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These are old blogs/updates/ramblings from the old EXIT 82 site.

February 2002

The great musician search is on. Fortunately, I have a lot of friends who have an interest in recording on it. Now the fund raising begins.

My original MIDI demos for "I'm Not Angry," "You Owe Me" and "Vanishing Act," were lost in the electronic abyss. (Technology can bite sometimes.)

Timebomb, the cover band, has taken off like the Concorde, and is playing out nearly every weekend. I'm squeezing in my writing time where I can and hoping to use the Timebomb income to fund Exit 82's studio time.

March 2002

Trying to improve my guitar playing (self-teaching myself for about a year) to work up some better demos. Found a studio for some recording work. I'm hoping to get in there with tax-refund season coming up soon.

New song! "Functional," an ironic lyric complaining about having no dysfunctions to get on TV talk shows. It came together really quickly, so I'll take it as a good omen.

I struck a deal with some great guys in the band "EJECT!": they will be doing the tracks for "Just Another Day" and "Big Problems" (think BOC's "Godzilla" as done by Cheap Trick), in exchange for a little Hammond B-3 action on their upcoming album.

May 2002

I was tapped for some online collaboration for an Australian album project (amazing who knows the people you know, I think I can link myself to Kevin Bacon soon). I've been adding some lyrics to the project as well as some new stuff for myself.

New song! "Fight The Monsters" is a metaphor of a father protecting his children from the world like an mythical knight protecting a castle. Okay, it's not the coolest subject I've ever written about, but it's darn good nonetheless.

July 2002

Timebomb had a huge summer schedule with gigs locally and down in Atlantic City. EJECT! (see above) have broken up...and violently too. Gotta love when a band ends in fisticuffs and bloodshed.

New song! "24 Hours" chronicles the last day of a crumbling relationship, and how people who started out so happy got so screwed up.

September 2002

Timebomb's busy schedule is winding down as fall approaches, but circumstances have drained my studio cash. Brother, can you spare a few hours of recording time? Got some old friends as new prospects to record once we're financially stable again.

Sick of waiting around for the spare finances, I'm teaching myself Cakewalk (for now, Pro Tools later) to record some home demos of all 10 completed album songs and some new ones too. Once they're not too embarassing,

I'll post them here.

January 2003

Timebomb has reorganized and become The Pulse. I've spent the last month building the new band's Web site, recording the new cover demos, and learning the new material.

I've made another deal with my friend Raj, giving him some tracks on his latest opus for free studio time. I want to get this in before The Pulse's schedule really takes off.

New songs! "Follow The Flock" is about unquestioned conformity, and "Resist" is about two people with such a strong attraction they sacrifice the lovers they're with.

February 2003

I got a record deal! Well, sort of. An Australian band called Space Invader Theatre is recording a song with my co-written lyrics on it. My guess is it'll turn up in the States later if it does well domestically. So do me a favor, take a trip Down Under, go to a local music store, and buy a few copies of the album. 300 or so is a good start.

February 2004

Man, has it been a year? Best laid plans and all that.

To sum up:

The Pulse (see Jan 2003) had a busy spring-summer 2003, but imploded in October. After lots of hunting, I ended up in yet another new cover band that's finally about to come out of hiding.

Space Invader Theatre's album (see Feb 2003) stalled production in Australia. We're still waiting on the news (and I'm still waiting on the contracts).

My nonmusical writing has taken off with my online column and the print-based NJ Lifestyle magazine. I've been tapped for a few other writing projects coming soon.

The biggest news, however, was last month, when I became a dad for the third time. (In the words of my friend Kevin Reilly, "Dude, you've got to find yourself a new hobby.") Sleep's been a rare thing, and I've been finding myself at 4AM with a baby in my arms and a notepad next to me trying to scrawl some barely-concious song ideas.

Unfortunately, during all this stuff, a couple of financial setbacks delayed recording. Some nice fans have actually offered donations for the costs, so I'll be setting up a PayPal account soon to accept the offers. (Thanks!)

September 1, 2004

So help me, this updates will start coming sooner. (You can't see it, but my hand's on a bible right now.)

The PayPal account I mentioned is up and running. For those that mentioned an interest in donating to "the cause," can email me for the info.

That band in February spent four months in rehearsal before falling apart (way to go, guys). I spent all spring auditioning for far too many bad bands before joining Triple Play, a Billy Joel/Elton John/Bruce Springsteen band.

The upshot of all this is that I got to study all that great songwriting of Billy/Elton/Bruce for the first time in years. It sparked a rush of new song ideas, and I've been on a creative roll for a bit now. I've actually had too many ideas come in at once, and I've struggled to get them all down before I lose them. I've now got over a dozen new songs currently in the works.

New songs! "The Way It Is" is a non-Hollywood depiction of sex, from "Ow, you're on my hair," to your partner snoring away immediately after. "The Best We Can Do" is a duet á la Sheryl Crow's and Kid Rock's "Picture," except that it's about a couple that profess their love for each other...because they couldn't find someone better.

