Yogoman Burning Band, Live, New Years Eve 2007 @ Nightlight Lounge (footage by Chris Fuller)
Boomerang Remix 1
'SPRING FASHION PREVIEW' Video by Danny Gawlowski,
visual journalist for the Belligham Herald, 'featuring Boomerang Remix 1'
Yogoman Burning Band - Street Lights @ Nectar Lounge, Seattle, 2/21/08
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Music... I started playing and singing music at an early age, perhaps before the age of one. I was known to bang on pots and pans while freestyling and mixing in my favorite nursery rhymes of the day. My parents encouraged me to play music. The first band I was ever really inspired by was AC/DC at age 7, I also liked Loverboy a lot (I gotta do it my way, or no way at all). Around that time for Christmas my parents bought me a used Rogers drum kit and I was so charged. A year later my parents divorced and most of my music creating was put on hold, but I was always inspired listening to music of the radio and my parents records. Mostly rock and roll was what they had of the 70's, my fav's were: Jimi Hendrix, Led Zeppelin, the Kinks, Journey, Queen, the Beatles and, Wings &; solo Paul McCartney, the Hollies, Fleetwood Mac, Elvis Costello, Aerosmith and Simon and Garfunkel (this is stuff I liked when I was young some of which I can still tolerate).
My dad Michael Rain played in Rock bands from the time I was born. He was a pioneer of sorts because he was playing in original hard rock bands throughout the 70's. 20 years before Grunge became a household label my dad was whippin hair and rockin the clubs. Some of the bands he was in were: The Core (with Floyd Rose on guitar; maker of the famous tremelo which Eddie Van Halen endorsed in the late 70's. We knew him when he was tirelessly perfecting it in his basement a poor musician), Everyones Brother, and the Project. I think the Core were the best of these bands personally as his bands got progressively more glammy but not in a good way. Regardless, my dad is a talented mofo who gave me the musical itch. A player of multi-instruments, good soulful voice, nice harmony singer and a keen musical ear; self taught.
While dad was rockin' the clubs in Seattle and gave me the musical itch because of his determination to play, it was my mom who supported and helped me cultivate it at home. My mother Joy, who truly lives up to her name sang songs with me from my infancy and it was her that i learned and cultivated my ear for harmony singing through. Since i can remember, my mom and I would sing harmonies in the car to anything on the radio and I think that is a major reason why I can naturally harmonize and find harmony lines above or below the melody to this day. Joy recorded me from when i was two to six years old singing my own songs, pop songs and nursery rhymes to free improv, while making rhythms and sound on the drums. She embarrased me on my 30th birthday by playing the tape with this stuff on it for my friends. There's some good free improv in that tape, I think Michael Griffin and Ornette Coleman would agree. Thanks for holdin' it down mom.
After my folk's divorce, I spent a lot of time watching MTV when it first came out (in 3rd Grade for me) and got into 80's pop music that was of the era. Notables for me were Billy Idol, Adam and the Ants, Wham, Elvis Costello, Blondie, the Cars, Cyndi Lauper, Devo, Roxy Music, the Cure, Human League, Soft Cell and countless others.
I moved from my hometown Seattle to Edmonds, WA with my mother Joy and visited my dad and step mother Darlene every other weekend who still lived in Seattle a block off Broadway behind Seattle Central Community College. At this time Broadway looked like a wasteland with a couple greasy spoons, few bars, the Safeway, a bunch of homeless folk and a few postcard punx. I started listening to Michael Jackson and other breakdancing music like Grandmaster Flash, Fat Boys, Newcleus, the Art of Noise, Run DMC and African Bambaata. This type of music got me dancing/Breakdancing around 4th grade. I did a breakdancing routine at the Seattle Center to "Jam on It" by Nucleus and at my Elementary school talent show to the "Fat Boys" song around circa 1985. My breakdancing name was "Maestro," which I had in puffy letters on my all white sweat suit and I wore a sailor cap. Pretty gay really, but i'm most certainly cool with that. I did also like Metal around this time like Black Sabbath/Ozzy, Iron Maiden, Judas Preist, Motley Crue, Quiet Riot, Twisted Sister,etc. I started skateboarding/snowboarding in the 6th grade circa 1987 and the punk music that went along with it gave me a different taste musically. Bands like 7- Seconds, Danzig, JFA, Sex Pistols, Circle Jerks, Dead Kennedys, Souixee and the Banshees, early Cure, the Smiths, were absorbed hanging out with skater friends. Basically, I liked and still do like all sorts of music.
