Theme Park Experience

I'm so glad I'm not . . .

2012-01-30T10:43:00.003-06:00

If there's one phrase I cannot stand, it's "I'm so glad I'm not single anymore." I didn't like it for the many years I was single, and I still didn't like it when I was in a serious relationship.

There is no failure in being single -- remaining in a bad relationship is much worse. Alas, not being in a relationship is more transparent than being in any kind of relationship. It's sadder to go stag to a party than to show up with someone you fought with during the whole drive over, right?

Wrong.

I know plenty of people who are single and I know many people who are in great relationships. Those are the people I like to spend time with. I've known people in terrible relationships in the past and I've taken plenty of mental notes on what not to do.

Recently at a show, I ran into a friend of a friend I have not seen in a handful of years. He's a great guy and I enjoyed catching up with him. He showed up with his girlfriend, who had complained the entire time about the venue and wanted to go home as soon as possible. When they found out the band wasn't going on until 11:30, the girlfriend complained even more.

Since the band playing was a band he had never seen before (and the band rarely plays together), I offered a truce. The girlfriend could drive home now while I could drive my friend home, no matter how late in the night. And it didn't bother me that he lives a good 30 minutes away. I wanted this guy to see this band because he's a big fan. And I didn't want him to worry about a proverbial ball and chain. At least on this night.

I hope I never find myself in a relationship like my friend's. As in, one person can do anything while the other is restricted and pressured to abandon many joys. If the enjoyment of sex together supposedly balances all of that relationship's imbalance, then the relationship is doomed.

On the other side of things, I've recently spent some time hanging out with a newlywed couple in my hometown. I've known the wife since high school and she wanted me to meet her husband, thinking we'd hit things off. We did, and I truly enjoy spending time with them. They're great people who respect and love each other. A positive influence like that goes much farther than a negative one.

And I've never heard either one of them say, "I'm so glad I'm not single anymore."

I'm not against being in a relationship; I'm against being in a bad relationship. We all bring baggage to a relationship, but it's important to live with what you have now instead of what brought you here.

Two hearts are better than one

2012-01-27T09:37:00.005-06:00

I was asked the other night about the moment Bruce Springsteen's music was cemented into my psyche. As in, the kind of bond where I fell in love and never forgot. Well, I couldn't give a direct answer because my relationship with Bruce has been a series of moments, not one grand moment.

For starters, there was the arrival of Born in the U.S.A. in our house after my father bought the family a CD player and speakers. There was the Bloom County spoof of the Live '75-'85 cover. Then there was the dubbed tape from my uncle that featured Tunnel of Love on one side. Many moments have continued since then, and there's always room for discovery.

Even now. Especially now, actually.

Over the Thanksgiving and Christmas holidays last year, I managed my way through Dave Marsh's Two Hearts, a compilation of two books he had written on Springsteen. As far as I know, this is currently the closest thing to a "definitive" biography. (Personally, I'd love to see a new book that doesn't feel like a partial biography interspersed with live show reviews and extensive liner notes.)

Yet Marsh's book(s) helped fill in a gap that has eluded me for years: why did so many rock critics fawn over Springsteen? Marsh explained this topic in clear English, steering clear of the kind of babble that made Frank Zappa say one of his most famous quotes. Now that I had this understanding and drive to hear more music, I went about filling in some of my library's holes in Springsteen's catalog.

In only the past few months, I've realized how incredible The River is, and how much of a proverbial middle finger Tunnel of Love is to Springsteen's first marriage. These are not new revelations because I had heard these praises for years. It's only now I have my own personal take, especially with where my life is these days. Themes and topics found on those albums might have not made much sense to me as a kid in elementary school, but they sure as hell make more since as someone who's about to turn 33.

There's something about meeting Springsteen lifers: there's no shortage of stories they like to share. Moreso than the average hardcore fan of say, Styx or Bread. I can remember seeing a Tunnel of Love poster in the back of Donna and Noel's house and getting the feeling this was an important and prized possession. There was a story behind the poster, and many life experiences seemed to come out in Noel's facial expressions and tone of voice.

In this ongoing series of moments, I don't sense these will end someday soon. I might get around to truly understanding why Bruce's records without the E Street Band pale in comparison, but I'm holding that off for another day. Instead, I'd prefer to listen to The River as much as I can as I scour used bookstores for a vinyl copy of Live '75-'85.

My first show

2012-01-25T10:19:00.003-06:00

This week's edition is with Deleted Scenes, a Washington D.C. band who worked with J. Robbins on their second record. Funny stuff, especially when he talks about seeing Petra and U2.

Dull Knives

2012-01-24T09:19:00.003-06:00

A few months ago, while talking with a fellow music critic friend of mine, he bemoaned about how little of an impact we have on our readers. I didn't necessarily disagree with him, but I'd like to think what we write does matter to a certain extent. People do read our stuff, right? Those page view numbers aren't inflated, right?

Even at this point, I'm not really aware of how many people read my work. And I really don't know what kind of impact it makes on people. Since I always write alone in a room, usually with my dog sleeping nearby, it's impossible to gauge any sort of immediate reaction. I know I'm not talking to a wall when I publish something on the Internet, but it's normal to wonder if anything I write has any impact on people.

I know writers who are convinced their work either lives or dies by how many page views they get, how many comments they get, and what the commenters say. I don't think that way, but I don't think it's a far-fetched way of thinking. If a writer is trashed in the comments section for his or her review, usually that writer carries around that baggage for a long time. I won't lie, I do that as well. Yet at the end of the day, I express my feelings and stand by them, even if no one else agrees.

Truth to be told, critics are their own demographic. Depending on what they specialize in, they listen to way more music, read more books, or see more movies in one year than the average person does in three years. Of course critics have an informed opinion, but the clock is always ticking with a deadline to state something with authority. Add in the constant fear of being the last to cover something, which is a sin. So if you ever wonder how or why hype (or anti-hype) builds quickly around something, that's a major reason why.

Often I wonder if articles and reviews are written merely to impress other critics and the pickiest readers. Sure, there is a healthy drive to add something to the table that has yet to be said. Alas, when commenting on comments based on initial comments, most people get tired of hearing about something, be it a band, album, book, or movie.

What I enjoy about covering shows is how not everyone is trying to write the same story. I rarely see fellow critics at shows, other than the ones at large venues. I try to convey what the show was like from the band's performance, the vibe in the room, and the general feeling of the evening. Plus, I'm encouraged to take pictures of the band, something I've done off and on for many years. I try to give a you-are-there perspective sort of feeling, especially like the show I saw last Thursday.

Alas, at the core, critics acknowledge the existence of something. Is this something going to live or die by what critics say? Not necessarily because this something exists. You remember the show, record, book, or movie more than what the critics thought. But I think there is value in discussing, discovering, and sharing. That's why I stick with it.

Say Uncle

2012-01-23T09:43:00.004-06:00

Five years ago today, my sister and brother-in-law became parents for the first time, my parents became grandparents for the first time, and I became an uncle for the first time to fraternal twins.

And it wasn't until this year that I signed my name as "Uncle Eric" on respective birthday cards. I'm still getting used to writing "Uncle" in cursive, but I have plenty of opportunities down the road do that again.

But for certain people I know who don't have kids, they see kids as cute little angels until the crying starts. At that point, these people label the kids as "shits" as Mom and Dad (or a grandparent) take over. Seems unfair to reduce a growing child into sheer annoyance. Alas, that's coming from people who haven't seen the whole perspective of parenting.

To the childless, hearing about a temper tantrum at the grocery store or a birthday party is enough evidence to never procreate. I disagree because as annoying and frustrating as it might be to be around an unruly child, people tend to overlook the good qualities a child can bring out of an adult. I'm not talking about how some parents change their communication skills into treating everyone like a child. I'm talking about seeing growth in a child, step by step, and appreciating that progression from an adult perspective.

For example, while spending time with my family at Thanksgiving, I wanted to take an afternoon nap on the couch. My nieces were playing and drawing near me as I started to lay down. I merely stated how I was taking a nap and one of my nieces said she and her sister would be quiet and draw. How awesome was that? Plenty. I have one of their drawings up on my refrigerator, serving as a reminder of many things -- and not just a talented budding artist.

When you recognize the person you were as a child in your own child, a lot of things make more sense in adulthood. You understand why you were the way you were -- and you can understand how or why your parents responded. Like when I see my nieces act shy around people, I remember what it was like to be incredibly shy at their age. Instead of forcing them to come out of a shell, I try to make them laugh with impressions. Whether it's Elmo or drama queens I know, my nieces pick up on the silliness. I'll do anything to get a laugh, especially for them.

In only five years, I've seen plenty of progress with these two little girls. I'm thankful I've been to every birthday party and have been with them on Thanksgiving and/or Christmas because you don't get to reschedule those sorts of events. They'll be asking for the car keys sooner rather than later.

So even if there's an occasional post-lunch meltdown now and constant door-slamming in the future teenage years, there will be plenty of other things to be proud of. That's worth seeing.

My first show

2012-01-18T08:37:00.002-06:00

This week's edition is with Tim Locke from Calhoun, a pretty fantastic Fort Worth band. Interesting sidenote: most of his fellow members are people I knew when I was playing in the Fort Worth area. Glad they're still doing their thing.

Won't you be my neighbor?

2012-01-17T08:14:00.003-06:00

Required viewing in my childhood was Mr. Rogers. The guy was as friendly as a trained dog and it's hard for a kid to say no to his demeanor. But I always wondered why Fred Rogers changed into a different sweater when he walked into his "home" (aka, the set doubling as his home). Seemed like he always changed out of one light sweater into another light sweater and put house slippers on. Why didn't he keep the sweater he had on?

I understand this a whole lot more these days. As much as I enjoy the house I live in, it gets pretty drafty. The heater works fine, but there are times when it feels like it hasn't run for hours. Hence the desire to wear longsleeves and socks all the time.

No matter what, I don't enjoy feeling cold. I'm supposed to enjoy the warmth of being indoors, right? But I don't have to wear a heavy coat indoors. Then I'd be burning up.

I don't have light sweaters like the ones Fred had. And I have no desire to wear a tie in my house. Instead, I have a handful of longsleeve shirts I could wear under a T-shirt, but I tend to go more for my black $16 hoodie from Burlington Coat Factory. Add in my slippers (dubbed "Grandpa Grubbs slippers" by friends of mine) and the transformation is complete.

Being at home so much, I look like I'm about to go work out at any time. I could do that, but I prefer to have balance. And if looking like an indie rock version of Fred Rogers is part of that, then so be it.

And, we're back

2012-01-16T11:07:00.002-06:00

CPU is back in my house, and nothing was seriously damaged. Blogging will resume tomorrow, but for now, enjoy my feature on the Black Dotz. (Note: the guitarist's last name is actually Prickett and the band was called The Falkon, not The Falcon Project.)

My first show

2012-01-11T11:25:00.002-06:00

This week's edition is with locals Darstar. Lots of talk about seeing the Smashing Pumpkins and Foo Fighters. And one of their members' first show was one of the many times I saw MxPx in college. Small world.

Productivity

2012-01-09T11:57:00.003-06:00

Normally I don't take this long between blog posts, but since my computer caught a virus last week, I've been doing bare bones work using Matt's laptop. As I await word from the PC tech when I can pick my (hopefully virus-free) computer, my work for DC9 has continued.

I was happy to include The Vatican Press in last week's edition of My First Show. I've known Eddie for a long time and he was a very helpful person in a critical aspect of POST. I was happy to return the favor and I look forward to what his band has brewing this year.

Later in the week, I covered a couple of acoustic sets by two Dallas-area legends, Terry Glaze and Patrick "Taz" Bentley. Glaze sang for a little band called Pantera back when they were a party metal band and Bentley has drummed for a number of bands, including Rev. Horton Heat.

And if that wasn't enough I covered their full rock set on Saturday night. Also on the bill were No Rest for the Wicked (which featured the second runner-up from American Idol's first season) and Here Holy Spain.

I won't lie: having my computer in the shop and fighting off allergies is not my idea of fun, especially since I'm still looking for a full-time job. I hoped to be starting another round of things last week, but other matters prevented such. I don't feel good when I'm not being productive -- it makes me want to be even more productive when things get back in order.

Alas, things are on the horizon. Some definite, some vague, but all things to look forward to. 2012 will be a better year.

A Modern Way of Letting Go

2012-01-01T09:01:00.003-06:00

I'd like to start 2012 with something more than a resolution. I want to keep this great piece of wisdom with me, found on this excellent list of 30 Things to Stop Doing to Yourself:

Stop spending time with the wrong people. – Life is too short to spend time with people who suck the happiness out of you. If someone wants you in their life, they’ll make room for you. You shouldn’t have to fight for a spot. Never, ever insist yourself to someone who continuously overlooks your worth. And remember, it’s not the people that stand by your side when you’re at your best, but the ones who stand beside you when you’re at your worst that are your true friends.

I wish I understood this concept earlier in life, but that's the way things go. Who knows, maybe I was told this, but didn't understand back then. After matters of life happening in 2011, mixed with a lot of other things from the past five years, this is something I'd like to stick with in 2012.

In the past, there were people that I tried to engage with beyond a friendly greeting. Be it a neighbor or a co-worker, these people were in various aspects of my life. More often than not, these folks acted like they had better things to do than talk to me for more than a minute. Knowing what I know now, those people are, essentially, doing you a favor. They're saying with their body language and responses, "Don't get to know me too well because there's not much that I'm willing to show you."

