2016 NAMM
2016 is off to a crazy start.
It began with a quick set in Sebastopol CA just after the holidays. Immediately after that it was a quick stop home, then off to Los Angeles for the NAMM show. My favorite mass event to attend. Its like a Guitar Center on Steroids. For the 2016 NAMM I was only able to attend for a single day – the first day. In hindsight, it was a good thing. I made sure to zip thru the show and make face time with all my endorsements.
I did spot a couple of new things that caught my eye. One is the StageClix wireless system. The first one to operate on the 5.8GHz band. Plus it rechargeable with 100 meter range. Oh and it’s all digital.
The plugin that caught my eye was the E2 DeEsser. It appears to be a hyper intelligent DeEsser that can tell the EQ curve when to turn on and when to be off so that it is not effecting the rest of the track when it’s not needed.
I’m also going to be picking up the Trim Two by Radial. I’ll be sticking it inline after my Apollo Twin for my live performances going forward in 2016. In case you missed it, I’ve gone digital with my guitar sounds (acoustic and electric). But as I’ve already learned, my computer is often way too loud for PA output. Go figure! Thus the need for a highly transparent but durable direct box!
One other item I picked up was the Oasis Humidifier. Previously I’ve been using two humidifiers in my guitar case but they couldn’t keep up with the needs of the guitar. In steps the Oasis Humidifier and for 2016 my guitar will be keeping properly hydrated. Thanks guys!
I will also be adding the Telefunken M-80 to my vocal lineup in 2016. I need a kickin mic to do some of my looping parts and this mic will fit the bill nicely.
2016 Sundance
Right after NAMM closed on Thursday I was back on the road and headed to Park City for the 2016 Sundance Film Festival.
It started with a very cool dinner put on by White Bear PR and SESAC. I got to hang with some amazing composers like John Swihart and Carla Patullo. We enjoyed some amazing food at Cafe Terigo and discussed all kinds of things from music to life.
Over the course of Sundance I did multiple performances at venues like The Spur and Flanagans. Audience reaction was favorable. To the point that I’ve been asked to score a film that is in the final stages of funding. I’ve also been asked to do some co-writing with some peers that I’d really like to write with. That’s an awesome thing!
One last perk is that a manager has decided to start courting me about managing me.
What’s Next
I’m in the midst of working out the next video for the new single Thump Thump Thump coming soon. Thanks to Sundance I’m seeing about the particulars of making it a VR video as well.
If you haven’t seen Nightwatch on A&E yet, what are you waiting for?
Having escaped NAMMthrax I’m going to recount some of the fun I had at NAMM 2015.
NAMM
I’m a fan of NAMM. Its a bit like experiencing Guitar Center if it were on Steroids. A lot of steroids. The main reason I go is to see all the fun new gear. Usually I’ll go for 3 days, on occasion I’ll go all 4. This year I only took it in in 2 days. Partially due to scheduling and partially due to seeing if I could fit everyone in that I needed to in 2 days. Hindsight says it was too short a time for how much I had to see and do.
For the cool new thing, this year I think hands down it’s gotta go to Omnisphere 2 by Spectrasonics. I already use Omnisphere, so this is a very cool update. Looking forward to when it drops.
My surreal experience of NAMM occurred on Saturday. I was walking along when I hear “Hey Jody, do you want a pen?” I turn to look and its Dave Pensado offering me a pen while standing outside the Izotope booth. For the non music world, Dave Pensado is a premier top level mixing engineer who has mixed some of the massive hits you’ve heard on radio. The shocking thing was how tall he is. For some reason I always pictured him to be like 5’9″, but he’s easily about 6’2″. Nearly as tall as me. We chatted briefly and then he did a presentation for the amazing new Izotope plugins Ozone 6, Alloy 2, Trash and more. Super nice and friendly guy.
The other great thing about NAMM is seeing certain people that for some reason I don’t run into other than at NAMM. Great time to catch up on what other fellow musicians are creating!
I did happen to see a purple microphone by Sennheiser that matched the purple shoes that I’ve got. Check that featured image for this post where I’m posing with the microphone. Think I need to color coordinate my mic and shoes?
I also helped to create a slogan for one of my endorsers. It’ll be interesting if Studio Devil starts using “Studio Devil, putting amps into storage for years.”
Stay tuned, more musical stuff is coming.
Don’t you hate it when you’ve missed something awesome? If you’ve been following me for at least the last two months or longer, then you know that I was in Anaheim for the NAMM show in January. The show/convention is so damn large it’s impossible, not virtually but truly impossible, to see everything that goes on. As it turns out, one of my favorite musicians was there and I had no idea. Grrrr. Ian Thornley is a powerhouse of a writer, guitar player and singer. Powerhouse! Not only was Ian there, but he also performed at a private party for an amp manufacturer Suhr. I’ve heard of their amps, though I’ve never played one. A few nights ago as I was prepping the video I released this week as part of the recording process for vocals on a new single – I came across video of Ian’s performance at NAMM. It’s so damn amazing that I had to share it you all.
