best summer ever pt.I

6/30
After class, I headed over to Lachlan's house, where we immediately got started on tracking electric guitar and finished all of my electric guitar parts for Fade Out, You Are Free, and Retreat by around 6pm. We went for some Jamba Juice from the one he works at and had BBQ hot dogs in the backyard as Luke, Danny, and Evan arrived. Tonight was focused more on working on one song and featured a very impressive and more relaxed jam at the end. After Danny and Evan departed, the three of us left chilled and played Halo a bit before calling it a night.

6/29
Lachlan and I worked on the mix for Fade Out and had some veggie burgers for breakfast. In the afternoon we went out to a coffee shop in downtown Willow Glen for a bit to meet up with a friend of his who was visiting from Seattle and after we parted ways, Lachlan and I went out to get pho, although I did not eat. Shortly after we got back to his house, Danny, Evan, and Luke came over to jam. It's interesting to note that Danny was the main guitarist of Day One Symphony, the first local band that I ever got into during my 10th grade year, and that I just happened to be wearing a Day One Symphony shirt. They had a good jam. After Danny left, the four of us went over to one of Evan's friends' house to chill a bit. His friend is the drummer of a band, Dark Heavens, that is sponsored by Red Bull and there were tons of Red Bull cans at his house. Shortly thereafter we all went home.

6/28
Marc Pascua had invited me to play at his brother, Matthew's, graduation party at a buffet in Fremont, so my afternoon was spent there. Free food, can't complain, except for the scorching weather. When I got home I finished my first passable, balanced-sounding mix of Fade Out, took a nap till 11pm, and chatted on AIM for a bit afterward. Around 2am I packed up gear in my car and headed over to Lachlan's house. We put "The Shining" on but were fast asleep before it was finished.

6/27
Woke up at noon and had breakfast with everyone still present in Rima's house. Shot some windowlight portraits of Thanh and Lachlan. Started back to Milpitas around 3. I used the "shortest distance" route on my GPS and we ended up driving through the good parts of Oakland as well as the ghetto parts of Oakland and San Leandro. What a sight. I worked on the mix of Fade Out and napped. Dan came over around midnight and we headed over to Thanh's house and watched Candyman there. It was a decent horror movie but made me go WTF one too many times. Dan and Thanh go back to San Diego tomorrow. Got home at 5 again.

6/26
Woke up at noon and went to see Transformers 2 with Dan. Fun movie. Headed back to his house to prepare the playlist for Thanh's bday party in Berkeley. Went back home and Lachlan and Thanh headed over and then we went up to Berkeley. The party was held at Rima's house and it got started around 10ish. 5% alcohol drinks FTW. Plenty of pictures were taken and shall be posted later. Good times. At around 3, we took a short walk around Berkeley. Dan, Thanh, Rima, Lachlan and I shared the same room to sleep in; alas there was only one bed. Lachlan was first to claim the bed and Thanh and Rima took to it as well. Then for a whole hour, Dan and I would attempt to claim it for ourselves and the struggle was nothing short of epic. Perseverence won in the end.

6/25
Lachlan and I recorded for about 4 hours, starting work around noon. We finished getting tones and tracking all electric guitar for "Fade Out" and did a bit of other songs; I'll spare the technical details for another blog. Then we headed over to one of his friends, Jake's, house for a jam he was to drum for. Then we all went out for some sushi with discounts from a sushi place one of Lachlan's friends worked at. Headed back to Jake's to jam and chill some more. A couple more of Jake's friends showed up and we went to Lachlan's house to hang out in his jacuzzi. Some time after everyone left, I headed over to Thanh's house at around 3am and we hung out in her room, minding our volume till we coordinated my escape around sunrise.

6/24
Class. Headed over to Thanh's house, had udon soup, and did some vocal exercises. Thanh is proud of her weight loss. Went to pick up the goods for her bday party in Berkeley on Friday. Stopped by Lachlan's and Michael's house to pick up guitar gear before heading home. We cleaned up my room a bit. Lachlan came over and we headed to Thanh's house and watched A Clockwork Orange. Very disturbing movie. Lachlan and I headed back to my house to sleep.

