Sorry for the last few weeks, but rehearsals have been taking up all of my time.
Recording has gone into a standstill until the show is done, and until I can either fix my M-Audio or borrow someone else's.
Anyone in the area should totally some and see Assassins though, which opens on December 1st at 8:00 pm!
Beyond this, I've been working on a new play, inspired by Amanda Palmer's recent album, as well as constantly working on new songs. I am sorry that recording is going so terribly slowly though.
All this aside, I did actually manage to work in a rough draft of a new song, so I guess I can put that together for a teaser.
You can download it for free (or best offer) here: http://javieraladren.bandcamp.com/track/peace-of-mind-say-demo
Thursday, November 1, 2012
Thursday, October 4, 2012
Weekly Blog Update: Javi's Busy Week
So a lot happened this week.
I got new headphones, but they kind of suck (or maybe I'm just biased to my old Grado's). I'm still working on recording with them anyway. Come hell or high water and other such things.
My therapist and I are trying to figure out why I have this weird discomfort with gay culture and resisting gay stereotypes. I'm trying to wrap my brain around why myself. Fun times.
I'm going to be playing a new song. Like a song I finally finished this night. I forgot my camera, so you won't see it, unless you are here. Which you are not. Unless you are.
I have a bunch of call backs that I'm nervous about, which is par for the course. I also have papers that are choking me to death. That's also nice.
On second thought, maybe I won't play the new song.
I don't know.
This got very weird very quickly.
I've restarted work on Someone's Dreaming (the song, not the EP. I mean, the EP as well, but the song in it specifically titled Someone's Dreaming). I have a drum track that's ghetto as shit. That's fun. I may use it. I'm not walking away from that. u
That u was Becky9
As was the 9.
No video today, because I'm a boring man.
Okay, blog over, return to life as planned.
I got new headphones, but they kind of suck (or maybe I'm just biased to my old Grado's). I'm still working on recording with them anyway. Come hell or high water and other such things.
My therapist and I are trying to figure out why I have this weird discomfort with gay culture and resisting gay stereotypes. I'm trying to wrap my brain around why myself. Fun times.
I'm going to be playing a new song. Like a song I finally finished this night. I forgot my camera, so you won't see it, unless you are here. Which you are not. Unless you are.
I have a bunch of call backs that I'm nervous about, which is par for the course. I also have papers that are choking me to death. That's also nice.
On second thought, maybe I won't play the new song.
I don't know.
This got very weird very quickly.
I've restarted work on Someone's Dreaming (the song, not the EP. I mean, the EP as well, but the song in it specifically titled Someone's Dreaming). I have a drum track that's ghetto as shit. That's fun. I may use it. I'm not walking away from that. u
That u was Becky9
As was the 9.
No video today, because I'm a boring man.
Okay, blog over, return to life as planned.
Tuesday, October 2, 2012
On Amanda Palmer, the New Yorker, Communism, and the Oompa-Loompa Defense
If you haven't read the article, please do so here: http://www.newyorker.com/online/blogs/culture/2012/10/amanda-palmers-kickstarter-scandal.html
Now, I'm not going to deny a level of personal bias: Amanda Palmer is an inspiration to me as a musician and as a person. I have been a fan of hers since high school, and I will continue to support her work, despite the most recent backlash on her.
That being said, the amount of ignorance and pandering involved in this article is astounding. Joshua Clover handles explaining how a Kickstarter project works as if it were this insidious, bizarre tool used to swindle innocent, and apparently stupid fans into giving her money. He goes on to describe the backlash as Palmer struggling to capitalize on her fans devotion by having them play for free, painting her as this "moustache-twirling boss," apparently out to get rich quick off of her art, citing her using a rather suspiciously titled "Oompa-Loompa Defense," in which, according to her, "If my fans are happy and my audience is happy and the musicians on stage are happy, where’s the problem?”
There is a necessary level of oppression involved for the "happy worker" mindset to work. The Oompa-Loompas themselves were unable to effectively voice their opinions with their work, which is why Wonka was able to assert that they liked it. Her fans are not all living in caves, on in some strange island, and we all speak coherent, modern languages. We have access to the internet, her blog, Facebook, Twitter, and we are all more than happy to voice our opinions of her work. She isn't paying us off to lie, and tell people we're happy "working" for her, so I would just trust that Palmer made that claim in confidence.
