Hello everyone. How are you on the fine rainy day? Well, it’s raining here at least. It’s probably sunny where you live. Fuck yo’ sun!
Anyway, if you have questions, leave them in the comments below or email me them at phatfriendblog@gmail.com.
Oh, by the way, I’ll no longer be answering questions like “Hey, do you like this song/group/album?” Why? Cause that’s a boring fucking question and, honestly, I’m far too removed from new music/random electronic genre’s to even have a real opinion on anything. So, if you have sent me one of those in the last few weeks, assume it’s been ignored.
Okay…let’s go.
Would you be on twitter if you had nothing to promote? I feel like most ordinary people would use it as a news feed, to see what’s going on, but the average person seems more about replying to “celebrities” and hoping they respond. I have an account, made like 10 tweets. 9-10 of them replying to the people I am following. One or two have responded, Tim Burgess of The Charlatns being surprisingly willing to chat and quite a cool guy, but I almost feel like I am being that guy that I would normally dislike. I have a solid group of friends, few of which are on Twitter, so am I on their simply for celebrity worship? I would be willing to bet that the majority of people that use it for promoting their work and that of their friends don’t follow many or any of the people that are just “fans” and that makes sense. When I read that Blockhead lost his shoe in the subway, I think “oh I know who that guy is from his music”, but if I tweet I lost my shoe…I mean, who really, even among my own friends gives a shit? Do you ever read a fans profile enough to be like “Joe really hates paying taxes, how interesting!” or “wow my fans are kind of scary”? Now if (insert YOUR favorite artist) says the exact same shit, does it somehow become more interesting?
I think twitter is for three things and three things only. The promote, To get up to the minute updates on the news and to be funny. That’s it. I truly don’t understand people who sign up on there just to give minutia updates of their boring fucking lives. Especially when they’ve got like 4 followers and they’re constantly retweeting things and tweeting shit like “Time to go to work! :)”. People like that should probably just lose all internet privileges in general as they obviously haven’t figured out who things work.
If I was just Tony from the block (don’t be fooled that the rock that I got…), I’d probably not have a twitter. In fact, I put off twitter for a looooonnnnngg time because I didn’t want to have another social network to obsess over. Though, seeing as I primarily use it as a place to make jokes, maybe I would use it. But, it would be a “if a tree falls in the woods” type situation cause, without followers, twitter doesn’t make sense. A persons amount of followers is what gives them power on twitter. Someone like CoCo can tweet the most idiotic thing that will reach almost a million people, while actual smart and funny people are just shouting into a vacuum. Honestly, one of the most annoying/pitiful things on twitter is when some random hot girl has like 20,000 followers because she’s a random hot girl. That shit boggles my mind. It’s not like she’s tweeting nude pictures or promoting the next time she’s trying to be taken out on a date by some random dude on twitter. She’s just updating her stupid fucking life…and dudes follow her in droves. It basically just asking you timeline to filled with shit like “OMG, why haterz wanna front?!!? I go hard in da paint for my girlz”.
As for the Celebrity worship, I understand that. I mean, twitter is a place where a person is just a click a way from interacting with someone they admire. Granted, I’d guess that most of the celebrities out there don’t tweet back but I could see how people would be into the idea of having that power.
I was curious if you liked HBO’s OZ? You’re the watch it all king and I wanted to
know what you thought.
(IF you’re a fan and enjoyed the performance that Christopher Meloni gave as an
actor because he’s going to be in the new season of True Blood..Hence leaving
SVU.)
I did like OZ. I’m a sucker for things about jails. Be it documentaries or fiction. That shit fascinates me.
In the case of Oz, I was with it for a while but I felt it got a little out of hand towards the latter seasons. It seemed like they were just reaching for plot lines and it got a little TOO unrealistic for my taste. It is funny to watch it now and see all the people who ended up being either famous or who became beloved characters on “The wire”. It was like the minor leagues for “The Wire”.
I was gonna email you a question about this, but since you’re on Music By Cavelight today… I’m fascinated that you went into it with no overarching plan. I’ve always thought of it as a really cohesive record. Also, I’m a bass player, and I nerded out right away on the bass part in “Triptych Pt 3.” I love the progression and feel, I sat down with it and learned to play it. But I’ve always wondered about it — is it live (and if so, who played it?), sampled, synth bass? It sounds real (the sound of wound strings sliding over frets, the percussive strike of a pick, etc.), but these days you never know. So…what’s the deal?
That was played by Damien paris. He’s the dude who’s played pretty much all the guitar and bass on all my records. He’s a guitarist in the group “The Giraffes”.
