A few days off

I am currently back in Arkansas trying to take care of a couple of other obligations I have and will then return to Louisville to finish up recording. I am still not sure if we are doing one more song or if we are doing a full album.

This is about the time of the recording process for us that is very stressful. Up until this point a lot of people have made some promises or at least lead us to believe some stuff was going to happen. It is now time to act on this stuff and this is where the "business" side comes into play. This is exactly why we didn't want to announce a lot of the stuff that we have been told was going to happen because there is still a chance that it will not happen. Hopefully everything will work out but over the course of the next week or two we will find out exactly what is going to work and what isn't.

Today (I believe) is the first meeting (actually a conference call as I understand it) that will determin at least part of this. Another meeting is set up for later this week that will also determin a large part of what is going on.

This is all nerveracking to be going through. It is even worse for me because I am not there to know what is going on as it happens.

Add to that the stress of the army telling me that I am a lying piece of shit and the facts presented by a low ranking person (me) are out weighed by the opinions (which are WRONG) of higher ranking people.

After going through AT a few months ago my attitude and opinion of my unit was changed drastically for the better. Now I could care less. My military future has been drastically altered now.

Oh well, as I said, I really don't care any more. The army has become nothing but a waste of my time and talents. I thought I had at least made some friends but I am starting to realize that on many cases I was wrong about that as well....

You would think that as long as I have been around the music scene I would be used to fake people but I still get caught off guard from time to time....

I should point out though, I don't have a bad opinion about the army, the truth is I have massive respect for the army. My unit is just not an army unit. They even say that. The unoffical motto is "We are not an army band, just a band that wears the army uniform."

I couldn't say it any better myself.

I have a lot of respect for a ton of other soldiers I have seen in other units, the army itself is not bad, there are just bad soldiers and I have had to deal with some of those lately. So please, don't take my negative feelings towards some (I should stress that as well, not everyone in my unit is a bad person....) of the people in my unit as me saying they are all bad.

I have ranted enough about this though...

I will update this with any news about our music as it comes in. I am excited for this and regardless of what happens I am proud of the work we have done and I can not wait to let other people hear this and to get out and play it live for everyone!

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Another studio update

I think it is about 4:30am or so, I am not sure.... My time and even days are all mixed up right now. But it is late and we are still working and will likely be up working for at least another four or five hours.

We started our fourth song tonight and I think the plan is to finish all but vocals tonight... and if we get everything done fast enough we might even take a stab at the vocals.

We are in a weird situation right now, everyone wants to record a full album but as of right now we don't have the funding to do so. We are trying everything we can to come up with the remaining money needed but personally I am at a loss of what else to do.

This process is going great and we are starting to build a team to work with us and work for us. We now have someone who will act as our executive producer and will head our national radio campaign.

We have some other people to talk to lined up but nothing or no one has confirmed nor have we signed with anyone yet.

But I will give away a little detail, very small, but if anyone is actually taking the time to read this then I figure I owe you something, right? We do have at least one meeting set up in the near future that could change our future drastically.

That is all I want to say right now because I am scared to say to much in case something happens and it falls through.... if I blab about everything and then it doesn't happen I suddenly look like I am "crying wolf" so to speak.

Regardless of how this studio situation turns out, we are at least going to walk away with a great sounding EP.

Our future will consist of hard work and a lot of live shows no matter what happens. It is our goal to become known as one of the hardest working bands on the road.

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Studio Update number 2

Yesterday we took a much needed rest day to recover from the crazy insane hours we have been working lately. This schedule is pretty tough because it is not really a set schedule, we may not start working until as late as 10pm and may not stop working until 11am the following day.

I like the fact that we are taking our time with this and making it sound right. I think the plan for today is to finish recording our second song, start doing the "meat and potatoes" of the third song and work on the mix of the first song.

Yeah, it takes longer working this way but it allows for us to make changes to songs immediately if needed and not have to go back and set the drums back up and spend another day getting the right tones. If you can't match the tones then you would have to re record the entire track....

Doing it this way allows us to make changes as we record and if we need to re cut part of the drums it is no big problem.

I am just not sure how long this process is going to take with the rest of the album. I am convinced that in the end, the quality will be worth it. This is just much different than the way I have ever recorded before....

We have had a lot of news come in that has been amazing and I can not wait until we can announce it all.

