Thursday, January 19, 2006
CLINT’S UNITE
There is a group on Myspace I stumbled upon called “Clint’s Unite.” It is a group composed of 253 men named Clint. I asked to join the group, but your name has be Clint in order to join. So, I explained my situation to the moderator of the group. His name is…you guessed it…Clint. And he posted a bulletin to the entire group about me and told them to help me. Some have sent me messages. But clearly, so far, they are all the wrong Clint’s. But they are fascinated by our story and many have told me this is just simply the power that Clint’s have over women. I don’t think our Clint is in this group. I don’t think that he is the kind of guy who uses computers and email very often. But this is an interesting sidebar to the story. Never in a million years would I have guessed that there was an entire group on Myspace dedicated only to people named Clint…
Find Clint. Find Peace.
There is a group on Myspace I stumbled upon called “Clint’s Unite.” It is a group composed of 253 men named Clint. I asked to join the group, but your name has be Clint in order to join. So, I explained my situation to the moderator of the group. His name is…you guessed it…Clint. And he posted a bulletin to the entire group about me and told them to help me. Some have sent me messages. But clearly, so far, they are all the wrong Clint’s. But they are fascinated by our story and many have told me this is just simply the power that Clint’s have over women. I don’t think our Clint is in this group. I don’t think that he is the kind of guy who uses computers and email very often. But this is an interesting sidebar to the story. Never in a million years would I have guessed that there was an entire group on Myspace dedicated only to people named Clint…
Find Clint. Find Peace.
OUR ONE YEAR ANNIVERSARY AT CARTER'S AUTO
365 days ago, after making nearly 300 phone calls to local garages, Beth called a small shop in Van Nuys called Carter’s Auto. We know now that it was Willie who answered the phone that day.
“Is Clint there?” she asked, like she had fruitlessly asked 300 times before.
“What would you want to talk to him for?” the voice on the other end asked.
“Is there a Clint who works there?” she asked in disbelief.
“Yeah. But what would you want to talk to him for?”
It turned out this Clint wasn’t there that day. But they did claim to know someone named Clint. When I came home that night, Beth was excited.
“You have to call this shop back tomorrow morning when you get up,” she told me.
I didn’t want to get my hopes up too high because this had happened before. Because the person on the other end didn’t understand what we were asking. Other garages had told us to call back the following day and in the end, there was no one named Clint there and they had never heard of anyone by that name. But Beth was convinced this one was different. This guy spoke perfect English.
And so I called the following morning on the 20th. It was a Thursday. It was a cool sunny day very similar to today. And I actually spoke to Mr. Carter for the first time. And the Clint he knew sounded exactly like the one I met. And the story has gone on from there.
So, here’s to our one year anniversary with Carter’s Auto.
May we have good news soon…
Updates will follow…
365 days ago, after making nearly 300 phone calls to local garages, Beth called a small shop in Van Nuys called Carter’s Auto. We know now that it was Willie who answered the phone that day.
“Is Clint there?” she asked, like she had fruitlessly asked 300 times before.
“What would you want to talk to him for?” the voice on the other end asked.
“Is there a Clint who works there?” she asked in disbelief.
“Yeah. But what would you want to talk to him for?”
It turned out this Clint wasn’t there that day. But they did claim to know someone named Clint. When I came home that night, Beth was excited.
“You have to call this shop back tomorrow morning when you get up,” she told me.
I didn’t want to get my hopes up too high because this had happened before. Because the person on the other end didn’t understand what we were asking. Other garages had told us to call back the following day and in the end, there was no one named Clint there and they had never heard of anyone by that name. But Beth was convinced this one was different. This guy spoke perfect English.
And so I called the following morning on the 20th. It was a Thursday. It was a cool sunny day very similar to today. And I actually spoke to Mr. Carter for the first time. And the Clint he knew sounded exactly like the one I met. And the story has gone on from there.
So, here’s to our one year anniversary with Carter’s Auto.
May we have good news soon…
Updates will follow…
not about Clint...
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
LOVE YOU FROM AFAR
I…have power you don’t understand
To create…but I could crush this with my hands
All it takes is one mistake
One kiss to tempt both you and fate
A place we cannot come back from
Once it has begun
I could break apart most things I’ve got
Intentional or not…
The poison seeps under our skin
Dissolves this from within…
**CHORUS**
But I…I will not destroy this life
No I…I will not destroy us this time
I will fight this
I’ll deny this
If it tears me apart
And I will always love you
But secretly…
And from afar…
It’s true…sometimes strange thoughts cross my mind
Of you…and I…uninhibited and blind
All it takes is one false move
Lock ourselves in this room
Set fire to our bodies
And the possibilities
All we have are open doors
But one stays shut we can’t explore…
Whatever you do…don’t turn the handle
Don't turn the handle...
**Chorus**
Cause I…I will not destroy this life
No I…I will not destroy us this time
I will fight this
I’ll deny this
If it tears me apart
And I will always love you
But secretly…
And from afar…
Lock down your heart
Get your hammer out
And nail down that tarp
Get it covered up
I’m not going to tell you twice
We don’t want this…
We don’t want to have to decide
We don’t want this…
All it takes…a second look
And then we’re baited on that hook
Whatever I do…whatever I say
Don’t look at me that fatal way…
**Chorus**
Cause I…I will not destroy this life
No I…I will not destroy us this time
I will fight this
I’ll deny this
If it tears me apart
And I will always love you
But secretly…
And from afar…
Love you from afar…
Love you from afar…
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
LOVE YOU FROM AFAR
I…have power you don’t understand
To create…but I could crush this with my hands
All it takes is one mistake
One kiss to tempt both you and fate
A place we cannot come back from
Once it has begun
I could break apart most things I’ve got
Intentional or not…
The poison seeps under our skin
Dissolves this from within…
**CHORUS**
But I…I will not destroy this life
No I…I will not destroy us this time
I will fight this
I’ll deny this
If it tears me apart
And I will always love you
But secretly…
And from afar…
It’s true…sometimes strange thoughts cross my mind
Of you…and I…uninhibited and blind
All it takes is one false move
Lock ourselves in this room
Set fire to our bodies
And the possibilities
All we have are open doors
But one stays shut we can’t explore…
Whatever you do…don’t turn the handle
Don't turn the handle...
