Daysleeper

UPDATE

2007-01-13T15:17:00.000-08:00

Pete Yorn

2006-08-01T23:23:00.000-07:00

Hey, I went and saw Pete Yorn's instore performance at Lou's Records last night. It was cool. He played 5 acoustic songs on the future guitar of moi - a Gibson Hummingbird. Anyway, I stuck around after the gig and he signed my Westerns EP for me. He was very friendly which was nice :)

KILLING TIME

2006-05-09T23:35:00.000-07:00

In my giddy anticipation for the Upstart Crow show this Saturday night, here's a new song called Killing Time. Click HERE to listen to it. Hope to see you at the show!

LIVE AT UPSTART CROW!

2006-05-03T20:47:00.000-07:00

A Long Time

2006-03-28T21:35:00.000-08:00

Hi All,
I put a new Daysleeper song up on myspace. It's called "A Long Time"....go check it out if you get a chance. Thanks!
Click HERE to listen!

Yay!

Why Can't I Let You Go?

2006-03-22T19:42:00.000-08:00

I've uploaded a new Daysleeper song called "Why Can't I Let You Go?" on my myspace page.

Go HERE to download it. Cool beans!

In other news, I've been rehearsing a ton for my show at Upstart Crow in May. My time slot is for about two hours, but since I don't have pyrotechnics and a troupe of dancers, I'll probably play for about 40-50 minutes. LOL. The setlist will probably look something like this:

Valentine
Such a Shame
Owls
New York
Why Can't I Let You Go?
A Long Time
Lover, Lay Me Down
Harder Now That It's Over (Ryan Adams cover)
Poet
To Fall
The Driving Rain

I might throw another cover in there, to end it. But, for now, that looks like the setlist. I know nobody's even heard at least two thirds of the songs on there, but that's more incentive to go out and hear 'em at the show! :-)

Fox Confessor Brings The Flood

2006-03-10T19:37:00.000-08:00

Neko Case's new album, Fox Confessor Brings The Flood, is a certain masterpiece. I don't know why, but in the last two weeks, I've come across 4 or 5 excellent records, but this one might actually be the best of them all. "Star Witness" is so fantastically gorgeous that I can't put it into words. Neko's voice has always been amazing, but she seems to have gotten even better on this record. The key tracks, in my opinion, are the aforementioned track, "John Saw That Number" and "A Widow's Toast"...although nearly every track is awesome. The record is very melancholy and also very morbid - as a number of tracks deal with the death of one or more people. Fortunately, there are uplifting tracks as well to "lighten" the mood a little bit (as if that's even important anyway) but they're also kind of subdued in that dark, moody Neko way. Check it out, for sure. Below, is a link to a download of "Star Witness" if you want to download it.

Neko Case - Star Witness

In other news, I've got my own show scheduled at Upstart Crow in Seaport Village on May 13th. It's a Saturday night, and free if you want to come out and say hi!

"Eat my dust, Coach!!"

2006-02-27T22:06:00.000-08:00

Here is an mp3 from The Twilight Singers' last album She Loves You, a collection of covers recorded by the one and only Greg Dulli. Oh, and the pic below is not from my personal collection of erotic photographs - it happens to be the cover artwork for the record. Gees people!

The Twilight Singers - Hyperballad (Bjork Cover)

Happy Birthday!

2006-02-26T00:43:00.000-08:00

Well, it's about 12:43 on Sunday morning and I've got to go to bed. I didn't do a whole lot today but I am happy with what I did do. I drove up to Lou's Records in Encinitas and purchased Rogue Wave's Descended Like Vultures, Hem's Rabbit Songs and No Word From Tom and The Concretes' Layyourbattleaxedown (which is for Elenna since it's her birthday tomorrow - HAPPY BIRTHDAY!). Needless to say, the records I bought for me, are really good.

