June 2005 (6/20/05)
Happy summer. Actually, tomorrow is the first day of summer, according to my calendar. It's Monday, around one in the afternoon, and I just woke up. I've been in the studio for four straight days tracking the new EP and it's coming along really well. Was at Headgear in Williamsburg, where I've been working intensely with Scott Norton, who is an amazing guy and a great engineer/producer. I think the two of us together have come up with some really cool sounds and I can't wait for everyone to be able to hear them. We're not quite finished yet, but it looks like we'll get everything done in July.

Right now I am exhausted, and also busting at the seams with so much love and appreciation for everyone I've been blessed enough to play and work with and for all those people who have come before me to help me along my musical way. There are times, I must admit, when the business of music making--especially on an indie level--can seem trying and difficult, but this is not at all one of them. I just want to give you all a giant hug right now--you know who you are. Sorry if I'm being overly sentimental. But it's been a wild time on the music front of late, and I just feel like I am living a charmed life right now.

I have been following a very strict singing regimen for the past couple weeks or so--a bland and uneventful diet, no booze, no going out to bars and talking loud and so on. What can I say? I'm kind of a perfectionist when it comes to recording vocals. I want to be at my absolute best, and from a vast plane of experience I know that in my case, the rock 'n' roll lifestyle and singing well do not always go hand in hand. So anyway, even though I have plenty to catch up on, tonight I just might have to drink like my plane is going down just to make up for all this sobriety, which is stressing me out. Scott and I ran out for a drink at 3am last night actually. And I'll tell you, whiskey hasn't tasted so good in a long time. I've been telling my friends that my postrecording dream meal is a whole pizza and a bottle of Jack. Maybe some ice cream for dessert. So that might be dinner for tonight. Yes, I celebrate in strange ways.

Our Crash Mansion show last month (seems like ages ago now) was a blast, though there were some sound issues that were kind of a drag. Still, we had an awesome time and it was so nice to rock out for a change. Expect more of that from us in the near future. We broke out another new song, "Call Off Your Dogs," which people seemed to be excited about. I especially want to thank those who actually came out to both the Living Room show a few weeks before and the Crash Mansion gig. Dare I say there are some hardcore Jason Brody disciples out there? Well, keep it up. We love you. And we hope that you will be fruitful and multiply.

From where I am standing right now, July looks like it's going to be insane. I feel as though I am standing on the edge of a crater, looking into the blackness down below, unable to make out all the details, but ready to fall on in nonetheless. Such is life, I suppose. But it seems that what's down there is all good stuff, so I'm not complaining.

I'll kick off the month with my first solo show in a while, at the very cool World Cafe Live in Philly. I do hope you'll come on out and see me in all my sad-bastard glory. It's my first time there, and I definitely want to make a good impression since it really is a great venue. And we've been leaning a little to the rock lately, so it's high time for some darker and more intimate brooding, just to balance it all out.

More on what else lurks down in the blackness next month. I'm signing off for now.