Practice makes perfect?

Practice makes perfect right?  What part of practice are we talking about here?  I am referring to rehearsals and band practice, or whatever you like to call it.  I have practice in about an hour, and right now I am awaiting to drive over.  Some of the most important practice for music is actual practice with your band.  There is much that goes into being able to play with a band.  It's funny all of the practicing you do on your own will only reflect so much on how actual band practice goes.  Everyone in the band has to be familiar with the music and have practiced on their own.  I honestly don't do alot of rehearsing on my own outside of band practice, unless I'm not familiar with the music, but that is really only for last minute fill-in gigs.  Recently I had a fill-in gig with a hiphop artist named Micah Brown.  I had to learn 3 songs in less than a week.  That really isn't all that hard to do, but getting tight with the band took every last minute we had to rehearse together before the night of the gig.  I had a very tight drummer to play with named Brandon, he made the practice go quite smooth for me.  If I am able to lock in with the drummer with ease, then practice and playing the music will go well for me.  I learned all 3 of the songs, the night before the first rehearsal, then we had 2 other rehearsal's before the gig.  Luckily with hiphop music, it doesn't have much as far as changes in the bassline, other than not playing at all in some part of the song.  So the songs are fairly "elementary" to learn at the last minute.  The part I like most about learning new songs for a last minute show, is the amount of stimulation my brain feels.  Having to practice and "cram" these new songs in is a very tedious and time consuming process.  In addition to learning these songs, I sort of have to get used to performing them, and being comfortable rocking out on stage with them.  In other words, I don't like to just stand still on stage.  For me now, rehearsing feels like playing a show.  I'm very comfortable on stage, and I rarely get intimidated on stage.  But there are those shows, where you're just like "woahhhhhh".  The show I played with Micah Brown had between 300-400 people, and that was a very nice crowd to see.  The room was full.  It all sort of adds to the high of playing music.  My point that I am trying to make though, is that when rehearsing you need to give it your all, just as much as you would in a live setting.  If you want your shows to feel authentic then you need to make your rehearsals authentic.  I am going to be on my way out of the door soon to go jam out in a mess of psychadelia with Rainbow Bridge.  This has been another look behind the scenes of a musician's world.  Also,  I will try to have more daily blogs, maybe after christmas season is over at my other job in the "real" world at the UPS Store.

<3

-BearKnuckle
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Manipulating Inspiration

  I was feeling lazy yesterday so I didn't write a blog entry.  Also I didn't really have any inspiration to write.  Inspiration is incredibly crucial to my creative process.  It all comes from a feeling that tells me to create.  I have my good days, and my bad days when finding inspiration.  Part of being any kind of artist is learning to manipulate your inspiration to create a picture from with-in.
  My creative process never really has a method behind it.  When I'm coming up with musical ideas, it's usually all by accident.  Most of the time I will be improvising a solo melody or just a rhythmic pattern, that will turn into the actual chord progression.  Often times I will be at work, or just outside away from my bass and I will suddenly start thinking of a melody in my head, and then come back home and try to figure it out on my bass.  One thing I always usually do, is record a video/audio track so I won't forget how to play it!
  When writing you have to let the music take you to the next part of the song, using your most subtle energy to blindly search for your creation.  It is exactly like an artist painting their painting, or a writer creating a story, or a chef creating their meal.  Using your own intuition you create something totally new.  The only real preparation you have behind creating a musical piece, is the practice you have already put in prior to that point.  All of the practice you have experienced will remain in your subconscious.
  For me part of practicing is not only learning music theory and all of the scales and what not, but actually learning every song you hear.  In my earlier days of practice I would sit and with my Ipod on shuffle, learning every song that came on.  I would spend many hours doing this, which all helps me still today.  I feel like before you can really create the piece you want, you have to learn what other musicians are doing; to fully understand where you're going to go.
  In my musical lifetime i have written probably hundred's of songs, just from sheer vamping and improvising.  Though most of them don't even turn into songs because I forget how to play them haha.  The one's that turn into song's are those of real inspiration, that makes me create this song.  The song's that don't become songs, were more like the proceedings to these fully created ideas.  Sometimes I am unable to pull all of the pieces together, until years later.
  Most of my writing is focused on BearKnuckle right now.  I am giving myself a very large picture to paint.  I don't want to limit myself to something too broad.  BearKnuckle is sure to be very diverse with our music, while still having something familiar and signature about our sound.  From my writing, to the contributions from the rest of BearKnuckle, there is nothing we can't create.  We are one mind, guiding ourselves through inspiration.  Thank you for reading!  This concludes my entry on manipulating inspiration.

