My Kickstarter Campaign Has Been Launched
I’m extremely excited to announce that I’ve officially launched my first Kickstarter campaign!
Tagged: digital
I’m Kickstarting a CD
Those of you who know me, know that I have four albums worth of material that I choose from when playing live. That’s something around 50 songs. The big question after a gig is always, “Where can I buy your music?” The answer is complicated.
I Call Them Albums
Here’s my latest definition of feeling old: Speaking to someone under a certain age about music, referring to a collection of published songs as an “album” and then subsequently being looked at as if I had suddenly lapsed into Greek. “What’s an album?” they usually ask.
It happens a lot more often than I’d like. I was talking to my brother-in-law and sister-in-law not long ago. They’re not young enough when records were never part of their lives but they’re apparently not old enough so that using the word “album” or “record” is a hard habit to break. My sister-in-law actually laughed out loud and said, “Who calls them albums any more, Lou?” Well, a lot of people I know do, but I guess it all depends on who you hang around with. It was such a weird moment that it stuck with me. The fact that she found it so funny also stuck with me. Was this something I should change? Should I not be using those words anymore? It got me thinking.
I’m one of those children of the 70’s who remembers and owned many of what are called LP’s. The LP stands for Long-playing. These typically vinyl discs were placed on a turntable, spun around, and read by a stylus – or what we commonly referred to as the “needle” which resided at the end of a long arm. This needle delivered the sound to your speakers. Wild.
Cassette tapes came along at some point (as did the relatively short-lived and not discussed here 8-track cartridge) and while it was cool that they were more portable and you could record on them, they were never quite able to knock LPs out of the market. People usually referred to them as “tapes” but it was still acceptable to call them albums at a higher level. They lived side-by-side in harmony for quite some time.
I worked in record stores (<— there’s that word again!) for a long, long time and I don’t recall a time when someone said, “Do you have that new tape by Some Artist?” Usually they’d ask for the new album and we might say, “Do you want it on record or tape?” and that was that. I’m sure there were some people who used the term on a regular basis but they were not the majority then. I’m also pretty sure that saying the word “record” was as taboo as I’m led to believe it is today. In retrospect, I think it’s because the LP format was not totally wiped out yet, which leads me to my next example: The CD or “compact disc”.
I remember when this wonderful monster came along. I was working at a store called “Crazy Eddie’s” (His prices are inSANE!!!) here in Northern New Jersey. I was there for the whole CD revolution. I watched the format hatch and grow commercially. I unpacked the first shipments and put them out into retrofitted bins. At first they came in what were called “longboxes” which contained most of the cover art. Some labels got creative while other cheaper labels simply packaged the CDs in long, clear plastic “blisters” with the booklet up top and the CD with tray at the bottom. They sat in the bins just the same as the ones with the longboxes so browsing the bins would not be a problem.
I was also there, working in those same stores, when we started emptying the LP racks completely and converting them into CD bins. I distinctly remember noticing that two CDs in their boxes, next to each other, took up the same amount of space as an album. For a long time, CDs sat in the bins two columns deep with nothing dividing them. Why I remember this stuff, I couldn’t tell you but as memories go, they are sort of fond ones.
It was fun for a short while in the interim, positioning CDs, tapes, AND record albums all together in a Top 10 sequence according to a Billboard chart. The tapes were in these long plastic “shucks” that were supposed to prevent theft. People usually just broke them, but they looked nice when you put them on the front wall because they became the same height as the LPs and CD longboxes. Working in those stores in the old days was a lot more fun. Try going into a music store today (if you’re around my age). It’s a whole different experience.
Remember, this was all pre-internet, pre-downloading, pre-mp3s, and all that stuff. We’ve come a long way since then and the CD is still around while cassette tapes have gone away. The LP suffered for a long time and was just about to be counted totally out when some nostalgia for the format began to resurface. For all intents and purposes, however, the LP was pretty much thrown to the curb, at least commercially.
