Sheggitout

As promised, here is one of the new songs I played last weekend at the show.



Let me know what you think!
-Chad

Rockin' The House

I am bad at updating this thing.

However, I have some cool things for you!

FIRST: I got paid to write some music for a video! Really cool stuff, and a fun challenge to try and write for a specific project. I was told by my director friend Sam to write something folksy with a short simple chorus. The rest was to be instrumental to allow for dialogue. The final project was a short promo video shown at Christian Assembly in preparation for an event this summer. The final song includes yours truly pickin' and singin' and the lovely Vanessa Brooks (she's taken boys, back off) singin' harmony.

You can check out the video here:
Colors Of Hope

I got a lot of great comments and encouragement on the song, as well as the opportunity to write a few more! So excited about that.

SECOND: I played another show. It was again at The Joint in LA, and this time on a Saturday night. It went really well, and we filmed the whole thing! Hopefully I can find some time to edit the videos and post a song or two on this here blog. I also got the chance to play with my good friends Troy and Travis who head up "The Adults." Check 'em out here.

OK, that is all for now. Thanks for keeping up with me!
-c

SHOW TIME!

yo, yo, yo, yo, yo!! so tonight I am playing my LA debut. I got my boys Trent and Jeremy on the rhythm section, and I will be handling vocals and guitar work. Few things that are either going to make this AWESOME or a disaster...

1) Pedalboard: In the past I have only played with a few pedals at my disposal, mainly because it took too long to put them all together. A week or so ago I finally made a board. It is big and contains 8 pedals. It is quite a challenge to hit all the ones I need to ON TIME and not lose my balance and fall over. But I have been practicing with them and should be ok.

2) Backing Tracks: For you non-music types, this refers to music that is played via iPod/CD/laptop/etc that plays along with the band. Since this music never changes, it is super important to stay on time with it. So what I have done is made a special mix that has a click track in one headphone, which the drummer wears. If he counts correctly and stays on time, then the laptop will play along exactly with the band. Which means though there are only 3 people on stage, other parts are being played in unison. Awesome. Not too worried about this aspect either as it has gone really well in rehearsals.

3) Front manning: So, I have never really sung in front of people. Ever. I just recently started playing and singing by myself for small crowds in the last few months. I have yet to do it front of a decent sized group and with other loud instruments. I know I will be nervous as all get out when the show starts, but hopefully I can shake it by the first minute or so and just crush it!

So excited to start this part of my journey in LA! Thanks for keeping up with me, I will be sure to post whatever pics / videos I can find!

-chad

And we're back!

yes, so again I have been in a blog posting slump. I am sure my readership has been drastically reduced, but hopefully there are still a few out there (hi mom!)

exciting news! I have been playing with other folks a decent amount in LA, but I have started booking REAL shows. Real as in we will be performing the songs from my CD, woo hoo! Right now it is myself on guitar and vocals, Jeremy Graham on the bass and some vocals, and the fantastic Trent Marderosian on drums.

I am so pumped.

Feb 6 - Playing an acoustic gig with Johnny May (whose album we just finished) in the Bay Area

Feb 10 - Playing our debut LA show at "The Joint" on Pico Blvd in West LA. Details forthcoming.

Huzzah!

I stumbled across this video from a friend today. It has nothing to do with the above post, but it is definitely worth the watch!

Deck The Halls

Good Grief!!

It has been way too long since I have posted. My apologies.

And I must keep this short, lot to do today. I am headed to Utah in a few hours for a weekend-long drumming gig, then to NC for christmas.

But, I just finished some christmas music with my friends out here in LA!! It is free to download, hope you like it!

Get it here: http://www.mediafire.com/?myayzmj0hqh

This ish is bananas

Yo friends,

so i had an awesome halloween. i DJed a party as a banana. enjoy the pics.

GET YO POTASSIUM FIX:


FLAPPERS LIKE BANANAS TOO

Gettin Physical (CDs)

Good Grief

It has been way too long since I have updated. I apologize.

This is my update, so Kenzie can stop bugging me about it.

I will do a fancy-schmancy video update this weekend so you can see my beautiful face.

