Brad Barrish

Never Gonna Fit

I decided to go to Ikea at the last minute to pick up some cheap shelves to display the CDs that have been in boxes for nearly 3 years. I took some sound advice from Living With Music. I haven't had a chance to pick up the small peace of wood to keep the CDs from sliding. I probably should do that before I get too far. I need to go back to Ikea to pick up some more shelves too. I originally got 20, thinking that I might have a few extras. Anyway, I'm only through the Gs and I already have a bunch of CDs I need to rip  onto my external drive. There's no way all the music is gonna fit on these two shelves, so I'm not sure what to do with the rest. It may be time to trim the collection back, but it pains me. I've spent years and years collecting. I did some major filtering before I moved to the shoebox in Venice. I must have gotten rid of nearly 700 CDs. I don't know exactly how many I have now, but somewhere in the neighborhood of 2000-3000. Well, it feels good to get the tower of boxes sorted out. I'll keep you posted.

So Not The Grammys

Today is the first day in weeks that I feel somewhat rested. The last few weeks everyone has been hard at work on Grammy week events. I was largely focused on our show with Hawthorne Heights, Atreyu and Anberlin, which happened on Wednesday. Leading up to the show it was all about coordinating with three managers and two labels. Victory Records (Hawthorne Heights and Atreyu) and Tooth & Nail (Anberlin) were a pleasure to work with. The greatest thing about working with these labels and bands is that you can count on them to work. These are the kind of bands that succeed or fail based on their fans, who spread the word online, buy merch, buy tickets and support the bands in any other way they can. It’s a really inspiring thing to see. Their fans are so dedicated.

I got to the venue and dinner was being served. I walked around, met the managers I had been talking to on the phone for weeks, shook hands with the bands and cleared up some last minute ticket issues with Alexandra (the real rock star of the evening). Guitar World magazine was at the venue taking some photos of the Hawthorne Heights guys. Kids were already lining up outside for a sold-out crowd. Cameras were in position, the El Rey kitchen was being used as the control room and in a small side room the editor was working on some footage for the show and Mark “The Cobra Snake” Hunter was wandering around.

This was a unique show for the S.R.O series because it went out live-live through AOL. There was a great moment while I was standing with Atreyu backstage right before they went on. There was all kinds of hectic activity going on because of the live nature of the evening. Alex (Atreyu’s singer) had a bit of stage fright as he realized just how many people would be seeing the performance. It was just one of those moments that makes everyone involved feel a little more human. The band took the stage and could not have performed better. I was totally blown away and it’s a good thing I had ear plugs.

Anberlin, then Atreyu and finally Hawthorne Heights took the stage. I watched at least a few songs from each band from the floor, but I was all over the place, talking to people, watching from the balcony, watching from the control room and then wandering outside to check on the incoming crowd. The show was awesome and despite a few technical glitches, came off as one of the better shows to date. I think we were able to capture the feel of the show. The fans were awesome and represent what S.R.O. is really about.

On to the next one…

New Songs and Albums for February

Pay attention or this will all pass you by and you'll never catch up... Wolfmother is hands-down the best throw-back rock...hell, I'll go so far as to say it's gonna be the best rock album of the year. What month are we in? Arctic Monkeys are gonna be huge. Maybe just in the UK, but probably not. SXSW will be the place it will start. Mark my words. We Are Scientists are just good. I have nothing else to say. You probably won't hear much about The Kooks here, but if you're really into the UK stuff, I suggest you pick up this album. Editors released one of the most gorgeous UK albums of last year. The album should be getting the US treatment sometime this year. Vitalic is some relatively obscure electronica thing I picked up on eMusic and I couldn't be happier. Think Aphex Twin meets Basement Jaxx or something. If I had to pick a favorite for this month it's the Nelly Furtado track, and I'm not kidding. I'm sure in a few months I'll be sick to death of it, which is when you'll start liking it. Fans of Dizzee Rascal and Lady Sovereign will love on Low Deep, if you aren't already lovin'. I was chatting with EJ the other day and found we both share an intense love of Jamie Lidell and all things Warp. Can you dig it? The new Richard Ashcroft album is such a bore, but this track is one of the better ones. Just reform The Verve already...Fuck. I'm skipping over Elefant because I literally just picked this track on the fly and haven't spent much time with the album. I have no idea who Voxtrot is. I think I grabbed this track from a web site and I thank you. Test Icicles have a clever name, like to scream and yell and write some catchy songs. It sounds a little like some skate punk I used to listen to. I can't put a finger on it. I think I'm the only person in the US that likes Placebo, so I'm just gonna skip it. I have no idea who Get Him Eat Him are, but they sound kinda like Weezer when they were good mixed with Shudder To Think. Jenny Lewis has a way better voice than Blake Sennett and could probably kick his ass, especially when she's singing charming country songs. Swoon. I have to come clean about not being much of a Cat Power fan, but this album is gorgeous and it worthy of your attention is you like that singer-songwriter stuff.

