Chronic Future

I remember the summer of '04, and on the radio was a really nice fun song called "Time And Time Again" by a band called Chronic Future. At first, I'm sure I thought "Yaaaaaaay! Another rap rock band we don't need! Whoo-hoo!!!" But that damn single caught in my head and wouldn't get out. So I had to do something! So I bought the album right before they were playing a show in downtown Dayton. Wrong move.

The band hooked me. The band had so much energy that you couldn't help but get caught up in their live show. I ended up seeing them twice (the second time because I had to trade in my Pixies tickets which almost killed me, a long story). I got to talk to Mike (the lead singer) a few times and he truely is a great guy. He's got the attitude that I so enjoy: more than willing to hang and talk to fans who really appreciate his/their music.

And their music. You hear the term "rap rock" and you immediately cringe. I know I do. But these boys, the inject their music with meaning. It's not about being angry, it's about knowing to what to do with that anger and change your life. It's actually uplifting music. Tracks like "Shellshocked" and "New York, NY" show you that these guys, just normal fellows from Arizona, have the songwriting talents of the some of the most lauded singer/songwriters. I'd love to see what Mike Busse could do on an acoustic record by himself some days.

Since 2004, they've been pretty inactive, not sure really why. But I do hear they're working on new songs. They have a few up on their myspace site. In all honesty, the first two new ones I heard, I wasn't really impressed. They were good demos, but just that, demos. Stuff that I think needed more work to fit into their sound a bit better. But then, the last new track came on. "If You Ever Run Away" has this very dreamy sound that I could see in the middle of one of their sets to settle the audience down. I definitely suggest downloading it.

*Reason I've been away:

Just finished up my quarter recently and I needed a break. Work has been crazy. I'm preparing for many shows in the next few weeks. My photos for The Static Age turned out like shit (but there will be a post on them in the next three posts), but my Taste Of Chaos stuff turned out great. I'll try to be better. Who knows what will happen.

End Of Reason*

My Hectic Life!

Sorry for the lack of posting, there has just been so much going on lately that I just haven't had the energy. Up till last night, I wasn't even online for about four days, a long time in my life. This past week was finals week, and while I didn't have any finals, I did have two critiques and a term paper to write. Both of my critiques for photography went very well, with my professors saying my Black & White final being my best body of work yet. Which is funny, for all of my finals before this have been band shoots I've done. Two with Shrug and one with The Decemberists. I had never done an artistic shoot before, because in all honesty, I don't consider myself an artist. I've always seen myself as more of a commerical photographer that just loves music. But my professor challenged me a bit to try something different. So I did. Here's a few of the results (the one above is my favorite):


I hope to use the same model on the right (Luci), for I really got some great looks out of her. Of course, there's about ten things I could have done better, but this was my first time shooting with models and trying something artistic.


Of course, I only ask that anyone reading (all four of you) to not post bad comments about my artwork. I'm very fragile and only accept compliments....or back-handed compliments. Those are okay too.


Back to regular life. I did two photo shoots this week, one for The Static Age and one for the huge Taste Of Chaos tour. Now, that second one might shock you a bit, "We thought this was more of a indie pop blog?" Well, it is, but I still have a lot of connections to the punk and hardcore scene I started out hanging with.

I should have stories soon for The Static Age and Taste Of Chaos, as soon as I can get back into the lab. I've been waiting a really long time to talk about TSA, ever since I found out about the tour.

Tomorrow will bring new songs, so stick around!

Late Nite Drivers....

The best way I could describe Late Nite Drivers, for me, is.....solid. And I mean that in the best way possible. I met Billy and Chris way back in 2003, the same night I met PJ and Tommy actually. The above picture is not the band I met, it just used to be Billy (middle left) and Chris (far right) and one other member, Bruce (now of Wet Leather fame). They've added a guitarist (Jeremy, formerly of Dead Like Presleys) and then lost both Bruce and Jeremy. And they've kept on, creating some of the coolest garage rock mixed with some sweet hooks and harmonies.

And they're great guys. Way back in the fall of 2003, Saving Face ended up doing a tour where they stayed with me for a few days. I helped book a show for them here in Dayton, with PJ and Tommy and Late Nite Drivers. Well, two members of LND decided they had a show coming up that was more important, so they weren't going to play. If they didn't, it would have left Saving Face hung to dry. But Billy and Chris don't do business that way, so they ended up playing a great solo set, with Billy on guitar and Chris on drums. It still stands up as one of those very cool moments in my rock and roll life.

