| Just arrived |
[Feb. 28th, 2009|09:47 am] |
We've arrived at our plush hostel in Belgium, and it is beautiful. The hopstitality in Europe for musicians really is amazing. You are treated as an honored guest, complete with food and accomodation and friendly attitude. Versus being an imposition, one of a million. Part of it i'm sure has to do with differences in our cultures. but i wonder if part of it has to do with the sheer volume of bands in the US? Overexposure could definitely go a long ways in explaining the difference. oh, and funding from the government i guess.
Speaking of cultural differences, I had an interesting neighbor for most of the flight. An elderly gentlemen, British, very distinguished looking and with a long white beard. and he wore a perfectly plain white blouse, tight-fitting, with a pencil skirt and tights.
I'm not uncomfortable around transgendered and cross-dressing folks, but this particular brand has always perplexed me. and it <i>is</i> a type- men who otherwise make no pretense at femininity, but like wearing women's clothing. i wanted to strike up a conversation, but the gentleman was steeped in several scholarly books, doing some kind of environmental research. plus i was tired. plus he seemed very properly British and i felt i would be intruding on his private time.
But yeah, i've always been curious about that choice in particular, because i guess it doesn't fit neatly into the gender roles i'm accustomed to. and i lived in san francisco. anyone have insight to that?
Show tomorrow! we are playing in Diksmelde, please give me your best Diksmelde jokes. |
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| Travel time |
[Feb. 10th, 2009|04:09 pm] |
I am ambitiously planning on posting and writing a bunch on this next tour. I will be in Europe for about 6 weeks with two different bands starting in march. It's gonna be nuts, and a lot of fun. And I will miss the wife. So! Look for more from this mostly absent primate soon. Posted via LiveJournal.app. |
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| Hello from Limbo |
[Nov. 25th, 2008|02:14 pm] |
You may have been wondering where i've been. Maybe, you've just given up. Well guess what? I GOT MARRIED!
woot.
In other news, i've been touring like a fiend, moved to san diego, did music for some films, and was in a music video.
how have you been? |
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| I've turned into a basketball fanatic. |
[Feb. 26th, 2008|03:53 pm] |
i love the game, both professional and college. there is something very musical and free-flowing about it that appeals immensely to me. i don't like football. i intensely dislike baseball.
and so once in a while i watch fluffy sports shows on TV. its kind of like a homo-erotic soap opera. *ahem* i've said too much. anyways, i was watching one of these shows the other day when something startled me. The top "Best Damn Shocking Moment" in sports, according to the "Best Damn Sports Show Period" was the murder of Israeli athletes at the 1972 Olympic Games.
ummm, you guys may want to reconsider that. or at least the title of the show. unless perhaps, the show is sponsored by Hamas i guess. |
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| Even the government loves blogs! |
[Feb. 8th, 2008|03:39 pm] |
in case you missed it, the TSA now has a blog. it is grandiosely titledthe Evolution of Security. apparently they received over 700 "comments" (read: complaints) the first day. and as a result, the rules are being changed. hooray for freedom of speech! hooray for the internet!
i won't even get started on the TSA and their rules. but if they represent the evolution of security, its at the paleolithic stage (thankfully). |
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| super tuesday |
[Feb. 6th, 2008|02:51 pm] |
last the night the mitt hit the fan.
why does california not have open primaries? for a state with so many greens and what-have-yous, it would be a big boon. |
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| NYC part 1 |
[Jan. 28th, 2008|02:07 pm] |
Don't you love playing that game "what famous person do i look like?" its always fascinating to me what people think about themselves, and what others will say. it is often strange what people come up with, at times very flattering and other times insulting.
and so I wasn't sure how to react when on a recent trip (for a show, see previous post) to NYC, i got tagged as being the same famous person by two people, completely independent of one another. the first time occurred at a bar, late night, as we made fun of the trashy euro bartender*. i noticed this guy at the other end of the bar eyeing me somewhat openly with an inscrutable expression on his face. as the bartender made his way over with a round of drinks we didnt order, my immediate reaction was "uhoh, is this guy gonna hit on me or one of my friends?"
and then he walks up, and in a charming british accent says to me "excuse me mate, aren't you that jewish rapper?" we were all momentarily stunned, then burst out laughing. "you mean am I Matisyahu? you're kidding right?" and then he looked embarrassed. but he turned out to be a friendly smarmy sort so we hung out for a while. still, what gives? i mean, i'm flattered a little, but... for those of you who havent seen me con beard**... i guess it looks sorta jew-y. but i dont have curly long sideburns, or wear a yamaka (i was wearing a fedora though), travel with my rabbi, and most importantly, i hang out at bars on friday night drinking and smoking. still, i wouldnt have given it much thought beyond the "funny thing happened the other day" variety.
