I hate Wilco.  I will post a definite reasoning behind this hatred a bit later, but for now, I think its suffice to say that part of my hatred for them comes out of the fact that everyone puts them on a pedestal.  Also, wtf is alt-country?? Can somebody please define this for me?

Hello once again all.  It has been a busy few months for me that is for sure.  In the month of June I think I played 2 shows a week with REGO, along with practicing on a weekly basis as well.   I’ve also been tinkering around with a few different songs of my own and in the process, decided to open things up for other people to add some instrumentation/lyrics/anything to the music I’ve created thus far…to be entitled the “J.ptros Collective”.  I’ve been trying to enlist some of my former band mates from Makeshift Prodigy to join, they’ve responded, but I haven’t had the opportunity to get them in the studio to add their flare to the songs - I do have a very cool, strangely timed piano riff from Jackson Combs -the time signature of which goes 3/4, 3/4, 2/4, 3/4, 3/4 - very, very interesting and a great piece thus far.  We recorded the piano with Michael Teach of the Chicago Acoustic Underground - a great guy and a true music appreciator.   I will need to spend some hours in the studio making that work.  I’ve reached out to musicians as far away as California for collaboration - and had varied responses.  This weekend I’ll be sending out tracks for them to consider parts for - hopefully all will turn out well. 

I have to say that writing songs on a piano is instinctively easier for me than writing on a guitar - or a bass - I can hear the melody much more clearly through a piano, and the keys make much more sense to me from a songwriting perspective than frets. 

The first song is, surprise, surprise -  a piano based song - with a longer arrangement than I am used to.  I’m having a problem getting the song to build correctly into the already created Chorus.  It has sampled drums in it and some sounds I created specifically for this song - including a layered synth and drums that have been heavily affected.  I pulled in some influence from DJ Shadow  - and according to some other people who’ve heard the half finished version, a little bit of Coldplay.  I have a tendency with my rhthym to push the song towards a hip-hop/trip-hop feel - but I’m hoping that somebody can land a killer guitar riff that will pull it back into the rock realm.  The first 3 portions of the song bangs along at a steady speed, while the last part finishes up with a trance beat, laced with off tempo snares and vocal effects.  The other issue that this particular song has presented me with is that the piano melody is quite upfront, so lyrically, the melody wants to fall right in line with it - which is fine I suppose, but doesn’t leave much room for the build I’m hearing/causes the transition in the chorus to be a bit awkward - so I’m working on these things.  I would also really love it if somebody would be willing to compose some deconstructive/dissonant strings for the piece as well - which would land quite nicely next to the song’s distopian attitude.   Thats alot of work - and thats just one song. 

I’m also in the process of writing two other tracks in 5/4 - a challenging time signature for me.  These are just on the frills of being started, but I do have lyrics pounded out already for one of them.  I wrote these in a major key as well - attempting to pull myself out of the Minor key I like to fall into when writing my songs.  It just feels that there is a gravitas associated with a minor key that cannot be matched with an associated major.  The only way I’ve found my way around this is to take a major key and use the relative minors in that key to give the songs a push and a pull that is necessary.  Anyway, these songs are lacking a definitive rythm section thus far - i have some ideas sketched out for the drums, but the more I listen, the less I want to be complacent in what I’m doing. 

The songwriting process for me is difficult, and time consuming, but I’m learning a bit about myself everytime I get a chance to really sit down and think about what I’m doing.  Inspiration comes in many ways, and there can never be a lack of that in this world.  I was asked yesterday by a neighbor how I usually begin the process, and I had a difficult time explaining to him exactly how it is I start and finish composing a piece of music.  Fellow musicians…any thoughts or suggestions on how you all do it?

Hello again! Last night we had a great time playing at Hoghead McDunna’s to an enthusiastic crowd of close friends.  Thank you to all who came.  We started our set with Astronauts, and moved quickly through our songs, our hour came and went very, very quickly.  We are gelling as a band more and more through each show, and although there were a few hiccups, overall the show was great.  Our new guitarist, Mike, is a great addition, giving us a little bit more power and more of an edge than the usual acoustic music people may be used to.  The album is coming along swiftly, we’re hoping for an August release date. 

