Art Is War

So I was working on some new songs today and I thought about all the shit that goes through my head while I’m writing something. Every thought, every note, every line, even every word comes up against resistance. Because some of it seems brilliant and some of it seems utterly banal. And some of the thoughts are necessary and some of them are poison.

You’re constantly fighting... something. Some kind of resistance, whether it be:

1. Your own thoughts of the music
2. Your expectations of what other people are going to think
3. Your expectations of what will be successful
4. Your aspirations of what you hope you can accomplish

(Notice the “your” that starts each piece of resistance!)

And you wish it was as easy as fighting other musicians, because then success at art would be gladiatorial, like winning in an arena. The last man standing is the one that makes the best art. But when you’re dealing with something that’s subjective by its very nature (how many debates have existed about what is art and what isn’t? Um, gazillions. How many times has it happened with each of our parents alone? Nevermind that great 90’s controversy over whether a “deejay” was a “musician”, today, we worry about the bastardization of art through Guitar Hero, instrumentalist versus gamer.)

But it’s a war waged against every doubt and social anxiety. How do you do your absolute best? What’s the measure of your best?

You know the people who don’t bother to edit or refine anything they do. These first-drafters walk into situations thinking that their initial spark of creativity is enough carry them through. They think they showed up with a diamond but it’s really like half of a geode that they kind of broke open.

And sometimes it is enough, sometimes the difference between someone who sucks and someone’s who’s good is just a matter of the person who sucks putting ten percent less effort into preparation than the person who’s good. But what’s the difference between the person who’s good and the person who’s great? And how do you move from great to the best?

So I was listening to the BBC today and they interviewed a band called The Vaccines. They seemed like nice enough guys and they were talking about their first American tour that they just got home from and that they got to hang out with Debbie Harry and A-List Hollywood stars. Now “stars” I could probably do without, but Debbie Harry? I fucking love her. I’d wet my pants if I saw her at one of my shows, because I adore Blondie, I’ve got a fucking Heart of Glass myself. So, I’m insanely jealous already, but I’m not negative. I mean, their accents make them sound smart and most of the time that’s enough to win me over.

And then they go on to talk about their sold out shows and I was expecting to be blown away by this band. I mean, I thought they were going to be awesome. I’m prepped for greatness and I get this song called “Break-Up Sex” from their new album. Okay, okay. I think it’s got a funny name, it sounds like it’s going to be a little obvious and then as it starts, the sound quality is poor, but I bet there’s something really clever in there that we’ll get to as soon as the chorus hits.

There’s not, it’s repulsive pop-rock with way too much reverb that doesn’t even flirt with smart, nevermind clever. It’s not that catchy and it would have sounded better if I recorded it in my bathroom. It’s a first draft. It’s like they released the demo. And you know what, they’re on the BBC and just got to tour America. So they’ve got some huge measure of success already, no matter if I like them or not.

So, my opinion doesn’t mean shit because a lot of other people think they’re great. You can’t worry about what other people think. I know that sounds weird because it’s something we’ve heard all of our lives but never actually believe that we can do. I mean, who can not care about what other people think of them? How do we judge ourselves but absolutely through the eyes of the way we think other people see us (and sometimes we judge ourselves better than we are just because we don’t think others can see everything.) So, when you’re creating, you’re only really fighting yourself and your expectations. Because you can’t predict what somebody’s gonna like. How did anybody know that Justin Bieber would be so wildly successful? He’s not as cute as David Cassidy and doesn’t even have the personality of Donny from New Kids (which one was your favorite? I like Jordan) but for some reason he fucking fascinates people. Okay.

So everything is just a reminder for me to do my best all the time and not worry about anything else. Don’t be anything besides the best friend, human, lover, or artist that you can be. Art is war against yourself, against your doubt, against your pain. Art is meaning and making something beautiful out of ingredients that might have been ugly. And it’s putting your best self forward. And it’s something different to everybody. So, as I was listening to The Vaccines I was thinking about it. My dumbass opinion is only of any import to me.

Everything is subjective and the only thing that’s objective is that you either did the best you could or you didn’t. And I would be cheating myself if I did anything less. I would never go to war with only half my ass. So this is your go-ahead to scold me if I don’t ever look like I’m giving it all onstage or with new songs!

Sunspot Road Mania - Ep. 151

Van troubles in Rochester? Say it ain't so! Minneapolis rockers, Packers championships, Sunspot rehearsal- it's all here in the first Road Mania of 2011!

Download the full SD version here: http://www.sunspotmusic.com/roadmania/sunspot_rm_151.mov

Wendy's DrummerCam: Saturday 1/22/11 @ Nomad Pub in Minneapolis, MN

Wendy's DrummerCam: Friday 1/21/11 @ Kathy's Pub in Rochester, MN

2011 Shows Starts Tonight and We Need Your Help Finding Summer Festivals

Our last show was three weeks ago, that’s the longest we’ve gone without a Sunspot performance since July of 2008. We haven’t been to Minnesota since last Spring, so we’re looking forward to seeing all our friends there. And we’re going to have to go fucking crazy because it’s supposed to be something like -40 over the next couple of days. Thank God I winterized my testicles back in December.

So, as we make touring plans for the rest of the year, we need to know where you’d like to see us and we need to know specifically a place that you’d like to see us at. There’s a million places we’d love to play of course, but if we don’t know where to play then we can’t go there. So, if there is a club, pub, bar, bandshell, coffeehouse, etc... where we can play in your area then let us know about it. The other thing is when we do come to your neck of the woods, we need you to help spread the word. We’re already starting to book March and April and making Summer touring plans.

