Matt's Diary

reading: just finished reading "always magic in the air", the story of the brill building writers (carole king, neil sedaka, doc pomus, leiber & stoller, etc.)....very interesting stories, and all in all, a good read....am also reading "the road" by cormac mccarthy, but only a few pages per month, as it is gut wrenchingly sad, and i can only take it in small doses......

listening: bishop allen....go get it for yourselves, you won't be sorry....unless your sorry for those other people who don't have it, in which case i suppose you would be sorry.....

watching: tv

night night
m

so, my experiment has concluded, and i have to say, in some ways, that i'm sad it's over....i mean, everything has to come to an end, eventually....but still, sad that it has to be that way.......
if you're just tuning in, or haven't been keeping up, i'll explain....

for the last two months, i refrained from writing in this diary, to find out whether or not it could write entries on it's own....the diary i mean.......and, as it turns out, it cannot....so, i will begin once again using my own two fingers to record my innermost thoughts, as opposed to leaving that chore to this inanimate object....although, that would have been really cool if it could've done it, don't you think?.......

i love you science

m

It was a dark and stormy night......well, actually, it was a hot and
muggy night, and also dark, come to think of it....so, not so much
stormy.....
The year was 2002.....and a young singer songwriter named Matt the
Electrician was about to meet, for the very first time, a younger
singer songwriter by the name of Southpaw Jones......
As they took to the stage at Cafe Mundi (which happened to be the
front porch at the time), the sky opened up and laser beams and
angels filled the atmosphere, singing the theme from Grease in 12
part harmony (angels and laser beams always sing in teamss of
12)......and the rest, as they say, is history ( or herstory, depending).....
So, it's been 5 years, and this Friday, June 29, Southpaw Jones and i
will celebrate our anniversary at The Cactus Cafe....i believe that
the appropriate gift for a 5 year anniversary is green paper, so
bring some with you.......we will play new songs, old songs, and some
things that may or may not be songs at all.......

That's right, father's day is coming up, and faster than you can imagine.....
i know that you were thinking, "What? Father's day? already? where did the time go?.....
i mean, it was just arbor day, wasn't it?"...and i would have to answer,
"i don't know when arbor day is."....and then we would talk some more,
about life, and books we had read recently, and the economy, and then
i would leave to go home, pretty early even, cause i've got kids, and
that would be that........

Well, summer seems to be here, kind of.....i mean, it's still raining
off and on, and it's pretty cool right now on my porch....so,
actually, maybe summer's not coming.....this could be the end of the
world if we don't see temperatures in the 100s by the end of the
week.....keep your fingers crossed.....

I just finished re-reading Richard Brautigan's "A Confederate General
From Big Sur"....a book that i had not read in 15 years...it's very
strange to read something that you read when you were much
younger......i remember identifying so much with that book back
then......and now?......well, the strangest thing is that there is a
part of me that can still identify with it, but it's a very blurry
part......an out of focus body part, that may or may not exist
somewhere in my midsection........

hmmmm......

my friend andy says that america's decline (still under consideration) is mostly due to the loss of porch culture.....not enough folks hanging out on their respective porches in the evening, greeting neighbors as they partake of their nightly walks......i think i mostly agree with this sentiment, although it has occured to me, that if everyone is sitting on their porches, then who is out walking?......

that is your riddle for the day, please send answers to:
mark twain
coffin town, ms
usa

thanks
m

The day off…..shuichi and I walked to get coffee and breakfast in the morning…..the breakfast was Japanese, and the coffee was from mcdonald´s….strangely enough, the mcdonalds over there has really good coffee…didn´t get any food, but sweet sweet coffee……
We took the train back to Hiroshima, dropped some stuff off at Windfall, and started walking around the town…..saw the craziest toy store ever, and many other shops…..then we went to Peace Park, where they have the Hiroshima Memorial and Museum….to be honest, although I did really want to see this, I was mostly going to take pictures for my mom, cause I know she would have really wanted to go there…..but once I got there, I was blown away…..a very intense place, which is definitely an understatement…..reading about the Japanese military history leading up to World War II was especially interesting…..it´s amazing what you don´t learn in school……
After the museum, we had some food, baked fish and other fish, and then some fish, for good measure…..Shuichi´s friend Maggie then drove us to Shuichi´s home town, Kure, where all the houses are stacked on top of one another in a strange tilting fashion that resembles something out of an Escher…..we loaded our stuff into Shuichi´s house, his mom fed us, and we slept..

