January, 2007 Playlist

Often times, people are very focused on what is new in music. I, however, have found that as I get older, that it is not always the case. Nowadays, for the most part, I don't think that there are any great leaps of progression being made in respect to what people are doing to keep popular music evolving. At close to forty years old, I do not get a whole lot of inspiration from what younger people are trying to say. Mostly, it's the same thing that we got from every other generation. Only, not as pioneering as those who did it earlier on. I am also disturbed that there is a major war going on and that mainstream pop music seems oblivious to that fact compared to how things were 40 years ago in the music world. Either everyone has their heads buried in the sand, or THE GREAT CONTROLLER is not letting anyone listen to those protest pop songs because they might make people THINK. We wouldn't want that to happen now would we?

At any rate, with new music being somewhat stale, I often look to those thousands of older recordings that I may not have experienced yet or I have forgotten about. They may not be new, but they are new to me and often times, they are very groundbreaking recordings that paved the way for others to come. So, as a monthly feature I will start listing my playlist of music that I have been listening to. Sometimes it's brand new. Other times, it's as old as the hills.

Here is January's play list in no particular order:

1. The Who - Meaty, Beaty, Big, & Bouncy
2. Bill Bruford/ Patrick Moraz - Music For Piano And Drums
3. Brand X - Unorthodox Behavior
4. Buddy Rich Band - Mercy, Mercy
5. Porcupine Tree - Fear Of A Blank Planet (live bootleg from Munich of forthcoming album)
6. The Who - Who Sells Out
7. Neil Peart - Anatomy Of A Drum Solo (audio selections dubbed from DVD)
8. Buddy Rich - Big Swing Face
9. Squirrel Nut Zippers - Hot
10. Gene Krupa - Drum Boogie
11. Blackfield - (Compilation of new songs from forthcoming album recorded from various sources)
12. Weather Report - Heavy Weather

I guess you could say that I have been listening to a lot of drum oriented albums this month and the infectious jazz thing has given me bit of a fever. What better way to spend the boring month of January. Just turn it up and dance. If you do have a hankering for some brand spanking new music, you might want to check out the Blackfield MySpace page for a few selections from their soon to be released new album. If this is not your cup of tea and you prefer something a little more uplifting and gay, may I suggest that you check out the MySpace page for The Ark and give a listen to their new single, just released a few days ago, called "Absolutely No Decorum." Obviously, it was written about some of those who attended the MAL festivities a few weeks ago.

Muhammad, My Friend

There is this guy who comes into my workplace every Friday to clean the restrooms. He sprays everything down with a chemical, and then sucks it all back up with a big, industrial strength vacuum. His name is Muhammad, and he is from Morocco. Yes, he of the Muslim faith, and no, he is not gay. He usually finishes his work and then hangs around a little while just so he can talk to me. I found him a little annoying at first, but after about a year of seeing him every Friday, I have come to enjoy our talks. We talk about the differences between our two cultures. I think that Muhammad, just like a lot of people from other countries who come to the United States seeking fortune, has this strange idea that the streets in America are paved with gold. He is realizing that while he can find some work, it is not necessarily very rewarding. Muhammad is no dummy either. He has a college degree from his country and knows a lot about how to work on electronic equipment. He can speak Arabic, French and better English than some Americans I know. He is very polite and friendly. He also has a strong sense of faith and devotion to his fiancé back in Morocco. He is trying to get a better job, because cleaning restrooms sucks ass big time! (I would reckon.) I think the problem is living in this 21st century climate. If you were the average American business manager looking at job applications and came across one for Muhammad (some weird middle eastern last name), if you didn't chuck it in the trash immediately, your reaction would probably be, "Ummmmmm, no! I don't think we need a terrorist working here!"

Muhammad is a good guy though. He is quite funny as he stumbles around our culture, half fascinated, half disgusted and the whole time using his religion to beat down the boners he gets from all the hot women in America. I think he kind of looks up to me, for some strange reason. He sees my thick (Al-gay-da) beard, and I think that in his culture, if you can grow a thick beard you are considered a manly man. I haven't come right out and told him that I'm gay, but I don't pretend to be a straight boy with him either. He asks me a lot of questions about how things are here and why people act in certain ways. He is somewhat perplexed by why a lot of the black people he has encountered here in America are so bitter, angry and mean and the black people in his own country and in Europe that he has met don't seem to have that same attitude. I tried to explain to him about how they came to live here in the first place, kidnapped as slaves. Even though this country has fought a big civil war over the matter of rights for African-Americans and other minorities, it is still a constant struggle, and he should be aware of that. (The streets in America aren't paved with gold Muhammad!) I also help him to expand his English vocabulary sometimes. Something a lot of Americans couldn't dream of doing.

