we were blessed to play at club ark again this weekend. mad props to Myron and the club ark crew for being so hospitable! i'd totally forgotten how rad the smoke machine and lighting were at club ark. sorry no pictures lately - i keep forgetting to charge the digital camera.
carl deese (bass player in my band) opened up the show with an acoustic set of originals. love that loop-delay thing dude! "my boooooooooo...."
for those of you who don't know, I have an unhealthy pre-occupation with lightsabers, star wars, and the like. while jodi was out of town this weekend, I fell asleep and woke up several times to our new DVD of episode III. it was pretty much playing around the clock. and, if you'll recall, I also had a Star Wars birthday party last month.
our dear friend, Paul Deluca is aware of this. he knows me well, and he's heard me carry on about this fascination of mine. so you can understand my dismay when I realized, as we were in the middle of our set, that people were playing a Star Wars game on Xbox! Paul and I had been playing Xbox earlier that night. Paul was the one who walked over to all the games to pick which ones we played - these included Mike Tyson boxing, some Nascar race game, and Tiger Woods golf - they did NOT include anything resembling Star Wars.
understandably, I was very upset with Paul and am now trying to forgive and forget. just like I did when he tried to burn our house down with a bag of microwave popcorn....
11.21.2005
11.17.2005
11.17.05 - the Rock, ASU
tonight we were spoiled with a group of students hungry for worship. they asked us to do a whole service of singing and communion. the Holy Spirit was in the house, and the Rock definitely showed up to get some. good vibes all around - the Rock rocks!
with all the delays of our new CD coming out, we've lied to this group the most. every time, it's been like "we'll have the new CD next time we come." and next time we arrive empty handed again! wish we'd taken some pictures - but maybe next time?
with all the delays of our new CD coming out, we've lied to this group the most. every time, it's been like "we'll have the new CD next time we come." and next time we arrive empty handed again! wish we'd taken some pictures - but maybe next time?
11.14.2005
business = busy-ness
here's what my last few days looked like:
wednesday: had band practice 4-6pm, then worked 7pm to 5am at the hospital.
thursday: practiced 4-6pm, then worked 7pm to 5am.
friday: band practice 4-6, then 2nd band practice 6-7:30, then gigged on ASU campus 8:30-10pm... then worked midnight to 7am!
saturday: slept about 3 hours, then had band practice noon to 2pm. tried to nap... but couldn't. then rolled to the crash competition by 6:30.
sunday: up by 6am to play drums at crosspointe.
sunday afternoon: nap time!
no towels! need sleepy!
wednesday: had band practice 4-6pm, then worked 7pm to 5am at the hospital.
thursday: practiced 4-6pm, then worked 7pm to 5am.
friday: band practice 4-6, then 2nd band practice 6-7:30, then gigged on ASU campus 8:30-10pm... then worked midnight to 7am!
saturday: slept about 3 hours, then had band practice noon to 2pm. tried to nap... but couldn't. then rolled to the crash competition by 6:30.
sunday: up by 6am to play drums at crosspointe.
sunday afternoon: nap time!
no towels! need sleepy!
11.12.2005
11.12.05 - crash competition semi-finals
we did a 3-song set at the semi-finals of the crash competition (local battle of the bands-type deal). only by some Grace and a large number of votes from our sweet fans did we squeak into the final round by nabbing the wild card spot.
carlsbad... no really, he's a pretty bad dude.
kurt (aka the gimp), wahba, and josh's arm. note the custom kick drum head with wahba headphones. watch out, Warrant!
11.11.2005
11.11.05 - faithful city @ ASU
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kurt, tim and I did an outdoor acoustic cafe with the very cool Faithful City ministries. they are an all Asian/Indian-American student ministry with such sweet, kind folks. we were a little chilly (for Arizona), but good vibes all around....
tim hitting the dumbek and djembe.
the beast (between me and tim) makes us a quartet.
