Monday, September 22, 2008
"The Lesson" CD release Oct. 10, 2008
Hey all, the time is here. Our CD is now in existence and in full circulation. You can get your copy at the release party! With support from Solcraft, Plasterkatz, and Hey Young Believer, this show is going to be off the chain. Be there!
Tuesday, August 19, 2008
MHB featured on Wine World TV
Your MotherHumbuckers have been commissioned to provide tunes for the immensely popular Wine World TV spoof series. Watch renowned wine critic Steve Heimoff poke fun at himself and his industry in this installment:
Monday, August 18, 2008
And they're off!
The CD Master and artwork have been sent to the duplicating shop. We should have a hot batch of CDs ready to serve in the next couple of weeks. You know what that means: CD Release!!! We'll keep you all posted!
Sunday, July 13, 2008
CD Artwork
Just working on the artwork for the CD now. I am experimenting with different layouts, fonts, etc. Brings me back to the graphic design days as SFSU. We should have something cool really soon!
Stay tuned!
Stay tuned!
Wednesday, June 25, 2008
Rocked the Rockit Room
Friday night's gig at the Rockit room kicked major ass. Every band in the lineup had the crowd enthralled, and we fed off of that energy when it was our time to play. It was super hot that evening, and after a long day at work I was a bit drained. We arrived at the club at around a quarter to eight and loaded in. We were using the house amps that night, and we had to help haul the half stacks on stage and set them up. That littel bit of manual labor helped us get our soundcheck done first.
After that, Sack (oh yeah, did I mention he is back? No more Star Searching for a bass player) went back home and Pmastre, OP, and I went to the Thai restaurant across the street. I chowed down on some pad thai while we talked about how good this show is going to be. I asked the guys if I should wear a shirt over my tank, or change to a t-shirt. Pmastre looked at me and said "You're asking ME for fashion advice??" He had a good point, so I turned to OP, who said I should just go with the black wifebeater. We headed out onto the street where masses of summer-clad people were wandering about. After making final wardrobe decisions, we dispersed only to meet again at the club.
Rayzed started the night off strong by getting the house jumping to their eclectic blues-rock set. They had a pretty good draw, and most of their fans stayed for the duration. Hey Young Believer was next, and they gained a bunch of new fans with their female-led pop-rock style. We were next, followed by Solcraft, a foursome that rocked heavy on the bass and guitar a la Rage Against the Machine.
I felt that our set was pretty entertaining. "F**king rockin'!!" as one spectator put it. Behind the scenes was another story! Just before the set began, OP gets the crowd going by chanting "When I say Mother, you say Bucker!" and everyone was playing along. In the meantime, I was fumbling in the corner, getting no sound whatsoever from my amp, doing my best not to freak out. As OP starts getting ready to play the "prelude song", I discover that my cable was not plugged in to the amp input! And I am an IT professional?? Duh'r. All systems were go, but the amp was still a little bit unfamiliar to me. [note to self: Bring my own Mesa rig next time!]
As the set went on, my stupid (but good-looking) guitar kept going out of tune [note to self: Play the PRS next time!], and I think someone else was going out of tune too, so my confidence was waning, and it showed on a couple of solos. Out of the corner of my eye I could see Sack looking at Pmastre for assistance with something, and Pmastre just looked back at him like "what do you want, I'm trying' to keep time, dammit!". In between songs I was playing the oh-so-amateurish "tu-ning" song, since I didn't have a tuner in my chain. [note to self: Get an inline tuner!]
It was hot to begin with, but being upstairs, under the stage lights, and jumping around like a maniac really pushed my thermostat to it's limit. I was sweating like I was running a 10k in the desert, and the Red Bull knockoff I was drinking was not putting it back. I had a track workout the night before, and my quads started to remind me of that. I was starting to fade, but the set was almost over.
At some point, OP called out the wrong song, and we all argued with him for a second, doing our best Abbott and Costello. It entertained the crowd, so maybe we'll keep it in the act.
We clunked our way through our 2 new songs, as we always do when introducing our latest hits ;-)! In "Devolver" I have a guitar solo that goes through 8 measures and then cuts into the chorus, but the fellas inadvertently cut to the chorus after only 4 and I was stuck on the front of the stage doing my best Nerdie Van Hagar to the crowd and I had to slyly walk backwards to my mike and jump into singing the chorus without anyone being the wiser. The funniest part about that was that the guys were giving me the stank-eye even though we agreed not to look at each other during flubs!
We ended the set with the big bang of "The Lesson", and we were all sweaty and spent! Despite the technical difficulties, we laid it on the line and shot our wad with conviction. All our friends/family/fans came up to pat us on the back and tell us how great the show was, but I was just glad to be done! OP's stong vocals, Sack's much-improved basslines, and Pmastre's relentless pounding reminded the crowd what the MHB is all about.
A big thanks to everyone that came out and filled up the Rockit Room even during what Marco calls the "slow season"!
As goofy as the set was at times, I loved every minute of it! Our next big show will be our CD release party some time this summer. Our CD has been mastered and now just needs to be duplicated and packaged! Sample songs are already up on the MotherHumbuckers MySpace page! Stay tuned!
