i sweat

I'm all done my drum recordings.

Am I pleased with the parts? For now, yes.

Am I happy it's over? Fuck no.

We stretched the recording session over two days at the Ontario Institute of Audio Recording Technologies. Since we recorded two songs with some young blood there over a year ago, we were pretty familiar with the studio space. This time around we recorded in a separate room from the control center, which was nice for me because I didn't feel as if I was under a microscope the entire time from everyone watching. Just me and the Lodge.

I thought I'd take this opportunity to explain a few things seen in the second recording diary.



The "acoustic demo's" seen being recorded at the very beginning of the video are strictly for my benefit and will never make the actual recording. They are just for me to play along with and are recorded to a metronome.

I brought six shirts this time mostly for jokes, and for the fact that it's hotter than hell in that room and I play with a little bit of impact to say the least. And I sweat. When I'm drumming, oh boy do I sweat.

What get's me most is when people come up to me after shows, hug me or touch my back, and become disgusted by the amount of sweat on me. What, are you fucking surprised? What do you think would happen to you after an hour of using every extremity to it's peak stamina? Do you think you'd break a sweat after pounding the shit out of something while sitting under KFC heat lamps, on stage, in a 20-plus degree club? You're damn right you would. So please, try not to be surprised when you come in for a hug and I warn you that your clothes may not come out the same once the embrace is over. Because drumming is a sweaty procedure. Trust me.

I should say something about Birdman.
Birdman can simply be described as a "road game" or something to be played amongst close friends. You know that childhood game where you'd make a ring with your fingers and if the person looked into it you get to punch them? It's a more instense version of that.
Basically, if you make eye-contact with someone who's giving you the Birdman face, you have to lay flat on your back - no matter where you are. On the road, in your kitchen, in a restaurant, at the mall: it's all fair game. Meme, BK and I are all really good and crafty at it. It just takes some creativity and a sense of humor and you're off. I think it's hilarious, because it's like the feeling a black person gets when slamming down a Domino, except anyone can play.

The 3 broken sticks? I can't explain that either, because I've been breaking sticks like crazy lately. Even at our cottage show in Kincardine I broke four during one set. Strange.

"2 really tired guys". They went out drinking the night before. Colin barfed under a table at Joe Kool's and I laughed really hard when I heard that. I sided on staying in for a nights sleep.

The fact that the 6 tracks that needed recording was done in 5 hours was a two-sided effort. On my behalf, I was very ready to record and even impressed myself at the speed in which the takes were completed, even though most of the songs were more difficult than the previous recording session. More importantly, our producer Mikey T and recording assistant Jeff worked with a notable expedience that did not go unnoticed. I can honestly say I was thoroughly impressed by their diligence and input they put forth. They met my every demand (such as cue's, playbacks, and coffee breaks) and were patient during equipment change-overs. If there were a manly way to send flowers, those boys would have gardens from me by now.

At the end, the "misunderstanding" was Mike coming in for a hug, which I assumed was a chest-bump. Needless to say, I chest-bumped him and we had a good laugh.

ps. the line from Mike at the end was a Care Bears reference. If that doesn't ring a bell, nothing will.

flashes in a wood shop

As I'd hoped, the shoot went fantastically. Even better than I'd hoped.

I arrived to meet the new principle of Beal, Don Macphereson around 2:30 pm today. He was a really nice guy. Him and I chatted until Dave, the head janitor, arrived at the office. At this point, to my surprise, the two gave me a full-access Visitors Pass, as well as the janitors master key which opens every classroom in the school. This was seriously some sort of dream come true.
The shoot was very expedient, and although I would have loved to mull around my teenage classrooms longer, there was work to be done. Off to Mountsfield.

I knew there was no way I'd get the same treatment at Mountsfield. Oh, how wrong I was.

As I walked the halls to the tune of the intramural basketball game down the hall, I was approached by Linda Moffatt, the principle. She asked if I was Andrew Schmidt, to which I happily agreed (do I look like a photographer or something? maybe it was the gators I was wearing on my feet). Instead of lending me the keys, she gave me two personal janitors to escort me throughout the school, opening whichever classroom I wished whenever I needed it. What a trip.