I enjoy our talks together. I almost want to extend the friendship a little further and hang out with him outside of the work environment. He has indicated on several occasions that he would like to hang out some time. My problem is the issue that I have with most friendships. If I extend this part of me, is he going to be the guy that won't ever leave me alone? I'm really a very isolated guy. I prefer it that way. I avoid carrying on in society because the social ramble isn't restful. Not that I'm a complete misanthrope. There is a time to be social, and we have a few friends as a couple. Jason has a few friends. I've got a few old friendships that live far away and I talk to once every blue moon. There is no one in my life though that I could say to on a night that Bubala is working, "Hey, come over and let's watch a movie and hang out." So, to say this to Muhammad would be really weird, even though it might be fun. I think that he would jump at the chance though. Not so he could get in my pants, just because I think he needs a friend. Still, if I open that door and he comes in, I think he is the kind of guy that might never leave. Seriously folks, I need some feed back here. What would you do?

In Other Music News

In other music news about the projects I've been working on other than the "Council Of Circles" thing. I've been slowly working on my next album of song-based material. It's more a singer/songwriter kind of offering and has a more minimalist approach than my last few albums on which I tried (and failed) to play all the parts of a whole band. This time around, the songs are all played on acoustic bass concentrating on playing more with chords than with single notes. There is also a keyboard kind of symphonic backdrop. I'm going to put some rhythmic textures on the songs as well. (Yes, real ones.) Other than the vocals, that will be it. Like I said, ‘more minimalist.' That's my new favorite oxymoron for this project.

What is the theme of this project? Well, after my last two albums, "The Hidden Happiness In The Yellow Toy Box Volumes I and II" (2004) where the theme was kind of trying to find happiness or how to stop denying yourself happiness, I knew I was in for a bit of a downer this time around. (The Bush years have been hell.) So, the theme this time is a variety of things. Like accepting mortality and isolation. There's some anger at organized religion and a lot of focusing on the inner soul. The mood is somewhat dark and mellow. The tempo is often slow. The chord changes can be very emotional and quite a few of the songs run in 7 to 9 minute category.

Oh Joy! A huge hit smash with loads of commercial potential hit singles! (LOL!) I don't make music to try to sell it. (Not that there is anything wrong with that.) So, I don't have to worry about going in musically accessible directions. I just make music because I have no choice. There are things that are inside me and that must come out. Making music is a great way of exorcizing feelings and emotions. At any rate, the recording process is, like I said before, slowly on it's way. The bass parts are done. The keyboard parts are finished and I'm ready to move on to the rhythm tracks. I'm not saying when I'll complete it all, but I may share some of the lyrics with you before then.

The Resurrection Of The Council Of Circles

Well, it’s a new year and it’s a good thing too because I was getting tired of the old one. Let’s face it, 2006 really sucked on many different levels for a lot of folks. There is no time to look back. You just have to keep moving forward and maybe things will curve back around full circle and you can see where you were then.

Some History

When I first headed down the music road at about age 11, I wasn’t sure where I would go. I knew I could sing okay. I knew I could write lyrics or poems. I wanted to do something else though. The players were cooler than the singers, and if they could play and sing, all the better and all the cooler. I tried guitar, but it seemed too difficult for my uncoordinated fingers. I tried piano, but there was too much emphasis on trying to read music rather than to actually see what music could come from inside me.

Frustrated by my own clumsiness with the melodic instruments and VERY discouraged by my family, I began to gain an interest in drumming. I mean sure, they don’t get to dance around like the singer or guitarist, but how hard could drumming be, I thought. So, I pestered my parents forever for, if not a whole drum set, then maybe at least a snare drum and some sticks for Christmas of 1981. It took a lot of pestering on my teenage part. If I recall correctly, I think that being a drummer is right up there on the list of things that parents don’t want you to do. It’s right next to dealing drugs and being a hit man. My folks came through though, and my dream was realized... and their nightmare was too. Now, not only was the rockingly loud stereo from my basement bedroom ever so prominent. My snare drumming along with it was just as loud too. And, I became hardened by the words that always cut my heart out and stomped on it. “TURN IT DOWN!”


After I got the snare drum, I really got the bug and the chronic pestering of the parents for a whole drum kit began. I had saved up some money and bought myself a hi-hat stand and some cymbals out of a Sears catalog, but I couldn’t afford a whole kit and I didn’t have a job while I went to school. Dad came through around the time of my 14th birthday that following March. He saw an ad at his workplace offering for sale some (VERY) used older “Zimgar” drums for about $45. There was a bass drum, a snare drum (with no snares or springs under the head), a tom and a few cymbals and stands. All of it was old and had been in someone’s basement for years, but I was thrilled with it. I got all excited and set up to play my very first red sparkle finish drum kit.

