Posts Tagged ‘youtube’

We’ve looked at the genesis of my not-quite-musical capabilities leading up to the failure-to-launch career of The Jason Only Project and the mentally challenged exploits of all that is Baug. Now, as we continue this wordy journey through my noise making evolution, we return to a band which I’ve discussed here previously, Rahne.

I was at a rehearsal studio recently to interview local band Cherry Hill for the Las Vegas Weekly. These guys have been around the Las Vegas music scene as long as I have, so we shared a number of common experiences with venues, gigs, studios, etc. from back in the day. I figure some of those remembrances are as good a place to start as anywhere.

Yes, I was wearing all black leather. Why do you ask?

As I mentioned in the last post about Rahne, the band was plagued by issues from the start, beginning with the, um, lack of stable band membership outside of yours truly. Despite only releasing approximately less than 15 songs publicly across two cassette-only albums (“Beautiful Sadness” and “Dead Air”), one cassette single (hell if I remember the song) and one live cassette (“The Anti-Goths Live”), I actually wrote and, for the most part, recorded about 50 original songs during the 18 months or so that Rahne existed. The original demo tape I handed to first drummer Phoenix Ladd must have had 15 songs on it by itself. I guess my point here is that I spent a lot of time writing and recording, but not so much building the band, networking or rehearsing. And I think that project never reached its full potential because of it. Well, and because of other factors …

When Rahne was just a two-piece group backed by a tape machine, we could practice anywhere. Usually it was in the University District apartment I shared with best bud Jason Feinberg, which also doubled as headquarters for the multi-band collective to which we both belonged, Still Hour Productions (itself a story for another blog post). Sometimes it was at bassist Sterling’s cinder-block-walled apartment a few blocks away. But when Brian Pfiefer and Ryan Couevas joined the band on drums and second guitar, respectively, we had to find a new place to practice.

We bounced around various hourly rehearsal studios, including a stint at the Noiz Factory, a ramshackle space in Vegas’ warehouse district. It was there that Sterling’s drug problems became more of a problem than even before. The weathered musician had some issues — I recall him always having to borrow bass gear because he often had to pawn his stuff, presumably to pay for his habits — and by the time the full band was paying for practice space, he’d waste our time/money by showing up … and then passing out. After a while, we brought our friend Dru Broils, bassist of Morgana Athena, to rehearsals with us, where he’d often fill in on bass when Sterling was incapacitated. This was some mild foreshadowing, of course, because eventually that group of musicians — in a different configuration — would comprise four-fifths of Morgana’s lineup a year later.

Not much new material was debuted in the four-piece Rahne lineup. All of our music, up to that point, was developed in one way: I wrote and recorded songs, and then gave them to the guys to learn. It was very Smashing Pumpkins in that way. But once the final lineup was in place, we really only “wrote” as a group one new song, “Asphyxiation,” which was this quasi-metal thing that came together during a jam at our pal Dave Taylor’s grandparents’ house, and I think we only practiced it that one time before debuting it at a show. Otherwise, I delivered one more song to the band during the fall of 1996, “Salvation,” for which Ryan came up with about the most awesome Church rip-off guitar riff ever, and one day, I’ll grow the balls to ask him permission to use it again.

We only played a handful of shows throughout the end of ’96 and beginning of ’97, culminating in a tech-problem-plagued spring show at Cafe Espresso Roma in which we played with Morgana Athena. At the end of the show, I pretty much declared the band “dead.” At least one or two of the other guys were going to quit anyway, so it worked out, and of course, there’s some minor irony in the fact that Rahne broke up after playing its first show with Morgana Athena, after which the latter essentially swallowed the former.

Admittedly, I was going through some personal issues at the time that didn’t help things, and after a fairly major life adjustment a few months later, the next chapter of my musical journey was ready to unfold. But that’s for Part Four of this series. Until then, I leave you with a live performance of one of Rahne’s earliest songs, “Jesus Hitler,” from our show at Backstage at Boomer’s in December 1996. When Rahne started, all of my songs were about either religion or Nazis, so this is pretty much the apex of combining the two. As raw as it is, I kinda think I was at my peak lyrically (I rhymed “wants” and “cunts,” come on!), so, you know, try to sit through all four minutes of it (there’s a pay off at the end):

Hey, remember I wrote that I’d be singing with my fake band, SP7.3, at the Harrah’s Total Rock, Total Rewards “Rock Band” competition on Tuesday?

Yeah, that’s done.

Scott, Cindi, Josh and I brought the thunder and tore up the Talking Heads’ “Psycho Killer.” While at least three other “bands” chose Red Hot Chili Peppers’ “Give it Away” in order to rack up millions of points to like, win or something, we decided to put more emphasis on performance and not worry about silly things like scoring or whatever. And … hell, we got a better reception that my REAL band usually does! (Ha, just kidding Tim, Mark and Rick! Really! Don’t fire me!)

I’ll eschew the boring details and go right into the video and photos, because, well, that’s why you’re here, right?

I hurt in places I’ve never hurt before. My right wrist is stiff. And I’m a little sluggish today. But because of it all, the SafeNest domestic violence shelter is $500 richer.

Last night was the grand opening media party for Stoney’s North Forty, a new country nightclub at the Santa Fe Station hotel-casino in northwest Las Vegas. It builds on the success of owner Stoney Gray’s original Stoney’s Rockin’ Country location, offering more than 9,000 square feet of yee-haw fun, complete with line-dancing-ready dance floor, pool tables, video games and — of course — a mechanical bull.

Now, usually, the last place you’d find me at is a country bar. I have a pretty strong distaste for country music, American beer and overly white culture in general. I’ve turned down plenty of invites to the Las Vegas Boulevard Stoney’s before, but as I figured I’d give this party a shot — I swear, the open bar had nothing to do with it. OK, maybe a little.

