The Truck Docs

IMPORTANT!!!

Fri, 08 May 2009 23:57:09 GMT

Old Blighty/Getting Old

Tue, 28 Apr 2009 02:02:54 GMT

I'm going to London in two weeks to hang out with some dear, old friends who live there because they're English. This is the first time I've traveled fucking anywhere, let alone by myself. If anyone's been there and knows some cool shit I should not miss out on, do lay it on me. Same goes for any lame shit I should avoid at all costs.

Also, I think I've had it and I'm ready to crawl back to SoCal with my tail between my legs. San Francisco sucks ass and until the earthquake happens, it's just gonna get worse. If you are thinking about moving there, let me tell you, DON'T. Bikes are stupid and driving is cool. I'm tired of seeing bands I don't care about that the only reason I go is friends/people I know are in them. LA music is tight. I'm sick of my choices being counterrvolutionary synthy bullshit in San Francisco or equally irritating twee for babies and insular, hierarchical, 40-swilling, lazy, monotonous crust punk in Oakland and derivative dudely bro-psych everywhere. Berkeley is a fascist concentration camp posing in a pink tutu that is actually a citywide Westfield Shopping Center surrounding an empirical tentacle of a university where fiscally conservative douchebags who sniff their own farts squeal around in Priuses that don't yield to bikers or pedestrians and dog you at Andronico's while buying a $15 sushi tray and wearing an Obama t-shirt - no! Actually a Sarah Palin t-shirt that says "NOPE" in microscopic font. I'm tired of freezing wind and getting made fun of constantly by black people. Who can blame them? What the fuck am I doing living in their neighborhood? I'm sick of my crappy job and I'll probably have an equally crappy one down south but hey, I can drive to the beach and eat a delicious $3 burrito instead of a festering $6.50 urban food log with soapy cilantro, disgusting salsa, whole pinto beans with no refried option (WTF?!?!) and tough chicken where I get made fun of constantly by the staff who will inevitably fuck it up unless I go to that taqueria (a stupid word) 30 times a week and probably will anyways because there was some sloppy drunk whiny vegan in front of me with a retardedly complicated order who mispronounced EVERYTHING, texted the entire time and didn't tip and they think I'm one too because we both have the same American Apparel hoodie (IT WAS A GIFT AND I DON'T LIKE IT!).

pant pant pant pant

Or maybe it's just been really, really windy for like two weeks and this happens everywhere. At least Santa Anas are warm.

Thu, 09 Apr 2009 02:52:01 GMT

Best birthday ever.

Retiring

Wed, 18 Mar 2009 21:26:24 GMT

So after five solid years in the ridiculous game, I've decided to retire from music. March 28th I'm playing with my one-off pop group (pun intended) World's Best Dad and this will be the last time I perform original songs for a proper audience in proper show format. Then I'm riding out the summer in Glitter Wizard and Steve McQueen for a Day and hanging it up at the end of August. It's just time, I guess. If a song I like hits me, I'll probably record it, and I'm not opposed to sitting in with a buddy from time to time, but for all intents and purposes, I think I'm done and have made my point. I don't plan to make this public amongst my friends/bandmates just yet, but I think the only person who reads this that has any bearing on my current social life is Cody, who might be the only non-gossip I know around these parts anyways.

Good

Sat, 06 Dec 2008 21:52:26 GMT

I am good. And well. For the latter, Nov. 4 until about Wednesday I was in a deep, dark shithole funk, but now I'm riding high in the saddle again.

In regards to the former, a couple weeks ago, I was at practice w/ my grungesurf band Steve McQueen For A Day and I noticed what I was playing and I went "hey, I think I might actually be getting good." Then earlier this week I was playing some songs I'd written and playing some of my friend Bevan's songs that I'm learning and some songs from my poppunk band ESP and I went "wait a minute, I think I am getting good." Then later that night I was at practice with my Pop group (no pun intended) World's Best Dad and I was playing a buncha shit and I realized that I'M TOTALLY GOOD!

When the Most first started over four years ago (!) I began getting good and then quickly entered a long, long plateau pretty shortly thereafter. In the last year I've acquired three bands in addition to the already existing ESP and have been playing a lot of music that is not my own and now I'm seeing a qualitative change in my playing and it's awesome. It's rare for me that I work at something for a long time and see concrete results. It fucking rules. If only my solo album was recorded anywhere besides in my brain. Then I'd really be stoked.

Man it's nice out. I wish I could get stoned.

Fri, 17 Oct 2008 19:28:52 GMT

Zeitgeist.

Do it.

