March 24, 2009

This weekend was crazy awesome

I have been doing so much cool stuff over the past couple weeks that I haven't even had time to write about any of it. But I better get to it soon, lest my activities become to awesome for words.

So on Friday I totally went to see "Stars on Ice" in Cleveland. We had some awesome food and then walked over to the "Quicken Loans Arena". We all brought jackets, but it was really warm!!! We were so close to the ice you could.... you could see the skaters...very well. But the point is that they put on such an incredible show I couldn't even believe my eyes. There was just so much mad skill and unmatched strength out there on the ice it was almost causing my brain to explode (if brains could explode). What was even better was that my sister's skating coach is like super-incredible and knows everybody and got us into the after party where we met some of the stars (the ones that were on the ice). And took pictures with them. And got them to sign our programs. And made small talk. Good times.

The next weekend were our performances of "The King and I". Although my part was not extremely exciting (its just drums, after all), the show was a lot of fun, and both the pit and the actors/actresses did an excellent job. Of course I have pictures somewhere.

Hope you all are enjoying your weeks as much as I am!! Be sure to check out My band's YouTube Channel!!!

March 19, 2009

So I've been thinking.....

......Why not mix up the stuff on my site just a little bit?? Now it may seem like I change my blog more often than Katy Perry changes clothes, but I must keep up with the changing times. And also my changing email address (stupid Windstream!!) SO BE WARNED..... I like the name Sutter Speak, or Sutter in Song, or Sutter Saying Something. Alliteration much?? STAY TUNED!!

March 18, 2009

UNPLUGGED!

Update: "Conspiracy Theory" (the awesome indie band that I am in, which you should totally know about by now) played unplugged at a local bakery a mere week after kicking but at Battle of the Bands. We knew very little, but we played a lot. It was good fun, and the afterparty was quite hilarious. BUT ENOUGH WORDS!!!! Let the music speak for itself.....



March 8, 2009

And by the way......

Here is a video from battle of the bands!!!! This is the last song we played at the show, Sunshine of your Love by Cream. It features John on Bass/Lead Vocals, Sutter (Hey that's me!!) on the drums, Ian on rhythm guitar and Jay on Lead guitar. The quality isn't great (it was dark and such...) but I still think its a cool video. Thanks to my dad for being the cameraman! Enjoy!!

Conspiracy Theory plays "Sunshine of your love"

Bandfest? Band show? Band of the week? No! Band Battle!!!

My band "Conspiracy Theory" totally rocked battle of the bands last night in Saegertown. We hadn't really played any other shows, so this was very new, and it was the first time there had even been a battle at this random place on the edge of nowhere. When we got there, it was raining and muddy and we unpacked our outrageous amounts of stuff into a back area of the dance hall. There were about 9 drum sets all set up against the wall, which makes sense because there were 9 bands there. And the people started coming in pretty soon. And there were plenty of people there. Lots of our friends, and lots of people that I think nobody recognized. It was cool though, because all our friends were there and they would all get so see us play for the first time. Then it got sort of uncool. Because we had to play seventh. And all of our devoted fans had to wait through a LOT of really unusual stuff (at least unusual for them)in order to hear us. AND THEN WE GOT BUMPED BACK by some freaking thrasher band from Ohio so we had to play EIGHTH and wait around even longer!! Plus, everybody was taking forever even though there was supposed to be a 20 minute limit, everybody seemed to think that they had 20 minutes just to set up. so we went waaaaaaaaay late, but it was all worth it because we played a good show, and everybody loved it, and we won!!! Hopefully people will want to come see us at the creative crust next Saturday playing unplugged.

March 2, 2009

District Jazz heck yea!

Me and my friend Jake should be appointed to the official council of things that the band should get. On Thursday after school we left for Titusville to attend the PMEA district 2 jazz festival. The high school in hepatitusville (I didn't just say that)was surprisingly nice, and quite large, which I learned the hard way. Plus, the band director is a drummer, so they must be pretty good. Anyways, we went off to our respective bands and began rehearsing Thursday night. I was of course merely the auxiliary percussionist, so my parts were not to complicated, but getting it all together was one heck of a task!! First I moved the set of vibes that had wheels, which was fine until the motor nearly fell off. Then I grabbed the congas, which have the most outrageously broken stand so that it takes two people to carry the darn thing ten yards. Then I grabbed the only music stand available, which was clearly not meant to be used due to the fact that it was broken.
Thursday was a mere introduction for the jazz bands, Friday was a crazy day-long rehearsal extravaganza. This is when I learned firsthand how big the Titusville high school really is. I mean I was hauling equipment back and forth between the band room, auditorium, and board room, all of which were as far apart as physically possible while still being in the same state. If I haven't mentioned it yet, the auxiliary percussionists get the honor of being in two bands. So we practiced for thirteen hours straight and got real good for Saturday's show.
The best part was that I got to play a solo. An honest-to-god vibraphone solo!!! How do I do it?
The show on Saturday went quite well. Me and my congas don't always seem like the most exciting thing, but the vibes solo made it all worthwhile. Especially since it was on one of my favorite songs, by one of the greatest vibraphone players the world has ever known, Milt Jackson. And my friend Jake up in band 1 (yea, he is pretty good) was not only rocking the trumpet parts, but also the flugel horn. THE FULGEL HORN!! That was pretty freaking cool I would say. I'll get the recording soon, very excited to hear how it turned out.
So where was I? Something about the official council of things the band needs to get. Oh I remember now. Our band director is very good about getting things that she thinks the band needs, but sometimes it can be tricky trying to get her to think just the right thing. That is where me and Jake come in. We play something, and if its good, she most certainly should get it for the band!! Things recently added to the list....
1) Vibraphone
2) Flugel Horn