And I haven't even gotten to the music yet! I haven't bought their new album, a self titled debut called.....well, Late Nite Drivers. And it strikes me as funny, for I have three other CDs by the band, but I guess this is the debut with the newest members, which Billy and Chris seem very happy to be with. With Heather on guitar and New Chris on bass, they seem to be perfectly in junction with each other.

"Fair Trade" This is one of my new favorite tracks from any local Dayton bands. While I still might favor the version of the band with Jeremy and Bruce, this new version is chipping away at that top spot. Heather's vocals add so much, in such short spurts. And Billy's voice is a whole new level, not so gravely, much smoother.

"Who We Are" This bouncy track feels a bit different than what I'm used to from LND. But great still. If I see the band moving in this direction, I will follow. Just like Bono.

Bonus Tracks:

Here are a few tracks from old albums and EPs!

Say That
Rock Quarry
And The Preacher Asked...

P.S. Billy, if you're reading this, I need a mp3 of "Setting Up For A Fall", it could have been a fricking hit single!!!!!!

Miscellaneous

I've been listening to a lot of different stuff lately, tastes varying many ways. I've been all over from lite alternative country to white boy hip hop....all in the same family.


Pink Nasty & Black Nasty are polar opposites, but you could definitely see them being related. Pink sounds a lot like Jenny Lewis, but I find her voice not so sweet, a little bit more relaxed. And she's the only artist I've found that can make me tolerate an Usher song, so much so, I now love the song. "Burn" is so well done, I could see Country stations across the nation picking this up and getting a ton of airplay. Then you have her brother....Black Nasty....and there has to be something wrong with the boy. Who the fuck writes a song about fucking their cat? For that matter, who the fuck writes a song about his secret love affair with a certain famous diarist from WW II? Well, Black Nasty does with his song "Bitch Named Frank". The man must be a bit deranged, but when you hear his sister's calming voice singing backup, it kind of makes sense. You get the feeling that Pink is probably just a messed up as her brother, but keeps it under check.


I'm also a little upset when Matt didn't mention me or my friend Lauren at the recent show with Marbles and Of Montreal. I ended up filming (holding the camera) a lot Robert's accoustic set for him, but do I get a mention? A link.....so I can get some decent hits here? No, of course not. But I relent, I had a great fucking time.

But we hit a bit of a snafu before the show. Lauren pulled what I call a "Shelley" and forgot her license. The show was at Southgate House, and they are notorious for not letting people in without ID. And I had to shoot this show, it was part of my Color final at school. So what was I to do? Well....thanks must go to Matt. I called him and tried to figure something out, so when he got down to the basement, he went right up to Robert Schneider and told him the situation. Robert and Matt came up to me and said...."We'll sneak ONE person through the back." Oh my god, it was an unforgetable moment for me, one I'll remember for a while. And Robert, man, the guy puts on a great show. I didn't know any of his acoustic songs, but I'm relatively new to him (I just bought my first Apples CD a week before the show).


"....MARBLES..." What can you say about Robert that everyone else has already said before and better? Anyone that can sing karoke to their own songs, and keep a semi-straight face the whole time is gold in my book. And he had so much damn fun.


Plus the dude loves fucking MATH?! You must love him.


And then Of Montreal came on, and what Matt said was almost perfect. This is a Top Ten show for me. I can't say it any better. Kevin Barnes just has this great personality about him, a mix of Bowie and I'd say Colin Meloy. A bit of witty banter and ready to dance and rock. Can't really go wrong with that. And they played the few songs I knew.


Requiem For O.M.M. 2
Rapture Rapes The Music
Disconnect The Dots

They truely made a fan for life that night.

Those People...

If I had to list any one year as being the most influential in my life...I'd say 2003 was that year. I fell totally in love for the first and only time, and I met three people that would kind of change my life, in a small but weird way. The first, Sarah Saturday, is probably the biggest person in my life, in a way that would change it. But we're gonna get to her in about a week, for I have an interview with her and some cool items.

The other two people are PJ Paslosky and Tommy Cooper.

