Monday, July 16, 2007

"sometimes not being able to sleep means you're more awake"

i like that. no, i LOVE that line. bono said it in the last vanity fair i read. amazing.

well, i'm wide awake and it's all so clear.....

ok, so i threw my own line in there. had to do it. from now on when i'm not sleeping, like i'm not now or since wednesday night, this is how i'll choose to think of it. now i feel good. and you?

tonight while i was answering a backlog of myspace email i put the TV on. i got reality TV. i don't ever turn the thing on but the house felt lonely and i wanted some company. oh, and i read that posh spice had her show on tonight so i HAD to see if that was as bad as i predicted. i never made it through the first commercial. that would be a yes. as expected.

why do you people (the general YOU, not YOU) watch this crap and keep people with little or no charisma in the spotlight? you are feeding these people, and their children and their nannies and their freaking gardner. i suspect the gardner works hard so maybe i should thank you? and i bet "these people" are mostly not that good at parenting so a nanny is like a humanitarian act, helping us from a drugged out, lunatic roaming the streets trying to kill me cause he hates his mom and dad, right? alright, the glass is officially back to half full. thank you for working this out with me.


ANYWAY.........so i flipped the channnel and CRASH came on. seriously, is this not the best movie of the last decade? again, i'm a bad reference since i haven't seen that many movies but the best I'VE seen? who in it DOESN'T give the performance of a lifetime?

and if you didn't cry when that man shot the blank bullet at the little girl and her dad, you have no heart. check, cause you MUST be dead. or on a ventilator, you tell me.

just amazing writing and the point is so the point of this life. we're all connected. we're all the good guy and the bad guy. we're all fucked up and perfect.

now, before this all happened. go back to yesterday. we drive 6 hours home after a long night and i'm beat but i want to be inspired so i throw on U2 DVD from the last tour. man. it gets no better than that live. 4 guys and all that music. not sound, music. i realized that while we are playing as a 3 piece, i can play more edge-like (read: simple, open) and not try to do guitar runs from hell to impress myself. thanks edge. my jumping will be limited but it'll make you come back next time we play near you to see if i've stilll got hops...

now, i was reminded also of such a funny story that i somehow forgot to relay. it involves my mom and if you knew her you'd totallly say "of course" after i tell you this one. and if you know gail, a friend of ours from myspace- she can probalby tell this better than me so ask her.

ANYWAY.....

i'm playing a solo show in FLA and my mom and dad are there. nice, huh? i'm lucky. good people, too. and she goes outside of the venue. there are two doors INTO the venue in the front. the main door and there is a door TO THE STAGE. should it be locked? should there be a sign? a curtain? all yes and there may be but those signs were ignored becasue i'm singing and who WALKS IN? mom. not in but ON the stage. doesn't register. she shuts the door behind her and starts to walk. on the stage. i look. sort of amazed. i mean there are lights, there are monitors. it's a STAGE. i'm just thinking we should all be aware of this, no? is it me? so i say something like "just when you think you're all grown up, your mom walks onstage and embarrasses you." to a big laugh, except from her becasue at this point she's not exactly sure what is happening. she DID figure it out, so that was good.


ok, that's it from me......

see you on the road.

Labels: anyway, beckham, bono, crash, late nights and early mornings, miggs, miggsband.com, perfect, posh spice, reality TV, spice girls, U2, vanity fair, wide awake, youtube.com

Sunday, July 15, 2007

"there’s a windshield staring at my face, there’s this rearview saving my mistakes and there’s a few..."

this trip i've been on- making music with miggs- has been a crazy one. changes and more changes. it's all cool for me and i love the journey and am glad you alll are taking it with me. i know it's weird seeing new faces over and over again and i wish i had an easy explanation. being in a band is hard work. it's close work. too close for some. i'm probably not the easiest guy to work with- who knows. but at this point, i don't see how i'd replace michael and brian. i believe i will play with these two as long as they let me. both want to be IN miggs, and that matters a lot. we'll see where it leads but i'm stoked (i was just in santa cruz area so i've adopted the lingo for you to read) to share a van with these two. they just love to play. wherever, whenever. it's cool. give them lot's of love when you see them live or in myspace, please...

we just got back from the first leg of the tour and i'm exhausted tonight. we played a place called the brookdale lodge in ben lomand, ca. it's supposedly haunted, making the night always more enjoyable. rumor is that while our friends in silver griffin were playing, the ghost was messing with their sound, making the speaker go in and out. it sure SEEMED like a technical glitch but who am i to know, right?

we always stay in rooms there when we play and i do half expect to see something of note. something besides michael's ass climbing into the bed across the room, that is. it is white, it is scary but it ain't a ghost.

our friend richard spent the night and i would like to publicly thank him for keeping me awake with his little snore-fest. i love him for it.

so, the show. we did play a show. and we did it as a three-piece. i've resisted this for a long time. i hate miggs as a 3 piece but instead of playing with people we KNOW we aren't going to keep or aren't really interested in staying with us, we've decided this is how we'll play until we run into the right person. what does this mean to you, the person spending money to see us? well, it means i will certainly do less moving around, likely it will mean you will get sub par guitar solos but hey, i never said i was good! and you'll hear the songs without as much icing. can you handle that? i knew that you could......

