'The Complex'

I just re-listened to the radio show which I hosted today (if you read below, you'll see my rant on radio). On second listen, it' didn't sound as horrible as the actual experience. This is a common occurence for performers. Thinking back to the days when I used to jam percussion on stage, the experience of being on stage often clouded my perception of how things actually sounded.

This phenomenon works both ways really. Sometimes it doesn't feel good on stage, but you listen back later and the performance sounds better than you thought. Conversely, you can come off stage feeling great, but when you take a listen afterward it sounds terrible. This is why there are so many terrible musicians torturing innocent audiences out there: they have no idea how badly they sound. Ditto for karaoke. It has something to do with focusing on your own feelings and perceptions instead of seeing and hearing the reality of the situation. When you're on stage, you are the center of attention and sometimes the reality never sinks in.

It's the same with a radio studio. They're usually plain rooms with microphones. Not much to focus on, except for your perception of your performance. In short: I thought I sucked today, but on second listen it didn't sound as terrible as I thought it would.

This is all over-analyzing, but isn't that what blogs are for? (I picture Stevie Wonder holding hands with Elton John singing "That's what blogs are for..." Stevie and Elton are always there to back me up when I need them.)

Speaking of complex, the Blue Man Group is playing San Diego this weekend and hopefully I'll get a chance to check them out. I talked about this concert during this week's radio show, so that's what made me think of it. Anyway, I wrote up a profile for SignOnSanDiego, so take a read through if you have a minute or two. Cheers.

Rock the radio spot

For those of us who worship the written word, the gift of gab comes slow like maple syrup on a cold winter day. I've been working with my co-workers at SignOn to develop a weekly radio show. It's called Entertainment Live. The show broadcasts live on this Internet radio station called World Talk Radio. It's also archived so listeners can go back and check out old rants.

Today (Thursday), I played host to the show for the first time. Switching gears from writing to talking coherently is tough, but life unchallanged is bland like baby food. The show offers no editing, only your thoughts and thinking on your feet. The trick is filter the random stuff on the fly, like mental gymnastics for the random at heart. Somtimes you're just stuck with vowel movements. Anyway, if you want to hear a writer stumble and bumble his way through his first hosting experience, check this out.

Suzanne Vega and Eels

So now I have this thing up and running, there's a lot to catch up on. A couple of weeks ago, I had the opportunity to talk with Suzanne Vega. You can listen to sound clips from the interview at the above link. Despite my froggy voice and the early hour, it came out nicely. You can also read the story that came out in the Union-Tribune's Night&Day section.

This past Monday, I had the opportunity to talk with Eels lead singer E (again if you click through, you'll see audio links from the interview). I laughed constantly through our short 10 minute phone interview, as you can hear in the clips. He's a funny guy, in a deadpan kinda way. The Eels story will appear in the print edition of the Union-Tribune on Thursday Aug. 14. The band's San Diego show takes place at 4th & B downtown on Saturday, Aug. 16.

You can hear clips from a bunch of interviews I've done at SignOnSanDiego's Nixon Tapes.