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2003 WHIRLWIND:
It would literally be impossible to try and describe what the last
month has been like, so I won't even try. All I can say is, as the
pre-sold CD's are reaching their intended destinations, and the official
release date approaches, and the Taylor tour is less than two weeks
away, and the press is coming in from all angles, and the feedback
and support has been amazing...as crazy and draining as this process
has been, it's all been worth it. ONLINE
INTERVIEW: Friday, 9/26, 2PM EST/11AM PST - on Randy Allar's show
on WCSB. That's www.wcsb.org.
The day before the pre-sale launches. Don't miss it. STILL THE HEADLINE: Latest View info and multimedia pile o' stuff at the Sneak PreView page. ONE WORLD: In response to many e-mails from our non-American friends—yes, we will be accepting international orders during the pre-sale period of Sept. 27 through Oct. 17. Shipping outside the U.S. will only cost $2.00 USD more than inside the States. Spread the word over there, folks. SHAMELESS PROMOTION: We're such marketing pros here at Onion Boy Records that we forgot to figure out the special promotional hook to get people all lathered up about the pre-sale. (Thanks for pointing this out to us.) But now I think we've got it. We'll have a little sweepstakes. Four e-mail addresses will be picked at random from the pre-sale buyers. Three will win the runner-up prize of a big-ass coffee mug printed with a special edition of the album cover artwork. The grand prize winner will get his or her choice of any two merchandise items in the Onion Boy Bazaar, which will be filled with cool stuff like t-shirts, sweatshirts, stickers, posters, and other SWAG. Winners will be notified Willy Wonka style, with a not-so-golden ticket included with special instructions for prize redemption. See, we knew what we were doing all along. Right? TO SIGN
OR NOT TO SIGN: We want to do something extra-special for all of the
folks who go for the pre-sale of View, and I know that means
signed copies. But how, I ask you? I can sign the front cover, but
not everyone wants that kind of impurity. Or I can sign the CD itself,
along with numbering it in my own handwriting. Or I can sign the back
of the booklet and put a sticker on the case with some kind of numbering
system. Or I can include a small certificate of pre-sale ownership.
Or…or…well, why don't you tell us how? E-mail us at info@onionboyrecords.com
with the words "SIGN THIS" in the subject line and speak
your piece. Majority rules. LIKE GOING TO THE MOVIES: If you check out the Sneak PreView page, you'll notice some brand-spanking-new stuff that Katy's whipped together in record time. Like a full-blown movie-style trailer for View. And an audio-only montage to go along with it. And updated info on the online distributors. And…and…and…[automatic shutdown to prevent core damage]. PRE-ORDERS FOR VIEW: September 27 through October 18 exclusively at the Onion Boy Records website. Have I mentioned that lately? MORE
THAN LIKELY: We're targeting September 26 as the date for the new
bryanbellerdotcom to go live. We (especially Katy) reserves the right
to blow off that deadline completely, but one can always hope that
the 38 hours a day necessary to pull this all off will somehow materialize
for both of us between now and then. YET ANOTHER PLUG: Just in case you haven't yet, don't forget to sign up for BellerBytes, the soon-to-be Bryan Beller e-newsletter. Debut installment coming, like, soon. PRE-ORDERING!: That's right—I changed my mind. For those who just can't sit still until October 28, we'll be accepting pre-orders for View at the Onion Boy Records website for a limited time: September 27 through October 18. After that, it will be available at select online retailers starting October 28, as originally planned, and I'll have it with me on the Northeastern U.S. Taylor Tour (acoustic duo with Mike Keneally) during the first two weeks of November. But pre-ordering is definitely the fastest way to get View into your hands. Stay tuned for more details…things are happening so fast now it's hard for even me to keep up with it all. HAPPY
ANNIVERSARY TO ME: As of yesterday, I've lived in Los Angeles for
ten years. Holy shit. ONION
BOY RECORDS WEBSITE LAUNCH: The Onion
Boy Records website is officially up and running! We're still
building a lot of it, but why miss the first opportunity to peruse
our oh-so-corporate identity? Read the initial Onion Boy Records press
release. See what our logo looks like. Feel the excitement of our
interactive art gallery. Eventually we'll sell stuff there, but for
now, it's a billboard, albeit a good looking-one. Yet another brilliant
design by Miss Katy Towell. Check it out at www.onionboyrecords.com. NEW VIEW ONLINE RADIO APPEARANCE: This last Monday, on short notice, I did a live online interview at thedividingline.com, on a show called Guilty Pleasures. It's about twenty minutes long, and features mysterious host Gruno spinning "Seven Percent Grade" and "See You Next Tuesday," as well as some cool general chat about View. If you have RealPlayer, CLICK HERE to download the archived broadcast (skip ahead to 57:20, and you'll go right to where the interview starts). If you don't have RealPlayer, please join the 21st century and get it. Hint: "Gruno" was present at the View sessions. AND A
HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO…: Joe