Yet when it comes to people who were very important in my life at some point, letting go of them can be difficult. The amount of good memories I have usually trumps the amount of bad memories -- and I wondered why these people wanted a full, indefinite break from my life. Letting go of them is tough when thinking this way.

I'm not one to relish losing people close to me, but life takes them in different directions where it should be best they make a clean break. I shouldn't force myself into someone's life that isn't trying to force him or her's into mine.

Something/Anything

2011-12-28T10:06:00.003-06:00

Here's the reality of being a lifelong music fan/audiophile: I now accept the fact that my entire library cannot be consolidated to digital.

It's not like I'm against having everything in one place. It's more the nature of the beast that comes with collecting vinyl and bargain bin CDs in addition to everything else. As much as I had apprehension towards vinyl before, the source of changing the opinion around comes from the quality of the needle, turntable, and the actual vinyl.

With less of a demand for CDs year after year, deluxe remasters could be a thing of the past. (And I'm not hot on the idea of shelling out $200 for a set including a remastered CD, 180-vinyl, DVD, and book.) For example, I don't think Columbia Records will not get around to producing massive reissues/box sets for the rest of Bruce Springsteen's catalog. Instead of buying a thin-sounding version on CD, I gladly will add The River and Nebraska to my vinyl collection. The same goes for Todd Rundgren's massive back catalog.

Something else I've realized: there's music that is great to listen to at home and then there is music that is great to listen in the car. Think about it: if you're going to spend hours on end at home, wouldn't it be nice to have as much at your disposal as possible? Especially since this amount of time probably greatly trumps the amount of time in a car?

Since not every vinyl record known to man was repressed on CD, there are plenty of lost tracks waiting to be found on the grooves. And I find immense joy in hearing something I've never heard before (and probably wouldn't have had the patience for) while driving.

At this point, I can't imaging packing things up and finding a good cellar. Part of being a music fanatic often means being a librarian/archivist, so I feel confident in accepting this title.

My first show

2011-12-27T09:17:00.003-06:00

For this week's edition, I had the pleasure to interview Mark Pirro from the Polyphonic Spree and Tripping Daisy. Lots of great stuff to share, including the first time he played with Tripping Daisy.

Seven Year War

2011-12-23T11:47:00.001-06:00

Probably one of the best Christmas gifts is seeing Red Animal War live. They don't play live very often and I interviewed Matt and Justin on this and other topics.

WWWTK Tumblr

2011-12-21T16:50:00.002-06:00

To help promote When We Were the Kids, I decided to create a Tumblr page for it. For sanity's sake, the information on that page will be general in nature, featuring mainly links, photos, and clips. Theme Park Experience will continue to be the hub for all my online adventures.

How to be a professional

2011-12-21T09:38:00.002-06:00

In the spirit of this excellent site, I offer a few things about how to be a professional in the workplace.

Don't talk to your co-workers like they're your childhood friends. Also, don't talk to them like they're five years old and have learning deficiencies.
There are many different ways to communicate with adults. These extremes are not the only ways.

Know the difference between a "crisis" and a crisis.
A true crisis can involve a loved one in a serious accident and needs to be attended to right away. A "crisis" is when you can't find your favorite kind of socks.

You do less with less.
Still waiting to hear about how a workplace benefits from doing more workload with less people? You're not alone.

Don't say, "You're only human," and then berate someone for being human.
Humans make mistakes. Remember this and say this to yourself.

If you say you're coming in early tomorrow to help out, that means you're coming in early to help out.
That doesn't mean you take most of the morning off and act like nothing of great significance was said yesterday.

If you act like a brat, don't expect to be treated like an adult.
And if you continue to act like a brat, expect to be left out of the loop on most things.

Don't spend ten minutes telling someone one request over and over again.
The average adult hears you the first time and the 111th time.

The Serenity Prayer doesn't just help recovering addicts.
Knowing the difference between what you can and cannot change is vital, even in the workplace.

My first show

2011-12-21T09:04:00.002-06:00

My First Show is extra special this week. Instead of interviewing one person or a band, I interviewed a bunch of local artists I interviewed this year and got their take on their favorite shows. And I got them to preview what's coming up for them in 2012. You can read the whole meatball 12-inch here.

Have You Forgotten?

2011-12-20T09:37:00.004-06:00

I graduated college ten years ago this month. It was also ten years ago when I saw a movie by Cameron Crowe in a theater.

Coming out of Vanilla Sky with my brother-in-law, I felt like the world was much bigger and vaster. A few weeks later, I saw the movie again and still loved it.

Since Crowe released only one more film in the ensuing years prior to this year, it's not like I had an embargo with his work. Elizabethtown interested me, but I never got around to seeing it. When the basic idea was announced, not surprisingly, online movie writers got excited about the prospect of something on par with Say Anything. Based on the response when the movie actually came out, there was a large degree of disappointment. (Seems like Nathan Rabin remains the most vocal about the film, especially with his bookend reviews of the film in My Year of Flops.)

This year, Crowe released Pearl Jam 20, a decent look at the band that suffers from a common dilemma with band documentaries: there was so much good stuff it became hard to whittle everything down to a manageable running time. I'm happy the doc exists and glad Crowe is back behind the lens.

But with We Bought a Zoo? That's where I apply the brakes.

Sam Adams wrote an extensive piece for Slate that breaks down Crowe's flaws. I will simply say this: the kind of earnestness that I loved with Almost Famous/Untitled and Vanilla Sky is not something I repeatedly yearn for. While I believe in asking "What do you love about music?" with a straight face and saying "Every passing minute is another chance to turn it all around" to conquer internal struggles, I understand that kind of earnestness is silly for a lot of people. They're phrases that could easily come from a non-jaded person, but non-jaded adults don't exist in the minds of those consumed by absolute pessimism.

My reaction to We Bought a Zoo's trailer is that it's a heartwarming family film. I have no problem with those kinds of films, but David Fincher's take on The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo is tempting me more this holiday season. I'm not against seeing We Bought a Zoo, but it's not a must-see priority.

When faced with the question of who has changed more, the director or the audience, I'd have to say it's the audience by a mile. I applaud Crowe for sticking to his heart, but what grabbed a mainstream audience with Jerry Maguire and Say Anything might simply not fit for what people want these days.

"I miss the dog more than her"

2011-12-19T09:49:00.003-06:00

I know a guy who likes to tweet a lot about his personal life on Twitter. A little too much, if you ask me. Usually the tweets are about missing his home state, trying to pick up girls, and thinking about girls he used to date. There are many reasons why I don't write that kind of stuff on Twitter, and his feed is ample proof of what I don't want to explicitly put out there.

But, as much as I don't really see eye-to-eye with this guy on how to represent yourself online, I've found myself slightly seeing eye-to-eye with a tweet he wrote earlier this year. Very slightly. Missing his ex-girlfriend's pet more than his ex seemed incredibly harsh when I originally read it, but I thought about the general innocence that comes with a pet.

Be it a cat or a dog, the pet doesn't really grow much after the kitten/puppy stage. Since the most they do is meow or bark, you don't get asked why the sky is blue or when's supper. The perpetual state of cuteness can easily find its way into the rose-colored glasses of looking back.

With the pet, there are no arguments or strained feelings about topics that can't seem to resolve. The pet is a part of the couple's life, but usually as a bystander or a distraction. If the relations were good between the pet and the significant other, it can be understandable to value that benefit of the relationship.

Reflecting on my experience, I truly value the good memories, but I haven't erased the reasons why we aren't together anymore. There were many great times shared between us, and sometimes there was a pet around. I never had arguments with her cat and she didn't have arguments with my dog. Matter of fact, we loved each other's pet -- her cat and my dog were like an extension of our personalities.

I never imagined a pet to be a part of the grieving process, but then again, I was never very close to pets growing up. That feeling changed when Juliet came into my life and later, Victory. Exploring more about how to love and be loved, you can find yourself grieving over a lot of things if you break up. But this ties in well with the saying about loving and losing than never loving at all.

WWWTK 12.15.11

2011-12-15T12:00:00.003-06:00

Another update on When We Were the Kids.

Given my state of being between full-time jobs, I have a lot of free time, but I haven't spent hours a day working on another draft. Am I wasting away by not taking advantage of this? I don't think so. I've lived with this book for almost five years and I want to take a little time away from it before I release it.

I'm awaiting some feedback from a friend on his take with the book. I'm hoping his take will help me shape the final draft. Then it will go to my editor and the publishing train will start rolling soon after. Unlike what they say about one's second book ("You have all the time in the world to do your first, but you have very limited time to do your second"), I've had all the time I've wanted with working on this. And I'm grateful.

Once again, that William Goldsmith line came into my head: "The truth takes time to tell."

Of course, this is a fictional book, but I don't want it to read like it's fictional. A nice comment I received last year from an early draft was that it was like a documentary. Seeing as how rock band documentaries played a major role in the writing, I think this is fitting comparison.

I'm happy to report the cover photo has been taken. I took the photo myself using a Nikon 3000 camera, in a spot less than five feet away from where I wrote the book. Since I have all the instruments to play in a rock band in my room, it was a no-brainer. I hope it captures what it's like to play music in a bedroom or a basement, away from a fancy recording studio.

I'm penciling in a spring release timeframe for the book. You'll hear much more about it when it's finally ready.

My first show

2011-12-14T16:49:00.002-06:00

This week's edition was a true treat: I interviewed all three members of Here Holy Spain at once. Drummer Scott Brayfield was part of the first interview I ever did with a band, back when he was in Slowride. Was a really good catch-up with him and meeting his bandmates. They're good people who make good music.

Outta My System

2011-12-09T14:57:00.002-06:00

Wrapping up the week, I did a few more DC9 items. Saw My Morning Jacket pulverize the Verizon Theatre, saw Scratch Acid rip Trees apart, and I talked with Travis Hopper about his band Elkhart and playing music for his daughter.

My first show

2011-12-07T11:12:00.002-06:00

This week's edition is with Graham Jones from Yukon Blonde. He mentions seeing Moneen, a band I saw back at the old Door a few years ago. Pretty incredible live band, flying dreadlocks and all. He also mentions seeing Bob Dylan, someone I tend to only hear horror stories about.

Conditions of my parole

2011-12-05T14:11:00.002-06:00

I covered Puscifer's show on Saturday night at the Majestic. Quite a different kind of show than anything I've seen before, but it was quite enjoyable.

Interesting side note: Sitting next to me was someone I've read a lot of ire about from Zac Crain: the Dallas Morning News' music critic Mario Tarradell. Tarradell was very friendly and engaged in the show (just read the guy's live Twitter feed), and I didn't ask what he thought of Zac. Remember, there's what you say in person and then there's what you say online for everyone to see. Pretty different worlds.

A year in music

2011-12-01T16:08:00.009-06:00

In hopes of not sounding like a total whiner, 2011 turned out to be one of the hardest years of my adult life. My girlfriend was diagnosed with cancer and she decided later in the year she didn't want to be in a relationship anymore. The guy who taught me how to be a traffic reporter died after a lengthy battle with emphysema. My band broke up. And I got laid off.

Some year where I was looking forward to January 1st to start anew, eh? You bet.

That said, I enjoyed a lot of music, among everything else I'm into (which, more or less, consists of reading books, watching movies, golfing, and reading about MMA fights).

So without further ado, here's this year in review:

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Albums Released This Year That I Really Liked (And Not Really In A Particular Order)

Rival Schools, Pedals
You know when a band spends way too much time (as in, more than two years) to release a new album and the album sounds like warmed-over mush? Well, Rival Schools didn't do that with Pedals. They had a decent excuse why it took them ten years to release a second record: They had broken up a few years after they released their stellar debut, United By Fate. Reuniting a couple of years ago, the follow-up finally arrived this year. While not as diverse as their debut, Walter Schreifels still sounds at his best with this band. And I can't deny the tuneful gut power found on songs like "Big Waves" and "69 Guns."

Explosions in the Sky, Take Care, Take Care, Take Care
Not to sound like I was "over" this Austin quartet, but I wasn't so sure Explosions in the Sky could blow my mind again. They had already done that with The Earth is Not a Cold Dead Place and All of Sudden, I Miss Everyone. Besides, at this point, the band has their sound and you're not going to hear anything different from here on out. Well, when I heard songs like "Human Qualities" and "Postcard from 1952" in my car at a loud volume, I kept listening to Take Care, Take Care, Take Care again and again.

Wilco, The Whole Love
As much as I have loved Wilco since Being There, I wondered when the band was going to release a record I didn't love so much. The Whole Love didn't grab my attention right away like their previous two records, but I knew I had to give this record a decent chance. I'm glad I did, because a song like "Born Alone" is one I hope they play live for many years to come.

We Were Promised Jetpacks, In the Pit of the Stomach
I won't lie: In the Pit of the Stomach is not as captivating as their debut, These Four Walls. But when you have a song like "Act on Impulse" on it, it is worth hearing.

Foo Fighters, Wasting Light
I grew tired of Foo Fighters albums starting with One By One, but I still loved their singles. Credit producer Butch Vig for why a song like "These Days" is one of the band's best. Credit the decision to record this on tape in Dave Grohl's garage. However the math works, the end result is far and away one of the best Foos albums.

Office of Future Plans, self-titled
I didn't even know this record existed until I read a review with "Salamander" a few weeks ago. Earlier in the year, I had heard some rumblings that J. Robbins had a new band yet I didn't know it was with Kerosene 454/Channels' Darren Zentek and cellist Gordon Withers (who had recorded an album entirely of Jawbox covers on cello). Robbins brings the good stuff again, making difficult music poppy.

The Get Up Kids, There Are Rules
Back in '99, when I was listening to Something to Write Home About in my college dorm, I never imagined the Get Up Kids would make a record like this. I like to think of this as sci-fi power pop. A song like "Automatic" is a good introduction.

Mastodon, The Hunter
There was some talk about this record as Mastodon's version of The Black Album. Stuff like "Curl of the Burl" grooves and punches a bit more than what was found on their previous album, Crack the Skye (an album I still love the most out of all their material). Since the band approaches every album differently (while retaining its core of being Gabriel-era Genesis meets metal), it's probably why I keep up with them.

Fountains of Wayne, Sky Full of Holes
Yes, the band remains a quirky power pop band. ("Road Song" and "Action Hero" are some of the best moments.) But can you name another quirky power pop band that passes the five albums test? I can't.

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Songs Released This Year That I Repeatedly Played (While Not Listening to Josh Rouse or Rush)

Carter Tanton, "Murderous Joy"
I receive at least a handful of e-mails a day from publicists wanting me to know about their artists and/or wanting me to cover their artists when they come to town. Carter came my way through a pretty reliable publicity agency and I hoped to feature him in a My First Show. The interview was conducted, but due to some miscommunication, the thing didn't run. I'm not posting this song as a consolation prize; I'm posting it because I think this song is fantastic. Poppy and folky I like, especially when it doesn't sound twee-like or sleep-inducing.

Braid, "The Right Time"
This is a horrible reason to pass up on digging into an EP, but since I really like to judge music when I'm driving in my car, Braid's comeback EP, Closer to Closed, didn't make regular rotation mainly because of its length. Its opening track, though, became impossible to get out of my head after a couple of spins.

Low, "You See Everything"
I can't say Low is a band I really seek out. Dirge-y stuff isn't really my thing, even though I enjoy True Widow. But when the members of Low were on Sound Opinions this year, I gravitated towards "You See Everything." Sounds a lot like what Carly Simon should be putting out these days.

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Album Not Released This Year Yet Had a Big Impact On Me

Editors, An End Has a Start
I know the band has another album that came after this, their second record, but I still haven't checked that one out. With this record, especially with a song like "Bones" on it, this band matched the gloomy spunk found on their debut, The Back Room. Plus, I love how the lyrics tend to walk a line between positivity and negativity. I still can't tell if frontman Tom Smith is a hopeful guy or not. Whatever mood you're in, he's singing to your heart.

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Bands That I've Liked Since Middle School Yet Had Neglected Since High School Until This Year

Dream Theater and Pearl Jam were some of the bands I really dug in my seventh and eighth grade years, even though they are drastically different in approach and aesthetic. For various reasons, both bands dropped off my radars. (I thought Dream Theater kept writing longer, indulgent songs for prog heads and Pearl Jam kept following Eddie Vedder's disjointed muse.) Turns out, documentaries on the bands inspired me to circle the wagons. The web series, "The Spirit Carries On," helped me understand why auditioning a replacement for Mike Portnoy was more than finding a guy who could play in time. And Pearl Jam Twenty is a love letter to how a band can survive skyrocketing success and still be an incredible band 18 years after that success.

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Favorite Interviews I Did This Year

Roger Miller of Mission of Burma
(A My First Show and a lot more, all here)
I interviewed Roger in hopes I could get some good memories about Mission's early days. I got that and so much more. I especially enjoyed the parts where we discussed seeing the MC5 when they were more of a Jimi Hendrix cover band, how terrible Rush was live in the early 70s, and the good that came out of Moby covering "That's When I Reach For My Revolver."

Munaf Rayani of Explosions in the Sky
(Part 1 found in my story, Part 2 found in a My First Show article)
Munaf had a gentle way of speaking that was neither fake or condescending. An incredibly friendly, generous guy with explaining the band's story as well as the first time he went to Austin to see a show.

Johnette Napolitano of Concrete Blonde
(Part 1 found in here, Part 2 in a My First Show here.)
The day before I interviewed Johnette, a co-worker (who's a longtime fan) advised me to have my proverbial shit together when talking with her. Claiming she'd go to town on me if I didn't know-all and be-all, I started to get nervous. Luckily, Johnette would go on and on answering a single question. She made me feel easy to ask any question.

Mike Martin of All That Remains
(A My First Show found here)
I like talking metal with metal bands, but the last thing I want to hear about is how "This new record is more mature and more melodic than our last one." To avoid that with Mike, I asked the question about seeing non-metal acts. Mike chuckled, "How much time ya got?" At no point did I feel like I was talking to a "metal-up-ya-ass!" kind of guy.

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Best Shows I Saw This Year

Trashcan Sinatras at the Loft
(Original review)
The show was one of the most blissful times of the year for me. Things got really rocky only a few weeks later, so I'm glad I had this experience to remember.

Against Me! at the Double Wide
(Original review)
Originally, this was going to be an acoustic set by Tom Gabel. It turned into a full AM! show with acoustic guitars and lots of pushing around. One of the best shows I've ever seen at the Double Wide.

Taking Back Sunday at House of Blues
(Original review)
I was asked to cover this show about three hours before the doors opened. Since the show started early and I enjoy TBS, I said sure. I didn't expect this to be probably the best show I saw all year.

We Were Promised Jetpacks at Trees
(Original review)
Coming off the heels of writing a story that was cathartic to do, I was pumped for this show. I had a great time, but I didn't understand why half of the audience stood like statues.

The Jayhawks at the Granada Theater
(Original review)
The band played a lot of stuff people wanted to hear, but they pulled out a ton of stuff more up the alley of the hardcore fan. Still, the night's vibe was wonderful. Those 90 minutes felt heavenly.

Wilco at the Music Hall at Fair Park
(Original review)
First time to finally see Wilco -- and it's safe to say it won't be my last.

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Biggest Show Disappointment

A Perfect Circle at Verizon Theater
(Original review)
The band played great, but a show devoted mostly to lukewarm covers? Really? Add in shitty post-show traffic. Yeah, not my idea of fun.

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Albums That Disappointed But Are Not Terrible

face to face, Laugh Now, Laugh Later
My Morning Jacket, Circuital
Cut Off Your Hands, Hollow
Journey, Eclipse
OFF!, The First Four EPs

To be brief because I don't love to dance in this garden for very long: face to face remains one of my all-time favorite bands. Laugh Now, Laugh Later is not essential for newcomers. My Morning Jacket is still one of the great live bands around, but I wish they (or maybe it's just Jim James) would stop trying too hard to be different from the band's earlier material. Cut Off Your Hands sounded like they cut their second record hungover and with early Echo and the Bunnymen records spinning on their turntables. Journey put out a rock record that didn't rock me hard enough. And OFF! might have been awesome if I was in high school and never heard early Black Flag. Alas, bursts don't necessarily equate to longevity.

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Best Rock Music Books I Read

Bob Mould, See a Little Light
One of the most open-door, honest memoirs I've read. Think you already know Mould's story by reading magazine interviews over the years and Our Band Could Be Your Life? You know some of the story. Mould goes much deeper.

Mark Yarm, Everybody Loves Our Town
The League of Meh (as in, people my age who are rarely thrilled by something and find most of life to be a series of meh's) might scoff at another book on grunge. But I couldn't resist reading and I'm glad I read it. Yarm's oral history uncovers a lot that had never been in print before and doesn't glorify or nullify the genre/major label turning of rebellion into money.

Born Alone

2011-11-30T09:46:00.002-06:00

Many years after I came to Wilco with Being There, I finally saw them live. Here's my review.

Also, this week's edition of My First Show is with Dave Wilson from [DARYL]. Read all about it here.

Get off the pot

2011-11-29T09:46:00.003-06:00

No matter what I'll be doing in terms of full-time work next year, I will have another book out. After five years of work, When We Were the Kids finally arrives, even if it's via self-publishing.

The hard thing is letting this story be unleashed to the world. I'm not embarrassed by what I've written; I'm more like a protective parent who doesn't want his child to get beat up on the playground within an hour of going to school.

What's very hard about writing a fictional story is that I have a hard time knowing when something is truly "done." Storytelling and editing collide and you become addicted to tweaking. I'm convinced that if it weren't for deadlines, most books would never be published.

I have intentionally only showed snippets of the book to a couple of people. I don't want too many proverbial cooks in the kitchen, but I appreciate honest feedback. And I want the kind of feedback that doesn't tear me limb from limb under the thin veil of "honesty." I want honest feedback, but not something that gets personal and offensive. So far, the feedback has been very helpful.

Maybe I'm in the wrong business, but I can't suppress this book inside my head and my hard drive forever. This is something I want out there. Yet I tend to find myself coming up with more anecdotes every few days, wanting to tweak some more.

One last thing: I'm happy to say I have taken the book's cover image, using items that are literally behind my computer desk. I just so happen to have a drum set, guitar and bass, and amps around whenever I feel the urge to play. Since this is a story about how people came to play music (and most of them still play it), I figured this was a perfect sort of set-up for a book cover.

So, there's the update. Once this sucker comes out, you'll hear about it, at least from this spot.

You do less with less

2011-11-28T11:57:00.003-06:00

The night before Victory and I went down to Houston for Thanksgiving, I finally finished watching The Wire. Yes, the show that's required viewing if you want to be a white person in the know. I can now join the many folks who find it to be one of the best TV shows of all time . . . because I agree with them. Solid show from top to bottom and all that good stuff.

What I found most compelling was the final season, where a portion is shown at The Baltimore Sun. With buyouts coming and a pressure to deliver a different kind of content in print, there is plenty of drama. And even though I've never worked for a daily paper, I found so much of what was depicted to be spot-on, especially given my layoff last month.

In particular, there's plenty of inspiration in what series creator David Simon did when he himself took a buyout at The Sun. By then, his first book had been turned into a TV series (Homicide) and he made the transition into making The Corner miniseries and The Wire for HBO. Definitely a rare sort of story, but I think it's worth remembering.

With my post-layoff life, I'm not focusing on what went afoul or how I should have done things different or prepared more. I try to think more about what I could do next. Given that half of my office was let go, I feel bad for the people who kept their jobs. Trying to do "more with less," I echo what Simon says about that work mindset: "You do less with less."

As for what I could do next, I'm not tied into a knot of "This is the only thing I know." I'm not cut out to be a salesman, a retail drone, or a janitor, but I'm open to a lot of other things. Just because I worked in radio for 11 years doesn't mean that's the only thing I know how to do. I've kept up with writing/blogging side because I love to do it, want to do it, and find time to do it. Coupled with my multi-tasking ethic and a desire to work with a team (and independently), I can do more than turn on a microphone and speak with authority.

What's difficult in casting a wider net is when you're around people who don't want to cast a wider net. Being in radio, you tend to run into (but not all the time) those who remember when radio was a big fun party. Making near-six figures and only working four or five hours a day can be a blast. But what kind of work ethic comes of that? Not a good one, in my opinion.

I once heard co-worker say, "I remember when I was paid more for working less hours." And this was coming from a guy who worked seven hours a day. Well, that hasn't been my experience -- I worked hard and was paid, but never got much in the way of time off and rarely received a raise.

So, it's been over a month now since the RIF. And I see no reason to give up, pull up stakes and retreat into a hole of self-loathing and depression. I'm glad I had the time to finish Simon's excellent show because it gave me more than simple entertainment. And it let me think about how I can move onto something else, even if it's different than what I've done before.

My first show

2011-11-22T11:29:00.003-06:00

This week's edition is with Robbie D Love from the Red 100s. And I saw My Jerusalem on Friday night.

Show reviews and blogging resumes next week. This is the first time in 11 years that I get to enjoy Thanksgiving without the pressure of zooming back into the swing of things.

Silver Side Up

2011-11-21T09:18:00.003-06:00

Knowing my habits, because of the Twenty book, CD, and documentary, it doesn't come as a shock that I've decided to circle back to Pearl Jam albums I've neglected. Namely, their albums after Matt Cameron joined the band. Plus, I hadn't listened to Ten since, oh, 1993.

It's not that I think the band lost the plot. Rather, I blame Creed and Nickelback.

Up until now, my thoughts on Pearl Jam post-Dave Abbruzzese were, "Pearl Jam got weird." Meaning, less of rip-roaring drums and guitars and more atonal experiments. This is a rather unfair sentiment, especially because of some powerful songs on Yield. I get this all now, and I'm enjoying albums like Yield and Pearl Jam.

I can safely say I won't be praising Creed's My Own Prison or Nickelback's Silver Side Up any time in the near future. For me, and many other people who got into grunge as adolescence kicked in, those bands typified what major labels wanted Pearl Jam to be when Pearl Jam learned to say, "No."

When it comes to saying no to making videos and playing Ticketmaster venues, this still sounds like a bold move. Especially with where Pearl Jam was in their career, it could be considered career suicide. Alas, more people had respect for the band. And I think this kind of level-headed attitude has kept the band going all this time.

But when you grab some eager bands that sound like a primped and buffed version of early Pearl Jam and they sell more records than Pearl Jam's latest records, the cynicism of the industry really kicks in. "What Pearl Jam won't do, we'll find some other bands who will." Thus, a distinct sound becomes bland. And that sucks. Especially for those who have fond memories of hearing Ten for the first time.

