Hangout Instructions here:
http://sunspotmusic.blogspot.com/2012/06/instructions-for-tonights-sunspot.html
Find more about the band at sunspotmusic.com
Tuesday, February 26, 2013
Sunspot Google+ Hangout #36 is LIVE NOW (2/26/2013 8:30 PM CST)!
Monday, February 25, 2013
Sunspot Road Mania - Ep. 190
We bring the party to Route 20 Outhouse, a gorgeous club near Racine, and play with the excellent power-pop band, The Pulltops, outta MIlwaukee.
Thursday, February 21, 2013
Addiction (Porn and Otherwise) and Why You Totally Can Get Addicted To Pot
Hat tip to io9 for featuring this video today in one of their posts. This little movie is probably the best and simplest description of addiction I've seen outside of "Master of Puppets". A non too subtle song, but extremely to the point nonetheless. Sure, it uses Internet Porn as the vehicle to describe addiction. I'm sure all of our browsing histories have been "cleared" at one point or another. There's a reason we talk about the porno buffet and D.H. Lawrence's "The Rocking-Horse Winner" in our track about the love/hate relationship we all have with the Internet, "Deus Ex Machina".
What I like about this video though is that it explains simply how we can become addicted to anything.
Alcoholics and junkies. as well as annoying marathon runners, kind of give addiction a bad name. Yes, I saw that 26.2 on your fucking rear window. We are biologically adapted to become addicted to things and this drives us up the goddamn wall. It's push/pull, nobody becomes addicted because what they're doing is not fun. Your body is rewarding you for something that gives you pleasure. Can the word "pleasure' never not sound dirty or is that just the relapsed Catholic in me talking? And, just in case you're too lazy to watch the fucking video, Dopamine is what's released when that pleasure happens and your brain wants more of it. You'll change your behavior in order to achieve that pleasure again.
Dopamine is a helluva drug. Hell, I think about it enough that we tackled it in our song about love and death, "The Price". It's the shit that makes loving the ladies so awesome and partying so much fun. But because it's so powerful it can fuel our addiction to anything that we enjoy.
Internet Porn is one thing. Well, it's not one thing, it's about a million different things. All wonderful naked things. But how many times have your friends told you that they're not "addicted to pot", they just like to smoke it all the time? Well, truth is, they are addicted at some level. Look, I don't think there's anything wrong with pot or that it should be illegal, I'm just using it as an example of something that people say they're not addicted to. And they say it constantly, usually while bogarting the j.
I'm sure I've addicted to a bunch of things at one time or another in my life. I can't say my relationship with alcohol has been the healthiest, one listen to "My Own Worst Enemy" will tell you that one. But I've probably been more damaged by my addictions to people than any particular substance or website. But can you believe The Hun is still around after all these years? Wow, that guy is a champ.
I guess I'm just blown away that the mind is so awesome that our predilection for addiction is an evolutionary advantage. Of course, musicians love to sing about this. It's one of the most basic facts of the human condition. A great way to start a cheerful day staring into the abyss is this song list from Pearl Jam to Depeche Mode to Amy Winehouse.
I guess my point is, whether it's cocaine, latvianmilfs.com, Jack Daniels, or cheese (search your feelings, you know it to be true), I need to be thinking what actions I take that I wouldn't rationally do in search of some kind of pleasure. I'll do irrational things to make sure that I get to perform, that I don't run out of beer, that I get enough protein on workout day, etc... I'll do things that are dumb or dangerous in order to get some kind of reward that might not be commensurate to the risk.
I don't know if that realization is good enough to warrant any kind of behavior change, but it certainly makes me more conscious of some of my actions. And also it helps me realize that a lot of the people I have judged and considered weak aren't just a little sick, but just predisposed to the same things I am. We're all still ultimately responsible for our behavior, but in the end, I'm not that different than the homeless guy begging for his fix or a binge eater desperate for a waffle cone.
Hey, I just think I found my first shreds of human compassion. All it took was a video on Internet porn!
Tuesday, February 19, 2013
Saturday, February 16, 2013
Sunspot Road Mania - Ep. 189
Mike and Wendy visit the Gallifrey One Doctor Who Convention in Los Angeles, California on Valentine's Day 2013 to see their good friend get married. There's Doctor Who cupcakes, cosplay galore, and a robot bartender!
