Bleeding Peanut Butter

[bleedingpeanutbutter]

Scars

  My friend Alia Arram died when I was seventeen. She died in a car accident. A mutual friend and her were in the car together. She had just gotten the car for her sixteenth birthday. He was driving it out to show her a good fishing spot and flipped it on a gravel road. He walked away. She died on impact. I went to her house that night. One of her brothers had to be sedated. Her other brother said, “I’m glad she at least got the yard mowed today”. Their family was from Israel. 

    The people in our church were bringing over food to their house to be supportive. In their culture, people fast and the men don’t shave for a month to grieve. Her father got mad and yelled “My daughter is dead and you are bringing me food.” Even at that young age I realized that their culture handles death much better that the traditional Midwestern culture I grew up in. A few days later a friend of mine and I snuck into the salvage yard by the courthouse to find the car she died in. (This was both easier than it should have been and dumb to do essentially right by the cops) I stood there and looked at the smashed vehicle for a long time. This is where she spent her last moments. Probably laughing with her friend. I had no way to process this. At the viewing, she didn’t look like herself at all. They did their best to cover up her injuries, but it didn’t work well. To see someone who had so much life drained of it just felt awful. The pastor who did her service pronounced her name wrong every time he said it. I learned at seventeen that you never know when it’s the last time you may see someone.

    My friend Reed Haverkamp committed suicide when I was twenty-one. He was the most creative person I had ever met. We connected in middle school as both of us were aspiring creatives. We would write weird screen plays then try to film them. I remember starting an organization called PPPP with Reed, which I believe stood for “People Purchasing Purple Penguins.” But my memory could be wrong. I dressed as a tacky salesperson in plaid pants and even a gross suede jacket person, and he filmed me trying to sell memberships to PPPP around the middle school. I think somehow we even convinced the middle school teachers to let us shoot on the roof of the school for the scene of someone trying to throw me off. Reed grew up next door to my parents’ best friends, so I was over there all the time.

        Eventually I started playing music in high school and so did he. He was also a bass player. I didn’t have any money, and I wanted to record my band so I was able to get a hold of a device called a four track recorder and I learned everything I could about engineering and production to make my first album of the songs the band and I had made. I was ordering books as I could afford them at Hastings books store to learn audio engineering. Then I would practice my craft with the band I was playing in. Reed thought this was awesome and asked me to record his punk band. In a very real way, that band was my first recording client. I learned a lot about recording and punk music from that project. They did a Sex Pistols cover, and I didn’t even recognize it. That’s how little I knew about punk music. 

    After I walked the stage at my high school graduation, Reed walked up to me and said, “You were one of the only people I cheered for most of these people are assholes.” That was the last time we ever spoke. I don’t think about Reed everyday anymore, that stopped years ago. But there hasn’t been a month that has gone by that I haven’t thought about him since he died, about the art he would have made, the adventure in life he could have had.

    A few years ago I was in bed sick and I got a call from my parents’ number. When I answered, I knew something was wrong because it was my dad’s voice. My dad doesn’t call to chat he just isn’t a chatty guy. He said, “We lost your Grandma today.” I replied with what I thought was fitting, “Well, that sucks.” Later my dad would tell me I was his last call and hearing me say that sucks made him finally lose it. My dad’s side of the family is pretty stoic. A trait that has certainly helped me in my own life. I was always close with my Grandparents. I grew up about thirty minutes from the farm they owned. They came to every school play I had, every birthday party, and I worked on the farm during the summer. One day my Grandparents stopped by and brought me a gift. It was a plaque with my last name on the top with this poem on it.

You got it from Your Father. It was all He had to give... So it's Yours to use and cherish For as long as You may live. If You lose the watch He gave You It can always be replaced... But a black mark on Your name Son Can never be erased! It was clean the day You took it And a worthy name to bear When He got it from His Father There was NO dishonor there. So make sure You guard it wisely, After all is said and done... You'll be glad the name is spotless When You give it to Your Son!

    I think of this poem all the time when I have to make tough decisions. I certainly haven’t always lived up to it. But having a compass like that in life sure has been helpful.

    One summer I was working on the farm and Grandma drove me out somewhere to check on some irrigation. Once we were done, she hopped in the passenger side of the truck and told me to drive back. I had never driven in my life and this completely freaked me out. I told her I didn’t know how and she said she didn’t care. “It’s time to learn this is a farm. The tall skinny pedal is the gas and the long fat one is the break, let’s go.” I was scared at fourteen to turn the truck around, so I put it in reverse and drove it all the way back to the barn. Of course, I now know I did one of the most difficult things possible. My grandma got a huge kick out of this. 

