Rocking out at Musician's Institute

its late and I'm a bit tired from rocking out (or watching others rock out) all day, so i will try to make this quick, and please excuse any errors. There is no doubt that I've had a fantastic time at Musician's Institute this week. From the open jams to the guest artist concert, even the technique classes, it was all worthwhile. I basically want to run through a few cool things that have gone down here so that we don't get too far behind. Surprisingly, the first day of camp was the least hectic. The process of registering was a bit hectic, but when that was over we got to chillax and watch Dan "the man" Gilbert and a bunch of other MI teachers rock out in the concert hall. It was an excellent show and an appropriate way to start off the week. We transitioned smoothly to the first couple of classes and visited the registrar more than enough times in order to get schedules sorted out. The very next day I got to meet my band! I was a bit worried because all those changes may have put me in a band with people of unfortunate musical persuasion (bad taste. Metalheads.). Luckily, I ended making a connection with a couple of great characters, two friends from Barbados who were more into alternative rock and wanted to play something more on the complicated side. SCORE! We were joined by a seriously shredding Italian and slightly older dude from the LA area. When we began rehearsing Radiohead's Paranoid Android, the others seemed to immediately appreciate my style. This made me happy. The next few days got a bit more complicated. We began checking out the various seminars and jam sessions that were happening at the Institute. I was suddenly quite busy, ironically there was barely enough time left to find a practice room. At the end of the week, every group formed during the camp got a chance to perform in the professional grade concert hall. What excited me most about this was that (other than the fact that my group was killer) the advanced lighting and screens on both sides could make one feel like a true rockstar. I have a feeling that the crowd loved us as well. Can't wait to get the DVD of our performance to show the friends back home! Unfortunately, I must conclude this so that I may pack for my flight to Sacramento tomorrow, but email me or text me if you want to know any more of the rockin' details! PEACE.

Recording

Needless to say, all of my band mates and I had a great time recording demos for our original songs. Our first studio venture wasn't in a real studio, that would be far too expensive and un-smalltown-like. So instead we recorded in my basement, a far more suitable atmosphere. Our main goal was to make recordings of the four originals we know well before I left for Musician's Institute in LA. Since I am still here, it is evident that we succeeded. But I believe that the success was more than just finishing four songs in just over a week. In a way, we discovered a bit more about our musical styles individually, and as a group. Since recording, not unlike live performance, is a musical skill that can only be mastered by repetition, our next session will undoubtedly be better than our last. I am sure of this because when we next record, the drums and bass will go down first followed by guitars and vocals. Don't forget about the piano, brass, strings, and extra percussion that will be added to enhance the sound. Eventually there will be a good EP that we can sell at our shows, and I really want to pull out all the stops. Nobody really knows what is gonna go down though, we just hope for the best. In the meantime go to our band myspace and listen in to what we have done so far. Feedback is always appreciated, and thanks a lot for the support
!

The Killers

This is getting ridiculous. I'm going to be doing tons of crazy awesome stuff and nobody will know about it but me. So lets get caught up, shall we?
I went to a couple awesome concerts this month that I really need to talk about.
The first was on my birthday. That's right. The Killers came to Cleveland on my freaking birthday!! It was the best thing ever. We got there just on time to be early and had a fancy birthday dinner of pizza, chicken tenders and french fries from one of the concession stands at the Time Warner Cable Amphitheater. My friend Jay tried to get as far up front as he could (before people started getting severely angry). Jayme and I had no choice but to chase him, and we ended up dead center and about 10 yards from the stage. Hooray for us! First we waited for a little while, then watched the opening act, Chairlift. They were very different and had an interesting sound, even though they only had three people and the drummer had to keep switching to bass. Next was the super exciting part!!!! We stood and waited for hours. Like a really long time. Fast forward to when they finally got on stage and the rain stopped. Brandon Flowers and his crew had a commanding stage presence and got the whole crowd into it almost immediately. The lights were incredible, and the sound was almost overpowering at certain parts. In fact most of their stuff either lit up or was reflective, including the monitors and the amps. When they stared shooting sparks that was really cool too. Of course, they played some of the best songs that had been recorded in recent history. Certainly the best concert I've been to so far. But I'll be going back to the Time Warner Cable Amphitheatre to see Jason Mraz this summer!!!

