30.5.04

Wait, is Shrek the Ogre in Skinny Puppy?

First things first, thanks to the Quizmo website, I have created "Test Your MOGness" quiz for the members of the MOGpac. This quiz is designed mostly for the 8 or so people that would possibly get it, but dammit of those 8 people who have taken it thus far, there has been much amusement. It really takes the piss out of the whole crew. Further to the 24 Quiz discussed previously, Brandt took it and was Tony, and Ash took it and was Michelle, Tony's wife. If you know these people, this makes perfect sense. Then Dan Hamill took it and was Kim Bauer, Jack's daughter, which in this silly world of ours, makes even sense that G himself would be a hot chick...

Moving on...

Being as burnt out as I am from the recent LA adventure and then subsequent real life work related matters that have kept me from home this week, I was excited to have a good nights rest yesterday and then hit the studio for a solid (half day) or work. We began with the computer-based grunt work of adding the new parts Leo did in LA for OUR FAITH to the original song file. I loved the arrangement Leo and I conceived for the song, so it was my job to get that in shape. Arrangement is one of my strong points, so while this may be a boring job for some, this is my bread and butter. It didnt take too long, but I wanted to spend some time going through everything thats been recorded for the song to see what would stay and go. By doing this, I was able to create a cool blend of the original (recorded with Jamie Birthday Boy Duffy) and the new version (recorded with Leo). We got us a hot song here.

Next was more fun, as I finally got to get my musical hands on the latest track, DESCRIPTIVE, which I had yet to do anything but arrange. As I type, I'm waiting for B to send over the mp3 of it, but we created a new intro that has all the elements of the chorus, minus the guitars, but with the addition of some F-Bass. Brandt wants this song to end as a fade, so we added this bass to the fading chorus at the end. Inspired, I began writing some lyrics down so I wouldn't forget while B added some synth and strings to the chorus. I'm really loving this song, and while I don't think it fits on the album (and was never intended to be), I am enormously proud of what my mates did here and I hope we can play this baby live.

Upon discussing where we are at with the albun, it's been decided to start vocals earlier than planned as the drum editing is going to slow for my tastes (however, this will bring us nothing short of perfection thanks to B). So I should be back there on Monday starting this.

It was too nice outside after a few crap days of weather, so B and I hit the record shop for our usual round of spending way too much. Got the new MOJO/NME special on The Smiths and seeing Oasis on the cover of the new Q made my day.

Later that night, Irene, G and I went to see SHREK 2. I am not a big fan of the first one, which I liked, but damn this second one is HILARIOUS, thanks in part to really funny voice work from Antonia Banderes and Rupert Everett. Really funny, go see it.

And now I must prepare for the long awaited Pizza-Off event in which Irene and my dad will battle to see who makes the better Pizza here at MOGworld. My dad, who doesnt cook is about to get his ass handed to him I think, as Irene makes a damn fine Pizza. The Winner in all this is ME, who gets to eat all of this!

F

26.5.04

The Following Blog Takes Place Between the Hours of 11pm and 12am. Events Occur in Real Time

So while arranging the song B, Ash, Robin and Charles wrote, DESCRIPTIVE, we paused to eat some Great Wall and watch the Season Finale of 24, which was really good. Not great, but really good. Jack's breakdown at the end was a good way to end it. The War goes on and Jack Bauer will not tire! Anyhow, The show's not back on till January and I have a feeling it will be a very different show. Seasons 1 and 2 were classic and quite frankly, Season 3 had a lot to live up to and occasionally delivered. It's time to change up the formula. However, speaking of season finale's, SMALLVILLE was awesome and they re really shaking up that show in a good way. They got rid of a lot of characters supposedly and had a well crafted cliffhanger. Kudo's to that writing staff.

I took a quiz that was called "Which 24 Character are you most like" and this was the answer: "You are MOST like JACK BAUER. Your motives are pure, but your tactics are ruthless, fearless and uncompromising. You value loyalty, honour and tradition. You don't trust people easily, but when they do earn your trust, you are loyal to them, sometimes to a fault. You are quick-witted, resourceful and a bit of a badass. You love danger and taking risks, but will not hesitate to put yourself on the line for your beliefs and the people you care about."

I think i AM a bit of a badass, though I hope I don't have a heroin habit by next season.

As for the new song, it's damn good and the kids have left me a lot to work with. I don't know if they will love the arrangement, but you can't make everyone happy. I already have vocal melodies for it. It gets quite electronic in the middle, which I love. It will be great for the single.It needs some more meat on it, though I'm not sure what it needs yet or if even I'm the man to do it. Regardless, this track is certainly worthy of the HF catalogue. My compatriots are a mean force.

Meanwhile, Brandt gave me a new edit of CREATION PHASE where the intro was significantly chopped. The song has much more punch now, which really takes it over the top (a good thing). it makes sense. Also, he recorded some extra guitars for LENINGRAD, which were good but needed proper placement, so we spent sometime on that. Now that song's just about perfect.

Brandt will now be spending the next week plus editing drums. Closer and Closer. We need to be careful not to start overthinking shit.


While I am a newcomer to THE SOPRANO's, my love for Drea De Matteo is everlasting. Watching her get beat up and now supposedly killed on that show is too much for me. I have a feeling which she appears next season on the FRIENDS spin-off JOEY, I doubt we will see Matt LaBlanc smacking her around.