I was originally talking about naming conventions but as you may have noticed, this little side-trip down Memory Lane actually serves a purpose. It gives you a little insight as to why someone like me might still say, “Did you hear that new Lenny Kravitz record?” which my sister-in-law seems to find so funny-bone tickling funny. I guess it just comes down to plain old conditioning and/or force of habit. When you grow up saying or doing a certain thing, then that said thing sticks with you.
I have thought about this a lot more than I care to admit and I’ve always come to the same conclusion. I just can’t bring myself to change the way I refer to popular compiled published recordings. Over the years, I’ve made many other changes in the way I speak based on changing times, but for some reason I can’t let go of using the terms “records” or “albums”. It’s just so hard-wired in my brain that I can’t undo it. It just doesn’t sound right to me.
I think younger folks are used to it and accept it more because they weren’t around when albums were in full force. All they’ve ever seen are CDs so it’s natural to them. I suppose the relevant comparison for me would be television. I was born in 1970. TVs were around for years but in 1970, there were plenty of people around who remembered when TVs became commonplace after World War II (even though television had been around years before that). The 1950’s saw the TV boom; the 1980’s saw the CD boom. I personally don’t ever remember a time when radio was king, when phone numbers didn’t fully consist of actual numbers, or milk was delivered to your house in the morning by a “milkman”. Well, that milkman part might be a stretch. I remember being 5 or so and having an insulated metal box on the front porch that actually said “milk” on it. I never saw milk IN it, nor do I remember ever spotting a “milkman” but I think you get the idea.
I think the term is making a slight comeback though. They have these “Record Store Days” now where people are supposed to go to record stores and get all nostalgic and stuff. I’ll be honest and say I don’t really have any interest in that. I practically lived in record stores for years and had some fun times but all in all, it’s just another business. The idea is to make money. It was the PEOPLE that made the record stores fun – not the job. No money = no rent = no more store.
I’ve seen music on iTunes referred to as “iTunes Albums”. Some labels are still referred to as “Record Labels” which is nice. (I am lumping the terms “records” and “albums” together, please note.) To be honest, I hear lots of people saying, “Did you get that new CD by [insert pop name]?” and I’m not even sure that really works anymore with all the digital hoopla. Are they going to start saying, “Did you get that new download yet?”
Maybe I’m not as out-dated as I fear I might be.
Times change and society adapts for the most part. In this case, however, I’m relatively sure I’ll go to my grave calling these musical collections “albums” regardless of the format they reside on.
I’m secretly longing for the labeling convention of “CD” to go away (or at least have the same stigma as “album/record”) so that when I talk to my sister-in-law and she says she mentions the new CD from some artist, I can laugh and say, “HA! Who calls them CDs anymore? Gosh!”
Every Song Tells A Story: This May Be Something
The Story
This song is a very important one for me, but not because of its content or its meaning. It’s important to me because of what it represents, or represented at the time it was written. Let me explain.
I can’t say I’ve had too many regrets in life thus far. On a side note, I also think that people who say they have “no regrets” are pretty much full of shit. It’s a device that makes people feel good about themselves or helps them rationalize things, which is cool I guess…but I still think they’re full of shit. You mean to tell me you wouldn’t call for just ONE do-over for that one thing that happened that time…?
Anyway, like I said. I haven’t had too many regrets in life, but the one that always came back and bothered me, and the one I always feel guilty about is the one where I retreated from music for many years. The last band I was in before my little hiatus broke up in the mid 1990’s. After that, I wandered a little bit, did some acoustic gigs, and wrote the occasional song. Nothing felt right or complete.
It was around this time in the mid-late 1990’s that things started to move into high gear as far as life went. Work was not going well, I was training for a new career, I was in the middle of getting married and all that goes along with that, I lost my father and grandfather in the space of two years, I relocated from New Jersey to the Boston area for two years, had a son, moved back to Jersey, bought a house, landed a new job, and so on. In the blink of an eye, more than ten years flew past me before I could even realize what had happened.
Many good things happened during that period but one thing was for certain. I had drifted away from music almost completely. In 2004, I found myself looking for jobs again and having another child; a daughter this time. I contracted here and there and finally landed a solid job in 2006 (where I am presently).