Thu, 09 Oct 2008 07:30:49 GMT

"Take a picture of yourself right now. Don't change your clothes, don't fix your hair... just take a picture. Post that picture with NO editing. Post these instructions with your picture."

My phone started ringing. Swear to god.

Mon, 22 Sep 2008 19:13:58 GMT

What am I gonna do?
What am I gonna do?
What am I gonna do?
What am I gonna do?

Never mind

Fri, 04 Apr 2008 00:13:42 GMT

This shit's better than all those other ones I posted before combined.

My birthday's in ten days.

Fri, 28 Mar 2008 00:09:59 GMT

Lately:

Amon Duul II: Made in Germany
Kevin Ayers: Rainbow Takeaway, Yes We Have No Mananas
Blake Babies: Nicely, Nicely
Alex Chilton: Like Flies on Sherbert (excerpts)
Chumbawamba: Shhh!
The Clean: Anthology
Ornette Coleman: The Art of the Improvisation
Sam Cooke: Ain't That Good News?
Dream Syndicate: The Days of Wine and Roses
Eleventh Dream Day: Beet
Gil Evans: Blues in Orbit
Dexter Gordon: Tangerine
Grateful Dead: Anthem of the Sun
George Harrison: Wonderwall Music, All Things Must Pass
Jesus Christ Superstar: Original Broadway Recording
The Leaving Trains: Kill Tunes
Liquorball: Fucks the Sky, Live in Hitler's Bunker
Mammatus: The Coast Explodes
Steve Miller Band - Fly Like an Eagle
Monoshock: Running Ape-Like From the Backwards Superman, Walk to the Fire
Mothers: Just Another Band From LA
New Thrill Parade - Slumber in Colorland
NRBQ: S/T, Workshop, Scraps
Ariel Pink: Haunted Graffiti
Pink Floyd: A Saucerful of Secrets
Procol Harum - A Whiter Shade of Pale
Songs for Moms: the Worse it Gets the Better
Velvet Underground - Gymnasium
The Wedding Present: Seamonsters, Watusi
Ween: Quebec (second half)
ZNR: Barricade 3

SDCA07

Wed, 19 Dec 2007 00:56:03 GMT

I'll be in San Diego, California, December 21st until the 26th. You know how to reach me. See you at Record City. Fuck the pigz.

Thu, 11 Oct 2007 22:40:46 GMT

I didn't know of of the five jobbies of Kubler Ross was drama. Drama drama drama. It's seeking me the fuck out these days.

New

Mon, 01 Oct 2007 06:35:49 GMT

Haven't posted nothing on this in a while. Reckon any form of documentation is probably okay ultimately, even if it feels a bit wanky sometimes.

Let's see. Things are pretty much in full upheaval. Me and Jennie broke up about two weeks ago, ending a three year-plus relationship. It's all very civilized as my three year-plus breakups seem to be. No plates flying at the walls or record collections getting thrown out the window. We both kind of reached a point where we got tired of the whole codependency thing and were feeling a huge loss of a sense of what it was to be ourselves and our individuality and stuff that living in different rooms or different parts of Oakland wasn't going to solve.

Which is sorta what's making this process so difficult at the same time. It would have been much easier if one of us had fucked the other one over somehow, or if we had some terrible fight and never wanted to see each other again. It's just not the case. So it's less of an emotional loss and (for me anyways) more of not knowing what to do now. She was never just my girlfriend or some girl I was seeing or someone I was sleeping with. We started the Most while living at the same coop together, and then she lived two doors down. Ever since then, every decision-- emotional, creative, geographic, social, financial decision-- we've made has been completely dependent on the other person. Everything that was true about my life for the last three years is now not true. I came out of a three year relationship, was single for less than a year, and was in another three year relationship. Last time I was really my own person, I was 20 and living in Santa Cruz. Now I am 24 and living in Oakland. What does this mean?

A few days after our breakup, the Most played its final show ever at Apgar house in Oakland to a large audience of a lot of old friends, new friends, well-wishers, party-goers and people who had never seen us before. It was Songs For Moms tour kickoff, so there was a shitton of people there anyways, and a lot of folks came up from Santa Cruz for us. We played a very long set and recorded it. There was a lot of love in the room for what we had created over the last three years.

