The Musical Schizo – Page 2 – Music and Mumblings

Museday Mumblings (Vol. 72): BACK ON THE BOAT!

May 4, 2022 The Musical Schizo

The rumors are true – I am setting sail again…back on the Yacht Z crew!

If you reference the reasons I left (from this previous blog post) – it had nothing to do with personalities or anything musical. It had everything to do with ME. And I’m in a different place now, mentally and physically. Rehearsal is easier now that we have good mitigating strategies for COVID. I’m still a little rusty, but I’ve been playing more guitar because of the solo stuff, and I’m hearing better and singing better, so I’m confident things will come together more easily for me this time, which will allow for proper time with family, too.

A couple of other cool things…got a super deal on a “previously loved” Elgato Stream Deck that is definitely making my work life easier (and looks super cool to have on the desk). I’m going to make some custom earpieces for my in-ear monitors like I did for my old ones (using the custom earplug material from Radians), to hopefully make wearing them a little more consistent and pleasant at shows.

And a comment on America: If your religion pollutes your ability to be rational and use reason, you have no business making decisions for other people or about settled law. Resign.

Peace be the journey.
TMS

Museday Mumblings (Vol. 71): Taylor Hawkins, Mastery, Confidence, BIG NEWS!

April 11, 2022 The Musical Schizo

First, Taylor Hawkins.

I thought he was rad from his time in Alanis’ band, fell in love with him when he joined Foo Fighters and he and Dave clearly became hetero life mates (a la Jay & Silent Bob), and always respected him as a musician and singer.

Foo Fighters were an okay band when he joined, then Taylor asked the question, “But what if we were a GREAT band?” (People who know me know I relate to this “join the band and push them to be awesome” sort of mentality) And he kicked all their asses into shape and gave us one of the greatest live rock bands this country has ever produced. Foo Fighters only became a great band because of Taylor Hawkins.

The world of music is a lesser place without him in it. He was a kind and generous person and musician who carried the same exuberance and love for music as his best pal Dave, and they together kept rock on people’s minds by playing great arena rock shows and being ambassadors for the music and musicians they loved.

Taylor Hawkins was truly one of the greats, and I’m glad he and Foo Fighters got into the Rock Hall when they did so Taylor could feel the love and respect from his peers he so richly deserved.

Rest in peace, timekeeper. Thanks for all the music and laughs over the years.

On to more typical things…because of Taylor Hawkins’ untimely passing I had a hilarious thing happen at the Picks Bar show on March 26th. A “lady” came up mid-song and held up a napkin with “FOO FIGHTERS FOR TAYLOR” written on it, and stood there holding it until the song was over and I talked to her. I explained very earnestly how much I was sad about Taylor’s passing and how we didn’t play any Foo Fighters songs and we didn’t want to mess them up in tribute. And this asshole walked away like I farted in her face. Cut to the end of the next song (which I was singing lead on), and she walked (alcoholically) by me and flipped me off very enthusiastically as she left the bar in a huff, the man with her pulling her hand down trying to keep her from embarrassing herself. It was crazy and ultimately hilarious, though it’s always unnerving when someone has real anger toward you, even if it comes from them being a drunk dipshit.

I’ve been overdosing on Foo Fighters music, deciding that Chandler and The Bings needs to add one of their songs, “My Hero” being the leading candidate (“Everlong” being a close second, but losing out because it’s in Drop-D). So I basically went through and learned all the parts on bass, guitar, and vocals so I could make sure we do it justice (teaching guitar parts as necessary). And at our private party last night, we did just that during soundcheck. All we need now is to go through some of the stops and for Jay to nail down the drum parts and it’ll be ready for prime time (and is likely to appear at the Speakeasy show on May 6th). Mastering the parts really made me feel good, and reminded me that when I focus, I’m pretty dang good at this stuff.

Of course the soundcheck lesson and my overall satisfaction with my bass tone and in-ear monitors at last night’s show really made me confident. Things just fell where they were supposed to – I played very accurately and my notes were generally very strong and true – more than normal. That level of connection with what I’m doing on stage just fosters even more confidence, and I kept getting better and more determined to rock faces off as the night progressed. It was lovely.

Well, cool shit is definitely on the horizon now, because I’ve started to realize that I need to get off my ass in life in general. So more live streaming, more Bathroom Schizo videos (this time I’m serious) and more content in general.

