Python

I am back in school now. I enrolled at St Petersburg College and I am taking COP 1000, a computer programming course where you learn Python, a coding language used in the product of many types of software and websites, namely Google, YouTube, and Instagram. In fact, the inventor of Python, Guido van Rossum, now works for Google. Interesting stuff. As I work through this $100 dollar textbook and line page after page with notes, I can’t help but think how working for a paycheck finally gave me the maturity and focus to do real school work. More often than not, knowledge I gained from academia was almost incidental, kind of a meteor hitting the earth at an early stage of its development. For the most part, school was an obligation, a place I knew I didn’t want to be. Maybe it my association with the harshness teachers can unveil on you when you are someone with my qualities, disorganized and aloof. Or the contempt I harbored for many of my fellow students I found to be narrow minded or mean spirited. Perhaps my own insecurities and sensitive nature made it hard for me to really commit to school work. Maybe I was just lazy and playing guitar or watching movies was preferable to reading tedious material. Whatever the case may be, I find myself now, at age 30, more than willing to do whatever I have to do to be successful in my class. I find myself wanting to open the textbook to study, take notes, get the assignments done, etc. My first quiz, a 38 question trip through the first chapter, was scored a 94.8. But the two missed questions tormented me, almost like a tiny cut you can’t ignore. The difference between me now and the me that I was when I attended high school and college is a huge difference in perspective. I now know that there are no real grades. There is either you can or you can’t. You will tomorrow or you won’t tomorrow. I am not particularly great at my current job nor do I demand perfection from the people I play music with. But now being faced with the biggest challenge of my life, starting a new career with little to no experience in the field, I have to to be great and demand perfection from myself. Or at least my version of perfection. I have to be able to do this thing on a professional level. The studying, the expensive book, the waking up at 6am to read, I know the only horse I really have in this race is my ability to push myself and my limited ability to the max. It has to work because I really don’t want to come up with another plan B.

Thoughts

Quick post! I have been listening to the Bill Burr podcast lately and I must say, very funny, oddly inspiring. There is a “hey, embrace your manhood” quality to it that I have needed for some time. If he ever comes down to Tampa, I need to get tickets.

Moving on, what is up with the NBA this season? It’s actually fun to follow again! Are the Hawks going to win it all? Are the Warriors for real? What is in Russel Westbrook’s Gatorade? Why can’t the Cavs seem to find a way to incorporate Kevin Love into the offense more? So many questions. Honestly, I would love to see the Hawks win it and begin what could be the makings of a dynasty. I would also love for the NBA to usher in a new era where multiple teams win championships, not just the Lakers or the Bulls. If a team like the Hawks win, I want to see how many clown doctors jump on that bandwagon. Actually, not many will. The Lakers had Kobe. The bulls had Michael. The Heat had Lebron. Basketball will always be star based. In China, Kobe is treated like a deity. No one cares about the Lakers, just Kobe. If you want to have fun with kids, start a pick up basketball game with them and then tell them they can’t pretend to be Kobe Bryant, Michael Jordan, or Lebron James. The only options are Kyle Korver, Jeff Hornacek, or Dan Issel. You will have loads of fun. The kids might cry.

VerseChorus Interview #1: Jeff Snyder

Jeff Snyder is the wonderfully talented and charismatic lead singer and bassist for the Orlando, FL based group, DoGs. His style and phrasing is a tight, intelligently constructed mix of melody and grit, not unlike Milo Aukerman of the Descendents. However, over the years Jeff has played in a string of bands weren’t necessarily punk but still severed up excellent songs. Unfortunately, DoGs will be playing their last show on February 12 at St Matthew’s Tavern in Orlando. Luckily, Jeff will continue to make music in over endeavors. Through email, I spoke to Jeff about the song writing process and he is aiming for when he writes.

Could you describe your writing process?

Sure. Whenever I’m just hanging out at my house I am probably holding a guitar.  I play all the time.  Always playing little riffs and what not.  Sometimes I am trying to write, other times I’ll stumble upon a cool progression and it turns into something. As of late, ideas have been coming to me in the form of a lyric and melody. When that happens i open up my voice recorder app on my phone and lay it down. Sometimes it becomes a song and sometimes it becomes the insane ramblings of a crazy person.

