Armor for Sleep & Boys Night Out at Albany's Empire Live (concert review)

I first heard Armor for Sleep way back in 2002, as a freshman in high school. My cousin sent me the song "Wanderer's Guild" via AOL Instant Messenger's File Transfer option. I waited about two hours to finally hear the sweet sounds of Ben Jorgensen's wistful singing over the top of a style of music I hadn't really heard before. 

I never cared enough to see Armor for Sleep play live, but I kept listening to them after that fateful day in 2002. I always just relied on their recordings. In fact, from 2004 until 2009 Armor for Sleep were probably the most played band both on my stereo (in my childhood bedroom) and while I drove around my parent's car on long drives, with both buddies from high school and the strange and different women I met at parties and through LiveJournal. In fact my favorite female buddy (who will remain nameless) and I spent many hours on the road, driving aimlessly. We almost always had Armor for Sleep playing at some point during these car rides.

So I guess for nostalgic reasons I bought two tickets to see them play, about four months in advance of  the night of the show. Because I won't just take anyone to a concert, and certainly not this concert, I only asked one person. She said no in so many words, so it wasn't my lucky day. I was denied. But what better way to attend an emo show? 

Pretty much what the venue looks like, albeit darker inside

I walked into the upstairs room at Empire Live by myself, after procrastinating the drive over. When I entered I immediately felt awkward which I'm going to blame partially on the music of the first opener, "Hellogoodbye." They came off as a cross between an indie band and a jam band, the likes of which I'd never want to feel at such volumes. The sound of a similar (and more popular) group "Fun." makes my fucking skin crawl, quite honestly. It's a joke that Mark Hoppus recommended The Format album Dog Problems so heavily on his podcast back in 2006 when in fact it's utter poo-doo. Hellogoodbye sounded like Diet Fun. and I immediately felt out of place and strange as I sauntered in alone, amongst about 250 other people who were also dressed in mostly black.

The atmosphere at Empire Live was somewhat of a party type of scene. I found my way over to the bar, where it was basically empty, and stood there alone, awkwardly, for the entirety of Hellogoodbye's set. At one point I moved slightly and stood behind a more densely packed area of people, where I proceeded to act like a human spigot-- each new audience member funneled through me as I stepped aside and then back into my initial location, letting them in by moving out of the way, over and over again. Soon I returned to the bar for a drink. Some tap water. It tasted off but was still drinkable.

Back at my place at the bar, I listened to Hellogoodbye close with their "hit" song which, admittedly, I did recognize, even though I hadn't heard it in about 20 years. Someone nearby had said, "They only have one good song" about ten minutes prior to them actually playing it. The lead singer took off his shirt for the finale and his skinny torso and man-tits jiggled around as his above-the-ears black beanie and horn-rimmed glasses sweatily rocked over the crowd, who eagerly sang along. I stood by myself, cup of ice-water in hand, approximately 40 yards back, expressionless. I was more interested in looking at the people around me, in fact.

Who I saw were a lot of older people, about my age, looking beat up by life, but still good enough (upright and breathing) to make it into the venue to watch the show. 

The women took the evening as a makeshift fashion show, and each emo girl had on a different unique outfit. I hadn't seen a pair of faded cheetah-print pajama pants worn over ripped black jeans and blacked-out slip on shoes with a hoodie and two other jackets... and crazy eye makeup, in quite a while but... you love to see it. That was one of many. 

My personal favorite is the "snake bite" piercings that extend into the nose and forehead, maybe with some sort of angular bangs and a ponytail type of thing. Whatever it is, I'm down to check it out and I enjoyed this. 

One cliché I hadn't remembered until this fateful night was the preppy girl who is out of place at an event like this, yet still a fan of the music. So in a way, she's not out of place at all, really. I spotted at least one, with a puffy knock-off North Face vest over a grey hoodie and some LL Bean boots with Hollister jeans, her hair and makeup done totally conventionally.

On the flipside, the guys I saw all looked to be slightly overweight, with a beard, too-tight hoodie, hadn't slept in a while, probably with BO. Or, "I'm just here with my girlfriend" type of thing. I didn't see a ton of different looking people, per se. Everyone looked kind of tired. A lot of women. Armor for Sleep is kind of a chick band, after all, I guess.

