Little Queenie @ the Stork, Oakland, 3/5/2011

Can you die from exhaustion?
Little Queenie

It’s stupid how long it’s taken me to finally post this. A month ago I was so busy that I had to wait until I took a vacation to get back to this blog. But then after I mixed the tracks and wrote the majority of the post, I basically forgot to publish it for two weeks. It was dumb – I’d remember it early in my day, usually when I was nowhere near a computer; and then by the time I could’ve finished the post, I’d drink a bunch of beers and watch several episodes of “Storage Wars” instead.

Though work has sucked up the majority of my time and energy, label stuff has also been a part of why I’ve been so busy – mixing recordings for possible releases, getting everything squared away with the next two singles and even buying more equipment for live recording. So expect more content, both free and for purchase.

But I could be just wasting time and money as my wife is pregnant and according to every father I know, I won’t have a life after the baby arrives. Well, I guess it’s just trading one dream for another… But if you’re in the Bay Area and want to see how the record business works for little money, email me.

Let’s get to what you actually care about: free music.

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Red Nurse, The Stork, Oakland, 7/17/07

The All Star Band no one gave a crap about.

Red Nurse

After their original drummer Joe left, I auditioned for the band Battleship. I hadn’t played drums for a band since the Popular Shapes, which I left in 2003; this was three years later. By that point I had been dying to play in a band and Battleship were one of the only bands in the Bay Area I actually liked.

It had been months since I spent any time behind a kit. Though I still brimmed over with natural talent (ha!), when it came to playing the parts Joe wrote for their songs, I stumbled and apologized more than I played proficiently.

Suffice to say, I didn’t get the job — it went to a much faster, talented drummer named Drew. Instead, Battleship’s singer/battery (that guy is “go, go go!” all the time) Aleks offered to start a side project with me.

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Battleship (Last Show), 21 Grand, 7/22/07

Oakland has lost its most chaotic band

Oakland’s Battleship is no longer. Singer Aleks and guitarist are both moving away, leaving a pretty big void in Oakland’s punk rock scene. Battleship was probably the only punk band in the East Bay that wasn’t either: A. a crusty, Discharge ripoff, or B. An angular, no wave dance-punk band. (For East Bay music scenesters, those types of bands are you only two options now, so if you want to hear something different, start your own band now!!!)

For me though, I loved Battleship because their live show was almost a revival of the greatest live band to ever exist, Behead the Prophet No Lord Shall Live. Seriously, if Battleship had a violinist and Aleks was more open with his homosexuality (ZING), their shows would be time portals to Seattle/Olympia, between the years 1996 and 1998. They would’ve been regulars at the Capitol Theater and the Velvet Elvis.

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