Thursday, September 07, 2006

ASM & HNIA: Come Out The Wilderness


WOW! Woo HOO! I can't WAIT!!!

From the HNIA site:

ASM & HNIA
"COME OUT THE WILDERNESS"

Four performances 19th-21 September in NYC

Anti-Social Music and His Name is Alive join forces for a three-day four-event residency in New York City called COME OUT THE WILDERNESS, starting with a peaceful prayer meditation in a park, ending with a midnight bell jam in the street and with shows at Mercury Lounge and Tonic in between.

Help celebrate INTERNATIONAL PEACE WEEK with punk-chamber music group Anti-Social Music (ASM), and Detroit based band His Name Is Alive (HNIA) who will provide everything from earth-toned outdoor folk music to mountains of extreme sunshine jams. COME OUT THE WILDERNESS is a performance based piece and a three day celebration of peace, nature, wolves, chamber music, and magical vibrations!!!

ARTIST STATEMENT by warn defever
"COME OUT THE WILDERNESS" is performance/event oriented piece that celebrates a child's earliest memories, a primal love/fear of nature, and hope for a peaceful world. It was originally conceived as a "peace conference."

In 1972, when I was three years old, my mother gave birth to twin boys. Several monthes later during a Labor Day vacation, my family was visiting relatives in the Upper Pennisula of Michigan, and one of the twins, Michael, was attacked and killed by a wolf, commonly found in the northern region of the state. His brother, Matthew, survived somehow. Upon arriving back in the Detroit area and shortly following the funeral, my parents changed my middle name to Michael, as a sort of memorial. This experience is one of my earliest memories.

In 2002, I attended a "peace walk" led by Thich Nhat Hanh, a gentle monk from Vietnam whose vaguely Buddhist writings teach that world peace can only be brought about through individual internal transformation. The deceptively simplistic nature of this act profoundly affected my life.

In 2005, I found a folk song, performed by Mississippi Fred MacDowell called Come Out Of The Wilderness, in which the Wilderness seems to be a metaphor for living without religion in your life. The Wilderness as depicted in the Bible is where Jesus is tested for 40 days and where the Israelites spend 40 years on their journey to the Promised Land. In my piece the Wilderness is not a metaphor but simply refers to nature, the woods, organic food, and drinking fermented "muddy water out of a hollow log."

NOTES
1. A peace walk is a form of non-violent protest in which protesters march a distance, often to raise money for a charity.
2. HIS NAME IS ALIVE are a difficult band to categorize. Their sound is constantly evolving. Their sound is consistently unique. They made their name with expressionistic experiments for the 4ad label. Later music is guided by more graceful concerns.
3. Wilderness is defined by the State of Michigan as "non-managed, roadless areas."
4. COME OUT THE WILDERNESS is not a "staged" event, it is participatory and requires very few materials.

19th PEACE WALK at noon

*introduction/ initiation + silent meditation in the park in the sunrays*
Empire-Fulton Ferry Park

19th EXTREME CONCERT

*HNIA / ASM live sets, come early, bring tambourines*
Mercury Lounge MANHATTAN

20th QUIET NIGHT
*ASM performs "After Devil's Night" by Warn Defever*
Tonic MANHATTAN
with The Naysayer and Nanang Tatang

21st MIDNIGHT BELL JAM

*conclusion celebration in the street at midnight*
Meet at the corner of Stanton and Ludlow in the street in MANHATTAN
Margaritas to go!!! Bring a bell!!!

COME OUT THE WILDERNESS is supported in part by Meet the Composer's Creative Connections Program, NYSCA, and the Meet the Composer JPMorganChase Fund for Small Ensembles.

Monday, September 04, 2006

These Lights Are Meaningful









I don't know how to get rid of that HUGE space above the player, so please bear with it. If you are reading this entry through a "reader," make sure you visit the actual blog so you can listen to the songs!

Synchronicity allowed for a poignant and emotional afternoon with ADEM the other day, drawing together Cyprus, Nick, and I into a kind, poetic, reunion of sorts. Nearly every song Adem sang carried with it a bittersweet burn of relevance as can be seen in the lyrics, below. He is very impressive, Live. A mournful, sweet, melancholic, but inspiring tone that carries his story-songs right into your heart. For my metaphysical pals, I think you will really love THESE LIGHTS ARE MEANINGFUL, and to my friends who've known my recent struggles and efforts to rebuild, I think you will hear the story in EVERYTHING YOU NEED.

