West Indian Girl

when i was in college i took a public speaking class and dropped it after 2 weeks. maybe it was because i had nothing to say but i really think it was due to being super shy…my how things change. this year im one of the speakers at the digital music forum west conference on oct 7-8. this conference looks pretty good and im honored to have been invited. plus, it’s at the roosevelt hotel and how do u not end up at the pool with a drink in your hand when ur there? doesnt happen. i have been enjoying the speaking opportunities that have been coming my way this year because it gives me the opportunity to connect with even more struggling musicians that are looking for answers. it’s a pretty rough line of work these days and we should all be helping each other out. as a general rule i think that if u can help someone that’s in ur line of work facing the same obstacles and hurdles that u have faced then why not help them. it’s dickish not too. so… if u have roughly 800 bucks for a ticket come say hello. damn…that’s pricey but i think it includes a prostitute and a personal assistant in your gift bag so all is not lost.

speaking of speaking here’s a song called speak by i will never be the same. more on that band in an upcoming post though.

Bits of press and interviews are finally trickling in from the summer festivals … Outside Lands was probably one of the most professionally organized festivals we’ve ever played, and rocking Street Scene’s Casbah stage at sunset was by far the most enjoyable 45 minutes of the weekend.

A deep and special thanks goes out to our guest drummer extraordinaire Brendan Buckley & the marvelous and ethereal Miranda Lee Richards. It was an honor to play by their side and absorb all that professionalism and phenomenal energy.

Check out our feature on LA2Day’s online coverage of Outside Lands (thank you Chrissy!) and USD Radio’s interview with the chicas (thanks Nick!).

SPIN EXAMINER

Thanks to all for coming out, supporting and sharing in the love of music.

the other night amy, melissa and i attended the macy’s passport gala at the barker hangar in santa monica. it’s a fashion and theatric show which raises money to support local hiv/aids organizations. the cause is indeed epic —how come we dont have a cure for that by now—you would think we would after 27 years right? anyway it was the first time i got to spend some quality time with melissa and she’s a really really great person to be around. it was fun walking the red carpet and doing interviews with her…she’s quick, well spoken and fucking hilarious all at the same time. special thanx to heidi richmond and wente vineyards for making us their special guests. heidi is officially my new favorite person of 09. the whole passport event was very well done. i think the highlights of my evening would be seeing liz taylor and eating the curry chicken. i didnt realize this but liz taylor is actually dame liz taylor…which really means she was knighted in the uk. dame = sir. other big plus was the valet guys who were super cool with me having tony with us. they let me valet my truck myself and gave me a nice spot in the shade for him. that’s huge.

in the hopes of being a bit more “communal” we have added a news section to the website. this news section is for “official” band news and will function as more of a group “collective voice” so to speak. in addition this page will now be the site’s main landing page. when i redesigned the site earlier this year i was trying to roll the blog and news all into one page but since since i do 95% of the blogging it’s only natural that my voice ended up becoming the default voice of the band. obviously u can see where this goes…my voice will never reflect or fall in line with everyone else in this band and that sometimes isnt a good thing. this format change ironically gives the blog a bit more freedom now as it doesnt have to represent a collective (read be so pc). the blog will be much more active now so please check in as it’s not the main page on the site any longer. in 04 i started the blog as personal blog and soon thereafter it became adopted as the band blog…i guess now we have come full circle. that said, this blog should be a bit more fun as the shackles are now lifted. im free 😉

for all of those who have asked…here’s a picture of melissa. yup, i know…crazy to think her voice, personality, vibe and everything else is just as cool.

WEST INDIAN GIRL HAS FOUND A FEMALE VOCALIST. We would like to thank everyone for taking the time to send in videos, tapes, website links etc etc etc. We appreciate all applicants for taking the time to do this… especially the ones who came down to the studio for in person auditions. Details about our new lineup and upcoming shows will be posted in the very near future.

i’ve had the pleasure of working with and training a few interns this spring and summer. all of them (dino, dylan, steve, curren, michael, esther) have done great work for west indian girl but two of them deserve special mention and gold stars. these two infamous characters would be dino santino borling and dylan neves-cox. both of them kicked fucking ass and in the process not only helped me, but helped “west indian girl”, helped “i will never be the same” and in the process gained more real life experience and education than any music class or school could teach you. yeah they did their share of grunt work but they saw every side of business that the normal fan isnt exposed to nor realize exists. they listened, they learned, they executed, took initiative when the situation called for it, and never complained. so yeah this thank you is not only from both bands but also from the bottom of my heart. thanx again guys and i look forward to the day when i make u both quit school and go on tour with us. dylan, the pic below is from outside lands – sorry u had the poly sci class and just couldnt make it…jeez.

special thanx to chad leblanc and simon lee from alternative apparel for giving us some great clothes at outside lands. i ended up wearing that shirt for the next couple days. love it. love you guys. i need to go to mom and son cleaners to wash it now. oh yeah, that’s brendan buckley in the pic with me – he was our fill in drummer for the summer and i have yet to officially cyber thank him….i guess that’s the next blog.

below is an mp3 of my interview with halloran on 94.9. let me tell you something….i have done a ton of interviews but this guy ranks up there as arguably the best interviewer i have sat across from. his database of musical knowledge is astounding —he fills in the blanks, educates and keeps the flow going like no other. listen at your own risk…it’s an hour long. here is my playlist for the hour.

now on to the real important stuff. of all the people i plugged during the interview i somehow forgot the most important one and he was sitting right fucking next to me. wanni, buddy, this THANK YOU! goes out to you. wanni helped set this whole thing up and made sure i was there on time. he, despite my fears of bikes, picked me up from a bar on the beach and then drove me back on a 2008 BMW R1200 RT. gotta tell you…it was great, that bike rides like a dream. now i want to get a bike with a sidecar for tony. in the pic below wanni is on left and halloran is in middle.

special thanks to karl wente for including us in his “discover the wine discover the music” series. i was quite impressed with his explanation for pairing our song “beach” with a riesling— this was pretty cool and interesting. i love shit like this. thanx karl and of course heidi richman. you can buy this wine at whole foods 😉 here’s a nice forbe’s video clip about this program.