This industry tactic has been done plenty of times before and since. It seems like the same thing happened after At the Drive-In broke up. The industry liked their sound, but they went for bands that wanted to be rock stars instead of full-time musicians. Thus explains so many terrible bands that have come and gone and never made anything as strong as Relationship of Command.

I could wonder why I spend so much time around an industry ripe with cynicism. I counter with all the great feelings that come from seeing and listening to a band, whether I'm in seventh grade or as a 32-year-old. When music is good enough to cut through the crap, then it's worth it.

Gone for Good

2011-11-18T13:16:00.003-06:00

Seems like all the really great pre-Thanksgiving shows are tonight, So I'm having to make a Sophie's Choice. Instead of seeing [DARYL] re-unify (my Q&A on this can be found here), I'm seeing My Jerusalem play (I interviewed their frontman here).

Closer to Your Side

2011-11-17T09:25:00.002-06:00

My review of the Jayhawks' performance last night can be found here here. Basically, this show was as peaceful as the Trashcan Sinatras show I saw back in March.

American Capitalist

2011-11-15T09:55:00.003-06:00

Yet another round of show reviews and articles. Saturday night, it was Five Finger Death Punch (review here). Last night, it was the Misfits (review here). Plus, as yet another preview of the Jayhawks' show tomorrow night (which I'll be covering), My First Show is with Mark Olson (read it all here).

No rest for the wicked here. Just having fun and staying active.

11/22/63

2011-11-11T08:47:00.003-06:00

I don't have a bucket list. But when a situation arises where I'd be foolish to not follow through on, I usually go for it. Well, a friend of mine got a pass for me to see Stephen King speak at the Majestic last night. And I went and it was everything I thought it would be.

Promoting his latest book, 11/22/63 -- a fantasy novel about a man traveling back in time with a hope to prevent JFK's assassination -- it was pretty amazing to see King speak on the same street that JFK was shot.

In only 45 minutes, he talked about plenty of stuff. Here are some of the highlights:

-Based on all his research (especially following this thought, "Follow the gun") he's convinced Oswald acted alone.

-The idea for the book came to him in 1971.

-Seeing video of fervent extremists from the sixties reminds him of Tea Party members of today.

-An interesting what-if: had Oswald's wife agreed to reconcile with him the night before, would he have not assassinated JFK?

-He admits to making a couple of errors in the book: the misspelling of Killeen (even though he looked it up, he and his copy editor missed it) and pronunciation of radio station KLIF (he thought it was called "kay-life").

-He didn't think the country was ready for Barry Goldwater and he doesn't think the country is ready for Rick Perry. Lots of cheers and applause on that one.

-In terms of the idea with traveling back in time, he ponders this about the 1999 accident that nearly took his life: if he left for his walk five minutes earlier or later, he could have been killed or he could have not been hurt at all.

-He still doesn't own a cell phone, but he owns an iPad and a Kindle.

-As for the topic of e-book versus p-books (p for paper), he sees the market going more and more towards e-book with every year. While I agree with him, I will continue to buy his books in hardcover for as long as they come out in that form.

-He briefly mentioned his son Joe (who goes by the pen name of Joe Hill) and people cheered.

-On acting, he mentioned his various roles, especially on Sons of Anarchy and Creepshow, and people cheered loudly.

-On collaborating with Michael Jackson's 40-minute video in the mid-'90s: he received a call from Michael while he was on the set of The Stand miniseries. They never met in person and King can't even remember the name of the song. (It's "Ghosts.")

Two years ago, I discovered a large bookcase of King hardcovers for sale at Half Price Books. One year ago, I started the Dark Tower series. Now I can say I was in the same room as King. I quip that I can strike that off an imaginary bucket list. But I have thought about seeing him in person if he ever came to town. Well, wish granted.

What lay-off? (cont.)

2011-11-09T15:29:00.002-06:00

Still churning out a lot of stuff for the Observer. In this week's print edition, I did a story on the Jayhawks. And in the past few days, I covered the Touché Amoré show and the Youth Lagoon show.

And this week's edition of My First Show involves a lot of laughing. I had the pleasure to interview Mike from All That Remains and we didn't talk a lot about metal. We talked more about John Mayer.

What lay-off?

2011-11-07T11:22:00.002-06:00

I've been a very busy beaver as of late with DC9 stuff. First I covered the Youth Brigade show last Thursday, then it was We Were Promised Jetpacks' show on Saturday, and then it was Joe Lally's show last night.

And I'm covering at least two shows this week. I'm definitely not taking my full-time job's layoff lying down.

In the Pit of the Stomach

2011-11-02T14:01:00.002-05:00

When I heard We Were Promised Jetpacks were coming back to the DFW area, I was very excited. I wanted to cover their show by interviewing one of the members beforehand. Turns out, I talked with guitarist Michael Palmer, a lymphoma survivor and my story became a very, very personal matter, beyond what I thought of their new album. This is a story that I hope gives other survivors inspiration. And of course, another story of someone saying, "Fuck Cancer."

Read the whole thing here.

My first show

2011-11-01T12:01:00.002-05:00

My First Show is with Michael Palmer from We Were Promised Jetpacks this week. You can read it here and stay tuned for my feature on the band later in the week.

I also covered the Explosions in the Sky show over the weekend. It was great -- with what I could see of it. Here's my review.

RIFed

2011-10-31T08:00:00.003-05:00

Six years ago this month, I found myself without a full-time job. Last Wednesday, the same thing happened again. Only this time, I sensed the position termination coming, per acquisition by another company over the summer, and I thought about my options with moving forward.

Now I'm considering what to do next -- and if ever there was a time to try something outside of the field I've been in, well, it's time.

I could reflect on this like Charlie Brown foolishly believing Lucy was going to hold the football long enough for a kick. I could lie on the ground asking myself why I believed this time would work. But that's not what I've been thinking. For many reasons, the story met a natural conclusion -- and I have the desire to write another story.

The advice I like to give to anyone considering entry into a field where it's hard to find any work: get experience, even if it's not exactly what you imagined yourself doing. Know your limits, but be unafraid to find strengths you didn't know you had. No one will truly begrudge you if you change your mind about the field you're in after you've worked and gained working experience. And what you dreamed to be one day might not be what you wanted after all. But there is absolutely no fault in finding that out yourself.

When I graduated in December 2001, I never imagined being a traffic reporter. My wish was to be a music director at an alternative rock station and have my own Sunday night specialty show. It was strictly in the hopes to playing music that I loved to people who would listen. That's what I did in college radio and I hoped to return the favor to those inspired me in college.

As I would quickly find out, achieving my wish would be almost impossible to grant. Sticking to what I loved and hoping to give props and respect back to those who inspired me, I found other routes. Taking a job as a traffic reporter/producer helped me immensely with skills I never thought I'd have as a somewhat shy person. And with the work hours, I was able to do plenty on the side.

Deciding to write and publish a book is still one of the best decisions I've ever made. Even though I had never written a book before and never had any of my material published anywhere, I committed myself to doing something I strongly believed in. That led to this blog, writing for the Observer, and writing another book -- all matters I have enjoyed doing.

Was this path the plan? No, but I'm reminded almost every day that this was the right way for me to go.

I don't regret being a traffic reporter. Not at all. I had the pleasure to work with plenty of great people -- people who reached out to me immediately following my layoff. Knowing a lot of other people in my office were also let go, I reached out to them as well. With the responses I got, I knew that eight years of hard work and sacrifice were not wasted.

With the time I've been given now, I am able to explore many options. While I know the time to be a little picky/choosy can be brief, I have plenty of reasons to do this. And I reserve the right to change my mind if it gets to that point.

I'm very thankful I have a lot of mental support from my family, my friends, and especially my housemate Matt. I'm also thankful I still have my freelance work going with the Observer and a voiceover gig I do from time to time. And there's also that second book I (almost) have in the can.

I see no point in selling everything I own and finding the nearest cave to live in. There's nothing I'm trying to run away from. It's more about what's there to run towards. Once again, I'm reminded of something I realized that went beyond reporting traffic every ten minutes: On the road of life, it's good to have some alternate routes.

Johnette Napolitano Q&A

2011-10-26T16:39:00.003-05:00

And here is my (very long) Q&A with Johnette. Was an absolute pleasure to talk with her.

Enjoy!

My first show

2011-10-25T15:00:00.001-05:00

My First Show this week is with Johnette Napolitano from Concrete Blonde. Definitely one of most fun interviews I've done this year. A longer Q&A on the band's legacy and her solo work will be online later. For now, enjoy this week's edition.

We'll have Halloween on Christmas

2011-10-24T15:07:00.000-05:00

There was a time when the thought of not trick or treating on Halloween saddened me. It was when I watched an episode of Our House and Chad Allen's character opted out of the activity, claiming he was too old for it. I couldn't fathom turning down the opportunity to get free candy from the neighborhood and dressing up in a costume. Couldn't fathom it at all.

And yet I haven't done it since middle school.

These days, I love handing out candy, within reason, on my street. My neighborhood is inundated on Halloween night with families and we run out of candy very quickly.

As much as I enjoy Halloween, I don't celebrate it like Christmas. I know people who decorate their downstairs and front doors with witches, skeletons, and jack-o-lanterns. Aside from the pumpkin carving party Matt and I help host, the most Halloween decoration you see is the plastic jack-o-lantern filled with candy.

Yesterday, on a trip to find certain pieces of the costumes we'll wear this weekend at parties, I came across an entire corner of Target devoted to Halloween decorations, separate from the candy and a little close to the ever-growing Christmas displays. I wondered why I don't decorate for Halloween.

I'm not critical of those who do and I'm not against doing it myself. I enjoy catching a few more scary/Halloween-related films during October and I don't object to pulling out a spooky Stephen King short story (especially as I'm finally rounding the curve with the epic Dark Tower series). I save my decorating skills for Christmas.

Maybe next October I'll be standing on a chair hanging orange lights and finding a place for a plastic skeleton. Then again, there are only a few days left of the month.

DOMAXXIII

2011-10-20T19:48:00.002-05:00

Everybody -- freelancers and staffers -- chipped in to write about the winners of this year's Dallas Observer Music Awards. I wrote about three acts: Warbeast, Ducado Vega, and the House Harkonnen.

Read the whole enchilada here.

My first show

2011-10-18T14:58:00.002-05:00

When I do My First Show, all that I ask for is somebody who's willing to share with me about first show experiences. I know many people scoff at 3 Doors Down's music, but when Chris was willing to answer my questions, I couldn't say no.

So, here's this week's edition.

Moving (and not moving)

2011-10-17T15:10:00.003-05:00

I helped a friend move over the weekend, moving her only a few streets away from where she was. It was a smart thing for her to do -- going from a small apartment complex in a sketchy area to a chilled-out carriage house in a pretty quiet area.

As I helped lift some rather heavy boxes and figured out ways to get some of the furniture out of the old place and into the new one, I thought about when I'll be moving next. It's been seven years since I had to do that, and I'm in no rush to pack up and move away. If I were to move, it would have to be in a better living situation than the one I'm in now -- and I'm pretty happy with the one I've had for seven years.

I can understand the desire to own less if you move every couple of years. I moved ten times in college. Prior to that, I moved twice. Huge difference. And in the college experience (and post-college), I was ready to settle into a place and try and stay there for more than two years.

But now I'm becoming the "Stuff" bit by George Carlin.

My friend wanted to get rid of a bookshelf and I immediately thought of a way to put it to great use. The shelf now sits between my two main ones and it houses almost all of my Stephen King hardcovers. It looks great in the reading room and I'm happy to have everything in one place -- and it kinda reminds me of the cases I found the hardcovers at Half Price Books.

I find staying in one space is a sense of stability. I'm not on the hook for a mortgage, but I'm not necessarily afraid of being in one. I hope to someday have a backyard so my dog can run free and chase as many cats as she wants to. But until then, I like staying put in a situation that is ideal for where I am in my life.

The Power of Myth (monoculture edition)

2011-10-12T15:14:00.007-05:00

Steven Hyden recently wrote a spot-on piece for Salon.com on how monoculture is a myth. As I read it, I thought about how glad I was that somebody wasn't falling in line with a context-free, romantic view of the past. I wished there were more speaking up and saying this. Especially lately with all this grunge nostalgia.

Hyden and I are close in age, so when he talks about being young and seeing an album like Nevermind have a monumental impact on pop culture -- and not just the music industry in the early nineties -- I can relate. He also remembers the other big names in music during those times. Names that are not as celebrated these days.

Once my classmates did see it, a number of them purchased “Nevermind,” as I did. But many of them didn’t. Some preferred Pearl Jam. Some liked N.W.A.’s “Niggaz4life.” Some didn’t care about music at all; they’d rather play Tecmo Bowl. Then there were the millions and millions of Americans who bought Garth Brooks’ “Ropin’ the Wind,” the best-selling album of 1991. If anything, that was the album that we as a culture were united behind — it sold 14 million copies, though I never heard it once blasting through people’s windows.

I'm not shocked Hammer's Too Legit to Quit, Garth Brooks' Ropin' the Wind, and Kenny G's Breathless are not receiving the 4-CD/DVD deluxe reissue treatment this year. There are plenty of reasons why.

In the eyes of many critics who tend to fall into the mindset The Onion perfectly satirized a few years ago, those former blockbuster albums didn't have enough of an impact. Those albums just satisfied the lowest common denominator -- making them feel like they were eating a combo meal at McDonald's. Really? Something can sell millions of copies and not affect culture? And not just music, but video games, TV shows, and movies -- all which were taken to by millions? Makes me wonder more about the true meaning of sales figures in the long term. Especially with how we respond to them in the now, glimpsing into the past.

