The Musical Schizo – Page 8 – Music and Mumblings

Museday Mumblings (Vol. 22): King Edward

October 12, 2020 The Musical Schizo

I am crushed.

One of my greatest inspirations as a musician, a very large reason why I even play, died of cancer on October 6th.

Edward Lodewijk Van Halen – better known to the world as “Eddie Van Halen” or “EVH” – the world-renowned guitarist and founder of the hard rock band Van Halen, my favorite band from about ages 10-25 (stuff happened around then that knocked them down a peg, I’ll get into that later).

Eddie was a master at his instrument, both as a soloist and improviser and as a writer and rhythm player. He popularized so many crazy techniques on guitar that we all consider sort of “normal” now, but few were really doing them in 1978 when Van Halen’s first record came out. He was an ardent tinkerer, assembing an instrument that served his purposes when he realized nothing commercially available would work for what he wanted to accomplish. He had wonderful stage presence, jumping around and smiling, all while playing amazingly difficult guitar parts and making it look easy. He also sang wonderful backing vocals, blending with his bandmates and providing a radio-friendly sound making their vocal hooks sparkle.

Most of this is stuff everyone seems to be covering as they pay tribute to Edward. And it’s all relevant to why Ed was so important to me as a young musician. I’ll boil it down to the lessons I learned from studying him closely, and then go into how it shaped the musician I became. SO MUCH of my philosophy about music is rooted in things I read in interviews with him that I think paying tribute to the lessons I’ve learned is an excellent way to explain why he’s so important.

Lesson #1: If it sounds good, it is good.
What I got from this is that we’re all different. We all love what we love. We should not be ashamed if we like some music or a tone or whatever because if we love it, that’s all that matters. If you like it, that’s absolutely all that matters. If it inspires you, that’s the best thing ever.

Lesson #2: Smile!
Eddie always played with an impish smile. It was never an arrogant smile. It was borderline cocky, but it always was inviting and told you how much fun he was having playing music. I let the music take over when I play, and often that makes me smile. Not just when things are going right…but when crazy shit happens or I swing and miss on something…I smile. There was a time when I didn’t – I used to get mad and scowl, and it looked terrible. Once it was brought to my attention, I vowed to pull a Van Halen and always chill out and grin. It’s been the best thing ever. People love it when I smile while performing, and often mention how much they love seeing me grin when I’m playing – how much more fun and inviting everything seems because it makes them happy.

Lesson #3: Try everything…
There’s a phrase Ed always said about soloing, “falling down the stairs and landing on your feet”. It was always in the context of jamming/improvising. Trying things, taking it way out or just trying something new, and then sticking the landing. That has been a mantra for me ever since. I always look for creative ways to be an ensemble player, to enhance the arrangement without distracting from what’s important, and then as a soloist, I will really go for it but then bring it back for a solid finish/transition to the meat of whatever we’re playing. It’s exciting and fun, and you’re always challenging yourself, and thus setting yourself up for constant improvement.

Lesson #4: Find new ways to do things.
When I first had access to a guitar, I had only played a little clarinet and keyboards. So naturally (and perhaps subconsciously), when I was farting around with the new-to-me instrument, I tried to play the guitar with both hands on the neck. So when I realized it was kind of Van Halen’s “thing”, he immediately became my favorite guitarist. The only person I honestly remembered seeing playing guitar like that was jazz guitarist Stanley Jordan in some movie (looked it up: it was “Blind Date”), and his method was completely different – very multi-fingered and chordal. But after the Van Halen obsession began, I basically sought out every unorthodox way to make a guitar make a sound. I learned pinch/artificial harmonics. I learned natural harmonics. I learned how to tap harmonics. I learned what frets would produce what interval from the original note. I’d do crazy stuff like pull the high E string off the neck and see which notes I could make on the side of the neck (not a Van Halen thing, I just found it fun). Just anything to challenge the “normal” ways of playing guitar. Here’s a little video where I talk about some of this silliness…

Lesson #5: Serve yourself and never pander to your audience
Pretty ironic that a guy who ended up being a pretty seasoned cover band guy who does nothing BUT pander to audiences would say this was a major lesson he learned, but it’s true. When it comes to my own music, I want to be happy with it. I honestly have never done music to gain others’ approval, even in the context of cover bands. I always want to LOVE what I’m doing, and I’ve gotten better at saying “no” as I’ve grown older. I’m sincerely proud of what we do in Chandler and The Bings, because I put my personality into everything. And when creating my own music, I’ve only sought to make the sounds in my head into pieces of music or songs. And it’s cool if other people like the stuff I write, but in the end it doesn’t matter. I made it. I like it. Or at least I’m satisfied that I tried. Ed was ALWAYS on this program. He wanted to play what HE wanted to play, no matter how much fans bitched, or the climate didn’t seem right for whatever music it was. He was going to create what he wanted to create, and that was a lesson that really hit home to me. If you try and satisfy others, you’ll never be happy, but if you work to create things that are meaningful to you and you dig? You win no matter what. Other people liking it is just frosting.

Lesson #6: Don’t be a prick
This is where we get into the darker and sadder side of my love-hate relationship with my childhood/teen/young adult guitar idol. Starting in the mid-90s, a lot of stories came out of him being a dick to Sammy, then a dick to Dave, then talking shit about Michael Anthony. It was becoming more and more apparent that he was just a bitter and angry person. It’s likely his substance abuse problems caused a lot of this behavior, but it still ruined him for me. His treatment of Michael Anthony was the worst, though. Mikey never did anything but support Eddie, play excellent bass, and was a major part of the vocal brilliance of Van Halen. So not only did Eddie go back on the deal they had as a band to split everything four ways and make him sign away his rights to the publishing in 2000 or so, he made him take a major pay cut to participate in the 2003-2004 reunion tour with Sammy. Mike did it for the fans and his friend Sam. A “lost” interview from 1981 or 1982 came out at some point in the early 2000s and Ed spends a large amount of the article shitting on Mike, so this wasn’t something new. He basically didn’t bother to tell Mike about the 2007 reunion with David Lee Roth – just got Wolf to play bass and went with it. I vowed to never give them another dime after all that mistreatment of Mikey. I read Sammy’s autobiography which was very illuminating about a lot of the behind-the-scenes stuff that went down “On The Inside”. That basically made me write him off as a bitter prick. But it was 2015 or so, when Eddie did an interview where he claimed Michael Anthony had to be shown how to play all the parts – that somehow he was a fundamentally basic and untalented musician – that was it for me. Fuck Eddie Van Halen. Fuck his EVH gear, fuck his legacy, FUCK THAT GUY. I was done.

