Friday Night

I went out to dinner with my dad Friday night. It seemed like It'd be just a usual trip to the local Mexican restaurant. But considering it was on the nicest day Meadville had seen all year, and the College students were partying in full force, I should have known that normal wouldn't exactly be on the agenda. After we had easily taken care of a chicken fajita, and I was part way through my fried ice cream, I saw Jayme, Justin, Erin, and Megan walking by the window. Who would have thunk? I decided to finish up my fried ice cream, leave my father to his own devices and roam the 'Ville with my people. We went and picked up videos and candy, then walked back up the hill. This was where all the crazy college students were partying. Apparently a few had previously asked Jayme and Megan to come join them, but were embarrassed to discover how young they were. Fortunately, the students left us alone on the way back, because otherwise Erin probably would have smacked some suckas. The road to Erin's house was infested with college students and beer. They were in big clumps that were randomly dispersed up and down the roads. And there was easily much more noise than I would ever expect to hear coming from any part of Meadville. It seemed like a hilarious idea to present "The Sutter & Erin Show" for the party goers. I was trying to think of really good ways to screw with them (and in fact there were some people who heard us this time!). My big line was "Attention! This is god!". But of course since I randomly had I'm on a boat stuck in my head, I added some of the song on to the end of that. It was quite amusing. Then I walked briskly home. Since neither my sister or mom were there at the time, I got to practice drums even after 9:30. It was tight!!! Peace Y'all. Party on.

May I take this opportunity to.....

may i take this opportunity to direct you to some videos of my band playing?? I really thing you will enjoy this! We've been working really hard and have come a long way. Check it out!! This is the YouTube Channel.

BUT if you are to lazy to go there yourself, here are some embedded videos that are a lot of fun!

Its the 300th post!!!

MAN AM I PUMPED TODAY!!! Why? Because I logged on to blog about my awesome weekend, and upon loading the home page, I saw that this blog had 299 posts. And you know what that means! It is time to celebrate post #300! I remember all the good times that were had in and around this blog....

-Like when Jayme and Erin made a list of things that they blame me for
-When I decided that if anybody has a question about anything, they should ASK MO!!
-Going to NYC with the music department last spring...
-The quest to form the world's greatest Rock Band band
-The quest to form the world's greatest rock band!!!
-"What the heck is a Q anyway?"
-The YouTube top 10, which only goes to #5 I think...
-When the New York Giants BEAT THE PATRIOTS in the Super Bowl!!!(and how they did it)
-INSIDE JOKES!!! "Chillax, man! If you wanted some, all you had to do was ask!"
-The differences between drummers and everybody else (I like this so much I'm giving you the link)
-Recording Studio!!!
-My amazing trip to Netherlands/Germany
-Band(s) of the week
-SNOWTF!?
-Band Camp and the greatest shows ever played
-Me taking various trips to California and bragging about them...
-The music department's second trip to NYC
-Week of FAIL!!!
-Randomly yelling at passerby out a window (The Sutter & Erin Show)
-And MUCH MUCH MORE!!! Stay tuned!

Of course you want to listen to the Sutter & Erin show! Do we give you a choice?

So I was hanging out at my friend Erin's house the other day and we were just chillaxing and thinking of stuff to do. Her room in on the top floor and has a very nice view of the surrounding area through a large open window. Coming down from that window is a conveniently placed ladder, the climbing of which is very difficult to resist. But anyways, we were discussing the various ways a person could be entertained while looking out this window (other than climbing out of it). I ask her, "do you ever feel the need to randomly yell at passerby? Because this would be a perfect place to do it from!" I mean there are people we know, people driving cars, drunk college students, a whole array of potential targets. It would be even better if we had a megaphone. Not long after, I noticed a bass amplifier in the corner of her room. I asked if by any chance she had a microphone. She did. I plugged it in. I propped up the amp right by the window. It was loud. It was good. We started yelling stuff, telling jokes, reporting on the few and not very exiting things that happened within our realm of vision. Oh, but we made them sound so very exciting. We eventually progressed to this very unorthodox setup that allowed both of us to broadcast music using this amp. Although it was really just my Zune turned up to 20 connected to Erin's large pair of headphones which we put up close to the microphone, I still felt like a DJ. Talked like one too. We don't know for sure if anybody was listening, or if anybody was enjoying it (besides the woodpecker), but that didn't make the Sutter & Erin show any less entertaining. This is one of those cases when the audience was not important. But feel free to call in and make a request next time!!! We hope you will enjoy the Sutter & Erin show!! PEACE!