And finally the newest issue of the BATTLE ROYALE manga has arrived, so I'm off!

F

24.5.04

Sit Down And Shut Up!

As I got up to grab some iced tea from the fridge (now a staple at Birdcage to cut down on Wendy's bills), the searing pain in my arms reminded me of something I forgot to mention in my previous post: the MOGpac's first appearance at the Tournament Of Champions dodgeball league.

I will keep the history and details about this event to a minimum, as I hope Mattagement (an organizing principle of MOG Athletics) will go into specifics about that here. But a few key observations:

- The MOGpac should probably spend weekends brushing up on their skills, as the team went one for five, despite a good showing during our warmup session outside MLK Jr. High School.

- A defensive/catching game is probably the way to go because, with few exceptions, we throw like girls. Sorry ladies.

- The MVP award for the day belongs to Charles LaBarbara, who went one-on-one against a chick and brought the MOGpac its only victory of the championship. The ref would take umbrage at Charles' name being used in the same sentence as MVP, but he's not here right now, so fuck it.

- The only team the 'pac beat has a player who the crowd referred to alternately as Tolkien or a Hobbit. I am not sure what this says about us.

- The "Nastiest Smack" award goes to Robin Emmet, who took one for the team square in the chest when she was the only one left on the court. Not even FJ's frequent spatula attacks could have prepared the poor girl for that hit, which resonated throughout the gym. While we lost that match, the hecklers booed the opposing team for beating up on a lone girl. Do moral victories exist in dodgeball?

- The MOGpac received its most savage beating at the hands of a team named after a Spinal Tap album. We hath smelt the glove, and the stench was foul.

- If you are a team of irate alpha males, calling yourselves the "Richard Ryders" is an unfortunate decision.

The good news is that we met a couple of other dodgeballers who were competing for the second time at the tournament, and their team made it to the playoffs after a one-and-five showing the month beforehand. Indeed, miracles do happen. Now all we need are t-shirts.

Descriptive

I admit I was supposed to write this post days ago, but I am back to editing drums for Exit Strategies and keeping everyone up to date went on the backburner for a few days. So please excuse my poor sense of timing.

But as FJ wrote yesterday, while he cavorted with industry types in Los Angeles on Wednesday, the Factor Corp. board met at Birdcage to hammer out the foundation of the band's first new song in seven months. The recording was planned at my encouragement, and I admit it is nonsensical to dive into a new recording while we are waist-deep in edits and overdubs for the full-length. That being said, the fans will be treated to a new hypefactor release this year before the album - I'll leave it up to FJ to fill in the details when he sees fit - and we wanted to include something exclusive. This track will most likely be it.

The directive for the song, per FJ, was to compose something emphasizing electronics rather than guitars. Guitars drive the melodies and rhythms of Exit Strategies, with few exceptions, and we both thought it would be clever to do something radically different here. A number of structural ideas and potential "blueprints" for the tune were bandied about via IM before F left for Los Angeles, and the general consensus was to fashion a pop song whose melody and atmosphere are driven by rhythm loops and synth melodies. I refined some structural ideas further while listening to some NewOrder b-sides from their Get Ready era, both of which were synth-based tracks recorded during that band's otherwise rockist period.

And as always happens with this band, plans and ideas rarely materialize as intended, and for the better. The core of Robin, Ash and I were joined by Ass Cobra bassist Charles LaBarbara the evening of the session, much to Robin's surprise and delight (as she and Chaz get along swimmingly). Ash and I cued up some loops we had prepared in Ableton Live, while Charles played bass and Robin played synth drums on her Roland electronic kit... a first for us. As Charles' funky bass part came together, however, both Ash and Robin drifted toward guitars, and they recorded some dark, chordy progressions of which I am quite fond. Ironically, no electronics (aside from the basic loops and Robin's drums) were tracked that evening. Not what I had intended by a long stretch, but the result felt right.

I took that direction one step further the next day while jamming along to Robin's drums and Charles' precise, machine-like bass line, which will probably form the verse/chorus structure for the tune. Their playing had such unexpected drive to it that I tracked some acoustics and a brisk, zingy electric riff in a few hours of inspiration. I also pulled in a lot of new loops from a prep session I had done earlier in the week, many of which may stay pending FJ's arrangement overhaul. As I wrote to F today, the song is only 10 to 15 percent of the way there, so it could be a reggae song by the time we are wrap it up next month. But the song in its current form has far more verve than I anticipated, and I am thrilled with the direction it has taken thus far.

A substantial part of the song's feeling derives from Charles' bass part, which I think is one of the best things this group has committed to tape in some time. There are countless studio moments - Ash's guitar riff in the bridge of "Exist," FJ's bass in "Clean Up," Robin's drumming on "Solar" - where I thank my lucky stars I play in this band, and Charles' performance on Wednesday was of that quality. I, for one, hope (and think) this will not be his only appearance on a hypefactor recording.

