5/18/09 - Vlog #002 - We only got 4 mins to save the world

5/8/2009 - Excited - New music from some old faves!

In the past few weeks, I learned that 2 of the bands that are a major influence on my songwriting, are releasing new albums in the next few months. One of them I kinda knew about, while the other was a complete surprise. These 2 bands are "Our Lady Peace" and "Creed"

While Our Lady Peace is probably my favorite band, I have to say I'm more excited about Creed, merely because I thought they were done forever. Late last night, while watching Family Guy, I see a commercial for a Creed reunion tour. After I look it up online, I also find out they are putting out a new record. I'm seriously psyched for it.

Creed came out around the same time I learned to play the guitar, and I remember at one point I knew how to play the entire "My Own Prison" album start to finish. As a guitarist, their songs are great because they are recognizable without any lyrics. Mark Tremonti (Creed guitarist) has an incredibly unique style, and is probably the single biggest influence on how I write/play the guitar. When he's got the distortion on his riffs are nasty, then he switches over to clean and you'd think you are listening to a classical guitarist.

Guitar parts aside, I always thought they wrote some incredible songs, and while Alter Bridge (Creed w/ a different singer) was good, they were missing that "epic" quality that defined a great Creed song. Say what you will about Scott Stapp's personality (he comes of pretty douchey in interviews), but his vocals combined with Tremonti's riffs make for great music. Not to mention they weren't afraid to release a 5+ min song. Most people probably only remember them for songs like "With Arms Wide Open" or "Higher" (which are still great songs), but their non "hits" and b-sides are pretty solid. Here are some of my faves, from a songwriters and also a guitarists perspective.

1. To Whom It May Concern (B-side)
2. Young Grow Old (B-side)
3. Is This The End? (Scream 3 Soundtrack)
4. Ode (My Own Prison)
5. Pity For A Dime (My Own Prison)
6. One Last Breath (Weathered)








Onto the other band I mentioned - Our Lady Peace. They are set to release their 7th studio album, entitled "Burn Burn," sometime this summer. This will be their 1st album without the label in their ear. It should be a nice departure from their last 2, which were produced by Captain Commercial himself, Bob Rock. It supposedly goes back to the hard rock roots of their earlier albums (though I've heard that from many other bands before), so I'm looking forward to it.

While Mark Tremonti is probably the biggest influence on my guitar style, I'd say Raine Maida (the creative force behind OLP) is the biggest influence on my songwriting as a whole. From the way he puts a song together, to his lyrics, to his unique vocal style - I love it.

As for things you can hear directly in our music, Raine's use of falsetto is probably the most noticeable. As a vocalist, I am definitely a baritone (ironically enough, some people have said I sound like Scott Stapp). To compensate for the fact that I can't really hit higher notes, I use falsetto to mix it up. This is 100% attributed to the fact I've listened to OLP for years. Raine uses falsetto in a way I've never really heard any vocalist use it before, and I've always been a fan of it.

In addition, Raine's lyrics and the meanings behind his songs are always incredible. They generally aren't the type of songs you can read and immediately understand the meaning, but there is a certain poetic substance to them. Once you do find out the meaning, you appreciate them even more. For instance, these lyrics from their song "Big Dumb Rocket"

Ive never been this sad before
But Im disgusted by my fingertips and what theyve done
If I look into your eyes
If it must be true you must believe
Ive never held such violent things
I dont want to find
The big dumb rocket on your mind
Its mostly you and mostly me
And a tired gun thats not empty

Just reading those, it's tough to tell what he's going for. Then I heard him describe this being about a time when he was a kid. Him and his friends were playing around with one of their parent's guns, which they thought was unloaded. Raine fired it at one of his friends, and while it didn't fire, he found out later it had a bullet in the secret chamber ("a tired gun that's not empty"). Basically, he could have killed one of his friends. Knowing that, you read these lyrics in an entirely different light.

Great lyrics, unique vocals, and just an overall knack for a hook - that's what puts OLP at the top of my list. Here are just a few of my fave tracks by them (seriously too many to list em all).