    At my grandparents’ 50th wedding anniversary my grandma gave a speech where she thanked all the mentors that she and my grandpa had over the years that had helped them make their marriage a success. This blew my mind as it always seemed like they were just so good at being married. I was a pallbearer at my grandmother’s funeral, and I considered it a great honor to be taking her to her ultimate resting place. 

    Not too long after that, I got another call in the morning from my parents. It was my dad’s voice again. “We lost your uncle Paul.” Paul was my mom’s brother and the relative I was geographically closest to growing up. Paul took me to my first rock show (REO Speedwagon) We stayed close over the years and he was always there for advice. When I lived in Grand Island I wanted to put in a wooden privacy fence, so I called Paul for advice since he owned a construction company. We discussed concrete vs just putting posts in the ground, how to set up proper drainage and everything. This year I put in a tiny little free library in my front yard, and as I was digging the hole for the post I realized I knew how to do it because of Paul’s advice years ago. So in a small way some kid may read a wonderful book because of Paul's advice. I wrote something for Paul’s funeral that the pastor read, it was just a few stories about Paul. I wrote the line “Paul could be a little bit of an ass” that the pastor left out. The tiny church was full of people, as was the overflow. I was a pallbearer at his funeral as well. At the end of the ceremony me and the other pallbearers were wheeling the casket to the hearse, and I heard my aunt and his now widow cry out “Oh Paul” as she stretched her hand out to the casket. Reaching for him one last time. That moment will be etched in my brain forever.

    After the burial, the person who ran the funeral home gave me his keys and told me to drive the other pallbearers back to the church in his car. The pastor who knew Paul well sat in the front seat next to me as we drove. I said to him, “You left out part of my story.” He said, “Yes I did.” “Paul would have gotten a kick out of me trying to get the pastor officiating his funeral to say ass.” The pastor smiled and said, “Yes he would have.”

    About a year later I got a call from my sister that my uncle Mark had been in a freak accident and that he was likely paralyzed. This was just at the beginning of COVID. At first I didn't really believe her and thought everything would be fine. That the doctors would work it out, or that it wasn't as serious as she said and she was being dramatic. Or maybe I just didn't really want to think about it. Mark was my dad’s younger brother and was one of the smartest people I had ever met. He used to teach me chess and would show me how my moves were bad by rearranging the board to how it had looked three or four moves ago to prove it. Then putting the board back exactly how it was. It was infuriating. Mark didn't want to be a quadriplegic, especially late in life, so he signed a DNR (I believe video signed) and drifted off one night a few days after his accident. I knew that once he had signed the DNR, he would not be around much longer. Once he had made up his mind, I knew there would be no changing it despite his wife saying she would care for him in any way possible. Mark didn't want to burden anyone, and I don't blame him. Personally, I think he made a very courageous decision, but that’s a discussion beyond this article.

    I texted a few of my best friends and told them I would like to hang out that night as I didn't think Mark would make it. I felt it in my gut. They of course agreed. On the way to their house, I stopped to get some booze. As I stood there deciding what to buy, I thought "If I am drinking to Mark tonight it better be the good stuff." So I bought the best whisky they had at the store, which I believe was "Gentleman Jack" but I don't remember. We drank to my uncle that night, with the feeling that he would not be in this world when I woke up the next morning. My friend and I played piano together before I went to sleep and I had a dream that night where I was playing Mark's life on piano and it was beautiful, the melody and everything was perfect, but I could tell the song was about to end. I didn't want it to end, but I could feel it coming. Then it ended in a perfect stillness. I woke up to texts that Mark had passed through the night. 

    Mark was described as a gentle giant. Even though Mark and I were separated with distance my whole life, it was clear how kind of a person he was. He was always looking out for others and he would always discuss Chess, or Stanley Kubrick (our mutual favorite director) whenever I wanted. Others have written a lot about my uncle since his passing, so I won’t keep beating that dead horse. But you have no way to process these things, so you go on. Life is mostly lived in your head and it has this background tapestry, once that tapestry gets disrupted and with so much finality you have no way even fathom it.

    A few months later, I was working from home and got another call from my parents’ number. It was my dad’s voice on the line again saying that Grandpa (His and Mark’s dad) was in the hospital and we had better come visit him for the last time. My sister picked me up on the way and we went to his hospital room in my hometown where my parents still live. He had his eyes closed and I could tell he was barely hanging on. It was time to say our goodbyes. Two of his own children were there, my uncle and aunt, holding his hand and loving on him. It was beautiful. My sister held his hand and told him she loved him. There was so much I wanted to say, to tell him, to thank him for, but I couldn't muster a single word. Nothing seemed right, there wasn’t language to express what I wanted to say. I simply tried to breathe in the moment. 