The last time I posted I promised to say something about ex-industrialist Chris Connelly's new record, Night Of Your Life, which came out last week. FJ and I had the luxury of digesting a pre-release copy of this album for a matter of months, and after listening to the finished product I still believe Connelly has not recorded anything this brilliant since Blonde Exodus, if not Shipwreck. This feat is all the more impressive considering that those records were recorded with full bands, while producer/longtime collaborator Chris Bruce and a keyboardist are Connelly's only accompaniment on Night Of Your Life. Bruce, a wildly talented multi-instrumentalist and member of Seal's backing band, deserves a huge amount of credit for providing the lushness this batch of tunes required. Given hipsters' penchant for singer-songwriter types these days, I will never understand why "Stella Stand Up And Take Your Man" is not a massive hit. Other than a certain record label's penchant for blowing goats. Oh, and the cover art, all of which was shot in Scotland, is sublime and worth the price of admission alone.

Edits and overdubs continue this week, and if all goes well vocals start on one or two songs next week. Stay tuned.

23.5.04

Wheres The Red Carpet?

Just back from the Harry Potter premiere here in NYC. Good movie, solid direction and an extremely hilarious cameo by ex Stone Rose Ian Brown (a pal of the director's, hence the cameo). Of course in all of Radio City Music Hall only two people went mad for Ian Brown: myself and Dan Hamill (though you should have seen Mr. G pop for Emma Watson when they came out to introduce the movie, not that I blame him). As for the movie, it lacks one thing, which is a major bad guy. Let's just say Kenneth Branagh got more screentime in the last movie than Oldman does in this. Special thanks to Mattagement for hooking Irene, G and myself with tix. The post show dinner at the original hardcore Benihana was most enjoyable and as always, the company (G, Matt and Jax) is always first rate.

Stepping back to my industrial roots, I've heard the new WATTS album for the first time today. It's always fun to hear something new from Raymond, and this is no exception. With WATTS, Raymond tries some new things, going into more electronic territory while also stripping down his usually thick sound. It was a smart decision not to call this a PIG album, because with the way its produced and performed, its not. When it does sound like Pig, its more of a reference than anything. I know some of you die-hards are pissed, but quite honestly, he's smart not to fuck with the PIG brand name. I know that sounds kinda corporate, but when he goes back to doing something as PIG, no one can fuck with him when he wanted to try something different here. Having spent years tracking down almost everything the man has ever recorded, I'm a sucker for most things Watts, so I might be a bit biased.

I am told in their first outing, MOG Athletics won ONE game and lost FIVE in dodgeball. I would like to congratulate these beatiful losers on a job well done!!

F

22.5.04

Air Force MOG

This might be my first blog from the air. I am 3/4 of the way back to NYC from an extended stay on the West Coast. While here in the air, I want to wish Team Mogpac well on their first dodgeball game, currently being played somewhere in the big apple. I hope Matt Gentile will report the results here on the blog and I look forward to participating in the next round of what we call MOG Athletics. Considering it was Irene’s idea, I should participate.

A lot happened on my LA journey and it’s hard to remember it all because I’m so tired, but I’ll try to give you the update, as I did actually work on things to benefit the world of MOG. I won’t get too deep into my adventures at E3 as it was a massive headache and basically a huge arcade on steroids. I did enjoy seeing some of the new games and in particular, the new tech. I think we’re all going to be playing the Playstation Portable in the next few years. It was also fun to see my man Evan walk the floor of this convention like a massive rockstar (He’s an important game reviewer in the real world). The convention is huge, it’s loud. Note to self: next time bring aspirin.

Quick story: on my way to the convention, LA’s finest pulled me over for jumping into the HOV lane (like an idiot I pulled right in front of a fucking cop). However, upon seeing my Ipod in the front seat, the two policemen, who shall remain nameless, and I got into a conversation about their desire to play their Ipod in their police car. When they learned I was going to E3, I not only avoided a ticket, I also got a police escort for my trouble. Only in LA kids.

Anyhow, at a party held in honour of my lawyer/agent/advisor, Leo V23 and I huddled into a corner to discuss our musical work for the upcoming week in LA while also trying to avoid (unsuccessfully) as many entertainment industry types as possible. With our game plan set, Leo and I spent a few nights in the wee hours working on the new HF song OUR FAITH. We had been looking for Leo to come through with his unique style of atmospheric guitar playing and singing and boy did my second favourite Argentinean come through. We took what was a wall of guitars and britrock and turned into a sexy explosion of the subtly and noise. Tons of loops were removed and by doing so, the melodies really came through while also making Robin’s drums really stand out. Leo laid down some beautiful guitars and even better vocals, in Spanish no less. I used my skills in an arranging capacity and we have a brand new and interesting song that is a million times better than what I walked in there with.

Leo is used to being a solo performer, but I was really impressed with how collaborative he was. Working with him was no different than working with my best collaborators: Brandt, Ash and Robin. He would listen carefully to my ideas and even if he thought some of them wouldn’t work, he would try them, which sometimes led to him being surprised, me being surprised and most importantly, really allowing us to push the material forward. After working with “producers” and “musicians” whose egos and need to be in charge overwhelms everyone else in the room to the point where they won’t let anyone push the music forward because of their own insecurities, Leo was a joy to work with and has a place in the Factor Corporation any day.

On the topic of Leo, in between all of this I managed to catch the debut gig of his newest project AM Pacific, which continues the musical style he began several years with his previous project Sutra. This was at a private party filled mostly with hipster douches out in Los Feliz, the Williamsburg of Los Angeles (Fuck you, Fury). Leo had a very simple set up of himself on guitars and vocals, one girl on lead vocals, and another girl on vocals and trumpet (who was amazing). Beats and loops were run through a PA via Leo’s Ipod. They came on late and the people were annoying, but damn was this short set worth it. The AM trio was excellent and really delivered a beautiful set and the best cover of Chris Issak’s WICKED GAME you will ever hear.

