July 18th, Saturday
Time:
Morning
Title: show
We'll be playing a "gig" at the Cozy's bar and Grill this Saturday, the 18th of July. For information on the address please click the "gigs" tab below the latest news tab. Not that anyone reads this site. So what the hell am I thinking?
that is all
May 1st, Friday
Time: afternoom
Title: Marianne Ewald
Alan's mother Marianne passed away today after a short illness. Our sympathies go out to the entire Ewald family. I will always remember her incredible energy and her passion in political causes. When I was a child she taught me the meaning of POW / MIA. R.I.P. Marianne
April 18th, Saturday
Time: Morning
Title: another cancelation
Alan will be unable to attend the gig due to a family emergency. Rick and Mike will still be there and the event was mostly going to be an open jam anyhow.
that is all
April 3rd, Friday
Time: Morning
<Title: Who are these people?
Recently and randomly I'll type searches on popular search engines that relate to the this particular rock n' roll n' freak n' country n' jazz n' fart band. Such as The Users Little Bag of Hope. I'll end up getting links to places like this one http://www.getback.com/album/little-bag-of-hope/2925812. Who the hell are these people? If you click a song you'll get nothing but some video with which we had no part in.
Plus I found us on some CD swap site. I'm alright with that site.
However that other site is a bunch of garbage. What the hell is going on around here?
No wonder they invented lawyers
March 23rd, Monday
Time: Afternoon
Title: A live show
Or something representing a live show. At around 3pm the three of us are going to rendevous at Cozy's Bar and Grill in Sherman Oaks, Ca. I don't know how it will go as distractions seem to be distracting what's left of this pitiful
slop of a musical group. The overall tone is dreadful, it seems that songs we played for years are forgotten in midstream. Come watch the Greek tragedy unravel before your very eyes, I was told there's no cover charge and the bar will be serving. The whole thing really starts at noon, there'll be a number of day bands and an open jam day. It might be fun, if not funny, or downright atrocious.
How's that for a sales pitch?
That is all
August 14th, 2008
Time: Late Afternoon / Early
Title: August 14th
On the 45th anniversary of my brother Marty's birth I received news of my friend Paul's mother's passing. My heart felt condolences go out to his family and all of Kay's friends.
I changed the site and presented a deterent for messageboard spammers. I don't know if it will work. If not I'll have to ramp it up. If you want to know I'll show you how to get around it
I have a give with the Stukas Over ... Moscow, I reckon. Check the gig tag for details
That is all
June 24th
Time: Midday
Title: 28 years and 1 day
I went to the Solstice fest, sans a guitar player and drummer. The attendants stated "looks like you're the last one in the band". Go figure
It was fun yet a bit empty. I enjoyed the thunder and lightning show but when the mountain across the way was struck and a fire started I began to wonder. Will there be an evacuation, will my rig be struck by the ominous streaks of ligthining, the ANGER of the LORDS?!!?!
Needless to say, I am home. Rather I'm at the day job but you know what I mean
It seems the Stukas Over Bedrock band has changed its name to Stukas Over Moscow, seeing that the lead singer is a native of Russia. They have a myspace site
that is all
May the 7th, 2008
Time: Afternoon / Early
Title: Playing in the Mesh
Every so often we're asked to play somewhere, and we do. We were asked to head off to the northern country for one of these Solstice festivals, which is intermittently annual, not so annual, or what have you
I've been playing with the Stukas Over Bedrock again. If there's a live gig, I will be sure to pop that info in here.
That is all
January 10th, 2008
Time: Afternoon / Early
Title: My BAD!
There have been orders placed at CD Baby.com, yet THEY'RE out of STOCK. This is because I have been negligent in restocking the Portland based company.
I'll be shipping some out today. I'm a little behind in everything but I'm sure to catch up soon as my day job is being shipped overseas.
These things happen. Anyway. Anyone know of a good deal where I can find a Roland R8 Human Drum Machine? I'm looking to replace Rick!
Just kidding, Rick. I already replaced you with one of those wind up, cymbal banging monkeys
September 14th, 2007
Time: Afternoon / Early
Title: Punk is dead, long live punk
I received an email from Pete Grella. His message directed me to this link here
This is what happens when you don't delete your work every four hours. You get things done
Presently my home recording studio is torn apart as the configuration was bugging me. It's the little things
Augst 21st, 2007
Time: Afternoon
Title: Slacker
I received a nefariously structured email from someone in Spruce Grove, Alberta Canada imploring is your band dead?
well did that send my mind wandering. Is it dead? I don't know. Perhaps it's on life support. We don't gig, we haven't made a CD, I don't even think we have a band name anymore excepting those I've passed through my head from time to time
I've not nearly worked hard enough in sending out CD's as there's still boxes of them in the abode. Who the hell wants to know?
Evan in Spruce Grove, that's who. Spruce Grove is just outside of Edmonton. It's not a big city and I was curious how he came across my email address and this website. He said he heard some of our stuff on a college radio when he lived in Edmoniton, a radio station whose call sign he couldn't recall. This event took place nearly 3 years ago and since then, from time to time, he would stop by the site to see if we were doing anything. He said he has seen it change but other than that ...... WHAT?!
I said "I don't know but if you're ever in the Los Angeles area and you wish to pop by on a Friday night, we'll play some tunes for ya and have you sit in on the kazoo or Kalimba".
he said "deal. I might see you in October with some friends".
Maybe the time has come for listeners to go on tour and not the bands.
Oh eff it
June 14th, 2007
Time: Afternoon
Title: Flashback to the elder times
Recently I've begun posting items for sale on the Craigslist for I believe it is time to thin out the great herd that is the music gear.
One of the items I posted was a pair of Precision Bass pickups. A reply from my posting came from a man named Nicholas Koga. He was just a few years older than and we started out by talking about basses, then gear, then clubs, then the clubs of the L.A. area back in the day. Names of individuals and bands were dropped, left and right, over here, over there, front, back, sideways, and the inside-out ways
Finally good old Nick said "Do you remember the band the Dream Syndicate? The last time I say them play was at the the Cathay De Grande had their 'closing the club' party". Closing night at the Cathay de Grande? What the heck, I played closing night at the Cathay de Grande.
I learned of the closing party for the Cathay de Grande from when The Ushers had double-billed there a few weeks before with The Stukas Over Bedrock. So when that warm Wednesday evening event came around my friend Thyra and I decided we would roll on out to bear witness to the event labeled "The End of the Cathay De Grande"
On the stage was a makeshift band that was put together by none other than Carlos Guitarlos, who at the time was mostly known for his work with Top Jimmy and the Rhythm Pigs.
I noticed the band that Carlos was assembling was sans a bass player. Lo and behold, my bass guitar, a 1978 creme (allegded 'white' at the time) colored Rickenbacker 4001, was in the back of my truck. I used to take the thing with me everywhere I went. I approached the stage and talked to Carlos, stating "I noticed you don't have a bass player. I will sit in for you"
He said "I don't have an amp"
Overhearing this, the soundman offered up his solution "I can plug you straight into the mixing console". Carlos then interjected "I don't have a guitar cord".
That soundman rummaged through a box of tangled wires and, wa-la, he discovered a guitar cord.
"I don't have a guitar strap" stated Carlos.
So I sat on the stage with Carlos sitting above me on a barstool he took from the bar. There was a piano player who removed the cover from the piano and you could see the hammers hit the strings. It also helped make the piano louder. Behind us all was a drummer that Carlos picked out of the audience. The key to jamming with strangers is to hope you all have blues based experience and can play along with the drummer
Last night I was relaying this story to Nick, who was no longer interested in the bass pickups I had for sale. Into the phone, from his Mar Vista phone, he shouted "THAT DRUMMER IS MY BROTHER!! HOLY COW, YOU JAMMED ON BASS WITH MY BROTHER ON THE DRUMS!!"
I told him that I never met anyone who was actually at the closing of the Cathay de Grande, which still sits in my craw as one of the greatest clubs to ever grace the city of Los Angeles.
He said "At the time the scene could've been a very tight thing. Eventually we would've run into each other"
"Yes" I replied. "Eventually we would and we did .... "
22 years later
This morning my email had a message from Nick. All the email had in it were these attachments
He scanned the flyers from the Cathay de Grande and sent them off to me
Well I'll be dipped
June 1st, 2007
Time: Evening
Title: More Band Name Experiments
I'm still playing with band names. The Disassembled seems to be a somewhat accurate description (since 3-15-05). Maybe I'm just being moody
The Beatles Sgt Peppers album was released 40 years ago today. Something like "it was 20 years (x2) ago today".
Or something
May 7th, 2007
Time: late afternoon
Title: Excuse, vacation. Needed. Rest.
Fantastic to be here, love ya.
Last night I beared witness to the musical stylings of Stan Ridgway at McCabe's Guitar Shop. The man definitely has his own unique fingerprint in his approach to music. It was quite the great show
There are approximately 28,000 people in Tarzana and Stan had relayed the feel of being there. Naturally I had to blurt out "hey. I live in Tarzana". I don't think he heard me (maybe selective).
Soon I will head off to Chicago for a little R&R and to visit a lad named Damien. After that it's at road trip to Utah with S. Lewis. I need these trips, I've had too many hours at work and not enough of them in an outdoor environment.
Amazingly I pieced together a collection of everything Damien ever recorded in my home studio. Why is it so difficult for me to do this for my own recordings?
I don't know
April 13th, 2007
Time: Evening
Title: Cut, print, delete, cut, print, delete
This might mean something to someone
You Know
Care
Till the Day I Die
Dangerous Motel
Inane Glimmer
The New Normal
Point the Finger
Cuts
Conspiracy Bleary
Riffy
Moribund
I Shall Be Released
That's it. The pertinent is done
The supplemental CD will be a piece of cake.
March 15th, 2007
Time: 3:52pm
Title: the Ides of March
 Maybe in 20 years I can just have March 15th be a day of remembering and not a day to be sad. It is the day that influences the reason I stopped wearing a watch, became more meticulous about creating multitrack recordings (and getting very little productivity), randomly get the tightness in the gut, cannot listen to certain songs the same way, and couldn't call the gathering "The Users" or "The Ushers" anymore. There's also the fact that that dreams are more effed up than ever
The picture is (back row - left to right, front row - front to back) our cousin Laurie, my older brother Carl, me with the pot belly in the front of the little dark haired kid we all called Marty. We had yet to see the birth of our little sister Jeanine, often referred to as "the Bean". Marty gave her that nickname.
I like this picture because of Marty's expression. You can't see his whole face but you can see how explosive he is emotionally just by looking at his eyes. It' better when you hold the picture in your hand
I can't write this news update anymore
March 6th, 2007
Time: Aftergoon
Title: Videos
Yes, I've posted some videos of Bloody Daggre Records bands. The Users, The Stukas over Bedrock, and Wound. To answer Farnz question, yes I have played bass with all three bands.
As far as the mixing goes ...
I finished six tracks then deleted five of them. You know the story, leave me alone, I'll be finished someday, it's all I'm doing this weekend and none of my evil friends will corrupt me.
they're all so distracting
February 9th, 2007
Time: Midday
Title:Album
I'm doing this two part thing. One part, two part, one plus two parts equals three parts, and so on.
After listening to hours and hours of many, many cuts and a variety of made-up-on-the-spot jams, I've constructed a list of 14 tracks for a new CD, which I will consider part 1
You Know
Care
Die, 8 Track, Die
Dangerous Motel
Till th Day I Die
Insane Glimmer
The New Normal
Point the Finger
Cuts
Rollie (tentative)
Riffy (tentative)
Relapse
Moribund
I Shall Be Released
The first four tracks were done on the old 8 track reel to reel machine. Everything else was on the new system. There's still some overdubs and ideas which need to come to fruition. Titles with the (tentative) next to it means that the title will more the likely change during the mix and lyric overdubs. The last two tracks have my younger brother Marty on them. In fact he is singing Bob Dylan's "I shall be released" track, which was played "live" in the wee hours of June 28th, 2003
Those cuts are very rough to mix
I have also become phlegmatic with the selected group name of "Normal?". Quite frankly I haven't liked any banner under which we played. Someone suggested "Dirty Green Carpet" since we have been playing / recording on a dirty green carpet for the last 10 years.
Actually, that's not such a bad name
January 4th, 2007
Time: Early Evening
Title: New Year
On New Years day I awoke on a couch and began drinking a bottle of champagne. It's never too late to re-party
I thought how in March of this year it will be two years since Marty passed. The sitting around and glooming about the event has to end NOW! So I've begun a few things. The first part was to get the house in order. The best thing I did last year was toss out the sofas
Wundervoll!!!