    They say, "The best time to plant a tree was twenty years ago, the second best time is today." My grandfather was a man who planted trees. He lived a life of honesty and integrity. It was clear in his own children who had obviously inherited his sense of values. He tried to make sure his business dealings were fair, and he treated everyone with kindness. I watched his example my entire life. Part of me thinks he died of a broken heart as his wife and one son had already passed. But at ninety-five, no one is going to say so. At his funeral part of me wanted to yell "High score, perfect run." He really maxed out life, and he had the family and friends around to prove it. I hope I can live a life half as well as he did. 

    My Grandfather was a successful entrepreneur and while closing out his estate there was a piece of property I considered buying. One of his longtime business associates called me to discuss it, during the call he said, "If you have half of your grandfather’s business acumen and integrity you will do pretty well in life." I replied, "I am hoping I can manage ten percent. I think I would do pretty well with that." He laughed and agreed. But that’s how people viewed my grandfather. You don't build a reputation like that overnight.

    A few weeks after the funeral, I wanted to properly grieve my two uncles and two grandparents. I thought back to my friend Alia who I had lost twenty-plus years before and how her family fasted. I read more on how their culture handled the process of grief and I wanted to try it myself. We were on lock down for the pandemic, and I didn't think I would get another chance like this. I decided to do a thirty day fast and reflect on the grief, to lean in to it so to speak. To let the grief and sadness fill me completely rather than to put it out of my mind. Or drink it away, as people tend to do. Now I have several medical professional friends that I can text anytime and I have blood pressure monitors, glucose monitors and many other tools to monitor my health so I would not go into a prolonged fast without both medical supervision and your own monitoring tools. But I found it to be the absolute right thing. I meditated every morning with specific programs designed for grief. I read books like "Top five regrets of the dying" and I let it all fill me up. I actively ran to grief rather than away. I would think about Mark and tear up, but that was ok. That’s what this time was for and it was magical. At day twenty-six I started having weird symptoms, and I texted my friend that now teaches trauma and southeast community college after a long career in the medical field. He told me not to push through the symptoms, so at day twenty-six my fast was coming to an end. I wasn't really sure how to end it, so ceremoniously I went to Subway and got a veggie sub in the drive thru. One of my favorite bands "Waterdeep" had just put out a record, so as I sat in the Subway parking lot eating my first food in twenty-six days. The song "This is now" came on with the following lyrics.

"It’s always funny when you go back in time 

The strings won’t tune, and the words won’t rhyme And everything you thought you’d sent away 

It shows back up and it’s got something to say  

You can look at the sights; You can touch and taste But they focused lights and the set’s in place 

They say take a deep breath, and swallow your soul. 

And don’t get cute. We all know your role.  

But even if it’s only in my mind 

I’m not gonna be that person this time 

And even if it’s only in my heart, 

This is not gonna tear me apart 

Cause I don’t care how familiar it feels 

Time travel isn’t real.

This is now, and I am me.  

It’s always sunny in a certain field 

The rain never comes, but the crops still yield 

I know you think that’s a bald-faced lie 

But sometimes I wish that you’d just stop by  

Cause you can look at the sights. 

You can touch and taste. 

Go on. Have a look around the place. 

Feel free to grab a stalk of sugar cane. 

Make yourself at home. No one needs you to explain"

    I'm not too proud to admit it made me tear up. It was the perfect end to the journey of mourning. Not saying that I am over everything. Far from it. But to really explore the sadness was a beautiful, painful and necessary journey.

    I spent a year trying to write this; I rewrote it, scrapped the rewrite and started over. The only gift I can truly give people is my own creativity, and I wanted to give a proper homage to these great people that have been part of my own rich tapestry. There truly are not the right words. Maybe that’s why there are songs, poems, and books to try to get it right. It wasn't until I saw an interview with Stephen Colbert that Anderson Cooper gave where they discussed grief. Colbert discussed losing a brother and father at a young age and Colbert talked about how it scars your soul forever. That he even wished it would be an external scar so people would know, and that IS the perfect way to describe it. The people that you love dying leaves a scar in your very being. It’s not meant to go away. Maybe life is actually more beautiful because it’s temporary. Things have value because of scarcity, and life runs out for all of us. But these people live on through us. Through the scars in our souls like a tattoo. When I face a decision, I will remember the kindness of Mark, the integrity of my grandfather, the no nonsense of Paul, the generosity of my grandmother, the creativity of Reed, the joy of Alia. They live on through our scars, and that’s pretty beautiful.

