Well, hipsters, I'm looking forward to seeing you at the Cure's travelling festival next month and if you see me there, you can thank Mattagement because thanks to a Ticketmaster screw up, the Internet Pre-Sale didn't start as scheduled and computer glitches made it EXTREMELY difficult for Dan Hamill and I to obtain our tickets this morning. Jokingly, I said to G "If we don't have tickets in 5 minutes, I'm bringing Matt in", but then when I realized the situation wasn't improving, I, in fact, had to call in the trusty pal/manager. I was desparate. Matt, being Matt, once again brings good ticket karma to the table. As I conferenced called him and G on my cel while I rode through New York City in taxi cab on my way to the studio (normally, I take the subway, but I had to make myself available to the lads to get into my account to get the tix), Matt worked a miracle and was able to get the 4 tickets we needed for myself, Irene, G and Ash. Kudos to Matt, who's not even going to the gig (but he is seeing them in the South of France in a few weeks, so don't shed any tears for the fucker). This should be a good show. The Cure never disappoint and I haven't had a chance to see Interpol live, nor The Rapture. On the second stage, the music gods shine as Irene will finally get to see her beloved Muse and Dan Hamill will have the orgasmic time of his life experincing the hippy redheaded goodness that is Melissa Auf De Maur. And I'll laugh the whole time, I'm sure!
Anyhow, this ticket fiasco made me incredibly late for the studio, so we rushed right into the album's opening track, THE MORNING AFTER THE LIFE BEFORE. This song was written well within my vocal range, but what happened since I did the scratch vocals is that Ash came in and re-wrote the bassline, thus changing the whole dynamic of the song. Also, this was my first time hearing Robin's live drums and they are nothing short of excellent!! She OWNS this album, but I needed to spend considerable time re-adjusting the vocal melodies to fit the new material. Of course, we got a better song out of it, but it took quite a while to do. I was able to get everything down eventually, but it took a lot of effort. However, I'm quite happy with the final result. I had a lot of ideas for backing vocals, but they are way out of my range, so we are contemplating bringing in a female vocalist. I also heard Brandt's new closing guitars and closing edit of DESCRIPTIVE, our new B-Side, and it's mega. We just need to get those verses in shape next. I did speak at length with Ash yesterday about this and 1956, so I think we're going to see the Factor Corp gathered together in the next week.
Luckily, I finished my work today in time to make it to lunch with famous comic book artist currently drawing a popular book with an "X" in the title. We had a fun and productive 2 and a half hour lunch, and I really enjoyed my time with him. Plus he signed a copy of his latest hit for me! Speaking of comic books, the first issue of DC's big summer event book IDENTITY CRISIS, by bestselling author Brad Meltzer, came out today and it's pretty flipping amazing. This is a MUST READ. And since we're on the topic, big kudos to my friends at DC Comics for having the stroke of genius to create a DC Direct figure based on the old Earth-2 Robin. This is my dream toy and an wonderful, unexpected shocker. Can't wait for that!
And lastly on the can't wait front, thank you Mr. Lucas for allowing Cartoon Network to make a second season of CLONE WARS next year. Just don't screw up Episode 3, ok?
F
9.6.04
4.6.04
SING YOUR LIFE
Obviously he's been too busy staring at the birds across the way, as Brandt, in his genius, totally skipped over our Memorial Day session at the studio, which was in fact the First Official Vocal Session (tm) of the album. Let's start with this: I love writing lyrics, I like coming up with melodies, but I hate singing. Hate it. If I had my way, HF would have its own singer, but the only man I feel to be worthy enough to be the HF frontman has his own band to worry about, but he occasionally graces us with a vocal or two when it counts. You may have read about him here before.
In the aggression, it was easier because you could get away with not being perfect because we would just slap distortion over it. Hypefactor, fortunately (or unfortunately) is different. Doing vocals with Brandt is a much different experience than working with Tom and Ash on FLOOD. Quite honestly, while I love the lads, recording the vocals for FLOOD with those two mo's was a horrible and frustating experience as they kept forcing on me what they wanted as opposed to making the most out of what I am capable of doing vocally (which isn't much to begin with, but hey, you try it).