Boys Night Out and the blinding lights above them

Once Boys Night Out starting playing, the whole night changed. Immediately I found myself looking at one of their guitarists, who stood on stage proudly wearing a white-denim Canadian tuxedo. If his outfit wasn't enough, his hairdo and mustache said even more. He looked like he knew how to pronounce several French words and would be able to order fish at a restaurant. His guitar tone squeaked out of the PA like a helium balloon letting air out, then stopped, with bizarre guitar phrases that made me smirk, then almost laugh. As Boys Night Out kept playing I felt I was listening to a version of Senses Fail, basically. It's like I had hit my head really hard against a locker in high school, perhaps, and woke up fluent in a different language, listening to a weird French-Canadian version of Senses Fail that made me laugh, but were just as heavy in a strange way, yet without much screaming.

Towards the end of Boys Night Out's set I found myself standing behind four guys that undoubtedly had met up at the show, around my age. The guy in front of me had on a leather jacket and studded belt was rocking out to the sweet sounds of their song, "Up With Me," off their 2007 album. Although these guys didn't know me we exchanged glances as I began to nod my head and slowly fist pump and shake my hips along to the music, as well. The band was cranked at loud volumes as the stage lights flashed. The vibes of the band had turned the night into a ticket worth buying. I stepped forward and stood next to these random dudes. With my newfound makeshift buddies beside me the band played their final songs. Looking back, as they closed their set, it had truly become Boys Night Out.

Very quickly afterwards, in all of ten minutes, Armor for Sleep took the stage. The sound system was then cranked to 11. As they began playing it was so loud I saw many people running from the stage like they were running away from a bomb going off. Myself included. I ran, I ran so far away... to the other side of the venue, where I stood next to who I believe must have been a merch girl. 

Armor for Sleep was absolutely cranked through the PA

Armor for Sleep played a familiar song at full volume as I looked at this merch girl. She turned and faced me not once, but twice. Then three times. Then four. Then, get this... five times. We started staring at each other, more or less. I found myself transfixed by her. I was in disbelief. She looked exactly like one of my female friends from the past, one I had taken long car rides with. I couldn't look away. But there was something slightly different about her. It just couldn't be who I thought it might be, could it? Just as I nearly started poking her in the arm and asking her what her name was, she walked away of her own volition and disappeared for the rest of the night. She was replaced by a beautiful blonde, who rocked out by herself while standing in place for every song. I did the same thing, myself. 

I did make eye contact with Ben Jorg during the show and he came off as extremely self-confident and powerful. As we locked eyes briefly I wondered why he'd choose to look at me, and looked away for a brief moment. He was dominating, in fact. I looked back and nodded to him in agreement with what he was doing on stage, before I immediately resumed my own genuine, albeit muted in-place dancing. 

Armor for Sleep was pretty good. Ben Jorgenson was relentless with his pace and energy for the duration of their performance. Their drummer whose name I believe is Nash Breen was right there with him. They had fill-in guys on bass and 2nd guitar, who did fine. They played a lot of obscure stuff, which was cool to hear. I was able to hear songs like "Very Invisible" and "Who's Gonna Lie to You," which I didn't think I'd be able to hear. They went with deep cuts and at least one or two went over my head, even as a long-time fan, which was cool and made the show more interesting. Their super loud volume only affirms any shoegaze labels they might've been brandished with over the course of their long existence.

At the end of the show, after the crowd dissipated, I found myself amongst five other people, at the barrier in front of the stage. When you listen to a band for 23 years and have nothing else going on, you tend to hang around after the show. The bassist came out and handed out guitar picks. The drummer chatted up some girls. I walked around a little, then drove home, my ears totally blown out by the bass-heavy live mix at the show. Overall, it was worth checking out. Until next time. - Mike

Can't be Anyone but Myself album release notes

I just spent the past 10 months writing and recording this set of 8 songs. "Why only 8 songs?" Well, I actually wrote and recorded around 60 songs total, but I'm only putting out the best 8.
Of course, out of the 60, the majority aren't good enough at all, although I will mention I could probably put out a 12 song album, and no one would blink. I have the extra four songs, they're just not quite up to snuff.