Travers!! JUST IN CASE YOU'RE NEW: My debut solo album View - featuring Mike Keneally, Joe Travers, Rick Musallam, Toss Panos, and many more - is coming out on October 28. Wanna hear what it sounds like? Click here to download two complete tracks. Yes, really! NOVEMBER TOUR DATES CONFIRMED: Mike Keneally and myself will be touring the Northeast U.S. as an acoustic duo on behalf of Taylor Guitars from November 3-14. The official dates are up on the Coming Attractions page. Not coincidentally, this happens just one week after View is released. I'll be privileged and honored to have my own CD's for sale right next to Mike's on the merch table. Come out and see us, if for no other reason than to watch me try and figure out how to act in this unfamiliar new role. GIG REPORT: Our gig at Victor's in San Diego this weekend was a frenzy of official documentation, with audio trucks parked out back, long-time Keneally fans manning multiple video cameras, and high-energy performances punctuating the warm Southern California night air. I was a little shot from the nearly five-hour drive from northern L.A. to San Diego (it's only two-and-a-half hours without traffic), but the crowd went nuts (major props to all who came and shouted their lungs out), and I think there's some good stuff in there for a potential DVD. We'll see. As they say, the tape never lies. REALITY CHECK: I was busy trying on my new hat as Promo Boy after the show, telling everyone I could about my solo album, when I came upon a disturbing trend. Three folks in a row, upon me telling them to go to my website and check out the .mp3 samples of "Seven Percent Grade" and "See You Next Tuesday," replied something to the effect of this: "I don't surf much…I don't really know how to download music, hopefully someone can show me…is that legal?" I kid you not. I'm committed to launching this thing online by necessity for now, but I guess I need to get working on a bricks-and-mortar solution as well. Man, that shocked me. BUILDING
A BOMB: Katy Towell and I have been working furiously in the scant
spare time we have constructing press kits, press releases, bio material,
the new bryanbellercotcom, the Onion Boy Records website and online
store, print ads, banner ads…and a mechanism for the official
Bryan Beller e-mailing list (working title: BellerBytes™). All
this stuff we're building in the back room of the Onion Boy sweatshop
is going to start flying around very, very soon. But even with all
of our organizational abilities employed, everything feels pretty
out of control right now. I can only imagine what it will be like
come late October. I'll
KEEP THIS BRIEF: Why waste time when there's a major new thing going
on at bryanbellerdotcom? You'll notice the front page has a new
section. It leads directly to the Sneak
PreView page, which now has available for download
two mp3's of final tracks from the album itself, plus a summary
of available info, pictures from the sessions, useless Onion Boy Records
trivia, and more. These are heady days, friends. A VERY SPECIAL EPISODE OF SCREED DU JOUR: There's a lot I have to say...but first, a classy and subtle reminder: I'll be GUEST HOSTING on NONERADIO.COM this MONDAY NIGHT, 9pm PST! And I'll be PREMIERING two tracks from my upcoming debut solo album VIEW, as well as playing hours of music chosen by me, me and ME! (a barely noticeable plug, to be sure) Now that the record is in the can and pressing as I type, Katy and I are going to be working our asses off launching Onion Boy Records, promoting and publicizing the album, and just generally trying to make the best possible presentation we can to the public. We're going to completely re-do bryanbellerdotcom, we're going to advertise in Bass Player Magazine and other M.I. mags, we're going to find as many online sources of publicity as possible...and we're going to do it all while we both start new jobs. It's going to be difficult, but it will be easier with your help. Any positive vibe-spreadage regarding this record that comes out of this newsgroup and into other groups would be beyond appreciated by yours truly. Hopefully, after you hear a chunk of the actual CD on Monday night or after, you'll know why I'm so damned excited about showing this bad boy off to anyone who will listen. On another note: I know very well that, for quite some time, I've been a little scarce around these parts. Ever since my day-job work responsibilities got more intense at SWR, it's been increasingly difficult for me to e-mail and post and be present as much as I would like. The recent acquisition of SWR by Fender (my new employer) has only increased the pressure and reduced the amount of time I have for other more musical pursuits, as Fender is located in Scottsdale and I'm now flying there every week to work in their offices. Don't get me wrong, they've been really great to me, but they aren't moving to LA anytime soon, I gotta pay for this record, and you get the rest of the picture. I'm still way into being the bassist for the MKB, I can't wait to finish Mike's new record (holy shit did Mike say the coolest fucking thing about the record in his last Mike Types To You), and my own musical sense and purpose have been renewed by going through the amazing process of recording View. I appreciate the positive responses I've gotten to this date more than you know. All I can say is that somehow, we're going to push this thing across the finish line. I guess
what I'm really trying to say is, stay tuned. It's all about to happen.