Hem's albums are really melodic and orchestral in a folk/alt-country way. And they sound phenomenal. Rabbit Songs was recorded on all-analog gear which, to a guy like me, is like saying you scaled Mt. Everest with a butterknife. I get impressed by that stuff since I'm such a gear-head and I'd like to think I'm able to hear the difference between digital and analog recordings. Kind of like how people say that vinyl LP's sound "warmer" than cold, hard, digital CD's. Anyway - it's such a warm record. It makes me think of sitting out on a porch swing while the sun is setting in some midwestern town. Call me sentimental and straight-up goofy, but it's very soothing. Like I said, they got a country kind of feel to them, but they're very similar to a Neko Case record or something Whiskeytown might've done. Not exactly "country" albums but they've got that back-home feel to them. Oh, and Sally Ellyson, who sings lead vocals, is completely outstanding. One of the best voices in music, period. Here's a download of "Half Acre" which is just beautiful, off of Rabbit Songs and "Jackson" which is a cover of the famous Johnny Cash song, off of No Word From Tom(click the links to go to a yousendit site where I've uploaded them):

Hem - Half Acre
Hem - Jackson (Johnny Cash Cover)

Rogue Wave's record is really cool too. From what I've read, it's basically some guy named Rogue who has a couple musicians sit in with him while he records his albums. But his newest album is really rich and hooky. His music is some kind of Beatles/Pinkerton-era Weezer/Shins/Modest Mouse mishmash. Really layered and poppy. But he doesn't get too indulgent - all the songs are just that - songs. Just a lot of quality songwriting on his LP. Here's my favorite track so far from it:

Rogue Wave - Publish My Love

Also, here are my favorite tracks from Elbow's Leaders of the Free World and The Magic Numbers' album:

Elbow - Great Expectations
The Magic Numbers - Don't Give Up The Fight

Anyway, so I bought a couple CD's today. That was fun. Then I came home and watched Capote and was thoroughly impressed. I was enveloped in it! So well done, and the acting from Philip Seymour Hoffman was completely outstanding....I hope he wins the Best Actor oscar. Go Philip! And now I want to read "In Cold Blood"....if only I knew how to read!!!! Doh!

Leaders of the Free World

2006-02-23T19:28:00.000-08:00

Hmm....well, nothing too much goin on with me right now. I just finished some homework on slavery in the 1700's. That was fun stuff. I should probably devote a little more time to homework since the last quiz I took in History was a 7 out of 10. Not exactly awesome. The other two were A's but this last one killed for some reason.

On a different note, I've got waaaay too many movies to watch at home right now. In my hands are: Capote, Crash, Cinderella Man, 2 Seinfeld disc of Season 4, King Kong and Saw II. The first two are ones that my boss got from her mom, who is in the the Academy of Motion Pictures, so she gets all the movies that want to be nominated for oscars, before they come out. Awesome, huh? So, I'm itchin to watch Capote but I'd really like to know a little more about the actual man before I watch it so I'm not a complete idiot. I wanted to actually read his book "In Cold Blood" before I saw it, but that was before I got my hands on an advanced release DVD. So now, all that reading is gonna have to wait cuz everyone knows that reading is for pansies. LOL.

I watched Wayne's World over the weekend and it had been such a long time since I'd seen it that I thought it was really funny. Don't you like it when you don't watch one of your favorite movies for a really long time and so the next time you see it - it seems unexplicably fresh and new?

I've gotten my grubby fat hands on some awesome new music recently. The first is The Magic Numbers, many overwhelming thanks to Elenna. They kick ass - very poppy like in the vein of Mamas & The Papas and maybe even The Association or something, but with some newer sounding indie pop thrown in and a pinch of old school MOTOWN baby! Definitely check them out.