1. Superman's Dead
2. Happiness and The Fish
3. 4AM
4. All My Friends
5. Big Dumb Rocket
6. One Man Army






In sum, I'm pumped for both these new releases. I'm getting flashbacks to 1999! haha. I know our fans come from varying age groups, so some may be aware of these bands, while our younger fans may have never heard of them. If nothing else, you got some insight on the band's sound (even though we don't really sound like either), or maybe we turned you onto a "new" band.

-Chris

Video Blog #001 - Beautiful Chaos guitar solo

It's the end of the world as we know it.....and I don't care

I came across this article just now and found it interesting...but more so amusing. A Russian professor predicts the end of the US in 2010. Yes - thats right, 2010.....1 year from now basically.

You can read it for yourself:
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB123051100709638419.html




I'm curious to hear other people's thoughts on this. I personally think it's one of the more outrageous things I've ever read....especially since it's in the Wall Street Journal.

Opinions are like (blank). Everyone's got one.

I think you all know how to fill in the missing word on that one.

Just a random thought as I look over the latest reviews of "The Manual" on Garageband.com. Here are the titles of 2 consecutive reviews:

"The intro drags..."

"Techno-like intro the best part of song"

So the first review made me cry, then the 2nd made me happy. Maybe the next one will make me want to take a sweaty dump. Yeah - that sounds nice :)

As a tip for other musicians out there that may be reading this - while reviews are a part of the game, and sometimes insightful, they should be taken with a grain of salt. Don't get too high on a good review or too down on a bad one. What one person loves, another person hates. It all depends on what the reviewers background. I personally hate AC/DC, but apparently they've sold over 2 million copies of their latest album, so I doubt they give a rats behind what I think.

I just listened to the song again. The intro reminds me of Mexican food.

11/3/08 - Are you going to vote tomorrow?

If not - then you forfeit your right to complain....and we all know how much we like to complain in this country! :)

Seriously - get your lazy butt down to the voting booth and pick someone. Then you can complain for the next 4 years and blame all your failures on the poor decisions of the guy you didn't pick.

Oh - and whoever you vote for, don't let the media and the ridiculous marketing terms that have been thrown around this election affect your vote. Don't vote for hope, don't vote for Mavericks, don't vote because you think one guy might die or the other guy is a terrorist, or any of the other nonsense that has been thrown at you in the last few months. Vote for the person you think will do the best job at leading our country.

Use your brain and make what YOU think is the right decision based on your own personal values and beliefs.

See you at the booth on Tuesday.

New Songs::Post 3 - A Telling Departure

This song is actually the 1st one we ever wrote. It was put on the back-burner for a little while, but we decided to bring it back as it has such a good energy, and is a great live song.

On a high level, the song is about encounters with fake people. The ones that always try so hard to portray this immaculate image, when in reality are just covering up an aspect of themselves that is usually the exact opposite. Some recent examples - Roger Clemens, Elliot Spitzer (former NY Attorney General), Mark Foley (former Florida Congressman). Those examples in no way inspired the song, but it's just to give you an idea of the premise.

Here is a video of the song from our 1st show:




all these things came running faster
2 hearts fold in a broken disaster
each their smiles are manufactured
jaw-breaking on a face of plaster

An enigma has faded, exposed at the seams
The illusion derailed by a dark epiphany
as flashbacks of contradictions fill the sky
hide behind tradition to shield all the lies
fake image created of morality
but a demonic creature lives behind the scenes

you vehemently deny any wrong doing

so, this is how you say
this is how we go our seperate ways
go - so far away
where I can't hear you scream
where I can't feel you break

Your religion has jaded the concept of creed
a system of beliefs that reads more like anomolies
actions and scriptures combat eye to eye
preach truth on honesty while feeding out lies
fake image created of morality
but a demonic creature lives behind the scenes

the blatant hypocricy brings the blood to a boiling

So, this is how you say
this is how we go our seperate ways
Go, so far away
where I can't hear you scream
where I can't feel you break

New Songs::Post 2 - Packet Loss (Bits and Bytes)

This song is definitely the nerdiest one I've written to date. Don't be scared by the techie lyrics - there is a deeper underlying meaning to it.

If you care to see just how "techie" it is - check out the wikipedia definition of Packet Loss. Confused yet?

