tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-51634026646991815032024-03-13T01:36:42.385-05:00WELCOME TO CIRCADIAPATCH musings, prose, and relations.Peter Kenyonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04729680871553462822noreply@blogger.comBlogger122125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5163402664699181503.post-73275726783528921672012-01-06T14:29:00.001-06:002012-01-06T14:31:37.646-06:00PATCH Mailing ListJoin Patch's Mailing List!!! (scroll down)<style>.nmbt_js th { display:none }</style><br /><script src="http://www.nimbitmusic.com/nrp/includes/javascript/email_signup/open_nmbt_form.js"></script><br /><br /><form id="nmbt_form" target="_blank" method="post" action="http://www.nimbitmusic.com/nrp/controllers/artist_subscriber.php"><br /><input type="hidden" name="artist_id" value="2039212"/><br /><input type="hidden" name="confirm" value="1"/><br /><input type="hidden" name="digital_id" /><br /><input type="hidden" name="hash" /><br /><table cellpadding="1" cellspacing="1" border="0"><br /><tr><br /> <th>enter your email</th><th></th><br /></tr><br /><tr><br /> <td><input type="text" name="email_address" style="width:120px;" id="nmbt_email"/></td><br /> <td><input type="submit" name="join" value="Join" style="width:60px;" id="nmbt_join"/></td><br /></tr><br /></table><br /></form><br /><script src="http://www.nimbitmusic.com/nrp/includes/javascript/jquery.js"></script><br /><script src="http://www.nimbitmusic.com/nrp/includes/javascript/email_signup/close_nmbt_form.js"></script>Peter Kenyonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04729680871553462822noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5163402664699181503.post-47730701856895980962011-09-10T17:54:00.005-05:002011-09-10T20:10:04.854-05:00THE TRIFECTIC ESSAYS (PART 3): Acknowledgments<span style="font-style:italic;">***Due to the non-fictional nature of the subject matter for "Acknowledgments", you might think "Is Peter talking about me?" if you were somehow involved with Patch in the past. Rest assured it is about people I no longer associate with. If you are reading this, it is not about you.***</span><br /><br />There is nothing I fear more than knowing all of my efforts and self-sacrifices made for an endeavor were all for naught. Time and time again, as I said in "Preclusion" (the last essay), Patch had been in a constant trial and error, try, try again anomaly. I've come to the realization that most bands go through experiences like this. Having people come and go, losing people to intoxication and addiction, failure, short sightedness, laziness, the want of instant gratification, etc. Basically, children. <br /><br />"Preclusion" is part 1 to a two part meta-story about my frustrations with trying to become a live band. The second part, "Acknowledgments", is the angriest, most visceral and non-fictitious song I've written to date. It takes direct quotes and points fingers at real people. <br /><br />Now, this might not be a polite thing to do. Embarking on meta-songwriting (I always think of that song by Carly Simon sung about Warren Beaty "You're So Vain") is a tricky business. But I think that there should be a happy medium.<br /><br />Just as there is a countless amount of broken hearted sad bastard music out there based off of real relationship woes turned into semi-fiction, it should only be allowed that there be songs about band woes. <br /><br />I basically think that if people have the gall to quit or wrong me after we've agreed to embark on a shared experience where I trust in their ability to show up on time, learn material, it's only fair that I can write a little song about my anger at being fucked over time and time again without naming names. One wrong by one person? Eh, not appropriate. Two wrongs by two people? Still not appropriate. How's about fifteen plus people? The anger was immense, and I felt I deserved a little public ventilation. <br /><br />And if you call me out on that, fuck you, to put it bluntly. You gave an agreement, you gave me your word. And you failed. To say I can't vent about it makes your abuse of your word ever more pathetic. So take your leave of absence like a man (or a woman, in one case). It's the only time I'll do it, I promise.<br /><br />Just to thank all of the people who got us to where we set out to be. <br /><br />The real honest-to-goodness people to thank would be Schuyler Tsuda, who mixed and mastered our first EP, "Schematics", and curated our debut and CD release shows. Greg Strom, who stuck with the band since the very beginning. Paul St. Turner, who also stuck it out in the end. Carl Nyflot for his photography. Taylor Park for his art inspiration and the first Patch logo. These are the people who helped get us to the beginning of Era 1.<br /><br />But the tongue-in-cheek Acknowledgments go to not all the fifteen of the come-and-go's, but a select few. Some people legitimately could not play in Patch due to busy lives and we mutually agreed that they should or could leave Patch. Some, however, just left unannounced. Disappeared. Some bridges were burnt. And I became so fed up.<br /><br />This goes to those who went AWOL.<br /><br />"Thanks, and fuck you, too."<br /><br />----------------------------------------------------------<br /><br />A. TRI<br />2. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS<br /><br />Looking at the stars, looking at the czars<br />I can make it, I can make it if I only hold on<br />You taught me how to sing, how to act, how to dance<br />How to fuck, fuck, fuck and drink my head away<br />"Tonight, tonight<br />Is the beginning of the rest of your life!<br />So grab the bull by the horns and get<br />Made, Paid, Laid<br />And by the way<br />We believe in you, we believe in you, we believe in you, we believe in you."<br /><br />So they buy up a piece of un-Real Estate<br />In a sector called "Hope" through a conjugate<br />We join hands and we smile and we celebrate<br />I can't shake off the feeling that they'll desecrate<br />Commit robbery in the worst degree<br />Friends turn into enemies<br />And thrown out down the drain<br />An abortion of another dream<br /><br />I know what you'd like<br />To smoke, drink, fuck every night<br />The small print of the deal<br />Says "Devotion isn't real".<br /><br />So take the money and run<br /><br />Fueled by mistakes and the sight of Cloud 9<br />I brought them in, one by one, with a promise divine<br />Of Art, of Truth, the components that are missing <br />In this fickle falling world where only power chords shine<br />Well, one left for money<br />And one in shame<br />And countless others who held fast to the Simplicity Game<br />YOU: I did nothing but help you out<br />YOU: You gave me nothing but a seed to sprout--<br />--the Curse of Altruism helps nobody in the end<br />Except the ones with no remorse to take advantage of a friend<br />But they believe in me, they believe in me . . . <br /><br />Well, belief doesn't play a guitar for me<br />Nor does it hit skins or tickle ivory<br />You fell between the cracks built with the void of all you lack<br />And thrown out down the drain<br />An abortion of another dream<br /><br />I know what you'd like<br />To smoke, drink, fuck every night<br />The small print of the deal<br />Says "Devotion isn't real".<br /><br />So take the money and run<br /><br />I hope you're fairing well on the other side<br /><br />And will you step up to me?<br />And will you step up to me?<br />And will you step up to me?<br />I know you won't<br /><br />----------------------------------------------------------------- <br /><br />This song was written on a Saturday night, two nights after Trifectic was conceived. It was based off of my want for raw, emotional simplicity. Something Greg could play on the drums (he had never played drums before) while I sang upfront. Paul would supply the guitars, with Greg switching over to bass on the more poignant musical parts. Same with me on the drums. It was inspired by a song from Liars called "Plaster Casts of Everything" and Nirvana's "Breed". <br /><br />I had written a musical outline immediately after "Preclusion" to see how the journey between the two songs would pan out. I wanted "Acknowledgments" to be the high point of the first third of the Trifectic set. <br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiO5k77r3FS2diRQKm0cFLmZyFoh6fux6heXQ24lX49GuvRZVaaDijzOgOq3s75Kylam37FY-EebmK-x6WCRPm1r2vB-VFBs4jFc2PoAP-71idMfVzxJ3Ss424pniOR7uWxYcRG-8mmiBE/s1600/IMGP0428.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiO5k77r3FS2diRQKm0cFLmZyFoh6fux6heXQ24lX49GuvRZVaaDijzOgOq3s75Kylam37FY-EebmK-x6WCRPm1r2vB-VFBs4jFc2PoAP-71idMfVzxJ3Ss424pniOR7uWxYcRG-8mmiBE/s400/IMGP0428.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5650879534204254098" /></a><br />A storm was raging outside. Perhaps the most violent storm of 2010. As I was about to start on the lyrics and riff writing on Word, I got a call from my roommate who said "Are the tornado sirens going off at the house?" <br /><br />I said "Tornado?!" Immediately after I said this, sure enough, the tornado sirens started blaring. I checked the weather and apparently a funnel cloud was headed directly toward the house. Yet, a minute later, the sirens turned off. Reports were on and off about the funnel cloud, so I thought "Whatever" and continued writing. <br /><br />Writing with a raging storm outside of your window, thunder blasting from the heavens, tornado sirens off in the distance, is extremely conducive to writing angry, bitter lyrics. The crux of this song was written in the space of one hour with the storm, only paused by the arrival of my girlfriend, Kristy, who had been driving through the storm from Wisconsin to stay the night, meaning that any efforts to keep writing the song would have been the rudest thing to do in light of her harsh travels. The song was finished the following Sunday afternoon.<br /><br />The lyrics are both direct quotes from the aforementioned fifteen and direct references to how some of them left. The notion of "Smoke, Drink, Fuck" was a quote from a close friend (one of the people who actually helped legitimately in getting Patch off the ground, so this song isn't directed toward him) about the nature of what we've heard local budding rockers say is the ultimate goal. To be at a level where the goal is to play your music as a means to get to the rest of your life where all you'll do is smoke cigarettes (or whatever), drink the night away, and fuck a new girl of your choosing. Some of our contacts in the local scene wanted to do just these things. It's not about the art. It's about getting Made, Paid, and Laid.