Wizzle World

The Man I Loved/What A Life.

2011-10-11T22:02:00.013-04:00

Wednesday felt weird all day. It was rainy in New York with oddly heavy energy and I had a cold. I'm rarely sick. I didn't even go to yoga, which is a a staple of my post-work routine, especially coming off of a multi-city travel week.

But the seemingly odd unease and discomfort made sense in context when I read on Huffington Post that Steve Jobs had passed.

This is a man I had always loved. I knew loads about his life, ingested the majority of major interviews he'd granted, and believed in various areas of his visions from music to technology to philosophy. Across the board, Steve's ethos and output have had a profound influence and impact on my life.

I can't remember not being interested in technology and computers. But Steve made technology creative, he made it mind-bending, he made it productive and he made it fun. And that was just in college.

George Howard was my Recording Industry professor at Northeastern when the iTunes store opened. Prior to the launch, George asked us if he thought this concept would be successful as Apple's product and mindset traditionally appealed to a "different" kind of user, with a beautiful Powerbook sitting on his desk. He was so psyched when iTunes sold a million songs in its first week :).

Much has been spoken this week about Steve Jobs' legalizing the traditional music industry's woes of the digital revolution. And others marvel at how his products make him the Ford or Edison of our time. I am of course using his tools to communicate this to you. Everything from turning the above photo montage into a size and context for something I'm trying to express from typing on my sleek wireless keyboard. This is while I stare endlessly into my Apple LED Cinema display, run off my MacBook w/ my iPhone plugged in all backed up by TimeMachine. These are just a few of the reasons that Steve was the greatest entrepreneur of our time. (HERE are even more reasons that exemplify this statement.)

Steve not only made technology and the communication and content behemoth that is The Internet useful, he made the technology genuinely cool. WTF was a virus to me after The Dresden Dolls' bought me my first Powerbook, an adorable 13", perfect for tour managing and impressive to the stealth Apple Nine Inch Nails band/crew/team, who we were on the road with at the time. I mean Steve's software and hardware basically powered NIN's live show on that tour and Trent was one of the first to post a heartfelt Tweet on October 5th.

[Truth be told, I just took a break to grab a vegan cookie from Liz Lovely, who along with her husband Dan is another entrepreneur I greatly admire. Check out their story and definitely try their ridiculously amazing cookies.]

I co-founded a music company 3 years ago and haven't had a boss since. When I am consulting, laying out ideas for our company, creating companies within companies based on artists and their music, and designing strategies; a major factor in how I got to this place in time is via Steve's work and tools.

This is why Steve Jobs' death this past week was one of the heaviest deaths I've ever experienced and I never met the guy in tangible life. It does feel like the equivalent of John Lennon's death in this day in age, though I'm sure as a massive Beatles fan himself, Steve might disagree. However, who else could have an impact on society as large as John Lennon as the man who amplified ALL music and content for the world by digitizing it for the masses and forevermore? Steve made every piece of content in history accessible in a beautiful and fun package at home. We can now access The Beatles catalog via bit torrent (and legally now via iTunes) + infinity.

Steve Jobs is a man who took the time to explore India and the depths of Buddhism. Intertwine this mentality with business and you have someone who is going to work every day for the right reasons. Despite Apple's market share, stock, and above average consumer pricing, I always viewed Steve's outlook on business to be one with a heart, spirit, integrity and limitless creativity. He wasn't there for the money, he created because he had a belief and love for his output.

Steve even affected what is worn in the community I'm proud to be a part of as a music and technology type living in Brooklyn with colleagues in similar cities/communities. I take for granted that it's considered pretty normal to start businesses from a home, let alone a garage like Steve and Woz did.

Beyond Steve Jobs' cultural and product based influence, his biggest affect on my work is that he created a platform to do it.

I worked for Bob Ezrin in early 2008 and at first was told by Live Nation that I would have to work on a Microsoft based PC. Bob hired me in large part due to digital and direct to fan strategies I had laid out in the past. HOW THE HELL was I supposed to do this with boxy, cluttered programs such as Outlook and Windows in general? Obviously Bob agreed I had to be on a Mac and to justify this to Live Nation I wrote possibly the longest email of my life that maybe I'll post someday if it makes sense.

Thus, when we started our company, I bought myself a whole new Apple office set up and started what we've built from scratch off my MacBook.

Which is why when you heard that Steve had cancer or he looked too thin, you always thought it would be ok. Or at least I did. And in the meantime, what Steve built and launched in the past 15 years in particular is astounding. The Mac OS allows users to create, design, and grow in ways that you don't need to know code to understand. The products that carried the OS continued to evolve in varying degrees of digital capacity and physical mass. It showed me to never be satisfied with your latest idea but to keep creating and executing new ones. It has allowed countless musicians of all ages and levels to professionally record anywhere and distribute their content worldwide.

Which is why today I'm running on Steve. As I was running on Steve the day after his death when I wanted to give in to my lame cold and skip speaking to NYU students on management in the modern/digital music industry. Instead it was a blast and I loved hearing the questions on the students' minds. And running on Steve not only inspires moving forward but the concept of forward motion in general. As it's wonderful to live in the moment, but not dwell in it and constantly grow to see what else can be created and launched.

I didn't even mention Pixar or the software he created at Next.

Sigh. I'll miss the man I loved.

PS - if you knew little of the above about Steve, just watch his 2005 commencement address @ Stanford for a crash course. Thank you.

Blog post mania

2011-03-28T17:55:00.003-04:00

I've been blogging around the internet, but not taking my own advice and doing it directly on my blog.

Thus, here are links to where I'm spreading the blogging love:

Over at MIDEM, you can read all about how not to be overwhelmed by social networks, Twitter, tips, where streaming music is going, and all about me and HeidyV's adventures in the South of France at the conference. Also check out my post on Taking Risks, as not nearly enough folks do in the modern music industry.

I'm equally proud and excited to write posts for Hypebot once in awhile. If you don't know the site, you are missing out!! It's the go-to for the latest in "new" music industry & technology news. Bruce Houghton and Kyle rule! And have eyes and ears everywhere :). Anyway, here you can read all about how to conquer SXSW and why some artists want and like having managers. I am so in awe of both of the above organizations, I put time and thought into each blog post. Except for the "Case For Artist Management" post.

Hypebot asked me to respond from a manager's POV to a negative post about management and it took me all of 10 minutes to write and has generated more traffic and feedback than anything I've ever written. I'm sure there are many songwriters who have had a similar experience? :)

Ok, time for 6:30 PM yoga!!! It's a miracle, I'm usually solidly at the 8:15 PM class.

Much Love,

Em Wizzle

douchebag reunion via southern comfort food

2010-08-27T22:55:00.006-04:00

Maybe someday I'll post the longer version of this.

But in the meantime, a boy named Blake completely blew me off when I was a 17-year old freshman in college in Boston. He was hott/vegetarian/probably straightedge/musician?, etc. aka the opposite of Hartland, Wisconsin. nice than not, like so many are.

FF to Brooklyn/now, I'm 27 and exhausted from an amazing week, so I order from Pies n Thighs for dankness delivered to my door.

Delivered by.... well he just looked like him. So I called PnT back to ask the friendly order-taking man what the boy in the green hoodie's name was.

Blake.

Obvi.

UPDATE: i found 4 pages in a journal from almost exactly 10 years ago devoted to this dude. i forgot he existed! note to self re: current douchebags floating around: i probably won't care in 2020.

UPDATE #2: he added me on Facebook, ha!

Where Have I Been?

2010-08-25T12:34:00.003-04:00

Traveling, managing, meditating, practicing yoga, going to shows, shopping at the farmer's market etc.

However, I also blog for MIDEM! It is truly an honor, however, it takes blog time away from here. Unfortunately this means I have to be slightly more professional and can't ramble on about how every Kate Nash lyric relates to my life, etc. But For industry geeks, you can read my posts HERE.

Or maybe Twitter really is "micro-blogging" and I generally only speak in a limited amount of characters.

Enjoy!

Much Love,

Em Wizzle xo

NYLA

2010-02-18T13:32:00.002-05:00

Scenes from my favorite city in the world from this past week. Winter is pretty lame in general, but NYC remains rad. Where else can you hear Jay-Z and acoustic guitar and encounter a dancing Statue of Liberty all in the same hour?

Headed to LaLa land for a few days for Brendan Benson @ The Troubadour, but NYC always on my mind.

#NowPlaying
"Princess & The Pea" - Family of the Year (from forthcoming March 2010 EP)
"Who You Going To Run To" - Solid Gold (thank you Boy2MenMen2Wolf).
"Funeral" - Zoe Boekbinder
"Getting On My Mind" - Panic Bomber
"Light of Day" - Brendan Benson (wouldn't you like to know)

Best shows of Jan 2010
Hot Rats via iFerg @ Bowery Ballroom/NYC in January
Sydney Wayser @ La Maroquinerie/Paris - 29.01.2010

xo

PS - NYC'ers looking for fun this weekend should check out Sydney Wayser @ The Living Room on Friday as well as Emilyn Brodsky & Xylos @ Webster Hall Studio on Friday.

Sydney Wayser Makes Me Very Proud

2010-02-12T10:39:00.002-05:00

I heavily rely on smart and ambitious interns to help get everything done that we want to execute for all of our artists. Combining work and education is something that has been around since the middle ages and probably before. This system set the foundation for my career (thank you Powderfinger, Q Division, WBCN/WZLX, Don Law, The Paradise, Avalon, VH1 Classic, MTV UK, and The Dresden Dolls, love you all!)

However, sometimes finding interns who get that the music industry isn't all clownery at shows and festivals can be challenging. In addition, passion and musical knowledge is key. I had an intern once ask me who I was listening to when the answer was Radiohead. Not a good sign.

And thus, in the Spring of 2007, I was overloaded as usual and asked Miss Merch, who happened to be Madison House's office manager at the time, if we could find someone to help. Laura already had lined up an interview with a girl named Sydney Wayser, who was recommended by our previous and awesome intern, Lydia Berg-Hammond. A few days later, when I walked by Laura interviewing Sydney I said "Is she hired yet? We have work to do!" as I was confident of her abilities based on Lydia's recommendation.

Sydney started interning for me shortly after and the beautiful 19 year old French-American handed me her CD, as she was a musician. I listen to tons of new music every day and Sydney's album stood out from the get go. Her talent and spirit shined through and she began to ask my advice on how to start her new life and career in New York as she had just moved to the city from Boston.

We became fast friends and Sydney was a massive help on the management work I was doing with The Dresden Dolls, Fiery Furnaces, and Jonah Smith at the time. She dove in and really learned what it was like on the management side to put together plans, tours, online marketing strategies and the importance of connecting with fans.

Fast forward to two years later and I had started a management company with Keri Smith Esguia, yay! Sydney had by then released her second album on her own and was beginning to tour nationally. We officially started working together last summer and it's been bliss ever since.

Beyond Sydney's obvious talent and immense creativity, she is truly a pleasure to work with day in and day out. But not just due to her sparkling personality. Sydney is one of the hardest working people I have ever met in any field. The girl is constantly writing, recording, rehearsing, learning new instruments, collaborating with new people, excited to try new technologies and will play music to anyone in almost any situation. We have thrown her on the road and the work is paying off, with international touring, a growing fanbase, and musical chops that blow my mind every time I get to see her play.

Last month, Sydney accompanied me and her attorney, Heidy Vaquerano from LaPolt Law to MIDEM in the South of France. I think that such a prestigious music industry conference could be intimidating for many artists. There's A LOT of biz being discussed and no matter how involved with one's own career an artist is, it can be overwhelming. We also shared a house with other entrepreneurs and folks from music start-ups. Despite spending her free time warming up her voice and practicing ukulele as opposed to being glued to Apple Mail, she fit right in. ie

We dove into the conference and Sydney took no time to take hold of her career. Here is Syd discussing how PRS works in France with SESAM while Heidy looks on. Thank god my artist was there to translate for me! :)

After a very successful MIDEM for Sydney and in general, we took the train North to Paris for Sydney's debut show in Paris at La Maroquinerie with THAO and Basia Bulat as a preview for Le festival Les Femmes S'en Mêlent. Watching Sydney perform in Paris in front of her fans, large French family, industry, press, and bloggers was utter joy. It was amazing to see how far she'd come from shyly handing me her CD as an intern.

Sydney will return to France in April and be making her debut in Germany as well. She has been writing for her third album and I'm thrilled to be working with her from the beginning of the creative process on her new project. And although NYC, LA, France, and Germany are rad; if you can't make it to any of those places, catch her on her bi-monthly show via Justin.TV. But what's the best thing you can do to help Sydney in her growing career? Sign up for her E-mail list, and encourage others to do the same.

Love you,

Emily White

Why CASH Music is Awesome

2010-02-05T01:18:00.003-05:00

You'll have to go HERE if you want to know.

Love You (This is semi-epic, you were warned)

2009-12-26T16:46:00.005-05:00

I've been meaning to write this post for months, but time always escapes me.

Somehow, it's not only the end of the year, but also the end of the decade. I graduated high school 10 years ago and at that point, just wanted to get out of Hartland, WI, with the goal of working in music. I wanted to work in music because I couldn't imagine the idea of doing anything else. I also wanted a job where I could listen to music all day, sleep in, and be required to go to loads of shows. I never could have imagined that ontop of touring the world numerous times, I'd live in Boston (well I guess I kind of knew that, I was headed to college there), New York, London, and Miami before semi-settling in Williamsburg, Brooklyn.

I was pretty sure I could retire after Noel Gallagher dedicated "Don't Look Back in Anger" at The Hurricane Festival in Germany in 2005, but amazingly the work I kept doing kept leading to more and more fun, mind-expanding and eye-opening experiences.

When I look at our company and our roster, I have nothing but gratitude for the people whose energy was pooled for all of this to come together. I could not be more thankful and am nothing without the artists, team, and support of friends and family around me.

Three years ago, my best friend (Laura Keating aka Miss Merch) and I were working at Madison House and survived on smart interns who were able to help us with our infinite work loads. One in particular came highly recommended from Jim Anderson, one of my most respected music professors from Northeastern and her name was Lydia Berg-Hammond. Lydia was a lifesaver at Madison House for us and we also adored her infectious positive attitude and sense of humor. But alas, she had to return to school and Laura and I were terrified of getting another intern who we had to explain to who Radiohead was (not kidding). Lydia said she had a friend named Sydney Wayser who had just graduated from Berklee and needed to do an internship to finish her requirements. New intern who came recommended by LBH? Done. In walked Ms. Sydney, whose incredible spirit shone through from day one, even though she was having a hard time adjusting to New York, just like most 19 year olds. Sydney gave her my CD, and I was blown away by her vocals and musicianship. She was an incredible friend during a transitional time in my life and we've remained close ever since. 23-year old Sydney has really come into her own and I couldn't be more proud. When we first met, Sydney would ask me how I thought she could get a gig at The Living Room. Now she is a regular that packs the place out, toured nationally this summer, and is doing her first European tour this spring, while she sets ready to start working on her third album. Beyond that, Sydney has been an incredible friend and I cherish our relationship both professionally and personally. Thank you for everything, Syd!

One of my favorite jobs in college was ripping tickets at The Paradise. It paid me to see shows for free, AWESOME! One day in 2003, I was working at a Juliana Hatfield show and a band from Martha's Vineyard was opening called Unbusted. They were amazing! I remember a frontman that drew everyone in musically and a drummer going crazy (though was also musicially amazing), reminding me of one of my favorite drummers, Animal from The Muppets. After introducing myself to Joe and Sebastian Keefe multiple times over the early months of 2004 as they played around Boston, they finally started to remember who I was. :) I moved to New York in 2005 after graduation and would never miss an Unbusted show, whether it was in an illegal club in the basement of the city with Porsches on the Autobahn or at SXSW. They were amazing! But sadly, Joe and Seb moved away to Los Angeles and we stayed in touch, with them generally showing up when I'd put them on the guest list at LA shows when I was in town ;). On July 27th of this year, Sebastian sent me the following email (the subject is my favorite part):

Subject: Hi emily! Sebastian keefe

Hi emily!
How are you??!! It's been so long! I hope you are well!
I wanted to tell you about the new group that joe and I started. We're called bogie ogreton (myspace.com/bogieogreton). If you take a minute, I'm sure you will like the music.
We will be playing shows through the rest of the summer, the next one being this wednesday downtown (mountain bar). We've been busy with interviews and photoshoots, and there is beginning to be a bit of a buzz-- we haven even played out yet!
Please give the tunes a listen, any and all feedback Is greatly apreciated.
Thanks emily!
Sebastian keefe

Sent from my iPhone

Two days later, I was managing the band (without ever seeing them live!). That sounds insane, but I'd loved Unbusted live and if they were half as good live as their new recordings, I knew we'd be fine. The band's name was changed to Family of the Year and we quickly put together shows with anyone who would have us. Brian Viglione was gracious enough to have the band open for him and World/Inferno Friendship Society at The Great American Music Hall in San Fran as well as a show in San Luis Obisbo shortly after. Family bought a 1986 RV named Rosie and off we went on their first ever tour. Miracuously this has been documented (along with everything since!) by the great Chris Zampas. For me personally, that little trip was easily in my top 3 favorite tours ever. I don't know if I'd ever laughed harder. Beyond my old friends of Joe and Seb, I adored the new Family members: Brent, Christina, Vanessa and Jim and cherish every moment I get to spend with them personally as well as letting my inner-fan girl out everytime they play live. I'm oh so proud of the work these 6 have put in over the past few months and 2010 is only going to get better. :)

Top that off with Emilyn Brodsky and I couldn't have been happier with our music roster. I've known Emilyn for 6 years and she has gone from an annoying teenager that drove me crazy in the tour van to making one of my favorite albums of the year, Greatest Tits. My life wouldn't be complete without Emilyn stopping by my apartment in Williamsburg with various guests snapping secret pictures of me working, making tea, and more. She seems happier than ever and isn't that what we're all after?

As later as November of this year I was very content with all of the above. What more could I ask for? Well, a phone call from Jared Reynolds sure changed that. I'm honored to be managing the incredible Brendan Benson, one of my favorite artists of the past decade. Yes, you all know him from The Raconteurs, but his new album My Old, Familiar Friend is (not shockingly) AMAZING. I'm so excited for what we have planned for Brendan in 2010 and when he comes to your town, you'd be nuts to miss it. The show is a world-class rock n roll concert with stunning songwriting and musicianship. "Jet Lag" from 2002's Lapalco just came up on shuffle which is very appropriate for my life lately and is one of my favorite songs of all time. I am truly blessed.

However, I am nothing without our team and the support of those around me. Keri Smith inspires me daily with her unbelievable work on Margaret Cho, Selene Luna, Kevin Avery, Sara Benincasa, and Elon James White. Our posse of Sarah Martin, Lydia Berg-Hammond, Katrina Bleckley, Becca Rosenthal, Pickles, Shamisa Zvoma, Daniel Schiffer, Kelsey McLaughlin, Carl Carpenter, did incredible work this year and saved my ass daily. Everyone pray for Katrina as she battles through her last 3 law school finals of the semester. I'm truly in awe of her work ethic, dedication, and passion for life.

