Back in the saddle
I have not been playing or listening to much music for the past four or five months, partly to minimize exposure to sound due to aggravated levels of tinnitus. This experiment has had some benefit in the realization that I can still perform, create and record with a more sensible, stripped down approach. And since there is an ongoing film soundtrack project to be completed and a call recently went out to perform at a benefit show for a fellow musician, the time came to saddle up!
First the gig. Local musician, Mark Growden recently sustained injuries from a nasty bicycle crash (something i know plenty about) and a crew of local musicians are playing a Benefit for the Being of Mark Growden this Sat. Mar 29 at 12 Galaxies in SF, CA. I played guitar in a crazy rock band with Mark five years years ago, along with Tommy Cappel of Yard Dogs, Simon from Extra Action/Crash Worship and Michael Mellender of Sleepytime Gorilla Museum. Damn, that’s a super group. We did, I think, 3 gigs before it imploded, unnamed. I might just be in the mood for some loud guitar (with earplugs)…
Nightsoil. My good friend, film maker Thad Povey and I are preparing this 16mm projected image and live music performance piece for the big time. Originally conceived and created with hand-manipulated and found footage by Thad and Al Alvarez and with a live performance soundtrack by myself and Mark De Gli Antoni (of Soul Coughing fame), it has seen a gorgeous HD digital transfer and is in the process of receiving a new soundtrack. This past weekend saw our first studio session at New, Improved Recording in Oakland, CA. We were able to capture the epic end composition, Katarina, some great sound effects and improvisational musique concrete with Jenya Chernoff on drums, Suki O’Kane on vibes, Jonathan Segel on violin and myself on guitar.