On the gig front, more Bings stuff is coming, and the BIG NEWS (buried the shit out of the lede here): I have the first of hopefully a LOT of First Saturday shows at 360 Uno coming up on May 7th, and I plan on really taking those up a notch. I might even add some tracks and stuff…we shall see. (Of course they’ll be tracks of me playing other parts live…)

So every first Saturday of the month, I’m playing 360 Uno. How cool is that? I love regular gigs! (thanks to Mandy for getting me in there and Jamie for booking me and Laurel for being, well, awesome always)

Headed to bed. Peace be the journey!
TMS

Museday Mumblings (Vol. 70): Vacation, Mental Health, Loss

March 25, 2022 The Musical Schizo

So since the last one, life’s been A LOT.

I dragged the family to Florida to see the parents and my bro and his wife and my nieces (and I managed to squeeze in a couple of friends in the process), and though I wouldn’t call it a vacation, it certainly was a trip. I drove straight through both there and back, stopping only for gas, food, and naps. I don’t know that it was a smart thing to do, but I did it.

We stayed at a cool AirBnB that had a little FARM attached to it, so we got to hang around with goats, a big fat pig named Petunia, and some kitties. It’s on a street in Middleburg called Brickyard Road where Ronnie Van Zant from Lynyrd Skynyrd once lived. His little brother Johnny immortalized it in a song that was a minor hit around 1990 or so, and that song has always stuck in my head for some reason, so it was a trip staying on the actual street.

An even BIGGER trip was sitting at the light at College Avenue and 220 and seeing the actual Johnny Van Zant right next to me in his big-ass black pickup. We exchanged nods. It was pretty cool.

But back to the trip – I got to spend time with my friend Joe who has become quite the ukulele aficionado, with several beautiful, handcrafted Hawaiian ukuleles at his place (and I got to play a LOT of them, so I was happy). And my old pal Dennis and I did the standard “Chilis in Mandarin and talk for four hours” hang. I love those guys so much and wish I was still close.

After having a minor mental breakdown one evening, I needed some solitude. Instead of going to a park by the river and staring at the water like I typically would in those situations, I decided to say “fuck it” and go out. I saw on social media that an old bandmate of mine (who I hadn’t seen since I moved to Texas, and hadn’t talked to in YEARS) was playing there with his new-ish band that night. Though the venue itself was sort of dead for a Saturday, they had Yuengling on tap there and the band’s song list was awesome (though to be honest, the music tyrant in me had some issues with the singer). Once they finished a set I went up to the stage and yelled to my old friend T.J.. I guess I was mildly concerned he’d be like, “uh, what? who?” Thankfully for my mental health, he was blown away that I was there…we had a great chat, they played another set, and I hung around for the rest of the show, gabbing with him (and trying to avoid being a nuisance) as they were tearing down. It was great. Getting out on my own and being randomly social definitely helped me deal with the issues I’d been dealing with earlier in the evening.

There was one thing about the trip I didn’t like – I really didn’t see many of my friends. The previously-mentioned Joe and Dennis are basically brothers, so there was no way I wasn’t going to see them, but I have a lot of other friends there I care about, and no one reached out when I shared I was coming to town.

I realize that people have lives. I realize that not all posts reach all people on social media, so it’s entirely possible that was why. But I guess I felt that more of my friends would have made an effort to reach out and try to hang with me while I was around. But maybe I’m nuts, you know? I left Florida in 2006. That was almost 16 years ago!

I have a serious issue with always feeling like the one who tries too hard to maintain relationships. Like Melissa Joan Hart’s character in “Can’t Hardly Wait” – I just want everyone to sign my yearbook. I mean, cognitively I know that it’s fine – when I see people, we’ll have a great time and it’ll be like no time has passed – but I still feel like I’m the one making the effort with most people. I don’t love feeling that way, because it reminds me of having my closest friend move away after 8th grade and entering high school with basically no friends who really made me feel like they gave a shit. It did a number on my self-worth – pretty much poisoned my self-confidence for the rest of my life, actually. Which is silly, but it’s just what happens sometimes if you don’t address the issues. I did a lot of great therapy for my self-worth issues years ago, and I’m actually MUCH better in that department, but every now and then stuff happens that puts me right back there.

I had been kind of blue the past few months, so that made it kind of worse, but seeing my mom and dad and brother and his family was definitely restorative and set the sads aside. So ultimately it was a good trip, just too short. I cut it short because Chandler and The Bings had a St. Patrick’s Day show.

I got back to Austin on the 16th and promptly passed out. I woke St. Patrick’s Day morning to the horrible news that a super great guy and awesome guitarist who played with Alon in our brother band “More Cowbell” had passed. He was beloved by all who knew him. Just a smart, quiet, kind, talented cat. Loved that guy. Rest in peace, Ed Martinez. My love to his family and his friends (including his fellow founding member of More Cowbell and my friend and bandmate Alon Bernstein).

Despite our melancholy, Chandler and The Bings had a good show on St. Patrick’s Day (Ed was in our hearts the whole time), and then we played Saturday and it went great AGAIN, so we pulled it together. It’s nice to know we can have big gaps and still sound like us. It’s so good when you can get a band and a repertoire to that point.

I’m in the process of (once again) moving the studio around for better workflow, and I think this time my plan is going to work great – keeping all the music and video creating stuff at the ready at all times, so I’ll probably start livestreaming more often. I might even do the previously-threatened regular weekly livestream that I talked about before. We shall see.

Got another Bings gig Saturday night and a solo 360 UNO gig on April 2nd, so I’m plugging along.

Take care, stay healthy, and be kind.

Peace be the journey! (Yes. PEACE. I’m talking to you, Vladmir, you murderous piece of shit.)
TMS

Brian V. Live at 360 UNO

February 21, 2022 The Musical Schizo

Decided to post the show from February 19, 2022 in its own post as well.

Here it is in its entirety:

I didn’t take a break, so it’s two solid hours. Feel free to skip around. Comments are welcome.

Here’s a list of the songs I played (with timecode, for the aforementioned skipping around…):

0:00:24 Hurts So Good
0:03:52 Bad Moon Rising
0:06:02 Learn To Fly
0:09:57 Bus Stop
0:13:14 Lodi
0:15:58 Daydream Believer
0:19:12 Just Like Heaven
0:21:52 Ain’t No Sunshine
0:24:13 Stray Cat Strut
0:27:07 Hold Me Now
0:31:27 Happy Together
0:35:12 What’s Going On
0:38:48 The Way
0:43:16 Every Rose Has Its Thorn
0:47:34 Wanted Dead Or Alive
0:52:42 Can’t Buy Me Love
0:54:52 Santeria
0:58:19 Plush
1:03:30 Wonderwall
1:07:39 Drift Away
1:11:43 Crazy Little Thing Called Love
1:15:03 Hey Jealousy
1:18:42 The Middle
1:21:59 No Such Thing
1:25:31 Always Something There To Remind Me
1:29:01 Tainted Love
1:32:08 I’m A Believer
1:35:22 I Melt With You
1:39:52 Interstate Love Song
1:43:33 Get Back
1:46:56 Out Of My Head
1:50:34 Walking On A Thin Line
1:55:47 Blitzkrieg Bop
1:58:14 Baby One More Time

Museday Mumblings (Vol. 69 – nice): Stuff Since The Last One

February 21, 2022 The Musical Schizo

I guess that’s a weird way of saying this is more of a status update than anything, but I’d just like to muse a little about what the past month’s been for me.

Like I mentioned in my last post, I had some really good band shows in January (the solo gig was more iffy). After that, kind of nothing whatsoever was happening with the band for a variety of reasons, which was kind of weird but ultimately very okay. There’s a lot brewing in the other band Pat and Jay are working on, so I kind of knew that was the deal. Which is fine.

I did a setup-cleanup-restringing of the new bass and got it sounding great and in tune all the way up the neck, and I was very excited to play it at the band shows this past weekend. So I strapped it on for the second set…

…and I hated it. Seriously. HATED IT.

I don’t know if it was the choice of strings, the non-maple fingerboard, or the fact that I didn’t adjust the truss rod when I did the setup because things seemed fine, but it played like garbage for me at the show and just didn’t have the right presence sonically. I played maybe four songs and swapped back for the other one. What a disappointment. I was really digging it at home. Maybe it’s just better as a sit-down, studio bass. Not sure. I’ll figure it out, or if not, I’ll let it go. No big deal – there’s no real emotional attachment to this one yet.

The Speakeasy show with Chandler and The Bings went SPLENDIDLY – lots of energy and fun – and a packed house, which included my lovely wife Erin! I was so excited to have her there and seeing her face always makes me feel happy and loved. (Thanks to her friend Christopher for being on toddler duty so she could come.)

