The Official Blog Of THE ELMS.

CHECKIN' IN...

Happy 2009, everyone.  According to a paranoid friend of mine, this is the year that Niribu or Nairobi or something like that - otherwise known as Planet X - is supposed to enter our orbit and really mess some things up.  He's predicting the near-extinction of mankind.  I'm still waiting on John Titor's 2005 U.S. Civil War to happen.  (Google that if you haven't heard it before.)  No matter what era or year we're talking about, life-as-we-know-it is always on the brink of destruction, isn't it.

So far, the year hasn't been too bad.  Was a bit bummed to leave my folks' place in Missouri after Christmas break, but had fun hanging out with all of the fellas in downtown Indy on New Year's Eve.  We played the Rock 'n' Roll Ball at the Hyatt.  I was hoping Peyton Manning would be onhand, but it didn't happen.  I'm sure he was busy all of that week preparing for the playoff game vs. the Chargers.  Bummer that we lost that one, but all-in-all, it was another exciting season for a Colts fan like myself. 

What else...

Loving the iPhone. 

Am addicted to LiveStrong.com, thanks to Nate's recommendation to check it out. 

We got invited to play the South by Southwest festival in Austin, TX.  Noble Texans... be ready for us in mid-March.  We're comin' back.  Please put a couple Shiners on the ice for me. 

Yesterday, the other guys in the band and I got together, sat in a circle with acoustics, laptops, printouts, markers, and fervent opinions about which new songs we should record for the new album.  We head back into the studio February 23rd to finish this sucker.  I don't know if I'm talking out of turn here, but there's a good chance that we're going to have a few cameras set up and a player embedded on our website so that you can stalk us online and watch live streaming video of the entire process.  Anybody out there interested in seeing how this whole thing is gonna go down? 

The past two days, we spent countless hours (or what seemed like it - the actuality is quantifiable and a number less than "48") tearing through all of these songs, and the result is that we've widdled a list of 99 brand-new songs down to... 42?  Ballpark figure.  We're shooting to record 16 though, so we still have a lot of deliberating to do about the final list, and I'm not really looking forward to that process, because I already have a feeling that some of my favorites won't make the cut.  Having too many GOOD songs is an excellent problem to have - but it's still a problem.

I'm hitting the sack.  Getting up early to play bass (humble thyself, lead guitar-er) at church in the morning.  Everybody stock-up on their Planet X Fly-By Survival Kits, and we'll talk soon.

-- Thom

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

Yes... Merry Christmas, everyone.  How are ya?  Today was absolutely fantastic.  And now I'm calling it a night.  I ate entirely too much, and then spent over an hour on the treadmill at the end of the night to make up for it.  Plus, I think being around droves of people all day was not a little exhausting. 

I love Christmastime - everything about it.  Everything it stands for spiritually, culturally, and... and... (I need one more...) ...commercially.

The best part was getting to spend so much time with my family.  This is the first time that I've been home to Missouri in a calendar year.  That said, I do like my presents.  Here's what I got:

-Voltage/Ohm Meter (Digital)
-iPhone
-Giftcard to iTunes
-The Super Dooper Reindeer Pooper

How about you?  What'd you get?

-- Thom

WISH LIST

I finally sent an e-mail to the C4 with my gift suggestions.  Here it is:

[message]

I'm really at a loss here.  Just isn't a whole lot in this world that I want other than an iPhone, recording studio, and a Japanese mail-order bride. 

However, I've tried really hard.  You'll notice some evidence that I'm getting older, because I spend a lot of time watching the History Channel these days.

Here are my suggestions, in order of preference (excluding the last giftcard suggestion which is actually the most preferred (iPHONE!), but... it's... a giftcard, so I put it last.)

1.  THE WORLD AT WAR (DVDs) - $50
http://www.timelife.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplay?catalogId=10001&storeId=1001&langId=-1&top_category=90001&productId=7850

2.  HISTORY OF BRITAIN (DVDs) - $25
http://shop.history.com/detail.php?p=70739&v=history_dvds

3.  THE PRESIDENTS (DVDs) - $21
http://shop.history.com/detail.php?p=70678&v=history_dvds

4.  DON LATARSKI BOOKS:
http://donlatarski.com/books.php

- PRACTICAL THEORY FOR GUITAR (w/ CD) - $26

- CHORD EMBELLISHMENTS - $10

- CHORD ORBITS - $13

- BLUES GUITAR - $25

5.  HEAVY-DUTY SLEEPING BAG (BLACK)

(Not a cheaply-made one.  Something tough-as-nails.  Possible for $50?)

