Bionic Teutonic

So, I have a bunch of music that I’ve been working on. I have a space on my hard drive that acts as a sort of audio sketch book where I try out ideas, play around with sounds, etc. Most of this never goes anywhere, but some of the ideas are good enough to develop into songs (at least I hope they are). I’m trying to figure out which of my latest sonic doodlings I should turn into full-blown songs and figured I’d try an experiment here to get some feedback and see what you guys think. I’m looking for the top 3 to work on, so if you are out there and like any of these, let me know what your favorites are and the ones that people like the most, I’ll work on. Deal? OK then.

Here are little snippits of the tracks: sketch 1,  sketch 2,  sketch 3,  sketch 4,  sketch 5,  sketch 6,  sketch 7

We had a great time at Harbin last weekend. I couldn’t get any pictures really, as cameras are not allowed there (I guess they don’t want you taking pictures of all the naked hippies but we rocked it. It was really nice to have some time to just relax and catch up on sleep. We spent a bunch of time in the pools and had a really great time hanging out with our friend Rara and his fiance Jumana. Rara and I spent a morning in his studio on Saturday. I got him to play guitar over a track I’m working on and we also just geeked out on music, discussing ideas and techniques. It was nice to have somebody to shoot the musical shit with again. I’ve been missing that for a while. Harbin itself is beautiful. It’s located in a really beautiful valley just north of Napa and we got to take some really nice hikes in the surrounding hillsides. The resort is surprisingly big actually. It’s so spread out that you only rarely get a sense for how many people are there at any one given time, but there were probably several hundred guests I would say. I was looking forward to doing yoga in the mornings, but the yoga there was sadly very much on the new age tip - not so much on the physical practice.

This weekend I’m getting a new tattoo. I’ve been wanting another one for a while and I had a consultation this week, so I’m all set. I’m getting the ashtanga yoga mantra Loka Samasta Sukhino Bhavantu in devanagari sanskrit around my arm, with some stylised clouds behind it. It means may all beings find peace and happiness, which I like. Plus devanagari is beautiful.

OK, I’m officially Apple’s bitch. To go along with my new laptop, I just went out and bought a new iPod video the other day. I love it. I know that there are other mp3 players out there, and I even bought one a while ago, but they don’t interface with iTunes and they are always somehow a pain in the ass. My iPod however, is loaded with music and I’ve been listening to it non-stop. My only complaint is that I’ve been swapping music with some of my co-workers, and they make it such a pain in the ass to do this. The thing that pisses me off about all the copy-protection shit people try and implement is that I’m going to get around it anyway (it’s not that hard), and it makes things a pain in the ass for both legitimate uses as well as illegal uses that should be my own business anyway. It’s like trying to ban blank tapes back in the day (which the music industry did try to do). It’s stupid and only serves to make me angry. I’m getting and sharing my music anyway. </rant>

Ariel and I are leaving for Harbin tomorrow. Looking forward to lots and lots of relaxation. I’ll post pictures when I get back.

I just got a new laptop (I bought a Macbook Pro from my friend Damon) and spent all weekend loading it up with software and starting the long process of reading manuals and playing around so I understand how everything works. I have to say, it’s amazing how far computers have come in the last 5 years or so. I have pretty much everything I could ever need music wise loaded onto a 1/4″ thick piece of metal and circuitry. It really blows the mind. Ariel, Tim and I also had a 3-way video chat yesterday (sounds kinky, but it wasn’t). Tim was puttering around preparing food for Marzipan (his dog) in his new house in N.Y. while Ariel and I were on our various laptops here in Seattle. We live in the future and it’s amazing.

I’m excited about making music again, which is cool. I haven’t really had the bug very badly for a while, but having the new laptop, not being confined to a basement studio, and just being engaged with the software again has given me a little kick. Hopefully I can integrate it back into being an integral and sustainable part of my life again. If anybody ever has the bug to write some music or just get together and share ideas, let me know. I’m feeling it right now.

Here is a track I wrote a couple of years ago (jeez, time flies). Not totally complete in my book, but hey, they never really are.

OK, so I’ve been super busy with the bathroom lately and haven’t had much time to post anything. So, until I’m done, I will leave you with some music that my friend Brian and I wrote while I was living in L.A. Hope you enjoy.