As for that particular song, he came through to Baby Dayliner’s crib, where I was recording the album. He was in a deep flu/nyquil haze. Because our recording set up was a little less than professional, he recorded that whole thing under some towels , next to the speaker. I can’t even fathom why we would do that, but I have a clear memory of him looking like a fucked up ghost, being completely covered up and just playing that riff. Whatever the case, he killed it cause that’s definitely one of the most beloved parts of that entire album.
Situation: You are locked in a basement…you were drugged…youre confused…you are now missing your right hand…but, it can still be attatched. the only way it can be attached/you getting out of the basement is to bang a shemale…and she looks like Mr.Bean….WOULD YOU?!
Hahahahahahaa…The fact you needed to even add that the she-male looked like Mr. Bean is pretty great.
I think I’d pass. Not only cause I REALLY do not want to bang the she-male Mr. Bean but cause, if my hand if missing, even if they could reattach it, it’s not like it would function well anyway. I’d basically be fucking the she-male just to have a dead hand sewed back on to my wrist.
How’s Skelethon and what’s your favorite track?
To those who don’t know, “Skelethon” is Aesop’s new album. Before you ask, I did no beats on it. Aes did them all and he really knocked it out the park. Seriously…it’s front to back dope.
I’d say my favorite songs are “zzz top” and “Gopher guts”. None of you have heard these songs yet but, in a month or so when it inevitably leaks, you’ll see what I mean.
Oh, and I recently did a remix for “Zero Dark 30” that should be dropping around the time the album does.
A little bg info for my question: I recently started playing bball with my friends, we get some good 4v4 games going and sometimes we end up playing pick up games with other guys at the court. With my friends I’m the worst on the court but I still find ways to be useful. When I play with random people, they assume I’m very skilled because I’m really tall, but unfortunately that isn’t the case. I cover my man, play some D, make passes and I always keep up with the game. But some skills only come from practice and can’t be replaced by enthusiasm.
So my question:
Do you have any advice for pickup basketball games where you know you’re (one of) the least experienced players on the court? Do you have any “do’s and don’ts” for pickup games?
Well, first off , I wrote this a while back:
https://phatfriend.com/2010/08/16/ballin-some-rules-for-pick-up-basketball/
That should help. But, your question if specifically about being the shittiest guy on the court so let me get into that.
If you’re that one guy who’s not very good , your best bet it to focus on defense and rebounding. If the ball comes to you and you don’t have a wide open shot , pass it and keep moving. Usually, if a guy is the worst on the court, other people will notice and ease up of him defensively. This will open up doors for you to get rebounds and maybe even cut to the hoop for an easy lay up. As long as you’re not forcing shots up and throwing the ball away, your team will be okay with you missing some easy shots cause , at least you’re in the right place.
As for defense, just do your best to not let the guy you’re guarding score (DUH). I’ve played with tons of terrible players who’s only asset was being an pesky defender. They couldn’t shoot, dribble or jump but they knew how to annoy whoever they were defending, within the rules of the game. I always want that guy on my team cause it sucks when he’s guarding you. Basically , just know your role. There’s nothing worse, in pick up basketball, than the guy who doesn’t know his role within that game.
Do you ever listen to other underground artists tunes when they send you tracks?
I’m glad you asked this cause I’d really like to get this out there. In fact, lemme throw this shit in all caps…
I NEVER LISTEN TO ANYTHING ANYONE SENDS ME. I’M NOT A RECORD LABEL. I DO NOT HAVE THE POWER TO PUT ANYONE ON AND, IF I DID, IT WOULDN’T BE SOME STRANGER WHO EMAILED ME A LINK.
Back in the day, I used to say I wouldn’t listen to demo’s and such cause if you listen to one, then you gotta listen to them all. This was true. Just checking out one and giving feedback is enough to open the flood gates. Nowadays, i still say that but with an added bit of “dude, I really have no interest in peeping your music” mostly cause i think people who send me stuff assume I have different taste in music than I actually have. For one, I don’t really listen to any instrumental stuff. Or I’ll get some weirdo white space rap that’s just not my cup of tea.
With that said, I’ve been thinking about doing a demo review corner on this blog. The catch would be that I’d be totally honest. I’m not talking about going out of my way to shit on things but, if I must, I would. Is that something you guys might be into? As buding artists, could you handle the honesty? Hmm…truthfully, the thought of all the entries I’d get kinda horrifies me but I guess that’s the point.
What is the best/biggest show you’ve ever played?
I’ve played a bunch of music festivals so it’s hard to gauge. Thousands? I doubt over 5000.
How many girls have you banged?
Obviously, I’m not gonna answer that with a number but i’ll say this: Enough to not be ashamed of myself but less than I wish I had.
So, to answer your question, more than 20 but less than one million.