Unveiling

I think it's okay to report on my latest project now...

Here's the deal: I've been working with the local band ThreadSpinner to create 40+ minutes of video that will be projected on a screen behind them during their theater concert / album release party happening this Friday, October 2nd. (I was originally going to plug the concert to help sell tickets, but I just received word that it is now sold out!)

This project is much different from the music video I assisted with earlier. The video here is not meant to hold the audience's attention all by itself. Rather, it will (hopefully) enhance the complete live experience. The music is still the #1 priority. Seeing the band playing on stage is #2. My contribution, along with the lighting setup, is meant to add to all of that without distracting the audience.

It has been a challenge to NOT draw too much attention to the video. The goal has been to keep it abstract, showing colors and motion rather than objects or people. How do you capture an image without really capturing an image? And how do you make it interesting enough? I've put a lot of thought into it. My strategy was to begin with real objects, preferably ones that involve some kind of motion (sprinklers, ceiling fans, Mexican dancers, etc) and distort them so they just beyond recognition. I'd love to show you some examples... but not until after the show... and even then, only with permission from the band.

In some regards, I failed at keeping things abstract. During my recent infatuation with photography, where the goal is usually to capture the world as vividly as possible, I trained myself to find proper lighting and make sure the focus is set appropriately, so this project was counter-intuitive. It helps to know the rules if you are going to break them properly, but I'm still learning those rules... So some of the results are more literal than others. I'm telling myself variety is good.

My working title, The Sweater Project, originates from the band's name. I was trying to think of something that is spun with thread similar to the way my video was "spun" by the music. Yeah, I know sweaters are probably made with yarn or wool or something, so this may have been a stretch. Work with me here :-)

Despite some of my humble negativity above, I am very proud of this work. Its debut will be a big night for me. Some members of the press will be included in the 130 attendees at the event. I think I'd prefer if they made no comment about the video over a negative one in their reviews. We'll see. I'm rather nervous about putting my work out there. I've never had the chance to do something quite like this before, but I'm glad I have it now. This is the kind of thing that makes life interesting.

I'm hoping to eventually get some of this video online and viewable by the public in one form or another. It's something I need to talk to the band about after this all blows over. They are understandably conscious about their image and don't want some crazy guy going and posting clips of their music all over the place.

I gotta go make some dinner. I'll let you know how everything goes sometime next week (regarding the show, not dinner).

Sea lions, sunset, and moonrise

Hey there. I just had these photos lying around and wanted to post something today... so there you go.

LOTS on my mind right now regarding my career and the usual array of life decisions, but I'm not ready to discuss it in this forum quite yet.

As if you need another tease, I will be sharing some details about The Sweater Project soon. Stay tuned!

Vows by the lake

R and I flew back to the Twin Cities last weekend to attend the wedding of some good friends, Emily and Brian. I didn't take a single photo, but I did shoot 2.5 hours of video (you're looking at a still from the footage above). So I guess I have my next editing project cut out for me.

We slept in some cabins at the wedding site in an effort to save money and to stay close to the bridal party. R was the bride's personal attendant, and I wanted to be available to record as much of the weekend's on-goings as possible. We didn't get a lot of sleep, but otherwise everything worked out really well. The weather was beautiful, and so was the wedding.

In addition to all that, we found time to hang out in our old neighborhood in St. Paul and also sit down for lunch with some family members. It was a treat to see them on an occasion other than Christmas or the 4th of July for once, even if it was a little rushed. I'm glad they made the effort to meet up with us.

Despite loving California so much, we do miss Minnesota quite a bit. I'm reminded of the positive points each time we go back. I’ve been thinking a lot about the future this week and there are no clear answers on where I would like us to be in a few years (or if it will even be our choice), so let me get back to you on that.

Night Chorus video

If you're a friend or family, you've probably already seen a plug from me on one social network or another, but I wanted to post ThreadSpinner's first music video here as well.

I'm just blown away every time I watch it. I don't understand what's happening in the video any more than you do, but what's important is the atmosphere it generates. You feel the joy, the heartache, the freedom... and then leave it all behind to discover a collective energy and beauty somewhere deep in the night woods. If it's possible to capture on a recorded medium the rare moment during a live show when the pieces come together and hit you square in the heart (a moment mentioned by me just a couple of entries ago), it happens in this video at the climatic point when the crowd rushes to the stage to find Sarah Ziebarth belting it out and the band ripping it up.

This video opens the door to a place I very much like to return to.

I wish I could claim the video work as my own, but the credit goes to director/mastermind, Matt Walla, who had the vision, tools, and talent to pull this off beyond my expectations... and my expectations were high. I was Matt's assistant for much of the production and wrote about it briefly here. Also, FYI: If you look closely near the end of the video you might catch a glimpse of R dancing/cheering in the crowd.

ThreadSpinner's exceptional new single deserves mention as well, but I'm going to wait until after their upcoming album release party (which I highly recommend attending, by the way) to share my thoughts about the music. The band's buzz should be at a fever pitch around that time. And rightfully so.

Recent concerts, part 2: The National

Following Billy Corgan at Muddy Waters, any other show would have been a let down, even one in a smallish club such as The Wiltern in LA. That's where we saw one of my favorite bands, The National, the following Saturday night. By normal standards, the show would have been quite good – and I did enjoy it – but in some ways it left me wanting more, mainly because it was just a normal show and now I’m slightly spoiled.