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.

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!!!!

Recording Time!

Its been so long! I am a busy man, but finally have time to tell you dedicated readers that....
I AM GETTING A RECORDING STUDIO!!!!

I ordered it of the internet a couple days ago...
Fostex MR-16 HD/CD Digital multitracker
MXL 992 Condenser Mic
(and I mic cord and stand)

I am looking forward to dedicating this blog to the recording studio!
First project- A Rock Opera?

Band Of The Week

Band of the week-
Ozomatli

I have seen ozomatli preform live in a club, on TV, on the radio, and on their albums and there is no doubt in my mind that this Latin hip-hop rock group has some of the best performances I have ever seen. They are a 9-piece band with a horn section, several percussionists and a couple of rappers in addition to the usual guitar-bass-drums rock group. And, they have played in about every musical genre you can possible imagine. From there most recent pop single, Cant Stop is one of their most fun. But that is only where the fun starts. I would highly recommend Ozo's newest album Don't mess with the dragon for fans of any Latin, hip-hop, R&B, rock, or jazz. This ethnically diverse group of musicians can produce so many varieties of excitement on a single disc, you might never be able to get enough. The hip-hop/pop tune about Los Angeles, City of Angels contains exciting brass and a little beatnik percussion and rapping to round off the full LA experience. Oh, and did I mention these guys where from Los Angeles? I probably did not need to, because you can here it in just about every song. La Gallina, Their Latin jazz tune written entirely about a chicken (in Spanish), is a fave on the Latino/Mexican pop charts. Also, the title track of an earlier Ozomatli album, Street Signs, is truly a musical trip that is not to be missed. Watch some of these videos, you might never think of hip-hop, Latin, rock, R&B, or jazz in quite the same way again.

OMG. Its ROCK BAND!!!!!!!!

As we all know, forming a band is tough for even the most talented musicians (like me). Good guitar players are scarce, basements are smelly, and nobody ever knows the same song as anybody else. But today all that changed........sort of. The newly released Xbox 360 game Rock Band is a reincarnation of the popular rhythm game Guitar Hero. But there is one small difference. In this game, Harmonix design studio invited the rest of the band. Now you can create "music" with up to three Friends by pressing buttons at the right time, as bars scroll down the screen. That is, if you already have the game, or pre-ordered it. If you have not, better start looking NOW. Oh, and did I mention the drums? Yea, there are drums to. The pack comes with a "Fender guitar", set of four drum pads (real sticks included!), and a USB mic(and of course, the game disk), so the whole band can go on a world tour that involves making actual and somewhat realistic risk-reward decisions, such as what size venue to play in. (Smaller venues give less money than larger ones when you beat a song, but you lose a larger fan base when you fail in a larger venue. But that's not important because you wont fail. Right?) And no, pressing buttons on a guitar shaped controller (while also pressing the strum bar, no less!) has very little to do with actually playing guitar. But the four drum pads and kick pedal are very much more close to actually drumming! Will it be easier for real drummers? I don't know, but I am determined to put it to the test in my quest to create....

The greatest ROCK BAND band ever!!!!

Armed with a band of Guitar Hero veterans, a singer (open tryouts are this Sunday 12-3 pm), and some seriously mad drumming skills, I am DETERMINED to take the digital world by storm with my band's crazy shredding/bassing/pounding/loud singing. But first I need an Xbox 360. Shoot, I should have thought of that before.........

So now I am on a quest to.....

Get an Xbox 360 and the game ROCK BAND in order to create.....

The greatest ROCK BAND band ever!!!

Lets get started!!!!