How do we get all of this amazing music to you? Various ways, but one is through Jesse Von Doom and CASH Music. I'm not sure if Jesse is human. He is possibly a celestial being that maybe only I can see, although he does have an equally as incredible wife and two of the most adorable little girls I have ever seen, so he's probably real. I am beyond honored to be on CASH's board and beyond the groundbreaking technical work that Jesse does, my spirits are lifted every time I speak to this man. He is one of the warmest souls I have ever met, and I'm truly honored to be associated with him.

And who are Whitesmith's biggest fans that help me to get through all of the work at the end of the day? Bob and Ann White are not only everything I could ever need as parents, but have been supporting the indie-rock community in oh so many ways this year. They hosted The Fiery Furnaces, The Wheel, and World/Infero as the bands rolled into Milwaukee and made the trek out to CMJ! So fun. CMJ was like Christmas and my birthday all wrapped into one. I was so excited that my parents were able to see basically our entire roster all in one night and see what my world is like a bit. Little brother Jesse graduates from the University of Minnesota this year and I hope to god he moves to Brooklyn. Thanks for always being there for me, Jesse!!!!!

I continue to feel beyond supported by amazing friends and mentors such as Joyce Dollinger, Elizabeth Freund, Nathan M Lew, BriAnna Olson, Michael Pope, Winifred Chane, Bill Smolen, Mike Luba, Bob Ezrin, Steve Ferguson, John and Frank Raso, and more. Turning up to our shows alone means the world to me.

I'm writing this on a plane coming home-ish from a 48 hour trip to London. I have shows in Nashville and LA before returning to Brooklyn, but I am so grateful for the past two days as well. The hospitality of others around the world continues to astound me. Thank you Ross for bringing me to Royal Albert Hall this week, truly an honor. Thank you Sulinna for putting me up and empathizing with everything that goes into management + inspiring me and encouraging me to keep it up. Thank you Elif and Emma for always making time to get together when I'm in London, love you girls!

I'm looking forward to Brendan's show in Nashville and spending time with Whitesmith West, Sydney, and Family of the Year in LA this week before headed home for one last weekend of yoga teacher training. I owe another blog post about how much yoga teacher training has (literally) changed my life. But the best part of the experience has been the wonderful community that has come out of the group doing the training. I have 30 new wonderful friends in Williamsburg and I can't wait to witness their continued growth.

So basically, I'm nothing without you all, am SO EXCITED for 2010 and hope you all will join us.

Much Love,

Em Wizzle

Why Spotify Is Awesome

2009-10-09T00:30:00.004-04:00

I'd read about Spotify and a few UK friends had told me how cool it was. Without examining why, my natural instinct was that streaming was annoying mostly due to inconsistencies no matter what the interweb speed. A short-term problem in the grand scheme of things, but a problem nonetheless. I suppose I felt that way based on attempting to stream Myspace pages unsuccessfully.

Meanwhile, a very trusty hard drive that stored my music (which is backed up elsewhere, but I mean like up-to-the-second additions) was clearly winding down in it's life. Thus, I picked up a Tb harddrive, assuming I could use the other two as back-ups and use the extra space for artist asset management. The hard drive makes my Mac crash (gasp!) and now even using my 200 gig Time Machine hard drive seems to give my computer trouble. Granted I should add another gig of RAM to my machine, but in the meantime, my stored music collection got scrambled some how for the second time this year. I have about 200 gigs of music on there and frequently add discographies to it. But the reality is, that's a lot of content. And all I want to do is have a wide variety of music accessible for work and fun, so pretty much all the time. But it's clearly becoming a pain and waste of time to do so in this form.

The amazing Katrina, who helps me out with Whitesmith NYC commented that it'd be nice to listen to something other than our artists, Edward Sharpe, The Yeah Yeah Yeah's, and The Beatles. I'm just lazy, even though there is loads of music at my fingertips, I just have to take the time to re-organize it again and haven't taken the time.

Well, today I was able to use Spotify. Music snob friends immediately said "yeah, but does it have EVERYTHING." No, of course not. Their catalogue doesn't have The Beatles, Oasis, and anyone or any rights holders who don't want to be on the service. Nor does it have Family Of The Year's live shows or Sydney Wayser's demos. But I do. I love those artists and have those files on multiple Apple devices and backups, including the machine I'm on right now. But Spotify does have a ton of music. And it streams flawlessly, has a sleek interface, correct info, and can be broken down into genre and era. I've had a blast listening to The Spencer David Group and The McCoys tonight while pouring through Sonny and Cher's album artwork.

Thus, I've spent my day and evening using Spotify. There are ads about every few songs. But it was pointed out to me initially, that because it is a UK program, the ads are all from England and are AMAZING. I mean seriously, today I heard one that had a very sensual theme and was from the UK energy department. There are visual ads as well, but I only noticed when I go back to the program to do something. Right now I obviously can't see them because I'm typing in blog land. It's even more fun than downloading discographies because there is artwork and info on the releases as well. NP, more Sonny and Cher. I love it.

Music snobs also need to chill when talking about preferring physical and/or intense high quality. No one is trying to take that away from you. If anything, physical packages are getting more frequent and artists are getting more directly involved with physical releases. I love the NIN box sets I've bought or seen this decade vs. my Downward Spiral CD from 1994.

When I was making dinner tonight (shout out to Williamsburg-Greenpoint CSA!), I was craving newish Oasis, which Spotify doesn't have (yet). So I just flipped over to my iTunes. Not that hard. It just makes me happy that a decade after the thrilling concept of Napster, enough people have finally been allowed to admit that it's a great idea. Eventually some sort of digital music in this form will just plain cover everything and this is a solid step in the right direction. In the meantime, props to Spotify for having Wibbling Rivalry in its collection, which is a recording of Liam and Noel Gallagher fighting in the 90's, that was released as a UK single and charted.

Eventually beyond that, I can't wait till a service like this integrates with what an individual owns and/or creates. ie my asset management system, random live stuff, and eventually eventually film and tv content all in one place/service. A system to upload/filter legit content directly would be amazing as well. I'm sure charging a fee a la Tunecore would do the trick.

A girl can dream.

Back to work?

Love,

Em Wizzle

Whitesmith CMJ Events, Family's Debut & Help Sydney Get To Her Shows

2009-09-29T16:07:00.002-04:00

Hello Loyal Wizzle World Readers!

Yes, I know who you are due to Google Analytics. Thanks for the support.

We are SO EXCITED to be throwing our first ever Whitesmith CMJ Showcase and Party.

Wednesday October 21st will feature the far majority of or Comedy and Music clients. Hooray!

The show starts at 7 PM sharp with Emilyn Brodsky featuring Brian Viglione of The Dresden Dolls. Shortly after will be Sydney Wayser (8 PM) as well as Pinky Swear, which are 3 incredinbly talented gals between the ages of 13-15, featuring Rachel Trachtenburg of The Trachtenburg Family Slideshow Players.

After a production break, the stage will be graced with the comedy stylings of Sara Benincasa, Elon James White and a special guest. Double Hooray!

Post-comedy, Family Of The Year will blow your mind and ease the night into Rachel's dad, Jason Trachtenburg as well as critic favorite, Alina Simone.

MediaVoxNYC will have an installation and a ton of our friends will be there. The show is a one drink minimum and does NOT require a CMJ badge, so come one, come all! (who are over 21 :))

Can't make it? The night before, we're throwing a party at Crash Mansion with our besties at CASH Music. Sydney (9:15 PM) and Family Of The Year (10 PM) will be playing as well as Whitesmith PR client, Invade Rome (7 PM) and old friends Hooray For Earth (12:15 AM). Everyone is thrilled to be sharing the stage with Demander, Sparrow, Morning Papers, and Yula Beeri.

In semi-related news, Family Of The Year's debut EP is out NOW. Pay what you want and spread the word to all you know. We are super proud of them and thrilled that they'll be on the East coast this weekend opening for Ben Folds at Symphony Hall in Boston as well as touring with Edward Sharpe and The Magnetic Zeros in November.

And, Sydney Wayser wants to come to your town! We've been locking shows left and right, but she needs to get to you and to do that, Sydney is purchasing her first ever tour van. Help by donating and you'll get lots of goodies.

Much Love,

Em Wizzle xo

YTT Update

2009-09-22T23:08:00.002-04:00

Hello All!

Thank you so much to those who donated to my yoga teacher training. Fyi, I raised about $700 though the internet, which doesn't cover the entire program, but offsets it enough for me to definitely be able to do it. Yay!

Last weekend was the first yoga teacher training weekend and it was AMAZING. It's two 25-hour weekends a month through December + a retreat. We of course have to practice everyday and attend class with one of the instructors at least two days week (not a problem as most of the people in the program are regulars).

I entered the weekend relatively stressed, wondering if I'd have time to pull this off + maintain my usual rigorous schedule. Not only did the first YTT almost completely de-stress me, it definitely helped me work out a few things that were going on with work and life in general.

The instructors (Paul Manza, Leigh Evans, and Summer Quashie) are all fantastic and I knew them before the training. I am in awe of Greenhouse Holistic in general. Greenhouse started as a community based studio that wanted to keep yoga reasonable to the community of Williamsburg and have now expanded to 3 locations. I think it's $35/month unlimited for the first month if you sign up with a friend right now. So awesome! The other folks in the program seem great as well, I knew a few of them the studio.

I went on tour in CA last week for Family Of The Year's first ever tour. I'm super psyched to have a deeper yoga practice for traveling purposes, so it was a great test to dive right into a mini-tour sleeping in an RV with 8 of my new favorite people ever. I managed to practice every day, even i it was short and sweet. I have to teach once a week and Brent Freany who plays bass in the band was my first student. You did great, Bubba! :) Fun fact: Brent is a killer web designer. Check out his skillz and hit him up if you need a gorgeous new website: http://www.product01.org/

I have 25 more hours this week and am feeling the same twang of stress about the time commitment, but it's definitely worth it and I know I won't regret it on Monday.

Hope everyone is having a great week!

Thanks again.

Much Love,

Em Wizzle

Whitesmith Show Calendar

2009-07-07T16:00:00.003-04:00

Hey All!

At our core, we here at Whitesmith Entertainment are massive show geeks. The lovely and talented Katrina (who also helps run @whitesmithent) has been compiling a weekly show calendar circulated to our team consisting of our community of artists, friends, and suggestions from our tribe of Whitesmithers.

I thought I'd share it with y'all and when we have a busy week (which seems like every week), I'll post this from time to time. If you'd like to be on our show distro list, please drop a line to katrina@whitesmithent.com

Unfortunately, I'm posting this a day after @SydneyWayser and @EmilynBrodsky's killer show @CityWineryNYC. We'll have more @WhitesmithEnt produced shows in the coming months and are having a blast. We'll keep you posted :)

Whitesmith Artists
Emilyn Brodsky
7/6: City Winery - New York, NY

Jill Sobule
7/7: The Makeout Room - San Francisco, CA
7/12: Concert Under the Stars - King of Prussia, PA

Sara Benincasa
7/10: Theatre 99 - Charleston, SC

Sydney Wayser
7/6: City Winery - New York, NY

Friends of Whitesmith
Hana Pestle
7/10: Knitting Factory - Los Angeles, CA

Hungry Hands (featuring Zach and Blaze of @SydneyWayser's band!)
7/8: Rockwood Music Hall - New York, NY

Jay Brannan
7/8: Joe's Pub - New York, NY

John Roberts
7/9: Comix - New York, NY

Luminescent Orchestrii
7/9: World Financial Center Plaza (River to River Festival) - New York, NY
7/10: One New York Plaza (River to River Festival) - New York, NY

Rachel Goodrich
7/9: Hotel Cafe - Hollywood, CA

Suckers
7/9: Piano's - New York, NY

Trachtenburg Family Slideshow Players
7/7: Harper's Ferry - Allston, MA
7/12 (11:30 am): Solar 1 - New York, NY
7/12 (3:00 pm): The Beach at Roosevelt Island - New York, NY

Whitesmith Recommends
theSTART (via Katrina)
7/9: The Roxy Theatre - West Hollywood, CA

Other Fun and Exciting Things

Our very own Lydia Berg-Hammond turns another year older (and another year lovelier!) today, July 7th at 9:00 PM.
Sara Benincasa has a new Sarah Palin vlog up that is really really hilarious. CNN thought so too.
Margaret Cho's new show, Drop Dead Diva, premieres on Lifetime on Sunday, July 12th.
Our new favorite venue, Brooklyn Bowl, opens today!

Much Love,

@EmWizzle xoxo

I Need Your Help/You Get Free Yoga & Guided Meditation

2009-06-20T21:00:00.015-04:00

Dearest Interweb,

You have treated me well. My team and I use you as a vehicle to spread the word on the artists we love. Often this is in the form of giving us your email address, or other times it's a financial contribution for live or recorded music to support the continuation of the artists' creative output for everyone's benefit.

However, this time I need your help.

I started doing yoga sporadically in high school when my dad (who was our swim coach) brought in a yoga teacher for our "dryland" training. This was in lieu of weight lifting, which was a more contenvential approach. However, my hippie dad also knew it would benefit our focus, goal-setting, and state of mind when approaching a big race or meet. My college swimming coach continued that approach, though much to the dismay of my teammates (semi understandable as we trained 20-30 hours a week as is). However, in hindsight, if I was as flexible and mentally focused as I am now due to studying yoga, it would have improved my swimming (in a sport where every bit counts, it particularly would have taken me to the next level with regard to my core, technique, turns, and starts). C'est la vie.

After my senior year of swimming, I was free to attend yoga classes semi-regularly. It appealed to me as a non-competitive alternative to sports, since I had been swimming competitively since literally the age of 3 (there is video proof).

As my career progressed and I began tour managing in college, yoga became a saviour on the road, physically and mentally. Amanda Palmer got me into the Baron Baptiste CD's. We would do classes in venue parking lots, grassy knolls in the UK on off days, dressing rooms, in the stands of Red Rocks during soundcheck, on beaches, and even in the narrow confines of tour busses.

When I retired from tour managing in 2006, I couldn't wait to be fully back in Williamsburg and go to yoga ALL OF THE TIME. Like every day. Here's an except from my journal 9 days before my last show as a tour manager/production manager in London:

Go to a home.
Make real human connections for more than a day. Or make more than 3 of them total.
Have a consistant shower.
Sleep in a bed that's not moving.
Spread out my body.
Be alone.
Be alone.
Work out.
Swim.
Run.
Do yoga.
Ride my bike.
Go to shows.
Have off time in the day.

Ah, the life of a tour manager. Upon my return to Williamsburg, I tried a few studios, but settled on Greenhouse Holistic, which received bonus points for its location right off the Bedford L. I went to yoga at least a few times a week throughout 2007. The teachers at Greenhouse were incredibly educated but also tailored the classes to our lives as young folks in NYC and everything we deal with (@EmilynBrosky sums this up well in her song "Swear To God". Fun fact: Emilyn practices at Jivamukti).

It is now 2009 and I continue to go to Greenhouse no fewer than 5 times a week and ideally everyday when I'm in town. The teachers @ Greenhouse Holistic inspire me to be better at my job and an overall EmWizzle. In addition, I have seen their influence on my local community and friends, reminding us to be mindful and compassionate to all even in a crazy world. Anyone who knows me is frequently encouraged to come to class and I've had some wonderful experiences practicing with friends, musicians, and co-workers.

I come from a family of teachers and coaches, but always wanted to work in music. That has been the primary focus of my life for the past 7 years and will continue to dominate my life as I'd have it no other way. But as our company continues to grow, I continue to take pride in our team and its values. I love bringing the people I work with to class and am stoked for my worlds to to collide at Wanderlust next month (some of the Greenhouse teachers are coming out as well Yay!).

So, what's the point? Recently, Greenhouse announced it first ever teacher training program. As soon as I saw the flier, I knew I had to do it, no matter how busy I am. However, I am also a first year entrepreneur. Every dime I make goes back into our team's projects right now, as it should. With my income going to building a vision I have set forth with a partner, there isn't necessarily extra funds around to foot the bill for a 200 hour yoga teacher training program. I was on the fence and considered waiting until another point in my life. I attended the info meeting with Summer and realized that there were many reasons I should become certified. Whether it's yoga on our deck, on the road, or encouraging yoga breaks for the folks in our work environment, practitioners are all around me and that is something I want to continue to nurture. Am I quitting it all to move to India? Not yet :). Just kidding, but I'm not looking to become a professional yoga teacher. I am seeking a deeper understanding, experience, and acquisition of knowledge to share with all of the wonderful people who come in and out of my life who are drawn to this practice.

Thus, I am seeking donations to complete this program. Why should you donate? To be honest, I hesitated on an doing an open donation. I'm used to thinking of creative ways to raise funds for artists, but not for myself. However, I have been overwhelmed with encouragement by friends and family to do so. Many reminded me that meditation and yoga really do make the world a better place for all. Thanks guys!

The cost is $2800 and I would be honored to offer free guided meditation and yoga to anyone who is willing to donate. I think getting groups of my friends together for yoga sounds like a blast anyway, especially in random places this summer and fall.

I am forever grateful for those of you that donate, no matter what the amount. Think of it this way: I have 1500 Facebook friends. If everyone is willing to throw down $2, we all get free yoga. Who's in?

Om Shanti Shanti Shanti

Namaste

In to the light we go.

Much Love,

Emily xo

On Quickbooks

2009-05-20T11:06:00.004-04:00

Keri Smith and I started a company earlier this year. When setting up a business, advice comes in from everyone from parents to roommates to lawyers, etc especially with regard to financial advice. We take it all with a grain of salt, but most of our advisors suggested we buy Quickbooks for our small business accounting. People rave about it ie "your interns can run it," "it's so easy for your accountant at the end of the year," "the program practically runs itself."

Everyone in our company is relatively tech savvy, so this is a no brainer, right? I picked up Quickbooks for Mac. Upon installing the program, there were a plethora of options, and I'd rather be spending my time managing our artists instead of bookkeeping. Thus the lovely and talented finance whiz Shamisa agreed to handle our bookkeeping for us. Yay.

One of our first tasks was to install the program on a laptop other than mine for Shamisa and also ensure that Quickbooks was accessible for my business partner, who is based in LA (I'm in New York). Easy, right? Notsomuch. We tried logging in and the password I had set up didn't work. Hmm, weird, but no biggie, we'll just go through the password retrieval process, right?

It turns out, the password "hint" is "Who is your childhood hero?" I have been inspired by many people throughout my life and tried to plug in anyone that could fit this category from John Lennon to my family to my first grade teacher. Nothing worked, and we've been locked out of attempting.

Ok, whatever, my fault for not remembering what I had initially plugged in as my "childhood hero." I did think it was odd that an accounting program would use a non-quantifiable question for its password retrieval process, but like I said, mybad as the consumer.

I'm lucky enough to have a small army of interns here at Whitesmith Entertainment, and asked that intern cum apprentice, Katrina aka @ladymelisande, call Quickbooks and sort this out so our bookkeeper and LA partner can have access to the Quickbooks program that we purchased and our files.

