NYC, the album, and a clarification

Our gig at Kenny's Castaways in New York this weekend was spectacular. I'm taking modesty lessons from Phil.

This was our first out-of-town gig since we lost our bassist to aliens that had invaded Harrisburg, PA. This gig wasn't quite as odd, but it did have it's own little surprises:

1. One of the members of the first band of the night didn't show up. Just didn't show. Assuming that there wasn't some catastrophic emergency, how the fuck do you just miss a gig?
   
2. We had a drunk heckler. This in itself is not odd. See the old myspace blog for historic drunks. However, this guy had a style all his own....he ended each song with a cheer of, "That was good as snot!" He also verbally assaulted Phil's between-song monologues with, "Shut up and play a fucking song." Phil does get longwinded at times, but this was just after the first sentence!! Finally, after a nearly fatal stumble, he was escorted from the bar.
   
3. The soundman had actually miced up a pair of congas before!
   

A good time was had by all.....or at least by me. I'm guessing our drunk heckler went on to either get assaulted in an alley or to another bar to heckle someone else. It was good to be close enough to Connecticut that we could bring in a bunch of family and friends. I think Phil even got some of his elementary school buddies to show.

The album is progressing....albeit slowly. I have high hopes that we'll be able to polish it off by the end of the summer, but this is a busy summer, what with Phil getting married.....

Finally, I'm hopeful that this is the start of a larger education of the masses, presented without further comment. This is a picture of me playing CONGAS:



And this is a picture of a pair of BONGOS.

Week 1. Part 1.

I gotta say,  Zach kicked a great deal of ass last night.  I can’t take much credit for it.  Alright. I can’t take credit for it.  My scratch tracks were brilliant. But not that brilliant.  Good for a laugh, maybe.  Anyway,  all I did last night was adjust some levels and hit record.  The rest of the time, I drank Captain Morgan and played with Zach’s large cat (not as big as the Kingo).   He got a majority of the songs done for the foundation percussion parts.  

And the train continues forward….

why an album?

Why record an album?

I think there are a lot of reasons to record an album.  Some obvious, some not so obvious.  It was a consideration since we recorded the Bad Habit promo – what did I/we want to accomplish next.  This has been going on for over three years now.  The Habit. The Phil Rossi Experience (well, that has been going on for countless millennia – or so I’m sure it feels to some).  In the various incarnations, designs for EPs, singles, and what not flew about.   The process never blossomed, though.  Maybe I was writing too much?  Or doing to much other stuff.  Focus was never my strong suit.   Well, came to a concrete decision the other night.  This album would happen this year and it would happen soon.  10+ scratch tracks in hand, and a bit of the fire-water in the veins, I rolled up to Zach’s house to begin laying down percussion.  

It was a disaster for various reasons and nothing got recorded.  Undeterred, I went back to the ‘burn, to the pub, and drank.

Which solved a lot, incidentally.

We’re gonna pick it up again.   Most of the major bugs are worked out.   Building it from the bottom up is the only way to go this time. That Zach is a motherfucker on the percussion – we wanna pick up that on those mics.  
Take our time, but linger.

We’ve made a lot of good music this past several years.   You wouldn’t believe the stock pile. Now is a great time to take a snapshot of the where we’ve been and where we just might go.

xo,
Phil

From high places...

Phil made a comment in one of his numerous other blogs:

I thought it'd be nice to have a journal devoted to my continuing efforts as a writer. I was inspired by this PodCast to do so. I felt the urge to add to my increasing lists of blogs...if only to let Brian and Zach say mean things to me

Instead of merely commenting in the comments, I wanted to comment here, because I wanted to express what the role of the rest of the band is, with regard to Phil:


That is all.

and now that the smoke has settled

Everyone has been working their asses of lately. Unfortunately, schedules haven't really jived and we had to sideline practices. I have a feeling that Zach has been singing to himself through the PA, dancing in his underwear and such. It could be a weird gut vibe, or it could from the pictures that he tried to send Ann, but went to my email inadvertantly. Zach, here's a bit of advice: don't hit reply all next time.

Scratch tracks'll be down for the next three songs were going to record within a couple of days. It also looks like the plan is to get together this Saturday. Sweet. I

Current Research:

Here's another one you don't wanna hear...

Thought I might post my rambling drivel. For a change. And in English. Also for a change.

I play the telecaster. I have an interest in somewhat more random stringed instruments, and would eventually like to work in a number of these. I've been with the Habit about a year, though I've known His Absorbedness far longer. Too long, in fact. I enjoy the hell out of hanging out with these people, and helping to create little places for Phil's songs to inhabit.

How was Wednesday's gig? I think all told, a pretty solid start to our "season." A good place to go see bands, and also to play, nice atmosphere. Our wise friends tell us the sound left something to be desired. Maybe that was lack of time. Or our refusal to have normal instrumentation. The lack of hear-a-bility got us off to a bit of a rocky start. I've heard Glass Curtain Girl was not the ideal set opener, but we knew that was a risky move when we did it. Hit our stride once we got into the demo songs, and I think the ending, with the two new songs, came off splendidly. The show was well-attended for a Wednesday, a good mix of some of our core crowd and new faces. I have yet to see a crowd before or since, that's behaved like the Harrisburg crowd. Who'd have known?

Anyway, here's hoping for plenty more good times on the horizon.

-B

Stasera - DC9 - Ci sarà molta felicità!

Stasera. DC9. Phil Rossi e l'abitudine difettosa, facente musica che è sia sessuale che completamente fantastica. Camicie e pattini puramente facoltativi per questa. Potrebbe essere notte di mercoledì, ma non c'è motivo di non lasciare i vostri capelli giù. E chi più meglio quello con? Speriamo di vederli fuori.

Acclamazioni!
Phil Rossi