best summer ever pt.III

7/24
Before heading over to Luke's house with all the recording gear and instruments still in my car, I gave my sister and Audrey a ride to Cardoza Park. Then I headed over to Luke's, where Lachlan was already at, to track bass for You Are Free and Fade Out.

I am really enthused about the bass tone we got. It sounds really deep and well-defined. For those who are interested, the signal path went Fender US Jazz Bass > Sansamp amp emulation pedal > Radial DI > Dbx386 TubePreAmp > digital out to ProTools. The Dbx preamp's A/D conversion is interesting. It doesn't let signals clip. Instead, it emulates tape compression by compressing whatever would normally clip into the last 4 db of headroom. It sounds really good.

After tracking at Luke's, I went home and Kelly and Lynn came over. Shortly there after we headed to Caffe Trieste in my car. Violent Violet kicked off the show and Seabright followed before I was up. By the beginning of my set (with Mike on guitar/backup vocals and Joey on drums), the room was packed and there were a lot of familiar faces.



Overall I felt extremely happy with my group's set. This performance was definitely a step above all of my past shows and my old fans/friends who attended remarked on my improvement too, so I'm happy that my recent efforts have not gone unnoticed. I recall that my earliest shows (which spanned from 1.5 years to 0.5 years ago) were fueled by the energy of just being in front of a neutral audience. The energy was there, but upon on watching the videos of them, the technical proficiency was definitely lacking. I felt embarrassed to have been that sloppy.

I then embarked on an ongoing effort to clean up my playing and singing. I began becoming more consistent at keeping the beat and attaining accuracy with my singing pitch, but all the while I felt that my live performances were lacking the energy I had played with before. That is why I'm proud to say that my performance at Caffe Trieste featured my most solid playing and singing to date, as well as a newly found energy that I had felt to be lacking in recent months. Despite only running through a single two-hour practice the day before, Mike and Joey also did a fantastic job of providing the extra dynamic that only a band can provide.

My set is as follows: the Hardest Part (Coldplay cover played by myself), You Are Free, Ball of Yarn, Sharpshooter (played by myself on piano), Oh Lisa, and Fade Out.

David Knight played after me and was the last act of the night. It was definitely the best set I'd ever seen him put on. His use of effects and looping was very creative. To enlighten you with some history, David Knight was formerly the frontman of local band Day One Symphony. They were undoubtedly one of the most recognized bands in the Bay Area, but broke up just before they were about to go even bigger. As amazing as David Knight is playing solo, I can't help but wonder how much more captivating his act would be as a group effort.

Anyway after the show Lynn, Kelly, and I ate at La Vic's. I bought them an original burrito and I got a flour chicken quesadilla for myself. We then headed over to Lachlan's house and watched American History X. Great movie. I started getting sleepy soon after we put on the Devil and Daniel Johnston, so we decided to call it a night. I got home at 4am.

I can't help but reminisce on how grateful I feel for having met all of the people and musicians I've met recently, as well as the friends and confidantes that continue to remain in my life. I hear from separate sources that I'm actually getting my name out there, despite an utter lack of promotion and official releases. I don't know how that works, but it makes me quite excited for the future. The album is coming along very nicely. I can't wait to have a huge CD release party to kick it off.

7/23
I started and finished my 4-page term paper in the morning. I had to write about anything music related. I chose to write on the progression of my musicianship. I exceeded 4 pages haha. At noon I attended my last day of History of Rock. Totally aced the final.

I hit up the gym afterward and then went home to pick up my guitar before heading to Metabear's practice space in downtown SJ to practice for the Caffe Trieste show with Mike Shirley-Donnelly on guitar/vocals and Joey Guthrie on drums. I had originally only asked Mike to play with me, but Joey volunteered his talent on drums and it went over well at practice, so he's playing tomorrow too.