10.31.2005
best week ever... or best week this month
much to catch up on from this past week. here's the run-down....
wednesday, 10/26 - my birthday! we led worship with youth for truth at grace chapel (who were so warm and fuzzy). then went off to buca di beppo for a late b-day dinner with carl, leslie, jodi, josh and paul. i'm feeling pretty stinkin' old. trying to embrace the 31-ness.
thursday - finished mixing! done. that's it. no more for me to DO to get the album DONE, because it's done. I've already uploaded my whole album to the mastering engineer's website (see "monday").
friday - i finally got to sit down and play around with my birthday gift - an ipod! i'm going through the slow process of ripping all my CDs and getting them onto this monster. i've already used 10 out of 60GB on it. and we're not close to being done with loading up!
saturday - after more toying with the ipod, jodi and I went to a halloween party at a grad-school-buddy's house. she was a flapper. I was a sumo wrestler - the costume was inflatable with a fan that kept me looking more sumo than I already do. slicked the hair into a bun and the whole deal. please don't ask for photos. it wasn't exactly a fond halloween memory in the making.
sunday - did acoustic worship at crosspointe in the morning, then had my birthday party. jodi really went all out for this one. she made me homemade carrot cake. all the cups, music, decorations, and prizes were themed around star wars. we divided into teams and played games like light saber-balloon relay races, and pin-the-light-saber-on-the-vader. she even got me my very own light saber (not a real one of course). you rock, boss!
monday - today is mastering day. I'm biting my fingernails about this one. I've never had a real pro try to master - or even listen to an album I've produced. the mastering engineer is a gentleman in Nashville named Hank Williams - he's mastered several grammy winners/nominees, as well as the latest records by DCB and Passion.
sorry so long. we'll try to keep up. hope you're well!
wednesday, 10/26 - my birthday! we led worship with youth for truth at grace chapel (who were so warm and fuzzy). then went off to buca di beppo for a late b-day dinner with carl, leslie, jodi, josh and paul. i'm feeling pretty stinkin' old. trying to embrace the 31-ness.
thursday - finished mixing! done. that's it. no more for me to DO to get the album DONE, because it's done. I've already uploaded my whole album to the mastering engineer's website (see "monday").
friday - i finally got to sit down and play around with my birthday gift - an ipod! i'm going through the slow process of ripping all my CDs and getting them onto this monster. i've already used 10 out of 60GB on it. and we're not close to being done with loading up!
saturday - after more toying with the ipod, jodi and I went to a halloween party at a grad-school-buddy's house. she was a flapper. I was a sumo wrestler - the costume was inflatable with a fan that kept me looking more sumo than I already do. slicked the hair into a bun and the whole deal. please don't ask for photos. it wasn't exactly a fond halloween memory in the making.
sunday - did acoustic worship at crosspointe in the morning, then had my birthday party. jodi really went all out for this one. she made me homemade carrot cake. all the cups, music, decorations, and prizes were themed around star wars. we divided into teams and played games like light saber-balloon relay races, and pin-the-light-saber-on-the-vader. she even got me my very own light saber (not a real one of course). you rock, boss!
monday - today is mastering day. I'm biting my fingernails about this one. I've never had a real pro try to master - or even listen to an album I've produced. the mastering engineer is a gentleman in Nashville named Hank Williams - he's mastered several grammy winners/nominees, as well as the latest records by DCB and Passion.
sorry so long. we'll try to keep up. hope you're well!
10.20.2005
campus crusade - 10.19.05
this week, me and josh led worship at ASU's campus crusade. so, so, so cool. it was one of those times when there was little need for a worship leader, and an incredible need for 100+ college students just to sing songs and clap and make noise for God. Alex, Jack, and the whole ASU Cru crew were mighty hospitable.
"yyyyyou should have a wrinkly collar like mine"
-paul 'p-diddy' deluca
after the worship gig, we headed to my big fat greek restaurant on mill ave for the meat lover's platter.
we boys ate our fill, mm-hmm.
