I Need to Be Creative Again

See that handsome fellow? Yeah, that was me. Back in January 2010, at my former band's first gig in Hamden, CT.

So as you all know, this past April, my girlfriend and I made a major decision and moved to Seattle, and one of the things we set out to do was resume doing music after the demise of our last band. We also said that we would undertake healthier and more productive lifestyles.

None of those things have really happened yet.

Truth be told, moving cross-country is one of the most volatile emotional rollercoasters ever. People warned me that it was gonna be a hard adjustment, and they were right a thousandfold. Without getting into it, my plans for world domination kind of got erred a little bit, but things are on the up & up for us here, and we're staying here!

We have a small room in our apartment that serves as a laundry room, where my music gear is currently. I would like to turn that into a mini-studio; a place where I can plug in, write and record. The logistics of it are kind of not in my favor at the moment for a few reasons. One of them being money to buy more gear. The other is that the room doesn't have too many outlets in it, making plugging everything in a bit of a pain in the ass. The final hurdle is that earlier in the week, when I went in the room, there were puddles of water on the floor. I'm not sure of the source of the water; Was it a leaky pipe? The washer? Rain that somehow came in the apartment? The floor has been dry since, but if it were to happen again, it probably would not be safe to store my gear in, let alone use it as a studio.

"You're in the Laundry Room..."

That doesn't mean that I'm gonna do nothing in the meantime. Going through my musical equipment, I've made some pretty good investments - I certainly have enough gear to make some beautiful noise. And right now, I'm going to be self-indulgent and showy, and acquaint you with it.

Fender Jazzmaster.

Nicknamed Jacinda, or "Jazz." And why? Long story short, back in 8th grade, this quirky chick transferred to my school from a few towns away, in which me and my friends took a liking to. We met a few of her friends, and one of them was named Jacinda, or "Jazz" for short. My friend developed a crush on her, and I think went out with her for like two weeks a short time after that. And around this time, someone told us that the Spanish word for "fuck" was "cogar," which turned out to be inaccurate. But for a while, my friend kept saying "Yo me cogar Jazz," in reference to this blonde chick from a town 20 minutes away from us. Did I mention we were 14? So... I named my Jazzmaster Jacinda because of it.

Fender Hot Rod Deluxe Amp:

A powerhouse of a tube amp. I don't have a stack, and currently I don't need one! I had this baby up to "3" during a gig at Toad's Place in New Haven, CT (which fits several hundred when packed), and by all accounts I was pretty loud!

Oh, and this goes up to "12!" Talk about one-upping Nigel Tufnel!!!

"Why don't you make 11 louder and have 11 be the loudest?" "These go to 12..."

Pedals:

Yes, I've gathered quite a collection over the years. I'm gonna need a bigger board!

Starting with clockwise from left:

BOSS CH-1 Super Chorus:

I've heard a lot of people criticize this pedal, or compare it to Boss' similar Chorus Ensemble pedal, but this pedal has served me well. It's great when I feel like playing more New Wave influenced stuff.

Fender Channel Select:

I use this primarily for distortion or crunch. For some stuff it works, particularly more straightforward rock stuff. But for my more metal/shoegaze/punk/grunge instincts, it's alright. It came with my amp, so I can't complain.

Digitech Hardwire Super Reverb RV-7:

A really good reverb pedal. It has the standard settings of a normal reverb pedal (Spring, Hall, Gated, etc), but also the much-coveted "reverse reverb," which is almost standard for shoegazing. I was kind of torn on getting this pedal because I have a decent multi-effects unit that has great reverb, but was missing reverse, and this pedal was kind of pricey. But I got $200 to spend at Guitar Center one year for Christmas, so I decided to splurge and get it. And was it worth the $179.99 for that one setting? Yes it was. Of course, a few months after, tI saw the pedal at GC for $75 less than the marked price. SONOFABITCH! Oh well.

BOSS Flanger BF-3 ("The Purple One"):

One of the first pedals I got. Still love it. Still figuring it out LOL.