I first met them in August of 2003. I was hanging with a girl that my mom worked with at the time, at this bar called Elbos. Now, at the time, I had never hung out at a bar before, for I had just turned 18 a few months earlier. Anywho, we were there to see a few bands, no one I had heard of. Two bands took my notice: Late Nite Drivers, a trio then, who played cool bar rock. The other....The Dead Like Presleys. This five-piece band played very cool rock. Kind of laid back, but not lazy or anything. I ended up buying their CD that they had: The Ritalin EP. At the time, I wasn't really impressed as I am now, but one track really stood out to me:

Friends In The City

I think this was really the start of my love of PJ and Tommy's music. So I tried to see DLP again as soon as I could, but I only got one more show, one of their last. I never really found out why the band broke up, I kind of figured I'd never hear about any of those guys again. But at that last show, I said I'd like to hear anything new that PJ and Tommy came up with because, "I'd love to tape any solo shows you guys do or something." They said they'd keep in touch and they did.

They invited me to a show, where they were to debut they're new solo act of sorts. Mañana, as they were called at that point, was just PJ and Tommy playing guitars and singing....and it was so cool. I had heard plenty of acoustic acts before, but these two, the way they could play and sing really just wowed me at the time. At the end of their set, they came over and handed me a ten-track CD they had just made. Lots of great songs that wound up on their EP Hasta Mañana. But my favorite track at the time was this very quiet, very beautiful piece called:

Airplanes In Veins

They would go through a few name changes, a very good one being Viagra Falls, but wound up calling themselves The Motel Beds. I found it really funny one day when I saw this surge of popularity for them on the internet, all because I suggest Matt should try them out. It really does show you what kind of popularity this band has. When I started working with them though, I started to hang out at their recording sessions and was receiving old demos from the DLP days. And I got some great ones, like:

Bambalam
Knock Me Up

I was privy to a lot of cool moments and even troubled shot a few things about songs. They even asked if I wanted to sing a tiny bit on background vocals, which I refused, for if you've ever heard me sing, you would never want it recorded. I probably saw them more times than any other band I've ever seen, cool shows with Captain Of Industry, Bishop Allen, We Are Scientists and Saving Face. More demos followed, always advancing their sound. Great songs like:

Somebraro Shake
Sunfried Dreams
Systematic Destrux

They always set me up, put me on the list. It made them a class act in my eyes. And with songs like these, how can you not love them?

They went through many lineup changes, as most local bands do, and after fighting it for a long time, the band just sort of fell apart. Which really irritates me, because they could have been big...well, big for them. They had another EP ready to come out that would have knocked people's socks off. It still might get released I hope, but if not, I'll try to get a few tracks on here.

Last Days Of April

What the hell is it with women today?

You ask a girl on a date, they say yes. You ask them early, without knowing them really really well, but well enough to ask them. Then the day of the date, they cancel. It's for a valid reason I guess, so you accept, move on and try to plan another one. But then, they don't return calls, don't return emails. So you think..."Well, what the fuck is this about?" But then you talk to them again, and it seems like they want to go out, but don't either.

I really just can't figure women out. I've tried to date younger and that blows up in my face each time. I tried to date older, and....well, same thing. The only lasting relationship I really had with someone was someone very close to my age. And of course.....blew up in my face at the end. But I guess that's almost every relationship, for why would they end if they don't blow up somehow?

Sorry folks, this is a return to my Diaryland days, which you can find here. It's very infantile, but it was my life for a few years. Back to music, but these types of things might pop up from time to time, this is my site and all.

Arrrrrgh.....Last Days Of April is one of those very cool pop treats. Apparently, they were one of Sweden's top hardcore bands, but then they turned a corner of sorts. They started creating these sweet, atmospheric pop and rock songs. I really don't have any recollection on how I found this band, be it either Tommy Cooper (formerly of The Motel Beds) or some blog or website, I'm glad I found these files again. It's been so long since I listened to them.

They have five tracks up on their site, but I think the two standouts are defintely:

The Days I Recall Being Wonderful - This songs has a continuous guitar sound loop from begining to end, and it gives it this otherworldly quality to it. Worth trying out.

Will The Violins Be Playing? - This has got a....I don't remember what this song reminds me of, but it's chorus is one of my favorites: "It's not you, it's all me! As if me taking all the blame would make you feel much better now." Those lines just get to me. Such intensity crafted right on to such a good hook.

Check out more at their official site.