Zzzzzzz….
m

In the morning we headed to the train station, and a few hours to Shuunan City…it is in Yamaguchi prefecture, and used to be called by another name….so outside of Shuunan, no one seems to know where you are talking about when you mention it…..
Shuichi´s friend´s Tetsu and Kin-Chan picked us up at the station, and we went straight to a sushi restaurant….
I should point out that before this experience, the only "sushi" I had ever had was either california roll, or once another roll, with a very small amount of raw ground tuna…..so, when confronted with gigantic slabs of raw fish, I was a bit frightened at first….but I managed to eat what I thought was a fair amount of raw things, as well as grilled things….and I liked them all….i was very proud of myself indeed….that is until I noticed my three empty plates next to everyone else´s 8-10 empty plates…..at first, this seemed fine with me…but then my Japanese friends started talking and pointing at me…..eventually some translation was done, and it turns out that I have a very small stomach…which is very funny in Japan, especially for an American…in fact, it became my nickname for the rest of the tour….old mr. small stomach…..
After food, we went to tetsu´s house for a rest, then off to see the first of many shrines I would visit while in Japan….Tetsu walked me through the ritualistic stuff right off the bat, and I think that I prayed for something, but I´m not sure what….but it felt good…..the shrine was beautiful, and we even happened upon a photo shoot for a traditional Japanese wedding….i managed to get a picture of the bride, but I imagine I will have to pay for it in the afterlife……
After a quick cup of coffe, we headed over to the club, Folksong, and set up for the show….the club was bigger than any of the other ones I had played so far, and I was a bit nervous before the show about filling the room…..however, turns out that I needn´t have been nervous at all….i am a rock star in Shuunan City…the audience was stomping and clapping through the whole set, and I signed autographs far into the night….it´s just too bad that no on in Japan knows that this city exists…maybe it was all a dream…

m

keiji met me in front of the hotel and rode with me on the train as far as my connection (insert name of Japanese train station here later), where he left me on the bullet train to hiroshima….they have 3 speeds of bullet train…fast (sound), faster (light), and fastest (fastest)….i was on light…..i rode the first leg by myself, and got off to meet shuichi´s friend kyoko…she is in a band with her husband in Osaka, and they will be playing with me on Saturday…..she rode with me to Hiroshima where we met up with shuichi……shuichi is the brains behind this trip, and he has brought many Austin singer songwriters over to japan before me….he is very cool
we were picked up by shuichi´s friend takashi, who was playing steve james & del ray on his car stereo…after some whirlwind driving through Hiroshima, we went to the hospital to visit kaitsu….he owns the bar in hiroshima where I would have played, but he became very ill…..so after a visit there, and then to his club, we went to the hotel, checked in, and walked to the windfall, where the show would be……
the windfall was much like the bar in Tokyo…set up like a private record collection that sells alchohol….it´s definitely kind of funny to set up for a show while kacy Crowley, southpaw jones, and beaver nelson are playing in the background….only you´re not in Austin…..
then ate pad thai, and played the show….kyoko sat in on background vocal, and a guy from the uk, kit, played harmonica on diaryland….they were both consummate professionals……
I should mention that at this point, jet lag set in pretty seriously….i don´t think I´d ever experienced real jet lag before…..it´s kind of like a combination of getting tattooed, while you have the flu, and someone has just punched you in the head….i must remind myself to avoid this jet lag thing in the future……

