"Sitting fireside with my friends tonight"...

So tonight i'm about to head up to Denny's with Spencer, Colin, Cameron, Will, Keith, Alex and Amanda for a grand Christmas time with my friends.

Merry Christmas!

-d

A Night (or three) in the Studio

Here's a little peek in to what i've been doing for the past 72 hours.

Now i'm a-twitter.

Just set up a twitter account with my new phone. Sweet!
It should be visible if you're reading this right now.

-d

History of a Song.

Some time in 2006- Thought of a chill riff and vocal line. Named it "Summer".

March 2008- Took the song idea and made a chorus with Spencer. Finished writing the song lyrics the next day.

Summer 2008- Let the song evolve and tweak, playing it at shows with Spencer.

Fall 2008- Created a full band version of the song with Sam on cahon and Dalton on rhythm acoustic.

September 17th, 2008- Recorded the song at Winter Sun Studios in Alton with Spencer, Dalton and Sam.

A couple days ago- Got the Pro Tools files from Steve at Winter Sun.

Right now- Finished mixing and mastering "Summer Song", and am currently uploading an mp3 version on Myspace.



Done. Ahhhhhhhhhhh.

-d

Polaroid attack

The other day i took some Polaroid pictures with some film i bought recently. I took it around school and just captured some little moments.

O-Town Throwdown

Tonight was pretty much stellah.
My bros had their band's basement show tonight, the "First Annual O-Town Throwdown" as Chaz called it. Hey Nightmare played with Save The King and Into The Dead Skies. All were awesome.
Joel was there doing sound- i hadn't seen him in over a year. He told me he still had my shoes from when i recorded at his house.
But just as we were throwing down to Hey Nightmare's last song, with the circle pit in full force, flashlights appeared at the window, and after about a minute of screaming to the guys to stop playing, they yelled into the basement, "YOU! SHUT IT DOWN! WE NEED TO SEE THE HOUSE OWNER!"

They thought they caught us doing drugs and drinking... too bad we were just having a fun time. They missed out. In fact, they probably just wanted some of the action.

Luckily, Colin's parents just got a warning. Everybody there thanked them and said goodnight.
Pretty awesome night. Oh, and Stephen and I just got back from seeing Twilight. Wasn't bad.

-d

song in the works.

i just got back from downstairs, using Spencer's old 4-track studio in a box to record an idea i have for a song. It involves a chord progression i've been wanting to use, and soprano-alto-tenor-bass a capella backup vocals. I think it's going to turn out rather pretty.
i'm planning on getting it recorded and putting it up for all to hear in the next week or so.

-d

Edit: it's up. 9/12

A picture sings a thousand songs

i figured out how to work the pictures on this... i'm not to internet-literate so it took me a while, but here you go. Here are some photos from last Friday night's show at Fubar in st. louis.

Tuesday night on the strip...

Stephen and i were bored, so the two of us and Jamie went down to St. Louis and walked up and down the Del Mar strip, aka The Loop.
Not much was going on at 9 PM on this tuesday night, save a hoppin' Mudvayne concert at The Pageant, and a killer cookie's n' cream n' cinnamon ice cream at FroYo.
Oh yes, and the massive fight outside the pageant after the mudvayne show.

Anyway, i got a job yesterday at Jimmy Johns. Good thing i already know my sandwiches and subs after working at Subway for a while. So this new job means cash... going straight to The Longshot's funds, of course.

well right now i'm sitting here blogging while Stephen is watching the Discovery channel. I'm listening to Rookie Of The Year and don't even feel tired. goodnight, then.

-d

i've realized this about mixtapes.

all i need on a mixtape to be satisfied is to have Jack's Mannequin on it.
I made myself a little mix, you know, for the car, and i found my top 10 Jack's songs... in order.

1. The Mixed Tape
2. Crashin
3. Rescued
4. Doris Day
5. Hey Hey Hey We're All Gonna Die
6. Hammers And Strings (A Lullaby)
7. I'm Ready
8. Into The Airwaves
9. Sleazy Wednesday
10. What Gets You Off


love, d.

What went down

Our show at F.U.B.A.R. last night was probably the most fun show i've ever done. We had literally no practices since our previous show, save a quick acoustic run through a few minutes before our set. But we got up there, no technical hassles, no nerves or anything. And the kids dug us, even though they've never heard of us before.
During "Shiver", a fast-paced pop punkish song, there were a bunch of guys skanking. I never thought of the song as a skanking song. It was pretty funny to watch.
While i was doing my solo cover of "Beauty In The Breakdown", i saw a bunch of people singing along.
When i was announcing "Between Two Autumns" i said it was a love song, and told them to grab a friend. During the song i saw couples holding each other and swaying to the music. Quite possibly one of the best moments of my life.
Some guy took pictures and gave them to us today, too. All seven of them look freaking amazing and i put them up on the myspace. After our set we got so many compliments, and some drunk guy was like "i really liked your music, there was so much depth to it. The slow parts were in all the right places and the ending was awesome."
How could a night get any better than that? Besides talking with a bunch of cute girls afterwards, getting numbers and names, and celebrating at Denny's with the band, Cameron, Keith, Kasey, and Kevin?
I don't really think it can.

On a final note, while we were setting up, i was kind of struck by the amazing view of all the silhouettes in the crowd, tipped with the colors of the lights from above, so i took a video from the stage with my friend's camera... i'll put it up when i get it back.

-david

Last show of 2008!

This is it... the last time I'm going to be up onstage with my awesome bandmates this whole year.
Tonight (in a few hours, actually) we'll be hitting the stage at F.U.B.A.R. and rawkin it up. I can't wait... i always get this great feeling before shows.
So what are we doing for a whole month of no shows? Recording.

Turns out the final mix of "Hearing" i got back from Wil... well, sucked. It kind of seemed like it wasn't mixed at all. So to make up for it Colin recorded me doing a full-blown cover of The Scene Aesthetic's "Beauty In The Breakdown". Which i will be covering solo tonight.

2008's been a huge year for The Longshizzle. So many shows... like 15 this year. It's all been great.
2009... The year of The Longshot. Bring it!

-d

eleven eleven

Awesome day for The Longshot.
We (spencer david colin sam) recorded "Hearing Only One End Of The Phone Conversation" in full at Wil's studio, and got back a demo for "Changing Colors" as well. This Thursday i should receive the final mix of "Hearing" and put it up on myspace... woo!
Well, it was a cold cloudy fall day today, and i'm really really liking this cozy cold weather. And it really makes it better when everyone else is liking it too. I think i'm going to make me some hot cocoa in a bit.
We didn't have school today. It was a nice break from everything. We pretty much spent all day in the studio. Here's where we stand with the EP as of now:

-Between Two Autumns is completed
-Hearing Only One End Of The Phone Conversation is completed, we're getting it back soon
-Summer Song is completed, we're getting it back when we send 25 to Steve in Alton.
-Changing colors is almost done, we have the piano/bells framework right now.
-we still have to record Shiver and Tomorrow.

It'll be done soon enough... i can't believe how far we are into this. it's pretty exciting.

i'm so illegal

I voted today, even though I turn 18 tomorrow.
How bad am i?

Right now Stephen Jones and I are at his house down the street and we're watching the polls unfold. We're about to start Requiem For A Dream right now, he's never seen it. Boy is he in for a surprise.

Well, happy election day, and happy birthday to me tomorrow.

-d

Happy halloween!

