This month I decided to step away from the cover band action for a while and focus again on my own music as a songwriter and a composer. For the last year (give or take), I’ve put a lot of energy into a few cover bands that I joined and did a few gigs with in California and later on here in Tucson. In the end however, it wound up being a lot of work and time spent for not a whole lot of return financially, which is the main reason I joined them in the first place. And if you’re not getting paid much dough to play Kesha songs, at some point you have to ask yourself if it’s really worth it! It’s been a positive experience though. All the learning and practicing have contributed to my improvement as a musician which is always a good thing. I met some cool people, had some fun, played music some of which I actually liked. And, I did make some money, though not as much as I would’ve liked. I’m sure at some point I will do it again. If and when I do, I will definitely do a few things differently; it has been a learning experience and I have learned some valuable lessons about what works and doesn’t work in this kind of project.

For now though, it’s time to get back to working on my own stuff. I have recently revamped both of my websites, gotten a new computer and some new gear and am ready to get to work on a few things:

First & foremost I am ready to start getting back into composing for independent film, TV, web-related multimedia, ads, games, you name it. Anything that needs music to be a part of the overall picture. If anyone out there knows someone looking for original music for their project, either here in Arizona or somewhere in cyberspace, please send that person my way. I have a separate site dedicated to this aspect of my musical personality and it is called PJGMUSIC.COM. Please pay it a visit sometime.

Next, I have a few personal projects. One of them is my little tribute to lounge, kitsch, space-age pop, exotica and other sounds of yesteryear. I have dubbed it Xotik Planet and you can hear the first tune from this project, entitled “The Launch Pad” on my music page. Eventually the project will get it’s own page on this site when there’s a bit more material.

2nd, one of the byproducts of my most recent cover band is that I got to work with my wife Shawn, who sang back up vocals in the band.  We’ve collaborated on little things here and there before, but this was the first time that we were actively involved in an ongoing project, and since it did not result in us doing violence upon each other, we figured it might be time to branch out and see what else comes of it.  We’ve got a few ideas that we will hopefully start developing and unveiling soon; the sound is still a bit undefined but will incorporate elements of desert rock, alt-country, shoegaze and who knows what else by the time we’re done with it.  The first song will probably be a cover, but one by a song and artist we both love and done our own way.

Last, but certainly not least, I am hoping that my bandmates in The Last Dance and I will start exchanging some ideas and get around to doing a new album between now and next year.  It’s been pretty slow in the TLD camp for a while now.  After so many years though, people have a need to focus on other areas of their lives, whether it be family, work, personal projects etc.  This has certainly been true in our case, but we have enough history with each other that we can go for long periods without even seeing each other and then get back together from time to time without too much difficulty.  The band may never resume the recording and touring pace of the past, but I’m sure we’ve still got some music and shows in us.  I’ll keep you posted on how things develop with that.

Wow, that was practically a book for me!  Hope I managed to keep at least some of you interested.  Thanks for reading!