A Formal Apology To Jeff Tweedy

I've been a lukewarm Wilco fan for many years. I owned Yankee Hotel Foxtrot, saw a bad ass live concert of theirs on PBS, sorta liked some of their older jams, didn't pay much attention to anything after that. Then I found out innovative guitar god Nels Cline joined the band around the time of A Ghost Is Born. I immediately got that record and fell in love with the guitar playing. It was border line psychotic in its frenetic delivery, transcendent really. It made me a Wilco fan. And all this time I've attributed this unlikely turn of events to the arrival of Nels Cline to the band. But I was wrong. Jeff Tweedy played all the guitar parts that I loved on that record. So credit where credit is due. Sorry, Mr. Tweedy, for doubting you. I repent. You are in fact a bad ass. Here's a video of my favorite.

New Music Tuesday: Summer Darling

That's right. We weren't lying. We have a whole record of new music coming out July 6th on Origami Vinyl!! To prove it, we're posting "This Would Be The Time." Those of you who've been coming to shows will recognize it; it's been one of our favs for a while now. We're very excited to share this with you!!! Enjoy!

On It's All About Who You Know: Ben Harper, Origami Vinyl, and Fire Marshalls

Before Friday night when Ben Harper performed an in store for a packed house at Origami Vinyl in Echo Park, I knew very little about him. I knew my stoner friends in college liked him, I knew my dad liked his "mellower stuff," and I knew he recently was part of Ringo Starr's backing band.

What I didn't know and what I found out is far more intriguing. Firstly, Ben Harper is a man of the people. Sean Stentz, co-operator of the store, related to me the story of Harper coming into the store and doing some shopping. Upon checkout he noticed that some musicians were setting up equipment in the Origami loft. He asked Stentz what was going on and Sean explained to him that they did in store performances. Harper enthusiastically asked if he could perform some time and how the place was right up his alley. He provided Stentz with personal contact information and within a week, he was back at Origami performing. Instead of entering through the back to perform, which would have made more sense logistically due to the sardine can that was Origami Vinyl on Friday night, Harper entered through the front door, high-fiving his fans and saying hello as if he were greeting members of a soccer team or old frat buddies. It was cool to witness.

The other thing I learned about Ben Harper is that the dude kinda fucking jams. He played a solid forty five minute set of passionate, bluesy rockers, filled with guitar solos and aggressive rhythms provided by a very accomplished bassist and drummer. He sang like his vocal chords were on fire and only the sound of his voice belted out at top volume could quench the flames. Finally, he appeared to be having the time of his life. Having never seen him before nor listened to his music, I was duly impressed by his performance and his overall jam. I even found out that all the merch he put on consignment at the store he requested to be paid out to him in store credit! Kudos Mr. Harper. You're a class act.

As you might imagine having Ben Harper perform in a space the size of Origami drew quite a crowd, including the fire marshall, who in no uncertain terms told Sean and Neil they were breaking the law and needed to shut the thing down immediately and they were to receive a fine. Then two curious things happened. The fire marshall got wind of who was performing and lamented that he wished he could have been there for the whole set. This followed an encounter with the building's owner and Neil's landlord, who knew the fire marshall. Suddenly everything was congenial. The store learned how to avoid trouble in the future by knowing which permits to apply for and the show got to end on its own accord. Sometimes, it really is about who you know!

New Music Thursday: Soft Crest

Oh, Pablo J "Tearin' At My Heart Strings" Harper. You and your illustrious counterpart have created some gorgeous music. On one hand I agree with your categorization of "shoegaze" because Soft Crest invokes lush soundscapes and hushed vocals reminiscent of Slowdive and Cocteau Twins. But, my friend, "shoegaze" belies the certain playful joy that to me is evident in the music. Sure, it's rainy day music, but the kind of rainy day where the sun keeps poking through. It's like movie rain! Anyway, I've been enjoying this sunny weather, walking around Silver Lake listening to this song called "Beach Town" from Soft Crest's new EP Neon Chrome. It's a damn fine tune, perfect for a day like today. You can download the whole EP right now for free on their Facebook page. I highly suggest you do so.

100th Post: Todd and I Run For Water

To celebrate Chain Letter Author's 100th post I'd like to announce the next charitable function Summer Darling will be involved with. On Sunday April 18th, Todd and I will be participating in the Live Earth Run For Water. It's basically where you run as far as you can go without any water before you pass out from dehydration. Your body is then donated to science.

Wait, no, that's not right. The Run For Water is a ceremonial expression of our concern for people who live in areas of the world where there is little to no access to clean, usable water and to raise awareness of the FACT NOT FICTION that with the expanding population, the changing climate, and the continual bastardization of the world's resources that water shortage will become the next major problem we will have to face. There are a number of interesting theories about this, but the one that strikes me as the most concerning is the likelihood that the wars of the future will be fought over water, not oil or land. At this very moment the western states are involved in a intense legal battle over the resources of the Colorado River. Just imagine what would happen if the Union dissolved...

Enough scare tactic bull shit. What can we do? Critics are right to some degree to malign events such as these. The argument is akin to saying it does no good to give a bum a dollar; it's not going to change the fact that he's a bum. While I disagree with this argument fundamentally, it does relate to charity events such as these. The Run, which is happening globally on the same day, will hopefully raise a decent amount of money to help developing nations gain access to water, but the real change needs to come in our lifestyle. Our lifestyle should begin to reflect more conservationism and less consumerism. It's a cause Todd and I believe in and we hope if you do too you will sign up to run. And if running is not your thing, we will be posting a page in the near future that will allow you to sponsor our asses as we run a brief 6K around downtown Los Angeles. The length of the run represents the average distance people have to walk to gain access to clean water daily in developing nations.

So happy 100th to Chain Letter. Your prize, Ben, is a hungover run around the shithole that is USC. At least it's for a good cause!

