and awaaaay we go!

Spent a few hours assembling the website last night. Amazing how much detail you have to give the most mundane aspects of a webpage. As you can see, it's severely high-tech… I call it "Flash Pre-Beta," you can find pads of these in your company's supply closet!

Ran across a band called Lali Puna yesterday. Check them out… for fans of the Postal Service record, or even anything with MIDI beats, you'll dig them. I bought this record as a soundtrack to future jet lag, much the same as I did with Wilco's Summerteeth back in 1999.

come see us on my space if you have a minute.

Publish or Perish

Man o man,
For the second time, our website has gotten a potential traffic maker and has yet to be posted. I designed the logo for this years' Six Points Music Festival, and the site designer linked my name with the MFA page. The new site is ready to go, I just haven't had time to put it on-line. If you have found your way here from there, please stay tuned!

In other news, Arlington's Cowboy Cafe is closing after 15 years. Coincidentally, it would be a slammin place to put a music venue, if anyone can afford a lease and own and operate a club. Old Arlington is slowly succumbing to the glitz of whatever happened to Clarendon. I can only imagine rising rent played a hand in the Cowboys' demise. If otherwise, let me know, and I'll drop the rhetoric.

pax,
mc

St. Ides

I was going to say beware the Ides of March and all that, but the day came and went with little more than a phone call to a friend and an appointment to get my hair cut. Then I'd say beware letting your friends cut your hair around the Ides of March, but it's not like that. She's got cred.

Went to see none other than Laura Burhenn at Iota last night. Her set was rather truncated, but satisfying. Playing with only her drummer, I really didn't miss the bass or the guitar. Of course, I was humming bass lines in my head the whole time. Throat bass is so Butch Willis, I know.

Today I dub St. Ides Day. You are half way to St. Patricks Day, and half way away from the Ides of March. This day only comes once a year, don't waste it!

Not For Lack of Currency

Matt here. I walk into record stores with fear lots of the time. In full knowledge that my wallet could quickly empty, I keep finding things that I have been looking for for years. Luck? Fate's way of telling me consumerism is so NOW? Often under the pretense that I will someday take up a DJ residence at some obscuro electro-indie-alt-country-punk-house-hip hop club, records now line my floor. Actually, floors in two states.

Mark and I holed up this weekend to finish the last addition to Opening Flower and Happy Bird. We beat ourselves up for not being the geniuses we know we are, and ended up taking the long way around to a good track. Texting Jim for his input as to Quiet or Rock ("QUIET," he said), "I Was Electric" boasts a loop that Mark didn't know if it would work, and as much mellotron as your ears can handle.

Sometimes I think I shouldn't have been born IN the 70's, but born to play the freaky keyboards that were invented DURING the 70's. Of course, that would probably make me Genesis' biggest fan. Okay, I love the 00's. Back to reality.

Sleep Deprived… again

Sorry for having to cancel at the last minute, after picking the show up at the last minute. We promise not to do that often, or at all if possible. I didn't mean to alarm anyone with the mention of "emergency," thanks for your emails of concern. We're coping with an illness in the extended family and had to make a choice.

That being said, the weekend was pensive but rewarding. Being holed up in a cabin in the Poconos with no TV, Inspector Gadget 2 on DVD, and a fickle propane fireplace, what else do you resort to? That's right, a game– good old fashioned Charades! I got Warren Buffett and had to pass. How do you motion "super-rich tycoon?"

SHOW CANCELLED

Hey guys,
My Friend Autumn will NOT be appearing tonight at Staccato. There has been an emergency that Matt has to attend to.

Please go show some love to Audrey Ryan Band and Casey Abrams regardless.

Last Minute Show!

Dearest Radioland…
MFA will be playing Staccato Friday night in a last minute development. We will be sharing the bill with Casey Abrams and the Audrey Ryan Band, both from Boston.

"Everybody’s waitin’/Gettin’ crazy/Anticipating love and music/Play, play, yeah…"
copies of Opening Flower and Happy Bird will be available as a party favor! And if you have an extra appendix, please see us after the show. MFA crew represent.

Live at Budokan

Listening to one of the records that first made me want to rock: Live at Budokan by Cheap Trick. I forgive you for "The Flame," though I was too young to realize just how bad it was. But man, as soon as I had Live at Budokan to compare that to, or rather, the fury of thousands of screaming Japanese girls, my life changed and faux-hairband ballads were cast to the depths of nostalgia forever. We're all alright!

