everafter

I wrote a song that was inspired by a series of strange unrelated events, and it brought back to mind the way I came to write Carmen. I’ve been writing on and off for a while now, but the songs have seemed half inspired, so I get angry and toss them. Others I wrote to commemorate recent events and although I thought they were good, I just did not feel like recording them…

So I ask myself, ‘Self? What is going on?’ and my answer is that I am far away. I want to write, but somehow I have distanced myself from the act itself, or perhaps I have come to that dreaded writer’s curse: I’ve nothing to say. Could it be? No, I don’t think so. But sometimes what we say is not what we mean, and thus this is the feeling I’ve come to regard as the ‘non-me’.

The non-me will write about everything not related to me, for fear that such things might be too close for comfort. And they are! So much has happened in my life in a span of a year and a half that it is staggering to say the least. So after a bit of non-writing writing, i gave myself a break and let it all go….

And then, just as I was thinking about nothing at at all on the freeway on the way home from Minneapolis this weekend… It just came… A real song, something to be recorded. I say recorded because it is the first that makes me feel that there is more, even if it is simple, even if it tells the world something personal. I had forgotten the feeling… So now?

I have to follow it and see where it leads… :)

But for now, it has made me feel all the emotions that have been building up. So after a really good cup of coffee, I will go and work on it…

A New Arsenal | Analog vs Digital… Again…

During the California show on Saturday, some people noticed parts of my new rig, which was totally intentional of course. Some people asked me questions outside, and some were simply perplexed, so I thought I would shed a light on a few things…

A few days before the show, I got an Omnichord, which I won in an auction on EBay.

I was not planning on using it just days before a show, but when Paul and I worked out Lady In Waiting using it, the Kaos Pad 3 as a drum machine, and his guitar… Well. It was magic. And so we sprung it on the audience on Saturday with only one rehearsal between us. I loved it. But! Just because I strapped it on… don’t fucking call it a Keytar. It’s not a fucking Keytar. I don’t like keytars. I even despise the word Keytar. It is an analog device, not a controller. IHFK <— guess what that stands for? :0

Also in the mix was my Nintendo DS, which saw lots of use that night as both an atmospheric sound affecter and for some pads during I Felt the Pain and Soul On Fire. Somebody’s voice came through the crowd, asking… “Oh my God… Is that a Nintendo DS up there?” Yep. It was. Mine is the red and black, but here’s a pic of the black one…

The idea of having this little thing do what it does through my Kaos Pad was like getting my first analog synthesizer. I LOVE this THING. I plan on using more than one in the future. I’m almost certain of it.

The device I did not get to use was my Gakken, which is a little analog synthesizer that I got with a magazine out of Japan. That little guy is sick, and I planned on using it during Jubilation, but somehow it went on being muted (or I did not hear it in my monitors), which was rather bunk, but it happens. I had it hooked up to the Kaos Pad and it was going to do a theremin solo thing. :( 

 

Yeah, that’s the one. I love it, but it’s not really what I should have on stage with me. So I got this little monster instead for next time… Just out, too! Dave Smith’s Mopho kiddies! 100% Analog!

Now I’m going to make some additional noise… Ooh. Ah… But seriously. I am. This is a dream come true. It’s small, it’s phat, it’s small. Four Oscillators… “All you need is Love…”

If my other instrument would only work, I would be in heaven, but I haven’t given up on it. I don’t accept failure. It’s simply too cool. I made a FLASH BASED sampler, and it is amazing in every way… Except I hate controlling it from a mouse. I tried to do it with a wireless tablet, and it worked, but the response was too slow for my taste. I need to send MIDI to FLASH, and guess what… It is not part of FLASH! Which is a shame. I won’t give up on this though. The computer is part of what I do, so this seems like a logical step. Oh, BTW, I did play some graphic synth stuff via MIDI on Saturday, and that worked amazingly well. If I incorporate the visuals with Mopho I might have something really too cool for words. But I digress. I will put it up on our site soon so that anyone can play it. This was my dream… Sigh.

The other question I was asked was my preference… Surprise… Analog vs Digital. I don’t like that question, because in answering it I appear to give one more props than the other. But I guess this is inevitable, isn’t it? So here’s my view, the final and definitive manifest of what is what…

I love analog. I love digital. They are similar, they are different. They are like twins, only different. I love both. Each has a weakness the other exploits. Each has a strength the other employs. OK?

So don’t make me decide. I won’t. I love both. Forever.

– Claude

Technorati Tags: Dave Smith Instruments,Mopho,Anything Box,Abox,Show in California,Claude S.,Nintendo DS Lite,Gakken SX150,Omnichord,Analog vs Digital

Movie Review | Across The Universe | Rating: 10+

To many of those who know me, me writing this review will come as no surprise. The Beatles’ music has been a part of my life for a very long time. In fact, there are musical milestones in my life firmly associated with these four lads from Liverpool. The first being that The Beatles’  ‘She Loves You’ was the first 7″ single I ever bought, and this happened on my first trip back to Argentina at the tender age of 11. It was here during a magical summer of listening to ‘She Loves You’ that I first lived. Truly.

