Random Update

Jesse has been keeping this blog on life support for way too long, and it's time that the rest of us got our act together and made this vision a reality - and by vision I mean getting a first-hand perpective of 5 rock stars (or want-to-be rock stars). Too bad this stuff doesn't make it onto MTV - we're only missing fabricated drama as well as an unlimited drinking budget to compete with such shows.

I had some pictures on my laptop that I've accumulated over the past couple of months that I wanted to share with you all.
The cookie cake above is from our friend Amy.
We will work for food especially if it has our name on it.


Road Trip To Chicago.
Look at these studs.





Taking a myspace-worthy shot.
So hot.

new york

so new york was fun, and we're definitely going to be back at the bitter end. we hit a miserable bizzard on the way back west in pennsylvania. i guess that figures. huge thanks to anne and erin for taking such slick pics in NY.

what it is....

the last week has been insanely stressful but extremely rewarding. i posted friday afternoon about our thursday night. friday night was freaking awesome. we played with 3 great bands. jakob freely, steve razska band, and red wanting blue. to make a long story short, they were turning people away at the poison room. the place sold out.

that, ladies and gentlemen, is freaking awesome.

it was freezing in chicago, but we had an absolutely excellent show there. it seemed like we were back in the groove after about a month off. really rockin show. we met up with some of the fellas from freshtracks music. if you don't yet know, freshtracks is the hippest place to find up and coming artists and get their mp3s. You get unlimited downloads for 5 bucks a month. In other words, you can buy our entire catalog for 5 bucks. plus its the best way to support us. we get paid more than when we sell the same mp3s on itunes. damn good stuff.

thursday we played at millett hall - the basketball arena for miami university. the show was a part of greek convocation - in other words every fraternity & sorority was there to kick off the 2nd semester. i can honestly say i've never seen so many gorgeous women in my life. i think we have some video of that of which i will post soon. (video of the show, not of the miami lovelies...sorry all you creeps)

now i'm back in nashville recording more drums. more updates soon.

:thursday, january 18th:

5:00pm - walk home from a miserably boring class. stop by "a place to eat," talk to the owner, a dude our age who dropped out of school to do something on his own. end up buying more shit than i want because i feel bad for the guy. we'll have to pack up as soon as i get back to the house.

5:15 - return home. sit and watch fuse music TV while eating my sub and drinking expensive cranberry juice. i can't decide whether the VJ is hot or not. i guess she is, but its still hard to say. decide that if i was drunk she would probably be hot. i should probably start packing up my drums. we really need to leave on time if we're going to get to columbus by 8.

5:30 - shit, i better start packing up if we're going to leave by 6:15

6:00 - stuff is halfway packed up. damnit we better getting moving.

6:07 - rushing to get all of our shit packed up. grab scott's jacket, black shoes, and belt. we're going to be late.

6:25 - we leave oxford for columbus. not bad, 10 minutes late is not bad at all.

7:45 - shit, might not have given enough time to make it by 8. we have to make it by 8. damnit we're always late to all of our shows. why can't we get our shit together and get somewhere on time? better speed. we are pretty much out of gas. i hope we don't run out.

8:00 - 26 miles out of columbus. we're late. DAMNIT. i hope we don't have to rush. better speed even more. we're definitely out of gas. this sufjan stevens album is pretty good. 5/4. i like.

8:25 - arrive at Oldfield's on High. enter the front door of the bar. not a single sole in the club. we're the first ones here. we're not late. a drunk hobo named gary brags to us that he is a millionaire and can play any instrument. he shows us photos of dead people in iraq.

9:03 - skinny arrives decide to walk down high street to get some food. gary follows. gary is pissing us off.

9:40 - at blue danube. chris doesn't like his salad. bob dylan songs are on the jukebox. shit, we better get back to the club. its almost 10.

9:46 - enter club. no one has set anything up yet. order a drink.

10:30 - black coin begins their set. order another drink.

11:30 - black coin is finished. shit, we need to get set up fast. its late. we better get set up fast.

11:50 - drums are set up. wow, i haven't played out in like a month. i wonder if we're going to suck. we'll probably suck tonight. damn, skinny has some hot fans.

12:15 - damn i should've brought water on stage. i'm f-ing thirtsy. this drum riser is tiny.

12:30 - finish set. shit, we better get off of stage pronto. its getting late and its skinny's show.

12:40 - somewhat pack up trailer. order a white russian. i haven't had a white russian in a long time. the dude abides.

