Spacecapers!

All,
I know, I know. It's been a while. I've been doing some housekeeping and have fixed all of our media downloads. For your convenience, I'm including all of our downloadable music here in this post. Also, we're going to go ahead and make our second, arguably most popular, record Spacecapers available for download! We were hoping for a remaster on it, but that hasn't come together yet. So, enjoy! Have a lovely Fall where ever in space you may be. (Updated links 10/24/2019)

Only Anything Discography
Pleasantly Surprised (1995) - Only Anything
Spacecapers (1996) - Only Anything (released under the pseudonym UFOA)
Album (1997) - Only Anything (with missing 8th track, "Hey!", replaced.)

Jon Thwaits solo EP series (all released in 2009)
American Idle - Jonathan Thwaits
Drowning in Possibilities - Jonathan Thwaits
Frame by Frame - Jonathan Thwaits

Jon Stone tunes
Recital (2009/10) - Jon Stone  (now including "Night Conch" demo with lyrics by Sara Gelston)

poem from "Spacecaper Credits" by Jon Thwaits

Superhuman Jonathan Stone
smart as a library with titanium bones
once built a rocket to fly off the face
of the earth, getting small as it soars into space
so he called Captain Argon and Professor Percussion
and they sat down one night to have food and discussion
they went long in the night and the details specific
should we launch from midland or over the Pacific?
should we bring laser blasters if Martians invade?

or will our Spacecapers lead us safely away

when calculations were done they all went to their beds

and dreamed of a world undiscovered just yet
of the wonderful things they could find, all unknowing 
just what it may be, that's the purpose in going

on the day of the launch it was cloudy and cold...

but to these brave space travelers it had all gotten old

so they strapped themselves in and laced up their shoes
they were destined, determined, to find something new.
the boosters were boosting in a booster like way
and the tug of the atmosphere beckoned to stay
but the heroes broke loose, one detail forgot:
no landing devices, so now in space they're lost.

Hello image, sing me a line from your favourite song

My first concert was The Cure at America West Arena (US Airways Center) 19 June 1992 with a few of my best mates. That was back in the days when it was really easy to be so excited about something that it felt that nothing else in the world mattered, and indeed leading up to that concert, nothing else did matter. I was overtaken with excitement as they opened the show with "Open" and Robert sang "I laugh and I jump and I sing and I laugh and I dance and I laugh and I laugh and I laugh... and the way the rain comes down hard, that's the way I feel inside".

Well last night the rain was truly coming down hard at our house for the first time this season and it was the perfect weather for listening to a bunch of my early Cure favorites. I was inspired to do so because I somehow had the song "M" (17 Seconds 1980) stuck in my head and I remembered the first time I heard that song was at the aforementioned concert. It was the one song of the night that I wasn't familiar with and being the overzealous fan that I was, it was a super exciting moment hearing a new-to-me song for the first time.

Although I'm not quite as excitable as I used to be, I was moved by the music last night and had to sneak into the garage to record my own rendition:

M from Only Anything on Vimeo.

You might notice the skeleton of a wall in the garage, could this be the future site of some kind of music studio?

Something I notice is that the video and audio quality of my new camera is lacking compared to my old low end Casio Exilim which sadly got stolen:(

still enjoyable I hope.

JGT

"dangerboy"

Knight at Krannert

Here's me and flutist William Reger playing an old Only Anything song at a recent event at Krannert Center for the Performing Arts in Champaign-Urbana:

Knight from starmaster on Vimeo.

Resolution #9

It's a new year. It's a new decade. 10 years ago, the Only Anything crew spent New Year's Eve at Mat's house. In 2003/04, we played a reunion show. And while we didn't manage to have everyone together at the same time this new beginning-of-the decade, we did manage to have most of us together at various times over the last several days. A guy couldn't ask for better friends than these and it's been fun to spend some time.

