I simply approached him, said hello and he gave me a friendly “what’s up?” in response. So, I had seen on VH1 that they were working on a new album, and this was after Wes Borland had left and Durst was doing all the guitars. I asked him, “Hey I saw you’re doing all the guitars on the new album, how’s that going?”
Read MoreBut perhaps what Hughes was best at was marrying the right song to the right scene. Think of the end of The Breakfast Club and “Don’t You (Forget About Me)” or the end of Pretty in Pink and OMD’s “If You Leave”. We grew up with this as an example, but Hughes knew… he knew that humans inherently tie memory to sensory stimulus. It’s a movie, he can’t make us smell or taste, but he can make us see and hear. I challenge you to listen to one of those songs and not think about Molly RIngwald.
Read MoreThe same can be said about music. The Vandals are not as good as Franz Liszt, but I like them both for different reasons. That’s okay. And it’s okay if you find out your favorite artist “borrowed” something from a song they liked. It doesn’t make them less-than. In fact, it might make them greater-than, because if you were obsessed with making music that no one had ever made before, you’d probably never get out of your bedroom. The key is finding a slightly different way of doing it, by combining these influences. Purity is a myth.
Read MoreWe talked for about an hour about Chicano music and how a white kid from Indiana fell in love with it. He just couldn’t believe I loved all this Chicano rock and mariachi. I told him I didn’t know why I responded to it the way I did, but I just loved it. I never saw the guy again, but that moment has stuck with me ever since.
Read MoreI’m not going to tell you that there isn’t such a thing as authenticity, but I am going to ask, at least in regard to art, “who is to say what is authentic?”
Read MoreNothing great was ever accomplished by playing it safe.
Read MoreHe would have been ninety next month. That’s a fair amount of years for a life by any definition. But, the world has lost a great artist. A literary legend has passed on to wherever he is now. Hopefully his work, which by no means caters to the utopian dreams of certain gatekeepers, will stick around to remind generations to come just how depraved we really are.
Read MoreA list of 101 music films I recommend. I’m sure I’ve forgotten some good ones, but these are not all that I’ve seen, just all that I’d recommend.
Read MoreI will tell you this, it feels fantastic to create something that I love and that I’m proud of. After that, the opinions will come.
Read MoreWhile I personally think this record should have shot him to super-stardom, I think the two reasons it didn’t are two of the things I love about it the most.
Read MoreNowadays, things are fast, cheap and disposable. We used to build things to last. They were timeless. Now, we don’t care about our work, we don’t care about our things and we don’t care about each other. So, when people call me a dinosaur, I take it as a compliment.
Not only does Tiger Army take this kind of pride in their craft when it comes to writing, performing and recording, but they do it with their merch, and especially their music videos. Art comes first. On their terms. Their way.
Read MoreIt’s okay to be obsessed sometimes, but you’ll be better off to take a break and start again in the morning. I’m bad about taking breaks on the weekends or days off too – I will work all day. I love it, it doesn’t feel like work, but I have to remember to take a break if I love the work. I’m not doing it any favors by pushing through when I’m tired or forcing ideas when I’m out of them.
Read MoreI can’t remember for sure how I heard about the Pistols, only that it was sometime in 1992. I rode my bike to Karma Records and bought The Smashing Pumpkins Siamese Dream and Never Mind the Bollocks. The twenty-something girl checking me out said something to the effect, “Your mom will be okay with the Smashing Pumpkins, but I don’t think she’ll like the Sex Pistols.”
Read MoreI keep returning to Depeche Mode. Why? Because ultimately what I care about are songs and Martin Gore is an amazing songwriter and they have an ability to push their boundaries when needed and to show restraint when needed.
Read MoreThe greatest performance I’ve ever seen, and it’s not even close, is Grinderman performing “Kitchenette” at Coachella on April 12, 2013.
Read MoreWatching the video now, it’s not as hard as it was sitting there, but it’s still not easy to see him in that state, especially with the gift of hindsight.
Read MoreMy reward is no longer in the finished product, but in the work itself. My reward is the absolute joy and peace I get from sitting in a dark room at the keyboard. I seek no one’s acceptance or validation. I am free from the expectations of others.
Read MoreU2 have become a bloated band of old rich dudes. I think they can largely blame themselves for their current irrelevance. However, I do believe people still look back on The Joshua Tree with the reverence it deserves. The rest of the catalog however, people have pushed it into the dustbin. I think The Joshua Tree is a masterpiece, but I also think Achtung Baby is a masterpiece as well. One that paved the way for a lot of music that is out there today, but I think it happened subtly and people don’t recognize it’s there.
Read MoreBoth of their records are insanely good. It is really unfortunate they’ve received so little attention, at least stateside. I started reading the British music press in the late 90s and I vaguely remember seeing some mentions, but never anything here in America.
Read MoreNone of what I’m saying is revolutionary, but it’s important not to rely on this technology, just get the most out of it as a tool. There’s no substitute for a great lyric, arrangement, melody or performance. Great songs are great songs on a single instrument, but that doesn’t mean you have to write them that way. As the old expression goes, there’s more than one way to skin a cat and there’s nothing better for the artist than to continually force yourself out of your comfort zone.
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