PAINT IT BLACK : Hibernation
Hey everybody, what's up?!?! I realize that I haven't written anything here in awhile, and I apologize. When Paint It Black has long periods of inactivity, I get pretty frustrated, and it can really get in the way of my motivation to communicate, especially if I feel like I have nothing new to say. Unfortunately, this happens even when there is important stuff to talk about. I started and abandoned blog postings about the Fest in Gainesville, and about the election. We were supposed to do a weekend of shows with Suicide File to coincide with the inauguration, but that fell through as well, contributing to me feeling discouraged and again, not as motivated as I should be about communicating
That's not to say that we haven't been busy. Jared works for other bands that tour a lot, which means that there are months on end that we don't have our drummer around. But since he got home in mid-December, we've been hard at work writing new songs. As PIB is about to emerge from hibernation, I thought it was high time I got off my ass and wrote another blog/journal entry.
Early last year I found a link to a myspace profile of a band that I hadn't heard before. The music was intense, precise, but chaotic. Modern, but infused with classic style. Smart, political, pissed. Reminding me of American Nightmare, Born Against, Negative Approach all at the same time. A light in the dark landscape of mediocre, content-free hardcore punk. How had I slept on this? I had to know more. The first song I heard was "U.S. Out of New England." The band was Last Lights. "holy shit," I wrote to them, "how are you so awesome and why haven't we played together?" The singer Dom wrote back, and we emailed back and forth, talking about music, a little mutual admiration society. One of my goals for '09 was to play with this band a lot.
Dom passed away in late 2008. I'm told it was the result of a brain aneurysm. This is a tragic and tremendous loss for his family and friends, but also for the Worcester music community and the worldwide hardcore punk scene. On a personal level, it also touched me profoundly, because, as those familiar with Paint It Black are aware, I started the band immediately after suffering a stroke in 2001. I was lucky enough to sustain only minimal damage to my brain. Most of the time I allow myself to forget how vulnerable my head is. Dom and I were not close friends, and my intent here is not to hijack someone else's grief, but to express how personally I took this loss, not only as a person with a lifelong commitment to this music, but also as a man who knows from personal experience how fragile we all are, and how suddenly things can change. We will have the privilege this Saturday February 21st of sharing the stage with some amazing bands to pay tribute to Dominic Mallary, and to help support his family in this time of need.
That's not to say that we haven't been busy. Jared works for other bands that tour a lot, which means that there are months on end that we don't have our drummer around. But since he got home in mid-December, we've been hard at work writing new songs. As PIB is about to emerge from hibernation, I thought it was high time I got off my ass and wrote another blog/journal entry.
Early last year I found a link to a myspace profile of a band that I hadn't heard before. The music was intense, precise, but chaotic. Modern, but infused with classic style. Smart, political, pissed. Reminding me of American Nightmare, Born Against, Negative Approach all at the same time. A light in the dark landscape of mediocre, content-free hardcore punk. How had I slept on this? I had to know more. The first song I heard was "U.S. Out of New England." The band was Last Lights. "holy shit," I wrote to them, "how are you so awesome and why haven't we played together?" The singer Dom wrote back, and we emailed back and forth, talking about music, a little mutual admiration society. One of my goals for '09 was to play with this band a lot.
Dom passed away in late 2008. I'm told it was the result of a brain aneurysm. This is a tragic and tremendous loss for his family and friends, but also for the Worcester music community and the worldwide hardcore punk scene. On a personal level, it also touched me profoundly, because, as those familiar with Paint It Black are aware, I started the band immediately after suffering a stroke in 2001. I was lucky enough to sustain only minimal damage to my brain. Most of the time I allow myself to forget how vulnerable my head is. Dom and I were not close friends, and my intent here is not to hijack someone else's grief, but to express how personally I took this loss, not only as a person with a lifelong commitment to this music, but also as a man who knows from personal experience how fragile we all are, and how suddenly things can change. We will have the privilege this Saturday February 21st of sharing the stage with some amazing bands to pay tribute to Dominic Mallary, and to help support his family in this time of need.