Thursday, January 15, 2009
Tuesday, January 13, 2009
video blog: Pleasantly Surprised
This is the first in a short series of interviews/video blogs Jon and I put together during the Thanksgiving jam.
Here, Jon discusses some of the inspiration behind the songs from Pleasantly Surprised, released in 1995, including insight into the songs Six Inches and Snowman Ring (and others). Enjoy!
Interview with Jon Thwaits about Pleasantly Surprised. from Only Anything on Vimeo.
Here, Jon discusses some of the inspiration behind the songs from Pleasantly Surprised, released in 1995, including insight into the songs Six Inches and Snowman Ring (and others). Enjoy!
Interview with Jon Thwaits about Pleasantly Surprised. from Only Anything on Vimeo.
Sunday, December 21, 2008
Breaking news...!
So, the holiday just began, which means that we can start to get together some of the stuff we did last month. The "Pie Tunes"* project (as it will be known until a more respectable name presents itself) will include more video, pictures, and--eventually(!) some new songs for you to download and put on your Ipod. So get ready for that.
One fun part about being on holiday, as they say, is that I have found myself in my parents basement scrounging through old videos looking for gems. This search has, on my first night in town already yielded some very exciting stuff. Almost too much to list... but I will say this:
I found that much of the treasured footage from our first show ever was recorded over. :(
Never fear! It may be best that that show live in our memories only. In its place, however, is "making of" footage from our first album, Pleasantly Surprised! Steve Hunt helped us record it over another holiday vacation--this time in 1994.
Also discovered:
*"pietunes" is a nonesense word my son Seth made up and can be used in much the same way as we OA-ers used to use the word "Danzig." Thanksgiving is a time for pie and, apparently, tunes. :)
One fun part about being on holiday, as they say, is that I have found myself in my parents basement scrounging through old videos looking for gems. This search has, on my first night in town already yielded some very exciting stuff. Almost too much to list... but I will say this:
I found that much of the treasured footage from our first show ever was recorded over. :(
Never fear! It may be best that that show live in our memories only. In its place, however, is "making of" footage from our first album, Pleasantly Surprised! Steve Hunt helped us record it over another holiday vacation--this time in 1994.
Also discovered:
- Random footage of me and Jon Thwaits running around without shirts in the desert
- Me and Mat cruising around town in his old green bomber
- Mat's last show, recorded in his front room with a crazy "in-progress" version of Vader and a really great cut of 3 Candles--oh, and we try really hard to open with the theme song from the A-team. This show gets cut short.
- At said show, our 6th member is also present: The "Psychedeli-deck." just wait and see.
*"pietunes" is a nonesense word my son Seth made up and can be used in much the same way as we OA-ers used to use the word "Danzig." Thanksgiving is a time for pie and, apparently, tunes. :)
Friday, December 12, 2008
what it is to me
Since the opening day of onlyanything.com not long ago I have, along with many of you, been re-examining events from my youth. But not just that, you see, for me Only Anything is a slice in a continuum; a fraction of a larger spectrum; a spectrum that is paramount in defining who I am, where I am now and probably where I will be in the future. Although just a fraction of the greater part of my life, the events of those years, even just between 1993 and 1995 have proved to be the frame upon which everything that followed is built. It wasn't just an excursion or an aside that, once finished with could be viewed as an isolated chapter in my life. It was a path taken that, for better or for worse, I could never return from.
I spent the evening listening to many songs I have written and recorded all since the functional end of OA. For the most part these are songs that I have not thought about for a while. When I start to analyze it, it's surprising just how many songs I have written. There are still unfinished song ideas from years ago that I have not given up on. Rose Reflection (see video a few posts back) is a case in point. I wrote this song towards the end of Only Anything's original hey-day. It was half finished and we didn't get around to working it all out. Just as things are now, I had a lot of songs floating around and not enough time to finish them. I never forgot about it and now more than 10 years later and thanks to the support of Jon Stone it sees its day in the sun. All the while it was unfinished not because I didn't care or my interests shifted but because I've been getting new song ideas and time is short. Jon pointed out to me tonight that I'm sitting on a whole lot of good demos that should get a chance to be heard. For my time and attention it's really a tug of war between working out new song ideas and finishing old ones. For me, getting what I think are good song ideas is not the hard part, the hard part is wrapping up all the loose ends and turning inspiration into a finished song. That being the case I still have a lot of finished songs which I have faith in.
To get things started I have posted 6 songs on myspace and will start rotating them with other finished demos I have. Some were recorded to 4 track cassette tapes and some with a bit more advanced devices but they are just rough demos most of them. I need to dig out some that I hope I still have and send them to Jon for safe keeping as I have a nasty habit of sweeping stuff under the rug once I've moved on to a newer idea. Together we will come up with a good way to preserve and present this material for posterity.
