Beach Boys' and Ramones' influence on SpongeBob

I remember going to see The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie a few years ago when it came out at the cinema, and it struck me how many great songs there were in the movie. A song called "The Best Day Ever" by SpongeBob & The Hi-Seas (sung by SpongeBob's voice actor Tom Kenny) is one of them, and listening back to it recently I realised how much it sounded like the whole of Pet Sounds by the Beach Boys. So doing a bit of research I found out that the song was co-written and produced by Andy Paley, someone who has indeed worked with Brian Wilson in the past, and you can definitely see Wilson's influence in this song.



After being released on the movie soundtrack, the track also became part of another SpongeBob release, SpongeBob SquarePants: The Best Day Ever, and Brian Wilson himself was actually involved in this album, recording all the backing vocals on a track called "Doin’ the Krabby Patty". Paley phoned him up to take part and he apparently agreed because he has two daughters who are big SpongeBob fans, so Tom Kenny went to pick him up in his car.

Tommy Ramone shows up on the album as well, playing drums on a Ramonescore track called "Ridin' The Hook". Amazing.

Chiptune Alliance Tour 2008

Last night, my band, Spheres of Chaos played at the Sheffield date of the Chiptune Alliance Tour 2008, and it was so much fun, probably the best gig we've played thus far as a band. The other artists on the bill were Firebrand Boy, syphus, Random and Sabrepulse, all of whom were top guys.

We had loads of people turn up, and it was just great to see so many quality chiptune acts in one place. Everyone was so into the music and there was such a great vibe going on. Things are really taking off with VGM and chiptune in the UK, changing from something that was just a load of people on the internet into awesome events like this. There were a couple of people filming the whole thing too, with one guy planning to put a documentary of the tour together, so I'm gonna try and put some video footage up in the Gamewave Podcast feed at some point.

Anamanaguchi were meant to be playing on the night too, but they ended up getting deported again! I hear their new album's nearly ready for release though, which should be very cool.

Again, I've uploaded some photos of the night (mainly SoC) up onto Facebook.

Nova drum sticks

So the other day the time came for me to buy some new drum sticks. I probably buy about 4 pairs every 7 or 8 months due to breakage, and now I think about it I've probably spent quite a lot of money on sticks over the years - something I wouldn't be doing if I played guitar or another instrument. And for what they are, I think drum sticks are a bit overpriced really, so I'm always looking for the cheapest way of buying them.

The sticks I usually get these days are Vic Firth American Classic 5BN sticks. I used to buy Pro-Mark because one of my favourite drummers endorsed them, but they would break really easily, so I switched to Vic Firth, and they last nearly twice as long I'd say. I used to play 2BNs as well, but they were just a bit too bulky, and 5BNs are a good average sized stick, so allow you quite a bit of flexibility in regard to different styles of playing.

Last time I bought my sticks I got a really good bulk deal on eBay, but I couldn't find any such deal this time, so I just went to an online shop I've used before. Here though I found a brand of sticks called Nova, who I'd heard of before, but never bought, and they were nearly half the price of the Vic Firths. Although there's not much information about the brand online, I did a bit of research and found that they are actually made by Vic Firth using the same wood as their other sticks, but Nova sticks are made out of wood that has slight imperfections and can't be used for their top-line range. They're still weight-matched and stuff though, and at £4.95 instead of £7.95 I thought I'd give them a go. I mean how much can an imperfection in the wood really affect your playing? I'm more bothered about how long they last. And the sticks came this morning, so once I've had a go with them I'll post a bit of a review online.

I'll also post a review or something of the new Batman film soon, which seems to be absolutely everywhere I look at the moment. Hopefully gonna see it sometime this week.

I break metal

A week since my last post?! Not that much has happened really. I've been enjoying listening to Controller 1 by Shnabubula though. This is some really awesome chiptune action that gets better with each listen; I recommend you check it out whether you know what chiptunes are or not. Also, the new SoC EP is just about ready to be released on Pterodactyl Squad. It's been ages since we actually recorded these 4 songs, but I'm really pleased with the result.

I mentioned a few weeks ago that one of my cymbal stands broke whilst I was playing my kit. Well, my other stand also broke in exactly the same place a couple of days ago! It's craziness. Either they were really bad stands or I'm playing too hard (by the way, you can never play too hard). But these stands are made of METAL! I've ordered two new ones, and until then I can't really play drums.