After over half a dozen calls totaling at least 6 hours (and I swear that is a conservative estimate) on the phone with Quickbooks, we still do not have our password, nor have they reset it for us. They have asked Katrina to upload and send them a file while there server was down multiple times. They have told us to get a new password it will cost $79. Yesterday they told Katrina they'd call back with our new password, and no one ever called. This has been going on for weeks. Literally. I kid you not.

We're going to try contacting Quickbooks again today, but our faith in this recommended accounting program has been broken. Not only have they clearly not been helpful with a simple task such as re-setting a password, but Quickbooks is actually hurting our business since every hour Katrina spends with their customer "service" she is not working on our artists.

I have a policy about not posting anything out to the universe that is negative. But, I will make an exception today for Quickbooks as I feel the world has to know this.

If you or someone you know works for Quickbooks, please give us our password or let us re-set one, and no, I don't want to pay you $79 to do so.

To my wide network of friends and colleagues, many of which are opening or running small businesses in this 2009 world we live in: I advise against purchasing Quickbooks if you don't want your staff looking like this:

Although I have not tried these programs, here are some alternative accounting software programs in the meantime, as if I'm going to vent to the universe, I'd like to leave you with options:

http://www.peachtree.com/

http://www.freeaccountingsoftware.net/

If anyone has positive experiences with an accounting software company they'd like to share, lemme know and I'll post the link up to spread the word.

Love,

Em Wizzle

Emily@WhitesmithEnt.com

Ode to Sabra Hummus

2009-05-18T23:28:00.004-04:00

I think I started my "anti" brand phase as a Nirvana fan in high school. But let's face, it, who doesn't want quality out of the products they consume? (typed from my custom Apple set up).

I don't remember the exact moment I discovered Sabra hummus, but I fell in love quickly. As most who are involved with music know, hummus is a beloved backstage rider item. It's the best thing on tour: a vegan/vegetarian healthy spread that pairs with a variety of items ie pita, veggies, fruit, on sandwiches, etc. Everyone is happy, even the drinkers on the bus who eat it with chips in the morning to cure their hangover. It's such an important item, that when I tour managed The Dresden Dolls, we specified the brand on our rider. However, one tub of Sabra hummus, was never enough for the 10 or so in our band and crew, and thus we would always advance two with the venue. Nothing is more of a bummer than rolling into a venue, starving & exhausted and getting stuck with an off brand hummus, it changes the entire meal. So much so, that I also specified brands of hummus that we DIDN'T want. No need to list them here as I don't believe in putting negativity out into cyberspace, but you get the idea about our love for Sabra.

I am now quasi settled in Brooklyn, and am off the road. However, Sabra is still a regular item in my fridge, much to the delight of my roommates and friends. People love it! They always call it "that kind" of hummus. ie "That kind of hummus is the best." Duh, I'm a hummus expert. Don't get me wrong, homemade hummus and hummus from my local falafel shop is amazing, but I'm a busy gal and there's actually a (semi) point to this.

Today, while going through my RSS feeder, the Obama Foodorama blog (which is awesome) linked to Sabra hummus statues of Hillary and Obama (!) (as @indecisean pointed out, there was a McCain one, but as OF pointed out 'who cares?':)). Obvi, I had to tweet this very exciting combination of two things I love to @ least my roommate and office-mates (who are basically my roommates too) who know/understand my obsession with Sabra.

I came home from yoga to find that @Sabra had re-tweeted my post, which was rad because it meant Sabra was on Twitter. It looks like @Sabra is in its early phases, but I love it already. @Sabra has already made a Seinfeld reference, toured Boston colleges, & a provided a place to declare one's love for jalapeno or indecisiveness on whether combining caramelized onions and hummus is a good thing. Maybe someone will post about Sabra falafel and put me over the edge to buy it. I've always seen it, but never tried it for some reason.

Yes, Sabra is distributed by PepsiCo. But do we love MGMT's Oracular Spectacular any less because it's distributed by Sony? If you do, that's lame.

Anyway, thank you @Sabra for finding a hummus lover like me and communicating so directly. What's next? Sabra pita? Who knows, but whether it's Orwellian or not (which my mom pointed out to me tonight), I'm sure @Sabra will let me know.

Love,

Heavily Engaged Dipper Em Wizzle

PS - Sabra should put their Twitter link on the top or upper right or left hand corner of their site for max eyeballs :) x

Obama + UK. Yum.

2009-04-01T23:56:00.004-04:00

London, Barack giving The Queen an iPod, and Michelle Obama representing America. There is just so much goodness in the following clips.

In other news, Primal Scream played in Williamsburg on Sunday (!!!!!!!!!)

So so so so so so amazing. And I connected with a new friend via futuristic, interweb ways.

34th Street ACE - What's the deal?

2009-03-26T15:51:00.002-04:00

Can someone explain to me why the express and local trains run on opposite platforms at Penn Station? Peter Sand?? Anyone??

It has perplexed me for years. Here I am, standing on the express downtown side and TWO local trains have gone by on the other side of the platform. Oh wait, make that 3 now. Either track will take me to the L train and home to Williamsburg, I just always seem to choose the wrong one. Extra not fun as I'm often in this predicament after an Amtrak ride from Boston.

I'm not complaining about travel as it is such a bummer when people do. Traveling is a privilege. Louis CK sums that up nicely in the following clip. I first saw this on a yoga teacher's FB page, and it's been passed around through a few circles of friends. I LOVE the wifi on the story.

But what's the deal with the tracks at this station? Engineering error? Somethinbg I'm missing? Help me people!

Oh, yay, the A train just showed up. At least I get bberry service down here.

Back to Whitesmith land.

xo
sent without wires

SXSW Past and Present

2009-03-22T22:49:00.010-04:00

In 2003, I asked Amanda Palmer if I could tour manage The Dresden Dolls on their first "national" tour. Sans summer of NIN and Europe 2005, that first tour remains my fave.

Me & AP on said tour @ a SXSW party in 2004.

This year, 2009 Amanda was making her debut as a solo artist.

The NME dug Amanda @ The Paste Party
A 6th Street pillow fight with Vermillion Lies ended in love
AP did an impromptu gig with John Wesley Harding to entertain folks in line for the panel she was about to speak on
Thanks again to @IanCRogers, for having Amanda on "Do A 360 Deal With Yourself"
I love love loved Amanda's show @ the Central Presb. Church. It was beautiful, epic, & featured a sit in by Margaret Cho.
The LA Times wrote all about it.

And our 2009 hair is shorter.

Margaret played about town as well, debuting songs @ the Myspace party, Velveeta Room, Esther Follies, and Perez's party. I think I can relate to every song she played. :) Download "Eat Shit and Die" HERE.

I had a blast hanging out with Alina Simone last night. Everyone should come out to her 5/21 show @ Union Hall. Alina, Amanda, and Eugene Mirman are a trio Lexington, MA high school friends, and it's a pleasure to witness all of their careers continue to grow.

A lot more happened, but I'm hitting the wall. Fave non-Whitesmith shows were Graham Coxon @ the Q party & just plain seeing Bobby Gillespie @ breakfast. Thanks so much to Ja-rone, Kristan, Beth, Lydia, and Katrina for their help this week. And of course, yay for Keri and Jenny Applebuam hang time.

Introducing Whitesmith Entertainment, Inc.

2009-03-16T20:09:00.012-04:00

Hello Wizzle World Readers!

Keri Smith Esguia and I are proud announce the official launch of our company, Whitesmith Entertainment, Inc.

Whitesmith Entertainment is a full service management company based in New York and Los Angeles with consulting services available within all artist rights. Please check out our press release for additional information on our company and artists.

We are honored to manage the following clients, with more to be announced shortly:

MARGARET CHO

Stand-up comedy legend, working on her debut music comedy album, Guitarded, slated for a 2010 release, and currently writing with Tegan & Sara, Ben Lee, Amanda Palmer, Jon Brion, Patty Griffin, Kaki King, The New Pornographers, Broken Social Scene, and more.
Filming Drop Dead Diva this summer for Lifetime Television.
Making her debut to the music industry this week @ SXSW, which she discussed with Time Magazine.

AMANDA PALMER

Frontwoman for The Dresden Dolls, songwriter, author, internet phenom, actress, yogi, and activist released her debut solo album, Who Killed Amanda Palmer in 2008, produced by Ben Folds (Please e-mail us to request a digital and/or physical album).
Recently wrapped up a world tour, selling out dates in London, Paris, Dublin, and three nights at the Sydney Opera House Theatre. Check out Amanda's performance & antics on Australian national TV.
Who Killed Amanda Palmer book to be released in June with text by esteemed author NEIL GAIMAN. The album also spawned a video for each song, which can be viewed HERE and will be released on DVD June 2nd.

SARA BENINCASA 2009 ECNY award winner for her Sarah Palin vlogs, which garnered rave reviews from CNN, BBC, and The New York Times.

Check out Sara's latest clip, parodying The Reader as requested by Youtube prior to this year's Academy Awards.
Watch for a lot more from Ms. Benincasa in 2009, who is an MTV correspondent, host of Get In Bed on Sirius' Cosmo Radio, creator of NYC's Gossip Girl Summit, and will be launching her interview series, Gettin' Wet w/ Sara B later this year.

SELENE LUNA

Selene is the break-out star of VH1's The Cho Show and has been touring nationally doing stand-up, opening for Margaret Cho.
Recent film appearances include My Bloody Valentine 3-D and check out her amazing "Madonna and Child" comedy video, starring as Lourdes Ciccone.

IAN HARVIE

Ian Harvie is the world's first transgendered comedian and host of The Ian Harvie show @ Largo in Los Angeles.
Currently writing and developing The Manologues and touring nationally at universities.

Also, for those of you who will be in Austin this week, we invite you to stop by Margaret and Amanda's shows and panel, with info in the attached fliers.

To stay up to date on all things Whitesmith Entertainment:
Become A Fan on Facebook
Follow us on Twitter
Sign up for our Email list HERE.

Please email us directly with questions and inquiries. We are psyched!

Thanks so much,
Emily, Keri, and Team Whitesmith

Emily White
Whitesmith Entertainment, Inc.
New York/Los Angeles
www.WhitesmithEntertainment.com

Amanda on Good News Week in Australia

2009-03-11T13:56:00.000-04:00

So hot.

Love,

Em Wizzle xo

CSA and Net News Wire

2009-03-09T15:15:00.003-04:00

Hello All!

As most of you know, I moved back home to Williamsburg in Brooklyn. Awesome!

We will be formally announcing and publicly launching our super rad new company, Whitesmith Entertainment, this week. More on that shortly.

In the meantime, I want to encourage everyone to support their local farmer's market. CSA programs (Community Supported Agriculture) are becoming more popular and my roommates and I just signed up for the Williamsburg-Greenpoint pick up. What does this mean? Peeps like us can pre-order vegetables, eggs, fruits, and flowers in advance from a local organic farm. Yum! It's healthy, mega environmentally friendly, and supports local farms. DO IT!!!!

In other semi geeky news, I thought most peeps knew about RSS readers. I've been using Net News Wire for over a year to subscribe to about 200 blogs and websites in real time. So in case you don't have a system in place, I highly recommend New News Wire as an RSS Reader. Two people told me it changed their life this week after I suggested it, so I figured I'd post it here. Enjoy!

Also, I signed up for Twitter in August but am finally active on the Twitter train: http//www.twitter.com/emwizzle

I will try to to keep Wizzle World updated. I started this blog when I moved to Miami, to keep in touch with friends and avoid the boredom of not being in NYC. But now I'm home for good, and am crazed with our company and am constantly at events. I will try and post about all of these fun things, but life is short. Feel free to add me on Facebook for brief updates/photos/links/event announcements of all things Wizzle, Whitesmith, and beyond.

Love,

Emily White xo

PS - Off to the ECNY's tonight where Sara Benincasa is up for 3 awards. In her words, ZOMG SO AWESOME!!!

It worked!

2009-02-14T13:39:00.006-05:00

It's still never too late to donate to Planned Parenthood in Sarah Palin's name:

Alaska State Capitol Building
Sarah Palin
Third Floor
P.O. Box 110001
Juneau, AK 99811-0001

I am so so so happy to be living under the Obama administration, and I'm all about looking forward. BUT, Sarah P is still an elected official, with grandiose visions that are obvious since she put together a PAC.

Ah, memories.

xo

Rad

2009-02-08T15:36:00.001-05:00

Let's follow that up with some Positivity

2009-01-25T10:23:00.002-05:00

Love,

Em Wizzle xo

i'm here because God called me here.

2009-01-25T10:13:00.002-05:00

RADNESS

2009-01-22T15:49:00.004-05:00

I love pop music (I am often called out for listening to TLC's first album or Britney on my Adium/iChat. Someday I will write a long blog dissecting Britney's videography). I don't dig the Jonas Brothers, but THIS IS AWESOME! 7 year old Wizzle would have died to find NKOTB at the end of a historical scavenger hunt.

Jordan's manager actually wanted to meet with Amanda for some reason a few years ago (yay Boston). Sadly, I still kinda freaked with giddiness :)

My brother's Dutch ultimate frisbee team

2009-01-19T18:45:00.002-05:00

They're called The Nuts and just had a tournament in Ireland. Jesse is sporting the blue tights.

Love,

Big Sister Em Wizzle xo

Hipster Babies

2009-01-16T21:31:00.003-05:00

Does anyone have any suggestions for Miss Merch as to where one can obtain reasonably priced, not hideous baby clothes?

http://lauralolly.blogspot.com/2009/01/hideous-babies.html

xo

(photo by Beth Hommel)

Women In Entertainment Google Group

2009-01-14T16:18:00.002-05:00

Hi All!

For the past few years, there has been a badass Women in Music Google Group, founded by the fabulous Evange. Evange is taking the group to the next level, which you can find more about by emailing here: Membership@womeninmusic.org

However, a few friends and I started a Women in Entertainment Google Group to keep the free contact aspect/information flow of the Women In Music list alive. Since the WIM Google Group has expired, I wanted to get this one up and kicking in the New Year.

I have always found the WIM list a huge resource, and feel that we can help each other out even more than ever since many folks are changing jobs/starting their own thing/finding a new path.

Please sign up and encourage other to do so:

http://groups.google.com:80/group/women-in-entertainment

Much Love,

Em Wizzle xo

Two of my Favorite Things

2009-01-14T10:37:00.003-05:00

NYC and Oasis
Oasis - Dig Out Your Soul In The Streets

Unfortunately, the band was supposed to play T5 that night (omg), but cancelled due to this douchebag (start at 1:20):

But, team AFP banded together and shot the video for "Oasis" that week regardless. Aaaand, there's always THIS beautiful track that can be found on my (never updated) Myspace page.

Thanks T-Dogg! and Brett and Rob.

2009-01-07T23:11:00.002-05:00

http://forum.nin.com/bb/read.php?18,378166

NIN is giving away 400 gigs of concert footage. Rad on so many levels.

Also, after seeing this, I'm convinced Noah should bring NIN on True Colors. So many of my gay male friends LOVE LOVE LOVE NIN (and tori amos, a t-dogg ex).

Trent Reznor Interview, 12.13.08
Uploaded by trentisthenewpink

Of ALL the press requests NIN most likely gets, I love that an interview with this blog was granted. Bonus points for Brett being namechecked and Trent reading Outliers.

AFP in HD

2009-01-06T00:25:00.001-05:00

Thanks Vimeo! Hopefully Warners doesn't come after you too.

xo
Amanda Palmer's "Leeds United" Music Video from Amanda Palmer on Vimeo.

Papa Lizard

2009-01-04T22:28:00.002-05:00

What do you [Earthlings] call it, 'The Google?'

i'd imbed this clip, but fox ain't so into that, which is fine, because i don't want their creepiness anywhere near me.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/01/04/elder-bush-on-sons-failur_n_155086.html

love,
em wizzle xo

NYC Home

2009-01-04T20:52:00.002-05:00

being present in New York is home. plain and simple.

from the second i boarded the plane to the girl i heard a few feet in front of me @ LGA say to the cabbie she was headed to wburg, this is home. i split a cab with said girl, who went to DSHA with Emily Stapleton. Yay. I love that EmilyS and JaneE went to Harvard. What a wonderful thing to do with one's swimming talent. Anyway, Melissa was psyched to be home to Brooklyn and have more control over her food sources. I was just psyched to be home.

Shortly after walking into Bedford&9thLand, Anthony texted. What a beautiful London/Boston friend to have in town here in BrooklynLand upon my return.

Quickly, my new roommates are great and i have now commented to multiple people that i haven't lived with straight guys since college (thought that was fun too!). it's funny. They're straight guys who Get It thought, don't worry.

NYE Rocked. Our VIP Pre-Party in Wburg @ Paige's was the shit and AP's Bowery performance that followed was sick. Yay. I am so F-ing pumped for Whitesmith 2009. Double Yay.

Love,

Emily White xo

It's All About Survival

2008-12-22T20:48:00.008-05:00

Or so Madonna says.

I am so lucky.

Tonight I'm finishing packing my bags for Brooklyn. I don't plan on leaving there anytime soon except for work/pleasure travel trips. It's where my heart, head and spirit lives.

What have I been up to? Well, I completely changed my work trajectory in July, exactly 21 days after re-signing a 6 month lease. I lived in a nice building in a crappy housing market, which means Craig's list and subletting has the opposite fluidity of NYC, Boston, London, or San Fran.

I remember a year ago, a friend asking if I was moving to the 'Williamsburg' of Miami. Everyone told me to move south of 5th on the Beach, but i opted for somewhere in between Miami Beach, the mini hipster enclave of the Design District, and the office i was initially working out of. Great idea while I was working out of said office, lame for the last 6 months.

However, I was lucky enough to transition back into a lifestyle of travel, intelligence, culture, and creativity that feeds my soul.

At the beginning of the journey, I was lucky enough to reconnect with Keri Smith Esguia, in a twist of fate that was one of the most beautiful coincidences of my life.

We rock.

Keri and I have started a company called Whitesmith Entertainment. We have spent the past 5 months writing a business plan, transitioning our clients into new platforms, and planning the next 18 months for all of those involved. I am honored to work with Lydia Berg-Hammond, and owe the knowledge of her existence to the fabulous Jim Anderson. Asking Katrina to join our team was such a fucking no brainer. I can't wait to be in the same city as these wonderful women. Jessie should stay virtually involved despite our convergence on NYC, because that's where it's at :).

Meanwhile, our Los Angeles office continues to impress me and I'm psyched to work with Sarah Martin and engage JessieBee to dive right in. Yay for a total of 7 Whitesmithers to end 2008.

What have we been doing? A Lot!

Besides getting our shiznit together and becoming a real deal biz, we've been guiding the careers of the talent we proudly represent thus far.

Amanda Palmer put out her debut solo masterpiece with friends Ben Folds, Annie Clark, and strings by Buckmaster. Neil Gaiman + more live performance magic with The Danger Ensemble live and are not to be missed in 2009.

Margaret Cho. I mean, seriously, an outright legend. We are making a record with Ms. Cho and her fave musicians. It is sick. She is sick. Look for her in unexpected appearances this year.