friday we played bakersfield at jerry's pizza. it's this basement venue that has a very cool vibe and it felt good to go down there and sweat it out. it was also brian's first "awaY" show with the band and he didn't wet the bed or need to leave in the middle of the night to go home so we considered it a success. our boy seems all growsed up.

and the tour leg started thursday night at the famous malibu inn. conveniently located about 5 minutes from my house so i LOVE playing there!LOL john carta stopped out and played guitar for us, which was fun. and aron and matt came out to watch so it felt like reunion night. i half expected to see jason gianni walk through the door....

speaking of jason- he is kicking ass and taking names in NY at the drummers collective. go to his site, drummersbible.com and say hello and see what he's up to.

the best part of the touring is knowing that we'lll have new videos up at youtube.com, pictures in the forum and friends made. oh, and making brian listen to all my favorite music to see what he likes. so far, so good. guy's got good taste to go along with his good hair.....


seize the day,

d

Labels: arizona, ayn rand, insomnia, late nights and early mornings, miggs, miggsband.com, myspace, new mexico, Q time patio, youtube.com

Thursday, June 14, 2007

"sometimes i do this all the time"

i've been away so long from the journal and all of a sudden, i'm blogging like i get paid by the word. go figure.....

recently i did an interview and this question came up. the person did a history check and saw the evolution of the band and all the changes through the years and asked the obvious...what happened?

it's complicated and it's simple i told her. we grew up, grew apart, had different ideas of what we wanted, etc.

in some cases, the people never really belonged and we were filling a spot. in other cases, it was the perfect fit with the wrong time. it happens.

in the end, i appreciate the time and effort EVERY member contributed, big and small. it all brought me here today.

"and what is today?", she asked.

another good question.

MiGGs is MiGGs. It's a band thing, it's a solo thing. i guess today it's a collective of sorts. it's a FEELING, a place in time and if you see it tomorrow, you may see it differently than you remembered and that's not a bad thing. that's the "way we roll" these days so expect what you may not expect. we know SOME people want their McDonalds to always taste like McDonalds but we bet there are a whole lot of you that like to eat at off-the-beaten-path places and don't mind an element of surprise with their latte and maybe want to believe that you can still be floored by a taste, a feeling, by music, by a place and a time and that you might go back to that SAME room tomorrow and put on the same music but feel a completely different feeling. MiGGs wants to be better than a good pop band AND our promise is to keep that spirit while trying to shoot out the freaking moon at the same time.

i was asked what my music means to me:

my music means life to me. i can pick out the years, mark the moments, see where i've lived up or down to the potential of that minute. it's a roadmap, my personal atlas. how i got from here to here....

it's my muse and my enemy, music. a new song either delights or haunts me. last night i woke at 3:15. why? because i was ONE LINE SHORT of finishing a new song. one line. i could just rhyme something. i could just repeat something but no, this freaking line has to BEG to be written. and when begging isn't enough, it starts kicking and screaming until i can't get rest with it undone. that's what music does to me. and when it's perfect, it's like seeing a great wave or a sunset. it just happens and all is right in my world.

and do i miss the "guys" and the all for one and one for all of original miggs? yes. every day. but as 2Pac says "life goes on" and i can't dwell. i miss white mist guys, the alliance guys, aim cryer guys- all of them hold a place in me. and when it ended uglier than it should have, i have learned to accept my part in the wrong and then i can just remember the good.

i'd like to think that the music is bigger than the characters. maybe that's grandiose but it's what i'm ending this on, so there....

Labels: insomnia, late nights and early mornings, miggs, miggsband.com, youtube.com

Wednesday, June 13, 2007

"can you hear me now?"

ok, two posts in just a few days. i'm on a roll or something like that. we've been talking about re-releasing the Late Nights & Early Mornings EP with a small twist but one i'm kinda in favor of. we would release the original masters.

i know, "what do you mean by that don?"

well what i mean is that when chris manning and i originally discussed this album, the idea was to do an intimate recording. maybe even just guitar or piano and vocal. somehow that got away from us. actually, it was the fault of the song "nothing". as we were doing we thought it was a shame not to fill that one out a bit. it seemed bigger than that. we stuck with no drumsticks or electric guitars, though. so we did and then the rest of the songs sat funny when listening back so we dressed them all up except the title track. i wanted that to be me and a guitar and that's it.

where was i with the reasoning again becasue that paragraph above isn't the reason......oh yeah.

so we sent the album in to a great mastering company and what they do is they give the songs that added punch and depth. and they are the reason some of your albums are louder than others. and if you notice, the new albums you're buying are WAY louder than anything else in your iPod, right?

there is a huge debate going on right now in the industry that louder isn't better. in fact it's compromising the quality of the recordings becasue the louder you make it the more you "crush" the mix, losing the dynamics- making the instrumentation indescernible. i hate it. i know that old recordings are lower but the SOUND of them is better. we're fooled becasue these recording seem "crisp".

