Scott Andrew - lo-fi acoustic pop superhero!

Warning: nerd talk ahead.

If you use Wordpress and are looking for a way to publish your WP content to your MySpace account, I’ve written a dead simple plugin that makes it pretty easy. Read on for the gory details. Otherwise, just back away nice and slow-like. Or watch the nice video in the post below this one.

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Watch it at YouTube

“Note To Self” is the only new song I’d call completed this year. I actually wrote most of it in August 2008, but it got stuck with a less-than-stellar vocal melody that was no fun to sing. I was pretty much resigned to abandoning the song when I caught a new melody driving home from rehearsal with Explone a few weeks back. That inspired me to bang out the rest of the lyrics. Consider this video a first draft.

Hope to post an audio demo soon, and more video stuff in general for 2010.

My old buddy Ed Stenger (who runs this popular Rush fansite) snapped this photo of Laurie and I performing as the Walkingbirds in Cleveland OH. Wow. I’m guessing this was probably taken around 1996. There are very, very few photos of us from that time.

That’s the same drum I use to record demos today. That smug lost-in-the-rhythm look makes wonder what I was thinking at the moment this was taken. 2009 me kind of wants to smack 1996 me upside the head.

If you’re new here and haven’t heard the Walkingbirds stuff, you can find it about halfway down this page right heeyah.

My bandmate Patrick from Explone is opening solo for former Hüsker Dü drummer Grant Hart (shown above) tonight at the High Dive. Go Pat!

In other news, I’ll be playing a short 30-minute set at the KISS Cafe in Ballard on 11/28. It’s only my second (and probably last) solo gig of 2009, and I’m thinking about playing nothing but covers, using a pseudonym, and possibly wearing a disguise. I’m opening for Kyle Stevens, who’ll be dipping into his vast catalog of Collider, Kirby Krackle and eponymous tunage.

(Grant Hart photo courtesy of Bill Wilcox.)

1. Getting over the mountains in winter is deadly serious business. Traction tires required.
2. 3G service is spotty on the Eastern side of the Cascades, which, as your van skids on black ice and plummets into a snowy crevasse, makes it much harder to Twitter sarcastically about your predicament.
3. Suspicion confirmed: AMC’s Mad Men is the number one rated show among viewers who “don’t even OWN a TV.”
4. In the distant future, after the peak oil problem is solved, global warming reversed and we’re all wearing silver jumpsuits and driving space-cars on our way to our space-jobs, fart jokes will still be hi-larious so you might as well accept it.
5. Music critics are full of shit.
6. Ryan Adams’ Rock N Roll is a brilliant, brilliant album. (See #5)
7. Cartwheels and backflips during our set only encourage us!
8. Ragged, dirty Chuck Taylors may look “indie” onstage but modest leather boots provide ankle support and project James Hetfield-like confidence.
9. In the distant future, after the peak oil problem is solved, global warming reversed and we’re all wearing silver jumpsuits and driving space-cars on our way to our space-jobs, lots of people will still hate Creed.
10. It’s wise to know at least one recognizable Slayer riff, so when the scary guy in the back yells “SOUTH OF HEAVEN!” you can at least earn his respect. Do not, however, create the impression that you can play the whole song. Ditto any Pantera/Metallica/Sepultura.

Explone is embarking on a roadtrip this weekend, opening for Will Wakefield and his band. Here are some action shots of our last gig at the High Dive:

(Above pics courtesy of Seth Wonner.)

And here’s an iPhone cam shot of rehearsal, from behind the mic:

Explone recently snagged a gig opening for L.A. indie rock dudes Low vs. Diamond (shown above) when they come through Seattle on October 22nd. They’re on Epic Records and have performed on both Letterman and Leno. NO FAIR. I will punish them for their success by sneaking onto their tour bus and trying on all their fancy rock clothes!

Just kidding! The judge warned me to stop doing that.

Advance tickets are recommended, get ‘em here.

There are now photos of us popping up on Flickr.

There are also a few videos.

Also, I misheard. The drummer’s stage name was not merely Sasquatch, but “Sascrotch.” Nice.

I went to Long Beach this weekend to perform with Kirby Krackle at the Long Beach Comic Con.

The view from our hotel room:

The town was strangely deserted all weekend. When I lived in CA it seemed like every square inch was packed with people.

The hotel lounge was very nice.

And had cool carpet.

This is Nelson and Bryce, drummer and keyboardist for Kirby Krackle, cooling their heels.

The conference was held at the convention center nearby:

These pictures can’t convey just how huge and packed the conference was:

Kyle and Jim, the songwriting brains:

Celebrity guests were a really, really bizarre mix of famous comic artists, D-grade scifi/horror actors, and 80s TV stars. Most wanted money in exchange for snapshots. I managed to ninja-cam a shot of Berke Breathed:

And this shot of Anthony Michael Hall with the OC Rollergirls:

Somewhat famous people I saw at the convention but didn’t take pictures because I either missed them or it cost money:

Seth Green
Lou Ferrigno
Richard Hatch
Wil Wheaton (he was wandering around)
Vernon Wells (mohawked raider guy from Mad Max 2: The Road Warrior)
Thomas Jane
Corin Nemec (now known for his role on Stargate but also known as Parker Lewis from Parker Lewis Can’t Lose).
George Lazenby (!!!)
Pat Harrington Jr. (???)
Dave Ellefson (?!?!?!?!?!??!!)
Edie McClurg (?!?!??!?!?!??!??!??WTF?)

There were also tons of costumed nerds. Check out Sean Doorly’s Flickr Set for lots of shots. (Or, just Google for “sexy Deadpool,” I dunno.)

We played in a conference room on the second level.

It had ugly, ugly carpet.

Check out the bass amp I was given to use:

It looks like it was pushed down a flight of steps, thrown in a trunk and driven to a cornfield where Joe Pesci beat the crap out of it with a baseball bat. It’s not even square anymore. (It worked fine though.)

Surprise, an opening band! The called themselves Bigfoot and played wheedly-wheedly! blues rock.

AKA the Abominable Frontman, Bassquatch, and…Sasquatch? Booo! Dude, you either pick a name or I’m naming you Drumsquatch. Or Skunk Ape. Anyway, thanks for letting me use your battered bass amp, Bassquatch.

Anyway I couldn’t take any photos while playing but this guy got a shot of us doing soundcheck:

Maybe more photos will surface, who knows? UPDATE: popculturegeek has some good pics. Thanks to everyone who showed up, including the four dudes in Guy Fawkes masks who creeped out Nelson.

Back to the hotel lounge for drinks and nerd-talk.

Parting shot of the L.A. river on the way back to the airport the next day:

Bye Long Beach, it’s been fun!