01 Wolfmother - Woman (Wolfmother)
02 Arctic Monkeys - I Bet You Look Good On The Dancefloor (Whatever People Say I Am Thats What I'm Not)
03 We Are Scientists - Inaction (With Love And Squalor)
04 The Kooks - Sofa Song (Inside In Inside Out)
05 Editors - Munich (The Back Room)
06 Vitalic - The Past (OK Cowboy)
07 Nelly Furtado - Maneater (Loose)
08 Low Deep - Get Set (Run the Road Vol. 2)
09 Jamie Lidell - Multiply (Multiply)
10 Richard Ashcroft - Why Not Nothing? (Keys To The World)
11 Elefant - Lolita (The Black Magic Show)
12 Voxtrot - Mothers, Sisters, Daughters & Wives (Mothers, Sisters, Daughters & Wives EP)
13 Test Icicles - Circle Square Triangle (For Screening Purposes Only)
14 Placebo - Drag (Meds)
15 The Sounds - Night After Night [Alternative Version] (Dying To Say This To You)
16 Get Him Eat Him - Exposure (Do As I Tell You)
17 Jenny Lewis with the Watson Twins - Big Guns (Rabbit Fur Coat)
18 Cat Power - Living Proof (The Greatest)

You Are What You Read

All kinds of inspirational things come to mind and fall right out because I never have enough time to write things down as I think them. Throughout the course of a day I try and jot down a few ideas in my Backpack for posts or things I want to focus energy toward. On of those things is how your list of feeds (assuming you are using some type of RSS reader) really define who you are and influence others. Now, I realize this isn't going to apply to most people, but for those of us who keep so much of our lives online, make friends online, admire people from their blogs or sites or whatever, an OPML file can really define us. I take great pride in the gems that make up my list of feeds. And the fact that I can't really share them very easily with others sucks. I want to know what other people are reading, especially the people I look to as being the tastemakers and early adopters.

KT, WIlly and Me [sic]

So let me just start off by saying that Chicago is really cold. Seriously... REALLY cold. I arrived at the venue around 1pm to find that the production people had transformed Schubas. There were lights, meters, the smallest HD cameras you've seen and a bunch of people to figure out how everything works. Luckily the nice folks at Schubas had wi-fi, so I could actually get some work done while I was around. Did I mention that every single person at Schubas was incredibly nice. I think it's a mid-west thing or something. KT's (pronounced like Katie, btw) bus arrived and everyone cleared out for sound check. As a small side note, she met her God Son for the first time. He played drums while she soundchecked a song, which was quite entertaining considering he was probably 2 years old, if that. Anyway, KT was sounding great.

We wanted to make sure there was SOME sort of company signage at the venue, so I made an emergency call to MN with JR, had him whip up some quick snipes, which AA from that-one-company took to Kinkos, brought back and then I started taping all the posters in the venue. I even used my teeth to cut the tape.

There was no sign of Willy though. Shortly after I started worrying about Willy (and I wasn't the only one), I got a call from his manager who said he was on his way to the venue FROM NEWARK! He assured me Willy would arrive on time. Sure enough, a few hours later, he walked in the door. I happened to see him walking in, introduced myself and directed him to the stage for soundcheck. Everyone was gathered upstairs for dinner. Willy wondered in and I struck up a nice conversation with him. I knew damn well, that if I started talking, I would ruin the interview I was going to do a few minutes later. Oh well, I thought, we'll just revisit a few things, which we did.

As soon as people finished eating, we moved everyone out of the upstairs area and conducted interviews. I did some research on KT and Willy earlier in the afternoon and prepped some questions.Willy and I talked about the differences between US and UK audiences, how he felt about being so well-known in the UK even though he was a US artist, how his parents are folk singers / artists and what artists have had an impact on his artistry. He was extremely talkative and we seemed to get along well.

The KT interview was fun. She was also very talkative and we had a good time talking about LA's own Hotel Cafe, her guitar pedal (called "wee bastard"), Deadheads, other Scottish artists she was friends with and how cool it is to have a tour bus. Unfortunately, our interview was conducted while Willy was on stage, so I'll be watching the DVD on the plane.

