Wednesday, March 09, 2005
Tuesday, March 08, 2005
A video?
Ian is doing a video for "Lucy Tricked Me Into Something."
"I'm in an 'Advanced Video-Editing' adjunct class and I think I could make a funny/trippy music-video for our website."
I can't get on popgothetonics.com today, so the upload is postponed.
"I'm in an 'Advanced Video-Editing' adjunct class and I think I could make a funny/trippy music-video for our website."
I can't get on popgothetonics.com today, so the upload is postponed.
Monday, March 07, 2005
You can't expect a Tonic to be a Tonic everyday.
Nothing relevant to this journal happened today. Except maybe Arta strumming away at his new acoustic-electric guitar like there's no tomorrow.
Sunday, March 06, 2005
Saturday, March 05, 2005
Sculpted Static song of the day: "Haste"
Fans' choice for the best song on Sculpted Static's Sunny Ash, "Haste" is about the rooming house at 2316 Haste Street, Berkeley, where Steven lived from August 2002 to March 2003.
The band dislikes the song for its gloomy and meandering music, but there are some lyrical highlights including the following twist on pathetic fallacy:
Steven: "It's not a bad song. We'll perform it if we have to."
The band dislikes the song for its gloomy and meandering music, but there are some lyrical highlights including the following twist on pathetic fallacy:
Early morn the sun is in my roomThe chorus melody was actually written by Arta. In fact, most of the music was finished in June 2002, before the Sound Check album. Why the song became a hit is still a mystery to the band these days.
And never mind that it sheds the light on doom
Steven: "It's not a bad song. We'll perform it if we have to."
Yet another batch of questions
(The mass e-mail was sent yesterday.)
"What's the strategy now?" ----College radio stations, and many of them. We really can't lose with our eye-catching CD mailer.
"Are you at the mercy of those radio stations?" ----Considering that more people will want to tune in to them when they start playing The Tonics, college radio stations have more at stake than we do.
"What does the new 'Tonight' sound like?" ----Not nearly as depressing as it should be. More changes necessary.
"Why are you making depressing music? Aren't you supposed to go pop?" ----The Smiths were depressing but they were quite pop.
"What's the strategy now?" ----College radio stations, and many of them. We really can't lose with our eye-catching CD mailer.
"Are you at the mercy of those radio stations?" ----Considering that more people will want to tune in to them when they start playing The Tonics, college radio stations have more at stake than we do.
"What does the new 'Tonight' sound like?" ----Not nearly as depressing as it should be. More changes necessary.
"Why are you making depressing music? Aren't you supposed to go pop?" ----The Smiths were depressing but they were quite pop.
Friday, March 04, 2005
A great day for consumption
Arta got a new guitar and Steven got 50 cd mailers. The mass e-mail will probably happen today.
Thursday, March 03, 2005
What Then?
Celesta recorded on "Tonight."
What Then?
His chosen comrades thought at school
He must grow a famous man;
He thought the same and lived by rule,
All his twenties crammed with toil;
`What then?' sang Plato's ghost. `What then?'
Everything he wrote was read,
After certain years he won
Sufficient money for his need,
Friends that have been friends indeed;
`What then?' sang Plato's ghost. `What then?'
All his happier dreams came true -
A small old house, wife, daughter, son,
Grounds where plum and cabbage grew,
Poets and Wits about him drew;
`What then?' sang Plato's ghost. `What then?'
`The work is done,' grown old he thought,
`According to my boyish plan;
Let the fools rage, I swerved in naught,
Something to perfection brought';
But louder sang that ghost, `What then?'
- W. B. Yeats
What Then?
His chosen comrades thought at school
He must grow a famous man;
He thought the same and lived by rule,
All his twenties crammed with toil;
`What then?' sang Plato's ghost. `What then?'
Everything he wrote was read,
After certain years he won
Sufficient money for his need,
Friends that have been friends indeed;
`What then?' sang Plato's ghost. `What then?'
All his happier dreams came true -
A small old house, wife, daughter, son,
Grounds where plum and cabbage grew,
Poets and Wits about him drew;
`What then?' sang Plato's ghost. `What then?'
`The work is done,' grown old he thought,
`According to my boyish plan;
Let the fools rage, I swerved in naught,
Something to perfection brought';
But louder sang that ghost, `What then?'
- W. B. Yeats
Wednesday, March 02, 2005
Piano for "Tonight"
Steven recorded a piano track for "Tonight." Now it's sounding more like a good song.
Tuesday, March 01, 2005
Success!
Copies 01 and 02 reached their destinations, proving that $0.97 is enough postage, though $0.83 might work, too. Steven is currently waiting for a shipment of 50 cardboard mailers, because buying them one by one was too expensive.
Monday, February 28, 2005
"Isn't this journal a little self-indulgent?"
----Admit it, you read it everyday.
"Are you the next rock star suicide?" ----It's comforting to know that we'll be stars by then.
"What'll it take before you realize that you are rock stars?" ----When our "Live at the BBC" album comes out.
"Are you the next rock star suicide?" ----It's comforting to know that we'll be stars by then.
"What'll it take before you realize that you are rock stars?" ----When our "Live at the BBC" album comes out.
Sunday, February 27, 2005
Saturday, February 26, 2005
"How's Hamlet doing?"
----Dead, I think.
"What happened to the old Neon Phosphor entries?"----Fear not, the archives will be available soon.
"Will you release the last songs you made as Sculpted Static? I heard that 'Pixies' and 'No Logo' are practically done."----Does this look like the Sculpted Static site to you????? ...Yeah, I thought so.
"What's your favorite year in rock and roll?"----2005, the year of The Tonics.
"What if you don't become famous?"----Pardon?
"What if it's all for nothing? What if you don't achieve fame and your songs only reach a handful of listeners?"----That's like asking 'What if a banana weren't yellow?' The Tonics exist to be famous. It simply can't be any other way. It just takes relentless song distribution and unflagging belief that we will inevitably be famous. Other bands get stuck on the part about you having to be lucky.
No, there's really no luck involved in achieving fame. It's like at a concert; if you really want to, you just have to slowly make your way to the front, and then you're there. Note that this philosophy doesn't quite work for the non-musical aspects of the "American dream."
"So you are absolutely convinced that you'll be famous."----That's right. But that doesn't mean it'll come to us automatically. There's work for us to do.
"What happened to the old Neon Phosphor entries?"----Fear not, the archives will be available soon.
"Will you release the last songs you made as Sculpted Static? I heard that 'Pixies' and 'No Logo' are practically done."----Does this look like the Sculpted Static site to you????? ...Yeah, I thought so.
"What's your favorite year in rock and roll?"----2005, the year of The Tonics.
"What if you don't become famous?"----Pardon?
"What if it's all for nothing? What if you don't achieve fame and your songs only reach a handful of listeners?"----That's like asking 'What if a banana weren't yellow?' The Tonics exist to be famous. It simply can't be any other way. It just takes relentless song distribution and unflagging belief that we will inevitably be famous. Other bands get stuck on the part about you having to be lucky.
No, there's really no luck involved in achieving fame. It's like at a concert; if you really want to, you just have to slowly make your way to the front, and then you're there. Note that this philosophy doesn't quite work for the non-musical aspects of the "American dream."
"So you are absolutely convinced that you'll be famous."----That's right. But that doesn't mean it'll come to us automatically. There's work for us to do.
Friday, February 25, 2005
The cruelest thing...
Steven added some keyboard parts to "Hamlet" ("to fill it up") and did some mixing work.
Thursday, February 24, 2005
An exclusive interview with Steven Chow
NP: WHAT ARE YOUR VIEWS ON PIRACY?
SC: i had a pretty good view, actually. i was born on a pirate ship. but i got seasick and so it turned quickly into the view of puke.
NP: WHAT SHOULD BE THE TITLE OF YOUR BIOGRAPHY?
SC: a tragedy in five acts
NP: WHAT DO YOU WANT AS YOUR EPITAPH?
SC: here lies steven, his falsehoods continue unto death
NP: HAVE YOU WRITTEN ANY SONGS LATELY?
SC: yeah, i wrote additional melodies and chords for "ready steady go", a substandard song that's been kicking around since 2001, and it still sucks. i also have a new song called "what's wrong with christine? (kyrie eleison)" but it's not that good, either.
NP: WHAT ELSE HAVE YOU DONE?
SC: today i learned the chords to god only knows, wonderful and surf's up, and learned that i still have a long way to go to match brian wilson. i need to learn how to use slash and diminished chords.
SC: i had a pretty good view, actually. i was born on a pirate ship. but i got seasick and so it turned quickly into the view of puke.
NP: WHAT SHOULD BE THE TITLE OF YOUR BIOGRAPHY?
SC: a tragedy in five acts
NP: WHAT DO YOU WANT AS YOUR EPITAPH?
SC: here lies steven, his falsehoods continue unto death
NP: HAVE YOU WRITTEN ANY SONGS LATELY?
SC: yeah, i wrote additional melodies and chords for "ready steady go", a substandard song that's been kicking around since 2001, and it still sucks. i also have a new song called "what's wrong with christine? (kyrie eleison)" but it's not that good, either.
NP: WHAT ELSE HAVE YOU DONE?
SC: today i learned the chords to god only knows, wonderful and surf's up, and learned that i still have a long way to go to match brian wilson. i need to learn how to use slash and diminished chords.
The plan for the EP
Copies 01-03 sent to Arta, Ian and Mark. Steven doesn't want one.
Copy 04 will go to Roger at WQHS.
Copies 05-07 are going to the Berkeley, Davis and Colorado College radio stations.
The next batch of copies is going to other college radio stations.
And finally, orders from the web site will always take priority.
Copy 04 will go to Roger at WQHS.
Copies 05-07 are going to the Berkeley, Davis and Colorado College radio stations.
The next batch of copies is going to other college radio stations.
And finally, orders from the web site will always take priority.
Wednesday, February 23, 2005
Channel Firing
Neon Phosphor is busy paying tribute to Thomas Hardy and shall be back fully tomorrow. Nothing band-related to report, anyway.
Tuesday, February 22, 2005
First copies sent
Cranking out one CD per day seems reasonable. Copies 01 and 02 are mailed today for Arta and Ian, respectively.
Monday, February 21, 2005
An exclusive interview with Mark Williams
NP: I AM NEON PHOSPHOR
MW: i'm the greatest fucking songwriter to wear a goatee
NP: PLEASED TO MEET YOU, THE GREATEST FUCKING
MW: you should be. a generation's going to turn on my words. i'm where archimedes balances his fucking lever. the world's going to move
NP: YOU'RE GOING TO MOVE THE WORLD BACK TO THE ANCIENT AGE?
MW: no, the ancient age is going to come to me. so is the future. this is it. i'm the point of no return.
NP: ALL YOUR PAST AND FUTURES...
MW: i'm the river, then
NP: I SUPPOSE YOUR ALBUM COVER'S GOING TO HAVE ASTRAL CARS AND A MOON FULL OF STARS
MW: no way. it's the way of the future. it's a flying car with wheels and a propeller above some boring grey shit, above some shit that doesn't matter, that's just there because the car's got to be above something. moving. that's all
NP: RIGHT. BUT IS THIS FLYING CAR ALSO AN ASTRAL CAR?
MW: it's better. it's man made. it's like music. i used to think that great melodies always existed, that you just discovered them. that's bullshit. you build them in your mind, in your laboratory, just like flying cars with engines that blow up diesel inside steel cages. there's nothing cosmic. there's no astral plane. it's the pulsing, oozing, fetid cave of your mind where that shit comes from
NP: ARE YOU THE ALPHA AND THE OMEGA?
MW: i am. i am the kai that binds them together. kai means and, but it also means even. i am alpha, even omega. because it's a stretch, because it's hard. but i am anyway
NP: WHAT ABOUT BETA, GAMMA, DELTA, AND ALL THE REST? ARE YOU THEM AS WELL?
MW: of course, i'm a-z, i'm 123 infinity, it's all here in my head.
MW: i'm the greatest fucking songwriter to wear a goatee
NP: PLEASED TO MEET YOU, THE GREATEST FUCKING
MW: you should be. a generation's going to turn on my words. i'm where archimedes balances his fucking lever. the world's going to move
NP: YOU'RE GOING TO MOVE THE WORLD BACK TO THE ANCIENT AGE?
MW: no, the ancient age is going to come to me. so is the future. this is it. i'm the point of no return.
NP: ALL YOUR PAST AND FUTURES...
MW: i'm the river, then
NP: I SUPPOSE YOUR ALBUM COVER'S GOING TO HAVE ASTRAL CARS AND A MOON FULL OF STARS
MW: no way. it's the way of the future. it's a flying car with wheels and a propeller above some boring grey shit, above some shit that doesn't matter, that's just there because the car's got to be above something. moving. that's all
NP: RIGHT. BUT IS THIS FLYING CAR ALSO AN ASTRAL CAR?
MW: it's better. it's man made. it's like music. i used to think that great melodies always existed, that you just discovered them. that's bullshit. you build them in your mind, in your laboratory, just like flying cars with engines that blow up diesel inside steel cages. there's nothing cosmic. there's no astral plane. it's the pulsing, oozing, fetid cave of your mind where that shit comes from
NP: ARE YOU THE ALPHA AND THE OMEGA?
MW: i am. i am the kai that binds them together. kai means and, but it also means even. i am alpha, even omega. because it's a stretch, because it's hard. but i am anyway
NP: WHAT ABOUT BETA, GAMMA, DELTA, AND ALL THE REST? ARE YOU THEM AS WELL?
MW: of course, i'm a-z, i'm 123 infinity, it's all here in my head.
Sunday, February 20, 2005
A milestone
Copy 01 of the new EP has been constructed and will be sent cross-country to test the durability of the CD mailer.
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