m

my first show was at the café goatee in kamakura, during the day, a family show….lots of kids, and they all seemed to like my butchered version of the sesame street theme song…but they also seemed to like looking at their hands, so maybe I did not make as much of an impression as I thought….
After the show, we ate curry at the café, and then left for Tokyo via the train…..joining keiji and I were keiji´s friends andre and yufu….not sure if I spelled that right, it might be aghndrey……we arrived in tokyo (actually, Shinjuku, but also Tokyo, maybe….i don´t really understand)…both keiji and yufu told me that they don´t really like Shinjuku…too many people they said…and they weren´t kidding….i´ve never seen so many people in my life…..imagine times square in new york on crank, with 100 times more people, all under the age of 24, and all wearing black…..all the crosswalks were set up like a giant X in the road, and everyone walks at once….not sure who designed these, but I hope they never come to the states….
We arrived at the Hartford café, where we met Youhei (pronounced YO.HEY)…he´s set up like a disc jockey behind his counter, with walls of cds and vinyl behind him, and he spins records all day, I think….the club was very small, capacity 15, and after I sound checked (played my unplugged guitar in the corner for 3 minutes, and youhei made sure that my whistling was loud enough) keiji said I should leave when the doors opened, and come back for the show….so yufu took me for a walk in shinjuku…I almost lost her a few times in the crowded Shinjuku streets, but thankfully did not……all of a sudden, she jumped into a cab and yelled for me to follow her, but once inside the cab she would not tell me where we were going….i figured, oh great, there goes my kidneys…but, it turns out she was just taking me to the Tokyo park hyatt….the fanciest hotel I have ever seen…we went up to the 52nd floor, to the bar, and it turns out it´s the bar where lost in translation was filmed….also turns out that that´s where all the people from the states are hanging out…we had a quick fruit juice cocktail (I got the whole foods special), and then ran back to a cab, and showed up for the gig 5 minutes late….
Much fun was had by all at the show, or at least I hope so……more curry after the show, and then the train back to kamakura, asleep in the hotel as soon as my head hit the pillow….

Zzzzz
M

well, to begin with, I´m not sure whether it´s day one or day two, really……it seemed as though we were flying backwards through time, and yet we ended up here one day into the future….so, japan is in the future…and I suppose that´s why they are so technologically advanced here….although, most people seem to ride bicycles, so again, I´m quite confused……
The flight was very long, as promised, and very full, so I did not have the chance to spread out and sleep very well….but I did eat some mystery meats, and watched a couple of movies; the prestige, and dodgeball….dodgeball was by far the better movie….i mean, wouldn´t you rather watch adults throwing balls at one another than two magicians arguing to the death?.....
The Tokyo/Narita airport was definitely much like other airports I have been in, except for the pervasiveness of signs written in some other language, which made it hard to know exactly where I should be going….so, I just followed everyone else, most of whom seemed to be Japanese…once again, somewhat odd……customs went smoothly, and they didn´t even blink as I escorted my rocket-donkey through the turnstile (apparently rocket-donkeys in japan are to rollerblades in the states)…
I was met outside in the smoking kiosk by my friend keiji, who walked me through exchanging money, and my rail pass, and then we boarded a train for kamakura….it was about 2.5 hours to kamakura, but I was glad for the chance to stand up and hold a metal ring above my head for all of that time, especially after watching the prestige…..
In kamakura I checked into the new kamakura hotel, and we went to get some food……I was a bit nervous about the food aspect of this trip going in, not because of the Japanese cuisine, but rather I have recently been cutting gluten out of my diet….and if you don´t know what gluten is, don´t worry, neither does anyone else….in fact, although there is a translation for gluten in my Japanese phrasebook, it still doesn´t mean anything to anyone here…..so, I ate whatever was put in front of me, which included raw tuna, raw salmon with salmon eggs, radish salad, and wasabi-seaweed and rice soup….it all tasted very good……
I slept very well at the hotel, and even watched some Japanese sitcom about teenagers who all have really well-styled hair, or, at least I think that´s what it was about…..
Keiji showed me where a convenience store was so I could feed myself in the morning, but once I walked in, I became quite nervous and bought a lighter and some sort of rice ball type thing, running back to my hotel room as fast as I could…..i wanted to get some coffee, but all the coffee shops seem only to be open at night, so I settled for green tea in the hotel room….
And that´s where I am right now, waiting for keiji to come get me for my first show in japan….i´ll let you know how it goes…..

M

it's raining in austin today, and that's a good thing.....maybe this town has come around to the idea of seasons......maybe next summer will be cool and foggy?.......maybe?

m

so, if you head on over to my myspace page ( www.myspace.com/matttheelectrician ), there are a couple of tunes from the new CD.....still not sure when or how it's being released, but we've narrowed it down to either carrier pigeon, or some sort of digital format.....hope you like them.....

m

dear diary,
have recently finished tracking songs for the new CD.....very excited about how it's sounding.....also excited about the idea of eating popcorn right now......we will begin mixing soon, and hopefully have something out in the fall....
also, am recording a live CD with Southpaw Jones at Cafe Mundi next week....that will also be out as soon as we eat popcorn......

love,
m

ummmm...the tour is almost over, and i have been neglectful of you diary.....
the shows have been going great.....LA, San Francisco, Portland, Seattle and Vancouver and Boise have been favorites so far.....i'm in Boulder, CO tonight....so i will let you know how the rock finishes.....

i love you diary....

m

san diego....didn't remember the day......cool outside.......
tucson, very cool club....club congress......good folks....
phoenix, packed show.......hot hot hot......

brain only working in stabs......

will write again when better rested....

m

we played in lubbock last night, and i think i made at least 3 new fans....though i could be wrong about that, cause i did pay them, so they may be more like emplyees now.......

i have employees in lubbock....extremely unperpaid employees.....

now we're in tucson......

i'm finding that when you're the opener, that there's far more down time......

i'm learning to knit and shoot heroin....i'm sure i'll like one of them alot....

talk to you soon diary.....

m

the weepies are gone!! the weepies are gone!!.......and i am bereft of valuables......
well, maybe they'll come again......

thanks to everyone who came out to the cactus......lots of fun....

m

the weepies are coming!! the weepies are coming!!......hide your valuables...

m

oh, and one more.....chris mathison (i think that's his last name, he plays guitar for jack ingram)....go by the continental club, and if you see him, tell him to put out a record, soon....
that's all

m

the folk alliance 2006.....it's over.....here's my report......
tom freund, hammell on trial, melissa ferrick, ana egge, southpaw jones, molly venter (sp?), meg hutchinson, natalia zuckerman
all good....knew about most of them before folk alliance.....re-inforced....for your pleasure....

m

crap....i forgot about the day of answers!....only something bad can come of this......
stop, drop and roll.....hide under your desk.....
i'll check out the folk alliance and let you know what's up.....i promise......
hold your breath...
really....

m

let's just speak hypothetically for a moment, if we could....'k?
if you're a "folk", should you form an "alliance"?....is this even possible?....are "folks" not enough on their own?....do "folks" need that much power?....the power that only an "alliance" can provide and sustain?......
enough questions for today.....
tomorrow, answers.....

m

my dad got me this Kevin Smith book for christmas......and i just started reading it......it's mostly diary-style, taking place during the pre-pre-production for Jay & Silent Bob Strike Back......
it's got cool hollywood gossip.....
and it creates that feeling like you're sitting there listening to him tell you the stories in person....
i've always liked his movies.....never considered myself a fanatic....but while reading this book....i get the feeling that we're friends now.....
no, i don't GET the feeling.....it seems more intuitive than that.....
i wonder what me and Kevin are gonna do tomorrow?....

m

cafe mundi was hopping last night....the special guests rocked the house...and by the house, i mean cafe mundi.....
yeah....

m

i went to trophy's last night, to see ana egge play....there was a time when going to that bar made me feel young and clean....now it just makes me feel old.....
where do all the old guys go to drink now?....

m

hello.....i think i have something to say....hold on......nope, it's gone...

m

a solid month to notice that....so sad, so very sad...

m

moustache ride??

TOM: Today, Matt told me about him and David Crosby and their trip to the Bahamas in ´75. They drank a lot of Captain Morgan´s and wrote songs—Matt even wrote a little bit of "Southern Cross." He wrote the line, " . . . and you know it will."
I think we can all agree that it´s that particular line that puts that smash CSNY single over the top.
That was also the trip where Matt took his first mustache ride.