<br /><br />In all of my experience as a local musician, the only time where getting laid was ever in the cards was once while playing a private show at my house with my old band, Citizens Banned. I didn't see it coming. A couple of girls whom we didn't know showed up in our rehearsal space. After the show, they sought me out and found me in my room. One voluptuously said, "Hey." I got up from my chair and went to the door, thinking they knew someone at the party and were going to introduce themselves. It became clear to them however, that I was not all I was cracked up to be offstage. <br /><br />"Oh, you looked taller during the show." And they left the party immediately.<br /><br />I frowned. "What?" It hit me. "Ohhhhhhhh . . ."<br /><br />Musically, "Acknowledgments" is not as musically storytelling as "Preclusion", where buildups and premature endings symbolize the try, try again nature of Patch live. This time around, the driving beat is just angry. I spout a spoken word rant on a soap box up front. The guitars are dissonant and ripe with bitter rage. <br /><br />The main idea I had coming into the song was the nature of dual drums. I wanted Greg and I to play together during the solo with Paul providing dissonant noise on the guitar. Symbolically, this is supposed to address the fact that the Acknowledged not only affected me and all of my dreams, but the time and effort by Greg and Paul as well. They took time out of their busy lives and certain people made all of that null and void when they figured "Whelp, I don't think I'll show up anymore." <br /><br />I believe in getting Made and Paid for the effort and time. This is the ultimate goal. I'd like to make a living off of my art. Yet I make art not for the purpose to get paid, if you can understand. If money comes my way due to my art, amazing! I make the art for the sole purpose of making art. I'd like to have a fanbase of people that demand my art so that my job can be solely making art. <br /><br />And yet it seems that this mentality is not what is held by most in the locally famous scene. It's a world of sharks. Poor art is rewarded because of its accessibility, and its wide draw. Poor artists get rewarded for poor art. They are not artists. They are models wearing clothes and playing riffs that have no new ideas. There is no statement except to get a big house, plenty of women, yaddah yaddah yaddah. These are not new sentiments.<br /><br />Only in the aspect that these people infiltrated my band, tainting its honest message, is it new. Because I experienced it time and time again on a personal level. <br /><br />There is a difference between a Poor Artist and a Starving Artist. And the Poor's are taking the sustenance that the Starving need and laughing all the way to the bank.<br /><br />VIDEO:<br /><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U9LFqCvhf0I">ACKNOWLEDGMENTS @ 1419 -- December 17, 2010</a>Peter Kenyonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04729680871553462822noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5163402664699181503.post-49629125513648982152011-08-20T13:34:00.006-05:002011-08-20T15:31:47.946-05:00THE TRIFECTIC ESSAYS (PART 2): PreclusionThe door slammed shut.
<br />
<br />"Hello?!" a voice called from upstairs. "Peter?! What are you doing tonight?"
<br />
<br />From inside my room, a small alcove within a small house shared by two others at the time (and at one point, seven), a place smack dab in the middle of where the most activity occurred, hardly any help to keep the constant flux of creativity I wanted to pour out into the world going, I remained silent. I threw off all of my belongings, cleared a space on my desk for my notebook, looked at the one line:
<br />
<br />"All these lines mocking the marks of my life . . ."
<br />
<br />"What's next? What's next?" I thought. "What do I want the song to do . . . a revolving DIY machine between three people . . . an intro to our new show . . . we could just do chants . . . nah, at least four chants of this first line then an instrumental build . . ."
<br />
<br />Knock, knock. "Peter, what are you up to?"
<br />
<br />Irritation, despite my thankfulness that people still took the care to ask me to have a social life with them, must have stained my face and eyes. I remember distinctly looking up and saying "Writing. I have to." And looking back down.
<br />
<br />"Oh. Well, we might go out tonight," my roommate said, despite my accidental staredown.
<br />
<br />"Mmm-hmm . . . probably not tonight," I said, not looking up from my notebook.
<br />
<br />A couple of minutes later, by the grace of God, the house was empty. This never happened. At least, not when I wanted to be creative. To write. To record. It was always empty when I wanted to be social, when I figured the work could wait. Nothing ever seemed to line up correctly.
<br />
<br />But this one time, it did.
<br />
<br />------------------------------------------------------------------------------
<br />Coffee downed, shirt off from the heat, basking in gym shorts, acoustic guitar laying on my lap, sore fingertips from playing said guitar all night long, tiny tape recorder full of notes, recorded files on the computer for finished ideas, I heard the door open, the roommates were home again. Yet irritation didn't flood my mood this time around. Gratefulness came instead. "Break. Take a minute, Pete," I told myself.
<br />
<br />I looked at my notes. One song written. Six others brainstormed. A name for the era: Trifectic. It had only been a couple of hours, and yet I had done the most work I had ever done in one day, let alone one sitting.
<br />
<br />I made a couple more notes for the finished guitar riff ideas before calling it a night.
<br />
<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEij2_m4TiFsoAXGHLYBwAVMqaH_evKqfkQWd4TJ-wOC-IF92OaBOLkQxs5JmOkor83ulRBYOu-9zwiriPmx7Ld2-O5Bzj43F63ltc_JJlt6UHtYN1tu_S23REVryX5V5wjlmZTqgvgFoZE/s1600/IMGP0426.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEij2_m4TiFsoAXGHLYBwAVMqaH_evKqfkQWd4TJ-wOC-IF92OaBOLkQxs5JmOkor83ulRBYOu-9zwiriPmx7Ld2-O5Bzj43F63ltc_JJlt6UHtYN1tu_S23REVryX5V5wjlmZTqgvgFoZE/s400/IMGP0426.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5643014694737170338" /></a>
<br />I walked into the kitchen to throw away my coffee cup. Still in writing mode, I remarked to my roommate, "It's a time of Preclusion. Again and again and again."
<br />
<br />"What?" she said.
<br />
<br />"I lost another drummer."
<br />
<br />"What?"
<br />
<br />"Preclusion. Everything ends before it's supposed to have begun."
<br />
<br />"What are you talking about?"
<br />
<br />I stopped. I looked at her with a smile. "You'll see?"
<br />
<br />She stood there as I went back to my room, no doubt giving me a dubious look that said "You should have come out tonight, you're losing it".
<br />
<br />I looked at my notes again. I listened to my riffs.
<br />
<br />"Yeah, we're going to be okay," I thought.
<br />
<br />-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
<br />
<br />A. TRI
<br />1. PRECLUSION
<br />
<br />All these lines mocking the marks of my life . . .
<br />
<br />I tried to lay down the words but they've kept it all in . . .
<br />
<br />I take one step forward and two steps back . . .
<br />
<br />I finally made a mark to mock all those lines.
<br />
<br />------------------------------------------------------------------------------
<br />
<br />When I have a creative flow, most of the time I take the easiest ideas and complicate the living crap out of them. In this case, it was a rising chant. A man, hunched over his drum set, having just said goodbye to the 7th or 8th or whatever drummer that he had hoped to be the one that held the dream together. A chant to get him through the pain that lies within the fine print of art.
<br />
<br />A rising chant.
<br />
<br />But throw in an instrumental build, then a changeover from drums to mic, no guitar, have another build with different sections in it, changeover again, do another build slightly similar to the first one, but with new sections, and then elongate the big section with a weird roll riff and a coda of slides, one more roll thing and then the main ending of noise and resolute finality. He made a song . . . he finally did it. And if he played that live at his first show, he'd smile to the crowd in a happy proclamation of "FUCK YOU, KARMA!!!"
<br />
<br />An easy enough structure in three parts, the song is supposed to introduce the changing wheel of Trifectic. Peter would come up, beaten and weary, and chant four times about the failure of his band thus far. The other players then try to prove him wrong, as one by one they join in on a build as Peter plays the drums out of necessity. "No one else is going to play this damn thing, I guess I'll have to do it," is the feel. At the end of the build, the music swells to a choreographed loud point, everyone doing the same riff together. Finally, something's working! But it ends abruptly. Another Preclusion.
<br />
<br />Then the wheel moves, allowing Peter to go up front, be where he's wanted to be all along, and try again. He repeats the lines "All these lines . . ." two more times, and stops, realizing that something is happening. He chants new lines: "I tried to lay down the words but they've kept it all in." The emotion grows higher and higher, a new drummer laying the foundation with a bass acting as the only stringed instrument, yet filling the space with distortion. The chant turns into sounds of repeated cries of sadness/anger, ending again to hint at another chance lost . . . another Preclusion . . .
<br />
<br />Peter sings "I take one step forward and two steps back" while actually stepping back to the drumset, resolute that it will never work. The wheel rotates again. He starts a drum riff, Greg and Paul follow suit, never dropping a beat, a last build that seems the most choreographed. A band that will stick together. By the end of the third build, the sounds persist, feedback and a steady bassline continuing, as Peter realizes that it finally happened. "I finally made a mark to mock all these lines." Pointing a middle finger at the heavens, he finishes the song with a proper countoff ending. Finally, a conclusion.