[bleedingpeanutbutter]

Why Vinyl

Why use such and outdated old format. Why go out of your way to collect it? Friends have asked me all these questions over the years. Several times in my life I have even sold my entire collection off and went to Spotify only and eventually Apple Music. But something about vinyl keeps pulling me back. It’s clear that listening to music is an emotional experience and it does seem to be enhanced by having a physical object. I love seeing the big cover art and holding this object in my hand. Maybe it’s because I have such fond memories of listening to records as a kid and discovering music for the first time this way. That love turned in to a massive cassette collection. I would ride my bike around town for hours a day listening to the same tape over and over. Then eventually I would be asked to play bass and that one decision changed my entire life. Even in my current projects like The Drunk Pedestrians and The Davenport brothers, the love of music is the driving force.

There is also something weirdly beautiful about knowing that every time you play a record you are slowly destroying it. Wearing it down bit by bit ever so slowly. Ruining the art you love. As an avid hip hop fan and sampler, vinyl is the perfect medium. It pays honor to the past while letting you connect with the voices of the present. Maybe I love going to the record store and hunting for my next favorite album while finding new records along the way. There is something more organic and visceral then any music finding algorithm in an app ever could be. You can’t listen to it in your car, you have to wait until you get home. Then you have to open it up carefully before you can get started. The whole experience is so intentional, you are going out of your way to connect with the music. To listen to the whole thing you have to stop what you are doing and physically turn it over.

We could talk about how vinyl just sounds better. Most modern music is compressed to the absolute max and can be fatiguing to listen to for long periods of time. This is one of the reasons I had the next Drunk Pedestrians album “F#” mastered with lots of headroom. So it can breath, because that’s what I like to listen to. Just put on Tom Pettys “Damn the Torpedoes” on vinyl and tell me that doesn’t sound like magic.

I also love hearing an artists complete musical statement or idea. I want to listen to the whole record front to back. It’s a complete thought and I love it. No one did this better then Pink Floyd. Each record is an journey that is worth taking multiple times. That’s the music and records I want to make. Music for people that want to go on a complete journey with me. That what to listen to the whole thing. It’s not for everyone and I understand that. But it is so much fun. So let’s sit back, grab a coffee and listen to a record on a quiet Saturday morning. Can you think of anything better? 

[bleedingpeanutbutter]

The complete guide of finance and freedom

To me life is about freedom first and foremost, and money can make you a slave. Personal Debt is slavery. Now a case can be made that some business debt is good, and I would agree but that is outside the scope of this post. 

Because of decisions I made when I was younger I have rebuilt my finances several times. This is how I did it. How I got money to be my slave rather than my master. How can mastering money give us freedom? Let's start with debt.

Personal debt is a major emergency.

There are two basic ways to pay off debt.

#1 The snowball method. This is the method that works best for me. Basically you take all your debts and pay them off from lowest to highest. So you pay the minimum on everything except the lowest debt then take all the extra money you have each month and pay as much as you can on the first dept. Once that is paid off you go on to the second debt and so on. This gives you a psychological win, that I found personally very rewarding. This is the method Dave Ramsey talks a lot about here and personally I have found that this calculator works well This should include paying off your house ASAP. 

#2 The logical method. Basically pay off your highest interest debt first to your lowest interest debt last. This is mathematically the best way to go. Personally I found the snowball method rewarding and worked for how I am wired. You have to find what works best for you.

The next step is automating your finances.

Here is how to do it 

Basically put all your bills on autopay to your credit card. Then have that autopay from your checking account every month to pay off the card. Managing your money should take minutes a month not hours. You may need to pay larger bills like a mortgage on the lenders website every month but that should take five minutes. Bill should not be a worry.

Next is investing. Once your debts are paid off, time to get to work saving and building wealth.

This is surprisingly simple as well. Unless you want to dedicate your life to studying business and stocks, then invest in an index fund every month consistently forever. You will beat the market and about every money manger every time. 

Also know that financial advisors make money if you do or not. They also make money when you MOVE money around. You make money when you DON’T move money around. Investing is a game of patients. The average money manger will cost the client 100k in lost investing opportunity. 

Next step is early retirement.

Basically you need to live as inexpensively as possible and save as quick as possible. You need 25 times your annual spending. If you have no debt then you should basically be down to insurance, food, taxes and utilities. It should be pretty cheap. Add it up realistically and find that number. If you need 40k a year, then you need about a million bucks. This is totally doable for most people. Here is a great post about it

But what happens if you can live comfortably on 25k? Now you just need to save 625k to live forever with no job. It’s pretty simple math.

