Hempfest - Instrumental

This was the big day for us. After many months of eager anticipation and diligent practicing, we finally got to play Hempfest. Hempfest is probably the second biggest and most well known music and arts festival in Columbus (besides Comfest). It is definitely the biggest festival on campus, and it's free!

Special thanks to the eminent Zach Germaniuk for inviting us to play.

Also many thanks go to Kelsey Stehli for her stellar videography.

This song is called "The Instrumental" because there are no lyrics, there is however a bit of spirited wailing at its climax. This was one of our best performances to date and the sound engineers had us mixed quite nicely.

Enjoy!

Chrysalis

During Hempfest and Rayfest, we passed out about 60 or 70 copies of Chrysalis to fans, friends, other bands, and random people who looked like they might appreciate it.

Chrysalis is an odyssey of experimental improvisation. It was recorded in the Fall of 2007 after Jim and I came back from a Mike Perkins concert. It was about 5:00AM and there was a thunderstorm rumbling outside. We recorded our psychedelic insanity non-stop for over an hour in the darkness of the viper room.

Due to the intensity of our mental states during this session, Chrysalis tends to be very dark and haunting. It also has moments of terror, but it is also often soothing and the last track has a sort of tranquil zen quality to it, as if a catharsis took place during the recording.

2 of the 7 tracks that we broke Chrysalis up into are available to listen to on our Myspace page. (Pistols at Dawn and Runner's High)

This is the CD liner that I designed for our Demo which includes Chrysalis and 3 refined studio tracks. (The front is the second part - you fold it in half)
over 80 copies of this have been printed, limited editions in color. When the studio tracks are completely polished, the Demo will be released.



I'm still making copies of Chrysalis too, so if you want one, just ask me.

Rayfest

The day after Hempfest, on Sunday we played at Browning Amphitheater again for Rayfest! This was the first Rayfest ever, a showcase of bands organized by Ray Mattila. It's pretty awesome, huh? This guy is like hey I want to have a music festival and name it after myself... and he did it!

The man behind the music, Ray Mattila:


Our final performance of the set, an experimental electronic jam:

Thanks to Kelsey Stehli for the camerawork!

Xenon Jam



This is a drawing that Sam Warman created while watching the show.
That's Jim playing a piano, Count Funkula DJing, and my guitar, the Peacelock.



Texas and friends enjoying themselves in the crowd:



Browning Amphitheater is such a beautiful and relaxing place to play and watch performances. People can just chill in the grass in the sun with the Mirror lake fountain towering in the background, cooling you with a gentle mist. You can climb the trees and share some shisha while we lay down some grooves.

The Lost Indians

The Lost Indians is an experimental project created by Zach Germaniuk of Red Sun. The line-up of The Lost Indians is always subject to change, but the idea is to have a psychedelic experimental group that is always changing. Their jams are improvisational and impromptu.

Jim Stehli, frontman of The Neighbors has played mandolin with the Lost Indians at both the Hempfest Benefit show at the High Five, and at one of the Outer Sounds showcases at Scarlet and Grey Cafe.

This is a clip of The Lost Indians from that show:

Protean Rock

When people ask me what type of music The Neighbors play, I reply, "Protean Rock". Many people want to hear some sort of common genre description that would supposedly give them some idea of how we sound, but that is not possible or desirable for The Neighbors.

Jim decided to use the term 'protean' which comes from the Greek god Proteus, a shapeshifting sea-god who constantly changes forms.

pro·te·an
adj.
1. Readily taking on varied shapes, forms, or meanings.
2. Exhibiting considerable variety or diversity: "He loved to show off his protean talent" William A. Henry III.



By this point, The Neighbors have a repertoire of around 30 songs, along with a number of improvisational jams which have basic song structures that we often rework on stage.

Some of these songs feature classical sounding piano and guitar and some have heavily distorted rockish guitars. Still others have a poppy, western sort of groove to them. We also delve into psychedilia and electronic synthesizer sounds. Often many styles are combined within a song, hence the proteanity.

Amps Against Apathy - Amused

Remember that show that we played at Browning Amphitheater on April 24? You know, it was called Amps Against Apathy, the event held by Democracy Matters to promote fair voter-owned elections and fight corruption in the elective system?

Well, if you missed it, it was one of the greatest events I've ever been able to be a part of. The bands were awesome and it was a beautiful day. Democracy Matters had an important message to spread and they collected signed postcards from registered voters to help their cause.

Mike Cargioli didn't miss it! Thanks for the awesome camera work buddy!



This song is called "Amused". It's one of the classics.

Amused Lyrics:

So today I was reading in the New York Times newspaper
There was a man who remade the first submarine
And he rode in it through the water wearing only his boxers
And people waved and cheered, and photographed the scene.