Remember - if you wanna hear this song, you gotta come check us out live since we don't have a studio version of it yet. Trust me - it's good!



This silent war
drains all our energy and
builds up a wall
far as the eye can see

and the more we type, the less we talk
interpreting every word wrong
we can't hold back, we must respond
we built this old-fashioned wall electronically

bits and bytes go cross the cable
packets lost in the translation
all these words become disabled
without a real conversation
and now this new-age way to "talk"
broke down communication
the systems up and stable
but misuse caused it to appear flawed.

This violent storm
born of technology
where all of the harm
is caused by hitting keys

and the more we type, the less we talk
interpreting every word wrong
the send button begins to arm
a bomb that we will deploy electronically

bits and bytes go cross the cable
packets lost in the translation
all these words become disabled
without a real conversation
and now this new-age way to "talk"
broke down communication
the systems up and stable
but misuse caused it to appear flawed.

Don't pass the blame or try to make excuses for
your own mistakes, bad craftsman blame the tools they hold
this is our fault

We seem so advanced with all of our gadgets
brave new world with old bad habits
arguing remains a classic
timeless trait we'll always have
this is our fault

bits and bytes go cross the cable
packets lost in the translation
all these words become disabled
without a real conversation
and now this new-age way to "talk"
broke down communication
the systems up and stable
but misuse caused it to appear flawed.

New Songs::Post 1 - The Milgram Experiment

This is the 1st post in a series of 8 or 9 we'll be doing leading up to our 1st show. We'll be unveiling all new songs during the set, and wanted to give you a chance to get familiar with the concept/lyrics before hearing them live. The 1st song we are introducing is called "The Milgram Experiment."

Lyrically, I think this is my favorite song to date. For those of you that are unfamiliar, The Milgram Experiment was a psychological study conducted back in the 1960's that was intended to test how obedient humans are to authority. You can read about it in more detail here wikipedia:The Milgram Experiment

I remember learning about this in my social psychology class back in college, and I've always been fascinated with it. It combines 2 ideas that really interest me - 1) how easily we can be manipulated (regardless of how much we think we can't be), while at the same time 2) how we find a way to defer ownership of something we did wrong. The concept behind it fit in really well with the rest of the stuff I had been writing, so I wanted to try and make a song out of it. I'm really happy with how it came out:


THE MILGRAM EXPERIMENT

Up goes the voltage, it increases
I'm told its part of the procedure and I must go on.
The subject screams and I can feel it
pierce through my soul but I proceed with this cruel torture

Take control and make me believe that
my actions are not really me
I follow orders out to a "T"
so it's not my fault.

4 times I said "I can't continue"
4 times I'm countered with a reason that's so shallow
My crime, I fell into submission
Convinced myself it wasn't me that did them harm

Take control and make me believe that
my actions are not really me
I follow orders out to a "T"
so it's not my fault.

You built a drone
You built a slave
who's only mission is just to obey
But I'm the only one to blame
cuz I'm the person that choose to behave.

Entire lives full of morals get pushed aside because of what?
Simply because you told me so?

A fraud, a fraud, a fraud, a fraud
proved I'm a pawn, a pawn, a pawn, a pawn

You built a drone
You built a slave
who's only mission is just to obey
But I'm the only one to blame
cuz I'm the person that choose to...

Take control and make me believe it.

Run for the border

What's up punks? Yeah - i just referred to you, the fan, as a punk. Aren't I lovely? :)

So I woke up today and craved some crappy fast food. I hadn't been to Taco Bell in a while, so I decided that was going to be my lunch. I ordered the easy go-to combo meal. 3 Tacos and a drink. I lived on this meal during the end of high school and college because it was so cheap. Then I looked up at the price and was fairly shocked. $3.69. In 10 years the priced hadn't changed at all. In fact, i could swear it was more back then. In this time of crazy inflation and insane oil prices, Taco Bell remains a low cost option for keeping yourself fat. For that reason, T.Bell will always hold a strong place in my heart...it may be in the form of a clogged artery, but still.