Your money or your life is another great book on the topic, check it out here (not affiliated link)

Thats the basics. Get to it and be free!

[bleedingpeanutbutter]

The muse and the grind

I am writing this blog post after taking a break from working on a chapter of this book I am writing, my first novel. I’m fairly certain it will be terrible but maybe my third and forth ones will show some promise. Later I am also suppose to work on music for the next record, I have artists literally waiting on me to put down vocals but I just can’t make it right. Today seems particularly difficult to get in to the groove of things. Stephen King writes two thousand words a day and says some days he says the words flow easy and other days not so much. Maybe its the power of the habit, maybes its that the muse shows up when you work consistently. Im certainly no expert but it seems the key thing a creative person must do is create. Some days its a struggle to get to five hundred words down and other days two thousand flow out like its nothing. 

I took the advice of James Altucher and try to create idea lists. Just come up with 10 things a day you could write about, or ten things a day to start a business about or whatever you are trying to to. So on this list I have a title for a Bleeding Peanut Butter post called “The muse and the grind” and its beyond easy to procrastinate, in fact I have mastered that skill. That’s one of the reasons I started this blog. To improve my writing and interviewing skills and force myself to have something to write about. To kick out the cobwebs so to speak.

It does seem though that if you show up everyday and put in the work the muse will arrive as well. But boy today is one of those slogging through mud days. Especially since everyone is in quarantine for the Corona virus. It would be so much easier to finish the book I am reading (Duma Key), just play video games, or cook some good food. I don’t have the best advice in the world right now other than the advice I recently got, you write a book one word at a time. I suppose thats true of music as well, write music one note at a time. Record one instrument at a time. One foot in front of the other. Even bad work is better than no work. Bad work you can at least edit most of the time. With no work you are just being a fraud. Creators create, if you don’t create can you call yourself a creator? 

Man, talk is cheap. Everyone wants to be the next great famous artist or the write the great American novel but almost no one wants to put in the grind day in and day out to get there. I can promise you that everyone famous for their art at some point put in the work to get there, I would bet they still do but now that have a team in place to help them along. 

I’m not completely sure my writing is worth reading or music worth listening to because there are so many great artists out there, but art should in some way be about what you need to create. It needs to fulfill you first, if you can write the book you would want to read or the album you would want to listen to I think thats a huge step. Recently I heard someone say that artist have great taste and when an artist starts out and is dissatisfied with their work they know its bad because their tastes tell them so. Their skillset just has to catch up with what they know is good. Once again, practice makes perfect. So make the muse your bitch my showing up everyday, there is no way around it. 

[bleedingpeanutbutter]

Love letter to the bass guitar.

In my mind I have a distinct recollection of falling in love with the bass guitar. When I was a kid my parents would take me to the mall every few weeks and I would spend my time in this music store marveling at all the electric guitars. This was the early 90's, hair metal was still a thing so there was all kinds of over the top guitar designs. Not knowing anything about guitars I would walk up to the hanging guitars that I had to look up and see, put my cheek right on the body of the instrument, pluck the strings and feel the vibrations. I remember loving how the vibrations of the "four" string guitars felt. I could not have been more than eleven or twelve at the time. It became my habit when I got to the mall for a while, to go in and play the four string electric guitars that were hanging on the wall with my faced pressed up against them.

I remember asking my parents if I could start with a "four" string guitar and then once I learned that I would graduate to a six string one. I'm not 100% sure they understood what I was asking, "I would even get an amp later" I would say. Just get me a guitar I could call my own. Sadly it was just not in the budget. When I was very little I had taken some piano lessons but it just never stuck with me. At some point I stopped asking and never really thought about it for a few years. But by fourteen I was glued to my Walkman and absorbing any music I could get my hands on. It would be my bike, my Walkman and the Summer sun for days on end while I explored the city to the soundtrack of my choosing. Sometimes with my friends, sometimes solo. Being glued to music would never change the rest of my life.

Late that next year, when I was fifteen the youth pastor (Steve) of the church I grew up in made me an offer. He knew a guy that owned a music store and would give me free bass lessons in the hopes that I would get hooked and become a customer later on and he needed a bass player in the church praise band so I was in a band before I had really even picked up a bass. Steve just said he knew I loved music so much and maybe I should try playing it. I tentatively said ok. I remember almost ditching my first lesson because it all seemed so overwhelming. Sean, the owner of the local music shop patiently taught me the bass. I would go to the practice rooms in the smelly old basement and play bass for a few hours after school everyday. Sean would come down in between helping customers and give me pointers. He was very generous and let me play on any bass I wanted in the store.

