Posts Tagged ‘My Music’

Insanity… The Pendulum Swings

// August 6th, 2009 // No Comments » // My Confessions, My Life, My Music

There seems to be an unspoken rule somewhere that if you are a musician then you will buy and sell more gear than you could use in several lifetimes. I

Pro Synthesizers are a beautifull thing

Pro Synthesizers are a beautifull thing

cannot tell you how many times I have sworn not to sell or trade another single piece of gear but along comes something and the gear is gone and other gear takes its place eventually. The sad thing is that you always miss your old gear because you realize how great it was when you had it. But you sold it and it always costs more to buy it again than you sold it for. Over the last few years I accumulated quite a bit of music gear, and I really loved it. I had a bad year… the church that I was helping plant was failing despite our every effort, my autistic son Aidan started getting into my stuff and breaking it… or coming really close to breaking it badly. So I moved all of my gear to the basement thinking I could set up a studio there… I was really happy and spent a lot of time setting everything up just right. Once everything was in place I flipped the switch and started making sweet… loud music in my basement! 5 minutes later there is a knock at the door, the next door neighbor had called the landlord and complained (I live in a duplex) so I was pretty miffed to say the least.. it was the middle of the day on Saturday! There is not much better time to be loud right? Well apparently my neighbor works at night so day time is off limits. I was a little unhappy to say the least… So I tried again later at night when she should be working… again the manager is called… apparently two people live there and one is always sleeping so there is no conceivable time ever that I could play music and really jam it out…

(Now maybe you understand and maybe you don’t but to a musician there is a universe of difference in hearing the music (headphones) and feeling the music (Loud Amplifiers!!!) A musician lives or dies based on how they hear what they are playing. If you can hear and feel what you are playing then there is a synergy of passion and sound and it actually stimulates creativity and your music becomes something very alive and wonderful)

Apparently and unfortunately, my neighbor is intent on denying me even the hope that I can really Jam Out EVER! So I sat in my basement looking at all of my gear… thinking about how often the keyboards had quarters put in them by Aidan, and thinking about all the times someone has told me to turn my music down… even as an adult in my own house! and I got really mad… and really frustrated and really tired of trying to do the thing I love doing and having someone else put limits on me for their personal happiness! what about my personal happiness! So about 6 months ago I sold everything…

At this moment I am regretting that decision as I sit here completely strapped for cash and unable to buy any gear… I know it sounds completely materialistic.. but this is the real me… once you have played on a really good instrument anything else seems just not any fun at all. so grabbing a $100 dollar keyboard is not going to cut it… I have my eye on a used Yamaha Motif XS6 but my “eye” is about the only thing that will get close to it… as tossing $1800 dollars at music gear is at the top of my “things to not do if you want to remain married or alive” list.

Was I insane? YES! I sold perfectly good music equipment because I was frustrated… and as the pendulum swings back and my former insanity is realized… the money is gone… and I sit here just wanting to play a synthesizer like a beastly madman… I am Insanely trying to figure out how many times i need to go to the plasma bank to get that Motif .

Funny thing… one day I can be so focused on spiritual things… the next day I can’t beat my way out of a paper bag… Insanity… The Pendulum Swings…

Tags: Art, Fun, Love, music, musician, My Music, sin, spirit

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Dependency

// April 25th, 2009 // 1 Comment » // My Music

mikeschairWhat truly defines us? is it what we do? or who we know? do our successes, mistakes, or failures define us? I know I have often allowed these things to convince me of who I am. These days, just the very expectations and judgments of others can quickly break us down and cause us to lose hope. Choices… when the labyrinth of choices have conspired against you so that there is no “good” choice. only the “least bad” choice. Where do we turn when all of our good intentions fail us and we end up as wrong as humanly possible. What do we depend on? Who do we depend on?

For me when it seems that everything is stripped away and my soul is bared, I always end up running back to God to hand him my problems.

Faced with the “least bad” of several bad choices this week, I have struggled again with allowing my situation to define me, and becoming hopeless. As I drove to work one day this week. a song came on the radio…called Can’t Take Away that reminded me of what defined me. who I was, and who I depend on…

and nothing can take that away from me…

Tags: choice, choices, christian music, failure, God, judgment, music, My Music, running, sin

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Oh My God….

// February 27th, 2009 // 3 Comments » // My Favorites, My God, My Life, My Music, My Thoughts

I don’t know how many of you actually pay attention to my song recommendations but if you ignore them you are truly missing out. I listen to songs for what they say, through both lyrics and music. And there are many that do not say much… when I do come upon a jewel of a song that truly engages my emotions and my intellect, even my soul, that’s when I decide to recommend it.

So Pay Attention!! :)

This song hit me like a ton of bricks last night and I just had to share it with you… The song looks at how different people handle a crisis of belief, yet ultimately we all cry out to God in desperation. A quick background on the song and the lyrics can be found here

I really recommend reading the lyrics and listening to the song…

Jason the bald guy
jasonthebaldguy.com

Tags: Art, Belief, God, music, My God, My Music, sin

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Steve Martin? The Crow? The Banjo?

