Check your bags

Yesterday I went to work like I always do. Get a lift to the subway, kiss my wife & daughter goodbye, then 40 min subway commute, where i listen to music on my phone/walkman, while reading a book, or the newspaper, and finally a 10 min walk to work. This morning though , it was different. I was going to a concert in town, and I decided not to take my back pack with me, so i don't have to lug it around all day and night. Instantly I noticed something was different, felt better, lighter, and the nice weather certainly didn't hurt. You see my back pack, is full of papers, a book or 2, some magazines, an umbrella, a bottle of water(you never know when you'll get in too a coughing fit and need that bottle) not to mention my lunch.

I came to the realization that the back pack was more than just a back pack, it was also a representation of all the baggage we carry around with us. Be it stress, grudges, jealousy, hatred, regret etc etc. Mine happens to be stress.

Things eventually dawn on me, either too late or just in time. Only recently have I been paying attention to certain things. like fatigue, stress, etc. Basically listening to what my body has to say, and accepting my limits. Stress is not something I'm really familiar with. I never really worried to much about anything, I went through school the same way, jobs, same thing. I kind of just go with things, but things are different now. Being a father, owning a house, trying to get 2 music projects off the ground, the car, work, the people and & drama at work. Heck just paying mundane bills is becoming a real bitch. Projects fall behind schedule, trying to keep sites like Myspace, Facebook, Blogger, You tube, Twitter (Man there is to many) up to date. Learning how to use all this amazing stuff, and how to do it right. Trying to book interviews, get reviews, and get people to add your song to their podcast. The internet is a great tool, and great for artists & musicians, but it takes so much of your time to figure stuff out, and learn how to do it well, get friends, get views, get plays, tweets... Meanwhile repairs on the car go undone, work around the house never gets completed, and that's just to name a few. I prefer to play with my daughter than wash the dishes, or pass the vacuum, or install spot lights that never seem to work, or clean out the garage.

The Garage, oh don't get me started on that one. It's only been 3 years we've lived in this house and already the garage is crammed with stuff. I now believe what George Carlin said, 'that's what your house is, a place to keep your stuff while you go out and buy more... stuff'' It's been a few years that I only go shopping when I need something. Instead of just go shopping,for shopping's sake. I used to get restless at home just itching to go buy something, anything. Clothes, cd's, music gear, whatever. I have shirts I never wore, that still have the price tag on them. That's when I realized I don't need all this stuff. Less truly is more.

Vacations start next week, and guess what I'll be doing. Painting the bathroom, removing all the dead wood from my front yard, cleaning out the garage (OMG I can't wait for this one, oh i said that already). I can't wait to get this virtual baggage off of me.

You Tube

Yeah YouTube, I'm 3 years late. I've been meaning to make use of this crazy site for the longest time. I just never have time. I tried making a video for Chasing The Clouds, one of the tracks on the Path to Reality album, back in November of 2008. Dedicated an entire Saturday to doing it, but as usual i hated it, and scrapped it. I tired something again in May of 2009, and once again, that ever so familiar feeling of nausea was lingering around, and i quit, totally disgusted with myself.

The weird things is I love what I've seen from other people, and most of the time it's so simple. I've also noticed we (artists) tend to like what other people do automatically, and second guess ourselves.

It seems to take me an eternity to do the the simplest things, and actually enjoy it. It never lives up to the image in my mind's eye. I've narrowed it down to focus and organization. I need time to get the creative juices flowing, and flowing in the right direction. I happen to be one of those happy go lucky types when it comes to creative projects, especially music, but video, photography and graphic design is a totally different ballgame for me.

Anyhow I've managed to through my hangups and post something to You Tube. You can check it out here. Check it out, leave me a comment, and join my channel if you like.

Letter from Moby

This is my response to a letter from Moby sent to Bob Lefsetz

Hey Bob, thanks for this letter from Moby ! It makes me really happy to hear that someone who has had such success in the recent past, is so humble.
I think along the same lines as Moby, in that I just want to be happy, and tapping into creativity makes me happy.
Even if I sell 1000 copies of my cd. Which is a failure in most eyes. Just knowing that people would slip into my world for and hour or so and enjoy it makes me feel good.