Meanwhile I worked on artwork for a potential HF single, while my 3 cohorts teamed up with Ass Cobra’s amazing bassist Charles to work on a potential B-side, which they have titled DESCRIPTIVE. An mp3 was sent my way of the material written for this song and boy am I excited. I had a few requests of what I would like to hear in a B-side and the Factor Corp really stepped up to the plate. I’m already writing vocal melodies. I hope Brandt will go into detail about the making of this song somewhere here.

Luckily Brandt took the space to review Morrissey’s new one and I’m happy to say I’m loving the album. Another amazing return to form by a legend of days past. We need Moz and he has not let us down. Duran was the comeback of 03, and Moz is truly the comeback of 04. Thank God.

My celebrity sightings included former Melrose Place douche Patrick Muldoon, the Legendary Mickey Rourke, Apollo Creed himself Carl Weathers, current Playboy cover star Charisma Carpenter (who I was tempted to ask why she refused to show her nether regions in said photo spread, thus making the spread quite Maxim instead of Playboy), and the man Dan Hamill and I call Mr. 100 Million Dollars: Oliver Martinez, who might be the one human being Brandt hates the most on this planet besides Benicio Del Toro (who is on the airplane movie screen right now in 21 Grams). Oliver was sans Kylie, but was wearing these horrible glasses that reminded me of Dan Hamill Circa 1993. Not good. Special thanks to my friends at Ca’Brea for sitting my lawyer/agent/advisor and myself at a better table that the movie stars.

Also, the highlight of my trip was spent with the younger crowd, including the new Fury baby, in from San Fran (it was fun seeing Bradley J. Fox and my sister Dee Dee looking into their future of parenthood while playing with the Fury child). And of course, as much time as possible was spent my 5 year old nephew, who becoming more of a clone of my girlfriend every day, just as my small cousin has become a Star Wars loving Benihana eating clone of me.

Oh I saw TROY and the best part was seeing the trailer for CONSTANTINE.

New York approaches. More, much more, soon!

F

16.5.04

All The Lazy French

With FJ loitering outside all-male theaters on Santa Monica boulevard and sharing iPod tips with law enforcement, news on the home front is my responsibility for another week. The past few days were rife with gigs, record purchases and hypefactor work, thankfully, so there is a lot to keep you occupied until FJ writes about the "gig" he saw Saturday night.

First stop of the week was on Thursday at the dreaded Piano's (where personality goes to die) to see The Dansettes. Joe Babic, the perenially youthful bassist in Saintface, has dated a charming lady named Jamie for as long as anybody in the MOGpac has been going to see his band. Unlike the worst rock 'n' roll girlfriends - a lecherous lot who date talent because they lack it themselves - Jamie is a musical firebrand in her own right, and The Dansettes are her band. A 1960s-styled girl group, no less, with Jamie and two others on vocals and a quartet of male instrumentalists. While The Dansettes are a nostalgia act in the sense that they are not doing anything to modernize the soul genre, they stay true to the tenets of the best groups from that era and have more talent and style than any other contemporary outfit claiming to be "soul." The set mixed obscure Northern Soul covers and originals, and it was obvious the band knows its roots because they nailed the best elements of the former in their own material. It is tragic that The Dansettes have yet to commit anything to tape, as Jamie truly has an excellent tropue on her hands.

Revelation of the evening: Jamie can belt out those soul numbers with as much vigor and flair as her 1960s predecessors. Who knew the spirit of Dobie Gray was alive and thriving in the body of a 5-foot, 3-inch Polish girl? Utterly remarkable.

My original plans to see Saintface at Lit on Friday night were scuttled when, at the last minute, FJ discovered via Irene that Colder had their debut New York gig booked for the same evening at Rothko on the Lower East Side. Colder is the alias of Marc Tan, a French video artist who wrote and recorded some tunes to accompany his visual work. "Again," the album borne of those recordings, ended up being more interesting than anything Tan committed to DVD, and he was promptly signed to Output Recordings (the über-hip home of The Rapture, etc.) Reviews pegged the record as a more electronic Joy Division or Revenge, naturally piquing interest among some MOGpac members. And for the most part, the record lives up to the hype, as its absence of memorable hooks is more than compensated for with Tan's spacious programmed atmospheres.

When FJ or I carp about electronic artists' live shows, we almost always note the reliance on computers or pre-programmed material (Squarepusher, you asshole: take note). In Colder's case, however, the exact opposite was the case. Tan brought a three-piece accompaniment (guitar-bass-drums) for the tour, and his group proceeded to wreck the album's subtle delivery. It was not until the middle of the hour-long set that the group struck a rerasonable balance between the live rock and the programming, and even then with mixed success. I will rarely argue that something is too live, but the criticism holds true for Colder. Even Ash, an ardent fan of Again on the first listen, was underwhelmed. And our talkative guests did not help matters.

That being said, Colder drew a heck of a crowd for a show with no promotion. Every crisply-dressed indie snob in the city packed into this tiny club, making for a crowded, overheated and unpleasant wait... save for the DJ playing Die Warzau's "Land Of The Free."

