Hey. my music's being used in this cool AirCassette iPhone app:

I threw all my bags of tapes out long ago but I still have have an emotional connection to some of the cassette designs.

Last night I stumbled across Joan Jett's "Do You Wanna Touch Me? (Oh Yeah)" song which I had never heard before (it's great!). I watched the video, saw Joan Jett in a bikini (weird!), and then discovered the song was originally by Gary Glitter. All I knew about Gary Glitter was that he made KLF's Doctorin' the Tardis song possible and that he gets thrown out of countries for raping children. Anyway what I'm saying is that in this context, holy shit this video of Gary Glitter performing "Do You Wanna Touch Me? (Oh Yeah)" is the most psycho thing ever:

I mean that's like a musical number in a movie about a horrifying child rapist. Who looks and is named exactly like Gary Glitter.

Anyway I'm conflicted because the song and performance is bad-ass and I feel like a Gary Glitter fan now.

Hey everybody. I accidentally did a show a couple of weeks ago. It was pretty informal. A nice person came all the way from Hungary to see it which was a little nerve-wracking. It went fine though, thank you for coming (if you did). I've been just plain working on my album. Growing a beard. Trying to drink sensibly. Also:  playing some video games here and there. Arkham City comes out next week. I might be too busy to play it, how sad is that. Seriously how sad for me are you right now tell me.

I keep thinking of writing about recording the album because they say you should keep your 'online presence' going but that's so fucking boring. Does anyone really want to read that? "I've been re-recording all the basslines." Oh kick ass, Brad. "I'm enjoying playing bass more." Awesome, awesome! I'd rather talk about my awesome dog Rufus:

Just look at that fuckin' guy. What a dude.

But I'm getting restless, which I think is a nice sign. I really want the album to be done so I can move on. I have all these fantasies about how creative I'm going to be when this is over and I'm not working on the same batch of songs anymore. How I shouldn't wait so long between albums anymore. That all my fussing is really only mildly improving the songs. I should be more spontaneous! I should be more like Prince!

But I also want to obsess over every part of it forever until the end of time. I know that my restlessness will overcome my perfectionism soon though and that, my friends, is how babies are born.

[My new nephew Crue (as in Motley).]

You don't get asked to be made an uncle, someone just makes you one.

I love this Louis C.K. interview where he talks about licensing The Who's "Who Are You" for his TV show:

So we went to MCA or whoever has it and they said, “Well, we have the master rights and Pete Townshend’s publishing company has the publishing, and it’s a favored-nations deal.” In other words, whatever we negotiated with them, we would then also have to pay Pete and the publishing. So their first offer was, I think, $150,000. [Laughs.] Because it was the whole song! So we’d have to pay $300,000 total. That’s a whole episode for us. That’s the whole budget for the entire episode. But we didn’t give up. That’s the way it worked. And either the company or someone else told Blair, “The other way to work it is to go to Pete Townshend first.” Because it’s the same in the other direction: Whatever deal he makes, they have to honor his deal, too. They have to take whatever offer he gives. They have to match it. But try to go get Pete Townshend on the phone. That’s even harder. So it just took a lot of fuckin’ time. And occasionally, we’d be on the set shooting “Blueberries” or “Moving” or whatever it is, and I say to Blair, “How’s it going with The Who?” and she’d either say, “Dead” or, “I just talked to a guy today” or, “A guy I talked to today is looking into something.” And it went on and on. And finally, she said, “Well, Pete Townshend wants to know exactly how it’s being used, and he wants to see the show. He wants to see some episodes.” So I wrote him a synopsis of how it would be. I described it very carefully, and we sent him the DVD of five episodes from last season. And then, I don’t know, three or four months later, it felt like, he came back to us and said, “Can you send me 7,500 bucks?” [Laughs.] Yeah! And so the whole thing cost $15,000, which is fucking nothing!

I agree to a lot of licensing (and have always been laid back about it) so that's fun to read.