Looking forward, here's what the coming year has to offer in terms of OA projects and off-shoots:

• We will continue to release Jonathan Thwaits solo material as EPs. I believe we have two more--ten more songs. Look for those over the next few months. And please, please vote for your favorite songs when they come up. There is still LOTS of time to vote on the current EP, my favorite so far, "Frame by Frame".
• Several months ago I promised that we would be re-releasing our double-length opus "Spacecapers". Arguably, the band at its best and certainly at its most eclectic. A variety of circumstances have come together requiring a bit of extra work in making this a reality, but I think that it will be worth the wait. With the help of Kelby Thwaits, we will be going back to the original mastered recording on DAT (Digital Audio Tape--the best of the best in 1996) and remastering the tracks for this new release. The mp3 files that I currently possess had a long journey: 5 year old cassette tape, dubbed over to a recordable CD and then ripped to a computer. The remaster will not only have only a single transfer (from DAT into mp3) but will also have been worked over by Kelby mix-magic. So even though the tracks will still sound like they were recorded on a four-track at Sauna Studios, hopefully they will sound less fuzzy and more clean. Be watching for this!
• New music and projects: Jon T. has promised us a new song or two--he played a few for me while we were together. AWESOME!
• I am playing in a new duo called Riverstone. It's me and a friend in Illinois. He plays several flutes--mainly Native American, but some others as well. While this is a bit of a departure from OA, it is definitely a neat project and I'll share some of our work here. We have a gig in just under three weeks. We'll be playing at least one old OA tune ("Autumn") rearranged to fit the new style.
• Finally, I wanted to share a little project I have in mind for the year. Whenever I get together with my father-in-law David, we always play a ton of great old music. I never really know any of it that well, and have to follow his fingers as he plays classic songs that I should have learned years ago. I'd like to work hard to rectify my relatively small reservoir of known-songs. I think that doing so will not just make these and other social guitar gatherings more fun, but they will also help to increase my own musicianship and songwriting abilities. SO! I've set a goal to learn 200 songs this year. (Hey, if Julie What-ever-her-last-name-is can cook 500+ Julia Child recipes in a year, I can learn four songs a week, right?). Don't worry, though, I'll be keeping things simple. I'm going to start with 50 Beatles songs. I'll be blogging about my progress and post youtube videos of some of the songs from time to time.

Since I know you're curious, here are the Beatles tunes:

Frame By Frame

We have five more songs for you from the archives. This set starts off with a song recorded a decade ago: "Trial". It was written on New Year's Day 2000 and recorded soon after in Kelby's home studio. This was a deviation from the alternative rock arrangements of the classic Only Anything years. You may notice I was more discriminating in my choice of notes, letting some open space through at times and then coming in with very deliberate interplay between the bass, guitar and piano. There is just one guitar track and it is the nylon string acoustic, an instrument which around this time became the backbone of my arrangements. All of these five songs feature the nylon string guitar as the primary instrument. These songs have a more acoustic feel than the previous collections but you will hear some electric on "How Can I Last" and some steel string acoustic doubling with the nylon on David. Also listen for the harmonica and the more subtle soprano recorder. I'll let the rest of these songs speak for themselves, I believe they tell a little story. Here is Frame by Frame:

Download the whole EP here: Frame By Frame (right-click, save as)


Special Announcement!
I have been busy with non-musical things but I find myself with some extra time for the next month so I have plans to finish two new recordings that I had previously started and I have two more songs I would like to record if time permits. So in the coming months you can expect one more EP release from my archives and then some brand new tunes. Have a super holiday.

Jon T.

Short note from Jon Stone: Of the three EPs that we have posted thus far, this one has some of my very favorite songs on it. In fact, I think "Circus" might be my favorite song of Jon's that he has written in the last 10 years. It was so fun to play it during the Lancaster days. Enjoy folks!

Drowning In Possibilities: the second EP from Jonathan Thwaits

Welcome to the second EP release of the archived demo recordings of Jonathan Thwaits. Our goal is to pull out these recordings that were previously unavailable and give them out so you can enjoy them and help us pick the favorites. You can listen to them, download them and vote for your favorites all on this page. In case you missed the first release, don't worry, just scroll down to the previous post. EP#1 is still available.

Here is what Jonathan himself has to say about the songs:

This collection holds a mixture of quasi-pop songs, sounds that might have come out of commercial radio but which were then colored with flavors of latin jazz, movie soundtracks and quirky grooves. They reside in a genre on the outskirts of more easily categorizable music and while this may make the songs less accessible to the world at large, I contend that it makes them more interesting, memorable and meaningful. Here's the breakdown:

Feels Like Heaven - Most likely influenced by Stevie Wonder, in fact I would really love to hear Stevie sing this song, I'll have my people contact his people. written and recorded in 2003.