Went to the hollows of foliated kudzu that is North Carolina this weekend to see my mom and dad. After church Sunday morning, who should walk by but a lost interest from college. She and I worked everything out, but nevertheless, the abyss of post-collegiate relocation swallowed up what could have been left of a friendship. The thing is, I didn't recognize her immediately, and therefore, didn't have a chance to say hi in the midst of the throng exiting mass. She walked past, and into some Cusackian morning swimmingly alive in my head. Was she married? Did she have kids? She looked happy. Then again, she always looked happy.

In honor of this event, I, Matt of MFA, present:

My All Time Top 5 records when I was approx. 9:
Beach Boys "Concert"
Bob Seger "Like A Rock"
The Highwaymen "The Highwaymen"
Duran Duran "Seven and the Ragged Tiger"
Dire Straits "Brothers in Arms"

Lovely.

Please point your browsers to justification for the existence of the internet.

We here at MFA would like to thank the internet. We love you.

New Agey Nonsense

There are few things I enjoy more than the feeling of interconnectedness amongst people. You know, finishing sentences, long cerebral discussions (sadly, as I grow older, these get fewer and fewer), and little existential proof that we are not just amoeba floating through some kind of time tracked void of lightness.

I was thinking earlier of being down in Richmond a few years ago. Patrick used to live just outside the reaches of urbania, in a place called Powhatan. My brother and I would go down periodically to visit and to escape our awkward adult lives in DC. We were driving back from a climbing gym where Pat worked, Dan climbed, and I contemplated getting exercise, on a very sunny late autumn afternoon. The trees were mostly stripped bare of any last jagged sandpaper leaves, yet strangely the fading sun was quite warm, zipping about in my old VW through once lush Virginia backwater.

Listening to a mixtape a friend had made the previous year, we came about "New Paths To Helicon Pt. 2" by Mogwai pulling out of a gas station and turned it way up. Just as the droney mellow part gave way to the ethereal noisebath that is the second part, we passed into a portion of road lined with trees. The strobing effect of the sun through the trees coupled with the ambient wail that is New Paths to Helicon nearly tore my scalp off with goosebumps, adrenaline and near epileptic sunlight.

I said something like "holy crap!" to Dan, he responded with an exasperated "I know…"

It was a moment that justified my love of music, needing no explanation other than cutting down to the tendrils to a place where there is nothing left but sound and light.


Reading: "Steven King: On Writing"

In Your Ear

Matt gets all the fun. Bloggin’ all the time. Hey there, It’s me, Jim. Who? Very funny. Yes… I know I haven’t been around lately. No, it’s not you. Um, come on, that’s not fair. Of course I didn’t forget about you. Ok, fine be that way, if you must.

I’ve been a busy bee with lots of different band stuff going on at once.

MFA will be in Inner Ear soon to finish up the studio portion of our record. I love working with Matt and Nick in this setting so I’m looking forward to recording more. This will be the 3rd time in there with Matt and 4th time working with Nick. I think the idea this time is we are going to take a day off of the grind to get into the studio. I love this idea. I don’t think I’ve ever been there during the day, during the week.

Lavajet is back to playing out again! Feb 23 at DC9. Looks like we may have some new tunes. I’m really liking the new songs, some of them have a totally different feel from what

people are used to with LavaJet. Oh, and it’s Paul’s coming out party. I almost forgot that we haven’t played out with him yet.

My seasonal side project, Potato Famine, has been asked to play in a battle of the bands in NYC at the Knitting Factory. It’s been a dream of mine to play at this place. I really dig the vibe they have there. 3 floors with music on each floor. How can you go wrong! Everyone should come with me for this one.

The Actor and The Waitress

After a night of much needed catch-up sleep, this morning I disembarked the bus for the blue line at Pentagon. Has anyone else encountered the menacing Pentagon police there? It's quite strange to be commuting half-awake past men who are hyper-alert carrying large machine guns. I'm not up on my weaponry, but there was probably enough firepower in those cartridges to lay waste to every single human on that bus in about 5 seconds. Walking past, I smiled meagerly and looked one of these policemen right in the eye.