Hope you'll be there with me. BB ON NONE RADIO: Monday, July 28, 9pm PST. URL: www.noneradio.com. Sneak preview of two View tracks. Mark it down. [Editor's note: The above date has been corrected by bryanbellerdotcom staff. We apologize for the error and request that you please return any items dated Sunday, July 28th as the incorrect date contains small parts that may be a choking hazard] WE HAVE
A RELEASE DATE: Tuesday, October 28. View now has an official
street date. It was chosen because it's the last possible Tuesday
before the start of the November Keneally/Beller Taylor Acoustic Tour
on the east coast, and we'll need all the time we can get. Why? Because... AHHHHH:
The discography (a.k.a. Red Light Fever) has been update to include
Yogi's Salve.
You can't keep a good independent artist down. LIKE SITTING IN A MOVIE THEATER: That's how good and plentiful the new Coming Attractions are. We've got gigs, website news, a schedule for the online release of two preview tracks from View, and an appearance on None Radio. (Yes, I'm going to guest host None Radio on 7/28, dammit.) All for the content-starved readers of bryanbellerdotcom to digest and enjoy. Mmmmmmm. LET THE PROMOTIONAL BLITZ BEGIN: Well, it's not quite that impressive, but there are two new articles up over at Press, Darling. Believe me, when promo copies of View hit the mags, this section of the site will be hopping. I got mad contacts, fo' sho' (see below). WEBSITE REVISION UNDERWAY: The Webmistress Katy Towell and I are hard at work revamping bryanbellerdotcom. The new design might even incorporate the artwork concept from View. Yes, it just might. In the meantime, please accept these updates as a token of our commitment not to abandon the old design entirely. LIFE
AS A BLUR: I kid you not when I say that yesterday was the very first
opportunity I've had since 6/16 to do anything other than a) fly back
and forth to Scottsdale; b) work 16 hours a day; c) format a new computer;
d) sleep 4-5 hours a night; e) forget to pay a traffic ticket and
have my license suspended and get an angry notice from a collection
agency and have to pay over $300. to make it go away. Thank God for
holidays. Then again, I'd be lying if I didn't admit to getting off
on consolidating my SWR contacts and personal contacts into one gigantic
Outlook Contacts file of over 1,100 people and/or businesses. Yes,
I'm a geek. But I'm a geek with a solo album to promote and a bulging
digital Rolodex; I'm a danger to myself and those around me. (Note
to self: It's medication time.) DONE: The album is complete. The master is sitting in my office. View's thirteen tracks checked in at 60:17. They all sound really good. I'm in a state of shock right now. SPEAKING OF DONE: On June 2, SWR's assets were purchased by Fender Musical Instruments Corporation. In other words, we were bought out. The process went live on April 17, two days before the first tracking day for View. You may not want to imagine what going through both of these processes (the album and the company sale) at once was like; I'm not sure I want to relive it in print myself (though it should go along way to explaining the month-long Screedless-ness on this page). But I shouldn't complain too much—I still have a job, and I fly to Scottsdale, AZ tomorrow morning to visit the corporate headquarters for the first time. I'm in a state of shock right now. SHOCK
TREATMENT: Rest. Then, once I recover from the assault on the senses
that the past two months came to be, I'll be very active around these
parts and beyond. After all, now I have to figure out how to sell
this thing. YES, I'M STILL ALIVE: And I'm going to prove it with this Screed, dammit. PRESS, DARLING: The first extensive interview of any kind that touches on the topic of the solo album is up at Ytsejam.com, an online magazine. It's not yet together on this site, but you can check it out by clicking here. The interviewer, Jedd Beaudoin, knew what to ask and did a great job. DISCOGRAPHY UPDATE: There's a new release over at Red Light Fever, our version of a discography. Last year, the Mike Keneally Band signed up for a Pink Floyd tribute called A Fair Forgery Of Pink Floyd, and it's out now. Better than your average tribute album, really. Which track did