It seems as if I might even have my first drum endorsement!!!!

This is all really exciting and is going really fast right now......

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Studio update

There has been so much going on with us while we are here in Louisville that it is hard to keep track of it all. This has been one of the most positive experiences I have ever had and we haven't even been here for a week.

If you are on facebook you should make sure you like my bands page, www.facebook.com/newskinrock so that you can see all of our video updates.

To give a quick rundown of our experience from my point of view we have to trust my memory...so here it goes.....

I arrived here about an hour before everyone else and was able to talk a little to Hugo by myself and I was very glad to find out that despite all of his success he is still a very down to earth, humble guy.

The first thing we did when we started working was to write a new song. It turned out even better than I thought it could. Hugo decided to put his voice on the song with us and sang the second verse. They lyrics we wrote were from the perspective of a struggling band trying to make it in the music word and Hugo wrote his verse from the perspective of someone who has made it and now wants to help us out. It was a very touching song that damn near brought me to tears when I heard it.

The process has been a great one but has challenged our sleeping schedules, especially mind! He likes to start working around 9pm and work sometimes as late as 11am the next day. I still can not make myself not pass out around 3 or 4am. I have been the first one to pass out every night so far!

We worked on the song "Crawl" next and we made some changes to it, and at first I was a little scared because I didn't think I was going to like changing it. Crawl is one of my favorite songs we have. Once I heard the result I almost shit my pants! I didn't think I could like the song any more but I LOVE it!

My truck breaking down kind of changed our plans a little bit, instead of taking a break for a week and then coming back we have continued working and will do so until my truck is fixed and I can make it back here.

To make it even better we have gotten even more news that I can't quite share yet but I promise that when I can it will blow your mind as much as it did mine!!!!

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New Skin updates and some thoughts about stuff....

I have posted on here numerous times about going to record in Louisville. Since I am getting up pretty early in the morning to leave for Louisville, I thought I would share a bit about how this came about, at least my understanding of it....

A few weeks ago Tantric played a show in Jackson TN and a couple of my band mates went to the show. After the show they hung out with the guys in the band. One of them, I believe Scottie, was smart enough to take a couple of our songs with him on CD and gave the CD to Hugo, who is the singer for Tantric.

Apparently Hugo took the CD and listened to it some time later and decided that he actually liked what he heard and that he wanted to work with us. A few phone calls later and we are scheduled to head to Louisville to record an EP with him.

I am not sure what else, if anything, will develop from this. As long as we end up with a good quality recording of our songs I think I will be happy. I would like to think a few more things may develop from this, but it is still to early to take any guesses as to what, if anything, will happen.

Having said that, I do find myself a bit nervous tonight. I only have three days thanks to my busy schedule this month to knock out five or six songs. Not to mention we may end up writing a song on the spot.

Needless to say, I will be pretty busy over the next few days trying to get the best possible performance out of myself. I have no idea what it is going to be like to work for this guy, I only hope that it turns out to be a positive experience.

I wish I was going to be able to stay up there in Louisville longer than I am going to be able to. I have to come back to Arkansas for drill and then a couple of training days for the Military Funeral Honors program then off to Maryland for more army obligations. I came back from all of this on the 17th. If the EP is not finished by then I will be making a return trip to Louisville. Part of me hopes I have to go back up there but part of me hopes it is finished by then!

I am about to attempt to be lazy, relax a bit, watch some TV and try to sleep. Tomorrow will be another long day and they don't look to get any easier any time soon......

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Kind of music related....

This entry is somewhat related to music, but in a way it is not.

I am toying with the idea of running a marathon in December. I am 100% sure I could complete a half marathon by then. I am about 80% sure that I could train to complete a full marathon by then. I have no delusions of winning this thing, or even making it a "race" but my goal is only to finish it.

(The way this is kind of related to music is that training for this would make me get in WAY better shape and that would have a positive effect on my endurance playing and make me look a little better and we know ((even if we hate to admit it)) that image is a HUGE part of music)

I hate to say it, but part of what is making my decision difficult is the registration fee. It is non-refundable so if I decide to register for the half marathon and then decide to run the full marathon, it will cost me a lot more money. What is worse is if it is the other way around, I would lose money if I went from a longer race to a shorter race.

