All moved in...

Nick's mostly moved in and we're settling into the house...to read about the adventures of the Dubach House, read the special online journal just for that... Click here for the Dubach House Blog

G'night friends,
-Rod

Burnt Mac & Cheese, Crashings, and Fighting Temptations

So it's been ages since I last posted, but I actually have a good excuse this time. A couple days ago my computer totally died and I had to ressurect it from the dead.

Anyway, since then, Nick drove down from Jersey and moved in. The night before that I was making mac and cheese. I started boiling the pasta part and realized I didn't have butter so I ran to the grocery store to get some. When I got back, the water was boiled gone and I had somehow managed to burn mac and cheese.

I watched "The Fighting Temptations" the other day and got hooked, I watched it 4 times in a row immediately afterwards. The movie has some of the most incredible music ever in it. Everyone should check it out. It also has a great message in it: everyone should be welcome into God's house, but the state of the church today is exclusive and kicks people out.

I also got myself an early birthday present and got the new Ma$e CD, "Welcome Back". It has some great "feel good" music in it.

I'm tired, so I'm going to bed, but I will write more later...I can't believe I'm almost 22! So OLD!
-Rod

Story of the Year...

Until the day I die....hehe just kidding...

For those of you who didn't get the joke, don't worry about it, it wasn't a very good one...

So it's been a while since I last posted (thanks Jacie for reminding me) so I decided today would be a good day to catch up.

Well, the story of the year happened on Thursday, but we'll rewind to Tuesday first. On Tuesday, I went to the college's Student Development office and asked to move into my campus housing early. They said I could as long as I volunteered for the furniture moving crew for the remainder of the summer. However, I couldn't sleep there Wed. night or be there Thurs. during the day because the cleaning crew could come in anytime then to clean and I needed to keep all my stuff in the closets and the food in the cupboards and refrigerator so they could clean. I did all of that. On Wed. afternoon I purchased around $200 in groceries and bought a TV. I slept at a friend's house on Wed. night and went to work Thurs. morning. On my lunch break, I decided to stop in and see how the cleaning was going. When I arrived, I found the cleaning crew doing an excellent job cleaning, but also throwing away all of my groceries and belongings. I even found my TV (which was still in the box) in one of their cars! No one had told them I had moved in early and they thought it was all stuff left over from summer housing! So most of my material possessions were now deep in the college dumpster! As of now, the school and I are working on what exactly they need to do to reimburse my loss. I'd expect myself to be very upset with this, but when I went to the administration to tell them what had happened, I couldn't stop laughing. I guess it was either that or punch someone. All in all, this had to be the highlight story of this year...and it hasn't started yet!

Tonight I went to see "The Village" which was great, but not as good as the other M. Night movies...it really makes you think about the state of the human condition...and the stinkin' musical score rocks! It is some of the most beautiful violin work I've heard in a while! It was so inspiring I immediately purchased the soundtrack and listened to it on the way home. When I got home I began sketching out 6 different songs! I am on such a musical high now it's awesome! Pray that it keeps going and that immediately following the writing high, I'll have a recording high and I'll actually have an album this year as opposed to previous years of nothing.

Coming soon to a blog near you...Rod's "Summary of the Summer" and what it all means!

Thanks for all your support everyone...
-Rod

Got your number written on the back of my hand...how I wish I could talk to you now...

The title of today's post is a line out of song coming up...

Not much time today, but here's a cool quote I came across:

Don't ask yourself what the world needs; Ask yourself what makes you come alive and then go do that...because what the world needs is people who have come alive.
-Harold Whitman

Excuse me could I be you for a while...

Yes, I'm still quoting Tori Amos' "Silent All These Years"...have I mentioned it's a GREAT STINKIN' song?! hehe...anyway, I just got off the phone with Elizabeth again...actually one of our phones died...it's kind of funny how that works, there's not very many people that can happen with...she's just cool like that. I'm not one to disclose a personal conversation, but she's still watchin' out for me, which is a great feeling. And I hope I can be half that to her...

In other news...the studio sessions have finally come to a yellow light and it looks like we'll be finishing this summer off with 46 tracks! Only about 25 of them may see the light of day as far as an album release from Urban D, but they're all great tunes. 15 of them are being released for a hardcore/club CD proving the guys can spit with the best of the hardcore crew and the other 10 are going on the next traditional Urban D release featuring all the crossover and fusion material. The remaining 21 are most likely going to be sorted through for Josh's own solo album and whatever's left after that will be rare B-Sides that somehow are only sold in Europe =).... so it's been a productive summer...I can't believe it's almost over! I go to Indy with Josh this Friday to visit all the Indy folk and then back to Greenville for one more day of tracking and one more day of mixing/mastering. After that, it's just me relaxing, moving, and preparing for the semester to begin!

Anyway, everyone needs to memorize this CD cover and go out and get it...this album was history making...


(Yes...it has "Silent All These Years" on it...)

G'night everyone, Soli Deo Gloria...
-Rod

Word Of The Day, Kids, Is "Arrogance"

Welcome to the freakshow...without saying too much, I'm just going to say everyone needs to examine themselves and make sure they're not being so arrogant you forget other people have good ideas too...and that you've given up what's valuable (friends and other people) in the name of yourself which has lost everything eternal for the sake of fame or fortune or what you percieve that way...