In the meantime, check out this video I just finished:

Anniversary

So, a year ago today (I think...give or take a few days) I was driving out of the Grand Canyon and making the final leg of my cross-country moving adventure. It is crazy to know I have been in LA for a whole year. I wanted to recount some of the more memorable events and facts here for you, I hope it is interesting.

-- First place I ate was In 'N Out in Glendale with Brian Turney. I did not know then the treasure that I had stumbled upon. It is very delicious. It is also where I met...

-- Vanessa. I have done what many in NC said was impossible; charm a beautiful lady. We have been dating for a few months now and it is great.

-- Saw Bill Cosby's house. Served coffee to both Stephen Perkins (drummer Jane's Addiction) and the guy who played bass in Fuel (bassist Fuel). And the fat kid with orange hair from all those movies like the Sandlot back in the day. Must still be doing well off royalties, he had an iPhone.

-- Sat across the aisle from Chester (vocalist Linkin Park) on a small plane to Pheonix. Was too involved in Harry Potter Book 6 and a little embarrased by my mustache and sweatpants to talk to him. Also, wasn't quite sure it was him. It was. Crap.

-- I have released two singles which have been heard by dozens. First, "DeFriend" recounts the tale of a young man distressed over breaking up with his girlfriend and having to de-friend her on Facebook. Next, Chase (aka YungPneumonia) spent a few days in LA which saw the creation of the long-awaited "BubbleGum Booty," which is just amazing. Both of those songs can be heard here.

-- I have also released an entire CD!! It contains songs I have been messing around with for years (a few of them were played with Nine PM), and also has some written here in LA. It was a blast to do an entire project on my own. You can find it on iTunes by clicking here.

-- I have played drums for three different groups, and played guitar with another group. Most notably, I played drums at the Whiskey A Go Go with my good friend Jeremy Graham (with whom I am playing again this Friday). It was a complete blast, and truly amazing to play at a venue with such a great system and knowledgeable techs. Cat's Cradle was great, but my monitor mix at the Whiskey was better than the Cradle's FOH. Awesome. I have played a total of 7 "real shows," along with playing at church and other places another handful of times.

-- Found an amazing church that combines the teaching and organization of the Summit with the community and relational aspect of Snowbird. And it is loaded with some of the most amazing musicians I have ever seen. Seriously, A-listers who get payed to tour with the biggest names in the industry, then come play for free at church.

-- Slowly realized that I really enjoy Los Angeles. Anything you want is 30 minutes away (or two hours in traffic). Beautiful beaches, huge mountains, live music, great food, etc.

-- Found some really great friends. Lookin' forward to spending the next year with them.

Here's to one!

Drum Roll Please....

....ladies and gentlemen, some great news.

The Album. Is. Available.

Yes, this very moment you can go and download your very own copy of what I have been working on for the last few months. It is a sweet moment for me to release, as well as a little nerve wracking, as I have never attempted real song writing or singing before. Oh well, let it go and see if it flies, right?

So, there are two places you can get it online. If you use iTunes to download music, you can go here: Chad on iTunes

You also have the option of buying it on Amazon.com: Chad on Amazon.com

Both sites will let you review the record WITHOUT buying it, so if you have some free time you can go there and write great things about it.

Now I know some of you technologically challenged-folks don't like all this "MP3 nonsense" and just want your CD. That is coming to. I should have physical CD's (with some incredible artwork done by Nick Burns) in about a month. If you want one, I can mail you one. Or if you live in Concord, you could get one from my parent's house. I am sure we can work something out. The physical CDs are $10, whereas the downloads are $7.92, so with the recession and all I understand if you just go to iTunes.

Alright folks, that's it for me! I have had the flu the past couple days so I am going to retire to the bed here soon and try to feel better. Adios
--Chad

California Fire

This update is mainly for the Non-californian readers.

I don't know if they have news of the LA fires in NC, but you should look it up if you haven't heard. It is burning 30 square miles of forest right above La Canada, which is where I lived for the first month and half I moved here. It is the craziest thing I have ever seen; to be driving down the street on lunch break and look to the right and see 15 - 20 ft flames just a few miles away. I snapped some pictures on my camera to share, but they don't do it justice at all.