I remember my first "gig" playing for the youth group at church. No doubt that I messed up quite a lot but what a rush. It was addictive to be sure. After that I starting learning my favorite songs and growing as a new musician. Eventually I bought my first bass, and old Yamaha with this crazy paint job. It was $275 dollars and I paid it off in three chunks with the money I made working as a dishwasher. To this day I still gig with that bass as my spare, even though it was been completely rebuilt multiple times and I have owned many other basses over the years.

Then I started my first band with some of my friends and played in that band from the age sixteen to twenty two. I got offers to play in other bands and took some of them. In late high school and early college I took loads of music theory classes and ending up studying with Berklee College of music. This took me on an amazing journey of learning audio engineering/production and working at Sweetwater sound, as well as writing music for videos and other artists.

I have had the good fortune of meeting so many wonderful artists and musicians, been able to be a part of creating fulfilling art, all through being a bass player. Some days I reflect on all the different bands I have had the honor of playing in over the years and what a blast it all is. How crazy that what started as one guy needing a bass player in the praise band changed the entire course of my whole life. Changed the friendships I would have had, my education and career. Playing bass has and I'm sure will continue to lead me down all kinds of interesting roads. Maybe I would have found the Bass on my own one day? Who knows.

When I am playing live, I still love feeling that same vibration that I felt in the tiny little music store as a kid. I love being the bridge between the melody and rhythm section and feeling the groove and power of it all. Playing music is a strange thing in its own right as there is always something new to master. Some technique just out of reach that you work for and eventually conquer. A more fulling journey I can not think of. Thanks to everyone who I have met on this path!

[bleedingpeanutbutter]

On Cooking

Nothing brings people together like food. Obviously we need it for basic survival but I would propose there is more too it than that. It could be the desire to connect, or maybe its that it lights up the pleasure centers in our brain. It's a craft that you can get good at and get a tasty treat at the end of. You can swap recipes with other people and discover the next magic spell. Could that be it? Is there an element of magic that we long for that cooking brings us? Why, in a world where we cook less and less are food shows becoming more popular? Michael Pollan contends that we have replaced traditional cooking with watching cooking shows. A poor substitute to be sure. Learning how to cook has to be one of the most rewarding hobbies one can enter in to. I would challenge everyone to try and start by perfecting one dish. Just one. Then another, and another.

I would even contend that you can teach almost all of school through food. You teach kids a valuable life skill, with a lesson they are more likely to remember and you get to eat something at the end. For example did you know that Baklava uses honey because they had not discovered sugar yet in the middle east? Or that the Sandwich was invited so an Earl could keep gambling? Chicken wings used to be used only for stock and were for decades considered the worst part of the chicken? That solves the history problem. You could even teach math through baking using ratios and measurement. As they say baking is science cooking is art. Teach science showing the chemical reactions of say yeast in warm water. There is a infinite amount of examples one could come up with.

It is a travesty that our modern American age has left so many young people without even a basic understanding of how to properly make a simple dish like Spaghetti. There are a few skills in life that I would consider force multipliers. A term I first heard Tim Ferris use. Meaning that it enhances all other aspects of your life. Things like weight training, meditation, reading are all force multipliers. I would put getting decent at cooking up there with a bullet. Crafting an fantastic dish is certainly as creative as say making a record or writing a book.

If you want to lose weight understanding how calories and carbs work will get you there. If you want to gain muscle, understand protein and carb interaction is vital. If you want to know why most gluten sensitivity is nonsense because you kneed dough to develop the gluten protein. You want a lot of gluten in say pizza dough and next to no gluten in a muffin for example. Even just to save tons of money. You can eat like a king for a fraction of the price of going out. Once you learn how to do it all you can even pre make everything in advance so all you have to do at the end of a long days work is reheat.

Maybe its because in our modern society our homes are divided with both parents working so there is no parent at home that can teach the kids this basic skill. Maybe in our fast food on every corner world we have just become too lazy. But I would challenge everyone to seek out the advice of Gordan Ramsey, Jamie Oliver, Alton Brown, and even Tim Ferris with the Four Hour Chef and learn some basics. I can't think of too many more rewarding journeys. Seeing your first loaf of homemade bread is not a feeling that can be bought on a dollar menu.

