Blogs

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Along with a new website, Schwervon! is finally ready to release some of the flowers that have blossomed as a result of our recent recording tour down south this summer with legendary sound engineer Doug Easley (Sonic Youth, Pavement, Cat Power) in Memphis, Tennessee. The plan is to digitally stream a new song every other week, starting on Friday, January 13th, throughout the months of January, February and March. As if that wasn't exciting enough, the first week of each new song will be available as a free download. So, stay tuned and check in here to stay up to date with Schwervon! and check out some new tracks starting January 13th: http://www.schwervon.com/

In the mean time if you are in the Baltimore area you can catch Schwervon! live this Saturday, January 7th at The Metro Gallery helping to celebrate a new album release for our friends The Degenerettes. Read more »

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2012 Love and Friends
Welcome to the new year! For the past few years I've been consulting my internal crystal ball to come up with a theme for the year. I can't explain the process. It's usually something like the first thing that pops into my head. 2010 was: The Year of Enchantment and 2011 was: Something is going to happen. 2012 is: The Year of Love and Friends.

There is something about adversity that inspires us to discover love in all sorts of new places. Nan and I are fully into the guilty pleasure that is "Friday Night Lights" right now (a TV series that centers around High School football in a small town in southern Texas). Read more »

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So I'm in the used record store on 81st and Broadway looking at records. I like this store because everything is relatively cheap, especially the post 60's stuff, and there always a lot of Bob Dylan and Lou Reed records for completist fallback. So I'm in the store and I'm looking through records and another record buyer starts complaining that a budget copy of Abby Road costs 15 dollars. So I'm thinking to myself well were surrounded by a Starbucks, a Barnes and Noble, a Best Buy, and a McDonalds.... I mean I would pay more taxes to keep this store open or at least pay $15.00 for a copy of a budget Abby Road, I'm also thinking if you haven't listened to Abby Road 14 thousand times already you probably have very little interest in music let alone used records and if you were you would gladly pay $15 if you never listened to it before, because it's going to blow your mind, your gonna listen to it 14 thousand times, and your going to memorize every line, a bargain at $15. So then the used record complainer complains that he could get that in philadelphia for $10, and I'm thinking I'm getting tired of listening to this guy complain so thank god Jon walks into the store. Read more »

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3 Recent Things about Art Sorority For Girls
NYC native Daoud Tyler-Ameen, of Art Sorority For Girls, sent us a little update on his recent goings on since relocating to Washington DC. We are happy to hear he's doing well and super excited about the new album!

1. The debut album is out! It's called Slow Dance, and it's available for the moment as a pay-what-you-wish download. Get it here:
www.artsororityforgirls.bandcamp.com

2. If you're still in New York (or will be for the holidays), I'm playing a little homecoming show at my old stomping ground, the Sidewalk Cafe. That'll be Wednesday, December 21, two weeks from today, on a bill with my dear friends Little Cobweb and Nan Turner. Read more »

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R-1
Schwervon! had an upstate gig last night in Cold Spring, NY. Cold Spring is a beautiful little NYC town about an hour outside of the city. The main street kind of felt like a movie set.

On the way there we ran into an R-1 train at the 2nd Ave. F stop. You can learn about it from the link but basically it's the first car ever built for the NYC Independent subway system. They're these really fun refurbished cars from the 1930's. I was kind of amazed at how similar they are to the ones we have today. The most distinctive difference, outside of the ads, were these huge (head chopping) ceiling fans throughout the cars. No AC back then. Summer must have been rough. The dark bolted metal exterior kind of reminded me of old WW2 ships or tanks. I managed to snap a couple of pics before we had to grab our much less charming uptown F train across the platform. The pic to the left a touristy shot I got of the Crysler building while walking over to catch Metro North at Grand Central. Read more »

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12-11-11: Ladies of Old Hat, Purple Organ, Agent Ribbons, and Kung Fu Crimwave @ Goodbye Blue Monday
It was a chilly night. I was pretty tired due to the fact that I had worked the night before until 4am for a Goth Dance Party at Bowery Poetry club. Nan and I headed over to Chelsea at around noon for to server as extras for a Debutante Hour photo shoot. The theme of the shoot was awkward prom.

