El Schlong looking tougher than usual

Many of you will know our friends El Schlong, a metal band from Dunedin/Wellington who are currently living and playing in Europe.

They’ve entered a competition to play at the Bloodstock Festival in the UK. To get the gig they need the most votes for their music video of The Baddies Are Coming. It’s a sweet video and a great song. If you want to help them out you just need to take a minute to register and then cast your vote. Here’s the link.

Thanks – they’ll love you long time

Dan Uncategorized bloodstock, el schlong, festival, metal, the baddies are coming, uk No comments

Our distribution deal with CDBaby.com is creeping across the internet. Here is a list of some more of the online retailers that you can now purchase Hour Of The Wolf from. All sites have CDs available as well as digital except itunes.

itunes

Amazon.com

cduniverse.com

greatindie.com

inandout.at

cdpoint.com.br – (Brazilian retailer – site in Portuguese – I think!)

anapnet.com – (site in Japanese – correct me if I’m wrong, ta)

And it’s still at all the other sites listed on the shop page.

Happy shopping!

Dan News amazon, distribution, Hour Of The Wolf, itunes, shop No comments

Dave has posted a live video of Flip Side Thumb on our youtube channel. The footage is from our album release at the Tugboat

Dan Uncategorized flip side thumb, live, Tugboat, video No comments

As we’re learning to speak, how do we learn? No one opens a dictionary in front of you and feeds you words by definition as you slot them into your memory bank. You hear them spoken, you imitate the sounds, and over time they grow to mean something.

Why would music be any different? Music won’t tell someone you’re hungry or that they should’ve cleaned the kitchen, but it will communicate things we often don’t use words for. Crying, laughing, sighing, screaming, facial expressions and body language. These things are often more powerful than words and when accompanied by words, help to show their true context.

I often listen to other players and completely connect with what it is they are saying. It may be that I can play every note they just did, or that I’m aware of the function of a lick they are using, but for the life of me, I can’t say the same thing. This is where we go back to learning to talk. Me must imitate! And the greatest thing about this is that when you imitate someone else, you can get pretty close, but you’re never going to sound exactly like them. Why? Because you are you.

Over time, you become an accumulation of what you listen to, but expressed the way that your body (technique) and gear to a much lesser extent, will allow. I think you can further solidify this process by diving head first into it! Take note of what moves you, and absorb it as much as you can. It’s not stealing or plagiarizing, because if you’d never heard anything before, then you wouldn’t be able to play. This is the approach I’m going to focus on in my own playing in the future as there is so much music I’m discovering at the moment that moves me. I want to be a part of it and I want it to be a part of me. I love the sound, and the feeling, and I want that under my fingers (or voice or in my trumpet for that matter). The importance of this process hasn’t really been illustrated to me until this year, and I wish I’d known earlier! But to quote an earlier blog, we must keep our minds in the present and move forwards!

Now alas, I have a cold and must go to bed if I want to have any chance of singing at all on Friday the 13^th. (Prog 2.0 at Happy, it’d be nice to see you, yes YOU, there)

Dave Dave's Insights communication, learning, music 2 comments

Happy Guy Fawkes!

This concept of teaching you our new songs before they are even finished comes from a brilliant move by Deerhoof.

They gave out sheet music of a song not yet released and had fans record their own versions before even hearing the song.

I’m gonna do it a bit differently though as you’ll see below. But first, an important announcement.

Gig Line Up Change:

Big Flip The Massive will not be playing at the Friday 13th Happy gig coming up. Instead Big Flip’s drummer Reece will be playing with another of his many ensembles: West Coast Bullies. (No, Big Flip did not pull out because I took the piss out of their name in my robot video…. I hope…).

How to play Riverblind’s new material.

Dave, Stefan and I have been having much fun writing new material at recent practices. If you want to hear what the new songs sound like you’ll have to wait a bit though as they’re not done yet. But this isn’t going to stop me from trying to teach you how to play them. The first one is easy:

Play a 3:4 groove for the first 3 beats of a 5/4 bar (for the last 2 beats of the bar just play the first 2 beats of the 3:4, but don’t play the last beat of the 4). While this is going on play 4 beats in the space of the 5/4 bar over top (that’s 5:4), then, just when you start to think “oh, this maths might actually be musical” break into a heavy Soundgarden-like riff that takes off out of nowhere. Done. Call the song something like: “Numbers Are Special” or you can call it something better.