12:50 - skinny begins their set. damn, they're good. holy shit their drummer is insanely good. man, i really suck. i need to practice. next week, i'm going to practice everyday.

12:55 - order a jack and coke. am i buzzed? na, i'm not buzzed.

1:00 - meet mike, who moved here after going to princeton and working at a prep school in connecticut. chris and i talk to mike. mike is cool and knows the bartender. mike wants to know if we want another drink. do i want another drink? he knows the bartender.

1:03 - begin another jack and coke.

1:37 - holy SHIT. skinny's drummer is taking a drum solo. he's ridiculous. man i SUCK. i really need to practice. i'm definitely buzzed.

2:00 - skinny ends their set. damn, bars are so ugly when they turn the lights up. skinny is awesome

2:15 - shoot the shit with skinny. begin packing up the rest of our stuff.

2:40 - still hanging out at oldfields.

2:45 - shit, its 2:45

2:50 - leave oldfields. apparently our gas tank is bone dry.

2:54 - enter marathon gas station on north high. buy smore pop tarts and some milk. the dude behind the counter is pretty much the nicest guy ever.

3:02 - get on highway, try to get my new phone to play some music through headphones. not much success. sitting in the way back is comfy. i bet ben isn't as comfortable as i am. ha.

4:40 - holy shit where are we. getting off I-70. damn its late.

4:55 - arrive in oxford. i'm tired as shit. i'm going to wash my face and go to bed. screw showering. damn, it is FREEZING cold. holy shit i haven't been this cold forever.

5:00 - scott realizes we DVR'd the new episode of the office. i'm tired, but obviously i'm going to watch it.

5:30 - damn its late. i'm glad i don't have shit to do tomorrow. enter bed. sleep.

smack.

at 10PM tonight i finally hit real drums. its been over a month of pre-production, and while i still haven't actually tracked anything, it was nice to feel that wood in my hands again and smack something.

twas an interesting day, all things considered. we spent a good part of the day setting up different microphones, getting different sounds, and figuring out the best way for me to monitor and listen to what i'm playing when we actually do start recording.

i saw a sign advertising a pink spiders show. wtf happened to them? they were supposed to be the "next big thing." perhaps the biggest hype band of the summer. myspace domineers. i bought their CD in new jersey the day it came out and we rocked on the way into NYC in august. man, i felt so hip.

i guess their lack of "success" proves being really shallow will only get you so far. but i did kind of dig the album. i guess that says something about me though.

on that note. goodnight.

pick up the phone and call me back. i have your scarf...and your dignity

i'm back in nashville preparing to track drums. all is well, i've slept tight on chris hellmann's air mattress two nights in a row now. its wonderful and comfy.

we may track some of the drums on analog tape, which is freakin sweet. back in the day, premium, a band some of us were in, once recorded most of our album on analog. its totally sexy and romantic. i'm getting hot just being in the room with an analog machine. what can i say.

Anne and Amelia, two of the most important people in the world of marking twain, came and visited us in nashville a few weeks ago. amelia is an amazing photographer and has taken some of the sickest pictures ever of marking twain. Anne is a PR genius who has seen MT through thick and thin times. (she's seen more thin than anything else)

ahhh. makeada world go round. I personally think these two girls are going to rule the world with iron fists soon. anne took some photos and sent them over.

two cool chicas (anne & amelia)

apparently this is scott singing along to our songs in the car. thats what anne said. i wasn't there.

we obviously have a strong sense of camaraderie here in marking twain.

ALLRIGHT. Today is Ben's birthday. he's old as shit. 22. HA old man kubicki. i heard he blacked out last night. its likely. i'll probably update more since i'm bored here by myself in nashvegas.

oxford, smocksford

we have returned to our home in southwest ohio. besides the fact that we now have the luxury of sleeping in beds instead of on air mattresses/floors, it sucks compared to recording in nashville. there is no other way to put it. and we have a LOT more to do before this 5 song "package" is finished. i think we have finalized the 5 songs that we will be actually doing. the list so far:

knock twice
spellbound
madison
remember me
doubtful

pre-production may or may not be finished, we will know this week. it looks like i will be traveling back to nashville this thursday to begin recording drums. THAT, ladies and gentlemen, is something I will be very glad to do. We've been doing all of the pre-production on a "drum kat" - basically an electronic drum pad - more apt to cut a rap record than a rock record, but its so ridiculously convenient for demos that nothing else made sense. Still, actually playing on drums will be nice.