Note to future self

When I grow up I want a big drum kit and a table football in my house.

Today

Today's been pretty decent. The new netlabel I've been working on for the past few weeks/months finally launched this morning. The label's called Pterodactyl Squad and you can find it at www.ptesquad.com. It's similar to what I'm doing with my podcast and the band.

In the afternoon I went home for a bit to see my family, and then I played drums in the band up at church in the evening. It was nice to play on a full kit again. At my place the room where I have my drums is really small, and so to make space for other people to practise I've removed the toms. And then the other week when I was playing, my ride cymbal STAND broke - the metal actually snapped - so I'm playing a heavily simplified kit at the moment. It means I've been concentrating on playing tight, simple beats recently, but it's not much fun.

It was good to have a break from all the revision for my upcoming tests I've been doing, and the weather was nice today too - no rain, all sunshine. That's what I like to see.

Bomb the Music Industry!

I first heard the band Bomb the Music Industry! on the Ska Is Dead compilation, and I was impressed with their fast-ska/punk-with-synth sound. I recently heard an interview with them as part of a podcast that I really like - Sound Scene Revolution - and during the interview they talked about the fact that they release all their music for free, hence the name. The have their own label, Quote Unquote Records, which releases full albums by BtMI! as well as other artists for free and runs through receiving PayPal donations.

Now I'm quite involved with netlabels and such, and my band releases all our stuff for free too, but it's good to see a band get this big doing so. OK, they're not massive, but quite a few people know who they are, and their music is cool. This kind of thing raises some serious questions about the future of music. I don't have a problem at all with people making money from the music that they make - I believe that if you're paid to make music, you're going to have more time and maybe motivation to make great music. But I do have a problem with the way the buying of music is organised currently, so my hope is that as more and more bands start releasing stuff for free we might start to see a breakdown and rearranging of the music industry.

I picked up my new 17" Z Custom Rock Crash cymbal from the shop yesterday. And I'm happy to say that it sounds as good as I hoped it would. Usually when I buy a new crash cymbal it takes quite a lot of playing to get used to the sound, but this one took me about 4 hits before I liked it. It isn't the most distinctive sounding cymbal, but it just sounds so rich and cutting. It does have quite a long sustain, but that's probably the only negative for me. I'm glad I stepped up an inch from what I'm used to; it's loud and powerful, and I can't wait to get back to playing it.

It's my birthday again

I'd say I'm settled in at my new place now. I've been here for over 3 weeks, and I've managed to establish some sort of routine. And routine is quite important for me. I don't like having my life disrupted too much, but it's inevitable when big things like moving house happen.

It's actually my 20th birthday today. I'm not doing much else other than going out for a meal with my family tonight. I'm not particularly excited. I guess that's how it is from now on. And 20, that sounds like a big number and I don't like it too much. I'll probably just end up getting money, which I will be spending on a new crash cymbal.

Even after having the original crack cut out of my current crash cymbal, another formed just above the cut. Whilst it's a bit annoying, I'm not too surprised, and it does mean that I get to buy a new crash. My current cymbal setup is all Paiste, but after this crack I thought I'd try something else and I've decided to splash out on a Zildjian cymbal. Although they are the most expensive brand of cymbals, they are also widely regarded as the highest quality brand too. I've not really played too many Zildjians, but I've always been impressed with them when I have. I've put a deposit down on a Zildjian 17" Z Custom Rock Crash. I decided to go for something from the Z Custom line as they are apparently highly durable, and the sound sample on the Zildjian website sounds great. I look forward to picking it up and playing it soon.

I've been intending to get a Wii for a while too, and I assumed my birthday would be the time I would finally go through with it and buy one, but it looks like I'm going to have to wait a little longer (maybe Christmas?). I don't think I'll have enough spare cash and I probably won't have enough time to play it that often as well. I'm forecasting quite a busy year ahead. Now I have the internet I'm going to work on getting a few episodes of my podcast released as well as setting up a video game style music netlabel I'm working on. I'm also starting a new band with a friend from university. Yeah, I'm gonna be pretty busy.

Cymbal repair

The Simpsons Movie comes out in two days time. Although I don't watch The Simpsons anywhere near as much as I used to I'm still looking forward to seeing this. I remember hearing about a Simpsons movie for the first time years and years ago, and this feels like quite an important event for Generation Y. I do think they should stop making the TV series now though, before everyone just gets sick of it. Take a look at the website for the movie, where you can create yourself, Simpsons style. Pretty cool.

