Posts Tagged ‘BoR Blog’

3-6-09
I’m leaving for Texas later today, and I can’t wait! If you’re not
aware, Break of Reality’s new line up will be premiering a new work
for music and dance. The piece was commissioned by a ballet company in Victoria, TX, my hometown. While we’re there, we’re also
performing an educational workshop in Houston and a larger show in
Laredo.
This will be the first time our new line up performs in public, and
also the first time we’ve performed new music in over TWO YEARS. I
gotta say, I am nervously excited! My stomach is all twisted up,
and the butterflies inside it seem to be growing.
Being a music fan for such a long time, I know how people tend to
respond to “new.” For example, “Their new stuff sucks – Their old
stuff was way better.” I’ve regretfully said that before about music
groups before. The tables have turned, and BoR is now in the position
to get the same reaction.
Are we worried?
Nope. (Well maybe a little), lol.
Ultimately though, we’re done living in the past. The old group was
great, but it’s time to pick up the pieces, start fresh, and bring
“cello rock” to the people again!
From now on, we’re blogging about the new Break of Reality. BoR is
living in the “now”.
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Next Week: Video Update from TX! New members are coming soon…

2-27-09

I don’t think the four of us could have stayed together even if we wanted to. We had been through so much turmoil and pressure that something was going to blow up eventually. Erin probably saw this coming before the rest of us did. It was inevitable.

In the end, Patrick and myself were the only two left, and two people can’t make up a rock band (unless your the White Stripes)… and we’re not the White Stripes.

But we couldn’t leave this project. We had put our energy and our souls into BoR for the last four years, and we started something that needed to be continued. We had to do something, even if we had to start from square one.

So that’s what we did:

SQUARE ONE

After months apart, Patrick and I reunited in Jersey and jammed out for the first time (EVER). Seriously.

Sure, we had rehearsed plenty of times, but we never sat down and just “jammed”.

I pulled out my guitar, Pat dusted off his cello, and we just started going, like two high school kids jamming out in the garage. It was a blast.

It was the most fun I had in a long time, and we were actually coming up with some fresh new ideas. We weren’t thinking about lighting our cellos on fire or doing over the head solos. The novelty was replaced with something else. Something fresh.

We were spilling our guts and writing music with no real plan in mind. Just for fun, probably the way it should be. We kept going, for that entire summer.

—————–

Next week on BoR Blog: We’re not exactly sure yet…

Patrick here. Yeah, that’s right.
Even though Ivan is our usual blogger, we’re all tired of hearing him run off at the mouth. (Just kidding dude). But seriously, I wanted to write this blog about our Texas tour and about my first visit to the Lone Star State. Here it goes.
2-20-09
So, Erin was leaving, and Texas was our last “Hoorah”. Several months before getting on the plane, we began building the tour. Starting with Ivan’s contacts from his hometown, we contacted everyone we could: schools, venues, organizations, and the media. We were pleasantly surprised by the success we had. We were able to fill up a good two and a half weeks of back-to-back performances, workshops, and appearances on radio and TV (as I later learned is pronounced “TEEEE V” in Texas). And with even more luck, we found a wicked cool philanthropist Doctor who was gracious enough to cover our flight tickets (and our cello’s flight tickets too) – Thank you again Dr. R!
It was my first time in Texas, and I really didn’t know what to expect, other than what I had seen on Peewee’s Big Adventure back in the 80s. Texas was bigger and better than anything I imagined.
Among other things, I shot a gun (and a rifle), sang karaoke, drove a trailer, wore a T-Shirt in the middle of winter, witnessed my first peacock, and saw Mexico (from inside the Border) all for the first time in my life. What was even better, though, was the FOOD:
Holy mole (no pun intended), was the food and drink good. I ate like a king and gained about 20 pounds. The BBQ, the Tex-Mex, the Bartenders…I could go on and on.
And then there’s the “Whataburger”. For any of you who haven’t been to Texas, Burger King and McDonalds aren’t the only ways to ingest hundreds of calories for pennies. Here’s my video review of my first Whataburger:

But, let’s get on topic here. I loved Texas the most for its PEOPLE. I’ve never met people who were more welcoming, polite, or open-minded. I felt at home there, and for BoR, it was the best trip of our lives.