Luckily, Goodbye Blue Monday serves my favorite energy drink: Manhattan Special on ice mixed with half and half. I slammed 2 of them and then I was good to go. Read more »

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One of my record collecting goals is to get every volume of the SYR series. I could listen to this stuff for hours and this is a long song (I could imagine the White Columns audience, some entranced, some looking around like when is this going to end). I wish I could write about this kind of music but I don't even know where to start, well maybe,...Glass, Cage...aaa...La Monte Young...and the guy who writes songs for guitar orchestras...Glenn Branca?...see what I mean. I was in Barnes and Noble in the 80's the other day and I was waiting in line at the register and an impulse buy book was a paperback guide to classical music. I seriously cannot listen to classical music, I totally don't get it, last time I was in a taxi I had to ask the driver to turn the classical music he was listening to off, it was driving me crazy. So I'm reading the classical music guide and it turns out classical music guides are just like rock record guides. They list and critique the recordings, the songwriters, the musicians, the production, and add some contextual stuff to tie it together. Read more »

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Just in time for the holidays!! Just in time for the holidays!! Just in time for the holidays!! Just in time for the holidays!! Just in time for the holidays!! Just in time for the holidays!! Just in time for the holidays!! Just in time for the holidays!! Just in time for the holidays!! Just in time for the holidays!! Just in time for the holidays!! Just in time for the holidays!! Just in time for the holidays!! Just in time for the holidays!! Just in time for the holidays!! Just in time for the holidays!! Just in time for the holidays!! Just in time for the holidays!! We are happy to announce these 2 lovely compilations of the Berlin DIY songwriter scene (with a couple of US ex pats thrown in for good measure) are back in stock. Curated by Sebastian Hoffmann and Jan Nikolaus Junker. http://www.olivejuicemusic.com/artists/berlin-songs

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A Poetic Week
I had 2 late nights working at Bowery Poetry Club this weekend. I saw a lot of nice poetry and was lucky enough to witness the debut of Faceboyz Folliez a new variety type show featuring some of my favorite local Art Stars. This is a great chance to check out classic Lower East Side trash comedy and burlesque performance art before the whole neighborhood turns into a Whole Foods.

The MMM solo show at Sidewalk with, Jesse Lee, Barry Bliss, Toby Goodshank (and band) and Brain and The Aardvarks was sort of a reunion show for Barry, Toby, Brian and I. It was about 2 years ago that we did a mini East Coast tour together entitled "The 3 Headed Beast." The lovely and talented Fran Agnone (Ladies of Old Hat) backed me up on percussion. I'm finding her influence on my solo works a real breath of fresh air. Hopefully, we will continue to work together. Here is the original poem from last night's show. I think my new sound gig at the BPC is already starting influence my work (in a good way). Read more »

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NY you're keeping me busy. Less time on the Facebook and more face-time with new faces. It's shaping up to be a very interesting holiday season. I started a new live sound gig at Bowery Poetry club. Some good stuff happening there. Poetry slams, college band showcases, and all night Goth parties...reconnecting with my youthful passions while getting paid for it. I've had worse gigs. I just sent some questions to the Occupy Musicians website for a RRDB Blog feature. So, stay tuned for that.

In the meantime here's a handful of random snaps from some great shows and events I've attended recently. BTW the picture above is my friend Rachel (Dan and Rachel). This was her awesome "1% Vampire" Halloween costume. Read more »

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It'll be alright! http://www.olivejuicemusic.com/content/juice-box It'll be alright! http://www.olivejuicemusic.com/content/juice-box It'll be alright! http://www.olivejuicemusic.com/content/juice-box It'll be alright! http://www.olivejuicemusic.com/content/juice-box It'll be alright! http://www.olivejuicemusic.com/content/juice-box It'll be alright! http://www.olivejuicemusic.com/content/juice-box It'll be alright! http://www.olivejuicemusic.com/content/juice-box It'll be alright! http://www.olivejuicemusic.com/content/juice-boxIt'll be alright! http://www.olivejuicemusic.com/content/juice-box It'll be alright! http://www.olivejuicemusic.com/content/juice-box It'll be alright! http://www.olivejuicemusic.com/content/juice-box It'll be alright! http://www.olivejuicemusic.com/content/juice-box

