15 posts tagged “essential machine”
It's only been about a week since the tour ended and I can't help but think about the next lag. Thoughts of New England coffee houses, meeting new artists, making new friends and fans. Oh, touring is the life. I get to spend all day with my favorite people, then every night I get to share my music with others, one of my favorite activities.
I have been very busy this last week promoting the new cd, booking shows and working on new music. Kare booked a show at Hot Topic in the mall. I always thought it would be cool to play a show in the mall. Now I will get to test my theory out. I wonder if the mall cops will throw me out if I handbill at the mall before the show. I'm promoting an event that will be taking place in the mall. I guess there's only one way to find out.
I have been enjoying my day job lately. I'm not sure if it's because I have so many positive things going on with my real passion in life or if it's my new assignment at work or both. My new assignment is more laid back than the last. I have been enjoying my extra days off quite a bit!
Kare and I have been working on new music for the next cd. I think it will be done sometime in the late winter early spring. The goal is to have it ready for the next summer tour. We are also working on getting some additional merch such as stickers and t-shirts. The cd will be on sale at iTunes and other online retailers in the next few weeks. We are so excited about this. You can buy the physical cd on our website right now.
It's the sidewalk I miss the most.
Peace and Love,
RJ
| The new year has begun and I just realized that I haven't posted a blog yet. I guess I better do that. So hear goes nothing. Listening to your own voice sing a single line of a song over and over again can be grating! But it is a required part of the mixing and editing process. So I've had to buck up! I don't mind listening to Karen's voice or even the guitar parts but my voice... aaahhh. I am currently working on Ring Ring Ring. It is still in the editing and recording stages. After that's done I will have one more song to complete. It's been vary excited working on these songs. I know I will miss recording... until next time. After the EP is done I will start working on booking our tour full time. We are currently working on putting together some local shows so keep an eye out for those on Essential Machine's page. I was going to post the Youtube.com Viewers choice poll but I want to wait until I finish the remodeling of our web site! I'm learning CSS it's pretty awesome! I better get some rest I have a lot of things to take care of tomorrow. Love and Peace, RJ |
| I
love making music. I have been spending every minute of my free time
working on this EP. It takes a lot of time and energy to get good
recordings. I have really fallen in love with the process. Pushing
buttons and twisting knobs is a blast. I have learned that I need to
take breaks often to keep from getting ear fatigue. I have to listen to
the recording on many different speakers when I 'm mixing. I seem to
forget that sometimes and I'm surprised when I hear farting bass coming
from the laptop speakers. Oh well I'm learning. Essential Machine is applying for NXNE and we will let you know as soon as we find out if we get in. We are also in the planning stages of a small east coast tour this summer. We will tell you more about it as soon we finalize our plans. That's what I've been up to. My vacation was awesome. I had a great time with my family. We played lots of games and had lots of treats. I miss all of my friends and family whom I didn't get to see this holiday. Love and peace, RJ |
I have been on quite a roller coaster ride these past few days. As you all know I thought my Mbox was deceased. Shortly after I wrote last nights blog I needed to charge my camera. I plugged it in to the usb hub to charge it and it didn't work. I thought wow first the Mbox now the camera. So I started checking all of the usual things. First the cable then the hub. I noticed that the hub didn't have all of the lights on. So I started messing with it. Then it hits me, what if the hub is unplugged. Sure enough I ducked my head under the desk and there it was: the usb plug on the floor. After I plugged it back in the camera started to charge right away. I then realized that my Mbox doesn't work right if there is an insufficient power supply. I plugged in the Mbox for a quick test and BAM it worked. So all of that crying for nothing. Crisis averted.
Now we have to finish our recordings. We are going to apply for the NXNE showcase in Toronto. So we need to get this EP finished!
Love and peace,
RJ
I'm beat. It has been a long week and I am having trouble keeping my eyes open. I got a lot done at work this week so I'm feeling good about that. I'm still very excited about our set at Keynote on Friday. I really miss performing.
If you read this blog please leave a comment with a song suggestion for EM to cover. I will use them in the next round of voting.
Thanks for your help.
Love and Peace,
RJ
My late night surfing on Youtube and myspace has led me on an amazing journey lately. I have been discovering all kinds of music I have never heard before. It's been a lot of fun. I will share some music with you that I really like.
I really love this song and video!
I also wanted to share this great story about 'Alex' the talking parrot. This story is amazing.
I'm still looking for suggestions on covers for Essential Machine to include in the next voters choice.
