Sunday, December 12, 2010

Thank goodness for the Google Calender

I'm going to try to take this blog more seriously. Simply because I realized in the month of November that I seriously need some sort of outlet, a way to reflect. Normally this is a task I would reserve to my close female friends, but with schedules packed and the holidays upon us in a ruthless way, I've decided on option B. B for Blog.
In addition, this did start as a way to explain some of the daily things I go through and while I'm not vain enough to believe that my life is any more exciting than yours, there's only so much sympathy any of my girlfriends can express when I complain about the ridiculous amount of diminished chords in Kill Wife and how inadvertently I was angry at Trevor for a small portion of the evening because of it.
Due to the overwhelming nature of my schedule (I had to actually create a google calender. For the first time in my life I am following a calender) I need some me time, and these days it's hard to come by. But if I schedule in the "me" time in the form of a blog, can I justify it? Yes, I can.
As of a month and a half ago (or was it two?) I was asked to join another band as the full time keyboardist and I agreed (because whats the harm in making more contacts and friends? Both things that could benefit juxTApose in the long run.) and that has presented both its own rewards and problems. Rewarding in that I'm playing music with different musicians, it's a different style of music to adapt and master, and ultimately the networking aspect of it as well. Problematic in that I'm playing music with different musicians and it's a different style of music. I understand the duality of it may seem odd, but after essentially playing with the same man for three, perhaps four years, and a bassist for a year and a half (not to mention the most amazing, adapatable drummer), playing with anyone else at a skill level other then the unparalleled mastery of Trevor, is frustrating for me. That's not to say this band isn't good, because they are. What I'm saying is I'm used to things being a certain way, I'm used to playing music a certain way (which isn't necessarily a good thing either). Practices are run as such, seventh chords are praised, and communication is effortless. In short, playing with this other band is a whole different way of looking at things for me, which makes me wonder just how other bands get the job done? It's getting easier for sure (and thank God Trevor saw fit to train my ear from the very beginning), but two practices a week for just one band plus the number of shows can be trying. All of this is balanced on top of my duties for juxTApose, which I assure you are not few and far between. But being busy is a good thing, and it's just a matter of time before I adapt to the schedule. Perhaps I am too used to lazy days, and this in turn will teach me to use my time more wisely. One thing is for sure, thank God for the google calender.
November was especially busy because I'd agreed to play synth parts for Dendura, Justin's (our drummer) original band. Dendura is a progressive egyptian metal band. Talk about reaching outside of your comfort zone, I was all about it in November. The music was difficult, the songs impressive, and the gig was phenomenal. As long as that gig day was, it was worth every minute. The experience was entirely different, and yet completely the same as gigging with juxTApose. I credit this in part to still playing with Justin, and to Aziza (the singer) and her friendliness. I was comfortable, and felt like a badass. One thing I noticed (and missed) was the lack of camaraderie between the bands. I believe this can be attributed to several things, genre of music and ensuing personality along with national act status to name a few. I say this cautiously, because I am no experienced metal keyboardist, nor an avid listener of the metal genre in itself. But if I'd had to guess....? A band would play, and that was it, there was no casual socializing between the separate bands , at least from what I could see, but either way, it was a blast, but it was a LONG day. I was glad to be at home and in bed with my cats and Trevor at the end of it.
On the juxTApose front, the winds are a blowin'. After several heartfelt talks with the boys, the anticipation to really get the ball rolling is almost tangible. 2011 is our year, and I know this because Trevor said so. This may seem silly, but after dealing with his chronic pessimism in all areas of his life, hearing him say something as positive and off handedly as, "You know Cass, 2011 is it. This is the year. We're ready, this is the right group of people, finally," my heart could burst. We've got a plan, and we've got our work cut out for us. T-shirts are gonna be ordered at the end of the week (FINALLY!), I've designed a business card for us and those are going to be ordered at the end of the week as well. We're sorting through originals, assembling a full length album, and writing, writing, writing, and gigging, gigging, gigging. Our prime source of income is through gigging, though the hope is that the t-shirts will provide an