And the other CD I have been listening to a lot since yesterday is Leaders of the Free World by Elbow. It's such a beautiful album....very morose and kind of melancholy but I love it (well, I love most sad bastard music anyway, haha). Guy Garvey's voice is so soothing and warm and strangely similar to Peter Gabriel's (in a good way, haha). He writes the most devastating lyrics ever, check some out from "An Imagined Affair":

"So lost in the sound of her voice
I don't even hear the words
When she says, 'Come on, get out...
The past will find us out -
Come on, get out...please -
And don’t breathe a word.' "

Anyway...I am listening to The Magic Numbers when I am feeling upbeat and kinda happy mood and I put in Elbow's album when I feel reflective or somber. I go back and forth quite a bit. Life is rather shaky. Alas, I got invited to a party this Saturday night....but I don't think I can go even though I really want to. Damn you, prior commitments!! *makes angry face*

Homework

2006-02-13T20:54:00.000-08:00

Here's a couple more pics from this last Saturday....the first is of my brotha, and his fiance Clarissa - and the second is of Jr. of course. He might be the cutest baby of all time....I could be biased though, haha....

Hmm...let's see...not a whole lot to talk about today. I just got a ton of homework to do. I worked on a couple songs yesterday and they are much closer to being finished than they were. Just gotta get around to mixing them. Anyway, gotta run.

Emperor Sith

2006-02-12T01:54:00.000-08:00

My brother, the Emperor, was kind enough to let me take a picture of his Highness. Behold - the Emperor Sith:

Besides that, tonight was pretty cool. Me, my brothers, their significant others and lil' Jr. went out for a lovely dinner at The Olive Garden. I was lucky enough to snap some pics. I've uploaded them to my flickr picture account but I'll put 'em on here one at a time or so. Don't wanna overload everyone with family photos yet...LOL.

Here's the cute one:

Friday? Really?

2006-02-10T21:50:00.000-08:00

Ahhh...what a day. It is Friday night and for some reason, it wasn't as good as it should've been. Normally Friday's are pretty 'spot-on'...but this one was off. It couldn't have been the hour of OT I worked (or didn't work, as you might imagine, haha), or the impatience I have for people that don't text me back even though I know they know I've texted them (kind of a pet peeve), or the mediocre Chinese food I ate at the Mission Valley Mall food court after work (hey - it looked good, alright!?!), or the general sluggishness I feel now after eating a bunch of candy afterwards from the Sweet Factory with Christine....or the general feeling like I should just live in the gym to work off all the sugary grossness. It just couldn't be ANY of those things.

This would be Christine (in prime "as if!" pose):

The Times They Are A-Changin'

2006-02-07T22:13:00.000-08:00

Ugh. So tired. Just got back from the gym. My ipod shuffle mysteriously decided to not work when I got there (don't fret though, it works fine now when I got home, of course), so I got stuck listening/watching the tv they got going there. Why is there just a bunch of shit all over tv these days? Seriously, everything sucks. Except "The Office"....cuz come on, it's the best. Furthermore - all the great shows get canceled before they even get started! It's just stupid. Freaks and Geeks got canceled after one season and it is seriously the best show of ALL time. Undeclared was also one of the all-time greats and it got axed after one season too. I get so sad when I watch every episode of those shows and then there's nothing after that. I need closure DAMN IT!!!

Tangent: this is one of the greatest album covers of all time. Discuss.

Also, I'm listening to the new album by Matt Pond PA right now and it's surprisingly good. Very nice stuff. Check it out.

The Bus and Five Bucks

2006-02-05T21:12:00.000-08:00

The Steelers won. So I won 5 bucks. I am THE best. I've got homework to finish, album artwork to tinker with, more songs to record, Disc 3 of Undeclared to watch - and no time to do any of it. I am tired, and maybe that's cuz I had about 10 drinks today at my brother's birthday/super bowl party (my friends Mr. Daniels and Mr. Bacardi were there, so I naturally became the life of the party, LOL). I also think I'm slightly grumpy cuz there's quite of bit of stuff for me to do this week and I've got class tomorrow night; anyone wanna read "The Wife of Bath" tonight and tell me what it's about?

And, I've got to figure out from Angela sometime this week if I am, in fact, actually playing at her Until John show this Saturday at Upstart Crow. She said I would be, but I just want to make sure before I start pulling out all the music equipment.

I know it's incredibly exciting, but I like this picture of my computer taken tonight:

Been awhile...

