Saturday, November 20, 2010

Closing the Year

After 2010 ends, I'm kind of stumped as to the next direction that we'll be taking in PATCH. Meaning I've got a lot of ideas (too many) but I haven't nailed one down for our undertaking in January.

What we've done so far is Trifectic. Approximately 55 minutes' worth of material. Seven songs:

1. Preclusion
2. Acknowledgments
3. Whisper a Scream
4. Silent Cache
5. An Act of 3
6. Here Again
7. The Private Collective

All of the material is based off of the hardship of realizing one's dream, and the people and situations that try to strip you of your goals. Preclusion and Acknowledgments have felt the most respectable to me. Whisper, Silent, Act of 3 have felt a little "put on". I love those songs, but they're very theatrical, using a form of music that's mainly for show and not the most personal. They're also telling about another character, not me. I'm not alluding to the fact that we're going to discard anything. I just know what my heart's pining for: more personal, PATCH-y sort of music, rather than just straight up blues and drum lines.

That being said, the next step in Trifectic will be a story relating to my current love life. On Veins and Nothing is a reflection on that aspect of my life, but I'd like to delve into a short story first before we get into that grand era. I've got intense ideas for intense music. I want to continue the angry energy we create with Preclusion and Acknowledgements and let it ride throughout the entire show. Louder, more in your face. More sexual. More uncomfortable for an audience.

December 1st will be the first time we'll be playing the original Trifectic set in its entirety to a live audience. December 17th, our Schematics CD release show, we will play a track from Schematics and Karmath: LCD. After that, expect both the personal songs to be fleshed out, and an expansion on the Whisper, Silent, Act of 3 storyline and performance.

Monday, November 1, 2010

For November 2nd, 2010

My stance for this Election Day:

"I developed an alternative agenda
A way to keep the peace within a world of strangers
Their colors all blended contradiction
So I took just one and created an eviction

You all say you’re looking for a way out
You all stay in by looking for a way out
The loudest voice is a whisper, not a shout
And that’s why, that’s why you’ll never get out . . .

. . . On the hill of Red, White, and Blue
The trusted providers of molasses and glue
Flooded the West, we’re stuck and contained
There will be no change, it’s too thick to drain
Ay oh, it’s too thick to drain

Entered the hearing with a song and a praise
Grabbed the trophied weapon laid out for display
Took the podium and gave a speech
Said what they liked: “Teach, Preach, Impeach.
With this weapon it’s either loaded or free
Locked and hidden where you can find the key.
There’s no compromise, no in between, just war.
Nobody even has a voice on this floor.”
And with a gesture I was sure they’d understand
I put a bullet into 535 heads

Policies all tranquilized my potential
To be strong, be the boss, be essential
Get a 4.0 and you’ll be behind
Blood and Duty is politics defined

You don’t hold me anymore
You don’t hold me anymore
You don’t hold me anymore
You don’t hold me anymore"

------- Selection from PATCH: An Act of 3

Show 3

Fine Line Music Cafe, Minneapolis, MN
10/26/10

1. Preclusion
2. Acknowledgments
3. Whisper a Scream
4. An Act of 3
5. Here Again
6. The Private Collective

Whisper a Scream and Private Collective were the strong ones here. Here Again was completely botched, however. Greg's bass was out of tune on one string, and I realized this as the song progressed. I started fearing "Shit, my own guitar's going to be completely whacked due to the bass!" Sure enough, it sounded like complete ass when I went to my first solo. I basically took the guitar off for the big solo, stopped the song, told everyone to point a middle finger at the guitar, kicked some pots/pans around, half-finished the song. We ended strong with Private Collective. People forgot all about the awkwardness just before (I even heard someone say on our video of the show "Well, THAT was awkward" after we stopped Here Again). Paul was nuts, jumping, swinging his guitar around, screaming and headbanging. I hope he continues to stay at that magnitude from now on. Greg was more calm. We'll just forget about the Here Again incident and tune before we go into it in the future. They can't all be zingers . . .