Stuff relating to my band

A little self indulgent, but still kind of on topic. My band recorded some demo songs up at http://www.myspace.com/thedecay , to be eventually released on a 15-20 song full length sometime within the next year. I think they turned out decent but the mix needs a little work. My rythm guitar sound recorded awesome but its barely audible, so I want to bring that out more.
We recorded for free though so, hey might as well. As such I'll plug Mike Delisle and 4Q studios because his new setup rules. If you're a band around kitchener, check him out

so I spent today painting some stuff for a free demo we're going to give out at our shows in sudbury this weekend, kind of an exclusive to promote buying Living Daylights new 7" (www.myspace.com/livingdaylights) who are friends of ours and totally rule.

Amp ideas and Punk

So often I'll witness punk bands playing and I'll take note of their gear. First there is the song you are playing, and then there is the equipment you play it through. Take the all powerful Fucked Up for instance.. the songs on Hidden World are generally not complex songs. They're a few chords rattled together, but the sound itself is a good one no? I'm not entirely sure what they recorded on, but live last time I saw them they were playing a fender deluxe (deville? I forget) combo and a marshall plexi. Good amps , that'll cost you between $600 and $1200 depending where you buy them etc.
Now I'll witness another unamed band play generally the same structured songs, but they sound awful, thin, brittle .. the guitars don't go with the bass and the cymbals of the drums just cut through the whole melody anyway. Why don't they have nice guitars and amps? well they're just starting, they don't know gear and get ripped off at music stores, or they're poor, or or or.

My band for instance, has never been swimming with cash. For the last four years I've been getting through university paying the highest tuitions of any major at the school.
Still, I've managed to come across enough stuff to make me decent sounding, and you can too if you know how to shop right. Read up on good sounding cheaper amps, find how to build your own, watch for deals, keep tabs on the market.

here's a breakdown of my gear, and what it all cost me:

Main amp: Sovtek Mig 50 - $300 from electrical.com when they were selling off some stuff.
Main cabinet: Marshall 1960BX - $700 from another local band
Main guitar: Tokai Love Rock with bar humbuckers, Phat Cats installed, hardcase - $550
1976 Gibson Marauder - $500
1968 Traynor YBA-1 - $250
1972 Traynor YBA-2A - $100

So right now, a VERY decent sounding guitar rig has cost me $1550. A kid in highschool could make that working at a junkyard for a summer easy.

But here's my idea and what I hope to contribute to the punk scene. Many amp makers have strived to create a great sounding, well built low cost amp.. and hell on some fronts they've succeeded (Working dog for instance), but a lot of punk kids don't know that just from going into a music store.
I want to make an amp specifically FOR the needs of punk bands, however that sound good. Right now, to my ears and ears of plenty, that means tubes. I'd love for amps to be able to do away with the hassle of tube electronics, and be able to confidently use the more power, heat and size efficient digital amplfication, but so far they just can't match it (or so we think.)

There will be a few different models, to encompass the different styles of punk, maybe like:

The power pop
The hardcore
The 77'
The new punk

So to define what these amps would need, lets go over some criteria that punks would want in an amplifier:

The ability to handle hall shows or house shows
- Alright, lets make 'em all about 50 watts with a toggle switch to cut it to 20 watts

The ability to have someone knock them over, spill bear on them , etc.
- build it rock solid and water tight. What's a bit of sealant in the long run? lets do'er

Easy to figure out, hard to screw up
- Everything clearly labelled, and have a great manual that comes with them that doesn't treat the reader like an idiot: "push this button to make your amp scream" .. no, the manual will explain exactly whychanging something affects the sound in a certain way.
Often people dont' let their amps warm up, or they accidently turn them on without plugging them into their cabs .. alright, so instead maybe the amps can have a circuit that won't allow power to be turned on if the speaker cable isn't plugged in. And maybe a timing device that only allows you to play after the amp has been on for a minute or so.

(note*: these ideas can be implemented mechanically so as to not include more circuits which could affect the signal tone)

Look great
easy enough

Cheap - I'd say betwen $300 and $600 NEW.
This is the million dollar question.. can it be done? I guess that will take some research, and a lot of my time and prototypign within the next few yeras, once I get my act together.
I think I'll post some mockup pictures at least to keep myself motivated


epilogue:
(I have a lot of other ideas for mechanical operations on amps, such as a mechanical preamp foot switches and stuff. Reading interviews and postings by Ken Fischer, the maker of amazing Trainwreck amps, and Dr. Z who makes Dr. Z amps; an important detail they stress is to keep your circuit simple - extra elecctronic doodaddery just takes away from the tone, affects the harmonic content. Thus, if you can then have extra amp functions done in mechanical ways, you can reduce the amount of circuitry needed in the amp.)

Steampunk

I used to be big into cyberpunk culture, and to a degree, still find some joy in thinking about cyberpunk, but I've found in recent years that I love, love, the realm of Steampunk.
I don't know what it is about it; maybe just so many themes that are prevalent, and strong emotional attachments from my youth (Final Fantasy, 3 especially).

