Father/Son Rock/Roll

I've been too busy to blog, people. Busy flying to NY to record the band tracks for the cast recording of The Shaggs: Philosophy of the World (due out later next year), busy helping my son step up to the world of 4th grade and homework, and busy collaborating with my son on a new rock album - "Slime" by Max Invasion - which is out NOW (free download for the first 200 customers).

Q came up with the whole shebang. He sings lead and is the lyricist. He composes many of the musical riffs, chooses the guitar tones and effects, and sets the tempo and mood. I play all the instruments (except claves) and come up with extra musical ideas that match his descriptions.

This isn't like anything I've done before. Firstly, Quinn wanted to really rock out (I tend to make music on the gentler side). 2nd, I usually to want to perfect things. Quinn's not like that, he wants to move on. So "Slime" is rough, we work fast (it's usually just one take for each track), but that gives the whole thing a sense of urgency and a true garage feel. 3rdly, as a singer I'm rather tuneful and sweet. Q comes more from the Lou Reed school of getting the words across. The result is the grittiest rock I've ever head from a 9 year old (and his ageless father). This ain't your papa's Donnie Osmond, man.

Check out songs 5, 6 and 7 ("Monster Truck", "Seed" and "Happy Life"). The cool beginning of "Monster Truck", where the music sounds small and tinny and then blossoms into full-on heaviness? The rockin' riff? That's all Quinn. On "Seed", I wrote and played to his specs - he chose the Fender Rhodes sound, and the Stephen Stills tone for the guitar leads. "Happy Life" was a not-quite-ready-for-primetime riff and mood. There was something good in it, but it wasn't working. Q came to it fresh a few days later and heard (and dictated) the verse sections, and built up the swirling noise and synths at the end, and Presto! We had ourselves a powerful bit of pop.

So, download "Slime" now (while it's still free)! Once the free downloads are gone, you'll have the chance to name your own price for this little hunk of rock n' roll history.

(FYI, you don't HAVE to download to enjoy - The Max Invasion "Slime" link allows you to listen to the entire album on any device. Downloading is allowed on all devices except iPhones or iPads (Apple only allows downloads from iTunes on iOS hardware).

Spotify - the New Radio?

Radio is not dead - you can still turn it on and listen to a baseball game or NPR or someone yelling at the top of their lungs about how unfair they think life is. But as a way to find new music, radio just ain't happening.

With the demise of radio as a way to find new music, various hopeful substitutes have come along:

In the 90's there was Hear Music, a store with dozens of listening stations all with soft cushy headphones. It was dreamy, just put on a pair of those headphones and enter a magical world of great music. Everything sounded good on those headphones. And, of course, standing there on a concrete floor you weren't going to listen to a whole album, or give a song 3-4 consecutive listens to see if it held up under scrutiny. You'd listen to maybe 30 seconds, skip ahead and try another 30 seconds here and there, and, lured by that wonderful headphone sound, make a snap judgment to purchase that CD for $16.98. Only upon getting it home and giving it an unhurried listen would you realize that the thing didn't have any musical legs, and that you didn't like Country Music after all (unless it's 30 seconds at at time on headphones). Nope, Hear Music got me to buy a lot of music I never grew to like.

In the past decade, the ability to hear 30 seconds of a tune on iTunes or Amazon or wherever has been a boon, opening my ears to much more music than Hear Music ever could. But those 30 seconds snippets are still misleading. Just about any music can sound good for 30 seconds. But 3-5 minutes is the true test of a song - does it have structure, melody - does it have Legs? Even when iTunes recently upped the snippets to 60 seconds, it's still not enough. I've downloaded a lot of albums that worked great as excerpts, but turn out to have very little substance when played in their entirety.

And there are the services (Flyfi, etc.) that allow you to download individual songs for free, so you can spend time with them. The great songs reveal themselves over repeated listenings, and that's truly fine. But I'm an album guy. And purchasing an entire album based on one good song just doesn't fly. It turns out there are an awful lot of albums that have only 1 or 2 good songs on them.

Which brings me to Spotify. It's fantastic. You can grab whole albums and listen to them. For free. There are commercials every few songs (just like in the golden days of FM radio). So what? Like in the days of great radio, I'm finally getting to spend time with an artists' work and see if it's something I want to spend money on. I hear the songs over and over, and either gain an appreciation for what's there, or move on.

