Rock Left On The Shelf

Okay buddies. Here they are. If you want to hear or download the recordings Eight Miles Out never finished just click on this link. 7 songs. Some are missing the vocals and some are missing lead guitar parts. (I'll let you make up your own lyrics and sing along. If you need a little guidance just pretend all of our songs were about playing four square.) In case you're wondering why we never finished these well there are several reasons A) We got lazy B) My 8 track freaked out and wouldn't eject any discs C) Chris studied abroad the semester after we started recording, and it's pretty well known he was the major show booker/motivator in the group. 

One last picture for old times sake. I'll try not to talk about 8MO until I finish the video project I'm working on. Later buddy boys.

25 Random Pieces of P@

I have succumb to the facebook virus known as 25 random things about me. Here's the situation:

1) I came extremely close to dying when I was born.
2) I was a bit of a clepto as a child.
3) My sixth grade music teacher told me I had absolutely no musical ability (she was half right).
4) I attempted to wear shorts thru my 7th grade winter (failed when I was threatened with medical bills).
5) I wore nothing but shirts advertising food products for the first quarter of 8th grade.
6) In 8th grade sex education my science teacher was comparing the shape of different female sexual organs to different fruit and I pretty much tuned him out. I eventually heard him say that the female uterus is shaped like a pear, in my malaise I replied "Does it taste like a pear?" Let's say that my 8th grade sex ed ended at that exact moment with a weeks worth of sitting in the hall.
7) When I was a child I got a multitrack recorder as a present (the greatest present I ever received), saddly it lasted two days as our family dog chewed it up to the point that it was thrown away.
8) Before any of us could play any musical instruments my closest friends and I started a fictional band in 6th grade called Swirl.
9) One mildly cold afternoon in 6th grade my friends Eric Wagner, Luke Bonner, and I decided to go swimming with all our clothes on (save the socks and shoes). After we realized how stupid of an idea it was we got out and decided it was time to go home. Since I didn't want to get my socks and shoes wet I decided to put my socks on my hands and my hands in my shoes, leaving me zero ability to steer my bike. Also, with my bare feet exposed I draped them below my metal spikey pedals. So I set off with no appendages holding on to my bike besides my wrists and my rump... I went about five feet before I crashed and gashed a giant hole into my arm. So I am freaking out, bleeding bad, and sopping wet. My first move; tie my dry sock around my arm to apply pressure to the wound and call my mom to take me to the hospital. 16 stitches later and a lot of freaking out I have a crazy scar on my right arm.
10) My favorite food is chicken fingers.
11) My favorite color is Forest Green.
12) When I was a kid I was once on an undefeated little league baseball team and an undefeated soccer team.
13) I always wanted to be the goalie on my soccer team but I ran so fast I was always a forward. One day my coach caved and let me tend the goal. Now my team was so good that the ball never came close to the goal so I got bored. Fast. Soon enough I'm playing with the net. Putting my arms through it. Hanging from it. So with no action coming my way I start putting my legs and arms through it and let my whole body suspend from the net. About two seconds after I start hanging from the net the ball starts coming my way. Of course I freak out and start writhing in the net. Just as I get free someone on my team steals the ball and kicks it out of bounds. Time is called, I get yanked, and sat the rest of the game out. I never played goalie again. : (
14) I have seen every episode of the show Friends. (thanks to my beautiful wife)
15) I have a nutcracker collection.
16) I try to carry my video camera with me at all times.
17) I once met God in a Chicago area book store. Some random dude came up to me and said "hey Pat, how's it going?" I said good and wondered who in the world that dude was. I ran after him like a second after he turned the corner. He was vanished. So I figure that was God just checking in.
18) I hate Olives and while watching the 2004 Olympics I mistook some greek olives for grapes and popping them in my mouth without getting a good look. I nearly hurled all over the room.
19) I told my wife on our first date "YOU'RE STINKING UP THE CAR! . . . in a good way : )" she was wearing a tasty perfume.
20) I was beat up on two seperate occasions as a child.
21) Another time I was nearly beat up by two dudes while building a tree fort in the woods. When they made their initial attack I freaked out and swung my hammer at them (a warning shot) well it kind of connected with one of the head of one of them. They ran off immediately. Kind of cool, but I'm still pretty guilty for striking someone with a nearly deadly object.
22) I have moved once a year for the last 9 years.
23) While hiking in colorado some friends and I officially named a mountain. Yakamakai. Named after a time I couldn't remember what kayaks were called and said yakamakai instead. 23a) I'm an idiot.
24) I once proved to a college class I could put my feet behind my head. (I have since gained weight and lost the ability. I plan on regaining that talent.)
25) The first concert I ever attended was the Rolling Stones on their VooDoo Lounge tour.