2006-02-02T18:35:00.000-08:00

Ay-Oh!

OK, I'm back. Sorry this place has been rather dormant lately but I guess I just got tired of blogging my life away. LOL. Perhaps I'll take a more "restrained" attitude towards this whole thing, so I don't burn myself out. But, that being said: I do rather like this thing. I've been looking over some of the older stuff I wrote on here, and I think it looks good as far as a semi-website thing goes....I don't have the time or patience to establish and update an actual website, so this will have to be as good as it gets. And honestly, I don't think it's too bad. For a musician just starting out, it seems like it'll work just fine. And, besides, it's easy to control the layout/graphics/colors/design-aspect of it. That's always good. Simplicity is good.

Anyway, hopefully I'll be able to figure out how to stream songs on this page, but I don't know if it's possible. It would be nice just to upload some songs here and have 'em play instead of directing everyone somewhere else.

So, on that note...here is what the recording setup looks like now:

OWLS

2006-01-31T11:00:00.000-08:00

Hey everyone,
I got a new song up on myspace, it's called "Owls". I'd love it if y'all gave it a listen :) I'll be posting here a little more often. To pre-order a copy of the new CD, just email me at daysleepermusic@sbcglobal.net.

OWLS

I am the smartest man alive!!

2005-07-28T11:51:00.000-07:00

I took an IQ test today at the request of my buddy, Matt, here at work. He kept bragging about how he's so much smarter than everyone here and he's so proud of his IQ of 135. He kept saying, "Man, I am SOOOO smart...I took this IQ test a little while ago and my score was 135! I am a genius! 135 is only 5 points away from being certifiably brilliant! I dare you to take the test Dustin, just so we can see how much smarter I am than you!!!"

Um...yea...guess who got 136.

*Matt's Note: 140 is actually the baseline for genius, not brilliant, oh, and Dustin's 136 is (count'em) four points lower than the lower baseline. This is certainly not the sort of mistake you'd think a certified '136' would make, but there you go. Oh, btw, the girl of the office got 120. So if nothing else, we're smarter than girls. Not all that surprising, but I thought I'd throw that out there. Not that I'm sexist, I like girls, but it is a law of nature (it's true, check your bible). So, um, in summary, don't believe the heights. Peace out yo'.

Studio Pics/Another New Song

2005-07-21T00:28:00.000-07:00

Hello, I just put up another new song on Pure Volume. It's called "To Fall" and it's a demo from a couple months ago that I really like. I actually recorded a full-band version of it up at my mom's. My brother played guitar on it, my mom did some vocals with me, and I played the drums. So it was a true Family Production. LOL. It was really fun. I decided while I was up there, that our family band name would be The John Wayne Players. hahaha...I love that name. I don't know why because I don't particularly like John Wayne or any of his movies. Go figure. LOL. Anyway, I don't even have a copy of that version though...it's still unedited sitting up there at my mom's on their recorder. Next time I go up, I'll have to finally burn a copy. Either way, I'm going to put up the demo of it so you guys can hear it. It's just acoustic guitar/vocals. Fun stuff. Anyway, I thought I'd post some pictures of the studio I had set up at my house. It's a mess, but it's beautiful, ain't it? LOL. Ciao.

Click HERE to download the new song.

New Song

2005-07-19T22:56:00.000-07:00

Hey there, OK - I've posted a new song on Pure Volume. It's called "Song For Wedding #4" cuz I was writing a bunch of "electronic" piano-based music for my friend, Leanne's wedding. Well, I kind of forgot about all of them that I had recorded, and stumbled across them tonight. So, I put one up. Since I've been TALKING about recording and writing music and "posting something soon" FOREVER....I thought it would be nice just to finally throw something on there while I finish the new songs. "Song For Wedding #4" is an instrumental, but I think it sounds pretty cool. Check it out when you get a chance.

Click HERE to go download it!

