All the cool social media kids have begun talking about something called Pinterest- a sort of virtual bulletin board.  Yeah, the concept is simplistic and stupid, just like Twitter.  That being said, it looks almost Evernote-esque in its ability to organize seemingly disconnected stuff-on-the-web.  I’ll be using this service as best I can, mostly waiting for an official Android app to make use of this as a musician and a writer.

In the mean time, if you’d like to follow me there, just hit www.matthewebel.com/pinterest

Image via Wikipedia

Like you, I dream of fantastic things.  I call myself a space pirate captain because, in my mind, I want to be out there.  You know, that Shatneresque “out there” that implies boldly going and exploring strange new worlds and all that.  Maybe even the occasional green woman here and there, but mostly I’m interested in the new scenery.

Fortunately my line of work involves a bit of travel- more so than most cubicle-dwellers, I’m sure.  Thus far, though, it’s only been around the USA.  I’m not complaining- there are some amazing things to see in every state (even New Jersey).  In fact, I’m sure there are people who already envy the amount of getting around I’ve done in the past few decades, but I still find myself less than satisfied.

I dream of mountaintops wreathed in clouds (like Machu Picchu).  I dream of cliffside temples where Buddhist monks spend their entire lives just trying to learn how to be quiet.  I dream of Antarctic tundra where only penguins, Russian scientists, and crazy bastards dare to tread (I mostly envision that view from the inside of something with heated cup holders).

As much as I’m sure there is to see out there, I could spend several lifetimes just seeing what’s around here.

I Write What I Dream

This is why I write.  Hell, my latest effort- The Lives of Dexter Peterson -is practically a catalogue of places I’d like to see.  I’ll never be able to see 17th-century Jamaica, but maybe I can see what it’s become in the last 400 years.  I may or may not be able to visit a space station before I die, but that just means Antarctica isn’t too far by comparison.  I’ve never been to France, Germany, England, or anywhere else outside of North America.

But I will.  Part of the reason I write is because I am there whenever I’m creating something.  I put pen to paper because these narrative fantasies let me explore even while I yet lack the resources to do so in person.  Who knows, maybe the next blog post will come from somewhere out in deep space.

What places do you dream about?  When you close your eyes and try to make your manager’s voice go away, what scene fills your mind?  Write about it, please, and let me know where your mind spends its vacation time.

Photo by Char

It’s been that long since I had the wonderful opportunity to play drums for Matt. It’s been a challenge and a whole lot of fun, from playing live shows and recording the new CD, The Lives Of Dexter Peterson. 99% Runtt based percussion!

One huge challenge was getting me to sing backing vocals while playing drums. Forever, my vocals while playing, have been hit or miss. Never consistent. I was shaky in the beginning, but seem to be doing much better as a result of pounding my voice into shape. Practice, practice, practice. It really works!

After watching live video of our Further Confusion performance, all that hard work seems to have paid off. I wasn’t cringing. That’s a good sign because, well, I hate the sound of my voice. *lol*

Recording the CD was another challenge. Matt had pretty much ALL the music and vocals finished. My job was to lay down drum tracks using only a metronome over the music and vocals to guide me. On top of it, they had to sound natural, like I was actually there, in the room with Matt, playing along with him. NOT AN EASY TASK.

I think I did a decent job. (Editor’s note: You did a hell of a job, stop kidding yourself.)

Photo by Char

It’s really evident on Normal Is Not For Me.

Luckily, the drums for the majority of the music essentially wrote themselves. The pieces just seemed to know what they wanted and I was more than happy to give it to them. When you get a song with a certain feel, your brain goes on autopilot and lays down the rhythm accordingly. Matt’s music has that kind of feel. This is what it wants. That’s what it got. With surprising results.

One thing that intrigued me about working with Matt is his ability to allow me freedom with his music. You don’t get that a lot with most singer/songwriters. Most have an idea of what they want and THAT is what they want you to play. Not Matt. He gave me full range to do whatever.

“You’re the drummer. Do what you do. Make my songs sound good.”

Heh, as if. Your stuff already sounds good. I’m just giving it that extra push over the edge.

Most of it was used. Some, not so much. Some I went a little too far over the edge. *lol* It was like that throughout the recording sessions.

Another thing that surprised me was Matt was totally open to try stuff. I did a fill here, an off kilter beat there, some busy work here and there. Most all was used. One thing that happened was I heard something in the dance track All Over Again. It was a trashy percussive attack, behind the drums, in intervals during the chorus. He thought I was crazy. I started piling cymbals together and hitting them, trying to get the write attack and tone. When hearing them live, they sound terrible, like I was bashing a trash can lid. But, the mic hears it differently. It comes from my many years of trial and error in recording. If you don’t have a sound, you try and create it. Matt still wasn’t convinced until he heard it in playback. The rhythm worked and the tone was there. Now time to make it sound just right. He compressed the hell out of it, added some EQ and bang! It worked.

I love that Matt was very open to at least try some of my ideas. When they work, the grin on his face is priceless. He literally bounces up and down in his conductors chair.

After hearing the final mixes all professionally mastered, I’m really excited about its’ release.

All in all, it’s been a GREAT year for me and music in general. Matthew Ebel has been the best thing to happen to me, musically, in a LONG time.

I’m sure the new disc will not disappoint. It’s available for pre-order right now.

Well? What are you waiting for? GO ORDER IT! : )

I know most people don’t have the luxury of crawling into a bunker and working on a project until it’s done, but I’m very glad that I can do that. The only boss breathing down my neck is… well, you. You want motivation? Every time one of my Matthew Ebel dot net subscribers asks “so when’s the album going to be finished?”, that’s motivation. For me the urge to create is equalled by the urge not to disappoint. And maybe that’s not healthy, I don’t know… living on the validation of others’ expectations has ruined too many people to catalogue.