Look at all the space on this mall! I find furniture pretty much annoying yet I am being pressured into purchasing at least one couch. I'll probably fold
On Wednesday, December 27th, Pete Grella brought over a rented Otari 8track tape machine and we began bringing the old Stukas Over Bedrock recordings into the 21st century.
Double Wundervoll!!! He began the mixing process last Monday, the first day of the year. It was even more inspiring for me to get to work. So I've been running through and deciding which tracks recorded over the last few years are worth putting on a compilation recording. This time I am not fretting about it. Things are looking clear as the holiDAZE are finished and I have far too much free time on my hand. Well not that much but you get the picture.
There'll be a few more furniture tossings in the near future
much to the chagrin of the Monty the cat
thank you
November 17th, 2006
Time: late morning
Title: Performance.
Mixing boards are quite frustrating.
The best thing about playing music is playing it live. That's a personal feeling I suppose for such sentiments haven't been shared with me by most of the people with whom I've shared musical experiences
Except for the crappy band. I played with this pretty crappy band once. Perhaps they weren't so crappy but just alien to my ilk when it came to a certain train of thought. The reason I was willing to play with them is because they wanted to play live. However I could only take so much so I ran off using the excuse "I'm busy". It's the best excuse ever when you're avoiding the pleadings and hurting the feelings of sensitive arty farty types.
Some years ago Alan, Rick, and I visited the LACMA to view the works of Vincent Van Gogh. It meant so much more to see the paintings in person than it did to view them on the pages of some coffee table book. You could put your face close to the canvass and actually see the brush strokes. There were stabs and punches and gashes and slashes, the painting was more alive than ever. There was Van Gogh's hand and emotions on the other end of a brush and it was alive for the first time in my life.
So as I sit on the mixing board 4-5 nights a week I pretty much think the same thing. Recently I've often wished I never purchased a recording studio and here I've just finished it. It's a subpar experience sitting behind a mixing console and moving the faders and EQ pots, checking the compression, monitoring the reverb and gate effects. I've wanted a recording studio since I was 20 years old and used to link cassette decks together. Now I loathe it a little.
odd
hindsight would have me owning three basses (regular, fretless, and acoustic) and an amp. Everything else could be a rental.
and an acoustic guitar
.... and the lapsteel ..... and a banjo. Perhaps a harmonica. ....
.. one for each key .... ..
and a Moog (which I still don't have)
I really like musical instruments
November 3rd, 2006
Time: Afternoon
Title: MP3(unfinished)
Those Canadian female accents are so damn sexy
So here's a sound sample of something unfinished. I would like to finish everything but I'm a slacker
rollie
Rollie is really not its name but, as stated, it's not finished.
That's just the way it goes, sometimes
October 6th, 2006
Time: Afternoon
Title: band?
Here's your update, you freaking French person you
First off, I've purchased one of these ...
I suppose someday I'll figure out why.
I have a crapload of songs sitting on a hard drive that need mixing and maybe some touch up overdubs. Sometimes I try to figure out why that is as well. What do you expect from a gathering that only happens once in awhile? Do you think this is a band ever so passionate about sonic creation and audio manipulation? Was it ever? HUH!??!
I ask questions and you just sit there.
I have a day job. I see a lot of slaves at the day job. They start with a great amount of enthusiasm for they are paid more than they've ever received before. Then they go out and purchase things they can ill afford. A few moments into the day job they are threatened with "get it done or hit the road" and what races through their collective heads is "how the hell am I going to pay for all that crap I've purchased, I'll be RUINED!!!!!"
Sometimes they barely say it but most of the time they emote the feeling from their all too expressive collective faces. "Keep 'you doped with religion and sex and t.v." I hope you know who wrote that, you effing French person. YES! YOU!
They grimmace and drag into the day job. I suppose I do as well but for different reasons (though those reasons have just about run out). If you could stand back at great distance and grow `16 million light years larger than you are now, you wouldn't even notice this speck of a planet in the galaxy. There are far more spectacular things.
But we're humans so we're pretentious, some far more than others; and some to the point who believe that if it wasn't for them there wouldn't be anything at all. It's obvious I'm in a mood so it should be a good mixing night tonight
Oh, about the band name. What does it matter, it's not a band, it's a once in awhile gathering as stated before. Is there a gig, is there an album, is there countless hours of laboring and being meticulous over the attempt to create a perfect sound? EFF NO!
Stepping back from the "Weith the Anchor" crap, that was me being pretentious. Such a serious name with such serious seething cryptic undertone. That's not me, that's not anyone in the recordings. "Whoa, for I am dark and misunderstood, and complex, and a Calvin Klein model ... " EH, EFF THAT EFFING EFF OF AN EFFING CRAP!
So due to circumstances that led to name for I was playing some feedback cut we created at the job and someone asked me "what is that?" I told him it was the part time gathering and he replied "and that's NORMAL?"
He responded in such a way for some weeks ago he asked me what kind of music we play and I said "normal". But I guess there are different levels normal in this world.
Yet I'm pretty sure that guy is in the bulk of the bell shaped curve.
August 29th, 2006
Time: warm coffee turned cold
Title: Distractions
There have been some birthday's past, like Pete Grella; owner of Bloody Daggre Records and guitar player for the Stukas Over Bedrock. Also the new Mrs. Ewald celebrated a birthday. Happy birthday to all and I feel compelled to remind everyone that these things happen annually.
Soon I will be irreparably distracted. Perhaps "irreparably" is a poor choice of words for the time will pass and I will be freed up again to waste more time than ever. I will appreciate it when the heat breaks. It is difficult to mix music when sweat is dripping upon the sliders. I'm starting to think that I'm the only one who will every hear this stuff. It takes that long until I'm happy with it and every week there's something new
A word of warning to the unknowing. Much of our material is not suitable for those of a younger age. Just so you know
August 11th, 2006
Time: day
Title: Babble Bath
the Marty mark
Tomorrow (August 12th) is Alan's birthday. Last Monday, August 7th, was Rick's birthday. This coming Monday would've been my brother Marty's birthday. I suppose it still is his birthday but he is not around to celebrate it with us anymore.
Last year on Marty's birthday we hiked into the hills above Saddlebag lake and left a marker with some of Marty's ashes in it. I awoke this morning in disbelief that it has been a year. Yet what is there to dibelieve when reality is what it is, according to whatever reality myself and my immediates have created for ourselves. Yet this may very well not be the time to jump into one of those Coast to Coast topics, as hosted by George Noory.
I find the crazy stuff so entertaining.
Presently I'm listening to more rough cut material from my home multitrack. I'm liking it more and more yet there needs to be word overdubs. Otherwise we'll be heading into that The Ventures / Polar Goldie Cats / Mogwai realm where the tunes are dominated by instruments and not words.
Not that there's anything wrong with that.
In fact it might be a wonderful departure
Hmmm. HMMMMMMMMMMM
~ Mike
August 3rd, 2006
Time: day
Title: Dream House
I finally found a house I would like to own
The reason? Read below (taken from this site)
"The Woodland Hills home in which Captain Beefheart and his Magic Band recorded the legendary Trout Mask Replica LP is for sale.
At $849,900, it's a little out of my price range, but man, what kinda crazy vibes must be in that place.
I bought my first copy of Trout Mask Replica when I was a but a callow youth. I had just bought the Captain's final album, Ice Cream For Crow, after seeing his gonzo appearance on David Letterman's old NBC show. (this was probably 1982, so I was 14.) I loved that record, and figured that the double LP of Trout Mask would be a good follow-up purchase.
I wasn't ready for Trout Mask. In fact, it freaked me out, and not in a good way. It was weird, crazy, chaotic noise, and I didn't listen to it again until a few years later. By then, I was a little older, and although no wiser, I had involved myself in enough bad-for-my-health recreational activities to have a new-found appreciation for the complex sound of The Magic Band's masterpiece. Now it's one of my favorites, (though my all-time favorite Beefheart LP is still the out-of-print follow-up, Lick My Decals Off, Baby.)
The legend goes that the band holed up in this house for eight months, living on no money, playing the songs over and over, until Beefheart was satisfied with the sound. This box set has some of the instrumental rehearsal tapes, and it does confirm that what sometimes sounds like a truck full of musical equipment careening off of a Topanga Canyon switchback, is in fact a precise recreation of the sound floating around in the good Captain's head.
So, if you've got the cash to spare, you can now own the place where it all happened. Somebody call Matt Groening. He's a Beefheart fan, and I've heard he's made a few bucks in the animation business.
Thanks to the always informative Captain Beefheart's Radar Station for the heads up- Got me?)
For those of you unfamiliar with The Captain's work, here's a taste: "Pachuco Cadaver" from Trout Mask Replica."
August 2nd, 2006
Time: day
Title: Ch-Ch-Ch-Changes
Who didn't see this coming? Okay, this is an incomplete site as it's an incomplete work. I thought that maybe if I pushed this up on the web it would help me push along with some work I must do. I listen to cassette samples all day long yet STILL ..........
and blah blah blah
I said I was going to do this and I meant it. Now I can't decide whether or not to continue to use theusers.net or weightheanchor.net, which I purchased some two months ago. What will the Cork city incarcerated do if they go to theusers.net and find that nothing is there?
anyway.
I've temporarily suspended actual new recordings of our gatherings on Friday nights. The amount of material I have now is overwhelming and I really enjoy some of the new stuff that's falling out of the fingers. Last Friday we had this riff that was wonderful, then we forgot how to play it some 25 minutes later
Not to mention all the lovely noise we made with the new theremin.
I've just lifted the suspension on recording Friday nights for now I regret not remembering the riff or recording the theremin noise
I'm fickle like that
~Mike
July 27th, 2006
Time: day
Title: Prisoners
Per a request, some CD's have been sent to a prison in Cork City, Ireland (Eire). That was the deed of the week
It's been so hot at my habitat that I've found it difficult to mix while dripping sweat on the mixing board. I'm so happy the weekend is here, allowing me to do that sort of work during the cooler temperatures of 3:00a.m. Semi-blessed be my present living situation for allowing me to do as much. I can't disturb the neighbors but I would be disturbed if there were neighbors.
I've been invited to a party this Sunday by the band The Abe Lincoln Story and I'm wondering if I should go. I haven't seen Steve Moramarco since he bought me a beer at a Ventura theater Pixies concert in the way back when. In those days he was playing in a band called "The Hill of Beans". I first ran into that duet during a jam night at a place called "The Gaslight", which later became "the Opium Den" and is now the "What the Thingamajiggy it's ever called" (the latest name not being the actual name, it's just that I don't know what the hell it's called).
The second time I saw The Hill of Beans was when they inadvertently opened at a show where I was playing bass for the Stukas Over Bedrock. I don't think Pete liked that Hill of Beans band all that much. However, my complete recollection abilities are not to be trusted and other sources of verification should be sought before taking my word as 100% accurate
I'm not much of a hob nobbing socialite so I probably won't go to this party. What I wish to do is see a movie, go to sushi, or something of that nature. I also wish to mix-mix-mix- and -mix. Thus far the theremin has been quite a blast. I am being much more tolerant of mixing and not so quick at deleting final two track mixdowns or overdubs. No, I do that much slower now. I'm the only one there when it comes to the mixing so what the hell
but who cares, world war III started and we should all get back to watching that (not to mention the civil wars in Iraq and the one in the U.S.)
the U.S. civil war hasn't escalated to the shooting part yet
there's always a chance
~Mike
July 21st, 2006
Time: stinky coffee
Title: War of the Mouth Abyss
I've come to despise A.M. talk radio as much as I do mainstream televison programming. Mostly it's the political rants and one side is just as insipid as the other. It used to be dominantly littered with conservative talk show hosts but now the other extreme has decided to wave their two-cent flag as well. I think the term "Alternative information" means 'shit made up on the spot'. Go get those ratings, you inefficient actor/lawyer/sports announcer. CRIPE! They're broadcasting the cultural null in a hateful tone that is meant to demean and seperate. What happened to presentation, discussion, and debate? It's all lowered itself to name calling, the pretentious religious, and preteenager level jingles "You're a lying sack of crap", or whatever the hell that came through my speakers as I sought weather information.
I know, I know, the forecast is HOT.
This is what happens when you quit being creative and become the do nothing complaining caw of the community.
I'm quite thankful for NPR
am I to blame overpopulation for the lowering of the average I.Q. point? Most people have heard of the overpopulated rat experiment
Or should I just pin it on overall global greed and fear?
in other news: I've been creating cassette samples of the spontaneous blasts that have been making their way into my multitrack on Friday nights. There is SO MUCH MATERIAL! Some of it is a tosser yet some of it's a definite keeper.