Bragging Rights

I'm going to brag about my wife for a bit because she would never brag about herself. Last night her band Kissing Cousins opened for David Bazan and Headlights at Alex's Bar in Long Beach. On paper this was facilitated by Jeff Cloud at her label Velvet Blue, but in reality it was made possible by the fact that Heather is a gracious and hospitable and damn likable woman. Because Heather went out of her way at the Bazan house show in January to make all feel welcome and appreciated, which she did primarily for me, she in turn had a dream come true to open for Bazan a few weeks later. Furthermore, between then and now she had two members quit her band. Instead of being discouraged, she found two new members and they rehearsed their asses off to be ready for the show. Last night it all paid off for her. The Cousins played a great set--I knew Heather was nervous beforehand, but no one else would have. She played with confidence and balls. Yeah, I said it. My wife plays with balls. So here's to you, dear. Way to fucking bring it. Congrats on playing a great show.

I'm also going to take a brief moment to brag on my friends, even though they wouldn't hesitate to brag on themselves. They showed up in droves last night, from Los Angeles and Long Beach. They were supportive, cheering loudly and proudly for their Cousins, and they are always ready to have a great time. So thank you. Heather and I have the best friends in the world.

On Playing Afternoon Gigs: 826LA Benefit Recap

When I was 19 a label paid for my band to go record in Oklahoma City. I learned things on that trip like how to massage an engineer's ego to avoid his coked-out rants, how to "not get artsy" with my drumming, and most importantly, that "rock don't happen before noon." And while our set at the Chickens In Love 826LA Benefit Show on Saturday began at 1:40pm, the old adage that rock don't happen early in the day rang true enough.

Having little experience on larger stages and having just played the ultra intimate Pehrspace last week, depending on a monitor mix without any kind of sound check was daunting to say the least. However, we still did what we do: we gave it our best and closed with our kids cover "Mexican Food." During the set I was consistently amused by how much self editing I had to do on the fly to avoid dropping the F bomb on a bunch of 8 year olds. Furthermore, our songs are pretty much all "adult content" and I felt self conscious singing about drugs and sex and loss pretty much throughout. We did receive some chuckles from those who know the lyrics at my alternate versions.

After us we enjoyed sets by the Pity Party and Submarines, but the true highlight for me was Thao Nguyen from the Get Down Stay Down. She brought it and sold it. Very impressive set. It's the kind of band I always wanna play with because her presence is so commanding. Hopefully we'll get to play with her and her whole band someday soon.

In case you missed the show or the live webcast (which apparently had 30,000 viewrs?!), here's us playing "Son."

Timeless: Better Than Best

I'm sitting here with S Foye after V Scully practice listening to vinyls, drinking PBR, and talking shit. He put on Daydream Nation. What a record that is! I told him I was never able to really get in to any other Sonic Youth records, but Daydream Nation was an exception.

As we discussed this opinion of mine we quickly realized why this was. Some would argue that it's their best record, but "best" is a very flimsy and inaccurate modifier. I would argue that Daydream Nation is their timeless record. It simultaneously works as an artifact of the time it was released and an album that sounds perfectly at home nearly 25 years later. Very few albums pull this off. With no false modesty intended, I doubt I will ever be in a band that makes a record of this caliber. But that's ok. I'm not discouraged by this. Often the pursuit of making such a record is what makes making records worthwhile. And who knows, maybe someday something I've done will be a timeless classic to someone else!

New Member Wednesday: Kim H Joins Kissing Cousins!

As seems to be the trend so far this year in everyone's favorite all girl band Kissing Cousins, they have a new member (R.I.P. Kara and Melissa). Her name is Kim. Let's get to know her shall we?

1. Congrats on being a cousin! Growing up who was the extended family member you would have most likely smooched in the socially unacceptable way?

If I had to choose, I would have smooched my cousin, Josh. Let me do some family tree math. He was my grandfather's brother's daughter's son haha. So, I think that would make him my third cousin? Maybe it's because I grew up in a small town in TX, maybe it's because he loved Nirvana, or maybe it's just because he was a total babe! What can I say, our blood is good blood.

2. Contrary to most members of KC who learned to play their instruments specifically for the band, you've obviously played bass before. Tell us a bit about your other musical projects, current and past.

Well, in addition to playing bass for Kissing Cousins, I also play bass and sing back up vocals in Future Ghost. We have been playing for a little over a year now. We are currently a three piece (a.k.a. a Kim sandwich between two slices of Brandon.) For those of you who know us, you'll understand that delicious joke, and for those of you who don't - a little research never hurt anyone. Before taking up the bass, I played guitar for 10 years. I was in a couple of bands in Texas quite a while ago (Wisteria, The Keepsies, and Infinite Transmission Project), but had given it up until Brandon Tomas asked me to join Future Ghost. And THANK GOD! I can't imagine what it would be like not to play in a band; which of course is another reason I agreed to play with the Cousins. Not only am I a fan of the songs and adore the girls involved, but I love playing 100%.

3. I've noticed you smile a lot while performing. I thought musicians were supposed to be sad and tortured. What gives?

Spend a little more time with me and you'll notice I smile most of the time. Plus, I laugh at just about everything hahaha. See? I thought playing was supposed to be fun! Hence, the smiling. So, you better get used to seeing my grill. I rarely feel tortured when I'm playing; except during the summer at Downtown Rehearsal. When it's boiling hot, my bangs are stuck to my forehead, and I'm sweating in places I didn't know could sweat - that's when I feel tortured. Nothing a cold beer can't cure though, right?

4. I try to give everyone I interview a forum to do a little trash talking. If you feel like it, why don't you rant about someone or something without getting too specific. Trust me, you'll feel better.

I've never been one to gossip, but I'm getting better at it working for a company who doesn't necessarily value or acknowledge the hard work of its employees. Being taken advantage of and denied raises or promotion leaves no motivation to meet the head of company's expectations. Unfortunately, it's not in me to do poorly. I work hard no matter the circumstance, therefore I am often left feeling abused and unappreciated. Not to mention, I get paid dick-fifty for my efforts. Yeah yeah, poor me. Hahaha.

5. Everyone's dying to know, but are too polite to ask: do you and your boyfriend have any synchronized dance videos of the two of you? If so, I'd love to post it here...