The solo show at 360 UNO was just as much fun as the CATB show – Using a “new old gear” setup I brought my Line 6 X3 Live pedalboard back into the fray, designed a patch that ran my vocals and guitar, and it made setup even faster. And I added a Bluetooth page turner footswitch so that I never have to reach up and scroll on my iPad.

I also recorded the show. I was trying to get a decent video of the show to share, but the video looked like total garbage, so I’m sharing the audio with you, if you’d like to have an idea of what my shows are like. It’s pretty good. Some clearly iffy vocal moments (just had a gig the night before, which usually makes things dodgy) and enough guitar clams to make a chowder, but I was happy with it and the crowd really seemed to enjoy it.

Here it is in its entirety:

I didn’t take a break, so it’s two solid hours. Feel free to skip around. Comments are welcome.

Here’s a list of the songs I played (with timecode, for the aforementioned skipping around…):

More Bings stuff coming up, then a Florida trip – hoping to coordinate seeing a lot of my Jax friends. Have to figure out a venue to be hanging around in on Friday or Saturday night or something for when I’m in town.

Enough from me for now. I was going to rant on some big concept, and I still have a few ideas I’m going to explore in the coming months, but for now, just an update.

Take care, have a great week, and thanks for reading!

Peace be the journey.
TMS

Museday Mumblings (Vol. 68): Inspiration, Machines, Cranky Old Mofos

January 25, 2022 The Musical Schizo

My musical mission thus far in 2022 has centered on a few things: Playing good shows. Getting my gear all in proper operation. Learning how to use my new tools (patchbay, Behringer X18 mixer). Forming inspirations into ideas into actual songs.

I’ve succeeded at the good shows part – I played great in both of my Bings shows, and at times was so locked in with Jay every bit of both of our performances made the other’s even better. Excellent crowd in San Antonio, too.

My solo show was a bit hit or miss, working my way through my first on-stage slow-motion anxiety attack. I couldn’t get air, which made it extraordinarily hard to sing. Then, hilariously, I used the altered tuning feature on my Line 6 Variax to play Wonderwall with a “Capo” on the second fret, and promptly FORGOT TO CHANGE IT BACK! So the next group of songs (Drift Away, Crazy Little Thing Called Love, Always Something There To Remind Me, I’m A Believer, No Such Thing, and Hey Jealousy) were all played a WHOLE STEP HIGHER than I usually play them. Which made the whole “not having any air” thing even worse. And made it so I didn’t even end up playing one of my “standards”, the Turtles underappreciated classic “Elenore”, because there was no way in HELL I’d be singing that chorus in F#. I literally just stopped the song and moved on. I felt like such an unprofessional loser, and it ruined my evening. I came home a ball of nerves, and I think mildly freaked my wife out. Being someone who’s more of a depressive than an anxious person, it always freaks me out when the stress hormones get rolling, and it’s hard to recover. I think a pharmaceutical would have been helpful (perhaps a Xanax), but I don’t have that stuff. In the end, the venue was happy, and if I’m being honest with myself, even though I was falling apart inside, I still sounded pretty dang good. Just not as good as I normally would sound. I am kind of glad I didn’t record this one, though.

Moving on to the technical stuff – using the wonderful substance Deoxit, in the past few months I’ve cleaned the pots and jacks on a bunch of my aging things and it’s brought them back to life, particularly my “first guitar” – which technically was my brother Robert’s first guitar – now all it needs is to have its nut glued in properly and it’ll be a fun little pseudo-Telecaster to bang around on. I also cleaned up the pots on my basses, bringing them back to proper function, and even rescued a presumed-dead guitar wireless by merely cleaning the output jack. All I need now are some new strings on some of these guitars and basses and we’ll be in business.

Speaking of guitars and basses, I sold one in December. A Dean ML bass (looks kind of like the guitar Dimebag Darrell from Pantera used to play). It never worked for me, and it was a four-string, so I wasn’t using it, it was basically just collecting dust, and since I only paid $49 for it on a blowout sale at Guitar Center over a decade ago, I still made money on the deal, selling it for $100. I probably could have made more off it, but I just wanted it gone and the dude seemed nice.

