Conrad Sparnroft - Diary

May 25

I'm ending my diary strike. The band is really starting to gel and the music is flowing out of me a lot more easily. In the past, I have been in bands with some amazing players, but the members haven't always gotten along! Egos, including mine, took over and we lost focus. I don't foresee that happening in this band; Jay, Dan and I are easy going and we have an unwritten agreement: The SONGS come first! If a part doesn't add to a song, then it shouldn't be there! It has taken me a long time to get to this place because I used to want to fill up every space with my guitar playing. I wanted to show eveyone that I could play well, but I've come to the realization that the ability not to play is even more important!
Don't get me wrong, I'm very capable of spewing out 32nd notes, but it isn't always necessary!

May 30th

As May comes to an end, I eagerly anticipate the month of June! We have 4 (count them) gigs, starting with Wednesday, June 2 at the Continental. I haven't played the Continental since 1998! The Continental kicks ass: they have a great sound system and a competent sound man. We will definitely kick some serious butt(J. Lo's). The good thing is that we can get a recording off the sound board, and we will hopefully put some of those songs on the web site for your aural pleasure.
We have a few new songs, we will be playing our rendition of Jimi Hendrix' song, "Fire". Well, I have to go and take the kids to see Shrek 2 before I have band practice!

June 3

The gig went extremely well last night, we rocked the place! Unfortunately, there weren't too many people there. We recorded a CD off the sound board and there are some great takes."Rage of Angels" and "Rock your Vote" were exceptional! (We will put some of these songs on the website asap.)

The night was tarnished when I went to pickup my car and it wasn't where I parked it... I was freaking out: was my car stolen or did Mayor Mike's posse tow it? It turned out to be the latter, and I'll take that over my car being stolen! It is ironic that it was towed from the same spot that my good friend Leroy Aiello and I parked on Saturday(and we weren't towed!) when we went to see Vernon Reid at Joe's Pub.(By the way, Vernon rocked out as always. I highly recommend buying his new album, "Known Unknown".) Where was I... Oh yeah, Jay ,the Savior of the night, took pictures of the misleading street signs( Yes, I will be contesting this f@#ing sh*t!)and brought Dan and I to the impound ON 38th St.( Can you say "HELL ON EARTH"?)to pick up my car. I like to think that last night was an expensive rehearsal, $300 WORTH! I got to bed around 3am. Yes, I learned my lesson, I will always put my car in a parking lot. I don't wish this experience on my enemies!

We will be playing at Otto's Shrunken Head(East 14th St.)on Friday the 18th and I hope they have half the sound system they had at the Continental.

Thanks again to Kwesi and Soul River(They also rocked out!), Zach(the great sound man), Jay and all the other bands and friends that watched us!


June 8th

Well, I went and fought the parking ticket and ... Yup, I beat the ticket!!! I'm as happy as a pig in shit! Next on the list, I have to get my $$$ back for the tow. Everything has been going well. I can't wait for this weekend's rehearsal, I'll be using my fretless guitar and my Roland GR-1 guitar synth, which I hope to use on the next few gigs. Gotta go to Tai Chi class, peace out.

Take Care,
Conrad

June 21st

The doubleheader weekend came and went and in retospect, the gigs went well despite some technical difficulties. Jay and I used fretless instruments for "Earthbound Angel" and we pulled it off!(Although, my fretless guitar needs a set-up, you hear that Leroy!) I used my Roland GR1 guitar synthesizer for two songs: "Love Me" and "Delta of Venus" on Friday night, IN FACT, I had so much gear with me that I couldn't fit on the small stage. I set up most of my equipment on the floor.(Stay tuned, I will have a guitar god/gear geek page coming in the near future!)
I look forward to this summer(my favorite season!), we have a few gigs booked and hopefully a few more will happen. We plan on recording some time in late July/early August. I'm also quite astounded that there are people reading this stuff, thanks! Your feedback will also be helpful, so come and see us and email us!

July 1, 2004

While Jay and Dan were pouring out their emotions in cyberspace, I was chasing my children around the beach and building sand castles. (You should have some summer song playing in the background as you read this: I recommend Sly and the Family Stone's "Summer Days"!) Anyway, yesterday was a gorgeous day, eventhough the water temp was a little on the chilly side.(that didn't stop me from going in!) After we left the beach, we went to boardwalk: put the kids on rides and spent lotsa $$ trying to win prizes! I actually won my daughter a Care Bear within $5, but then I had to win something for my son! That's when I had to break the bank for a little $2 Donkey from the Shrek movie.

I've been listening to a lot of old Motown lately, especially, the Temptations! I've never really listened to the musicianship behind those great songs: those bass lines, horn parts, drum parts and even guitar lines just fit in so magically. Those musicians interwove their parts, but never stepped on each other's toes, amazing. Yes, I know, some of you are saying, "No shit Sherlock!" In addition, to those CDs, I also have been playing Deep Purple's "Machine Head" and Rush In Rio. I'll get into those at a later time. Gotta go to a meeting!

July 12th

Yes, I strongly agree with Jay: we had a kick-ass show on Saturday. I wish all of you could have made it!
Don't worry, there will be more, in fact we may be playing there in two weeks. I think we found a home on Staten Island, now we must branch out to New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Califonia, etc. I'd like to thank Pawn and Ointment for sharing the night with us.(We really need to form an association of bands. Lenny from Ointment and I were talking about this after the show. I came up with the acronym K.A.R.M.A. I know it is kind of one sided, but check it out: Kick Ass Rock Music Association. Do you like it? Yeah, I knew you would!) After we finished unloading the van, I went to Nat Seeley's annual summer bash. I should of brought my equipment, there was some serious jamming going on, BUT I just didn't want to lift another piece of equipment! The summer has just begun and it is going well. I can't wait to record in the studio!