About 1987 both of my parents met halfway and relocated to what is now called Shoreline (formerly referred to as North Seattle), WA. My neighbor from across the street who was a couple years younger than me came over one day to introduce himself and asked if I wanted to hang out. His name was Miciah "Bud" Massey. Honestly, he was my first black friend. It was in 7th grade when we became close friends and came together musically on Rap/hip-hop &; Rn'B culture that was making big strides at the time underground and on U.S. Radio. We listened to Kool Mo Dee, Public Enemy, Easy- E /N.W.A., L.L. Cool J, Sir Mix-a-lot, J.J.Fad, M.C. Lyte, New Edition, Bobby Brown, Special Ed, Poor Righteous T eachers, Too Short, Dana Dane, Slick Rick, Big Daddy Kane, Gang Starr, etc. We always watched Yo MTV Raps from its inception w/ Fab 5 Freddie, Doctor Dre &; Ed Lover while playing a lot of indoor basketball. I got into Hardcore music in the 8th grade by way of some Straight Edge friends of mine at school that were in a band called Refuse (who went on to become the legendary pinnacle NW Straight edge band, Undertow).
As I made friends with the skater/punk/metal kids at my Jr. High School I was introduced to Hardcore music through the Straight Edge movement. I found this faction of punks through auditioning for bass guitar in Refuse which I played in for 3 months. Through playing in the band and absorbing some of the music the other members listened to, I learned of Minor Threat/Fugazi, Gorilla Biscuits, Bad Brains, Struggle, and local Hardcore bands like Brotherhood. Although the Straight Edge thing didn't pan out for me and I got into drinking, smoking pot, and experimenting with drugs like many do in High School; the Hardcore Scene exposed me to the Underbelly of Seattle's music scene and the unique commradery that goes along with that genre of music. Going to Undertows headbanging/Stagediving shows led me to see other great local acts in the underground all-ages scene like Bikini Kill, Jawbreaker, Struggle, Engine Kid and the Accused at places like the O.K. Hotel, or at house shows in the late 80s.
I plunged further into the realm of drinking and drugging in the latter part of high school and payed less attention to the underground world of music I had previously learned of. I listened to all the Metallica albums up to "And Justice For All" as well as a hefty share of Led Zepplins records. "Grunge" music was starting to break out into the music market in the early 90s. So besides seeing Live most of the eventually well known bands of the grunge era like Nirvana, Pearl Jam, Alice in Chains, Mudhoney, the Melvins and Soundgarden; I still ended up at some shows during that period that were a cross over of underground bands, and bands that were trying to make it big because of the attention Seattle music was getting at the time. I remember going to see Engine Kid and Hammerbox at the Masonic temple on Pine St. in Capitol Hill. Hammerbox was the band my first girlfriend and I linked up to at one of their sweaty shows at the O.K. Hotel(more embarrassment). They were one of the bands that were on the Grunge bandwagon but were actually somewhat interesting musically and had Carrie Akre fronting the band who has a nice strong voice. Engine Kid was a uniquely Northwest sounding version of Slint(Louiville, KY) style music that dynamically shifted from very quiet plodding music with lyrics that were sung or talked over as in telling a story, to thunderously loud and ear pummelingly brash loads of distorted guitar, bass and drums with headbanging riffs and screaming lyrics to stomp to.
