The School of Feedback Guitar Blog

Quite possibly my most embarrassing memory at a show in Austin occurred about three years ago when one of my favorite bands came to play at Emos. It's quite possible that I have seen Aloha play at least ten times; I haven't missed a show if they were anywhere within 100 miles. I remember eight years ago hearing a rumor that they were going to play at the Mohawk Lounge in Buffalo NY with Rainer Maria. My friend Steve and I drove from Rochester NY to Buffalo and were shocked and dumbfounded that they were not on the bill.

The sting of the memory is still palpable today. It's almost so as to say: "Okay Dave. That's why you don't drink anymore." Aloha had been creating music for at least a decade before that show. I am so unbelievably happy they still like each other enough just to play music together and keep putting out new records. They had gone through only one member change. I deeply mourned the fact that their vibraphone player left, but I got over it because TJ Lipple, the guy who replaced him, is really creative and musical. Regardless, Aloha has really pushed their sound thoughtfully over the course of their work. Aloha figured out how to change gracefully, much like Radiohead does consistently.

So, seven or eight PBR's later, and Aloha is halfway through their set at Emos. I am dancing because I love this band. I mean, I really love this band. I know so many of the lyrics, so I become that annoying superfan type... I know I'm just making a big racket, but I don't CARE!!! Aloha is awesome, and that's that. At this show they play songs that I had never heard before. I couldn't believe the energy that they had just to play the stuff I never had heard before. They just tore right through the set and plowed us all over, well me for sure. I was so destroyed and completely dazed by how awesome of a show it was. These songs, the ones I never heard before, just came out TODAY on Polyvinyl Records. Today as in Tuesday March 9th. The song, "Moonless March" is a fantastic mover and shaker. I just can't stop listening (as usual). It's gonna be hard to teach guitar today because honestly, all I will want to be doing is listening to this record.

When the band finished the show and had packed up their instruments, I tried to seem non-chalant about knowing their material. I remember the singer looking at me a little strange, like "Okay, he's a little out of his mind." I embarrassed the hell out of Cale Parks, the drummer. For me it was like we were back in Bowling Green OH, and for him it probably was a tour and they were just visiting Austin. I even pestered poor TJ Lipple with questions about how to master a record. Poor guy. I was on another planet.

Home Acres, the new Aloha record, is a fantastic collection of gracefully creative songs, songs that hit me right in the gut and leave me still with the feeling of goodness and decency. They remind me that there are people out there who really do care about music and less about being a rock star. It's a reminder for me and for anyone I end up helping with guitar that creativity is there for their taking. It's not gone. It's not hiding behind a price tag. It's not to gained through spending money, nor is it exclusively in the domain of frugal and/or bohemian lifestyles. No. It's there for the taking. Aloha somehow makes music that makes me want to get up and scream, and furthermore Aloha makes music that keeps me company when I know what I have to do- create music and share it just like they do. Tours, albums, and just being ballsy enough to put it all out there for everyone to see.

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Home Acres is available in vinyl, compact disk, and mp3 download at Polyvinyl Records. Aloha, I hope, will be coming to Austin TX. If they do, I'll be sober.

I estimate the percentage rate for him actually reading it to be about 2.3%. I had to do it though (with broken sentences and bad handwriting apparently as well).

Is putting your music or your t-shirts online mean you are a sell-out? Let's say that you sell more than 500 copies of your record. Are you a sell-out now? Is Radiohead selling out? Is Wilco selling out? Is Kenny G selling out? Has Atari Teenage Riot sold-out? Does playing Austin City Limits or Emo's outside or Beerland make you a sell-out? Imagine promoting your band DiY style and it works. Let's say that it worked so well that you are packing Stubb's outside. Sell-out?

Does endorsing a product so that you can pay your rent for an entire year and focus almost exclusively on your creative vision mean you are a sell-out? Does licensing your music to a commercial so that you can, again, pay your rent for the entire year and devote your time to creative pursuits mean you are a sell-out? What about liscensing your music to Hummer? Toyota?

If you own a business, does that mean you are a sell-out? If you do things for money, does that mean you are a sell-out? This includes being a server as well as a corporate banker.

Selling out is confusing

I think it is utterly impossible to determine whether someone is a sell out or not based upon superficial observations. Octopus Project allowed Nokia to use one of their songs so they could do more cool music. It enabled them to do more cool noise too. Kenny G overdubbed his soprano saxophone over Louis Armstrong's "What a Wonderful World." It's my opinion he desecrated the song, and he has no need for the money. Radiohead said, "Here is our new album. Pay what you want for it. Enjoy it." Wilco licensed a song to Volkswagen. I've known plenty of people who have great jobs which provide for their needs while still devoting a large amount of time volunteering too. What if there is a corporate banker who dedicates most of her spare time to volunteering at Safe Place because she feels it is something that deserves her energy? Does that make her a sell-out? Does she deserve the label?

When someone sells out, to me it means that they are going against what their heart says is right. It seems to me that no one can really tell when a person does this. Perhaps the only way I can think of at the moment is if they start acting like a total jerk, or start acting really evil.