As I'm confessing these things, I'll go ahead and tell you some thoughts I had while listening to these songs tonight. I remembered the bands I've played in and the hopes that I had for all of them, invariably all of those groups have come to an end (with the exception of OA which we're keeping on life support). I have indeed had my eye on a pie in the sky, I have been thankful to feel passionately about music and for the pleasure I've gotten from making it but there are times when I have cursed my obsession, and I do recognize it now as an obsession which I fight against at times but it will never be killed. The lyrics to Rose Reflection which date back to 1996 are telling. It's about me thinking back to when I was in grade school and lived in a house on Rosewood st. Feeling sadness for that part of my life to be over and wanting to somehow preserve it. "and I am not just about to let it go".
"so long ago, back behind the brush and twisted ways", playing around the neighborhood as a kid you find magical secret passages off the beaten path.
The passage: "can't stop for anything, can't cry for anyone, amidst this summer scene, were we just having fun?" is then shifted in time to when I wrote the lyric and my acceptance that the band's days were numbered. I knew I wouldn't want to give it up just like I didn't want to give up being a kid. I wondered if everyone else in the band just looked at it as having fun when I knew and was afraid to admit that I had a huge emotional investment in it and couldn't let it go.
Think about that and the mood that the music brings to it as you listen to it and maybe the mystery of Jon Thwaits will unfold a little bit. Then go over to myspace and listen to Circus, written between 2002 and 2004. Only Anything was over and other less inspiring musical projects had come and gone and I was still searching. I didn't intend for the lyrics to be taken as relating to my life, you can tell the lyric is written as if it's talking about another person. I imagined some fictional female character that I was writing the song about, however the mood totally is autobiographical. As I was finishing the lyric, Marisa was hoping I would slant the feeling to a more optimistic note at the end of the song, I did. I ended up as the fictional female character and she ended up as the one offering encouraging words: "look to the sky, you'll be alright". This is one of my favorite's of my own songs. And on that note I'll leave you.
Jon Thwaits
I spent the evening listening to many songs I have written and recorded all since the functional end of OA. For the most part these are songs that I have not thought about for a while. When I start to analyze it, it's surprising just how many songs I have written. There are still unfinished song ideas from years ago that I have not given up on. Rose Reflection (see video a few posts back) is a case in point. I wrote this song towards the end of Only Anything's original hey-day. It was half finished and we didn't get around to working it all out. Just as things are now, I had a lot of songs floating around and not enough time to finish them. I never forgot about it and now more than 10 years later and thanks to the support of Jon Stone it sees its day in the sun. All the while it was unfinished not because I didn't care or my interests shifted but because I've been getting new song ideas and time is short. Jon pointed out to me tonight that I'm sitting on a whole lot of good demos that should get a chance to be heard. For my time and attention it's really a tug of war between working out new song ideas and finishing old ones. For me, getting what I think are good song ideas is not the hard part, the hard part is wrapping up all the loose ends and turning inspiration into a finished song. That being the case I still have a lot of finished songs which I have faith in.
To get things started I have posted 6 songs on myspace and will start rotating them with other finished demos I have. Some were recorded to 4 track cassette tapes and some with a bit more advanced devices but they are just rough demos most of them. I need to dig out some that I hope I still have and send them to Jon for safe keeping as I have a nasty habit of sweeping stuff under the rug once I've moved on to a newer idea. Together we will come up with a good way to preserve and present this material for posterity.
As I'm confessing these things, I'll go ahead and tell you some thoughts I had while listening to these songs tonight. I remembered the bands I've played in and the hopes that I had for all of them, invariably all of those groups have come to an end (with the exception of OA which we're keeping on life support). I have indeed had my eye on a pie in the sky, I have been thankful to feel passionately about music and for the pleasure I've gotten from making it but there are times when I have cursed my obsession, and I do recognize it now as an obsession which I fight against at times but it will never be killed. The lyrics to Rose Reflection which date back to 1996 are telling. It's about me thinking back to when I was in grade school and lived in a house on Rosewood st. Feeling sadness for that part of my life to be over and wanting to somehow preserve it. "and I am not just about to let it go".
"so long ago, back behind the brush and twisted ways", playing around the neighborhood as a kid you find magical secret passages off the beaten path.
The passage: "can't stop for anything, can't cry for anyone, amidst this summer scene, were we just having fun?" is then shifted in time to when I wrote the lyric and my acceptance that the band's days were numbered. I knew I wouldn't want to give it up just like I didn't want to give up being a kid. I wondered if everyone else in the band just looked at it as having fun when I knew and was afraid to admit that I had a huge emotional investment in it and couldn't let it go.