This movement in music carried over into what eventually was referred to as Emo music, although the dynamic aspect I just described varied to different degrees, permeating all mutations of Emo music; Pop, Hardcore, Metal, Punk, etc. The band that did this dynamic type of emo music that got famous because of their pop edge was the Smashing Pumpkins. I listened to their first couple albums a lot. Good songwriting and music in high school. One band I didn't listen to much but had heard some of peripherally that also used this effect and pre-dated SP, was My Bloody Valentine.
After I graduated High School in 1992 I began getting interested in playing music again and had bought some drums from my dads former drummer of his 70s hard rock band, the Core. I started going to basement/house shows again by way of my friend Cameron Chapman. At the time Cameron was attending the University of Washinghton, living in the U-district, and seeing a lot of great bands. The first show I went to with Cameron was at a house on frat row that some college punks lived at and threw shows at semi-regularly (though the name escapes me I want to call it the PartyHouse). The bands LunchPail and Christopher Robin played and I was blown away by what was happening musically. LunchPail sounded like if you crossed hardcore/metal guitar (pinch harmonics even) with the Smiths (Kellys voice put Morrisseys deadpan to shame) and/or K-records pop, they were fucked up in a really good way. Then Christopher Robin came on and seriously blew me away. It was in the big flux of emo hardcore In the early 90s where the singers or musicians would writhe around on the floor in a fervorous spasticity while usually screaming angsty lyrics. This was my first time bearing witness to it and it floored me. It did help that their music was actually interesting and pretty complex, even Jazz influenced for the genre. Because of my gregarious nature, I ended up meeting all the folks in Lunchpail and Christopher Robin and going to the same house shows at the Goathouse in the Central Dist. And at Kelly and Graemes place right next to I-5 on the Wallingford side. I got a band started with Graeme and Kelly(from Lunchpail) and Avalon(the bass player in Christopher Robin) called Patterns Make Sunrise. It started off by Graeme and I creating patterns or parts on Bass and drums that had a solid enough sound on their own. Then Kelly joined the mix with his obscurely raw and unique guitar style to take it up a notch. Avalon heard the sound, felt the sound and threw down the lyrics fluidly over the rhythm and melody. Patterns sounds like sonic emo pop, if I had to categorize it. Noisy at moments. The Lyrics by Avalon are very poetic, mostly about being an outsider/youth/victim of an industrialized/capitalist country with a specifically Northwest slant. Avalon's delivery and style was in the realm of the underground Oly/DC bands of the era but very unique and pioneering in his own way. Avalon is one of my aries brothers I hold dear and since I've known him always been a very creative force, forging ahead in the musical world. If anyone wants to hear the Patterns Make Sunrise 4 song 7" and still has a record player I would be happy to send you our only 7 release of 4 songs, I still have multiple copies. P.M.S. played around Seattle at the Velvet Elvis, the Goathouse, and the Radiohouse on Capitol Hill where I lived and put on shows next to the radio towers at Madison &; 18th. P.M.S. played regionally in Bellingham, Olympia and Portland a few times and toured the U.S. once, which is always a great experience. For the record, I did that tour on 150 bux and some food stamps, weeeeee! I made a Patterns Make Sunrise page at: www.myspace.com/patternsmakesunrise if you want to hear and see more.