Here’s the really important part that we need your help with:

We’re looking to find summer festivals in Wisconsin, Minnesota, Illinois, or Iowa. Big rock shows, church beer tents, Fireman’s Picnics, biker rallies, local corn or cheese fests, etc... If you know of something in your town that happens every year, let us know about it immediately. If you know who runs it, even better! But this is the time of the year that festivals start booking and we want to be part of more of them this year. We’ve had great times in the past from Summerfest, Riverfest, Harborfest, Bratfest, Maefest, etc... We’ve done church festivals, big rock outdoor events, and everything in between. We’d like to know about the ones that are near you and we wanna blow them out of the water. So, say something on the Book of Face or email us or hell, just give us a call at (608) 561-2263.

We’re working on booking and scheduling right now and hearing where you guys want us to play is the most important thing when we’re planning. Thanks and we’ll see you on the road starting tonight!

New Year, New Plans for World Domination

Okay, the Holiday break is over and it’s 2011. It’s time to get back into rock mode after partying stupidly hard over New Year’s Eve and then taking the past week to recover and begin scheming. Last year, I made 3 New Year’s Resolutions on December 31st, let’s take a look at them and see how we did...

1. Give you something new
Major Arcana, 3-hour original showcase, weird Christmas songs, guest stars at the MAMAs ceremony, better acoustic show... We definitely made the show as new and exciting as possible. So, this one gets a check off the list. We could have written more new songs, but we definitely showcased all our material in a completely different way. We drastically changed the packaging as well as refining and improving the product. We made our first real live recording and also a concert film and released it as a DVD. So, this resolution, unlike my resolution to both drink less and look at less porn in 2010, was kept. Good on us.

2. Give you our absolute best
Full effort every time. Don’t half-ass anything. I almost exhausted myself out of the game in July (actually I passed out involuntarily in the van on the way back from the show in Wausau in July. I had slept only a few hours that week, the next night was the Shank Hall stop of the tour, which was a really big deal to us and my head stopped working. In retrospect, combining little to no sleep, tons of pressure for the upcoming tour, the anxiety and terror of not knowing where my next paycheck was coming from, and my basic neuroses with heavy beer drinking and some Jaegermeister thrown in for good measure was probably a poor idea.) I can honestly say that every show we did this year was to the hilt and I tried my best except for Pittsburgh and the second time we were at Quaker Steak (when we played inside because it was a hurricane outside.) I could have done better at both shows to make them more successful and more fun. There were plenty of shows that could have been more successful, but those are the only two were I felt I could have tried harder, been more clever, and I chose the lazy way out. I feel like the work put into the DVD makes up for it, though. I don’t know how more thorough we could have made that thing. I watched it over and over again to make sure that there wasn’t any mistakes and I’d remake the gigantic movie file if there was one move that looked out of sync. And then when it came time to finish it, there were more all-nighters in store during the whole last week (and that was after the editing was done.) Major Arcana isn’t half-assed and it’s the best thing we’ve ever done, period. So for the year, that’s 98%, which still qualifies as an A on my curve. So, I think we can check this one off the list as well.

3. To Fulfill Your Trust and Faith In Us
This one I can’t answer. I guess that’s up to you guys, the people who show up at Sunspot concerts and make it so that we don’t have to play with ourselves every weekend. (No, I can’t pass up an easy one.) Here’s my definition of letting you guys down: Failing to try. We’ve embarrassed ourselves on more than one occasion because we tried a song that didn’t work live, or didn’t practice enough, or had one too many shots onstage for the last set. I’ve sang notes (and whole melody lines) way outside of my vocal range, played songs that I only half-knew, and ripped every single pair of jeans that I own at the knees (I have to get new jeans about once every four months.) Since everyone still comes back to shows, I know that it’s not just the music that keeps you coming back. I think that you trust us to keep trying new and interesting things, to keep trying hard. This year, we tried hard. Check.

You know, one of our friends who owns a club, recently told me that he has a joke with another club owner that, “After a nuclear war, there’s only going to be two things that survive: cockroaches and Sunspot.” I wasn’t sure if he was trying to say something about us being Kafkaesque, but I still laughed and saw his point. We’re still trying like we’re still teenagers who listened to KISS and The Ramones and thought “Hey, if they can do it, so can we!” Because that’s never changed and when it does, well, that’s when we’ll fail to fulfill your trust and faith. This is it, it’s Miller Time.

We tested ourselves in 2010 like we never had before with easily the hardest work we’ve ever done. It was our best year yet. And that was just the beginning. We’re already working on new material (check out my SoundCloud if you like, because I post demos on there) and we’re already trying to figure out something new and something ridiculous to do. So, this is the week that we’re finalizing our goals for 2011. I know that makes it sound like a business, but like mankind was Marley’s business, kicking out the fucking jams is ours.

So, if you have ideas or suggestions or anything, feel free to Facebook, email, ReverbNation, Twitter, call or text at 608-561-2263, hell you can even Myspace us (we still check it a couple of times a week), and let us know what you think. We do this as much because we love partying with and creating for you as much as we love to just make cool noises and have fun. This year is going to be awesome and we’re thankful you guys have stuck with us through everything. In the words of the D, “We've been through so much bullshit just to be here tonight to rock your fuckin' socks off. And all we ask in return is so precious little. All we're askin' you to do is drop trou and squeeze out a Cleveland Steamer on our chests.”