I recently cracked my 16" Paiste Power Crash cymbal (just before recording with my band, which was a pain). I was fairly annoyed, as I've had the cymbal for under two years. Though reading up on the cause of cymbal cracks has led me to loosen the tightness of the felt washers on my stand, as well as swiping at the cymbal rather than hitting it more directly when I'm playing.

At first I just planned to consign the crash to my spare cymbal pile and buy a new one, but I discovered there are quite a few ways to salvage a damaged cymbal. I tried drilling a hole above the small crack to prevent it from advancing, but I didn't really have a strong enough drill, so that didn't work.

Luckily though I have a friend who said his dad would be able to sort out the cymbal at his workplace. I asked him to cut out the crack totally, which he did. This method makes sure that the crack is gone completely, but it can also alter the sound quite a bit. I've found that the cymbal is now quite dull and has lost a lot of its cut, but I do actually like the sound, as my cymbal was a bit too bright and shimmering for my liking anyway. It's slightly more awkward to play now, as my stick will sometimes catch the cut, but I'm pleased I haven't had to fork out for a new cymbal just yet.

Here are a couple of pictures of the cut. The black lines are just marks indicating where to cut.

Beat 2007

I attended an event at the Crucible theatre yesterday called Beat 2007. It was a drumming exhibition, organised by local drummer Toni Canelli. It was good fun, with a drum corps, drumming competition and clinic from a guy called Pete Biggins. Some of the younger kids who entered the competition were actually better than me, and it reminded me again that I need to start taking lessons sometime soon. But the clinic was amazing. I'd never been to a live clinic before, but this guy put on the best drumming performance I've ever seen. He played a ten minute solo to start off, with some mind-blowing fills and timekeeping, then went on to talk a little about playing with a click track.

Today I'd intended to go to an automobile exhibition in Sheffield. It's not normally my kind of thing, but this one had the actual cars from Back To The Future and the 1989 Batman film, the De Lorean and the Batmobile. Would've been cool, but no-one I knew wanted to go.

The Police

I've recently been listening to The Police a lot. My family has a greatest hits album of Sting and The Police, so I'm used to hearing them, but as my appreciation and understanding of music increases I've been listening to them much more out of choice.

Their songs are incredibly catchy, lyrically and musically, and the band have a unique sound, unparalleled during the 70s, 80s and now. Tracks often have quite a dreamy, soft feel, probably due to the bass and guitar sounds and reggae-influenced playing styles - a good description I've heard used is "soft punk". But this is contrasted with the sharp, energetic drumming of Stewart Copeland.

I remember hearing before that Copeland was one of the world's most recognised drummers, and when I was younger I couldn't really see why (I also remember hearing Roxanne for the first time when I was a kid and thinking the song was really boring). I thought his playing was inconsistent and all over the place, but now I can see why people respect his style so much. Copeland grew up in the Middle East, and this apparently contributed to his unconventional sense of rhythm present in many Police songs. In fact, unusually for a drummer, Copeland formed the band and was an important creative force. From listening to The Police I've tried to implement some of Copeland's flair and emphasis on accents into my own style.

I recently saw the program on stadium rock which the BBC showed as part of their Seven Ages of Rock series. I didn't realise The Police had basically been the biggest band on the planet back in the 80s, something that contributed to their rather sudden break-up. It's no wonder their current reunion tour has sold out all over the place. I hope the band continue to tour together, as I'd like to see them one day.

Further reading: Stewart Copeland Wikipedia article and Seven Ages of Rock page

Drummerworld

Today I took a break from studying. I went out with the family for lunch at a gastropub in town and in the afternoon I browsed around on www.drummerworld.com. On this site there are individual pages for many famous drummers and on the pages of the more well known drummers there are sound files and videos. I can spend quite a while on this site just reading, watching and listening.

In fact, I've really been enjoying drums lately, even more than I did already. I've started listening to an audio podcast called Drummer Talk, which is presented well by a drum teacher and his students from the US. The show keeps me up to date with the latest drum happenings and products, as well as educating me on quite a few aspects of drumming. Having never really taken lessons I learn quite a lot from the show and I've started to do a few things differently since listening - I've changed my choice of drumsticks and I'm now more conscious of listening to more varied styles of music in order to improve my ability. There was a great show released recently called "Tunes every drummer should here!" in which the hosts explored listener song suggestions.

