Sunday, April 12, 2009

Please give a warm welcome to Baba Jaga. Please.

Of all four blog posts I've written thus far, this one is presenting me with the most difficulty. After much exploration and deliberation, I've decided the best course of action is to take my clothes off, put on my blue striped green robe, throw on my recording of Rob Hokamp's senior recital, and relax in my common room. Consequently, that is what I am now doing.

In 2006, while living in Baltimore, Maryland, I joined a band called August. We played many shows locally, and put out a record titled The Migration (which can be found here.) In 2007, we graduated high school, and went to college.

Time passed. We stayed in touch. I grew a beard.

Today, we are called Baba Jaga. We have a new sound, and with it, a new love and excitement for the music we've been making. We'll be moving into a sublet in Brooklyn, New York this summer with the hopes of exploring the depth of what we're capable of when put in the same with nothing more than a guitar, our voices, and a microphone. 

Below is one of our songs, Half Moons & Bar Stools. It was recorded in my Baltimore basement, and mixed/mastered here at SUNY Purchase College. Stay tuned, as we update our myspace, post additional recordings and videos, and start a blog of our own, Bloga Jaga.

Thanks for reading! Enjoy the pictures.







Friday, April 3, 2009

The Saga of Andrew Fox: Chapter 2


The other day, I ran into a Mr. Andrew Fox in the lobby of the SUNY Purchase Music Conservatory. He urgently summoned me to his side, pointing excitedly at the screen of his Macbook Pro.
This kind of insistent, innocently intrusive behavior is normal for Andrew Fox, so I happily obliged him by putting a pair of headphones over my head, and on to my ears. "Get ready" he said with a grin not unlike the grin pictured above, and then double clicked. My ears were confronted with an onslaught of soaring trumpets and trombones, shimmering strings, and the heartbeat of Spencer Murphy's and my bass and drums. It was Disco Institute: half recorded, unmixed, and without final vocal takes. Considerably incomplete.

but WOW!

Ladies and Gentlemen, Andrew Fox has done it again! Or at least, he's doing it again. Throughout the course of this 5 minute 43 second song, I received enough weird looks to count on both hands, due to my outbursts of laughter and "Oh my God!"s.
I've since begged him to let me upload a 30 second sample of the song. He kindly agreed.
And so, friends, Romans, and countrymen, lend me your ears. This is Disco Institute.

***Editor's Note***
Upon my request for a copy of Disco Institute, Andrew kindly sent me a super compressed, low quality version of the recording. Enjoy!