Wednesday, December 03, 2003
Let's get the band back together!
Six words. Invoking almost as much loser mana as the phrase "I live with my parents", this utterance has heralded the beginning of more mid-life crises and nervous breakdowns than any other.
But it is happening. Well, sort of. Not the whole band. Just one third of it. But the most important third. And it is all happening.
But first, dear reader, allow me to catch you up:
The year was 1993. We had just gotten rid of (forever, we thought) Bush from the White House. The Dallas Cowboys were Super Bowl Champs. Nevermind owned the charts. Michael Jackson was accused of sordid things. My, how things change.
Anywho- me and some friends and co-workers decided to start a funk band. I, with my freestyle hip-hop background and basic musical weirdness, would be the frontman. We put together an eclectic mix of horns, drums and guitars and evolved into a kick-ass, politically slanted, funk/punk explosion. Nobody got us but everyone loved us. We were tight, charismatic and unique. Old people loved the horn section. Young folks loved the rhymes and beats. Constantly, we were told that we were 'ahead of our time', whatever that meant. We rocked Austin for, like, five years, and then life started taking us, one-by-one, away from the project. Eventually I moved to New York, got married and started a blog.
Fast forward ten years. The drummer, who we will call The Machine, calls me up with the itch. I, too, had had the itch. I'd started to write again, almost accidentally. I few lines here. A few verses there.
I say to the Machine, "Let's scratch the itch. But,you still live in Austin. I live in NYC. What do we do?" So, he goes into action. He's got new guys lined up, guys who are pumped to work with him and who had loved our old stuff. He finds an old friend who owns the biggest studio on the east coast and gets him into the new project. He gets the ball rolling.
So now, I'm starting yet another project. Somehow, in addition to my Theatre company, my improv troupe and my actual real job, I'm going to start a bi-coastal band with no songs, management or record label. But you can be assured of one very important fact:
it will rock.
So be on the look-out, true believer. The funk-punk experience which once broke down the barriers in Austin, TX, will be coming to an ear near you.
You have been warned.
Six words. Invoking almost as much loser mana as the phrase "I live with my parents", this utterance has heralded the beginning of more mid-life crises and nervous breakdowns than any other.
But it is happening. Well, sort of. Not the whole band. Just one third of it. But the most important third. And it is all happening.
But first, dear reader, allow me to catch you up:
The year was 1993. We had just gotten rid of (forever, we thought) Bush from the White House. The Dallas Cowboys were Super Bowl Champs. Nevermind owned the charts. Michael Jackson was accused of sordid things. My, how things change.
Anywho- me and some friends and co-workers decided to start a funk band. I, with my freestyle hip-hop background and basic musical weirdness, would be the frontman. We put together an eclectic mix of horns, drums and guitars and evolved into a kick-ass, politically slanted, funk/punk explosion. Nobody got us but everyone loved us. We were tight, charismatic and unique. Old people loved the horn section. Young folks loved the rhymes and beats. Constantly, we were told that we were 'ahead of our time', whatever that meant. We rocked Austin for, like, five years, and then life started taking us, one-by-one, away from the project. Eventually I moved to New York, got married and started a blog.
Fast forward ten years. The drummer, who we will call The Machine, calls me up with the itch. I, too, had had the itch. I'd started to write again, almost accidentally. I few lines here. A few verses there.
I say to the Machine, "Let's scratch the itch. But,you still live in Austin. I live in NYC. What do we do?" So, he goes into action. He's got new guys lined up, guys who are pumped to work with him and who had loved our old stuff. He finds an old friend who owns the biggest studio on the east coast and gets him into the new project. He gets the ball rolling.
So now, I'm starting yet another project. Somehow, in addition to my Theatre company, my improv troupe and my actual real job, I'm going to start a bi-coastal band with no songs, management or record label. But you can be assured of one very important fact:
it will rock.
So be on the look-out, true believer. The funk-punk experience which once broke down the barriers in Austin, TX, will be coming to an ear near you.
You have been warned.