Brandt, while often a slow-mo, has the know-how to get the best performance out of me. He understands my range and what I can and can't do. What I learned from the last HF CD was that I work best demoing my scratch vocals and then listening to them for a month or so before coming in to record the final tracks. This approach also helps me in places where I feel the lyrics might be weak. I always carry my little lyric book with me to jot down revisions, so when the time comes to record the final vox, I'm ready to go.
One final thing I thought was important to this process was my desire to record my vox against the real drums recorded for the album. Brandt has been editing the drums in bits and pieces, so if something had a real drum edited together, I focused on those first. I felt having the real drums to sing against would create the right emotion for each song as opposed to singing to loops. This went out the door somewhat when I started getting into the groove of things but lets see what happens when the drums are all in there.
Because a lot of prep has gone into the vocals BEFORE I step into Brandt's bathroom to record, we're able to hit the ground running and this past Monday was no exception. We started with CREATION PHASE, and were able to wrap that up very quickly over several hours. Brandt would record several tracks of me recording different things in different ways so we had the pick of the litter later on when mixing. With this track we had the new ending that Ash, B and I wrote and I was able to come up with something on the fly to add to ending. It's a short vocal passage, but perfect in terms of the song coming to it's conclusion. This one is a stormer.
After a long tea and biscuit break, We then tackled SOLAR, the album closer. This had partial drums but I got caught up in the song, so we laid down the whole song over the course of a few hours. Again the same approach of recording several different takes was applied. Also note, Brandt is a stickler for detail. If I fucked up a nuance of a vocal, I was ordered (in a nice way) to re-take it. This kid is determined to make this album as live and as real as possible and I think he just doesnt want to have sit and play with auto-tune for a month. Needless to say, i did my best and he didnt argue or make fun of me too much, though he keeps telling me to sing "More Gay" on the mushier songs like SOLAR.
Feeling the vibe, I asked him to roll THEME FROM PROPAGANDA, which isnt a song as much as it is the dance ceterpiece of the album. I originally wanted to leave it alone, but I had an idea to take an Undeworld-y approach to it, so we put a lof of effects on the vocal and I just improvd a bunch of random lyrics about clubs, coat checks, and assorted random BS that you hopefully not be able to make out when you hear the final song. I'm not sure what I did here, and I don't think B did either, but hey.
So we're off to a good start. B has already filled you in on our Spanish Language Experience (tm), which was scary and fun. Luckily, Leo did all the hard work in advance, so I just had to make sure I was pronouncing everything properly. This is a lot harder than it sounds, kids. Anyway, I'm very high on this track, OUR FAITH, and the album itself here in the late stages is evolving into something better than what I thought it could be a month ago.
There is still more work to be done, but luckily my next two songs, THE MORNING AFTER THE LIFE BEFORE, and ONE.NINE.FIVE.SIX are currently in the very capable musical hands of Brandt and Charles, respectively. Until they do their things on those tracks, I can't cut my vocals for those tracks, and I don't want to be in a position where I do vocals and then someone alters something musically in the song. In the meantime, I have to finish lyrics and verse melodies for DESCRIPTIVE. This will keep me occupied as I'm trying a whole new approach (for me) to lyric writing and vocal recording with this song. Brandt touches on it below, but I'll get further into it later on.
Special thanks to my man Bisquit for sending me the studio version of RevCo's CATTLE GRIND (hilarious)!
F
In the aggression, it was easier because you could get away with not being perfect because we would just slap distortion over it. Hypefactor, fortunately (or unfortunately) is different. Doing vocals with Brandt is a much different experience than working with Tom and Ash on FLOOD. Quite honestly, while I love the lads, recording the vocals for FLOOD with those two mo's was a horrible and frustating experience as they kept forcing on me what they wanted as opposed to making the most out of what I am capable of doing vocally (which isn't much to begin with, but hey, you try it).