I'm curious how people will view Titanic in six years from now -- exactly 20 years after the film and soundtrack seemingly made everyone flock to. Will we get a deluxe reissue of even more of James Horner's score and Celine Dion's chest-bumping scorchers? Probably not. We're more likely going to see a box set reissue of Radiohead's OK Computer.

When people sound wistful about a day and age when an album could be enjoyed by multiple age groups and demographics, implying that can never happen again, I roll my eyes. Sure, it could very well be pop culture's equivalent of Halley's Comet, but that doesn't make or break the enjoyment of life. You should live for the moment you're in -- which, as Hyden points out, is filled with way more options than 20 years ago -- instead of the past, which seems so easy and straightforward in retrospect.

So I ask people of my age group: do we really want to fall in love with a patched-together worldview of the past, not that far removed from what our parents and grandparents fell for? You know, those Good Old Days, which sound suspiciously like plot points from Happy Days and The Donna Reed Show? Well, keep going back to oxygen tank labeled "monoculture" and we may very well end up that way.

My first show

2011-10-11T13:27:00.002-05:00

This week's edition is with Maria Taylor, from the lovely duo Azure Ray. Nice little coincidence she saw the same INXS show that Tim Kasher saw.

We got stars directing our fate

2011-10-10T15:00:00.003-05:00

There are times in my life when people run into each other when there is no scientific way of explaining how. A lot of people take the easy way and proclaim it's God while others can claim it's pure luck. Somehow, it seems like a mixture of both to me.

Yesterday, had it not been for a large family taking multiple pictures of themselves on the midway section of the State Fair -- the spot where Matt and I wanted to take pictures of ourselves -- I would have never run into my longtime friend Tim, his wife-to-be, his cousin, and his cousin's parents. Three of these five live in Houston and I rarely see them these days. And these were five people I didn't know were going to be at the fair at the same time Matt and I were to be there.

Usually, I hear about how someone was at the same show I was at, but we never saw each other. You see a check-in via FourSquare on Facebook after you've come home and realize, "Hey, we missed each other. Shoot!"

Say it's the stars or the planets lining up. I don't really know what to think.

This encounter was no different than the time I ran into a friend from elementary school at a Mardi Gras parade. A year after I had moved away from New Orleans, I saw my closest friend when we came back to town. Out of all the days Mardi Gras happens, all the people that come to the parades, and all the parades that take place, he shows up to one that I'm at.

You could show me statistics, but I probably wouldn't believe them. All I'll say, as a general rule of thumb in life: when you think you're being delayed, you might actually be on track to come upon something you had wanted to be around.

Overblown

2011-10-05T13:06:00.006-05:00

Grunge nostalgia is a mixed blessing for people like myself. I weigh pros and cons -- hoping to not minimize or over-embellish the impact.

Sure, it's great to remind others how important bands like Nirvana, Pearl Jam, and Soundgarden were to me and people my age (as well the people at MTV and the journalists who covered what we saw and read). But it would do a disservice to younger generations by claiming this time in rock history was the greatest ever.

I wouldn't say there has been a massive flood of grunge nostalgia in terms of products to buy, but it has made a lot of people talk, write, and think about it. Which I find healthy, in general.

For me, as a consumer, I have a lot of hesitation towards checking out the various permutations of the Nevermind reissue. While it might be nice to sample Butch Vig's mix of the album, I don't think it's something worth owning. And with the B-side bonus tracks? Well, they can be found on other releases (and not just the Outcesticide bootleg series anymore). The Paramount show on DVD? I'll rent it on Netflix.

I also have an aversion to skimpy retrospectives that fill maybe ten magazine pages or four minutes on a network TV news program. I like some meat with these kinds of meals, and I am thankful there are new books out there on the subject.

There's the Pearl Jam Twenty book and documentary, but I'd have to say the item most worth people's time is Mark Yarm's book, Everybody Loves Our Town: An Oral History of Grunge. Sure, there is another oral history of grunge called Grunge is Dead. There's also Loser, an exhaustive (and frankly, difficult to cut through) look at Seattle rock music, pre- and post-grunge. But if you enjoyed Doug Pray's documentary Hype! like I did (and still do), Everybody seems to expand themes and stories to a T. And reading it doesn't feel like you're experiencing an ABC miniseries from the 70s.

I know people who frown on oral histories (I heard a few qualms when I told them my second book will be one), but frankly, I can't think of a better way to describe a scene. No one person can be responsible for a music scene, so why should there be one narrator?

While there are stories touched on that have been presented elsewhere, there is so much I've never seen in print before. Getting Buzz Osborne's perspective on Nirvana's rise and fall is pretty fascinating. Learning more about the U-Men, Andy Wood, and Mia Zapata was also great. And getting the perspective of alleged copycats (Candlebox) was a nice touch.

This is not a rosy look at things -- the final quarter feels like a sad decline riddled by death, drug use, and strained relations between longtime friends and lovers. Not the kind of stuff where you feel inspired to plant a tree or climb a mountain, but there's no way of sugarcoating things. To sugarcoat would be a cheat.

Maybe this is the best way to remember this era (or any era, for that matter) -- not everything was sunshine, but it wasn't like walking in mud all day.

My first show

2011-10-04T15:04:00.003-05:00

This week's edition is with Ed Breckenridge from Thrice. I've had the pleasure of seeing these guys play three times in the DFW area, including that first show at Rubber Gloves with Red Animal War and Samiam. I remember how some people laughed when Teppei brought out his BC Rich guitar for a song, since it's such a "metttttal!" guitar.

A few years later, when I saw them open for Dashboard Confessional, there was a girl behind me constantly calling the band "T-rice."

Use Me

2011-10-03T15:02:00.004-05:00

I might not be playing in a regular band these days -- and probably won't be playing with a regular band for the foreseeable future -- but that doesn't mean I have given up the drums.

Hell no. For as long as I have working limbs and a desire to tap along, drumsticks will be nearby.

Last week, I took up an invitation to play on a jam night at a small bar a little north of where I live. I'm happy to say that I had a wonderful time and will be back.

Playing old school blues and R&B is not something I've ever done in front of people. But like I realized when I played southern rock songs at Rock N Roll Fantasy Camp last year, if you've played something John Bonham and Bill Ward have played, you've received a partial education on the blues.

All the years I've spent watching a guitarist motion around, whether on the neck or with the foot going towards a distortion pedal, came in handy for this jam. Playing a slow blues song that I was not familiar followed by a mid-tempo groove I was very familiar with ("Use Me" by Bill Withers), it helped that the guitarist was dictating to me what to do and what not to do -- by showing plenty and saying little.

The thrill of playing together is when people who don't know each other lock in. Improvisation can sound great when you're in sync with one another -- and it's especially great when you can extend a song into a lengthy jam.

I have not abandoned my love for playing rock music. It's just at this point, I'm very reluctant to play in a regular band, only to see everything collapse not too far down the road. One-offs are nice for me at this point.

Near Wild Heaven

2011-09-27T15:12:00.003-05:00

As much as it's old news at this point -- and many thought this should have happened a number of years before -- I've been meaning to write about R.E.M.'s decision to call it a day last week. With this week's edition of My First Show featuring a remembrance of seeing the band on the Monster tour, I have a few things to share.

I read plenty of well-written tributes to the band last week, but the one that really rang true for me was -- no surprise here -- the one The A.V. Club did. With fond memories in them, writers like Noel, Josh, and Kyle hit the bullseye on what's it like to be a fan of this band. Keith's final line really hit me:

Some music you hear. Some music marks you, and shows you where you’re headed before you even know.

Referring to where he was in his life when he heard the R.E.M. records that impacted him the most, it's interesting how the band was there at pivotal moments.

I, along with many others, can understand the sentiment.

Even though I knew who R.E.M. was when Document and Green were out, I became a big fan with Out of Time. With "Losing My Religion" being an inescapable video on MTV (as well as "Shiny Happy People" and "Radio Song"), it helped that I really gravitated towards the band's sound.

I was in seventh grade when I became a big fan of the band. Almost every other fall between then and my freshman year of college, there was a new R.E.M. record. It's like fall wasn't really fall until the new record arrived.

As they toured Monster in 1995 with Radiohead, I was fortunate to see the band play at the Houston equivalent of the Starplex. Definitely one of those shows I speak of fondness with a little bit of bragging (especially since Radiohead was touring off of The Bends, which wasn't as heralded at the time as it soon would be), I don't find any embarrassment that I went with my parents. It's not like I took them to see Napalm Death.

Since I was too young to fall in love with the band when they released Murmur, the crux of fandom was (and might always be) between Out of Time and Up. Thinking of Keith's quote about music directing your future, this was definitely true with me and my life. For the past few years, I've been very lucky to review live shows and interview bands that I admire -- and it helps that I'll always have a positive memory of an early showgoing experience.

Plus, it's very important how records like Out of Time and Automatic for the People helped me see a broader and denser view of the world. With all the videos MTV played (as well as the many interviews with the band) over those years, I highly doubt anyone watching the channel now could get the same experience from the lifestyle programming that's on now. No, the post-R.E.M. generation will have to find that elsewhere, and I'd be more than happy to share.

Crawl Space

2011-09-26T15:15:00.004-05:00

After many months of trying, I came to a conclusion last night: Breaking Bad will probably not be one of my favorite all-time TV shows.

I say this fully acknowledging the show is very well-written, acted, and produced, but at the end of the day (moreover, when I'm thinking about something to watch over dinner), I cannot join my friends in the near-universal praise.

I played catch-up with the series during its hiatus before season four began, so this is my first season I've watched week-to-week. And I've passed the point of whether or not I should continue watching the show. I don't hate the show per se; I can't give up on a show with characters I've taken a lot of time to know. I want to know how the series will end, so I'm hanging on through the end of this season and I will watch its final, fifth season when it airs.

Without going into spoiler territory, I point towards never-ending chasing of tails. When there's a problem that seemingly can't reach an easy solution, no matter how much it's between a rock and a hard place, eventually there is a clever solution. And it's usually an unpredictable solution, making things very engaging to see happen, albeit to a fault.

What also doesn't help: pacing. Plenty of episodes have long, drawn-out moments of discussion that sometimes can test the audience's patience. Alas, when a brutally violent confrontation or sequence occurs, all is forgiven.

But at what cost? Plenty to me.

There seems to be a certain, mostly male, attitude that loves this show. And guess what? I don't have it.

Although certain people I know, like my friend Millicent and my expert friends Donna and Noel (who have reviewed and been with the show since its pilot episode) have optimistic views on life, many males I've encountered can't get enough of this show because they see adult life as an ongoing series of disappointments. It's like, this show is an escape from the drabness of being lonely, broke, bitter, and disaffected. In other words, places in life I'm not at, or have been at before and don't want to be at again.

Again, I have not sampled a little of this show and said, "Eh." I've been on the rollercoaster and I don't want to get off of it. All I'm saying: do not expect me to own the entire series on Blu-ray or to be a part of the ongoing critical echo.

In the end, all you can hope for is the love you felt to equal the pain you've gone through

2011-09-21T15:38:00.005-05:00

Two weeks ago, I reviewed Tim Kasher's show at the Loft. If you haven't read the review yet, I thought it was a great show overall that became a little unglued at the end. Well, at the end of every show review for DC9, we do a "Critic's Notebook" mentioning personal bias, random quotes, or whatever else we feel like sharing that wouldn't fit in the body of the review.

In the case of the Kasher show, I wrote the following in my Personal Bias section:

I am a fan of Kasher's stuff, but there are times when I find Album of the Year and The Game of Monogamy very hard to listen to. It's not because of the music -- it's the brutal honesty and vulnerability found in the lyrics. I think I needed this show.

There was a sentence between the second and third sentence that didn't make the final draft. I'm not pointing fingers or whining at why it was excised. Rather, I figured I'd explain a little more about what I was talking about.

Frankly, merely writing about this topic is a reminder of why I write: to get out what I have difficulty saying.

In short, between the end of July and end of August, I became single again and my band broke up. Both situations forged around the same time almost two years ago and both fell victim to erosion at almost the same time.

Once again, a big blow to my life happened in the middle of summer. Previous years saw a close friendship end in an ugly way, friends die after slow and painful bouts with cancer, a coworker die suddenly of a heart attack, and other things, all lining up at the span of the same time frame. And now this.

I know of people who have been through rough years and ask in the middle of them, "Can we just skip ahead to next year and start over?" I've thought that, but I prefer to not think about time travel or other things I can't change.

The one thing I can steer is my attitude. I can use these losses as a way to move forward. Keeping a positive attitude can be trying, especially when you're grieving, so I'm not going to act like I'm in denial. It's just that things sink in at different times, and when something stings, it stings like a colony of bees.

In an attempt to make use of the slow days, I've stayed very active with my exercise habits, my reading, and my writing. Matter of fact, there was a point for a few weeks where I worked 11-13-hour days between my regular work stuff and freelance stuff. But, like when I was laid off seven years ago, the positive drive can reach E and things start to coast on fumes. Right now, I'm at that point.

I can't give up on a positive attitude about life. I may say cynical, dark jokes, but it's always hiding some pain I'd prefer to dish out in small laughs rather than big tears.