Tomorrow night, June 14th, we’ll be playing at the Red Line Tap, located in Rogers Park.  You can see more information about it here.  Saturday night there are $2.50 GOOSE ISLAND, HONKERS, AND 312. I know it may be a little far North for some of you, but it’d be great to see you out there supporting us.  We are playing with two other bands, “The Innocent”, and ”Strezo”. 

Hope to see you soon!

Last night, I had the opportunity to catch MSP in action at the Double Door, was a great show.  I was surprised at 1. how large the crowd was (probably around 100), 2. their overall command of the crowd, 3. how short the set list was. 

It was a great show, Rebecca Rego and I had a few beers and got to catch some really great music.  It was a good time had by all.  I’ll have more on it a little later…

Well, its been a while since I’ve updated you all on whats happening, and I apologize for that.  The truth is, I’ve been increasingly busy with music, and things outside of music and haven’t had much time to write.  Enough excuses though. 

The Rego album is just about finished! All we have left is to lay down some harmonies and finish the mixing. Mike Hari has been working his ass off to get everything sounding beautiful on the record.  We’ve recently added another guitar player to the line up, and with his Gibson, has been hardening up our sound a bit - we are coming closer and closer to pushing our way into the Indie Rock scene, which is great news - we all feel that there is only so much demand for folk/soft acoustic tunes that we need to seperate ourselves from the pack a bit.  So prepare yourself to hear some electric guitar, among other little surprises on the album that you might not have been expecting from the likes of REGO.  We have a few shows coming up - at Lilly’s near Depaul - not the greatest venue, but sometimes you have to grind it out at places like that - McDunna’s on Fullerton - a bar’s bar if I’ve ever seen one, and at Wisefools Pub - all in the month of June.  Also, Rebecca will be playing individually at Uncommon Ground in the next week or so.   Keep an eye out for a collaboration between us and Makeshift Prodigy very soon as well - looks like it’ll be at the Abbey Pub - I will be sure to let you all know!  

The record will be all finished and printed come August - and it will be available on Itunes among other things, we are all very excited - and hope that you can drum up as much excitement as we have. 

On a more personal note, I have just finished recording 3 premixes for my very own debut EP, Strings & Stationary.  You can check out the new songs at www.thesixtyone.com/jptros or www.myspace.com/trostunes - I absolutely love hearing responses to my music so if you have any tips or tricks or compliments, please feel free to shoot me a message at j.ptros@gmail.com .  Goodbye Home seems to be everybody’s favorite, which gives a  major sense of accomplishment considering the amount of time that went into it.  The chorus actually came to me in a dream, and I recorded it on my voicemail around 4 am - and then finished the song 2 weeks later.  The other two songs I put up are interesting as well - I’m still trying to find a genre to fit into, I’m not completely sure I’ve found one yet - suggestions are more than welcome.  Ghost is a song about killing your significant other and was inspired in part by the movie, “Before the Devil Knows your Dead” starring Phillip Seymour Hoffman and Ethan Hawk - it was a disjointed, bothersome film - and I hope the song conveys they disillusionment.  The third song, and my personal favorite is a love song which explains that it wouldn’t matter how life had turned out before this point, the protagonist would have ended up with the same person - “we clatter on the scene like carelessly flung darts, nothing will keep me from you, nothing can tear us apart”.  I think its a really beautiful idea - that the only constant in life is your destiny and for this person, that destiny was to find their love.  I have two more songs to finish up and they my first EP will be available to all - free of charge - as a download. 

Also cool news…Makeshift Prodigy has been doing very well for themselves.  They are currently in the top 30, for Sonicbids last band standing competition to play at Lollapalooza, which would be an honor in itself.  I recommend catching these guys, yes, they are that good.  They will be playing the Double Door next Tuesday, June 10th, which is also consequently their record release show.  Bring 20 bucks, have some beers, get a great cd and enjoy some of the most potent rock you’ll hear in a while.