I made the trek to Rebel Rebel on Saturday for no particular reason, only to discover that Dave had limited edition versions of Morrissey's You Are The Quarry in stock. In short, this is the best set of tunes old Moz has assembled since the early 1990s. There is nothing earth-shattering here, aside from the liberal use of programming and synthesizers, but the melodies are strong and as arresting as anything in the man's solo repertoire. I will argue that a stellar lyricist like Morrissey should align himself with more innovative songwriters and arrangers, as stated in the New York Times' review of Quarry. Nevertheless, Boz Boorer and Alain Whyte are competent players who deliver some fine work on this album. Kudos.

PJ Harvey's new single The Letter, on the other hand, was a letdown. Harvey chose to produce her new record herself, and limited her instrumental support to longtime collaborator Rob Ellis. While the song is pure Harvey, the production leaves a lot to be desired when held up against Stories From The City, Stories From The Sea. A shame, really, though I will reserve final judgement for the album.

Album to be discussed later that you must pick up now: Chris Connelly's Night Of Your Life, out now on Underground, Inc.

Tonight: Guitar work on "Leningrad" to test my theory that the song is far from complete. Stay tuned...

11.5.04

What about?

I can only assume I am blogging so much because I am on a plane in the morning, but just to tease you, the Hypefactor Live Experience just took an interesting twist. Stay tuned.

F

MANCHESTER UNITED!

From today's NME comes this years most awesome event:

NOEL GALLAGHER and IAN BROWN have collaborated on a track for the former STONE ROSES vocalist's new album. According to The Sun newspaper, the pair met by chance at the Electric Cinema in London’sNotting Hill. "We got talking about music and agreed we should do something," explained Brown . He added: "Noel sent me some music he’d done and I recorded a vocal. The result is brilliant, I’m really excited. I hope it will be a single." The news comes after denials from the Oasis camp that Liam was to form a supergroup with ex-Roses guitarist John Squire. As previously reported onNME.COM, the band claim the story was "dreamed up" by editorial staff atThe Sun. Oasis are currently working in the studio on the follow-up to ’Heathen Chemistry’, which is due for release later this year. Brown’s new album is expected in August or September.

Batman and Me

Though this blog is usually reserved for the musical portion of my life, I must report today that I am a victim of false reporting on the internet. It was reported on "respected" internet movie sites this morning that I have become an Executive Producer on the forthcoming BATMAN film. While I would love nothing more in life than to produce a Batman film (and believe me this new one is going to be the bomb), I can truthfully tell you that I AM NOT an Executive Producer. I just happen to work for two of them in my "other" life. I wanted you all to read this first as the E-mails are already coming in.

NO I AM NOT. OK? I would love to know who does this shit.

I have asked the websites to remove the false article simply because A. It's bullshit and B. Could get me in trouble. THANKS, Jett.

F

THE END OF EVERYTHING, I THINK

Upon finishing the post below, something was nagging at me. Like I had forgotten something. And then it hit me.

Besides this week being the 10th anniversary of the first time Mark Mothasemi and I took to the stage with the teenage versions of Ash and Tom, a year ago this past weekend, the aggression played what will be most likely be their last ever show. From what I recall, it was a good gig, though honestly, we were always good (though we got REALLY good once Robin came in). We played here in the City and the other band no showed, so we were able to do our extended set without having to cut anything. it was sparsely attended, especially in comparison to our previous NYC shows, but it was hastily put together and we had just come back from Russia when the opportunity to play arose. While we had several gigs over the past 10 years that were supposed to be our last, the one time I didn't think was the last one, was in fact, THE LAST GIG EVER (TM). I've not seen a video of this gig because, according to Matt Gentile, the tape is "fucked up". I nag him occasionally about this, but there's a romanticism to never seeing it

I always felt like the aggression should have gone out like the end of Michael Mann's HEAT, in an overblown blaze of glory. That gig has been played over and over in my head millions of times. From what I would wear to what I would play, the gig was preconceived for the past few years. I don't think I was alone in that as I recall Ash having a set list for such a gig (as well as several drafted letters of resignation). I was about to share with you my thoughts on what that gig should be. I've decided against it as I think what you are speculating might be better than what I had planned.

I thought I would be more emotional about it, but I guess I got over it more quickly than I anticipated. This could be because I remain in such close, daily, contact with the people who did matter and worked hard to make the aggression something special. Another reason, and I can see this with time having passed, I was fucking miserable in the band thanks to the lack of focus and maturity within it. But if I am anything, I am loyal and I was the general who took the ship down to a noble death. Let's be frank, we only sold a few thousand records, we were never even a blip on a radar. However, for ten years it was the world I and a few others lived in and while I can never forgive the few who tried to fuck with it, I love that the music and the experiences will be something no one can ever take away or tarnish. I wanted to save the industrial scene when bands i adored like Chemlab and Skinny Puppy went away. With all of these old schoolers coming back and putting out records, I can rest easier knowing we kept our elders seats warm in their absence.

From the pits of the Underworld to the former Soviet Union, the casualty rate was shockingly low and most of the friendships remain intact. Plus, some records came out that I love to pieces. They proudly hang on my well as reminders of the wonderful life I have led for 10 years.