For those of you not in the know, I'll let wikipedia get you up to speed:

"Steampunk is a subgenre of fantasy and speculative fiction which came into prominence in the 1980s and early 1990s. The term denotes works set in an era or world where steam power is still widely used—usually the 19th century, and often set in Victorian era England—but with prominent elements of either science fiction or fantasy, such as fictional technological inventions like those found in the works of H. G. Wells, or real technological developments like the computer occurring at an earlier date. It is often associated with cyberpunk and shares a similar fanbase and theme of rebellion, but developed as a separate movement (though both have considerable influence on each other)."

Steampunk culture produces things like this:


I don't know, it just IS cool. Rust, steam, analog technical abominations ... post apocalyptic types of settings, rebellion.
Like I mentioned earlier, the Final Fantasy series has always had a strong steampunk vein, especially in the likes of Final Fantasy 6, and 7. Both games feature the "little guy rebelling against the big, bad guy", all the while with cool steampunk themes.. moreso in 6, but still in 7.. I mean, guys fighting with swords, mako reactors which look not entirely futuristic.. trains, etc.
Chrono trigger definately had the same kind of feel to it.


While this may not have directly to do with modern punk .. the punk scene has definately influenced writers, and genres such as steampunk and cyberpunk can do a lot to add interesting or original spins on the scenes which we now take part in. I 'd love to write a steampunk work myself, or incorporate more steampunk elements in my artwork. Definately going to make a "steam amp" at some point.

Amano's art always gives me chills

You're all my heroes

CBGBs, the ROXY, 100 Club, 924 Gilman ... and every other famous club where punk rock heroes and heroines got their start .. in the end, they're mostly just rooms that sell alcohol, had a sound system (or rented it) and had a bathroom to shoot up/shag in. And the people who've had countless books written about them, the forefathers of punk, while I dip my hat to them, and am guitly of reading most of those books, are just people.
Dee Dee ramone was a junkie, maybe a funny guy, his friends were his friends. They're people who made amazing music yes, but really.. REALLY how much does "Hey Ho, Lets Go" speak to you or I?
I made my way through highschool listening to punk bands from the states and England telling me how it is, and loving every second of it .. all the while not paying nearly enough attention to what was going on right in my back yard: people who were telling me how it is, and they were telling it straight to me.

Why I'm talking about the "big" clubs, I guess, is because when I finally made my way to New York City, I was somewhat.. not let down, just surprised really. What I guess I assumed would be some punk rock mecca, was just a scene like any other scene we have, just with some different people, different bands, and different booze/drugs (if they exist), but it still feels the same.

As far as I'm concerned, what we have going on in the 519 is just as cool as what was going on in 1977 in New York and England, and probably cooler than NYC 2007.

It's not that I don't want to give them credit, they pioneered everything. But I just don't feel nearly as strong a connection anymore to that music.. rather, let me listen to bands who are touring right now. Bands I can look in the face and shake hands with, so that if I'm wearing their t-shirt, I don't feel like a clod.

This is what the first part of my band's song "Fuck New Jersey" is about. Its about me finding more interest in the people behind the scene that I can be a part of, rather than one built up by years of worship.

Hardcore and the jock mentality

Punk is Violent.

Lets just get that out of the door, but break it down a little: Punk is violent yes, but does anyone have to get beat up? no.

For a lot of people, punk shows were a place to go to be around people that were kind of, well.. at least moreso like yourself than the dicks at highschool who would kick your ass because your pants didn't have 32" legs, waist belted around your knees.
Not that dressing that way, or any way, isn't perfectly fine.. its when you can't dress any way you want to dress, without someone calling you a fag and wanting to fight. ("fag" to me, isn't offensive because I don't identify homosexual, its just an offensive word period. It's always used to jostle people, cause an effect, demean, and torment, gay, straight or otherwise.)


Enter hardcore. Granted its been around a long time, as long as I've been born at least.. and I've been to tons of hardcore shows, AND I love hardcore. Which kills me when I see people unable to enjoy the intensity and the energy, without getting a fist in the mouth.
I hate getting punched in the face as much as the next guy .. accidents happen, especially when slam dancing. Enter 'hardcore dancing'
Lets get something else straight: If I'm every playing, and I see someone whip their hands around as fast as possible, and clock someone.. I'm throwing down my guitar and hauling them outside myself.



This bullshit rhetoric of "if you can't handle it, get out of the pit" is what ruins shows for a lot of people. The violent fist throwing nonsense was shunned in hardcore by a lot of top players a long time ago. We've all seen American Hardcore by now.. did you have to hear it from a movie?

Fig 1. How did we ever let it get to this level? This is where making fun of people comes into play.

I'm not trying to tell people what to do. I think your dancing looks stupid, but I'm not going to stop you from doing it. I'm noticing a trend at "hardcore" shows (Set Your Goals even), of fights breaking out, without even alcohol involved. har.

I'm getting wordy, what I really should have just said:
You punch me in the mouth, you get punched in the mouth. Don't complain when it happens, can't you handle the pit?

Lets keep punk shows a place to go to get away from the absurdity of mainstream entertainment, and those who frequent it constantly, however many borders the punk scene shares. If you've ever been to a bar in a college town, you know how nice it is to be able to goto a show once in awhile.

peace.