hopw blog

coupla things

2011-09-25T09:39:00.000-07:00

1. we played a great, well-attended show @ the silverlake lounge

2. said show was named a "show of the week" by huffington post.

3. we booked a show at esteemed live venue, The Echo (1822 W Sunset Blvd, LA CA 90026) on Wed, October 5th.

come, why doncha?

Couple things

2011-09-25T09:34:00.000-07:00

summer 2011 update

2011-07-25T12:05:00.000-07:00

Hey all,
I hope yr having a great summer here's what we're up to:
1. got some nice reviews - Parasites and Sycophants, Faronheit, POP! Stereo and The Vinyl District.
2. The Elleoner (Rae) has been in India w National Geographic. we'll post up some pics for sure at the blog
3. The Blue Eyed Devil (Stephe) has been doing a lot of music writing at LA music blogs Grimy Goods and seancarnage.com .
4. Working on recording two new songs w a new engineer. I think we'll have some old friends and some new guest help out as well.
5. Working on booking some shows when the Elleoner gets back

Here's some music to hold you over:

http://soundcloud.com/heroes-of-popular-wars/american-loser
http://soundcloud.com/heroes-of-popular-wars/06-shes-a-microscope

Well, that's it for now. Miss you.

listening to: Her Space Holiday, Son Vox, Midlake

new recording

2011-05-26T08:22:00.000-07:00

we're bringing lots o creative peeps to help w for new recording. multiple recorders, engineers and collaborators. i think we'll record there's the bell, 3rd of july, i will not hesitate and shoulder separation (featuring a co-lead vocal by the elleoner), i've always written a song or two while recording as well as some inpromtu jams. that's exciting for us.
listening to: adele, cass mccombs, still listening to that antlers

some of stephe's online music writing

2011-05-08T08:49:00.000-07:00

i've been lucky to get the opportunity to write about music for a couple of blogs that i actually read and enjoy. what a treat. here are some of the interviews and reviews i've done:

for seancarnage.com
chapter 25 interview
no paws interview
kid static interview
religious girls interview
laco$te interview
pedestrian deposit interview
ezra buchla interview
stellaluna interview

for grimy goods
charles bradley show review

listening to: cass mccombs, times new viking

so not to brag but....

2011-04-29T08:26:00.000-07:00

basically we've just written our two best songs. the novation station has been invaluable. as is eric's ability to play in time w out a click.

listening to:
antlers, stone's throw's "spiritual jazz" comp, geotic

new toys

2011-03-26T16:48:00.000-07:00

novation x station. yamaha vss-30.

a thousand views

2011-03-06T20:20:00.000-08:00

it's a doozy

getting pumped for our 1st la show, new blog posts, new song (acoustic demo)

2011-02-04T15:36:00.000-08:00

we got a lot going on.
first la show booked - 2.21 @ pehrspace 9 pm
some blogs have been up in our grill:
seancarnage.com
the deli
gimme tinnitus

and here is an acoustic demo of a new song

listening to: james blake, bonobo, that stone's throw spiritual jazz comp, new twilight singers

new shows, video

2011-01-26T08:00:00.000-08:00

getting moving: two new shows in la. pehrspace on 2.21 and mr t's bowl on 3.11. shooting a new video the 1st week of february w actor/director timm sharp. now we are getting somewhere. also former hero miles is playing this saturday 2 satellite w darwin deez, then going on a european tour. congrats!

listening to: live radiohead shows and laco$te

so grateful for the ability to play music

2011-01-09T09:54:00.000-08:00

true
listening to b.a.d., james blake

end o the year mix

2010-12-27T10:28:00.000-08:00

new mix.
Working on samples for new material. looking forward to playing new shows. hey la, we 'a comin'.

