Oregonian Sushi, Musical Incontinence, and Drunken Puggies...
Wednesday, December 19, 2007
Since my last post I did indeed make a brief journey into the Great Northwestern city of Portland, Oregon. I think it had been eight years or so since I'd last visited, and under much different circumstances. The previous trip had been in a caravan of shitty vehicles that were constantly overheating, a trailer without working shocks and packed to the gills with guitars, drums, keyboards, lights, and a really crappy Canadian-made sound system (no offense to Canadian products in general, just to Yorkville, the Peavey of the North), and a handful of fellow wanna-be-rockstars and would-be-roadies that with few exceptions, smelled of cabbage, curry, and pickles and snored at night. Yes, I am referring to the adventure that is a ghetto-style tour with a mediocre rock band. But I digress...
Last week's trip was for work. Things went very smoothly and the client is seeing the value in having us onsite, which is always good. Aside from a very cool little dive of a sushi bar near the office, there's not much to tell for people who aren't officially dubbed "Talent Acquisition Geeks". If you're one of us, well, plenty of stories to drink to in the event that we meet up.
Just prior to leaving for Portland, I was bitten quite hard by a bug that has more or less been comatose, or at least in hibernation for the last several months. 'Twas the songwriting bug. And the bite is visible. Within a few days I had written ten new songs, a feat by my standards. And alas, for the first time in many years, the songs all seemed to be within the same genre. For those of you who know the levels of my creative attention deficit disorder, you'll note that previous writing sprees have generally ended with an industrial metal song, a couple of country tunes, three exceedingly queer dance tracks, a song that is impossible to categorize, and a couple of pop rock tracks thrown in for good measure. Here we have songs that could actually, conceivably end up on a project together. *Insert GASP here*.
Anyway, I got back from Portland and found a nice, big box under (or rather next to) the Christmas tree with my name on it. Since I'll be going to Washington for Christmas and my guy will be going to see his family, we had our Christmas early. For the record, I've got the best guy ever. For what did I unwrap? I extend to the court, Exhibit A:
Oh but yes, I got a new Vox AC15 for Christmas. I was/am giddy. I sold my old one not too long after quitting my last band. I wasn't playing it much and I really wanted an acoustic guitar but didn't want to spend any cash to get one if I could manage. So I sold my baby and bought a killer little Larrivee. Anyway, long story marginally less short, I immediately wanted my Vox back and just haven't found the opportunity to get one. Again, love my guy.
So, a plethora of new material, a gorgeous new amp, and a recently purchased sequencing software for the studio have led me into a stage of musical incontinence like never before. And I'm quite okay with it. For anyone who cares, one of the scratch tracks I've been working on can be heard below. For anyone who doesn't know what a scratch track is, its an unmixed version of a song that has certain components (primarily the vocals, in my case) roughed in, but final (and hopefully better versions) are to come.
Finally, as the title of this post suggests, we are dealing with a sickly pug (yet again). Miss Honey has another cough, and this time the doctor said it wasn't in her lungs, but merely a swollen larynx or pharynx or uvula or some other medically ambiguous term. Anyway, so in addition to a round of antibiotics, he's prescribed a tranquilizer to help her rest, hoping that will stop her from incessant coughing that only serves to make the swelling in her throat worse. One of the both amusing and heartbreaking side effects of said tranquilizer is a seriously drunken Pug. I'd mortify her if I posted video of her in this state, but I'll leave you today with a picture of her stoned little ass sleeping next to my desk. Cheers.
Currently listening to The History of Howard Stern
Labels: All Posts, Culture, General Bullshit, Music, Travel
posted by Dustin @ 9:35 AM,
2 Comments:
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At December 20, 2007 at 2:12 AM,
Reverend Humpy said...
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"a caravan of shitty vehicles that were constantly overheating, a trailer without working shocks and packed to the gills with guitars, drums, keyboards, lights, and a really crappy Canadian-made sound system...and a handful of fellow wanna-be-rockstars and would-be-roadies that with few exceptions, smelled of cabbage, curry, and pickles and snored at night."
Ahhhh, the dark times. I am so glad that chapter's over. For the record, you and I were the only talented songwriters in that group. Can't wait to hear what you're up to.
The Reverend -
At December 26, 2007 at 9:11 PM,
Char said...
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i like the song... good work! the vox is hot. and poor honey baby! Miss you.. call me.