By the way - you know what is also inexpensive? Our debut EP on Amie Street. For the cost of the #9 at T.Bell, you could download all the songs almost 5 times each! I don't really know why you would pay 5 times to download the same thing over and over, but hey, maybe you are just feeling silly that day. For those who are a little more fiscally responsible, you can buy it once for 76 cents. Check it out here - http://www.amiestreet.com/conflictinthesky


On a related/unrelated note - I was pretty surprised at the results that came back on a Google image search of "Taco Bell combos" - including a particularly disturbing photo in page 2 of the results. Who would have thought you needed to turn on the "safe search" when trying to find a picture of the taco bell menu.

Oh - and in case you were wondering, I passed on making some sort of Chito joke in the last paragraph as it would have been too easy.

The Orphaned Works Act - A copyright law change...for the worse

We just received this in a newsletter from Indie911 today. It's regarding a proposed bill called the "Orphaned Works Act." The jist of it is that someone could steal your music even if copyrighted if it is found that the holder of the copyright was unable to be located. It's full of vague terms like "a reasonable diligent search to locate the copyright holder" and basically seems like it makes it easier for someone to use your music w/o permission. Someone could steal your music and if caught, all they would have to do is prove they made a reasonable effort to contact/locate you, but were unable to.

We encourage anyone who cares about independent artists to contact their local congressman to make sure this bill does not get passed. Below is the full e-mail with detailed information about the bill. At the end, you will see a pre-written letter you can use:

Indie 911 has become aware of a new law that is rapidly moving through the Congress called the “Orphan Works Act”. The law is aimed at changing a portion of U.S. copyright law that deals with musical tracks, writings, images, videos or other content whose owners cannot be easily located.

Independent artists need to care about this because you usually own your own copyrights so when the Orphan Works Act talks about “copyright owners” they are talking about YOU!

All that an “infringer” needs to do to avoid the current penalties of the copyright law is show that they made a "reasonably diligent search" to locate the copyright owner, and if they can’t find the copyright owner, they can use the work without permission and without exposure to statutory damages—the infringer only has to pay “reasonable compensation” if they ever get caught.

The chances of their getting caught are slim to none because there is no requirement that the infringer has to publish a public notice letting the world know what they’ve done.

After conducting a “reasonably diligent search” without supervision by an independent person, the infringer can use the track for anything including a political advertisement, pornographic film, or commercial. The infringer can also manipulate the work in a sample or mashup beyond recognition—and the Orphan Works Act allows the infringer to claim a new copyright in the manipulated work!

The Orphan Works Act does not define what a “reasonably diligent search” would be—that is left to copyright owners to recommend in some kind of standard-setting process that is not defined in the bill. Those recommendations will not have the force of law so a court would not be obligated to follow them.

The Orphan Works Act barely defines what “reasonable compensation” will be.

But deciding whether an infringer has conducted a reasonably diligent search and what “reasonable compensation” is to be is not up to you—it’s up to a court. Meaning you have to file a lawsuit to enforce your rights.

The only way that a copyright owner can restore the current copyright infringement penalties (including the big stick of statutory damages) is if they sue the infringer and prove in a court of law that the infringer did not conduct a “reasonably diligent search”. But the Orphan Works Act specifically eliminates the ability for a copyright owner who feels infringed upon to recover legal fees—unless they win their case.

So that means that an independent artist is going to have to find a lawyer to take their case on a contingency that will require that lawyer to win a case in a totally new area of the law for which there is no precedent. And maybe—maybe—get an award of attorneys’ fees years later.

Who is behind this bill? We don’t know. We do know that Google’s lawyers have testified to the Copyright Office that they want the bill to consider a user that wants to use “millions” of orphan works. That was right about the time that Google donated $3 million to the Library of Congress (home of the U.S. Copyright Office). The Copyright Office is supporting the Orphan Works Act.

And what is an “orphan work”? It’s a copyright whose author cannot be found after a “reasonably diligent search” in accordance with “best practices”.

The only music industry group that supports the legislation is the RIAA. Other groups are very concerned about the impact of the new bill on independent artists, labels, songwriters and smaller music publishers, and have presented their concerns in a concise manner. The American Association of Independent Music has posted their position paper online at http://www.a2im.org/downloads/A2IM_Position_on%20_Orphan_Works_v_1_I_2.pdf

Opponents of the bill in the indie community are concerned that this bill, if enacted, would make it very difficult to stop parties from using your music in ways you don't want or haven't consented to and it puts an even greater burden of finding infringers on the copyright owner rather than putting the burden on the user who wants to use your music.

