Contact and Communication:
It seems to me that few use Myspace anymore as a line of direct communication, neither do they use it as much as they did in the past to gather information about their friends and the musicians that they like. Most are aware that Facebook has trumped this interface tenfold, and from what I know about Facebook, this seems to make sense.
I currenly do not have a Facebook page. And since many are sick of how cumbersome Myspace has become, I'd like to make sure that you are able to get in touch with me if you'd like to. My email address is timmyb12 at gee mail dot com. I write it this way because, as you know, there are a lot of robots out there harvesting our contacts for our harm.
I am easy to get in touch with and almost always available.
Thanks.
2009:
-I am happy to say that I have been working with some great musicians and will soon have a performance unit ready to hit the stage (see ‘Band Members’ section for the cast of potential characters). When will we play? Where will we play? Your guess is as good as mine! If you have any good ideas, feel free to get in touch.
-There are two recordings of mine floating about in the ether that could be released at some point in the earlier half of this year:
1.Unfortunately, though, Golgonooza Records will not be releasing the much-ballyhooed Toby Driver/Tim Byrnes split 7â€. So somebody else will have to.
Here is a brief description of the music for interested parties. Toby’s side of this record will feature a selection from a beautiful set of music that Toby wrote, featuring Jeremiah Cymerman on clarinet, Yoshika O’Hara singing, Toby on bass, and me on Fender Rhodes. My side will be the song ‘‘Ty’, which you can hear on this MySpace page. Toby played guitar on it and Mike Pride played drums. They both sound SO good; and Toby and I got to play on each other’s sides….isn’t that righteous?
If you are interested in releasing it, please contact me.
2. I was invited this year to contribute a track to the Candiria remix record. Candiria is an excellent band that I began playing trumpet with when I was 18 years old. It was a real honor to be asked to do this track, especially looking at the other bands who also were asked to participate: Dillinger Escape Plan, Dysrhythmia, Kayo Dot, Dub Trio, Dälek, and Isis, among others.
I chose the song “Pull†from the Process of Self-Development record to work with. It came out great…it is brutal and very synth-heavy. I’m super-stoked about it.
Please direct any questions that you have about this release to John from Candiria … myspace.com/candiria
-There are two projects that are not of my invention that I would like to bring to your attention:
1. Ron Anderson’s PAK, with whom I completed a month-long tour of France, Germany, Switzerland, and Holland during the fall 2008 season, will be entering the studio to do a full-length CD of the material that we performed on that tour. See PAK’s page (myspace.com/pakband) for details about that (and pictures from our tour!).
2. Toby Driver composed an exquisite piece for an ensemble of bass, drums, trumpet and alto saxophone that we hope to perform with and possibly bring on the road and record sometime this year. See either Toby Driver’s or Kayo Dot’s page (myspace.com/tobydriver, myspace.com.kayodot) for more details about that.
-I still have a few little things available here at the online store. Please make use of the Paypal button (the one that says DONATE) if you are interested in any of it. All transactions can be done through that button. If you would like a t-shirt, contact me first about availability. I sold most of the shirts that I have in Switzerland or to Swiss people.
-Touring and recording are both possibilities. But they require interest and funding. I’ve been given the impression that the funded-touring and funded-recording scenes are both saturated markets. Hence why there is so little clear and meaningful communication on either of those two topics between parties involved. It is also why I have lost a great amount of motivation to pursue them. I still compose and perform music. If you want to hear it, let me know.
-My best wishes to all of you in this year of 2009. If you are not at peace, ask yourself why. There’s a big difference between seeing a mirror and being a mirror. When God calls, pick up the phone.
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If you'd like to buy something from me, you can click on the Paypal-linked "DONATE" button and enter the appropriate price. I will ship the item to you immediately.
-Friendly Bears/Infidel? Castro! split 12" - $10 (add $2 for US shipping; $4 outside of U.S.)
-Hazel-Rah 2 song CDs - $5 (add $1 for U.S. shipping; $3 outside of U.S.)
-Friendly Bears - "On Oceans, Light, and Sleep" full-length CD - $10 (add $2 for shipping)
-Tartar Lamb - "60 Metonymies" (featuring Kayo Dot's Toby Driver and Mia Matsumiya and Friendly Bears' Andrew Greenwald and Tim Byrnes) - $12 (add $2 for shipping)
-Hazel-Rah t-shirt (S, M, L, XL; red, yellow, white) - $10 (add $2 for U.S. shipping; $5 outside of U.S.)
-Friendly Bears pin collection (1" buttons)* - $1 each (add $1 for shipping on total order) OR $5 flat for all 4 designs, plus bonus goodies, which includes shipping! ($8 flat for outside of U.S.)
-Hazel-Rah 1" pin of Watership Dizzle H-R logo - $1 each (add $1 for shipping on total order)
-Hazel-Rah vinyl stickers - $1 ppd for a few of them
(here's the t-shirt, button, and sticker logo [sticker lacks the "H-R", though]...it is set across the chest in a typical t-shirt fashion):
("Watership Dizzle" by Toby Driver)
*Here are the 4 Friendly Bears 1" button images:
You can also leave any amount that you'd like for a donation! There is very little money in this business, so anything is appreciated! Currently I'm saving up to record some more of my music. $10,000 could really get things happening!
"The only substitute for money is money."
Rich Bennett