I'm still using Reaper as my main DAW and I still love it. I'm hacking away at the next album with it. Reaper 4 should be released shortly as they're up to Release Candidate 4 as of this posting. Here are some of my favorite things in v4:

- ReaEQ - They added a live spectrograph to the EQ, which was a feature other EQs (like the one in logic) made me want.

- Selecting chunks of audio in the media explorer is pretty sweet when you have compatible VSTis. You can preview an audio file and select a section from the waveform and drag it right into the plugin or timeline. Very handy.

- Midi Track Controls (ReaControlMIDI) - I'm not actually sure if this was in v3 but I know I was trying to get a weird midi controller to control the tracks long ago and had no luck. This makes it easy.

- Project Bay - Now you can see and manage all the effects and media you're using in your project.

- Screensets - save and recall Reaper window layouts easily. Nice.

Here are some things I am not fond of:

- The default theme is too dark and the color coding of tracks is really hard to see. I was finding it really tough to organize my projects so that I knew what was going on at a glance. So I switched back to the v3 theme, which is OK for now.

- The Media Explorer is slow on my Mac. Hopping between files with the cursor keys is weirdly slow. This was never a thing on Windows.

And here's my wish list:

- I'd like a simple multi-sampler. A Battery-style 'pad' sampler would be my preference. Setting up many tracks of ReaSamplOmatic5000 is cumbersome.

- Some metadata/search in the Media Explorer would be great. I have a ton of samples kicking around but if they're not easily at hand.

- Workflow improvements - Reaper is already so far ahead of the competition in functionality that I think it'd benefit from some time spent on its usability. While it's awesome that each pulldown and context menu and preference page are overstuffed with cool options, it can be overwhelming. And I'm a pretty huge nerd so I assume the less techy out there go into cardiac arrest at the sight of it.

Anyway, great job Reaper team.

I'm sure everyone is tired of hearing about Google Circles, but it's nice. You can find me on it here. Are invites still a thing? If so, just send me your email address. It's still early on and I have my complaints and suggestions but so far I'm finding it easier to manage than Facebook, where friend lists & groups are annoying. And it's so far been a lot more social than Twitter, I feel like I'm discovering interesting people on it and conversations are happening more. Some of that could be the novelty of the new platform but I feel like it promotes casual socializing in a way I haven't really felt since BBS's. Also the Google Hangout multi-video chat is fun.

The other point in Google's favor is that I don't trust Facebook and never have. Google has a good record of openness and being pro-web, whereas Facebook has been intent on creating a locked-in walled garden from early on. I believe my interests align more with Google than Facebook, but time will tell.

I'm trying to up my live show's lighting game. Since it's me, I'm heading towards the compact, DIY and cheap. Here's what I'm trying out:

The Chauvet 4BAR - you can get these guys for like $320 USD off eBay, which seems like a great deal since it comes with the tripod, foot pedal and carrying case. Unlike the cheaper Mini 4BAR, this one's DMX-controllable, so I should be able to sync a couple of these trees to the laptop that drives my live show and plan my lighting out nicely ahead of time.

Enttec USB Pro - to get DMX sent to the lights I need an adapter for the laptop and after a lot of research this seems to be the good one. The cheap guy in me wanted to get the Open DMX Usb which is less than half the price, but most software specifically mentioned the Enttec USB Pro and I didn't want to risk buying something that wouldn't do the job.

DMaX - I'm waiting until the lights and adapter arrive but it looks like the DMaX devices for Ableton Live with Max For Live (along with the dmxusbpro external) should let me control the lights from Ableton all easily (I hope this works).

Sound Activated EL Wire - I ordered some sound activated EL Wire to test out. It's not DMX controllable so it won't be in sync digitally, but it's only like $15 and I'm gonna try putting some on the guitar amps and drums and see if we can get it blinking in response to our playing which should be on the beat assuming we're playing OK. I'm not sure how well it'll handle the noise level at a show but we'll see. Worst case scenario I can just leave them on all the time and it should look neat.