**Chorus**
Cause I…I will not destroy this life
No I…I will not destroy us this time
I will fight this
I’ll deny this
If it tears me apart
And I will always love you
But secretly…
And from afar…
Lock down your heart
Get your hammer out
And nail down that tarp
Get it covered up
I’m not going to tell you twice
We don’t want this…
We don’t want to have to decide
We don’t want this…
All it takes…a second look
And then we’re baited on that hook
Whatever I do…whatever I say
Don’t look at me that fatal way…
**Chorus**
Cause I…I will not destroy this life
No I…I will not destroy us this time
I will fight this
I’ll deny this
If it tears me apart
And I will always love you
But secretly…
And from afar…
Love you from afar…
Love you from afar…
Monday, January 16, 2006
CLINT UPDATE: TIMING
Timing has something to do with all of this. If I’ve ever doubted that, I’m convinced of it now. If all of this were meant to dissipate and fade away into nothing, it would have done so a long time ago. We wouldn’t have Clint’s friends dangling in front of us (who we know have information about his whereabouts) and be very close to some crucial news if something weren’t eventually going to happen. It is all of these little twists and turns, in and of themselves, that make me fully believe this is something substantial.
I was at the shop all day Friday and nothing related to the Clint search happened there all morning long, until the 20 minutes when I left to get Carter lunch. And that is when George showed up selling i-pods. Carter told him to come back in an hour because he believed that his daughter might buy one. However, we sat there the rest of the day and he did not come back. I was there 8 hours that day…and I missed him during that small window of time that I left to run errands. Had I been there, I would have flirted with George…gotten in his favor. Asked him if he had any cute friends…I love southern boys…I’ve spent time in Tennessee…something along those lines…something that might get carried back home to Clint…that he should go down to the shop and check out Carter’s daughter…
But no…I was gone those 20 minutes George was there…
Mike called later in the afternoon and I answered the phone….he wanted to talk to Carter…
There is something else that Carter has that Mike wants….George took a sample of it back to Mike when he was at the shop, and Mike immediately called for the rest of it…he told Carter he would be down to the shop shortly…he had laptops for sale…but we told him we didn’t need laptops…Carter wants gardening tools and he also told Mike that his daughter wanted a dolly so her band could move their gear back and forth between the practice space…
In hindsight, I guess we should have told him that we were interested in seeing the computers…because Mike never showed up that day…
About 3:30, though, Mike sent two guys down to the shop that Carter didn’t really know to pick up what Mike wanted. Carter told them that he has the goods but that Mike needs to come down to get them himself because Carter won’t deal with people he doesn’t know…this is true…but it is also important that we keep all things that we have for Mike until we can actually put them in his hands…it does us no good to pass them off to his friends since Mike is the one that Carter actually needs to talk to about Clint…having things that he wants gives us leverage…
So, there was no news other than these comings and goings. Carter felt bad at the end of the day that there wasn’t more news. And I understand…when these boys say they’ll be there in an hour, sometimes it’s 3 or 4 days later. What is most important is that almost daily, they, themselves, or someone related to them either call the shop or stop by. So, it is really only a matter of time before Mike shows up and Carter is able to sit him down and talk to him about these deals he has for Clint…or even Clint himself decides to stop by the shop because he’s heard Carter had something for him. There is a timing to all of this that we have not quite figured out yet…
I’ll be down at the shop Friday afternoon. Kent and Beth are down there right now…
Updates will follow…
Timing has something to do with all of this. If I’ve ever doubted that, I’m convinced of it now. If all of this were meant to dissipate and fade away into nothing, it would have done so a long time ago. We wouldn’t have Clint’s friends dangling in front of us (who we know have information about his whereabouts) and be very close to some crucial news if something weren’t eventually going to happen. It is all of these little twists and turns, in and of themselves, that make me fully believe this is something substantial.
I was at the shop all day Friday and nothing related to the Clint search happened there all morning long, until the 20 minutes when I left to get Carter lunch. And that is when George showed up selling i-pods. Carter told him to come back in an hour because he believed that his daughter might buy one. However, we sat there the rest of the day and he did not come back. I was there 8 hours that day…and I missed him during that small window of time that I left to run errands. Had I been there, I would have flirted with George…gotten in his favor. Asked him if he had any cute friends…I love southern boys…I’ve spent time in Tennessee…something along those lines…something that might get carried back home to Clint…that he should go down to the shop and check out Carter’s daughter…
But no…I was gone those 20 minutes George was there…
Mike called later in the afternoon and I answered the phone….he wanted to talk to Carter…
There is something else that Carter has that Mike wants….George took a sample of it back to Mike when he was at the shop, and Mike immediately called for the rest of it…he told Carter he would be down to the shop shortly…he had laptops for sale…but we told him we didn’t need laptops…Carter wants gardening tools and he also told Mike that his daughter wanted a dolly so her band could move their gear back and forth between the practice space…
In hindsight, I guess we should have told him that we were interested in seeing the computers…because Mike never showed up that day…
About 3:30, though, Mike sent two guys down to the shop that Carter didn’t really know to pick up what Mike wanted. Carter told them that he has the goods but that Mike needs to come down to get them himself because Carter won’t deal with people he doesn’t know…this is true…but it is also important that we keep all things that we have for Mike until we can actually put them in his hands…it does us no good to pass them off to his friends since Mike is the one that Carter actually needs to talk to about Clint…having things that he wants gives us leverage…
So, there was no news other than these comings and goings. Carter felt bad at the end of the day that there wasn’t more news. And I understand…when these boys say they’ll be there in an hour, sometimes it’s 3 or 4 days later. What is most important is that almost daily, they, themselves, or someone related to them either call the shop or stop by. So, it is really only a matter of time before Mike shows up and Carter is able to sit him down and talk to him about these deals he has for Clint…or even Clint himself decides to stop by the shop because he’s heard Carter had something for him. There is a timing to all of this that we have not quite figured out yet…
I’ll be down at the shop Friday afternoon. Kent and Beth are down there right now…
Updates will follow…
SONG 62...62 songs for 62 weeks...