I like The National because they seem like regular guys… maybe a little more bruised and definitely more talented than regular guys... but guys coming from a 30-year-old, white collared world similar to mine. From what I’ve read, the music doesn't come easy to them. Recording their albums is a difficult process, reliant on incredible work ethic and patience. The band members also apparently get nervous before performances in a way I doubt somebody like Bono or Mr. Corgan could relate. The National is pretty popular in indie circles, but they’re not a huge otherwise, so playing in LA had to be a big night for them. I expected them to give it their all… and they delivered.

I can't tell how much of it is an act, but the lead singer carries a persona of a man who really messed things up… maybe failed as a spouse or a dad, turned to booze, and exorcises his demons through the songs. They are not clean subjects to sing about, but the imagery is vivid and relatable and the production on their albums is outstanding. I fell in love with their latest, Boxer, the first time I heard it. Working backwards and exploring their prior albums was a treat every step of the way as well. The first time I heard the song "Slipping Husband" I practically had to pull over the car because it required all of my attention. It’s a song that builds to an explosion of anger – anger that feels perfectly placed and earned.

The concert included most of the songs that I expected. They were passionately performed, but sometimes too passionately in the sense they lacked some of the subtlety and restrained tension of the album versions. It seemed like at least half of the songs broke into those violent outbursts that only occasionally, fittingly punctuate the albums. They were all performed well and demanded the audience's attention, but at times the harshness was draining. Although I typically like my music dark, I still appreciate a certain amount of levity during a live show. (That said, too much comedic banter is a greater offense; I've seen shows ruined because the performer wasn't taking the show seriously enough.) Anyway, I'd see them play again, but at this point I'm more anxiously awaiting a new album.

As long as we were going down to LA, we decided to leave a little early and visit the Getty Center first. We had never been, and it’s one of those places you have to check out, especially if you live close enough. The setting is quite modern and scenic with great views of the city. We toured a few of the galleries (containing mostly classical art) and took some photos on the grounds (see a cute one of m'lady below). Our friend Paul came along with us as well. Afterward the museum, the three of us met up with a few other friends for dinner near the concert venue before heading over to the show together. It was a good day that reminded me how awesome it is to be close to a city like LA.

Recent concerts, part 1: Billy Corgan

We attended a couple of concerts during the last week. The first was quite an amazing, unique experience. It was put on by Billy Corgan (front man of The Smashing Pumpkins and hero from my teenage-plus years) and a few of his friends (Dave Navarro from Jane's Addiction included) at a coffee shop named Muddy Waters here in Santa Barbara. Yeah, a coffee shop. I couldn't believe it at first either.

Tickets sales were limited to 100, making for an intimate show with an artist I once saw headline in front of crowd of 100,000 on the streets of Minneapolis in the late 90s. I've seen him play a few other times as well and waited all day to "meet" him once at an autograph signing, but last Thursday sort of makes all of that irrelevant.

R and I arrived 20 minutes before the show and ran into actor Paul Walker on the street talking to somebody about how he wanted a ticket. That's right -- we were going to a show that Paul Walker couldn't get into. I had bought our tickets online a week earlier after seeing an announcement about them on Twitter. Strangely they were on sale two hours before they were supposed to be, giving me an advantage over anyone who didn't bother to check early.

The venue for this concert was not much bigger the living room of our condo. Billy and the band suddenly appeared at one end of the room, warmed up for a few minutes, and started playing. There were no stage lights (practically no stage at all) and little amplification. The sound quality wasn't perfect, but it was better than I expected for the space.

The first set of songs was on the quieter/folksier side. Maybe I'm getting old, but that's the way I prefer it these days. Billy was trying out new tunes and playing some covers rather than relying on Pumpkins hits or even his previous solo material. He is known for moving forward rather than repeating himself, even if it displeases the crowd. He didn't have to worry about that in front of this group of mega-fans. At one point somebody shouted "Play whatever you want Billy!" rather than requesting a tune. That was refreshing. I'm more than willing to put my faith in an artist to pick out the right tunes.

The second set was electric and pretty much set the place on fire (we had the sweat to show for it). One thing I always I liked about the Pumpkins is that even their harder rocking songs have strong melodies behind them. That's what sets them apart from a metal band. They also have such dynamic range – slow to fast, soft to loud; sometimes within the same song – that makes for an incredibly compelling listen, even the first time through.

The entire show is available for listening here, if you're interested. There are a few places where I can actually identify R chatting between songs in the recording. We were only three rows back after all.

The complete performance was outstanding, but if you’re going to pick only a few songs to check out, I really recommend "Widow Wake My Mind" and "Freak." Those were two specific instances when I became totally lost in the music, eyes welled up and heart full. Finding moments like that is the goal of every concert-going experience for me. It's unfortunate they occur as rarely as they do.

On top of all that, we got to meet Billy afterwards. He was standing around outside, chatting it up with people, posing for photos... no security, no lines, just a gathering of people cooling off after a warm show. What a night it was! A week later I still can't get the experience out of my head.

See a few more of my photos from the show here.

And read a review from the local paper, as well as some additional audience comments, right here.