 In your early days of playing in bands, the style of the music you were playing was more indie rock/pop as compared to the music you make in FL, which is more punk. Was this choice deliberate?

When I was in PA, I always played in bands with 2 guitar players.  I was lucky and fortunate to work with amazing songwriters as a bass player for many years before I started writing myself. In high school I played in pop punk bands, after that I played bass in a super technical indie rock band, eventually moving on to a really straight forward power pop band.  I learned so much about melody and composition from the song writers in all those bands.  I’ve always been a melodic bass player so the jump to songwriting wasn’t too drastic. After moving to Florida I recorded a bunch of songs by myself and nothing really came of it.  After working a tedious software job in the video gaming industry I found some really great people to start writing with.  I had been writing nonstop from 2006 to 2012. After a failed attempt to get a band together Tom, Tony and I made the conscious decision to pay tribute to our pop punk roots and write songs that paid homage to the Descendents and other late 80’s early 90’s bands that got us excited to play music in the first place.

What do you find to be the most challenging aspect of songwriting?

 Deciding whether what I am doing is any good after the initial “this is the best thing I’ve ever come up” feeling wears off.

What are you chasing when you write a song? Hook? Lyrics? A certain feel? Etc?

Transcendence? I am always chasing that song that makes someone else feel something. Everything I write means something special to me or it wouldn’t make it past the “should I play this for other people” stage, but writing something that becomes personal to someone else is what I’m chasing.

 At what point do you know a song is done and no more writing is required?

Collaboration is important so I’d say a song is finished when whomever else is contributing to it has finished adding their touch to it and it’s recorded.

The Newsroom

This past week HBO’s The Newsroom concluded its 3 season run. For those who are unfamiliar, its a show about the inner workings of a 24 hour news channel, lead by a volatile but likable news anchor Will McAvoy. The writing is excellent. The dialog is excellent. Real events steer the stories along(BP Deepwater horizon oil spill, Boston Marathon Bombing, 2012 Presidential Election). But what sets this show apart for me from other series the message. If nothing else, The Newsroom is(was) a call to arms for accountability, decency, and standing for something you believe in. When we first meet Will McAvoy, he is a popular news anchor, 2nd most popular on television, but he is soft on the guests on his show, and awful to those he works with. He doesn’t wish to rock the boat in the public eye. Along comes, Mackenzie Mchale, a new executive producer who stands strongly for the idea of doing the news correctly, which means covering the most important events and asking tougher questions, basically doing an American version of the BBC World News. Mackenzie happens to be Will’s ex-girlfriend and despite the contempt he holds for her, his respect for her wins out along with the rest of the news-staff, A new Nightly News with Will McAvoy(the name of the program) is made and Will gets out of his slump of lazy, scared journalism and starts to report real news, ask real questions, and do real journalism. I italicize the word real because I have used it in conversation before but only recently understood why I used it in such a context. To do something real to do something with the intent to not only do something to the best of your ability but to do something that matters on a larger scale. I would say Daniel Day-Lewis is a real actor or Fugazi was a real band. I would say Ernest Hemingway was a real author and Google is a real company. They spark a conversation, they change things. They did it at a world class level.

At the end of the day I want to be a part of something real. A part of something that, even on a small scale, has an impact. Watching the Newsroom inspires me to be a part of something that holds weight, that is done on a high level quality.

In short, I highly recommend the Newsroom to anyone in need of inspiration.

Christmas 2014

So last night my family gathered around with a spread of hors d’ourves and watched The Muppet Christmas Carol. Armed with Yuengling and a list of rules, we played a drinking game where every time someone in the movie said “Christmas”, you drink. Son of a gun, I got drunk. I laughed with vigor. I stumbled a bit. I ate expensive foods. I went youtube and watched a bunch of Honest Trailer after the movie was over. I stayed up late. I woke up and made breakfast for my family. I enjoyed my Christmas.

I find that enjoyment is something I have to work for. I have to come into any giving situation ready to let the joy of the moment sit with me, work with me. This was my year to learn how to really enjoy myself. I worked for it. I went to the gym. I got back in school. I engaged my friends in conversation. I tried my best.