This is a shot from Pasadena, about 5 miles away from the blaze on Friday.


This is from the 101 Highway about 30 - 40 miles away from the fire. You can see the width of the smoke from this shot, and even this shot doesn't capture the magnitude of the smoke column.

Lastly, here is a video from the AP that shows some closer images. Only 5% contained; scary.

Woodleaf

Just got back last night from a week of Young Life camping at Woodleaf. I absolutely love it; hanging out with kids for a week doing ridiculous things and talking deep things about life and faith. Incredible. Makes me wonder why I work the 9 - 5.

Hung out with some 15 - 16 year olds who have gone through stuff that I can't even imagine. I cried just hearing their stories, I think that is the first time that has happened to me. This world is janked up friends, if you trust anything here you will be disappointed.

That's it for now. I am getting anxious waiting for the CD to pop up in the iTunes store; as soon as it does I will let you know. I am also looking into breaking my way into the ringtone industry, as I have made some for friends here in Cali and they are loving it.

FB Fans

For all you facebookers, join my fan page!!

Local Rockstar

Done...for real.

Yes, you read that right friends. After a few months of being "done" and still tinkering, I decided to just bite the bullet. This past weekend I uploaded my songs to TuneCore, which will pass it on to iTunes. So, by September 12, 2009 you can download "Local Rockstar" to your computer for the ridiculously low price of $7.92.

I have made some good friends here in the area who are pretty knowledgeable about marketing and artist management, so I am going to try and hook up with them. Pretty exciting; now I can find some other musicians and go do what I moved to LA to do.

I have put three of the songs up on my MySpace page (along with some album artwork done by N. Burns) so check that out if you have some free time.

www.myspace.com/thelocalrockstar

I would love to hear your thoughts on the new stuff.

New Design

So, if this is at least your second visit to the blog, you will notice the silly emo picture of me is now gone from the top. That haircut was a good idea for maybe 3 minutes. Gross. Now my page is the proud home of a piece of Nick Burns' digital genius.

Anyways, things are excellent in my life right now. I mixed down the final tracks finally for the album today. All the recording and tweaking is done. Next week I am going to upload it to iTunes and start looking at options as far as CD pressing and artwork printing. Exciting times; I will upload a few of the tunes on MySpace as well so you can hear them in MySpace lo-fi glory. The extra time on the reocording was well worth it. I got to lay down a bunch of harmonies that really help the songs stand out, as well as take some good criticisms from friends who hear the "almost finished" versions from back in June.

Tonight I ran a "Dive In Movie" at a pool in Pasadena. I got paid pretty decent money to set up and then watch "Kung Fu Panda" on a 10.5' x 14' screen with Vanessa. Not too shabby, sure beats making lattes at 5 in the morning. Yuck.

I should be sleeping because it is 1:22 in the morning, but a few minutes ago I awoke to something crawling across my chest. It was a spider, so it gave me the heebies jeebies. Since I can't sleep, I thought I might as well update the blog.

Alright, that's all for me folks. Thanks for reading.

Oh yea, BubbleGum Booty is done and available for download here: http://www.soundclick.com/bands/page_songInfo.cfm?bandID=272904&songID=7853882

I have gotten quite a few requests for ringtones for that little diddy right there, so perhaps next time a spider crawls across me in the wee hours of morning I will make that happen.

Chase comes to LA

Hey friends, so my bro came to LA for a few days on his way out to Sydney, Australia. The much hyped "BubbleGum Booty" finally became a reality. Check out the preview: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2z9Gbdfq69k

You should ALWAYS drive with your license!

So friends, I had other plans for this blog entry. But due to an unfortunate turn of events this evening, I have an exciting and gripping story to share instead.

Wednesday night is Bible Study night, which I always enjoy. I was coming home and had just pulled off the freeway when I noticed a cop car next to me at the light. We both turn left. I always get nervous when cops are behind me, especially in CA because I think they are going to pull me over for my NC license which was registered in September. Anyways, As I turn left I am looking in my mirror to watch his movements. I should have paid closer attention to the road, because I kept turning after arriving in my lane and crossed the double yellow line. About a mile later, the cop flashes his lights. As I mumble obscenities under my breath, I look for a good spot to pull over. It takes a bit and the cop is obviously annoyed because he shouts "Pull Over" at me from his cool cop megaphone thing.