Shortly after that tour I was on a road trip with Cameron hopping freight trains down the west coast and stayed in Olympia where I met Joshua Ploeg(or Plague as he often refers to himself) for the first time. He was the singer for this high energy queer punk band called the Mukilteo Fairies. We hit it off from the get go and he asked me to drum in a new band he was piecing together. This ended up being the band called Behead the Prophet No Lord Shall Live, which was a high energy queer punk/noise/hardcore band which was made up of a motley crew for sure. This band was very successful in the Hardcore/Punk scene for about a five year stint and hosted some of the funnest, most exhilarating and cathartic shows I ever experienced. Although the lyrics were extremely intelligent, boldly political, and angsty, the energy it had Live was so charged and always ended up being a fun and ultimately positive experience. We also toured the west coast and the states once which I cant wait to do again, next time with my family. I now have a myspace homage page to B.T.P.N.L.S.L. which can be found in my top friends. Heres a link to B.T.P.N.L.S.L. on the Wikipedia website If you want some more info and links on us, also Googling will produce a few other results: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Behead_The_Prophet%2C_No_Lord_S hall_Live I also made a Behead the Prophet page at: www.myspace.com/beheadtheprophetnolordshalllive
Seattle eventually got really stagnant and too sceney for me. No offense to anyone who lives there and is down for Seatown, it seems to suit some of my curmudgeon friends who have moved from Bellingham just fine. However, for me at my age of 21, it became too cliquish and it seemed that high school type antics started taking over socially which drove me out of there quick by way of a group of kids from Bellingham, WA. These kids I met at shows from Bellingham had a particularly interesting energy and seemed really excited to be at a show in Seattle and just to be alive in general. I realize at some point I could want to move back to Seattle if I need to be in a bigger city again. On a positive Seattle note, recently seeing Pretty Girls Make Graves was inspiring to see because of their musical connection. I have known Derrick and Andrea from back in the Goathouse days (Area 51, Death Wish Kids) and I always admired their dilligence and passion for music, much respect for pluggin away. UPDATE: Now that PGMG is no longer a band, the latest project that Derrick Fudesco and Pete Quirk (Hint Hint) are involved in, The Cave Singers, I really like. I like the musical direction Pete and Derrick took themselves in, nice to listen to. The Blood Brothers is another band (aptly named) that has been playing since just shortly after Behead the Prophet No Lord Shall Live was a band (they played some of their early shows with us) and have continued to stick together and make fresh sounds for the world. Kudos!!!
Back to the topic of locale. Most Likely if I needed more of a Metro setting, I would move to a warmer place like LA. Dispite my shitty predisposition towards LA, I had a great visit there in 2001. I liked the pace (more relaxed), the weather, surprisingly some of the natural ammenities (such as Griffith Park and walking in the hills with exotic birds in the Silver Beach area) and the diverse culture. I'm sure there is everything there that sucks about a big city, but L.A. has sucked for so long I believe it might be over it's suck, where as Seattle has only really felt and taken on the qualities of a Metropolis since the 90's, it's still got some growing pains to work through.
The Bellinghamsters seemed really inspired and passionate about music. One of the people I became instant friends with who was always very warm and comfortable to hang out with was Orion Satushek, who unfortunately is no longer with us on the physical plane anymore. I played a lot of music with Orion when I moved up to Bellingham. After a while of getting acclimated to Bellingham and Jamming with endless combinations of people I entered a band called the Reeks and the Wrecks for a time which musically resonated with where i was at mentally/sonically at that time. Orion was like a brother to me, thats the type of relationship we had, I felt related to him like flesh and blood. The other original members Jason Sands and Andy Piper, also became close friends of mine just from their visits to Seattle and mine to Bellingham around 1994. Orion, Jason, Andy were in a hardcore band called Jayhawker at that time (also including Bill Baker and Justin Schramer) whom I saw play at the Velvet Elvis, the Backstage Theatre in OLY and their last show ever at Casa Que Pasa in Bellingham with A Minor Forest. Reeks and the Wrecks released one album on Don Godwin's 'Red Alert Works' label out of Portland at the time and recently had a C.D. come out entitled "Knife Hits" on which I played bass. Knife Hits was released in 2005 on Tumult records out of SF by way of Andee Connors, the big beastly teddy bear drummer whom I love, formerly of the band 'A Minor Forest.' A Minor Forest, other than Modest Mouse, was one of the best and most original live bands that played my house at the time coined "the Radiohouse," that I booked shows with Cameron at. We Bellinghamsters connected naturally with "the Forest" over the years as these SF Warriors were a sweet and eccentric group of fellas.