I have received my new Wisconsin made, Chuck Collins theremin and spent much of the previous evening manipulating it through my Music Man HD130 and the Alnico rigged Peavey 4x12 guitar cabinet. Of course I immediately took the theremin apart so that I may gaze upon its component structure. It's all coils, capacitors, transistors, and resistors. There isn't an IC chip in the thing and it certainly wasn't polluted with a DAC chip (or anything digital).
As an added enhancher to my sampling its sound, I put the theremin through an old Boss DM2 analog delay pedal. So the sound flying around my living room was that of pure theremin in an all analog form. Of course the cats didn't appreciate this as they scattered and headed to the outdoor roof.
to each their own
~ Mike
July 11th, 2006
Time: 8:47a.m.
Title: Time Fades Away
My cousin Darryle was paralyzed from the neck down in January of 2000 in a skiing accident. His new state of being was taxing on his person as Darryle was quite the active sort. He was a parachute jumper, rock climber, skier, and four wheeling kind of guy. Yet he took what was put to him and kept an optimistic attitude towards life despite his being relegated to a motorized chair.
Darryle was killed instantly in an accident when another car struck his van, which was being driven by his assistant, on July 1st of 2006. He will be greatly missed and it is difficult for me to convey family situations on this site.
A couple of months ago I pieced together a sample CD of Rick, Alan, Wade (keyboards), and myself noodling with musical instruments. What I heard sounded so much like early Pink Floyd that I labeled the sample CD "Pink Floyd Tribute Bands Suck". I believe some of you (those that read this) heard those MP3's.
Arguably, Syd Barrett is probably the single biggest influence of sound to the musicians on this site as a whole. Individualy I've always heard single influences in the playing of each player, but as a group I was pretty sure we were inline with early Pink Floyd (up to the Ummagumma album) and the Syd Barrett albums. I'll never forget when Alan first introduced me to Syd's recording arts. The sonics were very familiar, like things we were already attempting. I was amazed to hear something along that familiar path. The first song we ever played in a club for a soundcheck was "the Nile Song" from the Pink Floyd album "More". It neither pleased the punk rockers, fm radio seekers, or spandex metal crowd. These things happen
I heard this morning that Syd Barrett passed away at the age of 60 years.
June 28th, 2006
Time: Hot.As.A.Mid.Afternoon
Title: what's in a name?
I headed out this previous evening for two events: Mike Watt DJ'ing at Amoeba records and Les Claypool playing at the Hollywood Avalon. All this on the 4 year anniversary of the passing of bass player phenom John Entwistle. So a bass themed day it was.
Earlier in the afternoon I heard Watt speaking on Jonsey's Jukebox, which is hosted by indie 103.1, the best commercial radio station in Los Angeles. As time has been passing I've been thinking more about the past and learning from it.
Some things are starting to make more sense. Last week I received my Minutemen documentary We Jam Econo, a story of The Minutemen. I've watched it a couple of times. There are statements made that ring home. Watt brought up the past and how when he was a kid in San Pedro there was perhaps one store with electric guitars. He stated that getting in a band back then was difficult without something like the Internet at his fingertips. Exposure to music outside the mainstream radio system was just as difficult as well. "Now it's easy" he said (with which I somewhat disagree. I'll babble on about that some other time). "The only thing that stops you now is in YOUR MIND".
Could truer words have been spoken? I've allowed my mind, my depression, to completely block any effort to have a more creative life for the past 1 year, 105 days. Yesterday on the afternoon show Watt and Steve Jones went on about how life is. Watt stated .... "You remember that Pete Townshend album where he's wearing boots and standing on eggshells" ....
"that's life. That's what it is. You're in boots on eggshells"
So I headed out to Amoeba Records to catch the first part of the Watt DJ'ing. People were standing in line wanting him to autograph Minutemen CD's, the new DVD, pictures of D' Boon. I wanted to say hello so I purchased something for him to sign. What could be more perfect than Pete Townshend's "Who Came First" vinyl album.
When Watt greeted me he said "WOW. SEE!? THAT'S IT, THAT'S LIFE" as he tapped the picture on the cover with the back of his fingers. He autographed the album on the back ... "For Marty, Mike Watt, Love and bass" (on the BBS he always signs off with 'love and bass')
He told me the depression would ebb but never completely go away. We would've spoken longer but he had signatures to sign and I had to get up to the Hollywood Avalon (what used to be the Palace) to see the Les Claypool show.
With Watt being raised in San Pedro and Claypool in the S.F. Bay area, the evening also carried an ocean theme to it. Couple that with the fact that I heard a passing motorist blaring Led Zeppelin's "The Ocean" from the Houses of the Holy album
The Claypool show was absolutely brilliant (that sounds English). What a band. The whole event was incredibly mind blowing (now I sound like a hippie). If you're into sonics with a twist there is absolutely no reason whatsoever to miss this show (okay, some reasons come to mind. But certainly not sitting at home just for the sake of sitting at home). Their music is almost undescribeable, the only thing that possibly comes to mind is that they're "Claypooltonian", or kind of like circus sounds at sea. The music spinning while the sound is spinning and powerful waves are slamming an invincible boat. They could've played for 8 hours and I wouldn't have tired of it
Which continues the ocean theme: For some reason, as I paced about Hollywood blvd post the Claypool show, I thought of the movie of The Meaning of Life by Monty Python, perhaps due to Mike Watt saying "that's LIFE" as he held the Pete Townshend album before the autograph. I thought of the opening scene where the financial building is convereted into a pirate ship. I remember discussing with Marty about all the, obvious to the odd but hidden to the simple, meanings behind the different scenes of that movie. That movie ranks as to being one of my favorite of all time due to its brilliance.
When it was time for the building to sail amongst the financial districts of the world, the voyage was begun with the order "WEIGH THE ANCHOR"
It was shouted by a few and just before they actually DO weigh the anchor. The last command comes from a little old woman, who states in a very normal level tone into the buidling intercom: "weigh the anchor".
The anchor is weighed and away the ship goes.
I thought "what a great and meaningful name that would be for a musical group. Weigh the Anchor. You're either lifting something that is keeping you safe, steady, holding you in place to prevent you from drifting to danger; or you're removing something that is holding you back and keeping you from traveling freely. Weigh the Anchor
so I purchased "weightheanchor.net", which people could read as "weight he anchor", but that will just be the weeding out process
Marty's not coming back (except in the dreams. I had one about him last night where he was complaining a cut on his finger, to which I reminded him to nevermind the cut, he's dead, which is far worse). So there's no Ushers, no Users... not anymore. So it has to be something else, like the way it's supposed to be
So anything new will be from the band Weigh the Anchor
so there
June 20th, 2006
Time: later.that.afternoon
Title: Craig's party
Long time family friend Craig Cerioni is having a retirement party and we're all traveling up to the north country. It's a guaranteed good time until the Barnett brothers show up.
I'm always up for giving out cheap shots
My tinnitus is completely out of control. A week ago I played along with some other players in this fantastic rehearsal hall that looked something like a rock n' roll hotel in hell. At one point it became so insanely loud that I thought I was going to lose my balance. More than likely I lost a little bit more hearing. I've been dealing with tinnitus since the year 2000. Sometimes it's a mild buzz, sometimes it's a painful ring. Presently it is the latter
Speaking of loud amplifiers; I've just been informed that my old Music Man HD 130 amp head is now ready for pickup. It sat in my closet dead for a few years (about 11) so I thought it time to take it to a real professional, the legendary Jerry Blaha of Jabco and Ampcrazy fame. Jerry has been in the field of amplifier and guitar technologies for many many years. He's loaded with stories of the older Hollywood days, the older gear, and effects invention.
too bad he acan't fix tinnitus
June 8th, 2006
Time: just.drank.coffee
Title: I'm kind of sick of this site
Who can be bothered with a fancy do-hickey website? this is just supposed to be a (dark) place to post information. My favorite webpage of all time looks just like this.
I'm so easy to please
and of course by reading that site I've just noticed that Mike Watt has a 9pm gig in Santa Ana and an 11pm gig in Silverlake on the same freaking night. Now THAT is a workaholic. I just might have to go to that Silverlake show.
A recent CD purchase of mine is the new Les Claypool album "Of Whales and Woe". I can't get over track 2 "One Better". What a fantastic bass player. Give a man a Carl Thompson bass doesn't make him a Les Claypool. You see that? I just took a Roger Waters quote (something he said about Eric Clapton) and rearranged it to be my own.
borrow from here, use a little bit of this from there.
and that's rock n' roll
I just purchased a Les Claypool ticket for June 27th. Why does that date pop up in bass playing reference since John Entwistle died? New Minutemen DVD with the outstanding bass playing of Mike Watt to be released on June 27th. Les Claypool gig on June 27th
Okay, so it poppled up twice.
STILL
~ Mike
May 25th, 2006
Time: early afternoon'ish
Title: nick of time
It's only you people in France and Canada that read this thing. T'is why I update
I was about two seconds away from sitting in with some anonymous musicians. At the very last moment I aborted the possible encounter. I've decided some time ago that the only other people I'll sit in with is the non-anonymous type. The Stuka's Over Bedrock has been my only other "other band" sonic orgasm. I kid you not, I have the recordings to prove it. What comes out of the speaker is complete abandonment, which is my favorite sort of thing. I just love tearing down sonic structures
Not a band (so he really doesn't fall into the previous stated category) but another person with whom I enjoy straddling the out of bounds sound boogie is Justin Lees-Smith. Yesterday he sent me a link of his new website. Take note; it's this website here. I'm going to add it to my links page.
Some free time is coming my way. I've now deduced that I have 4 - 60 minute CD's worth of stuff to mix. I like keeping the CD's down to 60 minutes for what average listener can bear more than an hour of some band. If you can, then you're not an AVERAGE listener, ARE you!? Anyway, we have 6 confirmed fans so maybe I'll toss them some 80 minute jobs. Some of our new songs kind of feel like they last that long.
carry on
~ Mike
April 17th, 2006
Time: coffee'ish
Title: aisle walking
Alan and Valerie have merged corporations. What a cold definition yet I've been caught up in the daily news of our times. The wedding was a blast, I wanted to do it again the following weekend. However, I do believe my wish would be to the chagrin to the new Mrs. Ewald, and such a request would be met with a stern "NO!"
so be it
It is tax day. I just wanted to give out that gentle reminding. Effing freaking tax day
I've been romping through torture'ish recordings of recent musical structures known as the unorganized melee of musical notes. One such structure of such notes went to duration of 23 minutes. Holy cow, who could enjoy that? Ewald, that's who.
Many a Saturday evening I can be found propped up behind the mixing board and spending 2.5 hours to mix-up a 6.5 minute long jam. Except at this point of my life I am no longer destroying the result and actually burning it to a CD. I wonder what came over me? Many of the works include the works of five, with one in the background. The usual three of us, Rick, Alan, and myself. The added Parnell and Henton on the mandolin and keyboards. The distant saxophone of Mr. Guiterrez a.ka. Steve G; so that should give clue as to the first and last name
Often I have mocked former artists who lose band members and still call themselves that band's name. I think the latest Deep Purple tour had no actual members of the original Deep Purple band, yet they still took the cash in during a revival tour. The Who are stil The Who, despite having lost their entire rhythm section
On the cooler note; when John Bonham passed away the remaining member could no longer call themselves Led Zeppelin. When D.Boon passed away The Minutemen began working with a new guitar player and went under the name fIREHOSE. I suppose I feel like that now. We travel musically sans Marty so I don't wish to call the works created that of The Ushers or The Users. What to do, what to do, what to do? Band name change? I'm thinking it would be appropriate. Hell, The Users is a common name, there was a punk band in the 70's with that name, there's this band in New Zealand with the freaking name, and yet this one with our old name
Yet it could only be decided if we ever make another CD
and we might.
and I might tell the others about it
~Mike
March 15, 2006
Time: endless
Title: 1 year down, 1 million to go
My my, hey hey
Rock and roll is here to stay
It's better to burn out
Than to fade away
My my, hey hey.
Out of the blue and into the black
They give you this, but you pay for that
And once you're gone, you can never come back
When you're out of the blue and into the black.
The king is gone but he's not forgotten
This is the story of a brother Martin
It's better to burn out than it is to rust
The king is gone but he's not forgotten.
Hey hey, my my
Rock and roll can never die
There's more to the picture
Than meets the eye.
