D-Bone Fantasy Camp Days 1-2: Incubus, Phish cover band, D'Andreas

My friend Dustin is probably the most messed up person I know. He wakes up every day with absurd amounts of energy, and from what I saw, works out or bikes in the morning, then teaches little kids to play piano or records gangsta rappers in the studio for like 9 hours then comes home crazy, and repeats. He never runs out of energy. He's a lunatic. I enjoy spending time with him, and spending some time at his house was on my list of things to do this summer.

I've also been wanting to record some music or at least learn how to use Logic and the recording gear I bought. So, awhile ago, the perfect plan showed up in my head and I said "Dustin- you have a big house and work... could I just create a ghetto little studio and record music while you're at work and then hang out with you after?" So that's what I did. I went to go live the D-Bone lifestyle while recording sweet tunes for an entire week.

Wednesday was spent gathering everything I needed- all the recording stuff I had, my computer, clothes to last a week, etc.

A small pile that cost a lot of money

I threw everything in the car, stopped at Dick's Sporting Goods to get a bike rack, and headed to Talluto's, to get my drumset which has been living in his basement since I moved. I then proved how amazing I am at packing. Boy, were my back tires low to the ground. 

After a solid 5 hours of driving, I arrived in beautiful Saratoga Springs, NY at around 11pm. Dustin and I talked and watched some late night tv. I decided to see if he could help me with a piano song I was writing. After realizing that I had already figured out what the last chord would be, he started fiddling around with the progression, and I started playing some random high notes as he played. We both stopped when we heard some shuffling and a weird squeek noise that we both heard as Amanda quietly saying "hello?" to us. We were both confused though, since all sound stopped when we stopped playing. And upon investigating, Amanda was still sound asleep and it was just us alone in the living room. Awesome. I was there for 40 minutes and we were already conjuring ghosts. This ought to be an interesting trip.

Dustin woke me up the next day by reciting (in a super high voice) "I'm eating breakfast outside your room! It's delicious!" and then, in a super low voice that kept getting lower, "DON'T MISS THE BUS" over and over again. He's insane. I let him do this for 10 minutes before I finally got out of bed. He worked out and I played some more piano, then when he went to work, I went to work setting up my drums and playing them some. But boy was it easy to get distracted (by the piano, my computer and a random visit from his dad). It was nice to play drums again. It's been about 4 months since I have. It was also nice to see that it didn't seem like I lost anything- I was just as bad as I've always been.

drums and horse paintings

Amanda and Dustin both got home around the same time, and after one of Amanda's friends showed up, we all rode our bikes down to Saratoga Performing Arts Center (SPAC) to see Incubus. 

and I continued my smart habit of helmet-less picture taking on my bike

We got balcony seats for 31 bucks, which was pretty sweet, especially since it looked like it was going to rain. We met Dustin's sister and her kids there, and while we waited for Incubus to start, one of said kids figured out that the giant screens on either side of the stage were broadcasting whatever was typed on Incubus' twitter page. So, after "POOP POOP" and "POOP PEE POOP PEE POOP PEE" failed, I tried the even more mature, "I AM SEVERELY GAY" and that showed up. And stayed on the screen for very long. I'm 30. 

Incubus were good and their light show ruled. They played way too much new stuff (only 1 off of S.C.I.E.N.C.E.? Come on!), but they sounded perfect and were entertaining. I hadn't seen them in over 10 years (when they opened for Korn and ORGY). I've only been to 2 shows this summer, and both were of bands I've been listening to forever and both featured bands I haven't seen in a very long time.

trippy

We then did something I'd been looking forward to all summer- riding our bikes out of the crowds and through the streets to one of the best pizza places in the world, D'Andrea's. We did this last summer after the Phish show, and I don't know why it's so wonderful, but it is. There's just something about flying through traffic and over sidewalks in a beautiful summer night that makes me feel incredible and maybe a little bit invincible. And delicious pizza as a stopping point? Heaven.

Maybe my favorite picture from the trip: Happy D-bone, a clusterfuck of bikes, and floating pizza deliciousness.

We then hit up a BAH and headed home. Good first day. 

I slept in a little the next day, but started my nights of not being able to sleep well. I am blaming either spirits, or Dustin just making me so scared to sleep too late- I was always anxious about when I had to get up. Bastard.  I set up my computer and recording interface and started fiddling around with Logic and trying to learn how to record correctly. I had planned everything perfectly for this trip, but didn't bother learning Logic at all in the THREE MONTHS I could have. I also didn't buy enough mic stands. This is pretty much when I learned that this trip would be more a learning experience than a recording trip- how Logic works, how my interface works, where to place mics to get the best sound, what I need for the future, etc. 

at least I did something

Shaun and Natalie showed up somewhere around 9, and we pretty much made them instantly go out to some hidden bar I'd never seen which reminded me of the old clubs I used to see super sketchy metal shows at. 

We were going to see the High Peaks Band though, who did mostly Grateful Dead and Phish covers. We were all pretty certain that Pog was the singer/guitarist.

The hippies were out in full force, and eventually everyone was dancing. But nobody was dancing as hard as Dustin's brother-in-law, Hogan. 

10 hours drunk and loving life

When we got out, we saw that it was somehow 1:40am. Hippie bands make time warp, I think. There was some unbelievably sketchy food "place" that opened up next door right when we got out. It was a guy serving some form of Asian food out of a garage. Yea, that sounds safe. Natalie tried to photobomb the picture I took, but a demon spirit took over her body. 

demon

It was nearly 2 in the morning after partying all night in Saratoga Springs. Where did we end up? You guessed it. D'Andreas. So good.

Amanda, Chicken bacon ranch (my favorite), Shaun looking confused.

Solid first 2 days of the D-Bone lifestyle.

currently listening to- Dredg- Leitmotif