I'll try to post about it once I figure out if any of it works. If you know anything about lighting or visualization stuff I'd mega-love to hear from you.

Trying to be a pro up in here but it's quiet, not too interesting work: 1) Working on the new album - met with Rob Cosh who I worked with on Out of It and it looks like we're good to go. I just need to finish off the tracks. Also I'm trying to decide on album artwork.

2) Working on the live show - adding lights and visuals and working on improving the general live sound and presentation.

3) Planning - I have a sheet of paper here with Brad Sucks stuff (releases and promotion etc) planned out until next June. I feel so legit looking at it. Legit and overwhelmed.

4) Video - trying to get some video stuff going for the next record. It's an area I never really enjoy but I should probably do it.

5) Website fixing - tidying up this place a bit. Upgraded bbPress, added Facebook connect and fixing my mailing list software since I haven't sent out the Brad Sucks mailing list in forever.

6) Secret projects - plotting out some new projects which have so far involved a lot of meetings.

7) Maintaining my mlkshk account - this thing doesn't update itself you guys.

But enough about me, how are you?

I upgraded to the latest beta of bbPress and it's sweet. I finally have forums integrated in the site design. If you feel like testing them out you can see 'em here. I'm still working on it but feel free to post about issues. Once I get things running in OK shape I'll try adding Facebook logins and that will be sweet.

Yeah, so, there was a wiener theme to the show tonight. First time ever. I tried to communicate it from the stage but I'm not sure how clear I was. Here's the two point recap: 1. Next to the venue was an abandoned KFC with this sign:

rlggsx

2. Inside, on the bar, next to jars of pickled eggs and cheese was a jar of pickled wieners. I did some of my Seinfeld-esque observational humor from the stage re: this crazy coincidence and this wound up happening:

weiner

For those of you who are not musicians, that is a pickled wiener that has been tossed onto the stage, specifically onto the set list of your guitarist.

Good times.

Just a reminder for people who are in this specific area of the universe: I'm playing Saturday night at The Elmdale. I've never played there before. I'm told they have beer. Anyway, it'll probably be my last show in Ottawa till next year while I finish my record and work on some other exciting Brad Sucks projects. So, you know. Do what you must.

This one's been a struggle and I think it still needs a bunch of work, but I'm calling the demo done and I'll come back to it. I was trying to do something a bit different and ehhhh I dunno: I Need to Love Myself More and You Less (demo)

Anyway, that's a wrap on the demos for the next record. You can listen to them all here (warning: spoilers). Gonna take a short break and then start hassling friends for feedback and then I'll make a bunch of decisions on what needs to be fixed. And then fix those things.

Went to a 70th birthday thing for Bob Dylan last night (he wasn't there). I'm not really a huge Dylan fan. I mean, I think he's rad and much respect, good job. But I've never really obsessed over any of his music like I have for my favorite artists, despite trying. Last night at the Dylan open mic I realized the only three songs I really deeply love of his (if we count covers) I found from soundtracks:

1. The Man in Me (The Big Lebowski)
2. You Belong to Me (Natural Born Killers)
3. When I Paint My Masterpiece (Observe & Report, by The Band)

So that probably makes me a lame person. But despite not digging most of his music, he's an inspiration in that he decided he wanted to be a songwriter and has relentlessly stuck with it. That's pretty bad-ass. Also this paper doll was on the table in front of me:

Happy birthday!

Tired of staring at this demo, so here you go:

Come Back (demo)

Should be track #8 on Guess Who's a Mess. Only one more demo to go and then I get to start finishing this bad boy off.

I think I might be finished with nearly anything that happens in convention centers. I'm not sure I've ever had a good time in one. Do they happen? They're so sterile they creep me out and make me want to run far away (to my sterile hotel room). My panel was OK, though the discussion was just getting going when we ran out of time. I also felt it was a bit too focused on far-off scenarios rather than practical stuff that might help musicians. I have a hard time caring about anything I have to imagine 5-10 years into the future to get. Probably my issue, but there it is.

