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The Wonder Kids
The piledriver across the street woke me up at 7:15 a.m., exactly 3 hours and 45 minutes after climbing into bed. I walked to Starbucks for coffee (sorry, I’m a corporate wanker for supporting them, blah blah blah) and along the way came up with the theme song to my friend John’s new kids’ TV…
Read MoreThe Real World Of A Rock Star: Generic Instant Oatmeal
Here’s the Real World of a rock star: I take an empty cab home from the East Village through the rainy New York City streets; I hump my amp, two guitars and suitcase full of cables and CDs up four flights of stairs; now I’m wolfing down generic instant oatmeal. It’s 1:27 a.m. Tonight was…
Read MoreScience Fiction Rain
It’s raining outside, epic rain, Ray Bradbury science fiction rain. The National Weather Service says it will taper off, but there’s no sign of that. It is Spring, evidenced by the yellow daffodils blooming near the Boat Basin, and by the red and purple crocusses sprouting along the horse path in Central Park. I ran…
Read MoreLife Is Short, Dreams Are Few
After a punishing day at MTV News, I’m done with dinner and half way through “October Sky,” a film about a boy who sees Sputnik soar over his West Virginia coal town and dreams of building rockets. He goes on to escape the small town, and work for NASA. Very “Summer’s Gone.” It’s already wedged…
Read MoreSugarloaf, New York
Spent my Saint Patrick’s Day mountain biking and hiking with my friend/bassist Jeff Domanski where he grew up in Sugarloaf, New York. We rode all afternoon, hiked Sugarloaf Mountain, then grabbed a beer and a burger at The Trading Post, a greasy spoon just north of the Bear Mountain bridge over the Hudson River. I…
Read MoreBeing A Rock Star Is So Glamorous
Benjamin Wagner Deluxe, Limited Liabilty Partnership, spent 6 times more money in 2001 than it earned. (Can I interest you in buying a CD?) Ouch. So I’m sittin’ here in my living room listening to John Mayer, my current singer/songwriter fave, fresh from getting my taxes together. It’s a March ritual: I spread all of…
Read MoreAll I Can Do Now Is Rock
I just came in from an afternoon walk through Midtown Manhattan — it’s insane out there! I’m always strapped to my computer or in meetings, so actually seeing this city during prime time is always shocking. I took my Rickenbacker into 30th Street Guitars for a quick repair so that it’ll be a 100% for…
Read MoreAspiring Rock Star Schedule
The schedule of an aspiring rock star: 8am: Woke up, drank coffee, played guitar. 9pm: Walked to work. 10pm: Meeting. 11pm: Meeting. 12pm: Ate sandwich at desk. Called Club Iota (D.C.), left message. Wrote, printed, sent two letters to two A&R types. Emailed a management firm. 1-6pm: MTVNews.com-type work was punctuated by Photoshopping and printing…
Read MoreSeptember 11: Six Months Later
Six months ago this morning, the sky was crisp blue, freshly scrubbed from an overnight thunderstorm. As I dried myself from a shower, I heard the first report on WNYC-AM: a plane had hit the World Trade Center. It was an eyewitness account from a janitor at the radio station who had seen the entire…
Read MoreMTV-apalooza
Just in from rehearsal — exhausted. But psyched and confident for tomorrow. One rehearsal, and the band is back in fine form. The new one, “Golden Wings,” has gone from just a few chords on my acoustic to a fairly epic number. We’re opening with it, so get there on time. Paul’s playing an arpegiated…
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