<br />
<br />Yet, the sound persists, as the meta-protagonist is about to address the group of individuals that have sparked the constant preclusions. As with any finished product, Acknowledgments are expected. And it's proper to give credit where credit is due . . .
<br />
<br />VIDEO:
<br /><a href="http://youtu.be/nGqeKlhMKmc">PRECLUSION @ 1419 -- December 17, 2010</a>
<br />Peter Kenyonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04729680871553462822noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5163402664699181503.post-67756552333511896312011-08-09T20:44:00.012-05:002011-08-13T15:53:15.710-05:00THE TRIFECTIC ESSAYS (PART 1): A DIY Revolving Music MachineTry, try again.
<br />
<br />How many times, though? July 2010, I was up to 15 on the count for members quitting/leaving the band. We were two weeks away from our live debut. The latest hopeful drummer had just walked out the door on my request. Despite the fact that we had ended things on somewhat mutual, friendly terms, I felt downright hopeless. However, I had had creative surges bursting through my brain as of late. New written material was on the horizon.
<br />
<br />The dream to be a four-piece or five-piece was going to be put on hold. I loved the remaining three guys. I thought we made a great team. I thought we could make something with just the three of us and still make the end result as big and as raucous as possible.
<br />
<br />Wrought from the emotion of the neverending cycle of band members, I placed a notebook on my snare drum, sitting on the throne of my kit, looking heavy and burdened. Looking at all the empty lines of my notebook page. Starting over. How many times have these lines promised a result, only to fall short before a result could be given? How many times have we prepared a show, only to never actually get on a stage? The marks I put down in lyrics keep getting mocked by new empty lines sparked by another failure.
<br />
<br />“All these lines mocking the marks of my life.”
<br />
<br />--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
<br />
<br />That night, after rushing home, not announcing my presence to anyone in the household, closing and locking the door to my room, I put all of my ideas down on paper.
<br />
<br />I wrote and recorded scats to seven different songs. Six made up on the spot, one that had been floating around for the past two years (Whisper a Scream). The initial ideas of all the songs were put down that first night. "Preclusion" had a written outline as well.
<br />
<br />I had a three-piece band. But I wanted to sound and do things that a four or five piece could do. Plus, I didn't want to give up the frontman role. I wanted to be up at a microphone as much as possible.
<br />
<br />The songs that were written all had stage directions before there was any written music. For instance "FIRST SONG: 1. Start up front, sing. 2. Go back to drums, have instrumental build. 3. Come back to front, Paul on drums. Build. 4. Back to another instrumental build on drums."
<br />
<br />From this point, the songs were written one by one in succession. From "Preclusion" to "The Private Collective", so that a flow could stay intact throughout the journey of the show.
<br />
<br />In the end, the structure looked like this:
<br />
<br />A. TRI
<br />1. Preclusion
<br />2. Acknowledgments
<br />
<br />B. FEC
<br />3. Whisper a Scream
<br />4. Silent Cache
<br />5. An Act of 3
<br />
<br />C. TIC
<br />6. Here Again
<br />7. The Private Collective
<br />
<br />--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
<br />
<br />In terms of the subtle stage design and feel of the show, I was relying heavily on all of the instances from the past five years where I pined to be onstage, mainly while watching friends perform or watching that fated "jealous" band where you think they suck yet they've sold out the bar and you're thinking "Holy shit, they'd LOVE my stuff!!!" The lights, the changing of instruments, were all supposed to hint at a variety/burlesque show. This came out of all the experiences of going to my friends' burlesque outings, supporting them, but secretly stewing inside, "Patch would be great here. Hell, I'd just have a drum and a voice up there, just get me onstage!"
<br />
<br />From these tumultuous support dipped in jealousy outings, ideas sprang to life. "Whisper a Scream", a simple drum and voice work song, came about because I could perform it easily with either one or five people. "Here Again", a crooning ballad, was a nod to all of the burlesque singers I wanted to replace onstage. "Silent Cache" had the feel of an old time prohibition dive bar burlesque show.
<br />
<br />The main unorthodox practice for the show was the sideways drumset. I wanted to interact with the audience, face them while I sang, show them Paul or Greg when they played. I didn't want anyone to be hidden behind instruments. No barriers. It also gave easy access to the change-up between the main setup and our drum line songs.
<br />
<br />-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
<br />
<br />With these ideas, all brought into existence one night while in a fit of creativity and rage, I called Greg and Paul. "The project's changed, we're doing something called 'Trifectic'." Both were pretty accepting of the change from another, more prog-ish outing we were working on called "On Veins and Nothing" (now put on the shelf for a future endeavor). I said, "We'll start practices in a week."
<br />
<br />We were still on course to perform at a scheduled live debut at Room Zero, a practice space in Northeast Minneapolis. Moving the date back two weeks, I set about making a schedule where we would learn seven new songs that weren't even written yet to be performed in less than a month's time.
<br />
<br />And thus began one of the most nerve wracking prep periods for any Patch project, one that made us seriously close to the brink of losing our minds and our friendships . . .
<br />
<br />Peter Kenyonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04729680871553462822noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5163402664699181503.post-32880850300255446772011-04-13T16:25:00.004-05:002011-04-13T16:52:09.848-05:00Written By/For PreschoolersAbout a month ago, in an attempt to end my preschool music class on a high note, and to go along with my original intention from the get-go of encouraging the children to create their own music, I set about making a CD full of music for children written by children. To an extent.<br /><br />The project went like this: each preschool class chose a topic. One class chose "Friends and Family", another class "Nature", another "School", and the last chose "Speed/Fast". <br /><br />Next, the children all drew pictures relating to their topic. I wrote down the statements made by each child while they described their picture. Then, I asked the classes what instrument they wanted to have accompany their lyrics. They chose drums or guitar (some chose flute -- I had to step in for that one, I don't know the flute). They chose tempos, loud/soft, etc. <br /><br />I then compiled all of their lyrics together into cohesive songs, writing down connecting lyrics to have it all make sense. Below are the finished children songs that I recorded. Three out of the four songs will be performed live at the school's spring program in May. <br /><br />1. This song was inspired by the topic "Friends and Family". Most of the kids talked about their houses being destroyed by dinosaurs, lasers, cannonballs. Some kids talked about their family standing in the window and waving hello. You know, what you'd expect. Other kids drew pictures about their family dying. I was at a loss taking down notes. Then one kid drew a picture saying it was "Happy endings and hope." Bingo! Had the song idea. A song about hope despite the hardship life throws at us.<br /><br /><object height="28" width="335"><param value="http://www.divshare.com/flash/audio_embed?data=YTo2OntzOjU6ImFwaUlkIjtzOjE6IjQiO3M6NjoiZmlsZUlkIjtzOjg6IjE0NTU5MTAwIjtzOjQ6ImNvZGUiO3M6MTI6IjE0NTU5MTAwLWU5YSI7czo2OiJ1c2VySWQiO3M6NjoiNTgyODE4IjtzOjEyOiJleHRlcm5hbENhbGwiO2k6MTtzOjQ6InRpbWUiO2k6MTMwMjczMDU3OTt9&autoplay=default" name="movie"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><param name="wmode" value="transparent"></param><embed wmode="transparent" height="28" width="335" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" src="http://www.divshare.com/flash/audio_embed?data=YTo2OntzOjU6ImFwaUlkIjtzOjE6IjQiO3M6NjoiZmlsZUlkIjtzOjg6IjE0NTU5MTAwIjtzOjQ6ImNvZGUiO3M6MTI6IjE0NTU5MTAwLWU5YSI7czo2OiJ1c2VySWQiO3M6NjoiNTgyODE4IjtzOjEyOiJleHRlcm5hbENhbGwiO2k6MTtzOjQ6InRpbWUiO2k6MTMwMjczMDU3OTt9&autoplay=default"></embed></object><br /><br />"Happy Endings"<br /><br />In this house<br />Me and my family live<br />And I feel warm<br />From the love my family gives<br /><br />And Mommy and Daddy are coming home from work<br />Dad cleans up my toys in my messy room<br />And mom comes out to hug me as I play in the snow<br />And I hug her back<br /><br />CHORUS:<br />Because somebody loves me<br />Somebody loves me<br />Somebody loves me<br />And everything's gonna be right<br /><br />Smoke comes out<br />Of the chimney, someone's home<br />Grandma's visiting<br />She waves to me from the front window<br /><br />A ladybug dances into my hand<br />My dog plays with her toy in the front yard<br />My family stands outside and waves hello<br />I have all these signs<br /><br />CHORUS<br /><br />We will die and we'll be sad<br />But we know the love we had<br />It stays with us forever<br />A dinosaur can break the walls<br />But it can't break our love<br />It stays with us forever and I'll be fine<br /><br />An airplane flies<br />Over our house with a banner behind<br />It says “Love conquers all”<br />A house of love will always stand and never fall<br /><br />Cuz no cannonball or laser can bring us down<br />No fire or tornado can send us away<br />This house will stay together not because of bricks<br />But by something else . . . <br /><br />CHORUS x2<br /><br /><br />2. The second class had "Nature" as their topic. A pretty easy concept. The most recurring theme was a boat floating in a river or a sea. I wrote a song about needing to get out of the house, getting something out of life. <br /><br /><object height="28" width="335"><param