Why is everyone so shy in asking this?! Of course we have a synchronized dance video of the two of us. We like to call it "The Horizontal Hustle." I'm just kidding. It's a shame that Tim and I do not have a synchronized dance video, however, I'd like to share a link for his band's (OK Go) new video for "This Too Shall Pass" that went live on Monday. It features an extensive Rube Goldberg project that was built over the last few months in a warehouse in Echo Park. Enjoy!

You can meet Kim live and in person at either of these upcoming Kissing Cousins Shows:

Monday March 8th @ Alex's Bar in Long Beach w/ David Bazan

Wednesday March 10th @ Silver Lake Lounge with Agent Ribbons

New Music Tuesday: Vanaprasta

I've had a musical crush on these boys for a while, and finally we have their first release to listen to and obsess over. Forming The Shapes was released today on iTunes and the like. It's a three song teaser of what's the come, which rumor has it is a full length record called Healthy Geometry. Good names!! Where were you when I was trying to name the new Summer Darling record?

Come on out with us and celebrate the release of Forming The Shapes tomorrow at Spaceland! Vanaprasta, who are an unsinkable juggernaut of energy and expression live, will be packing the house so come early. I'm excited, you should be too.

Below I've posted the slow burner "Color Of Sin" which Heather tells me is the single from the EP. She's pretty good at pickin' 'em so enjoy!!

We Are Cool With Playing This For You: The Summer Darling Listening Party

Last night we hosted a listening party for our new record at our place for a few of the people who so graciously donated their time and skills so that we could make the best record possible. It was a fantastically encouraging and warm spirited evening filled with laughter, scotch, hummus, and red bull?.

Before we got started, someone asked me if I was nervous. I asked them why would I be? Apparently, being in a room full of close friends and associates and sitting there while they listen to your music is a scary thing. Being a generally anxious dude, I must admit to feeling a little perplexed at why I wasn't bothered by this proposition. If anyone should be nervous, it's me!

I realized two things in that moment of reflection. One is that I am good at letting things go when it's time to let them go. I can be anxious all day before a show or the night before I get on a plane, but when the moment comes to step on stage or to walk into the cabin, I don't hesitate. In the same way, now that the record is done, I'm no longer playing the game in my head of what I could've or should've done differently. It's time to release it into the world and let other people appropriate it for themselves. And who better to start with than these friends and colleagues? We could release a pile of dog shit on them, and because they are our friends they would probably find something to like about it, even if it was just the shear audacity of us releasing a steaming pile of poo for a record.

Which brings me to my other realization. I must be proud of our record to not feel an ounce of self consciousness. I know we didn't make a shitty album. In fact we made quite a good one. We will be leaking a track soon on our various social networking sites, so you, my good reader, will not be far behind.

Summer Darling comes out on Origami Vinyl Tuesday July 6th.

You can catch us at the 826LA Benefit show this Saturday afternoon at the Echoplex. We have a limited 10 dollar donation ticket list if you go here and purchase before Saturday using the discount code "summerdarling10list". We play at 1pm.

Show Preview: LA Underground Presents: Silian Rail w/ Summer Darling, Powerdove, and Timonium Tonight!

These kids from San Francisco remind me of a mix between Don Caballero and American Football, but with a ton of youthful energy. They have all the chops to be an exciting instrumental band, so I am really looking forward to playing with them tonight at Pehrspace. Judging by some You Tube footage I perused, it's going to be a dynamic show! We play at 10pm, Silian Rail follows us at 10:45pm.

Also performing: Powerdove 9pm Timonium 11:30pm

Pehrspace is located at 325 Glendale Blvd in Echo Park just past Pho Siam in a small strip mall. Shows are all ages, BYOB, with a 5 dollar cover. Hope to see you there!!!

When Should You Rename Your Band?

I read an interesting article in this week's print issue of Brand X. For those who don't know what that is, it's the weekly culture mag that used to be Metromix until LA Times took it over and re-branded it, pun intended. Anywho, the article focused on local band The Afternoons and their decision to rename themselves Shadow Shadow Shade after discovering a Welsh band also called The Afternoons.

A couple years back, Summer Darling began receiving Myspace friend requests with odd messages attached saying they had heard us on NPR. To my knowledge, we had never been on NPR at that point, so I did some investigating and found out there was another band from California called The Summer Darlings. I wrote them an email to figure out what their intentions were. According to their response, The Summer Darlings are a transgender folk project that rarely plays shows and have little to no interest in being widely recognized on the national stage. I checked them out, they seemed legit in their claim, so I agreed with them to live and let live.

However, Steve Scott of the Afternoons/Shadow Shadow Shade brings up a good point in the article. The internet has made every band more than a national band; it's made us all international. So with the plethora of bands out there, some of whom are bound to share the same name, when do you decide it's time to change it? The Afternoons changed it because of conflicting Google search results. I decided to put this to the test today. I started with Myspace searches. If you search for Summer Darling, we are the only band that comes up, but if you search for The Summer Darlings, then they are the only band that comes up.

So I did a Google search. If you search Summer Darling on Google every hit with the exception of one that comes up is related to us. The one exception is this broad's Myspace page whose name appears to actually be Summer Darling. So I'm satisfied that we didn't change our name or make too huge a stink about The Summer Darlings. However Shadow Shadow Shade have a very valid point, too. The Welsh Afternoons must be on a similar trajectory to success as the US Afternoons, making it an even bigger imperative that someone needed to change. Two bands with the exact same name inherently causes confusion.

Heather's other band Kissing Cousins shares their name with a turntable downtempo dude named Chris from Ohio and a bluegrass 2 step group from England, so I did the Google search test with them. The results were far more mixed. Apparently there's a movie coming out called Kissing Cousins, plus a variety of wikipedia entries on cousins hooking up, a medical journal that says third cousins have the best likelihood of conception and fertility, and a number of image results with people with seventies hair doos kissing. Apparently the 1970s were the golden era of hooking up with your cousin. But the only band Kissing Cousins that came up was Heather's, and they came up second right behind the film.