Sara Benincasa. Apparently my new NYC wingwoman and more. What more could I ask for? I am so proud of how you have evolved from sarah's deer in headlights reality to straight up Turkey Blood. See you in 2009, literally.

Selene Luna. COME VISIT WHITESMITH NEW YORK.

Ian Harvie. Erika Batey is awesome. Thank you for everything.

Btw Wizzle World readers, how does one embed an mp3 into a blog post? I am not an html whiz. Cause this blog post's song would be "To Be Young" by Ryan Adams.

I know I wasn't @ OasisMSG2, but we'll reconvene, I promise.

meanwhile, i'm so pumped to hang in milwaukee for a week before 2009.

thank you to ann/bob/jesse, ezrin, luba, mikey, Richard, kk, jm.com, winis, raso, Lourdes, kevmo, paddy, natelew, krystal, stacey, casey/grant, sagey sage, bartandjulie, eli, reis, thom/trent, markkates, hillaryclinton, ericsussman, Jaymay, mw, KateNash, sabrina, Enoch Porch, adamhaft, beth, SMW, sean, bill h, damon albarn, patrick, the lost and found saloon, elaine, and matt.

i couldn't be more proud that the Obamas are moving into the Whitehouse the same month that Whitesmith Entertainment launches.

love,

emily white

My boy, Rahm

2008-12-11T03:14:00.004-05:00

He's badass, I love it.

The three brothers together are hilarious too: hhttp://www.charlierose.com/view/interview/9463

Meanwhile, you can come party with Team AFP on New Year's, which is also the day after I officially move back to Williamsburg (!)

Love,

Em Wizzle xo

Original Crazy Girl Tribute

2008-12-10T16:09:00.005-05:00

Who knew Carrie Fischer had turned into such an awesome, eccentric woman?

Carrie's adult image had previously been frozen to me as the quintessential mother of the 80's in The Burbs.

I want her to come and see Amanda play. I love that movie execs thought she was fat before Star Wars @ 105 lbs. Classic.

Love,

Em Wizzle xo

OMG - Britpop wet dream alert

2008-12-09T12:58:00.003-05:00

http://www.nme.com/news/blur/41530

Hopefully I can make it over during that time. But if not, PLEASE PLAY NYC!!!!

Nothing will make up for seeing them @ The Rave when I was 13 and almost getting trampled in the front row. It was worth it.

Love,
Emily White xo

Furniture, Stereo and TV in Miami Land for sale

2008-12-07T20:46:00.005-05:00

Email if me if you'd like to buy anything or know anyone. Even though Google Anal tells me most Wizzle World readers live in NYC, Boston, London, and Wisconsin; you never know.

It works! :)

2008-12-04T23:35:00.003-05:00

AFP E-mail List

Testing

2008-12-04T22:49:00.005-05:00

I am tech savvier than 99.5% of the world. But, the .5% who are more knowledgeable than I, can do, like actual real things on the internet. I tend to be better at coming up with ideas, to which my genius internet friends either say "yeah, I told you about that 3 months ago or, no that doesn't exist yet, but someday."

Today, I'm trying out the html code for AP's new (super awesome) email list. I sent it to our webmaster and internet god, but they are busy bees fixing things online for the 95.5% of us. In the meantime, i want to make sure data goes where I think it goes. I'm an instant gratification kinda gal.

#7 - The cookies @ Lost and Found Saloon

2008-11-19T12:05:00.005-05:00

I know, I've been cheating. I've been in Miami a bit and slacking on the things I like about the city...

But, last night my genius (literally) friend Peter Sand was in town. In general, the food in Miami is bad. However, The Lost and Found Saloon is AWESOME! Great vibe, good music, and the owner is a Red Sox fan. They could work on green packaging (I've been getting delivery less due to the massive amounts of Styrofoam). One step at a time.

The cookies are the best ever. Seriously.

That's all I've got. Back to work!

x

What about Lincoln Diaz-Balart?

2008-11-01T13:57:00.001-04:00

He seems to be anti-hate crime and pro human rights.

Also, what's the deal with the local judges? Having trouble finding info about them online as well.....

Vote No on 2

2008-11-01T03:15:00.002-04:00

Miami doesn't have as many cool celebs to endorse the anti-gay marriage amendment on the ballot, but it's still there.

Reminder to Vote No on Two in Florida.

I'm voting tomorrow. Someone from the Obama campaign is picking me up, because millenials are organized like that.

Oh, and thanks for the info on Ileana Ros-Lehtinen. I will definitely be voting for Annette Taddeo :)

I volunteered to work at the Obama campaign on Sunday in Miami and am stoked. You can too.

#6 My Vote counts in FL

2008-10-30T01:16:00.002-04:00

Continuing on with things I like in Miami, I GET TO VOTE IN FLORIDA! Awesome.

I'm going to head down to the Miami City Hall on Saturday to vote early. Hooray!

However, I encourage all to check out their ballot in advance online. Check it out, the Florida ballot is mad long. Many of my friends live in the liberal utopias that are NYC/Brooklyn, Boston, LA, San Francisco, and Austin. Their usual gripe is that their vote doesn't count. However, I consider local government as important as getting Barack elected. I think about that everytime I'm riding in a bike lane in NYC or walking through one of it's gorgeous parks. The government CARES. In Miami, notsomuch. Recycling is a joke, parks are few and far between, I see no general concern for the environment, and don't even get me started on the lack of bike lanes. Thus, I am looking forward to voting locally and hopefully doing my little bit to make Miami better for all before departing home to Brooklyn. But who the hell are all of these people on the ballot? I decided to find out.

REPRESENTATIVE IN CONGRESS, DISTRICT 18
Good ole District 18. This race is between two females, hooray! Annette Taddeo (D) and
Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R). At first glance, Annette's website is down. Bummer 4 days before the election. However, I did a little digging. Although there isn't much on Annette, she is a female business owner, and that is what I became over the past few months. BUT, get this! Despite being a Republican, Ileana seems to care about other people!! Ileana is a Cuban immigrant with Jewish roots. Although her environmental record could use some work, check this - she supports anti-hate crime laws, anti-discrimination bills, believes gays and lesbians should be allowed to serve openly in the armed forces, voted against the Federal Marriage Amendment, and is one of two Republican members of the LGBT congressional caucus.

Wizzle World readers, I will be voting for a Republican in District 18. Looks like she's been in office since the 80's and will most likely crush, but chalk one up for human rights.

REPRESENTATIVE IN CONGRESS, DISTRICT 20
Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D)
Margaret Hostetter (NPR - No Party Affiliation)

This also looks like a blow out in Debbie's favor. She seems like a nice New York transplant who supports both Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama. Margaret on the other hand is anti-gay marriage and pro-life. What is a bisexual woman has an unexpected pregnancy and 'chooses' life to raise the child with a female? Does that hurt your head as to what you think this woman should do, Margaret? Guess what, it shouldn't be your decision as to what said bisexual woman does with her pregnancy, nor should you be able to regulate who she opts to spend her life with.

Wizzle World Endorsement: Debbie Wasserman Schultz.

Ok, that's all for now. More tomorrow as I have to figure out the other South Florida politicians I'm voting for before Saturday! :)

xo

Amanda's new video is dedicated to Sarah Palin

2008-10-29T14:09:00.001-04:00

AND it's called "Oasis." :)

I wish I had tickets to see Blur in November.

For my touring friends

2008-10-28T19:53:00.000-04:00

Well said, Katie Kay! (Amanda Palmer's tour manager)

Still waiting for hippie grocery delivery.

Hungry.

Another reason why I should manager a swimmer

2008-10-28T19:15:00.004-04:00

http://gawker.com/5069852/michael-phelps-and-the-nerdy-endorsement-trap

Btw, I'm in Miami this week and have been slammed creating Whitesmith Entertainment with Keri.

But today's item I like about Miami can be short and sweet: the sky. It's freaking gorgeous and multi-colored. Paddy asked me if I was tripping once when I was describing the Miami sky. I wasn't, but it proves my point as to how stunning it is.

Meanwhile, I sit and work and wait for my Delicious Organics grocery delivery that is 6 HOURS late. Hippie company + Miami time seems to compound the general expected delay. Oh well, soon soon.

xo

I Don't Know How To Say This

2008-10-18T10:22:00.004-04:00

But there are people my age voting for McCain/Palin. WTF??????

I know I'm being a bit too idealistic/hippie/naive, but it scares the shit out of me.

I'm in a wedding in Wisconsin this weekend. I was ok with the fact that the other girls involved are married/planning families/into having traditional lives. However, I was truly appalled last night to find out that educated young women would consider not voting for Barack Obama and even worse, would be psyched to elect the Pro-Life Beauty Queen.

I could give a fuck how intellectually snobby I sound explaining to these 20-somethings that I have more foreign policy experience than Sarah Heath Palin. Extra worse, is that they countered my question of "So you'd be ok with Sarah Palin being President" by attempting to trash Barack. You didn't answer my question.

If you're so into the settling down and having kids BS, don't you give a shit about their future?

I really really really try to give midwesterners a good name in all of the cities I've lived in. But please don't perpetuate the horrendous stereotypes you already have by just plain being uninformed and responding like a crazy McCain rally type.

If McCain/Palin lose, maybe the pitbull will reconsider seceding from the US.

Love,

Emily White

#4 a REALLY hot guy moved into the building next to me

2008-10-14T13:37:00.002-04:00

i don't know his name and probably never will. but about two weeks ago a gorgeous guy with dark shaggy hair decided to start hanging out on the balcony straight across from my apartment. he's usually only in boxers and i wish i had one of my Whitesmith/AFP girls here to comment to as he appears randomly throughout the work day. it's like an indie rock diet coke break.

thanks for the eye candy! :)

i hope i don't disturb that building too much as i'm usually prancing around doing yoga and blasting music from ranging from Beethoven to Britney to Britpop.

back to work.

#3 Free Outdoor Yoga

2008-10-13T22:29:00.002-04:00

Note for Richard: I only do a 'daily favorite thing about Miami' blog when I'm actually in the city. It is my attempt at a positive outlook on my remaining days here, until I move home to Brooklyn and it's actually working. :)

Every Monday, Wednesday (6 PM) and Saturday (10 AM) there is a free Vinyasa class provided by the city at Bayfront Park. It really is gorgeous to do yoga during sunset overlooking Biscayne Bay. The teacher is fab, and the program was started by a city councilman who always joking complains during navasana (which I admit, I often slack on). Anyone who communicates with me frequently knows that I revolve my Mondays and Wednesdays around the class. It's still no Greenhouse, but outdoor NYC yoga is obviously seasonal. I've been pretty much disgusted with local/regional/state government here for the most part. So much so that I have a newfound appreciation for education and environment laws in Wisconsin and NY. But this class has created a mini local progressive community who also put on a seasonal Farmer's market in the park between Feb - April as well as yoga workshops including 108 Sun Salutations for World Peace. Heady, but awesome.

The councilman who started said program is a minor local celeb to me. I don't get intimidated by actual celebs (sans Noel Gallagher) but apparently local progressive government officials are the new rock stars in Wizzle World.

That's all I got. I'm fried from a 10 hour flight today.

Back to work either way.

I'm Not One of Those Either

2008-10-12T22:54:00.006-04:00

At about :35 in the Couric interview, Ms. Sarah Heath Palin explains how she didn't come from "a background of kids who perhaps graduate college and their parents get them a passport and give them a backpack and said 'go off and travel the world.'" She continues, quite condescendingly, "No....., I've worked all my life. In fact, I've usually had two jobs all my life, until I had kids. I was not a part of, I guess, part of that culture. The way I have understood the world is through education. Through books, through mediums, which have provided me a lot of perspective on the world."

Though the books and mediums you refuse to name?

Dear Sarah Palin,

I have been to Europe more times than I can remember. I've traveled throughout 30 or so countries on 4 continents. I never could have afforded this on my own, nor would I have asked my parents to foot the bill. I worked, because in addition to the love of my craft, I had an innate needs to explore the world. Yet, many folks often comment on how I've been 'everywhere.' I haven't. I've only had the opportunity to travel in countries whose citizens could afford CD's at major label prices back in the day and concert tickets today. Despite the fact that I've been to exponentially more cities and countries than you, I have not seen the world whatsoever. Maybe someday, I can afford to travel to Africa, the Middle East, and parts of Asia who can't afford to put on rock n roll festivals.

Unfortunately for all of us, you can afford to visit these lands. Thanks for making your tax returns public. Sorry, but I don't think "Joe Sixpack" can relate to making $150k/year.

In the meantime, let's enjoy one of your Vlogs.

Love,

Emily White xo

Fuck You, Society

2008-10-12T22:03:00.002-04:00

Don't get me wrong, you've been great to me in almost every way.

But what's up with headlines like this on CNN.Com? Listen, I know CNN is a joke and so do most in my generation. But loads of folks do not! From the midwest to boomers and up, they seriously consider the Cable News Network real news. And the gross part is, it's better than many "news outlets." Please don't encourage unnecessary consumption in sources that folks look to for information. I don't expect everyone to spend their time enjoying art, but can you please stick to informing as journalists and not influencing consumer habits? I don't think CNN is commenting on a trend here, they are perpetuating problems that have screwed America in the first place.

Thus, I will try to enjoy my surroundings of Berlin-Tegel Airport for the next few hours until Air France whisks me away to Miami where recycle is a term foreign in both English and Espanol within the city limits.

But who am I to talk? Psycho Dave just texted me via my (precious) BlackBerry that I left my iPod on Amanda's tour bus. Yes, David, you can borrow it for the rest of the tour. I'm happy to listen to music on my harddrive @ home. I'll live.

Love,

Emily White

PS - AMANDA FUCKING PALMER AND THE DANGER ENSEMBLE/ZOE KEATING/LYNDON/JASON WEBLEY ARE KILLING IN EUROPE RIGHT NOW. I've seen A LOT of shows, especially starring AP. But it's sick. Really. I'm super proud. Go. Now.

#2 I'll Be in Paris Tonight

2008-10-09T13:38:00.003-04:00

NYC-area residents are spoiled with 3 major international airports within close proximity. However, the Miami area is serviced both by Miami Int'l Airport as well as Fort Lauderdale's airport, which is a $4 train or $18 shuttle fare away. People always complain about increasing fares, less routes, and more in the airline industry. Having more than one airport nearby limits monopolies on a market. There are way more options, assuming the consumer knows how to use the internet and is willing to take a little extra time to find the right flight.

FLL is freezing and I think it's so tourists feel warm the moment they exit the airport. It also cracks me up how FLL is the designated tourist airport. Semi-related, I can never find anything to eat as it's chock full of American artificial standard food. Not that MIA is much better, but it's a bit bigger and there are some new wings. MIA seems to be filled with folks going to/from The Caribbean and South America and are just living their lives aka not on holiday. FLL also has discount airlines such as Spirit and Southwest. I don't see why people are anti budget airlines. It's soooo much cheaper and I think some of the planes on Spirit and Southwest are newer and cleaner than American or United.

Anyway, I'm taking off to visit Amanda and crew in Europe land. I found a reasonably priced flight on Air France at my preferred times straight out of Miami Int'l. Thus, two nearby international airports is another thing I like about Miami.

Link Updated

2008-10-08T15:12:00.002-04:00

Thanks, Katie Schmaling :)

Double thanks to Mellers for reminding me to blog so she has something to read at work. Hooray for Vegas!

#1 The Weather

2008-10-08T14:37:00.004-04:00

I'm living in an odd state of purgatory, which isn't all bad, but it isn't ideal either. I'm stuck in a pre-paid lease and can't move back to Brooklyn till the end of December. The only way out of said lease is military service and I am not enlisting anytime soon. Although I travel frequently for work and pleasure, my residence is Miami, FL for the next 85 days. I am incredibly pleased with what we are working on in the meantime, but it doesn't mean I wouldn't mind taking breaks at Greenhouse Holistic and having meetings at Pan Ginger enjoying some jade mushrooms for lunch. All in due time. Thus, I will be listing something I like about Miami every day until I can return home.

#1 The weather. Obvious answer, but true nonetheless. I get cold way too easily. I'm a wimp. At my last day job, I had a space heater by my desk and wore a hoodie every day. When winter comes, I try not to verbally complain as much as I do, but it's because I'm beyond uncomfortable. People say I should be "used to it" being from Wisconsin and all. Nope, that just makes me loathe it more and bring back memories of frozen hair after swim practice.

Amanda is similar and an acupuncturist friend told her once that it is due to not eating meat. I can see where that would make sense, but it's a bummer to consider altering one's beliefs just to stay warm. Although my fave lounging clothes are usually comfy and tanktoppy, in the winter, I layer like crazy, practically wear a sleeping bag for a jacket and still freeze.

I can't wait to open our office in Brooklyn. But for now, I'll enjoy working in a tank top and shorts with the deck doors wide open and a breeze that feels fantastic. It's still a bummer here when there is no sun for days, which happened when various hurricanes passed through the gulf, despite being 100's of miles away. But otherwise, the temp hovers in the 80's during the day and 70's at night.

I will remind myself of this when I'm outside in January and am not as warm as I'd prefer. But for now, I pulled my desk outside on the deck for today because it's freaking gorgeous out.

Be careful!

2008-10-02T11:09:00.001-04:00

This is one of my favorite commuting paths in the city. Don't be reckless, especially on the steep path into Williamsburg.

Yay Jay

2008-10-02T10:57:00.002-04:00

Miami is not a hot bed for concerts. It's too far south. There isn't much interest from fans. Music fans exist, but I've seen way too many half full rooms at the few awesome shows who's tours have stopped in South Florida.

However, Jay-Z is playing a free show for Barack Obama on Sunday!! And it's right by my apartment!

http://www.nme.com/news/jay-z/40164

Sweet!

BriAnna is going to Iran

2008-10-02T08:54:00.005-04:00

After a year and half of planning, my good friend BriAnna Olson is headed to Iran. The idea began after shooting footage on the 5th anniversary of 9/11 @ Ground Zero. She simply held a sign that said "Unconditional Love is Global Security." Although many reactions were supportive, one furious woman told her to go to Tehran and take her sign there. So she is:

You, Me & the Islamic Republic of Iran
Guess who is heading to Tehran? Me. I am. And I'm taking Michael Pope with me.

We're flying out of New York on Monday, stopover in Dubai, then we touch ground in Tehran where we'll be met by a translator who'll escort us about the city.

We'll be meeting with curators and artists and musicians and hopefully getting to know them well enough to inspire new relationships and maybe even spawn some international collaborations. Who knows. We've got a handful of people to meet with, and knowing how we roll, I hope that we meet all the right people. At least, we'll be returning with an experiential peek into a world so few of us have actually seen, which I have learned as an travel enthusiast, is really where its at.

I'm really just psyched to see what all the fuss is about. And I'm mostly super psyched that a lot of you have helped in some wayshapeorform. I've made a career out of making things happen, but its always easier when there is either money, sex or famous people involved. And since this involved none of those things explicitly, the ride was a little... inconsistent.

So thank you for giving me places to stay, taking photos, selling photos, screening the video at your art-party, brainstorming, booking venues, lifting heavy tv sets, giving me places to stay, giving me money, overwhelming me with your enthusiasm, sending me links, giving me places to stay, "getting it", "not getting it", buying my tshirts, telling people to watch that video, donating your DVD players, making your own "Unconditional Love is Global Security" shirts/sign/merch, asking how its going, not asking how its going, and also giving me places to stay.