value="http://www.divshare.com/flash/audio_embed?data=YTo2OntzOjU6ImFwaUlkIjtzOjE6IjQiO3M6NjoiZmlsZUlkIjtzOjg6IjE0NTU5MDk4IjtzOjQ6ImNvZGUiO3M6MTI6IjE0NTU5MDk4LWJmNSI7czo2OiJ1c2VySWQiO3M6NjoiNTgyODE4IjtzOjEyOiJleHRlcm5hbENhbGwiO2k6MTtzOjQ6InRpbWUiO2k6MTMwMjczMDgxOTt9&autoplay=default" name="movie"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><param name="wmode" value="transparent"></param><embed wmode="transparent" height="28" width="335" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" src="http://www.divshare.com/flash/audio_embed?data=YTo2OntzOjU6ImFwaUlkIjtzOjE6IjQiO3M6NjoiZmlsZUlkIjtzOjg6IjE0NTU5MDk4IjtzOjQ6ImNvZGUiO3M6MTI6IjE0NTU5MDk4LWJmNSI7czo2OiJ1c2VySWQiO3M6NjoiNTgyODE4IjtzOjEyOiJleHRlcm5hbENhbGwiO2k6MTtzOjQ6InRpbWUiO2k6MTMwMjczMDgxOTt9&autoplay=default"></embed></object><br /><br />"A Little Boat"<br /><br />Open up the door for me<br />Step outside, in nature I will be<br />Forever more<br /><br />Winds that blow the leaves on trees<br />Sunny days for make believe<br />Mom will tend a campfire<br />Flowers bloom and grow higher<br /><br />CHORUS: <br />I'm gonna take a boat and sail away<br />From the chance to be stuck inside all day<br />Leave me here<br />In peace<br /><br />The sun comes up and melts the snow<br />Children in a river swim against the flow<br />A rocket blasts off nearby into space<br />Rabbits will come out and give chase<br /><br />CHORUS<br /><br />I'll row that boat across the sea<br />And I don't care if a storm finds me<br />I'll jump into a submarine<br />And float below in waters serene<br /><br />An elephant stomps in the mud<br />A forest breathes life into buds<br />And bloom – hear strange music in the air<br />It's Mother Nature's voice saying “Please take care”<br /><br />CHORUS<br /><br /><br />3. The third class was the most fun to write. "School" was their topic. But they didn't write about school. They wrote about playing on the playground and in our indoor climber. Naturally, I wrote an anthem for the playground. A quasi-rebellious march made by children with tongue-in-cheek anti-establishment flourishes. <br /><br /><object height="28" width="335"><param value="http://www.divshare.com/flash/audio_embed?data=YTo2OntzOjU6ImFwaUlkIjtzOjE6IjQiO3M6NjoiZmlsZUlkIjtzOjg6IjE0NTU5MDkyIjtzOjQ6ImNvZGUiO3M6MTI6IjE0NTU5MDkyLTFiMSI7czo2OiJ1c2VySWQiO3M6NjoiNTgyODE4IjtzOjEyOiJleHRlcm5hbENhbGwiO2k6MTtzOjQ6InRpbWUiO2k6MTMwMjczMDUxNjt9&autoplay=default" name="movie"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><param name="wmode" value="transparent"></param><embed wmode="transparent" height="28" width="335" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" src="http://www.divshare.com/flash/audio_embed?data=YTo2OntzOjU6ImFwaUlkIjtzOjE6IjQiO3M6NjoiZmlsZUlkIjtzOjg6IjE0NTU5MDkyIjtzOjQ6ImNvZGUiO3M6MTI6IjE0NTU5MDkyLTFiMSI7czo2OiJ1c2VySWQiO3M6NjoiNTgyODE4IjtzOjEyOiJleHRlcm5hbENhbGwiO2k6MTtzOjQ6InRpbWUiO2k6MTMwMjczMDUxNjt9&autoplay=default"></embed></object><br /><br />"The Playground Anthem"<br /><br />We've been working hard all day long<br />Staying still learning all we can<br />Ring the bell, “Put on your shoes cuz<br />We're going outside!” What a plan!<br /><br />CHORUS:<br />It's time to march, march, march outside<br />It's time to run and go down the slide<br />If it's hot or cold, rain or shine<br />It's time to march, march, march outside!!<br /><br />We can't wait to say “Tag you're it!”<br />Dig in the sand, be a soccer goalie<br />Fly in the sky as a superhero<br />Get chased by a scary zombie!<br /><br />CHORUS<br /><br />All our voices singing “March, March, March March March!” x4<br /><br />Looking at the sky with a smile on our faces<br />Splashing in the puddles made from snow or rain<br />Jedi Knights protect the galaxy<br />With lightsabers in hand we can't complain<br /><br />CHORUS<br /><br />Outside is better than snack time, we'd take it any day<br />We play til we sleep, that's our code<br />And when our moms and dads come to pick us up<br />We won't want to go home<br />We won't want to go home<br />We won't want to go home!!!<br /><br /><br /><br />4. The last class topic was "Speed/Fast". This was the most fun to record, since it's more in line with recordings I've done in the past. It's the most Patch sounding, basically. Plus, the kids wrote a lot about monsters and police. And they wanted their song to be "rock n rolley". Their wish was my command . . . <br /><br /><object height="28" width="335"><param value="http://www.divshare.com/flash/audio_embed?data=YTo2OntzOjU6ImFwaUlkIjtzOjE6IjQiO3M6NjoiZmlsZUlkIjtzOjg6IjE0NTU5MDkwIjtzOjQ6ImNvZGUiO3M6MTI6IjE0NTU5MDkwLWNmNSI7czo2OiJ1c2VySWQiO3M6NjoiNTgyODE4IjtzOjEyOiJleHRlcm5hbENhbGwiO2k6MTtzOjQ6InRpbWUiO2k6MTMwMjczMDc2Mzt9&autoplay=default" name="movie"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><param name="wmode" value="transparent"></param><embed wmode="transparent" height="28" width="335" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" src="http://www.divshare.com/flash/audio_embed?data=YTo2OntzOjU6ImFwaUlkIjtzOjE6IjQiO3M6NjoiZmlsZUlkIjtzOjg6IjE0NTU5MDkwIjtzOjQ6ImNvZGUiO3M6MTI6IjE0NTU5MDkwLWNmNSI7czo2OiJ1c2VySWQiO3M6NjoiNTgyODE4IjtzOjEyOiJleHRlcm5hbENhbGwiO2k6MTtzOjQ6InRpbWUiO2k6MTMwMjczMDc2Mzt9&autoplay=default"></embed></object><br /><br />"Get Up to Speed"<br /><br />Hey, look out!<br />We got a monster coming for us!<br />Hey, look out!<br />With the police on his tail!<br />Hey, look out!<br />And there are rockets flying everywhere!<br />Run away, run<br />Let's get outta here!!<br /><br />CHORUS:<br />Everything's fast, nothing is slow<br />Big race cars and huge speed boats<br />Trains chasing planes chasing racing motorcycles<br />C'mon, get up to speed and run, run, run!<br /><br />RUN! RUN! RUN!<br />RUN! RUN! RUN!<br /><br />There's a scooter laying down on my driveway<br />I'm gonna get on and go, go, go real far<br />Cuz I hear the commotion coming down the street<br />And I'm about to be chased by a police car!<br />Tigers running everywhere from police jets<br />Monsters breaking buildings falling down, down, down<br />Sadie, Sam, and Sophie got stuck in the mud<br />All these crazy scribbles, let's get outta here!!<br /><br />CHORUS<br /><br />Hey Daddio, get up to speed! X4<br /><br />CHORUS<br /><br />RUN! RUN! RUN!<br />RUN! RUN! RUN!Peter Kenyonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04729680871553462822noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5163402664699181503.post-15130437955670650032011-01-24T21:48:00.002-06:002011-01-24T22:01:40.526-06:00ERA 2Current plans for the first half of 2011:<br /><br />--New material based off of a storyline pertaining to all the ugly facets of love. It's not as cheesy as it sounds. The first of these songs will debut February 13th at our show at the Fine Line in Minneapolis. <br /><br />--Schematics will be sent to radio outlets in the Midwest starting this week. Results pending on when you'll be able to hear us in rotation.<br /><br />--We will be playing a very different set of songs for a concert bringing awareness to genocide and warfare at 1419 at the end of March. Details soon.<br /><br />--I'll finally be able to put together patchband.com. A place of easy access to all things PATCH. I'm mostly excited for the chance to have a place on the site that delves into the background and meaning behind each of our "eras" or concepts. Essays.<br /><br />--An expansion to the "Infection" (drum line) storyline will be hashed out.Peter Kenyonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04729680871553462822noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5163402664699181503.post-56885867364879721912011-01-04T17:27:00.007-06:002011-01-04T18:01:38.812-06:00The Fan Base Core<style>.nmbt_js th { display:none }</style><span style="font-family:arial;">This message is a way to garner a fan base. A way to communicate to the would-be supporters of PATCH and all of the brother/sister bands and artists that work with us. We have a lot to offer at the moment, but it's difficult to send messages out to individuals. Mainly, it's time consuming. I'd love to be able to do that, speaking directly to each of you, but it's not practical, unfortunately.<br /><br />The next best thing is to have an email list. One where I can send out info on exclusive live shows, free giveaways, new products, essays on what everything means in the allegorical world of the lyrics and performances, news on future happenings. It's been my wish from the get-go that PATCH would be a very rewarding experience for fans. I'm a very appreciative person, and the rest of my bandmates are as well. We'd like to give you gifts as much as possible. We're always changing the sets of our live shows to keep you people thirsty for more. Eras of songs will come and go, new versions of past songs are already being cooked up. There's too much!!<br /><br />That being said, if you would like to join the PATCH mailing list, you only have to put your email in the box below this message and fill out information that goes to ME through a service called Nimbit, which is a "direct-to-fan" internet platform that I've been using to get PATCH off the ground. No other third party will have that info.<br /><br />Once you fill out the info, you'll be able to download the FREE Promo copy of Schematics.<br /><br />If you don't wish to be on the list or would like us to stop hounding you, let me know.<br /><br />This is the beginning . . .<br /><br />Peter K<style>.nmbt_js th { display:none }</style><br /><script src="http://www.nimbitmusic.com/nrp/includes/javascript/email_signup/open_nmbt_form.js"></script><br /><form id="nmbt_form" target="_blank" method="post" action="http://www.nimbitmusic.com/nrp/controllers/artist_subscriber.php"><br /><input name="artist_id" value="2039212" type="hidden"><br /><input name="confirm" value="1" type="hidden"><br /><input name="digital_id" value="2294697" type="hidden"><br /><input name="hash" value="3cc25980fb83ac595bbbbf269bf86ee2" type="hidden"><br /><table border="0" cellpadding="1" cellspacing="1"><br /><tbody><tr><br /><th>enter your email</th><th><br /></th><br /></tr><br /><tr><br /><td><input name="email_address" style="width: 120px;" id="nmbt_email" type="text"></td><br /><td><input name="join" value="Join" style="width: 60px;" id="nmbt_join" type="submit"></td><br /></tr><br /></tbody></table><br /></form></span><span style="font-family:arial;"></span><span style="font-family:arial;"></span><span style="font-family:arial;"></span><span style="font-family:arial;"></span><span style="font-family:arial;"></span><span style="font-family:arial;"><br /><script src="http://www.nimbitmusic.com/nrp/includes/javascript/jquery.js"></script><br /><script src="http://www.nimbitmusic.com/nrp/includes/javascript/email_signup/close_nmbt_form.js"></script></span>Peter Kenyonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04729680871553462822noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5163402664699181503.post-88597241423401835282010-12-19T15:14:00.003-06:002010-12-19T15:59:24.790-06:00Chapter 1 . . .CD RELEASE SHOW SET (12/17/10) @ 1419:<br /><br />1. Preclusion<br />2. Acknowledgments<br />3. L.C.D.