Tonight was awesome. After school, Spencer, Colin, Sam and I went out to Belleville and did a shoot for The Longshot with Ana. She used her Polaroid and we got 9 sweet photos that we're putting up online sometime soon. I absolutely love Polaroids.
After that, Kaitlin, Alaina and Jenny picked me up from Spencie's and we went out to eat dinner at Texas Roadhouse. Cheese fries. Then we went to Laser Rock for a sweet game of laser tag (i got 6th). After that, they dropped off my sweaty self back at Spencer's, and me, Spencer, Alex and Colin went out to Denny's and Wal-Mart. Now we're staying up at Spencer's dad's, and he's working on a new song downstairs while Colin and I are up here in the computer room.
Colin's talking to his new babe and I'm trying to convert the IFO video file from the DVD to an mp4 so i can edit the video to put on youtube. I'd say that what i'm doing is a different kind of stud from what Colin's doing.
Anyway, i talked to Wil McCarthy and apparently he wants to record for us some more, so this Monday we're recording a new song called changing colors, and hopefully we can get into the school so we can use the pianos and the tubular bells. I have pretty high hopes for this song, and i think it'll turn out beautifully.

So there's a quick update on my world right now. Plus, i got an awesome purple v-neck sweater from Target last night. I'm wearing it now.

-d

ps. Cassie's party tomorrow

It's Getting Colder

All of a sudden outside is chilling us all to the bone. October hit it's halfway mark and Indian Autumn is officially over. Christmas is on it's way.
I just wanted to drop a line because i'm feeling good right now, which is strange seeing as how my fingers are numb and hot, i have a killer headache and i'm currently still grounded as an aftereffect of staying out all Homecoming night with Katy, Alaina, Kaitlin and Jenny.
I have a new song in the works. No title, scratch lyrics, but a sick tune. It's definitely going to have a synth lead, which is great because i've been pushing and pushing myself to find a good synth lead.
And of course, it all spawned in the shower. Actually, the synth lead popped in my head as i was drifting off to sleep, and the rest of the music came after i got up and jumped in the shower.
We'll see how this all ends up.

Songs for this month:
"Wordplay" by Jason Mraz
"Designer Skyline" by Owl City
"Crashin" by Jack's Mannequin
"Annie Use Your Telescope" by Jack's Mannequin
"Navigate Me" by Cute Is What We Aim For

Gotta go.

-d

It's all about the wordplay.

Jason Mraz's "Wordplay" is one of the best songs I've ever heard.
It's one of those tunes i'll hold on to forever because it never ceases to make me look up.
That's all.

Ps. Homecoming night (and morning) was amazing.

-d

What october brings.

I find myself on the verge of another moment in my life i'll always look back on fondly. I guess there's not much more to do now than experience it.

My senior year Homecoming dance will involve Kimi and I lookin' fly on the dance floor, tearing it up and bringin' it down. What goes on after the dance will be improvised. But there's no way i'm going home before midnight.

Last night's football game was one of the best nights- after i was done running the soundboard during the marching band's halftime performance, i went over to the school and got changed and came back to the stands to find people, particularly Melissa and Alyssa. I got into a conversation with an old friend of mine about a show The Longshot's doing on the 19th, and he said he's always wanted to see me play so he's definitely coming.

Then his friend next to him, some senior girl i learned was the captain of the girls' swim tean, said out of nowhere, "The Longshot? The LONGSHOT? Oh my gosh, i love them!"
I was like, "Seriously? That's me!"
And she kind of freaked out and came down and gave me a hug. She told me she loves my music and she's been wanting to meet me for a while. When i reentered the previous conversation, this girl kept telling her other friend how awesome my music is... is it really possible something that cool could happen?

I've been learning recently how expansive the longshot's reach is. If the entire school doesn't know about us by now, they will by Tuesday after the Panther Beat feature on us. It's insane, all the good i hear about it from other people.

It's really what keeps me going. The positive feedback i get from people that i don't even know drives me to push even harder. After all, it's what i'm going to do for the rest of my life.

Anyway, back to homecoming- First Katy and I are going over to Kimi's house to take pictures with everyone and then head over to the school at 7. It's kind of weird how it's my last homecoming, but Katy's first. I always tell her to make the best of her high school years like i did, and maybe- MAYBE- she'll enjoy it as much as i did.

Because yes, i've had a blast the last four years. And it's not over yet.