After practice I headed to Jake's house, where he, Greg, Lachlan, Luke, and Brian were at already. Brian is an amazing technical guitarist whose style is comparable to virtuosos such as Steve Vai. He can play the Super Mario song and the "coin" sound to a T. Anyway we tracked Luke's bass parts, which he pretty much made up on the spot, for Retreat. He is such an amazing bassist. I was grooving so hard to his playing as we tracked it. Jake and Lachlan still had it stuck in their heads on the car ride to In-N-Out afterward too. After In-N-Out, we chilled at Jake's house for a while before going home.

best summer ever pt.II

7/22
I went to class and then to the gym.

7/21
Audrey and Forest came over and we (including my sister) made cookies. I took a nap and when I woke up, they were gone and I went to the gym for a bit. I've been practicing "The Hardest Part" by Coldplay after I heard a poignant stripped-down version Chris Martin plays live.

7/20
Bryan came over in the afternoon. I showed him my new "Cold, Cold War" song and he stoked about it too. In fact, I wrote a little more to it while showing it to him. He also watched me edit the video from Saturday's session at Lachlan's house. In the evening, we went to Guitar Center with Jonas and his friend, Christine. There I compared a vintage Blackface Deluxe Reverb and Tweed Vibrolux. I loved the sound of both, especially the Tweed for a pure overdrive, but ultimately the Blackface proved to be the better match for me. I could definitely imagine how its sound would fit better in a full band than the Tweed and the slightly more enhanced picking nuances and signature Fender sparkle would bring out my percussive playing style more effectively.

7/19
Attended Mike's BBQ at Gill Park. Goodbyes were made on this night.

7/18
Around 10pm I headed over to Lachlan's to record Grant's parts for Fade Out. Here's a video of us messing around afterward.

7/17
I fell asleep in Lachlan's room in the morning and awoke to find that he was at work. I watched TV and jammed by myself in his room till he got back. Greg then came over and we tracked bass and drums for a song they were working on. Afterward Jake came over and we discussed song production for a bit. Around midnight we all went over to Greg's house and watched a documentary on fractals. Very interesting.

7/16
Upon arriving at Lachlan's house in the evening we immediately left with Greg and Jake to go see Bruno in Saratoga. Afterward we headed back to Lachlan's and after Greg and Jake left, we played Halo 2 in the living room. Lachlan fell asleep, but I played well into the morning.

7/15
Went to class. Headed over to Huy's house where he gave me a full car wash. Interior included. We got the new pastrami sandwich from Subway and headed over to Chris Wilson's house, which is practically right behind mine. Played Halo 2 and 3 on xbox live. It was another video game moment where I was high off of how much fun I was having.

7/14
Went to class. I picked up Michael's amp from Lachlan's house in the afternoon. At night Joy and Dustin sneaked me into the 12:20 screening of Harry Potter 6. The film was cut at some point before the movie resumed, so everyone got rain checks from the theatre to see another movie.

7/13
Lachlan fell asleep after we beat the last level and I played Halo 2 by myself till 10am, when I passed out. When I woke up at 3pm, everyone was gone and my dad had called me to remind me we had to go the Toyota dealership for a free oil change and car maintainence. I mixed some more when I got home and that was it for the day.

7/12
Headed over to Lachlan's part of San Jose in the evening. First we chilled with some of his friends. When we headed back to his house, we recorded tom samples to put into Fade Out. Afterward Megan and Sara came over and we watched Goodfellas. Those two fell asleep and then we started playing Halo 2 again.

7/11
Mixed Fade Out. Watched a a couple movies at Dustin's house with him and Joy around midnight.

7/10
I spent a good part of the day researching whether I should purchase a Tweed Deluxe or a Blackface Deluxe Reverb and what speaker I should get for the latter amp. Just guitarist geek stuff really. That was pretty much it for the day. Oh and a late night chat with Thanh. Haven't had one of those for... a week.

One of the things we covered was people who are undeniably talented; who people recognize as having something special from a young age. Thanh asked why some of those people get denied so often (from any sort of talent/entertainment company) and I responded "because the people who deny them live to regret it." I cited the executive who denied the Beatles and scoffed at the concept of a "pop band."