only it happened again. yep, at the airport, as we were leaving, this elderly gentlemen walks up and asks me if I was the rapper he saw on MTV. wtf!?!? to me, this was beyond baffling. i mean, i am an honorary jew and all, but still.
oh, and the trip to NYC was fantastic. other than the euro-trash bar, we went to a balkan dance party DJ-ed by none other than Eugene Hutz***. that was incredibly fun, and a little exhausting. i did find it a bit odd that he played a lot of Gogol Bordello though. a little masturbatory i thought... but then he made up for it by mashing up ukranian dance music with ministry. also, there were lots of underage kids with fake id's hanging out there, which i thought was strange, but perhaps isn't for new york.
our show went over very well, we opened for home-town favorites Slavic Soul Party. As their name suggests, they are a lot of fun. three great things rolled up into one fantastic dance-inducing brass band. good times. incidentally, some eastern european girl hit on me with by far one of the cheesiest line i have yet heard: "nice finger work." she must've seen my roll my eyes, because then she added "i don't mean that in a sexual way." hmm, i think that made it worse actually. yea or nay?
but it was well-attended, featuring a bunch of industry folks, like the lady who books the summer stage at central park (i think she liked us). and a bunch of folks from our label, all very sweet.
after this, we all went to some bar with a jazz band that i really liked. normally, i dont like groove-jazz, but these guys meant it. there was the narcoleptic bass player, who was leaning against the wall with his eyes closed the entire time, and would actually stop playing for two-three minute stretches, ostensibly to leave "space". and of course the 50-something mad professor drummer with thinning hair, who played the toughest disco beats i'd ever heard nonstop. good times.
oh, san francisco, i wish you were a late night town. why not close em at 4 instead of 2? musicians could swing one more gig in. bars and restaurants would make more money. it would be an economic boon to the city! c'mon newsom, you like money don't you?
in part 2, i will further explore stuff that i did, because you can fit a lot of stuff into two and a half days in new york city.
*every time we started clapping and whoo-ing to the funk music playing, he would start grinding at the bar in this really gross way, leading us to egg him on even more.
**if i had a paid account i would post a picture. as it stands, please refer to myspace or something.
***my man-crush |
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| NYC this friday |
[Jan. 8th, 2008|09:36 am] |
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i will be playing at the new club DROM with this new group i'm in, Rupa & The April Fishes. Its fun, bouncy gypsy music featuring accordian, cello, and the illustrious Rupa on guitar, vocals, and medical care. and after us, the intriguing SLAVIC SOUL PARTY. a paltry $12. come and say hello. |
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| The Liberation of Iran |
[Oct. 1st, 2007|12:03 pm] |
So the U.S. government wants to overthrow the Iranian regime. they secretly support dissident groups and try to destabilize the government. they want the people to rise up and revolt. and maybe, they want to drop bombs on iranian installations?
well i've just had a revelation. they don't need to drop bombs. they need to drop bottles of booze! preferably labeled "freedom sauce" or something. and possibly, dirty magazines.
then the people will rise up for freedom. man, it'll be awesome! just picture it, budweiser ads with people revolting in the streets: "this revolution brought to you by anheiser-busch".
i should be in government. |
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| political meme |
[Sep. 4th, 2007|11:07 am] |
i found this site called political compass. its pretty spot on, and includes where the 08 candidates fall. kinda scary actually...
you'll never guess where i landed. |
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| (no subject) |
[Aug. 30th, 2007|09:30 am] |
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this morning i was almost in a car accident. i saw the other car coming and the person driving didnt. i had just taken a sip of coffee, and couldnt for some reason form the words for a warning. instead, i pant-hooted. she claims i squealed like a little girl, but i swear it was a pant-hoot. |
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| politics |
[Aug. 29th, 2007|10:11 am] |
i finally read an article about iran that didnt piss me off. well, it didnt gloss over vitally important and obvious things. but then, of course this one's better, its written by Stephen Zunes. unlike this incredible article from newsweek aptly titled "the politics of rage: why do they hate us?" my favorite part is the very beginning:
To the question "Why do the terrorists hate us?" Americans could be pardoned for answering, "Why should we care?" The immediate reaction to the murder of 5,000 innocents is anger, not analysis. Yet anger will not be enough to get us through what is sure to be a long struggle. For that we will need answers. The ones we have heard so far have been comforting but familiar. We stand for freedom and they hate it. We are rich and they envy us. We are strong and they resent this. All of which is true.
ahhhh, fareed zakaria. you are a madman. to be fair, the rest of the article is a little more balanced than that.. but it still carries these *ahem* gems. |
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| i've been trying to remember this forever |
[Aug. 9th, 2007|01:08 pm] |
The Uncanny Valley is what its called- an interesting hypothesis about empathy and technology.
again, i love japan.