Brandt, while often a slow-mo, has the know-how to get the best performance out of me. He understands my range and what I can and can't do. What I learned from the last HF CD was that I work best demoing my scratch vocals and then listening to them for a month or so before coming in to record the final tracks. This approach also helps me in places where I feel the lyrics might be weak. I always carry my little lyric book with me to jot down revisions, so when the time comes to record the final vox, I'm ready to go.
One final thing I thought was important to this process was my desire to record my vox against the real drums recorded for the album. Brandt has been editing the drums in bits and pieces, so if something had a real drum edited together, I focused on those first. I felt having the real drums to sing against would create the right emotion for each song as opposed to singing to loops. This went out the door somewhat when I started getting into the groove of things but lets see what happens when the drums are all in there.
Because a lot of prep has gone into the vocals BEFORE I step into Brandt's bathroom to record, we're able to hit the ground running and this past Monday was no exception. We started with CREATION PHASE, and were able to wrap that up very quickly over several hours. Brandt would record several tracks of me recording different things in different ways so we had the pick of the litter later on when mixing. With this track we had the new ending that Ash, B and I wrote and I was able to come up with something on the fly to add to ending. It's a short vocal passage, but perfect in terms of the song coming to it's conclusion. This one is a stormer.
After a long tea and biscuit break, We then tackled SOLAR, the album closer. This had partial drums but I got caught up in the song, so we laid down the whole song over the course of a few hours. Again the same approach of recording several different takes was applied. Also note, Brandt is a stickler for detail. If I fucked up a nuance of a vocal, I was ordered (in a nice way) to re-take it. This kid is determined to make this album as live and as real as possible and I think he just doesnt want to have sit and play with auto-tune for a month. Needless to say, i did my best and he didnt argue or make fun of me too much, though he keeps telling me to sing "More Gay" on the mushier songs like SOLAR.
Feeling the vibe, I asked him to roll THEME FROM PROPAGANDA, which isnt a song as much as it is the dance ceterpiece of the album. I originally wanted to leave it alone, but I had an idea to take an Undeworld-y approach to it, so we put a lof of effects on the vocal and I just improvd a bunch of random lyrics about clubs, coat checks, and assorted random BS that you hopefully not be able to make out when you hear the final song. I'm not sure what I did here, and I don't think B did either, but hey.
So we're off to a good start. B has already filled you in on our Spanish Language Experience (tm), which was scary and fun. Luckily, Leo did all the hard work in advance, so I just had to make sure I was pronouncing everything properly. This is a lot harder than it sounds, kids. Anyway, I'm very high on this track, OUR FAITH, and the album itself here in the late stages is evolving into something better than what I thought it could be a month ago.
There is still more work to be done, but luckily my next two songs, THE MORNING AFTER THE LIFE BEFORE, and ONE.NINE.FIVE.SIX are currently in the very capable musical hands of Brandt and Charles, respectively. Until they do their things on those tracks, I can't cut my vocals for those tracks, and I don't want to be in a position where I do vocals and then someone alters something musically in the song. In the meantime, I have to finish lyrics and verse melodies for DESCRIPTIVE. This will keep me occupied as I'm trying a whole new approach (for me) to lyric writing and vocal recording with this song. Brandt touches on it below, but I'll get further into it later on.
Special thanks to my man Bisquit for sending me the studio version of RevCo's CATTLE GRIND (hilarious)!
F
3.6.04
More serious than "24 Pints"
I almost forgot to mention...
In non-hypefactor news, a recent Guardian newspaper interview with Scotch charmer Kelly MacDonald included some wonderful news for fans of British drama (such as myself). The BBC ordered a second season of State Of Play, a six-part series about investigative reporters and political corruption in modern-day London that debuted in the States last month. While substantially shorter than MOG favorite 24 - it is customary for a British TV season to run a mere eight or nine episodes - the two shows share a great deal in terms of pacing (relentless action, frantic dialog, radical camera cuts, heart palpatations.) In the first season, the i-team tied a government researcher's murder and a drug shooting to an energy scandal in the British parliament, with plenty of unexpected twists. Admittedly no arms were severed in the making of the series, but this program can effortlessly hold a candle to 24 or any other mystery-action show.
