#283. Do the 30 Day Song Challenge - Day 8

Day 8 - A Song That You Know All The Words To

In honor of being out here in Chicago for the wedding of my friend Daniel Strauss -

Spoont. - Everything a Teenybopper Movie Should Be

Back in High School my life was spent going to and playing basement shows and unitarian churches and Fort Reno and the Corner Kick. I can't imagine any other way to spend growing up than everyone I know being in a band and making music together and dancing all the time. It was awesome.

Spoont. was made up of some of my best friends. And regardless from that, I was their biggest fan and they were my favorite of all the local bands. Daniel Strauss, Jacob Mazer, Andy Freedman, and Ali Plotsky made music that I loved. That's pretty awesome when your friends make music you are a fan of by itself. I think Dan and Jacob are incredible songwriters and the chords and lyrics to this song brings me back to another time - but are still meaningful to me now. Spoont. is the band I want go back in time and be a part of.

And Teenybopper (along with Julia) was my favorite.

I can sing every word to Teenybopper, and it's my favorite song title of all time. The title is evocative of wanting our reality in our fantasy. The song is a back on forth of possibility and defeat, optimism and letting go.

And no one ever nailed it better than

I can't make these brain cells go much faster anymore.

I get that.

I will see all four of them this weekend, and you can rest assured I'll be singing this song out the car window on the 11 hour drive back to DC, with guitar chords blaring in my head.

#283. Do the 30 Day Song Challenge - Day 7

Day 7 -A Song That Reminds You Of A Certain Event

Theater is a very ephemeral art form. It exists for a very brief time in the real world, and then only in the hearts and minds of the participants and audience. Film will last, music will last, writing and poetry and some sculpture all have that potential - but a theatrical performance has a much shorter shelf life as an actual thing. The individual pieces may live on - like the script, a costume, etc. And it may be recorded on video. But that doesn't really capture the experience - it's just not the same medium.

And so your body of work becomes a line on the resume, a series of memories, and hopefully the impact you and your work and the work of your colleagues and team mates have made on an audience and each other.

Closer is one of those shows I am glad I remember vividly and have triggers for.

It is my favorite script, my second show as a director at UMD and for The Weekday Players. It took hard work to make happen after a failed Off-Center bid, the arrogance to say we COULD do this show and to take it on ourselves to just do. It was the moment I knew I could be a director and an Artistic Director someday. I worked with people I love to create the best thing I had done to that point. It was FAR from perfect but it was one of the best times of my life. Hands down.

- Building the set with Christian until 3am, drinking in Tawes.

- Andrew Gerritsen becoming one of my best friends.

- Oren Benamor taking his acting skills to another level in one of the first transcendent actor/character relationships I was privileged to be a part of. A fist wrapped in blood, indeed.

- Brittany, Roni, and Amanda and the joy of working with them and growing with them.

- The strip club scene, with one pool of light and a real cigarette smoking - one of the coolest, sparsest visuals I've seen.

This was my first time I was like - "oh, I can do this."

And the sound design. I loved this soundtrack. Josh Grossnickle and I spent hours and hours going over songs. Only late 80s to Mid-90s british bands. There was a consistent sound and it grounded the piece. The Cure, The Smiths, Radiohead. It was the first time I truly worked to create a world in design as well as acting.

The song that stands out most from so many is

Oasis - Live Forever

From the moment the drums start to snap, it will always make me think of our ephemeral production of Closer. The transition just before the bedroom scene between Roni and Amanda. Roni shirtless, Amanda in T-shirt and undies. Their love and vulnerability. The bed. The slap. "I don't love you anymore, goodbye."

What a great scene, what a great show, and a great group of people.

#283. Do the 30 Day Song Challenge - Day 6

Day 6 - A Song That Reminds You Of Somewhere

K's Choice - Not An Addict

This song will always remind me of the Ranch Computer Lab, with TJ singing along ironically.

Great song, tragically amusing context.