I've had an Ipod, and at work I use I tunes all day for music while working, and I still need to listen to albums. I tried making playlists and when a certain song ends, I need to hear the next one, and am disappointed when it's a random song, kinda kills the flow for me. I grew up in the 80's an 90's an the album was king then, and for me it still is.

Even having worked on my album on and off for over 2 years, writing, editing, mixing. You can lose sight of the album's cohesiveness, and you have this feeling that the songs are separate entities and don't really sound like an album. Then it came back from mastering, and I listened to it from beginning to end, all of a sudden it sounded like an album, all the parts where there as a whole, glued together sort of.

anyhow I hope artists continue to make albums, cause that's the way uh huh uh huh I like it!

peace

Joe

www.myspace.com/innerlightmusic
www.reverbnation.com/innerlightspectrum

Inner Light Spectrum

Abraham de Moivre

Food for Thought !

A cool story I thought was interesting.

Abraham de Moivre , a French mathematician, predicted the precise date of his own death.

He noted that he was sleeping 15 minutes longer each day and surmised that he would die on the day he slept for 24 hours. That date, he calculated, would be Nov. 27, 1754.

He was right.

www.myspace.com/innerlightmusic
www.reverbnation.com/innerlightspectrum

Bob Moog

Dr Moog (1934-2005)

If you've ever listened to Techno, Dance, Electronica, Prog Rock, Fusion, Jazz, Metal, Rock, Pop, basically almost any style of music ever written. Then you've heard a Moog Synthesizer.

Invented by Dr Robert Moog (rhymes with rogue) . The 1st synthesizer ever made, all analog, and after 50 years it's still being made, all analog, with some digital help (storing the presets, modern PC boards etc). He designed and built them for over half a century. 1st popularized by Wendy Carlos in 1968's Switched on Bach


From meager beginnings to legend, a self admitted non businessman, nor musician. A tool maker he likens himself. He understands that there is more going on than just someone playing a keyboard. He often speaks of a connection, that the musician connects with the instrument in way we can't describe.

I recently took the time to sit down and watch the documentary by Hans Fjellestad, on his life, and I must say I was impressed how humble this man was. So in touch with nature, and the universe. He doesn't even take credit for creating the instrument that literally revolutionized the face of modern music. ¨I opened my mind up, and the idea came through me¨he says. Check out the website here.

Great film, simple, inspiring, enlightening. Check out a trailer here.

I unfortunately can't afford a real one, one day I hope , but I just wanted to share and thank Dr Bob Moog for giving us the fattest basses, and arpegiated sounds, for creating an instrument, a way of life basically, and all the excellent music made possible by his genius, simpleness, openness.


Moog that belonged to Wendy Carlos.


www.myspace.com/innerlightmusic
www.reverbnation.com/innerlightspectrum

Christian Scott - Anthem

This was a funny happening. A simple moment, where you take a chance, and it works out pretty well. I used to do it often with my cd purchasing in the past. Go in a section at the record store, new or used, and take a chance on a cd after a preview listening at the listening post. It's been a long time since I've done that due to lack of time, and I hate most record stores well (HMV) but that's for another blog.

I took a chance with Christian Scott, never even heard of the guy. I previewed it, and thought it was cool. So i picked it up. Check out His Myspace for a taste.

A week or 2 later, I caught myself always wanting to play it in the background in I tunes at work,or on th subway on the way home. Then one day I decided to look him up on the net and was surprised to find quite a bit of info on him.

Touted as one of the brightest new stars in Jazz , being only 22 years old.
I don't like trumpet that much, either in classical, or jazz, even most pop. Don't get me wrong I love Miles Davis and Louis Armstrong and company, but I don't like wailing and annoying, harsh trumpets.

This is a nice soft trumpet, with great warm tone, wrapped around some nice soft jazz, with a great blend of hip hop, and a little fusion. Matt Stevens' guitar tone reminds me at times of Alan Holdsworth and some Metheny. Simple but poignant.

There are 2 versions of the track Anthem on instrumental and the other track with Brother J of X clan. whose lyrics are wicked, for lack of a better word. They will make you sit up and listen. very appropriate.

Any way I hope to see him in Montreal, for the Jazz fest on July 4th.

and I'm glad I took a chance on Christian Scott that day.


www.myspace.com/innerlightmusic
www.reverbnation.com/innerlightspectrum