She's Really Something - A love song from my imaginary second honeymoon in Brazil. written and recorded in 2003.

Sapphire Eyes - The result of a request from Marisa that I write a song based on the short story "The Happy Prince" by Oscar Wilde. Written around 2000, recorded to cassette tape a year or two later.

Walk Softly - A romanticized ballad of the days when I woke up at 2:30 am to go to work trying not to wake the family. written around 2004, recorded with the help of Kelby Thwaits in Dec 2007.

I'll Stay With You - Lullaby inspired by bedtime for my two boys. Some of the vocal tracks were actually recorded in our apartment after my family went to sleep. Written and recorded in 2003.

The name of this collection--"Drowning In Possibilities" reflects my struggle with finding my niche. Perhaps I am too diverse for my own good, leading to an overall lack of focus. But I do write songs that I can get excited about and I believe that is most important, and it's what I will continue to do.

Enjoy the collection--in fact, DOWNLOAD Drowning in Possibilities and add it to your collection. As always, comments are greatly appreciated and don't forget to VOTE! Poll is in the top right corner of the blog.

More to come in a month or so.

J.T.

Jonathan Thwaits EP #1 : American Idle

This is it! "American Idle" is the first of five JT EPs that we will be releasing over the next few months. I am so excited.

Frequently, music critics hail the efforts of extremely talented, overlooked artists as "greatest unknowns" and if ever there was such an artist, Jon Thwaits certainly is he. Jon and I have been playing music together for over 15 years and during that time, I've watched (and marveled) as he has developed as a songwriter. His music has a depth and range to it that you'll notice immediately in this first collection, but even more poignantly as we release each EP. Jon loves to rock, and you'll hear that here too--but his songwriting is tight and his stories have a remarkable color and intimacy. Most of all, these EPs establish Jon as a professional of his craft.

As you can probably tell, I am Jon's biggest fan. The first time we met, he had a guitar in his hand and our friendship has played out over the years around that instrument. It is now my pleasure to curate these EPs and to do what I can to share them with a larger audience. I know that you'll enjoy them as much as I do and hope that you'll share them with your friends.

Our aim is to, first and foremost, get these songs out so that you can enjoy them. However, we have a second agenda in mind and we need your help with it. We will be releasing a total of 25 songs over the next several months--one EP a month--and we'd like to get your opinion on your favorite songs. Once we have an idea of the 10 (or so) best/favorite songs, we hope to collect them (and possibly rerecord them) for an official album release--one that we can sell on iTunes and maybe even market to some indie labels.

To the right of the screen you'll notice a poll of songs on this EP release. Please listen to the songs and then vote on your two favorite songs (the poll will let you vote for more than two, but control yourselves, people). Then (and this is an important part) tell your friends! The songs are free and the poll is fun! It's just a tiny bit like American Idol. The poll will be available for about 30 days or until the next EP is released.

Ladies and gentlemen, I give you American Idle by Jonathan Thwaits (right click, save link as).

(Each song has some additional information about its original recording date/purpose embedded in it as meta-data. When you have them in your iTunes, right click and select "more info" if you want to check that out.)

Only Anything in the Fall

Hey everybody,

We are all back in super-busy mode here at the beginning of the Fall semester. It seems that our lives continue to adhere to the school-time tradition and while my OA brothers will all someday escape its grasps, I'm afraid I am here for good.

Jon T. and I have been looking forward to the Fall, though, and have a very exciting announcement to make.

In a few days, we will begin releasing the complete back-catalog of Jon T's solo work. We are putting them into small, bite-sized EPs and I think you're really going to enjoy them. What's more, we are working on a special (and secret!) interactive feature to these EPs. All will be revealed soon.

In the meantime, please enjoy my own EP of songs written this last year. I just submitted them for consideration for a local gig. Keep in mind that the recordings are demos and far from perfect. But at least you can hear some stuff that I've been working on--and this time put the songs on your iPod and stuff.

Right click and "save link as" Jon Stone's Recital EP

the rest of the John-stash pictures are up.

Just sayin.