Think about that and the mood that the music brings to it as you listen to it and maybe the mystery of Jon Thwaits will unfold a little bit. Then go over to myspace and listen to Circus, written between 2002 and 2004. Only Anything was over and other less inspiring musical projects had come and gone and I was still searching. I didn't intend for the lyrics to be taken as relating to my life, you can tell the lyric is written as if it's talking about another person. I imagined some fictional female character that I was writing the song about, however the mood totally is autobiographical. As I was finishing the lyric, Marisa was hoping I would slant the feeling to a more optimistic note at the end of the song, I did. I ended up as the fictional female character and she ended up as the one offering encouraging words: "look to the sky, you'll be alright". This is one of my favorite's of my own songs. And on that note I'll leave you.
Jon Thwaits
Monday, December 8, 2008
OA in 08! part III (Too Much to Ask)
Here is the third and final acoustic jam from our last day jamming in Tucson: "Too Much to Ask"! We started a fourth, but didn't complete it. Perhaps i'll do a bonus shoot from Champaign to give a preview of our last tune "San Jose." For now, enjoy this!
Too much to ask from Only Anything on Vimeo.
Too much to ask from Only Anything on Vimeo.
Wednesday, December 3, 2008
OA in 08! part II (Watershed)
Here's the second in a series of acoustic jams filmed at the end of our weekend of rock. This is the tune I was talking about earlier--the one that has a bit of a country vibe. It still does and I'm ok with that.
What it doesn't have quite yet is a polished bridge. I miff the melody on that last "Everything is going to be alright" bit. But whatev. Jon's mandolin playing is sweet--he actually plays it, rather than just thump on it. Enjoy!
Watershed from Only Anything on Vimeo.
What it doesn't have quite yet is a polished bridge. I miff the melody on that last "Everything is going to be alright" bit. But whatev. Jon's mandolin playing is sweet--he actually plays it, rather than just thump on it. Enjoy!
Watershed from Only Anything on Vimeo.
Monday, December 1, 2008
OA in 08! part I (Rose Reflection)
Well, the weekend of our rock-fest has come and gone. I think I speak for all involved when I say that it was a memorable occasion. Over the three (or so) sessions, we recorded (or began the recordings for) four new songs and used the collective talent of eight musicians!
Here's just a taste:
Rose Reflection from Only Anything on Vimeo.
Get excited for much more!
Here's just a taste:
Rose Reflection from Only Anything on Vimeo.
Get excited for much more!
Friday, November 21, 2008
Reunions, and Album download!! UPDATE!
It has begun.
After a most heinous 4-hour delay at the Peoria, Illinois Airport, the Stones have--at long last--arrived in the glorious warmth of Arizona.
Mat, Jon T. and I officially commenced the celebrations by eating good food, playing some tunes, and doing some archive work--all over the course of 2 hours.
Mat produced a virtually pristine CD copy of our final album, gloriously titled "Album" which was produced in 1997. We ripped the album at the highest mp3 quality possible and are making it available, for the first time ever, for mass distribution.
I have done some work here already discussing Album as a project, but what is important for this official "release" post is this:
Album consists of three kinds of tunes: favorites that we wanted to make available on CD, remakes of favorites that we wanted to make better, and four new songs.
Much more will be said about some of these tunes. But for now, as a gift to you, faithful reader, on this the first day of Thanksgiving-palooza, we present Only Anything's final "classic" release: Album.
Click the link in the left sidebar for all 13 tracks, plus a 14th, unlisted, live, bonus track!
Also, the photos (link in the right sidebar) have been updated and now appear in chronological order!
After a most heinous 4-hour delay at the Peoria, Illinois Airport, the Stones have--at long last--arrived in the glorious warmth of Arizona.
Mat, Jon T. and I officially commenced the celebrations by eating good food, playing some tunes, and doing some archive work--all over the course of 2 hours.
Mat produced a virtually pristine CD copy of our final album, gloriously titled "Album" which was produced in 1997. We ripped the album at the highest mp3 quality possible and are making it available, for the first time ever, for mass distribution.
I have done some work here already discussing Album as a project, but what is important for this official "release" post is this:
Album consists of three kinds of tunes: favorites that we wanted to make available on CD, remakes of favorites that we wanted to make better, and four new songs.
Much more will be said about some of these tunes. But for now, as a gift to you, faithful reader, on this the first day of Thanksgiving-palooza, we present Only Anything's final "classic" release: Album.
Click the link in the left sidebar for all 13 tracks, plus a 14th, unlisted, live, bonus track!
Also, the photos (link in the right sidebar) have been updated and now appear in chronological order!
Thursday, November 20, 2008
Upcoming Jamboree
In response to the last post: OK Jon, so the song is "folksy", let's not go throwing around the term country or our records are likely to get mis-categorized in the record shops. Every good hard hitting band does well to go off on a little acoustic tangent now and then. That's the reason why I have a mandolin in the closet and I'm dusting it off just for your song. So in case everyone is in high anticipation of hearing what Jon Stone sounds like singing country I'll dispell that notion and try to replace it with the slant of Only Anything getting down to some folksy roots, and it sounds like we'll be doing a little blues too.
