Nigelmusic.com moves to MySpace

I shut down our official Nigel Music website yesterday and pointed www.nigelmusic.com to our MySpace page. MySpace is awesome. I totally hated it at first, but I love it now. And the price is right for a struggling young band from Los Angeles. (Ok, so we all actually have corporate jobs, are closer to 30 than 20, and we live in Scottsdale, Phoenix, Cave Creek, and the West side, what's it to ya?)

I am mostly planning to blog over at the Nigel new Nigelmusic MySpace blog as well since again, it's just easier to keep our Nigel universe in the same place. So NONE MORE BLACK may just end up fading away and becoming a relic of days gone by. Sorry Google. No soup for you.

So if you're reading this and you want the latest on Nigel, you should probably check here instead.

Thx for the memories.
Patrick from Nigel

Nigel Show on March 4

Don't forget Nigel-ians, Nigel is playing at the BrotherLush CD release party Saturday, March 4. Nigel goes on at 10.

(Click on the tshirt for more show details.)

=bw=

Well, Budweezer rocked the house on Friday. The sound was great. Huge crowd. And I even took a phone call from my mom during the middle of "Holiday." (Yes, it was a bit awkward. "Ma!! Meatloaf!!!")

Lindsay took a bunch of great pics and has a recap of the night here.

Teenagers Chips

I saw this package of chips at a vendor stand about 100 yards away from the leaning tower of Pisa. Yes, of the 600 pictures taken of our trip to Italy, this was the best one. ;-)

Online Birthday Cards

This is one of the funniest online cards I've ever received. You think there were any illicit substances used in the making of this card? I'd say yeah, dude.

Thanks Colleen and Erik!

BUDWEEZER THIS FRIDAY

Guess what, Jonas is ready to rock!

Nigel on Radiofearless Podcast

Mike Fearless has an almost weekly podcast called "Radio Fearless" featuring, among other things, local AZ bands. Mike was kind enough to include a few Nigel songs on his latest podcast.

You can podcatch it with iTunes with this link.

Or if you ain't into that whole podcatching thing, use this link to download show #7. (Here's the track listing for show #7, including a HILARIOUS cover of Creed's "Arms Wide Open" by Dave Grohl and Yellow Camaro by Weezer.)

Thanks Mike!! See you this Friday at the Budweezer show.

Pete's 30th Birthday

Pete's 30th birthday is this weekend. Come out to The Border in Old Town Scottsdale. I'll be there!


Hi all,
As usual this Thursday I will be playing at Cruiser's.

It is open mic night, so come on out and jam.

I will also be turning 30 this Sunday, but rather compete with the Super Bowl, I decided to celebrate Saturday night at The Border. I hope you all can make it. I will be playing there, but there will be plenty of time to celebrate. I will be there Friday and Saturday night. Come by and bring your friends.

Re-cap:
Who: Pete De Souza
What: Thursday Night Open Mic Night
When: Thursday, February 2nd from 8:00-12:00pm
Where: Cruiser's North East corner of Shea and Scottsdale in the Safeway plaza
Why: Red Rice!

Who: Pete De Souza
What: Pete's Birthday
When: Friday & Saturday, February 3rd and 4th from 8:00-12:00pm
Where: Old Town Border Restaurant on Brown Ave between 1st and 2nd street in Old Town Scottsdale
Why: Great Cheeseburgers!

http://maps.google.com/

Thanks,
Pete

PS - We'll be celebrating my 29th birthday next Saturday (Feb 10) at Last Exit with the Budweezer crew. Don't miss it!

My Music for the week.

Well, I'm happy to report that things are progressing pretty well on the music front right now.

Nigel has practice with Brad, our new drummer, tonight.

Then Lindsay and I are going to The Real Bar to watch Daphne Loves Derby.

I have BUDWEEZER practice Wednesday. (Speaking of which, go an Add BUDWEEZER as a MySpace friend!) And check out my lame attempt at a logo. Don't worry, I've called in professional help! :)



Then check out our weekend:

Friday at 4pm: Mute Math and Veda at Real Bar

Friday at 9pm: Let Go, Black Moods, Reign Kings at Andersons

Saturday at 7pm: Let Go, Lakota @ Last Exit

Saturday at 1pm: Strong Beer Fest at Mesa


That's a busy week of music my friends!!

UPDATE: Pics here and here. What a weekend. Check out MuteMath, now!

Batter The Drag -- The Big Sleep

I sent this email this moring to Batter The Drag about their new album, The Big Sleep.

I just finished listening to the whole album and in a word, it is disturbing. And I mean that positively.

I was disturbed by the lyrics. "My Father, the Hunter." Yeah, that one. But I also loved the creativity in the lyrics. Never any of the "help me feel, make it real" 3rd grade type of lyrics that I must admit, I sometimes get trapped into with my own writing. The way you sparingly used harmonies was also very nice.

Musically, I almost never anticipated where you were going next inside of each song. The first listen was so fun because nothing was predictable. Now I have to listen several (hundred?) more times to understand all the notes and messed up chordings you employed. Oh yeah, and your drummer...keep him around!

In short, this is one of the most unique albums I've heard in a long time. Excellent job.

- Patrick from Nigel (and Budweezer)

This album isn't available at Amazon.com yet, and it is clearly not something that everyone will like. (ie. This is not a pop record.) But if you like Mars Volta with a bit more edge and a little less self-indulgent, arrogant "look how good of musicians we are," you should email Jeff and he'll FAX a copy to you (or something like that). I highly suggest you add this CD to your collection. Now.

Nigel's New Drummer

Good news Nigelians, we found a new drummer! We just had our second audition with the new guy last night. Candidly, I was ready to give him the job after the first song...he rocked out on Best. But I figured it would be better to string him along until the end of practice. ;-)

His name is Brad Mahoney. Hopefully you'll all be seeing a lot more of him (and Nigel) this year. (Matter of fact, BrotherLush asked to play at their CD release party, Saturday March 4 at Last Exit. Mark your calendars now.)

Welcome aboard Brad!

BUDWEEZER on Feb 10

WHEN: Friday, Feb 10

WHO: Patrick from Nigel, Bryan and Rich from BrotherLush, Chris from Let Go form the latest version of Phoenix' best (only?) Weezer tribute band, BUDWEEZER featuring songs from Weezer's Blue album and Pinkerton. (See pics from Weezer tribute band 1.0.)

WITH: He Means Well (no website available) and another band TBA.

WHERE: Last Exit in Tempe. (Corner of Priest and Southern. Map here.)

COST: $5

OTHER: Doors open at 9, music starts at 10. BUDWEEZER goes on at midnight.

OTHER OTHER: My birthday is Feb 8, so come by and wish be a Happy Bday!

UPDATE 1/19/06: The original title of this post was WEEEEEEEEEEEZER on Feb 10 because that was what we were calling the tribute band at the time. Chris came up with BUDWEEZER and it stuck, so I changed it up. Logo, website, tshirts, water bottles, and fanny packs to come.

Pandora

The aptly named Pandora is a pretty cool new music recommendation service. I typed in one of my personal favorites, The Pale Pacific, on the first screen and it created a new station based on the tags this song had.



That said, after listening to very similar sounding songs for the last 20 minutes, it's better to have someone like Elise of SomaFM's Indie Pop Rocks! giving me a variety of songs.

(HT: DoCopenhagen)

Rivers Cuomo is Rodney Dangerfield?

Is it just me, or is taking River's a long time to graduate from Harvard? Apparently, he's going back to school, again, to get his English degree. Story.

My hope is that he meets another cello playing half-Japanese girl, gets tired of sex, and goes outside to catch a butterfly.

(I'm sorry Rivers, but your anguish, or rather, the songs that result from said anguish, are the delight of many of your fans. Pinkerton Volume Deux is long overdue my friend. And you've punished yourself far too much for it's lack of commercial success.)

Vote for The Pale Pacific...

