Music-related happenings in 2011

January 1, 2011 @ 3:47 pm

Hi friends,

The holidays are here, and keeping with that theme of renewal and change, I wanted to collate recent announcements about some cool new stuff happening on the music and Indie Rock 101 front. New single, blogging for Focal Press’s blog, updated Amazon author page with new articles and content. Read on for details…

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I'm blogging for Focal Press's blog for the audio community, Audio Undone

November 21, 2010 @ 6:41 pm

I’m honored and excited to announce my first post for my Indie Rock 101 publisher’s blog for the audio community, ‘Audio Undone.’ If you’re into audio production, it’s a great forum for new tips and info. I’ll be submitting new columns as time allows, so please subscribe for my latest musings on all things indie rock.

I’m now a blogger for AudioUndone.com, my publisher’s (Focal Press) blog for the audio community

My most recent entry is an interview with San Francisco mastering engineer and AES (Audio Engineering Society) 2010 Convention committee member and co-chair of the workshop track, Mike Wells. You can scroll down on the same page to see recent my première post, “3 Killer iPhone Apps for Guitar Gods on the go.”

I will be posting the same entries at the website for my book, Indie Rock 101, so subscribe to the RSS feed there for my posts about the book, my music, audio production and running, recording and promoting your music.

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Tune in online to my Boston radio interview this Saturday!

August 31, 2010 @ 10:54 pm

Tune in to my interview on Boston ’s WMWM this Saturday (9/4) at 4 p.m. EST for my book, “Indie Rock 101.” I’ll be talking about the book with DJ Cosmic Amanda and sharing some of my recorded songs. Listen online at www.wmwmonline.com. Should be fun!

The Star Chamber, Marvin Gaye and Getting Closer to the Music

September 2, 2009 @ 10:03 pm

I know it’s been a while since I posted, so I’d like to start off with a bit of news and gratitude. Since I found out the book would be published about a year ago (on my birthday, August 22^nd), it’s been enjoying a 4.5 star (out of 5) average on Amazon.com, most of them coming from readers I don’t know personally. So I’d like to give a shout-out to the friends that have reviewed it so far and the new folks that gave it nice notices as well. Thank you! I’ve been spending the last few months working on a new, non-music related writing project—a screenplay—but I look forward to hearing from more new readers and listeners, and eventually putting out some new music.

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Collaboration Tools & Process Seminar at Leo’s Pro Audio focuses on sharing large files online

February 14, 2009 @ 8:22 pm

From left to right: Gabriel Sheppard, Mike Wells, Mr. Ski, me, Michael DentonPhotos by Becky Ruden

What a cool Valentine’s Day. I just got back from being a panelist at this seminar and it was a total blast. The knowledge, expertise and passion of my fellow panelists was infectious and inspirational. I know the crowd learned a lot and I certainly did as well.

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I'm a panelist on a pro audio seminar this Saturday (Oakland, SF)

February 11, 2009 @ 10:22 pm

Hi all, this Saturday, I’m honored to be a panelist on the “Collaboration Tools & Process” seminar at Leo’s Pro Audio this Saturday Feb 14^th.

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Guitars have souls

February 9, 2009 @ 2:05 am

I first heard this theory upon reading Michael Azerrad’s Nirvana biography many years ago; Melvins and one-time Nirvana drummer Dale Crover had said it in protest of Kurt smashing his guitars on stage at the time. Here’s Crover in Azerrad’s excellent book Come as You Are…

“It’s anti-climatic. Kurt trying to break a guitar—it takes him 15 minutes. By the time it’s over, it’s like, big deal. I think that’s guitar murder. I think guitars have souls.”

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Easy, affordable web design software

February 2, 2009 @ 2:05 am

If you’re trying to promote your music, it definitely helps to know a little web design. If you think you aren’t tech-savvy enough to make your own website, or you think you can’t learn the software, don’t panic–there are options.

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Recording “live” with Spidermeow

January 31, 2009 @ 10:13 pm

As you can see on Focal’s website, IR101 features photos and interviews with some pretty great musicians and industry people. One of them is my friend and go-to engineer, Ron Guensche, whose New Vintage project studio is based here in the Bay Area. Ron’s recorded drums and vocals on a number of recordings I’ve worked on; he provided invaluable feedback on the IR101 manuscript, and he’s one of the most knowledgeable recordists and engineers I’ve ever met. He also plays a mean bass, as you’ll hear on some of my new recordings when I get them out around March ’09–just in time for the book’s release.

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Practice makes perfect

December 30, 2008 @ 12:10 am

Right now I’m reading Malcom Gladwell’s Outliers, about “Why Some People Succeed and Some Don’t.”

I’m only about 1/3 through, but so far, Gladwell’s put forth two big findings that validate how I’ve always felt about what it takes to succeed:*

– The first assertion the book makes is that being proficient at just about anything requires about 10,000 hours or 10 years

– The second is that there is a “threshold” for being good enough for most endeavors, i.e. there’s a ceiling for height required for being a pro basketball and IQ for winning a Nobel Prize

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