Last screening: some kind of monster. Metallica movie. Almost like an acid trip for elementary school kids. You’re just on this trip with the guys. through their ups and downs. Through the recording and the ego trips and the therapy and all. nothing really too hairy; knowing a bit about being in a rock band ourselves we found that it comes across like someone stripped all the good parts out of it and just left the really normal mainstream TV type stuff. too bad because a real documentary about the guys would be great. Something with all the juicy parts left in would have been much better. But this is like watching your parents fight at dinner. Real white glove. All the guys including their therapist and producer bob rock, come off like such pussies, But you have to appreciate that. appreciate where they are, and what they were trying to do by dealing with their problems in a constructive manner, rather than a destructive way. You do walk away with this profound appreciation for the music that they make, and for them as musicians. I have never been a metallica fan. I don’t own any albums and when their music has come on the radio over the last twenty years I have always run to turn it off. Beav always used to listen to it in his room and I would always scream to him to shut his door. We’d have music wars between our two bedrooms. My Prince and U2 albums versus his metallica and yngwie malmstein albums. I can’t call up the other guys in the band and say c’mon lets go check out the new metallica movie. They’re just not going to be into it. they look at me like I’m crazy. but you know, I’m digging into it now. going somewhere else. totally different musically. Lars is just a fucking monster on his instrument.

I’m telling the guys, ‘this fucking band is spending months perfecting each song. Working it all out, creating fucking operatic masterpieces, and we’re still strumming chords on our guitars. We have to learn from them. there’s something to this.”

Called the guys and we talked for a few hours about the new album we are recording. And how the hell are we going to get all that together into one cohesive package…. we want to find a way to bring it all together. Because half the songs are totally over the top heavy rock — which is going to be a real shock to fans and we know that – and then some of them are the more old style that we have been doing lately, more brit pop I guess. Like pure brit pop. I am trying to get there. to that purity. You know how flaming lips gets there sometimes? Where the song is just out there. just pure song. And of course I am dying to let it all go and create something completely orchestral, more noise oriented, and atmospheric…. but everyone around me is still like ‘ please no, not now…’ But I have this very strong urge to make some heavy music like I’ve never made before. Just to really go all the way into it. I’m like “guys if we could mix this whole linkin park, rage against the machine, Foo fighters, metallica thing I’ve been into [that’s the prob though is that the guys aren’t into that sound yet… at all… only me] with the music that we normally make… with our whole modern rock/brit pop thing…” and they’re all like ‘dude what the hell are you talking about? We don’t make music like that! we don’t even listen to music like that!”  but luckily Infinito does listen to music like that. so its cool. and Bloopy is going through a big nirvana phase now. so they’re into it. Me and Bloopy talking about all of us and we’re all in such different places musically. Vancouver is going through a Billy Joel and cardigans phase so that’s just totally out there for us now and for what’s going on in modern music. and rockaway is just starting to get into the whole Jet hives thing. but that sound is already totally overplayed and its cool but you don’t want to actually make music like that NOW.  So I don’t have an interest in making it myself, even though I dig it. but I don’t see any reason for us to explore it. as a fan I would love to hear Rufus wainright phoenix and Caetano Veloso meets u2 Radiohead and coldplay meets metallica linkin park and Foo fighters. That would be sick. Like Broadway meets Britpop meets Metal. That would be it. that’s what the new CD is going to sound like if its possible.

I don’t want people to always be down on us because we change our sound so much. I worry about that. I worry about our three fans not knowing who we are or what we are all about because every album changes so much. But I don’t think we can do anything about it. we’re all just so eclectic with our tastes constantly changing all the time. I for one get super-bored with any one style of music for too long. that’s why I don’t like concerts too much; I just get too bored too easily. Hopefully the fans will be able to keep up with it and actually appreciate where we’re at and what we’re trying to do as artists.

Current spin: St. Anger, metallica. I love it. I’m like an addict right now to this sound. I just never knew how to get into it. I never understood this music before. I’m starting to understand it. just always turned me off because of the overt lack of melody and harmony. All rhythm and grunting… but I get it now. also Saliva, back into the system. survival of the sickest is a great track. good polished neo-grunge.