listening to owen, nusrat fateh ali khan, kraftwerk

two week break

2010-12-22T10:19:00.000-08:00

We're taking a short two week break for the holidays (and return to our respective home towns) and it looks like looking to book some shows starting the 1st week of February.
Lots of changes around the heroes camp.
Here's an recounting of the changes
guitars - less
laptops - none
samplers - two
long jams - countless
minds blown/skins shed - all

listening to: Tool, Peter Gabriel, Brian McBride, Wye Oak

dec mix

2010-11-30T12:14:00.000-08:00

here is a new mix. we're so appreciative that you hang in with us.
listening to; new iron and wine, baths, brian mcbride

if the stereo is on, keep keep it on

2010-11-21T13:57:00.001-08:00

keep keeping on

off the click - new mix

2010-11-04T19:59:00.000-07:00

the new heroes set is now "click track free". that means everything - everything - is live. for an electronic group, that's pretty rare. check us when we play out this winter to see what that is like.
new mix up. the dls have been pretty crazy, we appreciate that anyone cares at all. keep loving music, y'all.
listening to: crystal castles, baths, sufjan

new mix, seancarnage.com

2010-10-21T22:13:00.000-07:00

as promised. another mix. i was surprised how many people dled the last one so i'm thinking every other friday until peeps stop dling it. here it is. some old (lizzy), some new (fol chen) and my good buddy and sonic enabler dj nite move's act, masterface.
also, another cool thing. my favorite show promoter in la, sean carnage, has asked me to do some interviews for his website, seancarnage.com. here is a link to where my interviews are archived.
listening to; x, four tet, godspeed

it's all coming together, gigging soon.

2010-10-16T08:27:00.001-07:00

great jam last night. new members are coming together. setting off samples live from a drum pad is a new thing but not playing to a click has been great. playing w musicians good to enough to play in time w/out clicks is a dream come true. we've been improv-ing different versions of every song. it's getting pretty exciting.
also mixer collab nite moves is on tour in europe w his band, natureboy. congrats to nb, one of our faves.
listening to land of talk, fol chen, baths

mix

2010-10-13T11:14:00.000-07:00

here's a mix of some of the songs that influence the heroes. it's got some usual suspects (radiohead, talk talk) and some more out there things as well (alice coltrane). enjoy, maybe this could be a semi-regular feature. mix

my favorite tunes

2010-09-29T11:49:00.000-07:00

over the spring I was asked by the blog vinyl district to list my favorite songs.

Here you go.

An addendum to this week’s ‘Get’s Lucky’ series—I realized I posted out of order. For maximum effectiveness, the order should be Thursday, Tuesday, Wednesday, followed by Monday. Stir, repeat.

This Friday we get lucky for an entirely different reason. Stephe from Heroes of Popular Wars (who you just might recall from our First Date with the band last May) joins us with ten tracks for your weekend to come.

Heroes of Popular Wars have just released the stellar ‘Church and McDonald’ and to quote another fine blog, The Devil Has The Best Tuna, “Sparsely atmospheric Eno-ish ambient electro pop . . . which reminds me of the coolest British band of the early 80s, Japan."

And we concur. Now, onward!

The Beatles - A Day in the Life
This song totally changed the idea of what a pop song could be: two totally different musical ideas in totally different keys, no chorus, and an entire 20 seconds of random noise in the middle of the song. None of these should belong on the most loved track on the most popular album up to that time but in Lennon/McCartney's hands the difficult sonic elements are softened by the incredible melodies and the playful lyrical puzzles. I never get tired of it. I think it's because rather than hitting you over the head it reveals itself over time. It's a treat for your head and your heart.

Yeasayer - No Need to Worry/Red Cave (from La Blogoteque)
I had heard a lot about Yeasayer when the live video was released, much of it contradictory, which made me think that they must be great. La Blogoteque, a French website, recorded the band doing an incredible version of this two-piece song, using only their voices and beer bottles as percussion while taking the metro to the taping. It made me realize a great doesn't need anything but great rhythm and melody.

Talk Talk - After the Flood
Man, I love this gorgeous song from TT's last album Laughing Stock. It's so subtle that sometimes it's hard to tell when an instrument changes a note. Also, the vocals don't start until well into the 3rd minute of the song. My favorite moment is the oscillation of the organ after the guitar solo. When the noisy guitar finally trails off, there is a small break and the band breaks down into a part so quiet that you can hear the one note beg to be in tune with itself. Beautiful.