6/23
Worked on some photos shot recently.

6/22
Thanh came over and shortly there after we left for Lachlan's house. We all got some frozen yogurt and headed back to his house for dinner. His family is really cool. We had a discussion of the direction the food industry was heading in and how twinkies and McDonald's fries never rot. "We're all gonna die!" haha. Mixed what we had of "Fade Out" for a bit, reminisced on high school, and watched Shawshank Redemption before going home at 3.

6/20
Headed over to Luke's house with Lachlan and the gear necessary to record bass DI. I wish I'd brought my camera to shoot video that night. What a scene - Luke tracking bass at the dining table while the rest of the guys are playing PS3 in the same room.

6/19
Practiced with Kevin before playing at Relay For Life. Thanh and I walked around the field. Caught up with a bunch of people. We ran into Sylvia, Joy, Dustin, Brian, and later Carrie and we went to Great Mall to see Year One and the Proposal. Friends got us in for free. So worth it. Thanh and I then went to Brian Graves's house. We chilled there with members of PA and got home at 6.

6/18
Gym with Dan. Thanh and I went to downtown SJ to check out Music in the Parks. Third Eye Blind played, although we couldn't really see or hear them clearly. Met up with Lachlan. Got some Philly cheese steak sandwiches. Watched the Ego Trippers show at the Works.

6/17
Class. Gym with Dan. Took Thanh along for another session at Lachlan's. Tracked drums for "Fade Out." Watched City of God. No wonder it's on so many top-10-movies-to-watch-before-you-die lists.

6/16
First day of History of Rock class. It looks to be an easy A. It counts for GE too. Gym with Dan. Got Wingstop with Dan. Chilled with Dan and Kavita at her house around midnight, made brownies, and watched Wristcutters: A Love Story. Shannyn Sossamon <3

6/15
Gym. Got Wingstop with Audrey. Tracked acoustic guitars for Retreat and You Are Free at Lachlan's. Grant came over to track a crazy part. We watched Full Metal Jacket. Stanley Kubrick is a genius. I left at 3am and chilled at Thanh's house for a bit before going home. She made me spam and rice.

6/13
I attended Jenny's graduation party at the Bennetts'.

6/11
I played an IHS library show with Mike (Curious Quail) and made some $ off of that. I talked to the sound guy, who I'd met at a previous Grand Fanali Productions show, and we discussed post-July plans to check out his new studio. A woman who had just graduated from Stanford also stumbled upon the show and we exchanged contact info for future bookings. Got back to Milpitas and hit the gym and Carl's Jr afterward, where I tried the new Mushroom Portabello burger.

6/10
Went over to Mike's house to do some cosmetic work on the black telecaster I was borrowing. Then we hit the gym and afterward I ran into my boss in the locker room, where I was informed that I wasn't being rehired for the summer due to them not taking part-timers. Just one 6-week class this summer it is.

6/9
Lachlan and I tracked guitars. Around midnight and upon returning to Milpitas, I chilled with Tommy and Andrew in his van, and soon learned that Mike and Jonathan, who had invited me to chill on the same day, were in the trunk. Sneaky bastards. I tried out the new Kentucky Bourbon burger at Carl's Jr.

pre 6/9
I had all A's in my classes heading into finals; this was a good semester for me. Lachlan and I started our recording sessions. The first day we recorded a cover of "No Such Thing" for his recording class. The next two weeks we'd work on my stuff about every other day.

The drum overhead micing technique I learned sounds great. Huge, spacious sounding drums. Just the way I like it. Lachlan and Luke came up with an interesting dub/reggae groove for "Retreat;" very Police-sounding. I really liked it, but we didn't keep it since we felt it changed the song too much. Finally some real recording progress. Things are looking up.

Luke also came over to play bass and chill. One Friday we went to an art festival in downtown SJ. Plenty of bizarre performance art, but interesting time nonetheless. We also watched Escape From Alcatraz and Pi in Lachlan's room.

I started working out again too. Feeling sore is feeling satisfied.