____________________________________________________________________
FOR ALL I KNOW
I hear the wind chimes…music in the breeze
The wind picks up like ghosts moving through the trees
Drinking red wine…out on the porch
My thoughts pick up…and then wander north
My loves been lost 440 days
But somewhere in this city, he’s awake
His words linger from first to last
Then echo and reach me through The Pass…
**Chorus**
And for all I know…his heart bleeds like mine
For all I know…he thinks of me tonight
For all I know…
Tomorrow will be all right
He could be close…
For all I know…
It’s not the number of breaths you take that keep you alive
It’s the moments that take your breath away that make you survive
There’s always that bend in the road that you can’t see past
But what’s beyond the bend is the thing you’ve always hoped you would have
Sometimes it seems easier to just give in
But then I’ve come so far to erase what I began
Don’t know what made me follow him down
That’s the thing I hope to find out…
**Chorus**
And for all I know…his heart bleeds like mine
For all I know…he thinks of me tonight
For all I know…
Tomorrow will be all right
He could be close…
For all I know…
I have tried to forget him
I have tried to replace him with others
It’s no use…I’ve discovered
He is bound like my lover
He is mine to recover
Our destinies are tied to one another
Today’s a good day to drop everything
This could go down…I got a feeling
They say that when the time hits, get in your car and just drive
Don’t look back til…until you arrive
What am I waiting for?
There’s nothing here but this door
My breath caught when I hear his voice
Forgive me…my tears are joy…
**Chorus**
For all I know…his heart bleeds like mine
For all I know…he thinks of me tonight
For all I know…
Tomorrow will be all right
He could be close…
For all I know…
For all I know…his heart bleeds like mine
For all I know…I will see him tonight
For all I know…
Today…we will all be all right
He could be close…
He could be close…
For all I know
____________________________________________________________________
FOR ALL I KNOW
I hear the wind chimes…music in the breeze
The wind picks up like ghosts moving through the trees
Drinking red wine…out on the porch
My thoughts pick up…and then wander north
My loves been lost 440 days
But somewhere in this city, he’s awake
His words linger from first to last
Then echo and reach me through The Pass…
**Chorus**
And for all I know…his heart bleeds like mine
For all I know…he thinks of me tonight
For all I know…
Tomorrow will be all right
He could be close…
For all I know…
It’s not the number of breaths you take that keep you alive
It’s the moments that take your breath away that make you survive
There’s always that bend in the road that you can’t see past
But what’s beyond the bend is the thing you’ve always hoped you would have
Sometimes it seems easier to just give in
But then I’ve come so far to erase what I began
Don’t know what made me follow him down
That’s the thing I hope to find out…
**Chorus**
And for all I know…his heart bleeds like mine
For all I know…he thinks of me tonight
For all I know…
Tomorrow will be all right
He could be close…
For all I know…
I have tried to forget him
I have tried to replace him with others
It’s no use…I’ve discovered
He is bound like my lover
He is mine to recover
Our destinies are tied to one another
Today’s a good day to drop everything
This could go down…I got a feeling
They say that when the time hits, get in your car and just drive
Don’t look back til…until you arrive
What am I waiting for?
There’s nothing here but this door
My breath caught when I hear his voice
Forgive me…my tears are joy…
**Chorus**
For all I know…his heart bleeds like mine
For all I know…he thinks of me tonight
For all I know…
Tomorrow will be all right
He could be close…
For all I know…
For all I know…his heart bleeds like mine
For all I know…I will see him tonight
For all I know…
Today…we will all be all right
He could be close…
He could be close…
For all I know
FINAL WORDS
It doesn’t rain here anymore
Could be California…but I’m guessing that it’s more
You said it was something about me
But up North, you’re the one still freezing
When I was dying in the hospital
You never left flowers by my bed
But you pretended like you sent the ones
Left there by my friends
Did you really think I wouldn’t find
Out from them someday?
**Chorus**
Oh…don’t know that I’ll forgive you
Don’t know if I can
Oh…my only consolation
Is I am stronger than when we began
Oh…all that wasted love
Oh…all that wasted hurt
Don’t know that I’ll forgive you
These are my final words…
Everything you said to me was like an assault
You might as well have punched me in the jaw
I’ve spent the days since wondering what kept me there with you
But even the strongest stay sometimes…so my regret has no use
When I flew 2000 miles to see you
For the holidays
You never even gave me
A gift when I came
It wasn’t about that…it was bigger
Did you think I wouldn’t know what it meant?
**Chorus**
Oh…don’t know that I’ll forgive you
Don’t know if I can
Oh…my only consolation
Is I am stronger than when we began
Oh…all that wasted love
Oh…all that wasted hurt
Don’t know that I’ll forgive you
These are my final words…
All that useless breath I used on you
All you gave me was emotional abuse
All those lashes where the scars run deep
I am older now…wiser now…
At least I finally see
When I made plans so we would have
The perfect New Year’s Eve
The time ticked by…I waited up…
You came home late that night
That’s when you told me of the girl
You kissed there at the bar
The girl you kissed instead of me
**Chorus**
Oh…don’t know that I’ll forgive you
Don’t know if I can
Oh…my only consolation
Is I am stronger than when we began
Oh…all that wasted love
Oh…all that wasted hurt
Don’t know that I’ll forgive you
These are my final words…
These are my final words…
These are my final words…
It doesn’t rain here anymore
Could be California…but I’m guessing that it’s more
You said it was something about me
But up North, you’re the one still freezing
When I was dying in the hospital
You never left flowers by my bed
But you pretended like you sent the ones
Left there by my friends
Did you really think I wouldn’t find
Out from them someday?