<br />4. Whisper a Scream<br />5. Silent Cache<br />6. An Act of 3<br />7. Here Again<br />8. The Private Collective<br /><br />I've done it.<br /><br />I've reached every goal I've had at the beginning of the year.<br /><br />1. Make PATCH go live<br />2. Finish and release Schematics<br /><br />Just two, but they were huge undertakings. <br /><br />December 17th, the two culminated in an event that harbored promise and reward. The reward mainly being relief. Promise in terms of "Well, I think this whole Patch thing might take off. People seem to like it." <br /><br />It sparked the end of Trifectic preparation (we've learned everything I had written for the initial three piece line up back in July and August). And we played a track from Schematics, something I didn't really intend to do initially with the three piece lineup. Schematics is its own entity, a glimpse into future projects. L.C.D. is actually a song from an album I've written called Karmath. The rest of the songs are from three other projects I hope to complete: Sound. Of. Static., I Source, and Hue.<br /><br />Playing the show, I felt where the energy was high and where attention spans waned with the audience. At this point, I'd like to keep energy high throughout a show. The next step is to take the three piece lineup and give it one more round of songs, an entirely new set from what we've been playing thus far. It will be fun to mix and match Trifectic with the next project, too. <br /><br />The next project's storyline will deal with the concept of three again. It will focus on the notion of polygamy and lovers trying to come to terms with "others" in their relationship. It's a commentary on modern sexuality, suppressed sexual inhibitions within animals, and a way for me to deal with some of my anxiety when it comes to my love life. There's a 90's indie feel for one song, plus the storyline will incorporate electronics. The first time we'll be doing so in the live setup. <br /><br />We'll also expand on the drum line alongside the new storyline. I'd like to have a show where we're able to use our bodies to express the songs. Being stuck behind a plethora of instruments in Trifectic, I feel somewhat suppressed in expression onstage. The drum line is about instrument performance, the other material will be about intense body expression. I want to have a realm where one style of performance can really shine and have the option to have the other style shine in another setting. This will also create more variety in our shows, something I've always wanted in PATCH. If we have four shows booked in a two week span, each show will be different, thus providing people the opportunity to keep coming back for more and not seeing the same show they saw two nights prior. <br /><br />After these two projects (Drum Line Expansion and New Set), it'll be time to bring in the four piece version of PATCH with "On Veins and Nothing" and "Omiss" and "Karmath". The next recording is up in the air . . . I'm not sure what I want to do in that department quite yet. Perhaps the new set will shed some light on that matter.Peter Kenyonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04729680871553462822noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5163402664699181503.post-12052767269492903002010-11-20T15:51:00.003-06:002010-11-20T16:02:20.718-06:00Closing the YearAfter 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. <br /><br />What we've done so far is Trifectic. Approximately 55 minutes' worth of material. Seven songs:<br /><br />1. Preclusion<br />2. Acknowledgments<br />3. Whisper a Scream<br />4. Silent Cache<br />5. An Act of 3<br />6. Here Again<br />7. The Private Collective<br /><br />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. <br /><br />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. <br /><br />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.Peter Kenyonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04729680871553462822noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5163402664699181503.post-16560379198918905992010-11-01T19:12:00.003-05:002010-11-01T19:15:02.195-05:00For November 2nd, 2010My stance for this Election Day:<br /><br />"I developed an alternative agenda<br />A way to keep the peace within a world of strangers<br />Their colors all blended contradiction<br />So I took just one and created an eviction<br /><br />You all say you’re looking for a way out<br />You all stay in by looking for a way out<br />The loudest voice is a whisper, not a shout<br />And that’s why, that’s why you’ll never get out . . . <br /><br />. . . On the hill of Red, White, and Blue<br />The trusted providers of molasses and glue<br />Flooded the West, we’re stuck and contained<br />There will be no change, it’s too thick to drain<br />Ay oh, it’s too thick to drain<br /><br />Entered the hearing with a song and a praise<br />Grabbed the trophied weapon laid out for display<br />Took the podium and gave a speech<br />Said what they liked: “Teach, Preach, Impeach.<br />With this weapon it’s either loaded or free<br />Locked and hidden where you can find the key.<br />There’s no compromise, no in between, just war.<br />Nobody even has a voice on this floor.”<br />And with a gesture I was sure they’d understand<br />I put a bullet into 535 heads<br /><br />Policies all tranquilized my potential<br />To be strong, be the boss, be essential<br />Get a 4.0 and you’ll be behind<br />Blood and Duty is politics defined<br /><br />You don’t hold me anymore<br />You don’t hold me anymore<br />You don’t hold me anymore<br />You don’t hold me anymore"<br /><br />------- Selection from PATCH: An Act of 3Peter Kenyonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04729680871553462822noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5163402664699181503.post-90890977631842429692010-11-01T19:04:00.002-05:002010-11-01T19:10:40.115-05:00Show 3Fine Line Music Cafe, Minneapolis, MN<br />10/26/10<br /><br />1. Preclusion<br />2. Acknowledgments<br />3. Whisper a Scream<br />4. An Act of 3<br />5. Here Again<br />6. The Private Collective<br /><br />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 . . .Peter Kenyonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04729680871553462822noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5163402664699181503.post-56092161011847973692010-10-17T10:50:00.003-05:002010-10-17T10:54:10.588-05:00Show 2Show 2: Big V's Saloon, St. Paul<br />10/16/10<br /><br />1. Preclusion<br />2. Acknowledgments<br />3. Here Again<br />4. The Private Collective<br /><br />Another exhausting set. However, the audience hasn't been privy to that. They've said the shows have been uber intense and energetic throughout. Greg was on fire, moving around, head banging. Paul was a little more calm. Thank god for the adapter and daisy chain I purchased this past week, because now all our pedals are in working order!<br /><br />I was worried about Here Again. It's really easy to screw up that song, since it's actually melodic and relies on written tabs, rather than things we threw together off of melodies I sang to Paul and Greg to figure out on their own. It turned out great. Best song of the night, actually, for me at least.Peter Kenyonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04729680871553462822noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5163402664699181503.post-59226672310078971472010-09-14T14:46:00.005-05:002010-09-14T15:22:09.961-05:00Magnetic Lines of SightHaving spent pretty much 3/4 of the year sans blog, I can say that I don't miss blogging every single day of the year. I get the random urge to type about this or that, but frankly I don't have the time to write that stuff down anymore. Nor would you care. How many people actually looked at the Karmath Blog each day? Maybe six at most? To those six, I commend you and thank you for your interest in my life, I'm interested in yours as well. But it makes you think . . . <br /><br />Why do I want people to know what I'm thinking? Is it because I'm a polite narcissist, putting myself out there in the hopes that people care enough to look me up the way I want to be looked up? Yeah, actually. I don't crave attention. Well, scratch that, I do. Sometimes. Other times I do like to hide away in a cave and do my own thing. But usually, c'mon, you know me! I'm your fucking clown, I'll shit in my own mouth, I'll fondle a blowup doll and fuck its eye if it makes you happy. At least, I thought the spectacle of that sort of performance would have been interesting to see about five years ago. Now, that act has to have a reason behind it. I can't justify fondling a blowup doll ever, since it's hokey. But to fuck something in the eye . . . I have an idea behind that one . . . trust me, it's all good and gravy, and it's a doozie of an idea. It deals with PATCH, on the topic of fetishes and obsessive compulsion, to which I have both. BOOM, I just found reason to muse on sticking a phallic object into the empty eye socket of some personified object, living or dead. <br /><br />Jesus . . . <br /><br />I'm scared. Seriously. I've just made PATCH go live. I've now reached that strange frontier where I have to garner enough attention on me and my musings in order to justify keeping PATCH alive. My job is to be a somewhat impolite narcissist in order to make my dream fully realized. After this, you'll hopefully turn me into an object where I don't have to ask for you to look at me, you'll do it on your own. And then when I want enough, you won't let up, you'll still lust for more, and I'll sink into a spiral of self-loathing and irritation that I'll regret ever having wanted to start PATCH in the first place. Do I still want to do this?