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So it was the afternoon so I got a pint of Cherry Garcia and went home to listen to the radio and eat ice cream. I decided to be productive so I tuned into the New Afternoon Show. I love the New Afternoon Show. I wish it was the New 24 hours, 7 days a week show, so I wouldn't have to change the dial. I can't get WFMU uptown (what's up with that new transmitter?) so the only good music stations are CBS and The New Afternoon Show. The New Afternoon Show is challenging, they play all the new, most cred indie bands and labels in all the indie genres except hip-hop, hip hop has it's own show. I'm also prepared to hear a lot of new things when I listen because if I think I have an in depth ear to the world of indie rock, I quickly realize I'm only listening to the tip of the iceberg. I mean no joke the D.J.'s and program manager are indie music genius. The first band on sounds like Confusion is Sex Sonic Youth, then some new wave lite bands. I hear a commercial for another show and the narrator sounds like Werner Herzog. I love his jungle movies. I saw Grizzly Man on Sundance and it was awesome. Read more »

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Paleface's "Multibean Vol.3" features 16 songs recorded over the past three decades. The songs have been carefully selected (and sequenced) by PF....from a collection of raw tape home recordings, rough demos, live show performances, and album outakes.
http://paleface.bandcamp.com/album/multibean-vol-3

PALEFACE's Holiday Sale - 50% OFF
Unique & Affordable gift ideas...starting at just $5!

BUNDLES: Paleface's Care Packages / One-of-a-kind packages including signed One big Party CDs with ORIGINAL paintings by Paleface on stretched canvas (various sizes), signed tour posters, t-shirts and more... (starting as low as $15!).

BAG HANGERS, by Paleface: Limited edition, lightweight metal bag hangers featuring art by Paleface. Keep you shopping bags, purses, camera bags, computer bags, etc....clean, safe and at your reach at all times. Free gift velvet puch included (now only $5!!). Read more »

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Day 3 and 4

These days were originally an e-mail to Greg and Ahndraya, but I wrote so much I figured it could save me time and be my next diary entry. (with some editing)

The treatment in Buffalo has been A +, the crowd not so big (maybe 40 people)- the turn out was probably hurt because there was another show in town-The Sadies and Jesse Sykes
We played Sugar City
And the folks there were super nice, probably one of the only US promoters who actually cooked us a dinner. (and had yummy brownies) Read more »

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Day 2 of tour

I wake up early to move Jeff’s car before we leave for Rochester. When I reach for my socks my thumb brushes up against the coffee table and I get a long splinter up my fingernail. AAAAAAAAAAA. The pain. I rush to the bathroom and try and pull it out. I only manage to break off the tip. “AAAAAAAA, ow, ow, ow” Oh my fucking god, this is un-real. My mom comes into the bathroom with some tweezers and quickly pulls out the splinter. What a mom! A real “Pro” - mom. Man. I take a couple advil. It hurts like hell. I run downstairs to move the car. Read more »

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Occupy 11-17-11
http://www.occupywallst.org/
It was a long day that started around 6 am for me. I headed up to Liberty Park for an early morning protest/celebration honoring the 2 month anniversary of the OCW movement. There was a full day of non violent action planned. The morning event was a march in front of the Wall Street Stock Exchange to symbolically call for a shut down of the corrupt and unregulated financial practices that take place there. A press release about the protest said they wanted to make it an especially musical one and that you should write your story, in the form of a slogan, on a sign and display it at the protest. I decided to bring a long a mini djembe that my sister gave me.

