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john

just when you think it can't get no better then it does, it's always so much better than it ever was

About Me


neo hippie techno geek
i work to play.
work = techie crap: networking, telecommunications, VoIP, surfing the web on the company dime... some days i actually enjoy what i do for a living.. imagine that!
play = music, dancing, disc golf, destination-less road trips, slowly restoring my 1962 VW Bus, hiking, camping, sitting on the river in a rocking chair with a banjo on my knee, recording Taper-friendly bands at shows...
music-whore
music is my passion!
i'm either listening, watching, creating, performing or recording it.
when it's not my main focus, it's always on the peripheral.
i subdivide time signatures in my sleep, like counting sheep, but in a 3/4 swing.
always on the one!
bassists do it on the downbeat.
yes, i am a slut when it comes to music.
i'll jam with any and everyone.
always looking to start new projects and venture into uncharted sonic territories, i am currently in search of musicians looking to play funk, reggae, and jazz fusion.
i've done the Hollywood thang (waste of time and money), and am now attempting to conquer the Seattle music scene (one note at a time, though currently those notes all seem to be in the Key of G)
current projects
Spare Rib & the Bluegrass Sauce ( http://myspace.com/bbqgrass )
playing our own special blend of bluegrass, traditional folk, & old-timey - mixed in a blender on puree with classic rock, and kicked up a notch with marathon jams.
Safe From Tigers ( http://myspace.com/safefromtigers )
indie rock from around the block.
Four2oh ( http://myspace.com/four2ohmusic )
my solo project - triphop, lofi dub, and indie rock.
Friday Night Pickin' Club ( http://myspace.com/fridaynightpickinclub )
open jam sessions at my studio on friday nights are evolving...
And the newest project I'm involved with:
The Baker Street Irregulars ( http://myspace.com/bakerstirregulars )
Sounds like an explosion at the Genre factory.

My Interests

music, nature, technology, virtual reality, road tripping, camping, hiking, city walking, gardening, indie film, making music, bass, banjo, listening to music, ignoring silence, art, tooling around in my vintage volkswagen bus, disc golf, going to concerts and shows, slacking, frop, herb, sleeping, dancing, monkeys... have i mentioned music?

I'd like to meet:

A new muse: intelligent, creative, funny, sexy, spontanious, and a heart of gold...

also would like to meet some people to play disc golf with, any vintage VW geeks (always something new to fix on the bus, and extra hands/heads would be appreciated), and musicians who wanna jam (i'm an experienced bassist, and an aspiring banjo player)...

JAZZ DRUMMERS - Where are you?!
KEYBOARDISTS!? I need some Rhodes and/or Hammond players!

Music:

jaco pastorius, victor wooten, phil lesh, bob marley, peter tosh, phish, grateful dead, lou barlow (sebadoh, folk implosion), p-funk, string cheese incident, keller williams, burning spear, gregory issacs, old and in the way, deep banana blackout, lee skratch perry, the herbalizer, bela fleck & the flecktones, bill monroe, bill laswell, the herbalizer, stereolab, janes addiction, weather report, skinny puppy, bauhaus, joy division, kmfdm, legendary pink dots, negitivland, muslimgauze, front 242, kraftwerk, !tchkung!, qbert, dj food, dj john kelly, stevie hyper-d, kid koala, the roots, rahzel the human beatbox, quasimoto, mc solar, steve roach, aceyalone, project blowed, abstract rude, dr. dre, dubtribe, dj logic, dj shadow, charlie hunter, les claypool, talvin singh, michael franti & spearhead, sky cries mary, elliot smith, failure, sonic youth, bikini kill, the gits, neil young, sunny day realestate, left over salmon, the slip, ozomatli, steve kimock, kvhw, the police, stevie wonder, prince, soft cell, depeche mode, baby gramps, arlo guthrie, allman brothers, willie nelson, hank williams jr., chet atkins, black flag, henry rollins, krs-one, john scofield, kool keith, johnny cash, miles davis, dizzy gilespie, velvet underground, tom waits ... just a small sampling ... i enjoy listening to most any form of music, so long as it is not corporate-machine produced pop bullshit! hate that shit! i really love finding new worldbeat folk music that i've never heard before, bringing new beats and melodies to my ears.

Music is the soundtrack of life..

Movies:

slacker, repo man, down by law, until the end of the world, battle royale, hard boiled, drunken master, fitzcarraldo, aguirre, half baked, friday, office space, julien donkey-boy, cannibal! the musical, homegrown, the harder they come, meet the feebles, neverending story, anything by kevin smith, adam sandler, jim jaramusch, and werner herzog..

i love indie film, documentries, and stupid comedies..
also, i'm addicted to buying dvds, but am trying to maintain a low habit.. i swear i can stop any time.. really.. (well the day my dvd player dies, or a better format comes out!)

Television:

Adult Swim, Sealab 2020, Aqua Teen Hunger Force, Brak, Space Ghost: Coast to Coast, Harvey Birdman, A-Team, Airwolf, The Muppets, Painting with Bob Ross (may his trees always have friends and the happy clouds drift on forever!), South Park, Upright Citizen's Brigade, Penn & Teller's Bullshit, Silf & Olly, PBS, the NASA channel (love zoning out on the satellite videos), and DemocracyNOW!

One of my favorite sayings is "Kill your television!", but sadly, i am a slave to the boob-tube.. I'm a news junkie, so i'm always surfing the cable news channels.. Hell, i'll even watch CSPAN if something good is on, like the broadcast from the British House of Commons (dude, that shit is funny!).. And i'll admit to being a somewhat remote hog and obsessive channel surfer during commercials (hate 'em! except for the funny ones)..

Books:

how to keep your volkswagen alive, ed rosenthal, noam chomsky, herman hesse, italo calvino, jack kerouac, william s. burroughs, ken kesey, jeanette winterson, phillip k. dick, dr. seuss, o'reilly technical books

Heroes:

In music, the late great jazz fusion bassist Jaco Pastorius, is my hero. His compositions, melodic licks, amazing solos, and "in the pocket"-playing blow me away every time. In spirituality, I piece together the foundation of my being from the texts of Jack Kerouac, Herman Hesse's "Siddhartha", Italo Calvino's "The Baron in the Trees", Stephen Gaskin's (founder of The Monday Night Class at Berkley in the late 60s and The Farm commune) "Cannabis Spirituality", the zen and creativity of the late great artist Bob Ross, and Shel Silverstein's "Where the Sidewalk Ends". In society at large, my personal heroes would have to be Noam Chomsky (MIT professor and author) and Amy Goodman (of DemocracyNOW!), for telling the truths of the political fallacies of the world. As a child, my heroes were Mr. T (Ah pity da foo who didn't listen to wise knowedge Mr. T spewed forth on his saturday morning cartoon series), GI JOE (also had Public Service Annoucements with good messages for kids, because knowing is half the battle.. Yo Joe!), and of course, Mr. Rogers.

My Blog

Check out this event: SPARE RIB @ Stevens Pass Party 12/9

Hosted By: Spare Rib & The Bluegrass SauceWhen: Saturday Dec 09, 2006 at 8:00 PMWhere: Whistling Post Tavern116 Railroad Ave ESkykomish, WA 98288USDescription:Spare Rib & The Bluegrass Sauce C...
Posted by john on Sat, 02 Dec 2006 11:57:00 PST