Through the years, The Outlaws have lived in the Southern Rock shadow of Skynard’s fame. In their day, they were ignored by the critics and dismissed by music hipsters. In the 70’s, I must have seen The Outlaws seven or eight times, usually at The Capital Theater in Passaic, NJ. Their shows still remain on my “Best Of” list. Check out this video and ask yourself, “What happened to real Rock? In the last two decades, what bands come close to playing Rock ‘N Roll, in the manner displayed here, with some god-damned balls, for Christ’s sake?! Why have we forgotten how good Rock can be, and instead, ingest current songs that can’t duplicate, but can only reference this era?” (Kid Rock: Skynard/Zevon) When you come up with some answers, please let me know. We need to return to musician’s playing real instruments in ensemble situations, playing real Rock ‘N Roll!
I attended a few shows on the same tour as this video. As you watch you’ll notice an abscence of posturing, styling, mugging, prancing, referencing or acting. Refreshing.
The last date of the very last M2M tour. This is a video of soundcheck, shot by the parents of guitarist, Marius Graff. Weeks earlier, Marion and Marit of M2M invited a former fan, Michelle Branch to our rehearsal studio in NYC. Michelle’s first album was just released and she was exited to share her success with her new colleagues of M2M. She invited us to play a show with her in Central Park months later, and the girls of M2M were excited, believing they were going to headline the show. Up to this point, we were on tour as the opening band on the Jewel tour. Can you imagine the girls of M2M singing Jewel songs during soundcheck, while Jewel is cringing in her dressing room?
When we arrived in Central Park it was obvious that Michelle Branch was the headliner (her record was on the top of the charts by then) and not suprisingly, she was nowhere to be found when the girls of M2M needed “clarification.” Marion and Marit were stunned and dejected. Meanwhile, unbeknownst to Marit, Marion had just inked her own deal with Atlantic Records, with the objective of severing ties with her life-long business partner (Marit) for good. Until that point, the only conflict that I witnessed between them was when Marit wanted to play The Strokes cd on our tour bus. Wanting Britney Spears instead, Marion stormed off to the back of the bus and locked herself in the rear lounge.
This was our soundcheck before our final show of the tour, and the last M2M show ever. That’s me on the drums!
This and many other loops, downloadable for free. Just click on “Downloadable Drum Loops” from the menu to the right. Choose the loop you wish to download, and click on the down arrow on the right of the player. The download will begin. Afterward, import into iTunes, Garage Band, Pro Tools, etc., and enjoy!
Producer Michael Patzig and I recorded this drum track on Wednesday, March 10, 2010. I used a hodge-podge 4-piece kit with my favorite 24″ Slingerland bass drum. The same one I used with my garage band in high school, circa 1978. I played my drum part along with the other tracks, most of which were already completed. No Beat Detective or groove enhancing software was used in the mix of this drum track. Here are some pics of my drum kit at the session:
My drum kit for Kristy Kay's "American Princess"
Drums for "American Princess"
I finally met Kristy last week in New Haven, CT. She’s a great talent and I’m sure you’ll be hearing a lot more of this song. Click here to visit her website.
We travelled to East Berlin to shoot this video in a television museum. In it, you’ll notice that I never open my eyes. For some reason, the director insisted that I play with my eyes closed, as a way of conveying intensity and drama. Ha? What? Anyway…did you notice the dude in the electric chair? The original script read that this guy’s character would get his head shaved on an operating table before going to the electric chair. When it came to shooting the scene, the actor cried like a baby as the electric shavers turned on. The director took pity and omitted the part where the guy gets his head shaved.
Of noteworthy:
This location was a Soviet style television studio turned museum after the fall of the Berlin wall. It had an eerie feeling.
I got the sense that Flansburgh had a hard time with this director at the wheel. You may know that Flans himself is a creative and highly qualified director. It took everything for him to keep his mouth shut during this shoot.
The day before this shoot, I was at home in Stone Ridge, NY when I realized that I didn’t have a plane ticket yet. Tony, the bass player, also didn’t have one. We immediately called the TMBG office and got an intern to book our flights. Why the screw-up? What would the Johns have done had we not made the video shoot? They would have enjoyed the travel savings and hired two Germans to mimick the bass and drum parts.
There are some great shuffles recorded in recent history. Jeff Porcaro and Bernard Purdie come to my mind immediately. However, in my opinion, this shuffle is the mother of them all. It sounds effortless, human, yet technical and extremely difficult at the same time. Besides, that quarter note triplet ride on the bell kills me. Every time I hear it I wonder, “Did he have to shed that?” If so, “How much?” I would’ve loved to be a fly on the wall while he worked this groove out. Although I’ve heard it a million times before, I can always learn something with every listen. Enjoy.
