The band's trip to the TV station!!

We had such an incredible experience with the crew of The Music Box.  Our first TV experience was so positive and unforgettable thanks to them. From the moment we stepped in that studio we felt like we had known everyone in the production crew for years!

Needless to say we were all pretty excited. We were cracking jokes left and right and every one was in high spirits. After shooting the interview they asked me if there was anything I would like to go back over. Honestly, I was so worked up and excited about the interview that I couldn’t really recall what I had said or done. There was a feeling that reassured me that nothing was out of hand so I followed that intuition. While being interviewed by Michelle, she made it feel like a natural and easy-going conversation so hopefully my responses read that way in the playback. Otherwise, I hope their editor is making some magic happen. Honestly though, speaking with Michelle was so much fun. I’m looking forward to more interviews in the future.

The crew was excited to try out new camera shots and try some new arrangements and we were stoked to be on TV. It’s a winning combination. When we started setting up a couple of the crew members put a camera to the end of my guitar. It was kind of like those cameras skydivers put at the top of their helmets to get some crazy shots of themselves falling from the sky. They showed us the footage and it looked deliciously fantastic. It’ll be a nice touch I’m sure. As we were checking my microphone I turned around to see them attaching another to the bell of Mackey’s trombone. I thought to myself, “this is going to be awesome.”

Before recording the performances I recall being ecstatic to let the first song rip. The lights were hot. There was an energy in the air that kept me well aware and alert. As I looked at all the members of the band and back to the production crew all I could see were happy faces and a feeling that whatever this is it’s extremely good. Francisco had some great ideas and explained a great deal about what was going on in the process. During recording I would glance over to Michelle and Jennifer dancing over in the corner of the room behind the cameras having a great time. The support, approach and execution of the production was professional and efficient. They were sharp and knew what they wanted to capture on film. We just had to come in and do what we love to do.

As we were wrapping up I heard audio playback of our performance. Jacob was in the audio room cooking up an incredible mix. It had a lot of punch and fullness. They had done some brilliant work capturing the sound. Everyone was gathered around the door an in the room taking in the music. The final mix is going to be remarkable I’m sure. We can’t wait to hear the mastered tracks from Jacob. The man knows what he’s doing no doubt about it.

We are very grateful to have had such and amazing experience with El SegundoTV: The Music Box. Now we look forward to finding our way more often to TV land in the following months and years. We’re hooked. A huge thanks to the production crew! Can’t wait to see the final product. A watch party is in order.

Fighting the Forces of Evil & Eat Impossible for Breakfast!!!

It begins with this poster:



HELL YEAH COSMIC FLYING MANATEES!! I may have been borderline delusional when I got invited by my good friend and accomplished singer-songwriter Tiff Jimber to go on tour with her. As you can see by this poster I created for the tour which I entitled "I Eat Impossible for Breakfast" I thought I would do something subtle. It was hilarious how many people responded to this poster when it was posted. They were entertained. I must admit, I was entertained just making it. So, I figure why not have fun with making these things. If I laugh, someone else out there would.

The follow up is an homage to the Golden Age of Comic Books.



One of these days I will rig it so blasts of light rays shoot out of my guitar,  you'll see! By the way, evil has nothing on us. Especially in SPACE!! Yeah, I don't know why the sudden space-kick. Maybe the more the ridiculous the better. These shows are going to be STUPENDOUS!!

Luis and the Amazing Exploding Amp

With pure AWESOMENESS, dammit!! Ha, well, that's only partly true. It was in the middle of a set at the Jester in Ojai, CA. Far away from any of my resources where I could find a quick amp substitution. We were jamming along with Cliff Beach. It was on the last song. It was my turn to solo so of course I turn crank it up to cut through the madness. Thing is, one of my effects is a bit out of control and pushes the sound beyond acceptable limits. At first it sounds like my amp has been smoking cigars for 70 years and just cleaned his throat with sandpaper. It cuts out. Cuts in. Flutters a bit. Then absolute silence. What. the. hell.

At this point I feel like an amateur: back turned to the audience, crouched over my amp, fiddling with the volume, on off switch, and the input jack. I check each over a dozen times like it's going to make a difference. Somehow I'm not all that upset about the amp crapping out on me. I mean, I've had that thing since I was 15! It was a junker practice amp. If anything I'm impressed it lasted this long! It's taken tumbles down stairs, numerous kicks, and various beverages spilling over it. I was, however, nervous about how we were going to play the next 2 hours of music we were booked for. We scrambled talking to people who may have a connection to an amp we could use for the night. Luckily, it was Ruben's hometown so he knew people. After a few minutes he came up to me and said, "I got us an amp! It's a half stack." At this point my eyes widen remembering how much fun it is to play out of those amps.  10 minutes to go we dove into a car, flew over to this dudes place, hauled the half stack into the car and got back on the dot. The rest of the night, you can imagine I was pretty stoked to be jamming on some great sound equipment.

As it is now, I've been on a bad streak of breaking things: A recording mic, a mic stand, foot petal, a little handle on my guitar, and now my amp. I won't even get started on my car. Anyhow, it's not that I don't take care of my stuff, it's just that 1 little slip and it all goes to hell. Well, we'll see if I can manage to rig this amp back together. Frankenstein-style.