man, this is a long explanation. chris and i were really happy with the initial mastering but when we put it on the iPod, the songs soulded flat. especially against other acoustic albums, so we kept pumping up the volume and mastering, which makes the song sound smaller in a weird way. it compresses and crunches it. i'm sure chris could explain this so much better than me, sorry.

in the end, i went against my heart and released the EP as highly compressed as we could. i love it but i feel like i've littered in some way, if that makes sense. or i've contributed to the dumbing down of music listeners and then my manager started reading about the backlash and she agreed with me and this idea came up to release the "producers cut" for us. and if some of you want it, even better. but be warned, it will not be a NEW album of material so don't waste your coin if you don't want to be frustrated when you put random on the iPod or CD shuffle. got it? good.

i'm going to make a commitment to myself that the next full album we release will NOT succumb to the trend of the day. we will master this album to sound full and rich but not just LOUD. see, the other kicker is that radio stations compress the songs for radio so they get an extra "mastering" and are even louder. this is why if you ever hear your fave song on the radio and then listen immediately to the CD, there is a difference.

man, that wasn't easy.

be the ball, danny...........

Labels: DVD, insomnia, late nights and early mornings, mastering, miggs, miggsband.com, mixes

Sunday, June 10, 2007

"cause the truth about the truth is that it’s not going away..."

i'm sitting in the sky lounge at LAX, waiting for my flight to tampa and decided to say hello. who knows who reads this but i appreciate that i have a place to talk to myself if that's all that happens!!!!LOL

i've been reading BLINK and another book called THIS YEAR I WILL... and that's about making changes that actually stick. it's been a great read so far. it's amazing how we KNOW what we want to do and that that fact rarely is enough to have us do it, in the end. people eat, tell themselves they should stop. but can't. they smoke. they cheat, they lie. whatever it is and it got me thinking about the line i wrote up top when it comes to the truth. it's there. you can hide it but it doesn't change so it'll come out.

i got to this thinking becasue i've gone through some crazy personal stuff where these questions have come up and where i've found myself defending some things that i KNOW are facts and not being able to convince someone. what i realized is that every time i work so hard to convince someone, i'm cheapening the truth or making it harder to find. does that make sense? so it's best to just say your piece and let it go becasue it'll come out as it should when it should. and i'm finding great comfort in that and also get to shut up more, which is a good thing!!!!

i was just in europe. actually on my honeymoon if i must say too much.....

anyway, it was so cool to see the world as we did and see history from the BC period. i mean, we saw the acropolis in athens. how the hell did they build that without computers and all the technology we have today? forget the freaking CRANE to lift the millions of tons. just mind-boggling and beautiful.

and prague????? my God. to walk those streets. wow.

we also visited paris and then london where i was able to finally use my favorite quote from the movie FLETCH...."look kids, big ben, parliment. i can't seem to get left!!!"

classic.

if you've not seen these countries. go now....

new music:

jesse malin: glitter in the gutter.

get past his voice at times and it's great stuff. i'm a fan of early bruce springsteen and the repplacements and this gives me that fill.

hold steadys: boys and girls in america.

heard so much about it. it's SO new jersey i laughed but it's good stuff

black rebel mototcycle club: new one.

haven't gotten too much time

KISS: LIVE box set

now i have all their live CDs. oh goody.

maroon 5: new one.

it's produced well

Linkin Park: new one.

rick rubin is a great producer. drums and sounds are all great. some good songs. some mediocre ones but it's always entertaining.


ok, plane is a coming....be good

Labels: black rebel motorcycle club, insomnia, late nights and early mornings, miggs, miggsband.com, truth, youtube.com

Tuesday, April 24, 2007

Tomorrow, There is always Tomorrow?


Today we learned that a friend, the guy who was working on our new website was killed in a motorcycle crash. what i read was that he was driving late at night, pretty fast, and lost control of the bike heading into a truck. no helmet, not that it sounds like that would have helped.

life is THAT fucking fragile. tomorrow you are dead. stop complaining about what you don't have or where you are if it isn't where you want to be. stop petty arguments with people. practice peace. practice forgiveness. respect that you will NOT GET ANOTHER CHANCE TO LIVE THIS LIFE and live it. for you, for your parents who gave birth to you, for duke grey, who doesn't get a choice anymore for a second chance.

Sunday, April 22, 2007

"just for the record, the weather today is..."

pretty damn cloudy actually. it's sunday and i've been thinking it was saturday. oh well, a day slipped by me somehow.

let's see....i just watched the DVD from the cafe du nord show and it was a fun show. there are some camera and sound glitches and i completely trainwreck "to be alone" but i think we'll spruce it up a bit and release it as a live DVD. any takers? what should we name it? tell me.

there have been a bunch of emails about the new pictures at myspace.com. it's funny because to me it's just the same old same old but i like hearing from you so thanks. last night we took some others as a band and those will begin appearing places soon.

the new website launches on or about May 10th so look for that and commment, of course.

the touring has been going well. where have we been lately again? hold on, i'll go look at the schedule.