I learned to hunt for frogs in the night, flew kites on a grassy hill, maneuvered model airplanes in the field in front of my grandmother’s house… and kissed a girl. Yep. Truly lived. And let me state for the record that my Grandmother made the most amazing food, and that my imagination was allowed to swim as it pleased… Heaven will be like this…

It was there in that summer, when I lay on my bed with a headache that I started paying attention to the sound of that record. And it was a haunting sound. It said, ‘Yes, this is who you are as well… Get moving…” But I wasn’t truly paying attention. I was hearing it, but my mind was not ready. There were still kites to fly, airplanes to build, and the pool in the back yard. New friends. Magic. But the voice was strong, and that little record made it back with me to the states. I can’t say the same for the rest of it.

Back in the states, I came home to one of the biggest snow storms ever to hit the east coast. Fourteen inches of snow fell while I was at school. And as I walked through this ocean of white I spotted the record player. Someone had thrown it out. It was old, too. I remember the first time I fired it up that it lit up red. Tubes. I didn’t know what tubes were then. Getting that thing home was no picnic either. I had to drag it in the snow for about a mile and a half. But it was something I had to bring home. It was meant to be mine. And sure enough, it became part of my room. My personal music assistant. Now I didn’t need permission to play a record. I had my own machine…

And the voice spoke to me again, through the magic of “A Day In The Life”, ‘Revolution”, and “Hey Jude”… And more. The airplanes became sillier, and books became more important. Drawing gave way to painting, and my record player churned out the music… That’s how I found me.

So when I watch this film, and these songs come on… I am at once transported back to that time when I lived. But never am I losing the story, nor my love for the characters in this film. In fact, when I watched it tonight for the first time since I saw it in the theatre, it felt so familiar and yet so new at the same time. This is an important film about hopes, dreams, love, friends, music, and is not about time, politics or even The Beatles. This is not a movie about The Beatles, ok? But it is, or rather it appears to be, a movie about how this music was there for that time, those politics, and above all, for love. And it is still here today. And this breaks my heart with happiness, but that’s ok. Tears of joy are always better than tears of sadness.

If are in need of a heart warming experience, watch this film and see where it takes you.

– Claude

The Claude List | Music | Art | Bands

Yeah it’s a list, and I’m in the mood, can’t help it! I was just thinking about how I discovered these artists without the benefit of MTV or mainstream Radio or Television. My ‘musica nueva’ came about mostly from friends. Only the number one position is accurate. The rest vary per mood. So this is my list…

Claude | Favorite Artists | Music | Art

The Beatles – Where would I be without this band? Number one…
The Kinks – Ray Davies is a punk rocker. Stop it.
The Who – My Generation still speaks to me. But the kids are alright.
Pink Floyd – The strange melodies and mood mystify me to this day.
Kraftwerk – Computer World changed me. Guitars faded away to bleeps.
Bob Marley – Who knew Politics could make you happy and angry? Genius.
Nirvana – I got into them late. Makes me a grunge poser. Oh well.
Flaming Lips – The last great experimental band in the USA.
White Stripes – Well, say what you will. I love Jack and Meg.
The Strokes – I like these guys. NYC rocks.
Ladytron – Posh, stylish, and yet edible as Dali would say.
New Order – Love at first listen. Still together in my mind. Technique!!!
Joy Division – “Weeping synthesizers” a friend said. He was right. Sigh.
Depeche Mode – Some Great Reward and Black Celebration. Forever.
Erasure – I Say I Say… and Chorus. Vince, Andy, my stereo.
Cetu Javu – So Strange and Situations. Among my favorite songs.
David Bowie – His chameleon ways are amazing. Want to listen now.
The Chameleons UK – Strange Days is the goth masterpiece. I Swear.
Carlos Gardel – Tango was always in the background. Now it haunts me.
Beastie Boys – Hello Nasty. This is my favorite. Amazing live.
Front 242 – I actually love the first album. IDM before IDM.
Radiohead – Next to Sgt. Pepper you will find OK Computer. Influential.
Bjork – The videos. I watch them over and over. Sonic excellence.
Sex Pistols – What? Yeah go on, drop dead!
Buzzcocks – My favorite punk band in the world. Ever fallen in love?
The Ramones – I never saw them play. A regret. Love them!!!
Anything Box – I am biased of course. I love my band.
The Diary – My alter ego, and for purely egocentric reasons, I love it.
Goodbye July – No music is better than personal music. I know him!
The Lamented – Fuck the Producers. Yeah. YEAH!!!

And suddenly, I switch to art…

Salvador Dali – He’s in there somewhere. Mastication comes to mind.
Max Ernst – His paintings are haunted. And grand.
Giorgio Di Chirico – I have walked in those landscapes. I know.
Klee – When I feel childlike, I turn to him. I smile.
Miro’ – His paintings move as you watch them. And you are stilled.

There are surely others I’ve forgotten at this moment in time, but as you can see I have a somewhat diverse pallet of taste. But is it good taste? I don’t care.

- Claude S. / Anything Box