Every now and then I’d try to enjoy Van Halen the way I once did, but it was basically impossible. I’d always think about how much of a prick Eddie was, and I learned by his shitty example that I never wanted to be like him as a man. Because, to me, he wasn’t one. I’m sure he was better to a lot of people in his life, and I know this changed while he was fighting his cancer and I’ve heard he mended a lot of bridges, including the one with Sammy. But I think it was most people forgiving him, not him reaching out to apologize. And since I don’t know him or how he really was, I take all the nice stories of his kindness and generosity and mix them with all the bad shit and then put that in the context of what he meant to me and that’s why I’m spending all this time writing about him. EVH could be a prick. But he could also be a sweetheart. I’ve definitely been a prick from time to time, but I’ve never fucked over a bandmate the way he did. Weirdly, though, his death made it possible for me to enjoy his music again the way I did when I was little, because the imprint he left was so good it outweighed a lot of the bad things I was hung up on for so many years. If the people involved could forgive him and mourn him, there was no sense in me continuing to be mad. I really hate when people are offended on behalf of people, and I’m not going to be one of those people.

I’m just going to enjoy his music, and think about how he and the boys made me happy when I was a kid. I’m going to focus on how much he and the band inspired me to become a better musician. And I’m going to fucking smile while I play, jump around, and when I improvise, I’m going to always try to fall down the stairs and land on my feet. Because that’s what Eddie would do.

Rest in peace, King Edward, and thank you for everything (the good and the bad). I love you.

TMS

Museday Mumblings (Vol. 21): A bit about my other great love…

October 5, 2020 The Musical Schizo

Now, y’all know me as your faithful Musical Schizo, but if you zoomed back to when I was 15 years old, and things went slightly different, I might have ended up the Comedy Schizo. I’m sure in the multiverse there’s an alternate 2020 where I am a professional (or at least semi-professional) comedian or comedic actor.

I am a comedy NUT.

And the seeds of that were planted by my parents and their families. Funny always was HUGE in our house. I remember watching the variety shows of the 1970s. Trying to convince my dad to let me stay up to watch funny people on the Tonight Show with Johnny Carson, or if I was REALLY lucky, to stay up on Saturday Night to catch my favorite show, Saturday Night Live. I can remember sitting on the stairs out of sight (if you are familiar with a split-level layout, with the stairs going up and coming down, you can see how that’s possible), listening to what they were watching, trying to be invisible, and almost always getting busted when I or one of my little brothers laughed at something.

So my earliest memories of laughing at things are Carol Burnett, Johnny Carson, SNL, Looney Tunes cartoons, Tom & Jerry, The Honeymooners, and various re-run sitcoms. This plus the fact that my family was always looking for the next funny thing really made me value what being funny brought to my tribe. Every chance I could I’d find funny things, because I loved laughing and I loved making people laugh. I’d try funny voices and mimic people. One of my earliest obsessions was a (very corny) Rich Little special from HBO in the mid-80s – Night of 42 Stars. I learned how to do the voices of all 42 stars. And I loved it. But there was a lot that really appealed to me in comedy, and I think a lot of it relates to a major thing I love in music. Surprises.

The key to a good joke is surprise. Whether it be a clever and not-obvious way of saying something, or tricking people to expect one resolution and hit them with another, the biggest laughs come from people hearing something completely unexpected. And for me, when I listen to music, there’s nothing that brings me greater joy than some interesting melodic, harmonic, or rhythmic turn, or an accent or timbre that I didn’t expect. Part of the reason I have such a broad appreciation for music is that those surprises abound. Even if you know the fundamentals and you think things are just obvious and pat, inspiring music will take those expected turns and then throw you something cool in that context. It’s done in all genres. And I love it.

There are many factors that easily could have turned me into The Comedy Schizo, but for some reason I never developed the confidence to actually go there. I’ll delve into the psychology of that later. But first, the background.

A big piece of The Comedy Schizo puzzle was film. Or really, movies. Since these weren’t exactly “fancy” and people don’t respect great comedy they do other sorts of films. Growing up in the renaissance of comedy movies from the mid 70s through the late 80s or so, the films of that era really formed a foundation for what I find funny. Trading Places, Caddyshack, Animal House, Ghostbusters, 48 Hours, Beverly Hills Cop, Police Academy (not so much its sequels), Airplane, The Bad News Bears, Slap Shot, all the John Hughes movies, all the Mel Brooks movies, Hollywood Shuffle, I’m Gonna Git You Sucka, Coming To America…it was all huge for me. Later it was Bill & Ted and Wayne’s World, which brought three things important to me together – friendship, music, and comedy. So there was a lot, and I’m just scratching the surface, because I even loved a lot of the crap that came from the 80s movie industry (yes, stuff like Short Circuit, Mannequin, etc.). And most of it holds up for me even still.

TV was massive, too. I also was obsessed with Saturday Night Live, especially when I got to be about 12 or 13 and got to stay up late on Saturday nights regularly. Those people were my heroes. I would catch the earlier versions of the show here and there, so I was very familiar with all the casts from about 1981-1984, with Eddie Murphy, Joe Piscopo, and those people, through that weird and awesome season in 1984-1985 when Christopher Guest, Martin Short, and Billy Crystal were on the show, but I think I watched it every week starting in about 1986. That’s where I was introduced to the brilliance of all the multi-talented people on the show – people who can do amazing characters, impersonations, and sometimes even sing! And I loved watching sitcoms. But more than film or any TV stuff, there was one type of comedy that has always been my favorite.

You see, I love stand-up comedy more than anyone I’ve ever met. I grew up during the stand-up comedy boom of the 80s, which coincided with the rise of cable, so stand-up on TV was everywhere, especially on basic cable. Of course I used to love seeing stand-ups on The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson. I loved all the older comedians like Don Rickles, Jonathan Winters, John Byner, and the aforementioned Rich Little. Their little bits always made me amazed that a guy could just stand up there and make people laugh. I probably liked that they were the center of attention, too.

