crows to burnaby

This Friday night, Nov 16, I'll playing a solo show at the Wired Monk. I'm on at 8:30, and will be followed by Rob Fillo & Ross Fairbairn. Cover is $5.

Then on Saturday the 17th, Marcus is playing a solo ARCTIC show at the Monk. Adam Gibbs is opening at 8:30, cover is $5 again.

Wired Monk is at 2610 W 4th Ave, at Trafalgar. And it's licensed, so whether it's coffee you want or alcohol, you're all set...

• I had a great time playing at Wired Monk last night. It's a very warm and welcoming room, lots of people, bunch of great friends there, and I felt very much at home. Brought out a brand-new song that was well received - well, not like most people really know my old songs yet, but the new one was completely unheard. I should be playing there again sometime in November; will keep you posted.
• The new ARCTIC CD is now available on CD Baby and Apple iTunes, which makes it seem even more official and stuff. Although if you're lookin' to buy it cheap, the mp3 prices are still lower on Amie Street for now - and you can hear the whole song, not just a 30-second clip from some random spot in the middle. I do wish we could pick the best 30 seconds...
• I am so diggin' the new Radiohead album. It took few listens to really get a feel for it - it's fairly mellow and mature, not as earthshatteringly groundbreaking as OK Computer and Kid A, just damn fine music. Nigel Godrich's production is pretty obvious - I have to say I think he borrowed a few things from his work with Beck, but that was good too, so I'm not really complaining. It's all lovely and it's all getting stuck in my head all the time (except "Videotape"... I can't get into that one). Looking forward to getting MORE when the Discbox set comes out.

Yay!

Had a good show at Trees on Friday night. I nearly had a fit trying to find parking - I needed to be somewhere near the place so I could unload my amp and cabinet, but the block of Granville that houses Trees Organic Coffee House is currently a gaping pit where they're digging for the Canada Line. So forget parking anywhere in the area.

It all went well though. I traded spots with Jon Middleton, who did a lovely mellow acoustic set, and we all played to a pretty packed room. Felt good. The Gentle Infidels followed, and they were very good - you've always got to root for any group with a cello in it, plus their bassist Ferdy is an awesome musician and super nice guy.

I'm playing again on Monday, October 8 at Wired Monk in Kits (at Trafalgar). Not sure yet what time I'm on, but the music starts at 8:30, so either I'll be on then or one other person will be.

Shaun Applebaum was kind enough to come out and take some photos:

You may notice that my hair is bright red. This is not a camera effect, it really is that colour now. I'd been building up to this for a while, and a few weeks ago got it done. I've never dyed my hair so dramatically before (I've done various shades of natural red, and had one nasty henna incident in university). My hair has never seen bleach before, either. So it was a big bold move - but I love it love it love it. It just feels right, like this is the colour my hair needed to be but couldn't manage on its own.

I've been curious to see how people react. I've gotten many compliments about it, from both friends and complete strangers, which helps to confirm that this really is "me" and not some crazed delusion. I notice that people walking down the street look at me a few seconds longer than they ordinarily would. In contrast, sometimes I think it's harder to get attention from, say, a secretary or counter staff - like they're not quite sure what to make of me so they avoid eye contact. And a few people over 80 have just outright stared, which I find very amusing. Anyway, it's been very positive - some people have told me they're really inspired by it and it makes them want to change something, too.

Now, my wardrobe options are suddenly limited - I discovered that pale blue shirts clash horribly, for example. But I think I can deal with that.

I like to think of it as a changing of the seasons; as the trees change colour, so do I. But does that mean I have to go pink in the spring?

Given the circumstances, we did a good job at our NewMusicWest showcase on Thursday night. We've had better turnout in the past, but when you take into consideration that 1) the Canucks had just lost the series in second overtime 10 minutes before we were to go on, 2) the headlining act cancelled his performance, and 3) it was a Thursday night, it's impressive that we got as many people out as we did. Anyway, my new amp performed beautifully and the show itself went smoothly enough, but the crowd was noticeably mellower than they would've been after a Canucks win...

Oddly enough, we sold way more merch at this show than we did at our show in November, when the place was packed. Go figure. Must've been the sales team ;)

Friday and Saturday during the day, Marcus and I went to some of the NMW conference sessions. The first day was by Music Managers Forum and there were some excellent stories and insights from some experienced managers. Saturday there was a wide range of panels on topics like music publishing, music in film, digital sales and marketing, and so on. It would have been nice to have divided the sessions up according to skill level, novice through advanced. The novices in the audience often had to ask the panelists to backtrack and explain some of the fundamentals, which the experts in the audience already knew inside out.