After playing the sleep depravation game, I am glad to be back in the world of clarity. Watched 3 episodes of Project Greenlight last night and, surprise, surprise, am now inspired to rewrite an old song in need of less venom, about an actor who is writing a screenplay. No, I will not call the song Garden State.

Opening Flower and Happy Bird

This week has been back to business as normal. By that, I mean imagining album and EP titles and seeing if they stick. We've come a long way since first laying down tracks on our EP, and we are just about done mixing now. It always amazes me to hear how a recording progresses. To hear where Mark would add a little reverb or EQ a portion of the recording, and how better just a little work makes it sound.

Our strategy was to lay down some live drums and guitar, and then overdub everything else. The songs were 90% written when they came in, it just took learning them and ultimately a little re-writing. In the end, most songs don't total more than 8 tracks. In a burst of simplicity, we ended up cutting keyboard parts out– figuring that less is more. And since we aren't doing an ELO record, what is the point of one… more… synth…?

So there you have it. Our first foray into modern recorded history: "Opening Flower and Happy Bird" EP is done! We will be working on the packaging and tweaking the final mix throughout the weekend. Look forward to some shows to promote this succulent record! We also have some surprises up our collective sleeve, stay tuned!

There Is A Light That Never Goes Out

Last night wandered through the haze of running on 5 hours of sleep to our show at DC9 with the zeal of a proud father having watched his child win a soccer game, only at 2am on a schoolnight. Really, the buzz of doing something of value– in this case raising over $1,400 for the children affected by the tsunami– has carried me and then some. Jim and I played a more "rock" set (eschewing the slower numbers) and covered the prince of rock darkness: Elmo ("I Don't Want To Live On The Moon").

I remarked to Anne how I wish that every day I could do something fulfilling like the fundrasier, and she mentioned that if that were possible it would be exhausting. But really, I always end up doing things the only way I know how: like an insane idiot. Jumping right in feet first and worrying about details- sleeping, eating– later.

That being said, playing with Private Eleanor and Alcian Blue last night was a pleasure, honor and priviledge. I am only beginning to get Alcian Blue's nuances, and what they do blows me away. So dense and driving, yet intricate. Just as much, I am only slowly climbing out of social-awkwardness and genuinely meeting other bands. It's so strange, these people in other bands have the same motivations, the same passion, and the same interests to being playing in bands at roughly the same age, yet I somehow always fall prey to my own schisms. Not sure if that stems from my own, amateurish deification of all things music, or if it's some deeply rooted social anxiety, but I seem to rest myself somewhere close to slackjawed or googily-eyed and self-concious about whether I am coming across like a dick. It's the same thing that really prevented me from dating in college.

Funny? Maybe. Marcia Toms, where are you now?

Bundle up, baby it's cold outside.

Massive!

Indie Rock Karaoke for the Children was booming last night… oh my! Attempting to cross the floor at 10:30 last night mid-song, I realized my efforts were futile, and started appreciating the crowd. It wasn't our usual faithfuls who come to our shows and support us in other endeavors, it was scene containing several circles of friends, all there to see one another bastardize and rock out songs some of us know, but we all love.

Part Karaoke and part DJ night, Indie Rock Karaoke Night for the Children really hit a nerve. Where else can you see Guided By Voices mimicked (with beer, flying kicks,mic twirls et al) side-by-side with straight edge anthems (with fists clenched in all of their marker X'd glory?) along with James, The Postal Service, The Ramones, Throwing Muses, and on and on? I'm talking vibe… it was on. IRKFC brings people together. Dare I say we're the model UN of Indie Rock?

We would like to thank everyone involved for helping raise $1,296.00 for OXFAM. It wouldn't have been nearly as fun had you not been there.

But that is only 1/2 of MFA's musical agenda for the week… join us tonight at DC9 for our show with Alcian Blue and Private Eleanor. Doors open at 9. We go on first, so please, do what you must.

The Post, Karaoke for Kids, et al

So we're in the Post for the Karaoke night. They put the emphasis on the fact that it's Indie Rock, we'd like to keep the focus on that it's for the children. We've put a concerted effort into getting our flyers out, hopefully it'll fly. Tom hit DC last night, Jim and I canvassed Arlington Wednesday night. I plan on making a sweep through Adams Morgan and Dupont tonight.

