The Bob Lazar Story's Big Blog

Getting Closer!

2012-02-06T23:13:00.000-08:00

Looks like I'm closer to finishing off Space Roots. Moving sound card and hard drive from defunct music pc into an existing pc we have had for ages, hopefully this will go smoothly and I can get busy again.

Been designing the cd packaging while this saga continues, so it feels like things are finally moving quicker.

Hoping to draw a line under all this by May this year.

Twittered Up.

2012-01-31T17:12:00.000-08:00

Friends and fans - catch us on Twitter now. @boblazarstory
How very, very, very exciting.

Phew

2012-01-22T22:35:00.000-08:00

Our PC with the web software is fixed. Turns out it just needed a $7 battery for the BIOS or sumfink. Relief all round.

Also portable hard drive is fixed, just needed a new enclosure. This is great news as it has all the audio back-ups for Space Roots on it.

And it looks like the shop can rebuild a music PC from the hard drive and sound card that remains from my last one.

A good day really.

Website Update

2012-01-18T22:09:00.000-08:00

The website has finally been updated after a 2 year gap.

Our PC had been in storage while we were in the UK, and it had the software on it that i used to create web pages. So I plugged it in the other day after looking at it for the last seven months - it had fallen over in one of the earthquakes and i was too scared to turn it on.

I managed a few hours of tinkering on the website to get rid of dead links and add some new ones.

Unfortunately it has stopped working again, so off it goes to the shop tomorrow. Fingers crossed eh?

Anyway, check it here.

Shit 2!!!!!

2011-06-25T00:43:00.000-07:00

So, got back to Christchurch in early May to assess the condition of our house after the recent earthquakes.

Problem is, my PC didn't seem to enjoy long haul travel to the UK and never worked properly since the move. I have brought the hard drive and soundcard back to NZ so hope to build a new computer around those.

This will take a little time, as we are still settling in again and I have gone back to work at NZ Post, which, whilst great as jobs go, doesn't leave me much time to record at the moment.

In the interim, I hope to dust off the old Roland V Studio 8 track and record a few new demos to keep my hand in, so to speak.

Sorry about the delay, but I reckon Space Roots will be worth the wait, and in the meantime, you can check out a few of the new tunes here.

Til next time.........

Shit!!!

2011-06-23T02:19:00.001-07:00

It's been a while, eh?

Nearly a year and a half actually.

Big delay in release of Space Roots - moved to the UK for urgent family stuff and got stuck driving a taxi for a full year to make ends meet. No time for music, just work.

More coming soon............

Instant Jedi

2010-01-14T17:03:00.000-08:00

Hey folks

You'll be pleased to know that Instant Jedi is now up on MySpace. Check it out here.

I leave New Zealand for sunny Liverpool, UK tomorrow, so it could be a wee while before I post as jet lag is a real bitch.

In the mean time, enjoy.

Matt

Packed Up

2010-01-11T12:02:00.000-08:00

Hey.

The music room is nearly all packed up now. All apart from the PC, 'cos I was doing a few rough mixes from the Aranui Sessions last night. Just need to pop the PC in it's box and store the stereo, and that's it. Sending it off tomorrow to be air freighted.

In other news, I started off an infrequent newsletter, if you want to be included then mail me at lucidbrucemusic at yahoo dot com.

Besides that, nothing to tell. See you soon.
Matt.

Alive in the Mullet Zone

2010-01-01T22:20:00.000-08:00

Happy New Year Earthlings!

I've uploaded a rough version of Alive in the Mullet Zone to MySpace. This has synth bass on it until Fud lays one down for me, but it's about 95% there I reckon. Drums are played by my old pal Chris Jago.

The solo (mentioned in an earlier post) on this, which is in 2 parts, was a motherfucker and took many attempts, but I finally cracked it.

Check it here.

Cool, CU.
Kiwi Matt

Mad Times

2009-12-29T22:12:00.000-08:00

Hey Team

Found out I have to go back to Liverpool ASAP,so have had to quit work and I'm now mad busy packing stuff up and getting ready to do the long haul thing. The music PC and other gear are being freighted soon and hopefully won't take too long to get there. Trying to get as much done before I leave as I'll be jet lagged and busy with family stuff for a bit.

Been working on Rawk, Two Vowels, and tweaking mixes from the Aranui sessions back in June, plus working on some bass transcriptions for Fud.

Ordered another drum track today from Drumsforyou, for a 4 minute tune now titled I Haven't Touched Your Dog, Mate.