More soon!

i moved back into my house........now i can sleep.....

m

the weepies...yes, the weepies......good god......that was the best/worst show i've ever been a part of......best: the weepies are almighty.....they topple buildings...they level entire cities....
haven't seen a show that good in quite some time.....
now, worst:..."wait, i have to play now?"....."after that world altering performance, i have to play?".....
i decided today that i'll keep on writing songs and playing, but it was touch and go there for awhile.....
so, if you missed the show, or you still haven't heard the weepies, then get out there and buy a cd.....i command you.....

m

i don't like computers....sorry computers....

m

rain today.....good stuff...unless you're trying to paint the outside of your house...which i am....
hmmm...rain

m

wow....it sure has been awhile since i've written in you diary.....i'm sorry for the lapse...it won't happen again.....

i'm a much slower electrician than i used to be......

m

anchorman is the funniest movie ever...more so the second time...

m

it's pretty damn cold in oregon right now...by cold, i mean, like 60 degrees.....i know that's not that cold, but i'm a wuss...a wuss from texas....also, there's this wet stuff falling from the sky...i think the gods must be displeased with me somehow....

m

just found out the other day that i'm one of 10 finalists in the Telluride Bluegrass Festival Troubador Competition.....i think this is the equivalent of American Idol, but with more banjos and less showering...we'll see.....

m

sorry for the long quiet spell, diary.....shhhh...i'm sleeping.....

well....sxsw is over.....i'm tired....i'm older....i'm wiser.....i'm dumber..
i saw jesse harris.....solo acoustic....it was awesome....as was amy correia (sp?).....
i think i'm gonna be a bricklayer when i grow up....

m

if it's raining in austin....and it's raining in houston...would you assume that it would be raining in lafayette?.......

m

long, long, long, long way home indeed........

m

i've reached the half way point of "the green hills of africa", and i've decided that i'm enjoying it now. i had thought that the subject matter was tedious at the start, but now i find myself entrenched in the meditation of the hunt. i imagine i'll see it through to the finish. perhaps i too will hunt kudu one day. perhaps someone will tell me what a kudu is. perhaps it will be raining cats and kudu when i wake up. perhaps, perhaps, perhaps.

m

the cedar fever has arrived.....or else i have a cold....i prefer to think that it's cedar fever...somehow allergies sound less disgusting than viral illness...less contagious...but, we'll never know for sure....
played cafe mundi tonight with paw and danny schmidt.....danny was very good, and hopefully we'll have him back soon....paw was great as usual, and i'll have him back every week.....
new song is called 'it cannot be helped'....hopefully soon, i'll have demos of new songs available on the website, but first i have to get a recording device.....this could take awhile, as recording devices are large and cumbersome in this day and age, and also very elusive.....

m

spent the last weekend cleaning and re-arranging my living room.....now i just want to stay in my living room...forever.....bye now...

m

i just finished writing my song for the week...."return to the cookie"....it is a rock opus...actually, i don't even know what opus means.....but i think it's something to do with the length, in which case, this new song is not an opus at all.....it's the anti-opus

m

wheeeeeee!!

tomorrow in the a.m., i will attempt to teach 3rd-5th graders how to write songs....in the course of an hour.....this does not bode well for our hero, as it is late now, and only getting later.....
damn it, why didn't i study.....
nothing has changed since 7th grade......
i blame excessive viewing of the season 1 dvd of 'arrested developement'.....
you can too....wheeeeee....

m

friday, we played at the saxon pub....the night of 1000 scrappy jud's.....very cool show...lots of fun....and radio mike from new york took some photos.....also fun...

m

i just saw the movie elf....pretty rad.....i cried....
-m

me, casey and paw are HotBand.com's
Artist of the Month for decemeber....
who knew that three guys could
add up to one artist of the month?
i didn't know... . m

southpaw jones....casey holford....myself....
three men.....on a mission....
we went into this with the knowledge that we might not come back.....but my friends, not only did we come back, but we have accomplished what we set out to do....we have taken back the folk....i give most of the credit to our resolve, for only with resolve, can we truly hope to become more resolveish....
furthermore, we have the folk, and will hold it for interrogation...it currently resides in a 4 x 6 room in an undisclosed part of austin....we consider the folk an enemy combatant, and as such, there will be no messy trials or disclosure of any kind from here on out....only torture, and eventual execution.....
long live electronica!