ok, arizona was fun. really fun. people are all so cool there. i think i already told the border patrol pull over story so i won't waste your time again here. we were at a venue in newport beach the other night and some kid was doing backflips in front of the stage. full on. it was funny as hell and i wanted to put the guitar down and break off a little flip my own self. course, i'd probably slip and land square on my back but i still had INTENT.

we played the skate rink in san jose last night. it's weird doing that but it's cool cause then younger kids can see us and we like playing for them, too. my mic was all static-y for the first 2 songs and then just went out so i was running over to michaels mic to sing and then back to mine to see if it was on. finally got all sorted out and we didn't get rattled, so i consider it a success.

has anyone been watching this season of south park!?!?!?!? my GOD is that funny stuff. i bought the first 9 seasons and have been going through it but michael gets the latest on his iPod so last night Aron and I snuggled in the van and watched while mike drove. it was nice. and the show was good too...

i also watched rocky balboa and still love that series. go rocky.

there are too many books to get into here and i feel like it's all i've been talking anbout lately but i will say that this week i go visit corona del mar school and we're going to talk about the fountainhead and atlas shrugged. they've been reading them after we spoke recently so i want to go listen in and get into the debates....freaking cool.

i've had blue october on my iPod for a while now and barely checked it out but yesterday gave it a good listen. it's really goood. i wish he'd not always double his voice and i'd love to hear the rock ROCK more (people can say this about us, too!) but it's strong stuff. "hate me" is a powerful song.

and that led me to put the killers sam's town back on and that is a strong ass album. it's not as immediate as their first, hot fuss, but it is just better all around. some points in the lyrics really grab me, the melodies are damn goood and the drumming and guitar playing are so inspired.

ok, sopranos tonight. no shows until friday and some catch up time.........

d

Labels: atlas shrugged, ayn rand, DVD, late nights and early mornings, miggs, miggsband.com, south park, the fountainhead, tour, weather

Thursday, April 05, 2007

"and if i'm such a joke, then why aren't you laughing?"

spring has sprung and i'm wide awake. how about you? i know i owe some detail in this entry so sit back and take a load off your feet. i gots things to say.....

it's been a great year so far. a sold out show in san francisco. thank you to all who came. we filmed the show and hope to release it as a DVD. we'll see how it looks first, of course. some fan video is up on youtube.com that i saw and it looked cool as hell with the crowd singing "options" and me standing there in semi-awe.....i am a geek, what can i say?

i bought the first 9 seasons of south park on DVD, by the way. those guys are truly amazing. the scenes may slip into some bizarre stuff but they are dead on with their points. do yourself a favor and check this stuff out. some side-splitters, as they say.....

had a nice little surprise on the florida run of shows with michael and matt joining me. it was still acoustic based but a lot more fun with them out with me. it sounded good all stripped down. we did some different songs, too, which was fun. and then we worked on some brand new songs for the next electric album, whenever that will rear it's head. maybe early 2008 but who knows. we just released "late nights & early mornings" and i'd like to release a CD with all the songs miggs never released but recorded. there are some that i really like and a few i should probably leave off but i figure we took the time to record them so maybe you'll want them. that should release before christmas time and i think i'm calling it "unraveled". you heard it here first.....

oh yeah, i definitely liked reading "haunted" by chuck palahniuk. the short story "guts" was a tough read through because i thought i may hurl at a few points. i was laughing and holding it in at the same time. classic. now i'm reading "long way down" by nick hornby and then onto sidney poitier's "measure of a man" and then someone sent me "perfume" by patrick susskind and said they could only send this to me...which i will decide what that means after i read the book, i suppose!

back to the new songs, though. it was fun demoing up some of my new things with michael and matt. they definitely added an element that wasn't there before. well, since i only recorded vocal and acoustic, i guess THAT wasn't too hard!!!LOL

the song titles being worked right now are:

