SHIROCK /// Blog

Sometimes, I think anyone who has our job is insane. It’s a lot like eating sunflower seeds or using P-Wing in Super Mario: a whole lot of work is involved, and sometimes the reward is not always as tangible. The past month or so has been spent super-conditioning ourselves to become axe-wielding road warriors. We spend the week rehearsing, booking shows, and basically anything else you can imagine, provided that what you are imagining is related to music, and that you don’t have a very vivid imagination. We spend our weekends driving long hours usually to unfamiliar places, always somewhat unsure of what to expect. Our life on the road is filled with a lot of fixed uncertainties. It is a “delicate dance,” as Adam and I’s old landlord used to say, except we think she was talking about changing our apartment’s air filters. Our situation is different. What I mean by ‘fixed uncertainties’ is that, by example, we know it takes X amount of hours to drive from Nashville to City A, and X amount of hours to unload our equipment, X amount of hours waiting to play, X hours loading our equipment back up, X hours to sleep, and X amount of hours to drive from City A back to Nashville or to City B, etc. Each one of these factors is like one panel of a Rubik’s cube square. Fitting it altogether isn’t easy. Practice helps. So do five minds instead of one. Sometimes, I think we all feel like ripping the sticker off one square and just putting it on another. But, of course, that would be cheating, and the reward is so much greater when it comes with that sense of accomplishment.

We will be posting photos and videos of our adventures as soon as we can remember to take them…we also encourage you all to send us any pictures you may have and would like to share with us. Please send them to info@shirock.net .

Also, SHIROCK was selected as a Top 10 Finalist in CMJ’s Collegiate Nationals Music Championship. Please go to http://contest.cmj.com/bands/97/votes/new and vote for us, we would love to win!

Hey Guy, Jason+ here..Just wanted to say thanks to all who attended the show at The Bricks and for making the show a blast! The crowd response was amazing! Hopefully we will be back soon to hang a little longer! Here are some pictures we took! Check them out and let us know what you think ! Jason+

Ah, February 14th - the day when lovers express their feelings through thoughtful cards, colorful flowers, and delicious confectionery. Since most of us had plans for Valentine’s Day (except Adam), Pap decided to host a cookie decorating party the day before. Chuck and I, leaving the cookie decorating to the females, quickly turned the Valentine-card–making portion into a heated competition, leaving a mess of construction paper and furrowed brows in our wake.

I would say it was a tie.

So we’re all back in nashville now…Pap & I got back from LA on Thursday, the night of the 17th.  I have mixed feelings about being back.  I really love LA.  I hope we can move there sometime soon.  Nashville is nice & comfortable, but I’ve felt for a long time now that it’s time for a change.  Pap & I talk of it often. 
Many things are said about LA (and all big cities for that matter) but I think that it’s the people your with that makes the difference.  Anywhere with Pap amazing. 

The record sound incredible!  We worked for about 2 weeks at Jay’s studio in Sherman Oaks, CA.  Adam came out for about a week to work with us also.  Everything sounds so good…mastering is the next step, and that will happen on the 29th of this month.  So right now we’re working fast to finalize any last changes on the songs, the art work, the video (for on the CD itself to put in your computer), and the song orders for both the EP and the full length record. 

I’m getting together with Josh Reeder (the good friend behind the camera that took all of the studio photos) to talk through rough ideas for the artwork for the EP release.  It’s the first step in the “art” process because based on the EP artwork, we’ll be redoing the SHIROCK.net website and the SHIROCK Myspace page.  That will be done once the art for the disc itself is finalized.  

Anyway, alongside all the stuff that we’re trying to do to get the EP ready to go, we’re starting rehearsals for the live show…which we’re all super excited about!  We’ve got a lot of big ideas for the live  show…in many ways it’s like producing the record all over again for a new format!  It’s a ton of work, but done right the whole thing will lift off and (hopefully) give us an opportunity to really communicate and share something special each show with you.  That’s the plan at least…to make some magic.   

All that said, we’re really busy with all that stuff, and trying to work on booking, IROCK Clothing Stuff, get Everything Burns off the ground, and more!!!  

Often times I worry I’ve dreamt too big…but then I wonder if there is such a thing. 

More soon,

Love: Chuck Shirock. 

While Chuck and Pap are still in LA (probably relaxing on the beach),

and Derek is working on his super-computer fixing all our websites, Jason

and I are doing cold hard manual labor. Manwork. After a hearty breakfast

of egg yolks and bacon gristle (and a few half eaten Subs of the Day from

Subway we found in the trash…a Meatball Tuesdays and a Tuna Friday -

odd combination, but we’ll take it!!), we started our

all day Manathon. We have been engineering a way to hang up some

industrial strength acoustic blankets in our rehearsal

space. They weigh about 100lb each and we have thirteen 11 foot sections.

Today we finally finished. As you can see in the picture, Jason is high

up on the scaffolding securing the last blanket. Hopefully this will

keep our rock n roll music from bothering our nice neighbors. (You

might remember from a previous blog that we received a cease and

desist order right before we went into the studio. We are trying to

live peacefully with our neighbors but they decided to take us to

court. We drew straws and Derek will be representing us at the stand,

which is good on account of his fiery temper..)

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Well, hello, devoted athletes of Team Shirock. Derek here. Exciting news: I started school again today in Nashville at Belmont University. Yep. While half the band is in Los Angeles mixing the record with Jay, I dutifully packed my lunch and held my books tight. Well, not literally. It’s more like a figure of speech. But you know what I mean, right? It’s my last semester, and my major is Audio Engineering, which means I have to be physically be present and awake in a studio for most of my classes. It’s ironic because many of my classrooms are in the same studios at Ocean Way where we just recorded. Anyways, as a consequence of my academic endeavors, you very well may end up seeing someone who is not me, but as equally charming, playing bass on stage in the near future. Don’t be frightened; he means well. I hope to play as much as possible, but as graduating from college is a personal goal of mine, some of our friends may be filling in on the road from time to time. It’s likely this news comes as a disappointment, I know, but don’t get too depressed — for as sure as there will be another Rambo movie, I’ll be back soon.

In addition, we are working hard on updating our websites and blog soon, so be vigilant. We are a band of diverse talent, and we like to handle things ourselves. (For instance, did you know that Chuck and I are avid mountain bikers? Or that Pap can knit her own clothing? Or that Jason possesses a flawless British accent? Or that Adam owns a lot of DVDs?) We look forward to seeing you and talking with you soon.

Affectionately yours,

Derek “Iceman” Blank

I drove from north Hollywood to Venice beach to meet chuck this
morning. We are just running some errands before we get back to the
studio at 2. Jason is working hard at booking shows so continue to
send us the names of your hometown venues and we will try to come
visit. I think later today chuck and I are going to street race our
rental cars fast and furious style. Cast your votes now, VW jetta vs.
Toyota corolla.
-Adam
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