What Once Was And Could Be

It makes me sad to say I will be one of those guys who can only tell his kids that he used to rock and they wont (most likely that is) experience it first hand. The picture above was taken in Burt, Iowa back in 2003. The "Hey Day" of Eight Miles Out. This past week has kind of been a rock n roll renaissance; dug out those lost to the winds 8MO demos, mixed down the last recordings I ever did for another group (if you care to listen check this out), and started work on a collective DVD of pieces from every show we got on tape. That DVD is gonna take a lot of work and will probably only be appreciated by three people and eventually their descendents but... who cares. When you want to relive your rock filled days it's easier to do if it is all wrapped up in one neat little package.

Will I ever get my stage legs back? Good question. If I do I doubt it will be for anything more than fun and a few good laughs. In the mean time my musical goal are to set up all my gear (Guitars, Keyboards, Recording equipment, Mic-ed Drumset, PA) in one room... whenever I can find the space. I'm guessing that wont be a possibility until we move out of California, and who knows when that will be. Keep the dream basement alive!

How Do You Choreograph This?

Some things are so awesome they deserve their own post. Explain this to me:

Lapadicalous

This picture was taken on New Years Eve 1999 at the first show of Eight Miles Out (then called High Jinx). Kind of funny how much time has past since that day. I still remember our setlist. Chris' Song "Vegas," my tune "SubDude," "Josie" by Blink 182, "Two Princes" by Spin Doctors and I think (could be wrong) we played "Chick Magnet," by MXPX. It was pretty awesome... kind of. Our only practice occured the night before, Chris had his wisdom teeth taken out four days earlier and was nursing a broken foot, I lost my voice from jamming out "Feel Like Making Love" for a hour and a half the night before, and to top it off Andrew, our drummer at the time, had the flu and was seriously jetlagged having returned from Poland only two days before the show.

I have memory of us being pretty terrible that night but you know what? It was awesome. Chris and my musical bromance had been brewing for a few years (our previous ska group "Preshrunk" featured me as guitarist/lead singer and Chris on the saxophone as leader of the horn section), but High Jinx was a dream we had been working on for a couple years.

Five years, Four drummers, a line up shake up, a slew of shows in front of close to no one, and recordings of every piece of junk we ever wrote. The only thing I would trade it for was the opportunity to be a one hit wonder. Why am I rehashing this all? Because of something historic. Feeling an itch this weekend I went through all of my Minidiscs, DAT tapes, and zip discs looking for old recordings I did with every group I was a part of.

I knew what most of this media held but didn't expect to harvest it all because my 8 track died years ago and I figured the mini disc would be toast. Turns out, my 8 track didn't die. It was just really stubborn. So after years of anguish I can finally listen to 6 of the last 7 songs Eight Miles Out ever recorded. There would have been 10 recordings but Alex pooped out after I beat him with a whip for 4 hours to get the drums down. Oh well, 6 songs is better than nothing. Give me some time and I'll post them up here for all to cherish.

In the mean time. Enjoy an even older relic from days gone by... Ladies and Gentlemen: GID.