This is just a short update to let everyone know that The Bearison Online Store is now OPEN!
It's a page on our fancy flash website: BEARISON.COM
The site itself has also been updated to Version 1.3, which sounds pretty sweet. It just looks better than it did. It's also about half the size of the previous version, which means about half the load time. You're welcome.
Now go buy some stuff!!!! That required 4 exclamations.
So, let me start this by saying that all the members of Bearison looked awesome this Halloween. Lucas was a spitting image of Heath Ledger's joker. Matt went as the sex machine Brian Fantana from Anchorman. Jesse dressed up as the legendary Ron Burgundy from Anchorman. As for myself I was just a zombie with a big bolt sticking out of my face.
We had a good practice yesterday(11/2/08). The creative juices were definitely flowing between the four of us. We have 2 more songs started that I think are awesome. I can't wait to get all of our other unfinished material....well....finished! It is going to be interesting next week when we try to finish some of these songs. Keep your fingers crossed for us and maybe we'll get something completed.
I made french toast for the first time this weekend too. It was awesome, but it would've been better if I had powdered sugar to add to it. Sugar makes everything better. Wait, so does ranch dressing. Hmm french toast with ranch dressing...I wonder....nope nevermind that sounds gross!
I'm finally getting my tattoo started this Saturday. I'll post some in progress pics once I get this beast started. I'm hoping it will only takes a couple sessions, but who knows when it will be done.
Well my bear cubs story time is over and winter is approaching. You better go and get ready to hibernate.
--- band news: we had practice today, and it was really nice. we've had a bugger of practices lately, but this one went really smoothly. we hung out, worked on two new songs that have a lot of potential, and a mere 75% of us ate papa bear's chili (while a wholehearted 100% of us nibbled at papa bear's new culinary delight - salmon biscuit things).
overall participation points for the day:
mike | 100 lucas | -20 matt | -30 jesse | 110
--- too hunkered out (from rocking so ridiculously hard) to do links.
--- personal news: may be heading northeastish at the end of this semester or for next school year. back to the indy area. doing my classes online next semester. more time in a comfortable place (ie. the internet) and less time in an uncomfortable place (ie. a classroom). i signed up for astronomy and earth science and some classes unworthy of a mention. lyns'll be going to iupui maybe, and i'll be in the fifth dimension (the internet), so i'll just follow her. why wouldn't i?
--- books: i got some new books. i love reading so much all of the sudden. i can't stand reading what i'm supposed to (college), but i am completely infatuated with space right now. the cosmos and all.
currently reading/looking at: Cosmos by Carl Sagan Notes From the Holocene by Dorion Sagan Cosmos by Giles Sparrow and all kinds of shit on the internet...
i picked out a telescope i want.
--- music: currently listening: The Hawk Is Howling by Mogwai The Lemon Of Pink by The Books Dear Science by TV On the Radio Intimacy by Bloc Party
first two = really good. second two = jury's still out thus far.
anyone on earth could potentially find something in The Books. just give 'em a chance.
--- currently awaiting: Thursday split with Envy Selftitled by United Nations Eros by Deftones Mean Everything To Nothing by Manchester Orchestra No Siraeb by Bearison whatever's next from Animal Collective
i just ordered the first two, and should get them this week... i'll definitely let you (the BeariSONS) know.
--- notes: i need to go to a beach or a concert soon.
--- p.s. - i know chad's reading, but is anyone else?
Good evening. Well we had another practice Sunday. It was good. We actually played "Storm" and "Shelter", both for the first time since our show on 8/23. We remembered them perfectly and it felt really good. We also polished "Jukebox Hero" a little bit. I tell you what, Michael adding that bassline just takes it to a whole new level. Also, adding to our current attempts at Thrice songs, we learned some of "Firebreather", which felt really cool.
Equipment updates: I put a new jack in the Rhodes finally. It sounds more beautiful than it did. I bought a 12 channel firewire mixer for us to record with. This allows for 12 independent channels to be sent to a computer at the same time. Freaking amazing. We also purchased a drum mic kit. And in the very near future will invest in some mic cables/stands and a headphone mixer. Then our album will definitely be underway.
Site updates: I have set up a PayPal merchant account and a store page for the site so we can sell some stuff now. It's not live yet, but we'll let you know. I've also been messing with audio players and streaming options for our site. I've made major headway, but there are several things hindering it from happening yet. Legal issues, servers, bandwidth, copyright, all that sort of stuff. We'll let you know on that also.