10.18.2005
done recording... another setback
as of today, we're done with recording for the album!
jj heller and her husband, dave, came over to record the final few vocals for the album. i've already mixed 3 songs - 10 more to mix in the next few days. i'm so thankful to the Big Man. yippeee!
today I realized another setback though. my mastering dude no longer works with the same company. he might not even be doing mastering anymore. I liked him so much - and the work he did on my last album was amazing. not to mention, he was the cheapest person with a dedicated mastering studio i'd ever met.
having to choose another mastering studio/engineer will most likely cost me 3-4 times what my other guy would have cost. there might be good news about who I end up choosing though. we'll keep ya posted. meantime, if you get a minute, please pray for us as we mix and master over the next few weeks. thanks so much.
jj heller and her husband, dave, came over to record the final few vocals for the album. i've already mixed 3 songs - 10 more to mix in the next few days. i'm so thankful to the Big Man. yippeee!
today I realized another setback though. my mastering dude no longer works with the same company. he might not even be doing mastering anymore. I liked him so much - and the work he did on my last album was amazing. not to mention, he was the cheapest person with a dedicated mastering studio i'd ever met.
having to choose another mastering studio/engineer will most likely cost me 3-4 times what my other guy would have cost. there might be good news about who I end up choosing though. we'll keep ya posted. meantime, if you get a minute, please pray for us as we mix and master over the next few weeks. thanks so much.
10.12.2005
let the mix begin
it's a wednesday and as of today, I'm all done recording (with the exception of one female vocalist we're trying to get into the studio next week).
and I'm almost completely done editing all the songs. this is where I painstakingly go through each vocal, guitar, bass - everything recorded - and "clean up" the track, getting rid of extra noises and making sure everything lines up and fades nicely. the goal is to set aside mixing days for just mixing and not much else.
speaking of which, I'll (Lord willing) start mixing this saturday and through next week. all going well, we should be started on the mastering process by the last week of October!
in other current events, as I type, Jodi is on the very last hour of her comps (comprehensive exams - three lovely 9 hour days of intensive testing, with questions custom made by her advisor based pretty much on everything she's ever learned). it's the last major milestone in getting her PhD before she actually completes her dissertation.
so life kinda sucks. i'm waiting for my wife back while she waits to get her husband back. hark! the end is in near sight!
and I'm almost completely done editing all the songs. this is where I painstakingly go through each vocal, guitar, bass - everything recorded - and "clean up" the track, getting rid of extra noises and making sure everything lines up and fades nicely. the goal is to set aside mixing days for just mixing and not much else.
speaking of which, I'll (Lord willing) start mixing this saturday and through next week. all going well, we should be started on the mastering process by the last week of October!
in other current events, as I type, Jodi is on the very last hour of her comps (comprehensive exams - three lovely 9 hour days of intensive testing, with questions custom made by her advisor based pretty much on everything she's ever learned). it's the last major milestone in getting her PhD before she actually completes her dissertation.
so life kinda sucks. i'm waiting for my wife back while she waits to get her husband back. hark! the end is in near sight!
10.05.2005
getting closer...
as of today, I *think* i'm pretty much done with all the vocals on the album. finished "saint" and "my Jesus" this week. I've still yet to record some odds and ends - a possible guest female vocalist who will remain unnamed until she is actually sitting in my studio recording harmonies on 2 of my songs. kurt's solos on "saint." also a cello track or two. some extra guitars on "my Jesus".
then comes track clean-up and digital editing. and we're off to the mixes. I've actually called discmakers in an effort to have everything's lined up when the dang thing is finally mastered.
it's a beast. but a fun, playful, rewarding beast.
meantime, we're practicing every day this week for the crash competition. my drummer, Josh, has been using an in-ear click all week, and he's sounding pretty darn good. hopefully we'll start using it for every practice, then start using it live. that will be a huge relief.
okay, i'm not really talking about anything of any real consequence, so i'll go to bed now. g'night. G'bless.
then comes track clean-up and digital editing. and we're off to the mixes. I've actually called discmakers in an effort to have everything's lined up when the dang thing is finally mastered.
it's a beast. but a fun, playful, rewarding beast.
meantime, we're practicing every day this week for the crash competition. my drummer, Josh, has been using an in-ear click all week, and he's sounding pretty darn good. hopefully we'll start using it for every practice, then start using it live. that will be a huge relief.
okay, i'm not really talking about anything of any real consequence, so i'll go to bed now. g'night. G'bless.
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