Need more convincing? The original cast, most of whom are tipped to return, includes MacDonald, John Simm (Bernard Sumner in 24-Hour Party People, a raver in Human Traffic) and Bill Nighy (the aging rock star in Love Actually), among countless others. And MacDonald, despite being married to a twit who plays bass in Travis, is worth the price of admission alone. Sadly, the BBC is rubbish when it comes to issuing DVDs in a timely fashion, and the first season of State Of Play is no exception: The Beeb's Web site lists a release date in February 2005. I hope, however, that BBC America will run the series a few more times in the interim for those who missed MacDonald's gorgeous accent. And the other stuff, of course.
In non-hypefactor news, a recent Guardian newspaper interview with Scotch charmer Kelly MacDonald included some wonderful news for fans of British drama (such as myself). The BBC ordered a second season of State Of Play, a six-part series about investigative reporters and political corruption in modern-day London that debuted in the States last month. While substantially shorter than MOG favorite 24 - it is customary for a British TV season to run a mere eight or nine episodes - the two shows share a great deal in terms of pacing (relentless action, frantic dialog, radical camera cuts, heart palpatations.) In the first season, the i-team tied a government researcher's murder and a drug shooting to an energy scandal in the British parliament, with plenty of unexpected twists. Admittedly no arms were severed in the making of the series, but this program can effortlessly hold a candle to 24 or any other mystery-action show.
Need more convincing? The original cast, most of whom are tipped to return, includes MacDonald, John Simm (Bernard Sumner in 24-Hour Party People, a raver in Human Traffic) and Bill Nighy (the aging rock star in Love Actually), among countless others. And MacDonald, despite being married to a twit who plays bass in Travis, is worth the price of admission alone. Sadly, the BBC is rubbish when it comes to issuing DVDs in a timely fashion, and the first season of State Of Play is no exception: The Beeb's Web site lists a release date in February 2005. I hope, however, that BBC America will run the series a few more times in the interim for those who missed MacDonald's gorgeous accent. And the other stuff, of course.
The Mexican MOG
For the second post in a row the MOGpac heads south of the border. The circumstances: FJ and I booked another 10 a.m. session at BIrdcage on Wednesday to continue work on vocals. The day was unique, however, in that we decided to tackle a vocal track for the song "Our Faith." Which, as it happens, is sung entirely in Spanish... a language that neither FJ nor I speak.
The backstory in 100 words or less: I demoed in the song in the fall of last year, then FJ came and re-arranged it. Jamie Duffy of Acumen Nation/DJ? Acucrack/Chemlab stopped in the studio and added guitars, followed by another few months of writing/arranging. Then, in March, we mailed the computer files for the song to Leo Canneto (Virus 23/AM Pacific), who recorded more guitars and a Spanish lead vocal while FJ visited him in Los Angeles. A Gustavo Cerati homage, basically, and a damn good one at that.
While FJ knew he wanted the song to be a duet of sorts, he came to the studio with no real arrangement game plan yesterday. One idea floated earlier was to mix Leo's Spanish vocal with FJ singing in English. But after listening to the track on loop for about an hour, we realized that altering or eliminating any significant part of Leo's vocal to accomodate FJ was, well, pretty fucking stupid. It is a brilliant vocal, so why fuck with it? But in keeping with the duet plan, FJ saddled himself with the challenge of learning Leo's vocal in Spanish and doubling it. And he rose to the occasion, I must say, as he hammered the song out word-for-word over the course of a couple hours. One of his strongest deliveries yet.