Talented people usually don't get denied anyway once they're recognized as being special, so I would say that her "often" claim was exaggerated. The way it usually goes is if you don't show great potential in the first few years of starting your craft, then you're not cut out to make it.

My dad is more apathetic about my sleeping habits now. He used to get so angry if he woke up to go to the bathroom and saw me awake at 4am and I'd always feel like I'd have to be on the lookout for his presence too. I feel like the stress lifted off of me from not having to deal with that has allowed me more peace of mind to contemplate (in the most peaceful hours) other matters of my life, like what do I really find satisfaction in and what do/will I have to live for. I mean I'm always thinking introspectively; I'm a rather introspective person I'd like to think, but some conclusions I come to are definitely more eye-opening than others.

7/9
I headed over to Lachlan's house in the afternoon and we got distracted by Halo 2 (on Legendary difficulty) for a couple hours. We attended the Music in the Park concert, this time featuring a reggae band, in downtown SJ with some friends. Most of the songs were about weed I think. Like the free Third Eye Blind concert, it was too crowded, so we left to get SmokeEaters. Afterward we all headed back to Lachlan's house. We tried out his virtual piano plugin and I mixed Fade Out for a couple hours. After everyone else left we played Halo 2 some more.

7/8
After getting home from class, my sister and I went to Audrey's house. I practiced piano there a bit and we watched Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind. Later Anton and I went to play the open mic at Barefoot Coffee Roasters, where I played my first open mic two years ago. Afterward we went to Lachlan's house and watched Raging Bull.

7/7
Class ended early so I worked on mixing Retreat before Jen Lam came over. We chilled and played each other some songs. Among the songs I showed her was a new one I'd been kicking around called "Cold, Cold War." We recorded some ideas we came up for it, and the song looks to definitely be one to be finished by the end of the summer. My dad and sister also came home.

7/6
Went over to Lachlan's house in the afternoon. I pressed 'record' as the four jammed. Luke, Lachlan, and I played Halo 2 afterward and then I went home.

7/5
I worked on mixing before attending a graduation party that Lachlan, Luke, and Evan were at. I didn't actually know anyone there besides Tim, of April Chase, and the three prior mentioned, but it was all good. The girl had just graduated from UC Berkeley. There were a lot of good musicians at this party and we all jammed at some point, as there was a full band set up in the backyard. Here I met Dave, whose playing I particularly enjoyed and who plays guitar for Jive Theory, and we traded numbers, hoping to jam some time soon. Afterward I headed over to Lachlan's house and we chilled in his room with a bunch of his friends that were over till I went home at some point.

7/4
I worked on mixing the new tracks for a while. Then at 11pm I picked up Audrey and we went over to Lan's house where a bunch of friends were at. Soon after, we all left for Anton's house, where there was a party going on. We chilled there for a bit before all going home.

7/3
I worked some more on the photos. I went over to Lachlan's house for a bit and picked up Michael's amp and the newly recorded tracks on my flash drive. My dad had left in the morning to go to SoCal to visit family and my sister was still in San Diego, so it was just my mom and me at home.

7/2
I stayed home to work on all of the photos I'd taken in the past month. Kelly came over for a bit.

7/1
I left class early to head over to Brian Graves's house. Once the rest of Picture Atlantic arrived, we were on our way to San Francisco. When we got to the venue, the Rickshaw Stop, I helped the band set up and we all went to eat at the Crepe House afterward. I ordered the New Orleans crepe, but I have to say I wasn't too crazy about my meal. When we got back to the venue, the rest of the bands had already arrived. Among the backstage banter was a chat with some members of local band Finish Ticket from Alameda. Cool guys. All members but one, who just graduated, are still in high school. They put on a really good set that night and I'll definitely look for them in the future. Picture Atlantic headlined that night and the crowd had to have been one of the most anticipant crowds for them that I've seen. They played ten songs and another two for their encore. After loading up the van again, we headed back to Brian Graves's house and I headed home immediately due to a rare headache.