It’s sometimes playful It’s sometimes groovy It’s sometimes surreal It’s sometimes like a movie
It’s sometimes light It’s sometimes metaphysical It’s sometimes interstellar It sometimes gets political
Sometimes my words rhyme Sometimes they don’t Sometimes they flow like a river Sometimes I wonder if they missed the boat
Sometimes my words come from my heart Sometimes they spring from my head Sometimes I spit them out at breakfast Sometimes they arrive when I’m sleeping in bed
So, here’s a note of thanks To everyone who played a part In transforming my concept Into a library-bound work of art
I’d also like to thank All the dedicated librarians And everyone on the SFPL staff Especially the Bay Beats custodians
What a wondrous institution our library is A place where knowledge thrives And diverse music lives
A man came to me in my dream. He held a sharpened No. 2 pencil in one hand and a spiral notebook in the other. I didn’t catch his name, but he was interested in knowing about my new album. So, we sat at a marble table atop the Eiffel Tower (remember, this is a dream) and he asked some questions. I’ll call him the Interviewer.
Interviewer: You’ve been writing and recording original music for a few years now. What made you switch to cover tunes?
GR: I love writing and recording original songs. That said, I played for many years in a cover band called StationWagon, and I got to thinking recently about going into the studio and recording some of my favorite songs by artists I admire. I didn’t want to make note-for-note recordings of these songs, so I came up with the concept of a songwriter playing the songs in a dream.
Interviewer: For your earlier albums, you worked with a band, but this album presents a more stripped-down approach. Talk about that.
GR: I’ve known Jules Leyhe for a few years. He’s a fantastic guitar player and all-around great guy. As I thought more about this album’s dream concept, and as I played more with Jules, I realized it would be cool for just the two of us to make this album. Performing as a duo (me on acoustic guitar and Jules on electric) allows us to present these songs in a unique way. Towards the end of the project, we brought in Elisa Wendell to add her amazing vocals on some of the songs.
Interviewer: How did you meet Jules?
GR: Let’s see. It was right before the COVID-19 lockdown, during that time when some businesses were shutting down and some weren’t yet (but they’d probably be closing soon). I’d scheduled a recording session at Tiny Telephone with another guitarist. As it turned out, that guitarist couldn’t make it. Fearing it might be a long, long time before I’d get into the studio again, I scrambled to find another guitarist and that led me to Jules. We did that session and a few others over the years. And we became friends along the way. So it all worked out.
Interviewer: How did you decide on the songs?
GR: Now that the album is finished, I’m surprised that I didn’t struggle more to choose the songs. I love so many different songs (and so many different types of songs), and I have so many favorite artists. But these songs came together very quickly—like they were meant to be on this album together. “Isn’t It a Pity” is the only song that I added later in the process. I knew I wanted to cover a George Harrison song, but I wasn’t sure which one. Then I heard Jules playing slide guitar on “Isn’t It a Pity” and knew it would fit right in.
Interviewer: What was the process like for making this album? Did you rehearse the material or just show up at the studio and have at it?
GR: When I was sure about the song list, I wrote a creative brief that I shared with Jules and Audio Engineer Danielle Goldsmith. Jules and I met a handful of times to run through the songs. A couple months before recording, I had an opportunity to work for a month from northern Spain. I didn’t want to forget my tunes, so I asked the guy we rented our house from if he could find a guitar that I could borrow. Now, whenever I think about this album, I’ll recall the month I spent playing a loaner guitar in a beach house in Galicia. Not a bad way to practice.
Interviewer: You also included two original tracks on the album?
GR: That’s right. “The Dream” is an improvised instrumental that sets up album’s concept. I then end the album with the “The Dream Returns,” which features sounds that Danielle or I have recorded over the years. Like seagulls on Ocean Beach and kettle drums and various analog tape manipulations. Danielle is great at weaving these types of pieces together into a compelling soundscape.
Interviewer: Congratulations on the album. How do like the view from the Eiffel Tower?
GR: Thank you. It’s amazing up here. All I need now is an Aperol Spritz.
“I’ll Cover You in My Dreams” is available from Bandcamp, Spotify, iTunes, and other services.
A musician sleeps and while sleeping dreams of performing dream-vision renditions of songs he loves by artists he’s long admired. That’s the concept of “I’ll Cover You in My Dreams.” Available now on Bandcamp, iTunes, Spotify, and wherever else you get your music online.
Featuring Jules Leyhe (electric guitar) and Elisa Wendell (vocals).
Here’s a trailer for a short film I’ve been working on for quite some time – like my whole life if you think about it. I plan on sending the film out to festivals and other places soon. Wish me luck.
Very special thanks to:
Theresa Calpotura – original score Rae Steinwand – animation Jacob Winik – mastering
“Giant Rock” is a strange film. It’s not for everyone. But that’s okay. I love this film anyway – in all its slow, otherworldy, desert-dream-vision strangeness.
All of which brings me to the point of this post, which is…
I was very excited last night to receive word that “Giant Rock” has been selected by two film festivals… the First Contact Film Festival and the Portland Festival of Cinema, Animation & Technology.
Thank you to them both for presenting “Giant Rock” to the world.
Grateful and humbled to hear the news today that “This Is Where We’ll Build the Labyrinth” has been named an Official Selection for the 2023 Bloomsday Film Festival and will receive its world premiere screening in Dublin, Ireland between June 12 – 16.
Thank you to the Bloomsday Film Festival and thank you to everyone who played a part in making this short film.
Earlier this year, I travelled to the Southern California desert in and around Joshua Tree National Park. I was inspired by two places in particular, Giant Rock and the Integratron sound bath, to write a narrative poem called “Giant Rock” and turn the poem into a short animated film.
Special thanks to John Vanderslice for the soundtrack, Antoni Villacreces for the animation, and Jacob Winik for audio mastering. I’m starting the process of submitting this strange little trip of a film to festivals now. Wish me luck.
After opening the EA Story exhibit in May (and launching a massive internal website), I spent a few weeks recharging in the desert before digging into part two of the project — bringing order to chaos in a room stuffed with an estimated 20,000 video tapes (and assorted other media).
In this room, you can find VHS and BetaCam tapes, CDs, film, and a variety of other obscure and obsolete media formats, all from forty years of making and publishing video games at Electronic Arts. The bulk of the collection features content from the late 1980s through the mid 2000s.
What’s on all of these tapes? Gameplay footage. Company meetings and presentations. Special marketing events. Wing Commander. Shockwave. Medal of Honor. Need for Speed. Dead Space. Madden, FIFA, and the rest of the EA SPORTS lineup. And tons of other game franchises and brands. Yes, even Shaq Fu!
My mission: organize and catalogue the madness and then figure out what needs to be digitized and further preserved.
If you don’t hear from me, you’ll know where to send the search hounds.
Hello and thanks for stopping by my website. Here’s a quick update on two projects I’m working on.
1) Breakfast with the Alien — Woohoo! I’m excited to say my collection of quirky short, short stories is almost ready for publication. This project has been a true labor of love. Huge thanks to the many people who’ve given me a hand along the way.
2) Spiral Notebook Project — Double woohoo! It’s been a dream of mine to one day record my music in a professional studio. Well, that dream is about to become reality thanks to the fine folks at Tiny Telephone.
Stay tuned for more information coming soon about both of these projects.