RJ
| |
| I
wonder if myspace will remove this blog. I tried hundreds of times last
night to post a blog and it kept saying ERROR! I have to curse the
screen every I saw the dastardly message "Unkown Error"! I hope this
one will post. I'm going to post a rough track Karen I recorded the other night. I love the song and even thought this is not the recording that will be on the EP I think it is good enough to share with you guys! I'm currently listening to old music on youtube. I love just typing in any old song. It's like an adventure you never know where you'll end up. I was just listening to Jeffery Osborne and Peabo Bryson. Wow! This evening one of the clients I work with told me "if I tell my daddy to go to hell HE HAS TO GO THERE!" I told him I wasn't sure that's how it works but, he was convinced. He makes me laugh. He isn't going to make me laugh tomorrow morning though. He has an appointment he really doesn't want to go to. He will be freaking out. I'm hoping all goes smoothly. I don't want to have to repeat the appointment again and I know he doesn't either. I'm going to try and post that song now. Wish me luck. I feel a string of foul language coming on. Love and Peace, RJ |
It was 32 degrees outside this morning, felt like 27. Fall is starting to feel like winter. How quickly I have forgotten what it's like throwing on those gloves and coat in the morning. Things at work have calmed down a bit since we are shy one of our individuals at the moment. This has given me some time to catch up on a lot of things that had fallen by the wayside. I think I have finished all of Octobers paper work.
I'm about to prepare Essential Machine's new video for Youtube.com. I can't wait to get that up.
I was listening to NPR today and I heard about some of the executive orders Obama plans to overturn. I can't wait to see what he does in January!
Love and Peace,
RJ
If you haven't checked this out yet go http://thestoryofstuff.com
I have been trying to start this blog for the last twenty minutes. I thought some music would be nice while I wrote my blog. I called up YouTube.com and started a search for "Damien Rice". I found "Older Chests" acoustic, so I clicked on it and out came amazing music. I thought I'd just watch a second or two, next thing I knew it was over. So I scrolled down to find "Elephant" one of my favorite Damien songs. I once again convinced myself that a second or two would be all that was required before I began writing. Of course it wasn't. I went through a couple spats of lying to myself and now twenty minutes later here I am. I did find a really cool live concert of his on YouTube so all isn't lost. I will have to post it after I write this!
It has been another rough week at work. My individual came home after a week in the hospital only to go right back the next day. He isn't doing very well. I really hope he gets better soon. I hate to see him so miserable in the hospital everyday. One of the other guys in the house eats himself sick when he is stressed out. He had to have some stomach medicine because he ate until he puked today.
I hope my sister is going to have her baby real soon. I know she has been really uncomfortable. Hang in there sis!
I have a cold so I can't sing. It's driving me crazy cause I really want to record this new song I wrote. I will record it as soon as I get my voice back. We are also ready to start recording our video cover since the polls have closed.
Here is the first part of the concert I'm listening to. Click on the user to hear the rest. The only thing that stinks is that it cuts Elephant in half. You have to listen to the second one to hear the rest of the song. Oh well!
Peace and Love,
RJ
It has been a long couple of weeks at work. I have spent much of my time on the phone and at the hospital. Management has changed almost all of the schedules in my house, including mine. This has made for a lot of extra work for me. I still have so much to do when I get back on Monday. These changes will almost definitely result in me working the overnight a few times a week until they fill these shifts. Any of you guys that want a job come see me. I will hook you up!
One of my individuals at work is still in the hospital. We have no idea when he will be coming home. I have been visiting him everyday. I saw him last on Friday afternoon. He told me he thought he was dying. I tried to convince him he would get better. I don't think it worked. I hate to see him like that. He was once so vibrant and full of character, and now he is just a frail scared old man. The worst part is that we just have to wait to see if he comes out of it. The doctors think he will. So we are keeping the hope alive!
I can't stand the way my clothes smell when I get home form the hospital. It doesn't seem to matter if I'm in the ER or up in recovery, I still smell horrible. I take my clothes and put them in a trash bag as soon as I walk in the door at home. I leave them in the bag until I can get to washing them. I feel so germy when I get home. I think it's partly the smell and partly the fact that I have seen to many nasty things to ever feel germ free again.
EM recorded a track last night. It just needs a bit of clean up work and some mixing and it will be ready to share. I will work on it this evening. If I finish it I will post it tonight.
Thanks to all of my friends who have voted on the EM website! If you would like to vote just click here!
Love and Peace,
RJ