MXR Carbon Copy Analog Delay:

My friend Ian dubs this "The only pedal you'll ever need." True, in many instances. But I'm keeping my other ones.

Digitech RP 150 Multi-Effects Processor:

People give Multi-Effects pedals a lot of crap because many of them are inferior, but this one is actually pretty sweet! I've created a few of my own effects using this thing, and it really introduces an experimental guitar player such as myself to a lot of new opportunities for sound. I created a pretty decent cocktail with reverb, delay, compression and noise gates with this baby! The downside is it's a bitch during live performances - the footswitches sometimes have a mind of their own.

BOSS Tremolo TR-2:

Your standard tremolo pedal. Serves me well. Can't part with it.

Boss Compression Sustainer CS-3:

I have a compression unit courtesy of my multi-effects pedal (see aforementioned), but I bought this one from a friend. It's really fun when you wanna piss off your neighbors; Lots of fun with feedback!!!!

Electro-Harmoniz Big Muff:

Damn good fuzz!!!!! I don't think I need to say too much about this one.

BOSS Digital Delay DD-3:

Bought this from my former bandmate for a price I couldn't beat with a stick. I like to use this one with my analog delay pedal, and let analog & digital fight it out.

...And btw, my collection of effects is in no way complete. But a good start!


Fostex MR-8 Digital 8-Track Recorder:

This was ultimately a lesson in impulse buying. I bought this on sale for $100, and turns out it was $100 for a reason. First off, it's false advertising; It's not really an 8-track. It has 8-tracks for recording, sure, but Tracks 5-8 are for mixdown and that type of stuff, so it's essentially a slightly more sophisticated 4-track recorder. Plus, other than using my multi-effects pedal, you can't get a good distortion sound out of it to save your life - it's way too fuzzy and cheap sounding, which has it's place for sure, but I find it ultimately frustrating. I've only recorded a couple of things on this as of yet, but that's in part because my headphones for this got broken by me accidentally stepping on them. Epic fail. I'm gonna upgrade to a more modern (and less obsolete) recording unit when I get some money. I guess for now it's good as a notepad for some ideas.

Samick Greg Bennett Acoustic Guitar:

Picked this up cheap when I first got to Seattle as I was awaiting my gear to arrive from CT to WA (my Dad held onto it for a few months as I got settled and everything). It's a good acoustic guitar. I currently have this tuned to Open E, because I was learning how to play "Salt of the Earth" by the Rolling Stones, and a few other songs.

So that's it for now, really. Today was the first day I plugged in for the first time since we moved into our new apartment, and it felt good. REALLY good. I actually came up with a few riffs while making myself deaf. No better way to wake up! I'll be sure to keep updating my creative endeavors and equipment upgrades/purchases as my financial situation stabilizes and as I get more settled here in Seattle. I'm gonna update this with a lot more stuff. My dormant period is over.

Oddities, Mishaps, and Curiosities: Rush - Caress of Steel

Good day, all.

So apparently, my post about the Gabrielle Giffords tragedy got taken down. Oh well.

I have been wanting to write about music again, so I fianlly decided to up and do it. And I wanted to create a blog series about albums that may have been a subject for debate. These are albums that tend to be overlooked, overshadowed, controversial, and/or divisive, but they definitely have its share of detractors and defenders.

My debut piece on this subject is that of Rush's 1975 record, Caress of Steel, the band's third album. The Caress period was not a great time for the young Canadian trio. After two albums and countless tours opening up for acts such as Kiss and Uriah Heep, the band's blend of Zeppelin and Yes wasn't entirely resonating with rock fans the way their label, Mercury Records, had hoped for.

Background:

Caress of Steel, their second album released in 1975, didn't make Rush's fortunes any brighter; In fact, they got worse. While Rush (1974) and Fly By Night (1975) had songs that got some radio play, sales weren't exactly stellar. Rush got no higher than #105 on the Pop Charts, and Fly By Night fared a little worse, peaking at #113. Caress of Steel performed even worse than those records, stalling at #148. The tour to support the album had the band playing at smalltown bars and it was jokingly called "The Down the Tubes Tour."