Hold Steady - Constructive Summer
Fun and funny. This is a rocking and smart song splits the difference between celebrating and making fun of every single promise that sweetly has gone unfulfilled. The music is simple - a cross between Husker Du and the Sweet - which really draws attention to the super-literate rhymes and great melody. It's singalong song that needs to be should be read.

Peter Gabriel - Thru the Wire
This is complex music made to feel simple. Though the verse is in an odd time signature, I didn't realize it until the 10th or 11 the time I heard because it was done so subtly. The chorus has both a big guitar and a cowbell and could be a bridge between U2 and Blue Oyster Cult but the angular guitar and sharp and terse production keep this from becoming pedestrian 80s radio rock.

Alice Coltrane - Journey in Satchidananda
Patient (noticing a pattern?). Alice mixes hard bop and Indian raga which both soothes and hypnotizes the listener. Her harp's notes dangerously lay in and out of the other instruments, aping her husband's obsession with modality. This pioneer's work would later, along with Brian Eno, influence a whole generation of music makers and listeners to a less direct, more ambient kind of music making.

David Sylvain - Darkest Dreaming
I had heard of, but not heard, Japan - Sylvain's 80s band - but I was compared to him in a review and this song was uploaded. Holy crap, this was every thing I was trying to do. A simple piano with swells of strings, guitars and synths create a true ambient soundscape but the un-rushed melody stuck in my head for days.Sylvain's baritone aches such I went back and bought his whole back catalogue. He has a whole career of great sounds married with lush well-crafted tones.

Kanye West - Gold Digger
Smart, fun, danceable pop that proves melody isn't required fro an incredible hook. Every line is complicated but a blast.

Husker Du - Celebrated Summer
Amazing song, incredible dynamics and a killer take are the keys here. Ignore the shitty production, ignore the borderline undecipherable lyrics, pay attention to that passion of the performance and the groundbreaking melding of song craft and aggression. A true classic.

Radiohead - Idioteque
This song changed the indie game. This song leveled the playing field and now any instrument you could make rock was a rock instrument AND it has a great chorus.

and lastly, here is a link with mp3s of all the songs.

http://vinyldistrict.blogspot.com/2009/08/tvds-parting-shots_21.html

still alive

2010-09-20T09:13:00.000-07:00

sometimes getting the right combo is difficult. bad news, mike and tom are only going to work in a part time way. the good news is we're now working w dave farina from the band Plus and eric stoye a drummer, a musicians institute student. best news, elleoner is back. away...... we...... go.......

it's alive

2010-06-05T09:45:00.000-07:00

after setting free the bears of hopw 2.0, we've moved onto an exciting new chapter. Completely different set up, line up and sound. We'll be playing shows this summer.
heroes of popular wars are now stephe sykes, mike enriquez and tommy hallet. Two drummers and a guitarist. Playing live summer of '10.

thursday night - 2.11.10

2010-02-10T23:14:00.000-08:00

TRiP 2101 Lincoln Blvd. LA, CA 8:00

just got played on kxlu

2010-02-05T18:21:00.000-08:00

hearing yrself on the radio is weird.
listening to - no age, squeeze, coltrane

cat club

2010-01-25T19:05:00.000-08:00

tomorrow night 9

jan 2010 update

2010-01-18T07:57:00.001-08:00

hey all,

lots to talk about, so let's get at it. a little personnel bump in the road. alex schetter is no longer w the band. he has decided to concentrate on a tv show he's working on, so pod luck to him. we have completed a line up. we've added two new members. lior ron, an incredible trumpet. keyboardist and vocalist from israel. lior has worked on israeli tv, scored movies and commercials as well as leads his own dub project. We've also added laith ulaby, a stand up bass player, laith is getting his phd. in ethnomusicology from ucla this spring and teaches there as well. laith has been primarily a jazz player and runs his stand up through a a mid synthesizer effect, it adds a really interesting element to the band.