-"weapons" (which you can hear the acoustic demo on myspace.com right now, unless i've come to my senses and had it taken down): i wrote this as a Killers meets american idol pop song but with lyrics about how WE make the decisions we're forced to live with. like george bush. and that what he or we say isn't nearly as bad as what we actually do....
-"fire": this whole the fray phenomenon puzzled me. nothing wrong with them and whose to argue with a gazzillion CDs sold, right? right! but they seem like coldplay light and coldplay (God bless them too!) are U2 light so wonder how light we can go before there is no buzz at all!!!!!! this is my light, light, light, light version of this genre......with some balls, i hope.
-"dear diary": some of you heard this song december 3rd 2005 when we debuted it at great american music hall in SF. it was the first and last time we played it live becasue that version of the band stopped at that point. i've resurrected it back to the way i originally wrote it and hope to have it see the stage again soon. i wrote this after reading "diary" by palahniuk. it's about not just sleepwalking through life, basically.
-"pretty people": i wrote this around the same time as "diary" while on tour. sep, the guitarist at the time, heard me playing it in the van a million times and liked it. one day he came over with some modifications, added the prechorus and we finished the song up. we did it a few times. it rocks. i've sort of revamped it again and there is a version with some lyrics added by phil barnhart, a grammy winner from nashville i write with some and i'm not sure which lyrics will ultimately be used but it's cool to have choices. ironically, i wrote this song about two things- all the hype for paris hilton and her "type" but also based on some stories sep would tell about he and his wife's relationship with this wealthy family and how they could be. it's ironic now for so many reasons that i won't go into but i learned my perception of this family was wrong even though the song still resonates!
-"enemy": i love greg dulli and i know that listening to his last solo album "powder burn" influenced this song ultimately BUT i wrote it while waiting for kyle cook to appear at my door for a writing session in nashville. he was a little late and while i waited this entire song came out. it sounded VERY nashville at the time i played it for him and he said it was complete. but i thought it was too nice. i got home and the proverbial "shite" was hitting the fan and the lyrics sort of moved from where they were. then the song sat becasue i wanted it to rock more and the chorus didn't. recently, i came up wiith a better chorus, moved the chorus to the bridge and there is was. complete.
-"everyone but me": i like this one a lot. i'd been toying around with this riff for the past couple of years. it was a cool time signature but kept the feel of a rock song. that was jason gianni's influence and i bet i initially did it to impress him! but then the chorus came together and i had a song. matt, michael and i played it once when we three had to do a show in Utah. and then we never played it again. it's like foo fighter-ish.
-"running out": i love jeff buckley and wish i could sing like him. period. i can't. i forget which book i had finished when i worte these lyrics or the exact circumstance and i am not interested in researching right now!LOL i like the chord choices here. a bit too mature for me but it's good. almost put this on the acoustic album but it didn't seem to fit. not simple enough.
-"for you": i've spoken about this one before. new love will get you everytime.......
-"crawl inside": this is definitely dulli influenced. sweet with just enough sour. i've not gotten the sour down right yet but i'm working on it. and my piano playing is so bad it works.

there may be more. who knows!!!!

ok, what i'm listening to? a lot. just ordered the hold steady's and hear that he is a genius songwriter.


what else?

come see us on tour, buy the new album, visit us at myspace, tell friends in the towns we're in where you are not to see us and say hello........

i do the photo shoot for the new website friday. it's looking cool and i think we launch it may 10th. a great day. and bono's birthday.


oh yeah!!! my late nights song review i promised. here it is:

NOTHING: i wrote this song after i finished a book by........guess? yep, chuck palahniuk. but also a book by tiffanie deBartolo called "how to kill a rock star". do yourself a favor and find this book. great read. the genesis of the song was a night in reno where i wrote the "tape look running through my head" line and couldn't get much further. it sat and one day finished itself while i slept! in the studio, chris (manning) and i made the decision to "work this song up" instead of just an acoustic and voice. this is what changed the direction of the whole album because it was originally going to be quieter but this song begged for more production and then we did the rest to follow suit (except late nights...). i love that this vocal take is the scratch track. that's the name for the recording you do to just keep place for the other stuff. it was never intended to be the FINAL vocal track but i sang it like i meant it so we kept it. we got jason gianni to play WAY outside of his comfort zone on the piano and he did same good stuff at the end. we had him listten to black crowes a bit before we hit record! i just remembered that i came up with the "it get complicated with the lights on" line while running through chicago. i was looking at two rather large people kissing and thought how it must be tough to get "busy" and then saw another couple who seemed to not want anyone to know they were a couple and the words just fit both scenarios.
TO BE WRONG: this is a track i've recorded 4 times now. 2 electric, 2 acoustic. each differently. it resonates for me so i wanted it on. i wrote it for a friend who needed to assert herself and trust her intuition. it's a woman's anthem and i'm proud of it.
WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN: my friend sean o'malley was the singer in the alliance, my high school and early 20's band. he sings like steve perry, sort of. i used to write songs for his range and one day he didn't show up at a show so i had to sing. it humbled me but also made me work for more range! he wrote these lyrics and i immediatley gravitated to singing it like he could easily. since i can't, i went in a more jeff buckley direction. it's a nice song. we recorded a version for what became insomnia CD but never released it. this one is much different.
DON'T FIX ME: my manager had the words for a chorus in answer to coldplay's "fix me", a song she loves. she gave these to me and i wrote a song around it. it's supposed to be a song like the who would have done. i would like to hear this one electric. maybe one day. i like the bridge a lot. very zeppelin-y. i had a fan/DJ surprise me and ask me to play it live one day and i didn't remember most of it and the chorus is so high i couldn't hit the notes so early in the morning. a real train wreck....
PAYING FOR MY SINS: this is the song that marked the end of my relationship. it said it all. the vocal take is basically one take and it pained me to sing it. i insisted on the heartbeat bass drum pattern but think the song would benefit from moving away from that in the bridges. oh well. another one i'd like to see fully done with electric guitars and drum sticks (both of which were not used on late nights at all). the phone dialing is us actually dialing a number and recording it and the surprise was the woman picking up saying "hello" so perfectly. and the screaming kids are chris' boys getting a bath and we recorded it. they may hate that in 20 years!
LATE NIGHTS & EARLY MORNINGS: the album was done regarding song selection and i wanted to always write a song with this title. i did use it on "choices" but only becasue i didn't want a song named "choices" on the same album as a song named "options" but what could i do!?!?!?!? gavin mackillop HATED this song title and the request to name the album this. said it sounded like an acoustic singer songwriter title. so when i did the acoustic singer songwriter album......i had a name! anyway, chris said if i came up with something that night, great, we could record it. i went home and this song FELL out of me. the whole song hinged around the last line "i've learned my lesson, that's for sure. it's not funny anymore.....come home". after that, it was easy. i recorded this live- guitar and voice- first take. and we left it right there.

