ULUV BETTER THOUGHTS DONT U?

Felsen played last night at the ULUV festival in SF.  This was an all day festival put together by my friend Robin Applewood.  I’ve know Robin for about 5 years.  Back then he was going by the name of Dogman Joe and I was the drummer for a few years in his band until Felsen responsibilities drew me away.  Robin’s a great musician and songwriter for sure, but then there’s this whole other level to the man.  He truly cares about our local music scene.  He’s like the patron saint of the music scene.  What a breath of fresh air.  For as long as I’ve known him, he’s been putting together shows and trying to really uplift the bay area music community.  The shows he puts together have always been a celebration and feel like a family reunion for all of us long-time bay area musicians.  Last night was pretty much the grandaddy of all such events: 3 stages with music going from 1pm til 2am.  Felsen went on around 10pm.  

This was our first show back after our September Tour, Dr. Fujimoto’s Travelling Medicine Show.  We’ve been laying low, doing some rehearsals, licking our wounds, retelling old war stories from tour and plotting and scheming what’s next for Felsen.  It felt really good to reconnect with one another again and of course play the songs.  We compressed so much playing into a short period of time on the tour (and the lead up to the tour), that I feel pretty confident of Felsen’s abilities at this point.  The ULUV gig was pretty punk rock for Felsen.  The soundman, bless his heart, had to mix about 20 bands yesterday.  I think by the time we got up on stage, he was probably fairly fatigued and the system that he was using was probably not quite as optimum as the size of the room demanded, at least from the performers perspective.  Although, all the acts I heard sounded really good, stage sound, monitors etc...were pretty challenging.  (I.E we couldn’t hear shit on stage.) I trust that it sounded pretty good out front???  The soundman had 20 minutes to get one band off stage and get another on stage, plugged in and rolling.   Honestly, I didn’t really care.  I was just happy to be there, performing for a crowd, seeing lots of old friends, drinking beer, having a good time, just being alive...With that said, the fact that we couldn’t hear much didn’t help the good ship Felsen sail any tighter.  Like I said, fairly Punk Rock.  We jumped around a lot, guitars fell over, microphones got knocked over (ok that was me) and I fell into the drumset at one point--ouch.  Kind of a comedy of errors, but really fun and engaging in it’s own way.  I got down into the audience a few times, probably freaking people out, making it kinda awkward and uncomfortable--I like that.  You’re either with us or against us.  Mainly the audience was all newbies.  We did have a handful of hardcore Felsenistas there.  People I didn’t know were singing along.  That was rad.  Who were these people?  We played tunes mainly from the new album: Rock and Roll’s Not Dead, All You Gotta Do is Smile, I Don’t Know How to Talk Anymore, Tokyo Electric Power, Lorazepam….and a few oldies.  

For me the real highpoint was our new tune Better Thoughts.  As is often the case, after much rehearsal, rewrites, edits, back and forth bickering about song form, arrangement, instrumentation etc….we satisfactorily record the tune and then at some point go out and start performing the tune and realize that it’s just not quite working on stage.  We usually stumble into a solution;  often just from mistakes in rehearsal or just noodling around on the tune, we come up with some little twist on the song that makes it work on stage.  Finally, we’ve hit our stride with Better Thoughts.  We play the tune pretty much as we recorded it up through the last chorus and then we inserted a whole long section where it’s just me and the guitar singing over and over “Better Thoughts Will Keep You Happy and Alive”.  It come out of a really loud section of the tune and then breaks down to me in the quietest part of my voice, with just a little bit of guitar in the back (ooh dynamics).  Gradually the volume and intensity of the singing and guitar starts to gather.  It was awkward and uncomfortable and really revealing and vulnerable and kinda terrifying for me, but it’s also cathartic and powerful.  The melody is kinda creepy, but is easy enough for people to start singing along and by the end we had pretty much the whole room singing.  My instructions to the band were “wait til it gets really, really uncomfortable and then wait some more before you come back in.”  By the end of that section I was singing as loud as I could and beating on the guitar like it owed me money.  It seemed like it went on forever before Arthur brought the band back in (the drummer is always the QB).  The energy during that section could make you bug out--that’s the idea at least.  It was frenetic like a swarm of bees gathering around your head ready to pounce. I hope you’re not allergic to bees.  When the band kicked back in, it was like the hammer came down.  Dylan Brock of Dylanbrockmusic.com said, “that right there is confidence.”  We’re coming up on Dia De Los Muertos, something kinda dark and creepy came unhinged in me in those few moments.  Hard to explain.  It felt right.  

Thank you for a great night ULUV.

