What Are We Up To Now?
Oh my. I started this on June 9th…be prepared!
It seems that on any given week that goes by we can end up doing something outside of our original intentions – that beautiful opportunity to step outside our comfort zone and participate in some of the most real and genuine moments we’ve been a part of, simply because we can’t always know what we’re in for or how to plan for it. Believe me when I say we enjoy a challenge but MAN can we end up pushing ourselves to maximum capacity when in the pursuit of it all…
So let’s see…where do I start? May 26th was my last time in here…
I should make sure I mention what I had missed on that last posting…I really should be mentioning a new band I got to film and see – the FINGAH POPPIN MOMMAS. This was definitely one of those moments for myself…well outside of my element and comfortable studio zone, I made that trek out of the studio again…we all know SOMETHING strange will happen for sure – it seems to every time I venture out.
The set up surrounding this particular event was that through all the hype around new Canadian all-girl rock band from the island – WHITE HOT JET – I had reconnected with a friend from my old working past…long before I had yet to even turn onto any avenue of the work we do now at sleepingbagstudios – C.J. Jackman Zigante was officially back in my life!
Whether or not she and her new band, Fingah Poppin Mommas become a world-wide sensation or not – she has always been a star to me. You know how some people just have “it?” Yeah – she’s always had it and still does I’m proud to say! But I mentioned being outside of the comfort zone somewhat in this tale…here’s why!
The set up itself was a little loose in the details – I knew I was going to film this band but that’s about all I really knew. What I didn’t yet know was that this was the first official time that the seven member band ITSELF had gotten together! So right away – my sense of “right-on-I-get-to-share-this-fantastic-unique-and-awesome-moment-ness” kicked into overdrive and the next thing I know I had about 5 cameras going around this incredible room in an absolutely beautiful house.
But again – I wasn’t prepared really for what came next…
Because this was their first time getting together and because these are musicians that understand their instruments incredibly well and know how to play them – for the first hour I was there I watched something I had never done myself…talk about a song in theory before it existed.
At first – I won’t lie, – it seemed inorganic…all logic and no emotion. Music needs emotion right? I stood there filming and thinking to myself – “You can talk about it sure – but why aren’t you all just jamming it out until it does what it’s supposed to do?” That’s simply a reflection of my own experience as a learned musician – I can hear the symphony in my head yes, and I can bring it to life through whichever instrument I choose – but I don’t think I’ve ever so much discussed it as just simply done it and built around it somehow through recorded demos or expanding ideas. This was foreign territory for me musically – but interesting to watch. Very little was played in those moments aside from guitar player Ilya entertaining us all with guitar riffs that were awesome though unrelated to this new but still theoretical song.
There is always something to be said for outstanding communication between the right people in a unit. That’s what can create a dynasty…and attain longevity. To watch this conversation and preparation take place in nearly over an hour’s worth of time was one thing; to watch it all come together right in front of my eyes was nothing short of spectacular.
I approached every job I ever had the same way; your training book is fine – let’s get out there and actually DO this so I can actually LEARN it. So in my head I was still assuming that all this talk in the set-up was still going to lead into an hour of jamming it out and trying to get it right. I have never been so amazed at how wrong I was.
What a method! I mean – I never would have believed it if I didn’t see it myself – but this band put together a full song right there within seconds of starting it up. Believe it or not – the first run was an assembled piece – at the VERY least like they had already played it together ten times before! These fantastic musicians were actually somewhat hard on themselves for not nailing it the full 100% on THE FIRST RUN THROUGH! Really guys?
Within about a half hour they had something special that would more than work as a stellar and stand out track. I’m excited to show you more on how that day went soon.
SBS INDIE ARTIST UPDATE!
– IRON KINGDOM – Huge congratulations to Leighton, Chris, Amanda and Kenny for making the EveryDayMusicTV site with their song “Crowned In Iron.” The vocals came out low but the footage is super bad-ass – check it out – this is news of it coming out pre-release but check that channel link and subscribe!
– If you haven’t seen the posted videos that have made it already from the SBS alumni – LAURA KELSEY & RORY MACRURY made it to a posting with their song “The Technology Song” as did our boys Tyler & Trev Hutton from THE PIT for “I Wanna Plant Bombs Everywhere.” As always – Rod from EveryDayMusicTV hit musical home run after home run in the shooting here at sleepingbagstudios – they all look fantastic!
– Speaking of LAURA KELSEY – she’s coming to SBS this weekend to continue the writing process of our track “Dandelion!” Kick ass!
– And speaking of those twins from THE PIT – they’re keeping plenty busy while bassman Scott is away in Australia! They’ve played a couple shows as a two piece in electrified sets – but maybe none so much as the last one that they played at the Exotica Showlounge. This was a battle for the guys – both overtired and lead singer/guitarist Trevor being extremely sick. Let me tell you – if they didn’t tell us that during the performance (Which we have recorded!) – as an audience to that show we never would have known. The boys looked better than ever and absolutely pounded through a merciless five song set including their hits “I Wanna Plant Bombs Everywhere” and “The Machine.” But wait…there’s more!