And don't think I don't seen the irony in the fact that the one of last songs the aggression ever played was in fact, Hypefactor's SWEETEST SOUL.

HAH.

F

10.5.04

Out in the Farm...

Been running around like mad man as I get ready for another LA trip, so bear with me if I seem, if I can coin my dentists description of my agent/manager/lawyer: Scattered.

We did the customary Mothers Day celebrating yesterday, honouring the woman who dares take the responsibility of claiming to have given birth to me. She's a nice lady, I like her, though she needs to stop working so much (which is something she would say about me). Anyhow, this brought us to Long Island (hopefully for one of the last times in my life before the nice people who raised me finally move into the City at last). Completely by coincidence, Irene and I had tickets to see her absoulte favourite band, CAVE IN, on Long Island as well. Farmingdale, no less. Notice the first part of that town's name is farm. I must admit to having a strong appreciation for Cave in, but I am less appreciative of these far out parts of Long Island. Well, it was another flashback to pre-drivers license days, as Irene and I were driven by my aunt and uncle (also nice people, who have seen many aggression shows in their lives, poor things) to the venue, which was on the "main street" of town. Talk about Suburbia. We couldn't wait to get the hell out of this town! Who in their right mind lives out here!

Anyhow, the gig was good. The young guys in this band are shockingly gifted musicians. They write complex, catchy songs and this was the first time I was able to check them out in a small venue. They are loud and talented as hell. I love their album ANTENNA, which strays from their previous hardcore sound, so when they dip back into the catalog, I am not as excited, but because they play so well, it's enjoyable nonetheless. Their new material steps back a little bit to the harder side of things, but with a 70's rock bent. Could be good. Stay tuned. Great band!

Irene being up at 5:30am for work this morning really kicked me in the ass and it sent me straight down to the studio in the morning for what will be my last round in the studio for the next few weeks. I spent the whole day there, and we got some work done. It may not feel like much, but what we did was very important for the record. We offficially wrapped up guitar tracking today as Brandt laid down his acoustics for THE MORNING AFTER THE LIFE BEFORE. Again, I played the role of engineer and it's something I need to do more of instead of letting everyone go and just do their things. Hypefactor was orginally intended for me to improve on my bass playing and singing and I think I have met those goals. Now, I need to focus on producing, though I'd like to apply that to another project, i.e. Chemlab, and then bring what I learn into the HF experience. Anyhow, something to think about. I also took the opportunity to have B tutor me in how to use the program LIVE, which he and Ash often use to edit loops and such. I need some practive on this fucker!

We also wrapped up a remix that has been sitting around. A while back, Brandt had started some remixes of two songs from THE DISTRACTED LOVER. They were good drafts, but I felt they needed some more work. We just never got around to it. Last night at Cave In, they were selling a limited edition live CD that they pressed on their own and this inspired me to want to do something for HF; possibly a giveaway using those remixes. In my mind right now, and it's being planned that way, it will be THE SWEETEST SOUL EP, and we will give it out over the website. I spent part of the morning re-listening to the remixes and I heard changes that could be made on the remix of THIEVES very quickly. Needless to say, we worked fast and have a nice completed remix. I have to really sit with the other remix as it needs a ton of work on my return.


In my fan boy moment of the day, I ordered the new solo album from Sakurai Atsushi of Buck Tick. My old friend Wayne Hussey of the Mission, who did a wonderful remix for us years ago, wrote a song on the album as do Bryan Haloblack and Mr. Watts himself. These are more than enough reasons to buy this disc. Hope it rocks.

My posting will be less frequent over the next few weeks thanks to my heading to the left coast, so hopefully my comrades will fill the void a bit. Behave.

F

8.5.04

Mattitude

An extremely productive time was had at the Birdcage today as we came closer to wrapping up all the guitar overdubs. In fact, we might be done entirely if Brandt kept working after I left (though I doubt it). Regardless, the light at the end of the tunnel is growing brighter as we progress in large measures towards the mixing stage.

Like last week, I again stepped into the engineer's chair as Brandt not only re-recorded several guitar parts, but committed some new ideas to disk. I won't bore you with the details as it was a tedious but necessary task, but he started off doing some wonderful work in the rapidy evolving CREATION PHASE. The parts he wrote for this song are not simple, but the ease in which he lays them down would make you think otherwise. His attention to detail may be as tight as as Dan Hamill's anus, but it's worth it. Anyway, I think now we can finally put that tune to rest.

Next came the guitar lead for 1956. When the song was originally started in the aggression, Tom had done a riff which I thought was a good starting point for something that could work in the chorus. It was the usual Tom throwaway riff that he probably wasnt even paying attention to when he wrote it, and probably couldn't remember even playing. Anyhow, I remembered it and wrote my vocal melody to it. Realizing his riff wouldnt work as written, I took the extremely rare opportunity to pick up the guitar and re-write and perform the part myself. I'm happy to say my favourite two words: FULL SUCCESS apply here. I am under the impression that this is the only time I have picked up a guitar for this album, and this was the first guitar lick I have written since the verse leads for THE MOTIVE way back when. This worked out well and inspired Brandt to pick up his guitar to layer something over it. In a matter of minutes, the song went to a new level. Stay tuned!