Now, I won’t kid you. I had the bug in my ear every now and then. I kept telling myself I’d fall into a band or do something musical when it came along. Trouble is, nothing ever came along. I was so far removed from the circuit that no one even thought to call me. So at some point in 2006, I looked around and realized that while I was still pretty busy, things had at least settled down a bit. My daughter was two and my son was around seven. I could probably do something musical. The question was: what?
I had always been involved in original music. I thought, however, that putting a cover band together would be pretty easy. I mean, all the songs are written. How hard could it be? It would be a good way for me to ease back into things. Long story short, while there were gigs and many line up changes, the band didn’t last. I did, however, make a few very good friends along the way and had some fun. I got more confident in my abilities and got re-adjusted to performing once again.
During those few years, I also decided to start playing drums again in another local cover band to see if I had any chops left. I found I could still play and I’m still moonlighting in a few bands on drums, which is fun. All those years away from playing did affect my ability, however. That I regret. I can still play well but I can tell that I’m not as good as I used to be. Time and practice…
Back to the song. I had written a few songs in the past with various bands and I had been in a few bands that released material now and then. It occurred to me one day, however, that I had never released my own album: a collection of songs written by me. I guess you’d call it a solo effort? So, while doing my cover band stints, I decided it was high time to just suck it up and start writing songs again. I would noodle here and there on the guitar and see what happened.
One particular night, I remember being quite depressed for some reason that escapes me now. I was on the couch watching something on TV and I looked across the room to where my computer is. Next to it, I keep my old Yamaha acoustic on a stand for noodling purposes. It looked tempting so I went with the vibe and picked it up. I sat in front of the computer and just started strumming a progression that suited my mood. A few minutes later, it dawned on me that I had just written a song. This is something I hadn’t done in years. I opened up a text file and jotted down the chords. At the same time, words started to pop into my head. Ideas were forming. I just rode the wave until it stopped. When it did, I had almost a full song. I just needed a bridge.
I don’t remember the exact inspiration for the song and the lyrics. I remember a friend of mine had recently opened up to me about some personal things she was going through. I remember that I was down in the dumps the night it was written. There’s a reason I’m connecting these two things but other than a subconscious awareness of that connection, I can’t recall the specific inspiration, if there was one. Sometimes when you’re writing, you write a line and then you write a second line which takes you to a third and the next thing you know, you’re a mile away from your original story. These lyrics were something like a stream of consciousness. They just came out. I changed tense or person here and there but that’s about it. The lines just sounded good when I placed them in the chord progression.
So to sum things up, that one night of writing represented my “return” to original music and from there, I just kept going. So that song really means a lot to me. It was the first real song I had written in years and it served as the watershed for what came next, which was a year full of writing and recording. I get a lot of compliments on the song and I’m quite happy with it. It’ll always be a fond memory for me.
The Recording
The song was written fairly quickly, but recording it was quite the ordeal. I was at a disadvantage at the time, because the last time I had ever recorded a song there was no computer involvement. The Internet was still pretty young, actually. I use a PC mostly. It’s a family PC that I usually dominate but we all can use it. I did not have any recording software or input devices, however. I used some gig money (from the drumming I still do on the side) to pick up a Presonus Firebox, which allowed me to plug instruments and/or microphones directly into it. This box carries the signal from the instrument or voice from its source to the computer. I tried using a PC based software package for a while. In the end, I was able to get a version of the song recorded but only after many failed attempts. There were level issues and I lost the entire song (multiple tracks) more than once.
This, of course, drove me to drink…and to the Apple store. I didn’t replace my home PC, but I knew I needed a dedicated media machine. I grabbed a refurbished MacBook Pro and an external drive. I’m using Garageband now, basically because I can’t afford Logic Pro or something better. However, Garageband is surprisingly versatile and suits my needs just fine. Within a few hours of taking it out of the box, I had just about recorded the whole song again.
By the time I got to recording the song on the Mac, I had already played these parts many times so recording it was a breeze. I recorded the drum track first, as I usually try to do. Then I laid down the bass and the other guitar parts. After recording the vocals, I toyed with the notion of adding some backing vocals but I wasn’t feeling it. I was enjoying the visual of a guy singing alone.