Update

2005-07-15T17:38:00.000-07:00

Studio Update:

Finished recording electric guitars, drums, some vocals and bass for 7 new songs. I just bought a new recording console (Yamaha AW16G) that I'll be transferring all those tracks to, so the process is not done yet but it is moving along smoothly now. I believe all I have left is finishing recording vocals, tracking acoustic guitars (hopefully my mom and Sue can help me out with that, as they own a collection of bad-ass acoustics), a couple overdubs, and then mixing/mastering the damn things. Should have "something" finished soon. I'll post links to the songs when I get them done.

Personally, I'm excited about them because I think it shows a new level of songwriting that I'm really proud of - I think these are the best songs I've ever written/recorded. They're actually fun and rather challenging to play (which is great and kind of surprising to myself!) and I can't wait for people to hear them. Whereas, before, I was hesitant and rather cautious/embarrassed about my music, but with these - I feel like it's a gigantic step forward (in terms of quality of writing) so I'm much more confident. They're just great songs. I know that might sound egotistical and arrogant - but I know when I am turning out something good, or something bad. And as far as I'm concerned - these are the best songs I've ever written. So, 10 years after I first started "writing" music, I finally have 6 songs that I'm proud to put my name on. Go figure, eh?

As far as what they'll sound like to others...well, I have no idea what other people will think. Hopefully they'll think they're as good as I do, but I have no control over that, obviously. I think the more time I spend thinking about how people will react to the music - the more detrimental that train of thought actually becomes. So, they are what they are and either people will like them or they won't. I hope they do. So, what do they sound like? Hmm...In my opinion, they sound similar to the music of old-U2/Ryan Adams/Neil Young (After The Gold Rush-era)/Springsteen/Tom Petty. Those are some great bands/musicians and I am reluctant to throw their names around, but I feel the general feel of the music lies in that vein. Anyway - I'm having fun! You should hear something soon!

New Music

2005-06-23T08:09:00.000-07:00

I'm currently working on recording new material. It is proving a challenge, as I've gotten a ton of new equipment in the last week or so, that I have to kind of "learn" how to use, LOL. So, that's fun. Anyway - I'll post one as soon as it's done. I know I've said that before, but I'm serious this time...seriously!

Good Riddance

2005-06-14T13:40:00.000-07:00

Joel has decided to quit the band.

It's a damn good decision, if you ask me.

For anyone that might care (mom? LOL), I will still be writing/recording music, as usual. So, songs will still be posted soon. Maybe as early as the end of this week, because things tend to move much quicker when you do things yourself.

Anyway, I'll be posting on here when I have updates.

"there is never a time"

2005-06-12T17:44:00.000-07:00

i'm talkin to my mom right now on the phone, and i thought i might post here cuz she reminded me that i haven't posted for awhile. i've just been busy/tired/bored lately so i haven't had a whole lot to say. but other that i'm doing ok. some stuff has been happening and i've been taking pictures but my camera is in my car, and that's in the shop so i can't post them yet. buuuut, my cousin ryan graduated last friday, i went to the casino on friday night (broke even) AND saturday night (won 15 bucks! yay!)!

Anyway, i'm just thinking that i'm gonna keep this blog more "music" oriented from now on, as that was the original intention of this whole thing. take it easy,

xo

"la cienega smiles and waves goodbye"

2005-06-05T16:28:00.000-07:00

well, i went up to LA yesterday with Joel and his mom, Dee, to see The Mars Volta at the Greek Theatre. It was the best MV show I've been to so that was nice. the sound was good and the seats were decent. omar was having some guitar pedal problems throughout the show. there was a good 5 minute "intermission" twice during the show so they could fix his guitar rig. besides that though, it ruled - it appears as if John Frusciante, the guitarist from The Red Hot Chili Peppers, came onstage during "L' Via" to play a few solos. it was awesome. at one point there was a four-man-solo-duel. frusciante would solo, then omar, then their FLUTE player would solo, and then their keyboard player, Ikey would bust out on the organ or something. it's hard to decide who exactly shone a little brighter than the rest (as they were all awesome), but my money is on the flute player fo sho. haha....

"i'm so ronery!"

