With the “Satellites” video, it seems like we’ve been in the final stretch for a while. We have. We should have the final video and final mix of the song within the next few weeks. I’m looking forward to seeing the final video & I know the song sounds great.
I anticipated having the video and rewards complete by the end of January 2023. After a few delays, a personal bout with COVID, and ensuing winter cold, the finish line is closer. While we wait, I have begun to organize the promised rewards from the Kickstarter campaign. March 2023 is probably a more realistic delivery time for most of the rewards. The EP may take a little longer, but everyone who pledged will get an exclusive first-listen of “Satellites” when it is ready.
One of the rewards we promised was a handwritten lyric sheet of “Satellites.” There were four handwritten sheets and I wrote each in a different color. We have autographed t-shirts ready to go as well as several thank you videos we filmed on location. If you pledged to the campaign, please make sure you’ve updated your mailing address and contact info so that we can deliver your reward.
The critic Harold Bloom considered One Hundred Years of Solitude to be a dense work: “There are no wasted sentences, no mere transitions, in this novel, and you must notice everything at the moment you read it.” Being the first of several novels in a career that would culminate in author Gabriel Garcia Marquez’s receiving the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1982, One Hundred Years of Solitude is so highly regarded that some have said that it, along with the Book of Genesis, should be required reading for the entire human race.
Published in 1967 in Spanish and translated into English in 1970, One Hundred Years of Solitude has sold over 50 million copies worldwide. The novel is a prime example of magical realism, a style where supernatural elements take on the mundane, and vice versa. While the story addresses political and social realities of Columbia in the early 20th century, the book’s most profound observation concerns human pride and how we, as humans, make the same mistakes over and over and over again.
One Hundred Years of Solitude has been on my reading list for about thirty years. I recall, as early as my senior year in high school, people talking about how good the book was. Honestly, I didn’t catch on to what was really going on in the book until the last chapter. Most of the men are named either Jose Arcadio or Aureliano and there’s a gypsy named Melquiades who keeps showing up even long after he dies. I won’t ruin to book for you, but once everything comes together in the very last sentence, One Hundred Years of Solitude achieves that thing that deep literature does–it gives you a glimpse into a truth otherwise unseen.
My favorite image in the book is the Spanish Galleon that somehow ran aground miles from the ocean. I imagined that, over a hundred years, flowers would have grown all around it. Or, perhaps when the patriarch of the novel, Jose Arcadio Buendia, died and it rained yellow flowers, maybe that storm reached as far as the Galleon. I made a vector drawing of how I imagined it.
With One Hundred Years of Solitude being so well regarded and influential, I was amused to identify some of my favorite songs as probable allusions to the novel. Were “I Come from the Water” by the Toadies and “Banana Co.” by Radiohead inspired by One Hundred Years of Solitude? Maybe. I can’t hear those songs now without thinking of Melquiades and the Banana Plague.
Don’t miss the 40th Anniversary of R.E.M.’s Chronic Town tribute on Thursday, December 15, 2022 at Motorco in Durham, NC. Lots of cool bands are taking part. I’ll be joining in on a few songs. Proceeds go to benefit Legal Aid of NC.
On the weekend of November 17 – 20, we completed principal videography on the forthcoming “Satellites” video. Cold weather, a lack of sleep, and 16 hour days didn’t stop our momentum. I’m excited to see the final product.
The top of a downtown Nashville parking garage provided our first filming location. The video ends with a band performance, and we played the last chorus of the song under a cloudy sky. I don’t know a lot about cinematography, but clouds and mirrored windows made for ideal outdoor lighting.
The Up-Down Arcade allowed us to film in the basement, where we built an arcade set. We also used the upstairs arcade midway, which was filled with vintage arcade games like Golden Axe and Moon Patrol. I particularly enjoyed slipping away to play a few rounds of old games in between camera changes.
Our second day of shooting took us to a castle about an hour outside of Nashville. Our approach on the castle was my favorite shot.