My dad had a George Carlin album, FM & AM, that was in with all the records I stole from him when his turntable broke (it was me or one of my three brothers who did it – I can’t remember). I got a really awesome Magnavox stereo with a turntable, two tape decks, and a CD player for my birthday/Christmas in 1988 or so. Anyway – about the Carlin album. I’d seen George on the Tonight Show, and thought he was funny. My parents always talked about his “a place for my stuff” bit, and some of his older things they’d mention here and there. I found this record and was hooked. I listened to it over and over. Memorized it. I can still recite “The Hair Piece” to this day. I shared it with all my friends. A few of them got it. Most didn’t. But that was okay. It was MINE. And Carlin became an obsession. Especially after the release of his 1990 special “Doin’ It Again”, and for me, his greatest special ever, 1992’s “Jammin’ In New York”. Here we had a guy who grew up in an Irish-American Roman Catholic family in New York. He would talk in all the voices of my childhood, doing characters and weaving them into hilarious stories. The more I learned about him, the more I heard his comedy, the more the world made sense to the way I already felt about it. It desperately made me want to do the same sort of thing.

And with all the stand-up I watched, more and more comedians with different viewpoints made a huge impression on me. I always felt like my brain worked a little different from most people, and the more comedians I saw “behind the scenes” talking about comedy, the more I realized that my brain was more like the dark, sensitive brains of my favorite comedians. There’s a fundamental ability to completely step back from the emotions and humanity of a situation and see that situation in the most raw and real way to find the root of our interactions and, in many ways, the fundamental bullshit of basically everything we do. Our motivations, our manipulations, our posturing. Having what I call “comedy brain” is a tough way to see the world, but it is a wonderful level of “seeing the Matrix” if you care about living honestly. And the best comedians value that authenticity and honesty and it comes through their comedy. I felt that way. Strip away the bullshit. So finding stand-up really made me feel like I wasn’t such a weirdo for thinking about things the way I do.

So what happened? How did I not end up becoming “The Comedy Schizo” or whatever? Well, I’m probably not that funny, actually. I never felt like I was as funny as other people in my family. But even without that, I’m too much of a chicken to actually let go of the posturing and manipulation that is inherent in people like me who desperately need people to like them. I don’t really have a desire to offend people. I always want people to leave an interaction with me happier than when they arrived. I want those personal five-star reviews! Comedy doesn’t really work with that sort of mindset.

A lot of comedians end up doing stand-up because they desperately want attention – and perhaps adulation. But more often they just NEED to say what they’re going to say, and it has to be in front of strangers. If the audience loves it, great, bonus! But that’s not the point, really, for a lot of them. I don’t think my desire to be the center of attention ever trumped my desire to hide. I’m a weird person in that I feel like I’m inherently an introvert, in that being social and being around other people drains me, but I’m actually very good at pretending to be an extrovert. I attribute that to being the new kid so many times that I learned those coping strategies and techniques to gain people’s favor.

Another big reason I think it never happened is that I put comedy on a pedestal. I love it TOO much. I don’t want to get up there and do it terribly because I respect the craft and the art form. I used to be convinced this was the main reason why I wouldn’t do it. But I’ve come to the realization that this was just a rationalization and a defense mechanism. I know it takes about 10 years of solid stage time to actually get good at it, so I know not to expect anything when you start. I’m just scared.

An important thing to also know about me is that I don’t really have stage fright. At all. In fact, I feel very comfortable on a stage. Especially when standing there holding an instrument. So my fear isn’t even some kind of stage fright.

I think it all comes down to this: I got good at music, and more of my friends were music people, so I did music more. If I had gotten into improv or there was an open mic night in my little college town that was heavy on the comedy, life might have turned out differently.

I’m pretty happy that music ended up being number one for me. It definitely is more lucrative than stand-up if you’re not making stand-up your primary focus.

But I will always love comedy. And someday I’ll get my butt up on a stage and tell some jokes or some stories. Or do some voices. Or all of it. Maybe I’ll even sing some funny songs and put the two together.

Probably not the “guitar comedy”, though. That’s kind of hacky.

Thanks for taking this comedy journey with me. I hope you’re all safe, happy, and healthy, and even if things are rough you find ways to laugh. It truly is the best way to deal with the darkness of human existence.

TMS

P.S. Black lives matter, wash your hands, wear your mask, physically distance, and for fuck’s sake, vote for sanity if you’re American and eligible.

Museday Mumblings (Vol. 20): To all the girls I’ve loved before…

September 28, 2020 The Musical Schizo

I had different plans for today’s mumbling, but to really nail down the topic, I’m going to give myself another week to really do it right, so please tune in next week for a really special Museday Mumbling. Now onto today’s offering:

In all my relationships, I’ve maintained a fruitful relationship with a “woman” other than my wife.

No, I’m not polyamorous or anything. I just love music. Music is part of me, and will always demand my attention. Almost to the point of it being another partner I need to honor.

So, in this, I am a blessed man.

Now, let me be clear – I’ve had my share of heartbreak, but none of that surrounds some woman trying to come between me and music. A lot of musicians have to suffer a nagging partner who is less than supportive and who make the very experience of playing music a guilty chore because they demand their undivided attention. That is a fundamentally unfair approach to being with a musician, and any man or woman out there who needs that sort of singular attention needs to leave musicians alone. Seriously. It will only end in your dissatisfaction and large amounts of pain for your musician partner. WALK AWAY. You are not meant to be with an artist. You will only make their life suck. I, thankfully, have avoided this pain.

I’ve always been lucky enough to have partners who “got it”, and there have been some nice women along the way who have pushed me to continue and improve.

Starting with my college girlfriend, who was always supportive even though she didn’t seem to get the music I liked at all. She was way more 120 Minutes and I, at the time, was straddling somewhere between Headbangers Ball and Yo! MTV Raps. And because I’m a sponge, I started to love a lot of her music, and I drifted toward 120 Minutes.

So all the Gen X people will get that paragraph. For everyone else – she liked weird college alternative stuff and I liked mainstream hard rock, metal, and hip hop and I grew to appreciate her stuff.

Even still, long after we broke up, she associates me on some level with the music I loved, and that’s just sweet. So thanks go to her for letting me be me and me love what I love without ever giving me shit about it.

Also while in college, I have to give an honorable mention to a girl I didn’t have a relationship with but who encouraged me when my untrained, never-sang-in-choir ass took a voice class and sang some Mozart as my final. She was a trained singer and pretty judgmental and picky, and she made it a point to lavish me with praise for my performance. I’m pretty sure that was huge for me, but it might just have been that she was very attractive and kind of scary to me and it was nice for her to be nice to me. Either way, it was important.

Then let’s jump to my first wife. She encouraged me to sing. She showed up at every gig (until I knocked her up…best oops ever, though). Nothing but support, always. It helped build the confidence I needed to actually become a decent singer.

As for my current wife, she’s amazing. She came to all of my shows (until I knocked her up, but that was more on purpose this time). She seems sincerely impressed by my abilities both as an instrumentalist and as a singer because she loves people doing the things they love and doing them well. She is the most supportive person I know, and will always allow me the space to create or chase down some creative idea or play some weird gig three hours away where I’m gone all day.

