From Patrick's Blog: JT, pop music's Darryl Hammond

Head over to Idolator to check out Justin Timberlake on the Jimmy Fallon show doing a sick Michael McDonald impression...and I was bored with Michael McDonald humor after yacht rock. Skip JT's John Mayer, it's good but only Phantom Menace good. His McDonald is A New Hope Good. (Kidding Skywalker Ranch folks, my girlfriend was out of town for one day and I spent it watching all 6 movies in one sitting...maybe a couple with the audio commentary).

PS, the Roots are probably the best live band on Earth. It's incredible how much groove they put into backing Timberlake in the aforementioned bit. All in all, good job Mr. Fallon.

-p.v.stump

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Thank you to everyone that came out on the Australian tour. We had a blast. I'd like to clear something up...why did we fly a private jet? Seems like a very rock star arrogant thing to do and we've always made a point of being as far from arrogant rock star as our profession would permit. The truth is that there's an Australian rule (I'm not educated enough to know better) that prevents flights from leaving later than 11:00 PM (or 12:00 AM, I'm drawing a blank...Aussie help on this one?) Anyway, as a result of the tight schedule this tour was booked with, we found it hard to get around the country flying commercial. If we got up early every morning to make flights we'd still have missed a lot of the press we had promised we'd do (as well as sound check and meet and greets and that sort of important pre-show stuff) and if we'd tried to catch flights after the show we'd probably never make it. So that's that. We're not making a habit of private jetting it everywhere and I'm personally upset about the environmental impact but that was the situation we were stuck with...I've always thought it to be lame when bands cancel events at which the promised to be. Thanks again Australia, that was an awesome tour. In fact, I want to say to Manila, Singapore, and all of Japan that this was the best run of shows we may ever have played. We had such a good time and all the audiences were legendary.

-p.v.stump

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On Patrick's website all entries are currently missing as far back as March 2008. We're not sure what happened, but if they return we'll let you know. In the meantime, all his entries can be found under the [blogs] patrick's website tag.

Happy Valentine's day

Here's a gift:

Myspace.com/thelondonsouls


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Records

People ask me all the time what I'm listening to, and obviously I'm a raging narcissist so I feel obliged:

Janelle Monae-Metropolis
Best thing happening to music or pop or art culture in general right now. I love every second of music I hear from her. I'm at a loss for words.

Alphabeat-This is Alphabeat
This is a couple years old now but I saw them at an award show in Belgium not too long ago. I really really really wish I wrote "Fascination."

Jamie Lidell-Multiply
I know he's got a newer, very good record out but "When I Come Back Around," is just so damn good. I wish more artists were less afraid of funk.

the Bird and the Bee-Ray Guns Are Not Just the Future
I love this band so much. Inara George has a gorgeous voice and a great sense of humour in her lyrics while Greg Kurstin is one of my favorite favorite producers/songwriters/arrangers...so much understated class. An electronic inflected Burt Bacharach for the post-Jon Brion world...but a billion times more fun.

Kayne West-808s & Heartbreaks
Even I'm getting sick of how much I talk about Kanye in interviews. He's just one of the only dudes on Top 40 radio doing it the right way.

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Performing in stadiums

I'm hearing a lot of flack going the way of Jennifer Hudson, Faith Hill, and now Bruce Springsteen's legendary band for not performing live but miming their performances to pre-recorded music. And while I myself have made it a point never to lip-synch for any reason I have to say that, like the Christian Bale/Director of Photography debacle, uneducated people should mind their own business. Why is this trivia? Cause I'm gonna get vaguely technical:

Stadiums are built in large ovals or in circles and in some cases are built with the express purpose fo amplifying the crowd to dangerous volumes (this is said to "Inspire" sports players). Indeed, American football players have a high instance of hearing loss due to daily exposure to loud noise. Now add into that the shape and location of the speakers for stadiums. The problem is that in the case of music, any performer is going to be contending with the "Slapback," or natural delay of the sound.

Think of sound like a distance runner. Now imagine that you're playing music in a small club and the little runner has to sprint from your guitar to your amplifier to the mixing board to the PA speakers to the walls of the club and then run back to you. Sound travels very fast so in a small club this happens almost instantaneously and isn't noticed by the human ear. But think of how big a stadium is. Now imagine that same runner having to perform that same sprint on the scale of a football field. The runner will be arriving later than they would if they were in the small club i.e. the sound is getting back to you well after you make it. As I've said before, this is called delay. Now, in some stadiums delays can be whole seconds which can seriously throw off a musician's rhythm. Plus pitches can arrive late as well, making it hard to hear what key you're in or even what note you're singing. Plus you may be hearing two sounds at ones, the note you're playing and the note you played. That can be confusing. Of course you could use "in-ear monitors," like headphones that pipe in your mix to you. But even then, the isolation you're getting isn't enough to counteract the dangerous volumes bouncing from the crowds. The plain truth is that stadiums aren't built for musical performance and are not suited for it...ever.