I figured this confusion was due more to the nature of the words in the band name than the actual band name itself. So just for shits and giggles, I googled the band Spoon. I assumed with such a mundane one word name the results would be scattered as all hell. Nope. They were the only thing that came up!!! I'm not sure what all this quasi research means, other than to say that now more than ever, the uniqueness of your band name matters. Unless you're called Spoon.

You can Catch Shadow Shadow Shade at the Echo on Friday March 5th.

Something Out Of Everything

I was speaking to someone recently about music. This person isn't a musician and they couldn't get their head around how a song takes shape. To them, writing a song was building something out of nothing. I tried to explain to them that it wasn't building something out of nothing. First of all, the something that inspires music is all around us, from our day to day experiences to the hundred million songs we've already heard in our lifetime. All of these things are the sparks that ignite the creative flame, the molecules that collide to cause the big bang of songwriting.

Second, sound is infinite. That's a theory that I heard once that I really liked. I don't know if it's true, and frankly, I don't care all that much. The theory goes that once a note is played, two divergent things happen. The sound vibration that we are hearing never disappears, much like the idea that energy is never created nor destroyed; the sound merely diminishes at an exponential rate infinitely. The other thing that happens is that a sound once made morphs into something new; the metaphysical thing that cannot be scientifically expressed. The sound becomes an idea that is reinterpreted by the ear that hears it.

Lastly, I read somewhere that the smallest known sub atomic particle looks like a sound wave, meaning that at the very core of everything is sound, or the evidence that sound was once there. I told me friend that it can be more accurately said that they couldn't understand how musicians build something out of everything. I was reminded of this conversation because last night Dan and I had a writing session at his place in Long Beach that didn't yield any specific results (i.e. no song was born). It made me smile when I thought that sometimes building something out of everything can be just as impossible as building something out of nothing.

You can catch us playing shit we've already built this Friday night at Pehrspace, 10pm. The show is All Ages and BYOB. Hope to see you all there!

How Will History Remember?

Last night, Heather and I had a moving conversation with a couple who invited us over to dinner. Let it be known, first of all, that dining at someone's home, being a guest in their domain and sharing a meal, to me is the most sacred and special thing. The early church used to meet in homes and communion was a meal shared by the members. In the same way is having dinner with friends, sharing stories and opinions. Heather was funny last night to point out that when someone says something I don't agree with, I always respond, "You're more than welcome that have that opinion, but.." which roughly translates, "Your opinion is wrong." I thought that was funny.

I digress. The subject of New York came up and somehow we started talking about September 11th, 2001. The couple both were in Manhattan at the time the planes hit and the towers came down. They related fascinating and heartbreaking stories of that day and the days to come, the ghosts covered in ash streaming uptown from Wall Street, the volleys of phone calls between circles of friends to make sure everyone was alright, walking from pay phone to pay phone and realizing not a single one works anymore upon discovering you left your cell phone at work, smelling the stench of burnt rubber and metal Thursday night as the entire city flocked to downtown bars in a show of solidarity, taking a cab down a deserted fifth avenue and watching a line of police mopeds emerge from the smoke gray with soot, the empty triage centers set up outside the perimeter, waiting to treat survivors that never came.

They were moving first hand accounts and I am so proud to have heard them. It got me thinking about history and how we recount past events. Earlier in the weekend I had watched the movie Hurt Locker and while its suspense thrilled and entertained, it left me feeling empty and sad, knowing this film is many peoples' reality, and will the history books ever really be able to relate that to future generations? I suppose it's always been this way. Growing up, reading about the Civil War or WWI or WWII, my history classes never gave me the sense of what it was actually like to experience those times and there was never any sense that there were lessons to be learned from these powerful events. Was that for my protection? Or is it because wars turn into dead history lifeless on a page, transformed into information to memorize that dooms us to keep repeating them?

Which finally lead me to the importance of art and interaction. I hope that we can continue to produce art in a fashion that promotes dialogue about the past and continue to hold events like 9/11 in a national consciousness that doesn't use such memories as buzz words for a political ideology and or a manipulative emotional transgression. There was so much beauty in our friends' recounting of those days, and so many life affirming, human moments that may have been forgotten if we hadn't chosen to allow ourselves to discuss them that it makes me sad for those of us who treat subjects like war as taboo.

Money Money Money Mah-nee!

We played a game last night at Gingergrass where we listed off some songs we never wanted to hear again for the rest of our life. One of the ones we thought of was this money song, but we couldn't think of who it was by. No, not Pink Floyd, that song kicks ass. Was it ABBA?? Who knows. Anyway, it got me thinking about money and the value of it and the value of things that can't be weighed out monetarily.

For example, according to my business taxes, my bands spent 11,000$ in 2009. We made just under 5,500$. That would seem like a business in need of a new model. However, how do I appraise the dozens of shows we got to play up and down the west coast? How much is the feeling of holding a 180 gram vinyl of your band in your hand for the first time worth? How about drinking beers in a hotel room after a successful show? The memories created by that god awful drive between Palm Springs and Phoenix? The countless hours spent recording and rehearsing at our studio? My point is that my experiences in 2009 were way more valuable than my taxes say they were. Sure, I'd love for the money part to match up, too. But until then, I'm excited to lose my shirt again in 2010 for the sake of rock and roll!

I apologize in advance to Nick, my accountant.

Recording Update: V Scully

S Foye and I had our official first practice for our Vicious Scully project last week. It went way better than I was anticipating, especially taking into account that S Foye and I have to basically relearn the parts to every song we wrote. In fact, that's the one major challenge of doing a project this way. Every other recording I've been a part of there was a band first, then a recording. The songs were already written before someone toggled the space bar.

But it was a blast going back to songs we wrote three, four months ago, and figuring out the parts. Sometimes, I found them a lot easier than I remembered, and at other times, S Foye and I cursed our former selves for making us do these finger gymnastics all over the fret boards of our instruments. Another challenge has been tuning. We didn't think to write down the tuning of each song, which would have been nice, as it seems each song is in some alternate tuning. Damn us!