Once again Boston tried to hang onto me by laying down a giant storm on my way out. Last time it was snow that cancelled every flight but mine. This time it was wind that cancelled every flight but mine. It's never cool when you see this much red on a departures screen when you walk up to your gate:

I got to fly in a 9-seat Cessna propeller airplane (the ninth seat is actually the co-pilot seat). I thought it would be scary especially with all the turbulence but I found it easy to accept the idea of dying after spending so many hours in an airport. Also it felt like being in a van in the sky. And whenever I was nervous the pilot was like three feet away from me so I could study his body language. "He's not sweating and trying to secretly phone his kids, so I think this is just normal turbulence."

I took this video of the landing:

Pretty sweet landing there. The other three I experienced weren't quite as slick.

I'm off to Boston today to do a panel thing at Rethink Music. and an interview at the Berkman Center. If you're around there be sure to say hi. I have another song demo nearly ready to go which means that'll be nine out of ten done for the next album, holy smokes! The tenth track is getting there as well. With luck I'll be working on finishing the record by the summer. So that's nice.

Hey party people. Got a few real world things coming up, which I must share with you: Thing 1: On April 27th I'll be in Boston at the Rethink Music conference (a Harvard/MIDEM/Berklee College of Music joint). I think my panel's at 4:45. And I think I'm doing something at the Berkman enter while I'm down there.

Thing 2:

(Poster by Geoffrey Gibson)

Saturday, May 14th I'll be playing Kingston with Dave Norris & Local Ivan at The Mansion. I believe it will be six Canadian dollars. (Here's the Facebook event.) Next:

Thing 3:

(Poster by Bill Mead)

Saturday, June 11th we're playing Ottawa. I don't know who the opener will be yet, but I'm sure whoever it is will be great. I'm trying to only play one show a year in my hometown so if you miss this sucker I'll see you in 2012.  (Here's the Facebook event.)

If you can attend or know of anyone who might, please spread the word. Thanks!

Here's a hard rock type demo. Track #3 on the next album! Slow and steady wins the race: Fluoride (demo)

I'm taking my new purple pills and they seem to be going ok. In the meantime there have been a couple of interesting articles lately on the subject of shitty brains that I'd like to share: The first is titled 'Can a Single Pill Change Your Life?' It was linked around all over the place, described as an investigative report on whether Ecstasy/MDMA can be used instead of or as a supplement to traditional talk therapy.

A few pages in I became aware this was published in Oprah Magazine of all places. So I'm reading waiting for the end of the article where the author realizes drugs are bad and you should never try them ever for any reason. At the conclusion of the article she decides to undergo the MDMA therapy herself. "Ah, here it is," I think smugly. But then she's just totally cured of her issues. Basically Oprah just told me to do a bunch of Ecstasy. Well OK.

The other one was in The Economist for some reason about a computer program that can replace talk therapy:

Cognitive-bias modification (CBM) appears to be effective after only a few 15-minute sessions, and involves neither drugs nor the discussion of feelings. It does not even need a therapist. All it requires is sitting in front of a computer and using a program that subtly alters harmful thought patterns.

Sitting in front of a computer you say? I'M IN. So I get to the end of the article and not only do they not describe what the program actually does, there's no download link or anything. What the hell.

Well, February blew if you're keeping track. Mark that one off and throw it in the stupid garbage.

On the up side I've got some shows booked in Kingston (May 14) and The Elmdale (June 11). Once I firm those up I'll post the details. Should be some more coming also. I'm actually looking forward to those shows which is a nice change.

My Mac struggles seem to have evened out. My trusty MXL v67 mic started acting up so I replaced that. I'm thinking the new brain meds might not be doing the trick anymore so I'm gonna see a dude about that (a doctor, not just any guy). Also my cheap little Nanopad I was enjoying seems to have stopped working. What do you have to do in this life for things to always work and never cause any problems? I thought that was what I paid taxes for.