I am a 23-year old physics graduate of Bethel University in Minnesota. The first day of freshman year, my friend Elizabeth gave me the nickname "Thor." It caught on, and many people to this day still refer to me as Thor, even some of my former professors. Some people hate nicknames, I chose to embrace it. Ever since I can remember, I've had an undying love and passion for music, and this blog is where I go to talk about it. I play guitar and sing in the band Filed under: Miscellaneous, Music | Tags: blog?, emery, lookingforsummerwork, music, my band, update
I can’t remember the last time I posted on here, and it’s time for the blogging drought to end. First and foremost, I am looking forward to June 2nd perhaps even more than the last day of finals this year. Why you ask? Well, that’s the day that my all-time favorite band Emery’s new album “In Shallow Seas We Sail” is released. It’s their fourth studio album and they’ve returned to their golden roots. They recorded it at the Compound, Tooth and Nail’s flagship studio in Seattle, with über-producer Aaron Sprinkle, who is tailor made to immortalize this kind of sound. Today, Emery released their latest track from ISSWS entitled “Piggy Bank Lies” and it is impeccable. From what I can discern it is about a guy catching his girlfriend in the act of cheating on him, with the words sung “This is where you say it’s not what it looks like. He’s got his hands wrapped around your waist!” In true Emery fashion, they mix dark lyrics with surprisingly upbeat music. The first thing I notice is that they’ve gotten back to the heaviness that saturated their first CD, The Weak’s End, and balanced it with extremely melodic catchy lead lines laced together by their dual frontmen. Pairing this with their earlier single “Cutthroat Collapse” and I am thoroughly excited to get my hands on a copy of this album.
Emery - In Shallow Seas We Sail
In other news, I am in my last two weeks of classes, and I am aching for Summer to get itself started. I’m in a waiting game right now hoping to hear from a contact with a possible internship opportunity this Summer at one of the nuclear power plants in either Monticello or Red Wing. It would be quite an exciting opportunity that they say usually leads to eventual employment which would be really great. Prayers and thoughts are greatly appreciated, as I’ve struck out of every other internship opportunity I’ve applied for.
The Aeipathy has finally broken it’s prolonged show-less streak as we played a free show at the Zylstra Harley Davidson in Elk River. Our drummer Darin got wind of the show from his dad and they needed another band so we jumped at the idea. Now that we’ve gotten that first show in a while out of the way, we want to make it a more common activity. That will hinge on a lot of things however. Peter, our bassist and my roommate, needs to get an internship in town or else he’s going to have to move back home for the summer to work for his dad. With him gone it looks like we’ll be in for another long hiatus unless we can find a fill in bassist, which I don’t like the idea of. So let’s hope for those internships! Also, if things go right, we’re getting to the point where we’re going to be wanting to hire a manager to help us plan shows and get organized. So if you’re interested, give me a holler!
I am working hard on getting our first recorded track finished and online. It’s kind of difficult because I’m pressed for time with two jobs and the end of school. I fear I won’t have the mental capacity to effectively mix and master this thing until finals end. I really want to get it online as soon as possible, and eventually it’s going to be one of those things where I can’t do anymore and have to get it online, so stay tuned for that. Anyway, my blogging is cut short, I have to get working on stuff. I’ll be back soon!
Filed under: Miscellaneous, Music | Tags: music, my band, new song, shamelessselfplug
I have developed a terrible habit of not getting to bed on time. Even now, I type this at 2:00AM, although I am lying in bed ready to fall asleep when I finish. That wasn’t the story the past few days. I’ve stayed up til 4-ish AM the last few days because I’ve been working on recording some songs and I can’t rip myself away. Sunday night I started playing a keyboard line I play almost every time I sit down at the piano or anything else with black and white keys arranged accordingly, and just let the creative juices flow. My band, The Aeipathy, has been working on recording our songs with hopes of producing an EP of sorts, and I thought with some work, this keyboard line could evolve into the perfect intro for our CD. It’s a variation of the intro to the second song we ever wrote, “Glass Heart”, which has always been the song nearest and dearest to us. I thought it would work effectively as the opening track while having Glass Heart be the closer to wrap it all back together. Needless to say, I worked tirelessly (until about 4am) the next couple of nights arranging and *for now* finishing the intro track, and have since uploaded it to our myspace. It’s entitled “Prologue” and it’s only a minute long but I think that minute contains some of the best work I’ve done on keyboard. Tell me what you think. I’m contemplating adding some distant soft vocals that give prelude to the song “Surface” which the intro leads into. Give it a listen!
