College and an album!

So, it's been a very long time since I've posted. The reason for this is simple: I've moved to Ohio to study Industrial Design at the University of Cincinnati. College is great - a lot of work, and I mean A LOT: the college of Design, Architecture, Arts, and Planning (DAAP, as it is affectionately or otherwise known by those in the know) is a very competitive, rigorous program, and a lot of us here are not getting much sleep. It's very exciting being here, though, because I'm surrounded by motivated, interesting people. My floor in my dorm is almost entirely design students, so we're all on the crazy, up-all-night schedule from Sunday to Thursday and then catch up on sleep from Thursday to Friday, and start all over again. I have a large portion of a major project due in about 12 hours and it needs a lot of work, so I think I might not be getting much sleep, but I don't care because I'm loving life right now.
The other big thing that's happened in my life has been the release of my debut album under the band name Mimic the French, called Defenestration. From day 1 of recording to release took roughly a year, and some of the songs are far older than that. In fact, Relationship Arsonist was one of the first songs I ever wrote, nearly 4 years ago. I wrote every part, played guitars and bass, programmed drums and synth, and sung every line. I created the album art myself, from a photo I took in an alley in Clarksdale, Mississippi several years ago. This is well and truly the biggest project I've ever embarked upon, and I'm very proud of the result, in spite of my self-conscious horror at how bad my voice sounds. Should anyone be interested in purchasing the fruits of my labor, it is available on iTunes or as a digital or a snazzy physical copy right here.

In addition to my schoolwork, I'm also in the process of writing and recording an EP that I'm hoping to have out by mid February, entitled "These Words Are The World To Me." It's going to have a bit more of the electronic and hard rock influences that have occasionally cropped up in my previous music.

I hope to street perform more this summer when I'll be back in Cambridge, hopefully along with a job to fund the guitar project and (especially) the ever-increasing cost of my education.

There will likely be very few posts for the remainder of the school year, as my workload builds and builds, so don't expect to see anything in this space until June.

See ya!

Sun and Sweat

I've been silent lately, as I've been working on my album (still incomplete, but it's getting there!) and helping to coach the little league baseball team I once played on (we clinched a playoff spot this past week!). I also graduated from high school last week, and on my last day of school I got my street performing permit (I was playing illegally before that this year...) and played in Harvard Square for quite a while. I got pretty badly sunburned and I couldn't see anything while I was playing because of sweat getting into my eyes. Because of these two things, when I played there on Tuesday, I carried (in addition to my usual piles of gear and a giant bottle of water) a big tube of sunscreen and I wore a hat to keep the sweat from my head out of my eyes.

I played for about 2 hours that day and actually made a reasonable amount of money, despite the fact that it was very hot out and it was noon on a weekday. I suppose I can attribute that to all of the tourists who have now invaded (though really that's not a nice way to put it, since they're the ones who pay me the most!) Harvard Square. One regular of the square (I think he's homeless but I don't really know) has made a habit of sitting at the table at Au Bon Pain directly in front of me when I play, and applauding loudly after every song. Whether or not he's sincere in his appreciation of my playing, he's sparked rounds of applause after particularly good songs, and I'm sure that he's gotten a few people to look up and perhaps appreciate my performance.

I'll be performing much more over the next few weeks as the baseball season wraps up and I get more into my summer mode, and I'll be trying to be more on top of my blogging instead of forgetting for days or weeks at a time...

3 Forgotten Days

I've been really behind this year - between school work, recording a full length album (Defenestration, due out in early June on Belgian Man Records), and dealing with some personal issues, I've been completely forgetting to write my blog. I've performed three times in the last few weeks, and I've had some great experiences. One of the people who had insulted me on my first time playing, two years ago, came by and told me I had improved greatly. I had visits from members of the cast of "Prometheus Bound," as well as some amusing folks who stopped to chat, dance, or (in the case of a group of girls last week) unsuccessfully ask me on a date. I've been adding more songs to my list every time, and I think I'm nearing the point where I'm going to need to remove some, as I'm getting near the limits of my memory.

I'm going to try to be better about updating this, it's nice to have this record so I can look back later and see how I was doing then.

New Year's Busking

Today, New Year's Day, I realized that it was warm enough to go and play, so I ventured through the melting snow to Harvard Square. I played in front of Au Bon Pain for about 3 hours, and made more than $65, which is (I believe) the most I've ever made. $40 of that came from one teenage tourist who I'm not entirely sure knew how generous he was being. I jammed out with a homeless guy who offered to play some rhythm guitar and have me solo over it - I didn't play all that well, but it was nice to actually play with another musician for a change.

Overall, it was probably the most fun I've had performing, ever - little competition, lots of tourists, and a well-rested voice. I doubt I'll be able to play again until the end of winter, so I'll get back to blogging then.

Foreign coins and such

The other day, I decided to take the huge pile of change I had accumulated over the year and bring it to the Coinstar machine at the store down the street. I discovered I had more than $50 in change, but more interestingly, I had quite a bit of foreign change. From the ordinary (Canadian quarters) to weirder and less common currencies like the Chilean Peso and Turkish Lira, there was a great diversity of change in my bin. This, I think, attests to the diversity of the tourist population of Harvard Square - I get tourists from all over the world hearing my music.

Day 24: Fighting a losing battle

Yesterday, I performed in Harvard Square for what was probably the last time this year, as the weather gets colder. It was 70+ degrees yesterday afternoon, but strong winds created quite the problem for me - I lost a dollar to the wind, and several times I had to adjust my equipment, which was repeatedly shifted by strong, swirling winds. I had moderate audiences at times, but most were teenagers, and so I made just $1. I also had to spend $10 for batteries as I had left mine at home, so I lost money on this particular performance. I had a great time, though, trying out some new songs from the album I'm currently working on, which will be due out on Belgian Man Records in June or July.

I have noticed recently as I've been singing in our school's choir (I'm a bass) that my higher range has dropped off significantly. I have lost about an octave off the top of my voice over the last two months, and it's frustrating to not be able to sing the same songs I used to without mangling them beyond repair.

After two years of performing, I am finally getting comfortable putting myself out there and singing publicly. It is certainly not a typical activity for a high school student, but I feel like I have become one of the regulars, part of a family of Cambridge street performers. Even when I have angered some of the others by playing too loudly, they have never been anything but helpful and respectful to me, and I feel that it's great that we have that sort of community despite frequently being in direct competition for donations.

Day 23: Fail, Fail, and More Fail

I really had some terrible luck on Wednesday when I decided to try performing in Harvard Square again...I first managed to forget my capo, which is essential for several songs, at home. Then, I discovered that every single one of my usual spots were taken, mostly by people with no busking license. I ended up sitting on top of a ledge about 10 feet up across from Hidden Sweets. My high-up perch made me essentially invisible to passers-by, who gave me just $2 over 2 hours.

However, there were a few interesting things. First of all, I was surprised to see Ray Magliozzi of the NPR show "Car Talk" sitting at a table outside a nearby cafe, listening. I've been a fan of his show since I was just a little kid, so I was pretty excited to see him there, though I didn't say anything to him. Also, a woman was sitting nearby with a (very cute) baby for a while. Every time I stopped singing, the baby started crying. It was very surreal to hear every pause filled with crying.

A good friend who has been in a couple of unsuccessful bands with me just got his busking license, so we may start playing together, probably doing just instrumental jams due to his lack of an amp.