Hey hey, my my.
March 07, 2006
Time: I should be working
Title: Moving the tone bar
It's a pleasure to know that if in the advancing years my fingers are too weak to hold down the bass strings, I can at least slide a Stevens tone bar across the strings of a lap steel guitar. I've been manipulating the new instrument to a point of no satisfaction. It took me nearly 24 years to finally be okay with my bass playing. I suppose it'll take the same amount of time to be okay with the lapsteel
I was holding off on some mixes in waiting for the lapsteel guitar to arrive. Now that it's here I cannot find anything (as of this date) to overdub it upon. I suppose I'll just continue mixing. There are so many songs to wander through, I feel like I never get anywhere, I need a vacation
of a year or two
January 31st, 2006
Time: lunch time
Title: The radio gave me this
Yesterday, as I do five days a week, I climbed into my Toyota Pickup truck and headed for home after another mind numbing experience known as "the day job". Is it soooo bad?
No
It's not bad at all
During the course of a working day I'm often met with individuals who sigh aloud, slam things down on their desk as they seep from their mouths a little tantrum such as this sucks, it all sucks, I'm so sick of this crap. If I'm in ear shot and up to being annoying, and I usually am, I will comment on their rant by mockingly stating "waaaah, my life is so horrible because I don't understand the new email software. Waaaaaaaah, the shipment isn't going to arrive till tomorrow and I really want my LCD monitor NOW! Why can't I live in Fallujah, why can't I live in the Sudan? Waaaah, why don't they relocate me to the civil war torn Congo"
so I'm popular
Yesterday, after climbing into the truck, I decided to flip on the local "classic rock" radio station. My ears are met with the sounds of Bob Seger singing that insipid "Turn the Page" song. Oh cripe, do I hate this song ....
"Waaah, there's nothing to do on a 16 hour car ride. Waaaaaahhhh, they're looking at my long hair and commenting on my possible femininity. Waaaaah, why do I have to have a job playing music when I'm educated enough to be burning my fingers with a soldering iron in a factory at a lower class wage, or working in a coal mine.
Waaaaaah, my ears are ringing because I don't want to wear earplugs! WHY COULDN'T I HAVE BEEN BORN UNDER A DICTATORSHIP IN AN IMPOVERISHED" COUNTRY!? WAAAAH WAAAH WAAAH"
I then wonder of Bob Seger regrets writing that banal song, that horrific anthem. I've heard Christopher Thompson state that he doesn't regret writing the Trompe Le Monde album, but he regrets not rewriting it. Christopher Thompson is a standup guy (I actually like the Trompe album, so it's obvious I don't have any taste).
I wonder if Bob Seger regrets not rewriting "Turn the Page" to be a declaration of how great it is his career success lacks monotony, where his amplifiers are rockin'.
Restate those words to say that the woman the night before was an awesome babe, where he found the paranoid, lowbrow, luddite hordes amusing for having fun at the "longhairs" as far along as 1976.
Strung out from the road? yeah, that's a drag. Hopefully most people will fulfill their souls by traveling to the same humdrum job every day.
or never getting out of Fallujah
or escaping the Congo, or the Sudan
If Bob Seger ever stated he regretted writing that "Turn the Page" song then disregard my own rant and I'll consider him redeemed
~ Mike
January 24th, 2006
Time: late morning
Title: The NAMM show
Every year I declare it is my last NAMM show. As one friend of mine put it "It's kind of depressing walking around the largest musical instrument expo in the world while knowing you cannot afford a damn thing there"
That's not entirely true. For a mere $85 dollars (42.7% of the list price) I purchased and Aphex Punch box.
The Aphex Punch Factory. It has multiple practical uses, I would tell them to you but my rant would bore you to tears
The greatest thrill about the NAMM show this year was a chance meeting. My friend Marie needed a break so we wandered outside. She leaned up against a small wall about 6 feet away from a very recognizable gentleman, especially if you're a diehard fan of the bass guitar. I had to be sure and walked around to see him face on, then to read his NAMM badge
"I'll be damned, it's Stanley Clarke"
I approached the man and said "I normally don't do the artist worship thing anymore, but I have to shake your hand". We then briefly spoke of Alembic bass guitars and the company that makes them. Stanley Clarke is one of the few "genius" bass players in the world. You have to be of that status for a high end bass company to name a bass after you. He's also a very genuine and open person when approached by someone who admires his work. I still remember the first time I ever beared witness the band Return to Forever
The evening previous to this day I found myself audiencing through yet more hours upon hours of free form recordings. I do believe I can work with more than I thought through the process of editing and overdubbing. If anyone recorded on any of these tracks and wish to change anything, they better do so before I move their work status to category "finalized".
I don't think they even read this site. In fact I think that only people from France read this site
January 17th, 2006
Time: High Noon
Title: Lap Steel or Hawaiian
Not having a certain type of musical instrument is all the justification I've ever needed to purchase one. Lately the "lap steel" or "hawaiian guitar" has been popping into my head. Sooooooo .............
It's a Chandler Stuio 6 lap steel guitar. I'm having one made for me in a red wine finish. That ought to hold me for a year or so. I purchase said instrument Chandlerguitars.com
I am inner debating selling the Alesis QS6 and getting a Roland Juno keyboard. It's just an idea that I'm tossing around in my head
I'll probably have one by summer
January 10th, 2006
Time: morning
Title: Al and Val
User's guitar player Alan Ewald has decided to call it quits on the single life. He did this by proposing marriage to long time friend Valerie in a romantic and imaginative way. She also decided to call it quits on said single life by accepting his proposal. I think they're rushing into things as they met as recently as 1979
I do not know of a date or a location, or any other details as to what is to happen next. The scary details will more than likely be released from the couple.
Scary details?
In band news. I've begun to assemble and order of songs for mixing, overdubbing, and mastering for a possible new CD. It's a bastard of a project since this damn day job interferes with most of the day. I'm hoping to acquisition a slide/hawaiian guitar (they're described in so many ways). Thus far I've been nearly tricked on Ebay and sticker shocked at local music stores. An electric hawaiian/lap steel guitar is nothing more than a guitar neck with strings. How some of them bring in a price of over $2,000 is beyond my comprehension. I guess it all depends on what you're really into
I'm looking forward to a better year because, well, I wouldn't be looking forward to a worse one. But you never know about these things and who knows where that ball is going to bounce
Especially when it bounces out of bounds
December 7th, 2005
Time: afternoon
Title: I hate 2005
I hate the year that is 2005. The Tuesday after Thanksgiving the 15 years old daughter, and only child, of my cousin Dawn (my second cousin) suddenly passed away due to a complication after a surgical procedure to remove a benign tumor. I attended the service with my younger sister, parents, aunts, and cousins this past Monday at Forest Lawn. Her coffin was quite small for it was all they needed. It just seems wrong.
I shall never have a fond memory of the year 2005, for it has been a bad marker. My emotional discomfort at the service on Monday was accompanied with a physical pain. On Sunday I could barely stay upright as I have once again severely injured my back. So I crawled around the apartment and used guitar cabinets for support so that I could stand up to pee in the toilet.
Still, you know, you have to grit your teeth because such physical discomfort isn't the worse thing that has happened to you this year.
I feel so horrible for my cousin Dawn. Getting through these times is going to be extremely difficult for her. They say there's no harder feeling than losing a child and I can only imagine that is amplified a bit by that child being your only one.
mike
November 30th, 2005
Time: morning, but not REAL morning
Title: Little Bag and the neglect
This band has always hated being a business. That's why we're so lousy at it. Maybe it's because we listen to intently to those who declare we suck than to those who declare we're good. Once upon a time, and maybe she was drunk, this writer told me she really loved the Little Bag of Hope CD. Instead I chose to listen to those who though of us as hacks and the a bulk of the CD's sit in my closet, all boxed up and cellophane wrapped with nowhere to go. Actually with plenty of places to go, but no enthusiasm about sending them. I never even put it on CDbaby.com due to this lack of enthusiasm. Then, of course, Marty passed.
Then (and somewhat still now) I meander in a sea of depression and creative apathy. The apathy towards creative productivity has ebbed a wee bit. In an effort to initiate some sort of priming for action, I sent some Little Bag of Hope CDs off to CDbaby.com for easy credit card purchase. You see, the band and Bloody Daggre Records doesn't take Visa or Mastercard or Discover Card or American Express or Diner's Club or whatever the banks offer. It is beyond our means at this particular business evolution, which is hardly evolved at that. This is inconvenient to most consumers (including yours truly) when they, and I, are shopping online. How can you implement credit card fraud if you're forced to write a check for online purchases? It's so unamercian
My next step is to send CD's out through the mail and into the dingy libraries of college and independent radio stations. I did this before with the Friendly CD and I really enjoyed the hand written snail mail from France, which offered us pills and girls if we flew out there and played a show. Viva la France, it's more than friends of ours ever offered us to play parties.
Presently I'm taking courses at a local school as I became interested in how American business works and rules all. This has kept me quite busy over the past few months. I discovered that business, no matter the nationality, is quite disgusting. It seems they're trying to appeal to the bulk of the bell shaped curve, which is a shallow place and all of us have part of it within our being. It can't be helped. Yes, I've watched Friends before. When I did I was at the apex of that bell shaped curve. What a scary place to be, I had to surf down.
Recently, and due to my newfound activity, I checked the Cdbaby.com site in regards to the Friendly CD. I scrolled to the bottom, as I never really have before, and noticed there to be a place where people can write reviews. I had never noticed this spot before.
In that section is a note from someone named Alec.
Baldwin? He probably gets that all the time
The note states "I have to say that I've been waiting for something very close to this. Whacked guitar playing, bumping bass sounds and precision percussion. Is there another release coming out anytime soon?"
I do not know when Alec posted this note, nor do I know how to contact him. How will he know that we did do another CD and, quite honestly, I'm working a third (in some "sweet time" sort of way).
A little earlier I was listening to an odd version of Neil Young's "Old Laughing Lady" on KCRW radio. I think of my siblings when I listen to Neil Young. I also think of Steve Lewis. Oddly my siblings, family, and friends (including Steve Lewis) had the bumper year when we lost Marty, then Steve and the rest of the Lewis family and friends lost his mother two months later.
that is life, I suppose. We're not the only ones and we know this. You just don't think about how you're not the only one when submerged in your own dark emotional chasm.
I can't wait to be out of these night classes so I can spend a majority of my time behind the mixing console, which in reality is my second favorite music place to be
The first, of course, is behind the bass.
November 21st, 2005
Time: late afternoon
Title: brambblings
While cruising about at lunch today I heard that Link Wray passed away some 16 days prior. I did not know this, did you know this? He brought about the power chord, or at least confirmed the power chord did exist. I guess after he recorded himself doing it the global sonic fans decided to give it a name. I think they gave it a pretty good name, at that.
Whenever I hear of these people passing I think of Marty passing the same year as they did (though he was quite a bit younger). There have been a few this year and I feel a bit off to post their names. Perhaps you already know them
I finally sent "Little Bag of Hope" off to CDbaby.com. I did this because I've suddenly had an epiphany to clean out my closet and send these freaking Little Bag of Hope CD's out to radio stations throughout the world (much like I did with the Friendly album).
I've been hoping to do some more recording. Something a bit more serious than everyone coming over on Friday night and commencing in some sort of unorganized, cacophonic jerk-off. In all honesty it starts to grate on the nerves. I have been doing spot recordings and there are some really good ideas there from things we made up off the top of our heads. However they seem to disappear in a week. I've begun compiling the recordings so that I can burn a CD and inquire to et all as to what they think about actually constructing something out of them. I can't wait to bear witness to the response.
Mike
November 14th, 2005
Time: Afternoon
Title: Influences
the first musical influence of Marty and I was our older brother Carl. He had an acoustic guitar but more importantly he had a stereo and many more albums than we could afford. So we just "snuck" into his room and borrowed his. We'd like to think we snuck in there but he knew about our breaking and entering all along. Did he care? no. In fact he was an enabler. Still... sneaking is always so much more fun
Today is his birthday. If you are lucky you have an older brother such as he. If you don't have an older brother, well .... then .... this one's not for sale. I'm here to wish him the happiest of birthdays and I hope he has a swell one way up there in the mountains
So be it
November 9th, 2005
Time: Later Afternoon
Title: Gearhead
I nearly made the mistake of departing with my Ampeg B-15N amplifier. I'll try not to do that one again, but you never know how these things are going to go. I can't keep it forever but I guess I should hold onto it for my own personal finite eternity. A gearhead/collector nut might be a bad thing to be. It hasn't given me a terminal disease thus far
Last week I stared at the studio again and, again, it did nothing. Actually I modded it up to be a nearfield studio. There are now two speakers, much smaller in size, sitting right there in front of my face. Odd thing about mixing stuff is that you have a tendency to stare at the speaker from which the sound travels. At least I do, I actually don't know if YOU do. I suppose with the speakers so close to my face I might go partially cross-eyed. Perhaps I should say MORE cross-eyed
When am I going to ship that second CD to CDbaby.com? What is that holds me back? Depression? Lack of faith? An unwillingness to work? I should purchase the remaining CD's from Pete Grella and tell him "sorry about that, the band snowballed down the wrong side of the hill" just so he can get some of his money back. Or maybe I should nut it up and put forth an effort not seen by myself before, and certainly not by the other members of this musical tragedy.