Other things: Baxter got neutered. Awesome. I drunk dialed my apartment office and told them I wasn't renewing my lease. So I guess I will have to move soon. My dad acquired and gave me Peter Gabriel - Security on vinyl, which I have been looking for forever. Jesse will be Ron Burgundy for Halloween and Lucas will be The Joker. I'm still deciding on mine. Mos def something with a moustache though. I think Michael might be too cool for school this year. I love all of the edited horror/sci-fi on TV now. AMC is the shit. I'm carving a pumpkin for a contest at my workplace. Gonna win that FOSHO. Listening to Air right now. I would kill for a vibraphone. Just listened to "Double Bass" by Gorillaz. I would kill for half of Damon's talent. My older, wiser sibling Chris bought the old-school hip-hop CD that we've all thought about buying. Been listening to Kurtis Blow, Run, Coolio, and I think Digable Planets are DOPE. If only music now had the magic that this stuff had. I guess that's it. I'm gonna go roll with Kid 'N Play.
We had practice today. Unfortunately, Michael was a little under the weather, so he had to sit this one out and get better. We wish him a speedy recovery.
We other three, basically just hung out. We discussed Halloween costumes. We watched some football. Ate some food. Lucas made a friend in the dog Banks. Watched the trailer for Big Trouble in Little China. Awesome.
Then we attempted to play Lost Continent and Jukebox Hero. Lost Continent was tough, and we'll blame that on not having a bassist.
But Jukebox Hero was sweet and that will be a crowd favorite for sure. "JUST ONE GUITAAAAARR!!!"
We won't be able to practice next weekend. Jesse has a concert Saturday, and I'm going to a badass craft fair Sunday. I'm fuckin pumped! The following weekend, Lucas has to work Sunday, so we'll see if Saturday will work out.
On a personal note, Chris needs to get Baxter neutered. Ask Jesse about that. I got $100 for opening a Chase account. Got some frozen pizzas from my dad. Happy birthday to Katie on Tuesday. Got a cool peach crate for my records. I'm excited about moving. Got the previous post's issues taken care of except for the car recall. Ummmm. That's all I guess. We'll post regularly throughout this couple week break. Stay sweet.
OH MY GOD THE INTERNETS You can literally do anything you want on here. I just finished somehow transferring my face...an actual captured image of my own features, onto a yearbook picture of someone from what looks to be the 1970's? How this is physically possible is beyond me. Matt tells me it all has to do with pixels and such. He said "it's way beyond you, gingerballs." And I believe him.
Photo by Lynne Hulbert. (For details on how to help Michael and I cope with this new way of life, visit Coping with Technology. Thank you Thomas Kuk, American Society of Baking. The International Web of America is too important a discovery to let slide.)
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As Matt has stated, we will be working on covers at this Sunday's practice. Earlier in the week I finally picked up Thrice's The Alchemy Index vol. I & II. My brothers are grand. They were right, it was a necessary purchase. I'm excited to cover "Lost Continent." "Night Diving," track 4 on Water, totally blows me away. I think Bearison could do something similar, or possibly a cover. Doubtless I will be purchasing volumes III & IV soon enough.
As for Bitch: it's almost there, but a break won't hurt a thing. I think it definitely has the potential to be the masterpiece we intended it to be.
I'm excited about Bearison, and I have been for a long time. To prove my point, here is a "list of excitements," if you will.
List of Excitements~~~~~~~~~~~~~
1. Writing & Recording our Album 2. Producing the Album 3. Shows after we have finished our Album 4. Going on tour with Mogwai next spring
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In my individual endeavors, I seem to be in transition. Still trying to move to Bloomington, go back to college, whatnots. Until I get that jazz figured out, I'll be working pretty much full-time with my two jobs. I've been doing a lot of reading, lately Cosmos by Carl Sagan. It kicks my ass every day with new insights about the entire multiverse. You guys, I think I really want to be an astronaut. Not kidding. (p.s. - thanks to the helms for introducing me to that book. and almost every other good media ever.)
Things are pretty swell though. I love my jew, and I love my Bearison.
This is whats new in my world. Not to be confused with Beakman's World or Bobby's World for that matter. No this is Michael and Bearison's world.
As Jesse stated I do have a "fear of technology". Mice scare me with their lasers of death, and monitors always make me feel like some little microchip demon is watching me from the inside.
As my bros Matt and Jesse(not really my brothers like they are to each other) said the writing is going well. We have a decent amount of half finished material that I'm proud of. I can't wait to finish these songs and unleash them on the masses! I'm excited to work on some covers though. Bearison covering Foreigner should be interesting to say the least.