Special thanks goes to principles Don MacPhereson, Linda Moffatt for their patience with me and for their work among their staff on my behalf. Additionally, custiodian staff members Dave, Bob, and Jenna that were so gracious in lending me their time and stories of their own.

Talking about what I saw once in the schools is worth 2,000 words in itself. I'll get to that some day.

ps. Do I look like a janitor in the above picture? That's my favorite photography shirt. Maybe it's because you can't see that it's tucked in. And shit, if being a janitor means having keys to every room in the house, it doesn't sound so bad after all.

to some it comes easy

Lately it appears I've been a part of some good media exposure.

I had an interview in last months issue of Scene , which I wish I had to show you because it was hilarious. The title of the article was called Hue Looks For Northern Exposure at NXNE. The introduction to the article was a bunch of garbage about how a lot of bands have made it big at this festival in the past by playing one amazing show, and that we hope to do the same. I retorted by saying that becoming popular by playing NXNE is unrealistic and very assuming, and that all you can really do is play your best and hope that those in the audience remember your name. If you really want to read the article, I have it at home. It hangs by my fridge.

Secondly, I got a text the other night saying I was on tv. I assumed it was from an eTalk segment filmed earlier that day, where I creeped into Kevin Brauch's shot by standing behind him during his report on Luminato.
Turns out it was another re-run of our segment on Rogers Cable's London Calling. Although the rest of that episode was irreverant trash, our segment turned out half-decent. You can usually catch it on your local Rogers Cable network, between the hours of 3am and 5am.

Then, last Saturday I was at the Bovine Sex Club watching Inward Eye play their NXNE set. If you've never heard of these guys before, you probably will before you're dead. They are probably the closest thing to a young version of The Who. They're an incredible live band, they sound super tight, and most of their songs are rad to the boner. Just when I thought we were a hard working band, I watch these guys and they make me feel like a blubbering vagine. That, and Dave the bassist doesn't make me feel bad for sweating like crazy on stage, because he sweats buckets.
Anyway, on to the point. Our manager Cory Gram-Cracker pulled us out of the bar for some unknown reason. We were all pretty bagged by that point - mostly due to the vodka he was forcing on us behind Reverb before the show started.
Turns out he met some of the guys from Aux TV earlier in the night and they wanted to film an interview with me. I was pretty much forced, which is cool because I like interviews.



You can see my four-second clip at around 5:02. Here are some of my thoughts on that single clip:

a) I looked good. Earlier on in the night I'd seen Riverdance, and then went straight to the shows once it was over. Cool white shirt and a nice crisp vest. Daaaammn.

b) I'm yelling. As you can probably hear in the background, it was noisy as hell. Throughout the interview (which may or may not ever be seen), I continuously needed questions repeated because I couldn't hear jack shit, and then had to scream the answers just to hear myself think. I do wish it was available in full though, because I said some funny drunk shit.

c) I look like Bobby Flay. There's nothing really to add there.

d) The other guests. Okay, if you continue to watch the clip, you'll see some other artists. Those artists include Gentlemen Reg (whom I listen to on a daily basis) and John from In Flight Safety (who I once listened to on a daily basis). This made me shit myself because they both make amazing tunes and I'd never imagine being butted up against them in a video reel.

e) I'm the youngest. That's just the facts.

f) I'm well on my way to the "Big Kahuna". If you don't know what that means, you'll understand in about a month.

The only thing that would put the cherry on top of all this exposure would be if we end up doing this radio interview we've been slated to do in Ottawa in two days.

oh henry

What can I say about Henry Rollins? I read my first piece of Black Flag literature early last year which chronicled some of the wildest tour stories I'd ever come across, regardless of artist or genre. Henry Rollins has been somewhat of an idol of mine for many years, and for numerous reasons. I could rant all night until I'm blue in the face as of why, but it all really boils down to a few key words. 

honor. respect. passion. love. hate. real. guts. pride. honesty. principles. 

Now, watch as Henry rips this amateur a new one. After he's done that, he starts talking. 

"I don't think you coouuuld, "