Scott Andrew - lo-fi acoustic pop superhero!

In Explone news: Thor Radford shot a handsome-looking video for “St. Yesterday.” I’m a little startled by the excellent production quality:

Watch the video (in larger size) at YouTube.

Word is that Thor shot the whole thing on a Nikon D300s. Kids these days with their gadgets! Lead singer Patrick has more to say here.

So yeah, things are cookin’ on both the Explone and Kirby Krackle front lines. With any luck, I’ll have something wholly Scott Andrew-related for you next week.

I’m off to a mythical land called “France” for a few days. In the meantime, please enjoy these photos from Explone’s gig at the Crocodile Cafe last month.

One of the bummers about taking photos at the gig is they’re almost exclusively done onstage, during soundcheck, to an empty room, and I end up searching Flickr and the rest of the internet for weeks after the gig hoping someone in the crowd posted a few snaps. The Croc was filled all night, rare for a rainy Thursday after New Year’s.

Headlining act The Globes soundchecking (they were particularly awesome live, as were Eighteen Individual Eyes):

We even had our own smoke machine! Meet “The Hazer:”

“So are you guys gonna want the Hazer? Yes, you’ definitely want the Hazer.” — Croc lighting tech guy.

The new single from Kirby Krackle’s sophomore release E For Everyone is out today. It’s called “On And On” and it’s about — wait for it! — Wolverine.

You know, Wolverine. The X-Men guy. Hugh Jackman. With the claws? What, I have to explain everything?

(NB: I don’t play bass on this tune. I play with the live band when circumstances require.)

Congrats to Kyle and Jim for getting this out the door so quickly. Let’s see if this Reverbnation Flash player thingy works here:

I always heal
but I never stop hurting…

A digression:

If you follow rock/metal at all, you probably know that Alice In Chains, one of the “big four” rock bands to break out of the Seattle scene as part of the whole “grunge” thing in the 90s, has a new lead singer, William DuVall. They’re currently touring with a new album.

I was reading a little bit about DuVall online. He’s from Atlanta, he’s founded and played in a bunch of notable hardcore bands, and he’s worked with some decidedly non-hardcore artists like Dionne Farris and Michael Tolcher.

Wait, Michael Tolcher? Didn’t I see him play a gig at the day job a few years back? With a band? Didn’t I snap a phonecam pic? I did a quick search through my Flickr stream:

That’s DuVall on the right. Yeah!

Two new songs, a photo shoot, a video shoot, and a website relaunch. Big week for Explone! Gonna be hard to go back to reality tomorrow.

(Feed reader? You may have to visit the post to see these pics and videos.)

(Feed reader? You may need to visit the post to see these videos.)

I love this photo! MOAR AMPS PLZ.

Explone is at Studio Litho this weekend to cut one final song for the new record and finish any overdubbed parts. Mixing starts in March. Yes, we’re already writing tunes for the next one. So?

My sources tell me we’re also going to record some sort of performance video thingy that weekend. Also, a website redesign (confidential: ASP makes me weep).

Kirby Krackle just finished up a new CD titled E For Everyone and it drops just in time for the 2010 con season. The new record — it sounds huge. No nerdcore act rocks harder than KK. Unless maybe you count Blöödhag. I’ll be playing some live shows with them this year starting with the Emerald City Comic Con in March. There are also shows scheduled for Chicago, Phoenix and possibly elsewhere.

Also: it’s time for RPM and FAWM! Good luck to everyone participating this year. I’ve never done so myself, but there always seems to be residual creative energy crackling across the tubes that makes February one of my more fruitful months for songwriting. Shame-based productivity: it’s the best!

Remember Pat DiNizio: ass in chair. And stay the hell away from the internet.

Coming soon: a long-belated recap of Explone’s show at the Crocodile last month.

Here’s a quick demo of “Note To Self” (I posted a video of this song a few weeks back):

Download MP3 (128k, free, login required)

One guitar, one shaker, a few overdubs, some flurbled chords and the roughest of rough vocals. And a hippie guitar solo I spent all of five minutes composing. Also, my first recording done with REAPER.

Read on for lyrics…

Read the rest of this entry »

Here is news: my band Explone is playing the famously famous Crocodile Cafe tomorrow night (that’s Thursday 1/7) with a stellar lineup of fresh local bands. (I’m especially keen to see all-girl prog rock outfit Eighteen Individual Eyes.) It’s one of KEXP’s Recommended Events this week.

The Croc has long been on my list of A-list Seattle clubs to play before I die (score so far: Neumo’s (done, solo), the Showbox (done, w/ Kirby Krackle). I thought I missed my chance when it closed down a few years back, but new ownership and a sweet remodel have restored it to first-class status. The stage has been redesigned, sight-line-blocking support beams removed, a Via Tribunali pizzeria installed in the former back bar area.

Can. Not. Wait.

Last week I tweeted about rediscovering some song ideas I had written in DADGAD tuning almost ten years ago. I first learned about DADGAD when Megan forwarded me a page of alternate tunings used by Richard Shindell. Since then I’ve tried to work DADGAD into my own songs:

• Cut The Wire: DADGAD, capo 5th fret
• In Harm’s Way: DADGAD, capo 3rd fret
• Happy For Me, album version: DADGAD, capo 2nd fret (the alternate take is in standard tuning).
• 2 A.M.: DADGAD open D (I think, it’s been awhile)

If you haven’t tried DADGAD, you should. It’s fun. Especially if you get bored with standard chord voicings as I sometimes do. Tons of video tutorials on YouTube.

Here’s a video draft of “Blood Of Eden” by Peter Gabriel, in DADGAD tuning. I kinda want to record this song for a future EP, maybe later this year. The spot where I start grinning and my eyes pop out of my head is where I start running out of breath. That’s what I get for trying a five-minute-long tune after months of no singing.

Watch this video on YouTube.