Click to listen to my album, "Can't Be Anyone but Myself"

First off, I believe songwriting is the ultimate test of a musician, at least the type of musician I am, which is basically a hobbyist (multi-instrumentalist) who is involved in the pop/rock world of music for the "common man." The world of classical music is a whole 'nother reality, which is quite honestly a lot of riding up on a high horse. But that's for another blog post. I guess I might as well mention I do have a college degree in music, but who cares, right?

The way I tried to write this music was basically trying to emulate Kurt Cobain's songwriting style, although I applied and developed my own style over the course of doing this. I think if I had to summarize how Cobain writes songs I would basically say he balances dissonance with an appropriate measure of consonance, and melody is the key ingredient in all of his stuff.

Back to Kurt Cobain's songwriting... This is somewhat common knowledge as he's already been quoted as saying he wanted to combine the sound of The Beatles (melodic consonance) with Black Sabbath (think, tritone-based dissonance). Some of Cobain's writing is simplistic (i.e. "Negative Creep") while other stuff is more layered melodically (i.e. "Lounge Act"). Regardless, there are always creative melodic additives, in the form of quirky vocal stylings that when boiled down are note-perfect and surprisingly upbeat, and even cartoonish. Despite the media's image of Nirvana as death rockers, the music speaks for itself and is full of life, hence why it's still popular today. The level of dynamics in Cobain's songwriting is fairly high if you ask me. The music is full of juxtapositions, both lyrically and in the arrangements.

Why did I write a Nirvana-influenced album of music? I guess it's because I tried to write/record stuff I actually want to listen to. Most of the time I listen to pop rock. While recording this music I listened to a lot of Nirvana, Sarah Jane from Australia, a bit of the Meat Puppets album "Mirage," some Armor for Sleep, some Velvet Revolver, I also listened to a hip hop album "Now or Never" by Giggs, some other stuff thrown in there, some of the second (or third) Foo Fighters album, Motley Crue's Greatest Hits, Mountain's Greatest Hits. A good amount of Ramones, including some cuts from a Live in Germany DVD, and "Subterranean Jungle." Some other stuff I'm probably forgetting too. 

My taste in music is not as eclectic as you might think. Over the past four years I've found I'm much less interested in certain types of music. I almost exclusively listen to pop/rock music at this point, and there's a ton of crappy rock music out there. It's tough to find stuff I want which is why I tried to write it myself. I mostly listen to the same albums over and over, and it's a lot of Pop/Rock or Alternative rock.

What else about my own album can I mention, what's relevant?
From a technical standpoint, it's nothing new. I tried out some different microphones, and used mostly cheap gear. Then again, if I were to write a break-down of how much money I've spent recording this "album" it would be laughable. Just for a ballpark figure, it's easily over $1000.

I made one major change halfway through recording: I bought an adult-sized drum set. For half of these songs I'm playing on a drum set intended for use by children more or less. I finally invested in a proper kick pedal which made a huge difference. I bought an Iron Cobra Tama pedal. I actually broke the other kick pedal in half while recording a song. Then I glued it back together and kept going.

Another interesting note... I recorded and wrote everything while working a 40-hour a week job. The type of work I do has lent itself better than any other occupation I've had to being a musician. Needless to say, I don't sit at a desk all day and stare at a computer. I'm active at the workplace, but not so active that I return home exhausted. 

I've tried to write/record music while working at a desk job, and I couldn't do it. I've also tried to be a musician while working closer to 60 hours a week at a manual labor job, and that was impossible. At 40 hours and a moderate pace and friendly environment I can come home with energy to write music and I'm comfortable and focused. I guess I'll also mention I'm completely sober, and I don't even drink caffeine. No cigarettes, no coffee, no alcohol. Once in a while I eat Gummi Bears.

From a lyrical standpoint, I basically tried to come up with lyrics that fit the song and that I wouldn't be embarrassed to sing in front of an audience of my closest friends, or strangers. I don't labor over lyrics, if it doesn't work, I move on. Although some of the lyrics I sketch out, and then I fine-tune them and trim the fat so they fit into the song properly. Let it be known at one point I was writing a lot of lyrics, maybe about a page a day, and none of that was ever used. It's more of a writing exercise that helps you practice a bit. If someone found my notebook full of unused lyrics and started reading it out loud I'd turn red in the face. I might even crap my pants. Just kidding..