As of now, I'm living in the same house, but moving soon. Initially, Dusty, Caroline and I were going to live together, but Caroline couldn't commit to giving 30 days notice and house hunting, so it's just me and Dusty. We looked at an awesome two bedroom that's huge and cheap and in the same neighborhood in Oakland. I really hope we get it. I think we find out tomorrow. Continuing to live in the same house is the worst thing about my life right now. We've been sleeping in different rooms and each doing a bit of couch surfing, but the whole reason we broke up was codependency, so seeing each other all the time and still being able to talk out our shit with each other is just kind of creating a new codependency. We both have lives we're ready to start and things we want to do with ourselves and getting over shit to do, so living in limbo hasn't been particularly easy or healthy. It's made Jennie mopey and me aggro. I totally suck when I'm home. I'm completely fed up with living with six people in a three bedroom house. There used to be a time when I thrived on having a bunch of people around and disorganization and random shit piling up and not knowing who would be around when I got home from wherever or when there was going to be a spontaneous party, but it's just not my jam these days. I'm ready for a quiet, stable home life which will hopefully encourage a crazy, random social life for me.

I'm trying to learn to be more socially aggressive. I'm not naturally very predisposed to it, and being with Jennie, whose whole thing it is, made me even lazier and more useless when it came to meeting people, talking to people, making plans, etc. That said, my friends have really been there for me lately. They're all really reaching out to me and making me feel really good. I went down to Santa Cruz last weekend, and had a proper couple of days bumming around the city this weekend. Riding the cosmic tide's been working out. I like going were the night takes me it turns out.

Also, adhering to my own set of rules and schedules has been treating me well. I haven't been drinking at all during the week since I started my new job (which is totally rad and the best job I've ever had [working in the warehouse of a wine importer in Berkeley]) and have had myself on a strict sleeping schedule. I shower at 11:30, at midnight I have "J & J," or Jazz and Journal until 12:30, when I promptly turn out the lights. Usually, it takes me about two hours of tossing to fall asleep, but these days I'm asleep within the half hour and having full nights of sleep with lots of dreams.

I wanna start writing more songs and playing music with folks. I finished recording a song I've been working on for a while today for my country music solo project, the Fucking Burrito Brothers. I'm doing a solo split with my friend's solo project, the Jen Weisberg Experience. I want the FBB side to be titled "Sweetheart of the Brodeo." Steely Dan's been there for me in a big way too. It gives me confidence and makes me not give a fuck. Which is tacky, but I'll take what I can get. Also digging on Genuine Basement Tapes 2 and 3, Screaming Trees, Gong, the new Residual Echoes EP, Dinosaur, NRBQ, Popol Vuh, Sun Ra, Beatles, the Clean, Husker Du, Red Krayola, Sun City Girls, "Then Play On" by pre-Stevie Nicks/Lindsey Buckingham Fleetwood Mac, Amon Duul, Happy Flowers and the Blake Babies.

Anyways, shower time is two minutes away, and riding that cosmic tide for the last few days has gotten me pretty drunk for free and not a whole lot of sleep, so I reckon I'll be tucking into the regime.

See you in the future.

SAN DIEGO

Tue, 28 Aug 2007 07:09:11 GMT

The Most is playing San Diego on Saturday, September 1st at The Golden Hill Pop Luck</b> (21st and Broadway in Golden Hill). Thirteen other bands, starts at noon, we're on at 5. Tour's off the hook; this country's full of really wonderful, hospitable people. I'm in Houston, Texas right now at a venue called Super Happy Fun Land. Holler.

PDX

Wed, 25 Jul 2007 20:32:38 GMT

Also we'll be at a house in Portland, Oregano on August 2nd the Red and Black on August 3rd.

Toor

Tue, 24 Jul 2007 20:08:21 GMT

If you or someone you know will be in any of the following cities on any of the following dates, you should come see us! Also we're going to the northwest now, so I'll have those dates soon.