EDIT:
Entities that fall in the uncanny valley are humanlike enough to be seen as part of the human being species. According to evolutionary psychology, throughout millions of years, natural selection would have logically favored features in the brain that provide a high capacity to sense and be repulsed by macro and micro-anomalies in the overall appearance of a member of the same species that reveal genetic disorders or a lack of genetic fitness. So, we might be alarmed by the potential impact that these abnormal humanlike entities could have on the human gene pool. This could explain why it is particularly disturbing for the human eye to see these humanlike entities engaging in sexual activity.
the first thing i thought when i read this was puppet sex. |
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| Slint |
[Jul. 24th, 2007|01:20 pm] |
This weekend, my band the drift
did a short northwestern tour with the ultimate destination being
Seattle, opening for Slint. For those
who dont know, Slint was a hugely influential band in the early 90's.
they inspired a lot of people i know to start playing in bands, and many
others to start playing an instrument. After the release of their album
Spiderland they broke up however. so, reunion? hmm, whatever. big
show for us though!
my bandmates and i arrived at the Showbox very excited and ready.
backstage however was somewhat of a letdown. Slint had taken over the
entire backstage area with the exception of a small curtained off
hallway that was "ours". They barely made eye contact and didnt say one
word to us. "hmm, this isnt the usual backstage camaraderie i'm used to."
in addition, they had a huge entourage of people, including
videographers, roadies, techies, and hangers on. the room that would
ostensibly have been ours was affixed with a makeshift sign that read
"slint production office."
hmm, this was not the Slint i had expected. they were reknowned for
their stripped-down simple approach and no-attitude sound. this was...
the opposite. in fact, even their production staff were stiff and
equally non-friendly. whatever, its too fuckin bad but at least we're
there to play!
and play we did. the crowd was nowhere near the sold-out audience that
we'd expected, but nonetheless a healthy size crowd, even for us, the
opener. we were all a bit nervous about opening for slint though, not
just because two of us (drummer and guitarist) grew up listening to
them, but because opening for a band that people are so fanatical about
is rough. especially in Seattle.
and so we were pleasantly surprised by the reaction we were getting
throughout our set. as more and more people showed up, we got better and
better applause. at the end of our set people shouted "more! more! play
one more!" We shocked and taken aback. an encore? but we're the opening
band! i looked over the sound booth and gestured the question "one
more?" at which they shrugged. fuck it, we couldnt turn that down. and
so we played one more and then hustled off stage. we were all glowing
with the praise.
but then slint came on. they played their entire album, spiderland,
front to back. it was tight and flawless. but between songs i heard the
singer shout to the crowd "take that, THE DRIFT! a black cloud upon
you!"
our drummer rich turns to me-
rich: what did he just say?
me: i think he said "take that the drift, a black cloud upon you."
rich: yeah, that's what i heard too.
me: what does that mean? is that a joke?
rich: didnt sound like one. what the fuck?
at this point i lost interest in their show. i know what some of you
may be thinking- he was joking, right? well, that would've made sense in
a normal backstage-band context, but remember these guys hadnt said
one word to us. weird! and to think we had mentioned in our set how
honored we were to be opening for those guys. fuck that!
after their set though, i rallied. well, maybe it WAS a joke. who
knows? we decided to rise above and go talk to those guys- i walked up
to the guitarists and said "great show guys!" at which they looked at me
out of the corner of their eyes and one mumbled thanks. i tried the same
with the drummer and he just brushed past me without saying a word or
even looking at me. ok, thats it.
just as i had given up on these guys, the bass player came up to us,
was very complimentary and sweet, and changed my mind. but wait! he
wasnt even an original member. he was touring with them, but he
was don caballero's new bassist.
i am not nearly as eloquent, but here's what Steve Albini says:
I may not be the first to point out that all this shit, and it is
truly shit (Playing at corporate venues, high ticket prices, the veneer
of "professionalism" provided by the cadre of facilitators, hand-holders
and officiaries) is precisely the shit people like me detest about the
mainstream music business, and "the $40 hoodie" is merely shorthand for
it all.