Fast

Lately life has been a blur of color. Especially with the leaves and the weather changing, everything's seeming to shift extremely fast. But it all seems like it's on a positive note. It's kind of like i'm on a highway at night, speeding down the road with only a few feet of light in front of me to light my path.

But as i sit here, listening to Amelia Jean, Spencer yelling at the t.v. behind me, time seems to stand still. I don't know what to say other than that. So i'll just leave on that note and submerge back into the rushing colors of my life.

-d

Kayli's

Spencer, Dalton, Colin, Will, Cameron, Chaz, Micheal, Chandler, Alex, Zach, Emily, Natali, and people i don't know.

-Emily's friend puked on the floor.
-Dalton came out of the bathroom. "Guys, i was about to puke, but now i feel better!" and then he pukes all over the floor.
-The Longshot got hooked up with Mike Judy Productions and Polar Dungeon Studios.
-The Longshot and Hey Nightmare on the back porch. Rap battle. Micheal vs Chaz. Enough said.
-Cameron, Colin, Will and I go to Jack In The Box and get 14 tacos.
we come back and everybody's gone and Kayli's having a nervous breakdown because they all left without her.
-Now me, Cameron, Colin and Will are hanging with her, cleaning up, I vacuumed, and we're just chillin now.
-I just heard Cameron say, "Where'd David go?!" so i'm going to have to go.

Good times.

And this is my Life. Welcome.

My life as a musician is fully underway... Judy Productions hooked us up with a show at the Creepy Crawl... i ran into Becca of STLSound at Cracker Barrel this morning and she said she's "keeping her ear on the ground for any more shows we can do", what a sweetheart. Tonight we're playing at a party at Kayli's house.
I never realized how "widespread" our music is now schoolwise, we're getting over 60 plays a day and getting adds from around the country.

Well, i've got an appointment to go to right now.
-d

...and it's a little clearer

I kind of see this EP as my baby. It's something that's been brewing in my mind for well over a year now, having been tweaked and changed and evolved to something that i feel is a part of myself.
i recently took the time to sit down and figure out the logistics for the making of this record... the cost, the time and basically the effort. I'm willing to do whatever it takes and i know it'll be hard. But i just hope i can finish it before the end of this senior year.
And as for the cost... by extrapolation, i estimate it being somewhere around a $700 effort.
But it's getting clearer now, and a lot closer. It's going to happen, it's just a matter of time.

Recording in Alton

One of the best Saturdays of the whole year...
This morning i woke up at 9 in Spencer's living room, Sam asleep on the couch next to me and Spencer on the chair adjacent to him.
I woke them up, we took showers (seperately), Spencer played some Castle Crashers, Dalton came over, we ate, got all our instruments and left for Alton.
I was using Spencer's video camera to videotape the whole day, using disks i had bought a few days ago. I really want to videotape everything we do as The Longshot.
So we blasted Something Corporate the whole way up there; it was a nice drive with a few clouds and a bit of blue.
When we got up to Alton, I called Steve and told him we'd be at his place in a bit, and then we swung by Taco Bell. We also stopped by IlliNoise, one of the best places we've ever done a show at.
We finally found our way to Steve's house, where the studio is. He came out and greeted us and we took all our stuff downstairs.
First i laid down the strings on 'Between Two Autumns', and then for the rest of the time we all recorded 'Summer song'. That took maybe 3 1/2 hours. I videotaped most of the recording process.
I think my favorite part was definitely when we all sang the last chorus together, that was really fun. Sam kept messing it up.
When we finished at around 6, we listened to the unmixed version and it sounds so good. Dalton, Spencer and Sam did so well.
When we go back up we're going to have to bring $150 just to take home the final mix.
Looks like we're going to have to do some shows. Let's go

Bukowski.

This whole week I've been having a strange craving for some of Charles Bukowski's work. I mean, who else can get away with writing poetry about 'kissing away' in a public park, or his cat's balls?
I mean that's not the reason i like him of course... i just love his imagery of the City of Angels, and just the sporadic nature of his poems. He sounds so pissed off in so many of them.
I think i'll make a trip to the library.