EDUCATIONAL WORKSHOPS
The educational workshops in Texas were some of my most memorable experiences. First off, I’ve never seen high schools like these. Honestly, the schools are a cross between castles, college campuses, and Hogwarts, and they like to teach their kids how to love and play music like I’ve never seen. We worked with kids from at least 10 different schools around South Texas, and in each workshop, we connected with the students even more than we have in the past. They were talented, open-minded, and genuinely interested and inspired by our music. These kids are the future of music, and we were all excited to expand their minds with some Heavy Cello Thunder.

THE CONCERTS
Then of course, there were our concerts. Our biggest performances were in Victoria, Corpus Christi, and Laredo, and they will always be fresh in my mind. I’ll never forget walking out on stage in Victoria to a crowd of 1,000 people (this was our first show there). They were so excited to see us and we gave them the best show we could. Aside from playing from the stage, we played out in the audience, on risers to the side of the stage, and I even climbed the rafters halfway through the show to play a solo from the catwalk on an electric cello (PLUG: the electric cello was generously provided to us from The Electric Violin Shop in North Carolina).

The press we received was also unprecedented for us. I can’t express what it feels like as a musician, to see your first “TEEEE V” commercial promoting your own show. On top of that, we were on the front page of some newspapers, and were invited to perform on the radio several times.

ALL IN ALL
I think it’s safe to say that Texas is a large reason why BoR is still together and why Ivan and I (and the new guys we’ll be introducing in the coming weeks), all look at Texas as our second home (and for Ivan of course, his first home). To all our fans in Texas: Thank you for being so supportive, and we honestly can’t wait to come back (in just a few weeks now) and again in the summer. I’m not sure I’ll be able to convince myself to leave this time…
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Next week on BoR Blog: Putting back the pieces, only to lose another member…

2-13-09

I remember sitting in Patrick’s apartment with a stiff neck and a worried feeling in my belly. We were all gathered in his living room, some sitting on his furniture, and some of us making furniture out of his clean, yet permanently stained carpeted floor. The agenda was out, and a very typical BoR band meeting was seemingly under way.

Erin interrupts everyone: “I have something to say.”

She just went for it.

“After March, I’m leaving the group. I’m applying to law school and will hopefully start in the fall. I’ve thought a lot about this, and I’m just not happy with our situation. I need to do something else.”

I’ve never seen so many blank faces. Everyone was quiet, for a long time. I think Patrick got sick that night. I’ve never seen him so sad. I’m sure there was a lot of discussion that night, but there is only one sentence I can remember:

“What are we going to do now?”

Texas On My Mind

Despite the fact that Erin was leaving, there was one thing I was committed to doing: bringing BoR to Texas.

It’s my home, and I wanted to show Texas what BoR was all about. After talking with Erin, she agreed that she would join the group in Texas for a tour, kind of like a farewell trip.

What started out as a small idea turned into an all out rock and roll tour-de-force, which we’ll delve into next week.

Erin Today

Erin is out in Wisconsin right now, completing her first year of law school. I’m glad to report that she is doing well, especially now that the “smelly boys” from BoR are miles away! We hung out over the summer, and I showed her some new BoR music that Patrick and I had recorded for the new album.

She loved it

“Why couldn’t we play music like this when I was in the group?!!” she asked jokingly. We’re on good terms for sure. She’s a fan, and we’re thankful for all of her contributions. We wish her the best as she continues hers studies in Wisconsin.

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Next week on BoR Blog: THE TEXAS TOUR!!!!!!!!

2-6-09

Hi BoR Friends! We interrupt this week’s blog to bring you a true story from a true BoR fan: Vaguy Peterson. Vaguy and our very own Patrick Laird have been lifelong friends, and Vaguy was one of the very first BoR fans. He is an awesome guy: fun spirited and always up for a laugh. Anyway, Vaguy, Patrick, and the boys recently ditched Super Bowl Sunday for something better: A live METALLICA concert at the Prudential Center in New Jersey! Below, Vaguy retells his Metallica experience, more specifically, his plan to get Break of Reality goods into the hands of Metallica!

METALLICA AND THE BEAST

“I’m flying high over Tupelo Mississippi with America’s hottest band, and we’re all about to die…”

Far from the truth, but close to the realities running through my head as the crude, makeshift, emergency Break of Reality street team sprang into action on the night of February 1, 2009. Ah the day had come, Metallica makes their return to New Jersey, a night not worth missing, especially if you’re a Break of Reality fan with a master plan at hand.