Why did Caress of Steel fail to attract a mass audience? While Fly By Night saw the band incorporating more progressive rock influences on tracks such as "By-Tor and the Snow Dog," Caress of Steel took their flirtations with prog to the next level. Out of the album's five tracks, two of them are over 10 minutes long, including "The Fountain of Lamneth," which takes up the album's second side and barely misses the 20 minute mark. This was 1975, though. Progressive rock had its share of acts that were able to achieve mainstream success; Yes' Tales From Topographic Oceans was a double album, containing four songs at 20+ minutes a pop and went at least gold, Jethro Tull's Thick As A Brick hit #1 in 1972 and that album was one 42 minute song, and Genesis got more and more successful with each album. Why were people reticent to get into Rush?

Well, it was probably because that the first two Rush records were good, not great. The band was still very much learning how to write songs and trying to incorporate their influences coherently. Plus, Alex Lifeson and Geddy Lee were still getting to know Neil Peart, who actually didn't join the band until after they recorded their debut. With two decent albums under their belt, and with no hits to grant them a pop audience other than stoners who loved hard rock, Caress of Steel did little to even sustain that audience. It's a pretty dark record, perhaps the darkest album they ever did, and a very disjointed one. Even to this day, it's an overlooked album. I have never heard any songs from the album get radio play, and none of the songs really appear on Rush's setlists these days. Rush fans are still divided on Caress of Steel, perhaps even more so than any other record they did. Many people recognize that Caress of Steel was the stepping stone to 2112 and beyond, but feel that 2112 and pretty much any album they did up until 1982 were far superior to this record. 2112 may have been Rush's breakout record, but Caress of Steel was the water that broke the dam. Still, Caress gets no love except by maybe the band's most hardcore fans. One of those fans being my childhood best friend's dad, who now plays in a Rush tribute band in New Jersey called Jacob's Ladder that supposedly covers the album in its entirety. I would love to see that; Hey Dave, take Jacob's Ladder out on tour and play Seattle, will ya?

Oh, and Caress was the band's third album after two poor-selling albums, and an album like Thick as a Brick was made after Jethro Tull had already gained success. Same goes for Yes and the monstrosity known as Topographic Oceans (future review maybe?).

"Bastille Day" (Live 1976)

What do I think:

I, however, thoroughly enjoy this album. A lot. In fact, I like this album more than 2112, and as it stands, it may be my third or fourth favorite Rush record. It's a challenging listen for sure, but listening to it several times makes it an easier listen. It opens with "Bastille Day," which is a heavy rocker much like Fly By Night's opener "Anthem," except perhaps not as pronounced as "Anthem." Also, when the biggest singles of the year consisted of "Love Will Keep Us Together" and "Someone Saved My Life Tonight," pop audiences probably wouldn't have an embraced a song about the French Revolution. The only other rocker on this album is the silly "I Think I'm Going Bald," supposedly a nod to Kiss' "Goin' Blind." While not a bad song, it's not exactly their most memorable either. It does sound like recycled riffs from their first album, and in 1975, the three men in Rush probably would not consider balding a major issue - these days maybe. "Lakeside Park" is the only filler track on here.

This brings us to the two epic length tracks on the album. Side A ends with "The Necromancer," a 12 minute track which is pretty ominous. Inspired by The Hobbit, and with each of the song's three parts opening by deadpan narration (provided by Neil Peart, if I'm not mistaken), it's very scattered. There is no solid riff uniting the piece, and it almost sounds like 3 entirely different songs in one incoherent package. Yet despite its incoherence, the heavy riffs are enticing, and the more melodic pssages are incredible. Obviously, Rush would get better with songs in the 10-12 minute range over time ("Xanadu," "The Camera Eye," etc), but "The Necromancer" gets the ball rolling.

