The Weblog of Daniel Tashian

Well it was a bit dicey there for a minute.  The Powerbook crashed yesterday. I had tons of songs on the itunes and tons of lyrics and Reason ideas. I don’t know what I was thinking not backing that stuff up. I guess I just thought “It’ll never crash without any warning!” but it sure as hell did. My brother says every hard drive crashes eventually. Oh well. So to the Apple store and I got a new computer that I really like and I’m exploring Logic. It’s quite nice, I think. Swam 1 mile, and ate like I was heading for the chair. Did an interview with Electronic Musician magazine. I’m just realizing that all my demos were in that Itunes and don’t know if I have copies of them anywhere else! What am I going to do? But now there’s incentive to get more work done quicker I suppose. Truth be told, I was starting to feel overwhelmed by the sheer volume of under-utilized ideas on that computer! It was too much for any human to process. There is such a thing as too many good ideas, I think. Had dinner with Josh Rouse and Brad Jones, Hags and Marc and Liz and David Mead. It was a nice dinner party, although somewhat heavily weighed in favor of the boys. Lily Fish called and said she was thinking of coming to the dinner party if her headache didn’t go away, but I guess it did.

Memorial day, but shops still open, so to “The Walking Company” to return some shoes that broke when they shouldn’t have, and to the Apple store for a new battery for the laptop and a copy of Logic Express. Installed the software and it’s really intuitive and very fun. Went swimming and then went to Tommy’s party in East Nashville and the food was delish and I was so hungry. I had baked beans and tomatoes and sausage and a burger and some cole slaw and a glass of rose and a coke and some chocolate pie. We watched a bit of “The Deadliest Catch” and I felt sort of sorry for those poor crabs. Home about 6 and David Mead came over and made some food and we watched “Rendition” with Glen Close and Jake Gyllenhall. Not a very fun movie to watch, but it makes a good point about torture. It doesn’t work. People will say anything to not be tortured. So you end up with all this unusable intelligence and a bunch of really psychologically messed up people and I wonder if the movie was based on a real story? I really feel embarrassed by the US policy of torture. I think it’s horrific and we should never ever torture anyone!! I think if you are going to sign off on torturing people, (as Rumsfeld and D. Cheney have), you should have to undergo the same techniques that you authorize, so you know how it feels. Anyhow, worked a bit more and went to bed 12.

I think I kind of forgot who I was for a minute. I remember now that I like tea, and Tennis and the Sunday New York Times and chicken fried rice over salad and chocolate and, embarrassingly enough, k.d. lang and what else? Reading light English comic novels. Bit of an Anglophile actually. Okay, what is this ghastly song that’s on every time I turn on the radio and it’s just horrible, talking about getting low, etc. I mean, to call this a song is really a misnomer because the thing is like a loop with someone just kind of ranting about strippers, it’s really the kind of thing that bothers me. I mean, that really bothers me. I also am bothered by people giving away their pets when they get a new job and get busy. “He just needs to be with someone who can give him the love and affection he needs!”  Cleaned up a bit from the party and cooked some sweet potatoes and carrots and had that for lunch and watched a documentary on the ghetto, then took a nap. Went to Hopkins and worked on the piano a bit. Home and now i’ve decided I must get rid of some of these horrible shirts that I got from Express. The material is so…icky. The patterns are okay, but I just feel myself moving away from the collared shirts a bit. I also made a decision to not wear my baseball cap as much, even though I love wearing it, it kind of promotes this turtle-in-a-shell kind of personality, where I find i’m more reluctant to engage with people, and I just sort of hide out under my cap. To the Mercy lounge for Long Players and I ran into the wonderful musician Greg Leisz and we talked about when he was recording Ingenue with k.d. lang and I made a mental note to dig that out. Such a great album. I think I might get a portable CD player for the car because CDs sound so much better than ipods, but, as Paul Kennerly says: “Convenience beckons!” I don’t know anymore. I don’t know what’s cool. I mean, the thought of doing a rock kind of record sort of makes my skin crawl, although REM sure are good at it. This new record of theirs is amazing! Long Players were good and everyone gave me compliments and said I looked good. I went home with a bee in my bonnet re: Ingenue and tried to give it a listen as I was falling asleep but I couldn’t find my headphones.