Hope is not lost here. Far, far from it. I've been using my time to get a handle on where my life is now and where it's going. But there are times when I feels like I'm finally recovering from a massive blow to the body and head. Things don't heal overnight, you know?

My first show

2011-09-20T13:37:00.003-05:00

This week's edition is with Eric Larson, bassist for Ume. He grew up in Houston and his first punk show was at the same venue that mine was. Great talking with him, and Ume is incredible live.

And if one just wasn't enough for this week's edition, I also interviewed Tom from the Horrors on his first show experiences. Read that one here.

First World Problems

2011-09-19T13:47:00.002-05:00

I've recently encountered a phrase that fits perfectly into understanding the severity of something: first world problem. Often a hashtag on Twitter, the phrase has stuck and it's spawned some funny sites like this one.

In many ways, I find this an evolution of the Stuff White People Like blog: white people with a certain amount of financial security and particular lifestyle habits poking fun at themselves. It's all harmless and I find the humor in it is as well.

Yet knowing about this self-awareness makes me even more cautious to talk about my "problems." It's a great gauge to understand what's an earth-shattering problem and what is not. Merely watching snippets of a Real Housewives show or My Super Sweet 16 can show you plenty. I try to be careful about what I whine about -- knowing full well that I am a lucky and fortunate person.

It's like that line in Swingers (in the same conversation that spawned the title of this here blog), where Rob is conveying his frustration about making it in Hollywood: "You're telling me that your life sucks; that means my life is God-awful."

I hope I come across as caring and a non-whiner, but some things really drive me up the wall. Who I tell this stuff to is different. The more caring and understanding people I know, they hear it all. But with people that only know me in passing, my Facebook and Twitter friends, well, I watch what I say. Besides, do you really want to be lampooned and be cast as a stereotype?

Gotta Go

2011-09-19T13:33:00.000-05:00

Last night was another late-nighter for me. This time, it was to see Agnostic Front at Trees. Here's my review.

Postcard from 1952

2011-09-14T15:23:00.002-05:00

A few years ago, I hoped to interview somebody from Explosions in the Sky for a Punk Planet feature. Their album, All of a Sudden, I Miss Everyone, blew my mind and I wrote a very lengthy review. Well, I never got to interview somebody for a Punk Planet item because the magazine closed down, but I was happy to make up for it with the Observer.

In addition to yesterday's My First Show, I did a half-page feature that also runs in the print edition. You can read it here.

My first show

2011-09-13T13:15:00.000-05:00

I'm proud to announce that this week's edition was one of the best interviews I've ever done: Munaf from Explosions in the Sky. Enjoy!

Where you're from, where you are

2011-09-12T18:41:00.003-05:00

In hopes of making interviews into friendly conversations, I'm always searching for icebreakers. Be it the town they're from, mutual friends we have, or when I saw them play live, I like to have things a little loose and fun. I definitely don't want to sound like a robot feeding questions into a mainframe computer.

Lately, I've talked with many a folk who are from the Houston area and it's always a fun topic. Earlier today, I conducted an interview for an upcoming My First Show piece and Houston was brought up quite a bit. Given how pop-punk was brought up as well, the conversation went deeper than the surface. It's about searching for reference points and finding spots to explore more, even if it's about a past life.

These days, I visit my hometown only a couple of times a year. I try to strike a balance between having my own life in Dallas and having Houston as my home away from home. I'm always welcome to make the four-hour drive, yet I prefer to be busy with my ongoing life in big D.

When I meet new people in person (or simply have a brief phone conversation for an interview), I never shy away from where I come from. Be it talking about my time living in New Orleans, Austin, or Fort Worth, these are parts of life's path and there's no reason to pretend like my times there never happened.

As I've said before, all I need is a few days back in the old neighborhood to remind myself why I moved in the first place. It's not the people per se; it's the lifestyle and environment. If I need reminders of landlocked, liberal-free thinking, there's the suburbs I grew up in. It's not like a chose a hippie lifestyle living off the land and recycling my urine. It's deciding to stay where I want to be.

Parking lots

2011-09-09T13:31:00.002-05:00

Ending the week with a little rant I thought about when I was driving to see the Dodos last week. It's on three venues that have parking lots which are hard to get out of.

Cold Love

2011-09-08T15:07:00.002-05:00

In this week's print edition, I wrote the main feature. It's on Maleveller, probably the only metal band I've interviewed where we could have talked at length about Richard Hawley and Elliott Smith.

Also, I covered Tim Kasher's show last night. It was epic to say the least!

My first show

2011-09-06T15:06:00.002-05:00

For this week's edition, I interviewed Tim Kasher, someone I've been a fan of for many years. So far, I've seen Cursive four times and the Good Life once, and I've never come away disappointed.

And if that wasn't enough, I also interviewed David Rogers-Berry from O'Death for a bonus edition of the column.

Tied to the '90s

2011-09-05T13:19:00.004-05:00

I've spent a lot of time during this Labor Day weekend combing through many used-CD bins at a couple of Movie Trading Company locations. With a special of "Buy two, get one free" with 99-cent CDs, I've amassed a few small stacks for a total price of three new CDs.

While this makes my library even larger, I can't help notice what I've bought: almost all of these CDs were by bands I remember from high school or college. Only a few came out after I graduated college, which was ten years ago.

I'm talking Neil Finn, Dance Hall Crashers, Catatonia, Space, the Juliana Theory, and Underworld, to name a few. Records that I remember holding, whether I was at a Best Buy or at my college radio station. There's a different set of memories there -- and quite different from seeing songs saved as MP3s on my computer.

I find this stuff to be treasure. I doubt some of this stuff is on the Internet -- and it's been cheaper to get them in the used bin instead of spending a few hours clicking through to see what's available and hoping that the sound quality doesn't suck.

People may laugh or wonder why I hold onto these CDs instead of dumping them after I rip them. Well, hard drives could always die on you, losing all sorts of stuff in the process. It never hurts to have back-up copies. And it never hurts to recall when you first heard a record when it impacted you.

Fables

2011-09-02T13:11:00.000-05:00

Speaking of the Dodos, I covered their show last night. Here's my review.

My first show

2011-08-30T13:31:00.003-05:00

This week's edition is with Meric Long from the Dodos. We had a pleasant little 10-minute chat and that's what you get.

Here come Omar

2011-08-29T15:58:00.004-05:00

Last week, I decided to make a purchase that some could say was foolish, but others could see as smart. And I couldn't help being self-conscious about it: I bought The Wire on DVD.

There's a joke about being white and liking this HBO show that ran for five seasons. (Read probably the best explanation why right here.) Seems like everyone I know that has seen the show loves it, and will profess its greatness at any given moment. The day I purchased the set, I quipped on Facebook that I was "officially white."

I have yet to hear anyone say a negative thing about this show, but there was some hesitation when I considered buying the whole shebang. This show was on HBO, a network that has its tendency to have original programming where people you don't normally root for as protagonists. But since this show's on HBO and not network TV, you can't say anything bad about it, right?

Well, I still have burns from being a big fan of Six Feet Under before the show made me eventually hate all of the characters. And I still remember watching a handful of episodes of The Sopranos and realizing that mob stuff is not of great interest to me, even though I think The Godfather is great.

Then, there's this little factoid: as of this writing, I've never seen a full episode of The Wire.

You might think I'm the epitome of stupid by laying down some good money for a show I think I'll like. Since the price I paid for it was too good to pass up (a one-day-only Amazon deal that pulled the price down to only $73, while it normally runs for double that amount) I decided to take the risk. I decided, if I hated the show, I'd give the set to one of my friends who loves the show and leave a nasty note.

But I'm quite sure that won't happen.

What interests me about the show can be credited to my enjoyment of watching shows like The Killing and The Shield. I'm not the biggest fan of dramas with cops, robbers, and inner-city life, but with what I've lived around in a gentrified neighborhood (and worked around in the media), a look at how cops, criminals, political leaders, and journalists intertwine fascinates me.

And knowing that, I'm reminded of when I decided to pick up Scott Walker's In Five Easy Pieces box set back when money was tight, but Tower Records was closing and selling everything drastically cheap: sometimes you have take a small risk for a big reward. The key is sometimes because you don't to drop a lot of dough on stuff that has yet to fully prove itself to you. But, every once in a while, you have to go for it.

Lovely Lovely Lady

2011-08-26T12:37:00.002-05:00

Normally, I don't stay up incredibly late to cover a local band's set, but I didn't have to get up at 4am today. Here's my review of Burning Hotels' CD release show.

Serve the Servants

2011-08-24T15:13:00.004-05:00

If your life was changed in 1991 or 1992 by Nirvana, Pearl Jam, and Soundgarden, you shouldn't be surprised there is renewed interest in talking about how good things were back then. You know, it's only been twenty years. (Cue rolling of eyes and head-slaps to those that remember this era like it was ten years ago.)

From here on out for the rest of the year (and maybe some of next year too), you will hear plenty of reminders about how much albums like Nevermind and Ten were game-changers. Writer Simon Reynolds recently wrote an excellent piece about 90s nostalgia, tying it in with his book, Retromania: Pop Culture's Addiction to Its Past. He starts off talking about how Nirvana's '92 performance at the Reading festival will be shown at this year's edition of the festival. Then he throws in plenty that is well worth your time.

This got me thinking about how I have responded to news about Nevermind's reissue, Pearl Jam's forthcoming documentary, Twenty, and the deluxe reissue of U2's Achtung Baby. I will definitely want the Nevermind reissue (mainly due to the DVD moreso than the B-sides and alternate mixes) and the Achtung Baby reissue (mainly because the original CD version sounds very thin and quiet) and I would love to see the Pearl Jam documentary (because I can't say no to documentaries on bands I like).

Am I falling into a trap of nostalgia here? I don't think so. I think I'm briefly circling my wagons, but not parking those wagons with a resigned attitude about how things were better in 1991 and 1992.

Not to sound narcissistic, but with my own books, I'm trying to not give off an impression that everything was better "back in the day." I'm trying to give a perspective on how things were and point out differences with the present. I know intentions can get lost in the interpretations of the final product, but I definitely did not want to sound like an old codger who hates all new music and new bands.

When I began writing and researching Post, I was reminded every single day how nostalgia is sold (and resold to future generations). Working at a radio station that specialized in the oldies format, groundbreaking artists with a plethora of hit singles were reduced to only a couple of songs in medium or heavy rotation. And they were songs you've heard all of your life and you tend to get sick of them.

Plus, knowing how people love to talk about one-hit wonders ("It's a one-hit wonder weekend!"), I had the bad feeling the first and final word on emo would be with Jimmy Eat World's "The Middle." (Not that I think Jimmy Eat World is a bad band or "The Middle" is a bad song. It's just there was a lot that led up to this: a whole book's worth.)

Consider my efforts noble to get the story straight, and not give into compromises I knew I'd regret down the line, but I had to self-publish Post to get my ideas out there. I'm happy to say I have no regrets, though I wouldn't object to reworking the cover and write a new afterword.

Now with another book almost done, set between 1993 and 1997, I don't want to make it sound like I'm this kind of guy who constantly pines for the past. Sure, there are some things I miss about playing music when I was learning to play the drums, but there is a hell of a lot I don't miss. More than anything else, I want to show how people like me and my friends got on the path we are today because of coming of age in the 1990s. I especially want to make things clear with the choice of years When We Were the Kids is set in, because too many rock critics think American rock music 1993 and 1997 meant less and should be made light of.

I write about what I know best and I try to at least put an effort into something rather than whine all the time. If I choose to revisit records that greatly turned the tide for me as a seventh grader, that doesn't mean I'm trapped in the past. I'm merely taking a look back while also looking forward to many other things down the line.

My first show

2011-08-23T13:32:00.001-05:00

This week's edition is with Casey from the Dear Hunter and Andrew from Life On Repeat. This is what happens when one guy answers the questions well in advance, but the answers are short and to the point. So when another band is playing in town and a member is willing to elaborate, you get this as an end result.

Summer on the links

2011-08-22T14:39:00.003-05:00

A little update on my golf game. I'm still playing and there's no reason to stop playing.

Lately, Matt, myself, and Jeff (Matt's father) have ventured far and wide in the area to play. Sure, there are plenty of courses around here in the Dallas area alone, but we've recently played in Gainesville (which is about 90 minutes away) as well as in Marietta, Oklahoma.

Why play so far away when there's so much to offer around here? Well, when my golf partners want to go there, I tag along.

Prior to playing in Oklahoma, I had never stepped foot in the state. Yes, after living under the state for 26 years, I finally paid a visit. I'd like to go back there soon, just not when it's 105 and sunny. It felt like being in a fireplace, waiting for a match to be struck at any minute.

There's an old-school charm to these courses and I love that. Shorter holes without any fancy water fountains or brand new houses next to the course. (Not that there's any wrong with that. I'm merely saying it's like the kind of golf courses you see in black and white movies.)

Playing wise, I have good contact, but I still have a ways to go. I tend to get into this cycle: when I learn how to do something, I try to improve, but when I don't improve by leaps and bounds, I stay at the level I'm at. And there's no reason to stop playing because some shots I make go everywhere but straight. Playing is so much fun and there is no reason to stop.

A few weeks ago, Dallas got some rain early one Saturday morning and it remained cloudy the rest of the day. We three decided to check out a course in Pleasant Grove and it was pure magic. I'm not saying our playing was pure magic, but the whole day felt so peaceful and relaxing.

Even though it was back to 100+ degree heat the following day, I got a glimpse of playing well into the fall and I liked that sight.