Now to fill in a few details:
The other musicians joining the jam for this occasion may or may not include:
Jeff Scott (drums), Trevor Thompson (guitar), Dave Bertoglio (harmonica, guitar?), Jesse Henderson (guitar), and maybe some other suprise guests! assuming that they can be persuaded out of their turkey induced festivities.
I, having recently taken up drums myself, will be dabbling in that area but primarily will play my usuals: guitar and bass.
In tradition of old times, I will be creating my version of sheet music for my new songs which means an assortment of chord symbols, standard music notation, AABA type song structure diagrams and other notes usually intended to help the band learn my songs. I'll post them up here sometime this weekend for a sneak peak at what's to come.
Jon Thwaits
Now to fill in a few details:
The other musicians joining the jam for this occasion may or may not include:
Jeff Scott (drums), Trevor Thompson (guitar), Dave Bertoglio (harmonica, guitar?), Jesse Henderson (guitar), and maybe some other suprise guests! assuming that they can be persuaded out of their turkey induced festivities.
I, having recently taken up drums myself, will be dabbling in that area but primarily will play my usuals: guitar and bass.
In tradition of old times, I will be creating my version of sheet music for my new songs which means an assortment of chord symbols, standard music notation, AABA type song structure diagrams and other notes usually intended to help the band learn my songs. I'll post them up here sometime this weekend for a sneak peak at what's to come.
Jon Thwaits
Sunday, November 16, 2008
The upcoming jam...
We've been thinking about it for a month or two and have been stewing a few old ideas and sauteing a few new ones.
Our weekend meet-up is just a few weeks away and I've been awash with the remembrances of the struggle of the creative process. I have these two songs that I'm working on, one old, one new, as we had arranged. The old one is kind of typical, nothing special--it kind of has a Cure-ish twinge. I'm struggling with the melody and the lyric, so Jon's going to give it a spin. The collaboration potential is exciting for me.
It's the second one that's got me kind of perplexed. Blooming from a three-part harmony intro bit, drenched in reverb and Fleet-Foxy in-my-mind, when I got to the business of actually writing the song, I got thinking about road songs...
For some reason, road tunes have always really resonated with me, starting with James Taylor. "Sweet Baby James" is a favorite and more recently I've really loved this version of his tune "Traveling Star." A few other tunes come to mind: "Golden" by My Morning Jacket and John Mayer's "Stop this Train" topped my list of most-listened-tos last year.
Anyway, I had all that road-song stuff floating around and that with my recent foray into the blue, bluegrass, I wrote a bunch of roadie-sounding lyrics to the tune I'd been thinking about. Here's the thing, though: when I put them to music, what came out didn't really sound "Only Anything"--it didn't sound bluegrassy either. Instead, it sounded... um, (brace yourself, fans) like a country song.
I've been feeling pretty self-conscious about it. Jon T.'s new tunes sound so classic and classy... so totally OA.
On, the other hand, I am confident that with a band behind it, my tune might lose its country vibe and evolve to something a bit more... or rather, a bit less Kenny Chesney.
Our weekend meet-up is just a few weeks away and I've been awash with the remembrances of the struggle of the creative process. I have these two songs that I'm working on, one old, one new, as we had arranged. The old one is kind of typical, nothing special--it kind of has a Cure-ish twinge. I'm struggling with the melody and the lyric, so Jon's going to give it a spin. The collaboration potential is exciting for me.
It's the second one that's got me kind of perplexed. Blooming from a three-part harmony intro bit, drenched in reverb and Fleet-Foxy in-my-mind, when I got to the business of actually writing the song, I got thinking about road songs...
For some reason, road tunes have always really resonated with me, starting with James Taylor. "Sweet Baby James" is a favorite and more recently I've really loved this version of his tune "Traveling Star." A few other tunes come to mind: "Golden" by My Morning Jacket and John Mayer's "Stop this Train" topped my list of most-listened-tos last year.
Anyway, I had all that road-song stuff floating around and that with my recent foray into the blue, bluegrass, I wrote a bunch of roadie-sounding lyrics to the tune I'd been thinking about. Here's the thing, though: when I put them to music, what came out didn't really sound "Only Anything"--it didn't sound bluegrassy either. Instead, it sounded... um, (brace yourself, fans) like a country song.
I've been feeling pretty self-conscious about it. Jon T.'s new tunes sound so classic and classy... so totally OA.
On, the other hand, I am confident that with a band behind it, my tune might lose its country vibe and evolve to something a bit more... or rather, a bit less Kenny Chesney.
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