#283. Do the 30 Day Song Challenge - Day 5

Day 5 - A Song That Reminds You Of Someone

Kelly.

Taylor Swift - You Belong To Me

When Kelly and I first got together, this was 'our song.' We would sing it in the car, text each other when it came on in a restaurant. It was sweet.

Like a lot of inside jokes or little things with friends or lovers, over time it faded in prominence. At a certain point I didn't really think of it at all.

Then suddenly when we broke up, it was stuck in my head all the time. It was the sound track to my missing her. It just came back.

It's amazing how deep in the brain things can get buried.

So I always think of Kel when I hear this song, and I assume I always will.

#283. Do the 30 Day Song Challenge - Day 4

Day 4 - A Song That Makes You Sad

I just listened to this song again (and I'm writing to it now) and thought it would probably be an angry kind of sad, but it turns out it's just a really sad kind of sad.

Matthew Good Band - Suburbia

This song is best in the dark, with the lights out in a room with a window, or coming through headphones out in the middle of nowhere surrounded by trees.

Something about the instrumentation gets me deep, and so does the matter of fact delivery of wrath, sadness, and pain.

But what really gets me are these lyrics

someday this place is gonna burn
is your whole life in there waiting?
someday your head is going to turn
and you'll realize i'm missing

do you realize?

I think about the ranch.

I think about disappearing, and how I did. Straight out of suburbia.

I think about the people making that decision to send me away.

I lose myself again.

And watch the world from a distance.

If I disappeared today, who would know I'm missing?

And would you realize how much you missed me?

#283. Do the 30 Day Song Challenge - Day 3

Day 3 - A Song That Makes You Happy

It's been awhile since I've heard it, but...

Europe - The Final Countdown

I mean - it has its own dance.

Bunker Flashback!

Flash Fact - There are a LOT of photos of me and John Barkmeyer dancing to this or Journey on Facebook.

But less than there should be.

Flash Fact.

#283. Do the 30 Day Song Challenge - Day 2

Day 2 - Your Least Favorite Song

Uncle Kracker - Follow Me

True story - I have literally walked out of places to avoid this song. On more than one occasion.

I hate his name. I hate his voice.

I hate this song.

#283. Do the 30 Day Song Challenge - Day 1

Day 1 - Your Favorite Song

This one is easy. My favorite song of all time is without a doubt -

Matthew Good - The Fine Art of Falling Apart

I love this song.

The most hauntingly beautiful song I've ever heard. Recorded live in one take with an acoustic guitar. The combination of these lyrics and the tragedy and expressiveness of his voice is the most powerful and beautiful statement of sadness, loss, isolation, and acceptance that I've ever experienced.

"I used to think I'd get over everything

but everything just got over me."

My favorite lyric of all time.

This is a song that makes me happy and makes me sad. It gives me imagery and inspires projects and art, but also causes me to slow down and listen to every word and every note. I find so much meaning in every ache, every word, every chord.

One of my most treasured memories is seeing this song performed live, directly for me after a request at the XM Studios.

Ignore the bad sound quality of the video in the link, the recording is much cleaner.

Just sit back, turn the lights off, and listen.

This song is a piece of my soul, recorded by someone else.

I walk alone and I
I ride alone and I
I rock myself to sleep
Baby, there ain't enough room in this world
For people like you
And horrors like me

A time of darkness
There lived a girl in a cave in the woods
Disguised as a bee
At night she would fly into the city
Sting the cause
And sting the cost
And she would hover over me
Whispering
We're surfacing
We're surfacing

Well I stand alone and I
I fight alone and I
Stay clean by feeling cheap
And baby, there ain't enough room in this world
For perfections like you
And monsters like me

A time of darkness
You will look absurd and you will feel inert
And you'll go looking to blame somebody
You see I used to think I'd get over everything
But everything just got
over me

I'm some of it
You're some of it
We're some of it
I'm certain of it

I walk alone and I
I ride alone and you know
That's all right by me
See baby there ain't enough room in this world
For a great, great many things.