I Can't Sing

So I had more band practice today. Well, actually it was more recording. Today was the vocals. I was expecting it to take a long time, but it actually went pretty fast. Wyatt, the singer (rapper, actually), got most of the songs down in one take, which was pretty sweet. I thought it would be a lot more since he is a perfectionist. The only problem was the chorus for one song. Our old guitar player used to sing it, and it had a deep reggae/Jamaican feel to it. Well Wyatt can't actually sing and hold a note, Slo-Mo can sing, but has the wrong style for that part. He reminds me a lot of the singer from Incubus. And I can't sing. So we were trying to figure out what to do. We tried Wyatt singing it alone, and we almost died. Then Aaron tried, but it didn't fit. So I tried it. Actually a lot better than anyone was thinking, but still not great. So then we decided to try me and Wyatt at the same time. And surprisingly it worked. It's not the greatest solution, but it's the best of a bad situation. And it's only a demo, so it's not that big of a deal. But I was really surprised at my voice. I've never considered myself a singer. I'll sing along in the car or shower, but never seriously, you know? So now I'll have four different credits on the album. Drumming, bass, vocals, and writing. All I need to do is lay a guitar track down, and I've done everything! I guess some minor engineering too, but that hardly counts since we're doing it ourselves on the computer. I'm pretty happy with the results so far too. Sunday I'll lay down the bass tracks, and then we're done. Then we just need to mail it to Aaron's dad and he'll mix and master it for us, and the demo's done! Sweetness.

Wednesday I had a little adventure. I got home from a bike ride, and Erik was outside working on a car, as usual. He asked if I wanted to something adventurous tonight, and skeptically I said sure. Turns out he needed to tow a car from his work to our house. Now for most people that wouldn't be a big deal. They'd either call a tow company, or rent a trailer or something. But no, not us. Time to bust out the old tow strap! So we jumped into my truck and went to his shop. The car wouldn't turn on at all, so it had no power brakes.

Now I don't know if you know about towing a vehicle with a strap, but the tow vehicle does the accelerating, while the vehicle being towed does the majority of the braking. That way the strap stays tight, and you don't jerk the car around when you start moving again because of the slack being pulled out. Make sense?

Anyways, the car had no power brakes, so it was going to be a challenge. A 2,500 pound car trying to stop a 6,000 pound truck. So we took off without any major problems. Towing like that isn't exactly what you would call legal, so we were on the lookout for cops. Fortunately we didn't see one the entire trip, but it was a tense ride, checking all the cars around if they were cops. We made it the 15 or so miles back to my house (by back roads, no highway) uneventfully and then unhooked the car. Now it's sitting outside my house, waiting for Erik to have time to fix it.

It wasn't the first time I've towed a car like that, but it was the longest distance I've gone towing without a trailer. And I was glad Erik was able to muscle the brakes well enough not to run into me when we stopped.

Well that's about it. I should be getting my new phone tomorrow. I went to the store on Tuesday, but they had to order one for me because they didn't have anymore at the shop. They said 2 day shipping, but since it was after 3PM, they said it would probably be Friday. I hope it comes, I'm tired of not having a phone! Although it is nice not having to talk to people unless I want to.

My mom said Lynn and Doug might need me Sunday/Monday, but will call me tomorrow and let me know. I kinda hope they don't, since I'm supposed to record the bass tracks on Sunday. I guess I could do it some other day, but we really want to get it done. Oh well, time will tell.

Well I'm out of things to say for now. Everyone be well and be safe.

143

-Kevin

Here is a video from my friend's band, Phased Array, that was in the battle of the bands last week. Here's 'Portrait of a Crumbling Empire'

The bass player, Blake, is also the owner of the car we towed the other night. A little bit of trivia for ya.

Testing Testes Testing

First off, thank you everyone for the nice things about Larry. I don't understand how people could say anything bad about such a wonderful person, but some people like to say hurtful things just to hurt other people. Thank you JJ for the song information. I checked out some of their other songs, and they are pretty good too. And thank you for linking to me off your blog as well. That means a lot.

Spys89: At least for the time being, Paul has deleted Larry's blog which had the whole story on it. Maybe someday when he is up to it, he will put it back up, but only time will tell. I don't want to ruin his legacy by trying to remember every detail either. So unless someone else wants to inform you, I'm afraid you will have to wait. Sorry.

So all that aside, this hasn't been a very good week. Ever since I saw that video, I've been in an odd state of mind, but it was worth it to see such love still alive in the world. The cabin was nice, although it rained the whole time I was there which sucked. So I spent the whole weekend watching movies and playing guitar. Could've been worse I guess.

All week since I got back I have been battling with my truck to get my new headlights to work properly. So far the truck is still winning. My dad, my brother (the mechanic) and myself can't figure out the problem. So we took them out and put the stock ones back in. Now we're going to recheck the wiring on the lights while they're out of the truck. It's been a huge headache, because I haven't been able to drive at night. I had to borrow Aaron's (BP) car to go to the cabin last week because I was afraid to drive the truck. At least with the old lights I can drive at night again.

Anyway, so that's been the annoying part of the week. Yesterday, the band started recording our demo. We're doing it ourselves in our practice space with some computer programs, but getting all the kinks out was a pain. I was supposed to lay down drums first, but we had to spend three hours getting all the fine details taken care of first. Finally we could start recording, but we ran out of time pretty quick, so I only got two tracks laid down. But the fact that we are finally making progress is really nice. We're picking it back up on Sunday, so I should be able to get the other tracks down, and hopefully some guitar tracks too.

When I got home from recording, Erik told me to throw my bike in the truck and to go to Demian's. I guess we were going on a big bike ride. So we loaded up and went over there. After getting everything together, we biked to one of D's friend's houses, and had some awesome burritos for dinner. We hung out for a while digesting, and then loaded up the bikes. We had around 15 people with us this time, so I knew it would be intense. D had the trike, I had my cruiser, and Erik had his, and then it was a mix of road bikes, mountain bikes, and cruisers. We ended up biking all over Uptown, down to the river where we hung out for around an hour, and then throw Downtown back to Uptown. All in all the ride was about 4 hours long, and we probably did 15 or 20 miles. I was really tired after because it was 3 AM, and my body was sore from drumming a lot earlier. So I loaded the truck up and headed home. I crashed as soon as I got home and just got up about an hour ago. I really love the sporadic rides through Uptown, especially with that many people. And we get some really interesting stares and comments as we go by too. Probably from the 120 decibels coming from the trike :-P

Today, I decided to go back to the cabin, again. Again I'm going by myself, but I think it will do some good to clear my head. All week I've been in this funk, and I need to get out of it for my own good, and those around me. Unfortunately, since we are recording on Sunday I'll have to come home earlier than I want. I was going to go up last night, but then the bike ride happened and I really wanted to go.

I would really like to offer my condolences to Gabey, who just lost his father last weekend. I haven't lost a parent yet, but I've lost people close to me so I can understand a little of what you're going through. There are lots of people here for you, and I am one as well. Take care of you and yours, and be safe. I'll be thinking about you this weekend too while at the cabin.

And lastly, I would like to wish Rowan a very happy 16th birthday! I don't think he reads my blog, but what the hell, right? I hope you have a great day, and all your wishes come true!

Well that's about it. I'll be back Sunday night, so either then or Monday I should be back here. Everyone take care of themselves and be safe.

-Kevin