we cover? Click here to find out. MARQUEE UPDATE: The Coming Attractions page (click next to my right ear) contains some new items you may care to peruse. VIEW UPDATE: There is so, so much I could say about the seven tracking days now in the can, but to say it in the Screed just wouldn't do it justice. I will say that it has been an incredible joy and privilege to work with so many different and uniquely talented musicians. I'll also say that watching some of these compositions come to life has been beyond exhilarating. In every case, the tracks have exceeded my original expectations for what could be done with them. And that's due to the players. The vibe has been incredibly positive. CAN YOU BE MORE SPECIFIC?: I will, sometime in June. I'm going back in the studio, because everyone's tracks are now complete except for mine, with one surprise exception that I'm not going to spoil. The target date for completion – and that means tracking, editing, mixing and mastering – is June 15. After that I'll write something to go along with a new page or section of the site. One thing I don't want to do is give away the whole story before the release, but I'll tell part of it. One thing's for sure: Nick D'Virgilio is a first-class engineer, and when this thing comes out, everyone will know why. RELEASE DATE: I'm targeting mid-September. WHAT
THINGS FALLING APART?: In a couple of weeks, it will all make sense. BB ON
NONE RADIO: The long-awaited Screed update is coming soon... but in
the meantime, check out www.noneradio.com
tonight (Monday, 5/19) at 9pm PST. Host Rich Pike and special guest
Joe Travers will be discussing View, and will also air the
demo of "Seven Percent Grade." For those of you who aren't
familiar with the magic that is Joe Travers, this would be a good
time to get up to speed. Thanks are due to Rich Pike—it's all
his brainchild. I may even show up on there live one of these weeks...if
I ever get to come out of my work cave again. THINGS
FALLING APART: My life is in the blender right now…a proper
Screed regarding the second and third sessions will arrive sometime
in the next week, I hope. Updates to the View section, Photographic
Evidence, Red Light Fever (discography), Press Darling (interviews)
and more will happen…eventually. THE FIRST
SESSION: Amazing. Nick, Toss, Keneally, and others you haven't heard
of yet were kings. Leaving town for two days, back on Wednesday, rehearsal
on Thursday, lockout sessions on Saturday and Sunday. It all adds
up to lots of excitement and probably very little Screedage in the
short term. But if yesterday was any indication, it'll be worth it. THE FIRST REHEARSAL: A reunion of sorts occurred last night, when Toss Panos, Mike Keneally and myself gathered at Toss' place to work on the three tunes slated for tracking this Saturday, including the dreaded "See You Next Tuesday." It was the first time we'd played together in something like five years, but the vibe was all there. New, of course, was yours truly acting as bandleader. Initial bouts of nerves gave way to pure bliss as the two aces worked their way through "Supermarket People," a slow, fat groove tailor-made for Toss - and featuring a guitar styling few have heard Keneally execute, and many (I believe) will dig. The guy can do anything. A TEMPO: He proved it on "Tuesday," as I watched him go from barely knowing the notes to acing a nightmare series of quasi-bebop licks at 150 b.p.m. on a baritone guitar in roughly ten minutes. For his part, Toss claimed he couldn't play that fast anymore, then proceeded to shred the tune into flaming trails of musicality. We began by trying to play it at a slower tempo, but the feel was a struggle. Eventually our masculinity got the best of us and we launched it at full speed until we got it right. It was rough and right on the edge, just as it should be. We left it smoldering, with the coals still orange. MEMORY
LANE: Of course, during breaks we began recalling war stories from
the '96 BFD/Steve Vai Tour, a character-shaping experience for all
of us, and best told as it occurred (in Act
21 of The Life Of Bryan). Toss actually broke out his old charts
of "Spoon Guy" and the fast part of "Day Of The Cow
2," shown here with Austin Powers looking on in the background.