I no longer play with The Apartments…I found I was stretching myself too thinly, and in order to give enough attention to their artistry, I had to forgo my own - they are now going under the moniker “Jackson Combs” and their 2nd full length debut album is also due in June.  Completely self produced, their album will feature some new and interesting sounds as well, including organ, bells, and other orchestral noises.  These additions will no doubt add another dimension to some catchy alternative country.

Day 2

Rebecca had to go to the hospital last night due to some type of flu or food poisoning, and our drummer, Steph, attended a Megadeth concert last night, which left Mike Hari and I to our own devices to lay down the low end for three of the tracks.

I have to say, that I am very proud of some of the stuff we came up with - although the lines tend towards the sparce side, there is some major counter melody and tension going on with a few of the tracks which, like the familiar hum of a refrigerator, makes for something you may not notice when its there - but you most certainly would if it wasn’t.

Tonight we will be (hopefully) finishing up tracking the drums, and more likely than not, get another bass track to two ready for print.

I don’t believe we have a title for the album yet, but when we do decide - you all will be the very first to know.

This is ptros, signing off.

The recording has begun! Very, very exciting!

We’ve been doing a very good job and as of yesterday, we have half of the album’s drums tracked - which is a very big deal.  Half a day was spent just mic’ing up the drums!

There are some small issues boiling up considering some of the arrangements for a few songs - hopefully what we’ve been working so hard on the past few months doesn’t get administratively changed within a week before laying down our parts…

Recording is a tiresome process, but a very, very rewarding experience in the end - once you hear your final product, mixed down and mastered, a sense of accomplishment washes o’er you like none you have ever felt. 

Tonight I’ll be laying down the majority of my bass lines, rounding out the final touches on the rhythm section - and finishing up preperation for the more melodic instruments. 

Later on I will have posted some pictures of us in the studio…

For those who don’t know, there is a simply awesome website out there for musicians and listeners alike: www.thesixtyone.com - if you ever have the chance, please check it out, sign up as a listener or an artist, and start your “musical adventure”. 

Rego is there, Makeshift Prodigy is there, The Apartments are there, Jptros solo work is there as well.  

I highly encourage you to go, sign up, and “bump” away!!

Just to give you an idea of what the site is like, it’s basically a music centric myspace - without all the myspace crap - ie, page loading problems, having to sift through friends leaving eachother messages, and so on, also - it doesn’t seem like big corporate American has found it  yet, so its a really good spot to find really talented, but maybe not yet “in the spotlight” artists/bands/individuals.  Do yourself a favor, and check out the great website!!

Smoke Daddy’s was a very very cool place. The food smelled absolutely delicious, and according to a few of the gracious patrons, it was. It was a long set for us, and I would be lying if I was to say we weren’t worried about not filling the time. Rebecca started off our first set with a few of her favorite cover songs and immediately grabbed the attention of some onlookers and we wrangled in more than a few folks to stay after their meal for some enjoyable folk rock. Big thanks to Heather Styka, Adam Hitchell and Ryan Suzuka for coming out and supporting us, we know its a little far - but the Rego Power Trio was worth it, right guys?

Some highlights - One of our newer songs, “What a Shame” has turned into a very groovy tune - Stephanie’s drums really push the song into another dimension, giving it a really bluesy, groovy feel. Its quickly becoming one of my favorites to play - also, “Astronauts”, since we’ve begun playing together has been our most solid song. Rebecca and I duo’d on a Cars cover - Just What I Needed - which still needs some work, but overall, her voice floats in a very lovely way around my gruff baritone. Be sure to come check out the next show and we’ll have it down definitely.

Anyway - our set list last night was as follows:

• Some Cover Songs by Rebecca
• What a Shame
• South Pole
• Blue Tatoo
• Astronauts
• Dye my Hair Red
• Gave Me
• Be Kind, Be Shy
• Dreams
• Listen at Our Doors (Legends of Love)
• Underpaid
• Cars - Just What I Needed
• Caterpillars

What a Shame - Rego