Some new old (and very treasured) pictures

While I didn't get quite as much done over the summer as I would have like in the archive this summer, I was able to delve into the treasure trove that was John Heidenreich's stash of pictures. I have been busy tonight slicing up the scans that we made in New Hampshire at the beginning of August and have posted the first batch here:

John's Stash

The rest will follow during the weekend sometime, so be sure to check back.

(JT, we can feed them into the chronology once folks have had a chance to see them)

-JS

Wasatch Front (lyrics)

Left my desert hometown when I was just a child
spent some time on the San Fran line
yeah I spent some time out in the wild
Flew out to Wyoming, singing home, home on the range
High mountain plains, yellow grass and sage
shouldn't have felt so strange

Arizona marriage and some Arizona kids
Under an old saguaro is where my wife's heart lives
Still spent every summer--and I guess we always will--
Out here in the shadow of the everlasting hills

Along the Wasatch Front, everything is easy
On the Wasatch Front I'm home

Walking down the canyon to the valley of my birth
I've never seen the grass so green
anywhere else on earth
Standing at the graveside now of David Ray and Bee
Grandpa was a thinker
Grandma taught me to sing

On the Wasatch Front, everything is easy
Along the Wasatch Front I'm home

Pappa used to say, "Cache valley is the most beautiful place in the world"
I'd agree, it's a sight
But seeing my dad with my two little boys
and my mom with my sweet little girl
It's like I said-- Everything's alright

Along the Wasatch Front, everything is easy
on the Wasatch Front, I'm home.

Summer songs

Summer is fading. Tomorrow I'll be traveling back to Illinois with my family and Wednesday I'll be back at work. But today I sit on the couch at my parents' house in American Fork trying to relish it.

I think Jon and I did pretty well on our summer challenge. Jon may not be done, but we have, right now, four songs each. Enough for a short album's worth of material--and EIGHT more than we might have had without a challenge.

This last song from me was written over the last 10 days here in Utah. The melody started one morning in the shower and I filled in words whenever I could--sitting at church, in the car on the way North, whenever...

The song, for me, is a sweet one. I haven't lived in the same town as my parents for 12 years, but whenever I'm in their home, I can't help but feel home. This is a song for them.

Wasatch Front from Only Anything on Vimeo.

Here's a YouTube link as well for those of you who have trouble with Vimeo: Wasatch Front

Amusing toddler cinematography

Here is the post as promised, but it's not what I thought it would be. Listen for "that's Sally's dress" and "what's going on?" as she puts her fingers over the lens.

Speak Your Mind from Only Anything on Vimeo.

It's hard to keep promises. I may have to adjust the goal to 10/2.

I haven't dissappeared totally

At the beginning of the summer I promised regular updates and even though most of you are probably not thinking too much about my lack of submissions I will give a brief update. It has been difficult to fit music into my busy summer schedule, but I'm not backing out. I have some great ideas going around in my head and a few partially recorded songs so don't give up on me. This weekend you will see some proof. Somehow I will present to you 7 more songs before the first day of Fall. I just figured out that although email and facebook are justifiably blocked at work, good old blogger is not! My lunch break is over now but check back by Monday for new songs!

imaginary break-ups

A few months back I tried to write an album in 30 days. It didn't happen, of course, but I did get several song ideas that have ended up working for summer.

Funny thing is, they are all wintery songs, and they're all about fading, troubled relationships. And though they are simple, 3 and 4 chord songs--I'm proud of them. I think the melodies are pretty strong, but mostly I'm proud of the stretch outside my own experience.

I'm a happily married man. But these songs--"My Last Mistake" "Old Psychosis," and "Don't Ask" (see below) are about people breaking up--or at least people who have encountered significant love-challenges. Tina and I are a normal couple--we have the occasional disagreement and even less occasional argument. I tried to take some of the feelings of those circumstances and put an exponent on them. The results were kind of sad songs (though "Old Psychosis" is actually more cynical and therefore kinda funny) about the prospect of going it alone.

When you listen to the song in this post and "My Last Mistake" of a few weeks ago try to think of the coldest February day you can summon up. You're in an empty house or a lonely cafe and you've just lost the love of your life.

Don't Ask from Only Anything on Vimeo.

For those of you with Vimeo problems, the video can be viewed on YouTube here.

