A Rant from the Past

Occasionally I stumble upon an article that reminds me of something I posted years ago. So, today I present two articles.


The Cellphone is the New Cigarette - The Rant 2006

&

Technology is the New Smoking - TechCrunch 2011

Unplug -The Music Video

Today is the official US/World release of Unplug aka the Australian Music video.
It is the creation of the very talented Simon Trevorrow.

I hope you enjoy it.

Thunder Down Under!

No, this is not the sound that my thighs make when I walk too briskly, but rather, well me trying to be cute, so sue me. Good luck with suing me btw, because that will about as financially fruitless a pursuit as trying to squeeze blood out of a bag of rocks.

So, anyway...
THUNDER DOWNUNDER!
Sounds kind of scary when you use CAPS and !!!!

So, anyway...
There are afterall samples of thunder in my song Unplug and Australia is referred to as "down under" thus thunder down under and some exciting news.

The music video for Unplug which was shot in Australia and directed by Simon Trevorrow premiered on ABC in Australia on Rage. The video is also currently a featured video on their website.

For now, this is the only place where you can watch the video as the Australian premiere and the US premiere are not in sync with each other, but that's ok. They're quite a few hours ahead of us and the video was born there, so it seems fitting tha they should see it first. Don't worry North America, Your day of glory will come soon enough.

Just an FYI, when I stated that the video premiered on ABC, I'm not referring to that Disney network but rather referring to the Australian Broadcasting Corporation. Think PBS or BBC but for Australia.

Temptation thy name is iphone

Much like the apple that tempted eve,
this little apple is another forbidden fruit,
a pandora's box if you ask me. Do I need the internet in my pocket? No one needs the internet in their pocket.
Oh so sleek. Must resist. Must be sensible and spend money on recording equipment.
I am buying a new preamp for the studio this week, afterall. Not as much fun as an iphone yet more expensive. ugh.

My phone is a $20 samsung brick off of ebay. It barely texts
and sometimes it just shuts off spontaneously.
so sad.I had a phone for a while where I had to shove a cuticle trimmer into it to turn it on and off. I referred to it as my phone tooI. I remember a stranger catching me in an ATM vestibule fighting with my phone, yelling at it and shoving the phone tool in and out of it. My reaction was to laugh hysterically further promoting a first impression that I might not be stable or sane. I feel like jesus wants me to have an iphone. My ipod now only plays music in one side...only one ear...and my phone spontaneously started shutting itslelf off 3 days before the launch of the new iphone. That has to be jesus, right?
Oh and I got a $30 gift certificate to apple for my birthday.... Jesus?

I can try to justify it all I want, but in my heart I know that I do not need an iphone.
I shall spend my money on rice, beans, bacon and recording equipment.
I must make sacrifices for the greater good. :)

Jesus Christ!

Photo by Carrie Thomas
Today, The Unplug Single became available for purchase on itunes in the Christian and Gospel category.

Yes, you read that right, Christian and Gospel. Now, I've never been one for categorizing music, but this is just funny. At first I thought this was cute and then I came to the realization that I say shit and have a vocal intro where I talk about sticking a rocket up a crash dummy's ass on this new single. Sorry if I gave something away for you folks who have yet to purchase it.

Oh yeah, you can

go to itunes and purchase it.

I'm expecting an angry group of jesus loving bible throwers to show up on my doorstep at any moment.

I suppose it's best if I barricaded the door and ly low for a while.

Quest of Life

Big Thanks to Steve Sims and Harry Faddis, hosts of the radio program
Quest of Life out of Troy, New York on WRPI 91.5 FM.

Both Mr. Carpentier and Unplug were on their playlist for today.

You can catch their show on Fridays from 12-2pm EST or online at
WRPI's website.

Lotsa Love

RG

Unplug Digital Pre-Release

The Unplug Single will be available for digital pre-release next week.
This is a pre-release available to members of the Elist only.
If You haven't yet signed up, get it in gear, cuz I know you're gonna love it...and of course you want to be first, don't you?

Join the E-List

Unplug & Reachout Til Oct. 25th

I have posted an unmastered version of Unplug (Reachout Mix) on Myspace.
It will be available for your listening pleasure until October 25th.

Lotsa Love,

Robert

Sunday

Sunday,
I rollerbladed over to the recording studio and did the final mix for the single version of Unplug + a bonus extended (Reach Out Mix).
I think You're all gonna love it. It's a little different than the stuff on Sirens of Brooklyn.

After the studio, I rollerbladed over to Mister Carpentier's to play the single for him, then hopped back onto my blades and traversed the Brooklyn Bridge, making my way to Union Square. Then I hopped on a train to Queens.

