Dave Rat - Roadies in the Midst

Continuing...

Back to Tsukiji, the Tokyo fish market and what would a fish market be without ice? Most likely stinky and empty so they have this big old conveyer belt machine where giant ice blocks are sent up to drop down and be pulverized. Bring your own bucket.

Though sparse, other necessities were evident and I am not sure what all that stuff is but I do know an edamame when I see one

What I did not know is what they make those little green guacamole balls out of that are sitting on sushi plates. Shhhh, for those who don't know Sushi that well, here is some advice: You will find a small green guacamole ball on your sushi plate. The really cool thing to do is just pop that whole delicious morsel right in your mouth really fast, first thing, mmmm, yummy! But hurry because that stuff is in high demand and someone else may get yours if you aren't quick.

So turns out that even though that green stuff looks like guacamole, and tastes of so yummy by the spoonful, it is actually called wasabi and looks like this

before being turned to paste. The old school way is to rub it on shark's skin but now a days they have metal grinders. What I also did not know is that nearly all the wasabi outside of Japan is fake because the real deal is too expensive.

Though the market does not smell, it is a bit messy and at the end of the day when it's time to run the numbers and do some calculations, I can see where the abacus would hold up a bit better in this environment that battery powered calculator.

Off to lunch and 9 am as all this fish walking made us hungry. Roadie James, Chef Assist Julius and Raymond our friend and tour guide of the market you can see and Scott, and Wayno you cant. Raymond is the one who hooked us up and has friends and relatives at a few shops in the market which is why the next round of sushi was some of the best Toro tuna I have ever had, so good I forgot take a picture.

And a short Youtube version for those that like visual motion.

**** End Fish Market Adventure ****

OK, now back to being jet lagged.

Dave Rat

Bungy jumping yesterday was so fun that we really had not much of a choice other than to go do it again. Plus, last night while out having some drinks with the Bungy crew, Roadie Daniel somehow agree to join us, much to his dismay we had no intention of forgetting.

**** Roadie Research Segment ****

In the wild, roadies are adventurous creatures filled with unbounded curiosity. Just feel the excitement that roadie Daniel radiates while exuberantly joining the other roadies on hunt for adventure

Look! Roadie Cliff has cleverly hunted down some food that was located in the Bungy office fridge, don't attempt to touch a roadie while eating.

Roadies, by nature, are extremely supportive of their peers, this deep compassion and sensitivity can be clearly seen below as roadies Cliff and Manny comfort roadie Daniel as the reality that he has actually agreed to jump off of the non-burning bridge, begins to set in.

Another aspect of merit that roadies are known for is fearlessness.

Please don't be frightened by the next photo as observing a roadie in 'fierce mode' can be quite traumatizing to the unprepared. Here Roadie Daniel is clearly a force not to be reckoned with

As the moment approaches, roadie Daniel could hardly be restrained as he dashes toward the precarious precipice

Looking downward, only further enthralls this adventurous roadie with determination and glee

Perch in attack mode, notice how Roadie Daniel's firmly grips the fabric of his handler's shirt utilizing the "pinch" method of attaching himself to the fabric. This is a rare and never before seen roadie trait. Legend has it that many centuries ago when roadies were wandering warriors, they would latch themselves onto their foes and hurl themselves from high places. Perhaps this fabric pinch is a genealogical instinctual remnant action from ages past?

And then after what seemed like an eternity, because it nearly was, roadie Daniel leaps to his destiny which was to dangle on a rubber cord over the water.

**** End Roadie Research Segment ****

OK, for those of you that ant to get better idea of what it feels like to actually Bungy Jump, here is a video where I leaned backwards over the drop and was let go while I held my little camera in my hand.

 

And finally, thank you to the AJ Hackett Bungy crew, here we all are up at the jump site

And back the the whole crew all together. Thank You!!!

And if you are ever in Auckland, pay them a visit and tell 'em the Peppers roadies sent ya!

The love to fly,

Dave Rat

Day 333 April 21st - Mini Blog, Bye Bye Ground, Hello Air!

So in an early morning excursion in time not lost, the decision was made to venture off. Strong presentations with hidden reluctance. The shells of confidence surrounding internal hidden apprehensions unspoken. And off we go to experience the sensation of basking in pure gravitational pull. Roadie jump off the bridge!

Dave Rat

Four hours to go till lift off, bags are packed, I feel reasonably sure I have everything and I am watching some old tour footage I took on Sonic Youth's Dirty tour that I am copying to DVD. At some point I will try and put up some bits on Youtube.

On another note, i know I have been slacking on the roadie cards but I do have one I made a while ago and speaking of Sonic Youth, I present you Jimmy V, who I have toured with many times including Sonic Youth and Beck tours.