=====================

And last... but certainly not least...

=====================

6.  GIFTCARD TOWARDS AN 8GB iPHONE - $50
(They can choose how much to put on the giftcard.)
http://store.apple.com/us/personalize/iphone?product=MB891LL/A&mco=MjQxODg1NA

CLICK THE LINK ABOVE AND READ THE "DEAR EMILY" MESSAGE THEY HAVE DISPLAYED ON THE CARD.

Hope you guys are well.  Love you!

-- Thom

[end of transmission]

And that's that.  Comment away.

PANDEMIC ANTHEMIC!

We just got back from Colorado, and a few of us returned to a powerless neighborhood in Seymour.

I took the coldest (and darkest) shower of my entire life, then got dressed and came into town for Buffet China and now Starbucks (warm coffee and functional WiFi.) 

Some mystery person at Buffet China bought my lunch for me without letting me know.  And unfortunately, nobody who worked there could tell me the man's name or what he looked like exactly.  So, if it was or wasn't YOU, please take credit for this random act of benevolence in the comments so I may formally thank you (I just need to thank somebody, ANYBODY, Geggy Tah-style.)  A nice thing to experience after such a long drive and anti-climactic return home. 

So much to catch up on.  More European recollections, reading recommendations, political musings, the VMAs (did you see Paramore play?  Hayley is FOXY!), and the story of one of the most stressful weeks of my entire life (Nashville/recording), but for now...

... we've released the fruit of our stressful Nashville recording labor - the digital maxi-single of "This Is How The World Will End."  I'm extremely proud of the work, and excited to share it with everyone. 

This is also the first release on the band's new label, T.R.U.S.T., Inc., in conjunction with Warner/Chappell.  I hate feeling like I'm selling something to my friends, but we would appreciate your support.  And I promise, these goods are good.  You can download it by clicking on the single's artwork below.

Alright... I swear... the rest is on the way soon, perhaps even tonight if my power is still off, forcing me to set up shop at Starbucks until they close. 

Love you!  Be well.

-- Thom

[click on the image below to download the maxi-single bundle]

CUBS SWEEP BREWERS

Today the Cubs completed a 4-game sweep of the Milwaukee Brewers.  In the top of the 9th, Eric Gagne threw three pitches inside to Jim Edmonds, who hit two homers including a grand slam during the game.  3-0 in the count, the umpire warned Gagne not to throw inside again to Edmonds, so he threw it behind him instead and was immediately ejected from the game.  Classy, Gagne. 

The win puts the Cubs 4 1/2 games ahead of the Cardinals in the NL Central, while the Brewers fall behind 5 full games. 

Anyhow... read a full recap HERE.

GNASHVILLE, TN

"I'm sorry, but I will not apologize for liking Garth Brooks."

---

Hey everyone...

We scheduled studio time in Nashville at the last minute to shoot down here and record a new song.  I don't want to say which one it is yet -- maybe TheElms.net will reveal that soon. 

I'm going to be a bit transparent here:  I hate recording.  This experience has been relatively painless, but typically, the studio is the only part of this whole thing where I get stressed out.  It'd be great if it was as simple as everybody plugging in and going.  Oh, but it's not.

---

"It wasn't easy, but nothin' is." 

Woo-hoo.

---

There are always little issues that pop-up that you would've never foreseen.  What sounds great in the circle when you're all bashing it out doesn't necessarily work when you're under the microscope of the playback monitors.  You can burn hours trying to figure it out.

This has nothing to do with performance.  It's more about getting everything dialed-in.  Sussing through the various ideas to zero-in on the right parts.  Getting things to compliment each other.  Finding the right FEELING.  Once that's been nailed-down, it takes everybody only about 1-2 takes to bust it out.  And then you move on to the next frustrating little #%^*@$%^.

Anyhow...

The guitars are done, so I'm relieved and finally de-compressing a bit.  Drums and bass sound fantastic.  Aux perc gave Nate and I the goosebumps when we heard it upon bringing back lunch for everybody.  Owen's tracking vocals, and what little I've heard from the other room is smokin'. 