[bleedingpeanutbutter]

Care more than everyone else about your art. For example, if you write a song honor that completely. You need to be the one to work on every detail. Treat it as something special and hone it. If you don't care deeply about what you are creating no one else will. Do everything as best as you can. Treat the project like it will be your last one ever and give it your all. Life is too short not too.

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I interview P.O.S. and Damu the Fudge Monk in the latest issue of Ghettoblaster magazine. Go pick it up at all fine bookstores.

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Perfect Albums

Perfect albums are where every last element could not be improved from the compositions to the performances to the production and album art. EVERYTHING is just magic. Here are some of my favorite “Perfect Albums”

Rumors by Fleetwood Mac This album is just amazing front to back. And songs like “The Chain” just send it over the top

Kind of Blue by Miles Davis The king of Jazz in arguably his finest record.

Dark side of the Moon by Pink Floyd This is one of my personal favorites. And if you have never done the Dark Side of the Rainbow you need to ASAP. This record just flows from one song to the next in the most incredible way. When the album ends you are not left wanting more because there is just nothing more to add.

To Dust by Alice Russell I don’t think I could possibly pick a favorite song on this record. They are all so fantastic. Her sultry smooth voice illuminates every song on this album.

Blood on the Tracks by Bob Dylan From the opened “Tangled up in Blue” to “Buckets of Rain” this record is perfect. It is some of Dylan’s finest writing and one of his most heartbreaking recordings.

My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy by Kanye West If there is a single record that proves hip hop is art, this is the one. Edgy and amazing from start to finish. Do yourself a favor and get the vinyl version with all the extra artwork.

Dogman by King’s X Some have claimed that King’s X invented grunge. I have no idea if that is true, but this is one of the best rock records ever made. From the in your face “Dogman” to open the record followed by three part harmony in “Shoes” this record is just a fantastic ride every second.

Speaking in Tongues by Talking Heads Certainly one of the more unusual groups in this list, but once they grab you the Talking Heads will never leave your subconscious. From the hit “Burning Down the House” to the groove infused “Slippery People” this album delivers.

In Utero by Nirvana Somehow even though they were huge superstars by this point they managed to put out a half punk half grunge record that still managed to dominate the charts. It’s still so raw to listen to. Ending the twelve tracks with “All Apologies” is just such a perfect finish to this sublime record.

Entroducing…. By DJ Shadow Everyone that loves music needs to put on their headphones close their eyes and list to tracks like “Building Steam with A Grain of Salt”, “What Does Your Soul Look Like - Pt. 4” and “Midnight in A Perfect World”. This record proved that sampling was an art unto itself. Just beautiful.

Play by Moby After his failed album “Animal Rights” and getting dropped from his label, Moby thought his music career was basically over and decided to put out one last album as a goodbye. Full of soul and blues samples this album lit the world on fire. It was the first album to license out every song for commercial use. My personal favorite song on the record is “Run On” and I could listen to that for days and days.

The Black Album by Jay Z This album also had a slew of hits, from “Dirt Off Your Shoulder” to “99 problems”. To my friends that have not gotten into hip hop this is the perfect intro record. This album sticks to your soul and refuses to let go.

Texas Flood by Stevie Ray Vaughn It’s just amazing straight forward blues. “Texas Flood” has my favorite Stevie Ray Vaughn song on it “Pride and Joy”. The whole record is just soooo smooth.

Blue by Joni Mitchell This is Joni in her prime. This is another record that I would listen to all day long, day after day. It so passionate and personal. Perfect.

Aenima by Tool What can I say, it’s tool. It’s arguably the best progressive metal record of all time. How can you not love it?

So that's my short list. What’s yours?

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The new album is out today.

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Music video from the EP Lord Lav and I worked out. Out Nov 5th.

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How I automated life to have more free time.

*Image Gears of Time by Majentta

What are the things you really want to do in life? I often ask myself if money was no object at all, what would I eliminate? For me I would eliminate the following.

#1 driving

#2 cleaning

#3 laundry

#4 shopping for groceries and other household items

#5 paying bills and money management

Notice how cooking is not on the list, I enjoy cooking for the most part and make the same meals over and over as well as cook in advance for myself. What are things I would more of if I had the time? I would like to spend my time

#1 enjoying friends and family

#2 creating music

#3 building a business

#4 getting in shape

#5 traveling

The question became how could I automate the things I didn’t want to do, and do more of the things I did want to do right now. Even if it means spending an extra hour drinking wine with a friend or two, I much prefer that to cleaning. So what could I do to eliminate most of these items now for very little money?