(He may need them again - Toss is playing with Keneally and Doug Lunn
at the Baked Potato in late April.) Mike was clearly happy to get
past "See You Next Tuesday." But maybe, like me, he was
smiling about more than just that. ANTICIPATUS INTERRUPTUS: The heading this week was going to be "T-Minus Seven Days and Counting," but a last-minute logistical snafu has caused my first studio date (4/12) to be pushed back to 4/26. That means the first date will be a full-band job with Keneally, Toss Panos and Jeff Babco (keyboardist for the Jimmy Kimmel Show) on 4/19. My sense of order was temporarily offended, but it'll work out fine in the end. Either way, I've recovered from Europe, and I'm ripe. Can someone show me where life's fast-forward button is hiding? IN THE MEANTIME: I've been humbled by the act of practicing my own material. I'd never actually played "Seven Percent Grade" all the way through before this week. What the hell was I thinking? It's freakin' hard! Thankfully, re-learning the keyboard parts for other tunes hasn't been quite as bad. As for the vocals, I'm trying to not even think about that until the red light is on. KENEALLY AND FRIENDS: I've been lurking in the AMMK newsgroup, trying to keep track of Our Hero as he makes his way across Europe. Sounds like a blast. I'm sure Jaan and Schroeder are kicking ass, and it really is a blessing that those of you in Europe have been able to hear Keneally in a band form for some of those "extended" shows made famous on the 1998 WNHTH tours. If you see him, tell him to get back here in one piece. We've both got new albums to make. ARMCHAIR
GENERAL BELLER: Not one second later than I jumped on the "war
plan gone awry" bandwagon did the U.S. Armed Forces roll into
Baghdad. (OK, it was four days, but whatever.) That's why I generally
leave this sort of stuff to professionals. I actually still believe
that Rumsfeld's insistence on lower overall troop numbers made the
ordeal harder than it had to be, but it's difficult to argue with
less than 100 combat casualties so far. Our men and women on the ground
are amazing, and deserve our unending thanks and gratitude. As for
the Bush team and their grand diplomatic entrance (and its effect
on the execution of the war plan), better to be lucky than good. BEARING DOWN: Days seem to be blurring together as the preparations for the tracking of the solo album heat up. I feel like I was just in Europe yesterday, and at the same time I feel like it was six months ago (perhaps because, with a laptop and cell phone, I never really disconnected from the States). Logistics for View continued unabated throughout the trip and well into the return. Thankfully, most of the pre-planning and scheduling is now done - all that's left is the rehearsing, the initial studio setup, and the tracking. Which should be a relief…but instead, I have to admit, it's terrifying. DEVALUATION OF CURRENCY: So many of you knew that "Manchester, England/I believe in God" was a lyric from the musical Hair that I ran out of bonus points to disperse. Next time I'll make the question harder, but rest assured that bryanbellerdotcom bonus points will still be worth squat. THERE'S
HARD WORK…: And then there's what our soldiers are doing in Iraq.
Bitching about work and a solo album and over-traveling feels pretty
damned lame and petty by comparison. I've refrained from comment mostly
because I'm so conflicted about it, but I can say that a) given what
kind of behavior we're seeing from Saddam's high command and most
loyal troops, I'm still convinced that inaction was not a long-term
strategy of any value at all; b) given the difficulty of the job,
I'm still also convinced that the Bush administration's bungling of
the diplomatic considerations has made this twice as difficult as
it could have been. What would we give now for those three extra votes
in the Turkish Parliament and a true northern front? (And once we
knew we didn't have it, why didn't we wait a month to get the mislocated
equipment of the 4th Infantry Division in place? It would have served
both our military and diplomatic purposes at the same time!) Would
there be nearly as much anti-American sentiment in the region if the
military effort included the majority of the Western European nations?