So, where to begin?

Possibly the best guerilla marketing tactics begin with the simplest of ideas, followed with careful planning, and of course precise execution, like that of a puma in the circumstance. Much credit goes to the notorious “J-Drew”, mastermind to possibly the greatest plan ever. What was it you ask? Well Pinky, the plan goes like this: to deliver BOR gear to the most influential metal band/rehabbers in the world: METALLICA. My favorite 6’9” cellist delivered the goods: BOR authentic T with a CD wrapped securely inside, and a piece of paper rubber banded to the entire package with the words “FOR METALLICA, SHIRT AND CD.”

Step 1 of 3 complete.

Blue Team, (consisting of J-Drew and P-Cakes, aka Patrick from Break of Reality), have prepared the package and carefully hid it inside a jacket for CO-OP delivery through security at the Prudential Center. The package made it through the security checkpoint, however the whiskey did not have such luck. Shall we say, a leaky cap and wet shoe was the outcome of evading a manly pat down.

Moment of silence for the whiskey…..

OK, Blue Team unfortunately runs into quite the snag. The seats are too far from the stage to deliver the goods. Not bad planning, just an unforeseen circumstance when you have 8th row seats that just happen to be 100 feet from the stage. So it’s time to call in the General Admission, who just so happened to be there out of dumb luck ‘cause we love Metallica. I speak of the oh-so-cool, RED TEAM, consisting of myself (V-Guy), and my friend ERI-O.

A new reason to love the world of cell phones and TXT MSGing is that RED TEAM was easily reached inside the stadium for rendezvous at the tallest wall. The handoff of goods was executed flawlessly amid flashlight-armed guards and merch hungry Metallica Fans. Blue Team has completed their mission successfully and has left the execution of Project “Give Metallica the Break of Reality T-Shirt and CD” to the well-trained, intelligent, highly sophisticated and herbal tea drinking RED TEAM. So as Captain of RED TEAM, I quickly recruited scouts among the crowd for execution. ERI-O secured the goods until the moment was right. We waited and waited, then forgot that we even had the package because a few $8 beers and an amazing performance knocked myself (probably should be “us”) off track. However, Mr. Anheuser Busch himself could not keep me from fate.

The moment had stricken: METALLICA just finished a set. I’m front and almost center. The band is walking just off stage but still visible to everyone, and a guitar tech is running across the stage right toward them. This was my moment, better yet our moment. I quickly called ERI-O for the package, called my scouts to watch for security, and at that moment, when all was clear, shot putted what looked like a small explosive onto the stage. Some people looked fearful as it slid across the floor and came to a gentle rest at the feet of the fleeting guitar tech. Sure enough it landed note side up and was quickly hand-delivered to the man himself, James Alan Hetfield. Delivery was perfect. Metallica was taking a minute break and switching guitars for freshly tuned ones, plenty of time for each member to see the BOR T-Shirt as they unfolded it after reading the attached note.

BOR GEAR WAS IN THE HANDS OF METALLICA.

Pure bliss hit our hearts and the plan was completely successful. Metallica received the goods, they opened the goods, and they enjoyed the goods. Scouts around the stage reported back to V-GUY that the package was meticulously folded back together and placed on the stage, safe and sound with the CD on top of it next to Metallica’s Guitars. This was assuring, knowing that the BOR gear was not thrown away, but placed at one of the safest places on the stage. Throughout the night, we watched as great interest built around the BOR gear as guitar techs and sound engineers all seemed to be drawn to the crazy design of the BOR T-shirt. We caught them reading the back of the CD and all seemed very pleased as they each gave everything not a once over, but the assuring twice over. So that’s my story. I shall call it “METALLICA and the Beast.”

-V-Guy

1-30-09

When I first moved to NYC with Break of Reality, I was ecstatic. Playing shows in the city, in the subways, and in Central Park was such a great feeling. To this day, impromptu street performances are some of the most memorable experiences of my life.