We also found the time to track a rough vocal for a chorus of "Descriptive" yesterday, marking the first time we have ever recorded a vocal so early in a song's gestation. There is not much to write yet because the song is far from complete, but I think the final version of this particular vocal will be one of the finest performances FJ ever commits to tape. I predict that will be a difficult session, however, as the tune requires a delicate croon unlike most anything recorded by either hypefactor or The Aggression. More on how this plays out once we have the verse figured out...
Aside from the vocals, I have been putting in a lot of hours at the studio editing drums and trying to keep the album on schedule. "The Morning After The Life Before" is the priority song right now; we recorded a slew of guitar and bass overdubs in late April and early May, and we want to wrap up the vocals within a week. Once the live drums are mixed with some programmed rhythms (courtesy of Ash's wonderful TR-909 and, perhaps, Robin Emmet), this song will be a monster worthy of comparison to recorded music's best album openers. Modesty? Not in this case.
Also near the front of the editing line is "One.nine.five.six," the aborted song we recovered from The Aggression's final demo sessions. A vocal session for that tune will have to wait, however, as FJ and I agreed earlier in the week that Charles should be invited to re-write and re-track the bass line. While FJ and I have been on the same page from day one about what the song should be (Exterminator and Evil Heat-era Primal Scream, mostly), we both seemed to have reservations about our instrumental execution. In an effort to breathe some new life into our thinking, we gave Charles a wide berth in terms of what he can write and record, and I hope his ideas will allow us to revisit the guitar and vocal melodies later this month. If his performance on "Descriptive" is any indication, Charles' playing will properly anchor the song, and that is exactly what it needs.
And now for a non-sequitor: While the Birdcage studio (aka my apartment) has three rooms, most of the recording takes place in a room tucked in the northeast corner (as it is farthest away from my fifth-floor neighbors and, therefore, less noisy.) This is also the only room with a clear view of neighboring apartments, as it abuts directly on two other buildings. Lately, the view from my mixing desk has been getting more and more Cinemax. About two months ago, my distant neighbors decided to eat dinner in their lingerie. Last week, the people whose kitchen window looks out on the studio had some sort of professional photo shoot in their space, replete with many shirtless men. And last night, in a moment that would have thrilled Ash, I sat editing drums while a girl in the same kitchen walked around for ten minutes... topless. Now who said studio work was boring?
The backstory in 100 words or less: I demoed in the song in the fall of last year, then FJ came and re-arranged it. Jamie Duffy of Acumen Nation/DJ? Acucrack/Chemlab stopped in the studio and added guitars, followed by another few months of writing/arranging. Then, in March, we mailed the computer files for the song to Leo Canneto (Virus 23/AM Pacific), who recorded more guitars and a Spanish lead vocal while FJ visited him in Los Angeles. A Gustavo Cerati homage, basically, and a damn good one at that.
While FJ knew he wanted the song to be a duet of sorts, he came to the studio with no real arrangement game plan yesterday. One idea floated earlier was to mix Leo's Spanish vocal with FJ singing in English. But after listening to the track on loop for about an hour, we realized that altering or eliminating any significant part of Leo's vocal to accomodate FJ was, well, pretty fucking stupid. It is a brilliant vocal, so why fuck with it? But in keeping with the duet plan, FJ saddled himself with the challenge of learning Leo's vocal in Spanish and doubling it. And he rose to the occasion, I must say, as he hammered the song out word-for-word over the course of a couple hours. One of his strongest deliveries yet.
We also found the time to track a rough vocal for a chorus of "Descriptive" yesterday, marking the first time we have ever recorded a vocal so early in a song's gestation. There is not much to write yet because the song is far from complete, but I think the final version of this particular vocal will be one of the finest performances FJ ever commits to tape. I predict that will be a difficult session, however, as the tune requires a delicate croon unlike most anything recorded by either hypefactor or The Aggression. More on how this plays out once we have the verse figured out...