Here's a list of tunes completed or nearing completion. In no particular order:

Instant Jedi
It's Thirteen (Bring the Clunk)
Henry Kissinger Must Diet
Mr Weiner Pants
Two Vowels Contemplate the End of the World
Alive in the Mullet Zone
I Haven't Touched Your Dog, Mate
Death to the Meat Horse
Rawk
Rawk II
Son of Foodstool/Deadbiking
Sirens
Synthyer
Techno Bert vs The Klezzies

Keep in touch
M

Busy

2009-12-12T15:11:00.000-08:00

Hey you

Progressing well at the mo. Got a drum mix back from drumsforyou this week, for the previously mentioned 5 1/2 minute tune, now known as Two Vowels Contemplate The End Of The World.
Sounds great, now I'm working on the parts for it, shouldn't take too long.

Also, getting the June recording session's drum tracks together for Rob Mayes so he can do some drum mixes for us, plus he is going to do a mix of the whole of Instant Jedi.

Besides that, did some parts for Invader Tron over the last few days, and some more overdubs for Instant Jedi.

Yeah.

Happy Chanukah
Matisyahu

Holy Shit!!

2009-12-06T22:00:00.000-08:00

Halo

How's it hanging?

Working on a tune at the mo, fully demo-ed, and it clocks in at over 5 mins, the longest song in an age. Just trying to write a chart for it.

Alive in the Mullet Zone is pretty much done, just needs some final mixing tweaks. Pretty happy with the way the solo/melody in the "jazz" section has worked out.

Also just about finished parts for what is temporarily known as Glass Eye II. So called because, like Glass-Eyed and Frankly/ft. Crazy Legs (a track from the last EP), this tune was written to a pre recorded drum track obtained free from Drums For You.

I put a playlist on my iPod of most of the stuff for the next CD, and we're looking at around 37 mins at the mo, with more to come. Very exciting times. I'm really hoping to have most recording and mixing done by the end of Jan. Fingers crossed.

Til next time, stay well.

Mitthew

Lots of recording

2009-11-28T22:13:00.000-08:00

Kia Ora

Plenty of recording happening this weekend, tidying up tunes, re-doing demo parts and adding to others.
Tunes being worked on at present:

Alive in the Mullet Zone
Glass Eyed and Frankly II (working title)
Rawk

On the schedule this week is a jam with Invader Tron for a collaboration to go on Space Roots. Need some of his soundscapes and squelchy beats to add a different flavour to the mix. Should be fun.

Usual brekky today, Chippy lunch, and Veg Satay on noodles for din dins.

Til next time
Adios. Mathya.

45 attempts.....

2009-11-25T12:21:00.000-08:00

.. For 2 reasonable takes. Yes that's right, ever the perfectionist, the air turned darkest blue as I strived to get the rhythm part for Alive in the Mullet Zone down. Once that was done, it took 12 goes to get the first half of the solo/melody done. All this after turning the house upside down to locate my fave red pick that helps me play faster. @#*$!

Mullet Solo!!

2009-11-23T22:22:00.000-08:00

Another tab for you gat players, or anyone who can read music.

Tired of the same old 4/4 blues based wank?

Then click here for a 7/8 solo that ranges from the Low E to the 21st fret of the top E.

I'm still learning this one, reckon I'm about 85% there.

Weetbix for brekky, beans on toast for lunch, and Tuesday night means Pesto night in our house.

Farewell, til next time.
M

Son Of Foodstool Tab

2009-11-21T21:34:00.000-08:00

Here is a tab for the guitarists out there. This is the rhythm part for Son Of Foodstool, and is available in Powertab format or PDF, depending on your preferences.

Enjoy

Pope Matt the 1st.

Don't Get Me Wrong

2009-11-19T17:15:00.000-08:00

Holler

Started working on learning parts for a tune previously known as Jan 2008. Now known as Don't Get Me Wrong*.

I nearly fell asleep while playing the same one bar phrase over and over last night, but pretty much cracked it. Started at 60bpm and worked up to 140.

This could be one of the least listener friendly on the CD, but I like it.

On an unrelated musical note, Mike Keneally's latest CD "Scambot" arrived in the mail this week. Truly awesome.

Breakfast - 4 Weetbix, Rice Milk, Coffee.

C U

*I Think Music Is a Great and Wondrous Thing. However, I Would Rather Stab Myself In The Cock Than Listen To This Shite.

Synth

2009-11-09T22:29:00.001-08:00

So yeah, hooked up the guitar synth again, looking for some nice sounds to overdub with. Working on some more parts for Alive in the Mullet Zone which is clocking in at 3 mins on the nose.
Also working on the 40 sec intro piece for what is only known as Jun 2008 2. This is the Foodstoolian one mentioned a couple entries ago.

Names in the hat for this one include:

Weapons of War.
I Haven't Touched Your Dog, Mate.
Deadbiking.

Breakfast - Weetbix/Cheerios/Rice milk
Dinner - Pasta Spirals/Pesto/Olives

Til next time.
M

Hey

2009-11-06T22:26:00.000-08:00

How are you?

I've been practicing some parts for Alive in the Mullet Zone. Been learning a jazzy line all week and I've nearly cracked it.
Also put new strings on the Tokai in preparation for imminent recording.