Within 200 feet of a ship, he was apprehended
They thought they were stopping a terrorist attack.
The man said, "Well, I'm not much of a technician
So perhaps someday you can give me my submarine back"

And I was so amused, so amused
So amused by the world and the crazy people here
Ah, ah, ahh

So the other day I learned about an interesting parrot.
Read all about him on the BBC
He's got a 950 word vocabulary.
He makes funny jokes about other parrots and chimpanzees.

He loves to chat, and watches television.
You'll never see him stumble, stutter, or fall.
Poor folks have a lexicon of about 1000
And many of them can't tell jokes that are funny at all

I was so amused, so amused
So amused by the world and the crazy creatures

And I was so amused, I was fascinated
And overcome by the sensation
That the world, yeah the world
was ballin crazy.

Maybe I, Maybe I might fit in.

So the actress just checked out of the rehab clinic.
On her way out she said, "You'll be seeing more of me soon!"
Now she's back there again, and in the papers
The girl sure knows how to make the media boon.

She took off all of her clothes to taunt the other junkies
She did because she was stuck in a boring place.
Maybe I should go back to rehab and get my life straight.
Then, maybe I could get to see a naked actress' face.

And I'd be so amused, so amused
So amused by the world
Right on!

And I was so amused, I was fascinated
And overcome by the sensation
That the world, yeah the world
is ballin crazy.

Maybe I, Maybe I might fit in.

Hempfest Benefit - Code for Love

We opened up the Hempfest Benefit show with one of our most popular songs. This one is called "Code for Love".

A very special thanks goes out to Eric Summers for shooting this video.



Code for Love lyrics:

In the made-up realm of cyberland
My computer came down with viruses.
As we stumble down the super highway.
We'll scratch our names in the electron carpet, yeah.

Now the nerdies surf imprisoned in their rooms
Shoot lightning bolts from their mouses.
If a certain amount of ones and zeros could be turned to material things,
Will you believe how rich they are?

Now the wireless modems send porno waves to your hard drives and to our brains
Will you know if you are insane?
Living in a binary land of lightning now to find
To find the right, the right code for love!

And the climate feels all right today.
I'm getting such wonderful waves.

I want to show you my appreciation for you babe.
show you my appreciation for you babe.

You brought me into this place.
Ubiquity to my space.

I want to show you my appreciation for you babe.
I want to show you my appreciation for you babe.

Ah, Ah, Ah

Parking Lot Jam

On April 23, 2008, The Neighbors played a show at the High Five as I mentioned in the Hempfest Benefit show post. What you don't know is that some of the timing got messed up as usual, so while we were waiting in the parking lot for them to open the doors and let us set up, we decided to get our jam on right then and there. Zach was playing the guitar, so I filmed.



Zach Germaniuk of Red Sun and SSDP is playing guitar with Jim in preparation for their psychedelic electric side project called the Lost Indians which features numerous musicians in a free-form, experimental jam style.

More Lost Indians and Neighbors footage on the way...

Instrumentation - Drums

Jim Dickson sure loves drums. He's got a bunch of them.

This is his E-Drum Kit. It's a Yamaha DTXPress II Electronic Drumkit. I talked a little bit about it in the Friday Practice session post, but this drums post would complete the instrumentation section. (Until Jim learns how to play his accordion).



The DTXPress II has 48 preset drum kits, but you can mix and match all of the different instrument effects which include electro-drums, steel drums, gongs, and even birds and screams and crazy stuff like that. It also has preset drum loops like Jim sneakily uses at the end of the Shenanigans Jam.



He also has an acoustic drumset which he is very fond of. It's supposed to be really nice or something. Its a TAMA star classic performer series drumset in Aztec red fade with Sabian cymbals and a couple of Zyldian cymbals too. It's made out of 5-ply birch wood and the drums are all really large so it really kicks.



Partial Drumkit setup from the parking lot jam waiting for the Highfive to let us set up.

Jam of Shenanigans

Behold! This is an inside peek into what may or may not go on during The Neighbors Practice sessions. It is also an excellent example of why you shouldn't hand the camera over to your roommates when you are trying to make a SERIOUS MUSICAL DOCUMENTARY!! The resulting shenanigans are quite humorous however.



Points to notice:

Superb Ebow usage

Delay looping effect on the GNX pedal

Melodic arpeggio hits on the Edrums

Jim's Keyboard is not a stable place to put a camcorder.

Ebow Demonstration / GNX 4 Pedal

This is what it looks like when I use the Ebow. The Ebow creates an oscillating electromagnetic frequency that vibrates the string for infinite sustain and blah blah blah (See the Ebow post for more info)



I am also using the Wah effect on Jim's incredible pedal.



I gotta say... This pedal is the shit. Or, uh, to be more specific the Digitech GNX 4 has a Built-in 8-track recorder, USB I/O, MP3 playback, phantom-powered mic preamp, and endless combinations of customizable guitar effects. With everything from wah and yah to divebomb to retro effects, as well as the hilarious riffmatic effect which plays automatic arpeggios, its not just a pedal, its actually referred to as a "Guitar Workstation"