Filed under: Miscellaneous, Music | Tags: band practice, music, my band, shamelessselfplug, strange, weird day
… weird. It started out real sour. I had one of those dreams that is so good that you want it to last forever, and then you wake up and realize it was a dream and it’s just a crushing blow. Not a great way to start the morning.
But, things would improve. My band, The Aeipathy, had practice as a full band for the first time in probably 2 months. Strangely enough, it was probably our best practice as a band. We nailed most of our songs the first time through and got to work on some new material. As practice started to wind down, I brought up an idea I had thrown down the week or two earlier. Well, we went to freaking town and fully wrote the song. It’s done, finished, complete, and it’s probably the best piece of music we have written as a band. It’s got its share of chugs and heavy drums but at the same time delicate melodies and intangible beauty. Emily, our keyboardist, sings the song, and its really cool because the verses are actually a Latin chant called “O eterne Deus” (O eternal God) and the choruses are in English. I’m extremely excited for this song, and I want to get it recorded as soon as we can. I’m gunna take this chance to shamelessly plug my band:
The Aeipathy
So then I had to work delivery tonight, and I saw the biggest buck I’ve ever seen in the middle of a neighborhood taking a stroll right down the street. It was kind of surreal, and it was probably 5:10pm at this time, so it was still pretty light out. It was just kind of strange. The whole day just had this weird feel to it. But I digress. It’s getting late, and I need sleep.
Filed under: Miscellaneous, Music | Tags: cold, first post, music, my band, shamelessselfplug, tdh, thedearhunter, thereceivingendofsirens, TREOS
So just a disclaimer here on the nature of this blog. It’s here for me to pour out thoughts on life and music and whatever comes to mind. It’s mostly aimless and just a source of entertainment for me. I don’t care who reads it and if you enjoy it, I’m glad I could brighten your day. If you don’t enjoy it, sorry, but it won’t change.
Anyways…
I’m a big fan of the band The Receiving End of Sirens… a very big fan, as in they’re in my top 3 favorite bands probably of all time. It is peculiar that prior to this week I hadn’t really checked out The Dear Hunter, which is a project by Casey Crescenzo, a former member of TREOS.
The Dear Hunter
The concept is very intriguing: the band is releasing six albums that make up a 6-Act rock opera, detailing the life of a boy only known as the Dear Hunter. He is born to a prostitute named Ms. Terri (miss terri = mystery, get it?) of whom he does not know much about, thus the mysterious name. He grows up in the Dime, the brothel his mother works at and eventually he and his mother attempt to flee the city to leave that life behind. Long, long story short his mother is killed, he meets and falls in love with a girl named Ms. Leading (I don’t need to point that one out do I?) who he finds out also works at the Dime. Drama ensues…
There’s a lot more to the story than that, as only Act 1 and 2 have been released thus far. What astounds me about this project is the immaculate vision by Crescenzo, to be able to envision this magnum opus and be able to paint this story with music is amazing. Musically it’s very diverse, with pop, alternative, classical orchestral, latin, jazz, and many more influences. It is all kicked off with an impeccable a capella performance entitled “Battesimo del Fuoco” that I suggest you listen to. Amazingly, the entirety of the first Act was composed and recorded by Crescenzo himself, including most of the intrumentation, with a little help from his parents and brother. I’m just in shock of the talent, it’s something I desire.
In other news, it’s excessively cold. Too cold. God have mercy cold. They’re projecting a low of -21 tomorrow…. -21. That’s colder than some places in Antarctica. What the heck.
Oh it’s also worth mentioning that Peter, my roommate and bass player for our band The Aeipathy, and I our finally getting our side project off the ground. We don’t have a name or anything yet, but our first song is in full swing (not literally swing, but you know) and we’re working on it regularly. Hopefully we’ll get it done sometime soon and get it up on the interwebs. It’s called “Premonition” and if you’re wondering what it’ll sound like think Massive Attack meets The Receiving End of Sirens meets Weaver at the Loom. Interesting. But we like it.
That’s all for now, take care!
-Jeff