But, as the season changed from fall to winter, performing began to turn into something else, something that eventually cracked the band in two. Since we had to rely on performing to make a living, we never had time to write new music. So, we ended up slaving over the same songs, OVER, and OVER, and OVER, and OVER again. The worst part was that it was becoming noticeable. We just didn’t have that energy that we did when we first started. It had become work.

There was one thing that didn’t change: the bills. They were still due at the end of the month, only this time, (at least for me), there wasn’t as much money in the bank as there was when we first moved. For one, real gigs had slowed down a bit, and because of the cold weather, our audiences got smaller in the subways. On top of all of that, Erin’s tendonitis was getting worse.

Although the logical solution would have been to get “real” jobs, for some reason we just didn’t all think the same way. Some were worried that if we got real jobs, we would lose focus and the band would go nowhere. Others were worried that if we continued to play out the way we did, the band would eventually fold. It was a catch 22, a predicament caused by poor planning and youthful thinking.

My Conversations with Erin

Erin and I were super close, best friends really – we lived in the same apartment complex and went through both the ups and downs of BoR together. I remember one night, after a long day of subway playing, Erin was feeling really down; her arm was completely numb, and she just wasn’t herself. Her spirit had been broken.

I knew she was battling with whether the band was really what she wanted to do. We had talked about it numerous times, and the only thing that was keeping her from leaving was the fact that we were all dependent on each other; if she left, the rest of us would be in bad shape. She didn’t want to let any of us down.

I tried telling her that her well being, both emotionally and physically, were more important than anything or anyone else. She finally came to the same conclusion. Although she didn’t come out and say it just yet, I knew she was leaving us.

In a subtle way, I tried to tell the others, but they didn’t get it. After all, guys are oblivious.

“At our next band meeting, I’m making an announcement,” she said one day. This was it. She was finally ready to let go.

—————————–

Next week on BoR Blog: Erin makes her announcement, and the rest of us try to figure out what to do next.

1-23-09

The first show we threw in NYC was at The Knitting Factory, an indie-rock venue noted for its vintage atmosphere and willingness to host both the famous, the infamous, and the unheard of.

Although I don’t remember too much about the show, I can bet we were probably really out of tune and played every song way faster than we were suppose to. It’s impossible for any cellist to play in tune when there’s a loud drummer pounding cymbals in their ears – (sorry about that guys and gal!). Electric shows were always a little loose, but we made up for it with LOUDNESS, and with some fun, experimental theatrics.

For example, System of a Down’s song BYOB was a great tune to play live. I remember when we were first learning it: we were having trouble figuring out what to do at around the 25-second mark.

You see, at the 25-second mark, Serj, the lead singer for System, belts out a scream meant for the weirdest of horror movies. I mean, it’s just disgusting, and amazing at the same time. We couldn’t figure out how the heck to get a cello to sound like that. We tried fast bowing techniques and glissandi of all kinds. Nothing seemed to work.

And then, it came to Patrick. He randomly tried this:

It was AMAZING, and I’d never seen anyone do that to a cello before: He scraped his hand across the back of his cello, creating a loud screeching sound. It was pretty cool acoustically, but as soon as he plugged in and threw distortion on, it KILLED!

Every time we do a public school performance, the “cello scream” is one of the big highlights, along with another BoR invention…

The Over The Head Cello Solo

Yep, I remember this like it was yesterday. We were playing at The Knitting Factory, performing Parabolic Cosmos, a composition by our friend (Brian Sanders), and we get to the break down section. This is always a fun section to play; I get to lay down the slowest, sickest, loudest drumbeat ever heard in Western music, and the cellos follow suit.

This run through, however, went above and beyond normalcy thanks to a little pre-planning by Patrick and Chris.

Rather than laying down the bass line, Chris and Patrick both stood up with huge grins on their faces. Erin and I looked at each other and were like, “This CANNOT be good.”

As it turns out, it was the best thing in the world, ever.

I think Patrick and Chris rehearsed this in private, and just decided to go for it at the show. Thus, the Over The Head Cello Solo was born.

More Shows!

Yeah, lots of them. We performed at The Triad on West 72nd Street, Joe’s Pub at the Public Theater, Galapagos Art Space in Brooklyn, The Luna Lounge in Brooklyn, Baruch Performing Arts Center, the Laguardia Performing Arts Center in Queens, and various corporate and special events around the city. Each show was larger than the one before, and the “Break heads” in NYC took cabs, subways, rode bicycles, and roller bladed out to our shows.