January 12, 2005

Happy New Year! Now that the holidays are over, I'm hoping to finish the demos I started way back in November so I can post them here for some feedback. (Thanks to the folks who've chimed in regarding the site. All input is appreciated!)

New song! "Call In Superman" is a collaboration with Triple Play's John Hunter. It's about a young kid who buries his life in comic books to escape the dark reality he lives in. Definitely different both in subject and style than my latest, so I'm hoping this is a sign I'm branching out.

We seem to be getting collaboration happy here. My friend Kevin and I have started showing each other some of our own work, and I'm hoping we'll be banging out some new stuff in the coming months (as well as some acoustic cover gigs locally). Some of the guys in Amethyst have been urging me to tape my stuff and share it. They record each other's songs, and their own stuff is really impressive too, so I'm hoping we can work something out.

All this might seem like I'm being pulled in 17 directions at once, but it's all keeping a healthy pressure on me to get back to work. I'm determined to not let another year slip by without having tangible evidence of my work. As the baby seems to finally be getting into a regular sleep routine, and I've been getting cover gigs to start plugging the holes in my wallet, I'm more determined than ever to start finishing this project.

I posted a few MIDI demos of some new tunes I'm working on, as well as a few from last year. I hope you enjoy them. Feedback of any kind is heavily encouraged!

I recently became part of the Red Bank Music Community. Led by songwriter Eric Ginsberg, the RBMC is a group of songwriter peers who share and critique each others' work. Eric also does a phoenominal job of getting members gigs and promoting the group, all on the voluntary donations of the members. Membership involves just showing up and being involved! This area hasn't seen the likes of such an easygoing supportive group since the old Asbury Park Songwriters Seminars over a decade ago.

I urge you local writer types to come check it out. Author Clarissa Pinkola Estes once remarked that creativity breeds creativity; being near creative people will spark a creative fire in you. If it can help me, it can help anyone!

June 15, 2005

Man it's getting hot around here. So begins my annual three-month reminder that I didn't get my car's driver-side window or air-conditioning fixed.

Okay, enough kvetching, right? Onto the music. After wrapping up my commitment to Triple Play, the shows with Amethyst have picked up a bit for the summer. Check out the schedule, and if you're near a show, stop by and say hi.

Unfortunately, even with the cover gigs, finances are still a problem. FYI, the PayPal account mentioned a few entries ago is still active for those still looking to donate. (Thanks again to all, and infinite blessings.) I learned my ancient computer isn't fast enough to record tracks, so I'm hoping to hock some old keyboards and pick up a decent digital 12-track to get the ball rolling.

New songs! "Schaddenfreude (Pleasure From All Your Pain)" probably qualifies as my longest title ever, but it's a pretty cool ballady tune that has some vicious lyrics about a dumped lover getting a visit from his ex looking for a shoulder to cry about the person she replaces him with (hmm...try to sort the pronouns, I dare you). "Last Call" is a resurrected tune originally started as a response to Semisonic's "Closing Time" when it was a single (300 years ago), but with a far uglier (and funnier) side to barfly mating rituals.

There's a Far Side cartoon picturing two guys stranded on a typical cartoon desert island (about six feet long with a single palm tree) surrounded by dozens of rabbits. Both men are holding a knife and fork. The caption is one man saying to the other, "Faster! They're gaining on us!"

This has become a symbol for my creative life.

Okay, I'm getting melodramatic here, but I am sincere about this. The rabbits are like my little song ideas, and they're backing up quickly. This site marked another anniversary with no tracks finished and I get a bit frustrated by that. So, I've resorted to dusting off my ancient four-track (I think it's powered by a prehistoric mouse on a tiny treadmill) to document ideas. Also, by wife gave me a new computer for our anniversary, and I've started the learning curve on Cubase (since Cakewalk decided to go insane on me) to cut some rough tracks at home. I removed the cheesy old MIDI tracks I placed on the site in the beginning of the year. I'm hoping to replace them with something more impressive.

In cover band news, Amethyst has had a fairly busy summer. We have some big shows coming up in the next few months. In recording news, Eric of the aforementioned RBMC has mentioned about possibly getting the group some "open house" time at a local studio. Details (and some new downloads) to follow.

"I wish the real world would just stop hassling me." - Rob Thomas.

I try to avoid blog updates in my current disgruntled mood, but I'll do my best to not fall into Whine mode. This is supposed to be like a journal anyway, and I did promise creative frustration right on the front page, right? Hell, I started this off with a Rob Thomas quote, so I've already disposed of any illusions of "cool."

