Our station manager came through at the last minute with a brand-new mixing console to replace the broken piece-o-shit that has been making my life miserable- it's a nice one, a new Yamaha -it's got a simple over/easy compressor limiter built into eight of the mic pre-amps, which is a great idea. I like it.I got to test out the board on local band Conshafter yesterday, they came in and played a few songs live at the station, helping to support our fund drive. I must admit I've been in a deep funky mood lately- not the good George Clinton kind of funky either- but the cheerful enthusiasm of Conshafter really picked me up. Their drummer couldn't make it, but they set up and played anyway and were delightful, they had a great rapport with their radio audience and had me laughing more than once- the singer said something like: " Now don't judge the station on what you're hearing now- they usually play much better music than us."
Godzilla bless musicians who can laugh at themselves.
A really good production session is better than drugs for elevating my spirits. There's a certain buzz that is unique to producing live radio- we are all (save one) volunteers and we do what we do because we love music- and if you love music, what could be better than having your own radio station?
Tonight we had an art opening fundraiser party at a gallery downtown- I really didn't want to do sound for it - I hate live club sound, I love studio production , and there's a huge difference 'tween the two-but I was grumpily and reluctantly conscripted into doing sound.
It started off okay, with my long-time friend Ron and pals playing some old- timey tunes on bandolin ( a hybrid mandolin/banjo) banjo-guitar and some other things that may or may not have been banjos...but then things went south fast.
It seemed like every time I blinked, some kid was showing up with a guitar and telling me he was on the bill...uh, uh, I said- two bands was what I was told. Well, it turns out my colleague who planned the event told a a lot of people they could play...out of the four solo performers, three were so awful that I seriously considered walking home and saying fuck this, I do this for free because I love good music- and these guys are awful...well, one was really good, actually, but I hate being an accomplice to bad music and that's what I was for three hours-I came very close to snatching one dude's guitar and clubbing him with it, but his parents had a vidcam and I figured that they'd probably use that as evidence against me ...finally I went outside - or tried to.
I couldn't get ten paces without beautiful young women literally throwing themselves at me- I had to pause for many hugs and squeezes- couldn't they see what a rotten mood I was in?
Well, it's hard to be in a bad mood when one is getting sandwich hugs from sweet women, so I cheered up pretty quickly, let me tell you.
Anyway, the main band, Marionette, was getting ready to go on- they are a full band with six vocalists- I had no time for flirting while they got started and once they got going, I was amazed...they combine elements of Eno, Pere Ubu, Sonic Youth, Phil Manzanera-really diverse influences. I enjoyed the hell out of their set and the well-done videos that played on a screen behind them. I'd love to produce an album by them.
I'll be seeing Marionette again tomorrow, they will be playing live at the station 5-7 pm. I'm looking forward to that.
I'm also looking forward to seeing my new squeezing pals again. I'll see them tomorrow too, but I imagine I'll see them in my dreams before then...if I ever sleep again.