We took Willy in to the audio truck and video van (yes, it was a van), only to see Mike Drumm directing the shoot from a pillow on the wheel well of the van while a space heater kept the frigid air out. HOW PUNK ROCK IS THAT?!

We ended to the evening with a good meal and now I'm abou to pack up and pass out.

Belmont And Clark

I arrived to Chicago 10 minutes early, at 1:10am. There was lots of snow on the ground and it was freezing cold outside. I was one of two people waiting for a cab and it took quite a while for one to arrive. Midway was desolate except for the few maintenance workers that were dressed for the occasion. Willy loaded me into his cab and immediately told me about singing backup for Cole Porter. I haven't verified it yet, but I wouldn't put it past him. He was talking my ear off the second I climbed in. I told him to excuse me so I could make a quick phone call. Willy is 65 years old, covers his bald head with the worst wig on the planet (I thought he was a woman until he spoke) and can sing about anything. He told me I was his third and final fare tonight. He was tired and has been writing a lot tonight. He sang me songs about whatever we were talking about. It was a real treat and I told him it was a pleasure to ride in his cab as he passed my hotel.

"I think you just passed my hotel, Willy."

"I know that, Brad, but you see, I had to finish my song. And I won't charge you extra."

He dropped me off and drove 90 minutes to his apartment. His daughters were worried.

I'm sitting in a Starbucks preparing for my interview with KT Tunstall later today. We'll be taping her show at Schuba's tonight. The show will air next month. I'm really excited to see Willy Mason as well. I'll report on the show later today.

MLK

Tomorrow is Martin Luther King, Jr. Day in America tomorrow. If you are in the Los Angeles area, I highly recommend attending one of Southern California's largest celebrations of Dr. King at the World Peace Ikeda Auditorium at 9am tomorrow. The auditorium is located at 525 Wilshire Blvd. in Santa Monica. Yolanda King (Dr. King's eldest daughter) will be speaking.

It's been some time since I have read the famous "I Have A Dream Speech," so I decided to find the text and read it again (you can also download and listen). I recommend you do the same. It couldn't be more relevant today.

I am happy to join with you today in what will go down in history as the greatest demonstration for freedom in the history of our nation.

Five score years ago, a great American, in whose symbolic shadow we stand today, signed the Emancipation Proclamation. This momentous decree came as a great beacon light of hope to millions of Negro slaves who had been seared in the flames of withering injustice. It came as a joyous daybreak to end the long night of their captivity.

But one hundred years later, the Negro still is not free. One hundred years later, the life of the Negro is still sadly crippled by the manacles of segregation and the chains of discrimination. One hundred years later, the Negro lives on a lonely island of poverty in the midst of a vast ocean of material prosperity. One hundred years later, the Negro is still languished in the corners of American society and finds himself an exile in his own land. And so we've come here today to dramatize a shameful condition.

In a sense we've come to our nation's capital to cash a check. When the architects of our republic wrote the magnificent words of the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence, they were signing a promissory note to which every American was to fall heir. This note was a promise that all men, yes, black men as well as white men, would be guaranteed the "unalienable Rights" of "Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness." It is obvious today that America has defaulted on this promissory note, insofar as her citizens of color are concerned. Instead of honoring this sacred obligation, America has given the Negro people a bad check, a check which has come back marked "insufficient funds."

But we refuse to believe that the bank of justice is bankrupt. We refuse to believe that there are insufficient funds in the great vaults of opportunity of this nation. And so, we've come to cash this check, a check that will give us upon demand the riches of freedom and the security of justice.

We have also come to this hallowed spot to remind America of the fierce urgency of Now. This is no time to engage in the luxury of cooling off or to take the tranquilizing drug of gradualism. Now is the time to make real the promises of democracy. Now is the time to rise from the dark and desolate valley of segregation to the sunlit path of racial justice. Now is the time to lift our nation from the quicksands of racial injustice to the solid rock of brotherhood. Now is the time to make justice a reality for all of God's children.

It would be fatal for the nation to overlook the urgency of the moment. This sweltering summer of the Negro's legitimate discontent will not pass until there is an invigorating autumn of freedom and equality. Nineteen sixty-three is not an end, but a beginning. And those who hope that the Negro needed to blow off steam and will now be content will have a rude awakening if the nation returns to business as usual. And there will be neither rest nor tranquility in America until the Negro is granted his citizenship rights. The whirlwinds of revolt will continue to shake the foundations of our nation until the bright day of justice emerges.