To see a genuinely great band like Slint wallowing in it is truly,
deeply, personally depressing. They were conceived and originated apart
from all that, and that was (and is) one of the best things about them,
their peers and the whole underground community.
I don't generally complain about these things, but they depress and
disgust me. It is no accomplishment for a band from the underground to
behave in the same crass, corporate, exploitative showbusiness manner
that mainstream bands do -- it is a capitulation to the basest impulses
of a sick mentality, and it is a negation (if not a refutation) of many
of the things that made them valuable in the first place. I didn't
attend these shows, partly because of shit like this. My memories of
Slint are fond and lasting, and they involve none of this shit.
They didn't have to behave this way. They chose to. That choice is a
legitimate topic of discussion.
Slint are a great band. They are good people and genuine. In this
incarnation, they behaved like any other band trying to "make a buck,"
and "put on a show." That is so far away from the things that were
unique and brilliant about them that there isn't really language to
describe it.
I'm sure it sounded great. I'm sure the lighting was appropriate. I'm
sure the music is as good as ever. I'm sure it was no worse an
experience than going to see Evanescence, and not much more expensive. I
don't think I am wrong not to be a party to it.
for the record, the hoodies were $30, not 40. but everything else is accurate. |
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| With Fire |
[Jul. 17th, 2007|02:39 pm] |
this past saturday i had the privilege of performing at the crucible, during their annual Fire Festival. we didnt play near the actual pyrotechnics, but inside the space at the black tie fundraiser event. it was swanky, there were lots of well-of-weirdos, and it was a good time overall.
then we headed to the actual festival to take in the sights and sounds. it was jam packed with burners (burning man regulars for the uninitiated), random artists, and curious bystanders. walking around was a test of nerves for me, my friend, and just about everyone. you see, all around were randomly timed explosions, and by explosions i mean jets of flame roaring into the air tens of feet. i began to steel and try not to flinch each time there was a blast. luckily, i aint no pussy.
highlights included several car-like vehicles with fire, a pipe organ that shot fire, and a giant snake/dragon that... er well shot fire. we didnt stick around long enough, but apparently there was a shakespeare play... WITH FIRE.
the moral of this story is: everything is better with fire. |
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| Part 4 - The Crossing |
[Jun. 21st, 2007|03:32 pm] |
The first show with Mono being a smashing success, we headed for Montreal, the jewel of Canada. although we had done a bunch of groundwork in preparation, we were still somewhat worried by the border crossing. you see, Canada charges musicians a tax of some $200 for working over the border. not only that, but a tax is imposed on whatever merchandise you bring with you to sell. AND depending on the agent you get your vehicle may be torn apart and you may be subject to a cavity search, because all musicians are dope fiends.
Luckily this was old hat to Mono. the venue we were performing at, La Sala Rossa, is tax-exempt. so no hateful tax on penniless musicians. and to get around the merchandise tax issue, we simply got a hotel room just before the border and dropped off most of our merchandise, except what we thought we could sell that night. brilliant!
nonetheless, we were still nervous. one of us (to remain nameless, NO its not me) has a DUI conviction from many years back. in Canada, a DUI is a felony and hence you would be unable to enter canada. that certainly would've spoiled our show. so we were still holding our breath a little bit, and we decided to drive right behind Mono to minimize any issues that might spring up.
as a side note, it seems that Japanese people never have to pee. and also, they love american junk food of the worst kind. like gas station hot dogs and wendy's. ugh.
so eventually, we pull up to the long line of cars waiting to cross the border. we go from the sleepy haze of a long drive to sharp alertness. we're inching closer and closer. now, we're about 50 feet away, and Mono is just ahead of us.
That's when this truck to left of us (the left lane was closed) hauling a 40-foot camper trailer starts turning left into a driveway. as he's turning left, his giant trailer seems to be getting closer to the van. "gee, thats getting close" i said nervously. and then it got closer. and closer. it was like slow-motion. we heard the sound of metal scraping against metal. "NOOOooooo!" we all exclaimed. we tried honking, but it didnt seem to work. after what seemed like an eternity, the camper/trailer finally stopped. oh, it was because he was actually hung up on our van and couldnt physically go any further.
the drivers of the other vehicle exited, and it was a strange couple that confronted us. the driver of the truck was this french-canadian dude wearing camo pants, a flannel, and a large potbelly. his passenger was a svelte and elegant looking woman who looked more like she belonged in an art gallery or a society luncheon. being the only band member who speaks any french at all (un petit peu), i was elected to talk to them. sweet.
as they approached me and it was determined that i spoke a little french, the redneck canuck asks me "why didn't you move out of the way?", at which i started laughing uncontrollably. then i had the almost undeniable urge to punch him in the face. i slowly explained to him that there was nowhere we could've gone. "tu voit tout le trafic, monseuir?" ("you see all the traffic, dude?"). he shrugged and grinned at me, which made me want to punch him again. his wife then steps in and in halting english asks me "should we call the police?" gratefully, i turn my attention to her and say "yes, i'll take care of it."