Eventually, I got a job and was able to buy myself my first brand new set of drums. It was a five piece black Pearl set which quickly became a seven piece set with the addition of some concert toms. Then, it became a nine piece set with some other larger toms. And, then a fifteen piece when my buddy sold me some of his drum stuff plus more cymbals and so on and so on. I just kept adding other pieces and percussion instruments all around me and formed what is known as a satellite drum kit.

The Music

The music began with me just pounding out drum patterns and working out verses and chorus and bridges and such, all as instrumental drum songs. Then, I started writing words and singing with the drums using my other two talents. I saw myself as a modern day caveman musician using modern day instruments and musical ideas but approaching it in way that was very primitive and aggressive. For a while, in the 80’s, I got into playing with along prerecorded tapes of electronic rhythms and music. Eventually, I realized that I liked the freedom of the organic musical approach and I perfected the art of drum songs. Playing loud and fast and singing along with my Janet Jackson style hands free headset microphone with no melodic music. From January of 1984 to December of 1993, I recorded some 20 something albums on cassettes issued in VERY limited editions of 10 or less. I also played countless days with the “Council Of Circles,” the name I gave to my drum kit, taken from a book called “Flatland” by Edwin Abbott. I would play these endless private concerts for me, myself and I. It just seemed more constructive than Nintendo to fill my time here in this life. I never felt the urge to join a band even though there were a few offers. I have never felt much of a drive to share my music with anyone. I always thought that was kind of silly.

After a while, because I wanted to spend more time working as a melodic singer/songwriter using bass guitar and/or keyboards, the “Council Of Circles” disdrummed-ed. (kind of) I still used the Council for recording rhythms in my other melodic music, but in that sense, they became more like session players. I never use them to compose music anymore. Only to complement other instruments on my other recordings.

The Resurrection

So, now with the new drum assembly, I’ve been changing things pretty drastically. For starters, I’m using a much smaller kit (eight drums is less than fifteen) I am using lighter sticks than my old Pro-Mark 747s and I am also using brushes these days. So, the general approach is much lighter, fluent and jazzier than the battery of pounding of my formative years. The inclination that ‘doing more with less is best’ is in play as well as the idea of approaching the drums as much more of a melodic instrument. This was and will always be the grounds I like to explore. I still have to fight off the urge to want to add everything under the sun to my new kit, but I made it a rule that in order to be included in my new kit, something must be round like a circle. None of these square drums or triangles.


I developed an incredible discipline for playing drums during my teens and still to this day, I can set a firm schedule for playing and stick to it. No days off. Every day it’s an hour long non-stop drum solo going into all the different musical areas that I’m currently exploring. There are quite a few works in progress as well as some resurrected things from my past and plenty of room for jazzy improvisation between the rim shots, funky groove zones, snares, off ethnic pulses and the inner ghost of Keith Moon who pokes his goofiness into the equation from time to time.

My current drum kit consists of this:

Ludwig Accent Series in “Red Wine” finish:
22” X 16” bass drum
8” X 8” concert tom
10” X 8” concert tom
12” X 10” tom
13” X 11 tom
16” X 16” floor tom
6 ½” X 14” metal snare

13” X 5 ½ pearl piccolo snare (the black one from my last B-day)
All the toms are closed with Evans clear heads. Evans white heads are on the snare drums.

13” Paiste hi-hat cymbals
20” Paiste ride cymbal
18” Zildjian crash cymbal (from my old kit Zildjians just have a beautiful decay)
18” Paiste crash cymbal (occasionally, not pictured )
Rhythmtech hat trick (tambourine that fits on hi-hat stand over cymbals)
wind chimes

drumsticks: Vic Firth 7AN (the N stands for nylon tips)
brushes: Regal Tip

Two Months And Counting

I don’t want to hear any woes about little white hairs. Some of us are leaving this fertile land of the 30-somethings and heading into the dark, unknown regions in just two months.

Now, we all know that once you reach 30 in gay years, it’s all over. The decay (and cookie dough) will waste you away. Once you reach 40, however, the younger gays start building your coffin and hammering the nails into it. In between their under 30 only parties that you are not allowed to attend because you are too old now, that is. When I was actually under 30 though, the rest of us were building coffins for the people who went to those kinds of parties. As a result, I always felt like I really missed out on something. (I still do.) But, now that I’ve lived longer than most of my dead, gay friends and loved ones, I know now that they missed out on something too... the complete shame and utter humiliation of being old and gay.