Three Years Ago today

The most influential album in my life came out.

"Stories of the summer keep me alive..."

and it's coming to a close. As the tides pull back and things start showing structure again, I've come aware of how close the rest of my life is; it's pretty much rushing towards me, closing the gap between what i am now and what i hope to be. I need to stand up and look ahead. And know what i need to do to get there prepared.

We start recording in Alton at Winter Sun sometime late september... expect a new song or two in October. This is going to be a good ride...

I'm going to tell you a story of the seasons.

My Day

7:00 AM- Woke up
7:03 AM- Turned on the shower, fell asleep on the bathroom floor
8:14 AM- Woke up to cold shower water, didn't get in, went back to bed
10:00 AM- Woke up for real, went down to the elementary school to help out with a friend's eagle project
10:47 AM- Almost died via impaling, decided to go back home
11:15 AM- Took a real shower
11:50 AM- Left for work
1-3 PM- Taught a guy about the concept of negative numbers for 2 straight hours
4:00 PM- Arrived at the park for a back to school picnic
Now (5:56 PM)- Falling asleep for the night.


Matt better earn his eagle from today.

The Southside show... and the hobos that reside

So at the Southside show last weekend, Spencer and I pretty much got life lessons from a drunk hobo sitting on the curb. "Don't go f***ing everything you see like rabbits. Keep it in your pants, kid. Save it for marriage. You got a lot going for you guys. Don't mess it up. Play some music for Jesus every once in a while. You could have no love at all and everyone could hate you and look down on you but you still got Jesus who loves you. You're gonna have a lot of hard times and things going agaisnt you but you gotta keep going."
We had some time to kill before our set so we walked up and down the strip, checking out all the antique stores and bars, it's a cool little place. And this guy sitting there with a bag in front of him and half his teeth missing calls me over and he's like, "what are you doing with your life?" "Uh, music i guess" "You look like a musician. you're skinny"

I don't know. I guess if it were for anything, it would be for what happened an hour later. I broke two strings, one on both guitars, and they just happened to be the two string we didn't have more of. I kept saying we shouldn't go home, we should keep trying to find a way to play the show, because i was definitely going to play that night. So eventually the singer from Common Roots did us a huge favor and gave us two of his strings. And we played an awesome show.

Also, to plug a little bit, we made some friends that night... Tomorrow's Rumor are a pop punk band that played a couple hours after us, so we hung out at Mangia's with them until they played. Unfortunately, despite the fact that Spencer and i had been in there twice before that night, there was a last minute decision that since the two of us were underage we shouldn't be allowed in to see Tomorrow's play their set. This caused a lot of outrage, some people left and Kevin of Tomorrow's threatened to not play at all... but eventually they did, and we were forced to leave after a few songs listened to through the lobby door. Anyway, my point is they're really nice, humble guys and their EP is amazingly well done. We were surprised they hadn't tried out for the Warped Tour in St. Louis this year.

Well, that night was a blast for all of us. Sarah McCracken was really god, she's got some crazy lyrics... and Common Roots played forever. We only had about a 30-45 minute set. It was nice seeing Becca, too, of STLSound! We hadn't seen her since Mayfest. All in all it was a great last show for us before hitting the studio.

Seeing as how we might be signed pretty soon to Gravel Road Records, a small acoustic/blues label, you might be hearing some new songs sooner than you think.

Our Maiden Voyage on the airwaves

So this is one of those weeks that have come around rarely this summer that i know will be jam-packed with stuff to do. I've taken a lot of break time from life the past couple months, doing nothing but a show here or there with Spencer, or just chilling with friends.

I just got back from a group interview for Hollister at the mall and i'm about to head over to Spencer's with Will in a bit. Hopefully i'll get 'the call' from the store, because i am definitely in need of a cash flow these days. I get the same stressful pressured feeling from putting off recording the EP that i do putting off schoolwork... and that's not something you're supposed to feel during the summertime. But i swear i'll be churning out the tunes from the studio when i get my first couple paychecks sorted out.