Strangely enough, I wrote and recorded most of the album cuts out of thin air. I don't even remember recording a lot of it. Other cuts I spent a while on. I spent 3-4 weeks figuring out how to structure the guitar parts for "Mouthwash." I also spent about a week preparing to play the drums on "Dose." I basically write songs based on the form, so once I have the form solidified, I can start writing the drum parts. All you need is two parts for a song. The form would be something like ABABAAA, for example. I try to keep my drum parts somewhat simple, because at the end of the day I only have so much time to work on stuff. If I spend 3 weeks writing a set of drum fills, I'd have way less material.

Writing the music for this album was, at times, a major struggle. I went weeks and weeks trying to come up with chord progressions and churning out crap. Then, out of nowhere, I'd come up with something I liked. That's what happened with "Sketches by the Campfire." I had put in a solid day of attempted writing before anything worked... I occasionally spend 8-10 hours straight of a day off writing music, and come up with nothing. Then all of the sudden, I figure out chords and write lyrics within minutes, seemingly out of nowhere.

Some of the songs I wrote on the spot completely. I laid down the drum track for "Don't Want a Boring Life" by itself, without any music or lyrics in mind at all. From there, I just picked up the guitar and played the first chord progression that I came up with (that worked) and finished the song like that.

Songwriting isn't always so easy, though. It's more difficult than it seems. Going back to Cobain, if you listen to the Nirvana song "Stain," (check it out above, or click here) it's pretty simple. Verse, chorus, solo. Those are all the parts. But the actual vocal melodies over the guitar chords and how it's so simple yet signature is why it's so good. If you prompted any musician to "come up with something like Nirvana's Stain that's a different piece of music entirely but is similar," it might be more difficult than you'd think, particularly to make it 100% original.

While we're on the subject, this music was written with a three-piece arrangement in mind, so if anyone's out there reading this and thinks they're good enough and wants to play the bass parts or drum parts from this album with me live at some place... i.e. wants to join in, be my guest. Because this material is this simplistic, you can rehearse in short amount of time, I've actually done it before.

To finish up on the difficulty of songwriting topic.... You can't just churn out a song like "Come As You Are," but at the same time, you might. I've mentioned this analogy before, but it's like a litmus test. With songwriting you never know what you might come up with, what's written within seconds that could last many years afterwards. That's why laboring over music can be useful in certain contexts, but it can also be a waste of time. I think listening to yourself and knowing your limitations and exactly what you want to achieve is key. If you know exactly what you're doing with clarity and certainty, who can stop you? No one.

Where do I go from here?

As I wrapped up this project, I grappled with the idea of putting out 12, or 14 songs instead of just the eight. I was working on a set of songs that were faster-paced and even shorter in length, but the material wasn't quite there yet.

Going forward I have a vision of the music I want to create that will accompany this stuff. Putting a concept of a potential musical sound into words is near impossible (although I do use thought-bubble exercises at times), so I'll spare you any details. But still...

There were certain elements of songwriting missing from this "grunge rock masterpiece, well... kind of" album. Notably, I think I can write better lyrics, if not generally, at least over the course of 1or 2 songs. I also believe I can improve with dynamics, and maybe experiment a bit. If you look into the final days of Nirvana, the sound was going towards a more experimental type of sound, as Cobain put it, "Sort of like the Grunge version of The Beatles Sgt. Peppers." For examples you might check out the X-rated B-side from "In Utero" that's "Moist" or... the radio hit, "You Know You're Right." Maybe an entire album doesn't need to sound like that, but using those examples as conceptual guidelines can lead towards success for one song, and you certainly need to write songs one at a time. 

Basically, I'm going to keep going, and try to write another grunge rock album, that should be at least the same quality if not better overall, though certainly different-sounding. If I were to follow the trajectory of Nirvana this album would be my version of "Bleach," I guess.

Overall, I like to draw in influences and express myself. One of my non-musical influences is the cartoon Ren and Stimpy. I like how the cartoonist's work is overly "out there" and exaggerated. It's just way out there. At the end of the day, I'd like to achieve my full potential as a musician, without holding back anything. I'd like to be the best I can be. Who knows how good that is?

I'm going to keep going and work on that next project now. If you're a fan of the music that's great. Until next time. - Mike

Spending all my free time on songwriting, I hate my own hobby?