At any rate, these artists were asked by the Superbowl to "Perform," for something they're probably support (what were the Nielsen ratings for the Superbowl? Yeah there's a good chance they're football fans) and they wanted to give a good performance. Having heard the horror stories in the past of stadium shows going terribly wrong, they probably opted to be pre-recorded or partially pre-recorded. It was likely a tough decision to make but they decided to pros outweighed the cons and they went for it. And they are not alone. Most half-time shows performed by pop artists are pre-recorded whether or not attention is drawn to it. To blame Bruce Springsteen and his pit perfect band for the acoustically feeble architecture of a stadium is unfair and childish. The internet would be just as mean if they performed it off track, couldn't hear themselves, and sounded bad. Springsteen is a legend and deserves a little respect. I know the internet was only invented so you can talk about how much you hate things in a disconnected attempt at scene points, but lighten up.

-p.v.stump

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Trivia train of thought

I don't like a lot of vampire movie. One amazing one is the F.W. Murnau's classic silent film "Nosferatu, eine Symphonie des Graunes" (more commonly just called "Nosferatu," cause I mean, come on) in which Max Shreck plays the horrifying "Count Orlock" (a legally plagiarised Count Dracula). The great dark comedy "Shadow of the Vampire," was based on the Hollywood legend that Shreck not only hadn't made any other movie before, but his chilling performance was due to his actually being a real vampire. "Shadow of the Vampire," featured John Malkovich as an overzealous film-maker and Willem Dafoe a Shreck, in this case a real vampire. This makes Dafoe one of the few actors to portray both Jesus Christ and some form of Count Dracula.

Dafoe (who's real name is "William," but kept it due to an interesting type-o) was originally considered for the role of the Joker in Tim Burton's 1989 "Batman." Oddly enough, its sequel "Batman Returns," featured the equally creepy character actor Christopher Walken as a character also named "Max Shreck."


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January 23, 2009 – Post-Inauguration

So yeah, pretty psyched about the inauguration of our 44th president. This whole week has revolved around that for me (as I'm sure it has for many Americans). If you've seen my interview with MTV after getting offstage you'll notice I'm jittery and saying "Like," every three words. That had a lot to do with my just having met President Obama whom I respect tremendously. He's tall by the way...and I say that with some authority being a short man.

The following may be the biggest personal news I've ever outed on this site: I've been asked to contribute to the Rolling Stone reviews section. Starting I would think next issue, you will be able to read a few record reviews by yours truly. I'll be doing this as long as they let me (so potentially a very short time haha). I've wanted to review records for Rolling Stone since I was a little kid and it's rare that in one's life you get to live your two dream jobs (well, I am in a band but I'm still not the drummer so I guess it's not exactly the job I dreamed of). So look out for that and let me know what you think.

As for those cryptic directing gigs, most of it fell through and that's no big deal. I've got a full plate right now anyhow. Obviously FOB leaves for tour within days so I've got my bags still packed from DC that''' keep me through Spring.

-p.v.stump

January 20, 2009 – History

I've always felt it to be either irresponsible of superfluous for peoples of trivial and debatable celebrity (like myself) to wax philosophical about politics. For all my intended restraint, however, I've found myself speaking often loudly and boldly on the subject of Barack Obama. I swear I meant to keep quiet about it. And it is with that weakened resolve that I write, with total self-indulgence about our new president and how this day makes me feel. I'm not proud, I don't believe in pride. I'm grateful. Very grateful. This is a day that I'd hoped for my whole life. I guess that's as far from my intended Taoist detachment as I'm willing to get.

I've never assumed anybody reads this site, but whomever happen upon it, have a great day and do something good and selfless as soon as you're able to.

Thank you tremendously USA.

-p.v.stump


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January 15, 2009 – Newsish

A lot of people have been asking me about the Moustachette, when it will be finished, and when it will be available for viewing. I've been dragging my feet about the whole thing because I was having a hard time letting go of control of the edit. This is my first film (albiet a short) and I feel perhaps my lesson is that films are kind of like an assembly line. Everyone involved has a job and one guy can't attempt to run every station telling everyone how to do said job. As a result, I think it's pertinent that I clarify some things. I directed the film (though it is my first direction and therefor was aided heavily by Assistant director Tobin Nageotte) and I act in it. As for my writing credit, initially I would say that I fleshed out the story but over time it's plot and purpose have changed considerably (as I'm sure films are supposed to) and it is no longer "My" story. That credit would go to Tobin and my step-brother and producer on the film, Paul Klinke (I suppose with a little help from me). Anyway, it's all the better for that realization and now I'm finally able to approve a finished edit so it will be out shortly.

Meanwhile I have a few potential projects looking in the film world (perhaps even another directing job or two) and a few more music production jobs on the horizon. I am vague as always, but can say that I will be involved in some way with the next Cobra Starship album, as well as the Cab's next record. I also have a very big journalism job that (as long as I don't screw it up) should be moving along shortly (this is such big news for an aside but I really don't want to jinx it). Life's what happens when you're busy making plans I suppose.

If you happen to be at NAMM today, I'll be performing a solo set to announce the release of my Gretsch Stump-o-matic Electromatic guitar.

Again-myspace.com/davidstumph

-p.v.stump


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January 12, 2009 – Hey

I promised my friends in Punchline I'd mention their new album Just Say Yes. They took us on one of our first tours and they're good dudes.

Here's another good dude: myspace.com/davidstumph

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