I don't know how the revenue stream will work, but ASCAP, the society I belong to that collects airplay royalties, signed an agreement with Spotify, and they are the ones that sent me the invitation. I'll soon see what the royalties from Spotify are like. Who knows, maybe it'll be better than radio ever was (for me, at least). And meanwhile, I've finally got a way to explore new music that suits me. I'm loving it.

Can't quit Shaggin' 'round...

All Shaggs, all the time...



Here's a great little video for those of you who can't make it to NY for the show. Enjoy!

In case you missed it, the NYTimes wrote an article about what we're up to. Read it HERE.

Tickets? The show's at Playwrights Horizons on 42nd st. It's up and running, technically still in previews til June 7, but the show is locked and loaded. (Use this top secret code SHAGFLY when ordering tix for a special discount!)


love and blessings,
Gunnar

NYTimes profiles The Shaggs: Philosophy of the World Musical

Dear Friends,

We're now in our 2nd week of previews, and the show is coming together nicely. Spectacularly. We spend time every day writing new material to make it better, and the actors rehearse 4 hours every day to incorporate the changes, making a fresh, new experience every night. Last night the show was on fire - and we still have 2 more weeks of previews to make it yet better!

Also, a wonderful writer for the NYTimes wrote an article about what we're up to. Read it HERE.

Tickets? The show's at Playwrights Horizons on 42nd st. Come see the fresh previews now, or see the fully-flowered show during its run from June 7 to July 3. (Use this top secret code SHAGFLY when ordering tix for a special discount!)

I hope I see you at one of the shows!

love and blessings,
Gunnar

Dave Werry, Shaggs and Electric Guitars

(The Shaggs open May 12! Click for tix)

The first time I ever touched an electric guitar, I was awestruck. I tried plucking a note, tried to make it sing like the Beatles could, but it did not respond. I was at the house of my friend, Dave Werry. The electric guitar belonged to his mom. It was red, with a sunburst finish, and some kind of a hollow body. I had a slight tinge of disappointment, in that I somehow had the idea that a solid body electric was more modern and cool than a hollow body. But still. I had never been close to any electric guitar before. And even with the minor failing of it being hollowbody, and the fact that I couldn't make it sound like anything, I was totally stoked.

We had gotten his mom's permission to use it in a skit we were preparing for the school talent show. We were in 4th grade. I had memorized every word of the Beatle's 'Help", and had recruited 3 other guys to join me in doing a live version of the song for the talent show. I had a set of sparkly paper drums I'd gotten for Xmas when I was 4, and two black Beatle wigs. Dave had his mom's electric, and we borrowed a couple acoustic guitars. We practiced. We banged and strummed. We knew no notes, we knew no key, we were just singing the words at the top of our lungs and pretending to be the Beatles. On the stage of the cafeteria the day of the show, the only other "band" acts were lip-syncing. We were the real thing, making our own noise, and we were a big hit. 6th graders came up to us afterwards, telling us how cool we were. It was my first taste of the limelight. But it was my last moment with an electric guitar for a long time.

The memory of Dave Werry and his mom's guitar surfaced when I was asked what kind of guitars the girls in the Shaggs would be playing onstage in the upcoming production of "The Shaggs: Philosophy of the World". I'd grown up in a college town, in the suburbs of San Francisco, a fairly cosmopolitan place. Still, I'd never seen an electric guitar except on TV. While I knew there was a music store in town that carried electric guitars, I'd never been inside the store. I didn't think I had the right to open the door and approach an actual guitar. That'd be akin to riding my bike to the Pontiac dealership and asking to test-drive a GTO. If the reality of playing an electric guitar were so distant for a suburban-street-wise kid, how much more exotic might it have been for The Shaggs, who lived in a small town in New Hampshire? Where did their father, who knew nothing about music, find electric guitars? How far did he drive, what kind of store did he find, what was it like for him to talk to a long-haired guitar salesman? And when he brought them home as a surprise gift for his girls (along with a drum set), what was their reaction? Unlike me, they did not have an intense passion about music. They had never expressed any interest in music whatsoever. And if playing en electric guitar eluded a music aficionado like me, how much more hard and mysterious and frustrating would it have been for them?