Breakfast - 4 Weetbix, Rice Milk, Coffee.

Excellent.

More Writing

2009-10-19T23:59:00.000-07:00

The rhythm part for the new tune is almost written. Might even break the 3 minute barrier this time.

Titles for consideration:

Two Bell-Ends And A Contrarian
Alive In The Mullet Zone
Two Is Contemplate The End Of The World (see pic)

Any other suggestions, feel free to comment.
Moctor Deaks

Still Writing

2009-10-18T00:00:00.000-07:00

Somehow managing to squeeze a bit of writing time in, despite all 3 of us here at Chez Bob dripping with snot.

The riff-a-thon mentioned in the previous post is turning out quite nice. It starts off in 13/16 and goes like this:

Da-da-da-da-da-da-Da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-DA-DA-DAAH-da-da-dah.

Later, it goes more:

Da-Daaaah-Da-Daah-Da-Daaaaaah.

You get the picture, right?

Breakfast: Weetbix/Cheerios w/Rice Milk. Coffee. Toast w/PB.

Lunch: Avocado/PB/Sweet Chilli Sauce on toast.

Dinner: Chana Masala, Pakora Wedges, Roti. Brought to you by Tandoori Palace, Ferrymead.

Til next time.
M

Space Rootini

2009-10-14T00:28:00.000-07:00

Yo

Cobbled together some snippets of the new stuff for you to have a gander (aurallly).

Breakfast: Weetbix (4), Cheerios (90% more fibre), Rice Milk (w/extra protein)

Lunch: Beans on Toast

Dinner: Dhal, Rice, Samosas.

See you
Monty Lazar

Writing

2009-10-11T00:01:00.000-07:00

Hullo

Working on 2 new tunes this past week, the first a 40 second intro to an already written one, which is Foodstoolian in it's approach, and the second could turn out to be the heaviest riff-a-thon on the upcoming CD.

Yeah!

Need Sleep

2009-09-25T23:34:00.000-07:00

Ridiculously tired, struggling to get anyhting done.Including spelling anything properly.

Bought a couple stomp boxes off Trade Me recently - a Compressor/Sustainer and a Phase Shifter. Recouped cash by selling Bass I never use.

Porridge, Dates with Soymilk and a dusting of Brown Sugar. Followed by Coffee. Black.

Piece owt.

Tidier

2009-08-29T18:20:00.000-07:00

Kapow!!

The website is now a lot tidier, dead links removed. Reduced price on (sic) CD, to clear some space in the warehouse (back room). Check it here

Cheers ears
Matt

Site Back Up

2009-08-27T00:25:00.000-07:00

Yo

The official website is up and running again and we now have 250Mb of space. That's 5 times more than we had, so there should be a lot more content coming soon, including some live stuff from the end of last year.

Have to re-do the acoustic recording - I think we had the mic pointing away from the guitar and consequently the tracks sound a bit roomy. No biggy, won't take long.

Weetbix and sultanas with rice milk for brekky today, plus fruit-toast with PB and a nice black coffee to wash it all down.

Other news - my mullett is progressing nicely thank you very much.

Over and out.

Revamped Web Site coming!!

2009-08-21T16:52:00.000-07:00

Gidday friends and fans.

It's been a while hasn't it? Bronchitis and many sleepless nights will do that though!

Realised my web hosts had been ripping me off - my plan has been the same for three years and when I perused their website, I realised I could get 5 times the storage for nearly half the price. Nice of them to tell me.

Anyhoo, looking at revamping the website ASAP, with more music to download, and vids and stuff. Got some live material too, so keep your eyes open and check here over the next few weeks.

Besides that, I'll be recording some acoustic guitar parts this coming monday.

I've reverted back to Weetbix and Cheerios with rice milk after my recent porridge experiment.

C U
Matt

Foodstool Vid

2009-07-15T01:39:00.000-07:00

Short song. Short vid. That is definitely not me doing Pilates.
Breakfast was Porridge with Apple Crumble and prune Juice. And a coffee.

Fud Plays Kissinger

2009-07-09T23:40:00.000-07:00

Shazam!!!

OK friends and fans. Here is a short vid of our bass playing child prodigy. His name is Fud and believe it or not, he is only 13.

This vid was taken this afternoon. Fud is playing along with the first part of Henry Kissinger Must Diet(a new tune from the forthcoming CD).

At times, you will notice that Fud has both hands on the fretboard of his custom made 8-string Bass. This is an ancient technique known as "overcocking", or "stringtickling" and is very, very advanced.

Other news - did some drum mixing the other night with Rob Mays in his hillside studio. Going well.

Today, I had porridge and a coffee. And a headache.

What Hum??

2009-06-29T01:25:00.000-07:00

Ahoy there!!

