Beyond music/art/film stuff? K. I'm a fan of stand-up comedy--not "comedy clubs" per se (I dig that, just haven't gone in a while), but films/videos/DVDs of cutting-edge mutants like Eddie Izzard, Dave Chappelle, David Cross, Sarah Silverman, etc. (And "old school" wordsmith comics like Lenny Bruce, Richard Pryor, and George Carlin.) Time permitting, I might hit the Hollywood Bowl, Dorothy Chandler, unconventional and/or just plain "out there" plays, etc. Karaoke is cool! So is the beach (paddleball, frisbee, rollerblading, chillin'). My BBQ bashes are somewhat infamous... I play badminton too, sometimes, and have been known to brutalize myself Bikram Yoga style... I dig going "garage sale-ing" as well; damn near everything I got that's cool/funky, I grabbed from a garage sale at some point, it seems.
I'd like to meet:
Friends-wise? Anyone who's cool, who is into music that matters. (Subjective??? Perhaps--but not to me!!) Among other attributes, people with some sense of "awareness"--how their behavior affects others around them--would also be nice. For instance: If you're the type that habitually bitches at waiters/waitresses, we most likely can't be buds!!! (*sniffle*) Or if you're a dude with a million "ab" shots on your page. I'll just feel inferior... y'know, 'cause I'm jealous 'n' stuff. Dork.
I eat flakes for breakfast.
Networking-wise? I guess the same would apply, provided the stuff I threw down up North of here (and elsewhere) is actually relevant to you. OOOOOGABOOOGA!
BONUS: Below is a live video (shot June 2004) of me playing Queen's "Bohemian Rhapsody" in its entirety. This is the only film clip (audio is straight off the board) I have of me doing this song. I was a little bit sick, so my throat explodes during the high parts, but it's definitely pretty funny--at least the "solo" and "opera" sections!! I hope it makes you laugh!
Music:
BIG Jeff Buckley and Brian Wilson nut; all forms of artistic/unpredictable music (Miles Davis, Chopin, Stravinsky, Bartok, Mr. Bungle, Nine Inch Nails, Radiohead, Jimmy Gnecco/Ours, King's X, Primus, Fishbone, Bjork, Jon Brion, Elliott Smith, John Frusciante, Ani DiFranco, Aimee Mann, Bobby McFerrin, Danny Elfman, John Zorn, Karen and Richard Carpenter, Chet Baker, ol' Spike Jones, Victor Borge, this list is endless...) are up my alley. I'll spare ya by not listing the 10 billion guitar players and other instrumentalists--in every genre--that I love, respect, and am influenced by ;-)
Personal music-wise ( www.intimateaudio.com ), I've had an all original CD in the works for a while. It's full band stuff, but I'm playing and singing everything (except for *gasp!* strings on one song). I think the guitar parts are pretty cool and different--acoustic and electric on everything, with some semi-abnormal vocal harmonies. The only recent stuff I've recorded that's "out," that's remotely close, is THIS stuff (that's just a scaled-down backing track, with drums, bass, electric geetars, and other stuff removed, but it's kinda purty--in a spooky way!). This new disc will be released sometime in 2008 (12 songs).
I also released a pretty raw CD of "live" covers (called INTERPRETATIONS
- Solo Arrangements for Guitar and Voice ) a while back (recorded in Christmas 2000, hence the horribly outdated photo on the disc's artwork). Highlights include " Bohemian Rhapsody " (featuring the whole " Galileo " opera bit!), " God Only Knows ", " Leader of the Band ", " Hallelujah ", and " Castles Made of Sand ." They were all recorded live (played and sung simultaneously) in my li'l home studio.
You can also hear me shred up a storm--"New Age" style--on David Pritchard's Acoustic Guitar Quartet's UNASSIGNED TERRITORY , released in 1999 on Zebra Records (Warner/Elektra/Atlantic).
Feel like digging deeper into my musical mind? You may find THIS INTERVIEW to be an interesting read :-)
Movies:
Fave flick? Impossible to answer, but here are a few: Annie Hall, Pulp Fiction, The Pianist, Holy Grail, Waiting for Guffman, Memento, Chocolat, The Shining, Fight Club, uhhhhm.... American Psycho, Amelie, Birdcage, A Clockwork Orange, Taxi Driver, Fargo, A Simple Plan, Terry Gilliam's stuff (Brazil, 12 Monkeys, Fisher King, etc.), Godfather I and II, GoodFellas, Spinal Tap, Rocky Horror, Pink Floyd's The Wall, all those Wallace and Gromit claymation films... Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, I Heart Huckabees, Magnolia, Happiness... various Tim Burton-isms (Nightmare Before Christmas, James and the Giant Peach, etc.), Citizen Kane, Rebel Without a Cause, some Audrey Hepburn films, Sinatra stuff (Manchurian Candidate, From Here to Eternity, etc.), the Graduate, Pedro Almodovar flicks (Tie Me Up, Tie Me Down, etc.), Amadeus, Schindler's List... On the lighter side? The Jerk, Airplane, Ace Ventura, Cheech and Chong's Next Movie... Chitty Chitty Bang Bang!
Television:
Tube-wise, I'm a BIG fan of Real Time w/Bill Maher. AND I actually kinda *like* American Idol (for comedic value). Other than that, reality TV makes me ILL. Haven't watched sitcoms much lately (or TV at all, for that matter), but used to love Seinfeld, Whose Line Is It Anyway?, Sex in the City, Sopranos, etc. Mr. Bean is KING!
Books:
For the last thousand years, it seems, I've only read recording/songwriting/biographical books and/or magazines.
Heroes:
Brian Wilson, Miles Davis, Jeff Buckley, Michael Jordan, Jim Carrey... Jon Brion would be my most recent addition to this list. Basically, people who are virtuosos at their craft, continuously evolving from a life of dedication to their art. I'd say some of my close, personal friends fit in this category as well--including the ol' parentals! (My pops passed away in 1995 . STOP SMOKING, retards!!!!) R.I.P. definitive hero, Miles Levin .