I just heard on the radio that Tom Fogerty of Creedence Clearwater died. I proceeded to look it up on the Internet that he died on September 6th, 1990. I hadn't any idea. I guess I went to different albums in 1990.
Ever feel completely out of it and then BANG ........ you're still out of it? Welcome to some of my world
October 31st, 2005
Time: Morning
Title: travels
My third weekend in a row out of town. This past weekend was the trip to Mecca a.k.a. the annual Bridge school Benefit concert in Mountain View, California. Doing the math in my head it suddenly came to me that in nearly two weeks it will be Neil Young's 60th birthday. How can that be, where did the time go? The godfather of grundge has hit the big numbers
There was an elevated pleasing when bearing witness to the performances of Bright Eyes, Jerry Lee Lewis, Los Lobos, and Mr. Young esquire. I have been waiting to see Bright Eyes for a few years now and I'm very glad to finally have seen the rock n' roll legend Jerry Lee Lewis after all these years.
We were spared a drenching by mother nature, something we've experienced a couple of times at this event. I must admit there were moments of sadness, what we have all called "Marty moments". This is due to the fact that the Bridge Show was an annual rendevous with him and his childhood friends from the southland. This was the first one missed. I'm led to believe that things grow better with time.
like senility and back-and-joint problems. Gee, I can't wait
It will be nice to play music again after a three week hiatus. I'm off the out of town trips for a little while
October 25th, 2005
Time: kind of mid-late afternoon'ish
Title: The "Do Nothing" report
As of late we have done little to augment band accessibility or to pretend we're big pretentious rock stars. We get together nearly every Friday where the focus is on partying up a storm, then we get to playing music at about 11:00pm. I setup the recording equipment so that we can record nothing, on Saturday morning I pick up all the wires and discard the empty alcohol containers. Doesn't that sound fruitful? Doesn't that sound ambition driven? If we lived thousands of years ago we would've surely been eatin' by a carnivorous predator by now as we're too lazy to move and get out of our own way
"letting the days go by
let the water hold me down"
I went back to school to learn more about business. I've never had business classes before as anything I've ever focused upon has been the sciences or the arts. If the world is run by business and business type people then, HOLY CRAP, no wonder civilizations become more doomed as the years tread on. If someone states "I give the human race another 300 years to exist" I have to blurt out "you OPTIMIST!" The business mindset is one that I cannot relate to one iota. These people run the world? Right now, wherever you are and whatever you're doing, you should get up, run outside (or just start running if you are outside, which if you're reading this you are probably not), wave your hands in the air and start screaming "WE'RE ALL GOING TO DIE, WE'RE ALL GOING TO DIE!!" The only people who don't believe this are those shelled up capitalists who have created their own reality. Do you know why geeks and scientists don't run the world? BECAUSE THEY'RE TOO EFFING SANE! So they handed it over to the business people and the lawyers, who don't know they're insane (nor do they care). Yay for the temptation that is power
I've done 6 remixes of this last waltz that the "Ushers" had together. This is what we used to call ourselves when Marty lived down here and played in the band regularly. When he moved away we began to call ourselves "The Users". Since his death we really don't call ourselves anything at all. We're just time takers, sucking up the minutes on a Friday nights by gracing each other with our collective presence. Often I feel as though I'm wasting (tape) time. There's a definite inability to create as the lack of patience and concentration is at an all time high. Could this be related to Marty's passing, or the fact that we're getting on in years and that's just what happens? Some weekends I just stare at the recording studio without ever hitting the power button.
I was listening to a remix (where the snare is too loud) of what we did with Marty back on 6-27-03. It's so freaking depressing. I can hear/see him so well in my head. I especially enjoy the last cut, Bob Dylan's "I Shall Be Released". There's such a finality to it. All I wish is a time machine so that we can go back and jam around with him one more time. I miss his hard nosed dedication to playing and his self-effacing demeanor to the consequence of such an action. I miss his humor, I miss that sharp tongue, the quick wit, that mean-sonofabitch-sense of humor, the critiquing of something gone wrong just after it happened without conscience as to whether or not he was walking on eggshells. What's it been, 7 months now? Damn
I used to write on this other blog site. I've left that phase. I guess it was accented by my getting drunk and doing something thoughtless and stupid. I wasn't told I did something thoughtless and stupid till one week later, and unfortunately I was so drunk (which is never an excuse) that I don't remember what it was that I did. Saying as much is predeterminately not accepted as you cannot bother people with facts if they've made up their mind. My apologies will not breach that fortified bastion so I'll just pull that old maneuver of covering myself with a callous. All that is left is to close the that chapter.
So much has happened over the last few years that I must cover myself with a callous and move on. It's easy to do as most things I've encountered after 1995 haven't remained permanent anyway
and even some things I encountered BEFORE 1995. We all have a point of fragility, don't we?
I think that modern western culture has turned us into a world of whiners. People don't like the clarity of their computer monitors and gripe about it daily. Meanwhile there are people in the world who are truly suffering, forgotten about, and left to die. I try to remember this when it seems that extra time is being taken for the restaurant to prepare my burrito. I didn't have to eat there
I could've spent the money on better things
- Mike
August 18th, 2005, afternoon'ish
In the High Sierras
.....
Some Marty's ashes were spread around a makeshift memorial, which engulfed a coffee can filled with Marty memorabilia. This was done on August 13th, a day before what would've been Marty's 42nd birthday, a day after Alan's 42nd birthday, and six days after the 42nd birthday of Rick Johnson. The location of this event was in the High Sierras at about 11,000 feet. The older brother of Marty and I led the way, as he did when we were but lads in a Los Angeles suburbs.
It was a hard 5.5 hours drive home on August 14th. I placed The Who's Quadrophenia album in the CD player and had to nearly pull over from driving due to grieving. This is not something I like to talk about anymore as I'm trying to put the event of five months ago behind me. Perhaps this board is a way of venting without bending yet another ear in person or on the phone.
I'm still going through hours and hours of recordings. I've decided to add one more piece to the studio and ripped all the wiring out the evening prior to this day.
As a band we used to joke that venues where we've demonstrated the rock n' roll have seem to gone out of business over the years.
Gazzarri's - gone
Bebob Records - gone
Madame Wong's West - gone
Callahan's - gone
Bourbon Square - gone
Toby Jugs - gone
Cathay De Grande - gone
Dizzy Debbies Cafe - gone
Club 88 - gone
The Waters Club - gone
The Firewater Inn - Adios, mother EFFER
of course there are many other venues we've played that have remained open (Troubador, The Joint, 14 Below, KCSB Radio, blah blah blah). STILL!
Today I researched for a place to mass manufactur yet one more User's CD. I decided to hit up our old manufacturer, Third Wave Media. Guess WHAT! THEY'RE GONE!!<
You may play that Twilight Zone music in your head right about now
August 5th, 2005, afternoon'ish
What the hell
.....There are shittier sounding bands than us releasing albums. This is not a scientific fact but a matter of opinion. So I've decided to release a third mass manufactured CD. What the hell, I've invested all this money into recording equipment and outboard gear.
The newly revamped studio is now 16 tracks, as compared to the old 8 track that was used to create "Friendly" and "Little Bag of Hope". Those who are into the industry standard productions will state "16 tracks? That's one third of what we use"
It's like this
There are 8 or nine tracks for the drums (depending on the song). One track for the guitar, one track for the bass, one track for the keyboards, one track for Alan's voice, one track for mine. That's a total of 12 or 13 tracks, leaving 3 or 4 more tracks with which to play. This is like heaven to us.
I estimate to have some 30+ hours of material recorded. Of course there's going to be a keep and toss process. If it were up to Alan it would be a keep and keep process. The guy loves everything we do. He's mad, I tell you, utterly gone fishing and not firing on all cylinders
And I haven't even mentioned his guitar playing
Thus far I have one track completed, approximately 6 minutes long. As I've always felt CD's she be about an hour that would mean there is 54 minutes of material to find and modify
I kid you not when I state "no problem"
~ Mike
July 15th, 2005, night'ish
Thanks to those that came out for the gig.
A man named Steve Brown came out to the show. I'd never met him yet apparently he knows Rick and had been carrying around a homemade version of the Friendly album I created back in 1998. It's nice to know that some of the fretting doesn't go unnoticed.
Thanks for everyone that came to the gig, to the band Counter Parts for being so patient about retrieving their equipment while we were playing, for Barry Milavetz for driving so far to see us play, and to Grahame Watts who has now officially acquired more gigs for The Users than Alan and Rick combined. Way to go, Grahame.
This morning at approximately 11:40a.m. I went under the knife at Tarzana Regional Medical Center in order to have a very large hernia repaired. I feel great. The people at that medical center are great. There is very little discomfort. The worse part about the whole thing is the people in my life who are OVER CONCERNED! I'm really fine and do not requiring following around as though I were to suddenly fall and die
and these painkillers are GREAT.
I suppose we're going to return to recording. I have a whole week off from work and I plan on using that time to do a lot of mixing of some of the things we've already recorded with Wade and chris.
Or is that ALSO too scary, senor Henton?
June 27th, 2005
Wade Henton cannot make the gig due to health reasons ....
.... the idea of playing onstage makes him sick. That's right kids, stage fright strikes again. It's taken many people down and now it can add one other to the talley. Oh well, we thought we could present something different but it ain't going to happen. What was I to expect, anyway
June 21st, 2005
A gig, perhaps for a bad cause
We were asked to play a benefit for the democratic club of Ventura County and we said "yes". Actually I said "yes" before I realized what the benefited. I cannot stand the philosophy of the republicans, yet I make up for that by not being able to stand the governing philosophy of the democrats as well. Oh well, it's a gig, what the hell.
For the first time ever on a stage there will be others besides Rick, Alan, Marty, or Myself. Wade Henton has been manipulating the keyboards lately and Chris Parnell will be tweaking the electric mandolin. It's not so much an "electric" mandolin as it is a regular mandolin with a pickup adhered to the to the body of the instrument. Anyway, I notice via the rough rehearsal cassette recordings that you can hear it, if Alan doesn't step all over it with his guitar (which also happens on the cassette recordings).
We've been given a 45 minute slot, which is the least length of time we've played since the elder days. Perhaps we need the discipline.
the Marty aspect still remains painful and has been shining through during our weekly jams. Three months later and we're all carrying the loss like a 60 pound backpack up Mt. Everest. I miss him daily and my place of residence has him as a constant reminder. At times it even feels as though he's floating around just to be sure we're all playing with "texture". I just had a thought that we should play a version of "something New" at the gig
any questions the gig, you can email me here
and that is all
May 25th, 2005
The Beat Goes On
In North Fork there is an annual jam. Per usual we'll have all of us there but that's just not going to happen this year. Instead there should be all of us minus one of us and that is that.
Another whammy that hit us lately was the loss of Suzanne Lewis, mother of long time friend Steve. Our hearts go out to the Lewis family for their loss. Steve Lewis has deep roots with this musical quartet which go back further than anyone else. He was there the first time we ever plugged in the electric guitars.
Anyone who reads this knows where the North Fork jam occurs, or knows how to contact me about getting there. It's not a big deal and usually kind of ends up in a cacophonic free for all
minus one guitar
and so it goes
March 17, 2005
Beautiful, beautiful, beautiful boy
We are deeply saddened with Marty's passing, which is a collosal understatement. I just wish the thank all the friends and well wishers, some from people I've never even met, over the news of this untimely death.
I can hear and see him in my memories and I'm selfish enough to say it's not enough. I need you here, now, today, you're supposed to get OLD and LOOK FUNNY!
