Yes

A few hours ago I made yet another long winded entry complaining about music, but I decided not to post it publicly. I thought about it a lot and decided that while I undoubtedly needed to get it all out of my system, there was no reason to post what was in the entry. I didn't bash anyone in particular, I just feel that it would be unnecessary negativity. This may not seem like a big deal to you, but holding back any amount of negativity is a VERY big deal for me.

Lately I've just been sitting in my apartment as usual. I just wake up, sit down on the computer for a few hours, maybe watch something on T.V., and wait for Julia to come home. We'll make dinner and watch Seinfeld, then sometimes I'll go to the gym with Jere around 8:30. Julia goes to bed around 11 or 12, and from there I stay up all night until like 4 or 5 am either by myself, or over at Mike's while trying to make music. I don't really do anything that interesting.

The other night we finished writing what will be the final song of our 4 song E.P. The song is called "Let's Get Away". For some reason, I just didn't have much to contribute to the song other than maybe a few minor melody suggestions, and a lyric or 2, so I feel like this song is going to be credited to just Mike. Rightfully so. I'm all about giving credit when due, and credit is definitely due there. Mike also started writing what will be the second track on the E.P., so all we need to do is finish writing that, demo the 2 songs, rehearse them as a live band, and start laying them down in the studio.

We're going to be recording the E.P. at The Outpost, which is basically right across the street from my apartment. Mike and I have discussed having Joe, Conor, and Keith play live to a metronome, and recording Conor and Keith's parts. Joe will serve as a live aide to enhance the live feel, and will overdub his guitars afterward. Once we get the drums, bass, and rhythm guitars tracked, we're going to ship all the files to Mike's and record vocals, keyboards, and additional guitar overdubs along with anything else we think of. Once we're done tracking at Mike's, we'll send the files back to Jim at The Outpost and have him mix it. If all goes according to plan, this will be our best/biggest sounding release to date. We're going to call the E.P. "Walk Into The Fire", and there has been loose talk of shooting a music video for the title track.

This E.P. marks the dawn of a new era for Energy due to Mike Rendini's songwriting contributions. If there are Energy fans out there that want us to remain a fast paced, hardcore punk band forever (which I'm sure there are), then we're going to disappoint you with this release, and almost certainly with all future releases. I'm not saying that we won't write another song like that ever again, it's just that I feel we operate better as a band when playing songs like the ones on our new E.P. Not to mention the caliber songs that we're churning out now (again thanks to Mike) just wouldn't sound good if we forced them over fast music. We'll always be up for playing certain Punch The Clock or Invasions Of The Mind songs live, but as far as new material goes...we just have to progress and push forward. There are only so many songs we can write with that same fast drum beat before it seems like we're writing the same song over and over again. I will say this though: If you like good music in general, you will like our new stuff.

In other news, I haven't washed my hair since March 29th. You'd think my hair smells, is disgusting, knotted up, and just gross, but it's quite the opposite. You actually don't need to wash your hair with shampoo and/or conditioner...ever. Shampoo actually strips your hair of the natural healthy oils that conditioners only temporarily put back into your hair. Not to mention that from what I've read, there are certain oils and minerals that your scalp naturally produces that conditioners DON'T replace. Washing your hair in the shower with warm water is good enough. My hair has never looked/felt better.

Don't believe me? Maybe you'll believe Andrew W.K.

This is where I initially got the idea from, then I started reading into it more only to find out that he is 100 percent correct. This will prove to be way less of a pain in the ass when I'm touring because I won't need to carry around a big bottle of shampoo and a big bottle of conditioner in my bag.

I do plan on getting my hair trimmed soon, hopefully this weekend or next week. I will be able to do this because someone is buying my X watch from me for 300 dollars. I was initially going to get a camera with this money so that I can start messing around with photography, but we need to pay some bills with some of the money, and the remaining money isn't enough towards a good camera. Julia told me to get myself some things that I need because she will have enough money to get a camera on June 2nd. I plan on buying some new jeans, a bunch of solid black T-shirts, a haircut, new shoes (possibly), and the Danzig lyric book (yes I NEED it).

ALSO, I forgot to mention that I made an appointment for May 25th to start getting some of the hours of tattoos that are owed to me. I am owed 12 to be exact. I can't wait. It's been over 2 years since I've gotten tattooed.

I really don't have much to complain about in life. I have a girlfriend that I'm in love with, she pays for me to have a place to live, food for me to eat, I have constant access to 2 computers at once...one of which is hooked up to my HD LCD flat screen T.V. where I can watch any of the THOUSAND gigabytes worth of videos I have on my hard drive, a Sidekick LX...I'm getting 12 hours of free tattoos, Jere has a free guest pass with his gym membership so I've been going all the time with him for free, and my band is writing our best material yet. Why would anyone in my situation complain? I couldn't tell you really, but I do...and I know that I shouldn't. That's human nature though. No matter how good someone has it, they'll find something that they are unhappy with. Sorry for being human.

I think I'm done with this update. I'll end it with

Currently listening to: