I’ve said it before, I’ll say it again… I am the busiest unemployed dude you know (or don’t know). But who needs a “real job” anyway?
It seems like these posts are getting fewer and further between but I haven’t given up yet and I neither do I intend to. I’ve just been a busy little bee lately with tons of new projects that just keep adding up. But I’m not complaining, not one bit!
So here’s what I’m working on these days:
That’s my band and my most creative endeavor. As a drummer, I’m used to the background, providing the rhythm and leaving the creation to the song-writers but this time I get to sing. Well not sing so much as scream, I have no singing voice to speak of but I do okay. It’s a completely different animal to try and sing while you percuss (is that a word?) It’s like throwing another limb into the mix and it’s trickier than you might think. Writing lyrics is hard too so for now I just repeat shit.
We’ve had a good run so far. It usually takes a while for a band to book out of town shows but our first two were in Gainesville and St. Augustine, respectively. We’ve only played Jacksonville twice and our next show is July 28 at Doozer’s Pub with Republicorpse, Time To Die, Buff Clout, and National Dairy. We’ve also played Pensacola, Savannah twice and hopefully Orlando real soon.
So far the feedback has been phenomenal, despite our many fuck-ups and the occasional technical difficulty. Just yesterday we played a fest in Savannah for the 4th and the sound guy turned us off during our last song. Apparently there were some kids returning from some kind of dolphin tour during the middle of one of Big Dunn’s colorful impromptu segues. It was fun though.
Be sure and hit up our MySpace page to hear our crummy home recording and stop by Burro or catch us around town to snag a Florida Is For Haters shirt. We’ll be printing new ones tomorrow with a gnarly design by Dylan, your favorite boozehole bartender (the image up top)!
Before I moved back to Jacksonville from Afghanistan, I spent a lot of time learning about all the cool shit that was going on here while I was gone. One of them, of course was Burro Bags. Even from 10,000 miles away, I could tell Matt and Chris were onto some serious shit and made owning one of their custom bags a top priority upon my return. In September of last year I had them make me a bag out of one of my sea bags and desert cammie uniforms. It turned out awesome and I still take it with me almost everywhere. Fast-forward and here I am working (and living) as part of the Burro family.
In an effort to enhance online sales and marketing, Matt and Chris sought the aide of GoFresh Design to build a better, more functional website. It looks incredible but takes a bit of work to keep current. Enter me. It is my esteemed pleasure to contribute to the success of the Burro brand through managing all of Burro’s online content, including the blog and Twitter feed. I’ll be tackling the MySpace page and setting up a Facebook page in the near future. Believe me when I say that we are going to be taking things to the next level and beyond as time goes by.
Some time ago, Kellie from EU interviewed Tom and I about JaxScene. While in the photo pit at Harvest of Hope this year, Kellie approached me about doing an album review and I jumped at the opportunity to further refine my writing chops (and get my hands on advance albums). Since then I’ve been writing regularly for the monthly about everything from biking to nightlife to comic books (in this month’s issue). But my main area of focus is music, both local and on a global level. I am constantly running around doing interviews, listening to music, and checking out shows to bring what I feel is the most comprehensive music coverage in Northeast Florida. I have my own page now on the website with all the articles I’ve written and hopefully, very soon we will be launching an all new music page with the help of a very talented cat you call know. But I don’t want to spoil the surprise just yet. Suffice it to say, this thing is going to be big, no EPIC! I am envisioning it as more than just a resource but a portal for the Jacksonville music scene and I couldn’t be more excited about it and the platform it will provide for this city’s talented artists.
I’ve also set up a Twitter account (@eu_music) solely dedicated to the Jacksonville music scene that I update as much as possible about shows each night and other interesting little tidbits.
This is my newest endeavor. As I mentioned before, in preparation for my return to Jax I was trolling the interwebs and Urban Jacksonville was the place that turned me on to almost every cool thing I’ve found in this city. So when Joey asked me to be a part of the weekly podcast, I couldn’t refuse.
As “producer” I will be managing the interactive side of things, interfacing with listeners and commenters while Joey, Tony and Jonathan do their thing. I’m sure I will be adding my two cents from time to time and I’ll also have a little segment on upcoming music-related events. If you haven’t seen (or heard) this yet I strongly encourage you to check it out and join the dialogue. No one else in Jacksonville is taking such a unique approach to moving the city forward and I am proud to be a part of it.
Tune in every Tuesday at 5:30 to watch the show or you can subscribe to it on iTunes to download the audio.
As you can see, it’s been a busy summer but that hasn’t stopped me from having the most rad time possible. In the four years I’ve lived in Jax, this is the first summer I’ve spent stateside and so far it’s been incredible.
Adios amigos!