Although our calendar was filled with both real performances and street performing, the overwhelming amount of playing continued to take its toll on all of us, especially Erin, who developed tendonitis in her wrist. Although she began to see a physical therapist, she found it more and more difficult to play at a loud volume. Soon, playing with pain became the norm for her. I hated to see her like that: I could tell by the look on her face that playing the cello was not as comfortable as it once was for her. To top it all off, winter had started, and the freezing temperatures in subways began hurting us all…

————

Next Week on BOR Blog: It’s freezing out! The band is faced with an injured member, financial woes, and frigid playing conditions. And to top it all off, we’re still playing THE SAME OLD MUSIC. Something’s gotta give…

1-16-09

“Don’t believe it until you see it.”
My mom’s been preaching that motto to me since I was young. She was right.
I never really knew what she meant though, until I moved out to the Big Apple with Break of Reality and got exposed to the music industry, and just how strange the industry is.
As mentioned in previous blogs, our street / park performing allowed us to meet all sorts of people, including producers, record executives, and managers for major companies. They would see us performing for large crowds and immediately see potential, or at least dollar signs. “Here is my card – let’s talk!”
“Maybe THIS is it”, we thought.
Nope.
I can’t tell you how many cups of coffee we had with industry reps, and how almost each meeting left us feeling emptier than the one before.
Many of these reps were flat out weird, more exaggerated than any music industry character in any movie. I smelled something, and it wasn’t pretty.
Each one talked an unbelievable talk, and tried to make us feel like we were lost without their help. Each rep thought they knew what was best for Break of Reality, and was pushing the group to go in different directions, such as:
“A Broadway Show with talking cellos!”
“A stage show with dancing acrobats at Disney World!”
Or the dreaded “Consider changing your sound to easy listening…”
They tried to feed us a large amount of you know what. We heard every line in the book. “You guys are the next Beethoven.” That one makes me pretty sick.
This is a good one, from a potential manager: “What’s Myspace?”
Haha…
No.
Although we weren’t quite sure what we wanted, we knew it wasn’t “talking cellos”, rocking out with Mickey Mouse, or being managed by someone who didn’t know what a social networking site was.
More importantly, we never met an industry insider who was as excited about BoR as we were. Our fans were the only ones who really understood what we were doing.
We were keeping instrumental music alive and relevant, whether playing in the parks, subways, schools, or music venues. That was our mission, and it still is today.
The Joshua Bell Article
During our subway days, The Washington Post wrote a very interesting article about Joshua Bell, who is one of the world’s most famous classical violinists. The article was about a social experiment Bell attempted at the Metro Station in D.C. Bell decided to do what we were doing: busk in the subways.
Being THE violinist of our generation, it is easy to assume that Bell’s playing attracted swarms of people.
Not the case. Not the case at all.
On January 12th, 2008, Joshua Bell (incognito) performed classical music in the subways of D.C., and made a total of $32.17. He never built much of a crowd, and was practically ignored for his entire performance.
I’m sure this speaks volumes about classical music in our society, (a subject for another blog in another life), but it brought something to our attention: In the most humbling way, we realized that in the land of subway musicians, we had a leg up on Joshua Bell.
(In the land of concert halls, however, he makes about $20,000 more a performance than we do, haha). But still, we were glad to hear we were doing something that the world’s greatest violinist couldn’t do: make an instant musical connection with real people.
The press in NYC began taking notice of what we were doing as well.
For example, Steve Smith, a columnist for Time Out New York, met us while we were performing in the subways. He enjoyed our performance and always agreed to publish our “real” performances in Time Out New York:
“Break of Reality puts the classical in classic rock, with is heavy, exotic original compositions and instrumental arrangements of hard-rock standards. If you’re one of the many commuters who’s seen this group in the Times Square subway station, you already know its secret weapon: It plays with genuine technique and solid intonation, but rocks out like it means it.”
- Time Out New York (August 23-29, 2007, Issue 621, page 120)
We were also featured in The New York Post, The New York Press, and the Baruch College Newspaper.
With the press on our side, we had already begun booking real gigs, and our fans came out to support us, one subway commuter at a time.
———————
Next week on BOR Blog: Photos, Videos, and memories from “real” NYC performances! Want to see BOR’s Cello-Over-The-Head stunt? Stop by next week!