another big development. heroes got their first national print magazine coverage. magnet did a small article about the video for it's a doozy, you can check out the online version here. the video has been added to the playlist of singingfool.com as well as vimeo and other video sites. you can always go the wrd section of our website where we keep an in-depth index of all the heroes writing on the internet.

lastly but most importantly, heroes will play our first set of la gigs:

Cat Club Tuesday, January 26, 2010 8911 Sunset Bld, LA, CA,

Dakota Lounge Sunday, February 7th, 2010 1026 Wilshire Blvd, LA, CA,

TRiP Thursday, February 11, 2010 2101 Lincoln Blvd. LA, CA ,

Good Hurt Wednesday, March 3rd , 2010 12249 Venice Blvd, LA, CA

as always, our music is pay-what-you-will on our website here please see our new video for it's doozy here.

thx all for hanging in there w us we appreciate all the support.

we complete

2009-12-16T08:24:00.000-08:00

added a liath.
now listening to: aimee mann, a dub compilation, masterface

i mean Lior

2009-12-07T14:42:00.000-08:00

hey.
i didn't mean alex, i meant lior. lior ron.

November update

2009-11-15T08:30:00.001-08:00

wow, we have so much to tell you. we've been really busy as heck and psyched to be doing it. first off, we have two new members. on drums is miles crawford, he's from boston by way of brooklyn (sound familiar?) - he's played in a lot of bands is a studio engineering as well as starring in Stomp for a few years. also added, on synths and samples is alex schetter, a native los angeleno who has primarily worked in the band binary obsession as well as production on a few major label records. we're one member shy and have been auditioning some really talented musicians and should be playing shows in a couple of weeks.

also, while in los angeles, we've had the pleasure of meeting some really incredible and talented people. one of those people is writer/director rob mcKittrick. rob wrote and directed the huge DVD hit "waiting" as well as bunch of other great movies. rob and stephe collaborated on a video for a song off "church and mcdonald" called "it's a doozy". It's really cool, like heroes music, it's a muddy but warm and something you won't be able to forget. you may even ask "how did they do that?" well, let's just say stephe has been in super secret speed training, so....... don't be surprised if the times/space continuum is permanently thrown off forever .

here's a link to the video.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ldl870K-ORE

tell us what you think

we've added a new page to our website entitles "cool shit". it's a series of links so that you can see what's up with everyone who worked w the heroes, cool stuff that the heroes like, as well as non-denominational, non-political websites where you can get info on how to make your world an even awesomer place than it is right now. pretty cool, right? Hence "cool shit"

another cool thing is that or album "church and mcdonald" is now available as a whole or by track on itunes, amazon, amie street, nokia, lala, shockhound, emusic and rhapsody and just about any online distributer. It's still free on our site but if it's more convenient for you to pay far be it from us. have at it!!!!

also, a cool thing. the heroes have been used in a podcast about film, specifically discussing one of the heroes favorite director, stephen soderberg. It can be found here pretty awesome.

as always, you can keep up by with the reviews and write ups that come in weekly by checking out the "wrd" section of our website here. we update it all the time so check it.

thx for hanging in with us.

much love,

heroes

--
http://www.heroesofpopularwars.com
http://www.myspace.com/heroesofpopularwars
http://twitter.com/hopw
http://www.facebook.com/pages/heroes-of-popular-wars/50281568970
http://www.ilike.com/artist/Heroes+of+Popular+Wars
http://www.youtube.com/user/heroesofpopularwars

video

2009-11-13T21:44:00.000-08:00

should be up on tuesday. making beautiful music as much as we can, no matter what the circumstance. keep hanging with us, we'll make it worth the while. we promise.
listening to: twilight singers, the band, massive attack, arvo part, tricky, prince

smells

2009-10-18T10:10:00.001-07:00

like something big around the corner.

introductions in order?