I am thankful for every single one of them. They understood that the music was an integral part of who I am, and they loved that, too. And how lucky am I to be 3-3 in long-term relationships where it relates to being afforded the space to be a working (well, at least a part-time working) musician.

So, thanks to Sarah, Heather, and Erin for loving me as I am and putting up with “the other woman” (music). And an honorable mention to Adeline for being supportive instead of scary for once.

And this isn’t really part of this discussion, but I would be a fool to leave out two of the biggest loves of my life, my mother and my daughter. My mother was always supportive of me learning music. Ever since I was a goofy little six-year-old kid banging on a very broken piano in a garage in Massachusetts, to when I made district band in 4th grade playing clarinet, to my failed attempt at cornet in 5th grade, to her getting me a little Casio MT-100 keyboard for Christmas in 1986. Letting me pick out a guitar for my little brother for Christmas of 1988. Letting me get a nicer Casio (CT-460) for making honor roll in 10th grade. Always pushing me to perform songs for the family and sing, even though I’m not a show pony and I’m not super comfortable with it, it still is a confidence booster. And any time she could come, making it to my shows with the assorted bands I’ve played with over the years. And my daughter, for always telling me I’m awesome and being impressed when I show her something neat on the guitar or keyboard or whatever.

So to all the girls I’ve loved before…thank you.

TMS

Museday Mumblings (Vol. 19): Creativity Doesn’t Care About Your Tools

September 23, 2020 The Musical Schizo

I spend a decent amount of time on message boards and in Facebook groups watching conversations between gear whores desperate to find the “next awesome piece of kit” that will finally let them express themselves as an instrumentalist, and get those ideas out. Of course, it’s utter bullshit.

Creativity has nothing to do with the tools you possess. It’s a bitter mistress. I’ve been over this many times on this blog. I get new gear, and I get NOTHING new out of it. I have all my same shit, and I write/create new stuff. There’s no consistency. And sadly, more often, nothing happens.

Right now, I have a pretty nice little setup in my studio. I have a stable of guitars and basses that I find enjoyable to play and that bring out different facets of my personality as an instrumentalist. I have a nice little Alesis electronic drum kit that allows me to pretend I can play drums. It has a USB port that allows me to record the MIDI from the drums so I can change the sounds and fix my mediocre playing. I have a couple of keyboards (one Korg, one Yamaha) with some great sounds that allow me to pretend I can play keyboards. I am an avid and long-time user of modeling gear, which recreates real guitar and bass rigs and all kinds of studio gear so I don’t have to own piles of vintage amps and speaker cabinets. I have a mixer that allows me to record its individual channels as separate tracks so I have complete control of my sound and can record multiple things at once. I have a new computer with great specifications that allows me to run the most modern and amazing Digital Audio Workstations (DAWs) and plug-ins (which are computer versions of those modeling things I was talking about earlier. All of these things are here, plugged in and ready to go. I could be recording music constantly.

But of course, I don’t.

Because I have been in a real creative drought. It started out with some self-editing, and then it just became a pattern of telling myself nothing is good enough. I’ve been trying really hard to allow myself to create without having any opinion about it as I go – instead judging it once I’ve gotten it out. This does work to some extent. But the problem I have now is that so much of what I’ve already done is kind of stuck, wallowing in its mediocrity. I don’t know how to make it better, and since I haven’t been creating new stuff, I have nothing to replace it with.

So to stoke the fires of creativity, I started writing on this blog on a regular basis. I talked about doing more videos like my “Bathroom Schizo” series, but couldn’t work out the details on that. Now that I have some new recording gear, that is DEFINITELY happening soon. I’ll probably start with a new one of those each week, likely starting the first week of October (I’m going to do a big pile of them and release them weekly). I’m trying to do my traditional daily “noodling” and I might start recording little videos of those noodles for Instagram. I feel like if I get in the mode of creating it will finally justify my outlay for all my wonderful equipment over the years. And it will assuage any guilt for doing nothing with the cool things I have to create stuff that someone with a ton of ideas could use to make great things.

In actually-creative news, my closest inspiration as a creator, my buddy and Chandler and The Bings bandmate Patrick Soler has taken the vocal stems from our “It’s Gonna Be Me” single and created his own version in a sort of synthwave-meets-trap remix. It’s rad, and it comes out on Friday. I will post the link on my Facebook page when it’s released. He also made an awesome video for it. Look out for that.

And please stay tuned for some more performances of covers and originals by your faithful Schizo. Definitely going to happen a lot coming up. Hopefully it will kick me back in to creator mode so I feel like I can express things and maybe write something good.

Plus, just posting this video because I thought it was awesome. I’m a big fan of Rick Beato, and his video from today was excellent, so here you go:

He has an amazing ear-training course available that I’m going to get once I have some extra cash. I feel like working on my relative pitch in this way, tied to the theory, is the key to a lot of other musical concepts for me. But we’ll see.

Thanks for reading. Stay safe and happy. Wash your hands, wear your mask, physically distance (not socially – we need each other, so get on the phone, video chat, whatever). And in case you didn’t remember – Black Lives Matter.

Peace be the journey!

TMS

Museday Mumblings (Vol. 18): Marking The Years

September 15, 2020 The Musical Schizo

Tomorrow, I turn 47 years old.

Most people who meet me would be shocked to hear that I’m that old, because I’m a fairly childish adult. I’m a goofball. I look pretty young (no gray hair except a little white in my beard, face is not super wrinkly). I think being funny, making people laugh, and laughing are more important than just about anything. But this past year I’ve been thinking a lot about how advancing in age changes my perspective on things. Like songwriting.

I started writing songs in my teens when I lived in Bakersfield. Mostly just words to 12-bar-blues progressions. One song I wrote I accidentally stole the progression to “House Of The Rising Sun”. As I got more comfortable with the idea of singing, I wrote more songs. So by the time I was in my mid-20s, I was writing a LOT. I think I had gotten to about 100-150 songs at that point. Pretty much none of them good, but I wrote. My first child was born when I was 27. Almost 20 years ago. In the first few years she was around, I maintained my clip, and got close to 200 songs. But by the time my oldest son was born, my songwriting had slowed to a trickle. Maybe 3-5 songs a year. By the time this blog started, it was 2-3 songs a year. Then a divorce and some isolation, and the pace slowed further, maybe 1-2 per year. And now, I’ve written basically one song in the past four years (a tribute to a favorite artist of mine who died from complications from COVID-19). I don’t really even feel comfortable calling myself a songwriter anymore. I think I’ve ranted about that before on here earlier this year.