26 Jul 2007 9pm
STUD San Francisco, California

28 Jul 2007 8pm
66th and Telegraph Art Show Berkeley, California

31 Jul 2007 8pm
Apgar House Oakland, California

3 Aug 2007 8pm
Urban Lounge Salt Lake City, Utah

6 Aug 2007 8pm
The Lab - All Ages House Show! Missoula, Montana

7 Aug 2007 8pm
Red Carpet - All Ages! Minot, North Dakota

8 Aug 2007 8pm
Toybox Minneapolis, Minnesota

9 Aug 2007 8pm
Hexagon Bar Minneapolis, Minnesota

10 Aug 2007 8pm
Yacht Club Iowa City, Iowa

11 Aug 2007 8pm
House show Ann Arbor, Michigan

12 Aug 2007 8pm
Chicago with jen urban and mahogany(NYC) Chicago, Illinois

14 Aug 2007 8pm
Cafe Bourbon St Columbus, Ohio

16 Aug 2007 8pm
Goodbye Blue Monday Brooklyn, New York

20 Aug 2007 8pm
Desoto Row - All Ages! Savannah, Georgia

21 Aug 2007 8m
1982 Bar Gainesville, Florida

23 Aug 2007 8pm
Cell Block Mobile, Alabama

25 Aug 2007 8pm
Soundpony Tulsa, Oklahoma

26 Aug 2007 8pm
1919 Hemphill - All Ages Ft Worth, Texas

27 Aug 2007 8pm
Super Happy Fun Land! - All Ages Houston, Texas

28 Aug 2007 8pm
Headhunters Austin, Texas

30 Aug 2007 8pm
Line Bar Juarez

31 Aug 2007 8pm
Dry River - All Ages! Tuscon, Arizona

1 Sep 2007 8pm
The Habitat - All Ages House Show San Diego, California

2 Sep 2007 8pm The Smell LA, California

Where's your broad? Is she on her way?

Mon, 18 Jun 2007 23:02:04 GMT

Sun, 03 Jun 2007 03:21:58 GMT

Sane Dingo.

Where am I?

Fri, 25 May 2007 05:18:36 GMT

The Most is playing at our house again Saturday at 10pm w/ Loyal Sons and Daughters, Sweet Nothings and Connie Fucking Francis. Different lineup.

Also, I will be in San Diego from May 31 until ?. Probably in the two week range. Maybe more depending on drama. Buy me a drink and I will buy you one.

Fone iz deeeed

Tue, 22 May 2007 20:24:35 GMT

Not that this probably pertains to any of youse, but my phone's been in one of its moods for a few days now and generally not happening. Today it is not speaking to me at all. If anybody's been trying to call me, mea maxima culpa. Or maybe not. I'm not apologizing on behalf of my spacephone. My deepest condolences anyways or something.

Also, I thought of a cool rant this morning I'll probably post here in the future.

PEACE IN THE MIDDLE EAST EVERYBODY. FUCK THE PIGS.

Little furry things

Wed, 16 May 2007 18:18:59 GMT

Last night I saw Dinosaur for free at Amoeba records in SF. All said, it's pretty cool to have been able to see such rad free shows within the same fortnight that aren't bands I know but artists and bands that are historically significant or blahdy blahdy blah.

I missed out on the whole alternative rock thing when I was growing up. As a kid, I listened to country music until I discovered the Beatles (note: my parents did not listen to the Beatles) and then did the punk thing or something, but the Green Day/Blue Weezer album/Nirvana deal was something I had to figure out from afar when I was older (older than my friends in 5-7th grade who actually listened to it then).

Anyways, point is, when I discovered Dinosaur Jr. through Alex Wing in the Great Post-Punk Awakening of 2002, I fucking hated them and thought it was whiny emo shit and they never darkened my earhole again. Then of late, I've been on this kick that's flirting w/ grunge in a big way and was suddenly able to see past J. Mascis' abysmal lyrics to the fact that they're loud as the bejeezus and have crazy wah'd-out solos, which I, of course, am all about. So I felt really lucky to be able to go see their original lineup for free (I heard from a friend of a friend that it was the loudest thing he'd ever experienced...holler!). Still don't like Sebadoh, but you can't win' em all.

Well, I learned a couple of things after seeing an age-ed Dinosaur at an age-ed and wizened point in my music gobbelage. Main thing is that I got an appreciation for the kind of band they are/were as opposed to just kind of trying to come to terms with their music in a vacuum. That is to say, I listen and hear melodramatic emo whining and a million generic, untalented, unimportnant grunge and alternative bands that happened in the '90s and for some reason corporate money is still behind because the radio still sounds like it and Pearl Jam is still headlining Lollapalooza or whatever. BUT nobody was doing that in such a distinctly "rock" way or with such authenticity or sonic genuineness in the mid 80's. Not in your living room, in any event. You had punk and hardcore and crazy experimental shit, but it took bands like Dinosaur and the Huskers to really create a dialogue for music people in my age group took for granted. They're just the best of all the bands people in the dorms could hope to start.

Also, the Most is totally louder. That said, in their day, Dinosaur was probably the loudest thing that had ever happened in someone's living room while their parents were gone and now they have proper rigs and play proper venues and can be louder than most in relatively small spaces (albeit not living rooms and basements) and still have control. Plus their drummer totally sucks, and I can't imagine that he was any better back in the day. Again, I think this gives a sense of their background: it wasn't about impressive musicianship still because of the punk aesthetic, so you could be a cool guy who played the drums and people were stoked about you and your energy rather than your playing, but the climate was still conducive and responsive to virtuoso playing like J. Mascis's. What was cool to realize was well was they're total dorks. Especially Lou Barlow. They looked stupid, wore ill-fitting clothes, broke strings, played awkwardly, and mumbled into the mic when they did talk. They are the whole reason geek rock, emo, whatever it is you wanna call it because marketable at all.