Siggh... I am so grateful for so many things, even in the wake of so much struggle... it's all a matter of perspective. I know I lose perspective, sometimes, but a very strong part of me counts on the memory of when I have perspective, and songs like these, artists, and friends, all help to keep that web of memory and strength in place, even when I feel so lost and silly-scared.

It's good to remember that you will see things differently, if you just hang in there...

ADEM @ SoundFix Records in Williamsburg, Brooklyn


NICK, Me, T.Lee (from-out-of-town guest), and CYPRUS

LYRICS

EVERYTHING YOU NEED

Home is where your heart comes from
But what do you do when your heart's gone
With everything you need

It's sad
that point, you've got to choose
to stay or go, you're bound to lose
everything you need

Laa daa day laa daa day
laa daa day laa daa day

You got your stuff you packed your bags
You checked your things made sure you had
Everything you need

You upped, you left, you went away
To love to fight another day
'gainst everything you need

Laa daa day laa daa day
laa daa day laa daa day

You severed your ties
Left us all behind
You said all your goodbyes
To everything you need
You severed your ties
Re-forge them
make it right
Come back with open eyes
To everything you need

'cause moments they can turn to dreams
And hopes and wants can sometimes seem
Like everything you need
But treated bad then left alone
You cried, we said to come back home
To everything you need

Laa daa day laa daa day
laa daa day laa daa day

You severed your ties
You left us all behind
You said all your goodbyes
To everything you need
You severed your ties
Re-forge them
make it right
Come back with open eyes
To everything you need

LOVE, And OTHER PLANETS

Come with me
There's something you should see
In the evening sky
Put on your warmest coat
We'’ll be breathing ghosts
And they don't want us to see
So they join the clouds
Which clot above our heads

But on a clear night,
If you look close enough
You can just make out Love
And other planets
We are not alone

And normally
It's bright enough to see
With a naked eye
I held you close to me
And I felt you smile
And you whispered in my ear
I know it's there
Let'’s make our own light

But on a clear night
If you look close enough
You can just make out
Love and other planets
We are not alone
And on this clear night
If I hold you close enough
I can feel love.

THESE ARE YOUR FRIENDS

I wish that I'd arrived a little sooner -
You really should have called
we'd have come here right away
You tried to help yourself but you got it wrong

You've thrown yourself
Into the flames 'cause you're covered in cold
But these are your friends
They give out a nice warm glow

You've tried so hard to see for yourself
Your perspective is wrong
These are your friends
Let them come guide you on

Listen now - now's the time to listen
There're lessons to be learned
I've seen this before in my own life
You feel covered up, removed from the world around you
With all your senses dulled you'd do anything to feel
You tried to help yourself, but you got it wrong

You've thrown yourself
Into the flames 'cause you're covered in cold
But these are your friends
They give out a nice warm glow

What have you done? You're cutting your cord
You're floating in space
But these are your friends
They'll be your star-map home

Everybody needs some help sometimes

THESE LIGHTS ARE MEANINGFUL

I know that I've
Not been the same
Since the day we walked around and marvelled at the firmament

Both wrapped up
In a blanket that was handed down
And it struck me like a meteor

It's hard to explain, so hard to explain how I'm so sure

These lights are meaningful
We'’ve got to understand
And work out what they say
These lights are meaningful
They'’ll tell what we forgot
We have a mission here
These lights are meaningful
We must translate them now
Else we'll just float around

We have a reason here
Something beyond ourselves
These lights are meaningful

I needed purpose,
I was given one:
To find the reasons for life
Etched between the distant suns and...
The Zodiac gives clues to the wealth of all that once we knew
Join silver dots set against the midnight blue

It'’s hard to explain; so hard to explain how I'm so sure

These lights are meaningful
We have forgot ourselves
We drift on oblivious
These lights are meaningful
A message writ out large
Lest we forget ourselves
These lights are meaningful
This is our final chance
We had a mission here once

There not just pretty sparks
They're more than tiny stars
These lights are meaningful
We have a reason here
We must resolve ourselves
These lights are meaningful

Maybe I got it wrong
Maybe I am just alone
Anything to feel alive
Take my hand and take me home
Make me feel like I'’m not alone

It'’s what I need