...to get more airtime on Indie Access Radio. Vote here. Vote often!

Michelle Branch lashes out...good for her!

So you want to be a famous rock star? It ain't all it's cracked up to be according to Michelle Branch:

What I am most frustrated at, I suppose is...I pay money to keep this website up so all of you "fans" can talk about our music. Why would I want to spend the money so the majority of you can sit around and b1tch about us?

For myself, I like being in a band. I love creating music. I love playing live. But stories like this reinforce why I don't ever want to be a rockstar. That, and I've watched way too many episodes of VH1's Behind The Music to think it's all glamour and fun.

(HT: Music Business Marketing)

Where has Nigel been?

Well, it's been a while since I've blogged anything new and/or meaningful. Sorry about that, but I've basically been avoiding this blog to avoid some bad news.

About a month ago, Steve informed the rest of the band that he was no longer going to the be the drummer of Nigel. Details aside, it was an amicable break-up and we're all still friends.

So for the last month I've been in searching far and wide for a new drummer. The demand for drummers in Phoenix area versus drummers seeking bands is about 10 to 1. So it's stiff competition for very few qualified applicants. Hopefully we'll find a new drummer soon and be back in the game!

If you know a good drummer who's interested in being on the Nigel team, please tell them to email Patrick.

Rogue Wave and Mazarin at Modified Arts, Phoenix

Lindsay and I went with my sister Karin to see Rogue Wave and Mazarin. (We met up with Erik there too.)

I was really impressed by the live arrangements/performance by Rogue Wave. Very impressive use of quiets and louds. Vocals sounded great in the mix.

I'm jealous. ;)

the ryPod reminds you who The Beattles were in the beginning

From the ryPod:

Truth is, The Beatles were badass in the beginning. All-black, leather jacket-wearing, cigarette chain-smoking, savage rock & roll street punks. Okay, Paul was still a pussy. But John's early songs are pure pain. He's so jealous & bitter & angry at women for leaving and his mum for dying, it makes me want to cry. John doesn't want to hold your hand. John doesn't believe in yesterday. If you ever touch another man, John will hunt you down and kill you, bitch.

HILARIOUS!

The Pale Pacific interviewed on Indie Pop Rocks

Elise, the awesome DJ from SomaFM's greatest show -- Indie Pop Rocks! -- will be airing her interview with The Pale Pacific on Thursday at 2pm Arizona time. Set your alarms and then go listen to IPR!

Fall Out Boy on VH1 Big in 05

Did anyone see Fall Out Boy perform on VH1's Big in 05? The bass player, Peter Wentz, is freaking crazy! He jumped off of what had to be a 30 foot ledge during the last part of "Sugar We're Going Down" and sugar, I thought this boy was going down.

Here's the play by play...


Running up the stairs in the background. My point? That's a lot of steps.


Standing on the 30ft prop, rocking out with the fans.


Yeah, that's Peter. The guy with the red circle around him. At this point, I know he's gotta be thinking, "Ok, this looks a little taller from up here than I thought it would be. However, it would be highly un-rock for me to walk back down the stairs. I'm gonna have to jump!"


"Yeah, even though this thing is 30 feet high, I'm still going to jump up into the air as I jump off it."


"Oh damn, this is gonna leave a mark!" (Me, as I watched from the comfort and relative safety of my own bed, "Oh geez, that's gonna leave a mark!!")


"Landed it perfectly! Just like a rock star!"

That was the most amazing jump I've ever seen that was not using a safety harness. You can watch the video of this on VH1.com.

The Black Moods

Now this is an interview with a real rock band.

(Blackmoods on MySpace)

Lindsay has a hot college girl blog

Seriously, check out who ranks #2 on MSN for hot college girl blogs.

That's hot. (And hilarious!)

UPDATE: Apparently MS "corrected" their algorithm since Lindsay is no longer #2 for that search phrase. But she's still unintentionally getting first page rankings on other combinations of not-so-appropriate-for-children-phrases, none of which I will mention here lest my blog starts getting ranked for them.