Anyway, be good kids, later,
-Rod

My Screams Got Lost In A Paper Cup...Do You Think There's A Heaven Where Those Screams Have Gone?

So as you can tell by today's post title, I'm still hooked on Tori Amos' "Silent All These Years." It's like when you know you need to use your life for the benefit of others, but you still have to find your voice and stand up against people who try to use you and dominate you. Working in music I've found thats kind of all around. People want to use you for songwriting, free studio time, and more all in the name of fame and money...neither of which you can take with you when you leave this earth...but no one seems to care. Trust is a commodity that is impossible to come by now. Anyway, I've been sneaking away at times from the studio times to write some of my own new material, the new Tori stuff has really inspired me to return to my roots of Rod + Piano + Life = Music. Only now, as my friend Cory put it, I have $80,000 of college education in music and more years of life behind me and so hopefully everyone will be hearing some epic stuff soon. I've been pressured since coming to study music to play just classical or just blues or just pop and being asked what is your primary instrument and what style are you? Blah...Blah...Blah....those of you that know me well know that I've never been a person that the word "just" has ever described...for that matter, "style" has never been a good one either. I'm a musician, end of story...I'll play violin, piano, or kazoo...whatever it takes. So the critics and the peer pressure can kiss my shoe because I can do it all. I've been trying so hard to play one thing so well I've forgotten to just be the Rod that God created. So I promise everyone I'll be spending more time with my girlfriend (the Yamaha piano in the practice rooms) and pray that I still got it. This engineering thing is cool and being able to play Bach is cool and playing 12 bar blues is cool...and all of those will pay my bills, but I'm a musician first and foremost.

Another thing that really brought my confidence and spirits up was this last Friday. We were on intermission for the Urban D guys' last acoustic tour stop and I had set up an interview with the guys and a new magazine called "Artist's Lair" that shows some very promising success. The guys were being interviewed and I was sitting in the back observing just making sure things were going smoothly. At the end of the interview, the guy from the magazine pointed at me and asked the guys how they met me. Josh (the king of negativity) said that I attended school with them and was an accomplished musician. Getting the phrase "Accomplished Musician" or accomplished anything for that manner is probably equal to winning gold at the Olympics. So that was a good day for me...

So that was a long rant...but at least I'm not talking about joining the Postal Service and carrying firearms...hehe...

So anyway, brief summary of what's on my mind now:

1. Everyone needs to see "Bourne Supremacy."
2. Everyone needs to listen to Tori Amos' "Silent All These Years" at least once (probably a million times and in your sleep if you're like me.)
3. Keep an eye out for a couple movies that look like they'll be cool: The Forgotten, Finding Neverland, and Ray.
4. Thanks for all your support and friendship through the years.

Later,
-Rod

P.S. For those of you in Indy/Kokomo I'll be visiting this Friday (August 6) hope to see you! Elizabeth, I'm still working in getting to Texas!

Yes, I Know What You Think Of Me You Never Shut Up...

So I finally went out and got Tori Amos' greatest hits CD and was listening to it. It has 20 tracks and a DVD! Even though I already own all the songs, the cool thing is that she actually went in and re-mastered each song and added orchestras and such which has made me very happy... :) there are also 3 new songs on there which are killer. I was listening to it the other day and rediscovered "Silent All These Years"... man, what a GREAT SONG! Click here if you have RealPlayer to watch the video. Sit yourself in a dead quiet room, turn the song on to a moderate level, and close your eyes...I guarantee tears will begin to well up in your eyes! Even though this song has many general meaning as well as specific meanings, I've been humming one line to myself all day and it's been hitting me everytime...

"I know what you think of me you never shut up...I don't care, sometimes, I said sometimes I hear my voice and it's been here...silent all these years..."

Those words just make you not worry about things as much and move on...something I definately need to do...I find myself getting easily frustrated with the Urban D guys (mostly Josh) because no one wants to understand how it is to be in my shoes sitting in a control room staring at a computer screen for hours while someone else is whining about how their guitar tone is messed up after I told them it would be an hour ago. I'm trying to learn to be more patient, but I also pray Josh understands that if my job is to edit and mix and his is to play guitar, then we both stick to our guns to get the job done instead of stepping into each others' territory and making a bigger mess of things rather than art. I think after working with the guys from Derrty Entertainment, he saw how things ran professionally and I was reminded that there were people out there that understand.

I got an e-mail from my long lost former roomie, Adam, last night...for those of you who don't know, Adam and his brother (also my roomie) disappeared one morning in February (moved out I guess without telling me where and why) and I haven't heard from them since. I guess me and Adam are going to work on rebuilding our friendship and come to an understanding of that situation...because I was very confused by it...Adam's been my roomie here at school for 2 years and my closest friend ever since I came here.

I'm trying to find a way back to Indy this weekend to A.) Visit my parents. B.) Visit my friends. and C.) Pick up my new car. But we'll see how that will work, I'm also trying to convince Josh to go to Texas sometime soon so I can ride down with and visit Elizabeth...that will be cool, I miss that girl...she's always been the one I never had to explain myself to...I was me and she got it...amazing...great things are in store for that girl...

Anyway, it is way too late...time for bed...
Soli Deo Gloria,
-Rod