Finally getting to the point where I accept the change in who I am based on the change in what I do has been a long time coming. Up until a few years ago, deep inside I still saw myself as someone who might write that hit song or have that band that would “make it”. But I always knew that I cared more about my kids than success in music. It was also a convenient dodge from actually being brave and sacrificing comfort to follow a dream.

But maybe the truth always was that I’m nothing more than a talented hobbyist at all this. I consider music to be an integral part of my identity. I can’t imagine living without music. But I will say, during this 47th year of my life that is now coming to a close (because that’s how birthdays work), for the first time I’ve really thought about the fact that maybe on some level I feel kind of too old for this shit. Or really, adjusting how my identity relates to this shit. But maybe it’s just more that my field of fucks is completely barren. I only want to do what I want to do. I want to play with my boys in Chandler and The Bings. I want to start doing some cool livestream concerts with my new switcher and camera gear (I GOT THE SWITCHER THINGY FOR MY BIRTHDAY THANKS TO MY INCREDIBLE WIFE…YAAAAY!!) And that’s where I am.

If I had nothing but free time, I might tackle some really deep musical study/development – maybe finally learn how to sight-read music. But for now, my musical pursuits remain humble. We’re going to keep recording cool studio covers with the band until we can start playing some shows again…and hopefully after we start having shows again, too.

So to mark the beginning of my 48th year on this rock, I’m just going to look forward to trying to record some of my music, some of my cover music, and just enjoying playing. Thank you for reading.

TMS

Museday Mumblings (Vol. 17): Ever have one of those weeks? Also, TOTO.

September 11, 2020 The Musical Schizo

So have you ever had one of those weeks where you were never really able to focus? Never really able to give everything the attention it deserves? This past week was one for me. That’s why this mumbling is coming out on Friday. Getting from day to day has been very difficult. Just trying to keep all the plates spinning. And I failed a LOT this week. But I had my reasons. My 17-year-old started virtual school this week. My sleep has been impaired. The state of the world has been very distracting, dealing with the cognitive dissonance of otherwise-intelligent human beings playing fealty to a wannabe dictator, excusing his disgusting transgressions (which were caught ON TAPE) and spewing nonsense they don’t even realize is racist as hell based on their fear of “the other” and their imaginary notion of what a leftist or even a centrist is and what they believe. It’s really broken whatever faith I had that people will eventually accept reality when it is presented to them. But we’re not going down that rabbit hole with this post.

We’re going to talk about TOTO.

Yes, TOTO.

The classic band from Los Angeles that (in its most-popular version) featured the talents of Steve Lukather, Jeff Porcaro, David Paich, David Hungate, Mike Porcaro, Steve Porcaro, Lenny Castro, and Bobby Kimball.

The classic band from Los Angeles that had at least one member playing on about 90% of the pop songs produced in Los Angeles between 1975-1992.

The classic band from Los Angeles that put out one of the best career-spanning recorded concerts I’ve ever seen (2019’s “40 Tours Around The Sun”).

Now, the band kind of isn’t a band right now – but they did one of my favorite silly Quarantunes, even if it isn’t one of my favorite songs of theirs:

And as I’ve mentioned before on this blog, they are a huge hit with my toddler. His favorite song is Rosanna – and specifically this version (he calls it “Boo Nana”):

Honestly, I was a little put off the first time I heard this live clip, because it isn’t exactly like the recorded version, but I’ve grown to love it. Drummer Shannon Forrest doesn’t play like Jeff Porcaro, but man he’s got such a great feel that it’s so close, and adds his own personality in a way that doesn’t detract from the song the way other drummers I’ve heard play it do. And Joe Williams’ vocals ain’t Bobby (who is? Bobby isn’t even Bobby anymore…), but they are solid.

Now, historically, my experience with TOTO pretty much started with Rosanna, lingered a bit with Africa, and ended with Hold The Line. Until I started down this path to greater appreciation of one of America’s most underrated bands and realized one of my favorite mid-80s “lite” pop songs that I never knew the band name was in fact TOTO!

And, of course, as all great smooth pop songs from the 70s and 80s do, it features great backing vocals from Michael McDonald. This is the only song I felt was a glaring omission from the “40 Tours Around The Sun” show.

So then I was thinking – what else is there that I didn’t realize was TOTO?

Turns out, not much. But man was it fun going through the albums. Talk about a diverse band. They can play anything. Their wheelhouse (really, their superpower) is polished pop music with prog and rock elements, though. Want a super 80s-sounding pop song with a shreddy/proggy multiple-instrument riff breakdown? Check out “Stop Loving You”.

Praising the individual members of TOTO would take many posts. I already did a whole post on Steve Lukather, but I’ll briefly muse about all the others. First, David Paich – Great songs and arranging – especially vocals, hooky keyboard parts, awesome hats. Steve Porcaro – innovative use of synths and fantastic playing/songwriting/arranging in general. Bobby Kimball – brilliant, passionate, soulful vocals. Joseph Williams – loves the band as much as the fans, always brings the heart and soul to his vocals. David Hungate – solid, grooving, clever bass playing that always suited the song. Mike Porcaro (R.I.P.) – tasteful, perfect, tight bass playing that always served the arrangement. Simon Phillips – brought his personality and musicality to all his drum parts (1992-2014). Lenny Castro – authentic Latin percussion with NYC attitude – an all-time great.

And of course, the ultimate drumming legend, Jeff Porcaro (R.I.P.) – FEEL. TOUCH. TIME. PERFECTION. Always. One of my favorite drummers – maker of “named” grooves (like “the Rosanna shuffle”).

Big praise goes to the “40 Tours” band, featuring the “main four”, including Steve Lukather on guitar/vocals, David Paich on piano/vocals, Steve Porcaro on keyboards, and Joseph Williams on vocals, the legendary Lenny Castro on percussion, and then the “new guys” – the amazing Shannon Forrest on Drums, Shem von Schroeck on bass/vocals, Warren Ham on sax/harmonica/vocals, Just singing their praises to thank them for always being awesome.

I’m happy so many people have gotten to learn about them because Africa went viral a few years ago. Weezer’s covers sucked ass, but they tried. I know a lot of people liked them. I just thought they were hack…like a lot of that Weezer covers album, actually. I know they did their best, but I guess their best wasn’t good enough.