As for the recording, we're proud to say it is 98% finished and S Foye has already begun mixing. We're really looking forward to sharing it with all of you, hopefully in the form of a grand ole listening party sometime in the next few months. Scully fans, stay tuned! In the meantime, you can catch the real V Scully as he broadcasts every Dodgers game this season. Spring training has already begun for pitchers and catchers! Life is about to have meaning again!!! Viva Los Doyers!

New Music Tuesday: Liturgy

Woke up so sick today! With all the mucus in my throat and lungs, I could probably sing like the dude from this band called Liturgy. My buddy Stentzie got me into them. It's next level shit for me, because, under normal circumstances, I would never listen to black metal. But something is different about this band. The guitars are all about soaring anthemic melody, rather than bone crunching riff-a-tude, so common to the genre. Also, the way in which the vocals are mixed allow for the melody to take center stage. This song is called "Pagan Dawn" and it's a wild, exhilarating ride.

No More Words

I was on-top-of-the-world-drunk last night. It's a great place to be; feeling socially invincible and just so so happy. For as great as I felt then, I felt the most profound sadness of my entire 30 years on this planet Saturday afternoon at Jon Glyer's memorial service. After an hour of it, I remember begging God and everything that's holy on this rock spinning through space to please let it end. If that makes me a bad person, than so be it; I just couldn't take anymore emotion. I cried harder and longer in those two hours than ever before in my life.

Shamefully, perhaps, on my part, I wasn't crying so much for Jon as I was for myself and those around me. There were so many heavy things said by his friends and family, so many life changing moments shared, so many avenues for my mind to travel down, all of which ended in heart break. I was broken hearted when I got dumped by my high school sweet heart, but that was a different kind. That one healed. The broken heart I experienced on Saturday is all encompassing, a drop of poison in my well. The more I think about anything, the sadder I am becoming.

What is this life? Am I to be a slave to my emotions forever? I don't know the answer to that question anymore than the other terrifying questions Jon's death has resurfaced inside me. On our drive back from the service, Heather and I were alternately holding hands and wiping residual tears from our sun bleached eyes, and "Let It Be" came on the radio. Now contrary to popular belief, Heather and I are not prone to singing aloud in the car. But in that moment, a moment where I couldn't take any more questions, and as cheesy as I knew it was, we belted along with ol' Paul, "There will be an answer, let it be."

Summer Darling Are Chickens In Love: Giving In An Age of Uncertainty

Haiti taught me something about giving. I used to believe that people didn't give more to charitable organizations because of their hesitance of losing the actual money. I've definitely experienced that feeling after giving to a charity--am I going to have enough money this month for my expenses? It's certainly a challenge when it comes to giving, but after what I've witnessed in regards to Haiti, where millions of people have given to this cause and felt good and justified, I've had to rethink my reasoning. Perhaps people's aversion to giving is more than the money thing. Could it be as simple as a matter of convenience? With Haiti, giving became more accessible and easier than ever. Of course there were the scams to avoid, but it was the first time I'd heard of texting a number from your phone as a way to pledge a little cash. That's awesome.

Here's my point. We in Summer Darling are asking folks to pledge a little cash again for an equally worthy cause: 826LA's annual fundraiser. What is 826LA? It's an Echo Park based non-profit that provides kids 6-18 years old with tutorial, college prep, and arts education. We've witnessed their programs first hand, as Heather, along with our good friends Sean Stentz from Nico Stai, Eli from the Monolators and Ken from Hexham Heads, volunteered to help with their current project: helping kids write songs! These programs are especially important now as the Arts are under attack in todays public school system. 826LA is a place kids can not only receive free tutorial services to help them achieve academically, it also is a place that encourages kids to be creative, which is an invaluable skill to take into the real world. I don't have to remind you that the most successful people I know are highly creative, even if their chosen area of expertise isn't immediately "creative."

How can I help, you say? Easy. We recorded a jam whose lyrics were written by Sara, 12, ben, 10, and Natalie, 9. It's called "Mexican Food" and it totally kicks ass. 826LA has set up a site where you can vote for which kids song you think is the best by pledging a little cash. (We're pretty sure its ours, but there are a lot other great acts involved like Cold War Kids, Happy Hollows, Crystal Antlers, and Fiona Apple, to name a few.) As a sign of good faith we'll be posting our track on our Facebook/Myspace pages so you can check it out. If you're into it, make sure you hop on line and pledge some cash to a great cause. VOTE/PLEDGE HERE.

Now I know it's not as easy as a simple text message, but a couple of clicks should be a close second. We hope to raise a ton of money for this important organization. The voting/pledge drive culminates in a day long mini music fest at the Echoplex, Saturday March 6th. The line up is still being confirmed, but we'll definitely be there, so you should be too.

If you're prone to follow shit on twitter, here's some other informational stuff:

Twitter:
#chickensinlove twitter contest. each day the best CiL related tweet wins a CD from @epttm! Bawk 'n roll! #826LA http://tinyurl.com/yarksfk

@826LA
@epttm
#chickensinlove

Fan Spotlight: Chris K, Welcome To The Jungle

I figured it was time to shed some light on some of the people that make playing music totally worth while. We're starting with a man who is not only my friend, he's also my driver on special occasions, my drinking buddy on other special occasions, and an all around man of the people. Faithful readership, meet Chris K.

CLA: I'm obsessed with you. Luckily, you're everywhere I go these days. What the hell is going on?

Chris K: Its actually no coincidence that I've been around so much lately. I've put in some self reflection time lately and come to be more appreciative of how fortunate I am to have such a great group of friends who I simply don't see enough. And with all the opportunities lately its been awesome to be around you and the old gang so much. In fact, I've been in your hood more in the past 2 weeks than I have in the prior 12 months! Its been awesome!

CLA: Aside from going to every show on earth, how else do you occupy your time?

