abuse of power

i was looking through a mix cd by peanut butter wolf and found a track by funkadelic i'd never heard before, entitled no head no backstage pass. i hoped it didn't mean what i thought it did, so i looked it up and sure enough, the lyrics stated the obvious. disgusted and disappointed, i didn't want to believe it to be true. why is there so much corruption in this scene? so much exploitation? so many figures whose musical accomplishments seem to excuse them for their acts of evil?

i look at some of my musical heroes. say for example miles, jaco and mingus. all amazing musicians- revolutionary ideas in the areas of facility on their instruments, in creating new musical idioms, composing pieces that broke stylistic boundaries. but in their personal lives they were real jerks- at times very despicable people. i feel like i'm at such a crux all the time. i'm stuck in this mash where i have to constantly separate art from the artist- praising the artist for his art but having to feel remorse for the pain and discomfort they projected onto others in their personal lives. miles was known for beating the women he dated. mingus punched jimmy knepper in the face and messed up his ability to play the trombone for the rest of his life. jaco's cockiness ended up killing him when he belligerently refused to leave a bar and got beat to death. in all, their selfishness, feeling entitled serve their wants over the rights of others, saddens/ frustrates me and i find it so difficult to understand how i can praise them so many times for their musical contributions and overlook all the injustice they acted out in their everyday lives.

it's about time musicians humble themselves and use the talent they've been blessed with to bless others. honor the respect that people have for your work and respect them in turn. seems like common sense but yet how often do we see this played out?

P DIDDY!!!! was not there

jake and alex

mike really wanted p diddy to be there

the line







last saturday, me and some buddies waited in line for 10 hrs to get a one minute audition- a shot to be a part of p diddy's band on the upcoming show Making His Band. my audition went well- vibed well with the judges and had a fun time grooving on my bass. didn't get a call back but that was cool - didn't really want to be exploited on national tv, although playing in p diddy's band could have been pretty tight.

but yeah, 10 hrs man. so long. ended up being a pretty interesting 10 hrs in line, from the moment jake, alex, mike and i lined up at 6:30 am. everything from crazy goth rockers to the twins ryan and bryan in matching outfits right down to rhinestone bedazzled timberlands, to the tv crew, to the hilarious police officer, to mike's faces and alex's blublockers. it was awesome. the heat was unbearable, that dood kept on playing djembe crazy loud, girls getting in fights about whether brandy or keyshia cole could sing/ perform was the best. out of the 700+ people in line, about 500 of them were trying to audition to be backup singers and were singing at the top of their lungs in line. it was all-around a great time.

musical inspirations

really diggin squarepusher and bonobo right now. both are amazing bass players, composer/producers, and just awesome musicians in general. the music they make is phenomenal. i'd love to have either of these dood's job. here's a sick squarepusher video, the track Planet Gear, and bonobo's track Days to Come. enjoy.


Squarepusher - Planet Gear from Warp Records on Vimeo.