Sunday Night Mic - Feature Set - 1 of 6

This is my opening song for my 30 minute feature set at Sunday Night Mic. "Come Around" was a song I wrote about a woman first telling her partner "I Love You".

Brushing Up

I've been playing quite a few shows around SF lately. Really brushing up my set, collaborating with new artists & writing new music. I performed earlier on in November with my pals Jeb (Piano) and Derek (Piano, Ukulele) at this awesome piano bar called Martuni's. We'll be back there again on December 19th. What an awesome last show to send me off to Europe in style.

Take a look at one of my original songs, "Make It Easier", from that performance.

Interview with Relient K in Las Vegas [Vado TV]

My job is all around lovely, but the highlights come into play when I get to go out and interview musicians. I have grown up with music, studied music, play music- so it's only right that I would want to work in music. Creative has a killer HD pocket video camera called Vado that makes the whole process that much more simple. This next bit is going to come off as a sales pitch, but it is in no way intended as such. I have been interviewing people for the past couple of years in two separate jobs and every video has a different format. The Vado is super slim, has a wide-angle lens & the ability to use an external microphone if you want. When I am filming on my own, I am able to just throw the camera in my pocket (literally), sling a tri-pod over my shoulder & I am all set.

So, I flew out to Las Vegas on Sunday and got to sync up with Relient K at The Joint venue inside Hard Rock Hotel. Sunday concluded their 3 week tour with Paramore and a band called fun. In this particular video Ethan Luck, drummer, and John Warne, bassist, and I chat about life on the road, mountain climbing, what it feels like to be in a 10 year old band & we discuss the option of them changing all their names to an anagram. All around good fun, I am sure you will enjoy it. Be sure to check out their music & see them live if you get a chance- they are absolutely fantastic.

A conversation in 3D

Late 2009-Early 2010 Creative held a contest for film students all over the US appropriately called Vado Film Contest. Film schools from UCLA to NYU participated. Each school was given a bunch of Vado cameras for students to use. The turnout was incredible, due in part to the substantial prize packages--not only a ton of gear from Vados, speakers, and cash prizes--as well as winning an internship with a Hollywood film producer. In addition to all of this, we had a panel of Expert Judges who came from all genres of film production. Director Phillip Noyce (Clear and Present Danger, Rabbit Proof Fence, Salt), DP Ken Arlidge (Full Metal Jacket, Army of Darkness, The Crow) and Ride Film Industry great Yas Takata were among the expert staff.

The Expert Panel also included creative visionary Matthew Ward. Matthew has had the privileged of working with a handful of some of Hollywood's most noted filmmakers like Steven Spielberg, George Lucas, the Wachowski brothers and most recently he has worked with Robert Zemekis on Polar Express and Disney's A Christmas Carol. Matt joined me on the balcony of my San Francisco apartment and let me ask him a few questions about how he got his start in film, what his role in Pre-Visualization entails & how he uses Vado to create 3D videos at home.

Fun with The Ruby Suns

In true 6 degrees of Kevin Bacon form, The Ruby Suns and I are connected by only 2 degrees. My great pal Claire is high school friends with the tour manager of The Ruby Suns. It took just a few emails to get connected with front man Ryan McPhun & strike up a conversation. Ryan is Californian born and bred until he decided to follow his travelling soul across the globe to Auckland, New Zealand where he formed Ryan McPhun & The Ruby Suns. The band has gone through a few iterations up until it's current state. I met up with the band at one of my favorite San Francisco venues, Bottom of the Hill. We all piled onto a small couch in the green room and chatted for about 20 minutes. Most of it was complete and utter nonsense, which certainly made for an interesting editing process. In the end, the video turned out wonderfully. This is yet another highly recommended show. All the guys are up-beat, whimsical in output, yet serious in craft.

Going home with Kelley James

While working the LRG party at SXSW 2010, I got to meet and interview a ton of incredible artists. We had a few minutes to chat before each interview making it difficult to really get to know a person or latch on to one's personality. This was not the case with Kelley James. He was personable and captivating right from the very beginning. His presence immediately pulls you in and makes you feel comfortable, I instantly felt like I was having a reunion with a long lost pal.

Not only is he a charming individual, he is impeccably talented. His music filled the room and halted everyone in attendance.

Up there, soaking up light

My performances are too far and few between, but when they happen they delight me to no end. I performed at a benefit for FACT/SF, a San Francisco based dance company. I played two of my most recent songs, Come Around and What I Need, as well as a cover (with Paul Gilliham) of Ray Lamontagne's You Are The Best Thing Everyone seemed to love it, already I am itching to have another go. Let's hope I don't wait so long in between performing next time.

Fly Gypsy. Mormon Cowboy.

I reserve the right to change my mind, but this could be--hands down--the best interview I did at SXSW. Fly Gypsy performed at LRG's party on St. Patricks day down at Aces on 6th Street in Austin. The part that you don't see, is this is actually the second time we filmed this interview because I pulled a rookie move and forgot to turn the microphone on. Fly Gypsy were such dolls about it. They kept their energy up, laughed with me and chatted, once again, about their time on stage.

Fly Gypsy has a #1 freestyle out of 132 on DJBooth.net and their single 2 Step reached No. 1 spot on college hip-hop charts.