On the evening of the second day, we returned to Up-Down but for shots on the roof. These were the coldest shots of the weekend, but we got some great footage. I flew out on the third day and videography continued for a few pick up shots with other members of the cast.
Who’s in the band? Who’s the director? Who’s the princess? Why is that guy dressed like an orange king? More will be revealed. Stay tuned.
Murray takes on King Tangerine this weekend at the video shoot. Who will win? Find out when the video airs next year. But until then, follow along on social media (Instagram and Facebook mostly).
On Saturday, October 22, I played an hour long set at a private party, locally known as Tonnapalooza. The hosts, Anne and Kevin Tonn, threw a party for 150 guests in their backyard. “It was good,” my daughter said of my set. “I kinda wanted you to play Satellites,” Isaac seconded. The occasion was so imbued with fall–colored leaves, tents, campfires, a giant grill–there was only one set of music for the event.
But perhaps I should back up a bit. The day before the show, my good friend John Gillespie posted a flattering review of my second album, The Lessons of Autumn, on Facebook. I’ve embedded the post below. I hadn’t had time to reflect on this record in a while, so I decided to play the entire album some 26 years in the future.
What a plus that John Gillespie also went to the show and sat front and center for the whole set. After the third song, “What You Will,” he asked, “Are you going to play the whole thing?,” referring, of course, to the album. I nodded yes.
A few of the songs were a little clumsy on my part, having not even reviewed them before playing them. Scott Carle, the principle organizer of the event and drummer for–I kid you not–all four of the acts at Tonnapalooza, helped by filling out the second half of Lessons with percussion.
At the conclusion of the album, I asked Scott to join me for some Collapsis songs. We also did a cover song by the Cure.
I love playing private parties, especially when there’s a story behind why you were asked to play in the first place. On Saturday, October 15, 2022, Mark Kano and I performed at long time fan (and now friend) Chris’s 50th Birthday Party. His actual birthday happened a year ago I hear, but due to Covid and other scheduling complications, the party didn’t happen until now.
Chris told us before we set up to play in the backyard that the first song he played in his new car, you know, to ring out and christen the system, was “Automatic.” Dang, that’s a real honor right there. Thanks, man.
During the set, I felt compelled to share a short anecdote about the Athenaeum song “Different Situation.” Up until last night, I wasn’t sure if the tale was 100% true, but Mark corroborated the facts. Back in 1995, when the Green CD was making its rounds among A&R reps and the like, Frank Sinatra happened upon “Different Situation” and said it was his favorite Athenaeum song. It turned out that someone in the Athenaeum camp had family who worked closely with Old Blue Eyes and played the song for him. How much he liked the song and whether he was sincere is up for grabs, but the statement is truth, at least for us.
The party was a great time. We played songs from Radiance and Dirty Wake. Much fun was had by all.
Do you like scary movies? I do. I especially like to watch them in October as the leaves are changing and as Halloween approaches.
This year, I scheduled a set of five horror films to be watched each Saturday in October. I’ve also enjoyed creating my own vector art posters as a way of reflecting on the films.
My posters and brief synopses of the first two films are below.
The Birds (1963) directed by Alfred Hitchcock
Melanie Daniels meets heartthrob lawyer Mitch Brenner in a pet store one afternoon. She follows him out to Bodega Bay, but her lover’s game of cat and mouse takes a bizarre turn when a sea gull dive bombs her in the forehead. As romantic tension builds between Daniels and Brenner, the birds of Bodega Bay turn violent. First the birds attack a group of school children and then the public at large. Daniels and Brenner find safety at the Brenner house, but will they survive the night?
An American Werewolf in London (1981) directed by John Landis
NYU undergrads David and Jack begin a three month backpacking trip through Europe, but on their first night on the moors of Yorkshire, they are attacked by a werewolf. Jack dies. David wakes up in a London hospital three weeks later with newly healed wounds. Jack’s ghost appears to David and warns him of the coming full moon. As David settles in London to further recover, he wonders if he’s losing his mind, what with the bad dreams and seeing ghosts. As the full moon approaches, what will become of David?