To close, I’ll just share another one of my toddler’s favorite videos – probably the video that made him love Rosanna more than anything (he calls this “Rick Nana”), Rick Beato’s “What Makes This Song Great?” Episode 9:

And that’s it for now. TOTO in toto. Well not really “in toto” but that’s what I’m talking about. TOTO.

The classic band from Los Angeles that actually played most of the songs from your childhood if you’re an 80s or 90s kid.

It’s going to take a lot to drag me away from you, TOTO.

(hee hee)

Black Lives Matter, wear your mask, wash your hands, keep physical distance, etc. Also, if you’re in the USA and eligible to vote, vote for decency in November. That means pretty much anyone but Donald Trump.

TMS

Museday Mumblings (Vol. 16): Living Colour’s “Time’s Up” is 30

August 31, 2020 The Musical Schizo

Living Colour’s album “Time’s Up” is one of my favorite albums of all time. It’s the album that fully convinced me it was okay to play whatever the hell you wanted (likely creating “The Musical Schizo”). And it taught a little privileged white kid in Bakersfield, California (me) countless lessons about the experience of being black in America. It came out August 28, 1990. It is a classic, and features diverse and wonderful songwriting, virtuoso playing, and timeless production. Sadly most of the themes it covers have barely been dealt with in 30 years, but it set me on my path to be anti-racist and opened my eyes to a wider world both in thought and spirit and in musical groove and harmony, and I’m a better person and a better musician because of it. Thanks, fellas, and happy anniversary! (more below)

Corey Glover – vocals
Vernon Reid – guitar
Will Calhoun – drums
Muzz Skillings – bass
Ed Stasium – producer
Paul Hamingson – engineer

Notes on each track:

Time’s Up – full-on NYC hardcore, Living Colour-style. Like Bad Brains went to jazz school. RIPPING bass playing on this one.
History Lesson – more of an ambient piece with samples, but definitely included a lot of little bits of history I never knew.
Pride – Will Calhoun with THE POCKET on this one. He wrote it, and it’s a direct message to white America in how they relate to black people and about how history is whitewashed to make things look less terrible for the white conquerors of “primitive” societies.
Love Rears Its Ugly Head – One of the best “love” songs ever. Featuring one of the coolest guitar riffs ever and the biggest dynamic shift from clean and funky verses to “big rock” anthemic choruses. Also one of the jazziest guitar solos I’ve ever heard in a pop song.
New Jack Theme – Crack ravaged urban communities in the late 80s. This tells that story. In the context of a manic rock song with some really great riffs and clever production.
Someone Like You – Direct lessons of the urban black struggle in this country. Doesn’t pull any punches against anyone who hasn’t helped change things. And the second verse always made me profoundly sad. Moreso now since we’re still dealing with the same bullshit and people STILL refuse to accept the reality of structural racism against black people in this country. Black Lives Matter.
Elvis Is Dead – seems like a silly concept on its face, but directly addresses the sad reality of the whitewashing of music – about how black music was only palatable to certain white people when it was delivered by a white face. And how even though black people are the reason for so much of Elvis’ great music (and he personally always acknowledged his influences, mind you – so this wasn’t really Elvis’ fault), the white racists who loved him still refuse to accept that reality or black faces in general. Featuring a great cameo from Little Richard and an amazing sax solo from Maceo Parker.
Type – First single, probably the song you might know from the record (along with Love Rears Its Ugly Head). Slamming guitar riff with really cool harmonics (I like to think that Billy Corgan got the idea for the harmonics in the “Zero” riff because of this song…but who knows), and that perfect Living Colour blend of funk and hard rock, with an atmospheric, melodic, almost poppy-sounding chorus. “We are the children of concrete and steel…this is the place where the truth is concealed…this is the time when the lie is revealed…everything is possible, but nothing is real.”
Information Overload – Could have easily been written in the age of the internet, but instead was amazingly prescient. With one of the most discordant, ridiculous, noisy intros on a “normal” rock song EVER. (Oh, that Vernon…always painting abstract art with sound…)
Under Cover Of Darkness – Jazzy and sexy and nothing like anything else on this record. Amazing groove, amazing guitar solo, and a really great guest feature from Queen Latifah.
Ology – a crazy bit of bass exploration from Muzz Skillings. Incredible use of different bass tones (including overdrive) and techniques to support the groove and the melody. A nice and inspiring (to bassists) little piece of music.
Fight The Fight – Another song that sadly tells the same story that hasn’t really changed much since 1990, touching on the structural privilege of being white, and of being from means. It’s a lot easier to buy a ticket to the party of the “American Dream” when someone can front you some of the cash. Money begets money in our society, and those of us who started with none of it will most likely struggle to even get by.
Tag Team Partners – A little quickie beat box/vocal improv groove featuring Doug E. Fresh.
Solace of You – A beautiful, African-inspired song that is inspiring and hopeful and, to me, reminds you to dig deep into your essence when the outside world is pulling you away from who you know you are. Featuring one of my favorite guitar chord riffs EVER. And the first time I ever heard someone slide a natural harmonic. (Bass nerds will think that’s pretty cool – it’s a great little trick that only works really well on a fretless bass.)
This Is The Life – Super atmospheric intro kicks into a heavy verse with another killer Vernon riff, segueing into a melodic chorus. Corey adapts his vocal to fit the vibe of the different parts of the song perfectly. Admonishes you to appreciate the life you have and work to make it the best it can be instead of living in a fantasy or being upset about what your life is not.

Wear your mask, wash your hands, don’t support fascists, Black Lives Matter, and be GOOD to each other.

Thanks so much for checking it out, and peace be the journey!

TMS

Museday Mumblings (Vol. 15): Navel Gazing

August 25, 2020 The Musical Schizo

I hate myself.

I love myself.

I think we all have feelings like that sometimes. Most people aren’t indifferent to themselves, for the most part. There are things we like about our personalities, and things we sort of hate or are embarrassed by. There are things we have done that we are proud of, and things, well, not so much. Now, since this tends to be a music blog, I’m going to focus on this part of my life as an avid navel-gazer.

I’ve been in a bunch of bands over the years. I’ve written a bunch of songs. There are good and bad things about all of the stuff I’ve had a hand in creating. Nothing is perfect, but nothing is perfectly bad, either. Does it all deserve the attention I still pay to all of it? Meh, I’m not so sure.

I have an issue with nostalgia. I would say it used to border on an actual complex. I desperately longed for the simpler times in my life. Being a kid, being in high school, being in college, living in those first couple of years out of college. You know, the time before my sense of duty and responsibility to my family replaced my youthful self-absorption. The darker times of having the past on my mind all the time really forced me to start understanding how thankful I need to be about NOW. Well, maybe not 2020 now, but you know what I mean.