Thank you to my friends and family, goodbye to my baby brother. I miss you now and will forever
March 15, 2005
Julius Caesar, stabbed in the back on this day (according to lore)
you would think he had a record contract with one of those monster record labels
The newest of news. Former/Part time/sometimes temporary band member Marty Monsalve was wed to his lady friend Natalie, March 2nd, 2005. It seems they took a page out of the parental handbook and wandered off to elope without telling anyone of their plans.
That's just the way it goes sometimes
I'm still busy with the mixing work every Saturday. Thus far I have favored 1% of everything I've heard. The rest of it annoys me to no end. I'm going to need more hard drive space so I may place more songs on it, having more sounds to choose from / scrutinize. Someday I may be happy enough with the material to have outsiders ear gander upon the sonics. Maybe this is why real bands hire producers, who bark out the old "shut up, it's fine"
Rick has been absent the last two weeks due to prior commitments. I was shocked as I thought he was unable to make any kind of commitment at all. Last Friday it was just Wade, Alan, and myself playing, Alan sat in on the drums. It's a good thing he brought his guitar over so that he could spend the evening playing the drums. It was the stratocaster guitar as well, which prompted me to whip out the Rickenbacker 4001. Did we take on the characteristics of the classic keyboard, bass, and drum lineup that belong to Emerson, Lake, and Palmer?
No
Perhaps we should've resorted to picture taking and seen if we could've come up with a visual that was as horrific as the "Love Beach" cover
They were young, they needed the money
March 01, 2005
Remember when I danced around and said "somebody put visuals to our music"?
The threat was answered by one Pete Grella
Now this band is far less media savy than, say, Led Zeppelin. There really isn't any film of us, there is one video tape and it's a blurred outdoor party, we barely have enough still pictures. It would be nice to have visuals without it appearing to be some lipsinking gig along to our latest and greatest non-hit
I'm pretty sure the others would concur. Perhaps we were a tribe in a previous life whom believed their souls to be robbed when photographed. Or perhaps not.
Pete stated that he is willing to bring over a some cameras and film the band playing. Perhaps this friday. If all works out there will be some visuals for sonics which were created FIVE years ago
That's how we rush things to market around here
February 22nd, 2005
I don't get suicide
The phone rang Sunday evening and it was Alan. I was napping due to the previous evening activities so he caught me out of a dead sleep.
"Hunter S. Thompson killed himself"
"whaaaa .... "
What a way to be awakened. I wouldn't doubt Alan but I had to get the hell out of bed and confirm this information. I just couldn't believe that THAT person would off himself. I thought this was one of the strongest individuals in the world. Why they hell did he wait till age 67 and not kill himself 40 years earlier at 27, like all the other rockstars do?
It was all confirmed, even in the mass media. Fuckface. Goddamnit Thompson. You still had a plethora of loyal readers out here, you're one of the greatest Oakland Raider fans there is! What the HELL were you thinking? What he HELL went wrong?
Fuck you AND rest in peace, you fucking weirdo
love
The Users
In other news:
Saturday night saw Alan and Wade pop by. They ever so persuaded me to do rough mixdowns of all the latest recordings. I've put it off for so long that it took 10 hours just to get rough tracks onto CD. Of course there was the dinner break at the Sol Y Luna of Tarzana. Mostly the dinner consisted of margaritas, the best there is east of the Santa Monica mountains. I think this is my favorite restuarant of all time
and 24 hours later Dr. Hunter S. Thompson was dead
that's just the way it goes, sometimes
February 16th, 2005
Any Scorsese wannabe's out there?
Lately I've been gandering at visuals which accompany previously concocted sonics. I suppose many people call such presentations "music videos". Well I don't. I prefer the "visuals which accompany previously concocted sonics".
I'm wordy like that
I thought that since I own a DVD player I would like to see some of our recent concocted sonics accompanying visuals, whether they are visuals of my imagination or not. We've had one video done of the years by a video maker who was not very passionate about the project. No, her passion was more on the line of having boyfriend drama.
Everybody needs a hobby, I suppose
I placed an ad on the Los Angeles edition of the Craigslist. As of this particular time, this particular place, this particular channel I have heard nothing back. What is it with kids these days?
When I first emerged from audio school I worked a few film jobs as a sound man just so I could get my name on something. We worked these crappy films and they would feed us bean soup and offer us long hours. AND WE WERE THANKFUL
So if anyone is interested, or if you know anyone interested, please let me know. Either that or it's something else I'll have to learn myself, as I did with the audio engineering, the website designing, the equipment repair, the CD manufacturing, the CD distribution, blah blah blah ....
yeah
I'll probably end up doing it myself
February 14th, 2005
when in doubt, shout
Not too terribly long ago I was implored upon to express my views about playing live shows. Often I think that, well, we did play live for many years and there was little audience of which to speak. There isn't a demand for us to play live for we are the most unsuccessful band in the world. The present status is due to a lack of any enthusiasm by a majority of the band. Therefore I have resorted to just shipping media to independent radio stations as our advertising budget is substandard compared to, lets sayyyyyyy - that of U2. So we don't ship to media to large corporate stations who air corporate commercials.
That is just one example. I'm a big fan of using the heavy weights when doing comparisons. Example; I cannot catch a football as well as Jerry Rice when he was at the peak of his career. See? Yet another heavy example, compiled with the fact I said the "PEAK" of his career. How about ANY point of his career? No, no, no, no, I must be extreme
Not too terribly long ago I took to sending out CD's to American college stations. They don't play them. It could be that the CD's are lo-fi, or that we suck so outrageously, or the there are so many CD's a radio station will receive that they must pick the one with the cutest cover. I thought I avoided that pitfall by not having our CD covers bear any likeness to any of the musicians. so maybe we just outrageously suck
However some former eastern block underground radio stations abroad have been airing material from the first two CD's. Why? I don't know, maybe they're lacking some sort of "good taste".
I have also received word that some stations in Portugal and Brazil have been giving the CD a spin. Sometimes I think to share this news with other band members but as they have yet to send a CD anywhere or burn one calorie in effort to have the band play live, I just assume they be not bothered with this information.
We are still recording yet I still haven't been mixing. This is due to the fact that a lack of interest in result seems to have a domino effect and I've been hit by the 6:3 one. I'm not even sure what that means?
Does anyone even play dominos anymore?
All I'm rightfully sure of is that people still name their pets or pizza business after the game of strategy.
and that is all
January 25th, 2005
What's the buzz, tell me what's a happening
This week has seen slight mixdowns. What is actually taking place is readying the rehearsal room for one Rick Johnson. As of late I've taken to rescuing alley cats, only to learn that Rick is highly allergic to their being. He is prepared to die each and everytime he shows up to the livingroom for an evening of sonic experimentation.
I suppose it doesn't help that I have rescued THREE of the displace felines
Well Rick will now be happy to know that I have purchased an IQ Air machine (pictured).
This machine is top rated in it's field for the removing of allergins from the air. Now our rehearsals will smell like a surgical room yet be free of Rick's constant sneezing and red/watery eyes rubbing
you knew this would happen
January 15th, 2005
The Friday night ritual
This past week I found myself plowing through the hours and hours of recordings. I found about 2 minutes of it to be acceptable. Maybe I'm a hypercritical of our own creations.
Tonight the kids (Alan, Rick, Wade, and maybe others) will stop by the place and we'll give it another go. Lately there has been the addition of C. Parnell on the mandolin and S. Guiterrez blowing on the saxaphone. Does it really matter as we seem to get too wasted to play anything at all (except the toilet flusher. We're damn good at that).
Someday I'm going to start posting soundwaves of what the hell it is we've been up to. Then I'll pretend people actually listen.
and that is all
Mike
January 12th, 2005
Do you ever think "hey, nobody gives a rats ass"?
Every Friday night there's a gathering at my place to do multitrack recordings. What really goes on is a bunch of hedonistic behavior and an overall lack of attention spans.
You go into a room to do a level check and nobody is doing a goddamn thing on their musical instruments, so you set the recording level to that. Later while playing they crank up the amplifiers/hit the drumkit a little louder and the meters are peaking red on the recording console. You would think after all these years they bastards would understand the process of recording. The truth is they barely visit the control room. Yeah, so thanks for that
The jamming commences and things fly out of speakers, some of them sound okay, some of it sounds like crap. Anyway, there's some 20 hours of it on the machine and I still have to go through it and mix it all up. Why? Because someone actually DOES give a rats ass
At least one of us
November 17th, 2004
Recordings and Business
Day jobs. We have 'em, you see. It's how we pay the rent. Unfortunately a day job can often turn into an evening thing and all that is known as a good time and fun is blown right to hell. So this is what has been going on.
Wade Henton has joined The Users in an officially unofficial sort of way. With Wade we've been hitting the multitrack for the past 3 months or so. During this time we have recorded some EIGHT HOURS worth of music.
I thought to call the new recordings the works of a new idea, perhaps under the guise of a new band, The Animated Whores. I even purchased The Animatedwhores.com. Silly and ambitious me.
Well to hell with that crap. I have instead decided to create all the newly recorded material under the name of The Users. I mean why change at this point?
Anyone with an older CD will notice quite an improvement in sound with the new recordings as the recording studio has been significantly upgraded. Due to the flow of $$$$ there might still be some time before any official manufactured release.
Until then I am going to try to make home CD's and if you are truly interested in the sounds that are going on I will be glad to ship you off a sample of what is happening at NO CHARGE! That's because I'm a tree hugging, sandal wearing, anti-corp fucking hippie. Also, I have potty mouth
I am also in the process of redistributing Little Bag of Hope and have some 300 CD's to ship out to various venues (radio stations, magazine reviewers, a tisket a tasket). I'm a busy person
Oh what do you care?
That is all
July 1st, 2004
The showtime on Saturday where Mike Monsalve plays with the 2000 years old man and the band has changed
I was informed the previous evening that the showtime for the 2000 years old man and the band was NOT 9:00pm but 8:00pm. You can see as much on the "Live Shows" tag. Mistakes were made and now corrected, you'll have that much more time for Saturday night partying this glorious fourth of July weekend. The band has an addictional band member, Hector who plays the trumpet.
If anyone wants a ticket I have some to sell for a mere $4.00. That night at the door the cost to enter will be $8.00. You know how those cover charge things go. Wouldn't the bar attract more people by not having a cover charge, in turn serving up more beer and making more money? It's been my question of the ages
June 14th, 2004
Mike Monsalve has another show with the 2000 years old man and the band
Mike Monsalve will play bass in yet another gig with the project "the 2000 year old man and his band". The band is a five piece (keys, violinist, drummer, guitar and bass).
May 14th, 2004
Mike Monsalve has been sitting in.
Mike Monsalve will be playing out at The Joint at 8:00pm. on Thursday, May 20th. He's been sitting in with this latest ensemble, which goes by the name The 2000 Year Old Man and his Band since February of this year. This is the first gig that this band will have. You can get more detail on the gig by clicking here
Presently The Users are still recording with little or no plans on playing away from the recording studio. If anyone wishes a sample CD of what has been going on you can email us by clicking here
That is all
January 13th, 2004
Firewater Gigs Are Coming To A Halt
The bar we've been playing at for three years, the Firewater Inn, will be hosting its last Users show ever on Friday, January 23rd, probably 10:00p.m. It seems the bar will be going through some changes, mostly of the ownership variety. So we've been told the format, the atmosphere (eh?) the ambience (wha..?), the aura (hu..?) the quality ...
The semblance
the spirit
the tone
the taste
the flavor
the feeling
the environment
the character
the climate
BLAH BLAH BLAH BLAH BLAH BLAH BLAH .....
of the establishment is going to change. No more dirty rock n' roll bands.
That is all
11-18-03: Saturday
I feel fortunate to find this Harmonium sitting in the Salvation Army store in Canoga Park. It looked lonely and wanting to play. It is not in the best of shape so it has become the new project. Yeah, like I didn't have anything else to do.
There's a gig this Saturday, the 22nd of November. An Elvis Impersonator will open for us and that'll be a first. Hell, it's better than some whacked out hair band doing the opening. A third CD is somewhere in the future but the $$$$$ isn't there. You know how hard it is to be Indie when those kids in Brazil are just copying your music and passing it out amongst their friends. Oh well, it was never about the cash anyway. That reminds me.....
I have a Hohner acoustic bass for sale at a measely $350 (with a hardshell case). I orginally purchased this for $670
I also have an Ampeg 100w bass head for sale, the V4-B. It's in excellent condition and I'm only asking $380. Near as I figure you can get $380 right out of any teller machine. If you offered $375 I'd probably take it
That is all
11-01-03: Saturday
The Firewater Inn has offered us up a gig in November and so we've offered up to take it. We'll be playing on a Saturday this time, November the 22nd. For further details you can check the 'LIVE SHOWS' tag. It'll give the the address and details and, remember, there isn't a cover charge.
