Fast forward part two...

As of June 1, I am no longer in the employ of TRIPinfo.com. A very risky step, but one I had to make. His (owner MB) insistence on tying my pay to the revenues of the company resulted in three straight months of bringing home less that I would working at Starbucks! And I saw no prospect of it improving anytime soon, despite MB's most optimistic assessments. I also came to the realization that I had less and less faith in the viability of his business model, since I became more and more aware of how it all was just a big shell game, based on flawed data and outright theft of intellectual property.

Long story short - I quit.

Now I am back in the throes of Freelance-dom, and so far, the prospects are good. I'm doing all sorts of pick-up work - right now I"m running sound at Kavarna. Wednesday I meet with a poet about recording some of her readings. Thursday I train for additional census work. I've registered with a outfit that refers people for PA work on film sets. Today I spent many hours trying to kickstart mine & Jenny's book business. I am on the roster of a freelance referral agency and I've interviewed with another graphics-biz about being in THEIR freelance pool (though neither of them have exactly been burning up the phone lines).

But the best news is that I've got two artist websites to build this week, plus a I start on a big, industrial Flash project Monday - anyway - paying work is materializing.

I've always been almost naively optimistic that things have a way of coming together, just when you need them most, and in ways I can almost never predict. For most of my life, it has worked out that way, so I tend to "trust the universe". But that doesn't keep me from stressing a bit too much in the middle of the night.

And while Jenny has been supportive of this move, it still has her more than a little on edge. She's not quite as "zen" about this kind of thing - so that helps me avoid the potential complacency that is an occupational hazard of my outlook on life!

Fast forward about five weeks -

Zentropy is still - technically - without a drummer. We've tried several, and even did a gig with one last Thursday. A guy named Rob - a real solid drummer & a nice guy. Could easily imagine him as the next full-time drummer except for one big caveat - his "day job" is as a teacher, plus he's going back to grad school next fall. Both of which mean he simply wouldn't be able to do the kind of travel we hope to do.

We had close brush with the big time. Yonrico Scott, grammy-winning drummer from The Derek Trucks band, was considering maybe hooking up with us for a bit. But in between flying off all over the USA to record with Eric Clapton, Earl Klugh, etc. Plus touring with his own band, and who knows what else - well there simply wasn't time to even MEET, much less make music!

He did refer us to a very good drummer, Elizabeth Tull, who Gabe & I are going to meet on Monday - and after talking to her a bit and checking out some of her clips online, I am VERY optimistic.

In other band news - Z-Axis is now, officially, no longer rehearsing regularly. Phillip came to town recently and when all jammed a bit and it was clear that Z-Axis IS the four of us - and trying to get together and play WITHOUT PH just ain't right. So therefore, it's all about recording and writing, and occasional get-togethers for tracking - and then every month or so, when PH visits Atl - we get together and actually play.

And in yet MORE band news - I am seriously considering joining a Doors tribute band! I'm not ashamed to say I'll be doing it strictly for the (potential good) money - but I think it will also be a blast trying to channel Manzarek! Issue? My left hand is not, and will never be, up to Manzarek's level. I just don't have that kind of hand independence. Possible solutions - continuing using a bass player as they currently do, or sequence the bass lines. Other issue? Are the gigs there? I am, frankly, disinclined to invest any time into something like this just for fun - so when I meet the guy ("Morrison", I presume?) next week, I'll have to see what kind of feel I get from him.

Here and now...

Haven't attempted to blog in a couple of years - but things are in more of a state of flux than they have been in sometime, and I'm feeling like the discipline of blogging (or more specifically, online public journaling) might help me stay centered, and enable me to make sense of it all...

So I guess I'll just write a brief update on some of the many things that I've got going on -

Zentropy - after our original drummer unceremoniously jumped ship last week, I find myself both extremely aggravated and strangely relieved. Aggravated, because he clearly KNEW he was going to bail for a few months, nevertheless he went along with my not-inconsequential efforts at generating professional promo materials (incl. a labor-intensive multi-camera video shoot) so we could pursue the kind of bookings that actually *paid* (and he had made it abundantly clear that if it DIDN'T pay, he wasn't interested). Now we're stuck with a bunch of footage and a bunch of photos that, while great for documentation, are essentially useless as promo material. Now time to find a new drummer and start again. Sigh...