This is the sign I came up with. Read more »

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After a long work day I headed down to the OWS General Assembly yesterday around 7pm at Liberty Park. I'd been following the displacement of the occupiers earlier that morning. I managed to catch the last half of the GA. The big message was the day of protest on the 17th. Initially there were roughly 1000 people but the crowd thinned out as the night went on. There appeared to be a fresh wave of energy throughout the park. The footlights that covered the parks floor had been turned back on. I hadn't noticed them on my previous visits. They gave the entire space a kind invigorating glow. The entire perimeter of the grounds is now surrounded by heavy metal guard rails and there is a strong presence of private security guards in yellow reflective vests. The new strictly enforced law is no sleeping bags, tents or sleeping in the park. After the GA, a smaller group of people went to march on the city courthouse to protest the polices treatment of some of the female occupiers that were recently arrested. At various points throughout the evening people brought plates of food, pizza and even cookies and sweets. Read more »

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http://occupywallst.org/action/november-17th/
On Thursday November 17th, the two month anniversary of the Occupy Wall Street movement, we call upon the 99% to participate in a national day of direct action and celebration!
New York City
BREAKFAST: Shut Down Wall Street - 7:00 a.m.

Enough of this economy that exploits and divides us. It's time we put an end to Wall Street's reign of terror and begin building an economy that works for all. We will gather in Liberty Square at 7:00 a.m., before the ring of the Trading Floor Bell, to prepare to confront Wall Street with the stories of people on the frontlines of economic injustice. There, before the Stock Exchange, we will exchange stories rather than stocks.
LUNCH: Occupy The Subways - 3:00 p.m.

We will start by Occupying Our Blocks! Then throughout the five boroughs, we will gather at 16 central subway hubs and take our own stories to the trains, using the "People's Mic".

Bronx
Fordham Rd
3rd Ave, 138th Street
163rd and Southern Blvd
161st and River - Yankee Stadium
Brooklyn
Broadway Junction
Borough Hall
301 Grove Street Read more »

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The Dirtbombs are playing at the Bell House and I'm thinking of going. I've been a fan of The Dirtbombs since the White Stripes Detroit craze. I've seen them a couple of times and really enjoyed their shows. I have a bunch of their records and they're always a terrific listen. They have out a new triple 12 inch LP of detroit techno songs. ALthough they do a lot of original songs, The Dirtbombs are also musicologists, they also put out an LP of r&b and soul covers. So I call Matt to see if he wants to go. Matt tells me he's going to Brooklyn to see Christie's band play so I decided to go because I've never seen her band play before. Actually no one has seen her band play before because this is their first show, they've been rehearsing for a year and now they're doing a show. Matt and I get to the show and the band goes on and they're really good. Post rock, prog, instrumentals. I't always cool to hear some different styles of music you don' t usually listen to. The music was dramatic my senses were really heightened plus there was a film of protest marchers projected behind the band so it was extra dramatic. Read more »

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Vids
Nan being away has given me a lot of time to fill in my day. Aside from a new part time live sound gig and some recent studio work with the bands Elastic No No Band and Red Gretchen some of my closer friends may have noticed that after owning a Macbook for about 5 years I finally got around to using the iMovie program. It turns out it's a pretty darn easy program to use. I've decided to start combining my recent interest in photography with my not so recent interest in music. Here's what's coming out. Stay tuned for actual video footage. Uhhh maybe?

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New album "A Turn In the Dream-Songs" is now out worldwide on Rough Trade Records

The band on most East Coast dates will be Jeff/Jack/Dave plus Nan Turner of Schwervon! (Nan will not be on the West Coast dates)

As usual if anybody can offer a place to sleep for the band on any of these dates please let us know at JeffLewisBand@gmail.com - Thanks! http://www.thejeffreylewissite.com/Upcoming-Shows.html

TUES NOV 8 - SUNY Purchase, NY - Student Center, w/ Mal Blum and Zoe Boekbinder. 735 Anderson Hill Rd, Purchase, NY 10577.

THUR, NOV 10 - ROCHESTER, NY - The Bug Jar, w/ Seth Faergolzia, Berth Control and Payton Marovich. 219 Monroe Ave. Age 18+ only, show 8 - 11:15 pm, tix $6/$8.