This was the day of LIz’s birthday party so I got some supplies and got my hair cut. Somewhere in the fray of last night I managed to lose my wallet and all my cards…so I went to the bank and ordered new cards and I went to the DMV to get a new license but no dice: 4 hour wait. So I will have to use my passport for a while. Mindy Coleman picked me up and we went to American Apparel which I had never been to before and I got a sweatshirt and a wrist-band with my high school colors for the party. I tried to pay with a check but they said no. Went swimming twice and Kelly called. She said she would be performing at the Living Room on Monday. I called a friend of Helen’s called Lilly Fish and invited her to the party and the Workmans came over about 5 and they brought some Calypso food. Oh. Harriet, David Workman’s wife, her father is very sick and may die soon, so they were all sort of sad. David Mead and Rachel helped with the decorations and it was a fun party. Brad and Carrie came, and Robin Eaton. Also, Mary Catherine Bradshaw, and Marshall Chapman. I spoke to Marshall for a while and she’s so funny. But after a while people wouldn’t leave and it was like 2 in the morning and I was just kind of beat so I went upstairs and hit the sack.

Well there was a long players rehearsal and I had to practice a Paul McCartney song for it and it’s kind of a ponderous arrangement: Picasso’s Last Words or something to that effect. It’s not one of his great masterpieces. But everyone was nice and Freedy Johnston was there and Grimey and Mindy. Mike sang “Jet” very effectively. Brad Jones’ bass sound was quite nice. A bit fuzzy. It feels like some kind of cloud of gloom is lifting just slightly. Spoke to Helen and she said the pig book “Swine Not?” was number 6 on the NYT bestseller list which was exciting. I have to go see them this summer. Went to see Greta Gaines at the Mercy Lounge and then Roman Candle played. Spoke to Raul Malo backstage and we made some sort of plan to do something. He’s a nice guy. Went to L’ayla and Nathan and Caleb from the Kings of Leon were DJing and there were a lot of people there. They wouldn’t let me wear my baseball cap and then I kind of got indignant and they let me slide. I hate all these kinds of rules. What’s the point? But Deanna Bruton was lovely and she brought John and I sushi. Home about 12 and I got a text from Greta saying one of her band members got a DUI on the way home. What a bummer.

Went to the YMCA to see about using their pool and they decided to allow me to become a member. It didn’t take very long and I went to get some goggles and I was back down there swimming after lunch. Soon as I got in the water I knew I was in the right place. I did 30 laps and I was afraid I would be sore or pull something but I didn’t and I wasn’t. I think I could do it twice a day. I’ve been listening to the song “Scared Straight” by The Long Winters over and over and I remember when I first heard it, I was in Spain with Josh and I thought it was Fiction Plane. I love that song. Also “Don’t You Evah” by Spoon and that DCFC song I was talking about. Certain songs I can listen to over and over because they resonate with my mood so much. They don’t get old. Well, that’s not true, sometimes everything gets old. Tried to find some athletic shoes and struck out at 2 places but they sold me some $60 inserts for my boots. I figure save yourself the $10,000 it would cost later for knee surgery. I went to Dan McGuiness to see Natalie but I was too late. Same thing with Joy at 3rd and Lindsley, so I went to PM and saw Jason Gigax. I had a drink and chilled for a minute, then home and H.T.H.