RIP Lou Reed.   

enjoy some better thoughts

AG's HSBG gig

I played drums yesterday at Hardly Strictly Bluegrass Festival in San Francisco's Golden Gate park. I was backing up one of the finest songwriters I've ever known, Jesse Denatale. How this guy has essentially remained under the radar screen for as long as he has, is a complete mystery to me. I'm honored to be his drummer.  I love his songs so much that I would gladly give up what I'm doing (yup, Felsen) if he could somehow keep me busy enough to satiate my ever-hungry musical Jones.  How's that for love? Drumming is this whole other thing I do separate from my Felsen singer/instigator/guitar holder identity. This is how I pay my bills and try to keep my little family afloat. It's not easy.  It's also something that I love very much, has brought me many beautiful friends and has taken me on an incredible journey all over the world.  I'm very grateful for the very, very meager skills I have:  playing in time, playing dynamically and making the singer sound good. Showing up on time and doing the homework also helps. My dad taught me those last two, non musical skills.

Yesterday was one of those rare, beautiful, warm Indian Summer days in SF. Spending time in GG park can be a risky venture if you don't like frigid, bone-breaking winds.  Yesterday couldn't be improved upon IMHO.  I've never actually been to the festival.  I'm essentially a loner.  I'm not much for big crowds.  I love seeing live music, but mainly when it's in a tiny club.  I do love to perform to big crowds, and yesterday was a treat, a gluttonous feast.  I never, ever take those type of gigs for granted and I'm very grateful to the universe for putting me on that stage.  To put it in perspective, I got home about ten days ago from 17 days on the road with Felsen.  We're a small indie rock band.  No record label support, no radio, no booking agency, total DIY hodge podge affair.  Our tours are fairly punk rock: mini van, couch surfing (or floor surfing), eating shitty truck stop food and playing for small audiences.  Generally it's a fun time, but it wears on you though.  The small audiences can mess with your head and to put it mildly, our heads are officially messed with.  That tour was a huge, Herculean effort.  Looking out on the sea of people yesterday at HSB, there were more people in that one audience than we performed for on our entire tour! One gig like that and Felsen could meet our yearly audience quota and take the rest of the year off, never leaving home and not jeopardizing our jobs, etc, etc...I felt bad for my Felsen bandmates that somehow I couldn't give them that type of gig to lift their spirits. Catholic guilt? I do know though, that had we been on that stage, we would have absolutely crushed it. Seriously, when you can crush a roomful of 20 people in say...Columbia, MO on a Wednesday night, playing to 4000 die hard music fans, with their musical ovens preheated with booze and weed on a beautiful, sunny day in Golden Gate Park would have been like shooting fish in a barrel.   

It was fun to play rock star for the afternoon. Jesse was on the big stage.  I assumed they would have put us on the dog and pony stage just after puppet theater because that's how my jaded, aging brain thinks. Again, my head is so messed with, that I was worried that there would be no one in the audience.  I usually assume that will be the case.  I remember even when I briefly played with CAKE in 2007, I worried that there wouldn't be much of a crowd at the shows. I told them that and they all thought I was nuts.  Xan, the guitar player, told me it took a few months for him to stop thinking that way after he joined the all ready successful band.   

They really do it right at HSB.  Fantastic sound, wonderful backstage area, great food and beer.  They make the artists feel really welcome and appreciated.  The musicians, in turn, dig a little deeper and return that kindness back with a deeper level of performance.  Music venue proprietors take note: that's how it works!  I'm not asking for a full catered meal at your little club in Reno on a Tuesday night, but some simple acts of kindness and hospitality can go a long way, thankyouverymuch. You get what you give and the good people at HSB got great returns on their investment in artist hospitality.  The natural environment in GG park is, in itself, awe inspiring and also helped bring out a whole other level of performance.   All the other acts I heard yesterday were really inspiring.  I felt honored to be on that stage.  Steve Earle sat on the side of the stage while we performed.  He shook my hand and told me nice job.  That's it, I can retire now knowing that my my musicality entered that guy's brain, even briefly.  Do you remember his album The Revolution Starts Now?  Remember when he stood up to the Bush administration?  Kids, that's what artists do.   HSB's founder, Warren Hellman would be proud of the type of artistry that Earle represents gracing the stage that he built.   It was a family reunion for us Bay Area musicians.  I've been here for 15 years.  I feel like I know everyone. Lots of old friends were backstage, working the festival and in the audience.  Some new ones too. Some present only in spirit. Thank you Warren, wish I could have stayed longer, but I had to take my kid to soccer practice.  I'm sure you understand.