Bye bye home, bye bye dead plants, bye bye mess I hid in the closet, bye bye car, bye bye bed, bye bye little people. Hello airplanes and vans and rock shows and beaches and unknown adventure and wondering what will happen next. See you all from far away.

Dave Rat

Still home but tomorrow I fly with humans in an aluminum tube. Talk about being the opposite of free, plane flying in just a modified air jail. Oh well, sacrifices made for the adventure received. We speaking of adventure and feeling free, how about a bit of a glimpse into a past adventure when Chad and I undertook a an adventure under with some swimmery friends. Hey, come on! Lets go hang with the sharks!!

 

Tomorrow I fly. Australia with smiles. May I recommend a something to to you all? Well if you said yes, then I recommend that somehow, someway at some point you find a way to adventure to a world of wonder and sunshine and if you are not sure where or which one, you can't go wrong with North Eastern Australia, or perhaps any part of Australia for that matter.

Ok, sleepy time with big eyes,

Dave Rat

PS, if the video does not work yet or says not available, try back in a bit. I gotta sleep and it should be done processing soon.

I run across humans that choose a way of life of ruthless self perpetuating greed, and also those that choose selflessness to the point that it becomes cripplingly hindering to their own health, livelihood and then all those that have balance somewhere in between with strength in direction moderated by compassion and patience, for people, for the environment, for the critters and for their own selves. As long as I just keep remembering not to forget to stand mid teeter totter, all is good.

**** Sound Nerd Speak ****

I went to a few shows and once again was baffled by what I heard so I thought I would share some illusive and amazing secrets of mixing a rock show with any engineers or engineers to be out there:

1) Make it so you can hear all the instruments and vocals.

2) Make the instruments sound somewhat similar to what they actually are.

3) Have some sort of concept of either how loud the audience wants to hear it and how loud the band wants to be presented and try to make the appropriate humans happy.

For some reason, these three basic concepts escape many a sound engineer. So I have compiled a list of helpful hints:

If a high percentage of the audience is holding their ears or leaving, that is usually not so good.

• You can typically assume that the percentage of the audience that would prefer to hear it really loud with feedback howling is lower than the percentage of the audience that will be ok with it a bit lower in volume and not feeding back.
• Hearing the lead vocal is more important that the effects on the snare drum. Though I have no actual hard evidence of truth to this, I have noticed that if I watch the moths of the audience members, very few if any are singing along with the snare drum effect sound.
• The kick drum may be channel #1 on most stage plots. That does not automatically mean that the kick should also be #1 in volume.
• Make a live tape of the show with a mic in the audience, if the you can't hear all the instruments and understand the vocals on the live tape, it is highly likely that the audience had the same experience.
• If a venue has a whole bunch of low mid boom to it, EQ it out. Don't be shy, don't just live with it, take it out. Boomy room sound = bad! The most common issue I see with sound engineers mixing in larger venues is that they do not deal effectively with the room resonances. Typically it will be between 120 and 180 hz in arena type rooms. Please, please, say bye bye to the room resonance and then be happy along with 10,000 of you new best friends.
• Things that hurt your ears a little bit are usually excruciatingly painful to the bulk of the audience that has not been exposed to near as many shows as you have. Ouch = bad. Exception: If the audience is really drunk you can turn it up really loud and they usually don't mind
• If you are so buried in the console that you are not watching the band or anyone else around you, then you are most likely mixing for yourself and you are most likely out of touch with the band/audience interaction. The band/audience interaction is pretty much the whole purpose of doing a live show in the first place so not paying attention to it may not be the best plan.

Ok, got, cool!

**** End Sound Nerd Speak ****

Finally I have both had the time and figured out how to convert the old video files I have and actually get them to upload properly. Here is a video of some roadie wanderings back in 2002 on the Pepper's By the Way tour. Random antics and hopefully amusing and interesting enough. This has been up for a while but the video was not working right, now it is!  At least mostly.  For some reason the video moves faster than the sound, but hey, I am not a video guy.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QNBXIs-yLgA

Sunshine in Southern California rules!

Dave Rat

Ooooooh! Life moves in waves, building building and splash as all the built up energy comes to head and releases at once. All good, just mind spiraling swirls of all the adventures simultaneously demanding attention. For one thing, I am moving, bye bye place I live, how about grabbing all my stuff and placing it in an elsewhere and then placing myself there as well? Preparation, packing and all the assorted related complexities that in themselves are each fairly easy but too easy to become washed away in.