Chris K: Well right now I'm eating tacos at a bar (at the bar to be more specific), listening to "Welcome to the Jungle" and watching TMZ with subtitles. some miami flavored dude is talking about gluteal implants. For real. Have you heard of this crap? "Hey 'member jennifer from algebra class? Dude I totally Ya ran into her at the social venue the other night! Really, how'd she look? Oh killer bro, she totally got a poop job!" So, in answer to your question, you know, stuff like that. And hanging with H of course.

CLA: It's 9pm. You've been working all day, and it was a doozy. Tell me what you pour yourself to drink and what you either put on to listen to or watch on TV.

Chris K: Crap. Is it 9 already? Ok now that work's done I need to work on some designs for furniture I hope to build this weekend. I could use some Jack on the rocks. Keep the mind limber and all. By this time at night I need something that doesn't have to be loud to be good. Last night it was Herbie Hancock. Mornings are for loud. I've started waking up to "Welcome to the Jungle" (I feel a theme developing) to get me going. If you were walking by on Broadway and heard my morning music you'd prob not know I was getting pumped to sit in an office alone for the next 6-12 hours.

CLA: This question is back by popular demand. I've found having a blog liberating, as it is a soapbox to sway the masses. Rant about one thing or person in your life, without getting too specific. Trust me, it feels Ah-mazing.

Chris K: This one is coming. Lots of drama lately. Gotta be careful how ranty I get :)

CLA: How's H doing? Send us the pic of him lounging in the ultra sweet recliner.

Chris K: H is the raddest! Funny you mentioned obsession earlier. Last time someone was obsessed with me they threatened Mr Hamilton (time before that the obsessor threatened to withhold my drycleaning but that's a story for next year's issue). And as you know, H might be considered by some to be a timid dude. But he's taken to a few of my lady friends (we're just friends no matter what heather says!) so I guess he's getting better! Much like college Chris I'm sure once he finds some hot bitch to cuddle with he'll get some confidence. And unfortunately that wasn't H in the eames lounge but here's one of him in my lounger. He makes me a better person. H is a good man. He's a good man.

Sometimes You Don't Get What You Wait For

Ah, patience. It's been the overriding principle I've been trying to learn for, shit, man, feels like forever. I want to have patience right now, damnit. Turns out it's something you have to build. Like a taste for moldy cheese, a tongue for hot sauce, a stomach for gut burning scotch. I've been waiting on something for going on seven years now, and it looks like I'll be waiting a bit longer. But I can do it. I'm a patient man. It helps me to enjoy the moments of waiting. I took a run in the rain today. That was nice. In a second here I'm gonna close up shop and work on a song. Today feels like a song writing day. Maybe I'll post what comes out tomorrow?

Sunday Bloody Sunday: Surfers and Footballers

Yes, I watched the Super Bowl this year for the first time in recent memory. It was quite fun actually. I was at a party where no one knew a damn thing about football; everyone was just enjoying the company and then occasionally, when the crowd would start cheering really loud, we'd all quiet down, rewind the Tivo a few seconds and catch what happened. I spend half time with my friend Matt setting up this American P Bass that we're using in the Past Haunts and Summer Darling so I missed most of the Who's underwhelming performance.

I suppose my only what-the-fuck? moment came today when I logged on to Myspace and there was this add saying, "Don't be out of the loop. You can watch all of the Super Bowl Commercials right here on Myspace." Are you kidding me? Is that what people are truly interested in, the fucking commercials? Thursday I got coffee at this local coffee shop and they had a sign right above the cash register that had an American Flag on it and big patriotic looking letters underneath that read "United We Spend." It made me laugh, but now I feel a little sick because as nuvo-marxist kitchy as that sign is, it's also true. If the best thing about a sporting event in which the heavily favored team loses to the underdog of all underdogs, whose win symbolizes the rebirth and resurgence of a city decimated by nature and forgotten by the rest of it's country, is the commercials, then we live in a land of fucked priorities. Shame on us.

I know the above paragraph slightly romanticizes both sides of the issue, so to help you have a good week, why don't you listen to this jam I've been enjoying lately. It's called "Swim" by a band called Surfer Blood. Trust me, you'll feel better. You may even want to go out a buy something...

Mexican Food: It's All We Want (Unless There's Todd's Muffins)

In Summer Darling related news, we all got to be in the same room last night for the first time since getting our tattoos. LA Underground stopped by and filmed our rehearsal for an upcoming post. Todd brought blueberry ricotta muffins to celebrate the fact that we are finished with the new Summer Darling full length record that we have been working on for the last year! We are so proud of it and can't wait to share it with the world!!

We'll be leaking a song from it in a little while along with other juicy tid-bits like mixing and recording diaries, artwork, and lyrics, so stay tuned. 2010 is the year of the Darling!

Interview with Hexham Heads

Name changes are a dubious thing. There are arguments to be made on both sides of the issue, especially for an established band. I've had a long time love-hate relationship with my band's name, and ultimately decided to keep it due to the gigantic hassle it would create. I mean, Radiohead is a dumb band name, albeit better than there first name, On A Friday, and it didn't slow them down any. But when I heard Shiloe was changing their name to the (way more bad ass) name Hexham Heads, I had to get the inside scoop. I got ahold of Ken and Melissa, formerly of Shiloe, and here's our conversation.

1. Obviously something has changed. Shiloe is now Hexham Heads. Walk me through your thought process. What was the impetus of this change and what does it symbolize for the future of your musical projects?

Melissa - Basically, we were just never that crazy about the name Shiloe. It never had any special meaning or a cool story behind it; it was just the best of the names we came up with back when the band first started playing shows. Everything else associated with the word is kind of tame (i.e., Brangelina's baby, the Neil Diamond song, the puppy books/movies, the Civil War battlefield) and we never felt like it was very indicative of our sound. When we both happened upon the story of the Hexham Heads, it seemed like it was a much better fit for the band. Also, the name Shiloe never inspired any particularly cool band logos, whereas the logo we have now for Hexham Heads is completely awesome. (Thanks to our friend Iona Lie for masterminding the logo!)