I enjoyed myself last night because I let myself enjoy things this year. 2014 has been the best year of my life. This Christmas is a beautiful cap on the end. Merry Christmas!

Why I Play Music

When I was 17, I went with some friends to the Penny Arcade, a local venue in Rochester, NY, to go see a band called Strike Anywhere. I had never been to a proper punk rock show up to that point and my only ties to the genre were through platinum-selling acts like Blink-182 or Green Day. The people at the show were older, cooler, intimidating. Records and t-shirts sat neatly placed on fold out tables I would often see used in the fellowship hall at my mother’s church. Various young men and women spoke in small circles, almost all wore a shirt of a band that was in the punk/hardcore scene but was not playing that night. That was uncool. Three bands opened, each more impressive than the last. The bombast was incredibly powerful, palpable. With each set and subsequent breakdown of drums and amps, the room began to grow feverish with anticipation for the headliner. One fellow showgoer behind me confirmed with everyone in the vicinity that we were all going to sing along. I was nervous, I didn’t know the words. I was completely green to such an experience.

But that never mattered. Strike Anywhere took the stage and everything clicked in my mind. I was hooked for life. A fright train of melody and aggression hit us like an electromagnetic pulse. All superfluous thoughts exited my mind, leaving me free to witness. Every song was a call to be more political, socially active, honest, ethical, moral, tolerant, and self-expressive. The immense power of lead singer Thomas Barnett, lift all the souls in the room. A true communal experience took place as the audience became participants, singing along with the utmost conviction. Sweat dripped from our brows and soon our voices were horse. Amazingly to me at to me at the time, no one was violent or excessive. Everyone showed respect for each other. I felt called upon to take these concepts and implement them into our daily lives. Even the act of playing music for people to sing and dance to is an incredibly power device to inspire, incite change.

I wanted wanted to be a part of something like that. Something with the purpose of creating a better world, even on the small scale of punk rock. I don’t know how many shows I have been to since or how many hours I have spent writing songs, recording, or miles I have logged going on tour. But if it weren’t for that night when I was 17, none of it would have happened. If I can inspire an person the way Strike Anywhere inspired me, all the miles traveled have been worth it.

Pomlamoose and the defense of touring band culture

About a month ago a band called Pomlamoose posted an article online about how despite making $100,000 dollars on a 28 day tour, they somehow ended up $11,000 dollars in the hole. This tour diary broke down the expenses, experience, and even took time to thank their corporate sponsor. A tidal wave of disgust and disbelief shot through various underground music scenes, calling Pomlamoose spoiled, unrealistic, and unable to manage not only their money but their expectations. All of this is from an outside perspective, of course. The critics were people who had gone on tour and sacrificed comfort and security to chase a dream. But then an article came out that revealed that Pomlamoose’s co-founder is also involved in a tech start-up and used the tour article to bring eyes to his company. Finding out this piece of information shined a whole new and gave it a very 21st century spin. Pomlamoose was never in the same boat as the same people outraged by the article nor were their expectations even close to the same.

From the beginning, this was really about forming a band through the lens of someone who’s primary cultural outlet. This is the work of someone who is very smart and very good at promoting his endeavors. It’s just too bad that it comes at the expense of understanding the experience of touring musicians.

Touring musicians will be ok and most who figure out how to manage their bands don’t have to worry about Pamplamoose and what an article says. It’s an issue of respect and recognizing that touring for a living is not easy. Those who do it deserve to be applauded instead of swept under the rug while someone else who, seemly unaware of those bands, has the audacity to show touring as futile.

When you decide that it’s something you want to do, one person will support you and ten more will doubt you, tell you it’s a bad idea. For every dollar you make, you will initially have to put in five more. Comfort is sacrificed, meals small, crowds spares, and drives long. Vans break, promoters flake out, and staying healthy can become a struggle. The people who do it anyway(your favorite band) do it because it’s the only thing they’ve wanted to do since they were 15. They found a way to shut up the naysayers. That courage and believe needs to be celebrated, not condemned or called foolish in a quantitative way.