As Nate said a few minutes ago, everything sounds EXPENSIVE.  I love it.  We just had to fight through the ________ to get it here. 

So that's what's going down.  Now I can afford to screw around and do whatever.

And right now, that consists of blogging and listening to some of the "new jamz" that Mike Dunn sent me yesterday - finally getting a chance to spin 'em.  I've mentioned Mike Dunn & The Kings Of New England before, but an official post is overdue and on the way.  For now, Mike, if you're reading, just know that I'm a friend, a brother, and a fan.

Alright... I think we're splitting to get sushi and get back here ASAP.  Can't wait for you all to hear our new jamz.

-- Thom

A RIDICULOUS AMOUNT OF MODIFIERS or O, TO BE A SCENESTER!

Anytime I let this thing go for a week before updating it, I feel guilty.  So here I am, whether I have anything to say or not.

First off, thanks to everyone who came out to see us play in Nashville.  We had a blast, and it was fantastic to see you all there.  There are nights when our collective walks off the stage knowing it was terrible, nights when the feelings are mixed, but also nights when we all walk off the stage and give each other that look of, "That was absolutely boss."  And Nashville was of the latter variety. 

---

As you can see from the picture above, I'm hanging out at a Starbucks at the moment.  This one is 86th Street in Indianapolis.  Unfortunately, the Seymour Starbucks got word that they'll be closing in a few months, which was devastating news (no, seriously.) 

---

Do you get upset whenever somebody categorizes you?  I don't know that I would, to be honest, but I've never had anybody try, or at least tell me to my face which archetype I belong to.  Go ahead and give it your best shot in the comments section if you'd like. 

One thing I would definitely not classify myself as would be a Scenester.  I don't think that there's an indie rock bone in my body (please ignore the Vampire Weekend icon over to the left.) 

There is a guy in Indianapolis who is the purported Lord of all the Scenesters.  We'll call him "Todd."  He plays in what seems like 237 different bands in town, some that tour nationally - even one that tours internationally.  Everyone I know goes on and on about his genius.  Some random guy I ran into recently (who seemed to be a member of The Club), when pressed, said to me, "Oh yeah... you would do well to sit and worship at the altar of Todd for an hour."  To quote Michael Stipe... "Wow." 

One of Todd's 237 bands played a show in Indy last night, so I drove up last night to check it out and perhaps bask in his glory.  No kidding... I was excited to finally see what this was all about, and I'd hoped for the absolute best.

Turns out that Todd is just an idol made of human hands.  After two songs, Todd got a lot less mysterious to me, and minutes later, I finally split.  Now I know, at least. 

Maybe it's not Todd's fault.  I mean, truthfully/objectively, Todd really isn't that good.  But also, the older I get, I find myself caring less and less about what's "cool" and caring more and more about what's good (or hopefully even GREAT.) And I don't know that scenesters are judging things for quality.  They're in this for some other reason.

Are you a scenester?  What is a scenester?  What am I?  I'm more critical of music than I wish to be, but there are different criteria governing whether or not I think something is worth my time or not.  And lately I'm becoming all too aware that those standards of mine are different than other people of discriminating tastes, at least the ones held by people who dye their hair black, wear black-framed spectacles, and possibly walk around w/ a satchel.

---

At the moment, I'm loving a book called "The Identity of the American Midwest:  Essays on Regional History."  More on this later.  For now, the most important thing I've gotten out of it is that the White Man is responsible for all of the evil in this country, and, through no choice or doing of my own, I'm somehow responsible for all of this ex-post facto because I was born white. 

That's not all.  There is actually a lot of valuable insight about the Midwest in this book, and I'm glad to know and understand a little more about where I've come from.

---

Alright!  Time to categorize Thom.  Let 'er rip, but just know that "Douchebag" and "Evil Whitey" are off-limits, so if either was your gut reaction, you'll have to try a little harder.

xoxo,
Thom

PUT THE "O" BACK IN COUNTRY - TRACK #2

Happy Independence Weekend, everyone.

Friday we headed up to northern Indianapolis to play Carmelfest.  All I'm going to say is... Brian Wilson and David Lee Roth love California; I love Carmel.

