Rockstars Don’t Make Good Pro Football Players
I’m a pretty sporty guy. I do a lot of different sports at various levels of awesomeness. However, there is one sport that I pretty much stayed away from, Football. Not the European version of it, known as soccer in the U.S., rather the American version. Last weekend I was invited to the PDFL (professional developmental football league), pretty much the D-Leauge of Football. I got asked to do something at half-time that left me saying that rockstars don’t make good pro football players.
The team who’s game I was at is the Utah Argonauts, also known as the Utah Argos.
During the game I was approached by someone working for the team asking if I’d be willing to get out on the field during halftime in order to participate in a kicking contest. They had no idea my background as a rockstar. Meaning a kicking a field goal contest. While I had never kicked a football, I figured why the hell not? What could possibly go wrong, and what do I really have to lose? Famous last questions that cross the minds of rockstars who jump at the chance to get in front of a crowd all in the name of fun and sport. Right?
Below is video of the event.
As you can see, I know that I wouldn’t make a very good kicker. At least not without some coaching. As a bonus, I did actually receive tickets to the rest of the Argonauts home season games. That’s a nice consolation prize for getting up in front of a crowd and professional football players only to make them look like they really know what they’re doing by comparison. I believe the winner also got a signed set of autographed photos to go with their seasons tickets.
– Jody
p.s. – if you’re not aware what the D-Leauge is, it’s the developmental league or the minor league of the NBA.
Skiing At Deer Valley
Every once in a while it’s a good idea to get outside and do something else other than what you do for your career. It’s a great way to recharge the batteries. One of my favorite ways is via skiing.
Background
For me, I grew up skiing. Initially I hated it. Hated it so much that I literally sidestepped down a very flat slope that today I’d never be able to ski, only because it’s to flat to get anywhere. From there I learned to ski, eventually started competing in traditional ski racing of: Slalom, Giant Slalom, and Downhill.
Finally after a couple of years of traditional racing I grew bored with it. A year later I was asked to join a ragtag bunch of peeps that were into skiing moguls and voila, I became a freestyle skier. I got good. Really good. So became a competitive skier on the Freestyle circuit in the Intermountain West division. I started out as a combined skier doing Moguls, Aerials and Ballet. Ballet?!? Yes, they used to have a portion of freestyle skiing discipline that was Ballet. After a few years I was consistently making nationals and dropped ballet to concentrate on moguls and aerials. In my final year of competition I nearly made it to World Cup and the Olympics – missed it by >< that much – one place away. Ouch. I enjoyed it anyway. (Below is a picture of me flying high over some trees.)
The 2012-2013 ski season has come to a close, despite more snow falling well into spring. Here’s a little video of me skiing with some friends at the infamous Deer Valley ski resort in Park City Utah.
Yes, I ski. I ski hard. I ski fast. I do it without a helmet! Enjoy a little spring skiing break.
p.s. – I’m saddened by the news of the explosion at the Boston Marathon finish line. I actually had friends there and they’re ok – that’s a big plus.
It’s getting near that time of year again when there’s a little bit of madness in the air about expressing how you feel to someone else. Some people are really good at it. Others, not so much. I tend to fall in to the not-so-much category, but I do have a bit of a Valentine’s Day adventure that I can share.
A couple of years back I was making a hearty attempt to do something for someone on Valentine’s Day. I went so far as to write a song, as well as create a card for this woman. Attempted to make plans for the 14th and as such got minimal response. The play-it-by-ear response.
That evening came and went to no answer from said woman.
Around 9 p.m. I got a call from a friend inviting me out to watch a live music performance at the Farmer’s Market at the Grove in Los Angeles. Having been soured by earlier events, I agreed to hop in the car and head on out to the show. Of course with such a late start to the show my friend Stew and I got there for the last song. Our musician friends were happy to see a couple of extra faces despite being so late to the show.
As we were helping them pack up, an invitation was extended for us to shoot up to the “hills” for a Valentine’s Day party. Then the side debate started amongst a few of us. Should we, should we not? I was game for it. Eventually those of us who agreed all piled in a car to head to the party.
It started with an address and some poor directions which lead us to a strange road in the hills of Los Angeles above Studio City. Clearly the driver was lost. Out comes the iPhone and looking up the address on the map there took us through some more winding roads until we finally found the true destination. A spot on a very tight section of road where there was difficulty parking. Meaning a need to park a ways away and then walking to the party.
At the front door of the house we’re heading too I’m finally told that the house belongs to Lucinda Williams. I knew about her and her music thanks to my dad. He happens to be a big fan of hers. My friends knock on the door and a moment later it swings open.
My friends filter in first being greeted by Lucinda herself. Turns out several of them already knew her and visa versa. Bringing up the rear of the group I’m eventually greeted by Lucinda who takes me by the hand and looking up at me declares “I know you!” I stood there wondering to myself – really?!? She proceeds to tell me we’ve met before and I have to laugh. Reality was, we had never met until that point. Yet she was convinced that she knew me and I knew her. After a few moments of suspending reason and belief, she let me pass into the party to mingle amongst the other guests.
There were quite a few interesting peeps in attendance, including known rockstars, actors, actresses, and even other people of note. One woman I met happened to be the reason the song Afternoon Delight was written.
I’ll leave the uber juicy details of people there to my biography. Until then, I’m extending an early Happy Valentine’s Day and may it be a cool adventure.
p.s. – more song updates are coming very soon.
You might be asking yourself, why the hell hasn’t Jody posted anything about the last four songs?!? It’s a very valid question and my response would be: The NAMM Experience.
In January of each year there’s a rather large convention that happens in Anaheim California (a majority of the time). That convention is known to the outside world as: NAMM. To us musicians it’s known as “The Giant Candy Store.” Meaning it’s like being a kid in the world’s largest candy store of musical gear. It’s a great place to geek out. If you’re into musical gear stuff that is. I am.