have a great week people,

d

Labels: american idol, insomnia, killers, late nights and early mornings, south park, U2, wide awake, youtube.com

Wednesday, February 28, 2007

"late nights and early mornings come without any warning..."

it's noonish and i'm in the hotel lobby at a best western in las cruces new mexico. first time here. the wind is blowing the lobby door open and shut and along the left of the hotel is a train track where i lost count after about 35 cars. it's dry. i can tell that already.

we left at about noon yesterday from LA. made a few stops and arrived here after 5am. bed at 6am and woke up at 10am. damn head won't let me sleep!

i wonder how long U2 spent sleeping 4 to a room and loading their own van!!!!LOL

going for a run to see the town a bit. doesn't seem like there is much here but it has a cool vibe. except for here in the lobby where i swear i'm on candid camera and these two attendents are saying stuff for me to hear and then hiding behind the counter laughing. they're crazy.

ok, the guys are finally up so we're off to a meal....

Labels: late nights and early mornings, new mexico, Q time patio, tour, U2

Tuesday, February 13, 2007

"You shared three little words, I slipped into a dream. You filled all my clouds with your silver linings..."

So I do a thing where I write songs for people's "special occassions". it's called itsmysong.com and I resisted it a bit at first, thinking it was cheesy, and maybe it is, but I wrote this song for a couple in Texas and was really overwhelmed by the amount of love he has for this woman. I was proud to read his intimate stories and letters to her and put together a song that he'll be giving her for Valentine's Day. How cool is that? Way cool....

ok, not sure where the capital letters all of a sudden came from. taking a breather for a few days. the tour has been great from a band perspective. we're finally really playing like i thought we would when i got these guys together. saturday night in bakersfield was a trip. big room, not super crowded and we went on about 2 hours late...something crazy like that. so we get up there and there is no real sound system. i mean there is but no mics on instruments and no monitors. a train wreck waiting to unfold. first song or two there is a very noticeable hum , a feedback, just annnoying the crap out of me but what can you do? so the 3rd song starts (st rita) and it begins to pour outside, where the majority of people had gone at that point....now they HAD to come in. so the room sorta fills up, people start going crazy at the front of the stage and we proceed to forget about the sound and remember why we strapped on guitars in the first place. from there? perfect.........

and last week i went back to my new favorite high school, corona del mar in newport beach. it's not enough that the teachers all rock. the students are the freaking bomb. it's like they took some sort of cool pill. no posers, no morons- just chill peeps who dig a song or two. i mean, they had me and an acoustic guitar for 40 minutes or so in a theater and they were into it. thanky ou guys. keep reading, keep writing and keep miggs love alive....oh and go buy the freaking new album "late nights & early mornings" at iTunes.

anyone see the grammy's? i was recording so i missed it. deadlines got the best of me.

so march takes us in to texas and then back to our roots...a show at cafe du nord on st patty's day. catch a flight in for this one, it willl be a great night. will you sing "maybe" with me? let's start a contest and do what justin did at the grammy's with someone singing with him. sure, we won't be grinding to som phat hip hop beat, but think of all the fun we WILL have?! post why you think you should be singging "maybe" on stage with me in the forum. how's that idea? oh and it's all ages so come one, come all.......

Monday, February 05, 2007

"it's about time"

ok, so i was the first person to plunk down my $5.98 and download the new EP "late nights & early mornings" by.....miggs.

it's been so long coming that i was excited to get the freaking thing and downloading it made it real! it's here.

i hope those of you who pick it up enjoy it. the physical EP will be here soon. i'll buy that, too. i still like to hold my music.....weird to say but that's me.

so i was inspired when downloading it to make another iMix for iTunes. it's available on iTunes if you like it. here it is with my notes:

Hit Em Where It Hurts

Playlist Notes: Something old, something new. Something borrowed from the Foo's.....


When Your Heart Stops Beating : +44
these are 2/3 of blink 182. the better 2/3 in my opinion. fun stuff.

Thunder Road: Bruce Springsteen
it's bruce at his best. great lyrics.

Joey: Concrete Blonde
achingly beautiful without being sappy. love her voice.

Holiday In Spain: Counting Crows
adam can write words as well as anyone in music. period.

I Drove All Night: Cyndi Lauper
the outfit made people not realize that she is the OG! most female singers pale in comparison.

Here with Me: Dido
i just like this song

Tunnel of Love: Dire Straits
the song may or may not be great. i can't tell becasue my heart breaks everytime he says "i could have caught up with her easy enough but something must of made me stay..."

The Chain: Fleetwood Mac
when i first starting playing music, i had the idea that my band, who wasn't a band and who didn't play any instrument would make this our first song to play, ever, at the 4th grade talent show. when we realized you had to learn the instruments better than like we played the tennis racquet, we decided to sing along to the recording of "Dreams" offf the same album instead. brilliant move.