I recorded this one in ONE take. Despite the few chord errors and words flubs, I decided to leave it. Tempo is also something that is in the air here--I tried to speed it up a bit, but maybe the tempo's a little too fast (I didn't want it to be a 6 minute song though). What do you think?

I should also say that when I first imagined these tunes, I was listening to a lot of Bon Iver.

Where all the stories go

Why do we love movies and books? because sometimes our lives are so boring or messed up or depressing that we need an easy temporary escape. That's the whole idea of this song, I was particularly thinking about books though. Most of my songs and most popular music aside from jazz has a straight eighth note pulse. There are many exceptions though, one that sticks out in my mind is "Lonely Place" by Goldfinger. It has that swung feel, some call it a shuffle. This song has that rhythm, I think it brings out the carefree feeling I'm going for. The recording is pretty loose, partly because I recorded it quickly and partly because my skills on the drums are not very precise. On all the tracks I used either the first or second take and I'm pretty happy with the end result. I have to be because summer is moving fast and with very limited recording time, I've got to make it productive.
Enjoy:
Stories
click to go.

Weezer Medley: July 1997

Here it is--do you see you in the audience?

Weezer Medley from Only Anything on Vimeo.

OA Summer Song Series 09: Stone's "Old Psychosis"

Old Psychosis from Only Anything on Vimeo.

Here's my second summer tune. I've followed JT's lead here by posting it as a video and not an audio recording. The video option makes it a relatively quick process (though you have to make it through the whole song without messing up--which I don't quite do here--and it was at least a 6th take.)

This song was, like "My Last Mistake" started back in February as part of the RPM challenge. But whereas "Mistake" was pretty much done then, all I had on this one was the traditional blues chords and the first verse "Is there a gamma ray in your nightstand..."

This isn't the first bluesy flavored song I've written--I have another one that will for now only live on in our minds called "the letter" that we recorded back at the Thanksgiving "pie tunes" jam. My hard drive crashed in December and I lost the song which is tragic not because it was an incredible song--it wasn't. What makes me sad about it was that we had all kinds of guest players on it. Brothers-in-law Chad Adams and Trevor Thompson played guitar (that Chad can wail out a blues solo!) and Dave Bertoglio played a mean harmonica on it. :( Sad that it's gone, but we'll have to redo it sometime.

Anyway, hope you like this one, it's got some mistakes and some lyric issues to work out (though I'm ok with the fact that the title is "psychosis" and the actual lyric is "psychoses"-plural). Favorite part? Well that would have to be:

"all you wanna do is play me. betray me. cliché me, delay me, gamma ray me"

The Making of Pleasantly Surprised pt2

So, while you don't get much of us making music in this clip, the activities captured therein were no less important to the album-making process. I for one can't get enough of teenage Mat, floppy Joe, hopelessly nerdy JonStone and ever-focused (on his Chilito) JT.

Here's the blurb from the Vimeo video description:

Later on December 19, 1994 when the boys take a break from the rock and drive around town listening to tunes, illegally taping the inside of a Taco Bell, and hanging around a drainage tunnel. All the while, they discuss the "process," make inside jokes and Cure allusions, and enjoy a lovely December day in Tucson outside of the Sauna.

The Making of Pleasantly Surprised pt2 from Only Anything on Vimeo.

The Making of Pleasantly Surprised

I'm very excited about what follows. In my archive exploration, I came across some amazing footage of the band as we recorded our first album in December, 1994.

I love this footage because it, as most good documentaries do, catches us doing what we loved to do: hanging out and making music--and doing it in our natural habitat. Gone is the posturing for an audience and, as you'll see more in later parts, the performances are intimate and really quite good. There's a lot of teenage noodling with the camera too, which is kind of fun. Another huge plus is the screen-time increase for our best bud and drummer (and brother!) Joe, as well as cameo appearances from Steve and Andy Hunt and Mindy (Hatch) Richins.

The Making of Pleasantly Surprised pt. 1 from Only Anything on Vimeo.

I am still planning on putting out that Weezer medley I promised, but also look for the next parts of what may be the best video footage we have--The Making of Pleasantly Surprised: a documentary in several parts.

Happy Birthday, Jon! You're all growed up!