Aside from the vocals, I have been putting in a lot of hours at the studio editing drums and trying to keep the album on schedule. "The Morning After The Life Before" is the priority song right now; we recorded a slew of guitar and bass overdubs in late April and early May, and we want to wrap up the vocals within a week. Once the live drums are mixed with some programmed rhythms (courtesy of Ash's wonderful TR-909 and, perhaps, Robin Emmet), this song will be a monster worthy of comparison to recorded music's best album openers. Modesty? Not in this case.
Also near the front of the editing line is "One.nine.five.six," the aborted song we recovered from The Aggression's final demo sessions. A vocal session for that tune will have to wait, however, as FJ and I agreed earlier in the week that Charles should be invited to re-write and re-track the bass line. While FJ and I have been on the same page from day one about what the song should be (Exterminator and Evil Heat-era Primal Scream, mostly), we both seemed to have reservations about our instrumental execution. In an effort to breathe some new life into our thinking, we gave Charles a wide berth in terms of what he can write and record, and I hope his ideas will allow us to revisit the guitar and vocal melodies later this month. If his performance on "Descriptive" is any indication, Charles' playing will properly anchor the song, and that is exactly what it needs.
And now for a non-sequitor: While the Birdcage studio (aka my apartment) has three rooms, most of the recording takes place in a room tucked in the northeast corner (as it is farthest away from my fifth-floor neighbors and, therefore, less noisy.) This is also the only room with a clear view of neighboring apartments, as it abuts directly on two other buildings. Lately, the view from my mixing desk has been getting more and more Cinemax. About two months ago, my distant neighbors decided to eat dinner in their lingerie. Last week, the people whose kitchen window looks out on the studio had some sort of professional photo shoot in their space, replete with many shirtless men. And last night, in a moment that would have thrilled Ash, I sat editing drums while a girl in the same kitchen walked around for ten minutes... topless. Now who said studio work was boring?
1.6.04
Mexico Spawned a Morrissey
If you weren't at Rothko's on Friday night, you missed it, meng.
I caught my first (and rare, for a NYer) glimpse of what would have been the result if Stephen Patrick Morrissey had been born in Tijuana instead of Manchester. This well-coifed man is Jose Maldonado, on loan from LA's Sweet and Tender Hooligans. He's got the hair, he's got the specs, he's got the cuffed jeans, he's got the cardigan, the paisley paisley shirt (i think it was paisley), the malnourished yet amorphic physique - but more than anything else, he's got the voice and the on-stage disposition and relationship with the audience that truly captures his idol's mystery. much unlike the fag (oh btw the douche - NO ONE LIKES YOU) that used to head up the Salford Lads (btw, guitarist John "Johnny" Capp if you're reading this - how's RVC, pally?), Jose possesses class. ash and i walked out on a Lads gig 4+ years ago at Don Hill's because the fagsinger was such a (coining G) nightmare.
back to the gig - kicking it off with the Queen is Dead, a few forgotten lyrics are quickly forgotten as he belts out the outro "life is very long when your lonely", the set consisted of standard Moz and Smiths tunes including Shoplifters (sent out to Winona Ryder), Last of the Famous..., Girlfriend in a Coma, November Spawned a Monster and This Charming Man. The Lads even assembled a great rendition of First of the Gang to Die off the new one.
All in all, SummerMan, my recently legalized S.O. and her teacher friend were all thoroughly impressed by the performance.
did i mention the four go's right in front of brandt and me that led us to make a pact to never smith smiths/moz tunes to each other? i'll let him tell you about those guys.
i'll leave you with a post i left on the Sweet and Tender Hooligans yahoo group in true fan appreciation...
hey all -
brand new to the group and i joined just to say thanks to Jose for
making the trip out here - your performance was jaw-on-the-floor
amazing. the last time i caught the Lads i WALKED OUT because the old lead singer was so terrible - in talent and personality - but that's neither here nor there.
i'm sorry i didn't get a chance to catch up with you, but i expressed
my appreciation to both ez and brian, the promoter. you kids in LA are damn lucky to
have this guy as i'm sure you are aware!
hope to see you out east again sometime soon.
cheers.
matt.