2. I heard a rumor you got the name from a ghost hunting book. Can you share a little insight into the context?

Melissa - This rad chick I know who plays the flute - her name is Kara, you may have met her? - gave me a book called 'An Illustrated History of the Haunted World' for my birthday. This book contained the story of the Hexham Heads, which are two ancient stone carvings of dubious origin which appear to have a werewolf that watches over them. While reading this story, I thought to myself, "Holy shit, now there's a band name." Later, Ken was flipping through the book, and said, "Should we change the band name to Hexham Heads?" It was a true mind meld, and HxH was born.

3. How important do you feel it is these days to present a unified aesthetic as a band?

Ken - I think the aesthetic is part of the experience. Think of the original Wolf Man movie with all the fog rolling around everywhere, it make it seem so much more mysterious. If the same movie took place on a sunny afternoon it just wouldn't be the same! The Beatles all dressed like they were in Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Heart Club band when that album came out and it makes it seem like a whole other world. I like all that, I like Jack White's color schemes for his bands and how BRMC looks like a gang.

Melissa - I think we're learning that it's extremely important. People like to say that the music industry is dead. In my opinion, the music industry isn't dead at all - the labels are just selling the wrong things. If you have great songs and a compelling live show and you look a certain way, people will respond. Growing up in the 90s, I think a lot of us made the mistake of thinking that "image didn't matter" because of bands like Nirvana and the Pixies. The truth is that those bands had an image - an anti-image - and it was a very deliberate response to the butt-rock bands that were dominating the charts at that time. It's not like Kurt Cobain didn't put any thought into what he wore or the cover art he chose for his albums; on the contrary, he made very distinct choices, they were just choices that weren't in line with the mainstream musical standard. We want everything we create, from our songs to our merch to what we wear on stage, to reflect our interests and the general feel of the band.

4. Is there any Hexham Heads recording plans? We want a full length already damn it.

Melissa - Ken has so many new songs, but we still have to get together as a band and perfect them. A full-length is in the works, but we're not in any rush. We're taking our time. I think our main focus right now is on getting the name out there and playing some shows as Hexham Heads.

Ken - We're also still debating how to release.

5. Lastly, let's set the record straight. Is Melissa a Rush fan?

Melissa - Honestly, I have nothing for or against Rush either way! The only Rush song I can even identify is "Tom Sawyer," and I always fuck up the lyrics. "What you think about sobriety is what you think about society" - that's not actually in the song, is it? This is just a bad joke gone terribly awry. Ken likes to tell people I listen to Rush because it's like the big bass player cliche to worship at the alter of Geddy Lee. I don't, man. My bass heroes are the Kims (Deal and Gordon) and Simon Gallup of the Cure!

Hexham Heads perform this Friday, February 5th at Spaceland. 10pm.

The Mystery of Mastering Part 2

I'm back at Engine Room Studios with S Foye, Neil, and Christian, our faithful mastering engineer, after our aborted attempt at mastering the record last week. S Foye and Christian got together last Thursday and devised a way to pull the kick up in certain parts of certain songs without compromising the integrity of the overall mix.

The results have been stunning. We just finished "This Would Be The Time," the album opener, and the four of us just sat gape-mouthed at how huge it sounds. Christian gave S Foye high praise for his mixes because the EQ is so consistent from song to song. Its the same compliment Jason Martin, who mastered our last EP, gave him. We're very honored and blessed to work with such an attentive producer and mixer.

We're also honored and blessed by the show Christian is putting on in his mastering suite. It's like the fucking Magic Castle in here. He's chosen a very aggressive approach to this master that accentuates the more angular parts of the songs without overpowering the slower moments. We've spent the better part of the last 45 minutes on "My Reminder," a song that encompasses both the heaviest part of the record and the quietest. I'm getting really excited to show this to the world!

On Fear and Death: Tattoos and Jon Glyer

What a weekend! For those who don't already know this about me, I struggle with anxiety and a number of phobias. One of those phobias was finally put to rest Saturday afternoon. With my whole band, plus Chris and Nada, around me, I got my first tattoo. It was a special and terrifying moment, knowing that Heather, Dan, and Todd would be sitting in this same chair getting this same tattoo after me, feeling the bite of the needle, the blood rush to the head. I did ok even though that above picture would tell you otherwise. Once Eric at Gold Rush Tattoo began etching the design done by Suzanne Walsh into my skin and I knew what the pain was and how to define it and how to separate myself from it, my fear of tattoos melted away.

I realized that what I fear most, where most of my anxiety lies, is in the unknown. The minute I can comprehend something, categorize it, take it apart and reassemble it, it becomes the thing it always was before I experienced it. Which leads me to my greatest fear: death. Jon Glyer, my brother's best friend, and a long time family friend of mine, died tragically Friday. It really fucked me up, having to deal with my greatest anxieties and confront them. I am reminded of a lyric from "Fight Test" by Flaming Lips: "But I'm a man, not a boy and there are things you can't avoid. You have to face them, when you're not prepared to face them." That's what growing is, that's what changing is. Facing the things that terrify me and try to conquer them. In the case of a tattoo, I no longer have that fear. It dissipated with the pain into a dull ache I can recall whenever I want to like the memory of bad sunburn or bee sting.

As for death, there's not getting around that one. There's no understanding it. Once it happens to you, there's no more need to understand it. I realized that I have to be ok with not understanding it. In the same way that I've had to allow for the possibility that there is no God, I have to be ok with the unknown parts of this life and not let them rule me. I was losing sleep for two days, freaking out over something so trivial as a tattoo. That's irrational and stupid of me and keeps me from enjoying the here and now. Death is such a greater abyss of uncertainty and if I don't start accepting it, then I can't imagine what a wreck I'll be when my time comes. For now, I am so thankful for every moment I get to live this beautiful terrible transcendent thing called life.

My thoughts and prayers go out to Sarah, Jon's widow, and his parents, Nancy and Paul. You are all truly special people to me and Heather and Jon will be sorrowfully missed.

The Mystery Of Mastering

I'm sitting in the mastering room at Engine Room Studios and having to come to terms with the fact that I don't know a damn thing about mastering. It makes it louder, right? It makes everything cohesive? But what exactly is happening? Christian, our mastering engineer, calls mastering "the black art." That sounds like something I could get on board with.