That is all
10-06-03: Monday
Ho diddely blah. The recording process is going slow because I have absolutely no help. I'm supposed to do that, do the mailings, write a weekly flyer for this other crap I'm involved in, and keep the apartment clean of debris. Maybe I should take on more things. Oh wait, I did...
Presently I'm in search of a new mixing board. If there's a mic/line switch on each channel, then I want it. Hell, even if it's on one channel I'll take that. I'm thinking of getting us a live gig in November because, well, somebody has to.
08-18-03: Monday
The Users will be starting their set on Friday, August 22nd at approximately 9:40p.m. This is so the second band, the JMicLS Quartet, can get a little more playing time in. So if you show up at 10:00p.m. you're probably going to miss a little bit (like, say, 20 minutes)
that is all
07-23-03: Wednesday
Plugging along
I spend many a weekend at the post office trying to get CD's out to different radio stations. It's a great. big. corporate world out there that is in need of sonic pollution. South American nations were the last to receive a wave of CD's and I think the next sending will be to Asian countries and Sweden.
We have a gig once again at (where else) the Firewater Inn. This time the JMicLS Quartet will be joining us on the bill. I've always wanted to see these guys and now I've found a good way to do so.... HAVE 'EM PLAY THE SAME NIGHT! Check out the gigs page.
I'm still in the process of transferring many old sound bytes from reel to reel tape onto the HD24 hard disk recorder. It is a tedious process as I'm being very high maintainence about the whole thing. Not to mention it is one million degrees in my apartment....
... an exaggeration, I assure you.
That is all
06-09-03: Monday
A New ALembic Bass, another gig in the high country.
Hello,
First off, I'd like to thank those that wandered out to the Firewater Inn on May 30th. It was good to see the faces and, you know Grahame, someday we're going to have you sing a Devo song.
You're just going to have to remind me so we can re-learn one. We'll talk.
This was the first gig with my brand new addition to the bass pile, a custome made Alembic Distillate with Signature electronics. I have to thank the people at Alembic. Mica, susan, Mary, Bob, and Mike to just name some of the few (those were ones with whom I conversed).
And to Ron Wickersham for his passion in building the fineset bass in the world. I'm overly pleased with this one. Long time friends and listeners have stated that it is the greatest sounding bass I've ever played. And I've played some GREAT SOUNDING basses.
Classics, as it were.
Another event is to take place in northern California. The Solstice Fest II, the shortest night of the year. Wait a minute. TWO? I could swear there were more than TWO! We've played, like, Solstice Fest II about 10 times. Is this some sort of running joke? and NORTHERN CALIFORNIA?!?! You guys are in CENTRAL California. Mama mia, I'm not quoting the email anymore. I shall paraphrase it.
Okay kids. The Solstice Fest continues. There will be MUSIC-FOOD-DRINK-KEG BEER -FINITE BAR (no wine. You should always pack in extra as the bar tends to run a little low when all the musicians show arrive.
WHEN: June 21-22, 2003.
Start time, NOON'ish
The opening acoustic act featuring the Houts-Lyster Band.
Followed by Alternative, eclectic, "play about anything you can name" band The Users.
Reunited with Marty Monsalve
Followed by the big mountain jam (bring an instrument and amp).
Plug in, play, beware of the lurking tinnitus.
Maybe I'll make a poster and place it on the "Live shows" tag.
That is all
05-02-03: Friday
I've dumped the old news board thing....
Ah hell, I only update this sucker once a month. So here is what is going down.....
We've been a busy lot with updating the recording studio. The new equipment has me wanting to rerecord the first two CD's. I've been told to let it go and move on. Anyhooo....
I'm now the proud owner of an Alesis HD24 Recording system. As I'm somewhat of a stickler for the old days of a reel to reel tape console, the HD24 provided the best substitution for me to keep my older habits of mixing. I could never get into the computer thing and I was never a fan of the ADAT 8-track product (needing two machined to record 16 seperate tracks) The HD24 was the perfect solution and I was so happy with the machine that I've even MORE recently purchased (with the most gracious help of sales rep John Grandinetti) an Alesis Masterlink. Now multitracking, mixidown, mastering, and burning a CD is a breeze. That Alesis engineering team radiates genius.
If you're interested you can see this products at Alesis.com Hey, they're not even paying me for this endorsement. I just enjoy the product that much.
More exciting to me than that is that I've also invested in a lifelong dream. You can click here to see this dream
It's an Alembic, Distillate body with Signature electronics. I've been calling it a Signillate. I've been wanting Alembic to build me a custom made bass since I was 18 years old. According to rumor, this one will be ready by May 16th. That's when I'm heading to Santa Rosa to pick the art piece up. Susan Wickersham must be growing tired of my constant phone inquiries. "Is it ready now?" no "now?" no "how about now?" no. That was within the SAME PHONE CONVERSATION! Mama mia.
The Users have a gig at (where else) the Firewater Inn. I'll be playing in the opening band with whom I've been sitting in on these past few months. It is with The Users that I'll be playing the new bass. Hope to see you there, whoever you are.
There's a radio station in Sao Paolo, Brazil that has taken a liking to both Users CD's. I want to thank them for that. Apparently we've been getting a lot of airplay down there. Due to the travel budget, i.e. NO CAAAASH, we won't be touring Sao Paolo anytime in the near future. Who knows, maybe things will change.
That's if for now. I'm going to try and update this thing more often. Yeah, I always say that....
- Mike.
001-16-02: Wednesday
Band Resumes Recording...
The Users have resumed recording after the a long holiday break. Well, there was the holiday break and the fact that R.J. is now a husband instead of a "groom to be"....
Other news: Mike Monsalve will be returning to "sitting in" status with old school punk band Stukas Over Bedrock for some live shows. He's very excited about it, though the situation hasn't proven to be all that healthy for his tinnitis.
That is all
10-11-01: Thursday
Enter: The Vibrochamp
Alan's early 70's vibrochamp steps up to the plate and does the job. He uses it to overdub on the new song that we gave a name, then drank that memory away. Hey Al, what was the name of that song? I don't know but it was something obnoxious.
That is all
10-05-01: Friday
The Hiwatt hits a low note
Alan's amp has taken a shit so...........
In other news, I think I'm close to getting a 1", 16trk tape machine. I know the digi-heads say "yeah, so....?" Well to me it's a big deal. DIG?
No?
Hmm, I wouldn't think so.
That is all
9-21-01: Friday
A lack of concentration....
When we get together to play music we more or less end up talking. Obviously there are other things on the mind. This weekend I will be mixing and finalizing all of the already recorded CD. There's still a few songs to do. BUT........
we can't really think about it right now.
That is all
9-12-01: Tuesday
Some things on hold...
I was going to finishing with some of the mixing. I'm saddened by the loss of people that were just flying on a plane....
.... just going to a job. So they could have some money so they could go to a bar and dance to the wilds of their flavor of sonics.
That is all
8-22-01: Wednesday
The Owner Of Bloody Daggre Records Gets Closer To Gray Hair
Pete Grella, owner of Bloody Daggre Records and guitar player for O.G. punk The Stukas Over Bedrock celebrates a birthday today.
Amazing! He's not dead, either.
That is all
8-16-01: Thursday
I don't need this stuff.
Fostex 454 8 in, 8 out mixing board $150.00
Hohner acoustic/electric bass w/ Hard Shell Case $275.00
That is all
8-14-01: Tuesday
I'm not as drunk as the last birthday message.....
....so this one won't be as sappy. Today is Marty's birthday. Marty has always been like a brother to me (HAHAHAHAHAHAA). Actually he's a brother that is more like a friend. You know you can't pick your siblings so apparently I got very lucky.
Happy birthday Marty and now it's time to tell you....YOU WERE ADOPTED!
That joke is so old.
That is all
8-12-01: Sunday
Dear Alan, thank you for being born
The man is self efacing but I will tell this now. Not only is he one of the greatest people you'll ever meet but he wangs that guitar like a mad artist on a canvass. It really is quite something to know him in private life. You should be so lucky! (you know, the same goes for Rick but I was in a rush when I wrote his birthday greeting. There was the trip to Ventura, after all).
Happy birthday Al and thanks for everything.
Every. single. thing.
That is all
8-07-01: Tuesday
Rick Johnson: You're STILL alive!!
Rick Johnson has a birthday and we're having a party in Ventura. I'll let you know what happens
Happy Birthday Rick
That is all
8-06-01: Monday
The way it's coming around
The songs It Was Hell, Care, You Know and another one that Alan hasn't named at this point are finished. There are two or three more tunes to work on and then the third CD is done. "So what" you say as we never even released the second CD. Well let me tell you something.....
I'm looking into releasing the "Little Bag Of Hope" CD in September. It's just a matter of getting around to doing the album art work which is always as much a pain in the ass to get together as the recordings. Okay, so it isn't as difficult but it just feels like it. The hardest part is getting the funds together. I'm planning on getting the "It Was Hell" album out in December.
That is all
7-15-01: Saturday
Clearly this cannot be afforded......
Life goes by and you wait for the things you want? Forget that! Alan has added another guitar (his third) to his arsenal. A brand spanking new Gibson SG Supreme with '57 classics. He chose the midnight burst finish (pictured. Click picture for more information on this guitar). It's the first REAL guitar (we don't count the $200.00 Danelectro as a real guitar, but as a fun one) in 16 years. This would've not been possible without the help of a friend whom asked to remain anonymous. She's as lovely as she is generous, fronting a loan so that Alan could twang on this dream guitar of more than 20 years.
Yes, a loan. So start sending those checks, Al.
That is all
7-10-01: Tuesday
Before D. Stone headed back for Las Vegas......
We fucked up my apartment. Beers and margaritas, pizzas and birthday cake. Yes, it was D. Stone's birthday. I had a big idea. In making the next CD It Was Hell we had still been searching for our one cover song per album. I think we found it. We recorded the Rolling Stones song "Live With Me" from the Let It Bleed album after Darren had initiated it in a jam. Leave it to the Stone man to whip out a classic. I'm not too sure how it came out but I'll find out later today. If it's fine.......
Then D. Stone will be playing on the next CD
That is all
7-05-01: Thursday
exhausted from the past few........YEARS!
D. Stone rolled into town from Las Vegas. He popped by Saturday and we jammed around a little but Sunday it was raucous as we were joined by Alan and Rick for the full on band effect. It's always good to see the Stone man. He brought with him a lady named Terran that had a golden voice but didn't use it till half the band left.
I am not DOWN with this musically self concious stuff. PLAY, damnit
That is all
06-24-01: Sunday
For some unknown reason........
The email address besidesthat@theusers.net is not allowing me to receive any messages. Therefore I changed the email link to another that I have: rb4001@earthlink.net
That is all
06-11-01: Monday
Due to the inability of sitting still.....
I changed the links page. Added some crap, got rid of some other stuff. One of these days I'll quit working on this website and get down to some serious mixing.
06-02-01: Saturday
I couldn't take the Alxnet Message Board anymore.
Alxnet message board is finally gone (along with all the messages posted.
This means it's clean slate time
That is all
05-30-01: Wednesday
Extra Stuff Has Got To Go
SWR Henry 8X8 bass cabinet. $500.00
Hohner acoustic/electric bass guitar, Graphic EQ, active electronics with case $350.00
That is all
05-29-01: Tuesday
Suddenly I'm Free
Still doing the website, though. After 20 years of lugging around all the band equipment and getting all the gigs I've decided to give it a rest and let the other members take over those spots.
I do still plan on recording
That is all
05-20-01: Sunday
Oh, THAT hostage crisis.
Well I fixed that damn machine so recording has begun once again. The machine was in pieces all over the place. Good thing I'm used to dealing with things in pieces.
The User wagon heads for the Sleep Never Rusts fest on Friday afternoon, about 12:00p.m. There is a seat available. Just don't tell that girl I've been seeing
That is all
05-14-01: Monday
Oh BLOODY HELL!
My Fostex R8 has taken a shit. I was going to scan a picture of it but my scanner is dead as well so I found this picture on the Internet.
The R8 is key to us not only finishing our recordings but accessing our older material. Therefore, this sucks. Oh who the fuck reads this thing anyway
The band is gearing up for the Sleep Never Rusts show. If you want to go, BRING FOOD!!
That is all
05-02-01:Wednesday
We were reviewed.
Someone we know reviewed us for The L.A. Music Scene online webzine. Read if you want. I posted in on our somewhat revamped reviews section. Be sure to visit the L.A. music scene site.