According to A2IM President Rich Bengloff “The Orphan Works Act certainly would hurt smaller independent labels who are more likely to be harder to find than the majors. Independent labels also have less resources to do searches to find infringements and then, after finding infringements, getting compensation.

ORPHAN WORKS MAY BE PRESENTED FOR VOTE AS SOON AS NEXT MONTH. A2IM and a handful of artists groups are the only music voices we know of working against the passing of this bill as it relates to music. Indie911 is asking for your help in contacting your representatives in the House and Senate to explain to them the harm Orphan Works could mean to your businesses.

We're asking you to contact your representatives in the House and Senate to alert them that a bill is coming up for vote that will be harmful to independent artists, songwriters, labels and musicians.

Contact info for your congressional representatives, if you don't already know, can be found at http://www.congress.org/congressorg/directory/congdir.tt.

The U.S. Small Business Administration is also watching developments on this issue. You may contact them at advocacy@sba.gov

We would like you to take a half hour of your valuable time and write to at least your Congressperson and your Senators, and hopefully the Small Business Administration and tell them what you think!

The following is a sample letter that you can use. It’s more effective if you rewrite it in your own words and give real world examples from your own life.

Dear ____:

I am very concerned about the impact of the Orphan Works Legislation (HR 5889 and S 2913) on my life as an independent artist/songwriter/label. It is very difficult to earn a living from music in the U.S. anyway, and this bill could be very damaging to my work.

Independent artists do not have the means to register in places where we are likely to be found in whatever definition you and your colleagues decide to give to terms like “reasonably diligent search”. I definitely cannot afford to sue everyone who might use my work, even if I knew about it and could find them. Since you and your colleagues do not seem to think that we need to be notified if someone uses our copyright, then I don’t know how we would find that out.

I think that what will happen is that there will be vultures looking for groups of artists who cannot afford to defend their rights—like me—and will be offering those works for uses I would not approve like pornographic films, political advertising, and tasteless animations. I wouldn’t even have this problem if I were signed to a major record company!

This is a bad bill for independent artists/songwriters/labels. Many groups in the music business are against the bill, and so am I.

Please don’t vote for this bill!

Sincerely,

5/6/2008 - Video Influence/Pick of the Week - "Jesus Christ Pose" by Soundgarden

Picked By: Chito (drums)

Song: Jesus Christ Pose
Artist: Soundgarden
Album: Badmotorfinger (1991)





So I decided to kinda step out of the box on this one and instead of picking a traditional video in the likes of MTV, I decided to go with live footage (thank you fellow YouTube member for posting this). Anyway, I selected Soundgarden's Jesus Christ Pose (Live). The first time I heard of them, was the first time I saw them, live in Jones Beach, during the 1st Lollpalooza Tour. They had such a great sound, and let's face it, Matt Cameron was just incredible on drums. I first started learning drums during a time when double-bass drummers were the craze, and everything was about who can play louder, harder and faster. Unfortunately, double bass drumming was common in thrash/deaath/speed metal, which I never really got into. After a while, everything was just loud, fast and noisy. So, I listened to a lot of single bass drummers who delivered powerful performances using only a single kick and hand/foot combinations, including Cameron, Bonham (Led Zep) and Mike Bordin (Faith No More).

Back to the video: Jesus Christ Pose I believe was banned on MTV, to no surprise either. It's a shame that networks such as these help define what it good music in today's society. Yeah, they can make or break a band, and to a point that can be problematic.

Anyway, if you're into the sound and into drums especially, Soundgarden's BadMotorFinger album, has such a clean recording on the drums. The snare has a beautiful warm, pop to it and Cameron's use of odd-time signatures and hi-hat/ride variations are definitely something to pay attention to.

Hope you enjoyed it as much as I did!