additional sum. (I think the design is awesome, but of course, I did design it.) That being said, the next few months in the lives of juxTApose are bound to be entertaining. Some of the things we're attempting to do are going to be new to all of us, except maybe for Justin, who has played successfully in other bands. For example, we're gonna order the t-shirts, but how do we sell them? Do we need a cash box? What size bank and what denominations should we carry? How do we display the merchandise? How do we transport the merchandise? Do we sell stickers or give them away? And what about a website? Do we pay money for it? Do it ourselves? Is it worth the money for a domain name? And how about the actual gigging itself? Do we write up a performance contract? We've been screwed before. How do we approach the bars we don't know? How do we get reviews in papers? And really, when it comes right down to it, how do we create a buzz for juxTApose?
juxTApose is ready at the core of things. We've got the covers, we've got the catchy originals, and we've got it down so well I can drink several beers and shots before we play and still look and sound good. We've got the art, the memorable logo and the constantly evolving look we want on our graphics (<-- which keep me busier then you might believe). The creative side is done (or is it?), now it's time to look at it from a business prospective, a prospective where I'm willing to bet money we need to evoke a little more creativity to get us where we want to go. I'm confident we all want it, I'm confident we're all committed. Now the biggest question is, who is going to do what?
Domestically, I've been non-existent, and I don't even feel bad about it. Today I did four loads of laundry, even though I had to work a third (it all comes back to that using my time wisely thing even when I just want to veg out on the couch with TLC) just to catch up, and that's not even all of it. I managed to employ Trevor on that front, he's supposed to be washing the bed clothes right now. I unloaded the dishwasher, and grabbed all the beer bottles and cups from our bedroom (Trevor and I are notorious at leaving cups up there). I even managed to tidy up the living room slightly today. I felt productive, but there's still so much to be done at home that I sometimes don't know where to start. It's times like these where I wish the others were bothered as much as I am at the ability of our house's cleanliness to rapidly degenerate, but they are who they are, and it could always be worse. This month though, home is going to be particularly challenging. Our former roommate left (under conditions that make my blood boil) and in his wake is an entire attic full of his crap, and a walk in closet (which includes a dresser and a trombone, and who knows what else) and another room in the basement, all full of his...stuff. Feeling adventurous, Dest and I decided to clean out the basement room one evening. The whole thing made me angry. Why should we have to clean up after him? The trash in the room ended up filling five trash bags. Yes, I'm serious. Five trash bags. And yet I felt very conflicted during the whole process. A lot of the things that ended up in the trash were (to me anyway) personal, such as birthday cards, Christmas cards, love notes from highschool, things of that nature. Then there was a series of paintings that were used in his film thesis. What do I do with these? One might say if he left it there, he obviously doesn't care about it, and yet what if he simply forgot about it, and if that's the case, is it my problem to hold on to them for him? Supposedly there are two boxes under the stairs that he wants us to hold on to for him. If he didn't put them in the boxes, does that make them fair game? Can I be rid of them? My morals (curse them) say no, and so I put the paintings and a few other things I felt strange about throwing away, into his boxes under the stairs. Who knows, maybe he'll never claim them anyway. At least they're packed away properly, and will be easy to dispose of if need be. But Dest and I spent a good two hours going through that room, and at the end of it I still didn't feel as if I'd accomplished much. The walk in closest in the basement is daunting, overflowing with a coffee table, dresser, poker equipment, more papers, film...crap...and who knows what else! And then the attic! It's still so much to go through, and I just don't have the time. And yet it drives me NUTS knowing it's up there, taking up space, and serving absolutely no purpose at all! Who needs eight computer towers and several broken monitors anyway?!
But like Jared told me, "What the point in being mad? It is what it is." I can't imagine anything being more true.
And that's where I'm at right now, overwhelmed, tired, uncertain and optimistic. This writing felt nice, I will do it again. I will try to be more consistent about it.
Peace and Love

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

Here we go, post number two.

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...

...and decided I'd try blogging about it.

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