Monthly Archives February 2011

Last night’s gig at Club Underground was a total fiasco but a valuable lesson nonetheless
First the gory details
I had set up on the drum riser and then pulled down the video screen to hide the clutter
I was pretty cavalier about it and set up just the skeleton of my configuration (no wiring of the electronics)
My last few gigs have made me a bit cocky because the newer setup was less complicated Once it came time to set up, I had noticed that changeover was taking a bit of time and Ether came up and hinted at it by asking if he could help
After getting set up, the video projector wasn’t cooperating so I just panicked and did the set without it
My anxiety got the best of me as I resolved to stick to the basics, do a short set and get off stage
The result was a less than stellar show in my ...

I have not been writing much in the last month because there has been a lot happening

The trip to Dallas in december was very positive
First and foremost, I made it a point to be there to see my mother who is having health problems
I kept my social interactions to a minimum
Then there was the looming doom of a clutch that failed just after arriving in Dallas
Luckily that turned into a minor problem with bubbles in the lines but I was convinced for quite a few days that I was about to be $500 in the hole
This brought me face to face with one of my biggest anxieties
Debt

Laura points out that I am built for touring
Cheap as hell and satisfied with almost nothing to live on
My entire adult life has been engineered so that I wouldn’t have to be in debt to anyone, much less a credit card compan...

Literally 20 minutes ago, I got up and went down to the basement to get my bass
I was watching a movie and wanted to aimlessly plunk on it
But when I got to the basement, there was no bass
Not only that but I couldn’t find the harp guitar
I searched every room possible in the house
You know that old cliche’ “He suddenly realized in horror”?
I suddenly realized in horror that I had left them both at the last gig I played
At the 400 bar EIGHT days ago
That’s when I freaked out

And to make matters worse

The gig at the 400 didn’t exactly go off on good terms and there were negative things said in public by various participants of the lineup
There was an issue with the soundman but I found him to be cooperative and had no problems with his job (even if there was a lot of fluctuation at a previo...

I managed to get all of my barrage edits from Countrockula’s Theater for the Insane! organized and posted into a neat little playlist on Youtube

youtube.com/rockulaproductions

Just finished my latest barrage edit
It was culled from a 45 minute compilation which means I cut a lot of really cool footage in order to keep it as brief as possible
Enjoy!

I was asked by Oni of Shinto records to play this gig with them at the 400 Bar
The first thing that came to mind is that the venue was not exactly my first choice for the types of bands on this lineup
If you have ever been to the 400 then you know it is a Rawk club plain and simple
The next red flag as when we showed up to get advanced tickets for the event and were told that each act was expected to bring in at least 25 advance sales
I knew right away that I wasn’t going to get those numbers but decided to keep my mouth shut
The final part of the bad experience was when the 400 cut our set times and made me go on at 8:30pm
There’s a lot of things I could talk shit about but suffice it to say that I am none too concerned if the 400 would ever book me again because I cetainly am not interes...

I recieved a message from a guy named Vance who says he’s been watching my Theater for the Insane and The Hypnotic Eye uploads
He sent me a link to his new TV show called “Spook Show” and it is pretty good (especially for the 1st episode)
http://www.archive.org/details/SpookShowEpisode1itPaysToAdvertise

There has been an explosion of DIY video in the last few years but most of it is under the official title of “youtubepoop” and I must say that it lives up to it’s name
Mostly, it is people screwing around with cartoons from their childhood and not showing much imagination
However, this guy Vance is using the same concept that I have embraced and what Zappa called “Conceptual continuity”
Digital editing has made it possible to make video jump around and do tricks for you but that’s not enoug...