Church On White

Good show on Wednesday, all around. I really like playing Southpaw, it's a good-sounding room with really nice staff. Thanks to everyone who came out.

Similarly to what I posted earlier about a new oneness with my guitar, I feel I've relaxed into my singing in recent weeks. And concentrating more on it definitely paid off Wednesday. Nice monitors certainly help as well.

Which leads us back into the technology/creativity nexus. Recent improvements in our gear has had a huge effect on our capabilities and confidence. The new power amp for our PA means I don't have to shred my throat at every practice just to be heard, and the new Fender Deville amplifier means that each guitar line rings out clear and true, finding its place within the sonic swarm and helping us grow into an organic, symbiotic unit. Once Colombo gets his new bass head we should be really cooking.

I'm reminded of an odd, almost unrelated anecdote. Many musicos are familiar with Nuemann microphones, sort of the gold standard of studio mics. Well did you know that the first Neumanns were manufactured in Nazi Germany? A friend of mine works in a studio that has an original Neumann, serial number something ridiculous like 0010, and if you peel back the white tape wrapped conspicuosly around its base, you find a swastika logo. So the Beatles and Hitler do have something in common. Maybe the Germans didn't really fall under the sway of Hitler's words, just the crisp, clean tones of his super hi-fi mics.