Monday morning quarterbacking, all of it, and anyone can do it, so
I'll stop there and simply wish the troops the best of luck in adapting
to and overcoming both an unscrupulous enemy and the miscalculations
of their current civilian masters. BACK FROM THE U.K.: And for a second it looked like I may have had to bring poor old Tony Blair with me. Seriously, I just have to say that our one-week clinic tour in Britain was nothing short of magical. Wonderful, large, appreciative crowds everywhere we went, great traveling company from the Taylor folks, charming atmosphere, and those excellent accents in endless varieties. Cheers to everyone who came out to see us for the first time (and had been waiting for years), and also to some new friends as well. REALLY, I'M NOT LAZY: There's easily enough material for a good Act of the Life Of Bryan, but I'm conserving all of my energy for getting back on track here in the States and preparing for the upcoming View recording sessions. So forgive me. But in the meantime, please enjoy this shot of Mike and I being prompted to "do something weird." SMALL WORLD: After the Hitchin clinic, I spent nearly five minutes chatting obliviously with the nicest English lad before someone had the presence of mind to tell me who he was. It was Nick Beggs, bassist for (in order) Kajagoogoo, then Duran Duran (post-John Taylor, pre-Wes Wehmiller), and now John Paul Jones (who carries a second bassist; Nick plays Chapman Stick). Great player (check out his playing on Warren Cuccurrullo's Thanks To Frank - unreal), great guy. Here's a pic of the two of us being nice to each other. There was an outside chance of John Paul Jones himself showing up at the clinic the next night, but it didn't happen. Just as well; I probably would have passed out if he was watching. BONUS
POINTS OPPORTUNITY: That's right, it's bonus points time for whoever
knows the reference of the titles for the two proceeding Screed headlines
(Manchester, England/And I Believe In God). No, Mom, you can't participate;
we have rules against that sort of thing. MANCHESTER
ENGLAND, ENGLAND...: The clinics the last two nights have been really
incredible experiences, with audiences so large and kind I hardly
even know where to start. But tonight, which started at Academy of
Sound in Manchester, may go down as one of the most gratifying nights
on a clinic tour ever. The applause for our first few tunes was ear-splittingly
loud. When I played "Backwoods," the clapping lasted for
so long I nearly choked up. Then came the real magic - we played "I
Will," and on that stupid, silly, penultimate chord, the main
breakers went out onstage. (Sing the song to yourself and try to imagine
that.) Immediate efforts to restore power having failed, we simply
moved our chairs to within five feet of the front row and played a
truly acoustic show, with no sound reinforcement for either the guitars
or our vocals. And it became magical within minutes. Power was eventually
restored to the stage, but we never went back up there. One of the
best clinics ever. ESCAPE
FROM FRANKFURT: Another year, another Frankfurt Messe in the rear
view mirror of life. It really was quite easy compared to the maelstrom
that was Anaheim NAMM. Keneally and I pulled off several well-attended
and well-appreciated performances in the "Acoustic Village,"
as they called it. (Never mind that it was in the same hall as some
strange percussion instruments, may of which could be heard loudly
during the more sensitive parts of the performance - Frank would have
been pleased.) Sadly, my German language abilities are still non-existent,
but that didn't stop Mike and I from exuding happiness in the photo
you see here. As you'll notice, our appearances are becoming more
disparate by the day. MESSE
STRESSE: A lot of folks I know professed incredulity at my going to
Europe during such a delicate time in world affairs. I'm actually
excited by it. Whether we Americans realize it or not, we're only
the center of our own universe, not the world's. That doesn't mean
I think that the rest of the world is right and we are wrong on whatever
happens to be the issue of the day, let alone the current circus,
but I always feel more in touch with the world as a whole when I'm
in Europe than when I'm in, say, Canyon Country. Yes, that's partially
by design, but perhaps so is this. VIEW UPDATE: Things are rolling right along. The studio dates for the first three days of basics have been booked for April. View Art Director Katy Towell, Wes Wehmiller (friend, bassist, song contributor, photographer) and yours truly headed off to an undisclosed location to take pictures for the album's front cover last Saturday. Mission was accomplished and topped off with a red meat feast at Billy Boy's Café in Pearblossom, CA (hint hint). Wes ordered nothing and ate a health bar. The locals were confused. WHATEVER HAPPENED TO…: Beer For Dolphins' percussionist Tricia Steel? Wonder no more - she's going to bring her rock 'n' roll vibes out of retirement for one track, the oft-mentioned "Eighteen Weeks." Word on the street has it that she's quite excited about the chart Oppy and I did for her. There's even a genuine four-mallet part for her to wrap her supple arms around. Perhaps I'll stop panting for long enough to tell you that she's working on a solo marimba recording of her own. BRYAN'S SONG: The March issue of Bass Player has just hit the streets, and believe it or not, there's a special section of the Letters To The Editor page devoted to two folks who wrote in to lament the passing of the column. All I can tell you is that my parents were kvelling beyond description. Thank you (and you know who you are). I can only hope that some coverage of the solo record will show up in those hallowed pages someday. And hopefully not in The Barbeque Pit section of the CD Reviews. HEADING OVER THERE: I leave for a two-week trip to Europe on Monday. Frankfurt I've done before, but England will be a whole new ballgame. I'm pretty sure I've been to London and that's it. Hard to believe that Keneally and I have never played together in England before. I really do wish that I could continue on with MK throughout Europe, even if it were only for one gig. But getting back to SWR and recording View basics will keep me busy, I'm sure. HOW DOES
THAT PART GO AGAIN?: Besides, I have to learn how to play some of
this stuff. I used to wonder how it was that some of the songwriters
I've worked for would supply a tape of a song they wanted me to learn,
and when it came time for rehearsal, I knew the parts better than
they did. I'd say to myself "how fucking irresponsible!"
