'd like to play some different Ohio cities, that is if it's affordable.

I'm aiming for a new album around summertime. That's about all for now. We at least got the projector going again.