Rock And Roll Sellout
A Musical AllegoryMusicals are not easy….
Posted on April 15, 2013
Yes, it’s true we really are working on this bugger, but life and our other full time music career makes little (HUGE) projects like this take the back burner.
But we have about half of the music for Rock and Roll Sellout written and the entire script, as childish as our writing may be we still like it.
So keep tuned in and perhaps we will have something to show for ourselves very soon…..
Ok so we got distraced….
Posted on February 21, 2013So as per the norm, life is busy and we have put this little project on the back burner for a spell.
We will continue to work away in our little lab and when we have something new to show ya we will put it up, so tune in later….
A Question of a Sellout
Posted on May 24, 2011
A QUESTION OF A SELL OUT
What the hell is a sell out anyway?
Are we talking Michelangelo or Morrison?
Most of us think of selling out in regards to music but it applies in a myriad of ways, and the theme is as old as commerce and art itself.
For those of you who never took art history look up The Medici.
If you are an artist, or know one personally, you’ve seen this ugly existential wrestling match up close.
You’ve seen the dirty under skirts of the music, art and entertainment business and know her for the whore she is.
But is wanting to make a living with one’s art selling out?
Do you have to sell out in order to do it?
Perhaps the topic itself is dated, as my pessimistic side thinks that selling out is all those crazy kids are dying to do these days.
Is selling out allowing some mega corporation to buy your amazing song and pitch cat food with it?
Is it allowing them to do it in the name of mowing down the rain forest, say, instead of some innocuous service such as cat food?
What the fuck made The Clash Rock the Casbah?
Ok too many questions, but you get the point.
Some of the most talented people are eating their hearts out over the careers of far less gifted kiddies who are “making it” all the while quickly approaching the big expiration date.
That’s 40 by the way, as if you didn’t know.
And some of them are willing to go to serious lengths to get that approval, that award, that applause, that rent check. There are some days when selling cat food with a song sounds just fine. The rain forest however…
Honestly, if I stop with all the clever writing (which none of the above actually is) my guess is we all know exactly what it means to be a sell out.
It means going against your better nature for the sake of a naked and undulating gold toothed greed.
It means doing what you know you shouldn’t and stuffing that little voice of conscience right down the hole in your gut where all your dreams had to retreat to when you decided life was too tough.
It means catching a glimpse of yourself in the mirror and having a hard time liking the guy looking back.
But would you if you could?
Could you take a little personal guilt in exchange for security and money?
Would you dumb it down for a dollar or two?
Would you still make art if no one was looking?
You’d sell your soul for a little rock and roll wouldn’t you?
Are you a sell out? Would you know if you were?
What is a sell out anyway?
Circe Link: Orpheus Rises from the Couch
Posted on May 23, 2011
ORPHEUS RISES FROM THE COUCH
So one night we are watching this film.
Post HAiR, tired as can be, taking a mental vacation, and there it is.
It’s an old story, one of my favorites from child hood actually. But there it was in Technicolor no less staring us in the face. The film was Black Orpheus, with the amazing music of Antônio Carlos Jobim and Luiz Bonfá and suddenly, Christian jumps up from the couch and starts writing ….
We had been searching for an archetypical story to build a musical around to no avail. Not being play writes we had no idea if there was some form of divination we needed to learn in order to get a good idea but then it showed up, as all good things seem to do for us.
The basic idea of the Orpheus story involving a musician spoke to us immediately.
And after writing a few drafts of our own script now, we have managed to create something uniquely our own. Although our first act resembles Faust and the second act resembles Orpheus and Eurydice all you have to do is add some screaming guitars, killer vocals, platform shoes and you’ll get the idea of where we are headed. Some of the musical approaches we find inspiring are Hedwig and The Angry Inch, Jesus Christ Superstar, and The Shaming of The True, to name a few.
Now, not being the usual odd duck, I have found that even among the odd ducks of the world I am, well…odd. Most song writers enjoy writing endlessly about themselves and the repetitive love lives they suffer through. I was never too comfortable with that, although I have a few, I’ve always preferred homage and story telling that has less to do with me personally. Ya see where I’m going here? Kind of a good match, I thought.
So I says to myself, writing for a character should be a cinch. Well it’s not.
When writing lyrics you have to consider the language of your character and what the scene calls for, and these are just a few things to keep in mind. And as the great Sondheim implies in his wonderful book Finishing The Hat it’s embarrassing when your lyricist shows up more than the characters do. Kind of like an ill fitting slip under a waltz of black taffeta. Oops.
But I love a challenge, and so far I have found that these new boundaries have been a pleasure to work within and I know Christian has too.
Working with Christian Nesmith, the genius, on anything is a pleasure, if you ask me.
And we have been lucky to build a great rapport with one another over the years as collaborators.
Where I meander he always has a way to bring me back. And where he stalls I have the will to push him up the hill again and again.
So there it is, now you know how it all started. The journey has begun….
Welcome to the New Site
Posted on May 23, 2011
So finally, we have managed to get the site up. Not that writing songs and a script ain’t hard enough, making websites is just part and parcel for those of us low budget artists. Thus we wear many hats.
News, music and notes and shots and all that jazz will be forthcoming.
You can sign up for the RSS Feed (for you techies) and get updates as we add content.
Or subscribe to the mailing list for you to pour over as you please.
We also have plans to generate some interactive campaigns for those of you just dying to help out with our street team, oh yeah and give us your money.
Stay tuned folks.