A "Brief" History of the Music of Northern Snow
Northern Snow is a concept studio, where the creation of music supercedes the satiation of ego or greed. There is one underlying rule for this virtual studio:
Where does this studio exist? Well, physically it resides in my home, but spiritually it resides somewhere around 1965 and 1975, when popular music became an art form in itself. The Beatles, Pink Floyd, Led Zeppelin and many others were busily recording incredible albums, in my humble opinion. Music was undergoing many different shifts during these years, which is why the studio seems to be suspended in time about those years. Of course, it is all an illusion...
The studio is actually a MIDI studio, with digital multitracking capability. It also has analog multitracking (albeit a cassette four-track recorder) and reel-to-reel recording (for real tape looping). It also houses an extensive array of cheap musical toys and instruments, within reach of the musician at any time. The latest additions to the studio is a CD writer which can record both audio CDs and data CDs for both Mac and PC, and a 12-track digital recorder.
There have been many talented people who have jammed at this studio since its inception in 1985. Originally, there was Michael J. Murdock (bass) and Sean Maguire (guitars), who were accompanied by yours truly on drums. This trio had no name, but eventually evolved into a quintet called "Luckydog", which changed its name to "Feast of Fools". With Tony Tira on vocals and John Conner on rhythm guitar, the Fools made a small contribution to the Bay Area music scene back in 1991. Their cool choices for cover songs and fun atmosphere made them a popular local band.
The Leisure Committee was another fun music group. Consisting at any time of me (drums and bass), Greg Delgado (kbds), Mike Monaghan (guitars), Felix Chinn (kbds), Ninh Nguyen (vocals), and Ferdi Evalle (bass). Primarily, it was just the first three that were able to get together and jam. The Committee never performed outside of the studio, but the jams were some of the funniest things to be recorded--complete with mistakes and impromptu jams. They weren't incredibly talented, but the lighthearted jams were some of the funnest times I ever had in the studio. We learned a lot about studio technique, and about some unorthodox performing and recording methods, which helped pave the way for the next cool group...
The Bamboo Vandals was a transitional band who also never left the studio. The band consisted of me (drums), Mike Monaghan (bass), Greg Delgado (kbds), Mark Fallis (guitars), and Wayne Dawson (kbds). The recordings of the band were haphazardly done, but the atmosphere was also of fun and benign madness. Monaghan moved to Redding, and Delgado started bowling more, so this band didn't last...
The Weasles (above) eventually reared their ugly heads at this time. A quartet, which consisted of me (drums and bass), Tom Gutierrez (bass), Wayne Dawson (kbds), and Mark Fallis (guitars), that got together a few times to jam at the studio. The tapes were eventually edited to get most of the sour notes out of the mix, and were assembled together using analog techniques. The final pieces are some of the finest jams to have come out of the Northern Snow speakers.
On a few of the recordings, Tom Corboline (harmonica) makes his musical statements. Complete with in yo'face bass, courtesy of Tom G, these jams really pack a wallop. Later, more coherent pieces were recorded by Mike and the other individuals in a duet setting. These will eventually be put together as a CD, perhaps to be pressed en masse. Who knows...maybe the Weasles will actually come out of the studio to jam in public! Hide the kids and pets!
A brief band to have played in the studio was Newt Salamander--the tunes were catchy pop tunes, except for the multi-ethnic jam at the end of their last (and only) show. Newt Salamander consisted of me (drums), Derek Walker (vocals and recorder), Joe (guitar), Glen (bass), and Majik (kbds). The band disappeared soon after the last show.
Throughout the years, I have kept a musical diary of personal music and the music of all the groups that jammed here. There are about 40 tapes of these jams, which I have been trying to archive on CD-R lately. They are not available as of yet, since most of the jams are not really of interest to all but a handful of people. The ones that are most palatable will eventually be assembled someday soon. My solo works, Northern Snow, will eventually be rerecorded with better arrangements, so that it too will be somewhat palatable by the public.
The next group to have played at the studio is "Ritmos de Flamenco". Ritmos (above) originally had 10 people in the group, and this eventually dropped to 5 individuals: Me, Tim Schwalbach, Michael Chen, John Arrasjid, and Laury Robirosa. In this group, I focused hard to become adept at fretless bass, flamenco guitar, flute, percussion and vocals. With the firing of Laury (due to lack of interest in the group's drive to improve), the quartet tightened up their sound and had renamed themselves SILK ROAD...
Silk Road (above) was the pinnacle of my music career so far. The group played at weddings, restaurants, bookstores, parties, and eventually got around to making a CD of their original tunes. The group had amassed about 40 songs--many penned by Tim and me. Over time, the group began to move their separate ways--John, Michael and I all got married. Time spent on the band succumbed to time with loved ones, and the group played less and less. The band had been together for about10 years (a grand achievement in itself), but as time went on, the financial and business side to the music suffocated the group's creative side to the point of inactivity. At the same time, my drive to learn and explore grew along with the desire to take it to the next level. This is where Mark Fallis came back into the music scene with a vengeance and Thornapple was born.
The Silk Road projects were shelved indefinitely, and Tim and I hooked up with Weasles-veteran Mark Fallis to form an incorrigible pop trio. The three of us penned about 30 songs in a matter of a few months--this was not possible in the frame of the previous group. The magic of creative synergy was there, and it was truly a happy time. Thornapple was short-lived, however--Mark in 2003 suffered a number of life altering setbacks (among them was multiple sclerosis, which debilitated his guitar playing). The band's story so far was made to be on VH1's "Behind the Music"--we were squashed before making it big. The music was truly inspirational and inspired--colorful and meaningful--original and universal. Mark moved back to Santa Fe to be with his parents to recover and hopefully regain his strength and focus. Meanwhile, The incredible Shrinking Band (with just Tim and me) played a gig. Currently, Tim and I have been jamming with other prospective instrumentalists to see if the musical magic can be reestablished, while patiently waiting for Mark's recovery. As a friend and as a talent, Mark is truly missed by us and can never be replaced, but our drive to make good music must continue.
Mark recently made a recovery for the better, so Tim and I met with him to record a number of songs as Thornapple. Their debut album, Two Days, will be ready for release on July 1, 2004. The 10 song album will be available through email contact with Mike or Tim. A Yahoo! group was also formed for the band for more current events. The title of the album is taken from the fact that each of the songs was recorded in 2 days--on average.
Please buy this album!
It will be worth your while.
"Life is too short for bad music." --Michael M. Masuda