Recording Started!

Today was the first day of recording for my album. It's starting slowly, as so far we've only worked on getting the time signatures for each song, but I'm sure it will start coming together quickly.

Yesterday I bought a new acoustic/electric guitar to get a great sound with the new recording, and I love my new guitar! It's an Ibanez AE series, and it sounds great, even without being plugged in. Although through a good amp, it sounds absolutely beautiful. I can't wait to see how this recording turns out.

Since I've started recording, I'm now starting to look into getting some small gigs around the Akron area as well. Hopefully some house parties or something first, then once I get the demo out there, some real venues. We'll see what happens. As always, I'll keep everyone informed here.

~ Lance

Song(s) Played During this Post: Hot Water Music - Russian Roulette; Hot Water Music - Bleeder.

Beauty is Power Like Money is Power Like a Gun is Power

I just (finally) finished reading Invisible Monsters by Chuck Palahniuk. (The author of Fight Club for those of you who don't know.) What an incredible book. Who but the twisted mind of Chuck could come up with some of this stuff? Near the end of the book bomb after bomb was dropped that just change your perception of the entire story thus far...incredible plot twists.

There are some excellent lines in the book as well, such as the one used in the title of this post. Another follows:

"...what I realize is mostly what I hate about Evie is the fact that she's so vain and stupid and needy. But what I hate most is how she's just like me. What I really hate is me so I hate pretty much everybody."

The story revolves around Shannon McFarland, a model who through a tragic accident ended up with a horribly disfigured face. She went from having anything she wanted on account of her beauty, to a hideous monster, who no one could even look at without being disgusted. A lot of the book refrences how so many people are incredibly vain and inconsiderate and achieve whatever they want at the expense of others, just because society considers them to be physically attractive. Looking around in real-life, a lot of that is dead on true. How many times have you seen a 'hot' girl act like a complete bitch and get away with it? She expects you to do anything for her because she is attractive...They are incredibly full of themselves. I see this all the time, and I love that this book addresses it through the story.

"Beauty is power like money is power like a gun is power."

Of course, in typical Chuck Palahniuk style there are plenty of cross-dressing, sex-change, sexually promiscuous characters...For example, I now know what (CLICK AT YOUR OWN RISK...YOU'VE BEEN WARNED!) 'Felching' means. A lot of times these bizarre/distrubing moments are used in a darkly humorous manner, and as a whole, this book is an excellent read. Check it out if you get the chance.

~ Lance

Song(s) Played During This Post: Marilyn Manson - Para-Noir; 10 Years - Wasteland; Green Day - Jesus of Suburbia

Flogging Molly Rocks!

So once again, Flogging Molly was in town. As always, if they are in town, I go see them. They are one of the best bands I have ever seen live, and they alwasy put on a great show. Friday was no exception. Me and 12 friends all bought tickets and met up at the House of Blues for the concert. It was an incredible time and if you ever get the chance to see them in concert, do it.

My favorite song of the evening was when they played 'Delilah'. They had a trumpet player come on for the song, and had a great musical interlude involving it. I had never heard them play that song live before, so it was nice to hear something different.

~ Lance

Song(s) Played During this Post: From Autumn to Ashes - Jack and Ginger; From Autumn to Ashes - Abandon Your Friends

New Art

I just posted some new art over at my Deviant Art Homepage. The piece can be seen directly here. Let me know what you think! A print will be available for purchase soon.

Song(s) Played During This Post: Tool - Pushit (Live); Powerman 5000 - Free

~Lance

Music You Should Listen To

I recently discovered the band She Wants Revenge. I heard their song 'Tear You Apart' on the radio and quickly downloaded some more. They definetely have an 80's feel to their music with electronic effects and simple beats/melodies. The singer uses a very monotone voice (similar to Interpol) which makes the band sound very different from most music today. Additionally, the lyrics for some of the songs are great, especially Tear You Apart and Sister. Check them out!

In other news, I saw this Dilbert strip today and it made me laugh a lot. It's so true, because I deal with this kind of thing all the time. People think that just because I know a lot about computers I have some sort of obligation to help them with theirs.



Song(s) Playing During this Post: At the Drive-In - Enfilade; The Strokes - You Only Live Once

~ Lance