shawn avery

i listened to the new nin album. not as good as the downward sprial, but better than the fragile... or at the very least, more focused. it sounds a bit too perfect though. thus is the problem with living in 2005. everything looks and sounds 100% hi-res digital perfect. many projects in motion. all of them good with the exception of the drum sound on the ashes song "lovers in antipodes." it's kinda crap. must re-think. re-examine. the various ashes sites online are being updated. we are in "dim" mode right now as we are getting ready to make the final push toward a complete and possibly double album.

the byrd sisters + their cousin brittany are filling up my head today with the vocal harmonies they recorded on sat. they are so talented and they are only 18 and 20. i think they will do well to say the least. i heard the new coldplay single last wednesday at the in-store that we played. i heard it again three times today. i like the song, which if you didn't know is called "speed of sound." but i liked it more when it was called - "clocks."

this weekend i went to mobile to see the dead sea scrolls exhibit w/ my mom. i have to admit i was impressed. i got back in town sat. afternoon and the ladies from the band long story short came over to record more background vocals. they are geniuses. they basically took over one of our songs ('dreams') and completely made it their own. i'm devastated, its so good.

yesterday i played three shows with jesse payne's band. the morning appearance on tv fox 6 went quite well. the broadcast mix left much to be desired, but that was expected since the same bad mix was broadcast for the ashes performance on fox 6 back in july 2003. the fox 6 appearance... 7:45 load in. 8:25 soundcheck. 8:40 - performances of two songs. did some errands mid-day, then went to jesse's house to do a quick rehearsal for our in-store performance. that was about 3:15 or so. at 4:00 we loaded in at workplay and did the soundcheck. at 6:00 we loaded into laser's edge cd store and did a half hour acoustic thing. just jesse and myself. it sounded quite good. could have been a bigger crown though. then, back to workplay, about 7:00, home to change / eat... back to workplay at 8:45. opening band ended at 9:10. we started our set about 9:30? the first half was tentative. this band has never played workplay, although three of the four members have played here before in othe...

some weeks should never happen. poor sleep. depression. poison oak. second thoughts. too many cokes. pondering 31... and everything post bham. bad work week. mistakes. procrastination. i watched a hilarious show on tbn about the rapture. let my opinion be clear. the raptuare. tribulation. an antichrist... animatronic talking worship idols inside a rebuilt jewish temple = bullshit. i have sad news for you. it's NOT gonna happen. everyone go home. plug in your xbox. st. peter whined about the end of days. as did the first holy roman emperor... as did michelangelo. it's a farce. if you believe it, you are a sucker, sucker. believe in christ if you like, that's cool... but tribulation. damnation. your soul's eternal percolation? c'mon. even a rat in a sewer knows the concept of hell, or an anti-christ is laughable. in the inuit/eskimo culture... their version of hell is a very very cold place. christianity... the church at least, began in rome. now i dunno about you bu...

it's been five years since my path in life was altered for me. in a bad way. in five months, it will change again. in a good way. i had a horrid experience at the 22nd street jazz cafe on saturday night. some people should come with warning labels. there's lots of dead people in the news. the new nin cd better rock. if trent releases a lemon, all is lost. i watched "the office" last night. damn funny. our new album might be techinically released as a book - which means in theory, it could be adapted in to a motion picture. i'm dreaming of europe at the same time, planning trips to brazil and nyc...