How to live with your band
Sunday, December 12, 2010
Thank goodness for the Google Calender
Thursday, October 14, 2010
Foot Surgery stimulates toe hair growth
Here we go once again, another post in my erratic history of blog posts.
The band had a busy month of gigging, but is currently relaxing with only one or two gigs this month. One of which is tomorrow at the Rocket Lounge. The whole process of getting this particular gig was horrendous, with several bands all thinking they'd been booked, when ultimately the wrong people were doing the booking and several groups were double booked. In the end, it worked out and it should be fun.
The new myspace page is up and functional: www.myspace.com/juxtaposemusic
Justin did a fantastic job producing the music, we love him very much.
I got an offer to sit in on keys for a band called Chasing the Sky several weeks back (on my birthday actually.) I ended up taking them up on the offer and played their CD release party with them at the Intersection main stage. It was a blast. It's not the kind of music I would normally play, but it definitely takes me back to my early high school days of pop-ish alternative mainstream...stuff. It was enjoyable, and easy to pick up on. The guys in the band are very friendly and overall I found it to be a great experience. I'll continue sitting in with them as long as it works out for me, I play another show with them at the BOB this month.
I also got to play with Justin's other band Dendura for a cover of Perry Mason at Sazerac's for the Prospecto Festival in Grand Rapids. That was a blast as well. Again, definitely not what I'm used to playing but it was good to flex those musical muscles. I look forward to possibly playing with them again in Nov.
So that being said, perhaps I should rephrase what I said earlier. It seems that while the boys in the band have been relaxing with not as many shows to play, I have still been playing the same amount of show on top of the shows that I normally play with juxTApose. Of course this was both good and bad, as most things are. At the end of the day, this is exactly what I want to be doing with my life, but it certainly doesn't come without its own stresses. I was feeling pretty beat down about a week ago, but if I can just push through this show tomorrow (not to say that it won't be fun, gigging for the most part is fun) I have a few weeks of nothing. This will finally give me time to sit down and learn some new material and perhaps do some graphic work in photoshop. I manage to produce graphics in photoshop about as sporadically as I update this blog, if that gives you any idea of how my creative time is.
Last night we carved pumpkins. I have about a million pictures, but no way to get them off my camera and onto the computer. I will soon. Justin, Abby, Trevor, Destinee, Zach, and I all did a pumpkin while Jared was the grill master and steadfastly refused to carve one. All the same, he wouldn't have been the grill master he was if it wasn't for my purchasing of the Premium grade lighter fluid. You're welcome Jared. And thank you Zippo, for having such a shiny container that I purchased you without thinking.
Justin managed to carve a pumpkin with the juxTApose logo, and it is SWEET. Abby's is too good for words, I'll have to post a picture when I can. We're going to line up the pumpkins at the front of the stage for tomorrow's show, it's gonna look sick. Also, I've heard rumors we're raffling off a drum head that we're all gonna sign? Still haven't seen that but if it's true, awesome.
Also, the juxTApose comic premiered of facebook last week. It was a very exciting and momentous occasion. It's gonna be a lot of fun to do. It prompted Abby to dub our home, "The Jux-crib." I am now using that term as often as I can.
So the boys might seriously be going to Colorado for some gigs this Dec. Because of work I most likely will not be able to join them, however if they do as well as Kevin thinks they'll do, they might be able to fly me out for a weekend for a few shows, which I'm sure I could swing. More news on this as it comes in.
I much more light-hearted news...I purchased my Lady Gaga costume a few days ago. I expect it in the mail anytime now. Keep your fingers crossed it arrives tomorrow so I can wear it at the show.
Current reading: Dan Brown's The DaVinci Code
Current music: Na na na by My Chemical Romance (yes you read that right, MCR IS BACK BITCHES!)
And now for the spot in the blog post that pertains to the title:
As you may or may not know, I had bunion surgery on my foot in May. Now, I didn't have the most feminine feet in the world to begin with, but as my foot has been healing I've noticed a very prominent return of the hair on my big toe, AND on the top of my foot around the incision scar. It's about as conspicious as it gets. And isn't exactly doing wonders for my self image. I mean really, it's like a cruel joke. I remove the ugly bunion from my foot but karma for whatever reason is like, nope, sorry, and bam, hair. Hopefully, it will die down or just fall off altogether, but if it doesn't I'm sure I'll be fine. Because at the end of the day I'm still a freakin' badass.