-m

i'm in boston....and i went candle-pin bowling today....and, as it turns out, i kinda suck at candle-pin bowling...although i'm a little bit better than seela.....

m

hello diary.....the west coast was very fun, although i didn't write in you like i was supposed to...bad me
just released the new cd in austin, and we had a great show at the cactus cafe.....southpaw jones put on a practically mythical opening set...and by mythical, i don't mean that it might not have happened, but rather that it was very minotaur-like....
seela and i leave for the east coast on wednesday, and we have a contest going to see who can pack the least amount of clothing....i'm gonna get one of those new-car-smell thingies for my rear-view mirror...
talk to you soon diary....or later....

m

it's day something...not sure what....portland was fun....the mississippi studios is a great venue, and i can't wait to play there again...port townsend was beautiful, and rainy, and we all had really good breakfasts and bought $5 wool hats......
in seattle i bought a pair of shoes for $7....
i have a wool hat and comfy shoes.....and i'm only out $12....

day 1...we drove 18 hours to Boulder, CO....then, turns out, we were 8 hours early for our gig....so, we slept on the lawn in front of the university of colorado....later, turns out, we were double booked with a comedy open mic....whoopeee.....
coming soon...day 2....

there once was a girl from garland.........damn it, i'm not good at this.....

this entry is for the woman in richardson that pointed out that i hadn't written in my diary in awhile......there once was a boy from dallas, and he lived with his girl in a palace, he ate caviar, and drove a jaguar, and never develpoed a callous....
not the best limerick ever, but it's after midnight.....

just got back from recording basic tracks for the new record in Houston....it went very well, and Tom and Jon are very fast....i'm trying to record 3 records at once, and release them all by the end of the year.....i'm completely insane...and my head hurts....and i found three gray hairs this morning.....could this all mean something?

well...i don't feel that my last entry truly stands alone as art....it's half assed....it's disgraceful....i should be ashamed....and indeed i am.....i am truly sorry for attempting to pass off pointless drivel as some form of entertainment.....you deserve better.....and though you do not ask anything of me, i shall police myself....i call myself out.....after school.....at the bike racks.....

m

it is a dark and stormy night......but actually, quite pleasant.....mmmm, dark and stormy....

ok....fort worth was good...i played with aj roach.....aj good.....we stopped for food....waffle house....waffle house?.....waffle house bad....a baby cockaroach dropped from the sky and landed on what was left of my egg and sausage sandwich.....good thing i was done eating....whew

m

soon...very soon...i will embark upon a journey....a long and possibly treacherous journey....laden with unknown pitfalls....and pratfalls...and spit takes, even.....
this journey may take 3 hours....or it may take 4...i cannot know which it will be....there is no way...do you hear me?...THERE IS NO WAY!
this journey will test every aspect of my constitution...physical........emotional......mental....and all of the other, lesser known, aspects as well...
this journey may end well, but there is a chance it may never end at all....
no.....it will end....i am sure of it....
this journey, my dear friends, ends in fort worth.....
may god have mercy on our souls

matt

hello diary.....i feel as though we are drifting apart....is it me?......don't worry, you can tell me....i won't hate you.....i know i've been hard to deal with lately.....things have been hard...what with daddy losing his job at the mill....i think we might have to go on relief.....i'm so tired of government cheese.....

m

i can't believe i told you that i would not write again....what a bastard i am....i'll never act that way again, i promise....unless i change my mind.....ummmm....i'll get a fresh start with the next entry....it'll be like a new me....a new day, new way.....a rising sun.....baby birds, wildflowers....the fresh breath of spring....next one, really.....really....

ok....clearly i haven't kept up my end of the deal....i am not the worlds best diary-writer....i may be the worlds worst diary writer.....if this is true...i mean, if i am indeed the worst (none worser than me), then i pledge to do everything within my power, to get worse and worse....
i will not share my thoughts and feelings, not even with myself....i will not write anoth...............

hello?....is anyone out there?....this is matt...welcome to my diary....it's 1200 square feet, 3 bedroom, 2 bath, and it even has a hot tub....i feel lucky that i bought when i did...considering how the diary market can be in austin...
i plan to set aside time each day to write a little in this, and then later erase it, so no one will ever know what i was thinking
hmmm...so far, not a winning entry, but i will keep trying...every day...rain or shine....
you'll see...i'll be the best damn diary keeper you've ever seen...
i love you diary
-matt