Fingers crossed, the annoying hum might be a thing of the past. Or at least it has been lessened significantly.
So, guitar overdubs can begin in earnest. Plenty of guitar synth parts have been laid down already, so things are finally beginning to move along.
Took about 15 cracks at one rhythm part on Instant Jedi - must lay off the afternoon caffeine. While I am still awake to work, it has left me a bit jumpy.

Had the usual 4 Weetbix with Rice Milk and Cheerios, and one black coffee.

Snippets!!!

2009-06-26T00:06:00.000-07:00

Shalom friends and fans,

For your listening pleasure, and because Myspace now allow you to post 10 songs at once, I have uploaded 2 of the small pieces of music that will appear in between some of the longer songs on the next CD.

Synthyer is only 7 seconds, but I lke it.
Techno Bert vs The Klezzies is longer, but not much.

Check them out here

Represent.

Today I had Apple and Feijoa Crumble for breakfast. And PB on toast.

Pondering The Significance of Foodstool

2009-06-24T00:45:00.000-07:00

Some of you fine folks might be wondering why there is a picture of a stool over by my profile information. If you aren’t wondering, stop reading now.

Well, that is a snap of my beloved Foodstool. Why the name, Matt? I’m glad you asked. My dinner plate used to sit atop this wondrous creation, as our coffee table is a bit too low to the floor for me to eat comfortably.

It also doubled as the stool in my low budget bedroom studio. Now, I’m not saying that genius musical ideas flowed from this stool directly, but ideas were fleshed out and developed over many a night sitting on it, hunched over my guitar and PC.

Such was it’s value in this creative process, I decided to name a couple of songs after it – Foodstool 82 (available from iTunes), The Progressive Adventures of Foodstool (also available from iTunes), and the upcoming Son of Foodstool.

So whatever happens in the future, Foodstool will be immortalized in cyberspace.

So, in summing up, I say thank you Foodstool for being, literally, one of my biggest supporters.

By the way, I had Weetbix, rice milk and Cheerios for breakfast.

Overdubbage!!!

2009-06-19T23:56:00.000-07:00

Kia Ora Whanau!!!

Been doing some guitar and guitar synth parts over the last few days, going well besides the annoying hum that has returned. Can't find the source, but once I do, things will go even faster. Need to work on my chops a bit, as one or two of the tunes are significantly faster than the demo versions. Down-up-down-up-down-up. So to speak.

On a different topic, I had 4 weetbix with a sprinkling of Cheerios this morning. Washed down with some black coffee. Nearly mid winter here in Aotearoa, so porridge season is approaching.

TTFN.
Mattyahoo ben Dovid.

Recording Update

2009-06-10T00:09:00.000-07:00

Hello

Well, we got 2 songs done on the Wednesday - Henry Kissinger Must Diet, and It's Thirteen, then we went back on the Monday after and did another 2 - Mr Weiner Pants, and Instant Jedi.

The recording went well, Kev played his arse off, so now we have 4 songs ready for massive overdubbage.

Thanks to Rob Mayes from Failsafe Records for his Drum Engineering skills.

Links to rough mixes will be up shortly.

Since I am in control of this blog, I thought I would also keep you fans up to date with what I had for breakfast. This morning I had 4 Weetbix with rice milk and 1 slice of toast with peanut butter. Mmmmmm. And a cup of black coffee. No sugar.

Recording Next Week

2009-05-21T23:55:00.000-07:00

Hey friends and fans!
All being well, it looks like we are going to record some bass and drums this coming wednesday.
If we have time, hopefully we can do 4 songs:
Mr Weiner Pants, Instant Jedi, It's Thirteen and Henry Kissinger Must Diet (AKA May 2008).
Fingers crossed.

Praccy Going Well

2009-04-29T00:02:00.000-07:00

We had another practice today. Working on polishing 4 tunes at the moment:

Mr Weiner Pants
Instant Jedi
It's Thirteen
May 2008 (no title yet)

All beginning to come together nicely, particularly May 2008 and It's Thirteen. Some tricky stuff going down there.
Looking to record in the next month, all being well.

Should have some demo cuts up soon so you can get a taste of the new stuff.

Welcome!!

2009-03-31T19:12:00.000-07:00

Welcome friends and fans!!

This blog has been created to keep you up to date with the progress of the writing and recording process for the next CD from The Bob Lazar Story.

We are currently writing and learning tunes with a view to a full length release later this year. The new album has a working title of Space Roots and will be more mathsy/proggy stuff, you know, the clunky, bendy stuff you will never hear on the radio.

New song titles include:

Instant Jedi

It's Thirteen

Mr Weiner Pants

Feel free to suggest some new ones if you like.

Also, for more music, pics and other stuff, visit the official website of The Bob Lazar Story at:

http://www.lucidbrucemusic.com/

Cheers

Matt

The Bob Lazar Story