Got the idea?

I’ll post instructions for the other song if requested, but first I’ll have to figure out what the hell Stefan got Dave to do on the guitar. It’s something like: loop 3/4 then loop 5 over that then play some fancy solo. It’s actually really groovy – honest!

That should keep you busy. See you on Friday the 13th!

Photo by d3 Dan

Dan Dan's musings, News big flip the massive, deerhoof, math, mathematics, maths, new songs, numbers, west coast bullies 1 comment

The gig at Happy last week went so well (thanks especially to MASC and you) that we are doing it again – only bigger!
Friday 13th November at Happy Bar we are putting on a prog* night of truly epic proportions. The original line up of Riverblind, Moonlight Flit and The Novelist returns and in addition to this is Big Flip The Massive. This will be one intense night of progressive music played by the best the scene has to offer.

If you do facebook invites click here.

Moonlight Flit were brilliant on Wednesday with their new 4-piece set up. They have recently released a beautiful album called Road to the Outside which I’ve been enjoying regularly. While I missed The Novelist when they started the show last week, I won’t dare miss them again on Friday 13th. I love their carefully crafted songs with exciting hits and… dammit, I can’t wait to see them again. As for Big Flip The Massive – where does all that energy come from? They blow me away.

So, as you can see, I’m really excited about this gig – it’s probably no surprise this show was my suggestion
I thought: What’s the easiest way to see three of my favourite acts in one night without paying an entry fee? Oh, I know – I’ll invite them to play a show with Riverblind!

But seriously, this show is for you who loves creative music with intelligence, passion and intensity. Come on down to Happy Bar on the corner of Tory St and Vivian St next Friday the 13th of November. Just give us a fiver and we’ll play our hearts out for ya.

*Prog is a dirty word – as pointed out by Oran (spelling?), a goodly fellow who enjoyed our set last week. I am well aware of the word’s awful connotations, so I prefer the term Pretentious Rock which is clearly more honest. But here’s a question:

If you could slap a genre label on Riverblind, what would it be?

Related show

• Date: Friday, November 13th 2009
• Time: 9:00pm
• City: Riverblindin Wellington
• Venue: Happy Bar
• Country: NZ
• Admission: $5
• Age restrictions: No minors
• Notes: Riverblind, Moonlight Flit, The Novelist, Big Flip The Massive

Dan Gigs, News big flip the massive, happy, Moonlight Flit, prog, The Novelist 1 comment

After a discussion with a good friend of mine, who also happens to be my guitar teacher at Jazz school, I had a good long think about expression.

Dave Dave's Insights bass, context, drums, expression, improvising, interaction, jamming, piano, trios No comments

Process

When you create something, a song, a painting, a character, you involve yourself in a process. This may be structured or not, explainable or not, simple or complex, it doesn’t matter. The fact is you create through a series of internal and external movements. Your hand plays chords you know will work or moves to create new ones. You take the paint brush from one point to another, drawing a line that works (or doesn’t). Creation is an act. It is a process.

The Riverblind Whiteboard has many a story to tell...

Product

Once you have put the frame around your painting or recorded your song, you can call it finished. It is now a product. You have produced it. And in this society you will likely go out and try to sell it. Creation is a process and at its completion is a product.

Problem…

You probably have an issue with this. You may not be able to put your finger on it, but there’s something wrong with that statement. Creation is a process and then it is ended, thus turning it into a product. The problem here is that the act of creation never actually ends. There is no real conclusion to it, it is ongoing from one movement in life to the next. You can put a frame around your painting and call it art, but the frame is arbitrary. Your next painting is a continuation from your last. Your next song is the result of the process employed in your last one. And even the life you live between making “art” is the process too, just in a different context. The creative process is endless. Calling something a product isn’t for art’s sake it is for people’s sake. You divide your art into little bits that are easily consumable as units. Frank Zappa said that the frame is the most important thing in art, because without it “you can’t know where The Art stops and The Real World begins”.