It's a bit frustrating whenever the sound company doesn't have their stuff together. 

Eventually we got things to a point where it was all mostly functional, and just fought through the complications as best we could throughout the entire set.  Issues or not, I still had fun playing my guitar. 

We timed our set to end perfectly (with a little help from an indefinite trashcan ending on the last song) at the start of the Carmel fireworks display, and I'll admit that (Disclaimer: Cheeseball Moment) I got a bit emotional during the pop/bang of it all while "God Bless The U.S.A." was playing in the background. 

I know it's really cool right now to think that the U.S. is the source of all the world's ills, but I really hope that at some point everybody is able to step back and realize what a great country this really is, and how we're all lucky-as-hell to get to live in a place like this.  If you disagree, read about what's been going on in places like Zimbabwe and Myanmar lately.

Or if you've got a LOT of time on your hands, look into China (particularly the city-wide camera surveillance of Shenzen).  Then come back and rant to me about how horrible it is that our government knows you checked-out a copy of "Angels and Demons" (or any other schlocky Dan Brown novel) a few months ago.

---

One last confession here.  When he started out, I wrote him off as a fluffy, soft rocker.  My old friend (Name Drop Alert) Katy Perry used to go on and on about the greatness of "Room For Squares."  Still, I couldn't care less about John Mayer.

But then a few years back, while at my Dad's for the holidays, I watched a re-broadcast of John Mayer playing live, and was really impressed that the guy could sing and play his ass off as much he did. 

Then there was the Trio album...

Then there was his appearance at Eric Clapton's Crossroads Guitar Festival where he tore the place to shreds...

And then lastly, there was Owen showing me the "Where The Light Is" DVD that John just put out this week.  My jaw was on the floor the entire time.  Inspiring.

I've never felt more simultaneously discouraged yet motivated to practice.  So now I'm officially out of the closet:  I'm a John Mayer fan (but still voting "no" on Lee Greenwood).

And I'm going to start taking lessons from a guitar guru here in the Midwest.  Looking forward to it.  Like I said, I'm inspired, and I'm ready to be pushed to my limits. 

So if you've got the extra dough, it's worth picking up your own copy of Mayer's DVD.  I don't care how much of a music snob you might think you are - if you can't watch 30 minutes of "Where The Light Is" and then conclude that John Mayer is truly great, there's something wrong with you. 

Talk at me.

-- Thom

SUDDENLY, LIFE HAS NEW MEANING TO ME

This is a video remake of Billy Ocean's "Suddenly," by a three-time Emmy Award and Telly winning writer from Indianapolis named Matt Mays.  Enjoy 'er.

HELLO, NEW SHOES... BYE-BYE BLUES!

Hey, I got some new shoes on...

We got back from Kansas City really early this morning (5:30AM), so I slept for a few hours, got up, showered-out, and drove up to Indy to snag a new pair of shoes (I screwed my other pair up over the weekend), a few books on the history of Indiana that I've been interested in (proof that I'm getting old), and then hung out for a bit with my friend Emily.  Never heard of Quotes brand before, but I believe they're a new division of Steve Madden.  They were the coolest pair there, and they were only $50!  (<--- perhaps more evidence of Old Mandom.)

Saturday in K.C. was sweltering, but still fantastic.  Got to see my family as well as a few high school alums that I've not talked to since graduation.  Wild how much we've all changed in just 10 years' time. 

I missed the Olive Garden's exit on our way home, so we settled for a late dinner at Cici's Pizza on the way back.  Don't laugh - it really wasn't that bad.  I talked the cook into making a spinach/alfredo pizza for our table.  Phil, Nathan, and I made short work of it.

I made mention of this in an earlier blog, but it bears repeating:  it was great to be out again.  I want the dadgum record to be finished soon so that we can leave the studio behind and just be on the road for a solid year and a half.  The road is the be-all end-all for me. 

If you want more of a play-by-play account of our weekend, be sure to stop by OWEN'S BLOG for that.  PHIL'S BLOG also has some photos up from the shows.

In case you're not sure where the subject line comes from, it's a reference to "New Shoes" by Paolo Nutini.  If you've not heard "These Streets," you should find it STAT.  It's my favorite record from a few years ago.

G'night, everyone.

-- Thom