FRI, NOV 11 - BUFFALO, NY- Sugar City, w/ Emperor X and Jack Topht. Show from 6-10 pm, $7 entry. 19 Wadsworth St. Buffalo, NY 14201. ALL-AGES!

SAT, NOV 12 - TORONTO, CANADA - Dakota Tavern, w/ Emperor X (switched from Friday). 249 Ossington Avenue, Toronto Canada, Ontario M6J 3A1. EARLY SHOW, from 6:30-10 pm. Age 19+ only. $10. Read more »

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OWS Tent City, Daniel B-Day, Subway Benches
After a morning jog and a little work on my latest video I decided to go down to Liberty park and check up on the Occupy Wall Street scene. It had been a while since I'd been down there. About a block away from the park I was swept up by an Occupy Oakland Anti- Police Brutality solidarity march. The march went past City Hall and down in front of the police station and then back to Liberty Park. It was a little scary because they had barricades in front of the station that they could have easily pinned us into similar to the mass arrest round up that took place on the Brooklyn Bridge march. Luckily everything went pretty smoothly. Aside from the massive amounts of them, the cops seemed pretty chill. I even had one officer politely request to pass in front of me as he went to cross the street and then thanked me after. I'm sad to say there were a handful of nuts, marching with the crowd, that were shouting obscenities at the cops and taunting them by waving flags and banners at them. Luckily, nothing got out of hand. But like I said, the police presence was really massive and just the site of this many cops and cop cars and scooters seemed to heighten the tension a bit. Read more »

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Steve Shiffman and The Land of No's EP#2 is out today! It's titled "Nemet Uul" - head on over to their webshop to listen to it in its entirety - and to purchase: http://ssatlon.bandcamp.com/album/nemegt-uul-ep

Here's a quick tour of the three songs on the EP taken from their press release:

"All Part Of His Plan" has long been a live favourite (looking at you
Toby Goodshank and Bruce Lynn!). Hat's off to the amazing Aaron Kant for playing the crap out of the drums on this song and also the third one. Sending you Peter Falk smoke signals, Aaron!

"Never Know What To Say" - this one is an outtake from a time long
begone, with our dear friend and original drummer Pete Hayes on drums. Recorded by wunderkind Juan Pieczanski of the band Small Black, this track is an exclusive offering, ie - it will *not* be on the final cumulative vinyl release, so take it for a spin. Did you know Pete
played with us at our recent show in Beacon, NY?

"It's OK" - yep that's Steve's solo in the middle, but allow yourself
to be pointed toward the dual madness that is Alec and dAve at the
outro. Holy smokes!

“Nemegt Uul” EP Release Party:
Fri. Nov 4, 2011
Cake Shop (NYC) Read more »

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Me Stuff
I used some of my recent live sound engineering money to pay to get Nan's (kind of mine now) good digital camera fixed. I decided to start experimenting more with the flash. I also got a little bag for the camera because someone told me the reason the the camera broke in the first place was because it got dirt in the extending lens. This made it stop turning on all together. I also got a USB memory card reader that makes it much easier for me to upload my pictures to the Internet. It feels good to be able to experiment with photography again. I like doing something creative and not sound related. I read a quote recently that said something like "Learn one thing and do it really, really well." I think that's total bullshit. Maybe if you're making screwdrivers or something like that but I feel like as a human being that's a recipe for depression. I think you should try something different every day.
Read more »

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10_28_11
7 Hiku’s for Heiko

Bandana head band
Makes boring things interesting
Happy Halloween

You passed me a joint
There are blue eggs on the wall
Felt like a rock star

I’m playing for free
Why do you have no money?
Berlin is so cheap.

I have better friends
No songs exist about them
Why are you so tired

How cool is your name
Thanksgiving in Berlin
A great parking space

You don’t want to fight
My cat bites me for no reason
Crazy girls love you

I can’t remember
The first time I saw your face
Yes, it was smiling
http://www.olivejuicemusic.com/artists/horror-me

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Stop fixing tickets and cover the Occupy Wall Street Police O.T.
A recent New York Times article reports about a 3 year criminal investigation that has resulted in the the indictment of 16 NY police officers for ticket fixing. In the article Bronx DA, Robert T. Johnson, is quoted as saying "'the tickets fixed had robbed the city of $1 million to $2 million.'"
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/10/29/nyregion/officers-unleash-anger-at-tic...