Side Two is entirely comprised of "The Fountain of Lamneth," an epic that just falls short of 20 minutes long (a proto-2112, if you will). Unlike "The Necromancer," this piece is a little more solid, with many riffs being reprised in later sections of the song (the first and last sections, mainly), and overall it goes together better. It also further brigns the album into more brooding and eerie territory with the "No One At The Bridge" section, and the more plaintive and wistful side of the band with "Panacea," which is anchored by a classical guitar. I don't know about you, but I actually prefer "The Fountain of Lamneth" over Rush's other epic length compositions. It's an underrated gem in an album that really is bronzed over time, and I'd be interested and thoroughly pleased if the band ressurected it on tour.

So, to any novice Rush fans, if you want to hear where 2112 came from, listen to Caress of Steel. Yes, it's incoherent and shaky in some areas, and the dry production of the album is a bit of a turn off, but there is still some high quality music on this record. For me, this marks the start of Rush's creative peak (even if the band didn't know it at the time), and I find myself listening to this album a lot these days.

"No One At The Bridge" - the 3rd section of "The Fountain of Lamneth." One of the most moving and dark pieces of music they did

The Fire, Reignited

Yes, this is a picture of me. I have decided to start this blog up again after over a year. I've also decided to make it more personal, more animated, more human. I realized that you kind of need that to draw people in; As a rule, people these days hate just reading. They want something to look at. They want to be engaged in something other than an onslaught of words coming from one person out of 7 billion in this vast world. I will make this stand out.

The last time I posted was on the Gabrielle Giffords shooting. Since then, a lot has happened in my life. Congresswoman Giffords is slowly, but surely, gaining her old abilities of walking and talking back after being shot in the head. I have recently moved from my lifetime home in Connecticut out to Seattle with my girlfriend. Long story short, as much as we had tried to make things work in Connecticut, it just wasn't. School hadn't panned out for me, and both of us were working jobs that were making us hella miserable and near suicidal. The winter of 2011 was one of the snowiest in New England's recorded history, and digging through literally feet of snow drove us nuts as well. We both also tried to advance our prospects in the workforce other than the same shitty food service hellholes we were accustomed to in Connecticut, such as working for a bank, office work and so on, but we met with resounding failures: Connecticut's job market isn't exactly great, and we were kind of misfits back home.

So around March of last year, we booked a vacation with our tax return dollars to Seattle, went there last June and completely fell in love with the place even before our first night there was through. We met a few people, fell in love with its landscape of evergreen trees, the Puget Sound and mountain range more or less bookending the city. It was the first time we had felt alive in years. So we decided that we were gonna move there, and that was that. After many months of toiling it out at our shitty jobs, putting every scrap of money away we could, selling most of our worldly possessions except for the essentials, and saying goodbye to our families and friends, we made it out here in our beat up '98 Chevrolet Lumina (nicknamed Gorbachev, or "Gorby," due to the patch of rust on the hood of the otherwise white car), and we're ready to take the Emerald City on.

We have been here for about a week now, though we were without Internet until this Thursday. We've just been setting up shop, buying furniture and other stuff, and reeling from the exhausting road trip across 3000 miles. We're gonna start looking for jobs soon, sending out resumes and all that. I'm also gonna write more because the last year or so was also a creative dead end for me. Ever since A Slanderous Choir broke up, which I mentioned in the summer of 2010, I just hadn't been inspired to pick up the guitar or a pen. I did continue writing for Music Spiel (www.musicspiel.co.uk) for a period last year, but even then I struggled with it. I seem to have gotten inspired again. The only thing that sucks about that is that my music gear is back home, being held for me by my dad until I'm ready for him to send it out. And a message to him: Get the packages ready soon!

More to come in the near future. Seattle is an exciting city, and it feels like home to me already, so there should be no shortage of inspiration in the coming months for me. But for now, it's late and my bottle of Dos Equis is empty. Off to bed I go in order to be energized enough to kick tomorrow in the ass! I've been sleeping a lot lately, probably because I've been exhausted for months preparing for this move, but it was all worth it.

Take care everybody!