Members of the media were invited to enter a mechanical bull-riding contest, with the top three riders winning $1000, $500 and $250 respectively for a non-profit charity of their choice. For some crazy reason, I signed up, with little hesitation. I was one of only four people.

After putting away a couple of those free drinks, I gathered with the rest of the contestants — and friends, colleagues and onlookers — at the side of the fenced-in, cushioned bullring. After some quibbling over who’d go first, a tough, well-built young woman eagerly stepped up, slid on a glove, and rode that wild animatronic bull into the sunset. Of course, I had to go up next.

Let’s remember that I’ve never ridden a bull, robotic or otherwise. Or a horse. Or a motorcycle. A bull-riding expert escorted me to the burly machine as he explained how not to suck: One hand in the air, rock with the changes, keep knees forward. The words made sense but there was no time to process their application as the controller started pulling levers, causing the bull to buck, twist and gyrate. I don’t know how long I stayed on, but I do know I got tossed off to the inflated surface below.

My right hand was a bit sore, but my right groin area felt stretched and bruised. I was glad it was over. I swore I’d never climb back on one of those torture devices again. I suggested shipping a mechanical bull to Guantanamo Bay for interrogation use. I watched a couple more riders — younger guys actually wearing cowboy boots — give pretty good shows, though one did fall off. Then I was told I’d have to do it again.

This time, Gray himself coached me. He told me to just stay on top of my hand, and that if I felt myself slipping back, just to pull up on top of my hand. I faux-confidently mounted the mechanical beast, switched from right to left for a gripping hand, and took off for another ride. And 22 seconds later, it was over. And I was still on top.

After limping off to get another drink, one of the girls from the public relations firm representing Stoney’s came to bring me back to the bullring. Thankfully, it wasn’t for another ride. It was to inform me I’d won second place, and therefore Stoney’s would donate $500 to the charity of my choice, SafeNest. I was dumbfounded. It must have been a sympathy decision. Or maybe I have found a new career …

Either way, my first experience at Stoney’s was actually … fun. The music wasn’t too twangy, the atmosphere wasn’t too hokey and the, um, entertainment was, well, you know. But one thing is for sure: Now I know why cowboys walk kinda slow and funny.

Check out the above video. It’s some amateur footage captured by someone last night in Oakland, Calif., where citizens (and I use that term loosely) protesting the shooting of an unarmed man by a transit police officer turned their peaceful demonstration into a violent riot, smashing cars and storefronts all along streets in the downtown area.

Source: SFGate.com

This violence didn’t comprise calls for justice or acts of vengeance against “the Man.” It was simply a bunch of morons taking advantage of a volatile situation. Look at the video again. Those are white skateboarders smashing in car windows indiscriminately. Who are their oppressors — the people who install skate stoppers in public parks?

So if the response in an American city to a single wrongful shooting death is wanton violence and disregard for fellow people, is it really any surprise that decades-old conflicts endure in places such as the Middle East?

I tend not to devote too much space about my band, As Yet Unbroken, here on Bleeding Neon, as there are already multiple web venues I use to promote and connect with for the band, including the official website (which I just rebuilt, you should check it out), MySpace and Facebook. But as music is a big part of my life (and as you should know by now, has been for decades), it’s pretty much unavoidable that news related to it will show up here.

We’re in the process of writing and recording new songs. Well, actually, the writing’s been done for a while — the recording is taking longer. We’re tracking everything in the somewhat-inadequate home studio I have set up in my house, the same place in which we practice. I’m running a mix of lo- and hi-tech, running microphones through an analog board to a digital recorder (in this case, GarageBand on my iMac).

GarageBand is surprisingly powerful. I actually do own more “pro” recording software, namely Cubase VST, but when I bought the iMac this summer, I found it wasn’t compatible with the version of Cubase I’ve had for about a year or two. So I just started tooling around in GarageBand, because it was there (comes pre-installed as part of “iLife”). I didn’t expect to do much more with it.

But after spending some time getting to know it better, and after seeing an amazing quality difference in recording from our earlier efforts, I have to say: This is the best bit of free software I think I’ve ever used. iPhoto and iMovie kind of suck balls, but GarageBand — you’re all right. My friend Sean, who sings in a group called Mosaic (you may have seen them on MTV’s Top Pop Group) agrees with me — he uses GarageBand on his MacBook to record stuff on the road and on the fly and seems pretty pleased with it.

Anyway, here’s a glimpse behind the scenes at our rehearsal and recording of one new song, “Last Words.” It’s a bit of a departure from our heavier material, with a punk-ish guitar amended by a New Order-like drum pattern:

I just got word today we’re going to be played on Area 107.9-FM’s “Local 107.9” show this Sunday, Jan. 11. If you’re in Las Vegas and near a radio at 10 p.m. that night, I wouldn’t be sad if you listened in. Heck, you could even call up after DJ Joe Sacco plays whatever song from our three-song demo and say “man, those kids are all right!”

Or come down to the Freakin’ Frog (4700 S. Maryland Parkway) on Saturday, Feb. 7, when we’ll be playing live with Think and Fractured, starting at 10 p.m. It’s a free show, and it’s 21-over, so there won’t be a bunch of whippersnappers there to make me (or you) feel old.

I believe that section 293B, line 27 of the Bloggers Code requires all weblogs to denote each major holiday as recognized in the blogger’s country of origin with a holiday-themed post. Lest I be found in violation of the Code and receive a demerit or whatever, I’m going to fulfill my duties. But of course, I’m going to do it in a total slacker’s manner. So enjoy this terrible and not very funny video I made LAST Christmas. The most amusing thing to me is that it seems I have the same haircut and beard length on Christmas every year. Yeah, not amusing at all. Enjoy!