The bridge was a funny thing. When I originally penned the lyrics, I had three verses and no bridge. I told myself I’d write something later. While trying to record the PC demo, I realized I had nothing to play for the bridge and just sort of winged it. After a couple of tries, I came up with what’s on the song now. I didn’t have lyrics though. I took the third verse and adapted it to the bridge. Simple.
The mellow guitar solo was nice but I felt it needed to do something other than repeat the phrase so I harmonized it the second time around. That was another first for me, simple as it was. I thought it sounded nice.
So as my first foray into digital recording, I ran into a few bumps but in the end came out with a decent song that put me on a path to many others. The process is so much simpler now than it was 10 or 20 years ago. That, plus the ease of using the Mac have been key for me over the past year. I’ve learned a lot and hope to learn more as time goes on.
The Lyrics
I swore I wouldn’t let it eat me up inside
I said I wouldn’t let it win
But here I am right back where I started
Here I am… againIt’s times like these you’ll tell me it’s gonna be all right
And I might believe you too
But if I did would it just be a lie
Would I be a foolI’ve been here too many times
I think I know my way around by nowIt’s times like these where the darkness seems to break
With a light inside your soul
It’s time like these I run the other way
I make you let me goI don’t expect you to try and understand
I don’t expect you to try to make me seeThis may be something – This may be something, good
This may be something – This may be something, something goodI got all this stuff now
Not sure what to do
I need someone to kick me in the right direction
Kick me right to youI know you weren’t trying to scare me
You just tried to be a friendAnd maybe that’s something – Maybe that’s something, good
Maybe that’s something – Maybe that’s something, something good
My First Tattoo
I’ve been tattoo shopping for a while now but could never make up my mind what to do. I talked to a lot of people and ran many a design past them to gauge opinions. The usual stock answer was always something like, “You have to pick it because it has to mean something to you.” Sure, that’s true. But a little help is always welcome. I had picked out a few designs that my wife cringed at or my friends would say were too cliche and generic.
I was at the diner one night, probably a year ago or something, with my friend Jim. We went to grammar school together and he has a really cool Jaws tattoo. We started talking about ideas for me and all of the sudden he just lights up and says, “I got it!” He knows I’ve always been a big fan of The Police. The band, not the law enforcement agency, though I have nothing against them either.
Anyhow, Jim suggested the cover of The Police’s album called Ghost in the Machine . It’s the one with “Every Little Thing She Does is Magic”, “Spirits in the Material World”, “Invisible Sun”, and some others. I always loved the cover of that album (which was designed by a guy named Mick Hegarty) because at first glance, it looks like just a bunch of weird seven-segment display symbols or digital runes or something – but they’re clearly not numbers.
Now, the seven-segment display had been around a while but it wasn’t until the 1970’s that the LED thing really went mainstream. If you’re like me, you remember when “digital watches” came out. These used that seven-segment display where you turn on or off any number of those segments to create numbers or letters.
In 1981, when Ghost in the Machine came out, the digital thing had been around a while but I don’t recall if it was ever used in “pop art” the way it was used on this album cover. There are no letters or numbers here and the segments are customized as if the design incorporates a strange hybrid of traditional seven-segment display and the more versatile sixteen-segment character block.
In any case, what you’re really seeing on the album cover are three faces of the three members of the band, The Police (Andy Summers, Sting, and Stewart Copeland). Look again – it’s them. In fact, I’m pretty amazed how many people have never noticed this…but more on that in a little bit.
So I carefully considered this as an option for a long time but I really wanted the first tattoo to be something with my kids’ names on it. I even put together a little something in Photoshop with two guitars crossed at the neck with banners on each side with the names on them. On top, there’s a winged heart with some music notes. Pretty nice, but pretty big, pretty expensive (I assume), and probably not a one session job. So I figured I’d keep saving until I got up a bunch of money and get that done one day.