I will post a picture of this phenomenon soon. Also, for the record, I spelled phenomenon correctly without spellcheck. Thought I would point that out because I was as surprised as I'm sure you all are now.
Peace and Love my friends,
CRWarner
Friday, September 3, 2010
The world has turned
Well it’s certainly been awhile. Life has been so chaotic as of late I hardly know where to start. I’ll just highlight some of the major things:
1) Several gigs, including the Intersection
We played several gigs at the BOB, several at the Rocket Lounge, and one most amazing gig on the main stage at the Intersection. This was sweet, mostly because we were higher then everyone else on a legit stage, and the sound was really loud. The lights were almost unbearable though. There was a series of red and blue lights, and whenever the red lights would switch on, could immediately feel the sweat begin to bead up on my skin. I can’t even imagine out Doctor Bass felt, and Lord knows Trevor’s neck vein was making a prominent appearance. Overall though, I felt like a regular badass with my VIP backstage bracelet.
2) The new Demo
Due to the approach of the main stage intersection show (which was the largest show we’ve played to date) we decided that our demo needed sprucing. This included re-recording and recording material in a four day time span. It’s a five track demo, that we put together at Justin’s house, and he mixed it. I am amazed. We’re selling them for $5 dollars (and at the show we sold 10, which was cool). It looks pretty sharp. I give the boys props, those were some long days, culminating into one of the most stressful days of my life. The day of the show, we were still sitting there burning and printing cds, up until 7, we played at 9:30pm. It was a LONG day, but so worth it.
3) My 21st Birthday
We played a show on the 20th, and that was the night that I could begin my legal drinking career. So in a stroke of awesomeness, we played a great show, pausing at midnight to do a shot on stage while Trevor said some beautiful words to me in front of everyone. It was truly lovely.
4) Destinee and A.C.’s return
Destinee returned from Mackinac, and A.C. from Spain. It’s been great to have them back and experience the bar scene with them. A.C. has been playing open mics regularly these days, and save for a few hiccups it’s been wonderful watching and listening to her shine.
Well there you have it, the major highlights of the last month or so. It’s been crazy.
Things are different now that Destinee is back home. It’s still odd to have another person there
all the time. But what I’m really looking forward to is getting the house back on track, as far as the cleanliness goes. It’s really too much for me to do, and the boys suck at it. Honestly. Would it kill someone to unload the dishwasher or sweep the dining room? You might think so if you lived at my house. I tried cleaning it every day but try doing that and working full time hours, it’s tough. Then I tried reverse psychology, but then the house just got REALLY messy. So Dest and I are going to work some team effort thing out that might result in the chore wheel/chart that A.C. suggested. Can’t hurt to try I suppose.
There’s more to say but I’ve got other stuff that needs taking care of, so until next time. (Which should hopefully be sooner.)
Peace and Love
Cassidy
Sunday, July 4, 2010
Mundane
Happy belated Fourth of July folks.
As murphy's law would have it, I would be scheduled to work Friday the ninth, which is a gig date for the band. So even though independence day is not my holiday, I traded with someone so I could get the ninth off, that's how dedicated I am. And what the heck, it's time and a half, who couldn't use the extra money these days?
My second day back at work was much like the first. Long, hard on my foot, but ultimately satisfying. The people I work with are typically pretty cool, not all of them of course, but most. I enjoy working mostly, simply because I like feeling as if I earned my money, and I don't feel as if my job is ridiculous. People depend on me to get people registered and get that information correct, makes me feel useful. It's satisfying.
Trevor and I enjoyed a good dinner last night. I actually cooked. We tend to get rather romantic with one another when one of us cooks. I made tilapia with garlic and lemon, sprinkled with bread crumbs, baked. It wasn't half bad, which is saying something when it comes to my cooking. Trevor is the chef in this relationship, and I'm not afraid to admit it. We even got extra special with some wine and cheesecake (which I certainly didn't make)
Afterwards, we played some music. He taught me the new song he wrote, and it sounds pretty awesome. We'll probably debut it at the gig on Friday. It was nice to play with just him and I, kind of like the old days, before there was a band and it was just us.
Jared was MIA, wedding in Chicago, but he's back now, already sleeping so I'm assuming he had a good time.
I've gotten to chat with A.C. a few times on skype, which is fantastic. I miss her desperately and I think she's a little homesick, but in the end she's having a blast and I am envious. I keep telling myself she'll be home soon enough but it doesn't stop me from missing her. She's supposed to be blogging but I have yet to see it, I plan on bothering her about it later. To be honest, I'm pleasantly surprised with the frequency we get to chat on Skype.
