Today we go back in the studio take a look at "Teahouse of the Spirits", and possibly record a new track called "Listen". "Listen" is something I came up with a few weeks ago at rehearsal after the guys left. We had had a good day of coming up with new stuff, and working the set, and I was feeling inspired. Just got he lyrics finished a few nights ago. We haven't had that much time to get the arrangement totally sussed yet, I wish we had a couple more rehearsals before tracking it, but we aren't looking at this tracking of it as "The Version", more of just an informal first recording. Once it's tracked live, we also have something to listen to and work from. My usual rehearsal recording setup is in limbo - the Tablet PC's power button broke, and since updating to Tiger, I can't get the music files from my digital recorder onto the Mac. Ahh technology.

We are recording for the next three days maybe more, we'll see. We are changing our recording setup somewhat, so this is a bit of a test run.

Been listening to author Joseph Cambpell's "The Hero With a Thousand Faces" audiobook. Jospeh Campbel was a writer who explored the world's fables and found that as a species, we need certain myths to look to to personify our human trials and tribulations. He found a through line of heroes, villains, quests and struggles that run common through all cultures. It's reported that George Lucas looked to Campbell's writing to help fortify Star Wars' structure. Also "The Matrix" is said top be built on Campbell's mythological framework.

"Myth is the secret opening through which the inexhaustible energies of the cosmos pour into human manifestation..."
-Joseph Campbell, Hero with a Thousand Faces

...And he coined the term "Follow Your Bliss":

"I even have a superstition that has grown on me as a result of invisible hands coming all the time - namely, that if you do follow your bliss you put yourself on a kind of track that has been there all the while, waiting for you, and the life that you ought to be living is the one you are living. When you can see that, you begin to meet people who are in your field of bliss, and they open doors to you. I say, follow your bliss and don't be afraid, and doors will open where you didn't know they were going to be.

My general formula for my students is "Follow your bliss." Find where it is, and don't be afraid to follow it."
-Joseph Campbell, The Power of Myth

Posted by steveisaacs at 11:09 AM | Permalink | Comments (62)

Last weekend, Riss, and my friend Dan and his girlfriend Maile took in the Queens of the Stone Age show at the Ventura Theatre. I had never been there before, or to Ventura for that matter. Ventura is a sweet little coastal town about an hour north of Los Angeles. The theatre there is a classic movie palace style venue, with what's left of really cool ornate architecture inside. The place was packed. "The Eagles of Death Metal" opened the show, and Josh Homme came out and played the last two songs on the drums. Fuck, that guy is tall. We were watching from the balcony and he just looked like crazy giant man compared to all the other EODM band members. It occurred to me that it would really entertaining if he went crazy and wrecked the stage like Godzilla and ate all the Eagles of Death Metal, but that didn't end up happening. Maybe he should consider such a move on the final date of the tour.

Dan and I muscled our way onto the floor and in front of the band for the QOTSA set. Only had to give the quick elbow-chop to the teeth of a couple of innocent concertgoers to edge our way into prime viewing real estate.

First they gaveth...

Wow. This was a set from a band who is at the very peak of their powers. Every part of every song was so on the money it was ridiculous. The vocals, the guitar tones, the choice of songs, it all was top-notch. They played on Saturday Night Live a few weeks back, and sounded just as good, and it is a bitch to sound good on TV. Especially when you don't use tapes and sweetening tracks like every goddamn other act in the world these days.

Dan and I last saw the band at their Halloween night '03 show at the open-air Greek Theatre in Los Angeles in the middle of a rainstorm. They were great though, we didn't even care. They came out as the Village People for the encore and played a flawless set. I have to say that I think this one last week was even better. I missed Mark Lanegan, though. What a voice.

Highlights: In my Head, The Blood Is Love, The Lost Art of Keeping a Secret, The Sky is Fallin'...

They didn't play "No One Knows", and my favorite "Hangin' Tree". Really enjoyed "You Can't Quit Me Babe" from the first album, they said they hadn't played it in years. Also it was wonderful to see two of my favorite musicians, Alain Johannes and Natasha Schnieder (bass and keyboards respectively) playing with the band. I've been into them since they were a band called Walk the Moon, then as a duo doing shows at Cafe Largo, then with their band Eleven, and with their various production projects. They are a great couple and are so intertwined personally and creatively, I have always been a strong supporter of whatever they do and always will.

So a scorecard for the QOTSA show:

Josh Homme = A Full Badass, mad props.
Alain & Natasha = My Heroes.
Ventura Theatre = Disheveled yet grand place to catch a show.
Riss = Thanks for the tickets!
Dan & Maile = Thanks for driving!
Sweaty Moshpit guys wrecking the vibe on the floor = Go drown in your own rancid ball sweat!

I want something good to die for, to make it beautiful to live...

Posted by steveisaacs at 04:45 AM | Permalink | Comments (17)