After that, Sack (oh yeah, did I mention he is back? No more Star Searching for a bass player) went back home and Pmastre, OP, and I went to the Thai restaurant across the street. I chowed down on some pad thai while we talked about how good this show is going to be. I asked the guys if I should wear a shirt over my tank, or change to a t-shirt. Pmastre looked at me and said "You're asking ME for fashion advice??" He had a good point, so I turned to OP, who said I should just go with the black wifebeater. We headed out onto the street where masses of summer-clad people were wandering about. After making final wardrobe decisions, we dispersed only to meet again at the club.
Rayzed started the night off strong by getting the house jumping to their eclectic blues-rock set. They had a pretty good draw, and most of their fans stayed for the duration. Hey Young Believer was next, and they gained a bunch of new fans with their female-led pop-rock style. We were next, followed by Solcraft, a foursome that rocked heavy on the bass and guitar a la Rage Against the Machine.
I felt that our set was pretty entertaining. "F**king rockin'!!" as one spectator put it. Behind the scenes was another story! Just before the set began, OP gets the crowd going by chanting "When I say Mother, you say Bucker!" and everyone was playing along. In the meantime, I was fumbling in the corner, getting no sound whatsoever from my amp, doing my best not to freak out. As OP starts getting ready to play the "prelude song", I discover that my cable was not plugged in to the amp input! And I am an IT professional?? Duh'r. All systems were go, but the amp was still a little bit unfamiliar to me. [note to self: Bring my own Mesa rig next time!]
As the set went on, my stupid (but good-looking) guitar kept going out of tune [note to self: Play the PRS next time!], and I think someone else was going out of tune too, so my confidence was waning, and it showed on a couple of solos. Out of the corner of my eye I could see Sack looking at Pmastre for assistance with something, and Pmastre just looked back at him like "what do you want, I'm trying' to keep time, dammit!". In between songs I was playing the oh-so-amateurish "tu-ning" song, since I didn't have a tuner in my chain. [note to self: Get an inline tuner!]
It was hot to begin with, but being upstairs, under the stage lights, and jumping around like a maniac really pushed my thermostat to it's limit. I was sweating like I was running a 10k in the desert, and the Red Bull knockoff I was drinking was not putting it back. I had a track workout the night before, and my quads started to remind me of that. I was starting to fade, but the set was almost over.
At some point, OP called out the wrong song, and we all argued with him for a second, doing our best Abbott and Costello. It entertained the crowd, so maybe we'll keep it in the act.
We clunked our way through our 2 new songs, as we always do when introducing our latest hits ;-)! In "Devolver" I have a guitar solo that goes through 8 measures and then cuts into the chorus, but the fellas inadvertently cut to the chorus after only 4 and I was stuck on the front of the stage doing my best Nerdie Van Hagar to the crowd and I had to slyly walk backwards to my mike and jump into singing the chorus without anyone being the wiser. The funniest part about that was that the guys were giving me the stank-eye even though we agreed not to look at each other during flubs!
We ended the set with the big bang of "The Lesson", and we were all sweaty and spent! Despite the technical difficulties, we laid it on the line and shot our wad with conviction. All our friends/family/fans came up to pat us on the back and tell us how great the show was, but I was just glad to be done! OP's stong vocals, Sack's much-improved basslines, and Pmastre's relentless pounding reminded the crowd what the MHB is all about.
A big thanks to everyone that came out and filled up the Rockit Room even during what Marco calls the "slow season"!
As goofy as the set was at times, I loved every minute of it! Our next big show will be our CD release party some time this summer. Our CD has been mastered and now just needs to be duplicated and packaged! Sample songs are already up on the MotherHumbuckers MySpace page! Stay tuned!
Wednesday, June 18, 2008
MHB at the Rockit Room, June 20, 2008!
We have been rehearsing our two new songs, Horcrux and Devolver for the upcoming gig. Of course, we have been jamming on our old tunes as well. Here is some tasty rehearsal footage from Lennon:
Tuesday, May 27, 2008
Pickup Swap
Since I had some time to kill, I decided to swap the Dragon II pickups in my PRS Custom 22 with EMG active pickups, 85 in the bridge and 60 in the neck. You can't coil tap these particular EMGs, so I also replaced the stock 5-position rotary switch with a 3-way toggle. I want to experience the difference in active pickups vs. passive. Since the PRS is built as an innovative instrument, I figured the EMGs, which are innovations on the conventional pickup, would be a good fit. Plus they look kinda badass.
The built-in preamp on the EMGs has me intrigued. We've all heard these in action with metal bands like Metallica et al, but I have read that they also work well for hard rock and jazz. I'm banking on the increased definition and clarity.
Playing at low volumes, I notice right away that they are very quiet; no hum or buzz when strings are not played. I also noticed that they are very sensitive, picking up every little string movement. As far as tone goes, I won't really be able to tell until I crank up the amp at rehearsal this week.
What I am looking for is the signature EMG hot lead tone with lots of sustain that can make me play better than Steve Vai. We'll see how that goes.
The built-in preamp on the EMGs has me intrigued. We've all heard these in action with metal bands like Metallica et al, but I have read that they also work well for hard rock and jazz. I'm banking on the increased definition and clarity.
Playing at low volumes, I notice right away that they are very quiet; no hum or buzz when strings are not played. I also noticed that they are very sensitive, picking up every little string movement. As far as tone goes, I won't really be able to tell until I crank up the amp at rehearsal this week.
What I am looking for is the signature EMG hot lead tone with lots of sustain that can make me play better than Steve Vai. We'll see how that goes.
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