Years later, when I was 16 and had been playing acoustic guitar for a year (self-taught) I bought a used Fender Mustang and rented a Sears Silvertone amp for 6 months. I still couldn't make it sound like I wanted it to. After 6 months I returned the amp and sold the Mustang. The magic of electric guitars would continue to elude me way into adulthood.

Shaggs Tix on sale Now!

Greetings from NYC,

Tickets are on sale for the upcoming production of The Shaggs: Philosophy of the World at Playwrights Horizons on 42nd st. Come see the smiling infant of a show during previews starting May 12, or see the fully-flowered gawky young adolescent of a show during its run from June 7 to July 3. (Use this top secret code SHAGFLY when ordering tix for a special discount!)

Do you like the graphic they made for us? I dig it deeply. The young hands pulling at the guitar strings, trying to break the guitar or escape or make some kind of sound (or all of the above).

The rehearsals are vibrating with an intensity that makes your head and heart buzz. The cast is thrilling - excellent actors and singers all. I've been spending long long days tightening up the story, the lyrics, the music, the orchestrations, the page turns for the band. I've never worked so long, with such intensity, on any other project in my life. Yeah, I know, that's no guarantee of a great outcome, but I'm telling you - I'm as excited about this project about any other endeavor I've done. It's on a par with The Bobs, or IsoBobs, or Svetlana Village, or...

Well, you get my drift. I hope I see you at one of the previews!

love and blessings,
Gunnar

Shaggs Time in NYC

Dear friends,

I've been meaning to write for the longest time, but I've been consumed with preparations for the Off-Broadway production of “The Shaggs: Philosophy of the World”. There's not only a ton of work to finish writing the play and the orchestrations, but being away from home so much means making sure there are people to fill in my job of stay-at-home-after-school dad. We've got a wonderful cadre of expert caregivers lined up, and my lovely and energetic wife will be doling out extra hugs and love, while I visit my family every evening via Skype. I'm going to miss them something horrible. But I have a feeling I'll be so deeply engrossed in my work in NY that the heartache and homesickness will only creep in at night.

So, have you bought your tickets yet? Previews start May 11 and run to June 6, opening night is June 7 and then it runs to July 3. This is a historic, first-ever co-production of Playwrights Horizons (Sunday in the Park With George, Assassins, Grey Gardens) and The New York Theatre Workshop (ever hear of “Rent”?). The cast is, whoa, so totally loaded with amazing talent. Tony Award nominee and Obie Award winner Peter Friedman (Ragtime and PH's Circle Mirror Transformation, After the Revolution and The Heidi Chronicles). Kevin Cahoon's credits include Hedwig and the Angry Inch, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, and Roundabout's The Foreigner (for which he was Lortel Award-nominated). Annie Golden was featured in PH's Assassins and People Be Heard, and in Broadway's Xanadu and The Full Monty; she was Jeannie in the film "Hair." Steve Routman's resume includes Broadway's Broadway and Off-Broadway's The Fantasticks and Shmulnik's Waltz. The three Wiggin sisters are played by amazing young actresses - Jamey Hood, Sarah Sokolovic, and Emily Walton. And as Kyle, young up-and-comer Cory Michael Smith makes his PH debut.

And the band? Whoa, again - Aaron Gandy is playing piano, organ and Music Directing, Leroy Bach (Wilco, Beth Orton) will play guitars and small keyboards, Dave Hilliard (David Byrne, Dan Zanes) bangs drums, and, on bass, the fabulous Toobee Determined.

Hey, I don't blow smoke about the things I do. I mean, yeah, I talk things up and try to keep you all interested, but when I tell you I'm proud of something I'm doing, it's because I really think it's good. Of all the things I do and have done, this play is very close to my heart. It's powerful, it's deep, it's funny, it's sad. It rings bells that I didn't know could be rung. I am awestruck at how moving this has turned out to be. I was/am lifted by it all.

If you're near NY, you owe it to yourself to come see it. If you're thinking about coming from out of town, now's the time to buy a train or plane ticket and dig around for digs. And, while I may be insanely busy re-writing the overture or changing the keys of all the songs, chances are I'll be around, so don't fail to try and get in touch while you're in town.

Oh, and if you're around NY on April 17 and 18, come to the Guggenheim Museum, where I'll be on display along with my co-creators, being interviewed and offering bits and pieces of the musical performed by our cast. 7:30 pm.

Love and blessings to you all,

Gunnar