Favorite Albums: Jimmy Eat World – Clarity
Favorite Albums: Jimmy Eat World – Clarity – From The Mind of McFarland music blog. There have been a few times where I’ve happened across a record that has some element that affects me so profoundly, I find myself attempting over and over to emulate it. The ending of Clarity by Jimmy Eat World, easily one […]
Best 2000s Albums: Our Lady Peace – Gravity
Best 2000s Albums: Our Lady Peace – Gravity – From The Mind of McFarland music blog. A while back, I started a series of blog posts on my top 20 albums. As so often happens with things like that, life got busy with recording, touring, and the other non-music-related things (they do exist, astoundingly) took up […]
Musical Collaboration, Improvisation, and Tour Stories
Musical Collaboration, Improvisation, and Tour Stories – From The Mind of McFarland music blog. Every time I go out on tour, it’s an entirely different experience. Even visiting the same towns, the time of year, the venue, the day of the week, the weather, and who else is on the bill on any given night […]
First Albums: Third Eye Blind – Self-Titled
First Albums: Third Eye Blind – Self-Titled – From The Mind of McFarland music blog. A few years back, I noticed that, when discussing music, I had mentioned that this album or that album was on my “top 10 of all time”. I started running a mental count, and quickly realized that my count had at […]
Music Competitions, Battles of the Bands, and Hoping For the Worst
Music Competitions, Battles of the Bands, and Hoping For the Worst – From The Mind of McFarland music blog. A few weeks back, I posted a link to a video answering the question of “what would happen if John Lennon had done a blind audition on The Voice?” He sings “Imagine”, and is selected by […]
All Time Favorite Albums: Tom Waits – Rain Dogs
All Time Favorite Albums: Tom Waits – Rain Dogs – From The Mind of McFarland music blog. Sometimes an album catches you at exactly the right moment. If you were to hear it on any other day, in any other situation, you might not care for it, but given the proper set of circumstances, it can […]
Favorite Music Video – My Creative Inspiration
Favorite Music Video – My Creative Inspiration – From The Mind of McFarland music blog. I love making music videos – starting with a concept, taking creative inspiration from a song, building a visual representation or augmentation of a sonic idea. At this point I’ve been involved in the creation of six music videos (four […]
What Would Brian Boitano Do? Making Plans & Following Through
What Would Brian Boitano Do? Making Plans & Following Through – From The Mind of McFarland music blog. What would Brian Boitano do if he were here right now? He’d hit unexpected objects to make percussive sounds and record them. Why? Because he’s all about making plans and following through. If that makes absolutely no sense […]
“Pay What You Want” EP Prerelease Announcement: A Trust Fall
“Pay What You Want” EP Prerelease Announcement: A Trust Fall – From The Mind of McFarland music blog. I’m about to try something that may end up being a terrible idea. I’ve decided to, at least for the moment, price digital prerelease orders of my next EP using a “Pay What You Want” structure starting at […]
Burn The Fleet! Tour Planning, Hernan Cortés, & the Point of No Return
Burn The Fleet! Tour Planning, Hernan Cortés, & the Point of No Return – From The Mind of McFarland music blog. In three weeks I’ll be making the trek to Harrisburg, Pennsylvania for the better part of a month, to record two EPs with internationally acclaimed producer Jason Rubal. Once that’s all done, there will be […]
Rebranding Roller Derby: Athletics Logos and Sports Design
READ THIS FIRST! Some feathers may be ruffled and some feelings hurt by what I’m about to say about the need for rebranding in the world of roller derby, so before we get into all this, let me clarify a few things. 1. I am a fan of roller derby I’ve been a regular attendee […]
Psych Study on Letting Things Go–Scientific Validity of Bottle Rocket?
Psych Study on Letting Things Go–Scientific Validity of Bottle Rocket? – From The Mind of McFarland music blog. A few nights ago, I received a phone call from my father – not an entirely infrequent event, but calls from my parents are usually with a specific purpose, and not just of the “hey, I’d like to […]