Everybody listen....Beacuse this is Sutter Speak!!!

Yes, my name is Sutter...its kind of a funny name, but an adequate one never the less, because this is my blog after all. The NEW URL OF THIS BLOG WILL BE www.SutterSpeak.blogspot.com in at least....5 minutes ago. I like this new address because it is easier to say and quicker to remember. See?? I'm always thinking of you guys when it comes to user-friendly blogging. And with this new name comes the dawn of a new era of web communications (in my mind). SO TELL ALL YOUR FRIENDS about Sutter Speak and check back soon for more awesome-ness. I am hoping to also be doing more with my YouTube channel.
Wait....did somebody say You Tube???? Then you gotta check this out! Its the official Conspiracy Theory channel on youtube.com!!! Which means that you have NO EXCUSE to be watching. PEACE.

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!!!

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!!

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.....

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.

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

It's a Conspiracy....

MY FELLOW ROMANS!!! I've just been chillaxin' here and figured I'd check in with you before I get waaaaay to busy. So even though my digital recorder is sorta broken and I am having trouble convincing the band director to let my band practice in her room during school, all is not lost just yet. This week I'm going to the District 2 Jazz festival in......TITUSVILLE!!!!! (where?)
That's right, all the way out into the middle of nowhere is right where I will be headed come this Thursday to bust out my mad vibraphone, conga, and other incendiary auxiliary percussion skills for a couple days of jazzin' out! I will have to bring another set of clothes as well as a nice suit, practice with a bunch of people I don't know on insturments that I have never played before, and even stay at some other house....not entirely sure I can handle it, but I'll be gettin' back to you.
In other news, I am also in a rock band, and instead of getting together once year at some random school in the middle of nowhere (like Titusville), we get together in my basement every weekend. And we're pretty awesome. We even have our own clothing line (a sure sign of awesomeness). You should check it out RIGHT FREAKING NOW!!!!



Thats all. Actually I'm not quite done yet.
As you can imagine I do not always have good things to write about. I need I-deas. Got an good idea? Got a crappy idea? Send it to quow@windstream.net and I will dish out some wisdom on whatever randomness you can throw at me. Bring it on!!!!

New Microphones!!

Got new microphones at World of Music today!! Some seriously good timing: We go up to see my drum teacher's senior recital, and there happens to be a ridiculous sale at World of Music. And I had it all planned out anyways. It was a perfect opportunity to pick up a pair of Shure SM 57s that are so well known in the music industry as excellent instrument mics. Normally these would be close to 100 bucks each, but everything was 15% off! Now I was totally prepared to pay for these with my hard-saved cash, but my mom thought it made more sense to just pay for it with my college education fund.......
Cool.
And I have no idea where the money came from to get my sister a new baritone saxophone, but that is exactly what they did, and now we have a gigantic case sitting in our living room. And my, does that thing sound cool! Not the case, the saxophone. I mean its pretty much almost as tall as her.
SO hopefully I will soon get myself together to use these great mics and lay down some sweet drum tracks for the awesome songs that my band plays. I'll let you know when it all gets a workin'!

I'm a rich man....

so according to this website, my blog is worth $5,280,279. I'd say thats pretty freaking sweet.

Here is the Icon to prove it:

$5,280,279


Check yours?

Now I am not sure what kind of fuzzy math is being practiced here, but we can still all be fairly sure that I shouldn't be needing a federal bailout anytime soon.

Band of the week- Grammy edition

In honor of the 51st Grammy awards that are happening tonight, I have decided to do a special Band of the Week section with some of my favorite nominees. Here is the lowdown.

Coldplay- I do believe that this is the year's most nominated band, hoping to win in categories such as Album of the year, record of the year, best pop performance by a duo or group with vocals, and more. Most of these nominations are for Viva la Vida, as an album or a song. I believe that Viva la Vida is one of the slickest and most interesting albums in recent years, certainly coldplay's best yet. But they should absolutely NOT win song of the year, for a reason I will state soon.

Jason Mraz- He is the reason that Viva la Vida should be denied song of the year. Mraz has been a favorite of mine since his debut, waiting for my rocket to come, and his more recent we sing, we dance, we steal things is even better. Plus, everybody has got to love "I'm yours". Come on now!

Radiohead- With nominations including album of the year and best rock vocal performance, I'd say the band that epitomizes alternative rock in the 21st century should get a bit of recognition.

The Jonas Brothers- JONAS BROTHERS WTF?