– As a bonus they enlisted some help! It seems behind the scenes we have a newly formed band of four called “CLOSER.” This new group with Ryan Rutherford on vocals & guitar along with Jake Cummins also on guitar put on a guitar fest that kept the crowd loud for the rest of the night. Incredible on-stage debut – this was a performance to remember and surely not the last!
– Incidentally – the first people to see the footage aside from myself will actually be close friends of THE PIT – ANDY & JOLYNN – who recently just got married! We’ll see how much attention they’re paying to the ol’ SBS Blog here and see if they shout us out before we shout them out within these next 24 hours. We have finally completed their wedding present – it took a long time in the making – but we’re about to unveil their private video collection from SBS & THE PIT to be known as THE 12 DAYS OF PITMAS! Stoked to be able to send this out to them – and why the heck not say it one more time – CONGRATULATIONS TO ANDY & JO!
– Album reviews have been an incredible hit with our readers. Excellent to see that the power of the written word is alive and well as always! Check out the latest one with VELVET SYMPHONY on the main page. Starting this week – we’ll be posting the albums reviews simultaneously here on the Blog page for them to have their own unique URL while the homepage is still under complete overhaul. No update on that…been silent there from Rob @ SBS for a while now but we’ll use this method as a temporary solution until the main page is done. You will also see links to the show with pictures and colorful sparklies – it’s time to do this up right. Coming soon to our world of written reviews – you’ll see bands SWAMI LUSHBEARD and MORNING FAME coming up on the site as well as mentions in our upcoming episode of SBS Live This Week – The SBS Metal Panel. Coming finally this weekend – we are STOKED!
– The infamous Tyler Mayfield formerly of OVERDOSE appears to have landed with a new band! He’s fronting a band called LUNGFLOWER, who just put on their first full show together at a house party – Tyler has confirmed that it went down as well it possibly could have – great atmosphere, vibe and of course he made sure to mention that the music was freakin out-of-control rad. Always good to see he’s doing well and glad to know he’s out there kicking some musical ass!
– Just completed an excellent interview with a true gentleman by the name of TRENT CRAWFORD in Australia. Another musical ally if you ask me – this fantastic guy is filming all kinds of bands in his “Alt-Country” scene and I truly think what he’s doing is fantastic. Like our friend Rod at EveryDayMusicTV – this guy is a selfless human being who sacrifices much time and effort to shed light on the work of others. HERO! He’s got a regular music night set up and a crowd of fantastically talented individuals stopping by to jam it out. Be sure to check out and support his YouTube channel, and well…we’re in British Columbia, Canada BUT if you’re anywhere near Newcastle in Australia – check this promo out for a wicked night of music coming up and GO to the show!
SPEAKING OF SHOW – WE DO HAVE ONE DON’T WE? SBS LIVE THIS WEEK UPDATE!
We have an excellent show. The more time goes by the more I love looking back at this chronological on-screen history of the path and direction of SBS and these interviews. I love all of the new challenges that have been thrown at us and the different genres we’ve worked with. Being open to all things has led to some fantastic musical discoveries and recordings – I really couldn’t have hoped for a more accurate depiction on my overall vision for this show and its development on-screen, right in front of your very eyes…in the shadows in the background…history is being made here…we just don’t know it yet…
Hopefully you’ve seen what we’ve been up to lately! If not here’s easy links to our latest with THE DANBURY LIE and our latest ALL-MUSIC EPISODES – SBS But No BS Parts III and IV. What is upcoming for the show has been long, long overdue – The SBS Metal Panel. We brought in indie-metal experts Ruddy from AETERNA and Leighton from IRON KINGDOM to come and have some beers and teach Rob and I a few things about the genre itself. I’ll be the first to admit – I don’t know nearly enough about metal – but I certainly know a ton more after talking with these two!
The reason for the delay on the episode mainly surrounded the departure of Mike, the drummer for Aeterna. The band are currently on the lookout for the perfect replacement and have since made a band decision to stay united and continue on strong as Aeterna with a new piece in place. For the time being, Ruddy’s band is in the writing process after having upgraded their own jam space to better suit their time to record. So that’s wicked, and the news really couldn’t be better overall from the guys in the Aeterna camp – they sound like a band that has been through some heavy stuff and are more than ready to come back out on top.
So again, apologies on teasing you with the release of this episode for so long – it is time to finally, officially, release this metal beast. Check for that this weekend, you can also check out the “What’s New” section of the SBS homepage now for easy links to our current work outside of this site! Bookmark it yo!
That is the update for now people! I’ve certainly missed you and I look forward to getting back to regular postings here – like I said, I’ve made it easy on us – we’ll be posting links to Album Reviews and You Tube Videos all the time. You’ll see. We might be late but we’ll never let you down and we’ll never miss the party!
You fantastic people make my world turn.
