Thanks to everyone that came out to the show last night. It was pretty intense and a non-stop time of fun and amazement. We played our new song "8091" and it felt incredible. During the set I managed to destroy part of the Dragon's Den, as well as severely screw up both of my upper appendages. Basically, during the new song I started punching the wall next to me in a frenzy of excitement and energy which made the candle holder on the wall fall on me, and my fingers and arms were bruised and bloody. I didn't really notice the pain till this morning, but I have never been so musically entranced by the power of sound. It was sick! Alex's bass amp was acting funny; at the end of "Our Parent's Parrot" his amp made no noise, so Evan, Andrew, and I continued to play as hard as possible all while screaming and stomping. Smiley With a Knife was incredible and made all four of us dance, as usual. Smiley plus Strawberry Abita makes this dude pretty happy. Unwed Sailor was pretty awesome, and the guys were nice to talk to as I was buying some merch. Also, thanks to Thirteen for giving us roast beef sandwiches at three in the morning even though we weren't technically allowed inside the building.
In my English class this morning, someone asked me what was behind Neckbeard. This question stirred me up and I thought I'd share with you. Neckbeard is an expression of emotion through music for everyone and everything with ears or ear like organs. When Alex and I first started the band, we only had one or two songs. Neither of them were named. We started practicing in the basement at my Grandmother's house. (basements in NOLA= bad idea) It had just rained, and the practice smelled terrible with intense humidity. We started playing one of the new songs we had, and as we did from the cracks in the room, came a tiny green frog and a blackish blue lizard thing. They started intensely moving around the practice. We were amazed. When we stopped play that song, they would stop moving and start retreating back to the muddy corners. However, every time we played that song they would come out and move around, almost like dancing. From this experience we named the song The Frog and The Serpent. It made me realize that we humans are not the only things that hear what we do. Everything in this universe has ears and ear like organs, and react to different sounds and vibrations. Neckbeard is a way for us humans to try and communicate with all living things, we try to send positive, intense, emotional vibrations into the world in order to establish a connection with our world. We can sometimes take for granted what nature and our world does for us. To some people it isn't viewed as music, but most birds, insects, and other animals give us music and communication all the time. It can give us peace, warning, or pleasure.
The name Neckbeard has some stories behind it. At first it was an inside joke between friends. But there is a deeper meaning. I don't know how much you made about yoga and Buddhism, there are central points in the body where you contain all of your energy. The beginning stages are in your groin and in your stomach. Your heart in your chest is another that represents emotional energy you feel. The final three positions of energy are in your neck, the middle of your forehead and the very tip top of your skull. Your neck is where you release communicational energy. The forehead is where your third eye is that allows you to see things that you don't normally see. That doesn't mean you have crazy religious visions of the Buddha in your house. It means that you begin to see the world in a different way using your senses, and appreciating what our universe gives. The top of your head where your hair is and your brain, is the connection between you and the outside world. Neckbeard beard is a combination of communication and connection with the outside world. We try to get people to understand the power music has on the entire world ad not just the humans. We try to change the people view music, its not just a means of entertainment, but a means of connection and communication. I feel that most organisms on this planet are telepathically connection. Humans are not, but we have the ability to be. Our brains are bigger than most animals. There is a reason why other animals don't need a language, it's very rare you see two cats meowing at each other conversing like humans. They don't need to, they use senses that we don't use. Instrumental music is a way for humans to be able to interact with one another without using language. So even though Neckbeard has a very silly name, it has a lot of meaning behind it. Think about these things the next time you hear instrumental music or hear a bird chirping in a tree outside your house. Think of that bird is trying to say. Thanks for reading this long blog, now you know Neckbeard. Peace and much love.
ps- about the smoothie? I don't know. He looked the way I felt after the show. GO SMOOTHIE!
. Oh yeah, there was no AC. Are we crazy? yeah probably, but did we become closer as people and better muscians? Oh yeah. It was amazing. We played a show with Blackbelt and Meadow Flow at Banks Street bar and that was wicked fun. Thanks Pat Bailey for the show, we love you and SWAK. Blackbelt is for sure, one the most original bands in NOLA, so we were honored to play with them. "Pain is a Flower!" When I get back we are playing a show July 25th with I Octopus, Motion Turns It On, and Wildfires at the Dragon's, 10pm as usual. So we are sorry for not being around myspace. I will remember to check you more often. I put up a new video of us playing "Who Goes To Baton Rouge?!" at Loyola, check it out. I don't know anything about recordings, but we will have them at some point. Peace and much love.