I moved to Bellingham in the summer of 95. I met a cast of characters that changed my life in a positive way, its really what I was looking for at the time: other people my age that lived outside the U.S. norm and who were open to different tastes and liked to hang out and play music. I noticed a certain mystique geographically about Bellingham which made it more intriguing for me than Seattle. There is more of a rural feeling here, like a town wedged between the mountains and the water. The thing I always loved about Bellingham that made me feel at home here was even though the kids I initially met were involved in the punk/hardcore scene at the time, they had a diverse faction of friends with different interests, which is what I have always been most comfortable with. I like being with people in general and its really boring to hang out with a crew of people that are all into the same thing and dont branch out at all. Bellingham is diverse musically and though it might not be the most racially diverse place, (it's getting more so), the cultural diversity and how socially accessible it is seems to be easier for me to access because of the size of Bellingham. This is a big part of why Bellingham is home to me. Jen Martinez and Andy Piper were my invitation to Bellingham. They asked me if I wanted to move into a house with them and a couple other BHAM cats and the rest is history.
Upon arriving in Bellingham, I met a lot of locals and college students that were involved in the punk/underground/D.I.Y. scene. Matt Knowles, one of the punks that was living out in Everson with his crew at the time was playing in a punk/fusion band called Swing Swang Swung(the closest band I could say it sounded like was the Minutemen), they were great and if you ever run across their 7, get it. At that time Matt Knowles was spinning Jamaican music at the 3B tavern occasionally. I went to one of his nights at the 3B and I never stopped dancing. This music made me feel so comfortable and sweet and I could dance to it all night long. It was mostly Rock-Steady music. This is the genre of Jamaican music in the 60s that sounds like soul, often with vocal harmonies but with the up chank coming usually from the guitar on the 2nd and 4th beats like in Reggae (reggae is a general term but chronologically used to describe the period after rock-steady beginning in in the late 60s, early 70s). Matts introduction to Jamaican music changed my attitude towards Jamaican music and eventually made it the music I consider closest to home. Musically and spiritually it changed my life and its the style of music I can listen to almost all the time. Not long after Matt turned me on to Jamaican music around 1996, he moved to New Orleans. We became close before his move south. Matt gave me the itch for Reggae through his mix tapes as the selector Prince Pauper and I began ordering as much Jamaican music as I could as soon as I could afford to and consulting him through letters about this and that. At first I was especially into the Dub and the Rock-Steady genres. Eventually I learned more about Reggae, Ska, and Dancehall along the way as I heard and read more about it. The Reggae Rough Guide was my bible for a time and it did me well In finding out the history of the music and about the different genres and groups involved. I began to acquire a good record collection of the Jamaican variety and decided the only way to justify having so many records was to use them; so in 1998 I started deejaying my records Live and got a regular night at the 3B on Mondays. -Just for the record, in Jamaica, a spinner of discs is called a selector and deejays are those who chat or rap on the mic; where in the U.S. its deejays who spin disc and M.C.s are the vocalists- My Mondays at the 3B turned into a really fun night, especially when I brought in the Hula Hoops to break the Northwest ice. Theres in article in the Western Front (WWUs newspaper)from March of 2002 about it if youre interested: http://www.westernfrontonline.com/vnews/display.v/ART/2002/0 3/15/3c926f128b643. Since I started selecting and deejaying as YOGOMAN(a cartoon charachter representing the geeky fun style of my skateboard posse of 7-10th grade), I took part in the Jamaican style of chatting and/ or singing on the mic over the records being played, which I think is more engaging with people and makes the Live experience more connected. I eventually quit doing Mondays at the 3B because of the abundance of cigarette smoke and lack of enthusiastic staff towards the music. I started doing Boundary Bay outside in the garden, summer of 2004, which was a definite vibe change, but a good one for me.
Incidentally, the 3B will be closing its doors as of December 31st, 2006; RIP, thanks for the good times. And extra special thanks to Aaron Roeder for being a patron of the arts in the rawest sense and letting me get my start deejaying at the 3B and playing tons of fun shows there over the years with different bands.