-BearKnuckle
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Music to my ears

When is music, not music anymore?  This is an incredibly subjective question to begin with, but I will tell you what is not music to my ears.  If you listen to most top 40's pop radio today, you will notice most of the music has taken a very techno influenced avenue.  All the songs have the same 2/4, pouding kick drum beat.  The reason for this is that, most of the music is written in a computer program, where the "producer" which is commonly mistaken for "composer" these days.  Most of these songs don't even have a single key change, there might just be 8 measures where they drop the beat, and call it a bridge, and chorus might just be the same thing as the verse, but with a synthesizer melody played along.  All of this music is usually just the "producer" playing a 4 measure phrase, and then looping it for 3:10 seconds to call it a hit single.  I feel this technique to create "music" leaves the songs very sterile and lifeless, with minuscule amounts of emotion.  It is hard for me to connect to music that doesn't present any sort of life to me.  To me real music has blood, sweat and tears behind it, and you can hear the real live instruments and the voices behind the sounds that are created.  The top 40's pop is not what I'd call music, it's more just instant gratification.  It gives the listener, nothing to grab onto, it's just made for keeping less musically inclined listeners entertained.  Right now I am listening to Bill Evan's Live At Art D'Lugoff's: Top Of The Gate [Disc 2].  Which just happens to be running from last night, and music like this is such artwork.  It's a live album for one, so its totally in the moment, and it's just amazing how tight this band is.  Now aday's a live show with alot of these pop singer's is just someone lip syncing over a back track, and the band and almost there for looks.  That takes away so much from the live show.  There is no room left for improvisation, nothing spontaneous.  One point with playing in a band like BearKnuckle, is really trying to put fourth a high energy live show.  For me being a musician, performing live is about the best fun I can have with music.  Being able to create something, that is perfectly spontaneous and in the moment is something that is unparalleled.  The moment creates a whole energy that the audience and I can share, and energy and is incredibly spiritual.  People feeding energy to produce a spiritual moment.  That is church for me...hahahaha.  BearKnuckle loves to perform live, and we love seeing all faces, new and old at our shows.  We love the energy that is in the air, and all the things that come with it!  WE LOVE YOU!!!

-BearKnuckle
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Why so heavy?

Why all the metal?  Why do I enjoy the heavy side of things when it comes to alot of music?  I mean I love many forms of music, from very light and elegant sounding music, to the most brutal heavy death metal.  Metal to me is a very expressive form of music; it really does take a certain person to like it though.  I feel that many things about life and the world are very dark, and sometimes very evil; and metal is something that I can relate to, from these feelings.  You are able to release your dark side so to speak, which for me brings out alot of my energy in general.  The musicians who write metal music, are playing things that make them feel a certain way; and that most definitely conveys into my feelings.  Part of the sounds that BearKnuckle creates, are very heavily influenced by the metal genre.  It's something that is deeply rooted in our playing styles and our personalities.  The need to be heavy!!  Though we also have a soft side and like to incorporate that aswell.  My personal favorite metal bands are Opeth, Mastodon, Gojira, and Isis.  I also love early metal bands such as Black Sabbath, UFO, and Deep Purple.  I will admit, there is alot of metal music that I don't like at all, but it's mainly the way the music is conveyed to me.  I feel there is alot of metal music, that is completely ignorant of melody, and I do not like those bands usually.  Melody has to exist for me to enjoy something, even drums can be melodic.  Everything has to do with phrasing when writing music.  Everyone is receptive to a different sort of phrasing.  Everyone has their own feeling.  The majority of music lover's, do not appreciate metal music.  With all of the screaming and growling, no one wants to listen to it!  You have to allow yourself to dig past your initial feeling of the sound.  Metal has all of the melody that less "brutal" forms of music have.  To me, metal is a complete evolution of music, especially when looking back at music like jazz music, where much of the music is played quite fast, sometimes reaching tempos incorporated in metal music.  Alot of metal music slows down to an almost blues like tempo, and really can reach your soul.  I suppose the point of this whole post, is really to speak out for metal music.  I feel like it is the bastard child of many listening palettes.  Metal needs to be appreciated.