Anyway, this is whats new with me. I'm finally getting my next tattoo drawn up. I say finally because it has been 2 years since I received my last one. This new beast is gonna be awesome! I'm not gonna spill all the beans about it, but I will tell you that it involves a Nintendo controller and some bio mechanical elements. I'll post some pics when I get it done. Tomorrow night I'm heading up to Ft. Wayne to catch a Trivium show. I should have one hell of a time.
Well until next time my little bear cubs take care and have your pets spade or neutered.
1. one of my all-time favorite songs. early at the drive-in has the ferocity of punk but doesn't overall eat shit like punk did. 2. if the internet has done one thing right, it's made it much easier for me to get my spanified faith no more. laugh all you want, but it's still a badass song. it's almost even sexier... 3. chad put this on in the car for me the other day, and i really enjoyed it. go figure. i love how hip-hop uses strings. it's so funny, but sometimes it just kind of works or something. 4. my favorite neutral milk hotel song. recently got back into this cd, and some of it is just kind of annoying. some of it, though, really is beautiful. 5. the alchemy index... shit. it's all perfect. hearing good songs done acoustically is always nice. 6. mogwai's new album is amazing, but they've never set a mood quite as well as they did with the "young team" songs. 7. one of broken social scene's better instrumental noise jams... 8. panda bear recently remixed a notwist track, and i need to find that. "bro's" is fuckin' cool, though, even though i'm sure matt, michael, and lucas will naysay all day long. for the full effect, listen at sunrise driving through southern alabama. though, it does take him way too long to do what the beach boys could do in 2 minutes... 9. i still haven't gotten their newest, but this song is cool. not my favorite vocally, but the music is cool as shit. 10. michael put this on the other night, and i liked it. i am currently listening to matt's copy of "the destruction of small ideas," though. i love them, but i hate thinking about how they make their music. makes me want to puke all over someone. 11. the books... shit. they're inspiration. 12. another demo of this song? it's my least favorite, but, hell, the third version of one of my favorite band's best songs? shit... the lyrics aren't the best in this version, but fuck anyone who doesn't like geoff's voice. no one pours their heart and soul into every song like he does. 13. yeah, i bought this cd at the louvre. yeah, they tell a story in three minutes. yeah, it'll be stuck in your head for days. yeah, i hope they don't fuck up their sophomore album. 14. wrong title, i know. i didn't name the upload. some douchebox did. it's a demo, and matt has 'em, so ask him if it's the demo title or just some too-lazy-to-google-it downloader's fuck up.
this is music that i like and that influences me. i might post these every once in awhile.
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blogging was an idea thought of by matthew, leader of bearison. i like it, but we'll prolly be the only two posting on here. michael has "fear of technology," and lucas hasn't, as of yet, been told of the internet.
bearison's going well. we're writing as matt said, so that's cool. i love my band and my bearison brothers. i am so fortunate to have this outlet, and no other drummer in the world has a better setting to grow as a musician.
life... well, college blows. i show up in the classroom about 30% of my scheduled time. i hate it. i need a job. i am also basically homeless. this is not to say i don't have homes to go to, but i do live mostly out of my '93 sentra. i love all of my relationships (girlfriend, family, friends, bandmates), though, and that keeps my chin up.
personally, i've been spending a lot of time outdoors lately. i'm not a hippie or native american, so this won't influence my music directly. but it is nice to get out every so often. and fall is ballin.
-jesse michael helm
p.s. - i am raising seamonkeys. couple weeks in, and it's the absolute shit.
We decided to start this to give updates on Bearison while we work on new material, record, and whatever else we do. We'll have updates here from each member. We decided on Blogspot since we hate the Myspace, and are fighting it in every way that we can.
Anyhow, we will update this with greater detail than the Myspace blog. But we will more than likely post bulletins on that fuckin Myspace when we update over here. We can only fight it so much. --- Our last practice was this previous Sunday, the 5th. This was a rough one...
We've got 3 or 4 new songs in the works. For the past 3 sessions, we have been working on a song tentatively called "Bitch", simply because it has been a bitch to write. It's pretty, soft, and emotional, but musically, it's tricky.
This song has taken it's toll on us and we've decided to set it aside for next weekend. We have planned 2 cover songs to work on instead, to hopefully refuel ourselves. One is originally by Thrice, the other originally by Foreigner. We'll see how those turn out... --- As far as personal things go, I have been hard at work at my cubical job in Westfield. Growing up... I love it. It's horrible. I'm amidst car recalls, identity thefts, IRS problems, library collection agencies (for a small origami book), and shitty apartment management. I'm also about to move further north, possibly Castleton-ish, at the beginning of December. Love this time of year. Can't wait for Halloween and sweatshirts. Currently listening to new Taproot and new Mogwai. Hurry up Deftones! And there may be a YES concert in my near future...