Tuesday, February 12, 2013
Monday, February 11, 2013
Sunspot Road Mania - Ep. 188
It's picture time! A new year means new photos so it's time for us to get dressed up in our best new clothes and do some sexy shots. So, here's us looking gorgeous.
Mary's website is http://www.sweeneysphotography.com and it's a great place to get photos done for any reason. If you're in Wisconsin, check it out because she'll make you look AWESOME.
Sunday, February 10, 2013
Sunspot - FAWM 2013 2 - Arthuriana
Here comes the second Sunspot demo from February Album Writing Month 2013 - this one is a little bit of Anglophilia - it's called "Arthuriana".
Thursday, February 07, 2013
FAWM 2013 is here!
One of the most fun things that I did last year was complete the February Album Writing Month (FAWM), that's where you try to write 14 songs in 28 days. It's a fun way to push your creativity in a safe community (no one's ever that harsh on you, which is nice) and you'll find yourself trying some things that you never would have attempted before (like recording an entire track in bed on your iPhone, writing a song from the perspective of the La Crosse serial killer, or trying to do an electronic tribute to Big Trouble In Little China.)
Anyway, you can listen to all the songs that I finished right here, if you've got 40 minutes of your life to waste, but before working on tonight's track, I thought it'd be good to go over a little bit of my favorites from last year because most of them won't see the light of day with Sunspot probably and it's nice to revisit all of the hard work and late nights.)
Archeaopteryx
My personal favorite, mostly because I love the mean-ass synth sound that I got for the bass. But also because it uses dinosaurs as an analogy and fuck, who doesn't love dinosaurs? We all feel like we were born in the wrong time sometimes. My Kindergarten mind always thought the archaeopteryx was the missing link between modern birds and dinos (this was before we thought that the T-Rex had feathers) a creature stuck between two times.
Necrophiliac
My tribute to mid-90's alternative rock ballads. It's a little Big Head Todd and The Monsters, but it's for every time you were in a relationship and competing with a memory.
Cutter
My harmonies on this one are a little wonky, but I like the way it builds. And nobody's written an anthem for self-harming yet, so what the Hell?
Live Like Your Life Depends On It
I was a cubicle slave for a long time. I felt like this every time I walked out of work.
And there's even a couple of tracks that I worked that have eventually made it into the Sunspot live show. Here's the original demo versions of songs we'll eventually probably record.
Turn on the Hi-Fi
We don't write a lot of songs about how much fun it is to be the band. But I've gotta admit, it's awesome to be in a band, especially when you TURN THAT SHIT UP.
The Bottom
What would it sound like if I tried to be Trent Reznor for the night?
Anyway, check some of the stuff out and if you're curious, you can check out my FAWM page to see what stupid shit I come up with this year!
Anyway, you can listen to all the songs that I finished right here, if you've got 40 minutes of your life to waste, but before working on tonight's track, I thought it'd be good to go over a little bit of my favorites from last year because most of them won't see the light of day with Sunspot probably and it's nice to revisit all of the hard work and late nights.)
Archeaopteryx
My personal favorite, mostly because I love the mean-ass synth sound that I got for the bass. But also because it uses dinosaurs as an analogy and fuck, who doesn't love dinosaurs? We all feel like we were born in the wrong time sometimes. My Kindergarten mind always thought the archaeopteryx was the missing link between modern birds and dinos (this was before we thought that the T-Rex had feathers) a creature stuck between two times.
Necrophiliac
My tribute to mid-90's alternative rock ballads. It's a little Big Head Todd and The Monsters, but it's for every time you were in a relationship and competing with a memory.
Cutter
My harmonies on this one are a little wonky, but I like the way it builds. And nobody's written an anthem for self-harming yet, so what the Hell?
Live Like Your Life Depends On It
I was a cubicle slave for a long time. I felt like this every time I walked out of work.
And there's even a couple of tracks that I worked that have eventually made it into the Sunspot live show. Here's the original demo versions of songs we'll eventually probably record.
Turn on the Hi-Fi
We don't write a lot of songs about how much fun it is to be the band. But I've gotta admit, it's awesome to be in a band, especially when you TURN THAT SHIT UP.
The Bottom
What would it sound like if I tried to be Trent Reznor for the night?
Anyway, check some of the stuff out and if you're curious, you can check out my FAWM page to see what stupid shit I come up with this year!
Tuesday, February 05, 2013
Sunday, February 03, 2013
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