Process and product are at odds with each other. Process wants to continue and product tells it to stop. And if you make the mistake of thinking about the end result while making your art then it is shaped by those thoughts. If you intend to sell your art then you start changing the way you approach it in order to make it more accessible or mainstream. Even if you don’t want to sell anything, if you think about how others will view your art, this changes how you create.

Thinking about product when you are creating spoils innovation. This is concentrating on extrinsic rather than intrinsic rewards. Extrinsic rewards are external, such as money and fame. Intrinsic rewards are internal – the joy of making art for it’s own sake. Watch this video of Dan Pink at TED to learn more about the different results intrinsic vs extrinsic rewards bring.

Solutions

So how can you stop yourself from getting distracted by the end outcome? Johnny Depp doesn’t watch his own films. Read Lateral Action’s post on this. Depp: “I like the process, I like doing the work… I don’t like to see the thing become the product”. But are you in a position to be able to do that? If you are like me then you are involved in it all every step of the way. You have to choose what the finished product actually is and then even market it and sell it. So what can we do to not get caught up in expectation?

Perhaps you don’t think about the product at all. Then you are probably inspired and passionate when you create, and so you should be. But if your motivation to work is to make ends meet by selling your art then creativity can be stifled. One way to stop focussing on the need to sell is to concentrate on the origin of the process itself. Examine it and watch it as it changes. I find that the reason for creating something is often that I need to explore something about myself. For example I might have an emotional issue that needs resolving. If you look inside yourself and see what needs fixing and then use the art for that purpose then the product can be forgotten.

Is this an issue for you when you make your art? How do you deal it?

Dan Dan's musings art, creativity, dan pink, depp, lateral action, process, product, results, success, ted, zappa 5 comments

Wet, Wet, Wet!

It’s a monsoon! Well, close. It’s definitely torrential. That’s why I’m at home writing. You see, anyone who has to work outdoors every day will understand there’s only so much rain you can be exposed to before you realise you might as well have gone down to the local pool and hopped in for a swim fully clothed.

Hi, my name is Stefan, I’m the drummer in Riverblind. This is my first ever attempt at writing a blog, so this truly must be the best time to do it.

You see, I have this some what hesitance to become part of facebook, myspace or any other social cyber network. This may be a bit odd for some but I just don’t spend enough time on a computer to really explore all these different sites that most of my generation and under would probably feel to be common place.

OK?

Well if you’ve gotten to this paragraph, you’ve obviously got a lot of time on your hands. Or it’s actually quite interesting.

A little bit about me perhaps. Well, I was born in Taranaki in 1982 and moved down to Wanganui when I was two years old. Notice how I said down to Wanganui. Wanganui is a small/large town with a wide river running through the middle and a population of around forty to fifty thousand. Each suburb is home to a different group of gangs. You’ve got the Black Power out in Castlecliff, the Mongrel Mob in Aramoho, Hells Angels sort of in that area and on the other side of the river, well I’m not sure.

Wanganui has been on the news quite a lot because of the Maori land issues and more recently the gang situation. This new guy called Michael Laws took over the Mayor office a few years ago and has managed to ban the wearing of gang patches in public, which you can imagine has stirred up a bit of fuss.

Anyway, that is the political situation in Wanganui.  Back to me.

My father started playing guitar at the age of 14 and pursued his musical career right up until he had the kids. He was a very good dad and he inspired me to play music when I was very little. Even though I was surrounded by guitars, I was drawn only to the drums. There must be something about one’s personality that determines the musical instrument that will be pursued with passion.

Guitarists are usually quick learning, analytical and observant. Bass players tend to be very deep in though and read a lot of books. Drummers are often physically active, don’t always pay attention and forget gig dates.

Man do I go off the subject or what? I must be a drummer.

When I was eighteen years old I went to the Wellington Massey University School of Music and did a foundation course in jazz. I did really badly and failed my audition for the first year course. Twice!

I moved back to Wanganui very disappointed and got my first ever job as an orchard hand. Nothing could stop me from playing the drums. I was determined to improve.