The other plus to NAMM is it’s a bit like a huge family reunion. Where many of us who are busy creating music often don’t get to see each other until NAMM. Yikes. My buddy Robert Navarro said in passing this year: “I know a lot of people. But Jody seems to know everyone.” It’s a bit of an overstatement. However it was funny to hear.
Let’s dive in to a little picture recount of some of it.
The pic is from a solo performance by a Doobie Brothers member doing great renditions of their songs in the Taylor Booth.
The show can’t be complete without posing with the BadCat freak of the year.
This is by far the greatest tremolo system ever invented for guitar. I’m not kidding – it’s perfect.
The mandatory badge shot…
For the inner child of mixing engineers everywhere: The Raven by Slate Audio. The coolest touchscreen mixing console.
Wanna know where audio recording is heading? To smaller devices. Namely iOS devices. Apogee is leading the charge with their mobile lines and the new king of that is: The Quartet.
The award for most unique instrument of the show is: The Wheel Harp. I can’t even explain it. But it’s very cool, with a very distinct sound.
Essentially we all hit it. The NAMM wall. Wherein you’re tired and somehow I managed to get a shot where there were relatively few people around. Feet hurt from being walked on for hours on end.
There is the little slice of what has kept me from getting to the rest of the songs. I will be diving right back in extremely soon after I finish up another interim song and a couple of things for some placements. Stay tuned.
Here’s my parting shot:
My first trip to GDC has come to an end. What a trip it’s been. Having never been to GDC before, I really didn’t know what to expect. I would consider myself a veteran of conventions that gear strictly around music. GDC breaks that mold. Here are some of my thoughts via my GDC It’s A Wrap feelings.
First is that the Moscone Convention Center is a little unconventional. That’s an oxymoron right? Unconventional convention… Hmmm. Why do I say that? My usual convention examples are things like NAMM. Where you’re almost entirely in one building. One enormous building. In terms of actual floor space, I believe NAMM is very well larger. In terms of sprawl, I have think that GDC is larger.
Second, I may be wrong about this, I felt there were a lot more people at GDC. Despite that, the crowds were easier to move around in. That was kinda weird.
Third, there is a totally different sense of community. Maybe it’s been a state secret, but there’s a whole different mentality with the music community that gathers in the video game market. In film, it’s very cutthroat. In TV, it’s very cutthroat. In the world of the Major labels it’s very much a mentality of, we’ll take everything we can from the creator and then chew ’em up, spit ’em out and leave out in the desert to die. In video games there’s a huge sense of camaraderie. I think that has to do with the market being newer, easier to move in the new digital era and the fact that it takes a large number of people to produce the product over a course of time. I like that vibe.
Fourth, the businesses involved are very open to new people approaching them. This is very different from my list of people in remark three. There’s a very interesting thing at GDC, they’re very open to people coming up and putting it out there they want to work with you. Here’s something to think about. They had people at each business dedicated to talking to those who are in school and wanting to work with that business. They also had people dedicated to talking to professionals looking to branch out. The school lines were usually long. The pro lines were generally very short. Made it really easy for me to walk right up and talk to a lot of people.
Like any convention, there’s always a few nut cases. GDC is no exception. See below:
God Hates Game Designers
I’m happy I went. I met a great deal of new people. Thus I have a lot of new possibilities planted for music. That is a wonderful thing. Plus it doesn’t suck that quite a few people were asking about my music as an artist and not just a composer. Bonus!
I look forward to going next year. I’m hooked.
p.s. here’s a shot of me sitting in a game consul that costs $15,000. Was it cool? Yeah, it was damn fucking cool for a video game. Very realistic race car driving game. The only thing missing from it is the G forces you’d feel.
Awesome Race Game
p.p.s. here’s another shot of me sitting on a throne for the game Game of Thrones.
King Jody for Game of Thrones
From San Francisco, say see ya GDC it’s a wrap.
Monday will mark my first journey to an event known as the Game Developers Conference. As a musician making his way in the world, I’ve had an agent for video game work for a little over a year. That has led me to work on several games so far. A wonderful experience. The best way to expand on that network for spreading the music is to go where the business is. Which means I’m going to gdc sf (GDC SF) for the 2012 experience. I can’t wait to find out what I’ll learn and who I’ll meet.
Already a contact from my NAMM journey earlier this year, I’ve been granted a pass to attend the San Francisco event. Gotta love that. I can sense that it will be a fantastic relationship with a new company. That makes it more exciting already. Knowing that someone is going to be there that I can be introduced to others via. The bigger bonus is one of my reps from SESAC will be there for a few days. Then my agent will be there too. Lots of people to meet. Lots of new relationships to make.
Two days ago, I was put in touch with another composer out of Salt Lake City, or rather south of there. He’s also working on heading there. Because of that contact, with him (Brady Ellis), I’ve already been hired to work on one of his projects as a guitar player. Good things are afoot even before the event happens. I’ll be playing guitar on nine tracks for Brady.
I have other music projects I’m putting some finishing touches on. I’ll have to announce them in some different posts as it’s probably not wise to cross my new wires too much in single posts.
The last bonus is that I’ll get to hang with my sister a little bit during the week. She lives not far from San Francisco. Additionally I’m going to reach out to another recent NAMM contact who works for Sound On Sound.
It’ll be a fun filled week of games, games, games, and more games. Plus, and I’ve witnessed this as well, I’ve heard that game developers party hard. There’s no doubt some late nights are ahead. More to come in a little over a week when I get back.
In the meantime. Spend some time listening to my music <- click there. If you’re going to gdc sf (GDC SF), contact me and lets meet up.