But there is something that I must say to my people, who stand on the warm threshold which leads into the palace of justice: In the process of gaining our rightful place, we must not be guilty of wrongful deeds. Let us not seek to satisfy our thirst for freedom by drinking from the cup of bitterness and hatred. We must forever conduct our struggle on the high plane of dignity and discipline. We must not allow our creative protest to degenerate into physical violence. Again and again, we must rise to the majestic heights of meeting physical force with soul force.

The marvelous new militancy which has engulfed the Negro community must not lead us to a distrust of all white people, for many of our white brothers, as evidenced by their presence here today, have come to realize that their destiny is tied up with our destiny. And they have come to realize that their freedom is inextricably bound to our freedom.

We cannot walk alone.

And as we walk, we must make the pledge that we shall always march ahead.

We cannot turn back.

There are those who are asking the devotees of civil rights, "When will you be satisfied?" We can never be satisfied as long as the Negro is the victim of the unspeakable horrors of police brutality. We can never be satisfied as long as our bodies, heavy with the fatigue of travel, cannot gain lodging in the motels of the highways and the hotels of the cities. We cannot be satisfied as long as a Negro in Mississippi cannot vote and a Negro in New York believes he has nothing for which to vote. No, no, we are not satisfied, and we will not be satisfied until "justice rolls down like waters, and righteousness like a mighty stream."

I am not unmindful that some of you have come here out of great trials and tribulations. Some of you have come fresh from narrow jail cells. And some of you have come from areas where your quest -- quest for freedom left you battered by the storms of persecution and staggered by the winds of police brutality. You have been the veterans of creative suffering. Continue to work with the faith that unearned suffering is redemptive. Go back to Mississippi, go back to Alabama, go back to South Carolina, go back to Georgia, go back to Louisiana, go back to the slums and ghettos of our northern cities, knowing that somehow this situation can and will be changed.

Let us not wallow in the valley of despair, I say to you today, my friends.

And so even though we face the difficulties of today and tomorrow, I still have a dream. It is a dream deeply rooted in the American dream.

I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal."

I have a dream that one day on the red hills of Georgia, the sons of former slaves and the sons of former slave owners will be able to sit down together at the table of brotherhood.

I have a dream that one day even the state of Mississippi, a state sweltering with the heat of injustice, sweltering with the heat of oppression, will be transformed into an oasis of freedom and justice.

I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.

I have a dream today!

I have a dream that one day, down in Alabama, with its vicious racists, with its governor having his lips dripping with the words of "interposition" and "nullification" -- one day right there in Alabama little black boys and black girls will be able to join hands with little white boys and white girls as sisters and brothers.

I have a dream today!

I have a dream that one day every valley shall be exalted, and every hill and mountain shall be made low, the rough places will be made plain, and the crooked places will be made straight; "and the glory of the Lord shall be revealed and all flesh shall see it together."

This is our hope, and this is the faith that I go back to the South with.

With this faith, we will be able to hew out of the mountain of despair a stone of hope. With this faith, we will be able to transform the jangling discords of our nation into a beautiful symphony of brotherhood. With this faith, we will be able to work together, to pray together, to struggle together, to go to jail together, to stand up for freedom together, knowing that we will be free one day.

And this will be the day -- this will be the day when all of God's children will be able to sing with new meaning:

My country 'tis of thee, sweet land of liberty, of thee I sing.

Land where my fathers died, land of the Pilgrim's pride,

From every mountainside, let freedom ring!

And if America is to be a great nation, this must become true.

And so let freedom ring from the prodigious hilltops of New Hampshire.

Let freedom ring from the mighty mountains of New York.

Let freedom ring from the heightening Alleghenies of Pennsylvania.

Let freedom ring from the snow-capped Rockies of Colorado.

Let freedom ring from the curvaceous slopes of California.

But not only that:

Let freedom ring from Stone Mountain of Georgia.

Let freedom ring from Lookout Mountain of Tennessee.

Let freedom ring from every hill and molehill of Mississippi.

From every mountainside, let freedom ring.

And when this happens, when we allow freedom ring, when we let it ring from every village and every hamlet, from every state and every city, we will be able to speed up that day when all of God's children, black men and white men, Jews and Gentiles, Protestants and Catholics, will be able to join hands and sing in the words of the old Negro spiritual:

Free at last! Free at last!

Thank God Almighty, we are free at last!