I practiced an hour a day, one rudiment at a time, slowing it down in order to understand the motion. I joined a scrub cutting and gorse spraying crew and made a lot of money. The money I made was put straight into a new drum kit and pretty soon I was in a metal band called Vatikan. You can still view the Vatikan myspace page.

We did a lot of gigs up and down New Zealand and did three recordings: “Awaken” EP, “Evilution” EP and a live recording. We moved to Wellington just after the live recording in Wanganui, and with all the practice, I finally got into the first year of the jazz degree. I was dedicated to my metal band but everyone just started to slow down, get girlfriends and had ambitions else where. I met this awesome chick called Noura and the band broke up at the start of last year. It wasn’t long before I jumped on the band wagon with Riverblind.

Well that’s all I have for now because I can’t write blogs. BUT, like anything, with practice I will improve. And I will be back writing.

If it rains again that is.

Stefan Stefan's Stories drummer, jazz, Massey, rain, stefan, university, vatikan, Wanganui, Whanganui No comments

Me with my new birth certificate - they come with art now - neat!

A very common question to me over the last week: “Why the name change?”

If we had a FAQ, this would now be top of the list. (Not really, top of the list would be: “Why does your bass have 6 strings? Doesn’t that make it a guitar?”)

No, I didn’t add Beck to my name because I love Jeff Beck’s playing (I do). And I didn’t do it because I agree with Glenn Beck (I really really don’t).

Here, for you so curious, is the real reason, the long, self-indulgent explanation:

From Baby Simpson to Daniel Simpson to Daniel Simpson Beck

Nearly 30 years ago I was born to Rhonda and Rob Simpson. My very first name was “Baby Simpson” according to a birth card filled out at the hospital which I still have. This is because my parents thought they should get to know me before naming me. Being the 70s they were tossing around some hippy names like Peace, but common sense won out and they arrived at Daniel. I wasn’t given a middle name so my full name was simply Daniel Simpson. And it has been the same ever since. That is until it was officially changed the other week to Daniel Simpson Beck.

So, are you gonna tell me why already?

When I was four years old my parents broke up. I lived with my Mum and she decided to return to using her maiden name, Beck. I can hardly remember anything before the age of 3 or 4 so I can’t recall her ever being called Simpson. Actually I probably didn’t even know she was called anything but Mum until after I began primary school.

So, the first reason I started to think about going by Beck was that it’s the name of the primary person to bring me up. And I didn’t want to drop Simpson because my Dad also contributed to my upbringing and influenced me in very important ways. In fact, my Dad was a bassist before I was born and bought me my first Stanley Clarke album School Days (if you play bass and haven’t heard this album then stop reading and go get it, now!)

I have been thinking about changing my name for years, tossing up between Daniel Beck Simpson and Daniel Simpson Beck. I would forget about it for a while then come back to the idea, then forget about it again.

In the last few years I have undergone personal changes that have been of great importance to how I view my life and what I want to do with it. I realised again the importance of my mother in shaping who I am and decided that I really did want to reflect that in my name. Because, surely, that’s what surnames are for right? Acknowledging the huge part of you that is shaped by your family, the people who influence you the most.

Secondly, I realised that a name change can help reflect that I have changed as a person. And it can give me an identity to model as I see fit. Daniel Simpson has a whole lot of history and habits, good and bad, but Daniel Simpson Beck is brand new. He can start from scratch and build on the best that is available to him. Of course it is just a psychological trick. I’m still me, and I’m sure the new me will repeat the same mistakes the old me made, just hopefully less so. And it helps when choosing my own destiny to have a name that I have chosen too.

Also, Daniel Simpson Beck resonates well with me. It just sounds good when spoken. Daniel Beck Simpson didn’t flow when I said it out loud and luckily Daniel Simpson Beck did. Oh dear, just imagine if my mother’s maiden name was Homer? Or worse, OJ!

Finally, this name is completely unique to the Google search engine which is pretty handy for marketing purposes

So, what do you think? Do you like my new name? Do you think my reasons for changing are justified or a bit over the top?

And what would you change your name to if you so desired?

Dan Dan's musings beck, birth certificate, change, dad, daniel, family, identity, mum, name, simpson 4 comments