-Chito

Last Nights Set at Munchaba Lounge

A short acoustic set, but still fun nonetheless. We were just happy to show up and see the place wasn't shutdown! (story to follow at another time). It was cool having a bunch of friends in the crowd that hadn't had a chance to hear us before. Gotta thank them for coming down (you know who you are), and also want to thank the friends that bailed last second (you ALSO know who you are). If there are eggs on your windshield tomorrow, I swear it wasn't me! haha. Remember our go-to saying ---> "Blame Chito!"

For those that like to keep track of set-lists, here you go:

1. Leader Of The Cult
2. Repentance (1st time we've played this)
3. Robots

For people in the area, we plan on playing there on Wed's more often (since it's open mic), so stop down and grab a beer with us. We were impressed with the musicianship of everyone that played there (you don't always get that at an open mic), so it's definitely a good time.

Here is the info on the place:

Munchaba Lounge
58 Gardiners Ave, Levittown, NY 11756


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4/21/08 - Video Influence/Pick of the Week - "Say It Ain't So" by Weezer

Picked By: Chris (Vocals/Guitars)

Song: “Say It Ain’t So”
Artist: Weezer
Album: Weezer (Blue Album) – (1994)




So did you ever expect a band that has dark rock songs with samples and synths to cite Weezer as an influence? Weezer write songs called “Surf Wax America” and “Beverly Hills” and we write songs called “Death Clock” and “One Last Funeral.” Don’t you see the correlation??? Hahahaha. Get used to picks like this from me. I listen to a lot of stuff you would never expect to influence a band like ours. To be honest, I haven't heard of a lot of bands that most people expect us to be influenced by.

I picked this one for a few reasons – Weezer was one of my favorite bands growing up, and “Say It Ain’t So” was the first song I learned when I started taking guitar lessons. I was able to pick it up fairly quickly, but since it was the only song I knew how to play, I played it non-stop for weeks on end. I remember being in the car with my Mom one time and it came on the radio. She goes, “enough of this stupid song already!!!!!” – hahaha. I later learned to play a lot heavier songs and she probably wished she could go back to hearing a nice poppy tune.

I remember I got the “blue album” in one of those stupid 10 CDs for a penny deals from BMG. I never really bought CDs back then due to having no money (this is the pre-download days), but how can you refuse 10 CDs for penny? I think the other 9 CD’s I got sucked balls (sorry “Soul Asylum” fans) or had 2 good songs, but I remember liking every single song on this album. The music is fairly simple from a musician’s standpoint (though I wasn’t a musician when I first heard it), but just good catchy melodies on every song. There are some CD’s you look back 10-15 years later and go, “WTF was I thinking?” but I’m not embarrassed to say I still like these guys. Although my musical tastes have grown quite a bit since then, I can still listen to it now and enjoy it. To this day I’m still sucker for a catchy pop-punk tune (“Riot” by Paramore is probably my current guilty pleasure). For all you fans of the current emo scene – this is the album to look back to for a lot of influence. I consider them one of the original emo bands, even if the term didn’t exist back when they first started. A lot of emo bands will cite Weezer as an influence. In fact, I read a quote recently from lead singer, Rivers Cuomo – “"I don’t really know what emo means. But apparently I had something to do with it."

Well – we are in no way an “emo” band nor do we try to sound like one, but I think anytime you listen to a band as much as I listened to Weezer, it has to rub off in one way or another. They definitely show you the beauty behind the "less is more" approach.

-Chris

PS - You know you loved the hacky sack shots, and Rivers sippin on the juice box at the end of the vid!

4/14/08 - Video Influence/Pick Of The Week - "Head Like A Hole" by NIN

Picked by: Al

Artist: NiN
Song: Head Like A Hole
Album: Pretty Hate Machine(Halo 2)



I know this is supposed to be a Video influence, but I don't know if I am influenced by any one genre of Music. I chose this song because I believe this song put "Industrial" music on the map. MTV played this video religiously back in 1989!!! With its pounding synth rhythm, fuzzed up guitars , and Martin Atkins signature pulsating drums this is one song that is tough not to like. This song,as well as this album became an anthem that all "Rivet-heads" moshed to at all the clubs. The video is ok. If you can find the original version, which is uncut, I believe it captures Trent Reznor's true vision of what he really wanted out of this video.

