Another one for the road!

Just about to go board a plane, but here’s a little something we recorded at Eastern Bloc Studios late last year. A big thank you to Ben Dumas and Matthew Neighbour for letting me slave-drive them to death while putting it all together. More videos to come soon, promise!

My attempt to follow the Republican primary, or what’s left of it anyway, would have been a lot more nauseating if not for the daily dose of Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert’s comedic cushioning. It’s hard to escape the whole illuminati cliché when you’re trawling YouTube for some counterpunches to right wing agitprop, but you have to admit it’s getting easier to deduce that the system is governed by a handful of predesignated krangs looking out for their own homies while setting up a well-lit circus to present their troupe of floundering presidential wannabes to the ever-hopeful ninety-nine percent who are still looking for “real change”. Every debate has been littered full of wonderful distractions, but peel back the minor bickering and you’ll find that both parties are really under the same roof. Once again, the landlords will be cashing in regardless of the outcome, and everyone else will have to clean up the mess.

Then there is Ron Paul, the only candidate who is least likely to be a shapeshifting reptilian and appears to be just as pissed off as the rest of us. There is little doubt about his message’s consistency, and it’s easy to see why his policies are appealing, especially to the incensed youth. It’s a simple killer combination of raging against the machine while implementing the golden rule of doing onto others what you expect in return. While there are just as many skeptics who have branded him a madman for being overly simplistic, you have to wonder whether that cynicism is largely derived from the fear of an old system being drastically overhauled and taken to where it’s never been before. But even if they are right, the only problem with Ron Paul would be that he just has way too much faith in humanity. And well, if there really are darker and more twisted powers at work currently incapable of being brought down by a president and his people anyway, then he’s probably better off not being elected for his own sake.

It’s quite strange; you get overwhelmed and disillusioned by all of this crap for a while, but then you find your way back into the groove, like none of it mattered in the first place.

I mean, I’m just a musician. So what do I know, right?

C.S. Lewis on prayer, from the 1993 film Shadowlands.

I have a lot of trouble believing in an interventionist God, but I still cry out to him anyway.

Recorded this impromptu while taking cover during a washed out photoshoot in Melbourne.

I am writing from a headspace of half static and half frenzy. Once again, I have managed to self-sabotage my way into a familiar limbo, fuelled by the paralysing combination of perfectionism and procrastination. You don’t need a shrink to tell me that my problem is self-inflicted, and that it all stems from some need for self-validation. But I am writing because this needs to change.

I am writing because I am sick and tired of being sick and tired. I am going back to the start, to reiterate what really makes all of this worthwhile. I first have to work on learning how to just be happy, even if that means putting a few things on hold. Right now, the thought of finishing an album any time soon is impossible, almost reckless. There is too much intellectualising and not enough living. Sometimes having momentum is more important than finding direction.

I need to remember how to take my time and explore the things I actually love doing, instead of constantly staring at a mold that certain people decided are necessary for you and I to fit into in order to be their version of success. If art is a biproduct of living, then I’m focusing on being the best person that I can be before anything else.

The alternative is too boring and depressing to contemplate.

Our alleged cameraman bailed the day before this severely underrehearsed gig took place, so we got our mix engineer to prop his crappy camera up on a crappy tripod in the worst possible angle in the live room of 3MBS Studios and swivel it around like nobody’s business. We also told him not to breathe for 7 minutes. Enjoy.

We all perceive music to be a form of entertainment, whether in an active or passive format. We choose to go to a concert with the expectation of having a good time, we reach for specific playlists on our iPods and dial in favourite stations on the car stereo because we are in the mood to listen to something we particularly crave; even if it is a new song or album, we would need to be in the right mind set to be able to soak it in. We subconsciously take in background music at a shopping mall or a restaurant as an unobtrusive accompaniment to mindless activity. In other words, a lot of music exists today solely to accommodate our frame of mood at the time. We spoon feed our souls with our own mix tapes. But what if we get confronted with something that we aren’t prepared to hear? Enter music as a form of deterrence. I’m not talking about top secret ultrasonic weaponry, I’m talking about music – legitimately composed, internationally identifiable, organised sound that is specifically used to alienate and cause distress to various social groups.

When we were working on production material for the EP last year, Scott and I usually grabbed cheap Japanese takeaway for lunch at a rather infamous suburban shopping centre nearby. For more than a few occasions we would witness a group of inappropriately dressed juvenile delinquents lurking around the parking lot outside the mall. One would normally expect these kids to be lighting poorly rolled cigarettes, vandalising walls with mini sharpies and cussing at powerlessly overweight security guards. Instead, these poor bastards were looking utterly confused like a swarm of houseflies spiralling out of their element after getting sprayed on by some insecticide. Behold the leverage of classical opera holds against young people when being played through a myriad of strategically placed loudspeakers on the roof of the car park.

I don’t mean to liken Wagner to a can of Mortein, but you can see the correlation of potency that they both carry against unwanted guests. Each time we pass by that parking lot, we do so in complete disbelief as we watch these kids scratch their heads like chimpanzees, attempting to cause some sort of ruckus only to get drowned out by the glory that is a 100-piece orchestra complete with fat lady singing.

And no, it’s not just that old classical stuff that applies to this theory, either. I am also the recent victim of a shrewd soundman who successfully cleared the whole house in 10 minutes by pumping death metal at full volume after an indie-pop gig because nobody wanted to leave the venue despite strict closing hours. It was a throbbingly painful experience, but nevertheless fed the prowess of music as a deterrent. Also, my local McDonald’s joint is now hooligan-free thanks to various bebop standards being played through the newly upgraded sound system of that spunky new McCafé. Not only am I being treated to the licks of Charlie Parker, I no longer need to worry about getting taunted by clichéd racial slurs or getting harassed by loose pieces of french fry.

The bottom line: if you’re in charge of a situation, make sure you know how to work the PA system. You never know when some music deterrence might come in handy. I reckon if Metro started playing some easy listening Jack Johnson/Norah Jones esque music on trains, we’d have a much safer (and perhaps just a little classier) public transport system. Sure, I’m not saying we should all go to war with just a boom box. But I bet if the Bush administration had invested a bit less on ammunition and got Jim Marshall to line the perimeter of Afghanistan with a wall of speaker cabinets blasting some of that Ke$ha nonsense into the caverns for a prolonged period of time, they probably would’ve gotten that Bin Laden guy out of hiding a long time ago.

Pre-sale tickets include a complimentary hard copy of the EP. Order here!