Friday, December 11, 2009

My First Musical Instrument

When I was 8yrs old (Christmas 1978), I received my first musical instrument.  I wonder what I was thinking...

1) "What in the hell am I going to do with an acoustic guitar!"
2) "I really want to play with that Star Wars Imperial TIE Fighter."
3) _________________________________________________________    
    (Insert your best Al Jaffee line here!)

The voting lines are open.  Post your votes and comments now!

Thursday, December 10, 2009

Dan "The Man" Fiber Comes to Town!

In honor of the return visit of Dan "The Man" Fiber to Floating Fish Studios for the 2nd Annual FFS II Gathering this upcoming weekend, I would like to share an unreleased track from the FFS Vaults.

In January 1991, shortly after the start of the first Gulf War, Dan "The Man" visited Floating Fish Studios from the icy northern wasteland of Albany, NY. Our mission was to enter the studio and see what we could create. The result was two days worth of completely improvised music. The personnel for these recordings were Ttam Troll, MC2P4, LTJTHC, and Dan "The Man" Fiber. We alternated instrumentation so, on any given song, any of us could be playing synthesizer, sampler, electronic drums, bass guitar synthesizer, or even singing.

From those legendary Dan Jam 1/91 recordings, here is the epic 12+ minute bonus track entitled Foopher Pain. The line up on this song is Ttam Troll - Roland GR-77B Bass Guitar Synthesizer and Drum Machine, MC2P4 - Synthesizers, and Dan "The Man" Fiber - Vocals and Synthesizers.


P.S. This photo of Dan "The Man" Fiber was taken on 11/24/90, M Scott and Jackey McConnell's wedding day.

Wednesday, December 9, 2009

Any Questions? - Charlotte RIP

This song was written in 2007 for a film which still remains unreleased. We were asked by the director to compose a track which was reminiscent of The Cure's Charlotte Sometimes but with a more uplifting sound. Drawing inspiration from thoughts and emotions of brighter, more youthful days, I crafted this pensively uplifting instrumental with the aid of MC2P4. I hope you enjoy this "softer side" of Any Questions?.



This photo was taken during my brighter, more youthful days back in 1989.

Tuesday, December 8, 2009

This Mistress - Carport Band


Back in the Summer of 1988, This Mistress ascended upon Scotland, PA for an outdoor concert which was, well, in a carport. As the partygoers played volleyball, enjoyed the cool waters of a swimming pool, and feasted on BBQ, our motley band of misfits slaved through a set of original and cover songs for the drunken masses who would request our cover of Metallica's Master of Puppets between every song.

This classic line up of the band included Ken Chandler - Vocals, Matt "Scrap Pap" Skirpan - Guitar, Kevin "Bart the Fart" Wilson - Guitar, Scott McConnell - Synthesizer, Matt Norcross - Bass, and Tim Harrell - Drums. Though not a truly inspired rendition of Led Zeppelin's Dancing Days, this video is a testament to the rhythmically tight and lead loose nature of the band. That remark is not meant to be disparaging. This dynamic mixture of musicians simply spawned unexpected surprises which would end up entertaining both the band and the audience.

It is also worth noting that I had to leave this show before it was over because I had to be at PenMar Park to perform with The Sounds of the Decades (the Big Band that I played electric bass with). This didn't stop This Mistress. They soldiered on and finished the set with Scott playing synth bass and fun was still had by all.

Special thanks to our longtime videographer Steve Olsen for shooting and editing this performance. He has been responsible for capturing a lot of our live shows and video shoots over the years. It is because of his hard work and dedication that the video section of the FFS Vault is so large.