Then, last week, I went to Las Vegas with my high school buddies because we all turned 40 this year. While walking around on Sunday night, I spied a tattoo shop and the bug hit me again. I knew I couldn’t get that huge thing I wanted but at the same time I felt like I should go home with more than a key chain or some other souvenir. I wanted to say, “Oh this? I got it in Vegas with my buddies!” I figured it would be small enough so it wouldn’t be too expensive and I could probably have it done in an hour or two. The guys were all going to see a show so the plan was simple. While they were gone, I’d meet up with an old friend of mine who lives out there and she’d drive me over to the place to get it done.
That’s pretty much how it went down. I even talked the guy down a little in price. There was no one in the joint on a Monday night so I guess he didn’t mind helping me out, which was nice. The whole thing took under an hour to do.
First he went online for a better photo than the one I had saved on my Crackberry. He printed one out and made a bluish stencil, which is sort of like one of those temp tattoos you put on kids. just slap it on the arm, peel it off, and there’s a light blue version of what’s going to end up on your arm. Then he started working on outlining the segments in black. When that was done, he filled in the rest with red. Pretty simple!
I have to admit that I was really braced for a painful experience because sometimes you hear these horror stories that make you nervous. Whatever this guy did, though, he did it well because it hardly hurt at all. It doesn’t feel like needles. It almost feels like scraping or light slicing or something like that. You’ve probably had worse in a doctor’s office. People’s tolerance to pain varies, I suppose. The guy was done before I even knew what happened. He just said, “OK, get up and take a look.” and there it was. No major pain, no tons of blood everywhere, no fuss, and it looked great!
He covered it up for me, said to leave it on for an hour and then just gave me some final tips and pointers for taking care of it. I was in and out in no time. It was a very pleasant experience, I’m glad to report.
Oh! But I forgot. Talk about feeling old…
When I showed the design to the tattoo girl at the desk (who was all of about 19), she had no idea what it was. I talked her through it. The artist who actually did the work on me, however, didn’t look like a young guy. I was guessing him in his 30’s. I was a little shocked to see that he also didn’t know what it was. I explained and even after that he held it up and said, “Does it go like this?” I replied, “Uh…no…that’s upside down, dude.” Am I really that old now?! He was a good guy though. Very friendly and no-nonsense at the same time. Plus he had a Mohawk. You gotta love a guy with a Mohawk.
I remember him saying to me, before the first needle touched my skin, “Welcome to your new addiction.” I won’t be one of those people that covers my whole arms or anything, but I’m pretty sure I’m gonna get my original one done (with the kids’ names on it) some time in the future, probably on the other arm.
So when we got back, we started playing penny slots (to waste time and get free drinks!) while waiting for the guys to get back from the show. The cocktail waitress asked what happened and I was tempted to go into this story about being shot for a second, but she realized what it was before I could say anything. I showed her the picture I had on my Crackberry and of course she said, “What is that?” I explained, “You know the band The Police? Sting? It’s an album cover.” She liked it more after that.
The guys got back and we took off the patch. They liked it too. From that moment on, however, it seemed that no one could recognize this design. Now, in a way, that’s kind of cool if you take my meaning. It’s a conversation piece now! I can dig that. I’m kind of interested to see who can recognize it.
We were playing roulette at one point and I noticed the pit boss looking at me. This went on for a while. He finally walked by and said, “I’m trying to figure out what language that is.” I talked him through it. He liked it after that, too.
So the night went on like this but at one point, at a poker table, two British fellows walked up and before they even sat down, one looked at me and went, “The Police!” I was so excited! I had to tell him what album it was but still, that was cool. He was the only person in Vegas to recognize it.
I posted the photo up on Facebook and about 3/4 of the comments were to the effect of “What is that?” Only some of my musician friends got it, of course. Nothing wrong with that though! I’m enjoying explaining it to everyone.
In the end, I’m happy with it and I’m glad it’s starting conversations. In fact, while I was still in “thinking mode” last year, I went on the net to see if I could find anyone else who had the same tattoo done. Believe it or not, I could not find one photo. That most certainly doesn’t mean I’m alone but if you search for something like a yin-yang or a winged heart, you’ll come up with lots of results. So, that’s pretty cool, too.
I have a tattoo that I like, inspired by music and a good band, and I have a fun story to tell. Mission Accomplished, I say.
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