So you have album / CD with Trent Reznor , Richard Patrick (Filter), Chris Vrenna(Tweaker, KMFDM) and Martin Atkins(PiL,Ministry,Killing Joke,Pigface), Produced by Flood(U2, Depeche Mode,Smashing Pumpkins), Adrian Sherwood (Sinead O'Connor, Skinny Puppy) and John Fryer (White Zombie, Sister Machine Gun) If you are a"Rivet-head" what more can you ask for from this sonic assault?

4/7/08 - Video Influence of the Week - "Judith" by A Perfect Circle

Selected by: Chito

Artist: A Perfect Circle
Song: Judith
Album: Mer de Noms (2000)




So what can I say about A Perfect Circle’s "Judith?" I know Chris can say, "wow, I wasn’t surprised!" The way the video was shot, how it looks like aged film, and the images they produce give it a dark, mysterious feel to it. The song is just a great song, well written, good lyrical content and no matter what genre it’s thrown it, rock, metal, alternative rock, whatever, it still kicks ass. The great thing about it, is that it doesn’t have that typical mainstream rock sound, but yet it isn’t too dark, that it becomes unbearable to listen to. It sort of blends both elements nicely. It’s typical of rock videos to show the band playing and staring into the camera, but at least this video, really has some sort of artistic edge to it.

What else can you say about a band, headed by the lead singer of Tool, ex-members of Smashing Pumpkins, Tool’s former guitar tech and the ever artistic maniac, Josh Freese, who, is one of my musical (drummer’s) influences. Rumors have it they won’t be getting back together again. That’s too bad, but nonetheless, they will live on....did I mention "Judith" is my cell phone ringer?

If you haven’t picked up their albums, Mer de Noms and Thirteenth Step, I highly recommended you finish reading this, head down to your local record store and spend some dough! Tell them Conflict in the Sky sent ya!

-Chito

3/31/08 - Video Influence Of The Week - "In Repair" by Our Lady Peace

Since we’ve been told we don’t really sound like any one band, people always ask us who our musical influences are. There really are so many that one list really can’t cover it. We don’t try to sound like anyone in particular, but instead are influenced indirectly by the various things we listen to.

We thought it would be cool to start a weekly blog feature where we post a video from one of the bands we like. Maybe you’ve heard of them and would never expect us to like them, or maybe we’ll turn you onto a great band you’ve never heard of. It could be something current, or something one of us grew up on.

We’ll post a new video every Monday night and include which of the 3 of us picked it.

The first video comes from one of Chris’ all-time favorite bands, Our Lady Peace. This song is called "In Repair" from their 2000 release "Spiritual Machines"

PICKED BY: Chris
ARTIST: Our Lady Peace
SONG: In Repair
ALBUM: Spirtual Machines (2000)

"I picked OLP because they are the 1st band I really got obsessed with. Their songs always have a great melody and Raine Maida has such a unique and creative voice. One of my favorite things about OLP is that they don't rely on one thing or sound. Each song they have is different from the last and they are all great songs for different reasons...all while sounding like the same band. Over the course of 6 Albums, I've never listened to a track and thought "they've already done this before," yet at the same time, never thought "wow, this doesn't sound like OLP." They do new things while keeping an undefinable common thread. That is something I hope Conflict In The Sky can do.

For the video pick I selected ’In Repair’ because it happened to come on my iPod today. It’s a little more mellow than most of their songs, but it has a great mood and the video has a cool conceptual thing going on."

Oh this Beautiful Chaos...

So we are in the process of finishing up a demo for the "Beautiful Chaos" contest and wanted to post the lyrics to the song. For those of you that don't know, Willow from "Telepathy" posted a partial poem/lyric for another sellaband artist to complete and put to music. Here are the lyrics we came up with (her's are in bold)

poverty is filled with hope
of luxuries we'll never know
try to see a pot of gold
with every cumulus rainbow

Escape to an Oasis
from the middle of the mad rush
breathe the green air garden
hidden from the road dust

society begins to fold
this tragedy it has it's role
a dark beauty without a glow
the spectacle becomes the show

Escape to this new haven
from the fragile bearing arms
slip underneath the radar of
this temporary storm
sit back and watch humanity
build up til it implodes
the overbearing pressure
sparks a diamond from the coal

and you will see
in all this war
there's still beauty
in chaotic forms

Oh the dust of the road
in the heat of the sun
the clashing of souls
and the firing of guns
we rest in the peace
and quiet of our homes
but we just can't escape
the contradiction
of this beautiful chaos
oh this beautiful chaos

Updates, Acoustic, and Collaborations....