Since June, I've been spending all my free time on songwriting and music recording. Every last drop of it. When I had a day off and on my off-hours after work I played and recorded music, that's it. Nothing else. I work 40 hours a week (thankfully not the 60 I used to work).

My routine was: wake up, go to work, come home. As soon as I got home I'd practice drums for a minimum of 15 minutes, but usually if I was working on a song I'd play for longer, maybe an hour. I'd get a sweat going, then once I felt comfortable with a drum take, I'd know it and say to myself, "That one felt pretty good." Usually it was just a matter of not flubbing any notes and making sure the tempo was correct. The drum mics were constantly set up so to record all I had to do was open up my DAW and press record. As a side note I live in a tiny room so... My bed was actually on the floor with wires tangled all around it and drum mics wavering overhead and the drums setup mere inches away from the mattress, for the entire 6 months.

Once the drum take was done, then I'd plug in my guitar (into a keyboard amp) and start messing around with an idea of some chords, or a melody. I have a nice pair of studio headphones I used for overdubs. For June and July I wrote using an acoustic bass through a fuzz pedal (with some reverb). I probably recorded about 10 songs this way before I found a certain formula using an actual electric guitar that worked for me.

It's now the end of November. I started this routine around June 1st. In this span of time, I've recorded 27 completed B-sides (That's a finished song with bass, guitar, drums, and vocals) and 5 finished songs I will release. So that's 32 songs in 6 months. I think if I really wanted, I could probably put out 10 songs (instead of only 5), but I'll save those 5 extra B-sides for a rainy day.

I gotta admit, I'm pretty much annoyed with recording and have been for a while. The final product is always awesome... when you record something that you're satisfied with, but the nuts and bolts of setting up the equipment, and the fact it's sort of like an endless pursuit (because at what point does it end?) have soured my take on it (and I've felt that way since about 2015). Many times it's a giant waste of time. As much as I love playing drums and guitar I'm ready to ditch recording for a while, maybe play some golf, go fishing, take up painting again. Just something different. I wouldn't mind performing live again, if only I could find a suitable drummer.

Ideally, I'd like to have a nice separate room to play drums in, and play guitar in, but I think the concept of having a recording interface always setup is too addictive for me, in a bad way. Years ago, I sold all of my recording and music equipment (except for one guitar), which was probably for the best, since the acoustic songwriting stuff I was recording was pretty cringy (looking back). But I'm happy with the songs I'm about to put out, at the same time.

 I'll be sharing the 5 songs shortly, after I finish up the mixing and cover-art. Stay tuned. - Mike

I made a fake Slint song... people thought it was real

A couple of months ago, when I drove back to Schenectady from Nashville, I wrote some music. If you look at my previous entry called, "How to track a full album of drums in two days," this was composed/recorded shortly before that blog post.

I recorded the drums for this fake Slint song (titled "Vellum") originally for a song that was supposed to be like a slow-burning, Lynyrd Skynyrd-esque Southern Folk-Rock tune. I was too lazy to write a real melody so I just played some random chords over the top instead. Then I added a bass line and thought, "This is basically a Slint song."

Once it was Slint-ified, my idea for the track was like one of those concept albums that are based around a fictional story. My conceptualized lyrics for this music were going to tell the story of "The Patient." Stay with me... A man works at a local research lab every day, and checks in on a patient who has been in a coma. At the crescendo of the music, he visits work to find the patient has awoken, and in fact, he is the patient himself.

I think I wrote some lyrics but then I tried some spoken word like Slint does, and it sounded bad so I just gave up, because who cares? Instead I figured I'd post the instrumental to see how many views it would get as a fake (though seemingly real) unreleased Slint track. People immediately thought it was real. Here are some of the reactionary comments the video garnered over on YouTube:

"holy fucking shit!"
"Where did you get this?"

"New Slint!? i mean they are around lol it could be, Maybe not tho i only hear 1 guitar and 1 bass, a drummer and a repetitive part with no build, nothing else"
--"theres 2 guitars for sure if u listen closely"
-- "Hmmmm, yea i hear it!"

"this song sounds like this year"
"Not slint. I know them like the voice of my mother. Listening to them for ages.But cool, good work. And maybe change the title with your name man."

"Is this real?"

Nope, it's not real. Instead of milking any illusion I just posted a comment saying I made it, and that it's fake. But hey, if I can convince someone it's real, maybe it is. - Mike