But let’s get back to my nostalgia “Stan”-ing – my mind is frequently consumed by my old musical endeavors. From Magic Garden to Porque to Waffle to Soup Kitchen to Shaft to Jive Town Jimmy and the Knights of the Purple Cadillac to Joe Rey to Neon Logic Band to Slaphappy to Pale Manacle to Three Piece Suit to Wok Five to Al Naturale to The Remedy to Big Al and the Kaholics to Schizophonic to Dial-9 to C5 to The Extractors to Roman Holiday to Capital Suspects to Audio Time Machine to Nudge to Flext to The Dangerfields to Chandler and The Bings. (This paragraph is apparently a blog manifestation of “This Is A Call” by Foo Fighters. But anyway…) I listen to these bands regularly (well, the ones I have recordings of). They all feature me on some instrument, some of them with me also singing.

Here’s a demo of some of this stuff:

This is a singing demo that I’d use to send to people to prove I was worthy of being their bandmate. And it’s OLD at this point – the newest stuff on here is from 2005.

Here’s a list if you are going to listen through:

Soul Man – performed by Schizophonic (with me singing and playing guitar)
What’s Going On – performed by Schizophonic (with me singing all vocals and playing guitar)
Hot Legs – performed by Slaphappy (with me singing and playing bass)
Should I Stay Or Should I Go – performed by Slaphappy (with me singing and playing bass)
Just Like Heaven – performed by Slaphappy (with me singing and playing bass)
Rebel Yell – performed by Dial-9 (with me singing and playing guitar)
Always On The Run – performed by Dial-9 (with me singing and playing guitar)
Roadhouse Blues – performed by Slaphappy (with me singing and playing bass)

A co-worker of mine at iHeart is also a musician, and we were sending songs back and forth on Friday, sharing our experiences in bands. He had very kind words to say about this, and was shocked when I told him how old it was. But it’s not like I hadn’t listened to it in years. I probably last listened to it a few months ago. At most. Because I tend to live in the past a little, even now.

I have playlists of all the videos I’ve found from various music things I’ve done over the years that I could find on YouTube. No bullshit…

Videos from Roman Holiday
Videos from Capital Suspects
Videos from Nudge
Videos from stuff I’ve done with Sky Zito
Videos from The Dangerfields
Videos from me in the bathroom singing various songs
Videos from my solo acoustic shows

I think you get the idea…and this is just the surface of all of it. I have hours more stuff on my computer of many different bands, going way back, that I don’t share usually because someone doesn’t want me to or I just haven’t gotten around to posting it.

I will sometimes sit and think about how it would be if I had to just go play a Slaphappy show from 2002 as me right now. I mean, I think I’d remember most of the songs, because that’s just how my brain works, thankfully, but I find the very notion of it so exciting.

In the end, I end up getting kind of depressed, because I know it’s not possible. Even the reunion show that Slaphappy played about five years ago was fun but still ultimately a bit of a let down because I feel like it meant way more to me than the other guys. But that’s probably just me. (You can listen to that show here.)

So how does this all relate to navel gazing? Well, most of the time I’m listening to my own stuff from the past, I’m thinking about me. Where I was. How I felt. What was going on in my life then. How much I miss the guys and/or gals. I wonder what happened to that fan who used to come to all the shows. Thinking about what equipment I was using at the time. Just non-stop thoughts about all of it as I consume what is ultimately not that important.

I get shit sometimes from my wonderful wife and my friends for being mean to myself or disparaging my abilities, but I’m just being realistic most of the time, not trying to crap on myself. I am actually generally proud of what I’ve done based on how hard I’ve worked on things.

And this doesn’t even cover how much time I spend listening to my old songs. I mean, other than the Adam Schlesinger tribute from earlier this year, I really haven’t written anything in years. So I cling to the past, when I actually wrote songs. I believe I have about 150-200 in total, written from 1991-2015 (but mostly between 1997-2001). Not that they were particularly GOOD songs, but they…exist? You can listen to some of them over here on the main part of the site.

Tracking back to the point here…navel gazing.

A blog is kind of the ultimate tool for the navel gazer who likes to write. And I’ve definitely utilized this blog for a lot of navel gazing. But I have to say, it’s really nice sometimes to go back and read what I wrote years ago. It feels like a window into my mind at the time. It’s nice. But even THAT is navel gazing on some level – and it definitely feeds the nostalgia spirals if I let it.

So, what to do?

Well, like pretty much everything in life, moderation is key. I don’t think it’s fundamentally wrong to do some navel gazing from time to time. But if that’s the only way you’re self-analyzing or experiencing your existence as a creative person, you’re definitely doing it wrong. I definitely do it wrong. A lot. But getting this out there will hopefully inspire me to do better.

I really wish it were easier for me to just stay here in the now and make things. Or at least take the things from the past and work them into something new. But it just isn’t. And being fully honest with myself, it’s a convenient excuse to never really get anything done.

It’s a whole lot easier sitting there huffing your own ancient musical nostalgia farts, as it were, than being HERE and creating something.

Okay, that was a satisfying bit of navel gazing. Off to bed for me.

(I’ll probably get on the Internet Wayback machine and look at old versions of websites on my phone as I lie in bed…)

Love to all! Black Lives Matter. Be nice. Don’t support fascists.

TMS

P.S. Here’s a bunch of old photos from my past bands, because it’s fun:

Audio Time Machine 2014 (photo by Cecily Johnson)

Chandler And The Bings 2017 (photo by Michele Warner)

Chandler and The Bings 2018 (photo by Charles Warner (I think))

Museday Mumblings (Vol. 14): Just let me WORK, for F—‘s Sake!

August 17, 2020 The Musical Schizo

I’m sure we’ve all been there. We think we can just hop on the computer and knock something out in two minutes. We think that because we got a NEW computer, that our issues are solved. But every damn time you just want to quickly get something done and walk away, something doesn’t load right, or it won’t save right, or that network resource isn’t showing up the way it’s supposed to, or sometimes it’s us – we just can’t perform what we need to perform at the moment – we can’t talk, type, sing, play, draw precisely, edit, whatever. It happens to me all the time.

Now I’m sure the Apple crowd will chime in and say, “my Mac just works”, which is nice. For you. But I don’t have that kind of money, so I live in PC-land. And Macs are just as susceptible to software not initializing properly, crashing, network issues, and all the other crap. About the only real benefit you have is that you won’t have driver issues. In theory. But we’re not talking to you right now, so you can go watch the rainbow ball spin while ProTools crashes on you again because it sucks at managing memory.

