Grant's Party

Last Thursday both Stephen and I played some acoustic songs for a small crowd at Grant's housewarming/birthday party. I was terrified, but it didn't go so bad. I'm just glad to have gotten that first time over with (that's what she said). Also, a guy named Patrick was there and expressed a lot of interest in drumming for Centaur Marauder. Hopefully we'll get some pics from the party that I can post up later.

Covers Recorded

I recorded a few covers at Grant's new house in Freindswood a couple weeks ago. He hadn't finished moving in yet so the house was kind of empty, which made recording there a unique experience. As usual, I'm not completely satisfied with my performance, but I'd say that this was one of the best yet. It also give me material to construct a demo with, which I'll use to start playing gigs around Austin soon.

Five Songs Written

So we've written five songs that we are pretty satisfied with, and I have an idea for a sixth. Seems like we should have made more progress since school let out, but Stephen works a ton of hours at the airport and I usually sleep until around 11. Not a very productive combination. I have, however, been working on some acoustic covers, and I think that when I have 10 down solid I will see about finding some kind of paying gig. That would be fantastic.

I've also been learning quite a bit about musical equipment while Stephen is at work. I brought out my old Jackson DKMG and polished the frets, something I've never done before. I also got a new saddle to replace the broken one in the bridge, and lined the pickup and pot cavities with aluminum foil to reduce interference. Now I've just got to set it up, which I have also never done before. I think I might sell it after that.

At All Cost Final Show

Saw At All Cost's last show at Walter's last night. They were badass. Just like at the Chinese Star's show, I could hardly hear the vocals, although it may have been because we were standing to the side of the stage. I want to make sure that when Centaur Marauder plays people can hear the lyrics well. I also need to get one of those vocoder things that makes you sound like a robot.

We've been starting to look around for another amp to replace my little Marshall AVT50, which is a great amp but not really big enough to play shows. Also, I want something with lots of punch without being overly distorted.

GHOSTLIGHT Done

Christmas break has arrived, and for us that means neglecting family and finishing our songs. Yesterday we finished Ghostlight, and I'm pretty sure it rocks. I'll post a rough recording soon. After spending so much time crafting the songs its becomes kind of difficult to consider them objectively once their done.

Man, we need money for equipment and stuff. That means we need to play shows. That means we need to finish our songs. I must go work on Cold Knight.

The Chinese Stars

Last night I saw the Chinese Stars at BeerLand. The opening bands were:

• Dated - a young three piece that pretty much just made noise
• Alters - a punkish three piece that had serious issues on stage. First of all, the guitarist and vocalist (who happened to also be the singer for The Riverboat Gamblers) couldn't figure out how to use his Boss guitar tuner, nor tune by ear. After about 10 minutes, they just started playing out of tune. After a couple songs, the guitarist's D string broke, but they didn't have a replacement so they just kept playing out of tune and with a broken string. Eventually the guitarist from Dated lent them his guitar. On the first song played with this new guitar, Alter's guitarist broke the E string. I'm not kidding. Then he made some jokes about how everyone had friends that died during high school. Things just went downhill from there.
• Sensitive Hearts - a two peice with a girl pumping out simple synthesizer rhythms on a keyboard, and a guy singing to her and banging on a tom, floor tom, and symbol. In the middle of the set their equipment crapped out too, so for ten minutes while they fixed the problem they showed home movies on a projector screen. The skits were pretty much low budget adult swim skits, and were kind of funny in that bizarre understated way.

The Chinese Stars put on a pretty good show. I think the singer could have brought his vocals up in the mix a little more, but it was already loud as hell. They had home-made lighting effects that made it seem as though the band was dancing in firelight. I might steal that idea. The show lasted until almost two in the morning, which is strange considering that the Chinese Stars only played like six songs.

Cowboys From Hell Paso!

So I just got back from seeing a Pantera cover band at Dirty Dog called "Cowboys From Hell Paso." They were so bad ass rockin hardcore sweet Dime Bag washerboard style. Seriously, they f***ing rocked. Made me want to learn more Pantera. Then on the way back to the car, a conversation between me, Trevor, and a really good looking girl occured. Thins were going great until the girl's work acquaintences happened by and heaved her into the air, then dropped her and allowed her head to hit a stone wall. Then I broke up a potential fight that would have lasted for five seconds between Trevor and the kid who dropped her. Now I have returned home alone. Augghhhh this is fucked!