**Chorus**
Oh…don’t know that I’ll forgive you
Don’t know if I can
Oh…my only consolation
Is I am stronger than when we began
Oh…all that wasted love
Oh…all that wasted hurt
Don’t know that I’ll forgive you
These are my final words…
Everything you said to me was like an assault
You might as well have punched me in the jaw
I’ve spent the days since wondering what kept me there with you
But even the strongest stay sometimes…so my regret has no use
When I flew 2000 miles to see you
For the holidays
You never even gave me
A gift when I came
It wasn’t about that…it was bigger
Did you think I wouldn’t know what it meant?
**Chorus**
Oh…don’t know that I’ll forgive you
Don’t know if I can
Oh…my only consolation
Is I am stronger than when we began
Oh…all that wasted love
Oh…all that wasted hurt
Don’t know that I’ll forgive you
These are my final words…
All that useless breath I used on you
All you gave me was emotional abuse
All those lashes where the scars run deep
I am older now…wiser now…
At least I finally see
When I made plans so we would have
The perfect New Year’s Eve
The time ticked by…I waited up…
You came home late that night
That’s when you told me of the girl
You kissed there at the bar
The girl you kissed instead of me
**Chorus**
Oh…don’t know that I’ll forgive you
Don’t know if I can
Oh…my only consolation
Is I am stronger than when we began
Oh…all that wasted love
Oh…all that wasted hurt
Don’t know that I’ll forgive you
These are my final words…
These are my final words…
These are my final words…
Friday, January 06, 2006
MIDNIGHT IN VERNON
Practice began a little later yesterday…by the time we finished discussing details of the show and of the new website and Myspace site, it was after 9pm before we started rehearsing. Because of the show tonight, our plan last night was to run through the set a couple of times just for good measure, pack up all the gear, and be out of there by 11 or 11:30. But little did we know the unforeseeable events beyond our control that were about to occur. We finished up the first set around 10pm, and Dave had brought some beer to practice so we were taking a break and all having a beer and talking about the future of music and of our band and it’s place in that future. About 10:30 my phone started ringing but it was a blocked number. Since I always screen calls when I don’t know who the caller is, I didn’t pick up. The person left a voice mail. I started to listen to it. “Hi, this is Chris from TK Productions. Someone bought the building where you are rehearsing and we need you out of there ASAP…”
While I was listening to this, Dave’s phone started ringing and since he’s the other contact on the lease we signed, I knew this had to be Chris calling him so I said, “Dave…Dave…pick up your phone…”
And that’s when we got the bad news. Someone bought the building and we had to be out of there by Sunday night. What the fuck? We just moved in a month ago…the space was perfect and quiet and there were rarely other bands rehearsing there when we were there…now, what were we going to do? From searching for this place, we knew that it was tough to find a lock-out in this area…most of the places had waiting lists a mile long…we were on a few over a month ago…and no one ever called us…and all of this on the eve of the first show…we didn’t want to deal with this right now…
While Dave was on the phone with Chris, I heard some banging going on out in the hallway…I thought maybe these were the people that were buying the building…I was in a blind rage at this point and I went out there to get some answers…
But it was just Sergio (the building manager) and his band. “How you doing?” he asked.
“Not good…” I said.
“I guess you just got your call, then…huh? This fucking sucks.” Sergio told me, from what he knew, there was a guy who had come down to the studio about 3 weeks ago, pretending like he was in a band and was looking to rent one of the studios. I remember this guy because he made me show him our room while he was waiting for Sergio and he was all deceptive and being nice to me and pumping me for information…which I gave him because I thought he was just another musician like us. Sergio said that he did the same to him. But really, this guy was a business man. And he was looking to buy this building and kick all the musicians out.
“I don’t know what we’re going to do,” I said, “and we’ve got this show tomorrow night.”
It was then that Sergio told me that his band had actually just found a new studio about a mile away. Usually, it had a huge waiting list, but miraculously, there were three spaces that had just become available that very night. They had already signed the lease and taken one of them. There were two left. He gave me all the info and said we should go down immediately that very night if we wanted one of them. In the morning, they could be gone. So, I went back to our room and told the guys what I had found out. Ryan got on the phone and tried this new studio, but he only got someone’s voice mail.
I went back out in the hall and Sergio said that the people who were buying the building were coming down this very night and that his band was being asked to leave right then and there. They were not happy. He asked if we had gotten a hold of the other studio. I told him we left a message. He told me that we should just drive down there right that very moment because the manager down there lived on the premises and if we asked for him (his name is Yule), someone would direct us to him and he would show the spaces.
“Seriously, go now,” he said, “these spaces will not be available for very long.”
So, the four of us got in Ryan’s car and drove down to this place.
Everything that our current space was, this place was not. Whereas there were only 4 studios in our building, this one had 104. Ours was quiet…this one was fucking loud. We found the back door unlocked and began wandering the halls looking for Yule. There was guttural screaming coming from somewhere in the building, which freaked Ryan out a little until we realized that it was a coming from a singer in some band and not some crazy deranged poltergeist.
We were finally able to find Yule who agreed to show us the two spaces. We get in this huge freight elevator which takes us to the second floor. There is a big brass band playing down the hall. The first room is about the size of ours right now, but $135 cheaper. It is okay. The second room is on the third floor. It is $35 cheaper than our current room and about twice as big. You could seriously put all the gear, a couch, and a refrigerator in there and you still might have room for a pool table. There is a mariachi band playing down the hall, but when you close the door, the room is pretty well sound-proofed and you can’t hear them too terribly bad. We decide to take it. The room will be ours when we put down one month’s rent and the $200 security deposit (which needs to be in a money order). I ask if we can bring it down on Saturday morning. Yule tells me we can. But Jeff is worried that we may lose this room. What if someone comes down here tomorrow and just puts the money right on down? We need to get the money tonight. So, I tell Yule that we’ll be back in 20 minutes.
So, now the 4 of us are out driving around the streets of Vernon at 11:30 trying to find a 7-11 or something that is open where we can get the money orders. We find one, but they will only take cash. So, now Jeff, Ryan, and I are pulling wads of cash out of the ATM and Dave is walking around the store eating Funnions. I can’t even imagine what the woman behind the counter must have thought was going on…but I’m sure we were a sight.