When I read the $1 to $2million dollar figure in lost revenue to the city statement it rang a bell. Just three weeks earlier NYPD commissioner Ray Kelly released a statement saying that Occupy Wall Street movement had cost the city nearly $2 million dollars in police over time. http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/new-york/occupy-wall-street-costing-taxpayer... Read more »

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Juice Box #4 is happening Tonight! One of the free raffles at tonight's Juice Box will be $25 gift certificate to Exit 9 Gift Shop.
http://www.olivejuicemusic.com/content/juice-box
Juice Box #4 is happening Tonight! One of the free raffles at tonight's Juice Box will be $25 gift certificate to Exit 9 Gift Shop.
http://www.olivejuicemusic.com/content/juice-box
Juice Box #4 is happening Tonight! One of the free raffles at tonight's Juice Box will be $25 gift certificate to Exit 9 Gift Shop.
http://www.olivejuicemusic.com/content/juice-box
Juice Box #4 is happening Tonight! One of the free raffles at tonight's Juice Box will be $25 gift certificate to Exit 9 Gift Shop.
http://www.olivejuicemusic.com/content/juice-box

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10-22-11
A list of things different since you’ve been away:
- I keep more stuff on the kitchen table: my watch, magazines, pens, water bottle. I also keep my jacket and the occasional shirt hanging from the backs of chairs
- The plants are not getting watered as much
- I don’t buy one of those little cartons of milk for coffee. I just use the soy milk.
- I eat less steel cut oats
- I run less
- I sleep less
- For weeks mosquitoes were torturing me at night
- I look at the Internet more and I watch more television
- I talk to the cat more. (We’ll a little more maybe.)
- I spend less money on food
- I eat less chicken
- I think less about the future
- I took one of the two broken cameras in get repaired. They told me it was going to be $100. It’s been about a week and I still haven’t decided if it’s worth it
- I started working late nights at a hip hop dance club
- It’s colder outside
- The fridge is less full
- I’ve stolen one of your pillows to prop myself up while I surf the internet in bed.
- I haven’t watched a single Netflix
- I lived for two days off of some sandwiches I found in the basement of the club. Read more »

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The Truth.
You ever sit back and consider how inaccurate the majority of what you read is? It's probably something most people don't think about a lot. I suppose if you did it too much you run the risk of going a little batty. Many of us who think we have a rounded perspective are really just searching for ideas that enforce the ones we already have. We all want "The Truth." A least we act like we do. The problem is that unlike a science experiment, when it comes to human social activity, the truth is an ever fleeting concept. I remember at one point in my teens I thought the best way to live my life was to tell everyone exactly what I thought of them at all times. That didn't work out so well. In retrospect half what I thought was the truth turned out to be just fleeting thoughts that were totally inaccurate. I grew to learn that by the mere act of speaking or writing I enter the world of the subjective. Read more »

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So I'm going out to Emandee Studio to meet Dina and Matt to record some new songs. Matt is starting to do some recordings at Emandee so we're going to record some Prewar songs so Matt can get aquainted with the workings of the studio. So we're supposed to chill out together, take our time, work out some new songs in a new studio for us. Of course I stayed up all night the night before to churn out a bunch of new Prewar songs. I have a few melodies with only slight variations between them and about 10 sets of lyrics to mix and match. I tried to write fun lyrics for partying and stressed out lyrics for coming down and I'm really trying to get everything uptempo. Speaking of stressed out, I am totally stressed out. I was up all night crunching lyrics and rewriting them all day and I'm all hopped up on caffeine and really grouchy. I'll be lucky if I don't ruin the session. It's a long walk from the train so I'm trying to keep it together till I get to Emandee where Dina and Matt will cheer me up. So I get there and Matt is inside, there's no buzzer so I call and he comes outside. He tells me Mark is going to come by to show us around the studio. Read more »