(Wow. Someone’s got a chip on his shoulder. Sorry about that. I do actually have a strong fondness for Macs, and I might make the switch if I had a lot of money. It’d be worth it for the more-stable drivers.)

Anyway…back to the point of all this (was I even near a point?) – I just want things to work so I can do whatever work I want or need to do. And they sometimes, if not most of the time, don’t. In the past (and occasionally in the present), I would get REALLY MAD about these developments. Now (most of the time), I’m pretty chill about it, but just sad and frustrated that the thing that should work doesn’t work, especially when I’ve set it up correctly and it’s a new piece of gear. It happens to even the best stuff, unfortunately.

One interesting “opposite-day” thing in my “SHIT DON’T WORK” world was when I made the transition to Windows 10 on my new machine with a very old but awesome piece of gear I use as my interface – the Edirol (Roland) M-16DX Digital Mixer. Turns out it’s WAY more stable on Windows 10! The driver in Windows 7 would crash ALL THE TIME, and now I never lose connectivity. It’s great. I really thought I’d have to buy a new interface/mixer, but I didn’t. So that’s more of a “SHIT DOES WORK” for once. But those moments are rare, unfortunately. ESPECIALLY when you’re in a hurry, it seems.

A few weeks back I was trying to get my day job work done – I had to take a break right around the time I usually wrap up to get my kids, so I came back home to finish up (I had about 20-30 minutes of work left) and everything was jacked up. The network didn’t work – figured it out and fixed that. Took about 30 minutes. Then the system I use to organize all my work simply wouldn’t load any data. Tried everything to figure that out – literally for two hours, when all I wanted to do was go to bed – and it never came back on-line so I had to give up and punt until Saturday. The next day – all was perfect. Everything worked. Took me 20 minutes to finish.

And this isn’t restricted to computers – sometimes, your baby can break. Yeah – if you’ve got a little kid, it’s a crap shoot. Sometimes (like my dude the majority of the time), they sleep consistently and well. And other times, often when it seems creativity is striking and you really have to get the ideas down…every five minutes he’s crying or calling for me. It’s like every time I hit record, it sets him off. Like he KNOWS… So I run to him and help and hope that it gets better. Sometimes, they settle, and sometimes, forget about getting that idea down. It’s not happening. That was Sunday night here. Still haven’t gotten the idea down…because it’s gone. Ah, well. If it’s truly great, I’ll remember it.

In other news, my brain is broken. I hopped into the studio Sunday night thinking I’d be rocking out some new tracks for the two new songs we’re working on for the band, and then I went to the shared folders and saw that I’d already recorded my parts. I’m not sure exactly why I didn’t remember that at all…but it was WEIRD. I had apparently completely blocked out that on March 31st I had recorded the two songs. The parts were good takes, too! Only had to fix one little thing before I sent them up to Jay for mixing. So that’s nice. Like past Brian paying present Brian a little gift… (“yeah, I got you, boo…”) These new ones will probably blow your mind and make you laugh. I can’t wait to get them all done and out to everyone.

AND I can’t wait to get my own music recorded! I have no excuse now. I have great beat-making software (that I just have to figure out how to make my MIDI controller run), so I can create awesome drum tracks (when I’m not physically playing the drums on my little electronic kit, of course) and get my songs together finally. I’m going to release an album this year. Even if it’s December 31st, I’m making that shit happen. Consider this gauntlet thrown down!

Okay, that’s enough for now. Go check out my song on Spotify or whatever (it’s pretty much everywhere) and give it some plays or buy it on iTunes or Amazon. And go check out the Chandler and The Bings tune on Spotify or whatever as well. If you’re feeling really brave and want to dig into my OLD demos…those are on the main part of this site (which is going to be redesigned soon…)

Black Lives Matter. Wear a mask. Physically distance. Wash your hands. Love ALL people instead of letting the hate and tribalism consume you. Learn how to think critically.

Peace be the journey!

TMS

Museday Mumblings (Vol. 13): How to get through when you can’t do what you do

August 11, 2020 The Musical Schizo

So live music has been dead since basically February for me. Chandler and The Bings did do one livestream concert at a venue with essentially no audience in May, but it didn’t go well even though we played well. Anyone who watched the show saw the sad results – audio problems, inconsistent video-audio synchronization, etc. And it made me so frustrated, because we played REALLY WELL and it didn’t make it through the internet tubes to the audience. Earlier we had done some live streams by ourselves at our respective houses with acoustic guitars, with varying results in quality (most looked and sounded okay at best).

As a result, I’ve been investigating options for setting up a workable live-streaming setup on a budget. I figure if you can gather together a few cameras that can do a live HDMI output (GoPros, fake GoPros, old point-and-shoots, etc.), get one of those switchers like the Blackmagic Designs ATEM Mini, which can output to a computer like it’s a webcam itself, and run our usual BingsNet system as the audio source, we could come up with something that looks good and sounds great.

The desperation of not being able to play together as a group and connect with people, even if it’s just over the internet, has driven me into the world of video production. Now, I haven’t had the funds to get the switcher, so as of now, we can’t really do anything, but I know it’s possible…and that’s the cool part.

We expended so much energy getting the studio song together, it was a nice distraction from actually physically playing shows together, but every time we talk, we talk about how much we miss playing live. I mean, come on. If your audiences were like this, wouldn’t you feel the same?

So finding ways to get through when you can’t do what you do is a tricky proposition. We’ve tried a lot of things, and they’ve served as reasonable distractions. But they don’t replace the thing that makes us love this so much – the crowds. And that’s just not something that is going to be real for a WHILE for us, because there’s no way we’re doing shows until this virus is close to gone or people can be vaccinated and protected.

The next step? ANOTHER song in the studio. Me investigating ways we can do actual shows using a video setup and streaming it over the internet. We can all stay six feet from each other and we’ve all been very good about avoiding contact and sheltering in place (as much as that’s possible for some of us). We will find a way to get through.

As for straight-up Musical Schizo things, I’m planning on doing a new run of Bathroom Schizo videos (yes, the Friday Flush WILL return soon!), and if I am able to get the switcher and get the multi-cam thing working, it’s going to be FUN. Multiple angles in the bathroom! As I’m writing this blog I decided it’s worth it – I’m selling some stuff I’ve been hoarding to try and raise fundage for the switcher. Yeah. Gotta make it happen.

As a reminder – Black Lives Matter, wash your hands, physically distance, wear a decent mask over your nose and mouth, and stay home if you can.

Take care and peace be the journey!

TMS