and harrumph after I left. Well, I had Rick Musallam up at my place
the other day, and we're going over guitar parts on "Seven Percent
Grade," and I completely forgot how I did half of it. I haven't
made life easy on myself on some of the bass parts for this record,
either. I see myself practicing a good deal in late March. A good
deal. OPPY IS A MAN: That's Chris Opperman I'm talking about, in case you were wondering about either the subject or the predicate in this Screed's title. We got together at 2pm on Saturday, 2/15. Fourteen hours later, I walked out of his apartment with drum and guitar charts for two of the tougher form tunes on the record ("See You Next Tuesday" and "Supermarket People"), plus a vibraphone chart for the elaborate "Eighteen Weeks" and another drum chart to boot. Watching him bend the Finale music notation software to his will was a mighty impressive thing. Watching him do it at 3am after twelve straight hours of work was awe-inspiring. Then again, he was only doing it as a break from his main notation gig at the moment, which is creating charts for Keneally's commissioned work for this year's Holland Festival in Amsterdam in June. Doing guitar and drums must seem easy after dealing with a score for a 50-piece orchestra. OPPY
IS A BACHELOR: I'm sure his head is swelling beyond belief right now,
so I'll balance my effusive praise by publicly hoping he uses some
of the now-spent View budget to employ a cleaning service for
his apartment. Soon. THE RIGHT
HONOURABLE GENTLEMAN FROM CANYON COUNTRY: Check the Coming Attractions
for a detailed itinerary of the upcoming Keneally/Beller Taylor Acoustic
clinic tour. In England! THANKS, TOSS: The one and only Toss Panos confirmed today for a View session in April, which means the '96 MK/BFD trio will reunite for one song. Which one, you ask? "See You Next Tuesday" - of course. That is going to be one serious track. MARCH
MADNESS: I'm going to Europe in March for two weeks and two reasons.
Check out the freshly prepared Coming Attractions for the dirty details. GIG REPORT: The last Keneally band Baked Potato gig (2/8) for some time was executed quite well, in my usually humble opinion. Working off of an actual set list for the first time in months, we cranked through stuff we hadn't done in a while, like "Father's Day", "Own", and even "The Immigrant Song" with a nice professional gloss, while myriad equipment gremlins ensured the ragged edge that Keneally thrives on. "Killer Fish" in particular was as good as any previous version I can remember. A special highlight for me was watching Nick perform a solo acoustic version of Soundgarden's "Blow Up The Outside World", which is quite the vocal high-wire act for anyone unfamiliar with Chris Cornell's penchant for upper-register wailing. All in all, a nice way to leave the live setting for a bit while we all go our separate ways in March and try to record two albums (MKB's and my own) in April, May and June. LOUIE, LOUIE: Before the show, the MKB and some select friends crammed into my car to hear a rough mix of the new Keneally song "Louie", a six-minute-plus nasty cur of a tune, complete with my low B string tuned down to A and enough weird-ass sounds and form to make Mr. Bungle gag. It's GOOD. VIEW UPDATE: It's official - Nick D'Virgilio has signed on to be the chief engineer of the project, and it will be recorded at Lawnmower Studio and Garden Supplies in Pasadena. This week I'm getting together with Joe Travers, Rick Musallam and Mike Keneally to discuss song details and scheduling. I'm shooting for mid-April into May for the tracking, with the goal of basics and overdubs complete by the end of May. Cover photography, charts for vibes and strings, and projected number of tracking days are all current issues on the table. It's hard to believe that this is actually happening. JANUARY
STATS: Thanks to everyone out there for making January the second
100,000-hit month for bryanbellerdotcom. You can't stop us; you can
only hope to contain us. PROMISES, PROMISES: I know I said I was going to write a new Act of The Life Of Bryan about my harrowing experience working for SWR at this year's NAMM show…but I've changed my mind. Frankly, I just don't have the energy or drive to relive the whole thing. That, and I'd much rather be working on the plans for the recording of View, which looks like it's going to happen in April and May. In order to make that happen, I have schedules to coordinate, budgets to draw up, drum charts to write, studios to book…it's gnawing at me as I type. Certainly the world can live without another "it was the craziest thing ever" story from me. FOR THOSE
WHO ACTUALLY CARE: A buttload of pictures just went up over at the
SWR
site, documenting the whole thing in graphic detail. There's even