We get the money orders, drive back to the space, sign the lease…and the keys are ours. Even Stevens. You get evicted from one space and an hour later you’ve got another one. How is this possible?…somebody must really be watching out for us.
We decide to forgo running through the set another time because by now it’s almost midnight. We drive back to the old space to get the gear…and they’re already in there gutting the building…at MIDNIGHT. What in the hell is going on here? I chase down the shifty little bastard that talked to me that night…pretending to be in a band…
“Chris said we can stay here til Sunday. Is that true? I see you’re gutting the building…will our stuff still be here on Sunday?” He tells me that it will. They won’t get to our room until next week.
So, we start packing up the gear we need for the show. Jeff goes out in the hall to talk to the guy…”what are you guys doing with the building?”
“Office space,” the guy tells him.
Yeah...and that’s why you’re here gutting the building at midnight…they’re probably turning it into a meth lab or a phone sex call center or something…
Finally, the gear is packed up and the cars are ready to roll…
The four of us are standing in the virtually empty room now. All that is left there is a couple of lamps, our dart board, the P.A., and some posters…Jeff pulls out a fifth of Jack…
“I got this so we could toast the eve of the first show…” he says.
And so we say a toast to our crazy night…the future…this empty room…the new space…and a bright future…it was a perfect moment…
And definitely one that when we’re famous, they can include on “Behind the Music.”
Rock out…
Practice began a little later yesterday…by the time we finished discussing details of the show and of the new website and Myspace site, it was after 9pm before we started rehearsing. Because of the show tonight, our plan last night was to run through the set a couple of times just for good measure, pack up all the gear, and be out of there by 11 or 11:30. But little did we know the unforeseeable events beyond our control that were about to occur. We finished up the first set around 10pm, and Dave had brought some beer to practice so we were taking a break and all having a beer and talking about the future of music and of our band and it’s place in that future. About 10:30 my phone started ringing but it was a blocked number. Since I always screen calls when I don’t know who the caller is, I didn’t pick up. The person left a voice mail. I started to listen to it. “Hi, this is Chris from TK Productions. Someone bought the building where you are rehearsing and we need you out of there ASAP…”
While I was listening to this, Dave’s phone started ringing and since he’s the other contact on the lease we signed, I knew this had to be Chris calling him so I said, “Dave…Dave…pick up your phone…”
And that’s when we got the bad news. Someone bought the building and we had to be out of there by Sunday night. What the fuck? We just moved in a month ago…the space was perfect and quiet and there were rarely other bands rehearsing there when we were there…now, what were we going to do? From searching for this place, we knew that it was tough to find a lock-out in this area…most of the places had waiting lists a mile long…we were on a few over a month ago…and no one ever called us…and all of this on the eve of the first show…we didn’t want to deal with this right now…
While Dave was on the phone with Chris, I heard some banging going on out in the hallway…I thought maybe these were the people that were buying the building…I was in a blind rage at this point and I went out there to get some answers…
But it was just Sergio (the building manager) and his band. “How you doing?” he asked.
“Not good…” I said.
“I guess you just got your call, then…huh? This fucking sucks.” Sergio told me, from what he knew, there was a guy who had come down to the studio about 3 weeks ago, pretending like he was in a band and was looking to rent one of the studios. I remember this guy because he made me show him our room while he was waiting for Sergio and he was all deceptive and being nice to me and pumping me for information…which I gave him because I thought he was just another musician like us. Sergio said that he did the same to him. But really, this guy was a business man. And he was looking to buy this building and kick all the musicians out.
“I don’t know what we’re going to do,” I said, “and we’ve got this show tomorrow night.”
It was then that Sergio told me that his band had actually just found a new studio about a mile away. Usually, it had a huge waiting list, but miraculously, there were three spaces that had just become available that very night. They had already signed the lease and taken one of them. There were two left. He gave me all the info and said we should go down immediately that very night if we wanted one of them. In the morning, they could be gone. So, I went back to our room and told the guys what I had found out. Ryan got on the phone and tried this new studio, but he only got someone’s voice mail.
I went back out in the hall and Sergio said that the people who were buying the building were coming down this very night and that his band was being asked to leave right then and there. They were not happy. He asked if we had gotten a hold of the other studio. I told him we left a message. He told me that we should just drive down there right that very moment because the manager down there lived on the premises and if we asked for him (his name is Yule), someone would direct us to him and he would show the spaces.
“Seriously, go now,” he said, “these spaces will not be available for very long.”
So, the four of us got in Ryan’s car and drove down to this place.
Everything that our current space was, this place was not. Whereas there were only 4 studios in our building, this one had 104. Ours was quiet…this one was fucking loud. We found the back door unlocked and began wandering the halls looking for Yule. There was guttural screaming coming from somewhere in the building, which freaked Ryan out a little until we realized that it was a coming from a singer in some band and not some crazy deranged poltergeist.
We were finally able to find Yule who agreed to show us the two spaces. We get in this huge freight elevator which takes us to the second floor. There is a big brass band playing down the hall. The first room is about the size of ours right now, but $135 cheaper. It is okay. The second room is on the third floor. It is $35 cheaper than our current room and about twice as big. You could seriously put all the gear, a couch, and a refrigerator in there and you still might have room for a pool table. There is a mariachi band playing down the hall, but when you close the door, the room is pretty well sound-proofed and you can’t hear them too terribly bad. We decide to take it. The room will be ours when we put down one month’s rent and the $200 security deposit (which needs to be in a money order). I ask if we can bring it down on Saturday morning. Yule tells me we can. But Jeff is worried that we may lose this room. What if someone comes down here tomorrow and just puts the money right on down? We need to get the money tonight. So, I tell Yule that we’ll be back in 20 minutes.
So, now the 4 of us are out driving around the streets of Vernon at 11:30 trying to find a 7-11 or something that is open where we can get the money orders. We find one, but they will only take cash. So, now Jeff, Ryan, and I are pulling wads of cash out of the ATM and Dave is walking around the store eating Funnions. I can’t even imagine what the woman behind the counter must have thought was going on…but I’m sure we were a sight.