Combine that with a wonderful transitional and very important business deal that I can not yet disclose publicly but will soon. Three possible outcomes, none bad but making the right decision, timing and negotiations are all an artful balancing act that require focus and care in order to avoid stepping on a big pile of regret in the form of wishing I had followed a different path. Not to mention re-acclimation from tour's twisted sleep schedule, un-piling the tower of built up procrastination's waiting for me and trying to remember to eat food before I get too dizzy to think straight because for some strange reason, without the scurry of a rock show no signs directing me to catering, time slips by at perplexing rates. Toothpaste, nearly out of toothpaste and a haircut, aaargh I forgot to wash my car, less than a week before I head to Australia.

It will all be ok because I made a list. Or better said 'lists." Lots of lists, so many lists that I need a list of lists. As it all snow flurries around in my mind, still there is an underlying knowledge that nothing I face at the moment is heart breaking or life threatening so even bad poor decisions will not linger in memory long. So to relax my mind I will fast forward to some enjoyable memories in my past of where I will soon be

Back in 1998 I made my third trip to Australia as a favor for a good friend as a sound engineer and my first and last time ever as a drum tech, for a band named Brad (another favorite band of mine) who were opening for this other really cool artist that I had met before but did not know very well named Ben Harper. Talk about amazing magic, pure perfect and goose bumps incredible. Almost instantly I became a huge fan and the unexpected relationship formed on that far away trip still lasts to this day.

Of course it was all work and no play, but sometimes you just have to roll with the punches and keep your chin up.

As luck would have it, the following year in 1999, Australia once again appeared in the book of life I am handed that predicts my future which some people call an itinerary but this time it was the Peppers. A week long break after Japan was enough time for a bit of a holiday, so of course what else is there to do but head to the reef, the Great Barrier Reef that is. Some adventures are more memorable than others and this one did not suck.

In 2002 Chad and I returned to the GBR to dive again. Some fish are a bit more touchable

than others and then we decided to bump it up a notch and our decision to dive in tank full of sharks was awesome!

So I know not what my future holds but if the past is any indicator, there is a good chance that next week I will be headed somewhere at least a thread above boring. Now I sure hope my cell phone works there, oh, and I must remember to rent one if it doesn't, aargh, I need to do laundry and pack, even though I have yet to finish unpacking, and bring a swimsuit, and where did I put those Australia to US power adaptors?

The taking deep breaths while above water,

Dave Rat

Ok, it is actually still the 8th but since I can play with blog time versus the real world in a slip synch rubber band way, it makes no real difference when I write and it gives me the feeling of being ahead of the game to believe I it matters. I just got home from the Pollstar Awards and other than the chatting with a few humans that I truly like, like the GoldenVoice crew, Paul and Dave from JBL and Stuart Ross who is a bit on a mentor to me from way back, I must admit that with a few exceptions, the Mcdonalds' of the entertainment world has once again won 'the best coffee in America' awards in every category, hurray, oh joy!

So on we move and back to the cats. Oh, have I mentioned that I love fuzzy critters? Though I do not have any that I keep in my home anymore, I do love the furry friends and sharing my space with them is something I actually quite enjoy but unfortunately the fact that they seem to lack long term food management skills makes pets a bit incompatible with my tour schedule. "Ok, fang (I used to name all my pets fang), here is three weeks of food, the tuna snacks are over here, chicken is in the middle and there are assorted dry foods over here in these bags, just open the bags as you need them so everything stays nice and crunchy. Don't scratch the couch, please poo in the toilet, be sure to flush and I put my cell number on speed dial so call me if anything goes awry, kiss kiss, hug hug and I will see you in three weeks. Oh and don't forget to feed the rats and make sure their water bottle is full with fresh water." Unfortunately my confidence in the outcome of this strategy is less than huge.

I guess if I kept a female human in the house to tend to the pets that I don't currently keep, this could be solved but .... ooooooh, that brings a whole new set of dynamics. Stepping sideways of that subject...

Sooooo

The coffee cat video I posted brought some interesting reactions from my bloggery friends ranging from smiles to disdain. From my perspective it puzzles me to think that anyone would derive an ill will or careless disregard in interpreting my intentions or actions, though I do respect the variety of opinions. So I think that perhaps a bit more depth on the subject may be in order, so here is another related video clip and I am honored to introduce coffee cat (actual name is Coffee Bean) and her three siblings to offer a bit more of the story -

I don't know why her particular feline affinity for java existed, I just know that it did and in small bits, who am I to deny a friendly furry friend a bit of pleasure? As far as the eventual outcome, to be honest, I went on tour and I am not sure if she was eaten by a coyote or passed onto a friend to to take care of. What I do know is that while our lives crossed paths, there was no gap in the mutual joy.

The missing friendly critters in my home,

Dave Rat