BUT - also relieved - because it had become excruciating stressful to deal with the negative energy that had begun to surround almost every interaction. We already have three drummers set to try out with us over the next few days, and I'm excited about the idea of new, positive energy and what that will mean for our music. I'm so grateful that Gabe is such a laid back guy. When the success or failure of our improvised music hinges on the chemistry between the players, it helps to actually *like* each other and feel good about your relationships with your bandmates.

(note to self - if any future band mate ever mentions having taken "anger management classes" at some point, ditch him/her then and there!)

Z-Axis - After over ten years, we've been essentially running on inertia for awhile now. Not that there's anything wrong with that. We still make strong and satisfying music, albeit at a pace slower than molasses. Phillip's geographic departure has prompted a serious rethink to our way of doing things. One recent revelation is that the interminable weeknight edit/tweak/mix sessions that have become the norm lately, are increasingly counterproductive. The mental energy required for our close-quarter sessions have become fatiguing and "too much like work" so the idea is to devote our weeknights to actually playing music, and for me to do some of the editing/tweaking/mixing on my own time (whenever THAT is), and the rest during occasional weekEND sessions (which will likely be attended from time to time by Phillip, who has recently relocated to within four hours of Atlanta).

As far as the weeknight "playing" sessions, Mark, Jeff & I are toying with the idea of finding and bringing in a drummer and forming a "covers only" side project, just for the sheer fun of it. We're thinking about limiting ourselves to Eno & Eno-related songs - partly because that's a rich body of work to mine, and partly because it might be a cool concept for getting some just-for-fun gigs.

Other music-notes - the long delayed Sisyphus soundtrack recording is calling for attention at some point. My own solo electronica is a satisfying-yet-oft-neglected outlet deserving a bit more energy on my part. Prospecting for dance & theater scoring work remains in the realm of good-intentions-yet-to-be-actively-pursued. A planned solo-recording - "Icons and Archetypes" - keeps beckoning me...

And yeah, I'd still like to make art-films at some point...

The common thread with all of these, as is usually the case, is a decidedly limited allocation of time. Between the need for income-producing activities, the desire to spend downtime with family, the needs of maintaining a home, and the reluctance to let go of some seriously-taxing-yet-highly-rewarding volunteer commitments - bottom line - some shuffling of priorities is called for.

Hopefully the discipline of journaling will help me gain clarity -hopefully it won't become just another time-suck.

I'll write about work/income stuff later...

PS - I hope I'm not leaving the impression that the original drummer was some sort of monster. In fact, he is a hell of a drummer, and can be a very nice guy. We made a lot of amazing music together over the past 2 1/2 years - and for most of that time, the chemistry was ON. My sense is that he has been undergoing his own transitions and has allowed his stress to sabotage some otherwise productive relationships. Or maybe he just got sick of me!

Moving right along...

Blast from the past (01/08):

So I tried the MySpace blog thing for awhile, until MySpace's interface finally became too frustrating to use with any consistency. Finally gave up, and with a new year, I'm starting over here on Blogger again.

Turning 50 (in a couple of weeks) has hit me harder that I thought it would. The realization that it's time to really make my move if I ever want to accomplish the things I know I'm capable of. So big changes are in store...

So where to start? Well first off, I have become increasingly aware that as long as I was trying make my living doing commercial graphics as a self-employed freelancer, I would never have time to focus on what *I* want to do. So as of Dec. 1, I have gone on salary with one of my primary clients, and told most of the others that I am no longer available. Once the transition is complete, my eves will be only be devoted to music/film/art projects, and my *day job" work ends when the sun goes down.

Secondly, I have bit the financial bullet and rented a studio space at the Eyedrum building. On Jan. 1, I signed the lease on on a 1200 SF room and sublet out 800 sf to a couple of other artists. I'm almost finshed building a wall and painting. Then Z-Axis will move in, as will Zentropy, another new project of mine (more later)