<br /><br />Hell yeah. I'm a born narcissist. I love theatre. If you're in theatre, you're a narcissist. People love watching stories, hearing sounds. Who's going to do that? Narcissists. Who'd rather be an audience? I come from a world of performers, so I don't really know the answer to that. My friends are all attention seekers. Drama queens. We've fucked this many people, we've been screwed over this many times, we've been in this many bands, our hair truly is in touch with our individuality (which is a mirror of another individual which is a mirror of another and another . . .). I want those people to stop thinking about themselves and look at me. I want those who are not narcissists to look at me. I want everyone to look at me.<br /><br />Why won't you look at me?<br /><br />I'll just have to think of another way to make you look at me. Or keep doing what I'm doing. We all have magnets glued to the sides of our eyes. The object is for me to put enough attractive force into my own magnets so that yours feel me pulling you in, if only for a brief glance. I pine for a double take. Hell, I pray for stares.<br /><br />This is what they should teach in art school programs. How to get stares. Instead they teach expression, how to get a feeling out. Valiant effort on putting a sugar coating on narcissism, but I'm not buying it. You're really trying to steer people inward, keeping your own performance as a teacher on top, getting more attention. You teach how to get people to maintain eye contact with you and your art, those pupils become successful. How to extrovert the introvert. <br /><br />I've seen that before, this person's not saying anything new, it's not daring enough, this artist looks like an asshole, they seem quiet, they're not interesting. I've seen people sticking their dicks into a blowup doll's eye socket. It's not that original. It's not that interesting. Anybody can do it. <br /><br />But can you turn that idea into a one minute section of a song? Can you get rid of the basal act? Can you turn it into an emotionally charged act that people can empathize with (and not just people who have also fucked a blowup doll or who are thinking about maybe branching off and embarking on that act in the future at some point)? How about something that won't get old? They'll keep staring at it for years and years. <br /><br />I've got this shit. I can do this whoring of my art. I'll keep my integrity, I'll keep my good nature. I know who I am, I know my motivations. My motivations regard talking about my motivations, most of the time. It's all meta-self-analyzing. <br /><br />Time to compose some emails . . .Peter Kenyonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04729680871553462822noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5163402664699181503.post-15520839731557447482010-08-17T08:01:00.003-05:002010-08-17T08:07:43.875-05:00PATCH: Show 18/13/10 at Room Zero<br />Era: Trifectic<br />Opening band: Shield Your Eyes<br /><br />1. Preclusion<br />2. Acknowledgments<br />3. Whisper a Scream<br />4. An Act of Three<br />5. The Private Collective<br /><br />A good turnout for the debut. For some reason, I was completely exhausted. It saw it in the video we captured of the set. The music was still intense, but I need more to come out of the show. Especially from me. Paul went bonkers in The Private Collective, I loved it. His delay pedal ran out of battery, so he opted to get weird sounds through using Schuyler's cello bow on his guitar. Greg was solid, serious, tough as hell. He knew what he was doing.Peter Kenyonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04729680871553462822noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5163402664699181503.post-4964553420217136042010-08-11T22:15:00.005-05:002010-08-12T00:02:46.940-05:00TRIFECTICPATCH ERA 1: TRIFECTIC<br /><br />July 15, 2010 -- I get a call while on my way to practice by the current drummer in the band. He's stressing out about all the material he needs to learn by July 30th for our On Veins and Nothing launch. I say "Just ride it out, it'll get easier." At the actual practice, it seems like everything is falling apart. Paul has an impromptu appointment out in the boonies of Wisconsin, Greg's car breaks down, and the drummer is trying to prevent himself from having a nervous breakdown. <br /><br />Talking with the drummer, I tell him exactly what I need from him if he's going to be in PATCH. Someone who will tour, say yes to 75% of the gigs I ask them to do, someone who can practice at least nine hours a week if need be. He says he can't do any of those. As he is saying this, I know that he is out. He could keep going for another two weeks for the show, but I don't feel up to the stress of the possibility of him not knowing the material due to his stress, our stress, etc. It isn't going to work. As he is talking, I'm already formulating answers to the post-drummer dilemma. We agree it's for the best for him to quit then and there. We stay friends, I call my girlfriend to spit and spew and vent for 15 minutes (it's necessary, that process), and then sit down at my drumset and write one line down on the first sheet of a blank notebook:<br /><br />"All these lines mocking the marks of my life . . ."<br /><br />Feeling angry, sad, frustrated, I look at that line for a good five minutes in the practice space, notebook sitting on my snare. I call Greg. He picks up. I tell him, "No On Veins and Nothing, the project's changed to something between the three of us." Greg casually says "Okay!" Paul says the same thing a few days later.<br /><br />12 people have come and gone in Patch Live in the past 9 months. That's a heinous amount. There is only one chance left to do this, or else a bullet to the brain seemed plausible . . . at least, in terms of doing Patch Live. I can't take another failed attempt at going live.<br /><br />I go home, sit down in front of my computer, turn my phone off, and jot down notes . . . <br /><br />------------------------------------------------------------------<br /><br />I came up seven songs that night. Random melodies and beats came to me. I committed them all to memory. When you're in a state of desperate anger you become more creative and are able to retain your findings easier. Seven songs. Three people in Patch. Three stories. <br /><br />The subject matter was easy to figure out: my frustration with Patch Live. On Veins is about a broken heart. Trifectic was about a broken dream. And about the fight to make that dream a reality. <br /><br />A. TRI<br /><br />1. Preclusion<br /><br />The significance of the word Preclusion is a big one for me and for a lot of my close friends. They make fun of me for using this word in the context of what it truly stands for. In my old band Citizens Banned, I always said Preclusion was the era of the band before we made it big. It was a prologue to success, but we were being successful in playing out, reaching for the dream. So it was a conclusion to the true pre-success era of the band. But things never worked out. The band fell apart. <br /><br />The same thing happened in Patch back in February. I lost guitarists, bassists. I called the era Preclusion, writing material related to Schematics, our first EP, and a new sound. But that fizzled out pretty quickly with the loss of yet another bassist. Preclusion is basically my hope for a dream that always ends poorly, usually by the faults of others, and it affects me in a major way. I felt that I was at the end of my rope July 15th. Fuck, this song was going to be all about the "Try, Try Again" game I had been playing since Day 1 of Patch. We are three now (TRI), tried and beaten. But I realized we were the true bones making up the band all along. <br /><br />2. Acknowledgements<br /><br />The most literal song I've ever written. A basic BANG BANG BANG drop D shredder of anger and outright dark energy. Still reeling from the previous night, I got this one out in a matter of minutes. It's about everyone and no one, people that have been in Patch, and people in general. Sometimes I think of actual individuals while I sing it, other times it's about made up people. I've basically always said "What? You're leaving the band? Sigh . . . okay . . . we tried. Yeah, we're cool." Where did all the negative energy of those 12 foiled experiences go, piled together for nine continuous months within my brain? This song. No offense to those people. It was necessary. And it's only fair.<br /><br /><br /><br />B. inFECtion<br /><br />3. Whisper a Scream<br /><br />I work with a child at my day job who most likely has autism, or a severe speech impediment. There's a small window within language development before seven years old where one could get help in order to find a way to bypass the impediment and develop normally. When this child started at our school, he was hopeless. Something was definitely wrong with him, but he was such a sweet child. I fell in love with him. My coworker and I tried to talk to his parents, but they were in complete denial. "Oh he's like that because we speak Spanish at home." Wrong! Did you know that you can actually learn every language on this green Earth and not have one impede on another before the age of 7? You could literally speak fluently in EVERY language if you wanted to before the language development peak at 7. <br /><br />We were basically trying to rush the process with his parents to have him taken to therapy, maybe get diagnosed for early autism. But they wouldn't have it. Today, he's five years old, but he talks worse than his 26 month old sister (who is actually excelling in speech and is advanced for her age, ironically). His parents still haven't figured it out.<br /><br />This song is my call out to him and his parents. I want him to figure out that there's something holding him back, and that he should be the one to scream to his parents, if even a tiny iota of a scream. A whisper, even. Before it's too late. C'mon! You can do it! Pleeeeeeeaseeeee . . . . <br /><br />4. Silent Cache<br /><br />Here I began branching off, creating a semi-fictional character who is beaten down by the world he lives in. He finds a way out in the end, but only after he's had to endure countless amounts of pain and failure for not getting the help he needed early in his life. He's a mute man, someone who can't speak for himself, even though he'd like to. He figures out a new way to exist that none of us could even fathom. Even my own call to him was detrimental. I get a little negative at our staff meetings when we discuss children's illnesses. Everyone has their fingers in the honeypot, too many cooks in the kitchen. Makes me uncomfortable. Too many opinions. That goes for anything in the world. Issues: there are too many sides, too many people get offended. Basically, this character can't give his opinion, he keeps it to himself (because he can't speak it), and finds a way out of the society we all seem to hate and bitch about whenever we can because he doesn't use his voice. He actually acts on something . . . when all we do is talk talk talk, never walking the walk. Maybe this child has an advantage over the rest of us . . . <br /><br />5. An Act of 3<br /><br />From the point of view of the character. It's about how he came to his new way of life and thinking. He goes on a mental rampage, killing everything in his head that stifled his potential to be somebody within society. He kills his political affiliations and starts from scratch on a new way of thinking about the world. He kills the doctors who told him he was autistic when it was too late. He's normal, just not in the same way. He kills his parents, who waited too long. This is all within his head (I think), and in the end he becomes someone new and prosperous. Does he commit suicide? The lyrics make it plausible, but I wasn't really going for that. It's kind of open ended.