Continuing the saga.... the dancing and hula hooping outdoors to reggaes took off at Boundary Bay for the Yogoman. It was the most successful event at Boundary for the whole summer of outdoor music (2004), it caught on well. It is a good situation at Boundary because from 8-10pm its all-ages(which is what I want to be doing more of), parents can let their kids run around while they eat, maybe have a beer and the sun always goes down on the bay which is visible from the garden. In summer of 2006, at the peak there were over 500 people coming out to dance, hula hoop, play, drink, domino and socialize. For now, this is an ideal place to be spinning some of my favorite records and at the same time I'm able to support my family, so I'm very thankful for this opportunity. I will be doing it again this Summer of 2007 on Wednesdays starting in late May, so come join me.
Other musical projects Ive done since I moved to Bellingham are: occasional sitting in with Noggin on drums. Noggin is my noise improv hero Michael Griffin's duo with Eric Ostrowski, former inhabitant of the early Show-Off Gallery(early 90's era). Michael played in BTPNLSL with me and I have done too many musical collaborations with him to count. Somewhere I have some sessions Michael, Orion and I did that are great. I played for a little while with Alex Usimov who lived at the Legendary 'Humdinger House' on Humboldt St.(RIP) in a band called P(percussion)-BOMB. I was really excited about this project when it started before creative differences arose. P-BOMB was a two person drum and guitar with delay that sounded like a lo-fi stripped down Dub/Surf band. The only recording we did was recorded onto an 8-track recorder which I think I dubbed to tape, its good though.
Let me say a few words about the Humdinger House. Many people have I become friends with that lived at the Humdinger and it all started with Robert Blake. I saw him do his solo thing at a show in the Humdinger basement(which hosted many all-ages shows until around 2003) and I liked it. I talked with him after the show, decided to get together and play and thats where our friendship started. I toured with him playing drums down the west coast which was a great little tour. I loved it and had a blast with Robert. When we got back he asked me if I wanted to play drums in his Swing band, the Basement Swing. I was into it and joined the band shortly after(1997). We did a really nice recording with Jason and Orion at their space on the Southwest corner of Champion and Prospect (remember the Prospect Champions), unfortunately that never was released. I Played maybe a year and a half with the Basement Swing which was fun, but my passion for Jamaican music began to take over and I had to push on toward something new. I must say though for a time the Humdinger house was a comfortable home away from home for me and I met many long time Bellingham comrades such as Robert Blake, Brett Becker (from Kansas City, Kansas), Steven Cannon, Muriel Green, Cliffy, Matt foo Fuller, Matt Runkle, Labryint, Caroline Buchalter, Ross Hoard, bad ass sweetheart Lee the grrrl from Memphis Tennessee, and many others.
In the Summer of 2000 I went on tour and played guest trumpet with the Cheeps of Bellingham/Leavenworth, WA. The Cheeps are/were: Jamie Wiley-guitar, Kyrial Dries-guitar, Josh Leatherpants-sauntering/vocals, Mike Mitchell-drums and Christian- Trumpet. We went to S.F. and back. It was a great trip with some seriously fun brethren. The highlight was playing at the BART transit station entrance right on Mission St. in downtown S.F. Punks will set up shows running electricity from the bart station and the show is right on the corner of like 23rd(?) and Mission. After we got done playing, some old travelling friends of mine had made there way in to this huge old abandon movie theatre a few blocks away and set up a huge community party with tremendous and beautiful graffiti pieces on the walls, an art gallery, free food and bands playing. It was truly awesome and a great tour alltogether.