2005-05-30T21:09:00.000-07:00

ahhh...hello friends. i've had a few busy days so far. i've gotten quite a bit done since i've been off. on thursday...i...took some clothes to the men's wearhouse so they could be re-tailored (i have short, fat legs; do the math), i bought some brake pads, went to record over at joel's...i think...i can't remember for sure though...maybe i didn't. i can't remember. on friday - i rented "spanglish" (which was really good), "the incredibles" (which was eh, ok) and "team america" (yet again, cuz me and L Bear were going to watch it on sunday night).

then i took my guitar in to get completely revamped and reworked. it will be the greatest guitar of all time when it is done, and hopefully i won't have to buy another one cuz it will be some awesome. i replaced practically everything on it with the top-of-the-line equipment. needless to say, i'm excited to get it back later this week! it should be puuuurrrrrfect. here is a picture of what my guitar kinda looks like. not exactly, but very similar. i'll take pictures of it when i get it back this week.

then i went and got my car washed and an oil change. that was good. then went over to carol's place for dinner with her, dad, and matt. that was cool. good pizza. carol's turtle, um....spencer? no...um....spe...sma..schre...SHERMAN! that was his name!! well, anyway - sherman died :( i liked that turtle....he was my favorite. poor guy. i like turtles. they kinda remind me of...well- ME! hahaha...

so, saturday rolled around, changed my break pads and my shocks on my car (with help from my dad) and then went to go see Star Wars with my brotha David. it was alright. nothing extraordinary. there was some really horrible things about it and some cool things about it. oh well. it's over.....over, it is. haha...

let it ride

2005-05-26T12:16:00.000-07:00

ahhh...my precious. ryan adams & the cardinals played Letterman last night. it was the first time i'd watched good ol' Dave in years. and i can whole-heartedly say that he just needs to STOP. anyway - ryan performed "Let It Ride" off of Cold Roses and it was friggin awesome. i think the Late Show crew were getting pissed off at him cuz he brushed his hair down across his entire face so no one could see him. still though, it was awesome. and now he has a beard and thick-rimmed glasses. and so he is getting to be almost as cool as me. LOL. here's a pic from the show...oh...and that guitar is saaaaaweeet. i think i'll buy it.

anyway, i like waking up at 10 in the morning on a thursday. it's fun. i think i'll do it again tomorrow.
and the next day...
and the next....
and the next....
and the next....

you get the idea :)

another day...another dollar

2005-05-20T06:30:00.000-07:00

welp...no new job yet. the "new" job people called yesterday and want to interview me AGAIN. which, in essence, is a good thing. but i guess i was expecting a job offer right off the bat or something. so, i'm kinda disappointed that i have go through all that crap again. cuz interviewing is hard. not fun.

i don't know why i'm posting this, but this is a picture of my work right now. i think it's a cool looking pic - AND i took it while i was driving, so it makes it even more awesome. and yes, i AM impressed with myself for having took it. i rule.

my sister-in-law, Megan, turns 23 today! Happy birthday sis! :-)

"afternoon delight"

2005-05-17T14:15:00.000-07:00

i don't know if i've mentioned it before but "anchorman" is hilarious. one of my favorite movies of all time. every line of dialogue in it is quotable. and since i'm so incredibly bored and tired here at work, i figured i'd go searching for a nice anchorman pic and post a quote.

ron: "brick, where'd you get a grenade!?!?!?!"
brick: "i don't know."

ok, this is getting out of hand

2005-05-11T12:20:00.000-07:00

ever read the news lately??? christ, it's horrible.

note to sickos:
stop killing children!!!!!!

D Lo

"i am a man! an anchor man!"