This is also a time commitment because I will need to be running four to five days a week at least for the next six months.

I have until August 1st to make up my mind for sure on which race, if any, I want to run. Until then I am just trying to get a good base running pattern to start actually training from. I started today and will continue this until right before August 1st and see how I feel about it then.

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For my supporters......

Most anyone who reads this probably already knows that I am in the National Guard. I play percussion in the 106th Army Band. I am sure most people remember the slogan for the National Guard, one that was way overplayed... "Two days a month, two weeks a year"

Well, the past couple of weeks I have been away on the "two weeks a year" part of the requirements for the Guard.

During that time, I have had very little time to get online and do any promotion work, to advertise at all, to try and stay in contact with the people who do keep up with this site, listen to my music and in general support me with everything that I do.

I have been playing music for many years and I have learned over the years not to get caught up in numbers, not to care how many shows up to a show, how many buy a shirt or a CD because when you get caught up in the numbers you often focus on the people who are NOT there to support you and forget about the people who are. I try to focus on the people who are there and sometimes I am surprised by those people.

Part of the way this site works is keeping track of how many people show up to the site, how many people listen to your music, watch your videos etc and ranks them all together and somehow comes up with their rating system and ranks everyone by geographical location.

It makes me feel really good to have been gone for two weeks and see that my numbers have not taken a drastic plunge. That shows me that there are people there who will show support even if I am not constantly begging for it.

To everyone who has taken their time to help me out by visiting this site, listening, watching, reposting and everything else..... THANK YOU!!!!!

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Practice and Lifestyle

I have been playing drums for a long time. I am not where near the player I should be for as long as I have been playing. Over the many years I have learned and re learned a lot of lessons.

That may sound a bit weird but it is possible to forget something you knew and end up re-learning it. There is a saying "those who don't know the past are doomed to repeat it" and in this case, I sometimes forget basic principles because I just don't think about them much.

Perhaps this is a sign that I need to find a new way to try and remember things, or maybe it is just something that happens to everyone at some point.

Lately, I started practicing on basic fundamentals of playing drums and realized two things: 1) There are things that are so "simple" that I have not worked on in years and those skills have deteriorated. 2) Working on fundamentals will make your overall playing better.

What is ironic about this is that I used to preach this very principle to my former band. I would get pretty worked up when my band mates would show up and it was obvious they had not done any work on their own and I used to bitch about them not working on basic fundamentals because you can never do enough work on fundamentals.

The other main thing I have realized, and this is something that I have realized for a few years now but have kept it hidden.

I went out Saturday night to see some bands (a GREAT show!) and ended up getting really drunk. So much so that I couldn't move Sunday. Sunday was the day I planned on doing most of my playing and rehearsing for the new music I am working on and that day was wasted.

I have been working out a whole lot over the past couple of months and I have noticed a positive change in my playing.

I do have this reputation for being a drinker. And it is not one that I deny, because I do like to drink. I always have fun when I get drunk. A lot of people think I am an alcoholic.

This is what I have kept hidden. I WANT people to think I am an alcoholic. But the truth is, I don't drink a whole lot. No where near as much as people think.

I don't drink because, as this past weekend showed me yet again, it is hard to practice when you have a hangover so bad that you can't move from the couch.

I think I have now wasted enough time so that I can play drums without waking up the neighbors, so I must now do some last minute homework before I head up to Martin to spend a couple of days rehearsing. It is going to be a lot of fun!

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New Skin

Thankfully I can say that I have now found a new band. The audition process, once started, didn't last to long. This band is based in Martin Tennessee and is more of a commercial rock band than metal.

I was hesitant at first to make that switch because I had so much fun playing metal in my previous band, This Tragic Day, that I really thought I wanted to keep playing metal. Of all of the auditions I had lined up, the one I was really looking forward to was a metal band based in Jonesboro Arkansas. I really liked their music, I thought my playing would compliment them very well plus the distance to practice is MUCH less than any other band I was talking to. Add in the fact that I had previously played in this band (years ago) and that I knew the guys, I honestly thought that the other auditions I had set up was almost a waste of time.

I thought that the logical thing to do though was to go to these other auditions "just in case."

I am damn glad that I did that.