As for other live music, New York Jimmy Frehney from New York Jimmy and the Jive Five, asked me if I was interested in playing drums in his new doo-wop/ soul band called the Alamo Social Club. Because it was the closest thing to being in a reggae type band (being that soul and doo-wop heavily influenced rock-steady and reggae), I decided to give it a try. I joined the Alamo Social Club just after my wife Tina North and I had a little baby girl named Meixing on September 9, 2003 (Tina and Meixing Rule!). At this time I decided to stick with my musical dream of being a succesful musician for the sake of my new daughter, against all odds; versus joining the American Rat Race for security and an existence of nobility, mindlessness, boredom, pain and suffering (incedentally i dont think that would have gone too well since the longest time I've held any job job for was 6 months). Other than N.Y. Jimmy, the Alamo Social Club consisted of: Norah MacGlaughlin, who at first sang and later played bass also; Amy Mann, who was the first drummer/percussion player and harmony vocalist, but for the last year of ASC played rhythm guitar; and Vince Lalonde who has always played guitar and sang lead and vocal harmonies. I learned all the drum parts to the Alamo's repertoire and we recorded soon after I joined the group with Doug Krebs of D.I.G. recording (Doug is great to record with). Shortly after we recorded with Doug, one of the original members and singer Mike Carol left the A.S.C. I quickly learned Mikes vocal parts and remembered my love for harmony singing I had learned with my mom as a youngster. I sang some leads and a bunch of backing harmonies. After about a year of doing this with Alamo, I started writing songs for the band. The type of songs I started writing differed a little from the brand of stuff the Alamo was originally doing and it became an issue. My interests mainly lie in playing danceable music and playing original music. As I have continued to write songs for the group the style has switched slightly. Jimmys original intention for the Alamo was to be a vocal group primarily. My new influence heavily emphasized the instrumental aspect of the music. Since I joined the band Jimmy had accommodated the group by first learning Bass Guitar, and now keyboards while writing a good portion of our original tunes. Norah who was originally the lead singer of the group played Bass(for the last year) and sings lead occasionally. Amy and Vince play guitar and sing. The A.S.C. is now a thing of the past, Jimmy(now in his 60's) quit the band in hopes of retiring in Nicaragua. I was ready to call it quits as it were, but it was a good run, great people and a great learning experience. Vince, Norah and Amy are still carrying the torch of the Alamo singing vocal harmonies in a three piece band called Kitty Kitty who can be seen singing around town and occasionally at the Oldtown Cafe on Holly St., in downtown Bellingham certain Saturday or Sunday Mornings.
Since my sweetheart (we're not legally married) Tina North and I got together, we have played some shows as Tina &; Jordan. Our music is strictly improvised and could sound like anything. Tina plays guitar and I play drums, both of us sing or make vocal noise occasionally. We started playing in 1999 and did a couple good shows at the Show-Off Gallery. We usually get asked to play a show every 6-8 months and just go into it without practicing. It is a good exercise for us and exhibits our connection to each other, its also a fun way to make art or Live expression together.
Tina and I are currently involved with an organization I started as part of my education at Fairhaven College (at WWU) called WhAAM!(Whatcom All-ages Arts and Music). WhAAM! is working towards creating a successful, vibrant, legitimate, city/community sponsored all-ages music venue. My aim in this project is to create a fun and truly all-ages venue that can house big and exciting shows of many variety. We want a community type venue that will house national, international, and local musical acts that are interested in playing for all-ages. This has been a dream of mine since the Show-Off Gallery closed in 2002. There is now the Bay St. Coffeehouse which took over Stuarts which is awesome. I hope to work in conjunction with Bay St. as not to compete, but to take all-ages music in Bellingham to a level never achieved before, pure ecstasy! Really though, I am just a little burnt out on the bar scene and have come full circle in my desire to make music exciting and all about, the music. Dont get me wrong I still will occasionally enjoy banging my body around drunk to some monster rock; but the most exhilarating music I have played and participated in existed in the all-ages music scene and Im ready for the next wave to blast off and want to be a part of it! That puts me up to date for the short and story-less version of my personal music history for any interested eyes viewing My Space (not too short I guess). Thank you to everyone who has been a part of my music history, present and future, there's really too many of you to name! Obviously music is something I hold dear to my heart and soul and I am excited for the future of it in Bellingham, my home sweet home!