Regardless, I’m out. I’ve been paroled, liberated, renewed (not in the Logan’s Run sense). I missed you guys, too, I feel like we haven’t talked in ages. What’s happened in the last four months? Everybody still uses Facebook all day long, right?

Preorder The Album Now!

The recording, mixing, and mastering are already done, at this point al that remains are the artwork and duplication. After that I’ll be shipping out discs like AOL in the 90′s. Hopefully these things will be a bit more welcome than they were.

Two Flavors of Preorder

Autographed CD Packages

This time around I’m trying a couple of different approaches, one for those ready to buy now and one for those who want to wait for the official launch date. I’ve listed a variety of preorder packages at www.matthewebel.com/preorder which range from a full-quality album download to a concert for your friends in your backyard. No, seriously. I don’t know if anyone will go for that level of sponsorship, but hey… it couldn’t hurt to lay it out there, right? Most of the packages in between are just annual subscriptions to Matthew Ebel dot net. After all, everyone who’s paid for an All-Access or higher membership has already pre-ordered the new album in some form or another.

Chartbombing

And then there’s Chartbombing: Sign up now, put no money down, and just wait for the official release date. When the time comes, I’ll drop you a line via email or SMS to go buy a specific track (or the whole album). With any luck, enough people will chip in that I’ll make it into the iTunes and Amazon daily charts… sort of a self-sustaining bit of publicity since a lot of people skim the charts for new music.

Many moons ago a couple of bands tried something similar called “Bum Rush The Charts”, but this one’s taking place as an official release date event and, hopefully, will work better now that people can buy music from their phones, tablets, cars, refrigerators, etc. And hey, even if you pre-order the album now, it’d be all kinds of awesome if you pitched in 99¢ for the Chartbombing effort later!

Thanks to its innovative circle-based approach, Google+ looks likely to cut out all the feed-clogging junk posts and awkward-moment-generating privacy violations. Whatever your reason for joining, if you’re there I’d love to join your circles!

Just hit me up at http://matthewebel.com/googleplus and feel free to share me with your friends!

My name is Dexter Jared Peterson. I am 26 years old and live in New York City. In the last seven years I have lived as 11,577 different people.

A sudden flash of light opened my eyes to the next life. In the first five seconds I determined that I had no clue what was going on. No big surprise there. I stood in a large dark room holding a small blowtorch. Ahead of me was an ornate mahogany box, surrounded by thick ballistic glass and a cage. I looked around for a moment, most of the building was dark but I could see some roped off areas and a few more glass boxes with assorted bits in them.

I looked back at the box in front of me, my thoughts interrupted by a man yelling, “Come on Dex, grab the stupid thing and get the HELL out of there, we can’t keep the security off forever!”

A Thief. Of all the things to be, I had to be a thief. I decided not to question the man and instead reached through the cage only to be blocked by the ballistic glass. “Alright, use your torch on the upper left corner, and the lower right. This should free the pins on the case. Don’t burn that box!” the man ordered through the earpiece.

I did just that, causing the front of the glass box to fall onto the stand it was sitting on with a loud thud.

“Easy, easy! The cameras might be off but the mics on them still work! Just grab that box and get out, we’re already past the deadline,” the man said, slightly frantic. I grabbed the box and slid it into a felt pouch, then started for the door. Just past halfway to the door a heard the automatic locks click into place. If I didn’t have the sense to take this seriously I would have guessed I was on a movie set.

The radio crackled and a woman’s voice came out, “Dex this is Alexandria, we’ve lost the frequency for the security system and everything is reactivating! GET OUT OF THERE NOW!!!”

Alexandria… I half hoped she wasn’t part of this, but then I wasn’t surprised that she was. I didn’t have to be told twice, I booked it to the next exit. I grasped at the handle only to find it locked. As I heard the next door lock I leaned up against the door and sighed. Completely trapped now. At this point I was pretty sure I wasn’t making it out of this life, alive. I guess it isn’t that bad though, thieves don’t really deserve any better do they?

The door behind me suddenly swung open, tossing me onto a flight of stairs. There was a sudden rush of panic as I fell back, but as I landed on nothing but my own ass it subsided a bit. I quickly scrambled to my feet as the radio once again came to life.

“We got one door unlocked but it’s not going to stay that way for long, it’s on the East side of the building, go!” Alex yelled. I heard faint sirens over the radio and somebody else yelling. Seems luck was on my side for once. I started down the stairs three steps at a time, pivoting on the railing at each landing. There was a muffled screeching of tires below me. Something caught my foot and I went head first down the last flight, slamming into the door at the bottom.

The door burst open and I was delivered onto the cool pavement of the sidewalk. I really should watch my step. As I collected the box and took a moment to make sure nothing was broken a grey windowless van came barreling down the street, screeching to a stop a few meters past me. The double doors on the back swung open and Alexandria ushered me toward them.

“Dex hurry up, they’re not far behind!” she yelled to me. Her voice sounded so soft even in the desperate situation. I ran to the back and jumped in as a pair of police cars came flying around the corner.

“Pedal to the metal, we’re getting out of here!” ordered the man who had been talking to me on the radio as Alexandria pulled the doors shut. “Alright Dex, let’s see the prize.

“The man grabbed the bag from me and pulled out the box. In the light of the van I could see small carvings in the wood, which was polished to a mirror like finish. He almost fainted at the sight of it.

“Fantastic! I can’t wait until the client sees this, we’ll be rich!” he sang in excitement. Alexandria took the box and examined it before handing it back to me. I looked it over for a moment then turned to her to ask if she recognized the carvings when everything froze. The image of her face slowly faded into black as I was pulled from the life of the thief.

Video from Eliaphir, shot during our recent Further Confusion concert in San Jose.