Another thing I'd like to see - not just at NMW, but other sessions like this - is more diverse representation in different tiers of the industry. It always seems that the music supervisors and radio broadcasters and independent musicians tell the audience that they don't need a major label record deal, that the majors don't have their interests at heart, that they can't make the same compromises that independent labels can, that we can do it ourselves if we push hard enough. And yet when it comes to the A&R panel, or if demos are collected, who is represented there? Warner, EMI/Capitol, Sony/BMG... nothing but majors.

I think the most important thing that I got out of the conference was a renewed drive. This year while we've been finishing up the album I've been doing less promotion, pushing less, since all my focus is elsewhere. I needed a good jolt of energy to get back onto some of that, since when the album's done I'll need all the knowledge and ideas and savvy I can get to push it out there and get it heard. So it's good to just start really thinking about these things again, full on.

I went to a few IMU shows that were part of the festival. Friday night was Stride Elementary, Windows '78, Hinterland and the Yoko Casionos at the Media Club. The first three bands are all quite talented and share some of their members; it was a good bill, with all three complementing each other quite nicely, and a busy room. Unfortunately, before the Yokos came on, some dumbass tried to set his drink on the ledge of the sound booth - and completely fried the board. Eventually they got a replacement in, but I had to go by then since I had to get up early. A lot of stress for everyone involved, but I gather the band did go on around 2:00 and finished the night gallantly.

Saturday night I helped out at the door at the Lamplighter, where Dreams of Treason, Mass Undergoe, The Flairs and Lions in the Streets were lined up for some high-energy rock 'n' roll. All the bands were solid - more of a radio-friendly "rawk" than I listen to myself, but they were good at what they did. I was most impressed by the Lions though, who really turned my head with more of a old-skool southern rock / Stones-ish vibe than the others.

That was my weekend. Greg was at a conference, so my schedule consisted of: sleep, get up, walk the dog, go to NMW, come home around 7, nap, walk the dog, go to NMW, go home, sleep... repeat. Now, back to reality...

I'm feeling mostly better today, and finally can summon up the energy to do justice to something I've been wanting to blog about all week: my new amp.

Last week I received a most beautiful custom bass amp from Glen of Morris Amps. And it looks like this:

Isn't it beautiful? Check out the little spirals on the knobs...

Until now I've been practicing through a little Yorkville 50-watt solid state amp, so to be switching to a hand-built tube amp is absolute luxury. (For those of you non-musicians out there, tube amps are generally considered to have a more warm and natural sound; the sacrifice is usually price and durability, since tubes have to be replaced occasionally.)

I've been playing with the Morris amp at home for the past few days, but through guitar speakers, and relatively quietly because I don't want our neighbours to hate me. Today at rehearsal was the first day that I was able to play it through a proper bass cab, and really let it gallop. I ran it through an old Ampeg at the rehearsal space; tomorrow I'm planning on renting an SWR Goliath III, which is a 4x10 with a tweeter.

The amp plays up the lovely growl of my MusicMan Stingray in much the same way that a really good photographer knows how to bring out the best characteristics in a model. There's so much clarity in the tone, so much life. And I've got a ridiculous amount of control over the sound, too - with all the creative options Glen's put in, I can get a deep rich bassy "whoomfff" or a nasal twang with some minor twiddling of knobs (yes, yes, I've got bass, middle, and treble knobs... but also "presence" and "forward" and a "shift" switch. Hee!).

Oooh, ooh, and there's a little switch on the front that says "sub boost". And when you flip that switch it's like the bassiness just... widens. It's a gorgeous tone - big and rich and even though it's loud it doesn't bother your ears. It makes the floor vibrate soothingly below your feet. It makes people smile.

I wish I could play it for you through this blog - describing sound can be kind of frustrating, and an mp3 wouldn't do it justice. HOWEVER, if you're in or near Vancouver, you can hear this lovely new amp with your own ears in its debut performance next Thursday, May 3 at the Backstage Lounge (on Granville Island), when ARCTIC plays NewMusicWest. Come forth and marvel at it. You know you want to.

A big thank you to Glen Morris. You've done a marvellous job!