Last Thursday I had to head down to San Antonio for the day job and on the way home decided to pop by the Guitar Center down there, and discovered a two-pickup version of my “#1” Sterling by Music Man Ray 5 bass that I use in Chandler and The Bings. I couldn’t believe it. More than that, it was on sale for the same price as I picked the #1 up for back in 2018 (that model has since gone up in price, and this version was even more). I decided to snag it. I couldn’t help myself! Pics or it didn’t happen:

Picture of Ruby Red Burst Sterling By Music Man Ray5HH — She pretty.

It desperately needs new strings and a cleaning/set-up. But I already love it, and that’ll only make it more awesome.

Back in 2021 I got an amazing deal on a Behringer X18 mixer and am just now learning all the little things it can do. It’s going to be central to the new studio setup as I streamline and get things in order. It has amazing routing capabilities and some really cool built-in effects I can play with for doing live streams and stuff like that. This with the patchbay and my ATEM switcher will definitely enable me to do some really cool, interactive stuff from the studio in the future. I just have to get it all plugged up and learn how to make it all work together. I think my Edirol M-16DX, which has been my trusty studio sidekick for over 10 years now, will become the center of my live solo acoustic rig, making setting up and running all that much simpler, because it can live in a rack bag that I can keep set up and basically just plug my guitar and my vocal mic into it and still have effects and stuff I can use.

The last goal is inspiration – and translating that inspiration into new material. I’ve already written down multiple new ideas for songs – concepts more than phrases, really, but really good, inspiring starting points. And I’ve got a bunch more I’ve collected over the past few years that will be worked into songs. I might even use music that I liked from my old songs and replace the dodgy lyrical content with something based off these new ideas. (It won’t be the first time I’ve done that.) Time will tell for all of it.

I was listening to WTF with Marc Maron and his interview with John Mellencamp, and it was really fun listening to two cranky old motherfuckers talk about all kinds of stuff relating to John’s career, music in general, and how to exist on the planet. In fact, two of the aforementioned song ideas directly came to mind as a result of their conversation. So I’m already snagging that inspiration wherever it may show itself.

In summary, I’m excited for the new year at least as my musical experiences are panning out. I love learning new things and feeling energized when it comes to this stuff, so I’m very optimistic that if I make sure I’m investing time in this instead of sitting on my ass watching Rick Beato videos (not that those aren’t awesome), I’ll actually make some headway getting my shit together and creating things. I like the progress my friend Mandy has made with her dedication to live-streaming on Twitch, and I think maybe I’m going to try and make a Musical Schizo concert there a regular part of my week, once I decide on a day and time to do it and get more used to how all that live-streaming stuff works.

Thanks for reading, take care, be safe, and remember to love one another.

Peace be the journey!
TMS

Museday Mumblings (Vol. 67): New Methods

January 16, 2022 The Musical Schizo

So I got me a patchbay. What’s a patchbay? Well, it’s a rackmounted (in most cases) device that allows you to have your instruments and interfaces all hooked up in a way that allows you to easily change their routing as you need. So if you have a bunch of guitar effects things, keyboards, whatever, you can have them all hooked up to the patchbay, and you can very easily plug them in to each other or into whatever inputs on your recorder, mixer, or computer interface you want to use.

So far, it’s not all the way hooked up, but I’m so stupidly excited about having everything hooked up and patchable from one place that it’s occupied a lot of my mental real estate related to music/production/etc. Thinking of the various ways I can get it hooked up, and what I’m going to patch into it, all of that…it’s so wonderful and exciting to me. And that’s very inspiring.

Finding new ways to work can be such a wonderful thing to light the fire around creating music. This new way to work really has opened me up to the possibility that I don’t have to get behind stuff and plug and unplug things to make them all available to me. I can just patch them on the front panel, or if they’re already hooked up to the specific input I need to use, just leave them there. It’s great and I really can’t wait to get it all set up and ready to go.

So find something that shakes up your workflow to get you inspired to get in there and make some music. It’s working for me. (Now if I could only do that with my songwriting…)

Thanks for reading and Peace be the journey!
TMS

Museday Mumblings (Vol. 66): Smell that smoke? Well, I’ve been thinking…

January 8, 2022 The Musical Schizo

Yeah, don’t hurt myself, right? But seriously, though, I’ve been thinking. Thinking about the good things that have happened since the start of the pandemic two years ago. Thinking about all the music I’ve played since then. Thinking about all the music I’ve made since then (the ONE song…but it’s still something). Thinking about the fact that 2021 was the first year in a WHILE that I was super excited by a bunch of new music. And speaking of that…

I know I just talked about it a little, but I LOVE the Mammoth WVH record. That Son of an Edward really did something special. (and yes, his dad was a bitch sometimes, so I’m using that for that reason) Wolfgang Van Halen played everything on it, sang every note, wrote all the songs. I mean, it was a statement like one of his heroes’ first records (the self-titled Foo Fighters record where Dave Grohl played basically everything). And then he assembled an amazing band to play those songs live and I got to see it. More than any of that, I got to introduce it to another person who loved it even more than I did! (we went to the show together on his dime because he loved the record so much to repay me he bought my ticket).