Have you been outside? DC has returned to "normal" after the cowboy hat and fur parade, but it's freezing. Bring on the snow. Bring it! I stood on the roof of my building watching the snow fall the other day… very zen. Be the snow.

Indie Rock Karaoke (for the Children)

Ladies and Gents,
Do your part… please. We are proud to announce our participation in Indie Rock Karaoke for the Children, a benefit for Oxfam International's Tsunami Relief Fund. We got together with our friends in LavaJet devised the plan. Please visit Indie Rock Karaoke's Site for more information. We will be your hosts for the evening, therefore, a massively entertaining night is in store. Big thanks to James at Staccato for helping us put this together at the last minute!

Pax,
mc

Hut Hut Hike

Jim in the hizzo. Loved the Galaxy Hut show last night. I had some cymbal malfunctions and I forgot how a song I played only 2 times before went, but other than that, the set went well. After the malfunctions I felt a little out of it, but I got though it with little damage. Overall, when things got going it was fun to be playing for a great group of friends in one of my favorite places in the whole world. Julie fed us Yeungling all night and Pink Noise rocked the house before us. They were a good example of how bands can blend modern sounds without sounding like a Radiohead tribute band. I hope they come through town again.



Cool, we were in the Washington Post.



Do bands need managers? I am mostly on the no manager side of things, but Pink Noise’s manger was very cool and picked our brains for places to play in Pittsburgh, Baltimore and DC. I guess if you are going to have a manager, pick one that does a good job! I think for the most part I do not mind doing manager type stuff, but most musician types hate it. Kim from Jawbox once said that bands that think they need a manager really need an accountant. That seems to be my philosophy. I like to be in control of where I play, so I don’t know if I would give that up to a manager. If we pick a bad place to play, I want it to be my fault.
Thanks to our friends for hanging with us last night. We do this for you... Ok. For us mostly, but for you too.

Melatonin

Matt here. Sleep depravation is definitely my drug of choice. There is something about the bare minimum of sleep that gives you a slight edge on perception… if I sleep just barely not enough, I'm sluggish. When I sleep only a few hours, interrupted, my mind takes to a state where every thought is a staggering work of genius. I've written entire novels in my head only to have them thrown out when my concious brain takes over, being soooo smart (and well rested).

The fact that I have spent a great deal of the past two years alternately half-awake or half-asleep underscores this. A creative drought all but ended my previous band… now songs I started when I was 20 are being finished to the point of releasing. It's as if subconsciously I am sending myself back to the days in school when I would stay up all night just because I could, wanting to see what it would do to my capacity to function. The stakes are a bit higher now. I am also attempting this without the safety net of coffee. Don't try this at home kids.

We're finishing up work on our EP this weekend. Mark has really added a lot to the process, humor and a sense of adventure. I second Jim's note about working with people who are as into music as I am… we get the same vibe from Nick Anderson. By the way, I need to call Nick, we have a record to finish!

Your humble servant,
Silence Dogood

So This Is The New Year

Hey guys, Matt here,
Sorry for the lag of communique… I had to eat my way out of a coma, only to drink myself back into one. Luckily, with a little help from Arrested Development Season One on DVD, sanity has been regained. Or at least conciousness.

Please give whatever you can to the disaster relief efforts for Southeast Asia. The day of the quake/tsunami (evening here), I was having drinks with my good friend Ramsay who had just returned from a 3 month trip around the area. He and his girlfriend Kelly had opted to do some humanitarian work in the mountains of Thailand for the final two weeks of their trip as opposed to two weeks on the beach near Phuket. They returned home December 10th. I haven't yet talked to him since learning about the disaster, but it's nagged me that a few decisions later, they could have very well been in the wrong place at the wrong time. I am forever grateful.

Think about 9/11, then imagine that had happened at every major city on the East Coast. We're talking 125,000 people gone in a flash. I was reading The North Atlantic's blog at myspace.com/thenorthatlantic, and Cullen was mentioning visiting a juvenile rehab detention center making him grateful for loving parents. Post-tsunami, I am just grateful for everything. Generations are lost. They say 1/2 of the lost are children.

My mind is so jumbled with feelings about this tragedy, the scope of which I cannot comprehend. Just please give what you can… be aware that some organizations have reached their capacity, and that some cannot process your contribution for a few weeks if not months. This shouldn't matter as I am sure they could use the assistance.

Thanks… I'll try to lighten up a bit.