We get the money orders, drive back to the space, sign the lease…and the keys are ours. Even Stevens. You get evicted from one space and an hour later you’ve got another one. How is this possible?…somebody must really be watching out for us.
We decide to forgo running through the set another time because by now it’s almost midnight. We drive back to the old space to get the gear…and they’re already in there gutting the building…at MIDNIGHT. What in the hell is going on here? I chase down the shifty little bastard that talked to me that night…pretending to be in a band…
“Chris said we can stay here til Sunday. Is that true? I see you’re gutting the building…will our stuff still be here on Sunday?” He tells me that it will. They won’t get to our room until next week.
So, we start packing up the gear we need for the show. Jeff goes out in the hall to talk to the guy…”what are you guys doing with the building?”
“Office space,” the guy tells him.
Yeah...and that’s why you’re here gutting the building at midnight…they’re probably turning it into a meth lab or a phone sex call center or something…
Finally, the gear is packed up and the cars are ready to roll…
The four of us are standing in the virtually empty room now. All that is left there is a couple of lamps, our dart board, the P.A., and some posters…Jeff pulls out a fifth of Jack…
“I got this so we could toast the eve of the first show…” he says.
And so we say a toast to our crazy night…the future…this empty room…the new space…and a bright future…it was a perfect moment…
And definitely one that when we’re famous, they can include on “Behind the Music.”
Rock out…
Thursday, January 05, 2006
WE ARE WAITING FOR MIKE...
There is no word from Mike at the shop yet today. One of Mike's friends who Carter has never met before drove the Stealth to the shop today. Carter told the guy that he is willing to work on the deal with them, but he only deals with people that he knows so he told the guy that he should bring Mike and any of the other people that Carter actually knows down to the shop and they will begin the deal.
So, that should finally get Mike off his ass beacause we're assured that this guy is going home immediately to tell him that Carter wants to see him personally. That means that there are two deals pending. The Stealth and this other classic car that Carter still has for Clint.
Carter says that he's sorry at how long all of this is taking, but he points out that at least we have news or word from someone related to the story daily. And we know that they're all in this city. Whereas before, there was no news for months. It's only a matter of time before Mike and Clint get involved in one of these deals...
We hope for more news tomorrow...
Updates will follow...
There is no word from Mike at the shop yet today. One of Mike's friends who Carter has never met before drove the Stealth to the shop today. Carter told the guy that he is willing to work on the deal with them, but he only deals with people that he knows so he told the guy that he should bring Mike and any of the other people that Carter actually knows down to the shop and they will begin the deal.
So, that should finally get Mike off his ass beacause we're assured that this guy is going home immediately to tell him that Carter wants to see him personally. That means that there are two deals pending. The Stealth and this other classic car that Carter still has for Clint.
Carter says that he's sorry at how long all of this is taking, but he points out that at least we have news or word from someone related to the story daily. And we know that they're all in this city. Whereas before, there was no news for months. It's only a matter of time before Mike and Clint get involved in one of these deals...
We hope for more news tomorrow...
Updates will follow...
Wednesday, January 04, 2006
THE DODGE STEALTH
I went to the shop earlier today. Carter informed me that he had spoken with Mike not even ten minutes before I arrived. There is a Dodge Stealth that the boys now have in their possession and Mike needs Carter to take a look at it. He was too high to drive it down to the shop today, but he says that he will bring it down tomorrow.
We are not sure whether Clint will come to the shop with Mike in the Stealth. If so, he will receive the letters then. If not, Carter will at least be able to talk to Mike and stress with him just how important the classic car deal is and that he needs Clint's help. This is the kind of car Clint has worked on for him before. Because Carter is helping with the Stealth deal, the boys are going to be willing to help him. Every favor he does for them, puts him more and more in their favor...and stacks the deck more and more in mine...
Updates will follow...
I went to the shop earlier today. Carter informed me that he had spoken with Mike not even ten minutes before I arrived. There is a Dodge Stealth that the boys now have in their possession and Mike needs Carter to take a look at it. He was too high to drive it down to the shop today, but he says that he will bring it down tomorrow.
We are not sure whether Clint will come to the shop with Mike in the Stealth. If so, he will receive the letters then. If not, Carter will at least be able to talk to Mike and stress with him just how important the classic car deal is and that he needs Clint's help. This is the kind of car Clint has worked on for him before. Because Carter is helping with the Stealth deal, the boys are going to be willing to help him. Every favor he does for them, puts him more and more in their favor...and stacks the deck more and more in mine...
Updates will follow...
MIKE WAS HIGH AGAIN...
Mike called Carter early yesterday afternoon. He was so high that Carter was not able to understand most of what he was saying. Then at some point, Mike dropped the phone and it hung up on Carter.
Carter is not certain what he was calling about. But he does think that Mike is probably back from Mexico. The papers are still at the shop for Mike and George to pick up. And Mike has some things he's brought back for Carter from Mexico. So, they need to go down to the shop. I know these little hang-ups are frustrating, but at least we know that all the boys are in town now and they are in contact with Carter. It is only a matter of time before the final favor.
I am going back down to the shop this afternoon...you never know what...or who...the day may bring...
Updates will follow...
Mike called Carter early yesterday afternoon. He was so high that Carter was not able to understand most of what he was saying. Then at some point, Mike dropped the phone and it hung up on Carter.
Carter is not certain what he was calling about. But he does think that Mike is probably back from Mexico. The papers are still at the shop for Mike and George to pick up. And Mike has some things he's brought back for Carter from Mexico. So, they need to go down to the shop. I know these little hang-ups are frustrating, but at least we know that all the boys are in town now and they are in contact with Carter. It is only a matter of time before the final favor.
I am going back down to the shop this afternoon...you never know what...or who...the day may bring...
Updates will follow...