I started reading 'One for the Money." It's hilarious, enough said.
It's still quiet around here, which leads me to boredom. The kittens are playing beneath my feet (did I mention my cat Alice gave birth to four of the little monsters?) and are noisy, and there's fireworks STILL going on outside, but that's it. The house is quiet, and I'm starting to lose it. I should probably be writing (not the blog) but eh, just don't feel like it, and I don't think you should push when it comes to creativity.
Trevor and I will probably watch a movie, horror of course. Then we have a full band practice early in the morning, one of three before the gig. I'm excited, the drummer we're playing with is beyond fantastic, so it should be a blast.
No True Blood tonight, such a disapointment.
Well, since my life is boring watching paint dry, I'm signing out.
Peace,
C-Dubs.
Friday, July 2, 2010
So I play in band...
See, I am a pretty normal 20 year old female. Received above average grades in high school, tended to lean more towards the arts than the sciences, and I've always enjoyed to read.
Then I graduated, and that is where my life deviated from about 70 percent of average american teenagers.
Instead of going to college as planned, I decided to play in a rock band instead. Now, there's several reasons for this that I'm sure I'll one day touch on (not least of which are my love for music, the music scene, and the people who make the music) but ultimately that's not important, because it is what it is.
This blog is the product of a conversation with my uncle, who commented off-hand that my daily life sounded a bit like a sitcom. Maybe it does, maybe it doesn't. I am as I said a 20 year old girl, who just happens to play in a rock band, lives with said band and has few female friends. I work with my mother at a hospital and the boys in the band aren't very good at cleaning house. I have two close female friends, one of which is a photographer who lives with us and finds herself occasionally caught up in band drama (of which there is never a shortage of) and the other is about to graduate with a teaching degree and is currently in Spain for the next several weeks. I'm not exactly sure if this is the making of a sitcom, but it is what it is, and I know that I find my life entertaining.
So I figured I'd share my adventures (or misadventures) for any who might be interested or who want to laugh at me. My mother thinks I'm hilarious, but then again maybe she feels obligated to laugh. At the end of the day, I'd personally like a record of things, so either way, I feel the blog will be a good thing. Maybe even a stress reliever?
Here's the main cast of characters in my life
Trevor- guitarist/singer and also my boyfriend
Jared - bass player and awesome friend
Kevin - currently far far away on an extended vacation, original drummer but most does promotional work for us now, lives in the basement in what I affectionately call his "Cave."
John- just moved out to pursue the army, but did promotional work for us while he was here
A.C.- 1/2 of my best female friends. She's in Spain now to immerse herself in the language she's been learning and culture.
Dest- the other half of my best female friends, she's pursuing a degree in photography and currently has a summer job, she lives with us, A.C. does not.
What's happening right now you ask?
-I go back to work today after six weeks off due to medical leave. I had bunion surgery.
-The band has a gig next Friday at a cool venue downtown, the highlight of which will surely be our new cover, Hysteria by Muse.
-Trevor seems to be serious about running on the treadmill (this may be of little interest to most, but I'm proud of him and happy to see the treadmill being used by other then myself)
-My cat had kittens several weeks ago (four of them) and they have now figured out how to climb over the cardboard barrier I constructed in the doorway to my office (where I've been housing them.) Our bassist Jared hates cats and refuses to touch them. I am secretly excited at this development.
-I unloaded the dishwasher because my attempt at reverse psychology failed.
And that's what is happening now.
The house is much quieter then I am used to. Dest has been gone for a month working her summer job, and isn't due back until mid August. A.C. doesn't live with us, but she's around a lot, and now she is in Spain for the next month and a half. Kevin is out of state working and no one knows when he'll be back. Last but not least, John is all moved out (I have turned his old room into my office/kitty nursery.) As far as today goes, Jared is with a buddy riding their motorcycles (Of which I got the chance to partake in last night for the first time, awesome) and I can hear Trevor playing his guitar from somewhere in our house.
It's almost TOO calm. But I'll take it when I can get it. I will draw, drink coffee, bribe Trevor to drive me to work and have a good first night back.
And I think that's enough for a first post.
~C-Dubs
P.S. For those that are interested, you can listen our band, JuxTApose, here: www.myspace.com/trevoratkinson1