Afterwards, we attempted to re-record Brandt's intro guitars to SOLAR, but I wasn't happy with the guitar tones he was working with. After some time, and much to my delight, Brandt decided to stick with his original recording from the demo and would fix the timing of it in Live to make it dead on perfect. I'm very much sold on that sound so Brandt, if you're reading this, don't change your freakin' mind. KEEP THAT PART...

Sometime during this, we had a special guest visit us in the form of Matt Gentile. As some of you may or may not know, Matt laboured many years as the aggression's manager and my original bass tech. I refer to him often as Mattagement. Thanks to him we've seen places and things on this planet the average rock band will never see or even dream of in their lifetime. He's the guy you call and say "I wanna play some shows in Russia" and days later, you're headlining major cities in foreign countries. Along with Dan Hamill, he is the co-conspirator of our MOG trips abroad and has never failed in his duties to us as a mattager or as a friend. I never question a thing when Matt is leading the charge and this had led the some of the greatest adventures of my life.

Anyway, he had some time to kill before seeing Morrissey's last night at the Apollo, so he came to listen to the new songs for the first time. It was good to have a fresh perspective on the material from someone who knows that the hell they are talking about. Because the aggression has gone the way of Suffolk County, Matt and I have existed soley on a friendship level this past year. However, I was excited to see him slip back into his professional mode and start discussing things like what the single should be, what song we should open gigs with and how we should have an EPK on the new CD. All great ideas.

I guess I should ask the handsome bastard to manage the Hype. Someone remind me, thanks. ;-)

I'm off to LA this week, so time is short and we're stealing as many moments as possible to make sure Brandt has everything he needs to work with in my absence. We're in good shape. The idea now is to be ready to mix the whole thing in JULY. I make note of this now to see when we actually DO start mixing someday.

In the meantime, say hi to your MOMS.

F

4.5.04

FULL DENIM JACKET

Jesus, where do I begin? Last night, and at long last, Irene and I made the trek to Harlem to the legendary Apollo Theatre to see Morrissey take to the stage for the first time here in many years. We’re both sick with colds and the weather was crap, but we were psyched.

There was a large line to get into the venue and who of course was at the near front of this line? None other than Peter, Joe and Michael, three-fifths of my favourite band Saintface. Decked out in identical denim, the lads were, to say the least, excited. It was an NME moment. To say Saintface loves and has been influenced by Morrissey/The Smiths would be an understatement compared to one describing me as a “casual” Star Wars fan. These guys were ready to rumble. Little did I know what was to come…

This was my first visit to the Apollo and I was shocked at how small this venue was. However, my shock turned to pure joy when I discovered that our 4th row Orchestra Left tickets gave us an extremely close, unobstructed view of the stage (this moment was observed by Joe Saintface from the last row of Orchestra Left). I’ve had some choice seats before (i.e. the legendary Depeche Mode Jones Beach show a few years ago, thank you Matt Gentile), but these were CLOSE. Needless to say, Irene and I were buzzing when we arrived at our seats while former NY Doll David Johansen was playing.

In between sets, a disgruntled Peter Saintface came by (did I mention, all the way from the last row of Orchestra left) to tell us how inherently wrong it was that we had better seats than the Saintface crew. Without saying so, my dear friend was saying “motherfucker, you don’t DESERVE those seats” (and quite frankly, I concede that those lads are more hardcore than I could ever be and deserving of the best seats). In another NME moment, I told him which band he should stick with if he wants to see some rock n roll up close. All light-hearted though, I’m just busting balls, because quite honestly, I know we were all happy to be there.

Finally, the lights went down and the intro music began. The die-hards ran to the front as did part of our row, giving Irene and I a lot of room to watch the show. Suddenly, Michael Saintface appeared next to me. His genuine excitement for the imminent arrival of Morrissey reminded me of when my mom took me out of school to see the first showing of THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK in 1980. He’s already an intense dude, but this was pure love (though slightly scary), and I must admit, it was infectious. Before I could even respond, Michael had run to the dead center of the security barrier to join his two bandmates as they welcomed their idol to the stage with hundreds of other screaming fans. We were close, but Saintface was now closer.

And there he was, Moz himself, looking lean, handsome and stylish. And honestly, with this crowd, the man could do no wrong. Granted, he’s not the wildman of the olden days, but he commands the stage in a unique and special way. His band, led by the ever-talented Boz Boorer, was tight and kept the pace up. The addition of a keyboardist (who also played horns and bongos) was welcome. And the fans, including the three members of Saintface dead center, went ballistic. Morrissey delivered a great performance. His show was centered around his forthcoming album and I’m happy to say the songs don’t suck. He chose his set list carefully, a Smiths song (THERE IS A LIGHT THAT NEVER GOES OUT) here, a solo classic (EVERYDAY IS LIKE SUNDAY) there. It was enough to keep us engaged and entertained while serving as a reminder as to why this man deserves his status as “legend”. We sang along, we laughed, and we had fun.

But the fun came not only from the gig, but from the audience…A guy seated in the row ahead of us decked out in a painted denim jacket that said MORRISSEY IS GOD, had run to the front to deliver Moz daffodils (someone had to). While his friends stayed in their seats and kept bringing him drinks, he patiently waited for Moz to come near him. This dude’s hard work paid off as his love of Morrissey was consummated not only when Moz graciously accepted the flowers, but then later allowed this man to kiss his hand. The look on this guys face when he turned back to his friends was priceless. His patient friends were very excited for him and I have to admit, Irene and I were quite happy for him. It’s rare when you can feel that kind of pure joy for someone at a gig.