Pete's Gigs

Pete's back at it again on that darn acoustic guitar! American, go see him play.

Thanks, Management


Well, as usual I will he at Cruiser's on Thursday night for open mic night. Come by and bring a friend.

Saturday night I will be at The Border in Old Town Scottsdale. Come have a cheeseburger and Washington Apple with me and the Coach House Wrecking Crew.

Re-cap:
Who: Pete De Souza
What: Thursday Night Open Mic Night
When: Thursday, December 1st from 8:00-12:00pm
Where: Cruiser's North East corner of Shea and Scottsdale in the Safeway plaza
Why: It is December

Who: Pete De Souza
What: Saturday Night Acoustic Jam
When: Saturday, December 3rd from 8:00-12:00pm
Where: Old Town Border Restaurant South East corner of 1st street and Brown Ave in Old Town Scottsdale
Why: Washington Apple

Lindsay's Birthday

That's right, it's Lindsay's 28th birthday. Go tell her Happy Birthday.

Thanksgiving Disco

I got this from two people already today, so there's a good chance you've seen it as well. If not, it's worth 30 seconds of your time.

Put this in the time capsule...

Lindsay recently came across this old page. Apparently, we've been married for 1138 days now. And at least 1132 of those days have been really, really good.

Tempe show...rocked!!

Thanks to everyone who came out to Last Exit on Saturday. There were about 150 of you. Personally, I had a really good time! It had been 6+ months since Nigel last played and I had some pent up energy to expend. (It only took 3 songs for me to throw down the guitar.)

I hope that we get invited to play Last Exit again as it sounded great and attendence was quite good.

The Weezer cover band "In the Garage" that closed the night out went so well that we'll likely have to consider putting it in regular rotation.

Lindsay has a nice blog entry (with pics) written about the show, so rather than duplicate her efforts, I'll let you read more about it there.

Death Cab for Cutie -- Tonight in Tempe, AZ

The guys from glisten told me to checkout Death Cab a few years ago, and I'm glad I did! Lindsay saw them on the Transatlantacism tour 2 years ago at Nita's Hideway. They've since progressed to the Marquee Theater size hall and will be playing tonight. Going to be a good show!

Nigel on MySpace, Part II

I uploaded 3 more songs this morning to Nigel's MySpace.

Our first and only album, Songs About Things, came out in May 2004. Since then, we've had 4 songs from the album posted on NigelMusic.com. But now, you can finally get the rest of the songs from Songs About Things at Nigel's MySpace. So go get em!

Super-Weezer

On Sunday, I sang Weezer songs for 4 hours. Do you think I had fun? You know it!

Me, Pete, Steve (from Nigel) and Bryan and Rich (from BrotherLush) jammed on just about every song from the Blue album and Pinkerton, as well as a few tracks from Green for good measure, in preparation for our Super-Weezer set coming up this Saturday at the end of the show. Super-Weezer will probably be going on around 12:30ish. Don't miss it!

"Oo-wee-oo I look just like Buddy Holly..."

The Format, Let Go, and Peachcake at Mesa Amphitheater

Lindsay and I went to a music and cooking festival over the weekend at the Mesa Amphitheater. We rushed out of the house to catch one of Lindsay's favorite new bands, Let Go. They played the side stage with a short 25 minute set, but they sounded really good. I really like "Spotlights" (the closer) and "Louise".

We talked to Jamie (lead singer and guitarist) for awhile after the show. Very nice guy and has loads of producing experience. I asked him about potentially doing a few songs for Nigel. It'd be fun to get back into a proper studio again.

The next notable band on the list was Peachcake. A Depeche Mode (techno) meets The Flaming Lips (props on stage and humor) band. They put on a really jaw-dropping show!