Thanks for reading!

-BearKnuckle
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Communication

I think with BearKnuckle being the name of this blog; I suppose, that it may sorta of be like my pen name.  I (Rory) will probably be managing this blog most of the time anyways.  I just got done jamming on my drum set for about 2 hours; and for me drums are so inspiring, especially when picking up my bass afterwards.  Sometimes I go long periods of time without playing drums and focusing on guitar more; but in the end, I always come back to bass.  Surely bass feels more like home because thats what I learned music on.  The thing is, when you play other instruments; it gives you so much perspective on how to compose ideas.  Having a good understanding of music theory makes picking up other instruments almost like an instinct.  Music theory is essentially a way to verbally communicate a music idea without having to play it, but also the concepts of music theory are basically the "rules" of music.  I feel like part of becoming a well rounded musician is learning these "rules".  It's almost like being illiterate and being ignorant to proper every day vocabulary and communication.  Knowing these rules will make communicating through music all the easier.  Part of knowing the "rules" of music theory, is also knowing how to break the rules.  Most of the time when I write music, I am always trying to break the rules; it really helps to create a very diverse song; with very offsetting feelings in the music.  I have found hardest part of theory, is keeping yourself from thinking about the theory concepts too much, and finding yourself stuck, and confused.  Theory is really only guidelines to keep in your sub-conscious while you are playing.  If you thinking about it too much while you're playing, you will surely find yourself stuck.  The point of music is to play what you feel, and thinking about theory while you're playing will most definitely take away from your feeling, and your spermatic impulse to improvise.  All of what I am saying is much like talking to someone, and when you stutter trying to say a word or you are trying to think of what word to use in mid sentence.  You have to just let yourself talk for you instead of actually thinking about talking.  Don't let the music theory do the talking, let your self, your'e being, your heart do the talking.  If you feel it, it is supposed to happen.  Sort of like, if it sounds good, it's right.  Alot of music is written like that.  If it works it works, even if it is breaking the "rules".   This has been my rant on music theory.  I think I've run out of things to say about it for now.  Don't want to give myself a headache.  Thanks for reading!

-BearKnuckle
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New blog!

Hey everyone!

Rory here, bassist and one of the vocalist's for BearKnuckle. Not only is this my first ever blog that I've written, but the first of many for BearKnuckle.  The content of this blog will be very broad, ranging from our music, other music, and all things far and between.  As a band, we are very amused by pretty much everything, so we will write about everything!  I personally have been playing gigs on the music scene since I was 17, and I feel in the last 5 years I have gained alot of experience, and I've enjoyed every minute of it.  Music is my life and it always feels so great to have positive feedback about BearKnuckle.  I put in alot of time writing and arranging music, to contribute to BearKnuckle.  So for me hearing good feedback about our music, is of the highest monetary value.  Me and my twin brother Nick (guitarist for BearKnuckle) have been writing music together since we started playing our instruments at the age 14.  We started our first band during the end of our senior year in high school, called Sanus Valde, we released a demo album, but never really went very far with it.  Aside from starting a band in high school, we also made two very good friends Willie "Fune" Williams (Lead singer of BearKnuckle) and his brother Chad Williams.  To this day, we are a tight group of friends.  Before co-founding BearKnuckle, Willie was primarily a hip-hop artist, performing regularly on the rap scene.  Being such great friends with me and Nick, we all wanted to have a band together someday.  Even when we were in high school, we always thought it would be great.  Over the last 2 years, our fantasy has slowly turned into reality.  After spending over a year searching for a drummer, we finally landed one off of craigslist.  That drummer is Donny Dey, our current drummer and co-founding member of BearKnuckle.  Over the last year or so we have been writing and performing music together, and we are currently recording our debut album; which we hope to have released in February.  BearKnuckle is my baby, and of all the bands I play with including Craigger White band, Rainbow Bridge, KDence, Micah Brown, and all the fill in gigs I do; BearKnuckle is home for me.  It is where I really put all of my passion and time.  BearKnuckle has goals, we want to go places, and we want to take all of you with us too!  So here is to the climb, and to our first blog!

Stay classy Atlanta

-BearKnuckle

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