Most recently I have been recording music at home on my IBook through the pinhole mic on the computer and am pleased with the results. I never took to well to 4 track and I'm thankful for the visual ease and user friendliness of Garageband, the basic recording program that comes with Mac's . It is helping me realize my most important dream: to get the music inside of me out so's I can share it with folks!
I've currently decided as far as live music goes I want to just sing and get down with the crowd and occasionally play drums when I can sitting in with local bands. To manifest my desire to sing and dance I started YOGOMAN BURNING BAND with the musical expertise of Stell Newsome (Sweetheart of the Rodeo/David & Goliath) on Guitar and vocals, BenJamin Wildenhaus (Federation X, Quelude County Country Band, Party Favorites, etc..) Keys and Norah MacGlaughlin (Alamo Social Club, Kitty Kitty and Flamenco Pacifico) on Vocals and Percussion, Dan Lowinger (Foot Stompin Trio, New York Jimmy and the Jive Five, Bucklebusters) on guitar, Thomas Akihiro Deakin on Tenor Sax, Mars Lindgren on Trombone (La Push, Yambique, etc.), Joel Ricci (Lucky 7, La Push) on the Trumpet and my 1 Bellingham slamma Mike Mitchell on the drums has finally joined rounding out the current line up of Burning Bandits. It is very fun and admittedly gratifying to conduct and be responsible for organizing sound for that many instruments and voices. I always new i had an ear for producing and it's my first stab at it. I'm Greatful to be playing with firstly such great people and to boot stellar musicians.
I want to give a special thanks to the fellows from Captain Seahorse Revenge Upon Humanity who were in the first incarnation of Yogoman Burning Band and helped me get the group off the ground. Captain Seahorse is Joe Miles- Sax, Isaac Weiser- Bass, Andrew Clarke- Drums and Tyler Clarke- Guitar. I hear they are splitting ways this Summer and we will play with them at their final (for now) show in the Garden at Boundary Bay on Wednesday July 25th
I released my first album on Murder Mountain Records Spring of '06 called 9 Jordan Rain Song. I'm out of my first hundred pressed and am looking into doing a bigger pressing as I have gotten a lot of positive feedback on it so far. I have to say I'm happy with it considering the equipment I recorded it with. My Drums, a cheap 3/4 size bass I bought from Smash Your Guitar for 60 bux 5 years ago and a hand me down electric guitar both played through a Peavey Special 130 guitar amp I aquired because someone (who knows) left it behind in the first house I lived in at 910 32nd Street in Bellingham. I painted the Peavey Burgundy, added some space cloth to the front and shellacked some pictures on it and re dubbed it the SPECIE 3. It still sounds the same (kind of shitty) but has more character and charm aesthetically now. Recorded all the tracks into the pinhole mic on the screen of my Ibook. Long Story short- It's not what you have, it's how you play it. New Album coming out this Thanksgiving on Pool or Pond called Street Lights. Keep your eyes peeled. Pool or Pond is in my top friends if you want to check it out. Great Bellingham material available there.
I played drums on a recording with Robert Blake last Summer '06 for an album called (Beautiful and the Afternoon) which is a lush and unique sound for the folk/songwriting world. Robert and I started playing as a duo again after about 10 years of doing other projects together. Robert flew me out on tour with him Spring of 2007 from Milwaukee to Philadelphia, 10 days, 10 shows. It was a blast and very surreal for me having been landlocked in Bellingham since our daughter Meixing was born 4 years ago. I have to say the best show of the trip was hands down Oswego, NY. Our chemistry was intensely on that night which led to a circular medly of Blake songs and some danceable improvisations including a duo version of Pass the O, one of my Yogoman Burning Band songs. Milwaukee came in a close second and was the first show of the tour, great people and super fun.
That is all for now so I say Much Love to everybody out there- YOGO!!!..