You are the best ever.

love,
bri

Turn Up The Sun

2008-09-16T01:28:00.005-04:00

Tanning beds put into the Alaskan governor's mansion.

I've been morbidly fascinated by Sarah Palin from the moment she was announced as the GOP's VP candidate. She's just so bad. And so 2008 with the pregnant teenager tabloid story. Very Juno and Jamie Lynn. Btw, the above photo was provide by her FAMILY to the media. Wtf?

Shockingly, the Republicans managed to choose someone who has even less in common with me than Bush. That was one of my Bush issues from the getgo. I would look at this fortunate son, playboy, steak eating, oil-guzzling, earth hating, southern cowboy and think about how I don't think someone like that could ever relate to my life. What a bummer that he is the leader of the country I was born in. That and I've always wanted someone to just please tell me one good thing Bush has done. As humans, you'd think there'd be SOMETHING he could give a shit about besides money and/or good ole boys. Education, the environment, or some other issue that affects everyone. But no, no one can seem to come up with one universal positive accomplishment from the Bush administration.

Then there's Sarah Palin, who just plain sets women back. Oh I know all about the book banning, no funding for rape victims, belief in converting gays (!), and more. But somehow, installing tanning beds in the Alaskan governor's mansion inspired me enough to publicly speak up about SP4VP. I really thought I'd outgrown such a trashy and carcinigous trend by graduating from Arrowhead High School and moving away from Hartland, but no, it haunts me still. I'm all for all of the amazing working mothers out there, especially who support their children in all fields, be it hockey or swimming for example. But, unless that working mom has the legit credentials to hold the keys to essentially affect everyone on planet Earth in some way or another, I don't want her speaking for me or trying to legislate what I can or cannot do with my body.

Equal rights for all isn't just choosing someone for a job because of their sex/race/age/whatever. It's about choosing the right person for the job no matter what their sex/race/age/whatever is.

This message is brought to you by Lindsay and Sam. (Go them, btw! :)

PS - You can vote early in the swing state that is Florida here in Miami.

Finally!

2008-09-15T20:45:00.003-04:00

Dear Carral's Convenience Store,

You have so much potential! Here we are, in a beautiful apartment building filled with young professionals, ready and willing to spent too much of their paycheck on overpriced hippie junk food specifically marketed to the cultural creative demographic. I opt to not have a car in my life, because it isn't necessary for me. In a tropical climate, there is no place in the metro area that my bike can't get me to. However, our millennial generation is a busy one. When I can, I make plans to get across the Venetian Causeway via carpool, bus, or again, just bike to Whole Foods/Wild Oats on a weekly basis. But sometimes my travel schedule heats up and grabbing fresh fruits and vegetables isn't realistic.

When a time/food shopping crisis occurs, I always come and check out your store, located on the ground floor of my building. Each and every visit, I am let down with artificial products filled with chemicals that define why Americans are so unhealthy. Though, I was stoked one night when I discovered a well stocked collection of SFRB, my legal drug of choice in work emergencies.

I wouldn't trade the large lap-swimmable outdoor pool at Bay Park Plaza for anything. But after swimming, or riding my bike home from yoga in the park like I just did now, sometimes I would kill for a product branded by Amy's, Annie's, or Liz Lovely (BEST VEGAN COOKIES EVER). So today, I decided I'd get over my food snobbery and buy some Tropicana, as I was dying for something fruitlike. To my surprise, you're now stocking Naked! Win one for the hippie chic crowd who have been brainwashed to down yummy products directly marketed to people like me. At least I admit it?

The point is, you will make bank if you continue to stock unneccesarily expensive food. Try it, one product at a time, I guarantee you the sales of these items outsell your usual stock. I'll even help you order!

Time to get back to work with a $2.99 15 oz juice and yerba mate helping me along.

Love,

Emily White

Who Killed Amanda Palmer's Greatest Tits?

2008-09-06T13:49:00.003-04:00

I am pleased with how we are launching Amanda's debut solo album on Monday:

http://www.whokilledamandapalmer.com/

I'd like to draw attention to another recent release that deserves some interweb chatter. I was lucky enough to to find Emilyn Brodsky's Greatest Tits in my mailbox this morning. The album has gorgeous packaging with gorgeous songs by a gorgeous girl. Hearing a properly recorded version of "Swear To God" was thrilling. You can buy it HERE.

Liam @ Heathrow + Noel and Phelps in the same NYC weekend?

2008-08-29T03:24:00.004-04:00

i was groggy, in pajamas, and wearing my "Pete Doherty is innocent shirt." thus i didn't say hi. still dope nonetheless.

almost as cool as THIS is going to be.

i was planning on chilling in miami land for september. but oasis + if anyone can get me into Michael Phelps on SNL that Saturday, I will owe you for life.

i'm so watching this

2008-08-28T02:46:00.004-04:00

Phelps to appear on "SNL"

http://www.reuters.com/article/entertainmentNews/idUSN2850473520080828

OMG Liam Gallagher, not kidding

2008-08-25T10:34:00.002-04:00

Soooo, I just arrived at Heathrow and who was ahead of me in the security line? Liam Gallagher and Andy Bell. Score!

I took a pic, but my camera cord is in my checked bag. Oh well, you'll have to wait until NYC.

Enjoy an awkward moment between Liam and Carson Daly on TRL in the meantime.

Really, what are the odds? How awesome? However, I didn't get to see my soulmate Noel on this trip. Next time!

JESUS SPOTTED + Hooray for The Cho Show

2008-08-25T07:38:00.005-04:00

This is a bold statement, but this particular trip to the magic UK has potentially been my best ever. Thanks to all of you involved.

However, while sitting down to a full (v) English breakfast at the K West Kanteen, with Amanda, a legit Britpop star finally walked by us. Jay Darlington, who is Oasis' keyboard player ! ! !

He looks like Jesus. Nuff said on that. Bonus Britpop fact: Jay was also in Kula Shaker, one of my all time fave 90's Britpop bands. "Tattva" is a classic.

Also, I finally had a chance to sit down and watch the first episode of The Cho Show. Absolutely amazing, hilarious, stunning, and groundbreaking. I laughed and cried. Check it.

Braless and Britpopping in London

2008-08-22T23:17:00.006-04:00

I loathe wearing a bra and Amanda loves wearing ONLY a bra. To each their own.

Either way, Amanda's sold-out performance was absolutely stunning last night. Way to go AP. If you weren't able to get a ticket, you can come back and visit when Ms. Palmer headlines KoKo on 10/10 with additional musicians, performance artists, and our classic crew. That will be extra special for me as I used to work at MTV, right down the road in Camden Town. Memories! AND the last time I was at KoKo, it was for NOEL GALLAGHER SOLO ACOUSTIC. Sickest night ever. I was going to link to a youtube clip of said 2006 show, but that is too easy. Instead I stumbled from a great clip of Noel playing "Talk Tonight" at my first Oasis show ever! January 17th, 1998. I will never forget that date. Mel and I stood outside for 6 hours in winter to get in the front row of the Rosemont Horizon (now renamed The Man center in various incarnations). I know in the hardcore universe of Oasis fandom, that is a late date for a first show. However, I was 15 and when the band came to town a few years prior when I was in middle school (in which I was as obsessed as ever), I had the 11-12 Wisconsin State Swimming Championships and alas couldn't go to The Rave. At least I think I won a few events. The next 10 years would make up for it though as I've had the honour of seeing Noel and the band over a dozen times in various countries. And my obv life highlight of Noel dedicating "Don't Look Back In Anger" to me in Germany in 2005. BEST MP3 EVER.

Sorry, no matter how many times I've been here, UK visits bring out the uber hardcore Anglophile in me....

Anyway, we are having a blast clowning around one of my hometowns, although I have seen only emo bands and no Britpop stars staying at the good ole K West. Sigh. But oh oh oh, breaking news, Sean Francis just sent me the new Verve album. Yessssss.

Hopefully that feeling will be additionally enhanced by any sort of Pete Doherty spotting tomorrow @ Reading. Oh and Michael Phelps will be in London this weekend too. Score!

Update: Two minutes into the new Verve album, I love it already. Shocker!

Billary Merch

2008-08-21T10:05:00.007-04:00

Pop culture, merch, the 90's, and political rock stars are all things that I love. Thus, I was genuinely excited to go to the Bill Clinton Museum store in Little Rock, Arkansas.

What was I doing in Arkansas? Visiting Fairfield Bay, of course.

Although I was a little disappointed with Slick Willy's merch and the lack of an intern memorial, Jesse assisted in pointing out a few of our fave items.

In the end, even my Barack-worshiping brother had to admit that Billary broke down "cool" barriers for the Obamas by playing sax on era-appropriate media such as The Arsenio Hall Show. Omg, watch that clip. Aresenio says that Bill has more people in his posse than Hammer. AWESOME!

Though, even Bill has to be impressed with Barack's bodysurfing.

Off to London land! xo

Teamwork

2008-08-11T15:42:00.004-04:00

Whether you're a swimming fan or not, everyone should be able to appreciate a come from behind race like this. So sick! Jason Lezak is a new Wizzle World Hero. And Garrett is from Wisconsin. Hooray! I love French food and all, but can't help taking a little joy in the stunned faces of the French relay team.

And for those of you in NYC tonight, come see MY team tonight @ Amanda Palmer's Spiegeltent show. Reggie Watts is opening and it will be a blast.

Hi New York, I've missed you

2008-08-10T17:01:00.002-04:00

Psycho in San Fran

2008-08-07T04:22:00.004-04:00

I meant to take a picture of the weed store by The Great American Music Hall. It's a cliche but seeing the signs are still a novelty for travelers from the liberal, but slightly more uptight northeast. Or of the stunning landscapes that always make me wonder if I should spend a few months living here sometime. Even of the perfectly poached eggs and avocado Amanda and I had over breakfast.

Instead I have a picture of Psycho Dave, which is exciting in it's own way.Dave's a good tour roommate. Especially since I like my alone time and he likes experiencing the local culture, often discovering new bars and friends. (I'm usually a good wingwoman for him but have an 8 AM flight tomorrow). Dave also has the ability to randomly talk to someone outside of the hotel and it happens to be Greg Dahl, our good friend Bart's brother.

Sadly, I'm only visiting team WKAP for a few shows, but they were a nice warm up/preview for many in this family and community.

Staying @ The Clift makes me thing of Northeastern University St. Stephen Street dorm alum, Ron Almgren who apparently is not a concierge here anymore. Where are you Ron? Find me on a social network or two!

See you in Brooklyn tomorrow.
xo

Good Morning from L.A.

2008-08-05T13:29:00.003-04:00

I've never been much of an LA fan. The cars, the smog, the fake tits, etc.

However, whenever I'm in town, I'm reminded of Katie Kay, Josh Frankfort, avocados, sushi, pools, sunshine, and gorgeous views such as the one provided by our amazing lodging.

And although fictional, Frances McDormand's house/studio in Laurel Canyon RULES.

em wizzle

From Lolla to LaLa Land

2008-08-05T01:03:00.008-04:00

Radiohead and NIN were amazing as usual and all that. Bri and I have seen NIN around 30 times (I'll get an official number at some point). They're kind of a jam-band sometimes. Seriously.

But I was way more excited to hang with peeps like Sabrina, Mommy White, BriAnna Olson (aka Trent Reznor's soulmate), and the always lovely Matt and Jenny.
My little brother is starting to out-hipster me.

Post-Lollapalooza, American Airlines took me to West Hollywood for Amanda's sold out show @ The Troubadour. Nice work AP!

It's so wonderful to be back with my musical family. Pre-show art projects included.

Show time!

Em Wizzle
xo

Freezing In Fort Lauderdale

2008-08-01T09:56:00.002-04:00

What is up with the FLL Airport AC always being set to about 55 degrees? A waste of energy and an uncomfortable experience.

However, The Fort Lauderdale/Hollywood Airport redeems itself by offering free WiFi. Hooray for immersive living!

See you in Chicago.

Em Wizzle xo

Wizzle World on Tour

2008-07-29T08:54:00.004-04:00

Good morning from Boston.

Projects.

2008-07-27T23:32:00.005-04:00

From about age 5 - 17, when I lived in the same home as my parents, my dad would frequently knock on my door and ask "What are you working on?"

My answer was almost always, "Projects."

Some things never change.

W.W.H.

2008-07-27T13:49:00.016-04:00

Wizzle World Heroes, in no particular order and off the top of my head:

Dara Torres, Madonna, The Dalai Lama, Bob White, Laura Keating, Ann White, Mike Luba, Angela Bennett, Amanda Palmer, Nancy Allen, Mike Greenhaus, John Lennon, Jesse White, Katie Kay, Barack Obama, Sean Francis, Britney Spears, Eric Sussman, Idgie Threadgoode, Bill H, Jill Coy, Eric Sussman, Noel Gallagher, Chewy Smith, Trent Reznor, Elizabeth Freund, Mr. Greenhaus and the Troll Dolls, Bob Ezrin, Roy Coates, Eric Sherman, Craig Haase, Kevin Morris, Kyle Cassidy, Mark Kates, Melanie Nold, Keri Smith Esguia, Alan McGee, Irving Luba, Brian Viglione, John Raso, Heather Greidanus, BriAnna Olson, Imogen Heap, Grandma and Grampa White, Margaret Cho, Charles Attal, Lee Baron, Sabrina Gritzmacher, Maia Viglione, Marcus Russell, David Hughes, Nate Lew, Christine Maxon, David Bason, William Smolen, Jennifer Wilson, Christy Merriner, Elaine Benes, Jenny Applebaum, The Baron, Kati Turk, Ellen Maxon, Sarah Reddick, Ma Vig, Damon Albarn, Jim Anderson, JeffMaker.Com, Sue McTaggart, Lisa Simpson, Cha-Chi LoPrete, Michael Pope, Your Mom, Josh Frankfort, Winifred Chane, Jaron Luksa, Margaret Cho, Ed Valauskas.

Thank you all. There are more. I love you too.

Em Wizzle xo

Box of Fun

2008-07-25T01:38:00.003-04:00

What would you put in the Box of Fun?

I'm open to suggestion.

Who is More Aware of the Internet: The Bees or John McCain?

2008-07-15T22:16:00.012-04:00

I'm pleased to see the bee epidemic has inspired a nice collection of online word-of-mouth activism.

Check it:

The Bees have grass roots organizations informing the general population of colony collapse disorder and how you can help.
The Bees have inspired multiple viral youtube videos featuring K-Fed style bees dripping with hipster irony.
The Bees' said youtube videos have been picked up by political bloggers.
The Bees have a documentary in production that is sure to do well in the quirky-indie community ala Spellbound, which is about another kind of bee.
The Bees have enlisted the help of corporate sponsors Haagen Dazs to rock a fancy website (because most of their ingredients also go extinct if the bee population dies off).
My friend Christy even manages a super hip band called Bumblebeez.

Earth-land is headed for a major food crisis. One of the best things about the interweb is that it not only informs like traditional news, but also allows the user to take a step further and easily research how everyday peeps can help. With bees being a massive component of the food supply, it's a bummer that John McCain can't witness The Bees' online voices. Despite being the election year of 2008, a major candidate for president has self-described himself as "computer illiterate."

But don't worry, the McCain campaign's internet guru assured us that the Senator is aware of the internet.

And rest assured that the mainstream media has no intentions off of profiting from "the news." It's not like they're selling merch based on headlines or anything.

Don't get me wrong, I love merch and I love the shirt. Unfortunately, the above T was not produced and sold by The Onion. I wish the proceeds could be donated elsewhere.

But, as demonstrated above, The Bees are well aware of the internet. Thus, to raise funds to help save themselves, plants, and humans; The Bees are selling merch online too: http://www.printfection.com/honeybees.

One Pedal At A Time

2008-07-14T13:58:00.004-04:00

One shocking part of moving to Miami from my northeast staples like NYC and Boston, is the lack of progressive values.

For example, when I moved into my new apartment, I was told there was no recycling! What does that even mean? This is 2008, come on. Being the Lisa Simpson type that I am, I contacted my local government since this is against the law. Luckily, my building complex came around, and I was willing to give them another shot and re-sign my lease. Should you have the same issue, please check out this local government page, which has all appropriate laws and contact info.

One of the most exciting parts of moving to Miami land was year round summer! And this means, year round biking. When telling my new co-workers that I had specifically chosen my apartment due to it's convenient biking proximity to the office, I was greeted with jaw dropping stares. But, day after day, people look at my bike commute as less strange and often comment that they'd like to save money on gas or find a simple way to get in shape. One bike at a time! :)

My point is, for local readers, is that Miami Mayor Manny Diaz has gotten in on the fun! I noticed on his blog today that Mayor Diaz is actively reaching out to the biking community to improve biking conditions in our gorgeous city. So please, local readers (and judging by my Google Analytics, there are quite a few of you), take the time to fill out the survey the Mayor has provided HERE.

Happy riding! And hopefully soon, maybe Miami bikers won't be "Courting Death Daily."

PS - Maybe it's just a cheap pick up line, but the massive chain I wear around my waist is practical and normal! I've had two bikes stolen in NYC and never want it to happen again. To answer everyone's question that stops me on my elevator: no, it's not heavy, and it saves me from buying a new bike every few months! :)

BritPopping into Boston

2008-07-13T21:44:00.012-04:00

Unfortunately I was not at Glasto or Rothbury this year, though appreciated the text message updates from my various reps.

I did however, travel to Boston recently to see Amanda play two nights with The Boston Pops. SICK!

What made this particular event extra special is the location of Symphony Hall. I had a ton of different apartments while living in Boston/Allston, but one of my faves was my sophomore dorm on St. Stephen's street. I met the Baron, had a Fab roommate, and enjoyed the company of he hockey players down the hall + Tim Culley.

Said dorm room with mini-Oasis collage + Blur poster adjacent to my bed rocking swim team gear.Amanda, not surprisingly, KILLED IT at the Pops! I was so proud. It was much more than throwing a band in front of a symphony. Amanda clearly worked with Lockhart and The Pops to craft a proper show. I loved how Amanda flirted with Keith throughout (and he is kinda cute) only to end up with Brian at the end of the show. Luckily, no one in the audience broke out in a fight like Ben Folds' Boston Pops appearance last year. Ben produced Amanda's soon-to-be released solo album. Amanda covered "Brick" on night one and on night two she dedicated the song to me! It was a beautiful moment as well as surreal as I loved Ben Folds Five growing up. Onstage Amanda commented that we had bonded about it. When BF and AP first started exchanging emails (he was a fan and had been talking about The Dolls in the press), Amanda didn't really know his music. This is a girl who didn't listen to Nirvana until 1999 (or maybe it was 1996) because it was considered "jock music" in high school. It was only then she realized it was really good. Amanda Palmer is brilliant in many ways. She speaks 3 languages and knows volumes about subjects people spend years studying. However, her perspective on pop culture is different than that of Brian and myself which are straight up 90's music obsessed teenage years. I told her to start with "Brick." In related world's collide news, a little over a week later, Amanda would play her old new song "Oasis" with Ben, Sam, and Jared sitting in post-jam style at Glastonbury. The song is about a girl who gets raped but it's ok because she gets a signed photo from the brothers Gallagher in the mail. Very classic Amanda dark tongue-in-cheek songwriting. And catchy too! :)

Unfortunately I don't believe Amanda caught Jay-Z's now infamous set at Glastonbury. For those of you that have lives and don't subscribe to a gossip blog devoted entirely to Oasis, a few months ago Noel flat out said Jay-Z at Glastonbury won't work. I don't believe he was putting Jay, his music, or his show down necessarily. He was just pointing out that Glasto headliners in particular tend to be in the English guitar rock tradition. Jay-Z is certainly a rock star of this decade, and I'm all for it. Perception is in the eye of the beholder I suppose. Jay mashed up the interview into an intro montage and came out covering "Wonderwall" with a mocking tribute to Oasis. I chose this tribute due to the classic over-excited English music presenter.