Music is everywhere these days, but I feel that drummers sometimes don't get enough attention. I kind of like this situation though, as it makes you feel part of a secret club. But as the internet is great for finding information and media on niche subjects, I guess drummers don't feel so alone any more.

Another podcast I've just subscribed to is unirunner - Video Drum Lessons. This podcast has short instructional videos which are simple and easy to follow. I've also subscribed to a video podcast called HOW TO: Record Drums, but haven't watched any of the episodes yet. Podcasts are great.

Easter break is here

I've been listening to a lot of Rage Against The Machine lately. My respect and admiration for that band grows constantly. Their music is just so powerful, lyrically and musically. Their 1992 self-titled release has to be one of the best albums of all time. There are so many good tracks on there it's crazy. I love how simple and clear this album sounds, yet everything is just so dynamic. I especially enjoy the funky bass and Brad Wilk's drumming - he really knew how to use the snare drum to create a groove, and there's quite a minimal usage of toms, but every rhythm is killer. Amazing stuff.

Easter break is here. I finally have some time off again, although I have a test after the holidays and an essay to write soon. My band are hoping to write some new songs during the break - that should be fun.

Last night I went to a ska night at the university. It was good fun. I used to be really into ska and it'll always be a form of music I really enjoy. There's not much else like it.

Also, for my podcast we recently recorded an interview with one of my favourite bands - Anamanaguchi. It's a cool video, check it out at the podcast website.

Friday

It's the end of another week. I have quite a few things to do this weekend. I have to pick up some new hi-hat cymbals from a drum shop in Rotherham. The manufacturer's website describes the cymbals as having an "Explosive, clear and open sound with a meaty and cutting chick", which is the kind of sound I'm going for (I like reading descriptions of cymbal sounds like this, it's interesting to see sounds put into words).

It's been surprisingly hard to get hold of the exact cymbals I want, and as I've ordered them by putting down a deposit I have to purchase them without actually having a chance to test them out beforehand (I have listened to some audio samples on the manufacturers website, but it's not the same). In my experience, specific drums and cymbals are quite hard to get hold of. Shops generally carry only popular lines, are often more expensive than internet shops and there aren't that many drum shops around. The alternative, buying through internet shops, means you can't test items out before purchasing them though. This shop in Rotherham is relatively big, and it's good to see so many drum related objects in one room.

Also this weekend, I have the podcast to record and I should be going to an all day metal festival in town with a friend.

Recently, a friend and I restarted work on a documentary we originally conceived just under a year ago. It's going to be a documentary about what's fashionable and cool, much inspired by the work of Morgan Spurlock, Michael Moore and other similar documentary makers. We did some filming a while back, but we've been too lazy or had too many commitments to make any real progress on it. I've always liked documentaries - they can be much more engrossing than movies because they're dealing with real life - and I'm quite excited to start work on this project again.

Also, I read recently that Rage Against The Machine, one of my favourite and most personally influential bands, are reforming for a performance at a Californian music festival called the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival in April of this year. I was really surprised to hear this. Maybe it's because I wasn't a fan of RATM whilst they were together and have no experience of them being part of current or new music. In a way, I kind of like the fact that they're not together any more. Their last album really wasn't that good.

My friend Ben Nuttall recently put up a link to this blog on his blog, so I thought it'd only be fair to mention him back. In fact, it might be a good idea to put up my own 'blog roll'. Ben's cool, he's into parkour and Tenacious D.

Christmas

Christmas Day is now done. It was fun, although it was the least excited I've ever been about Christmas. Which is probably good actually, because the day never lives up to expectations anyway. I got up at around 10am and opened the presents from my parents, then read a comic up until lunch. As always we opened the remainder of our presents after eating and I got some cool gifts. After that we watched The Wizard of Oz on DVD, which I've never actually watched before. It was a remastered version or something - it was really colourful and looked good for an older film; I enjoyed it. We then played Monopoly, watched some TV and the day was finished.

I now have some money to spend that isn't part of my student loan/grant. I think I'm going to buy some new cymbals for my drum kit, which should be cool. I like adding to my drum kit, customising it like a car or something. When the shops have stocked up on Wii again I think I'll buy one of those too.

I think I'm going to have to start doing some studying soon though, which always sucks.