Show Me What You Got: Jay-Z
guess who's REALLY back?

19th Hole: Jeff Klein
i think i put this on the last iMix. so shoot me.

New Mistake: Jellyfish
chirs from jellyfish produced late nights & early mornings with me and he rocks and they kill it!

Disintegration Jimmy Eat World
"do what you want to do...but i'm drinking" this guy is a mess.

Hurt Johnny Cash
wow.

This River Is Wild The Killers
bruce called, he wants his identity back on this one but i still love it.

Out of My Hands Michael Penn
great, underated song and songwriter. and michael pinched the snare sound for the demo of "taste" when i wrote it.

Maybe Miggs
something older....

Paying for All My Sins Miggs
something new. the child in the background is chris' son taking a very hard bath. and the phone call waas real. we were surprised someone picked up.

Welcome to the Black Parade My Chemical Romance
a band realizing they had the moment by the balls.

Steady As She Goes The Raconteurs
rocks like i like it.

now, where is the foo fighter song i THOUGHT i put on here when i came up with the clever description? that is too funny.

Sunday, January 28, 2007

"don't be sad dear, it's just over, it's over, that's all"

2006. gone,. like a freaking mirage. so fast. and now 2007 is a month old.

did you accomplish what you wanted to in 2006? i didn't. i tried. maybe not hard enough but i tried. there was more to do and now it spills over into 2007 and my "to do" list is longer than i'd like it to be but there it is. and i'm committed to making 2007 strong. 2006 was a challenging year. lot's of changes. people in and out of my life. i've come to expect a bit of that but in 06 it was more than usual.

for 2007, i'm working on a few things- make sure the people i love and cherish KNOW i love and cherish them. maybe i need to tell them everyday. it's a start. say it too much and back off. better than not enough, right?

well that's one thing. the others aren't anything to talk about here.

so 2007. hello.

we started with more shows in january than we have the past 2 years so that was fun. tour started jan 9th in santa barbara. i got sick january 8th and by the time we hit long beach i was on stage gasping for air and a syllable. it was terrible. how is it that i make it through travel, holidays and all with no problems. the tour starts and i get sick?! ugh. so we canceled some shows which was the weirdest thing i've ever done and i rested. it's worked out. the last couple of shows have been great.

and i did another workshop at a high school. this time corona high school in newport beach. what a great day. the coolest classes and teachers. the deal is that i go in and talk about writing and life. how to express yourself in words and song. it winds up where i tell some stories, answer some questions and play a few songs and the best part is when a student let's me grab their words and put a melody and music to it. there were a couple of things we did that were so inspiring. thanks to newport beach and debbie sidler for the opportunity. i can't wait to do more.

one of the other things i decided for 2007 was to try and give back to the community more. since i travel so much, i don't care which community as much as just being an active person out there. so i'm doing the school thing and also am now part of musiciansoncall.com, where we go into hospitals and donate time and our voices to people who need to be cheered up. how rad is that?

there are some other things you'll see miggs do this year so support the efforts, get out there and be a part of something bigger than yourself and make sure when 2007 ends you have something to show for it.

carpe diem and all that jazz.......

d

Wednesday, December 13, 2006

"and i guess that's why they call it the blues..."

it's that time of the year where joy and misery collide like no other. why is that? we make such a deal out of the holidays that we attach some greater signifigance to them than the day to day, where life is REALLY lived. i'm all about the in betweens. when i miss someone, it isn't because of a holiday, it's because i remember the way their mouth moved when they said chocolate or that they always click their thumb or something random. i don't know. that's just me.

biut i get the blues. holiday or otherwise. i wonder about the mistakes i've made. thje choices i make every day and how they affect me and others and how i can be a better person every moment. don't always get there but it's on my mind. even when i'm screwing up, which happens now and again....and again....and again.

the last few acoustic shows really have been such a way to exorcise my demons. many sad songs played. much moping but it's my party and i'll mope if i want to. jacksonville florida was a surpirse for me monday night. people stayed and they were into it. my set list, if you can call it that was one i liked. i think it went something like this:

-to be alone into teenage wristband from twilight singers
-for you. a new one
-nothing
-perfect into running to stand still by U2
-maybe into blinded by the light by bruce springsteen
-crawl inside- a new one
-it's over
-romeo & juliet by dire straits. i did this in the wrong key and it was funny because i decided not to fix it so it was higher pitched

i threatened to do more and think i left 2 off of here but oh well.

so in the spirit of giving. here is my iTunes iMix if you're interested:

GET THIS MuSIC TO KEEP YOU WaRM IMIx HERE!

Playlist Description:
Songs to make your heart burn a little. Sometimes feeling bad feels goood!