Glasto is such a special place, every English-based rock fan should experience it in their lifetime. Though, not everyone is as cool as MK who introduced his bands, The Cribs and MGMT. SICK!Back to Boston. Pre-show on the second day, I was waiting for Sars outside. I ran into Brendon Downey, a staple of The Dresden Dolls' extended family, only to have Psycho Dave roll up fresh off a plane from Asia on tour with The Click Five and with new international wardrobe to show off. In classic Psycho Dave style, he rounded our mini posse up for scorpian bowls and a beer (15 minutes before showtime) at local Northeastern underage drinking establishment, Tiger Lily.It was so fun to be reunited with Dolls' family legends such as JeffMaker.com and Oedipus, but also see Boston staples like Kates. We should do this every year! :) And I'll never forget Fugakyu. Best sushi restaurant in Boston - go there!

The upside to missing Rothbury was dogsitting for Irving Luba! Irv loves my yogamat as much as I do. We had a fabulous weekend together and I had my first 4th of July in Miami outnumbered by Canadians. And sometimes Britpop legends come to Miami Beach anyway. Oh Johnny Marr, how I love thee.

I'm going to NYC on Wednesday for various reasons and cannot wait to be reunited with one of my hometowns. I've only been back once since moving, though it was for work, only 24 hours, and I was cockblocked. Although still a fun time, I'm looking forward to seeing everyone for a slightly longer visit.

xo

The Real Hipster Olympics

2008-07-03T19:31:00.007-04:00

On my various swim teams, I was always the weird hippie music chick. Which is funny, because to many music friends, I'm a midwestern athlete chick. It's all about perspective. Swimming, like any sport that breeds young champions, takes an incredibly focused lifestyle. Elite winners have to train upwards of 20 - 30 hours a week, both in and out of the pool. It's a full time job that is often supplemented by a strong family tradition and teammates, for better or worse, being your classmates, training partners, and social circle. I loved the social aspect, but it's easy to grow tired of swimming culture; even for an uber swim geek like me.

Luckily, I had a few teammates who also had fantastic taste in music along with interests well within Wizzle World. Sarah Reddick, Heather Greidanus, Katie Schmaling, and Rachel Brown are leading examples. Rachel has a new last name now, but we'll keep it Brown for nostalgia. Btw, nice Badly Drawn Boy song on your website, Heather!

Therefore, it's refreshing to hear Amanda Beard reveal her jamband roots a little over the halfway point in this video clip. (I don't know how to imbed a buried flash link, but I'm sure there's a way). In addition to owning a dog named Jerry, Amanda listened to The Dead to pump herself up before races. That's insane. I used to listen to "March of The Pigs." However, in retrospect, it makes sense to calm one's nerves. Hippieism is not new to the world of swimming whatsoever, as Gary Hall Jr. proved twice.

When I was a kid, I always wanted to manage one of the Olympic swimmers. I felt it was unfortunate that their years of work really only paid off from a media perspective for two weeks preceding and following the Olympics. I also thought that the swimmers' media personalities were never marketed correctly. Not that I wanted to create the Menudo of swimming or anything, but I felt their was potential for 1-2 top swimmers to extend their media career shelf-life. I'm sure to EW circa 1996-2000, that meant an presenting an award at the MTV VMA's alongside Ben Stiller or something. But, it's 2008 and we live in the future. The Speedo LZR suit and the machine that keeps Dara Torres' incredible 41-year-old body in tune are two prime examples. Sponsorships allow swimmers to keep at it years past college and turn the sport into a career. Swimmers aren't cool yet, but I like that Amanda Beard has entered her post-jam phase with indie-influenced photos taken by her photographer boyfriend on her hip-leaning website. Natalie Coughlin is the other swimmer I think has additional extended cool potential, though I'm not sure why. Maybe it's her Bay-area roots, love of Macs,and slight resemblance to Natalie Portman (I've always thought they've had a similar vibe, but it's probably just due to sharing a first name).

Anyway, all of these thoughts especially cross my mind every four years during the swimming Olympic trials and swimming portion of the games. Most people don't fully understand how INSANE the American swimming Olympic trials are. The Olympic games are of course a huge deal, but it's really like the payoff for years of training and getting through an incredibly stressful meet. Only the top 2 athletes in each event (sans the 100 and 200 free for relay purposes) qualify. In a sport that separates world record holders from national class youngsters by hundredths of a second, that is nuts. One can be undefeated and the fastest swimmer of all time, but if you have an off day, years of training are often washed away in an event that only occurs every four years. And most of the races are under two minutes long. Thousands of hours in a pool, for a a few minutes every four years. I get nervous for the swimmers watching the trials!

I came close to making the 2004 trials, but at that point was quickly getting distracted by rock n roll. No regrets, well worth it.

But watch NBC @ 8 PM on the 4th of July. Dara Torres is pretty incredible, whether one knows anything about swimming or not. I do not have TV service, though I do have a TV used to view digitized films, music, internet streams, and other media run through a Mac. Thus, I've enjoyed squatting TV coverage at work, my building's gym, and a sportsbar down the street this past week. By the 2012 London games, I'm sure everything will be streamed live online. It drives me crazy whenever there is a rare (usually live sporting) event I want to watch. I would have no problem paying $5 to stream a live Packer playoff game (did I just admit that?), commercials included. My fantasy is to have internet ratings combined with TV ratings, so networks don't lose their ad revenue. aka then I can watch swimming anywhere I want. NBC is streaming some coverage, but one must have network TV and broadband internet to see the whole trials. Maybe I'll just have to go to London in 2012 instead.

Btw, if Mark Johnson has an in to the infamous raging party post-Olympics that sounds wilder than any tour rager I've ever witnessed, I want to go!

Home Sweet Festival

2008-06-29T00:09:00.012-04:00

June is always such a solid month for music. It's summer in the north, and people are psyched to be outside. One of my favorite activities in the world is watching music outdoors with friends. Thus, the summer solstice does not usually disappoint.

I spent June08 bouncing around my most nostalgic annual festival and two of my hometowns. Sometimes I feel more at home on the road as I've always had an appetite for constant new stimuli. But in reality, it's just knowing how to make anywhere your home.

Some of my favorite travel pastimes include taking over airplane rows, finding clean showers in production land @ festivals, scoring electrical outlets at airports, and locating wifi anywhere in the world.

I arrived in Nashville and a runner promptly drove me to Manchester. I dumped my stuff on our bus immediately and ran over to the Sonic Stage for The Fiery Furnaces. I worked with the band closely in 2007 with Kevin Morris and expected to see them onstage by the time arrived. Unfortunately, Team FF were stuck in golf cart traffic. Luckily, Morri had it under control.

It was so awesome to see Jason, Eleanor, Matthew, and Bob and a wonderful opening to Roo08.

I'm thrilled The Raconteurs were at yet another festival. Jack White is second only to Thom Yorke as far as this decade's rockstars go. AP/BV are up there too in Wizzle World. :)

Chris Rock sat sidestage and watched Patrick, the Jacks, and Brendan. Here he is checking out Ms. Rachel Seiden. Janeane Garafalo was also around and I was super bummed I missed both her and Reggie Watts' sets. Reggie is also performing at the Amanda Palmer curated tent, The Establishment, over 4th of July for anyone headed to Rothbury. Janeane is an obv teenage hero of mine ala Reality Bites. I once told her that Vicky changed my life, outside of the Middle East in Cambridge. That was good enough for me.

Nighttime sets from MMJ, Sigur Ros, Pearl Jam, and Metallica were all solid. Ghostland Observatory killed it, as did their light show. Speaking of lightshows, or lackthereof, most people know the drama that surrounded Kanye's set, no matter who's side your on (Superfly vs. KW's team). The tour manager geek in me loves that a concert production problem made national headlines and spawned internet parodies.

Kanye and the hippies did not and are still not getting along. Yes, he did hit damn late. The backstage gossip and rumors were rampant. Finally, Mr. West hit @ 4 AM or so. I vowed to watch 1-2 songs and then crash out on our bus. But, Kanye kept my attention for a good 45 min, right until the sun came up. My point is, everyone is complaining about the show, KW included, and I thought it was awesome! The hippies may not been convinced, but the show won me over. I see both sides' points, but in the end, live music is all about watching artists perform; often during unpredictable situtions whether it be weather, monitor issues, or a voiding bottles . Kanye rocked it under the circumstances, which to me, is the sign of a real-deal performer. Way to go Kanye West.

To me, Bonnaroo is largely about catching up with friends from the post-jam scene, but I was thrilled to see my Nashville posse as well. Ben Folds & Jared and Sam were AMAZING. Here's a shot of Mr. Folds striking a pose with always-the-rock-star Jared. Post-show, Jared was stoked to tell me about the new Lil Wayne, but sadly, Team Ben had to return to Nashville killing any hopes of reuniting our Langerado tour bus dance party. Though all was not lost as Joe Costa snapped an triple Emily shot while watching the band's set.

This was my 6th Bonnaroo, and I've come to expect and appreciate, the most European-style festival in America. Although the US festival market is hitting critical mass in 2008, post-jammers can still rely on the Roo for a world class experience. No complaints here.

Up Next: Amanda seduces Keith Lockhart and the WKAP season begins.

xo

Barack and The Bees

2008-06-07T20:23:00.005-04:00

last year a friend told me about the bees disappearing.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colony_Collapse_Disorder

she mentioned a commonly believed theory that wireless signals were causing the bees to lose their way and never return to their hives. but as this 60 minutes piece explains , it is much more probable that bees are just plain in poor health due to the environment and widespread pesticide use. it seems that a nasty virus is quickly wiping out the population like a bee bubonic plague.

most people do not take the time to think about the massive effect bees have on the food chain, especially for vegetarians/vegans:

>>[from wikipedia] Bees are responsible for pollination of approximately 1/3 of the US' crop species, including such species as almonds, peaches, soybeans, apples, pears, cherries,raspberries, blackberries, cranberries, watermelons, cantaloupes, cucumbers and strawberries.

also, history works in mysterious ways. check out bill clinton's 'change' themed opening statements in the 1992 presidential debates with gb1 around the 4:20 mark here. how obama of him. ironically gb1 brushes slick willy aside for his arsenal of experience ala hillary08. but, in true obama style, billy highlights his experience in his home state. hooray local representatives who care, be it a community organizer or governor. doesn't everyone appreciate ross perot even more now just to keep things lighthearted?

the point is, i hope that billary can fully embrace barack and michelle. they truly broke new ground back in the day for a progressive candidate and his very smart/talented/educated wife to emerge.

in the above 1992 clip, bill credits hillary for giving him a book with the following quote: "Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result."

this is team clinton's first endorsement of obama. 28 years of a bush or clinton in the white house would be considered insanity by their standards. don't get me wrong, the clintons are the original rock stars of politics.

but how post-jam of barack to hang with wilco.

maybe Barack will save the bees.

Messing with The Dresden Dolls in Texas

2008-06-02T22:42:00.026-04:00

This is what the view from my eyes used to be almost nightly. Someone asked me this weekend how many Dresden Doll shows I've been to. Thanks to Sean Francis' diligently archived show history, I quickly counted up 273, not including Amanda or Brian solo shows/projects. I know I was working in some capacity at the majority of those shows, but The Dresden Dolls are truly one of my favorite (and overall best) live bands in the world. Amanda's performance skills, vocals, and songwriting, combined with Brian's precise yet heavy drumming genius is a sight to behold. It never got old and I've enjoyed every performance for some reason or another. Really.

This weekend I flew to Houston to surprise The Dolls on tour. I sorted it a month ago or so with their amazing TM, Eric Sussman, who is one of my favorite people ever AND has a hot bod.

Eric is an older Dresden Doll fan than I and he was also our personal tour guide when the band would play Japan. Anyway, when I showed up, Brian screamed like a girl and Laura (almost) cried. (Speaking of, The Hush Clowns just came up on shuffle!). Thanks to Beth for capturing the moment.

It was heaven to see the band play, hang with the crew on the bus, and gossip about the music industry and Pete Doherty with Miss Merch. Old-school crew regulars "Professional" Dave Hughes and JeffMaker.Com are in Asia clowning around on tour with The Click Five. Dave brought in his roomie Jon Lammi to mix and the Drive By Trucker's LD, Brian Spett filled in for Jeffie. I thought no lighting talent or sense of humor could replace JeffMaker.com, and no one can. But Spett gives him a run for his money with his "Channeling Bob Lefsetz" monologue. We'll make a youtube documentation of the performance someday. Hopefully it's not only funny @ 4 AM, but that's probably the case. Spett also introduced me to R. Kelly's Trapped In The Closet. Really, have you SEEN this? Shit, Spett's got me typing all Lefsetzy. Anyway, I know I'm a little behind in my tour bus ironic DVD knowledge, but TITC is really outta control hysterical. There is even (of course) TITC merch. So awesome.

The mornings were yoga filled with Amanda and Beth, while the evenings produced epic Dresden Doll shows. The band was in true form. An additional musical highlight was the adorable sister trio of Smoosh , who range from ages 11 to 16 (with a 4 year old sister who's not yet of age to join the band). The girls were truly inspiring with their talent and maturity amongst so many adults (albeit many of us circus traveling rock n roll clowns are not all that adult, but you get the idea). The girls have toured or performed one-offs with Death Cab For Cutie, Tokyo Police Club, Arcade Fire, Pearl Jam, and Bloc Party. So amazing! They've played two sxsw's and had stickers on their Macs of some of my favorite venues, both in the US and abroad. Their father was driving the girls around on tour, and I PROMISE he is the least stage-coachy parent I've seen both in swimming and music. PLEASE LET ALL KIDS DO WHAT THEY WANT IN LIFE WITHOUT ANY PRESSURE. They'll turn out like Smoosh. :)

Brian was equally moved by Smoosh.

The tour ended @ Stubb's in Austin! We rolled into town and (post-yoga) gorged on Stubb's gospel brunch. Unfortunately Brian didn't get a chance to rejoice onstage in all of his Sunday morning glory like he did at a House of Blues gospel brunch in Cleveland a few years back. However, the food was fantastic and band/crew get free dinner too! People always question why I get excited about Stubb's since it is famous for it's BBQ, but seriously, try the yams, fried green tomatoes, and mac&cheese. Life changing. Old friend Adam Glasseye opened the show with Insect Fable and also joined in on the food fun. Here is Adam and Brian who is enjoying his second plate of brunch bbq. I can't blame him!
But no tour would be complete without an end-of-tour prank. At 5 AM or so the night before, the crew decided that penis costumes should be rented for the final show. Of course, Austin had a fantastic costume shop, Lucy In Disguise, and I was put in charge of picking up the costumes with the runner. It made sense for Eric and I to be the giant cocks. We decided to run onstage during the break in "Coin-Op" mid-song. Brian couldn't resist and tackled me to the ground, but I escaped and we ran around the audience. Due to our open media policy at shows, the event was documented and uploaded by a fan to youtube immediately. Hooray!

But the night wouldn't be complete without Brian somehow changing into a Brigader's maid costume.

Post-show we all celebrated at Beauty Bar since Jason from Trail of Dead is a co-owner and left it open for us (Amanda guests on So Divided, an amazing album definitely worth checking out). I miss my band and touring family, but it makes returning, even for just a few days, that much more special. Thanks again guys!!! :)

Much Love,

Em xo

PS - My apologies for the lack of Amanda media, I'm sure I'll have more after her shows with the Boston Pops in a few weeks.

Today's Moment of Zen

2008-05-28T02:57:00.002-04:00

A yoga teacher first told me about Dr. Jill Taylor and I'm pleased to see her experience has been getting mainstream press.

But for a less heady form of Zen that instantly gratifies into a visual and audio induced state of Enlightenment, check out Blur performing "This Is A Low" on MTV in what must have been 1994 (from Parkflife, the second greatest Britpop album of all time, only behind WTSMG?).

It's on?

2008-05-25T21:13:00.007-04:00

Some sort of 'feud' is brewing between the modern creators of slack culture, Generation X and neuvo hipsters dubbed as Millennials. Regardless, I'm happy that Robert Lanham has documented the differences between the age groups. I happen to fall directly in the middle of the labeled generations, growing up in the Alternative Nation and idolizing Winona Ryder as a teen, yet here I am, blogging about it.

I was equally inspired to to look up Kennedy on YouTube to find this clip talking about women in the 90's while Cracker's "Low" and Smashing Pumpkin's "Disarm" plays in the background. Surprisingly, that is the only interview on youtube that turns up when searching for 'Kennedy' and 'MTV'. One would initially think there are more Kennedy/Alternative Nation clips on youtube, but alas, I am searching for Gen X content on a Millenial search engine.

But a Milennial has, of course, instantly and proudly responded. and he has a point, they are on the path to put Obama into office.

while you're at it, check out this article from today's NYT. i miss my peers.

Coachella: A Post-Jam Odyssey

2008-05-08T22:53:00.016-04:00

I've only been to Coachella once, in 2005 with The Dolls on the day I graduated college, kicking off the NIN tour. That's cool and all but my day was filled with promo, nerves, and logistics. Thus, I was excited to dive in full on.

My festival partner in crime was none other than one of my music buff heros, Mike Greenhaus from Relix. Although Mike and I only met at Langerado of this year (which is shocking since we have 35 Facebook friends in common, ha!), we have both spent our early 20's working at major music festivals. He's a pro. Greenhaus and his podcast partner Benjy turned up at Katie Kay's loft in downtown LA to pick me up and off we went. The journey began with a lot of MGMT and My Morning Jacket which would continue throughout the weekend. We approached the festival site late that evening and discovered that the lodging Greenhaus hooked up was classic Coachella Cribs style ie pool, a DJ, and a Russian yogi all along a golf course minutes away from the festival site. But, I was eager to have a full day 1 so we crashed out early despite the house DJ's love of untz.