It's kind of weird, no matter how set i am on the current tracklisting for the EP i never stop writing songs and wanting to add them to it. 'Stories EP' has got a certain feel to it with the way the songs are arranged and such that i don't want to make any major changes, but along will come a song or two that would go perfectly here or there. I definitely know that once we're done with this EP there will be a lot of material left over for the next project.

But sorry about my ramblings... back to this week. i have a very short attention span when it comes to talking. so i'm doing nothing but chilling tonight, and tomorrow is a party i'm supposed to go to. After that we have two shows on Thursday and Saturday, the latter being posted on the previous entry down below.

The Southside Erato show will probably the biggest one we've done yet. I just hope we don't sound like idiots on our first time on the radio.

-d

Last show before recording

Southside Rocks Off Festival '08

The Longshot @ Erato Wine Bar
3117 South Grand Blvd.
Saint Louis, MO 63118
July 19th
21 + up... $5 entry

coverage on KDHX FM 88.1! And a spot in the STLSound magazine.
That's exciting.

-d

I guess they're just something to hide behind...

I think i've finally gotten over that impulsive beginner's urge to post every time something remotely significant happens. I've told myself recently that i'd spend a lot more time outside this month, since most of this summer has been in planning for Warped Tour and working on music and stuff. So this July i'm getting ready to fry.
I got some new sunglasses so i feel less like david and more like a cool mysterious shady person when i go out. I can't for the life of me remember a time where i have ever actually owned a pair, so i guess everybody feels like this their first time. But it's new to me, so i'm going to rock the shades as much as i can.
Well right now i'm calling some friends to see if anyone wants to go see that new movie that's out today called Meet Dave. I saw the previews and i have to say it looks like the first original funny movie in quite a while. Eddie Murphy plays a spaceship? gotta go see that.
Sorry for the lack of a base subject for this post, but i'm kind of rushed as the movie starts in an hour. I still haven't showered today, and i think i'd be doing my row a favor if i did.
Better posts soon, i promise :)

-d

Edit: It seems to be a recurring theme of a storm breaking out whenever i post on this thing. I swear a storm cloud has just intruded on our blue summer sky and i can already hear the thunder. Bring the rain, clouds. I could use some right now

Oceans

she's watching the waves crashing down on her


it's too late for a one way train

i wanna be in california.




she follows the signs on an empty street


wrapped in power lines so you'll feel some heat



and it's too late to call the cops.

i wanna be in california.

New beginnings a.k.a. My mess of a nose

Well i don't know what significant thing i should say in order to kick off this journal with a bang, so i guess i won't say much at all. But since it's a new way of talking to nobody in particular in such a way that I feel like i am talking to someone in particular, i know i'll be doing this a lot.
I've been keeping a somewhat steady journal since '98. So i know how this whole deal goes. I end up pouring out my deepest (as deep as a 17 year old boy can go) feelings about trivial stuff and i end up laughing (or cringing) about it years later. So get ready for some serious enlightening insight. Or maybe just teenage ramblings.
About the nose comment- on the first of the month i spent the day at the Warped Tour, the holy mecca of our generation. I got to see and meet my favorite musicians and artists, get a clean kick in the face from a crowd surfer, and on top of it all a sunburn. I made the wisest of decisions of absolutely ignoring sunscreen like i've always done, and never had a problem with. But when the awesome day was through, and i was lying in my bed, shivering with a headache, i noticed how stupid i could be. Because i definitely had a burn.
Which brings me back to the nose... the rest of my face and neck is fine now, but the combination of a kick and a burn has left my nose in a weird peely raw state. Sure, it's brand new perfect skin, but it still hurts. In fact, i got a nosebleed out of nowhere last sunday.
But that's enough about that. I have no idea how this will all turn out, i just might end up using it for band updates, or i could use it for everyday life things. But i'm going to wrap this up now, because a really cool looking storm has been developing outside and i want to watch it. Storms rule.

Edit: It just started pouring. i cant even see across the park