First of all you could eliminate driving with just Lyft and Uber, if you mix in public transportation in most cities you should be good to go, and if you factor in car insurance, fuel, car payments, and maintenance you can often be money ahead. My issue here was that I live in the Midwest and I drive probably 40 miles a day to places Lyft doesn’t go to. So this was just impractical. I am still searching for a solution here. Any thoughts on this? This article from Zen habits has some insights but I still can’t completely make the switch. Suggestions anyone?

On to cleaning. This was easy enough, I found an inexpensive cleaning service on Craigslist and pay them to do a deep clean of my place twice a month. I do still clean from time to time, but for the most part I need to do very little. Total cost is $130 a month. This saves me probably 4-5 hours a month. WELL worth it. I can not tell you how nice it is to come home every other Monday to a spotlessly clean home.

Laundry was also pretty simple to cross off the list. I just put out a Craigslist ad that basically said “come over, watch Netflix, do laundry” and that got sorted out quickly. I get all my cloths and bedding washed for under $100 a month. Simple. This saves me 3-4 hours a month easy.

Shopping for groceries and household items took a while to tweak and get right, but basically I use a combination of Amazon Subscribe and Save and my local grocery store’s delivery service. Subscribe and save is an amazing service that Amazon provides. The idea is that you automatically order a few items every month, you can have an item be delivered every month like toilet paper or every six months like band aids. It took a few months to get everything timed correctly, but now it runs like a finely tuned machine. I get things like toothpaste, toilet paper, olive oil, canned goods etc on Amazon. Then I use my local grocery chain and can order right on their website for fresh produce and get my food delivered for free if it's over $100 (it usually is) I have a meal plan that I follow every week that never changes and so my grocery needs rarely change. I can order all the groceries and have them delivered in literally on click. All I have to do is put them away. Between these two services I easily save 4-5 hours a month. And other than the time to set it up and tweak everything I don’t pay any more than if I went to the store, and now I am not tempted to buy any impulse items. Everything has a specific use. It’s great, and helps on the health front to as I can control all the meals easily.

The final item was finance. Paying bills, paying off debt and so on. Of everything that should be automated, finances should be the top of that list. I wanted every bill paid automatically, with my credit score going up and debt getting paid down fast. All while building a savings account and spending money when I wanted for my own enjoyment guilt free. I have tried a few systems, but the best was this one from Ramit. Basically all bills get paid automatically to a credit card and that card gets paid off automatically. Any bills that can’t get paid are set up on auto bill pay from the bank account. You never get late fee’s this way and it runs like a dream. Of course DON’T spend more than you make each month. But for the most part you only have to carry around one credit card and you are done. Simple. The as far as debt goes I use the basic Dave Ramsey debt snowball method. Debt sucks for the most part and once my student loans are paid off I never plan on going into any more of it. But all this is automatable. I save probably 2-3 hours a month, automating and actually SAVE a bunch of money because I never get charged late fees and the money just handles itself. Just keep an eye on things maybe once a month and you are good to go.

That’s what I have been playing with so far, as of late I have been experimenting automating my health and training, but that’s a story for another post. Of course so much of this is inspired by guys like Tim Ferriss and Ramit from I will teach you to be rich. But once you get on the automation train it's amazing how much you can do in life with very little effort. I could never go back. On a conservative estimate I save about 13 hours of time and actually save money as a whole. Talk about intentional living.

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A track I worked on with Julianna McDuffie

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(Chris Scheidies)

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Life by thedreampolice

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High Tech VS Low Tech.

Its so easy to get caught up in the latest and greatest shiny object. I LOVE new toys, Maschine, Push, new guitar pedals. It's all so cool and fantastic. But then I look at guys like P-thugg, Rosko, Damu the Fudgemunk I am blown away at 

how much they get done with so little gear. Even the brilliant Jon Hopkins talks about using a very old computer from around 2001 to do all his work. I am the number one offender of wanting more toys, ways to make new sounds. But between what I already have I should be almost limitless. Its such a distraction constantly, new Pro tools this, new synth that. Point is, get to work. Get stuff done, focus on your craft.

Conversely I see guys like Junkie XL and Hans Zimmer and am blown away and how elaborate it all is. Just look at their six plus computer rigs, amazing. 

And I suppose Hollywood film composers have totally different needs than someone making hip hop beats and the reality that those two get is that its all been done, the only thing you can do is have a unique sonic footprint. That’s what a producer and composers job is. Make a unique sound, create your world your way, no stock stuff. Don’t be a preset surfer MAKE SOMETHING FROM SCRATCH. Then do it again. Hans talks about spending all day on one Zebra patch HOLY crap. So get to work, with whatever you have and CREATE!