I love sharing music with people, and love it even more when they “get it” and love it like I do (or more). It’s a way of spreading happiness that to me is so satisfying, because it not only brings joy to others, it makes me feel connected to them because of the shared interest. This friend and I have some things we just don’t connect on because we’re 11 years apart and things just hit us at different ages so there’s a lot of stuff he loves that I at best don’t get and at worst can’t really stand, and same for him with my stuff. When we do have stuff we both love, it’s really great. Nice and bonding, because we both love to have music in common with people because music means so much to both of us.

As I mentioned previously, I also really enjoyed basically everything I could find by I Don’t Know How But They Found Me (IDKHOW). They play in Austin in February and it’s likely I’ll go see them, too. 🙂 The same friend who liked the Mammoth album likes IDKHOW, too, so that’s another one we share (though he’s not the person I got that band from – that’s my buddy Dennis, as I said in the last post).

And last but most certainly not least, I LOVE “An Evening With Silk Sonic” – Anderson.Paak and Bruno Mars’ “holy shit let’s use every single 70s Soul, R&B, and Funk trope in one band that somehow still sounds modern” collaboration. My highlights from the record are “Fly As Me” (can’t get enough of this one), “Leave The Door Open”, “Skate”, and “777”. The other stuff is great, too. It’s worth a listen if you like real people playing real instruments singing real songs with a classic R&B/Soul feel. Instrumental R&B has been sort of set to the side because programming has become so ubiquitous since the late 80s. It’s all very hooky and poppy but it’s also very clear that they wanted to do something truly timeless, and they succeeded. You should check it out.

As for state of the world stuff, well, people are fucking stupid. More stupid than I ever could have imagined. Humanity is an embarrassment. All the knowledge, wealth, and skill to solve major problems, and none of the critical-thinking ability or selflessness among those with more. In fact, those with the most are the least selfless, and billions will die as a result of their desire to hoard their billions of dollars. They have the power to change it all, and, well…don’t. They just make rules so their workers can’t negotiate, so their taxes stay as low as possible, so they are not held responsible for the failures of the designs of their products and systems. Some of them have been responsible for millions of deaths because of their inability to set greed aside and show some respect for getting proper information shared, allowing the amplification of conspiracy nonsense and woo-woo anti-science garbage. They have fomented division like nothing else in human history. And profited every step of the way. Socialism for the rich, capitalism for the poor. Needs to be the other way around, but since the system is now designed for their protection, it’s unlikely it will ever be. And there’s not much anyone can do to change it other than not supporting people who support the rich like basically everyone in power does these days (save for a few notable rabble-rousers).

Let’s have a good 2022, and treat our fellow humans with compassion and kindness even if they’re stupid pieces of shit who are ruining it for everyone else. We’re all doing our best, even if many people’s best is simply not good enough. Make your best one based on facts, reason, empathy, and compassion, and reject the narratives spewed by corporatists, sensationalists, cultists, fascists, and propagandists. It will definitely help us focus on the real problems with the world, and perhaps make some strides to fix them.

Okay. Brain turning off. I love you all and thanks for reading this.

Peace be the journey…
TMS

2021 In Review…And A Look To 2022

December 31, 2021 The Musical Schizo

The first quarter of the year was pretty lame. Not a whole lot going on that was new.

Started back with gigs in May. (YAY!)

Joined an awesome Yacht Rock band but punked out because I had to accept reality the playing level expected didn’t fit with my current lifestyle. It still makes me sad when I think about it.

Blogged many, many times but got super inconsistent at the end of the year (depression does that to you).

Made many great improvements to my home studio building on all the great improvements from 2020. Hey, I figure if I live in this room for work, it might as well be decked out, right? Upgraded the live bass rig from a little HX Stomp to the HX Stomp XL, which has more footswitches. Very happy with the change.