2009-10-10T12:07:00.001-07:00

I think I have something for you next week adieu, to you and you and you

blog postings

2009-09-25T15:30:00.001-07:00

Here are some online music blogs that have written about the heroes new release "church and mcdonald"

(Fingertips) http://www.fingertipsmusic.com/this_weeks_finds.htm#HOPW

(the devil has the best tuna) http://besttuna.blogspot.com/2009/08/we-could-be-heroes.html

(the vinyl district) http://vinyldistrict.blogspot.com/2009/05/tvd-first-date-with-heroes-of-popular.html and http://vinyldistrict.blogspot.com/2009/08/tvds-parting-shots_21.html

(The Indie Pit) http://blog.indiepit.com/2009/09/10/fine-print-heroes-of-popular-wars-church-and-mcdonald/

(Muzorama) http://muzorama.blogspot.com/2009/08/heroes-of-popular-wars.html

(local vertical) http://localvertical.blogspot.com/2009/08/from-inbox-080809.html

(Comfort Comes) http://www.comfortcomes.com/2009/08/09/download-heroes-of-popular-wars-a-bus-called-further/

(Zap Town) http://www.zaptownmag.com/2009/09/heroes-of-popular-wars-church-and-mcdonald-music-review

(Big Contact) http://www.bigcontact.com/hellthy/heroes-of-popular-wars---a-bus-called-further

(the Music Bucket) http://morganpatrick.wordpress.com/2009/05/15/the-music-bucket-currently-awesome/

(bronette) – song of the week http://bronette.net/2009/08/heroes-of-popular-wars/

(Scatter o Light) http://scatterolight.blogspot.com/2009/08/found-sounds.html

(Bubblewrap) http://bubblewrap1.blogspot.com/2009/04/heroes-of-popular-wars.html

as well as the
a cool pod cast about film from Chicago called Filmspotting #274 (podcast)

closer people

2009-09-24T20:03:00.000-07:00

like, as in, we're getting.
only a little more to go and we're ready, left coast steez.
listening to - new flaming lips, beatles remasters, david sylvian, sunset rubdown

cautiously optimistic

2009-09-16T19:14:00.000-07:00

Yeah, so.......
Listening to Coltrane, Cymbals Eat Guitars and Radiohead

good week (and it's only thursday)

2009-08-27T16:46:00.000-07:00

pretty good week for the heroes - really nice reviews in two influential blogs. auditioning people like a mad man.

listening to - deerhunter, cymbals eat guitars and living colour

calming the f down

2009-08-21T10:21:00.000-07:00

never count yr heroes before they're popular. undaunted, pressing on.
obsessed with - the dirty projectors

i love i when a plan comes together

2009-08-17T09:22:00.000-07:00

do we have a new heroes?
listening to - squeeze, fairport convention and the song, "the commander thinks aloud" by the long winters (over and over again)

good news and other junk

2009-08-15T22:01:00.000-07:00

so here's something you don't hear every day. our song a bus called further has ben being played on college radio. enough that it's actually mad the "top 5 added" chart, meaning a lot of stations have just started playing it. so that's cool. just auditioning la heroes and hopefully we'll have a full band/gigs soon.
also former/current hero campbell got the gig as drummer for jesse malin today. he's a really great drummer but an even better guys so congrats to jesse.
listening to - tobacco, peter godwin, thom yorke

early reviews of church and mcdonald

2009-08-11T19:27:00.000-07:00

hey all.

it's stephe from the heroes. we're inching closer to having a full band, playing shows out here in LA. just wanted to send you some links to some reviews of church and mcdonald. here are a few:

http://www.comfortcomes.com/2009/08/09/download-heroes-of-popular-wars-a-bus-called-further/
http://muzorama.blogspot.com/2009/08/heroes-of-popular-wars.html

http://thisismyhappening.blogspot.com/2009/08/church-mcdonald-free-mp3s.html

http://todaysmodernpop.blogspot.com/2009/08/heroes-of-popular-wars-church-and.html

http://scatterolight.blogspot.com/2009/08/found-sounds.html

http://www.bigcontact.com/hellthy/heroes-of-popular-wars---a-bus-called-further

http://odeo.com/episodes/24935313-Heroes-of-Popular-Wars-A-Bus-Called-Further

i hope you're all well and looking forward to playing for you soon.

remember, church and mcdonald is available for free at our website (listed below), please check our blog for more frequent updates.

new peeps?