Hey everyone - we've been insanely busy this past month, so just wanted to stop in and make a quick post on here. If you haven't seen our news section, we've had some nice progress in the digital front. Our Sellaband account is now at $1130, we started really interacting with new fans on myspace, and "Death Clock" is getting some nice press in multiple outlets.

In the "real" world, we've been practicing to play some acoustic shows and hope to begin those in March/April. Didn't think we could do acoustic did ya? Sure can! We are excited to play the songs off "Blinding Epiphanies" for people in a different way. During these sets, we'll also be playing some new material. We'll be mixing up the sets on different nights, but look out for songs like "The Manual", "Groupthink", and "One Last Funeral" - just to name a few.

We've also been working on a new song called "Beautiful Chaos" - this song will be a collaboration of sorts. Another Sellaband artist, Telepathy, wrote the amazing lyrics to this song and is asking for other artists to put it to music. We decided to take on this task and we are really excited with how the song is coming out so far. Hopefully we can work out a way for Willow (from Telepathy) to lay down some vocals on this track and make it a true collaboration.

Here are the lyrics she wrote, along with her description

Beautiful Chaos
Escape to an Oasis
from the middle of the mad rush
breathe the green air garden
hidden from the road dust

Oh the dust of the road
in the heat of the sun
the clashing of souls
and the firing of guns
we rest in the peace and quiet of our homes
but we just can't escape
the contradiction of this beautiful chaos
oh this beautiful chaos

Oh ain't that life ain't that life
you can know what you want
but you still got to strive to find your way out of the labyrinth alive


"I wrote this lyric after living in Nepal for ten years and seeing so much of conflict and poverty and political disarray, the complete messiness of life, that although ugly can be found to contain so much beauty. I think it is appropriate to much of the state of the world everywhere!"

-Willow of Telepathy





We will be adding some of our own words to make it fit with the music we wrote.

Can't wait to get it done and out there for you guys to hear!

Til next time...

The Story behind "Blinding Epiphanies"

This band has a theme. The lyrics I write are meant to fit that theme. Up to this point, I've been happy with how the lyrics have come out to do so. I figured this would make naming the EP relatively easy....just go through the 4 songs we picked out and maybe find a good lyric or idea that sums everything up.

Should be cake.

50 proposed names and multiple e-mail wars later, someone took a dump on the cake (probably Chito, since he craps so much).



Keep telling yourself that one pal.

Just like we don't agree with Chito's pink shirt rationale, we couldn't agree on an EP title. No single title fit the ideas behind all of the songs.

I couldn't find any lyrics from the EP that worked as a title, so I started looking through our other songs. When reading over one of our b-sides, called "A Telling Departure," the opening lyrics jumped right out at me:

"An enigma has faded
exposed at the seams
the illusion derailed
by a dark epiphany"

"Dark epiphany" is what stood out to me. Each one of these songs is about a realization, and it might be a realization that comes from a dark place.

After discussing with Al and Chito, they liked it, but thought "dark" didn't quite do it. I discussed it with a few other people and one friend said my lyrics reminded him of this analogy:

"We all live in a cave deep in the mountains, standing by a fire that we believe is true light (truth). Some of us wander looking for answers and as we get further from the fire, it gets pitch black. While some turn back, others move forward. When you first see the true light (real truth), it's blinding and painful. At this point even more people turn back, but a very few go forward and enter the real light and find themselves in the real world"

I really like this analogy, because it really did fit. That sparked "Blinding Epiphanies" - then this pic (minus the added text) came up on the first page of a photo site we are using, and it basically sealed it.



Thanks go out to I AM THE PROFESSOR for the analogy, and to Chito for taking yet another round of blog abuse. Maybe we'll title our b-sides "The Defecation Chronicles" as a tribute to his fast-food eating ways.