As I pull over and park, I reach in the glove compartment for my registration. Check. I pat my pockets for my wallet. Not there. Check the compartment in the middle. Not there. Check beside the seats and the floorboard. Not there. Excellent. So the two police officers walk up and ask for my license. I explain that I left it at my friends house. They say they noticed I crossed the double yellow line, which is why I was pulled over. They then tell me they can impound my car because of it is registered in NC and I have been in CA for over 21 days. They then ask if I have been drinking. No. They don't believe me. They make me follow their finger with my eyes without moving my head. Dumb. Still don't believe me.

Get out of the car. Follow the finger again. Cop #1 - How many drinks have you had tonight? None. I can smell the alcohol on you. I haven't had anything to drink officer. Sit on the curb.

I sat on the side of the road for a few minutes while they did their police officer radio calling stuff. After a few minutes, they tell me that the registration checks out, and that I need to get it switched over to CA ASAP. They also warn me against driving without my license, and then let me go ticket free! Unbelievable!

After arriving at home, I call my friend Jeremy Graham to have him check his couch for my wallet. He can't find it, so I decide to check my car again. It was lying on the floorboard of the passenger seat the whole time. Crazy.

Tune in later this week to read the exciting story of how the new guy at work put a big dent in the van.

Dump

I just typed up a bunch of stuff to share in my exciting return to blogging, and lost it all. And now i just don't care enough to do it. Sad but true.

Tomorrow I hope to return with what should be a informing and exciting post.

Stay tuned friends

North Carolina, cmon and RAISE UP!

I am back in NC. As expected, I still absolutely love Bojangles, Zaxbys, and other frieds foods. I really like my friends. I don't like the weather. So stinkin' hot. I have sweated more in the last four days than I have since about February.

I walked around UNC's campus yesterday. I forgot how pretty it is; the grass is so green and huge trees everywhere. Definitely don't get that in LA very often.

As far as music stuff goes, I "finished" the album before I came home. After listening to the whole deal a few times through on the plane ride, I decided it needs a bit more work. Two weeks; three weeks max. I need to adjust some vocals on a tune and do a little more mixing. The whole thing is a little quiet and bass heavy. But it is VERY close. Nick Burns has made some excellent artwork, I am really excited about that. So, the timeline looks like this: Finish up my part by end of June. Have hard copies by late July. It should be online in the iTunes stores by mid-August.

Awesome. I can't wait for everyeone to hear what I have been working on.

Awesome Things

So I haven't posted in a while, thought I should update my dozens of faithful readers. Things have been awesome. I will enumerate them:

1) NEW JOB(S): I got a "real job." I set up sound and video systems for clients who rent through JD Audio Visual. It is right up my alley and the other co-workers are cool guys. I think I will learn a lot about sound gear, which will be great. The owners are Christians and supporters of Young Life, so I hopefully I will be able to go on weekend trips with their support. I also DJed a wedding and a prom in the last two weeks. Both went great and I got lots of good feedback. I booked two more weddings in October. It is really fun, I get paid well, and I love every song because I am the DJ. SUMMARY: My new job(s) is(are) awesome.

2) NEW MUSIC: As promised, I will have my 9-track debut CD available in about two weeks. I should finish my part in the next day or two of mixing, and Nick Burns has created some awesome artwork. After that, we send it off and wait for it to get back to us! I am excited about it, I think it is really good. It will eventually be on iTunes sometime late summer, but if you would like a hard copy, let me know. We will figure it out. SUMMARY: My new music is finished and awesome.

3) NEW GIRLFRIEND: Yes friends, you read that right. I have managed to find an awesome girl who seems to like me. Crazy, I know. Her name is Vanessa. She loves Jesus, is smart, makes me laugh, listens to great music, has a great singing voice, likes fast food, and is beautiful. SUMMARY: My new girlfriend is awesome.


Alright folks, so I am headed back to NC in a few days for a slew of weddings and hanging out. I am sure I will see some of you during that time.