On (Still) Reading . . . The Dark Tower

2011-08-17T20:19:00.003-05:00

The year has past its halfway mark and I'm still trying to climb up the Dark Tower with Roland and his ka-tet. I wasn't planning spending all this time dissecting Mid-World, thankee-sai, and Blaine the Mono, but that's how it's gone.

You could ask why would I bother with such a difficult read. Well, since I'm a fan of easter eggs in books, TV shows, and movies, this series is ripe with them. And I still agree that if you read this mash-up of King Arthur, Lord of the Rings, and the Man With No Name trilogy, you have a much better understanding of Stephen King's other work.

While I was in Florida, I read two non-King books in four days. Those who are friends with me on GoodReads know that is warp speed for me, but I think my patience with the Dark Tower series helped me immensely. The pacing of the series is slow, but after I read The Stand, I'm used to that.

A few weeks ago, I decided to read a short story from Full Dark, No Stars in one morning. There were no moments of todash, specialplates, or rose sightings. It's not like I expected those, but reading through and along helped me zip through this short story in an hour or so.

This all made me think of challenges we're willing to take on end up really helping us down the line. Helping us out in ways we never saw coming.

Believe me, if I thought the Dark Tower series was a bunch of pretentious, drug-fueled fantasies tying every loose end together, I would have given up in The Wastelands. But there was enough to hook me in and want to read to the very end. Even though I've heard plenty of whiners about how the story concludes. (Yes, the Internet is still perfect if you want to viciously rip on something but backpedal about it in person.)

All I can say is, the journey's still going and I'm not giving up. I passed the give-up point long ago any way.

My first show

2011-08-16T21:01:00.002-05:00

This week's edition is with Kyle from the Globes. I'm glad the band is coming back to town, especially since they were here only a few months ago.

"We don't do brutal"

2011-08-15T13:09:00.001-05:00

Busy weekend for me in terms of covering shows. Saw Torche Friday and it ruled. (Read the review here). And I covered the Maleveller show on Saturday night. (Read the review here) More stuff with Maleveller is in the works, so stay tuned.

Livin' the good life

2011-08-10T13:43:00.003-05:00

The Shield is a show I missed while it was on the air, but I'm thankful the entire series is available on DVD. All accolades I've heard on the show have been proven to me and I'm swimming right along through the series.

I know how the series ends, but how the show gets from what transpires in the pilot episode to the final episode intrigued me. As things twist and turn, I stay locked in.

The thing is, I still want an element of surprise when those twists happen. But when merely looking up an actor's name on the Internet leads me towards spoiler territory, it's a little frustrating.

I'm really bad with wondering, "Hey, I've seen this person in something before." It happens almost every time I watch a TV show or movie. I blame my natural curiosity to connect the dots. With The Shield, two actors in the first couple seasons were series regulars on AMC's The Killing. Looking one of them up online, I got a sneaky suspicion one of them wasn't going to be a regular guest star. And when the character's fate was mentioned in a episode commentary that preceded that episode, I wondered something.

Is it possible to truly experience something these days without a hint of spoilers?

It might be easy for my parents, but they're not online as much as I am. And they like to watch stuff that is predictable (and I don't mean that as a slant -- it just comes with what they like). I still stick by the idea you can really judge the quality of show knowing full well of some spoilers. If the show is truly ruined by a plot point or character's death, then was the show really worth it after all?

All I can say is, I'm thankful for Shield fans I know who have kept things vague with me. It's been a great ride so far.

My First Show

2011-08-09T13:09:00.002-05:00

This week's edition is with Andrew Elstner, lead guitarist from Torche. I saw them play a few years ago and was blown away. I'm glad they're coming back to blow Dada's roof off.

Ode to a bodyboard

2011-08-08T15:19:00.003-05:00

If you were to tell me as a kid that one day, I'd have to break my bodyboard in half after twenty years of usage, I'd probably break down and cry. Alas, that's what happened on my recent trip to Destin, Florida. But I did not break down.

There was a time in my life (roughly, second grade through fifth) when I was immensely attracted to skateboarding, surfing, and California life. Hell, I even wanted to change my name to Steve because it was much more of a fitting (and cooler) name. Living in states (Louisiana and Texas, respectively) where an ocean with big waves was nowhere close, my mind was frequently facing west.

I did go to California a couple of times during this period to visit relatives, but eventually, my body went in different directions, away from skating and surfing. And I blame puberty -- something I jokingly say ruined my life.

I'd say the aura of skating and surfing really attracted me to this way of life. Yet when I constantly fell down trying to nail a Lance Mountain move one morning, I started to have a change of heart. Plus I heard how difficult surfing was and that made it less appealing.

But a yellow New Wave bodyboard would be my favorite weapon of choice while on the beaches of Destin, a regular vacation spot for my family. I could ride waves that were only a few feet taller than me. I wouldn't be far out in the deep, where my legs would be eye candy for sharks. And I probably wouldn't get hurt on it (which I thankfully never did).

After a thirteen-year hiatus, I visited Destin once again with my whole family (now with a brother-in-law and twin nieces) for most of last week. The waves were not strong or really high. Catching any waves was almost impossible. Instead, I spent a lot of time floating, looking at the sky, and meditating until a wave would toss me around and push salt water up my nose.

On our last day at the beach, hoping for some waves, I lied on my board and heard a large crack. I looked underneath to see the break all the way across the middle. I showed my family as I walked back onto the sand. Knowing I can get another board at any time, I still gave my board the equivalent of a Viking funeral: I folded it at the break and tossed it into a large garbage. Tapping on it like a coffin filled with a love one in it, I walked on.

I bring this up with slight humor because it's merely a board that can be replaced. I hope to get back onto a board soon and ride full waves. But I bring this all up in the sense of how you can be told about something adulthood as a child and find it terrifying and sad. Yet if (or when) you get to that point, there's nothing sad about it. You feel like enough time has passed and there is not a lot of sadness. And good memories never die.

My first show

2011-08-02T15:27:00.003-05:00

This week's edition is with a band I've only seen once, but loved immediately: Burning Hotels. I look forward to seeing them in a few weeks for their record release show at Club Dada.

Two hours

2011-08-01T14:58:00.003-05:00

Earlier today, I tweeted the following:

While we moan about the lack of videos on MTV today, please remember that 120 MINUTES is back on the air. #goodwithbad

Sure, I've heard plenty today about how shows like Jersey Shore and 16 and Pregnant dominate the airwaves that once belonged to all videos, all the time. As someone who watched MTV every day between 1987 and 1998, I rarely watch it now because its programming does not appeal to me whatsoever.

However, I DVR-d the return of 120 Minutes on Saturday night and I plan on DVR-ing it for the foreseeable future.

On a personal note, host Matt Pinfield was a major influence on me as I developed into the music fan that I am today. You can always impress people with your knowledge about music if you speak up. Prior to that, I kept that mostly locked up in my brain.

All these years later, along with many different avenues to be exposed to new music, I fondly welcome back 120 Minutes. Artists that I am still fans of today were first exposed to me via the show. From Suede to Ben Folds Five to Beth Orton, its playlists always led a trail to lifetime fandom.

I wouldn't say I must have someone point me in a direction towards good new music, but I've always appreciated a filter with all the new music that comes out every week. Even though Pinfield wasn't the guy picking the videos back in the 1990s, his factoids were always appreciated.

So, yes, in life, you can bemoan how crappy things are, but there will always be crappy things out there. It's up to yourself to find the good stuff around all the crap.

Concert Foul

2011-07-29T16:18:00.002-05:00

We have a relatively new column going at the Observer called Concert Foul. My first entry can be found here. First topic for me? The guy who loves to talk about equipment when a band plays.

My first show

2011-07-26T15:27:00.002-05:00

This week's edition was a ton of fun to put together. Cabe Booth's birthday party at the Kessler has reunions of bands who once ruled in Deep Ellum in the 90s: Chomsky, El Gato, and Bobgoblin. I interviewed members from all of the bands and got plenty of great stuff.

Unsolicited writing advice (review criticism edition)

2011-07-25T14:58:00.003-05:00

Over the weekend, I reviewed two shows: A Perfect Circle (which can be found here) and Mission of Burma (which can be found here). As I started formulating in my mind what I wanted to say about the APC show, I was reminded of some good advice I was told a few years ago by a rock critic I respect: never forget what it felt like to be young and save all your money for a show and you came out of the show disappointed.

I'm very thankful that the shows I've covered have come with guest list privileges. Shows at big venues are not cheap and I've always taken that into consideration when I write my reviews. After what I witnessed on Saturday night, I've never come away from a show so incredibly disappointed.

But the key thing I suggest to anybody writing a review: don't write like you're a teenager who's let down by the show. Write in the voice of your own age, damnit.

With my reviews, I try to use as much tact as possible. Weigh the good and the bad and consider which one weighed more. But if people want your professional and informed opinion, don't sound like someone who just bought some lame pot, annoyed your girlfriend only goes to second base, and you're still pissed that your parents grounded you last month because of bad grades.

I know writing in a brutally honest way can get you traction with readers, but I've never been out for blood. I'm not a confrontational person unless I'm truly driven to that point. Furthermore, I try to not let whatever is going on in my personal life dictate how I feel when I'm at the show.

Every show I've covered for DC9 has been a show I've wanted to be at. Given how I have to rise early in the morning during the week, I take into careful consideration whenever I have to cover one that's during the week. I ask myself if it was worth staying up late for. So far, all of those shows have given me the answer of yes.

When you want to be at a show, it comes out in your writing. When you don't want to be there, it becomes painfully obvious right away. If you choose to sound like someone who wanted to do a lot of other things other than see that show, then it really comes out. Ultimately, it says to me, the reader, "Don't really listen to me because I didn't want to be there in the first place."

So I have to ask, if you didn't want to be there, then why should I read your review?

+/- on Google+

2011-07-22T15:36:00.002-05:00

As a very satisfied Facebook user, I had reluctance to hop onto the Google+ train. Figuring it wouldn't hurt, I accepted the invitations sent to me by a few of my friends. Well, after a week of being on it, here's what I've found to be good as well as frustrating.

I know it's still in its testing phase. I get that. So far, the design is fantastic and I've found it very easy to navigate. But here's where things get a little bumpy.

One of the big draws of Facebook and Twitter was how friends who fled (or were never on) MySpace were on those sites. It's fun to connect to more people in one spot, for sure.

Maybe I'm to blame on this one, but all of my 90 friends on Google+ are also friends of mine on Facebook. I follow a couple of people I also follow on Twitter and more often than not, it's a lot of stuff I've already seen on their Twitter pages.

I like the idea of Sparks. I made all kinds of Sparks on my page, covering interests from Stephen King to vegan desserts. As nice as it is to have a Google RSS feed with a social network, I get turned off when I see a written version of the game Telephone.

In the case of my Stephen King Spark, I got to see a trail that first (accurately) reported how the TV/film adaptation of The Dark Tower had been halted after Universal backed out. Not too long after this announcement, other sites were claiming the whole adaptation had been killed (which is not true).

Knowing the nature of media where you don't want to be the last one to cover something, I'm gonna pass on reading my Sparks section until I can up with different, broader ideas.

Understand I'm not giving up on Google+. I merely find it very redundant in the face to Facebook.

My first show

2011-07-19T13:15:00.000-05:00

I enjoy doing these columns, but this week's edition is one I'm very proud of. A few weeks ago, I got the chance to talk to Roger Miller from Mission of Burma and this was the conversation.

Invisible Touch

2011-07-18T09:19:00.003-05:00

A few weeks ago, while I watched a few Genesis videos circa the Phil Collins era, I started thinking about when I became a purist about a band's presentation. In watching videos like "Invisible Touch" and "In Too Deep," I can remember being young and not giving a rat's ass about how Collins never sang and drummed at the same time in the videos. And I didn't care that the band didn't have a full-time bassist. It was Genesis, man. They play good songs. That's all!

All of this purist stuff would come later. Mainly, in my post-pubescent repelling away from all things phony. (Keep in mind, this repelling continues to this day, just in more complicated ways beyond music.)

It would be years before I understood about the hazy world of legal stuff and how a band wishes to never "replace" a founding member, whether it was Creed or the Manic Street Preachers. I have reasons to care, but I can understand reasons to not care about this stuff. Can't I just like a band when they write a song I like and not give a flip about anything else?

When it comes to bands I've never really enjoyed (like Creed), it was fun to throw invisible darts at a band who's on the cover of Rolling Stone without a bassist. Even though they had a bassist who replaced their original (and remained with the band until the original lineup reunited a few years ago), not photographing the guy made the band look like even bigger tools.

Purity is not something that remains in youth. More often than not, like the Creed example, it's another complaint about a band you could endlessly complain about. I guess when it comes to bands I don't really complain about, like Genesis, it's OK.

A Trick of the Tail

2011-07-14T15:55:00.003-05:00

Lately, a large chunk of the music I've been listening to is from Genesis. And when I mean Genesis, I mean all three eras of the group: with Peter Gabriel, with Phil Collins, and with Ray Wilson.

Yet when it comes to fans of Genesis, I seem to only know two kinds of them: those who love the Gabriel era and those who love the Collins era. There's very little carryover between them. Seems you're not supposed to like both.

Well, I can't deny my early love for the Collins era with Invisible Touch. Yes, there is a nostalgic reason since that record was, along with the Cars' Heartbeat City and the Police's Synchronicity, my first introduction modern Top 40 rock music as a child. Listening to those records again, I think they still sound great, but I have a newer appreciation after knowing more about the people behind the music and the music itself.