Of course, Mono went ahead and crossed the border as we waited for the police. we didnt want them to wait for us. and besides, we were at a border crossing. how long could a highway patrol take to show up? hahahaha, man i should've known. first, i called the nearest town, the one we'd gotten a hotel room. after trying several numbers, i finally got a hold of someone... but it sure didnt sound like a police station:
"this is jack"
"uh, hi jack.. um, i was just in an accident at the border and.."
"oh no, that's terrible!"
"yeah well, we need a car to come out and do an accident report"
"ok.. then why do you need a plumber?"
"what?"
"i'm the emergency plumbing service around here"
"oh! i thought i called the police station"
"no no, the police station here's been closed for years"
after several more tries, i finally got hold of the highway patrol for upstate NY. and it took two hours. i secretly wished we'd been at the mexican border. those motherfuckers wouldn't have taken so long then, i bet. finally, the guy shows up. and he was a sweetheart. he took the report, blamed the canadians, and we were on our way. for forty feet, that is.
once at the crossing booth, they asked us the perfunctory questions, then directed us to pull over and enter the crossing station. there, they looked at our passports, our list of gear and merchandise, asked us if we'd ever been arrested (we answered "no" and held our breath), and then waved us through. fifteen minutes tops. fucking ironic, n'estce pas?
Finally, we arrived in Montreal. and what a beautiful city. there was snow everywhere, but i guess it was warming up cause lots of people were out and about. the venue itself was a spanish community center, tapas restaurant, with the venue on the top floor. being as late as we were, we immediately had to start our set up, but luckily they were able to let us go on second.
the venue was beautiful and sounded amazing. i would compare it to the Great American Music Hall in terms of space and sound. and dude, people in Montreal? Hott! like, everybody. and i swear i didnt just think that because of road frustration. it was true.
and the show went great. we sold out the night, despite the fact that Do Make Say Think was playing across town the same night (we definitely have the same audience). there was a slightly awkward moment at the end of the night, when i was talking to our sound man dave.
me: thanks man, the sound was awesome
dave: yeah, no problem. you guys played great.
me: yeah, we had really crappy sound last night, so what a relief
dave: yes, hehe. sound guys are DICKS.
me: uh, no! i mean, i wasnt trying to say that! errr.. look, you were great.
i walked away lamely. only later did i discover that the venue was owned and operated by the guys from Godspeed You Black Emperor. including Dave the sound man. oohhh, now i get it. i didnt feel like such a dick after that.
up next: buffallo, pittsburgh, and OHIO! |
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| (no subject) |
[Jun. 18th, 2007|11:59 am] |
This weekend i got to hang out with my cousin Sam who was visiting from Iran. when we were kids, we were totally inseperable, like brothers (he's a year younger). until my family moved to the states and he stayed. i hadn't seen him in 25 years... so it was a little strange. he did look exactly the same (a bit bigger maybe), but i couldnt help notice the huge differences between us.
First of all, it should be noted that i left Iran when i was 6 or so. so my farsi is at about that level, minus what i've forgotten. While i can understand most of what people are saying, i can't express myself very eloquently.. so for the most part i wound up not talking very much. it was frustrating, the language barrier, and for the first time in a long while i felt awkward and inadequate.
Aside from this, we had a great time. i took him and his wife out to dinner at Blue Plate on Mission (yum!) where i discovered that he eats like Paris Hilton on a diet. then he came to see me play a gig... with swing dancers! the best part of that was when his wife tried to swing dance with some older gentleman and failed miserably. the man had an indulgent smile on his face, and after a brief space realized she wasn't following his lead and gently sat her down. we all watched and laughed.
The strange thing about all his visit was how conservative he's become. perhaps that was just my perception, but he didnt really drink (he had a few sips of a margarita), expressed shock at all the people with tattoos, and seemed to hold some socially conservative values... i guess growing up in a fascist theocracy might have that effect, especially in my westernized view... but still, it made me a little bit sad.
i guess next time i should take him to the castro, or perhaps some hedonistic event in the mission. |
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