Brilliant Disguise - Bruce Springsteen
Cry Me a River - Justin Timberlake
Disintegration - Jimmy Eat World
Every Little Thing - Dishwalla
For Reasons Unknown - The Killers
Here with Me - Dido
Honesty - Billy Joel
I Wish I Was Here - Dog's Eye View
In My Place - Coldplay
Joey - Concrete Blonde
Never Tear Us Apart - INXS
Nobody's Fault but My Own - Beck
Out of My Hands - Michael Penn
Picture This - Blondie
Raining in Baltimore - Counting Crows
Rest - Miggs
Romeo and Juliet - Dire Straits
Silver Springs - Fleetwood Mac
Since U Been Gone (Live) - Butch Walker
Sorry Seems to Be the Hardest Word - Elton John
19th Hole - Jeff Klein
Time After Time - Cyndi Lauper
Two Out of Three Ain't Bad - Meat Loaf
Winona - Matthew Sweet
Wish - Miggs

Sunday, December 03, 2006

"new york, like a christmas tree, tonight this city belongs to me..."

tomorrow i fly back to New York to play a show at Arlene's Grocery. i remember when i was 21 or so seeing a show at Arlene's and feeling like if i could JKUST play this room, i'll have reached an acceptable level of succcess. by then i was a veteran of NYC clubs but Arlene's felt different when i walked in. more real. i can't explain it. so we've played there a few times now and i know there are "bigger" venues in NY and maybe even easier ones to get to but i feel at hime here and it reminds me of the feeling of wonderment and hope i had trying to beat the odds. i like being reminded of that now and again. so back i will go wednesday night. tell your friends. i don't care if you don't live there. you know SOMEONE who does!!!!LOL wednesday night, 9pm. just me and a guitar for 50 minutes or so......

happpy december

d

Saturday, November 18, 2006

"hey monkey...where you been?"

i am right here. i sit down and begin a post and erase it. don't know why. what to say. where to start? too much, too little. erase, repeat. write, erase, repeat. go to sleep.

i appreciate the emails asking where the posts are and i guess i feel some pressure to say SOMETHING inspiring or interesting!!!!!LOL

well i am sleeping more these days. that's a good thing. i am writing more, too. started writing with some great people from Nashville and that's been an eye opener in the process of constructing a song. i have a couple dozen ideas or songs and am starting to consider how the next full electric CD will be done. i mean i know what i'm thinking in terms of direction but that keeps evolving, too. all i know is that i don't want to run by rules for it. i don't want to smooth the edges. i don't want the perfect harmonies everytime. i don't want to leave off the epic song or the song that sounds like a girl should sing it because a producer decides who miggs is. i know that much. all else is up in the air. i do have a title.

the acousitc EP is here. i can see it. you can't. not today. a few weeks. why? why the hell have we dragged this 7 song album out for SO FREAKING LONG!?!?!?!?!? it's complicated and simple. the simple answer is that we did an album. liked it but i felt like it wasn't the album the band should release. it sounded too good. perfect. and i wanted rougher. then the band members all leave and i have time on my hands and room in the house to bring in the equipment and record so did. then mixing and mastering took a bit longer than we'd hoped and when we're ready to release.....our label decides to take a dirt nap...out of business. so we sit here with a CD that i think is pretty good. chill, a different view of the music and we're making some artwork changes so we can release it to whoever wants it most first. then we'll worry about a new label and all the "business" stuff. i just want people to get it so we'll do a limited run. we know how to sell CDs from the trunks of our cars. that's how we did it with "anyway" and over 11,000 people bought that!!! so don't give up on "late nights & early mornings" cause it's coming soon...

and next....truth. coming clean. being in the moment and facing fears. these are my themes at the moment. writing about them, trying to live them. it's heavy. the weight of the truth can crush a person. it's all about navigation and i am attempting to live with grace and humility, no matter what. big words to live up to.

did some fun solo shows lately and am always thankful for who comes out. each show allows me to step out a bit. last one in LA i did a medley that included elvis costello, smokey robinson and bruce springsteen. it was fun, even though i could count the people on hands and feet!!!!LOL

the full band has a good january tour shaping up and we plan to be out for 120-150 dates in 2007, which is good to hear.

the new website is coming along, too.

what else?

my shuffle just hit:

-tenth avenue freezeout: bruce springsteen. f-ing brilliant
-maneater: nelly furtado. i like her. nothing mind blowing but she cares about her craft
-ask me anything: the strokes. solid album. seems like they're trying to do what pearl jam did without ever REALLY being big. but they should have a career
-on top of the world: cheap trick. "she was young, she was dark, she was fair. wrapped herself around you with her stare. you'd explode if she would touch you there. touch you there. touch you there." great song
-i wish i was here: dogs eye view. wonderfully sad song.
-olivers army: elvis costello. who writes words this good this consistently? really. i would put him up against anyone.



and my picks for you to go buy now:

-sam's town: the killers. let it seep in.
-ray lomantagne: til the sun turns black
-starsailor: on the outside
-christina agiulera: back to basics. girl can flat out get it done.
-muse: black holes and revelations. consistently good, though it's hard to top their last CD

ok, i've rambled quite enough. how about you send your friend just $3 of miggs music from iTunes this holiday? is that a lot to ask? no it is not.

happy thanksgiving. there are many things in this world that are terrible but we are still alive and that is worth celebration. keep each other in your best wishes and be well.....


d