Tuesday, January 03, 2006
MIKE AND GEORGE
There has not been much news in the past several days. Mainly due to the holidays. The garages have not been open all that much this past week. Carter's was closed both Friday and Monday and so there would be no way for the boys to go down to the shop. Last Thursday morning, Mike called Carter from Mexico. He was down there "picking up some things." He wanted to know if Carter needed anything. Carter told him he needed a switchblade (which is in truth something that he is getting for me). Mike told him that he would get it. He said: "Man, I love you Carter...I love you." (he was obviously quite high). But the point is: he thought of Carter and the call was simply his way of telling Carter that he hadn't disappeared again and that he was just checking in. He told Carter that he didn't know if he would be back from Mexico the following day or if he would stay a few more days, but he did say that some of their friends were still in Van Nuys and he would send them down to the shop. He would be down when he returned (Carter believed it would probably be the following week--this week).
That very afternoon, I was down at Carter's playing guitar. A young hispanic man walked up, saw me, and stopped dead in his tracks. I had a feeling I knew who this was. He asked Carter if he would come over to his truck so he could talk to him (from what I know about many of these people, they won't talk about anything to Carter in front of people they don't know). I continued playing guitar and Carter and this man began bringing things into the shop that this man was obviously giving to Carter. The guy gave me a shy smile as he passed. I continued playing guitar. Carter caught my eye and held my gaze. Carter and I know each other well now...and I knew what he was communicating to me in that look. No words were necessary. He was telling me: this is George. I stayed cool. I continued playing guitar. Finally, Carter came back to the shop. George had left with the promise he would return the first part of next week for the papers. The things he had dropped off: they were all gifts to Carter...tokens for what he was doing for George and his friends. The message: Carter was in their favor.
At his truck, George had asked Carter: "Who is that girl?"
Carter said, "That's my daughter, George."
George said, "Wow. She's...really really nice."
We all know what that means. George finds me in his favor. Which according to Carter is a very good thing. The irony of all of it: George lives with Mike and their house is where Clint is staying right now. George probably went right home and told the boys: "Did you guys know that Carter had a daughter? You should see her. She's fucking hot."
Carter believes the boys may be coming around the shop now more because of me...and that's exactly what we wanted...
I have now met one of Clint's friends...I hope that Clint is next...
Updates will follow...
There has not been much news in the past several days. Mainly due to the holidays. The garages have not been open all that much this past week. Carter's was closed both Friday and Monday and so there would be no way for the boys to go down to the shop. Last Thursday morning, Mike called Carter from Mexico. He was down there "picking up some things." He wanted to know if Carter needed anything. Carter told him he needed a switchblade (which is in truth something that he is getting for me). Mike told him that he would get it. He said: "Man, I love you Carter...I love you." (he was obviously quite high). But the point is: he thought of Carter and the call was simply his way of telling Carter that he hadn't disappeared again and that he was just checking in. He told Carter that he didn't know if he would be back from Mexico the following day or if he would stay a few more days, but he did say that some of their friends were still in Van Nuys and he would send them down to the shop. He would be down when he returned (Carter believed it would probably be the following week--this week).
That very afternoon, I was down at Carter's playing guitar. A young hispanic man walked up, saw me, and stopped dead in his tracks. I had a feeling I knew who this was. He asked Carter if he would come over to his truck so he could talk to him (from what I know about many of these people, they won't talk about anything to Carter in front of people they don't know). I continued playing guitar and Carter and this man began bringing things into the shop that this man was obviously giving to Carter. The guy gave me a shy smile as he passed. I continued playing guitar. Carter caught my eye and held my gaze. Carter and I know each other well now...and I knew what he was communicating to me in that look. No words were necessary. He was telling me: this is George. I stayed cool. I continued playing guitar. Finally, Carter came back to the shop. George had left with the promise he would return the first part of next week for the papers. The things he had dropped off: they were all gifts to Carter...tokens for what he was doing for George and his friends. The message: Carter was in their favor.
At his truck, George had asked Carter: "Who is that girl?"
Carter said, "That's my daughter, George."
George said, "Wow. She's...really really nice."
We all know what that means. George finds me in his favor. Which according to Carter is a very good thing. The irony of all of it: George lives with Mike and their house is where Clint is staying right now. George probably went right home and told the boys: "Did you guys know that Carter had a daughter? You should see her. She's fucking hot."
Carter believes the boys may be coming around the shop now more because of me...and that's exactly what we wanted...
I have now met one of Clint's friends...I hope that Clint is next...
Updates will follow...