The big draw for us (and it seemed the rest of the crowd) was Sam and Nate -- The Format -- performing acoustic. They sounded really good and the crowd sang along to every word. The non-surprise, surprise was when Sam asked if someone could bring him a drink and Jim Adkins (of Jimmy Eat World) came walking out with a bottle of Maker's Mark, a bottle of Wild Turkey, and an acoustic guitar. Sam and Jim's harmonies on the next few songs were so good it made me hate them both. Jealousy is such a bad thing! ;-)

Technorati Tags: Music

Nigel on MySpace

Nigel is finally up and running on MySpace. I only had a few minutes to get some stuff up there. I'll add a bunch more stuff this weekend or next week when I have more time.

Back from Italy

Hey all, this is the quick version of the "I'm back" blog post. Pictures and details to follow, but 2 weeks of work to catch up on today.

Lindsay and I had an awesome time in Italy!! Twenty cities in 14 days. And I've never eaten so good in my life. The bira (beer) and vino (wine) were also delicious. And when I woke up today, I found myself craving capucino and chocolate croissant. Weird.

Don't forget, Nigel concert in 1 week! Saturday Nov 12.

Air Guitar Instruction Video

Mitch Ferrents: Master of Air Guitar. "Nothing is more overrated than the ability to play and master a musical instrument. According to science, air is the most abundant gas...rock it."

Maximized Air Guitar...funny.

(PS - That is good advertising for the Dell Dj Ditty.)

Patrick and Lindsay go to Italy

Twelve hours from now, Lindsay and I will be on a plane that will eventually end up in Venice, Italy. We'll be backpacking for 2 weeks. Spending time with Colleen and Erik. Drinking Italian wine. Eating good food. We'll do our best to blog as much of it as we can. (We'll even wear our new "I'm blogging this." T-shirts....thanks Chris! ;-)

See ya when we get back Novemberish. And don't forget to put on your calendar: Nigel show on Saturday Nov 12 in Tempe!!

Thanks, Management

Nigel gig in Tempe on Saturday Nov 12

I'm happy to announce Nigel's fist gig since April 30. (What can we say, it's been a lazy summer and our drummer Steve had a lot of weddings this summer.)

Good news though, we'll be playing with Brother Lush and Blue Fur on Saturday, November 12 at Last Exit in Tempe. (Corner of Priest and Southern. Map here.)

I think Pete may play an acoustic set to open the show at like 9. Then Nigel will go on around 9:45. Then Brother Lush and then Blue Fur.

UPDATE: Blaine from Jones Fracture opens with an acoustic set (9ish to 9:30ish), Nigel from 9:45 to 10:40, Blue Fur from 10:50 to 11:40, BrotherLush from 12:00 to 12:50. And for those of you without curfews, don't miss "In The Garage" (a Weezer cover band, including members of Nigel and BrotherLush) from 1am to 2am.

COST: $5 at the door, please tell them that you are there to see Nigel.

Hope to see you there. Keep an eye on the blog for updates.

UPDATE 11/14: The show absolutely rocked! Thanks for coming to see us!

Football

Notre Dame fan, meet ASU fan...

The comeback by SC yesterday made for one of the greatest endings I've ever seen. Unbelievable! The SC team just refuses to lose.

In other news, there's 3:24 left in the 4th quarter of Denver v. New England and Jake's beard is still looking like a winner.

More Payola

Yep, there's more payola at Clear Channel.

And don't forget Payola.

Why do I like the word payola so much?

Technorati Tags: Payola

Angry in Anaheim

Can you say controvery? I've never seen a play like what happened during the White Sox and Angels game tonight. WOW!!

MillionDollarHomePage.com - What an idea! / I'm an idiot!

I just heard of the Million Dollar Home Page this afternoon and I'm totally enthralled with it. Like a dog with a new bone I guess. What a brilliant idea! I'm an idiot for not thinking of it first.

PS - By "1 pixel for $1", he does actually mean a literal pixel. Each square is 10x10 block, or 100 pixels. So minimum orders are $100. Still, it's a sweet idea!

Technorati Tags: Internet, Damn Good Ideas

Google comes to Phoenix Arizona

Dear Google,

Welcome to the valley of the sun -- Phoenix, Arizona. (Or Scottsdale or Tempe, but probably not Mesa.)