<br /><br />This character is a personification of my struggle to speak in art, using an individual influenced by a real live boy that I work with to tell the story. <br /><br /><br />C. T:I:C<br /><br />6. Here Again<br /><br />Bringing the previous stories together into one mishmash ending, I take the styles of TRI (a progressive grunge sound) and inFECtion (a bluesy, folk sound) and put them into a jazzy blues grunge hodge podge (TrIfeC: TIC). Here Again and The Private Collective take place during a war. In my mind I tend to think WWII, but it could be any time, really. The war: one man's quest to become a man. To lose his youth and claim his dream, his career goals. <br /><br />Here Again is youth personified as a female lover, pining for her soldier who has fled across the ocean of chance to the final confrontation of becoming an adult. She remembers how they met and how she knows she'll never see him again. She wonders if he ever thinks of her, if he'll ever send correspondence, tell her of his existence. <br /><br />7. The Private Collective<br /><br />The man questing for his adult status. He's fighting on a beach with untold amounts of other people questing for their dreams to be met. With the amount of laziness abound in this world and how people don't meet their potential, either by others fucking them over or by their own lack of ambition, I feel so few people ever truly become Adults, or successful dreamcatchers. A bunker, symbolizing the one true goal, shoots down all of these people in a sea of blood and gore. The man gets shot in the heart at one point (a nod to On Veins and Nothing, the next era in PATCH, and also one of the truest ways to make me stop dead in my ambitions -- I have a few demons I need help sifting out of me, let's just put it that way), and uses this against them. He takes it as his new strength and overtakes the bunker. But no one is inside when he reaches it. He sees fleets from the same enemy coming to shoot down what is now HIS bunker, and he mans the gun that was trying to shoot him down only moments before to protect his new status as a successful human being.<br /><br />-------------------------<br /><br />By finally performing Patch to a live audience, I truly feel like I've reached that bunker. Hence, why it is the last song. But now I feel like I need to protect it, keep going. The first line of Trifectic: "All these lines mocking the marks of my life" and the last line "We're not boys anymore" symbolize the growth of nine months and beyond. I've become somewhat hardened by my attempts to make Patch a reality. More confrontational, unafraid to stand up for myself. Mature is most likely the right word for it, and I do feel like that. But Patch is far from a mature enterprise, meaning it doesn't play with adult rules and guidelines. It's about as crazy and loud as you can imagine music being. We are in touch with our youth, sending correspondence, but taking action to make things happen. In a world where 85% just let life slip by after college, this is the story of overcoming that obstacle and taking matters in one's own hands.<br /><br />PKPeter Kenyonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04729680871553462822noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5163402664699181503.post-37287456983644348302010-07-15T22:00:00.002-05:002010-07-15T22:05:56.870-05:00----------------------------------It's happened again.<br /><br />We're back to a three-piece again. But we're keeping the show. I will MAKE this happen. It will have a very current feel, as in dealing with almost a metafictional storyline of the hardships with Patch Live. So far it's all I can think about. But I've already come up with two songs, stuff I'm pretty confident in. Who knows what a shut-in weekend will bring about?Peter Kenyonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04729680871553462822noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5163402664699181503.post-10138824529560100832010-06-24T22:03:00.005-05:002010-06-24T22:15:12.803-05:00Perversion of Youth Culture: The Baby Boomer Sloppy SecondersI was late for the party . . . <br /><br />. . . low quality media penetrated the waves in space. Do it Yourself, funded by an Indie Label. 'Scuse me, Indie Label distributed by a Major Label. An afternoon thought wrought an evening's worth of work and it sold a million free copies on the Blogosphere. <br /><br />Childhood trinkets that were juuuuust before our childhoods: tape, Atari, 8-Bit sound effects, wood panels, tall beers, stale colors and Polaroids. None of these things in the scene are new. In fact, I grew tired of it once I hit ten years old. Those of you making the scene at 18 just missed these facets of culture that were OUR upbringing, and you're not fooling anybody. Those of you who are slightly older, who have made the scene -- LET GO and EXPRESS through NEW means. Do not rely on what you did at five years old.<br /><br />In my music class today, I invited six year olds to put random notes on an empty staff of music. They came up with an Indie hit. It sounded like our Current scene.<br /><br />Do six year olds write like 26 year olds? <---> Do 26 year olds write like six year olds?<br /><br />CUT THIS SCENE CUT THIS SCENE CUT THIS SCENE CUT THIS SCENE CUT THIS SCENE CUTPeter Kenyonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04729680871553462822noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5163402664699181503.post-2993425734309177632010-06-03T18:45:00.002-05:002010-06-03T19:03:30.204-05:00Two Months . . .Some new developments since last we wrote:<br /><br />The "On Veins" material is coming along in a way I wasn't anticipating. I've recently felt that Patch needed to add another guitar to the mix. Plus, Dave had to cancel out due to the band conflicting with his family life. So, we've got Greg and Paul at a farther point (currently working on our fifth song out of eight), Eric (he's back, drumming for Patch in exchange for my own drumming services in his band, HighTV) just started one-on-ones with me last week (currently have almost two songs down), and a rhythm guitarist hopeful is coming in this weekend to test out the waters . . . <br /><br />June is a month of one-on-ones, three different facets of learning the "On Veins" material. July we will coalesce as one entity, playing together, sprucing up the details and nitty gritties. <br /><br />There is a date set. An actual, tangible date, but I don't want to announce it just yet in case of another setback. When it seems that all is well, that date will be known . . . <br /><br />After a few more weeks of writing the final three songs for this first presentation, I will finish up the Schematics artwork and embark on the free sampler I have planned, titled Schematosis. I anticipate Patch Live debuting slightly before Schematics/Schematosis is released. <br /><br />There is an end in sight.Peter Kenyonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04729680871553462822noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5163402664699181503.post-31719944048603738992010-04-18T18:33:00.003-05:002010-04-18T18:44:19.480-05:00Snowballs and MomentumBefore I finish prepping for my music class, I figured I'd let the coffee sift into my bowels as I checked in on the blog, sent it off to Facebook, etc. <br /><br />The acquisition of the new band members, Dave and Paul, has led to the greatest setup for the live band. Having had a few full practices now, I can't imagine a different setup. It's perfect. We all come from the same school of thought when it comes to music and art . . . primarily performance, which is the key element. <br /><br />Throwing strange time signatures, strange dissonant notes, found instruments, the whole gamut at Greg, Paul, and Dave . . . they put up with a lot of challenges. <br /><br />Currently, we've got about 11 minutes of material nailed down tight. Pretty soon I'll be showing some glimpses into the current project ("On Veins and Nothing"), but with style. I want to play it classy with the presentation of all this. Jumping the gun with photos and videos of the other players in the winter who have since left the band left me with a buffoon's grin on my face.<br /><br />Slowly but surely, folks . . . I think we've got this, now . . .Peter Kenyonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04729680871553462822noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5163402664699181503.post-31646714588561140342010-03-30T22:33:00.002-05:002010-03-30T22:39:59.939-05:00From the HeartAnd from out of these cuts comes the empty drowse of fatigue. How much is left within me? I cut and I cut and I cut and do these demons fly out? Do you not see them? Because I haven't found them yet. Each lover, each opportunity is tainted with the dye of pepper and condiments, added bonuses to a deal I've been saving every last penny toward. Yet these sweeteners tend to poison the whole gamut.