I spent the evening in Astoria working with the other Rob working on the music video, which btw is so close to being done that I can almost hear the cork popping on the bottle of champagne.

I can't wait to relese both of these little babies into the world.

Untitled jibberish(It's the bleach)

I am mopping my floor and eating potato chips,
listening to Patty Griffin, Flaming Red.

I am missing you.
I saw you at 3:30. It's 12:00.
In 3 hour is will be 12 and that is 12 too many.

How are you so full of beauty, full of energy, full of desire for me?
It amazes me.

I spent almost 2 hours in a guitar store today. It kind of felt like I was cheating on Black Swan, but then I met George and we started talking. We had a first date. We danced. We shared secrets. He is away on Sunday, but on Monday I am going to go visit him. Oh god, I gave him a name. Does that mean that he is the one?
I am about to dive head first into song.

I had to take a breath. It all became so frantic and I lost myself in the lack of sleep and the stress.
I lost sight of what I love. You believe in me. Thank you for that. It means the world to me.
I need to be brought to my knees from time to time, to understand how small I am.

I will feed you with the bit of food I have in my kitchen. I will give you my humble rags. They are what I have. I will give all that I can. I love you. Yes, I'm talking to you. Wake up. Unplug.

Chorus of Hebrew Slaves

I have completed most of the recording on Unplug,
a new track for my next album.

When I went to play the song through iTunes the title
"Chorus of Hebrew Slaves" came up for it.
This is oddly appropriate. You'll just have to wait a while to find out why.

Digital Whiplash

Somewhere in Brooklyn I am sitting at a coffee shop on my laptop computer wirelessly connected, oh so connected to the information super highway. Next to me is a girl also on her laptop next to a guy on his laptop next a girl on her laptop and so on and so forth into infinity. It's quite possible that the girl by the door is in a chatroom sharing her bunt cake recipe with the guy in the back on his laptop next to the bathroom.

I have never been one to fear or loathe technology. I generally embrace it, but there is something horribly wrong with the world. We are collectively losing our ability to interact face to face. Never in our history as a civilization have we had so many ways to connect with people. We have cellphones, smartphones, webcams, laptops, email, and even smoke signals.

For some reason though, we're all disconnecting. we are plugging in and tuning out the world. We are all suffering from attention deficite disorder, obsessively checking email and flipping between open computer windows, television shows, podcasts, and text messages. We sit across from each other checking our cellphones, responding to texts sent, and maybe even actually talking about how much of a boring time we're having, planning our exit via the digital escape hatch.

Is it just me or is everyone suddenly so busy that they can't return a phonecall, email or smoke signal? Are we on overload? No one can focus. We don't even have the patience for commercials. We DVR and fastforward through them or we simply download the show from Itunes and watch it on our video ipod as we surf the transit system, happy that we don't have to make eye contact with another human being.

I am a hypocrite. I am blogging about this when we should be having a face to face conversation.

I need to step away for a minute and unplug.

Photo by Carrie Thomas

3 trains of thought

There are times in which I want to lead a more glamorous life than I do, and when it comes down to it, I'm not incapable of being glamorous. It's just that the effort required to sparkle and shine like a new penny, is more than I am willing to muster.

The closest I got to glamour this weekend was being perched on top of a piano singing Tina Turner's Private Dancer, a song which is near and dear to my heart. My sister and I used to have this classic album on vinyl. We would sing at the top of our lungs into hairbrushes and dance around the house. Why my mother ever thought this was a good idea, I'll never know.

After the Kitt and Kaboodle show, I went out with my friend Jason and his hubby Simon. We found ourselves in a crowded bar full of attractive well groomed individuals, yet I was bored out of my mind. I found that all I really wanted was to be able to interact with my friends without having to endure the combined chattering of so many people. I guess also, when you're walking through the meat market and you don't have cold cuts on your shopping list, it all just looks so raw and unseasoned.


On Saturday went back into the studio for the first time since running the final mixes for sirens of Brooklyn. I recorded the first track for my next album, title still to be decided. The result was kind of peculiar and baeutiful. This track is very much rooted in the African Spritual with my mind glued to the rejection of technology. How contradictory to then write about it in a blog. Yes, I know, my first album hasn't even been released and I'm onto the next thing. This new project, which is floating around in my head will include some songs which aren't even written yet.

Some of my other songs have been giving me grief. I didn't allow them to be on Sirens and they're getting nervous about not making the cut this time. I have assured them that they will have their days in the sun. I may have to appease a few of the more nagging ones by letting them have their b-side glory on a possible EP. My lips are sealed though. I'm not going to say what's coming next. There are three trains of thought going on right now. It's almost impossible to say which will pull into the station first.