This would be a different argument if she was crowdsourcing touring accompaniment. She is asking for local musicians, her fans specifically, to participate in her music. Every action that she has made with this project has been towards lessening the gap between musicians and their audience, and I don't see how paying them to do one show helps that. If anything, it creates a formality, a sense that Palmer isn't interested in the people. Paying them puts her fans in the category of convenient studio musicians, rather than people invested in her work, who want to be on stage with her, who want to play and share this music.
As I said in the beginning, I come from personal bias, and perhaps I am a slack-jawed toady, jumping at cruel Madame Palmer's beck and call, but structurally speaking, nothing in Palmer's behavior has ever suggested an insidious motive, much less one for financial gain. Also, we are talking about music, not accounting or engineering, or construction. I would like to believe that there is a level of joy involved in this act: these musicians are doing what they love, after all.
Now, I'm not going to deny a level of personal bias: Amanda Palmer is an inspiration to me as a musician and as a person. I have been a fan of hers since high school, and I will continue to support her work, despite the most recent backlash on her.
That being said, the amount of ignorance and pandering involved in this article is astounding. Joshua Clover handles explaining how a Kickstarter project works as if it were this insidious, bizarre tool used to swindle innocent, and apparently stupid fans into giving her money. He goes on to describe the backlash as Palmer struggling to capitalize on her fans devotion by having them play for free, painting her as this "moustache-twirling boss," apparently out to get rich quick off of her art, citing her using a rather suspiciously titled "Oompa-Loompa Defense," in which, according to her, "If my fans are happy and my audience is happy and the musicians on stage are happy, where’s the problem?”
There is a necessary level of oppression involved for the "happy worker" mindset to work. The Oompa-Loompas themselves were unable to effectively voice their opinions with their work, which is why Wonka was able to assert that they liked it. Her fans are not all living in caves, on in some strange island, and we all speak coherent, modern languages. We have access to the internet, her blog, Facebook, Twitter, and we are all more than happy to voice our opinions of her work. She isn't paying us off to lie, and tell people we're happy "working" for her, so I would just trust that Palmer made that claim in confidence.
This would be a different argument if she was crowdsourcing touring accompaniment. She is asking for local musicians, her fans specifically, to participate in her music. Every action that she has made with this project has been towards lessening the gap between musicians and their audience, and I don't see how paying them to do one show helps that. If anything, it creates a formality, a sense that Palmer isn't interested in the people. Paying them puts her fans in the category of convenient studio musicians, rather than people invested in her work, who want to be on stage with her, who want to play and share this music.
As I said in the beginning, I come from personal bias, and perhaps I am a slack-jawed toady, jumping at cruel Madame Palmer's beck and call, but structurally speaking, nothing in Palmer's behavior has ever suggested an insidious motive, much less one for financial gain. Also, we are talking about music, not accounting or engineering, or construction. I would like to believe that there is a level of joy involved in this act: these musicians are doing what they love, after all.
Friday, September 28, 2012
Weekly Blog Thing: Waiting for Recording and Other Such Puns
So. The blog thing.
School has gotten pretty intense, a lot of shit to memorize and work on. A scene, two poems, Assassins script.
I want to keep working on music, and particularly recording, but every time I set up my "studio" something isn't working. Right now its the headphones that I still need to send in to Grado to get fixed. It'll happen, it's just being a bitch (as technology and particularly recording is want to do).
No Donkey show this week, since it was a comedy thing. I'd do the comedy thing, but I don't think I can maintain being funny for that long without using my depressing music or stories as a sort of counterpoint.
I think as far as recording goes, I'm going to just start working on every EP and album I've had lined up for ever. I'm not going to worry about full bands or anything for a bit, I just want more of my work out there. So I'm starting from the top and moving down. Look forward to it or whatever.
I have a dream last night where I was shot by some guy in the back. He did it in the name of love.
Also last week's show is here:
Setlist:
Brittle Back
Am I Alone I Am
Polly (Nirvana Cover)
Friday, September 21, 2012
Weekly Blog Thing: On Doing a Weekly Blog Thing and Stuff
Hey gang,
So I've decided to try blogging once a week, since I've been doing open mic shows once a week, so I figured, why not, right?
