FOR-LOOOOORN

Again, it what seems like a decade, the main Factor principles of Brandt, Ash, Robin and myself gathered for the first official HF photo session. Correct me if I'm wrong, but this band in its short lifespan has yet to have an official photo. Everything you have seen so far, including the pix in the DISTRACTED sleeve come from other sources (ie. videos or candid shots). Sadly, despite my begging and pleading, Peter Saintface bowed out; most likely to prep rough mixes for me to hear (HINT). Meanwhile, Brandt enlisted his friend Kathie-Rose (forgive me if I've spelled your name wrong) to take said shots. Thank God this nice girl has the patience of a saint to deal with us.

A few days earlier while planning this, Ash had a smart idea to put us to work in the studio as we are all rarely in the same room at the same time. Based on that, Brandt, as usual, smartly did the homework and had everything ready and waiting for us. This evening would also give Robin the opportunity to hear some of her drum work for the first time ("wait, I played on that?"), and for Ash to review his basslines from 2 weeks ago that we all love ("eh, I'm not feeling it").

Though we all agreed on our love for the new bridge in CREATION PHASE and Brandt, in one his "Ideas that F.J. thinks is stupid when he first hears it but is later proven wrong" told us we would have to write a new outro to the song in a different key because that new bridge ended in a different key. I, of course, was like "that's stupid", but thats what I always say. However, then we got it going. As usual, the mandate of pushing these songs forward is proven to be successful as the new outro is awesome and allowed me to get some cool "F.J. bass" in there. The song BLOWS up at the end. I'm loving it.

For every great moment like that, there's some frustration. On another song, SOLAR, we decided to have Robin re-track her chorus basslines against her new drums. This proved tough. What she originally had was a very simple line that I felt drove the song perfectly, but Ash felt there could be more to it in a "dub" sorta way. After Robin's many attempts, Ash took over for awhile, but he couldn't quite crack it either. I think we all liked where he was going, but it just wasn't getting there. Honestly, I think we should go back to the simplicity of the original bassline, but we have to at least explore every angle before committing. We owe these songs, and each other, that much.

During all this, Kathie-Rose, took what seemed like a million photos. She's very sweet, very cool, but I think was upset to learn that Ash, Robin, and I all hate The Pixies. What was interesting was that after 10 years on and off working together, Ash and I didn't realize that we both hated them. I was convinced he loved them and he thought I loved them. EH! BOTH WRONG. This was a big bonding moment, for Ash, Robin and I. We spent a good half hour RAILING on The Pixies. Enjoy the reunion, Brandt!

Anyway, the evening ended late with Kathie-Rose taking more "band" shots. I think she coulda kept going all night taking pix, but my crew was getting cranky so we called it a night. FULL SUCCESS.

During this, I realized the only thing I miss about the aggression was the comraderie of being in "the band" with my friends. However, after hearing tales about certain mates other bands and the drama and high school kiddie shit that goes on within their unit, I was suddently quite happy to just have a "project" that is evolving into a band that will only have people who WANT to make the best possibly music they can.

Music should be the escape FROM the drama of the everyday, right?

In other news, I have regressed to my 15 year old self once again and I'm suddenly buying rare Jackie Chan movie programmes from Japan. These highly collectable books were my teenage obsession, but my collection was far from complete. On a whim, and encouraged by my significant other, I went on Ebay only to find that two places in Japan have unloaded TONS of them. So far I have yet to lose an auction, but I doubt the rent will be on time, especially now that I've found someone selling Jackie Chan stuntcrew Tshirts (I have the ORIGINAL from the early 80's!). I'm in trouble to say the least.

In news beyond everything, in a rare NYC appearance the other night, Bradley J. Fox, fresh from his travels to Paris, Capetown and Bucharest, announced that he and his Wife Dee Dee are expecting their first small Cramp. I feel this child will kick much ass and now I must concede my LA digs to this small baby. My request for bunk beds for the forthcoming infant and I was denied. Luckily, Agent/Manager/Lawyer has an extra bedroom just for me. Irene and I are inching closer to bi-costalness, i think...should know more this summer.

F