This just popped into my inbox.

Dear Friend of the Business Journal:

Search engine giant Google Inc. will be locating major operations in the Phoenix area, The Business Journal has learned, and the announcement will be made Wednesday by state and local leaders.

Sources say that Google will likely place operations relating to online auctions and expanded Internet and technology services in the Valley as the company looks to expand and compete with the likes of eBay and Yahoo.

For more details, read this.

Sincerely,
Don Henninger Publisher, Phoenix Business Journal

Technorati Tags: Google, Phoenix

Nigel Band Practice

Guess what -- Nigel is actually having a band practice for the first time in I can't remember how many weeks.

Plus, stay tuned for exciting news about our first gig since April 30th. (It's been a lazy summer.) Mark down Saturday November 12. More details to follow.

Pete's Gigs

Gigs with Pete this week:

Hi all,
Well thanks to a friend of mine I have a new gig starting this Wednesday. It is in Old Town Scottsdale and it is a place called Old Town Border Restaurant.

They have been open for a year and to celebrate their one year anniversary, I will be playing there. If things go well, I will be playing there every Wednesday. It is on 1st street and Brown Ave.

I will also be at Cruiser's this Thursday for Open Mic night. Come by, hang out and jam!

Re-cap:
Who: Pete De Souza
What: New Wednesday Gig
When: Wednesday, October 12th from 7:00-11:00pm
Where: Old Town Border Restaurant South East corner of 1st street and Brown Ave in Old Town Scottsdale
Why: They have awesome cheeseburgers

Who: Pete De Souza
What: Thursday Night Open Mic Night
When: Thursday, October 13th from 8:00-12:00pm
Where: Cruiser's North East corner of Shea and Scottsdale in the Safeway plaza
Why: ...for the love of Pete

Thanks,
Pete

Philadelphia

Hey everybody! I'm stuck at the Philly airport. It's 9:30am (EST) and I'm standby for the 10:10...I need a big care-bear-stair from everyone out there for me to be able to get on this flight!!

That, or a gummy bear tunnel...NICK?

UPDATE 1:16pm EST: Some care-bear-stair that was guys. I didn't even come close to getting on the 10:10. (Actually, I was in the final four...it felt like being on a reality TV show actually. ;-)

Good thing I didn't technically check out of my hotel -- I left the airport, jumped back on the hotel shuttle, and took an hour and a half nap. It was nice! Now I'm down in the lobby watching Wisconsin and Northwestern.

Zachary Lee Jones

The little guy has finally arrived!



Congrats Ted and Jody!

A Fun Weekend

One bottle of magic anti-hangover pills...$14.95


One Chevy Tahoe with a backseat big enough for 47, Jeremy, and the Dog-father...$40,000.


Getting to be Sparky...Priceless.

Viva la Cardinals!

Can you believe the Arizona Cardinals won yesterday on Sunday Night Football? In front of a national audience? In Mexico City?

Can you believe that they scored not 1, but 2 touchdowns? (I'll bet Neal Rackers was pissed...btw, that guy is freaking good!)

Here's to moving the red birds permanently to Mexico!

Technorati Tags: NFL, Arizona Cardinals, Irony

Lost chapter in Genesis...blame Adam

Adam was walking around the garden of Eden feeling very lonely, so God asked him, "What is wrong with you?"

Adam said he didn't have anyone to talk to.

God said that He was going to make Adam a companion and that it would be a woman.

He said, "This person will gather food for you, cook for you, and when you discover clothing she'll wash it for you. She will always agree with every decision you make. She will bear your children and never ask you to get up in the middle of the night to take care of them. She will not nag you and will always be the first to admit she was wrong when you've had a disagreement. She will never have a headache and will freely give you love and passion whenever you need it."

Adam asked God, "What will a woman like this cost?"

God replied, "An arm and a leg."

Then Adam asked, "What can I get for a rib?"

The rest is history.

Technorati Tag: Humor

Prettyfile.com

Someone likes JigsawHealth.com -- any idea what they are saying?