Most of time right now has been wrapped in a plethora of delightful excuses, like classes, or my own neuroses, or the economy. I have certainly been writing new songs, as the video below will show you, but recording has been largely problematic (as if it hasn't been before, but blah blah).
Mostly depressing songs, but it's something I guess. Below is a video of my open mic last week. I'm sitting in Donkey right now in fact. Isn't that great?
Oh, I also got cast in Assassins at my school, which is super exciting. I get to explore John Hinckley, so that's fun.
This would have been a snippet from my show, but it didn't upload, because it's weak.
I'm also apparently doing a comedy thing next week at Donkey?
Saturday, September 17, 2011
Late Update: The Eventual Return to Normalcy
So wow. The amount of things that piled up on me when I wasn't looking.
After Irene hit us and I lost power for a glorious three days, and sulked, since things were not going smashingly at the Aladren abode in New Jersey.
To be fair, many people lost their lives to the storm, and it was a tragedy, and I honestly believe I got the better end of the deal from the storm. My hard times were more a collection of jetlag, my cousin visiting, my brother moving in, moving down into the cat fur suite, and the long drive back to Athens.
But I'm back and ready to go. And in all the chaos of scheduling and adjusting to things, I realize that it's the 10 year anniversary of September 11.
What the fuck?
Even now, a few days later, it still hasn't sunk in.
Everyone seems so involved about politicizing the damn event, and I just can't get over how little I feel about it.
It's horrible, but I really don't feel that affected by the 10th anniversary of a horrible attack on our country.
I'm not sure what else to write now. I know I should put down how my trip went, recording plans, news about the Flying Cynics, but I just can't get inspired right now. I just want to post to let you all know that I'm still here, so... blah
After Irene hit us and I lost power for a glorious three days, and sulked, since things were not going smashingly at the Aladren abode in New Jersey.
To be fair, many people lost their lives to the storm, and it was a tragedy, and I honestly believe I got the better end of the deal from the storm. My hard times were more a collection of jetlag, my cousin visiting, my brother moving in, moving down into the cat fur suite, and the long drive back to Athens.
But I'm back and ready to go. And in all the chaos of scheduling and adjusting to things, I realize that it's the 10 year anniversary of September 11.
What the fuck?
Even now, a few days later, it still hasn't sunk in.
Everyone seems so involved about politicizing the damn event, and I just can't get over how little I feel about it.
It's horrible, but I really don't feel that affected by the 10th anniversary of a horrible attack on our country.
I'm not sure what else to write now. I know I should put down how my trip went, recording plans, news about the Flying Cynics, but I just can't get inspired right now. I just want to post to let you all know that I'm still here, so... blah
Friday, August 5, 2011
Blog Updates!
Hey all! Again, I know I usually update these on Wednesdays, but time is really relative, so shut up.
So I've been writing three ukulele songs simultaneously, and I'm not sure if they're all going on the album or not, since my original travel plans have changed. That being said, I have the eurail pass in my hands, and with some awkward financial complications involving everyone's favorite Bank of America and the currency exchange between euros and America-money, I should be able to head off from Zaragoza to Barcelona, Chapter One, in a couple of days.
I've always been trying to figure out time to film at least a couple of these songs for everyone to see, but for some reason or another, I can't seem to get it done, so sorry. I'll try in the future, but things are kind of crazy in Spain.
That's really all there is to my blog today, so...
Today I recommend Owen Pallett's cover of "Hard to Explain," by The Strokes.
Also, for my music, try listening to my first release, -1
So I've been writing three ukulele songs simultaneously, and I'm not sure if they're all going on the album or not, since my original travel plans have changed. That being said, I have the eurail pass in my hands, and with some awkward financial complications involving everyone's favorite Bank of America and the currency exchange between euros and America-money, I should be able to head off from Zaragoza to Barcelona, Chapter One, in a couple of days.
I've always been trying to figure out time to film at least a couple of these songs for everyone to see, but for some reason or another, I can't seem to get it done, so sorry. I'll try in the future, but things are kind of crazy in Spain.
That's really all there is to my blog today, so...
Today I recommend Owen Pallett's cover of "Hard to Explain," by The Strokes.
Also, for my music, try listening to my first release, -1
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