That is All.
04-23-01:Monday
How things go. They go like this
Thanks all that came out to the gig. It was rainy, it was cold but you were drinking so what does it matter. That Sang serves a mean pitcher of beer, doesn't she. Late at night when the people were gone she used to pick up my guitar. Yet she was terrible
She doesn't know how to play the guitar. Somewhere I lost this Neil Young poetry
Pretty soon there will be more pictures on this site, courtesy of Chas (Brogak) who dumped a pile of pics on my desk. Look at these old shots. Damn, I was young.
That is all
04-18-01:Monday
Yeah, we're all done practicing
Alan and Rick just left the treehouse. We went through some stuff and realized that only a chemically saturated audience can save us now. It's going to be a mess on Friday and someone is bound to get hurt. I'm predicting it'll be Alan. They always chuck shit at the guitar players first.
That is all
04-16-01:Monday
Joey Ramones passing saddens us.
All I can say about this is "DAMNIT!"
that is all
04-03-01:Tuesday
27 pictures added to website
Some people have asked to see more pictures so I complied. The old ask and you shall recieve dealio. Ain't that special? Anyway they're on the new link entiled "just pics" below the "lyrics and Pics" link. I'm sure all 6 of you wanted to know that.
That is all
03-28-01: Wednesday
Enter: The Mountain people
They're doing it again. The North Forkonions (not a word. It's a CONJURE) have summoned us to play at the Sleep Never Rusts fest, Saturday on Memorial Day Weekend in North Fork, California. Admission is FREE! Yet the drive is all the way up to North Fork. Musicians to play this fest are encouraged.
Rock bands, too.
That is all
03-20-01: Monday
The gig date has changed
Due to circumstances beyond anyone's control, our gig date had been moved to Friday, April 20th at 9:45pm
That is all
03-19-01: Monday
The Musical Instrument Stock Grows. Enter: the BANJO!!
My brother Marty has tossed a banjo at the band. He said "TAKE IT! I DARE YOU!" with about that much enthusiasm.
Let the trailor trash jokes begin....
Yeah yeah, I heard that one already
That is all
03-16-01: Friday
Second time we've ever done this
I had a pow-wow with Dave Politi last evening. He said "yea" and that I'm supposed to give him a call. I'm now confirming a gig for April 6th. All acoustic, all the time. We might sneak an electric instrument in there. It'll be the second time we ever played in this format
that is all
03-14-01: Monday
They said it couldn't be done
They doubted us when we stated we were going to attempt some acoustic shows. What of that ear splitting guitar, drone sounding bass and thump thump of the bouncy drums. To that we replied "what?" SPEAK UP!!!
The funny thing is that I STILL haven't set up the gig. Why? Why, you ask?
I don't know.
That is all
03-05-01: Monday
Netscape user sends complaint.
I received this email of advice from someone that uses Netscape and was checking out our site. The email reads as follows:
Dear User's Web Designer;
What the hell is wrong with you? I use Netscape navigator because I am one of the last of the uncorrupted. Never shall I give into the tyranny that is Microsoft as 90% of the world's computer population has.
Recently, through radio exposure, I have been checking out The User's website. I very much enjoy the chaos that you call music. I've found your lyrics to be better than many of the lyrics you hear these days on popular radio. It's nice to hear this coming from a band that is probably a bunch of weirdos (don't take that in the wrong way. I'm just quoting one of lines from one of your reviewers). I thought I would sing along so I headed to the lyrics page (see here to understand) The format of the lyrics page seemed bizarre at best. You had the pictures mashing right on top of the words. I figured that maybe it was an attempt at abstract art. I dismissed the way the picture presented itself.
This past week I was at a friend's house and I wanted to show her The Users website. She went there and we were looking through it and when I got to the lyrics and pic page I noticed that the pictures were aligned on the right and the lyrics were aligned on the left? I thought "wow, they fixed it. This looks better". That evening I went home and found that they were back to being all screwed up. The picture was mashing atop the lyrics. I thought "what gives" and then it hits me. You wrote the code to only be compliant with Microsoft Internet Explorer and completely dismissed the demands of the Netscape Browser. What is this? Are Macintosh and SGI users not thought of when you're designing your web page? I was shocked. I was hurt. I almost headed to the liquor cabinet in an attempt to anestitize the pain but I managed to regain emotional control before I actually opened the cupboard door. That was a close one.
Will you please get on this and perhaps try to make the page somewhat aesthetically pleasing to the Netscape user? I would appreciate it and I think I would like to obtain this bootleg CD I've been hearing so much about. Okay, not so much. Yet I did hear that you made one and it's the only CD I don't have. Thank you for any consideration to this email
Signed, Donnata Gamberale
New York
----------------------
Dear Donnata. Understood and I think I did it. I'm a bass player, not a web designer, damnit. Okay, I guess I am a web designer but I never claimed to be a good one. Thank you for pointing this out. all complaints can be mailed to besidesthat@itwashell.com. I will read each one before tossing them out.
Mike Monsalve, The Users
That is all
03-05-01: Monday
Amps away
We were asked a little while ago to perform an unplugged gig at The Fire Water Inn in Agoura (click here for a map). Well at the time we weren't prepared to do it and we were busy doing some recording. Now things have changed and all I have to do is set up the date.
We were going to try to set up a gig at a local hang in Thousand Oaks called The Other Place but the booker seems apprehensive about having an original rock band play there. They want a cover band that is draped in wigs and won't stray off into an abnormal musical jam on a whim. Stay between the lines. The lines are your friend. Lets face it, it's the cultural null of Thousand Oaks. Don't be bagging on me for bagging on the N'Sync town of California, I grew up there. This town actually has a music venue where dancing is not allowed. Yes, it's right out of a Hollywood script.
That is all.
02-28-01: Wednesday
Soul for sale
In an effort to raise money to help alleviate some of the cost of the latest CD, I've been selling off some stuff. GONE is the Users equipment hauling vehicle. It put in many years, a couple of accidents, two blown head gaskets and 176,000 miles but it's all gone now. GONE is Marty's 4X12 Acoustic guitar cabinet. The thing was a classic and had some incredible sounds but it's off with a new owner and probably going to go through some rebuilding. Probably? I mean most definitely. The drivers were non-existent, except for one.
Things that are still for sale.
1.) Ampeg V-4B bass head, four years old and still under warranty. $350.00
2.) Fostex 454 8-channel inline mixing board. Very good condition. Used to record The Users first CD "Friendly". $150.00
I think that's it. Thank you for your time an patience
02-25-01: Sunday
It's Raining
And that's about it
02-14-01: Wednesday
We've bootlegged ourselves
A 14 track CD has been made from older two track recordings. The CD, titled Reel to Real is available upon request for the cost of making and shipping it. Most of the songs are cover tunes from other bands that include:
The One I Love (R.E.M.)
Sunshine Of Your Love (Cream)
I've Got A Feeling (Beatles)
Love Song (Syd Barrett)
Astronomy Domaine (The Pink Floyd)
Freebird (Lynard Skynard)
Sweat Loaf (The Butthole Surfers)
I Feel Fine (The Beatles)
One After 909 (The Beatles)
Excerpt from A Quick One you are forgiven (The Who)
Plus there are two original User tracks entitled "Moribund", "Fiddle With Beer - Nebulous" (which is basically Rick, Alan and Steve Lewis having a conversation) and "Motha Fucka" (which ends abruptly).
That is all
02-07-01: Wednesday
New man, whom wishes to remain nameless, takes charge of the MP3 site, adds song
The song "Hollow head", third track on the Little Bag of Hope CD has been added by Malachy, the new MP3 site director whom wishes to remain nameless. That's right, Malachy doesn't want to have anyone know who he is. So don't be running around saying that you know the MP3 site programmer, MALACHY.
That is all
02-06-01: Tuesday
Here's some more of what the Schlo-man and Bullet man families said about the new works
See the shameless self promotion. I received these messages which read as follows:
Bullet Man: More "Little Bag of Hope" stories...I was playing the CD while washing the car Sunday. My mother in law asked who
that was and Robin said: "It's Mike's band...you know, the one who passed out on our couch a few weeks ago!"
Schlo-man: More "Little Bag of Hope" reviews from the Schlo-man household: Lynn -- "I liked it until they started singing." John (my brother) -- "This is pretty good. Who is it . . . X? Alec gave the ultimate compliment, Mike, when he asked me to put "Hollowhead" on a compilation tape I'm making for him. Hey man, I'm not raising any Britney Spears loving, boy "band" listening pansies. No sirreee. Rock n' roll all the way, kids.
Mr. Brogak: as for jens review of "little bag of hope" and I quote "ugh, what's this"
I wonder what I would've been doing if my parents liked Rock n' Roll. I'd probably be listening to Britney Spears. Anything to rebel, man.
That is all
01-29-01: Monday
Here's what Paul said...
So I tossed a CD to Pablo and the following is his response.......
So Mike, I left for work this morning with my Little Bag of Hope and a
cup of coffee. The next thing I knew I was speeding down the 210
freeway at 90+ mph with "Hollow Head" cranked all the way up to eleven.
Kick ass.
Very kind of Paul. I told him I'd post his review here so he could show his coworkers what a great influence his words are upon us. I think that sentence was too long. I think that all sentences are too long.
That is all
01-22-01: Tuesday
A Mix Around...
The incredibly long song It Was Hell will have two different versions. There will be the normal, no overdubbed archives version and the regular music version. The song is very looooooooooooooonnnnnnnnnnggggggggg and I don't think that 98% of the people out there would actually get through it. Well, except for those wacky morning D.J.'s at KXLU.
That is all
01-10-01: Monday
Because of the inquiries....
I will ship copies of the Little Bag of Hope cd anywhere in the U.S. for $6.00 If you want to order one you can click here to send me an email. What you'll be getting is a homemade version of the CD and possibly some bonus tracks from the third project we are working on "It Was Hell". It's just that I've had some inquiries and we still haven't the $1800.00 it costs to manufacturer these things (our EQUIPMENT keeps blowing up, i.e. bass amps, microphones....etc, etc). Anyway, just thought I'd throw that out there.
That is all.
01-05-01: Friday
The Stuka's gig blew my bass amp.
My Ampeg bass head is all blowed up. I know that's not proper grammar, don't bother to comment on it. Anyway the problem is that I've thrashed the tubes but they can be replaced. As soon as I get it re-tubed I'm going to put it up for sell and hit a heavier wattaged unit.
That is all
01-02-01: Tuesday
Hey, Sondra had something to say about it.
Sondra Menthers, guitar player extraordinairre for the band Wound had this to say about the Stukas show last Friday night in a mass email she had sent out:
Hi All
The show was phenomenal and I am so glad you filmed it, you should put it on the website and the mp3 site. Mike broke two strings and Kurt took a bottle up the ass. So cool!
sondra
Kurt's ass and my bass have recuperated.
That is all
12-29-00: Friday
The Return Of The Stukas Over Bedrock
Okay, tonight it's going to happen for the first time in years. Pete Grella is strapping on a guitar and he's going to hurt your ears as the Stukas Over Bedrock are playing at:
The Archaic Idiot
1720 Vermont Ave
(Between Hollywood
and Franklin)
Hollywood, Ca.
This gig will see the return of the original drummer Danny Tunick. Kurt Mize (the bands second drummer) will come out from behind the drumkit to do the singing, ala Phil Collins. Mike Monsalve, who is The Users bass player but sat in with the Stukas in the late 80's, will be playing the bass. Of course it will be Pete Grella on the guitar, the HEART of the the Stukas. Maybe John Geary will sing a song or two since he's rumored to show up to WATCH?!?!?!? What the hell is that? Well it's a long story..........
That is all
12-27-00: Wednesday
Chipped the end off of my finger
Hey there,
So I was talking to this guy the other day and he said "excuse me, do I know you?" I've been getting that quite a bit lately. Now that things are calming down I think it'll be time that we get busier....rumor has it that D. Stone will be in town today, tomorrow, the next day or something close to that. I hope he doesn't try to fry my brain this time. Last time he came ----->.<----that close to doing it but we up and ran out of cooking oil.
That is all
12-12-00: Tuesday
Getting Ready For Sitting In With The S.O.B.
There's a gig coming up and I'm sitting in on the bass. The band is the old time punkers Stukas Over Bedrock playing live at the archaic idiot store in east Hollywood. Rehearsing with earplugs sucks but what can I do, I'm afflicted. Other than that The Users are about half way done with their third CD. It's a fun departure as most of the album is inedible. Not a pop song on the damn thing.
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