JOSE MALDONADO REPLIES: Thanks for that, Matt. Sweet and Tender Hooligans
played at The Knitting Factory New York last October and hope to return very
soon. I was real happy to come back and visit The Big Apple again and I'll more
than likely be back to run the marathon. Hmm.. maybe I can work a gig around
that..?
PS - someone had to respond to me...
From: "Jeremy Alisauskas"
Date: Mon May 31, 2004 4:43 am
Subject: Re: [Sweet and Tender Hooligans] NYC gig...
How very cruel of you sir!
Terrible in talent and personality? well if you walked out than you certainly
didn't speak with him, so how may I ask do you know anything about his personality?
Thats just a nasty thing to say, and being nasty doesn't make you look cool, it
makes you look insecure.
Goodnight Sir!
AND I SAY THIS TO YOU MR. JEREMY ALISAUSKAS...being a dick-sucking homo doesn't make you look cool, it makes you look GAY!
\ / Sir!
I caught my first (and rare, for a NYer) glimpse of what would have been the result if Stephen Patrick Morrissey had been born in Tijuana instead of Manchester. This well-coifed man is Jose Maldonado, on loan from LA's Sweet and Tender Hooligans. He's got the hair, he's got the specs, he's got the cuffed jeans, he's got the cardigan, the paisley paisley shirt (i think it was paisley), the malnourished yet amorphic physique - but more than anything else, he's got the voice and the on-stage disposition and relationship with the audience that truly captures his idol's mystery. much unlike the fag (oh btw the douche - NO ONE LIKES YOU) that used to head up the Salford Lads (btw, guitarist John "Johnny" Capp if you're reading this - how's RVC, pally?), Jose possesses class. ash and i walked out on a Lads gig 4+ years ago at Don Hill's because the fagsinger was such a (coining G) nightmare.
back to the gig - kicking it off with the Queen is Dead, a few forgotten lyrics are quickly forgotten as he belts out the outro "life is very long when your lonely", the set consisted of standard Moz and Smiths tunes including Shoplifters (sent out to Winona Ryder), Last of the Famous..., Girlfriend in a Coma, November Spawned a Monster and This Charming Man. The Lads even assembled a great rendition of First of the Gang to Die off the new one.
All in all, SummerMan, my recently legalized S.O. and her teacher friend were all thoroughly impressed by the performance.
did i mention the four go's right in front of brandt and me that led us to make a pact to never smith smiths/moz tunes to each other? i'll let him tell you about those guys.
i'll leave you with a post i left on the Sweet and Tender Hooligans yahoo group in true fan appreciation...
hey all -
brand new to the group and i joined just to say thanks to Jose for
making the trip out here - your performance was jaw-on-the-floor
amazing. the last time i caught the Lads i WALKED OUT because the old lead singer was so terrible - in talent and personality - but that's neither here nor there.
i'm sorry i didn't get a chance to catch up with you, but i expressed
my appreciation to both ez and brian, the promoter. you kids in LA are damn lucky to
have this guy as i'm sure you are aware!
hope to see you out east again sometime soon.
cheers.
matt.
JOSE MALDONADO REPLIES: Thanks for that, Matt. Sweet and Tender Hooligans
played at The Knitting Factory New York last October and hope to return very
soon. I was real happy to come back and visit The Big Apple again and I'll more
than likely be back to run the marathon. Hmm.. maybe I can work a gig around
that..?
PS - someone had to respond to me...
From: "Jeremy Alisauskas"
Date: Mon May 31, 2004 4:43 am
Subject: Re: [Sweet and Tender Hooligans] NYC gig...
How very cruel of you sir!
Terrible in talent and personality? well if you walked out than you certainly
didn't speak with him, so how may I ask do you know anything about his personality?
Thats just a nasty thing to say, and being nasty doesn't make you look cool, it
makes you look insecure.
Goodnight Sir!
AND I SAY THIS TO YOU MR. JEREMY ALISAUSKAS...being a dick-sucking homo doesn't make you look cool, it makes you look GAY!
\ / Sir!