After years of being pissed off by his 45-minute sets of the past, Moz played a very full and hearty set. He returned to the stage to do the Smiths’ classic HAND IN GLOVE, which for old fan like me, was a welcome surprise.

Even better was when Moz ripped off his shirt and threw it into the front row and left for good while several fans, like SHARKS, jumped for the shirt. Now normally I wouldn’t even mention such a thing if it hadn’t been for the fact that of the half dozen or so fans fighting for a piece of this shirt, the scariest, most intense fan vying for a piece was none other than Michael Saintface. Now, at this point the houselights are up and this shirt is STILL being violently fought over. These fans are not letting go! Security can’t even break this one up. They’re rolling over the seats! Upon realizing Michael was in the thick of it, Irene and I rushed over to cheer him on. “C’MON MIKE! DO IT FOR SAINTFACE!”, we yelled. Pieces are broken off, and some fans are leaving, but Michael, reaching levels of TAXI DRIVER era Deniro ferociousness, is still struggling to get him some Moz. Suddenly, the joke wasn’t funny anymore.

Peter jumped in on this chaos when, after 10 minutes of struggle, it came down to Michael vs. one very aggressive woman. Little did Michael know that this woman is Saintface’s ASCAP rep who handles their publishing!!! Realizing this, Peter started asking Michael not to KILL this woman, thinking of course they will never see any publishing money. Eventually, thanks to Peter, they were able to each get a small piece of the shirt. I don’t think Michael spoke after this, but as I said to him on the way out, “Man, I’m glad your own our side!”. Joe Saintface, non-plussed by any of chaos, quietly convinced a roadie give him a set-list, so he was quite happy.

Later, as Peter was walking out with an oversized mounted poster of Moz on the cover of Spin (given to him by the same ASCAP rep!), he informed us that this fight for the shirt is a regular tradition amongst them. Go figure. Also, and I’m warning those of you who are going to see Moz this week, Michael Saintface is going to be BACK for another show (not sure which). When the shirt flies, RUN. Let the man have it, for God’s sake! He’s a good guy, but he’s got a bad case of Moz-it is! (I hope he takes this all in good fun!)

To say Irene and I were entertained by both the show and the events afterwards would again be another understatement. To the guy with the daffodils, I applaud you. To Saintface, It was an honour to see you leather clad warriors lose your cool and be true fans of music for one night.

And to Morrissey, all is forgiven.

F

2.5.04

Hey Paco!

It's a lazy day in MOGworld as Irene has been downed by a mediocre 2am cheeseburger that didn't agree with her (damn you Gramercy!) and I'm just flat out beat. We enjoyed seeing the entire MOG collective last night for the KIDD's birthday; however I am sad I missed Dan Hamill lapdance both men AND women. I'm sure all I have to do is ask...

With Irene asleep, I've just finished watching Serpico, completing my inadvertant study of old school Al Pacino movies. GodDAMN, he was so good when he was young! I also used this weekend to catch up on recent Korean cinema. I watched first watched NATURAL CITY, which was described to me as the Korean BLADE RUNNER. Sure enough, it's almost the same plot, just with a few different twists, and not neary as good a film as Ridley's masterpiece. However, it looked fantastic, it was bloody and violent and I had fun watching, but it lacked substance. Next up was the highly recommended 2009 LOST MEMORIES which was pretty good, but not the classic I was told it was going to be. It had an interesting plot, but it meandered on. Plus it was shot on video, which was a big problem for me. However, I think Korea is the next big center of action movies, they just need to focus more on the stories and characters cause the directors are quite good and the ideas are very original (except when they're ripping off BLADE RUNNER).

Anyway, I made two pit stops into the studio this weekend and here's what went down:

LENINGRAD, originally known as TWO BASS, has finally been edited down to an acceptable length. It's original running time was over 7 minutes and after some rough vocals and some notes from Ash, I realized that this song would work better as an instrumental at a shorter length. Brandt and I had gone over the changes a few weeks ago with Ash and I pointed out what I planned to do, but I made sure to give myself some time to go over the track to make sure those changes are right. I got in front of the computer and it got it down very quickly to about 4 minutes plus change. It's tight now and I think it's going to work out great when we have the final drums in there.

Yesterday marked, in my mind, a pretty historic moment as for the first time Brandt asked me to record HIM playing guitars. Usually he just goes and does his own thing, unless we're jamming or writing, but he's never asked me to play producer for his guitar playing till now. Due to a computer crash some months ago, some of the parts to THE MORNING AFTER THE LIFE BEFORE has to be re-recorded, and then several other parts had to be re-recorded to fit Ash's new basslines. I recorded a LOT of Brandt and all of it was quite awesome. The song rocks, and like every other song, it's going to blow up when we have the final drums in there.

I don't think Brandt has much left to do other than re-track a few things here and there, but then its on to the final drum editing. Once he's done with that, I'll start on the final vocals. We've started to talk about HOW to release this album, and right now we're leaning towards putting it out ourselves just to avoid the problems I've had over the years with labels. I'm at that age where the record deal means less and putting out a finished album that I'm 150% happy with means more.

Now I must make soup!

F