2009-08-06T22:07:00.000-07:00

jamming with LA-type peeps. some flaky (as advertised) some totes cool (new to this guy). feel free to start holding your breath.
listening to: help, a hard day's night and meet the.......

so.... done?

2009-07-27T11:35:00.000-07:00

i guess we've gone as far as we are ready to go. in this home studio world, you can get locked up for weeks/months , tinkering and tinkering. i'm choosing not to do this. at this stage, with the budget I have, i'm going with what i have - an unmastered demo that i'm giving away for free. at some point, if a label steps in, there are some things i will have to do: mastering, i'd like to run the entire mix through some analogue tape, etc. as for now it's done and yours for the taking. thanks so much to rory. i learned and grew making this as much as any other project in my life. rory is a true professional and i would recommend him for anything. i'd also like to thank the scotts, s2k & campbell for playing on this and giving me great ideas and support. you're true friends for life. and rae for everything you do.

so, here it is.

listening to: my new stuff, the new thom york

here in LA

2009-07-23T21:46:00.000-07:00

I'm finally getting into a rhythm here in LA. Finally. Practicing a fair amount, trying to find some new, brave heroes. I need a DJ, drummer and a keyboardist.
Starting to write for the first time in a while. I have some new ideas, simpler musically, hopefully some cool lyrics.
I went to the Pitchfork festival over the weekend. Wow, Yeasayer killed and the Flaming Lips are like the greatest children's story ever. Incredible.
Listening to:
apt - Coltrane, Talk Talk, Cymbals Eat Guitars
car - Keri Hilson, whatever is on KCRW

in LA

2009-07-14T10:07:00.000-07:00

I have moved to LA and thanks to my buddy Josh Cagan, landed pretty softly over here. I'm now looking for new live heroes. Know anybody?

Listening to: various Eric Dolphy, the Cars comp that came out on Rhino and right wing/christian talk radio in the car

through the fire

2009-05-07T07:37:00.000-07:00

hey powers that be that try to keep us down - stick it! we're back. our heads are in it to win it and neither no funds or failed equipment will stop us. we're back working on cuts at a furious rate. should be done with "she's a microscope" in a couple of days. the cool thing about this cut (to us) is that there is a 2 minute jam at the end of the song that is differnt than anything we've heard. ever.
aslo, please check out hop-dubz engineer don dilego's new project beautiful small machines. he's a great guy and a hopw friend since our inception.
it's been so long since we last wrote we feel weird about telling you what we've been listening to. we will, however recommend talk talk's "laughing stock" as possibly the world's greatest album.
so.... there you go then.

mcdonald

2009-03-16T07:27:00.001-07:00

ever get humbled? how's this? we put up a new song on the myspace page called mcdonald. it's an instrumental that will close our record. it's beautiful and i had nothing to do with it. scott o made a recording of various voice samples. rory took those samples and made a beautiful ambient 3 minute track that both incorporates the samples but also pushes the heroes sound further than it's ever been. it's terse and gorgeous.
i did, however, hand the drive holding the samples to rory, so let's not downplay my role in this either.
check it myspace.com/heroesofpopularwars

she's a microscope

2009-03-13T13:58:00.000-07:00

working on a new track called she's a microscope. it's kind if both proggy, jammy and still a pretty tight pop song. the original samples and arrangement seem very tight and cool so we'll use most of it. maybe the up/down loud/quiet might be too much but hopefully all our new songs wont have so much time to ferment so they'll be less complimmicated.
the jam at the end is going to be interesting. it involves multiple playing simple parts then improvising towards a shared line that eventually, everyone will be paying. that's some pretty organized chaos.
This week is an incredible week for indie rock and particularly for women in indie - - yeah yeah yeahs, bat for lashes and metric. wow - incredible.