Went to California for a family vacation. It was more of a trip than a vacation, because it was the opposite of relaxing, but it was wonderful to be back “home” and see some California family and friends. The Golden State is as much a part of me as anywhere else I’ve ever lived, and I still miss it. If I win a large sum in the lottery, I will buy property there.

Discovered great new music – Mammoth WVH’s debut album is EXCELLENT, as was their live show. I Don’t Know How But They Found Me (aka IDKHOW) somehow escaped me when they were the alternative music press’ retro darling a few years back, but now I know who they are (thanks to my bud Dennis) and dig the SHIT out of their stuff. They’re 80s in all the best ways, but current – if you like the idea of Duran Duran and The Cure having a baby, you’ll probably dig this.

Wrote ZERO songs. Didn’t even compose riffs or anything this year. Not sure why…just not all that inspired. I did do some livestream noodling.

Returned to the stage as a solo act thanks to my friend (and excellent livestreamer) Mandy Prater recommending me to the awesome people at 360 Uno.

And I think that’s about it.

Definitely going to get things set up in the studio in 2022 for easier musical creativity and make it a point to make stuff. I might even make videos of the process since I have that awesome-but-basically-unused live streaming mixer. And Bathroom Schizo videos!

Or not. Since I like to believe I’ll do creative things but I rarely come through because life and my mental state often get in the way. STAY TUNED!

One thing that’s definitely happening in 2022 is a return of the weekly format for the Museday Mumblings. I slacked hard in Q4 and I find that embarrassing.

Thanks for reading, and I hope you have a wonderful 2022!
TMS

Museday Mumblings (Vol. 65): Uh, I Didn’t Mean To Go Quiet HERE…

November 10, 2021 The Musical Schizo

So my last blog title was unintentionally prescient, in that it lead to a rather large gap of content on here. It’s like I took October off. Well, that was definitely not planned. I guess I just was spending too much time living the offline life and just neglecting all my online stuff. I haven’t posted any videos of my little kid recently, either, so it’s not just ignoring this blog.

Anyway…the time since “it all went quiet” has been surprisingly eventful. Chandler and The Bings had a Private Party/wedding reception way out in Hunt, TX (past Kerrville). It was LOVELY out there – I highly recommend you check it out. It’s shockingly beautiful. But with the remoteness and the shocking beautifulness comes a major problem: Deer. Like shit tons of them. Everyfuckingwhere. So I’m white-knuckling my drive home, stopping a bunch of times to miss them walking into the street, and successful every time. Until we reach Kerrville. Which seems counter-intuitive, since they’re actually less likely to be roaming around the streets of civilization. Well, Google took us on a “shortcut” toward I-10 instead of taking us straight through town, and on this dark, two-lane shortcut, I was still driving slowly and watching for the cervine monsters when a big stupid buck with big dumb antlers ran from the darkness at what seemed to be full speed – right into the front fender of my car. Because I was traveling about 30 miles per hour at the time, he dragged his fat body along and managed to fuck up every panel of the right side of my van. He appeared to be fine and disappeared into the darkness.

Thankfully my vehicle was still mechanically sound and drivable, so we made it home from way out in Kerrville just fine, but there’s $4400+ dollars in damage. Thankfully I’ve got comprehensive insurance and it’s only $500 for me, but it’s still a major inconvenience and it’s likely the van will never quite be the same, even if they do a good job. Obviously me and my passenger were completely fine.

Let’s see – then we had a great show at Picks Bar in San Antonio, another great show at Speakeasy, and then I got to play another solo show at 360 UNO. It was a real blast. AND I found out I get to reunite with my old Capital Suspects/Audio Time Machine bandmate Paul Betts and my Yacht Z bandmate David Houston on November 27th with their band The Hellmagnets (aka The Hillnuggets, per Yacht Z parlance). I get to play some bass and sing some on some really great classic rock tunes. That’s going to be a blast.

And speaking of my past resignation Yacht Z – they found a new guitarist/vocalist and are making progress! So excited to see them succeed.

That’s about it for now. I’m going to get back in the weekly groove here soon, probably with some musings on nerdy music shit. I’m thinking of doing some features on one of the most underrated bands in rock history: Chicago (specifically the Chicago of their first six records, that is…) I might even do a rundown of each album and what you should check out. We shall see. Until then, check out this awesome Chicago video from Mr. Rick Beato:

Peace and love and good happiness stuff…
TMS