// January 29th, 2009 // 1 Comment » // My Music

As if “The Three Amigos were not enough……
Steve martin has released a new album! I could not resist posting it as amazingly funny and the oddest thing for him to do… but somehow exactly what he would do!

The Crow New songs for the Five String Banjo

Tags: Art, blog, Fun, My Music, sin, unplugged

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Genius… finding something, and Foo Fighters?!

// January 24th, 2009 // No Comments » // My Music, My Thoughts

Don’t you love finding something that you had no idea you owned? It’s almost better that getting something you always wanted! There is just something about finding out you already own something you didn’t know you wanted yet!

Well recently I have been jamming to the Foo Fighters album on iTunes, and iTunes has a cool function now called genius that finds songs similar to the one you are listening to. Well, I clicked genius and up comes a song by Jars of Clay called “Work” and I re-discovered it!

It is a great song I was really hit by the lyrics and how they describe a struggle similar to my post Obsession… Gratification… Peace What really grabbed me the most are the following lines from the lyrics..

“I have no fear of drowning, it’s the breathing that’s taking all this work”

“Now all the demons look like prophets and I’m living out
every word they speak, every word they speak”

The great thing about songs is that the lyrics can be interpreted a million different ways… But to me this song seems to be about the struggles of materialism, and how empty it is… How we use things to fill our emptiness, alone-ness, and how we struggle against the constant undertow of materialism…trying to breathe! -“I have no fear of drowning, it’s the breathing that’s taking all this work”

I also see our struggles with the materialistic nature of television and how we are constantly bombarded with the “things we need” and how we just “live out every word they speak” by buying into all the hype… “Now all the demons look like prophets and I’m living out
every word they speak, every word they speak”

Listening to the “Good Monsters” album and There are some pretty good songs there!

so check out the lyrics of “Work”

Just in case, I will leave my things packed so I can run away
I cannot trust these voices

I don’t have a line of prospects that can give some kind of peace
There is nothing left to cling to that can bring me sweet release
I have no fear of drowning, it’s the breathing that’s taking all this work

Do you know what I mean when I say, ‘I don’t want to be alone.’
What I mean when I say, ‘I don’t want to be alone.’

Empty spaces, shadows hit by street lights
warning signs and weight of tired conversations

In the absence of a shoulder, in the abscess of a thief
On the brink of this destruction, on the eve of bittersweet
Now all the demons look like prophets and I’m living out
every word they speak, every word they speak

Do you know what I mean when I say, ‘I don’t want to be alone, ‘
What I mean when I say, ‘I don’t want to be alone’
What I mean when I say, ‘I don’t want to be alone.’

Do you know what I mean when I say, ‘I don’t want to be alone.’….
I have no fear of drowning. It’s the breathing that’s taking all this work.
Copyright 2006 Jars of clay

Tags: blog, different ways, Family, fear, foo fighters, Fun, gratification, hype, Love, materialism, My Music, obsession, peace, sin, unplugged, warning

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Music news…

// January 11th, 2009 // No Comments » // My Music

Music for me is an “on and off” thing… I may write the lyrics to a song for 3 weeks straight and then shelve it for a month before looking at it again. The result is a song that has survived several revisions of both lyrics, meter, and music. One of the great things about working this way is that I really do not get tired of the song too quickly because I only work on it infrequently instead of beating it to death 11 different ways.

I know I talked about finishing writing a song “Collin’s Song” well that was revision 2 of the lyrics. The music is still a few weeks off. I picked it up today and fiddled around with a few licks and some backing stuff but just felt like I was pushing too hard. so I saved my work and put it away until I am inspired once again to pick it up.

But tonight!… I picked up the remix of “Breathe” and wow.. it is really coming along! Breathe is probably my most polished song and is pretty much ready for mixing and mastering. The original “Breathe” track from the Exiztance EP was for all practical purposes a bootleg track. I got several comments about vocals not being clear and other things. So I went back to the drawing board and learned a bit about mixing and finally decided that I needed professional help. Since my biggest problem with music is financing I am planning to release singles one at a time instead of an entire album, This will allow me to release a song or two every few months based on my financial ability.

Anyways! “Breathe” is in the final stages, “Roar” is about halfway done, “A Moment” is probably a third done. and several others, including “Collin’s Song” are Lyrics only /w some basic music.

I really got into the production of “Breathe” once I decided to remix it. The remix features some very serious orchestral backing that really launches it to a new level… The problem is taming the beast! with over 50 separate tracks the mixdown will be pure agony! but I think once it is done all the blood sweat and tears will be worth it!

I tend to be a very harsh critic of my own work but somehow these songs that I have written recently have me very excited and hoping that they just might be good enough to catch the ear of the general public and actually be popular.

who knows.. anyways… that’s the news!

Tags: different ways, music, My Music, sin

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