We entered the site the next morning and I loved looking at posters of past lineups. Coachella has been around since 1999 which is impressive since the festival boom really didn't hit until post-Bonnaroo in 2002. Like I said, it was only my second Coachella and it was actually Mike's first (between the two of us we've been to literally a dozen Bonnaroos) which is probably because we're both East Coast based. But I've always been in awe of Coachella's eclectic and world-class lineups from the opening festival bands in the tents to the headliners who I believe really represent my diverse generation. This is well documented in the Coachella film which features Radiohead, Arcade Fire, Saul Williams, Bjork, Michael Franti & Spearhead, Noel Gallagher and loads others. I'm even in it!! Not that I am as relevant as the above artists whatsoever, but fun fun nonetheless. The festival site itself is laid out incredibly well with a lovely artist land, large VIP, excellent sight-lines from most areas of the mainstage, and tents all within short walking distance of one another which maximizes the amount of artists one can catch.

I quickly met up with my old friend Mark Kates who was doing press with his band MGMT. As most music fans in the world know, MGMT's Oracular Spectacular is potentially the best album of 2008 (though released in 2007) with only My Morning Jacket's Evil Urges poised for a similar position. Well at least that's the case in Wizzle World. :)

While they were off doing promo I decided to bounce around catching Rogue Wave, John Butler Trio and Williamsburg staple Les Savy Fav early on. I then caught a bit of Jens Lekman before checking out Dan Deacon who was awesome, but I'd way rather see in a club. I'd never seen Architecture in Helsinki and thought they seemed like sweeatheart ozzies and enjoyed the show. They also happened to provide the setting for one of the most gorgeous shots of the landscape I snapped all weekend.

I caught a bit of Tegan and Sara and Vampire Weekend but took a break in the AC of MGMT's bus to catch up with the friends that make up their posse. I'm so happy for everyone involved with MGMT world! We all got back into prime viewing locations for the always amazing Raconteurs. I've had the lucky oppurtunity to see Jack perform all over the US, Japan, and Europe as said band and The White Stripes have had similar tour routing to The Dolls' in years past while I was on the road. The Raconteurs are one of the best real American rock n roll bands (probably a very close second to MMJ). They're just real and true musicians and songwriters who beautifully gel together into a tight and talented band. Mid-set Mark started talking to an uber hero of mine, Alan McGee. Being the dork that I am, I asked Nick P to secretly snap a picture of the scene.

Mark was kind enough to introduce me to the man that signed Oasis. I've seen Alan around loads of shows in London and at various SXSW's but it was really freaking cool to meet the man that put out some of the most influential records on me of all time.

Post-Raconteurs Mark scored a cart to take our little posse over for a bit of Aphex Twin and luckily Gary, our driver, was happy to stick around for the 15 minutes or so we were there before driving us back. I used my STM (Social Tour Manager) skills to get us back to the mainstage in perfect time for The Verve's set. Kates is a britpopper just like me though he was able to see a lot of the heydey first hand. Considering I was in high school in Wisconsin when The Verve were active, I had never seen the 4th most influential Britpop band (on me) live. I did see Richard Ashcroft at Webster Hall once and it was EPIC. Not shockingly, The Verve BROUGHT IT. Richard is truly one of the most gifted songwriters of the 90's and potentially one of the most underrated rock stars of the past decade. His vocals, stage presence, and dare I say style, were just impeccable. I loved the light show and hearing "Lucky Man" live was very possibly a highlight of my life. PsychBritjam is the best way to describe their music for folks who may only know the hit(s). I wandered around during Jack Johnson as I want to appreciate him live but it hasn't happened yet after half a dozen shows and since he's the real festival whore of the summer (who can blame him?) I'm sure there will be other opportunities.

Day 2 started out fun enough with VHS or Beta and former Dolls' tourmates DeVotchKa, but let's be serious; Saturday was all about MGMT. I secured my front row sidestage spot early with Mark appreciating my "no maintenance" approach to getting my seat. I've obviously seen a few shows in my day but I seriously may have had the greatest vantage point of all time happily sitting on a stage right speaker . MGMT is a true musical movement amongst not just my generation but certainly college students and younger. Their style, songs, instrumentation, lyrics, and stage presence are speaking directly to youth culture right now. Note the bikinis.

I feel honored to have witnessed a truly historic set as it was MGMT's first festival play. They KILLED it. The tent was packed to the gills, the entire audience was singing along, and I was moved to tears as I'm so excited that there is a new, young, real, true, band that speaks to my generation right now. Thanks guys. I also met up with my new friend Mandy (who is a bestie of Josh Frankfort who got me into The Dolls) who is fiction writer working on a collection of short stories based at music festivals. I told her the Amanda-streaking-and-snogging-Bright-Eyes story for added fodder.

I wandered away from the stage in a musical daze of natural ecstacy and was stoked to run into A&R Queen Mo + her mother who's last festival was in 2005 to see The Dresden Dolls! Happy family. I strolled by Bonde Do Role who I'd never heard of and were AWESOME. Turns out they are from Brasil and I was drawn in by the fact that their MC's were decked out in Paula Abdul shirts identical to one I bought at the merch stand at the Marcus Ampitheatre in 4th grade. I love that 1990-1993 pop is making a comeback with the NKOTB tour leading the helm. So much so that I saw someone at Coachella wearing a NKOTB shirt I had in third grade. Love it! I want some Ooooohhh....On The TLC Tip merch.

Next up was Kate Nash who I was psyched to see. Her agent tried to (rightfully so) convince me I'd be into her at Glasto last year but her stage was far and she was up against some sort of Britpop. Thus, I was stoked to see pound away on her keyboard and blow away the audience. The ALWAYS amazing, lovely, and talented Annie Clark was next as St Vincent took the stage.

Look for Ms. Clark to make a special appearance on Who Killed Amanda Palmer later this year. Maybe someday I'll get to hear the live duet lyrics of "He's your fella, he's your man, that's all there is to say." Love it girls!! I caught a bit of Hot Chip, who are incredible, but it was a bit too much of an LA celeb scene for my taste. And much to my and Laura Lolly's dismay, there was no Lindsay Hohan spotting. So I moved on to Dwight Yoakam (come on, we're all about diversity, right?), Death Cab, and Rilo Kiley. I was STOKED to see Kraftwork for the first time ever. Anyone younger than me reading this, go listen to them now if you don't already. Jesse: They're like Porsches on The Autobahn, but real. So awesome.

Next up was Portishead!! I was excited as similar to The Verve, I never thought I'd have a chance to see Portishead live. Beth and company did NOT disappoint and their set was truly mind blowing. A great thing about 90's UK/European bands is that they have WAY more festival experience than their American counterparts. The traffic jam that is the American 2008 festival season has been going on for years overseas and the 90's bands in particular are schooled to deliver. Portishead's lights, sound, and staging were dead on enhancing their performance beyond words.

And then there was Prince. People prepared me for the second coming of The Beatles. Really, people freak about Prince, don't you think? And I get it. He's all things to all people: he's black, he's white, he's male, he's female, he's rock, he's funk, he's pop, etc. So I was psyched. P-dogg put on what would proably be a lovely show in an arena. But I didn't feel it was quite right for a festival and the 20 minute James Brown intro prompted me to go backstage and grab a beer. Bottom line: Prince is wicked talented but an hour had passed and he'd only played 3 songs. He's a jam band. Admit it. But his cover of "Creep" was definitely gorgeous.

Day 3! I was so proud of how much stamina I had which is actually pretty easy since there isn't official late night shows, but in general I did a solid job of sleeping and hydrating throughout the weekend. We started our day with The Cool Kids and then it was time for Katie Kay to show up!!

Katie is one of my favorite girlfriends in the world. She has worn a ton of hats in The Dolls family from dancer to tour manager and is currently rocking it at Skin Graft. SG had an event all weekend so she wasn't able to make it until Sunday. Anyway, Ms. Kay and I headed over to check out Duffy who was fantastic. I hope it works out for her and all of the fancy industry people who turned up early for her set. She seems like a sweet girl. We spent the middle of the day in the world of Lucent Dossier who perform throughout the festival in the middle of the polo field. Katie used to be in the troupe and was reunited with loads of old friends. It was comforting to be amongst performance artists I was used to be surrounded by in Dolls' world on the road and truly appreciated their kind offers of veggie burgers.

As usual, Gogol Bordello put on a lively and fun set and we caught a bit of Metric who are regulars on my iTunes. During Sean Penn's set I was busy sorting out my friends and location as to where we were going to watch My Morning Jacket. I've always been into MMJ. But it wasn't until this weekend I realized that they quintessentially define my generation. Mike Greenhaus is a brilliant writer. And in 2006 (as documented on Wikipedia, Jambands.com, and in Relix) Mikey coined the term "post-jam." We're all unique individuals, but the beef between Hipsters and Hippies always perplexed me. People were confused that I worked with Dresden Dolls and Fiery Furnaces out of a jam-leaning management company. I guess musically I'm a bit more "indie" leaning due to my Britpop roots but give me a break. I live more of a hippie lifestyle both on and off the road and spent college going to Bonnaroo, ya know? So wtf is up with the beef between both camps? Both groups love music, take drugs, drink cheap beer, and live for music festivals. Can't we all get along? But in reality, we are. As Greenhaus pointed out, this is the first year in which teh Coachella headliners (Jack Johnson/Roger Waters) could be easily swapped out for the Bonnaroo headliners (Pearl Jam/Metallica). A lot of this is due to the iPodization of the world. Hooray! Last year I watched my little brother run around Bonnaroo psyched for The Roots (hip/hop), The Police (Classic Rock), and Tool (metal). There's no way that would have happened 10 years ago, don't you think? So here we are traveling around to the meccas that are music festivals with each group always equally excited to see Radiohead. The point is, we're in a new era called the Post-Jam era. It's a musical free for all based in quality, live performance, communication technology which has staked out new territory. My Morning Jacket are the quintessential post-jam band. EVERYONE I know loves them from hipsters to hippies to my parents. I loved watching Katie Kay in her gorgeous dark dreads and tattoos hop alongside to Mike in all of his Phishness that he can never escape. :) I feel so lucky to have a copy of Evil Urges and this album is going to crack MMJ wide open. Jim James has created a masterpiece and I am ecstatic to catch the band throughout the summer. Nice work guys.

And what is better in the world than watching MMJ OPEN for Roger Waters. Who hasn't been influenced by Pink Floyd, right? I saw Roger play at Live Earth last summer but that doesn't really count as it wasn't his show and he played like 5 songs. Similar to Portishead, Roger knew how to BRING IT to a festival crowd. But really, can you go wrong playing Dark Side of The Moon in full sprinkled with Animals and The Wall? I think not. As many folks know, the pig got away but was eventually found. I had a lovely time wandering around the Sunday night Coachella madness before downing some spicy pie pizza with Amanda, Benjy and Greenhaus before heading back to El Ghey. We crashed out in Katie's (amazing) loft and I had an all-too-brief breakfast with Ms. Kay's former dance partner on The Dolls' tour, Erin Maxick. Those two really are the best things about LA.

Thanks again everyone, as this was one of the best festival experiences I've had in quite awhile. Hooray!

OMGSXSW Part I

2008-04-20T16:39:00.018-04:00

SXSW 2008 carried special meaning because in past years I've attended the event while living in NYC or in the middle of a tour. In other words, it was no big deal. I saw most of the bands out promoting whatever they were promoting all over the world and could meet up with any additional friends attending back home in nyc. Not this year! I was PUMPED to see all of my NYC peeps and a ton of music in Austin. The night before I left, Tuesday, I received a text message from Jenny Applebaum that simply read "OMGSXSW!" Kinda sums it up right? I decided to save and document every text message I would send and receive throughout the weekend. I wondered if I could document the weekend for myself in this form and it was my own little social experiment. Obviously it makes way more sense to text (over email for sure) than call at any sort of loud music festival/event. However, there are obviously privacy issues involved for a lot of parties, so this has been edited down as it's all in good fun, ya know? It's a long weekend, so I've decided to do 2 parts: Here are days 1 & 2 + pictures, though I may not get through all of the color coding and pictures today......

OMG SXSW

TUESDAY MARCH 11TH, 2008

(below: Win, Sabrina, Josh aka first person to tell me about The Dolls, and meeee @ The Black Angels who were AWESOME)

22:37 Jenny Applebaum: Hah! Packing? Im failing miserably at it right now. Gotta be up in 5 hrs too!

22:49 Winifred Chane Whoah...havin issues locatin my sleeping bag....I'm so confused....don't remember loanin to anyone but I must have. Anyhow, do you have one? I WANT the floor but could use the bag. if not ill ask pete n rox. Rlt me know....

22:51 Em Wizzle I will sort it out, don't stress it.
22:54 Winifred Chane I want u to stay in the room! I seriously don't mind floor... nice on my back....

22:55 Em Wizzle I mean ill sort the room and acoomodations. TM! :). It always works out.
22:56 Winifred Chane ;) luv it! Ur the best!
22:58 Sydney Wayser My set at Stubb's was really good!! I had a lot of fun! It was upbeat and people were listening and really involved! See you tomorrow!!! What time do you get in?

22:59 Em Wizzle Of course they were into yo

u. I get in obscenely early to be on a touring panel and will prob need to nap in the early afternoon. But will be ready to rage by evening!
23:00 Sydney Wayser Haha, nice! Well give me a call when you are charged up!
23:05 Josh Frankfort Driving to SXSW. Will I see you?
23:06 Em Wizzle omg, YES! And come to Zac Brown on thurs. Can't wait to see you! Who are you riding with?

WEDNESDAY MARCH 12TH, 2008

(Jenny (!) and yours truly below)

03:57 Em Wizzle Have an early flight. Call me when you're there.

03:59 Josh Frankfort Cool. About 100 miles west of phoenix. See you in 15 hours...zzzzzzzzzzzz
04:00 Em Wizzle Who are you driving with?
04:01 Josh Frankfort My friend Dustin from ifilm, his friend davin and my friend Mandy.
09:31 Sabrina Grtizmacher Yay! Just got to Austin!
09:32 Em Wizzle Me too! Wanna split a cab?
09:41 Em Wizzle My flight was on time, hooray! Just landed, I will call when I get to the convention center. Looking forward to meeting you!
09:55 Em Wizzle What time is Lou Reed?
10:03 Em Wizzle Hey girl, it's emily white. Assuming you still live in austin? Let me know if you hit any gigs this week (or want to) as I'm obv in town. Hope you are well!
10:04 Sabrina Griztmacher 4 to 7 PM
10:05 Sabrina Gritzmacher Are you at the Hilton?
10:05 Em Wizzle There are two downtown. I'm at hilton garden.
10:08 Sabrina Gritzmacher I'm at the one next to the convention center, is this the same one?
10:15 Em Wizzle No I'm a few blocks away.
10:28 Em Wizzle What do you think about having me guest post on your blog that documents my entire SX weekend via every text message I send and receive? Miss you!
10:29 Laura Keating Yes Yes Yes! i love the idea. do you have a blogger account? i can create one for you and post your texts. so exciting.
10:34 Laura Keating I think if you have a blogger account you can text directly to the blog. Katie Kay does that.
10:44 Em Wizzle I get to skip the (super long) credential pick-up line because I'm a panelist. Score! Remember when we randomly ran into Grayson + band here last year? So wish you were here.
10:45 Laura Keating Worst line to wait in ever.
10:50 Ryan Armes You having so much fun yet?
11:09 Sabrina Grizmacher Shit! Can't buy one :(
11:13 Em Wizzle Buy what? I'm downstairs at the coffee shop but have to head to rm 18abc in a few at convention center
14:50 Em Wizzle Where you at?
14:51 Jenny Applebaum Just landed!
14:51 Sydney Wayser Okay, ill call you when we leave here
14:59 Jenny Applebaum Where you at? Im on my way to hotel now. Any interest in dinner at Povos? Best Mexican ever.
15:03 Sabrina Gritzmacher What are you up to?
15:04 Em Wizzle Sounds great, what time?
15:07 Jenny Applebaum Probably like 7? I'll keep you in the loop. Yay!
15:07 Sydney Wayser Oh cool!!!
15:08 Em Wizzle I think Lou Reed is playing tonight!
15:18 Daddy White Saw moms message but her reply does not work. Very exciting.
15:29 Em Wizzle I'm going to powernap for a bit as I got up mad early
15:29 Sydney Wayser Okay well give me a call when you're up
15:32 Christen Greene When will i see you? Kaki King tonight 9 devilles.
17:30 Sabrina Gritzmacher Are you dead?
17:32 Em Wizzle Nope, just woke up from a nap.
17:32 Jenny Applebaum Meet us at Mohawk in an hr?
17:35 Sabrina Gritzmacher Good! Can I drop of our shit at your hotel?
17:37 Em Wizzle Why? Your hotel is two blocks from mine. I mean you're welcome to if need be.
17:40 Sabrina Gritzmacher Oh! Nevermind! Let me know when you get back!
17:47 Bart Dahl Yo what up?
17:52 Heather Gredanius Should i come sunday? R u off monday?
18:23 Justin Krol You in Austin yet? Remember our show tomorrow!
19:17 Christen Greene Holla
20:04 Bart Dahl Let me know when you get back from dinner
20:07 Heather Greidanus Monday dins sounds good! Happy hunting in Austin.
20:12 Bart Dahl @ Deville
20:31 Em Wizzle I will be there in 10 min.
20:39 Sabrina Gritzmacher At the Hilton bar. Come by
20:40 Sabrina Gritzmacher Getting some dinner near the hotel. What about you?
20:42 Bart Dahl Wanna go see a band at Esylum with me? 7th and red riv
21:52 Jenny Applebaum Come to Emos!
22:05 Em Wizzle This is lame, they're not letting anyone into the Fenway showcase. Want to go to REM with us?
22:11 Winifred Chane The eagle has landed! All washed up n leavin the hotel to get my badge (damn we really did luck out on hotel location, eh?!). What's your plan for the eve?
22:13 Em Wizzle Dude, the locale is sick! I'm at bourbon rocks. See you soon!
22:16 Nick Stern Open bar!
22:26 Josh Frankfort Call me!
22:27 Mark Kates Walking to Stubbs
22:36 Em Wizzle I'm out back at Bourbon Rocks. Open bar!
22:41 Sydney Wayser Nice! I think the guest lists don't matter anymore...Not sure what we can get into.... We're at Fenway's showcase
23:42 Josh Frankfort Address? Or cross streets?
23:47 Em Wizzle 6th and Trin
23:54 Em Wizzle I'm so bummed you aren't here. We are a total team and I keep yapping about you.
23:58 John Raso Thanks - you're helping to finally create an industry rep for me.
23:58 Em Wizzle Ill give you a slutty rep.
23:59 John Raso Oh and give me a drug habit and volatile mood swings.