1-2-09

The Big Move

We decided to pack our bags, leave Rochester, and head out to NYC. After all, that’s where musicians get signed, (or almost get signed). We didn’t have much of a plan going in – we were just kind of hoping for the best.

We collectively decided to live in separate apartments, for fear of killing each other.
Erin and I came across some really nice apartments in the quiet town of Ridgefield Park, NJ, which was pretty much an old folks community, also near NYC. We ended up finding two apartments in the same complex, 50 feet away from each other.

There was also a “fifth-member” of Break of Reality at the time. Our friend and colleague Jesse Yang was brought over to NYC to assist with business and administration, such as website maintenance, merchandise sales at gigs, and booking performances. He ended up living closest to NYC, in Fort Lee, NJ.

For the most part, we were clueless. Rather than playing it safe and searching for cheap apartments, we ended up in apartments with monthly payments between $900 and $1100. I know, too much for a subway musician. I still ask myself, “What the heck were we thinking?

And our parents – well, they thought we were nuts. After all, not many graduates of first tier music conservatories strive to be subway musicians.

We did the math and came up with a strict schedule for street performing, (along with real performances), that would hopefully support our living situation

The Subways

Some of our most memorable musical experiences in NYC happened while performing on the 59th Street subway platform. That’s right. The platform. I think our parents were right…

There was one time we spotted a large crowd of commuters waiting for a train that had been backed up. We set up on the platform and busted out Welcome Home by Coheed and Cambria. They soon forgot about their train.

At the end of Welcome Home, we typically chant a melody, just like in Coheed’s version. When we got to this part of the tune, Chris stood up and encouraged everyone to chant along. And they did. The whole crowd, probably about 75 people or so, was chanting the melody to Coheed and Cambria’s Welcome Home on a subway platform. It was weird, in a remarkable and amazing way.

During this year, I’m sure we performed for more people than most classical musician do in an entire lifetime. It was the best part of street performing – being so close to, and connecting with, so many strangers through our music.

Given our quota, we really needed to find and play in good “spots” in the subways, with lots of people. We’d wake up at the crack of dawn to get to some of the good spots. Sometimes, other musicians were already there. Other times, when we’d finally get a good spot, we would be arbitrarily asked to leave by NYC police officers. It was tough, especially since we had bills to pay.

We eventually came up with a system of spots that worked, and worked them hard. We found that 42nd Street Times Square was great, but almost always taken by permitted subway musicians. Eventually, we figured out how to get a permit by becoming MUNY (Music Under New York) musicians, and life became a tad less difficult.

INTERACT: Do you have videos or photos of Break of Reality performing in the NYC subways? Share them with us by uploading them on YouTube or your Flickr account!

TEASER:

Believe it or not, we played real gigs in NYC – lots of them. We performed at the Knitting Factory, Joe’s Pub At The Public Theater, Baruch College, and The Triad to name a few. And lots of people showed.

Read Baruch College’s Article on Break of Reality

There was a definite upside to subway playing. We would promote to our subway fans by passing out flyers – two weeks later we’d see the same fans in the front rows of our shows. [More on our “real” gig experiences in blogs to come.

The Business Plan

For some time, someone said something about creating a business plan. We didn’t think much of it. They were persistent, and kept bringing it up. Finally, we were all convinced of this, put our ideas on paper, and came up with a mission statement to dictate our actions as a band. We actually took a good week off from performing to get this done.

Although a fantastic idea, we came to realize a big flaw in our scheme: real businesses operate in the real world, not in the subways. Financially, we couldn’t dictate how much money we would make in the subways, given the outside factors beyond our control, such as weather, other subway musicians, police, etc.

This meant that when we had a good spot, we had to stay there as long as possible, to bring in as much loot as possible. So much for our mission – this was survival.

Some days, we’d spend an entire eight hours planted in one spot. It was tough, sometimes sad. But, we forced it, and made it work for the time being.

One sunny day, tired of the subways, we tried something different. We decided to lug our stuff out to Central Park…

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Next week on BOR BLOG: BOR meets Yoko Ono and that lady from Groundhog Day, sells many CDs, and has its first “fight” in Central Park.

Stay Tuned!