Film Festival all the rage

To support both my brother and fellow bandmates I recently attended the Western Film Festival as Rainbow Cinemas. It showcased a number of films made by students of the Western Film program. It is always inspiring to see art, and these days both movies and music have become far more a business than art. Those who do film for art never seem to reach a very wide audience and their numbers are dwindling because of lack of money.

Congrats to all the winners, there were some fine films. Hopefully we'll be able to post one of the films that Kev was in, as well Dave & Kev did the music for it. It'll be on our website if we can get a copy of it.

The wonder of "Ninjai"

I have a love for great animation. The web has opened the door to a wider audience for animation with Flash. However, it has really just opened the door to a major amount of mediocre novelty animation, not true art.

And that is why I must recommend for those who love animation "Ninjai". It is a series of shorts that follow a small boy, a boy with masterful kung-fu. The first 10 parts only set the stage and begin to set the direction and style. The story is simple and has no real deep direction or agenda, the main connection is with the characters. The animation however is quite unique when it comes to Flash. Episode 11-13 really begin to shine and show what Flash is capable of.

Go check it out www.ninjai.com

Recording more and more.

Hopefully there are some people out there who would want a SEeKing Dawn CD in the near future. We are hard at work on recording a number of songs that represent the best of our live show. Dave has studio time at school and we are using that to record the drums and other specific parts. The rest we will overdub at Dave's house with his beautiful Pro Tools Digi002 setup.

So far it has been successful. We were again at Dave's last night recording some of Andrew's guitar parts for Shout. Sometime I'll have to post our proposed song layout for the record so you'll have something to look forward too. Of course we're always taking video as well and I'll hopefully get some time in the near future to post another video log.

Well, I'll be off shortly to shoot some footage for Kev's second film. It'll be in a classroom while a class is going on which should be mighty interesting.

Alas, the Stars...

The night has come a gone in glory. The Stars played and took us all to another place, a beautiful place. I'm so glad I got my ticket early. The show was sold out and people were turned away at the door. I encourage one and all to check out both Heart & Set Yourself on Fire, two of the most appropriate albums of our time. I sure do hope they come again.

"That rug really tied the room together"

After a somewhat dismal day I needed something to boost my spirits. That's when I turned to one of the great comedies of our time, "The Big Lebowski". It's not for everyone but if you can connect with the characters the story doesn't even have to mean much. "The Dude" has some of the most classic lines and mannerisms. "No funny stuff Lebowski or ve cut ov yor Johnson!"

Although I'm biased into liking every Coen brothers movie for their distinct "anti-hollywood" style, The Big Lebowski will always make me laugh and lighten my spirits. Watch it.

Winner of the Fanshawe BOB (at least first round)

A crazy night ensued at Fanshawe Outback Shack. There were a number of fairly talented bands that played as well as some really generic ones also. We had 2 hardcore fans turn up (I don't like to name names) which made the whole night worthwhile. We got slightly drunk earlier than usual which made for an interesting set; although I think we were tighter than we've been in a while.

Alcohol is kind of a wild card when playing music. Sometimes it makes the performace that much better, sometimes it shoots it straight to hell.

Onto the Fanshawe finals on March 27th (I think; check seekingdawn.com for full details) Hopefully we move on the the regional finals (all of southwestern ontario) which will be played at Fanshawe. Last year we won and went to York for the regional finals. We rented a bus and all that for the fans who came with us. Loads of fun.

Looking forward to our next recording session which happens this Sunday from 11-2. Hoping to lay a bunch more drum tracks as well as some vocals and acoustic guitar. It'll be a full session but that's what we want!

Kisses to everyone who wants them:)

More Archibald

Shot some more scenes of Archibald today. I was tired as shit. Got some great stuff of Kev's mom as Archibalds mom. Her expressions were priceless and I think her performace will be one of the hilights of the film.

Tomorrow we play Battle of the Bands at Fanshawe (heretofore will be referred to as "BOB"). It'll only be short 20 mintue set but still will be fun. It's Josh's birthday so we'll at least have a few beers on that occasion and anyone who wants to join us is welcome.

Shooting movie with Kev - "Archibald"

Spent a couple hours with Kev shooting some scenes for his mocumentary about a fictional London musician named "Archibald". Shooting went well and we got quite a bit done. Shooting documentary style is great, no lighting, no script. Shooting outside was absolutely freezing but still was a warmer day than most of late.

I'm sure you'll see some video/stills on the SEeKing Dawn site sometime soon. As soon as he puts together some scenes. We'll be out shooting some more tomorrow so wish us luck!

Just getting up to speed

Well, this is my first foray into the blog world. I'm hoping it can give you a greater connection to me as a member of SEeKing Dawn. I always find a band far cooler when there is some connection with the band members outside of the band, remembering that they are real people too. Plus it allows you to see what else they are working on, which if you like their music usually means you'll be at least somewhat interested in the other things they are involved in.

That said, I have to say my first love is actually movies. I'm a filmmaker at heart and work in the video industry. I'm working on trying to pull together resources to shoot another short film soon. It's always in finding/writing a cool script. All the camera work and special effects in the world can never take away from a great story.

I must recommend to you a great film I just finished watching again by Akira Kurasawa, probably the greatest Japanese filmmaker ever and one of the best in the world. As his last film he created a series of (8 I think?) short films he calls "Dreams". If you can find this movie anywhere and rent it, do. It is extremely slow, each dream having a very simple premise but the way they are carried out is very cool and otherworldly. If you can stay to the end you'll be rewarded with what I think of as the most peaceful and relaxing peice of film ever recorded. It's a sequence in "Town of the Watermills". There is something about this sequence that is so relaxing and puts you so at ease. Even in the shittiest times this can bring a warm feeling.

Check it out on Amazon.com "Akira Kurasawa's Dreams"

Well, not sure where this will end up going but we'll see...