that shaking sound

2009-03-02T11:45:00.000-08:00

we started work on a song called that shaking sound. the chorus has always been the best part of the song, now the rest of the song needs to be worked until it's up to the same level. rory did some really cool delayed snare which make the beat seem busier than it was played. totally changes the part. now just trying to remodel the verse and we'll have something. there's a possiblity that paul langosch (tony bennett, mel torme etc.) the stand up bass player may come and do a quick session with us this saturday. that would be an amazing honor. wow.
been listening to talk talk, the dark was the night compliation and a bunch of 80s singles downloaded from the retro-blog popdose.com's feature "the ass end of the 80s" a listing of all 80s singles that made the top 100 but not the top 40.

done?

2009-02-03T05:48:00.000-08:00

we think we're done.

how's the new pic?

this weekend

2009-01-28T11:33:00.000-08:00

it looks like we are finishing up the mix of the american loser/a bus called further single this weekend. right now, all that's left to do is try do more outrageous tricks, mix them in and decide whether if they are cool or distracting. rory is really a genius. really. and his girlfriend lana is very patient. patient.
i've also starting writing a lot of new material. it's pretty different in the sense that it's simpler and direct, is that good? we'll see.
we'll post the results.
on the listening tip, as everyone is, i've been listening to a hell of a lot of animal collective, bon iver, some mingus and the new ac newman (charles the guy who recorded our drums is ac's drummer - in fact ac did his album where we did our drums). sorry that's pretty straight indie and boring.

new year, new single

2009-01-15T10:10:00.000-08:00

yeah, its not clear why i haven't been blogging the last 4 weeks other than i moved, went to DC, went MA, and went on a 10 day vacation. we did mix, however. a bus called further has been mixed to holy hell in fact, there is now just a simple guitar solo to be added, so we're about two weeks away.
american loser looks close as well. rory has done a great job in clearing out all the clutter. at any given time there might be up to 12 samples, rory has been phenomenal about clarifying and cleaning. super commendable you should also check out his other project masterface. i think we'll finish this single and send it to some blogs and see if anyone is interested in writing about it.
i guess at some point we should try to put together some rehearsals. i've talked to drummer 9and new daddy) scott about drumming again. i know rae is too busy with school so we'll have to look for a new keyboardist.

a 7 block walk

2008-12-18T13:47:00.000-08:00

so we are 90% done with a bus called further and the changes that need to be made require a bit more recording, we thought we might get at a second song, "american loser". these songs are pretty different in tempo and arrangement so a good way to keep a cohesiveness to it all is to keep a similar tone for most of the instruments. that also makes things a little easier. rory and i edited a few (15-20) secs off either side of a 7 minute song - for now - to keep it moving. it's a slow-to-mid tempo song with a lot of samples, many from old television commercials that have been worked into the correct key and tempo (by scott). the cool part of this song is that it's actually a song with a 3 minute build up at the end which, musical, isn't anything like the rest of the song. it was super fun to play, now we just have to make it listenable.

the last week or so I've been listening to steely dan, why? (thanks rory), eric dolphy, the first and third peter gabriel solo records and that damn frankmusic song.

possible album cover, more editing

2008-11-19T10:19:00.000-08:00

this is a possible cover of the new record. rae took a few pics of the corner of church and mcdonald. what do you think?
we are starting to make some real progress. one of the coolest things that we are doing is that for at least part of the song, we're not using the drums that we recorded but more a distortion of the echo of the drums. more erasing than I thought. clean and clear (at least until the jam)

this week listening to blood, sweat and tears, deerhunter, dj/rupture (pretty incredible - thx pfrk) and devin davis.

cab

2008-11-11T12:34:00.000-08:00

rory got hit by a cab. not to make light of the sitch but it's not clear whether this will make us work slower or faster. i'm moving on dec 1st to a block from peter lugers. it's not clear whether this will make us work slower or faster. hopefully we'll post some music in the next 14 days. the hopw train stops for no one. just like a cab.
thought that chairlift was interesting, poppy as madonna but with 8 bit beats. saw the hold steady on friday. i cannot let their amazing choruses enter my thought process while i mix. must resist.

editing.