THURSDAY MARCH 13th, 2008
00:25 Sabrina Gritzmacher Going to Zona Rosa
00:25 Em Wizzle Come to Bourbon Rocks, I'll sneak you in
00:26 Sabrina Gritzmacher love you! What's the address?
00:30 Winifred Chane Bumped into folks n got side tracked but on m way now!!!!
00:39 Sabrina Gritzmacher I'm right outside. Need a badge
00:40 Em Wizzle I'll come get you
00:45 Winifred Chane Ewwww maaad line n not really movin? Might hit Stubbs and see work folks unless you can help skip line?
01:37 Mark Kates What are you guys up to?
01:39 Joshua Knight Its Joshua...Where you?
01:39 Em Wizzle The Black Angels. Come!
01:41 Joshua Knight Out front of there now
01:41 Em Wizzle How long is the line? Fake that you're crew or something
01:43 Joshua Knight No real line. Just not sure about coming in. Who plays next?
01:44 Em Wizzle Not sure?
01:48 Joshua Knight Ok then... Going to Maggie Mays rooftop
10:51 Sabrina Gritzmacher How was your night?
11:46 Em Wizzle I'm at a breakfast meeting with my new boss
12:03 Em Wizzle I brought your Dino Jr hoodie from Langerado btw
12:25 Sydney Wayser Just wanted to send a reminder about my show today from 1-2 at the Saxon Pub
12:26 Em Wizzle Wouldn't miss it for the world.
12:28 Sydney Wayser Thanks! See you soon!
12:29 Em Wizzle Watching Lou Reed speak!
12:40 Daddy Cool. Cannot wait to hear about it.
12:41 Em Wizzle Just ran into Sxip!
12:42 Amanda Palmer Yay
13:39 Justin Krol I am at our show with Jasmine!
13:45 Em Wizzle I'm in a cab headed to see our girl Sydney play
13:48 Mark Kates Me too, with Matt Hickey!
14:21 Jasmine Hagans: Emily where are you?!
14:22 Em Wizzle Sydney's set w/ Kates and Hickey; will be there soon
14:24 Ryan Armes Getting closer! In atl waiting for flight. Where do I get the badge when i arrive? Thanks
14:25 Christen Greene Did you get what you wanted?
14:26 Em Wizzle Action or greens?
14:43 Em Wizzle Awesome! If I were you, I'd drop your stuff at your hotel and head right to the convention center to pick up your badge
14:46 Ryan Armes Just ran into mr luba... Grabing a fast beer, call you when i get in
15:01 Mike Greenhaus What are you checking out?
15:09 Em Wizzle Freshwater Collins @ Red 7
15:20 Joshua Knight Plan today?
15:25 Em Wizzle Headed to The Whiskey
15:40 Ryan Armes Flight is delayed again, brutal. You going to Zac at 9? What time is Playboy party?
15:45 Em Wizzle See if Lube Job can get you on the listy for Playboy
16:01 Em Wizzle When else does Born In The Flood play besides tonight? They're on the exact same time as Zac....
16:02 Em Wizzle It's kinda not the same walking aroud sxsw and not seeing random Porsches on The Autobahn members
16:55 Winifred Chane Where you at?
16:56 Em Wizzle Planetary BBQ, Maggie Mays but am going to head to the hotel to chill a bit. Just ran into Kevin Hoskins!
17:15 Em Wizzle You just walked by me, I'm in line to buy a burrito but it was so 5 minutes ago
17:18 Mike Greenhaus Come to Fader
17:18 Baron Opium huh HUH! did you hang with Jeff Goodman last night?
17:19 Em Wizzle Briefly
17:20 Baron Opium He is a clown
17:20 Em Wizzle Everyone here is a clown
18:11 Kevin Hoskins Beers on the roofdeck of Iron Cactus at 6?
18:13 Em Wizzle Fuck napping, I'm going to shower and change. Wanna meet me and Kevin Hoskins on roof deck at Iron Cactus @ 6?
18:17 Winifred Chane Sure!
18:22 Nick Stern I'm going to Zac at Midnight?
18:24 Sabrina Gritzmacher Going to the Boiling Point for dinner if you want to come, am in for Stubb's later for sure.
18:42 Bart Dahl Come to Club 115 @ 9 PM. Don't suck.
18:54 Em Wizzle I'll def try to catch the end of their set. I'll bring your Dino Jr hoodie.
19:05 Kevin Hoskins On the roof
19:50 Maris Holmes Hey! At ke bar. Sup with you?
19:57 Jenny Applebaum Hey what time are you going to mad house showcase?
19:59 Maris Holmes Get boyfriend and i in with you so we can hang!
20:00 Sydney Wayser So adam, pat, and i will all be able to get into Madison house tonight right? Also... I'm going to meet up with you at that other party you were talking about while adam and pat do something else.
20:08 Em Wizzle K. Bart will be able to help get you guys in.
20:35 Em Wizzle Come to Zac Brown @ Stubb's @ 9!
20:40 Jenny Applebaum I have to see born in the floor or Bart will kill be so i'll def be there at 9. Where you at?
20:41 Em Wizzle Stubbs
20:42 Jenny Applebaum Who's Playing?
20:45 Em Wizzle Kimaya dawson, tom morello, etc. Anti war thingy
21:04 Sabrina Gritzmacher When are you going to Stubbs?
21:04 Em Wizzle I'm here but prob can't sneak you in for another half hour or so
21:05 Mike Greenhaus Stop by the Relix showcase at somepoint
21:06 Em Wizzle Um hello! You mean the mad house Showcase! ill swing by for sure.
21:28 Jasmine Hagans What are you up to? Anything i'll be able to get into?
21:29 Em Wizzle Stubbs!
21:43 Jasmine Hagans Do you need badges?
21:44 Em Wizzle I can get you in
21:44 Jasmine Hagans Ok. Kristina is with me.
21:45 Em Wizzle No prob
22:00 Em Wizzle Do you have an extra c3 hook up? Can you get in Peter Fairman from our office?
22:02 Jasmine Hagans We can't get in
22:03 Em Wizzle I'll come get you
22:19 Winifred Chane Am I too late? Just leaving hotel?
22:20 Em Wizzle He hasn't hit yet, come!
22:23 Winifred Chane K!!!
22:36 Jenny Applebaum Are you coming to 115??
22:42 Justin Krohl Going to Vice for most of the night. You?
22:43 Em Wizzle Stubb's
22:44 Justin Krohl Who's playing?
22:45 Em Wizzle Zac Brown
22:49 Rachel Seidan Where you at?
22:49 Em Wizzle By bar!
22:50 Rachel Seidan Here at Relix?
22:53 Em Wizzle At Zac Brown but will get there soon.
23:02 Sydney Wayser Headed to MGMT
23:10 Em Wizzle MGMT on time?
23:11 Mark Kates Yes
23:44 Winifred Chane When you going to mad house?
23:45 Em Wizzle Was there, now headed to rio for MGMT. Come!
23:55 Mark Kates With Maris at bar. Dope.

Langerado + Listen to Jaymay

2008-04-14T23:24:00.018-04:00

This weekend I was dogsitting for a friend which allowed access to his car for fun errands like Whole Foods shopping. I had the pleasure of enjoying Left of Center on Sirius and hearing Jaymay sing "Grey or Blue." Amazing. Though Jaymay is clearly writing from the perspective of my demo of being a mid-twenties female and living in NYC, I think everyone should take a Listen.

This year was my maiden trip to Langerado as it was practically in my backyard: only 45 min or so from my apartment out in the Everglades. I did a really crappy job sorting plans for the fest, in the sense that I didn't make any except advancing a pass for myself as I told Jonah Smith I'd TM him for the weekend. Really, it was no sweat and my pleasure to help out Team Jonah. JS didn't play until Sunday but I drove up on Friday after work with Bart Dahl (!) who was in town from Mad House. Bart manages the best band in Denver (besides DeVotchKa): Born In The Flood.

We arrived at the fest to Rule Number One of way not to greet (hippie-leaning) fans - Florida State Troopers. I was legitimately tour managing an artist at the fest, Bart was a guest of the Beastie Boys + had a boatload of Mad House artists playing and neither cop believed us! They asked if we were really with bands, why we didn't have instruments with us. What does that even mean? Anyway, eventually we flagged down some helpful Langerado employees who got us back on the production road and inside in time to watch the Beastie Boys from sidestage! That was all Bart via his friend Cey. Thanks again guys!! I was standing next to a really sweet girl named Izzy who has an Oasis-esque obsession with The Beasties. I LOVE watching shows with super fans of any artist so it as great knowing every detail as to what was going on. Like, I have all of the Beastie Boy albums (I think?) but don't know them song by song + b-sides, imports, covers, new stuff, whatevs. Anyway, Izzy's camera died! That's a disaster for a superfan watching sidestage especially when forum posting is involved. Luckily I had a fully charged camera and told her to snap away + took down the set list on my bberry and emailed it to her so she could post it to the forum. The best part about knowing superfans is that they send you the photos they took posted HERE + find the Audio Online. And she gets credit for this photo of myself and Bart after the set.

After the Beasties, Bart and I set out on a trek to find other Mad House peeps. Bassnecter seemed to be an obvious choice since Jake Schneider is his agent and that's where the Relix kids were headed as well. Sidenote as I was stoked (though not surprised) to run into non other than Eleanor Cole Boyle, Queen of the Jammyland Scene. Thus Bart, Cole and I trekked over to the stage greeted by Jake with his handheld. You can spot us in this video with Cole kicking it off at 1:20 followed by a way-too-sober to dance Em and Bart. Thanks again Jake! Very impressed with the subtitles and cutting the footage, etc. How fun. I don't know who Don The Bully is, but that cracks me up.

Initially Bart and I were going to drive back to Miami but clearly that plan was not going to work. Luckily I was given shelter by my friends at Relix and I introduced myself to Josh Baron for the fith time and met the jam-to-my-indie Mike Greenhaus . The next night was REM! Oh and Ben Folds + his badass band played that afternoon. That means I was able to hang out with Emily Deaderick from Ben's management!! We are kind of the same person. Seriously. It's erie. I watched the first half of REM with Team Ben before their bus call and ended by jumping around with Josh, Greenhaus, and Cole. Post-set I was starving and poking around the artist dressing rooms to see if i could score some free pita and hummus. Laura, I found the holy grail of Free Food: REM's catering tent!! REM was long gone and the catering guys were happy to make me a veggie burger + a huge s

pread of general yummy feast. Hooray!

Sunday Jonah killed it per usual and Keller Williams sat in as well. Watching the above croc tamers was also kinda cool and Sunday I said bye to everyone to head back to my apartment. All and all a solid start to the festival season. And now I know to plan for next year as Team Relix better spend at least once night in Miami land. :)

Is it 2008 Yet?

2008-04-11T00:28:00.012-04:00

I want to get there just as bad as the few who read this do.

Yes, so 2007 was managing (and booking) bands at Madison House! Really, I loved it. I always felt so lucky to have such great and hardworking bosses, fantastic bands, fun people and lotsa live music. Show highlights included 2 Arcade Fire shows @ The Church, one with Laura Lolly, one with Jenny Applebaum. Thanks again Jessica Zambri! In addition to Bright Eyes @ Bowery, The Good The Bad And The Queen @ SX (Damon!), Grayson Gilmour's first US shows, roadtrip to Boston for HUMANWINE @ The Paradise with Lolly, and many more. One of the majorly awesome underlying themes is that my Besty Laura Keating had recently moved to Brooklyn!!!!! (As opposed to upstate NY). Top that off with the fact that she started working at Madison House and that equates to a super fun year. I worked at a kickass management company, had the oppurtunity to work with fantastic artists, run around to shows what seemed like every night, working all day with my BFF and running around at night with my friends. Said BFF:

An additional unworkrelated fun trip was to Glastonbury which I had to return to as my debut Glasto proved to be one of the best weekends of my life.

But what really made 2007 special was all of the amazing artists I had the honor of working with. I absolutely and truly love the music of Amanda Palmer, The Dresden Dolls, any and every time Brian Viglione plays the drums with anyone, Jonah Smith and his amazing band, The Fiery Furnaces, Die Mannequin (WATCH THIS NOW), Grayson Gilmour, HUMANWINE, and although I didn't really work with them I was thrilled that The Secret Machines and Paolo Nutini's band and crew were in my life. The "Shores of California" video shoot in LA with Katie Kay running the show was a highlight. Laura and I also traveled to Vegas to kick off the True Colors tour where The Dolls were playing with (some of their heros) Cyndi Lauper, Debbie Harry, Margaret Cho, Rosie O'Donnell (who goes straight for Brian Vig), The Gossip and more. I think I cried when I saw The Dolls play Red Rocks. The making of Who Killed Amanda Palmer was a massive part of my life and I'm so proud of Amanda and how her record turned out. I love love love our memories of recording in Nashville @ Ben's studio in addition her Birthday show and Party to follow. Wow, while youtubing that clip, I found this one from the year prior when I arranged for Peaches to sing Happy Birthday to Amanda in Vienna. Love it! Wowie. Sean Francis is IMing me while I write this making fun of all of the youtube clips I'm finding of this stuff as he sees it every day. But it's like watching my 2007! So fun! I was next going to mention the wonderful shows Amanda performed with Aberdeen City. Katie Kay, Laura, and everyone, watch Amanda and Bradly cover "Creep" NOW.

Not to be outdone was Mr. Jonah Smith and his hilarious band including Andy Stack. Bonnaroo and Sundance were truly a freaking blast.

An additional musical highlight is the fact that Brian flew out to LaLa Land to record with Trent Reznor for what would be tracks appearing on Ghosts I-IV. Amazing! I'm so proud of you!!

But soon I would be putting my sweaters into storage and moving to Miami of all places. Laura had left Mad House awhile earlier because she had the tour itch and things just evolved as they naturally do in life. I could NOT have survived Laura's departure from the insane-amount-of-shit-to-do @ work that was going on without the gorgeous and talented Sydney Wayser. Sydney has since retired from the music Business to focus on what she does best: Her Own Music. She will be huge in two years. You heard it hear first.

I threw a 25th bday party at my amazing apartment in Williamsburg. I miss living with William Smolen so much. Actually I love living alone, ha. But I miss having Bill in my life for sure. Bill will be a blog entry in itself someday but in the meantime, if anyone needs and/or can afford a Lifestyle Consultant, he's your man. I went to grade school, middle school, HS, and college with Bill and none of it was planned. Amazing. Anyway, the party was really a going away party for those who knew and I wish I could throw another as I miss you all so much!

I really love my little life in Miami land. But it was of course hard to leave NYC! I will never again take for granted all of the incredible friends and communities I was a part of. In particular, I'm so proud to be associated with a number of fantastic young women doing groundbreaking work. You all know who you are.

And that brings us to 2008! Hooray! It's time for bed but next up is (still backdated) coverage of Langerado and SXSW. Next up in real time: COACHELLA WITH MIKE GREENHAUS!! Prince was just announced. Stoked!

The Final Installment. I Promise. Maybe

2008-04-09T00:03:00.012-04:00

There is no way in hell I would ever remember all of these who played with what when where details without the primer Sean Francis @ BRAT put together here: http://www.dresdendolls.com/shows/index.htm. You Rule. I wish I could be as on it as Mike Greenhaus but c'est la vie.

Yeah there was an insane amount of touring in 2006 but that's because The Dollz released Yes, Virginia in April. Btw, Album, Book, and Film titles all should be italicized or underlined. Not that I have perfect grammar on here by any means, but I'm willing to guess most people in the music industry do not know that as they often confuse that in emails with the fact that song titles should be in "quotes." Not that hard to remember. After a quickie US tour to promote the release date we headed to Europe with what I'd have to say is the classic DD crew: Psycho, Dave Mac, Laura Lolly, JeffMaker.Com and hit 15 countries or so. Those 4 + the band are some of my best friends and there is no better way to see the (part of the) world (who can afford to purchase music and see it live). Choukri, Ireland, The Best Songwriter in Edinburgh, Fruit, Immature pictures of people sleeping with dildos, Thomas Truax, The Cribs, Cheese Plates, Wine, Jaeger, Red Light DistrictS, breaking into national monuments, skinny dipping at festivals, Pete Doherty, "Nasty" the bus driver, Astoria, Abart, and BILLY OCEAN sums it up nicely. Oh and that off day I planned in San Sebastian was pretty sick as well (photo above). Below is me and Bri clowning around The Mediterranean.

Wrapping up with a string of festivals (Rock am Ring, Rock Im Park, Pinkpop and a one off @ Bonnaroo) was a great way to kick off the summer.

But the summer was back to reality a bit as we did a not-so-exciting US tour with Panic! At The Disco. Although they have now removed the ! from their name, I'll keep it in for historical purposes. Panic of 2008 has now discovered Sgt. Pepper. Nice one boys! "Satan is Real" was the theme song of that run. Again, gotta love the instant gratification of YouTube as here are The Dolls covering The Louvin Brothers' classic at Lollapalooza. The sound is pretty crystal clear. Nice work Dave + Lolla/C3 production staff. Lolla actually wrapped up the Panic! run which was a really nice way to end it as The Dolls' have a loyal fan base in Chi-town. And my mom and cousins were there!! Fun Fun. The band did play Summerfest that year though and Amanda covered "White Rabbit" for my dad while he watched from the side of the stage which made him a happy hippie. 30 Seconds to Mars were on the bill that day as well and Katie Kay, Laura, and I couldn't believe JORDAN CATELANO was just wandering amongst the Angela Chase in all of us. Oh there's another fun thing about that tour, that's where we really met, got to know, and adopted Katie Kay and Erin aka the two hottest dancers ever.

Up next? A 4 continent world tour with a crew consisting of yours truly + Psycho Dave. Dave really is one of the best, most reliable, and fun sound guys in the world. And I've met a lot of sound guys. Below is a happy day in New Zealand.

In 2008 he is properly known as Professional Dave. But sorry Psycha, I'm blogging about 2006 and it was the year of PD and PEmily! Well maybe just PE in Tokyo. Pukkelpop, Highfield, Reading/Leeds, The Red Paintings, Grayson Gilmour! New Zealand, and PORSCHES ON THE AUTOBAHN SUPPORTING IN GERMANY were all highlights. God, what would I do to see a Porsches reunion. Where's the Behind The Music on Otto?? Please watch their Demonstration video HERE to see some classic trick moves and a hot Brian Vig cameo on "Hey Brian" at The Dolls' CD release @ The Orpheum.

Wow, I can't believe we did this schedule. I mean I can, the band had a record out, but we took less than two weeks off and jumped into a full crew headlining Dolls' US tour. Everyone was excited to be reunited though David had officially turned into the older brother I'd never had at that point (note typical view from my vantage point in following photo). Love ya Dave :)

Nothing notable about this run except I knew that it was probably my last proper tour. I wasn't challenged by tour managing anymore and we hit venues like SOMA, 930 Club, and Webster Hall where the staff knew us all by name we'd done so many shows. It was time to get to know my awesome neighborhood in Brookyn better than the surrounding areas of various hotels and venues.

But one has to go out with a bang, right? So why not choose a two-night 15 act DVD shoot at London's Roundhouse a week after it had opened with my production assistant unavailable and Luba at a wedding. With a little help from EVERYONE from the performers to zen zen zo to my saviour Katie Kay, to the musicians to Margaret Cho and Keri Smith to Phil the runner and to our crew we somehow pulled it off! Yay us. I also got to see NOEL GALLAGHER solo acoustic the night before and it was my 24th bday week. FUN!

That was it though and I returned to NYC to work at Mad House full time (as opposed to only when we weren't on tour). Oh sweet, I'm on my oldest Mac so my iCal from that era is still in tact. Hmm, it only goes through Jan 2007 though. Looks like the usual in NYC: lotsa shows and in Dec lotsa industry parties (right kev mo?).

I guess the Final Installment Part Two will have to come later because I am fried.