Cancelling Means You're Making It, Right?

Well, looks like everyone attending the benefit won't have bleeding ears after our set. We got to cancel for the first time. It's our way of "sticking it to The Man." That means you're making it right? Actually, it means our schedule just didn't work.

That's okay though, like I said earlier... we're focussed on songwriting and recording. Yesterday I nearly finished another song (props to John for some rhyming intervention). Hopefully I can get the rest tonight. Haven't worked out the arrangement exactly though. No hook. The song components themselves rock, and together with the melody have a killer edge... but it feels like something is missing. Maybe it'll sound different recorded.

Okay, about time to eat something. The family went our for a late lunch today, so we're slow to the table tonight. Words of wisdom to leave you by?

"Sometimes nothing says it all."

Billboard

Booya!

So we're working more on the web page (or well, I am at least, between writing lyrics) and assessing a narrative about Elevenfold's background. What we've accomplished, recording projects, etc... You get the drill.

What I'm finding is that it's easier to write fiction! You'd think at this point in our musical history it would be easy to come up with something.

So you'd think.

Maybe it's not knowing where to start, (or in this case having a place to start). That's always a problem--a blank page staring back at you, the cursor blinking, waiting. Best thing is probably to wait until the time feels right. That's how I write fiction anyway. When it's right, the words just come. Besides, there's work yet to do.

Thursday we're getting some recording done at The Lab courtesy of Matt-O. He's bringing in some gear and hopefully it'll be a good night. Probably we'll just track the basics, no vocals yet. And I still need to tighten up one of the guitars, so that'll have to be done by Wednesday.

Somehow, we stumbled into an early April gig. Which is great, don't get me wrong. It's a benefit thing and probably be an easy twenty minute set. So I was told anyway. I'm okay with that. He also said we might open the evening, which is also cool... feed off that "happy to be here" energy, plus we have a slight tendency to be, ah... loud. Just a smidgen.

Well, if I thought I'd get motivated to write something by doing this, I was wrong. Completely uninterested. I think I hear a groove calling my name anyway. Here are some lyrics to leave you by:

"You don't think you need this love,
forgot what you've got from above.
All this, this hypocrisy
has got you down on your knees."

-Elevenfold

Updates and Aggravation

Been absent awhile. There’s good reason though, we’ve been cooking new material for our upcoming gig (when the webpage is ready, I get to add the link here). Deadlines can be finicky sometimes, bending to pressure a lot like a steel column punched by your fist.

So we buckled down, cutting excess in order to get this done. Fortunately we have good wives willing to help us make this work. They're awesome. (Too bad for the rest of you.)

Well... the first few months were kind of rough. As time progressed though, and we acquired a phenomenal bassist (Appurle, you rock!), things improved. We’ve spent much of the time in the Noise Lab, experimenting. Except when we’re kickin’ it somewhere, writing lyrics of course. And I must give a man props: Keith has really turned out some trick phrases! It’s scary-cool. Which is good, we’re all starting to find our places and how we fit—essential to any group if they want to survive.

It’s come to the point where, if there’s any length of silence in The Lab, I’ll jam on a riff. Keith will put a beat to it and… aw… yeah! We’ll capture it, carve it in the brain a little, then get to work with words and melodies. And the pattern is developing. We keep making first-downs, chewing away yards at a time.

Yes the going is good, if you were wondering. Slow, but the songs ROCK. Now that I think of it, on the shelf we even have an “11/4” groove of science I concocted. Now that was a fun night. From outside in the dark, I image the basement windows must have been pulsing as if Dr. Frankenstein himself was at work down there. Fun stuff.

Well, people are about to come over for “small-church”. Game night. I’ll get back when I can... if nothing else than to tell you about Monster Truck Nationals weekend.