AN UNBROKEN CHAIN OF FAVORS
There is an unbroken chain of favors that lead from the first favor to the last one. And the last one is really only the first one in the next chain. Trishadee pointed all of this out to me the other day. One cool night last November, a man’s car broke down in West Hollywood. His name was Clint and he had no idea what chain he was about to start. He asked a favor of me as I was passing him on the street: “do you have an extra cigarette?” In the course of that conversation, he would compliment my beauty several times, but I would leave him that night on the street corner. Deliberate or accidental? It doesn’t really matter at this point. What does matter is that he would do me a grand favor. He would become my muse for the next 14 months. But I wanted to see him again. And I knew that I was meant to. Beth would then do me a favor. She would spend days and days calling all the auto shops in the valley until the fateful day, after going through hundreds of shops, she found a shop where they knew this young man named Clint. Carter’s Auto. Over time, we would come to learn that Clint wasn’t really a mechanic there. He only came there occasionally to do deals and that would be why he was so hard to track down. The shops owner, Mr. Carter, fell in love with the story and agreed to help put me in contact with the ever elusive Clint. Over time, I would do countless favors for Mr. Carter: bring him lunch at the shop, answer his phone for him, watch the shop when he went to deliver a car, bring treats and gifts for the shop dog Bucky, etc.). I spent months doing this while Carter and I waited for news on the whereabouts of Clint or his friends. Finally the friends showed up a few weeks ago. They needed a favor from Carter. They needed some papers notarized. Carter agreed to help them, in the back of his mind, knowing that they would in turn help him be put in contact with Clint. Carter’s girlfriend Anna works at the bank and so he asked her to do him a favor: could she have these papers notarized for his friends? They return for the papers at some point. Carter has a great deal for their friend Clint. It’s “the deal of a life time” and it “has his name written all over it.” In truth, there really is a car deal for Clint to work on and he would make a lot of money were he to restore this car. But we know what the “deal” really is: the “deal” is me. When the papers are passed over to Clint’s friends in the next week or two and Carter is put in contact with Clint, Carter then completes the final favor: passing over my letters to Clint. Once they are in his hands, he makes one simple phone call…and the chain begins again…
There is an unbroken chain of favors that lead from the first favor to the last one. And the last one is really only the first one in the next chain. Trishadee pointed all of this out to me the other day. One cool night last November, a man’s car broke down in West Hollywood. His name was Clint and he had no idea what chain he was about to start. He asked a favor of me as I was passing him on the street: “do you have an extra cigarette?” In the course of that conversation, he would compliment my beauty several times, but I would leave him that night on the street corner. Deliberate or accidental? It doesn’t really matter at this point. What does matter is that he would do me a grand favor. He would become my muse for the next 14 months. But I wanted to see him again. And I knew that I was meant to. Beth would then do me a favor. She would spend days and days calling all the auto shops in the valley until the fateful day, after going through hundreds of shops, she found a shop where they knew this young man named Clint. Carter’s Auto. Over time, we would come to learn that Clint wasn’t really a mechanic there. He only came there occasionally to do deals and that would be why he was so hard to track down. The shops owner, Mr. Carter, fell in love with the story and agreed to help put me in contact with the ever elusive Clint. Over time, I would do countless favors for Mr. Carter: bring him lunch at the shop, answer his phone for him, watch the shop when he went to deliver a car, bring treats and gifts for the shop dog Bucky, etc.). I spent months doing this while Carter and I waited for news on the whereabouts of Clint or his friends. Finally the friends showed up a few weeks ago. They needed a favor from Carter. They needed some papers notarized. Carter agreed to help them, in the back of his mind, knowing that they would in turn help him be put in contact with Clint. Carter’s girlfriend Anna works at the bank and so he asked her to do him a favor: could she have these papers notarized for his friends? They return for the papers at some point. Carter has a great deal for their friend Clint. It’s “the deal of a life time” and it “has his name written all over it.” In truth, there really is a car deal for Clint to work on and he would make a lot of money were he to restore this car. But we know what the “deal” really is: the “deal” is me. When the papers are passed over to Clint’s friends in the next week or two and Carter is put in contact with Clint, Carter then completes the final favor: passing over my letters to Clint. Once they are in his hands, he makes one simple phone call…and the chain begins again…
SONG 61...there is a long chain of favors leading back to the source
_____________________________________________________________________
COMPLIMENTS AND FAVORS
Deliberate or accidental…you can take your pick
The strange circumstances surrounding this hit…and run
You merge left…and then you merge right
You try to pick the best lane tonight
But the truth is…no matter which you choose
They all go the same place
And they keep saying to me
I ought to bend before I break
But I just don’t see the logic
In calculating my escape
**Chorus**
These compliments and favors
Broken down trucks and broken down hearts
You’re my favorite collision
I have come across so far
And I don’t know the plan
But there’s got to be reason and some truth
In all these compliments and favors
That lead to you…
There is a beauty in the unexpected and unseen
The sweet heavy sky that blankets our schemes
Please believe me when I tell you all I want is your smile
I bet you haven’t heard that in awhile…if ever
In all my scattered searches
In all my shattered days
I’ve never met another soul
That shook me up this way
**Chorus**
These compliments and favors
Broken down trucks and broken down hearts
You’re my favorite collision
I have come across so far
And I don’t know the plan
But there’s got to be reason and some truth
In all these compliments and favors
That lead to you…
Champagne and celebrations…love letters
And anticipated phone calls from the North
The culmination…we wait for
Of an unbroken chain of favors back to the source
Though I’ve had my reservations
And at time I’ve wandered off the course
At the end of this long and winding road
I was always yours
**Chorus**
These compliments and favors
Broken down trucks and broken down hearts
You’re my favorite collision
I have come across so far
And I don’t know the plan
But there’s got to be reason and some truth
In all these compliments and favors…
Compliments and favors
Flash floods and forest fires
Your evening collision
Is all that I desire
And I don’t know the plan
But there’s got to be some reason and some truth
In all these compliments and favors
That lead to you…
_____________________________________________________________________
COMPLIMENTS AND FAVORS
Deliberate or accidental…you can take your pick
The strange circumstances surrounding this hit…and run
You merge left…and then you merge right
You try to pick the best lane tonight
But the truth is…no matter which you choose
They all go the same place
And they keep saying to me
I ought to bend before I break
But I just don’t see the logic
In calculating my escape
**Chorus**
These compliments and favors
Broken down trucks and broken down hearts
You’re my favorite collision
I have come across so far
And I don’t know the plan
But there’s got to be reason and some truth
In all these compliments and favors
That lead to you…
There is a beauty in the unexpected and unseen
The sweet heavy sky that blankets our schemes
Please believe me when I tell you all I want is your smile
I bet you haven’t heard that in awhile…if ever
In all my scattered searches
In all my shattered days
I’ve never met another soul
That shook me up this way
**Chorus**
These compliments and favors
Broken down trucks and broken down hearts
You’re my favorite collision
I have come across so far
And I don’t know the plan
But there’s got to be reason and some truth
In all these compliments and favors
That lead to you…
Champagne and celebrations…love letters
And anticipated phone calls from the North
The culmination…we wait for
Of an unbroken chain of favors back to the source
Though I’ve had my reservations
And at time I’ve wandered off the course
At the end of this long and winding road
I was always yours
**Chorus**
These compliments and favors
Broken down trucks and broken down hearts
You’re my favorite collision
I have come across so far
And I don’t know the plan
But there’s got to be reason and some truth
In all these compliments and favors…
Compliments and favors
Flash floods and forest fires
Your evening collision
Is all that I desire
And I don’t know the plan
But there’s got to be some reason and some truth
In all these compliments and favors
That lead to you…