<br /><br />If you've caught sight or wind of anything pouring out of me, let me know. This red light taints my ability to judge the drainage, and the weariness of the body has been steady since before you saw me take this razor to my skin. <br /><br />There will be a time when I give up . . . I might pass out first, however . . .Peter Kenyonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04729680871553462822noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5163402664699181503.post-28911347011265475422010-03-18T21:50:00.002-05:002010-03-18T21:51:18.599-05:00Take 2Will this finally pan out? Will this be the lineup? Will this be the final "first" direction we take? <br /><br />I don't want to jinx anything anymore. I'll shut up until dates are announced.Peter Kenyonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04729680871553462822noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5163402664699181503.post-41202067889617321582010-03-09T18:53:00.003-06:002010-03-09T19:02:21.752-06:00TransplantWhen you've hit the bottom, you become numb to everything that comes your way, good or bad. I could have been stricken with cancer last week and I probably would have just said, with glazed eyes, "Okay."<br /><br />Things have played themselves out. I wouldn't say "worked" themselves out, per se. I'm contemplating still. <br /><br />Schematics is done in the audio department. It sounds amazing! I picked up the finished copy at the opening for Room Zero, Schuyler's new performance/creation space in Northeast, right down the street from Karmath Studio, actually. At the opening, four bands, including Schuyler's own, played live noise sets. The gears started turning in my own head. <br /><br />Schuyler had asked me a couple of months ago to play at Room Zero at one of the monthly gigs that he's planning on having each month from here on out. The space is perfect. It will hold the right amount of people, it will generate the right kind of feeling that I would want Patch to generate in people's heads. The whole night I came up with new ideas for the first live representation of Patch. The initial idea has been stripped away from me time and time again. It will be void of Schematics, it will be all "Veins".<br /><br />May . . .Peter Kenyonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04729680871553462822noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5163402664699181503.post-70487123594711093032010-03-03T23:05:00.002-06:002010-03-03T23:44:58.842-06:00The Patch Live/Sisyphus AnalogyOCTOBER 2009: Mixing is nearing completion on Patch 1: Schematics. During one of the mixing sessions with Schuyler, my co-producer, Schuyler's friend Scotty comes in to say hi. He mentions that he is a freelance drummer, currently rehearsing for an audition for a band looking for a stand-in if the regular drummer is unavailable. He gives me his card, it's best to get as many people as possible for auditions for Patch Live, which would be coming up soon. <br /><br />I'm also in talks with good friends (Dustin, Adri, Greg) to possibly be in the band. I have a space in the back of my house that I've been using for live music two years and counting. Things are looking up. I have everything I could want. My birthday occurred, I realized all of the friends I had, now it's time to step forward into the ether. Halloween is the last good day of the year . . . <br /><br />NOVEMBER 2009: I have a professional meeting with Scotty. We discuss the fact that he's a paid musician, he isn't tied to a band at all, he's a freelancer. Being a stickler for people who commit to projects, and seeing as though I'm not really paying rent on top of the house for the practice space, I figure "Why not? It's only a little bit of money."<br /><br />I try out another drummer. I opt for Scotty, thinking that the money would make him commit to the material needed to be learned. I get the band together twice to mix together, see how people rehearse on their own. We have good rehearsals, progress is made.<br /><br />While on a trip to the West Coast, the current guitarist, Dustin, opts out because of beliefs against paying one person and nobody else. I draw up a manifesto while on a much needed vacation to persuade him to stay, where I basically cancel outings with my family to come up with a solution. Alas, he doesn't bite. The rest of the band finds this as a valid belief system, I seek another guitarist. <br /><br />DECEMBER 2009: I come up with another guitarist to complete the five piece dream. He is Matt Anderson, of The Engagement fame. We have one rehearsal with him. Progress hasn't been made since the last rehearsal. Matt's a great guitar player, however, and I attempt to reign him in some more. He cancels out on each rehearsal thereafter, finally telling me that he can't commit to his job and two bands at the same time. I understand.<br /><br />As Scotty practices in the back room one night, I get a knock on the front door. It's my neighbor, complaining about the noise. Back in November, I ventured over to tell her that I would be starting up another band in the back. As I did this, her dog escaped from her clutches and bit me on the ass, tearing my pants to shreds. We had come to an agreement to stop noise at 9:00pm. It is 8:00pm on this new visit. She threatens to call the cops on me if I ever have another rehearsal again. If I can make the noise "half-volume" then it would be okay. I tell her that's impossible, there's only one person currently in the back, that's 1/5th volume right there. She says I have to go find a new place to practice.<br /><br />Scotty leaves for Maine a couple days later for Winter Break. In this time I seek to find both a new space and a new lead guitarist.<br /><br />JANUARY 2010: I find a new space at Citysound. My friend Eric points me in the direction of this space through his old band, Solid Gold, and a collaborator named Lucas. Upon hearing about us wanting to move in, Solid Gold opts to move out, making the rent higher. We now pay $200 as a band, along with all but one paying Scotty. I also make an executive decision to go as a four piece from here on out. I'm not having any luck finding another guitarist.<br /><br />Scotty returns at the end of the month, and we have one rehearsal as a four piece. It's productive, but not the best. A week later, the bills need to be paid to Citysound, Lucas, and Scotty. Adri opts out at this point, stating that he cannot pay for everything now, and that he can't commit to two bands and looking for a job, having been recently laid off from his day job. Rehearsals have to go on hold.<br /><br />I find responses to my Bassist Needed ads on the web, but they all ask why we're paying the drummer and nobody else. Eric has texted me in the meantime, asking if I still needed a bass player. I trust him and his abilities, I say sure. <br /><br />FEBRUARY 2010: Eric becomes the next bass player. Two rehearsals are had, but again they're not as productive as I'd like. I start opting to take out everything we've learned so far, thinking that our current setup is not conducive to the material just yet. In time it will be. I draw up new plans, and we start working on them. The sound is good, the material solid. I'm finally happy with the setup and the direction we are going. <br /><br />MARCH 2010: Just before the first rehearsal of the month, Eric opts out due to the hefty fees, the job obligations, and not being able to commit to more than one band at a time. A recurring theme. The fees for Scotty and rent go up so much so that I become resilient to keep paying Scotty at all. <br /><br />Currently, I'm at a crossroads. My live band is falling apart. My drummer is on the fritz due to money constraints, I've lost my fourth player. I've thought to become a three piece, but the money is a major factor now if Patch is to be a three-piece. Everything I had back in October/November has fallen apart. I am paying an arm and a leg due to mainly two factors: being outed from my home's rehearsal space and having a committed drummer who wishes to be paid at every rehearsal.<br /><br />I'm a man come apart.<br /><br />Yet, I did receive the final master of Schematics today. But I quite possibly have no live band to show for it.<br /><br />"Follow your dreams" is a bullshit statement at the moment.Peter Kenyonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04729680871553462822noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5163402664699181503.post-19076939400136481612010-02-11T21:15:00.003-06:002010-02-11T21:22:52.927-06:00ReflectorFlashback: 2006 . . . April 21 . . . <br /><br />I took a look at a one way mirror, reflecting me, my soulmate was looking at me from the other side. It was probably one of the most poignant relationships I've had to this day. I saw what I was, she saw what I was. For the first time.<br /><br />It was only a matter of time before I put everything in perspective. The day it came to me was this day . . . and it was too late. I understood why she treated me the way she had for the entire relationship.<br /><br />I love her to this day for it. I hate myself to this day for it.<br /><br />It was this day we parted ways . . .<br /><br />. . . cut from veins . . .Peter Kenyonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04729680871553462822noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5163402664699181503.post-75485985064161297382010-02-08T22:41:00.003-06:002010-02-09T00:13:07.790-06:00Sunday StrollI've had a good time so far with "Veins". This is Day 5 of recording, after starting it a week ago. It should be Day 6, and I should be working on it now, but whatever.<br /><br />That's the point. It's been pleasurable. But I don't want to make it seem like an obligation unless it IS an obligation. I have an obligation to get the current project done two weeks from now, due to a Patch Live order of business. And we'll leave it at that. I'll take my time with "Veins". I don't want it to be another "Schematics", where I became feverish and bulgy eyed at the end. "Switch" was brutal. A two week sprint. You can hear the fever during the last minute or so of the song. The screams were due to a hoarse throat, with coughing fits in between takes, hawking up snot. But I had to get it done by May 4th, had to get it done by then, had to. And then . . . the reason it was supposed to be done became redundant. Mixing went on hiatus for the summer. At least I was done with it. <br /><br />Having gone through that experience, I don't want to do it again, unless it was absolutely necessary. So I'll take my time with this. Concentrate on Patch Live necessities for the time being. I'll bide my time with "Veins", like a Sunday stroll in the park.<br /><br />So far, it sounds brutal and mature. I'm liking it.<br /><br />*EDIT* -- So, after taking a look at the necessities of Patch Live, "Veins" has become a necessity by default. Looks like it will be feverish and sprinted. At least it's only for one song.Peter Kenyonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04729680871553462822noreply@blogger.com0