Upon arriving in Martin I was a little hesitant, not because of anything I saw or anyone I met. Instead, it was the fact that it is going to cost me almost $100 for every trip I make up there. *Unless gas drops like it should, but probably wont.*

I was also a little worried because I did not take my own drum set and instead would be playing on another kit. This usually is not a huge problem but when playing songs that I am not 100% comfortable with, playing on a kit that I am not comfortable with at all could end up being a problem.

I could instantly tell that there was chemistry between everyone in the room when we started playing. Not only that, I could sense that everyone knew what they were doing and was in control while at the same time there was no "boss." I like that atmosphere.

We played through the two songs I had learned a couple of times and since they thought I had pretty much nailed them, they decided to work on a new song.

I thought it was a good sign that I was able to play through it on the first try. After we rehearsed that song a few more times they decided to throw another song at me.

This one took me about two or three times to get, but playing two songs and learning two songs in the course of about three hours was a great first day.

The rest of that day, after a couple of the guys went to work, we sit around and drank some beer and did some work with just a few of us at the studio.

It was nice to just sit and talk, discuss the band, future plans, mutual friends etc etc.

I was being asked if I wanted to join the band by the end of the first day. I said yes.

I could tell pretty much instantly that this was a group that I wanted to be involved with. It is a great atmosphere, great music and everyone seems very eager to get some work done. The music is a lot of fun to play as well.

That helped a lot because the thing I love about playing metal is the challenge of playing drums for the music. I have been able to challenge myself already with this music in ways that I have not been challenged in a long time.

I can say that I really like this band, I really like everyone involved and hope that it works out in the future.

Until then, I will be working on fundamentals and working on the songs I have from this band and looking forward to the next time I make the trip up to Martin to get another couple of days of rehearsal in!

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Jason Bittner

I was lucky enough to go see Jason Bittner, of Shadows Fall, do a drum clinic at the Memphis Drum Shop last night. It was a fucking great clinic!

I was a bit disappointed with the turnout though. I was also lucky enough to see Chris Adler do a drum clinic at the same place a little over a month ago. He also had a great clinic but it was completely different. As Chris said he "is not a teacher" so there was not much explanation to what he was doing or why he was doing it and while Chris is an amazing player, Jason Bittner managed to be even better.

Jason also did a mini concert with him playing along to some of the Shadows Fall tracks and a couple of other bands he performs with, but he also had a "teaching" part to his clinic where he broke down some of the stuff he played and showed how he played. He also talked a great deal about his practice habits, what helps him with playing and a lot of other information that was very useful.

I don't like to compare two drummers and say who is "better" because to me, it isn't a competition to see who is better. A drummer is either good or he (or she) is not.

*As a side note, I feel the same way about women, you will almost never hear me compare two good looking women to figure out who is the better looking of the two. On some rare occasions for different purposes I might be asked and will give my opinion but for the most part a woman is either good looking and/or attractive or she is not.*

I am thrilled that the Chris Adler clinic damn near sold out. Actually, it might have. I do remember over hearing someone who works there say, about 20 minutes before the clinic started, that they only had about 10 tickets left. Seeing a metal drummer draw a crowd like that, in a city like Memphis, was amazing.

I just do not know why Jason Bittner didn't draw as big of a crowd, or bigger!

Having seen the two clinics fairly close together, I can honestly say that if someone was in a situation where they could attend a clinic by either of them, but only one of them, without hesitation I would say "Get your ass to see Jason Bittner!"

Again, I am not trying to downplay Chis Adler, or what he does at his clinic, I was just shocked to see the disparity in attendance between the two clinics.

Aside from the amazing playing at the clinic, I think the biggest thing that really inspired me was watching a guy like that make a few mistakes. Then go on to demonstrate things he is currently working on.

Think about that for just a second, playing something you are working on usually means that you can't quite play it right just yet. To do that in front of people and show what some might call "holes" in your playing takes a lot of balls. But it is very inspiring as well. Sometimes it is nice to be reminded that these drummers are just human.

He really inspired me to get back to the basics of playing. I have spent today,so far, so simply exercises and have found a few flaws in my playing already as well. Breaking these "simple" exercises down and doing them slow should (in theory) make big advances to my playing.

I am so inspired by this I just may devote my entire practice session today to nothing but basics. I used to have these "basic" days fairly often, but it has been a while. I think I need one.

So, I guess now it is back to my metronome......

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