2005-05-02T16:06:00.000-07:00

i watched "meet the fockers" last night. it was pretty good. not quite as good as i thought it was going to be, but worth watching...they kind of re-did the whole "i'm-ben-stiller-and-i-have-the-worst-luck-imaginable" stuff. which is basically the whole point, i suppose. anyway - i can't wait to see "the life aquatic with steve zissou" when it comes out this month! that's the one with bill murray and pretty much everyone from "the royal tenenbaums" (sans gwyneth and hackman) - it looks promising fo sho...first off, cuz nearly everyone panned it. that's always a good sign. especially with wes anderson's films. he's extremely underrated in my opinion. i've loved all of his movies, so i'm pretty sure i'll like "the life aquatic". murray's role in "tenenbaums" is one of the greatest of his career. "well, i want to die..." is surely one of the greatest lines ever uttered in a film.

have i told you that my brotha, danny, loaned me his Gibson Danny Lothspeich Signature Edition SG guitar so i can use it to record the album? it is so sweet that i cannot put it's beauty into words. i will steal it from him. and then he will kill me. and then my other brotha, david, will have to kill him. and thus the blood feud begins. this COULD continue for centuries.

populations will be mutilated and destroyed.
fortunes will be lost.
kingdoms will be conquered, toppled, and then re-built.
puppet governments will be established.
insurgencies will rage against the occupiers.
innocent civilians will perish.
bloodshed will continue to dominate and ravage the regions.
in other words, it will resemble "operation iraqi freedom".
eventually...there will be no one and nothing left.

only a guitar.

"oh darlin', how could we end up like this?"

2005-05-01T22:48:00.000-07:00

well, another day has gone by. i'm listening to "just to keep you satisfied" by marvin gaye. i love this song. marvin is still the man. it's about 11 right now. i should be in bed but i slept quite a bit today as i wasn't feeling too swift. in fact, i never feel "swift". it is not necessarily a characteristic i would ever attribute to myself. as andy dick says, as jacque cousteau in an episode of the old (and highly under-appreciated) Ben Stiller show - "the manatee is a slow...lumbering...docile creature..." - and that about sums me up pretty well. i was thinking that i may have gotten sick, because i was around my brothers, david and danny, and clarissa...all of whom are sick. but i think it may have been psychological. i might have convinced myself that there was no way to escape it, and started over-analyzing every sniffle, every sneeze, etc. so i slept for a few hours during the day. and now i'm not overly tired. and i don't particularly feel sick anymore either. thank God.

anyway, back to the wilco show. i got there at 4:30 cuz it took me absolutely forever to find the place. the price center ballroom on the ucsd campus is nearly impossible to find. it's basically one of the many, many gyms there. i got in line and was maybe about 20 people back from the front. they let us in around 7. and there was one person in front of me, in relation to the stage. it was magnificent. it was crowded as hell - packt like sardines in a crushed tin box, is more like it. i am still sore from standing in one position, straight up, for nearly four hours. from 6 to about 11:30 actually. wilco played for about two hours...maybe a few minutes more. it was pretty much the same set as they played at the wiltern in november, but slightly rearranged. i love the third picture in this set - tweedy looks like the devil or something. i know it's just some red-eye but he still looks scary. haha.

although they did add "kicking television" to their set which is a brilliant song - i remember i actually blurted out, at the top of my lungs, along with jeff tweedy during that song - "stop shopping even....stop BUYING THINGS!!!!" i think that line is so awesome. that lyric sums up so much of society for me. you'd have to hear it in context of the music and everything - but that was one of the distinct times when i remember shouting the lyrics. if i'm correct, during pitchfork's review of that song, the reviewer mentioned that particular lyric would incite anyone to "cut up their visa." it's a good way to describe it.

why can't i just be a cat?

"i still love rock n' roll"

2005-04-30T01:11:00.000-07:00

yessss. i went to wilco. i saw. i conquered. and then i came home. it was beautiful. breathtaking. i took some pictures, but i think at least half of them turned out kind of blurry. i will write more tomorrow or something. right now, i'm incredibly tired and i need to sleep. i will post some of the pics i took. here's a couple good ones and a couple bad ones. the rest will go up tomorrow or whenever. g'nite.