We just finished listening to Autolux's album Future Perfect as a reference point for our album. That got me excited, as the Autolux record is one of my favorite sounding records of the last decade. Now we're listening to our opening track, "This Would Be The Time" and Christian is playing the last minute and half over and over while tweaking all sorts of compression and EQ knobs. First he makes the record sound like we're listening to it through a line of string and a tin can. More knobs twist. Now the record sounds like it's underwater, with huge bass swoons and swells. Then he cuts the bass all together and the mids shine through like glaring sunlight through clouds on a hangover morning.

A rapid succession of clicks as if he is trying 15 different channels ensues, a slight pop like a needle skipping separating each one. A quick check on our reference. Silence. He switches some more knobs. He says he's having trouble matching the kick in our recording to the level of that in the Autolux. Perhaps Autolux is not the best reference?

We listen to Built To Spill. Still no match. Christian is of the opinion that we need to bring the kick up in the mixes. It's a sobering statement, one whose implication could throw a serious monkey wrench in this whole business. Going backwards to the mixing stage is the last thing in the world I want to do, but listening to other recordings, Christian has a valid point. In order to make the record sound as big as possible, the man needs more kick.

Oh, the mysteries of mastering, if only you'd remained as such.

Summer Darling CA Mini Tour Diary Day 4: Vanaprasta, By Sunlight, & Shiloe.

We were very honored last night to be able to play with 3 bands who we respect as musicians and as people (with the possible exception of a certain female Rush-loving shit talking bassist) and end our 4 days of rock and roll with a joyous celebration.

Vanaprasta was the first band on the bill and one of the things I immediately respected about them was the amount of hard promotional work they must have done to get a great crowd out early. There seems to be an unwritten understanding of excusable malaise if you are either the midnight or nine o'clock slot in LA. This is not always the case, as bands like Vanaprasta and Shiloe reminded everyone last night, but this unspoken attitude says that if you're not the headliner, you don't have to promote as hard. I'm sure we've been guilty of that in the past, so last night's kick in the pants will not be soon forgotten.

Besides owning the show crowd-wise, let's take a minute to recognize how good a band Vanaprasta is. Vanaprasta is stoney without being boring, enigmatic without being preachy, and rock and roll without the pretension. I see them raising the bar of the local scene this year.

By Sunlight is from Seattle and what I like about them is they seem to be doing something similar to what we're doing: borrowing from 90s indie rock and reinterpreting it for today. I love their meter changes and the way their set is one continuous jam. I've always been impressed by their work ethic and professionalism. Somebody sign this band, for Chrissake.

Long time readers of this blog need no introduction to one of my favorite bands, Shiloe. They are the loudest fucking band in Silver Lake, which makes me very very jealous. Last night was no exception as they tore through their set in blazing fashion. Melissa, you need to buy a 2 x 15 cab. It rumbled my soul in a good way. Dan is a freight train of a drummer and Ken's guitar playing seems to expand and contract at the same time creating an effect that is at once ethereal and precise. I imagine them as the perfect link between shoegaze and no wave.

Did you miss us? Here's a video of questionable quality:

Our thanks to the bands we played with over the last few days and the venues that welcomed us. Most importantly we sincerely appreciate all of you who came out to see us play. A special shout out goes to our Long Beach friends who surprised us by coming out last night. Thank you all very much. Love, SD

Summer Darling CA Mini Tour Diary Day 2 & 3

Sunday was one of those long days, a day where each section seemed elongated and stretched out like silly putty. It gets thinner and thinner and holes begin to form and the light shines through and then finally when just a few strands remain connected, time gets wadded back up into a ball only to be pulled apart again. The morning seemed to take forever, waiting on us all to get our shit together and packed into our Volvo 240 wagon. We were blessed enough to be borrowing gear from Highway Patrol allowing us to all go in one car.

The drive seemed to take forever, which wasn't necessarily a bad thing in and of itself. The grapevine was covered in sunshine and snow, the hills refracting light like gigantic prisms. People were lined up on the empty frontage roads, parking wherever their cars would fit and flocking out into the white fields with makeshift cardboard sleds and thermoses of Campbell's and coffee. From the mountains the 5 empties out into a wide flat valley emerald in color from our weeks of rain. When we stopped for gas we received scary news: Josh, the lead singer and guitarist for Highway Patrol, was sick with a high fever and they were on the verge of regrettably canceling their performance.

Now Josh is a subject of a whole other blog that I'm planning for February as part of my Heywood musical history month series, but the long and short of it is he's my best friend and I've never had the pleasure of playing with his band and for a while I was very saddened by this news. However, it all worked out and judging by the below photo, he seemed well enough to rock the hell out of Hotel Utah.

I guess that's the funny thing about playing shows, especially when you're on the road. The whole day revolves around 1 hour of activity and no matter what you do, the day feels long but the show is over before you know it. Hotel Utah was no exception. My parents and Aunt and Uncle were there as well as my best high school and college buddies, so add that to roaring, incendiary sets by us, Highway Patrol, and Reduced To Ruin and you have a show that is over in a blink of an eye or a swig of warm rider beer.

The evening continued with an after party at Josh's home across the bay, and we stayed up way way way way past our bedtime discussing sordid stories from our past love lives and drinking ourselves blind.

Monday was another road day in order to get back in town to finish the recording of our 826LA song, "Mexican Food." Unbeknownst to them, we crashed Matt and JQs pad and did the vocals in their little studio since S Foye was house sitting. We'll owe them some mexican food when they return from South Africa. The vocal recording went smoothly, if not a little crankity. Todd and Heather really fleshed out my main line, adding a lushness the previous versions lacked, so for that I am excited. The song reminds me a bit of early Helmet and Sonic Youth mixed with a really over the top chorus sung in rounds. I can't wait to share it with everyone.

Tonight we finish our adventure at Spaceland, so please come hang out with us and celebrate the conclusion of 96 hours of Summer Darling.