With the records the group did with Peter Gabriel, I heard about heralded records like Selling England by the Pound, Foxtrot, and The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway. Whether it was a member of Phish or Mastodon, the prog era of Genesis was to rave about while the mainstream success was to be either made light of or not mentioned at all.

Frankly, I like it all. And that includes Calling All Stations, the one-off record with Ray Wilson on lead vocals and Nir Z on drums.

It's only really sunk in with me during the last year about how multi-faceted and inventive Phil Collins is as a drummer. Given how he drummed through most of the prog era and all of the pop era, his talents were always there. And the melodies were there too, whether it was Gabriel on lead or Collins on lead. Strange to say, but there was a logical progression, year-by-year from what they were to what they became.

Sure, the number of years spent listening to singles from Invisible Touch and We Can't Dance greatly out-way the number of times I've heard the title track from The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway, but who knows, maybe that could change down the line.

My first show

2011-07-12T15:19:00.003-05:00

This week's edition is (roughly) a two-parter. First, it's Matt Barnhart. Next week, it's with somebody I had a wonderful time talking to and he's playing a show with Matt in a few weeks. The conversation we had last week turned into something more than merely talking about first show experiences. Definitely something I'm very proud of. Now to transcribe the whole thing . . .

Grandpa Grubbs

2011-07-11T15:42:00.002-05:00

There's an ongoing joke in our house about a nickname that I can't seem to live down. Whenever I'm near my blue recliner, Matt calls me Grandpa Grubbs and asks what Grandpa Grubbs is about to do. Usually, Grandpa Grubbs gets a book to read and a blanket so Victory's always-shedding hair doesn't get everywhere.

This often results in a nap. Just like how a grandfather would be.

I take zero offense to this nickname. A mutual work friend brought it up last December as we decorated the Christmas tree. With Victory by my side and slippers on my feet, the only thing missing was a pipe and a hearing aide.

As much as I claim to be an old soul, I merely do this because of practical reasons more than anything else. Victory is a very clingy dog and tends to get antsy is she's gone too long without certain kinds of attention. Her lying in my lap usually calms her down. Plus my recliner is very comfortable to read in and I usually fall asleep in it after a while. (I should mention my grandfather had this recliner until he passed away.)

Lately, I've been trying to listen to records on the turntable and fall asleep. I had done this in college as a way to keep tumult in my life at bay. It's nice to drift to sleep hearing something like Sigur Ros and waking up to silence or more Sigur Ros. It's a peaceful feeling.

All I know is, I might act like grandpa for a couple hours a day, but the rest of the day is a delicate balancing act between a youthful attitude and having something of an adult life. And I'm happy with that.

I'm ready to be new again

2011-07-06T13:35:00.000-05:00

Yesterday was interesting. After waking up from a mid-afternoon nap, there was an e-mail from Pete asking if I'd like to cover the Taking Back Sunday show . . . in about two hours from then. Luckily, I had no plans and was happy to see it. Here's my review.

My first show

2011-07-05T23:43:00.003-05:00

A first for My First Show: I interviewed a female for this week's edition. I've known Trish for years and I was happy she shared a lot with me in the interview.

Book #2 update

2011-06-29T13:15:00.002-05:00

It's been a few months since I've said anything about When We Were the Kids, so here's an update.

Basically, writing, editing, and revising continues almost every day and this will continue until I feel the book is ready. Some days I can come up with a lot of material to build on what I've been working on for the past five years. Other days I merely tinker, adding and subtracting a few words or sentences here and there. I feel productive, no matter how much or how little I do.

All this time, I have done this on my own volition. No book deal, no deadline, no daily questions from people asking when I'm putting out my next book, nothing. Like with POST, working without a deadline can be a good and bad thing. I don't think I could write a book in six weeks, but I didn't imagine taking four years to finish POST or the five-plus for this one.

Life can get in the way of finishing anything, but I think life's obstacles can help the finished product.

When I started writing this book on playing in bands, I wasn't very active in a band situation. I saw more shows than I played, but I was still out and about, talking to people who played in bands. These days, I play in a very active band and I see shows here and there. I think my weekly exposure to rehearsing, writing, and playing live has greatly helped me write about bands who rehearsed, wrote, and played live regularly. Things I hadn't thought of a few years ago came into my mind in the last two years. That's probably why I've been more productive.

Unlike when I wrote POST, I have not posted any samples of works in progress. Hell, I haven't really said what the book is about, other than a basic premise (a fictional teenage rock band scene 1993-1997, told in an oral history format). I'm not aiming for secrecy here. I merely want to present this book in finished form when it is finished.

What has been a major stumbling block for the last year is assembly. Sure, there are a lot of stories and anecdotes, but the proverbial laces needed to be tightened. If I didn't have some connecting tissue between one story to the next, I'd run into a wall. Sometimes I could come up with stuff on the spot. Other times, it would take hours, days, or weeks, pondering things.

As of today, I'm at the halfway point in the narrative, still adding more than subtracting. I know there will be more subtracting in the final editing stage, but it's been so fun to write thse characters. It will be hard to let go. Maybe that's what taking so long.

Stay tuned.

(Shine Your) Light Love Hope

2011-06-27T15:18:00.003-05:00

When I heard Bob Mould was releasing an autobiography/memoir called See a Little Light, I wanted to read it the second it came out. Adding to urgency was that Michael Azerrad helped Mould with it. This would be an excellent book, yes?

Reading the 400-page book in only five days, the answer is absolutely yes. (Considering how it took me three months to finish the fourth Dark Tower book -- thanks, High Speech? -- this means I couldn't put the book down.)

Sure, if you've read Azerrad's Our Band Could Be Your Life, you know Mould was interviewed for the Husker Du chapter. And if you read Andrew Earles' book on Husker Du, you know Mould declined to be interviewed, but there were plenty of quotes from old interviews Mould gave.

But would Mould's book be one long story of redundant information? Thankfully, it's not. Not even close.

As someone who's read a lot of interviews with Mould and seen him interviewed multiple times on TV over the years, there is way more information in Mould's book that I've never known. (I don't claim to be an expert on Mould, but I know a lot of things about him than say, my mother does.) Plus, with all the things I already knew, he went much more in-depth.

I say all this as a compliment because many memoir writers take safe routes when talking about former bandmates, lovers, and friends. You see most of the names withheld or changed, and stories about the parting of ways is usually made light of, citing how water metaphorically passed under a bridge. This is not a dirty, gloves-off tell-all. At least to me.

Not to sound like I'm reviewing Super 8, but I don't really want to delve too much into what is talked about in the book beyond what you might have already heard in other reviews. I will say this: when it comes to talking about Husker Du's end and why they will never reunite, Mould doesn't mince words, but he doesn't poo-poo on the time the band was together. Cynicism can spoil a joyous time together if the time ever ends -- and I'm thankful Mould doesn't knock the band's legacy. The same goes for Sugar.

So, if there were any doubts you had with this book, then why are you still reading this blog entry instead of reading his book?

All things Warped

2011-06-25T15:21:00.002-05:00

Dallas had the prestige of kicking off this year's Warped Tour. I covered it and covered a kickoff party the night before. Two Against Me! and Lucero sets in two days greatly overshadows any dehydration and hurt feet.

Keep 'em coming

2011-06-22T15:05:00.004-05:00

As I made my list of Warped Tour lineups over the years and my interview with Tom Gabel, I thought a lot about why people my age would prefer to not go this year or in previous years. I even thought about why I didn't go after I moved to the DFW area in 1998.

All trails go back to the heat factor. I know it's the summer and I have yet to experience an all-out mild summer as a Texan. Plus I can't shake the experience of my four years rehearsing in the high school marching band.

Still, when Pete has asked me to cover Warped for the past three years, I have zero hesitation in saying yes. There are parts of me that will always love pop-punk, hardcore, emo, and so on. I still have an appetite for it while many other people my age write it off as an angry version of Radio Disney pop.

I'm not pretending to be a teenager here. These days, I'm a 32-year-old who likes to listen to Suede, Dream Theater, Converge, Cheap Trick, and Z.Z. Hill. But I can still distinctly remember what drew me to the Warped Tour and I keep this in my mind when I cover the show. Teenagers around the world live for the day they see the Warped Tour. I respect that.

Of course, I'm not afraid to tackle bands who clearly turn me off. Yup, I'm talking 3OH!3, Simple Plan, and so many others. And I find matters quite disheartening when rock star attitudes overshadow the bands made up of humble people without eyes on a prize. I don't want to be the old guy who says his generation's version of "Rock n' roll's been goin' downhill since Buddy Holly died." I simply try to point out why a band like the Bouncing Souls means way more in the long run compared to say, Attack Attack!

This Friday will be a long day, but I'm game. I'd rather give Warped some good coverage instead of lying around at home eating sour grapes.

My first show

2011-06-21T15:11:00.003-05:00

This week's edition is with Brian Venable from Lucero, who will be playing the Warped Tour this Friday. I will cover the Dallas date and my review should run next Monday. Until then, also enjoy this little list I did on the various lineups over the years.

Aiming for the center of the Death Star

2011-06-20T15:11:00.004-05:00

Over the weekend, Diana posted an update on her condition. The basics of her latest PET scan: doctors hoped the mass would be gone by now, but it is not. Luckily, the mass is half the size of what it originally was and it remains isolated. More chemo is down the line, but stem cell treatment might be too.

These results could have been much, much worse. I don't want to get bogged down in thinking about the cancer spreading or the mass remaining its same size. Rather, I want to focus on what I have seen since my previous update last month.

The ugly stuff first. Yes, there have been some spells of depression here and there. Many factors, including isolation and the starting-to-feel-good-then-more-chemo cycle, put her mind in a place where she seemed to be pushing away almost every good thing in her life.

It hurts to see someone you love start to drown, so I am thankful she was able to come back up for air. And she's stayed afloat.

While we aren't going on three-mile bikerides these days, she has been able to take nice long walks around her house. When she said a few months ago she's been able to breathe better than she has in a long time, I smiled. I still smile when I think of her mentioning it in passing.

In the past few weeks, we've gone out shopping, to the movies, and pleasantly enjoying life when it doesn't feel like a sauna outside. Juggling work schedules and other appointments (and deadlines for me), we get to see each other when we can, which is roughly twice a week.

I have been asked if I'm disappointed we had to put our future plans on hold. I have not. It's been hard to see someone you love be thrown such a curveball in life. Yet I find myself loving this person even more because of how she's dealt with this curveball.

When I had some medical issues back in April, I reminded myself of how Diana handled herself in the hospital. Sure, there were concerns and fears, but at no point was she difficult. I kept that in mind as I had to have some emergency treatment to a hemorrhoid that had ballooned to the size of my thumb. I also kept her professional and mature side intact when I went to the dermatologist last week. While it isn't the most fun treating a doctor and his nurse to a peep show (because moles are all over my body), I didn't let fear of seeing a potential cancerous mole overpower me.

We're not in the clear yet. I'm not declaring a victory or a defeat. Cancer isn't like a pulled muscle or a cold, hence why I like to call it a journey. The journey keeps going and Diana is staying on a path with "Fuck Cancer" signs all along it.

Take the time

2011-06-14T17:06:00.007-05:00

I don't think it's ever too late to improve on your basics as a musician. Even if you've been playing for decades and you understand how you cannot function without playing an instrument, the basics should always be put into consideration.

If you have no base, you cannot build on top of it.

When I was in my twenties, I didn't have regular access to a drum kit and I didn't have the desire to practice regularly on a practice pad. My pad was loud -- every hit was an annoyance to neighbors, roommates, and pets. Because of not playing (being convinced drumming was like riding a bike) my skills became very lax. I wondered why I couldn't flow between fills like I used to. I also wondered why I was always stuck playing the same beats and fills.

I cannot pinpoint the exact moment when I decided to do more with my drumming, no matter who I was playing with or not playing with anybody. I thank drummers like Stephen Peck, Jeff Gretz, Chris Pennie, and Gil Sharone for inspiring me to do more as a drummer. I've never aimed to play like those guys -- I just wanted to play better.

This would lead me to make a monumental decision yesterday: I bought my first instructional drumming DVD. The drummer on it? None other than Mike Portnoy, now formerly of Dream Theater.

I'm not about to triple the size of my drum set or suggest the Pull Tabs should play in 13/8 for ten minutes straight. Instead, I'd rather get advice from someone who clearly loves to play drums and is willing to explain his approach to drumming. Sure beats listening to someone who thinks you should erase what you've learned before and disown everything you've thought was good or inspiring.

Taking suggestions and putting your playing under a microscope is a good thing, if you want to improve. I know that might seem counter to the punk rock/purist ethos I tend to lean towards, but I can't see myself spinning my wheels as a player. I love playing to much to let things slip again.

My first show

2011-06-14T13:15:00.000-05:00

An actual post of substance is forthcoming. Until then, enjoy my interview with Tony Harper from Slobberbone, the Drams, and American Werewolf Academy.

Lowest Part is Free!

2011-06-13T10:01:00.001-05:00

Last night I stayed up really late to watch the Archers of Loaf play. Can't say I regret it. And I have to give credit to Noel's Popless piece for inspiring me to finally check out the band a few years ago.

My first show

2011-06-08T15:43:00.002-05:00

For this week's edition, I interviewed John Congleton once again. This marks my third interview with him and I look forward to seeing the Nighty Nite play live.