So yeah. One or two cool jams, some shitty new songs, but I'm happy they helped me in my struggle to get a sense of things.

Thu, 10 May 2007 23:59:40 GMT

After ten months at a job I never liked but tried really hard to get used to, I'm finally free of that shit and hellofunemployed. The stars just kind of aligned, and with the combination of moving to Oakland, the 580 melting, my former employer hiring new salespeople (i.e. more work for one person i.e. me to do), and the government giving me a $650 TAX RETURN, it looked like the perfect time, and I've never felt better. I've gotten so much shit done in the last two days. It's so much easier to relax and take care of business when you don't have to go to a stupid job all the time. Plus I found out about a temp agency for warehouse workers, so I'm totally f-in fuckin stoked. I'm gonna figure out what living is all about.

Also, last week me and a bunch of folks drove up to Mill Valley to this rad independent record store that's going out of business after like 40 years because Elvis Costello was making a free instore appearance that afternoon. It fucking ruled. There were so few people there compared to the fucking area shows that dude plays. He played a few acoustic songs and signed some autographs and stuff. It's crazy that this guy who appeals to so many different types of people and is like legendary and shit can still make completely under the radar appearances like this with little to no coverage and then get massive coverage when he played in SF the next night. It's also cool because record shops like that won't exist in five years, so it's a pretty tight thing to have gotten to see. I bought the first Creedence album, a Bo Diddley album with a 17 minute jam featuring Keith Moon on drums and "Good Old Boys" by Randy Newman.

Here's a shot of the crowd from the Marin Independent Journal. Note a very, very tired me toward the bottom right.

The man himself.

With Li'l Jackie Broadway

Then the Most recorded all weekend:

Raging

It was Cinco de Mayo, after all

Ms. Lisa

Hawtt

Moot

Pip

Truck

Jennie and Cody playing back a take

Dissolving into light

And of course, breakfast

Two weeks notice

Fri, 27 Apr 2007 21:35:43 GMT

Seeing as a few folks have posted lyrics and poems and shit today, I figured I'd hop on the bandwagon and post this little ditty I made up in my head while biking to work today:

Wakin' up early in the morning
Feel like all is lost
50 million people on the shuttle
And I was the one that got caught
Fight my way through the rush hour traffic
Cars kookin' on me every which way
Hey Mr. bus driver, don't fuck with me
I ain't had my coffee today
Workin' all day for the dollar
Pinchin' every nickel and dime
Think I'll put my two weeks notice in
On Friday at quittin' time.

Actually, that whole song's a lie. I put my two weeks in on Monday.

Waitwaitwaitwait....

Tue, 17 Apr 2007 18:44:13 GMT

So if you leave your body AND soul at the door, what goes in?

Loud

Mon, 16 Apr 2007 17:07:41 GMT

We played a show at this punk house in West Oakland on Friday the 13th, and shows there are always completely crazy and out of control, but with the number of people in our band, the volume we play at, and the size of the teeny tiny room, all you could hear was rock. And not much else. You couldn't really differentiate the sound of one guitar from another, the drums were just a sheet of white noise, vocals were out from the getgo, and the bass was just an invisible thumping in the air. Your earhole just couldn't filter it all; it was so loud it was quiet. We were supposed to wear costumes but had to go on in a hurry and didn't get time to change. Instead, our set just devolved song by song until by the end of the show, Cody and Mark and I were completely tangled on the ground with our amps up all the way feeding back and Jennie knocking over drums and we were all bloody and I ripped out all my strings and threw my guitar around by them.

Of course I wasn't wearing earplugs, so if our sets continue going like this, I'm going to have to start. I already wear them whenever I watch any band anywhere, I wear them at every practice, and am totally diligent about it, but I never wear them when we play a show because it throws me off and I can't hear nuances. But I ask people to repeat themselves all the time, and if I'm at a bar or somewhere loud, I can't hear the person sitting across from me.

When I was younger and played music w/ my high school bands, it was mostly just little Crate practice amps feeding back at really high frequencies, and people would always warn me to wear earplugs and I'd be like "fuck you, man, one day I'll go completely deaf and I won't have to listen to anybody." And now I can't hear shit. I just don't wanna end up like that dude from Mission of Burma.