MB & SDY Update

Despite my ambivalence this morning I sent an email to MB and he responded and it looks like I'll have an audition in the next few weeks sometime. Which means that I probably should actually learn the songs.

Young Fresh Fellows

On Sunday I was playing drums...part of my "play/practice more often" push, and I put the mp3 player on random. Came across the Young Fresh Fellows and decided to play through all of Totally Lost.

I've written briefly about their drummer, Tad, in the past.

He plays fast fills on snare. Which I used to suck at. But on Sunday I nailed it pretty good. I was having an unusually good playing night...ending up playing Green Day and even trying Led Zepplin's Immigrant Song (and failing). Still, I was surprised to be able to play Tad's parts. It may be the first time I've been impressed with progress in a long time.

New Drum! Website

One of my favorite parts of Drum! magazine is the letter from the editor. A few months ago the editor wrote that he was stepping down from editing the hard copy magazine to run their online presence. I had forgotten this until he sent an update this month.

I've not been super impressed with the online presence for these kinds of magazines, but Drum! is striving to change all that with new daily content and improved resources. Go check the new and improved at http://www.drummagazine.com/

Mission of Burma That's How I Escaped My Certain Fate

This is really more than I could hope for in a video...fantastic view of the drummer:

Lessons Week 69

We continued with the MB setlist.

I've been up and down on whether I should try to audition. I felt a little discouraged at first because the first few songs we worked on were hard. And then I kind of ignored it for a while. But the last few lessons have been fun...the songs are fun. So I went ahead and sent an email to MB to see where he's at and if the position is even open. I'll need to bust ass to learn the songs for an audition if it comes to that...but I don't think it is out of my range.

I don't know...I'm kind of all over the place about whether I should add a third band to the rotation. But it just seems like a good opportunity and the tunes are good. I'm gonna start trying to actually learn the songs and then just see where the chips fall.

I'm also all over the place about whether I want to be playing more drums or more bass. I think that, until I learn the next 60 Pixies songs there's probably no need to try to pick up another bass gig...but it's hard not to keep looking. I also feel like I need to rededicate myself in general to actual drum practice (not just playing) and that adding more bands (on bass or drums) just takes me away from that. But I think MB would be an easy band to be in once I learned the songs because they are all pros...low drama. Anyway...who knows.

All I really know is that I need to be sitting at my drums more often.

Throat Sprays

I asked about sickness-related throat care at class last night and she highly recommended throat spray...not just during sickness...but as overall throat health care maintenance. She suggested Zand brand, which she said is only available at one store in the area out in Middleton. I've been using Herb Etc's Singer's Saving Grace for a long while, and while she said this was good too, she warned against using sprays with propolis, because it is a numbing agent.

Preparing for the Next Singing Class

So the next singing class isn't for two weeks due to schedule conflicts, but I've volunteered to be one of the first few people to work on a song. I think I'm going to do "The World's A Mess" by X. I thought I'd need help with Pixies songs...but the main lingering problem with those isn't my power...it's my tendancy for my harmony vocals to drift to the melody (and go off key in the process). I plan to ask her about that too...but it feels slightly off topic for the course. And...part of the reason that happens is because I can't hear myself, which is partially about power.

The X song has pissed me off from the start. I thought I could sing it in the beginning, but the more that I worked on it, the worse that it got. Eventually, I had to ask the band to abandon it. And that's annoying. So I want to learn what I'm doing wrong.

From 1983-ish


And 2004...no doubt with less drugs


And more versions: