Me voy.

Okay...

So, the show...

It's the first time I've played on a stage in like 4 months...and I was really, Really, REALLY nervous. Scared. Mortified. Petrified. Dead.

We made it to the sound check at like 7:45 and everything seemed fine.

The guys from the label made fun of me because I still carry my synthesizer around in it's carboard shipping box. I haven't bought a case because ...well...I don't have the dinero. So the box stays for now.

Anyway...everything that I was doing before with the laptops...as far as making live beats goes...we are now doing with the Ipod.

I mean, we recorded the beats as we want them live....and now there's a playlist on the ipod that plays, in order, our setlist. The only trick now is to make sure that Ivan, the drummer, doesn't get offbeat with the electronic beats. Which happened in Hoy No, but only for a few seconds.

Anyway, we have the ipod hooked up to an amplifier and to headphones for Ivan.

The first song, Hoy No was fine. The beats got a little messy...and I pissed myself from embarassment...but we played fine and in 3 and half minutes it was over.

Hasta Aquí was next, and that song we can all play with our eyes closed...so no comments. It rocked.

Celeste is the song that I'm not comfortable with because I've only played it a handful of times...but I made it work. Desiiiiiiiigneeeeeers.

No, really, I have a solid chorus, but for the rest of the song I just improvised and it worked out well.

Then we played Casi 3, which is the gayest, most pop and most fun of our songs. I messed up in that one because I hit the wrong button on the synth and got the wrong sound for the first chorus. I did better in the second one, however.

The last song was No Se Admiten Vaqueritas...which is, according to Marco, a ''mojapapayas''....I can't literally translate that because my mom reads this...but basically it means the ladies like it.

We played it well. I'm happy that we kept that song.

I'm not happy with the mistakes in Hoy No or Casi 3, but overall it was a good show.

NOW, I'm excited to have that show out of the way so we can focus all our energy on recording and composing new material.

.......the next show is at the ExpoTec festival.....and according to my friends here, LOTS and LOTS of people go. Which makes me...once again...wanna vomit.

Homero is making lots of noise and talking to me and I can't really focus on writing...so I'll stop now and go dance to international pop music.

First two are not Mexican. The last one is (and it's a personal favorite. so like it.)

Artist: Zaza Fournier

Song: La vie à deux

Artist: Florent Pagny

Song: Ma liberté de penser

Artist: Julieta Venegas

Song: Me Voy

!!! (chk chk chk)

It works!! Daniel's friend Chava came to fix my laptop!!

I wasn't here, but when I came back they said he came by and fixed my laptop...and my life.

I wish he were here to hug him and love him and give him my life. hahaha

I'll post about the show in a little bit

When it rains....

First the car...
...now my laptop has decided to stop working. again.

Soooo, a friend is coming over to check it out tomorrow.

Let's hope he can bring it back to life.


I'll post about last night's show tomorrow!!! (hopefully from my laptop)

Hoy no quiero, no, no quiero.

Another show tonight.

I've never been this nervous before a show.

I wanna ralph.

Oh god.

Artist: Saul Williams (Not Mexican. At all.)

Song: List of Demands (A remix version that I don't care much for...but it was the only version I could embed.)

Porque me cuesta tanto llegar.

On Friday we recorded for the registration demo.

We started at 3 p.m. and didn't finish until about 11:30. It. Was. Amazing.

We recorded Celeste, Casi 3 and Hoy No.

Hoy No was the last song we recorded, and since I was extremely tired

by then..I kinda muffed up....a lot. Frequently. My hands are constantly moving

in that song and since we were recording live there was no room for mistakes...buuuut

I made plenty of them...which was discouraging, BUT we eventually got it and it's ready

to be mixed, tweaked and sent to Mexico City.

We have a show on Wednesday at a place called Nachos y Gangas. I'm pretty nervous

about it because I've only been back for about 2 weeks so I'm still adjusting to playing 3 keyboards. We're only playing 3 songs, though...so if they guys want to play Hasta Aquí, Celeste and Casi 3, I'm golden. If they decide they wanna play any of the other songs instead...I'm screwed.

Well I mean I won't be screwed, I'll just have to find a way to perfect them before Wedensday. Two days to achieve perfection. Lame.

In other news, my car suddenly died...THREE TIMES...in the middle of the road on Friday. My friends here say it's because it was raining and that it happens a lot here when it rains. I don't really get that. I don't know that much about cars....but it didn't feel like an ''Oh no, I'm wet. Bye.'' kind of death. It felt like a Murphy's Law/Haha watch Jeremy cry/What in god's name am I gonna do about this kind of death.

My friend Moises' father is a mechanic...he told me he could come and check it out. Until then I'm not moving it. I'm not risking being stranded with no cell phone in the middle of Mexican traffic.

Okay, done whining. Bye.

Artist: Cuarteto de Nos

Song: Yendo a la casa de Damian

Artist: Plastilina Mosh

Song: Pervert Pop Song

hahaha

Apretados. Microdancing.

So the guys last night told us that we are one of the 6 bands they represent.

They said they liked our style, and they loved our songs ''Celeste'' ''Hasta Aquí'' and ''Hoy No.''

They gave us advice like playing softer at rehearsals and to really focus on invidual parts instead of just going in, jamming out, and calling it a day.

Personally, I just want to practice more. Playing 3 keyboards is new to me, so I get nervous when I jump back and forth or play 2 at once. Plus there are 2 new songs that I just learned Friday, so when I really really know those songs, I'll be able to play freely without having to look at the keys. That's something one of them said...that when they play with their bands ..they make the mistake of saying ''don't screw up don't screw up'' or ''wow, i haven't screwed up I HAVEN'T SCREWED UP!'' and that takes focus away from the song. His advice was ''Don't think about screwing up, don't think about doing well. Just play.''

Our goal now is to register the songs so that we can put 3 or 4 tracks on a compilation CD that the label wants to distribute by November. They said they could distribute the album in Saharis (a music store...i don't know if Saharis exists in the US) and at major concerts.

They want to distribute the album at the following shows this year:

The Killers

Kings of Leon

Depeche Mode (i think that one is in January)

AND they said if we have extra merchandise, that we were welcome to sell it at those shows...so we could try to sell our t-shirts and stickers there! haha

That's pretty much all that happened with those guys. They were excited about the music, which motivated us more. Rehearsing is going to be fun, as always, but what I'm excited about is composing new material with our new instruments. If our year-old songs sound great...I can't wait to hear what our new material is going to sound like.

In other news:

Tonight is Mexico's Independence Day celebration. I PROMISE to take photos and/or videos to post on here! I might go to Homero's hometown (Cienega de Flores) and celebrate there. He said they have lots of fairs and games and beer. I'm in!

If I don't go to Cienega there are plenty of people here in Monterrey having Independence Day parties.

Either way...I promise to NOT douche out and to take lots of pictures.

And today, I'm leaving two videos!...Comment on the videos! I wanna know that you guys are listening to the songs!! Some of them are in English, some in Spanish, but they're all from Spanish speaking countries, and I really wanna share them with you all!

Artist: Facto Delafé

Song: Mar el poder del mar

Arist: Jessy Bulbo

Song: Muñeca Sintética

''You might have your faults, Andy...but at least you've got pants on.''

IF YOU WATCH TRUE BLOOD AND HAVEN'T SEEN THE SEASON FINALE OF SEASON TWO, DO NOT CONTINUE READING. Skip down past the True Blood freak out so I don't totally ruin season 2 for you.

1. Watching everyone in togas licking a bloody egg was hilarious!

2. I really thought Sam was dead and gone forever.

3. I already know why Sookie shocked Maryann, but I wish they would have gotten more into it!

4. Poor Tara just needs to throw in the towel. Bitch can't get a leg up. They better be giving Eggs some vampire blood or shootin' Tara in the face...cause I am tiiiired of watching that hooker (Tara) cry.

5. Totally wanted to see more of the queen.

6. Can't Sookie and Bill ever get a break?

7. I do not want to wait til next summer. When does Lost start again?

__________________________________________________________

TRUE BLOOD FINALE REACTION OVER. Sorry 'bout that.

...and I'm sorry for this....

I'm too sleepy to continue....I'll update in the morning about last night's rehearsal.

We didn't record, but two guys from a label came to hear us play. I'll let you know what they told us as soon as I wake up.

Artist: Julieta Venegas (with Juan Son)

Song: Aprendo de mis pasos

Goodnight.

Bwaaargh!

I WOKE UP LATE TODAY BECAUSE I KEPT HAVING NIGHTMARES and couldn't sleep..

1. I slept with Mario last night because there is no room in the rest of the house to sleep alone, and I swear to you I kept having nightmares and waking up every 15 minutes or so, opening my eyes wide with the typical ''ohmygodwhereami?'' expression on my face and veryyyy very close to Mario's face or the back of his very fuzzy head.

....anyway....

2. Marco (guitarrist and lead singer) just told me that we're not recording today, that we'll record on Thursday. We have rehearsal tomorrow at Ivan's house, resting on Wednesday and recording on Thursday.

3. Down the road from Mario's house there is a new restaurant called Taco Brothers and on the sign they used the same font as the NES Mario Bros.!!! Makes me an instant fan.

4. Last night I laughed uncontrollably with Homero for roughly 8 hours straight. I love that I can be simple and ridiculous in another language and someone undertands meeeeee!

5. I miss southern food! .....in fact, I'm gonna have to get off the internet and search like a savage for something to fry.

But before I do that........I've decided I'll leave treats at the end of every blog to keep you bitches coming back for more if what you read doesn't entertain you.

Mexican underground electro-pop:

Artist - Juan Son

Song - Mermaid Sashimi

It's been a while...

So...I have neglected the blogosphere for over a year, I think, and well...I'm sorry.

There is so much going on now that I must must must write so that everyone back home can stay updated on my Mexican happenings.

I don't even really know where to begin, so we'll just do it like this:

1. The trip back to Monterrey was exciting. I've never traveled with a stranger before...thank GOD this guy was cool. I know you're thinking ''why did Jeremy travel to a foreign country with someone he had never met?'' Well, the thing is...I mentioned to my friend Héctor that I was stressed because I really wanted to cross the border with a Mexican. I have friends, like Steph who were willing to ride with me, but I just feel safer with a Mexican there to protect me if I get nervous and suddenly forget how to speak Spanish. Later, Héctor told his friend that I needed help and that I didn't want to travel alone...I trusted Héctor...he said he was a nice guy and that was enough for me.

Anyway, Edgar (Héctor's friend) was wonderfully nice and we kept each other entertained for the entire journey.

2. I loved loved loved getting texts from everyone on the way down. This time (like every time I come and go) I want everyone from home to feel like they are a part of this craziness. I want them to feel like they're a part of every rehearsal, every performance and every recording session. Even if I don't have my TN buddies here with me, I still want them to participate as much as possible, and I promise to do my best to keep everyone informed.

3. There are very few people in Mexico that I care about as much as I care about my folks in TN....and those few are Homero Montemayor, Mario Carrillo, Marcelo Arenas, Mariana Peña, Melanie Signoret and Carlos Maraboto...it feels good knowing that if I can't always be with my hometown gang..that I have these wonderful people laugh with when being so far from home gets hard.

4. Ivan's dog totally threw poo at me. After rehearsal on Friday I was standing outside beneath the balcony at Ivan's house chatting and planning a night on the town with the band when I heard something smack the ground next to me. Since I'm in Mexico I just assumed it was a cockroach or some large exotic insect so I looked down to kick the pest away....then I noticed that it was, in fact, a turd. I looked up to see from where poo could have possibly fallen and there was the culprit panting and grinning nefariously. If I had been standing just one foot the right I would have been wearing a poo hat. It was hilarious.

5. The band....wow. The 5 of us have grown in the few months I've been away...and it showed. We played so well on Friday that I wanted to cry.

In addition to being to lucky to have found such talented guys with the same style the same plan the same ideas in mind....I also have new instruments. I have now officially said BYEEEEEEEEE to computers, and I now play 3 keyboards and a trumpet. In 3 or 4 songs I actually play two keyboards at the same time! I know it's probably common....but for me.. I feel like a rockstar and I guess that's what counts, yeah? I can actually MOVE now! I don't have to be sitting there focused on computer things! I can just play and dance and express and rock the hell out.

It looks pro, it sounds pro and I can't wait to play on the stage again.

6. Tomorrow we're recroding our songs so that we can send them off to Mexico City to have them registered. Once they are registered, we'll record the album in a real studio (Goodbye Marco's basement!) and then we'll have time to rehearse for our mini-tour starting in October.

7. I went out with the band after rehearsal. It was the first time in a long time that we've gone out as a band, as friends. We went to a bar called ''13 Lunas'' and we had dinner on the terrace which overlooks the city. For those of you who don't know or remember, 13 Lunas is where we had our first gig as Ciao Granada back when I played 3 laptops at once. It was strange and amazing to be there again. That show was over a year ago, back when we were 4 and nervous and shy and rusty. Aside from the food and smoothies being THE MOST DELICIOUS FOOD AND DRINK I'VE EVER CONSUMED it was nice to see that place again and think ''...my how we've grown.'' We have evolved so much in just one year. I guess that's pretty natural but Friday night was the first time I felt it.

8. I hope all of you read this and comment! I will do my best to keep updating...sometimes I just feel like I don't have anything that important to say. But your comments and messages will let me know that what I write is interesting enough and it'll keep me motivated...so do it!

I love you all.