one of me, Vinnie Colaiuta and Jimmy Haslip. And for anyone who wants
the story, I'll sum it up right here: from Monday, January 13 through
Sunday, January 19, myself and four other SWR employees pulled a 90+
hour workweek in order to a) set up a booth for a convention; b) loan
out over 100 pieces of gear to other companies' booths for the same
convention; c) manage eight in-booth performances by eight different
acts; d) manage three consecutive nights of four-act performances
in an off-site venue; e) deconstruct the whole thing and get everything
back to the factory in one piece. On Thursday, Friday and Saturday
of that week, it meant waking up at 7:45 AM, starting work on the
convention floor at 8:45 AM, working the show until 6:00 PM, and then
immediately heading to an off-site venue to work the nighttime shows
until at least 2:00 AM, sometimes even later. By Sunday, we were all
walking zombies. During the booth breakdown on Sunday night, my fellow
employees witnessed me literally pass out on the convention floor;
I slept for nearly a half-hour while pallet loaders whizzed by in
various directions. It was the second hardest work-related experience
I've ever had, the hardest being the 1996 Keneally-opening-for-Vai
tour detailed in Act
21 of the LOB. Hopefully you can understand my desire not to relive
it. Maybe one day, but not anytime soon. And besides, Katy did an
admirable job of reliving
it on her site. Anyway, a lot of it was "you had to be there"
kind of stuff. I'm just glad it's over. HOLY
UPDATE, BATMAN - THE SEQUEL: Things change with time, and so must
bryanbellerdotcom. The following sections of the website have been
altered, however slightly, to reflect the Keneally band's name change,
the end of my Bass Player column, the fact that I now write music,
and other trivial items in the interest of accuracy: what are you,
new?; the official biography; the Bass Player columns page (column
#18, "Keep
The Change," is now up); the links page; music, bass in particular;
don't quit your day job (inside the music section); Mike Keneally's
rap sheet (also inside the music section)…there's more, but you
get the idea. DON'T FORGET: You can still click here to check out a sneak preview of "Seven Percent Grade", a demo version of a tune that will eventually show up on a Beller solo album of some kind. What, you haven't heard it yet? AS THE DUST SETTLES: Have you ever worked 77 hours in five days? Plus do three gigs in the middle of it? Manage the SWR NAMM booth by day, and the SWR After Dark concert series at night? Escort Vinnie Colaiuta through a crowd of genuflecting muzos? Get in a screaming match with the General Manager of the Anaheim Hilton? Go head to head with the Teamsters? Dial in Doug Wimbish's EQ settings? Save a co-worker from passing out? Wanna know what it feels like? You'll have to wait for Act XLIV of The Life Of Bryan, tentatively titled "NAMM It All To Hell" (courtesy of Brad Dahl), which I hope to write this weekend. IN THE MEANTIME: Our good friend (and fellow SWR soldier) Katy Towell has posted a downright Life-Of-Bryan-esque chronological telling of her virgin NAMM experience. Read it here, and additional insight and perspective will be yours. WOKE
UP THIS MORNING…: Actually, woke up this afternoon at 1:00. Haven't
done that since before I started working at SWR in early 1997. Still
exhausted. SNEAK PREVIEW: Don't look now, but the front page has changed. Something about the posting of an .mp3 of "Seven Percent Grade". You may want to check it out. ALL THINGS VIEW: In the coming months, there will be an entire section dedicated to this crazy debut solo album thing I keep talking about (and just guess what it's called?). Look for mundane things like opportunities to sign up for e-mailing lists, studio progress, hopeful release schedules, and the like. For now, I think I'll let the preview track do most of the talking. But not before thanking all those who e-mailed me encouragement and support since September. Believe me, there were times I sorely needed it, and it helped a lot. And I'm not just talking about the folks who asked when they could pre-order, either. NEW YEAR'S EVE IN SEATTLE: Had a great time. Wish I could have stayed longer. Sitting in with Yogi on "Throw Me A Bone" was a blast; watching him and his band play the rest of his material was even better. It was raining. Flying is no fun anymore. I'm tired from the one-day-in-one-day-out itinerary. More on this later. SCREED
ARCHIVE: It's a new year, which means it's time for a new screed
du jour as well. The old version was getting a little too unwieldy
to load, so we've taken the opportunity to archive the 2002 screed
du jour, a link to which you'll see below in perpetuity. click HERE for the screed du jour 2002 archive page |
