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I have been in a huge Burt Bacharach phase recently and would love the chance to write with him or collaborate someday. He writes melodies that are meltingly beautiful and has an amazing sense of harmony and arranging. If you are reading this, Burt, I am ready to write an album with you. Lets do it

We got to work with this guy and score some music for his surf films and he apparently just surfed a wave 100 feet tall. Yikes…

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It looks like we are going to be doing an east coast tour in March!  We have so many new ideas for songs and there is no better way to shape them up by playing for different audiences. Playing music for new people is one of those intangibles that seems to bring a unique intensity and attitude, which is harder to capture in one’s everyday routine. I think it’s that traveling can be so unfamiliar at times that it forces me to connect with the music on a deeper level to feel comforted. Alright, time for sleep

just a minor change for our gig this Friday, January 4th. It’s now at the Echoplex(downstairs from the Echo) at 10pm. Love to see your sexy faces there

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very excited for our first gig of the new year with some great bands at the Echo. Here is the details

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I’m listening to the new Flying Lotus record called, Until the Quiet Comes. I have been lucky to find several records in the past couple of weeks that are instant favorites(Tame Imapala, Grizzly Bear, Flying Lotus). It’s always artists who push boundaries that get me excited and these three artists open my ears to new ways of approaching music. The more time I spend with music, the more I understand how much territory is left to be explored and I love that. These days I’m into the sonic quality of things whether it be the way a guitar resonates or the type of reverb on a voice. I think the first person who’s sonic personality I first noticed was Miles Davis. It almost didn’t matter what Miles played, because the sound of his trumpet was so deep, you just wanted to keep hearing that tone. I aspire to bring that kind of personality to my music.

This street art is inspiring to me. The ability to work with whatever obstacles you are presented with and produce something remarkable is a skill I admire.

Every election season sees it’s fair share of nastiness but a new type of behavior and suspicion is taking place that I haven’t noticed before. In past elections, each candidate gave his plan of action to serve the country and people either agreed or disagreed with the approach. The public always assumed that both candidates were essentially doing what they felt would help the country best, but had different paths to get there. This trust and respect in our candidates no longer exists. Both sides have made such a habit of disagreeing that voters on opposite party lines can no longer find any middle ground because it is portrayed as weak. There is no longer a desire to come together and engage people of different beliefs and values, but a pressure to alienate them. The more this suspicion grows, the less people are able to use rational judgement, devoid of political pressures. At a certain point, it’s important to remember that most of us want the same thing; a well functioning society that promotes growth, tolerance, and innovation. If we paid attention to the bigger ideas that bind us together, we could find some common ground and attempt to move forward as one country. It’s very dangerous to promote a culture of “us vs them” when we all have to coexist because that mentality is what leads to violence, intolerance and stubbornness. It seems like politics have become more of a dramatic performance than an attempt to inform and help the public, which is sad. My hope is that,we can stop thinking in such black and white categories because they prevent us from finding common ground.

-Brian

These are old Soviet Union board games but they look like great album covers to me

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I recently watched the Bob Marley documentary called, “Marley” and loved it. It is inspiring to see somebody who’s life and music are so inseparable. He wrote  music to help bring people together  and learning about his upbringing and values makes listening to his songs even more special. Check it out