With the day job being more demanding than usual, I've been trying to steal time in the evenings to finally finish my demos, once the house is asleep. The plan is to demo the tunes, show them to my musician friends and record the finished versions in the studio. Unfortunately, my toddler son has reminded me just how hard it is to record vocals when the computer is in an open room and you have children who are light sleepers. Recording on weekends during the day is out because the aforementioned little people want to play with the computer, my keyboards, and all the funny little black boxes with the buttons on them. If there are any other songwriters out there with offspring, a full-time day job, and an overflowing schedule that have somehow made this work, please mail me some pointers and I'll be in your debt forever. Progress continues slowly for now. MP3s to follow soon.

In the good news department, my friend Raj has come back into the picture. At the time, Raj offered me a trade of recording time if I donate my services for his album. Well, now Raj is onto his next CD (and I mean that with all the respectful jealousy you can imagine), and needs more keyboards. Maybe I'll get into a real studio in the near future just yet.

In cover band news, Amethyst is in the middle of a busy month. We've had a wedding reception on a boat, return gigs at some of our usual clubs, and an engagement at Seaton Hall University. Stop by a gig and say hi.

November 4, 2005

Well, here's a surprise! Thanks to The RBMC (see above), I'll be performing at Echo, on Momnouth Street in Red Bank, on Tuesday, November 29, at 9:00 PM. It's their Tuesday Local Rock showcase, featuring members of the RBMC. Admission is free, and we're expecting a visit from industry guy Mark Pappas that evening. I'll be playing my original stuff solo, which I haven't done in a looooong time. That would certainly explain the nervous shaking.

Now the big question -- What to play? If you're familiar with my newer stuff, please email me some suggestions so I don't look like too much a fool that night.

Amethyst finished off an amazing October performing at a costume party at Rare in NYC. What a blast! (Considering some of those costumes, what a view, too! I love New York.) Hoping we get back there soon. For now, we're back at two of my favorite new venues, Molly Maguire's in Clark, NJ, on Saturday, November 5, and Old New York on November 19. Hope to see you there.

November 20, 2005

I don't usually pass along the typical paranoid "This Virus Is Gonna Get You" warnings, but this one's a little different, given the three sources I found it. I just learned about it, though the news has been all over the professional tech blogs for over two weeks now.

Briefly, here's a warning for all of us who MP3 our CD collections to listen on PC's or iPods: Sony Music has a little surprise waiting for you on a bunch of their new arrivals. In a stunningly stupid, paranoid act of trying to protect their Intellectual Property rights, many new Sony CDs demand you install a special media player or OK a License Agreement, which in turn adds spyware to your hard drive. The uninstall kit that Sony's software partners rushed out after public outcry not only doesn't uninstall correctly, it forces you to submit your information to Sony, and has allegedly caused a number of Blue Screens of Death for us Windows users. Check these articles below for more info. (Notably, the EFF.org for the whole story, and the Sysinternals.com link for the aftereffects.)

www.eff.org
www.wired.com
www.sysinternals.com

I'm amazed. Whomever greenlights this behavior needs to be handed his ass and prosecuted, along with the upper echelon of Sony. "I know, Mr. Boss. How about we include a spyware-type program in all our new CDs so we can track their usage and make sure they never create any more copies of our product, illegal or otherwise." Mr. Boss, who doesn't really know what spyware is but likes the term because he saw it mentioned in a trade article he scanned the headline from last week, says, that's great, run with it. After all, the stupid consumer will never notice, right?

I got lucky; I got one of these CDs a while ago and refused to install just on personal preference. That CD *will not* play on my PC. It's the new Acceptance album, so the irony is that once I played it on my car's stereo, I realize it sucked anyway. I'd be ballistic if a crap band from a malicious company caused my 6 month-old PC to go into a coma.

The irony is that when companies get caught doing this stuff, they make the public hate them even more, and encourage even more piracy and file-sharing. I think it's hilarious that the consumer who hears about this will now be more likely to check online FIRST, because they consider it's a safer alternative than paid CDs that kill their computers. The resultant sales slump will exacerbate exactly why they pulled this desperation move to start with.

Sony, the inventor of the Walkman, now makes players and CDs that won't play music unless you play ball with Sony. Sounds like a Microsoft tactic. And now they're also pushing the new Blue Ray hi-def format to replace CDs & DVDs, because it also has far much stricter copy protection. (Not to mention the sales boost when everyone has to buy their media collection all over again.)

Also, the End User License Agreement (EULA) these guys had the brass set to write for this thing has some bizarre restrictions in it too: take a look.

If the record company giants spent more time actually developing new artists so they'd have a "career" that lasted more than three years, and didn't flood the market with me-too, sound-alike, knockoff bands, cookie-cutter R&B acts, and disposable dance-pop teen queens, they'd be able to put out a better selection of QUALITY albums and increase their bottom lines.

And I don't want to hear how they're out for the struggling artist to be properly compensated. Every musician should read "Confessions of a Record Producer" to see just how much the companies screw their own artists. (i.e., a "new technology" fee per CD, because, you know, CDs have only been popular since, say 1983)

Shows how much these folks hate their customers AND their artists.

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