2008-11-04T14:00:00.000-08:00

got the mbox, dumped all of our poconos and seaside lounge recordings into our recording software. now, it's just figuring out what we have and what we need. rory is adding some keys this week, maybe some noisy/funky guitars.
i'm sort suprised how much gets revealed about your own song that you didn't know during this process. it's prince-y but definitely a little psych as well. i'm reading mccarthy's the road, so I read, rory tinkers then we both listen…. rinse, repeat. we're thinking of shooting a video, using some cool, unnamed as yet, ideas to keep it cheap. we have a bunch of friend who are gifted with film so that's helpful.
i'm listening to the new(ish) deerhunter, king's x, some big star outtakes i downloaded (e-mail me if you want a link) and lana is recomending that i listen to some chairlift, so that's my assignment this week.

so 4th (berry and wythe)

2008-10-30T06:43:00.000-07:00

ok. week 3.
we've decide to start editing with a song called "a bus called further" it's about ken kesey and the merry pranksters. I have a more than passing interest in kesey, leary, owsley stanley. etc. one of the weird things is the song had a different subject and title until about 2 months before we started recording but the lyrics felt forced so we changed them. another heroes' heroes are the mighty, mighty steely dan. the outro of "abcf" has a similar chord progression to the outro of the dan's "kid charlemagne", so we decided to mod the outro a bit to even further homage "kc". a spirited discussion occurred at the session as to the meaning of "kid charlemagne", one wiki later we found out we were all wrong but maybe the spirits were right. that's right, it's about owsley stanley!!! spooky, right?
enough of the ghost stories. rory edited while I read magazines and listened, chirping in when necessary. i think rory got a cool feel, editing scott's live drums, almost giving them a dance feel. rory really knows what he's doing. then, we ate delish thai. sunday night, we bought a new mbox on ebay (that's essentially a way to make computers read sound files) so we should receive it end o' week and can start mixing the guitars and vocals then. It has been a real cool experience so far.
Been listening to lots of talk talk, early chicago, a bit of big pun and all those crystal bands that a the kids are talking about

in the poconos

2008-10-15T09:16:00.000-07:00

rory and i spent a week up in the poconos at my friend don's velvet elk studios . we tracked a lot of guitars (that's rock n roll talk for recorded), some drums, some keyboards and sitars and most importantly, weird noises. if buttons and lights impress you, look at the nifty attached pic.

it's mostly just files. we'll start editing/breathing/awesoming all over those tracks and hopw the expletive out of them soon. there are still some cool backups and rae's keys to do, but we'll start editing in about a week.

also, some asked what i was listening to these days. do you like to hear stuff like that or is that just self indulgent, uhhhmmm... poop? well, for that guy; some coltrane, some beach boys, the new tv on the radio, some podcasts of thich nhat hahn speeches, frankmusic's "in step" and a lot of clash.

thanks for checking this out. talk to you soon.

brief synopsis

2008-10-09T14:31:00.000-07:00

hey.
my name is stephe. in some circles i go by the blueeyeddevil. i've been singing, playing guitar, writing songs and djing for a long time. a year ago some friends of mine and i recorded a couple of songs and played a couple of gigs, we called it the heroes of popular wars or hopw. some blogs wrote some nice things (which is nice of them). one of my partners, rachel (the elle-oner was her tag growing up in brooklyn, that seems cool to me) still wanted to make some music and make some cool art (rae is a grad student at pratt). so, an old friend scott and i made some beats. i wrote some songs for those beats, another scott played some drums (which we recorded at the seaside lounge in brooklyn). now, a dear friend rory has been contributing invaluable creative inspiration: making beats, engineering, playing tons of instruments, whatever it takes. i've decided to sort of keep a diary of the last weeks/months and hopefully it will come out cool.