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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Interview with masters of metal Anvil

May 4, 2009 @ 3:07 am

From left to right: Glenn, Steve, me (with swollen face from wisdom tooth extraction) and Robb of Anvil. See all photos from this evening here.

Tonight I was fortunate enough to chat with and then see in concert true masters of metal, Anvil, at the Bridge Theater in San Francisco’s Inner Richmond district. The band powered through a short, blistering set to a standing-room only crowd following a screening of Anvil: The Story of Anvil, a new documentary about the band that Rolling Stone is calling “this year’s most praised rock doc” and one Michael Moore is calling “the best documentary I’ve seen in years.”

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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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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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