1. me waiting in line before the show
2. wilco emerges
3. crappy barely-there, shot of jeff tweedy
4. blurry shot of john stiratt and the other guitarist dude (name??)
5. a rather dark, but ok pic of nels cline.
6. happy face tweedy?

ghost

2005-04-29T07:56:00.000-07:00

wilco is today.
i am going go at 3, i've decided.
i will get there early.
i will be in the front friggin' row.
i will rule.
jeff will smile at me and mouth "hey buddy, how's it goin?" between "hummingbird" and "reservations"...
my ears will be shot afterwards.
my vision will be blurred.
and i am taking my camera.

hopefully.

evil...dr. evil

2005-04-28T21:57:00.000-07:00

1. my twin reverb in closet setup for recording
2. my pedalboard
3. a streetlight in hillcrest (the coolest picture i've ever taken!)
4. me driving down the 125
5. guitars in studio

emperor longbeard

2005-04-28T09:38:00.000-07:00

i am going to the wilco show tomorrow night at UCSD. i have to admit, i am REALLY excited about it. they put on an absolutely magnificent show. nels cline is the shit. and jeff tweedy is the balls as a front man. anyway - i keep debating whether or not i should get there really early and wait in line, and try to scramble up to the front of the stage. i get off work at 3. the show starts at 8. i am going by myself. thanks a lot to all of my nonexistent friends. but now i can go and do what i want whenever i please. if i want to go there at 3 and wait forever in line - then i can choose to do so! or if i want to wait after the show for a glimpse of the glorious band members and have them sign my "yankee hotel foxtrot" vinyl - then i can do that too!! i am emperor longbeard! "i do what i want!!!" see how i rationalize being a loner?? haha...

anyway - should i go at 3? should i go later? who friggin' knows. i suppose i will obsess about it until tomorrow around 2:59 when i will just do one or the other. they're playing under the name "Catseye" which admittedly is pretty cool - since i'm almost certain that's one of the bands they drop in "The Late Greats" who get no recognition. am i cool or what? fuck yea!

thursday morning

2005-04-28T08:05:00.000-07:00

ahhhh....the lovely, tingly feeling i get while arriving for work. nothing can describe it's beauty. i think it's interesting i can "blog" while at work...effectively - i can bash the company i work for, all while getting paid to do it. life is great.

don't get me wrong - my job is not horrible. in fact, i like it a lot more than any other job i've had before. but...one must be able to rant against their job. it's our duty as people. we scream against giant corporations that turn us into little drones and minions, while ignoring the fact that we'd turn into such things regardless of our occupation in life; regardless if the "corporation" had anything to do with it. we have an inate desire to be completely expendable.

but maybe that's just me.

let me just get this out there: i think blogging (arguably anything at all) is incredibly self indulgent. and that being said - i have nothing great to say. my life is not that interesting that people should be reading about it...and certainly not grand enough that i should be writing about it. no, i don't think i'm the fucking bees knees or anything. talk about pretentious. i'm not venturing forth some highly original thoughts in this blog. or ever, for that matter. but neither is anybody else, right? everything has been said and done before. so, why bother? well...maybe i just have nothing better to do? maybe because i've tried making a website about my band a couple of times and have gotten so frustrated with damn HTML that i just give up. this seems much easier. moreover - it's a simple way to communicate easily and quickly about anything. i gather that right now it's just about random crap that i happen to think up. but, in the future, hopefully, this blog will be used mostly to talk about/document Daysleeper and our music, because i happen to think it's important. i don't find our music to be awe-inspiring or the best friggin' thing since sliced bread, but i do think it's interesting and i think it warrants some kind of recording. anyway - perhaps J (aka Spiral Stairs Smelly Shoes Sickly Steed Stinging Stars) will post on here sometimes. frankly, i'll be surprised if he does though cuz...well, cuz he's got lots of drinking to do.

so, cheers...

first blog down....1 hundred million to go

2005-04-27T19:17:00.000-07:00

this is my first blog entry ever.
welcome, whoever happens to stumble here!
and by "stumble"...i don't mean actually "stumbling"...i just mean...um....browsing. or something.

mic check...one...two...mic....check?