Well I worked with Melissa and we got a demo almost finished. Then to Soundcheck and I was on a Panel with Jason Lehning for Mix magazine. It was funny, cause I was listening to some of the questions during the session before ours, and they’re like: “What percentage of the time (as a producer) do you spend trying determine which mic pre to use?” and I knew the answer to that one, and would have answered immediately if anyone asked me. It’s 18.5 ! Then to Hopkins for Ice Cream, then David Mead was cooking, so I had some of that. Tofu stuff. Then to the Basement, and there was an interesting singer there: Ana Leise. But she doesn’t have any records done yet. Not even a song up on myspace. Ascap told her not to put anything on the internet, but I disagree. She asked me if I had a card. I said no. Should I have a card? I guess I should. I always feel a bit silly saying: “Here’s my card!” but if it was funny, maybe I wouldn’t feel bad about it. Ran into a few people down there. Talked to Grimey a bit. Came home about 11 and hit the s.

Well I worked a good bit in the AM…putting down four or five guitar tracks. Layering them. Trying to make it sound like Coldplay. I love Coldplay. But I think I need a new amp to really get things cranked up. And one of those delay pedal things. Went to Zoe’s for lunch and then went to Hopkins. I think I need to call Dr. Witherspoon and get these custom earplugs for swimming. I really think I need to swim. Went to Sara Beck’s showcase and she sounded great and then to PM with a few people. I ordered too much food and didn’t eat it. I hate when I do that. Kelly called and said she wasn’t coming to Nashville and I was kind of tipsy and I went to bed.

Return flight from LA. Completely full. LA was nice, although so hot and dry. The show at the Hotel Cafe was cool. That’s a great room. Kelly sang with us. She did a great job. I was kind of nervous because I hadn’t seen her in a month. I drank a little too much and got kind of dizzy but it went away pretty fast. Went to Lodi and played Zinfest and the coolest fans came up to us and asked for autographs. It was really cool because most of the people had no idea who we were and these guys were big fans. It was hot out there, though. Got home and took a shower and started to get organized. I really like this new song by Death Cab for Cutie called “I Will Possess Your Heart” – man that thing is great. I had no idea how good they were but that’s a really good band. I just thought the name was kind of weird, but what’s that thing about “that which we call a rose” and whatnot. Liz’s party is this week and Kelly is coming down for it, which is cool and I have to get Liz a birthday present and I don’t know what to get.

Well my cousin Ethan and my Aunt Joy arrived today. They’re here to celebrate my grandmother’s 94th birthday. Ethan has a very successful company http://www.jimmyjane.com and his blackberry is constantly buzzing. We went to PM for a drink and caught each other up on the last year or so since we’ve hung out. He hasn’t been to Nashville since like 1997. Article on Harmony Korine in the New Yorker, also, the Nashville Scene. Met Liz at the crib and we all talked shop for a bit, then took my Cousin to my parents’ where he’s staying. I was somewhat moody all night. Kind of in my head quite a bit. I have to remember the things I can control and the things I can’t: Can’t would include what someone else thinks or does. Can would be what I think or do. So this just reminds me that I have to get some new work going that i’m really jazzed about. That’s what is really missing from my life. I’m sort of rusty on the writing tip and I need to warm back up into it. The Feng Shui in the studio is helping and I do have some promising ideas on the 4-Track but I just have to sift through them. I feel like i’m back to square one again with songwriting. I want to make a completely new sound, a new direction. It’s hard, though. I feel like I might need some new cds to listen to. Any suggestions would be appreciated, although I may just go to Grimey’s on Monday and pick up some stuff. I would love to make something sort of theatrical sounding, like Petula Clark’s “Downtown”, the way it sounds like she’s singing on a Broadway stage with that great diction and reverb. You really get every word. And the production, the lovely orchestration. It was fascinating watching Brad Jones do the orchestration for “From My Windowsill” – He’s really a great musician. I don’t know if I want to make something gritty and real sounding, but all this mindless chatter is silly. It really only happens where the rubber meets the road, or the pick meets the strings if you will. Anyway, I want to reassure myself that this is the calm before the storm and that soon i’ll be off on some tangent that really excites me. As my Gran so often says: “The world is so full of a number of things, i’m sure we should all be as happy as kings!”