So many live performances sound so horrible that live music can often leave a lot to be desired. However, when you watch this, you should be floored by how awesome it sounds. I know I am. It sounds like a freakin’ recording. That’s how tight, how solid, how rich, how in tune these guys are. Remember, this is live, and it’s a band that had one rehearsal (it’s not Ian’s regular band). This is why I love playing with awesome professionals. They make it look and sound easy – and it is if you’re like Ian. There’s a real joy when working with musicians who transcend to this level. I remember my first album and how I wanted to be able to pull it off live – to sound just like the record. Wish that band could have stayed together, they had the calibre.
Blown Wide Open Performance I Missed
Do yourself a favor, go buy his music. Go see him live.
As a guitar player, one that is into bands and players of yore that were considered guitar gods, I delved into all kinds of bands and players. One such player that I loved while learning to play guitar was Jake E. Lee. Jake came into guitar god fame by getting that coveted guitar slinger spot for Ozzy Ozbourne. He recorded two albums with the Oz master then went on to start a band called Badlands. Still rockin, but in a very bluesy sense compared to the metal stylings he had with Ozzy. All this leads me into the opening cut of the debut release of Badlands self titled disc, Highwire. Super energetic and bluesy in the vein of Led Zeppelin with a flair of metal = something that still rocks years later after it came out.
Why am I even thinking about this tune? Well last weekend was NAMM and a bunch of my friends happened to catch Jake E. Lee’s new band performing at a NAMM event. I was at a separate event so I missed the performance but I heard about it and that Jake was still rockin’ hard.
Highwire
Standin’ here, I got my eye on you
Your story bleeds, but there’s no review
Honey drip and set my soul on fire
Stealin’ hearts got me walkin’ the wire
You’re gonna lose control
All night long
When I find my love, love, love
High wire
Flash a smile, like a shiny blade
Everyone there thinks ya got it made
Sorry, child, can you take me higher
But you keep me hangin’ on your lonely wire
You’re gonna lose control
All night long
When I find my love, love, love
High wire
(Solo)
Oh, feels so good
You give me lovin’ like no one could
You turn me child, inside out
Still you leave me drownin’ in a sea of doubt
You’re gonna lose control
All night long
You’re gonna steal my soul, mama
You can’t go wrong
When I find my love, love, love
High wire
Love, love, love
Oh, sweet child, I know where you come from now
High wire, baby
Oh, oh, oh
Enjoy and rock on!
Hot damn it’s that awesome time of the year. Today is the opening day of NAMM. Wanna find me right now – I’m somewhere in the annals of the Anaheim Convention Center mingling with my endorsers (hint, they’re listed at the bottom my website here), and meeting fellow musicians that I don’t get to see all that often. One such musician that I’ve only met in passing is Myles Kennedy. He is hands down one of my favorite rock singers of all time. The dude has awesome clean tones, amazing grit, and serious emotion as he sings. It doesn’t hurt that he’s got a great charisma as well. I’m a fan. It would be a dream come true to craft a song with Myles, however, I don’t know him well enough to get him on the phone to make it happen. Not yet anyway.
Here’s one of their songs where you get the roller coaster of clean to grit and high rises on the melody along with cool and smashing guitar tones. Enjoy Rise Today by Alter Bridge as vocalized by Myles Kennedy. If you want to get some instant visual updates of my adventures at NAMM then follow me on Instagram.
Rise Today
The wind is blowing cold
Have we lost our way tonight?
Have we lost our hope to sorrow?
Feels like we’re all alone
Running further from what’s right
And there are no more heroes to follow
So what are we becoming?
Where did we go wrong?
[Chorus:]
Yeah, oh yeah
I want to rise today
And change this world
Yeah, oh yeah
Oh, won’t you rise today
And change this world?
The sun is beating down
Are we ever gonna change
Can we stop the blood from running?
Our time is running out
Hope we find a better way
Before we find we’re left with nothing
For every life that’s taken
So much love is wasted
[Chorus:]
Yeah, oh yeah
I want to rise today
And change this world
Yeah, oh yeah
So won’t you rise today
And change
This world
Only love can set it right
This world
If only peace would never die
Seems to me that we’ve got each other wrong
Was the enemy just your brother all along?
[Chorus:]
Yeah, oh yeah
I want to rise today
And change this world
Yeah, oh yeah
Oh won’t you rise today
And change this world?
Yeah, oh yeah
I want to rise today
And change this world
Yeah, oh yeah
I want to rise today
And change this world
Ah what a year it’s been. Say goodbye to 2012. A year of interesting change. Musically, politically, and so much more. Help me in saying welcome 2013 Happy New Year!
For me, I’m knee deep in finishing preproduction on a a slew of songs. I’m currently about midway through. My first couple of weeks will be pushing those gears to get them all done before running around LA coming mid month. Got meetings coming up with some of the networks and attending the infamous NAMM show.
In the past 24 hours I finally got a couple of the lyrics changes recorded on a few of the finalized songs. That’s a great way to finish out the year!
Next stop this year: new music. Plus another idea I’ve been kickin around is finally going to start getting of the ground. To the outside ear it’s huge. In my mind – it’s the way this event should be done. Stay tuned to find out what it might be.
In the meantime, I hope you’ve enjoyed your evening’s festivities in a wild fashion without causing injury. Be well. Love to see more of you in 2013, Happy New Year!
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.