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2006 DIARY ARCHIVE December 22 "Good Tidings to All" This Christmas thing seems to creep up on me faster every year. So 'tis the season for lists. The Best Celebrity Melt-downs of '06. The Top Newsmakers. And my favorite, the Albums of the Year. Although the fact that they still call it "Album" of the year makes me scratch my head. I don't even know anybody that regularly buys CDs, let alone records. A good round up of top ten lists from around the web and in publications can be found on Metacritic. They also compile their own top ten using some scientific ranking utizlizing the BCS football poll or something. The fact that Ali Farka Toure's SAVANE ranks as the best CD gives us all hope that the earth will not spin off its axis this year. Another hint the apocolypse is NOT yet upon us: The Killers only made it onto one top ten list. Another refreshing thing to see is the wealth of bands hardly anybody has ever heard of. Myself included. Or maybe I'm just losing my sixth sense. I got turned onto some bands this year that seem to have gathered quite a following before appearing on my own radar. Including Grizzly Bear, TV on the Radio (I know, I know, I live in a hole), the Hold Steady, and the Thermals. Those are all bands that have had at least two CDs out before I'd gotten into them. I'm feeling old all of a sudden. So no grand message this year, and no big predicitions. I won't say we're the biggest band since the Beatles (throat clear) like the Killers (okay I have to halt mid-thought and curse this band for a second. They're a talentless bunch of hacks, but at least they steal from some of the best - okay I'm done). I will say we're going to put out a good record that builds on our past successes, and mixes it up even more. When, I'm not sure. We're do back into the studio in April, hopefully with another basket of material to record. So stay tuned. And lastly, if you missed it on our home page, your holiday treat, and a taste of things to come: I am the Walrus Times Not On My Side Merry Christmas. December 8 "The Whisky a-Go-Go" "...Mother? Yes Son? I want to..." Is that too blind a reference? Are we the only ones who thought Jim Morrison was a god at one point in our adolesence? Doesn't every guy pass through that phase and attempt to write their own bad lyrics? Okay, so Recliner did it's very first show at the Whisky a-Go-Go on the Sunset strip in LA yesterday. And I swear you could still smell 'ol Jimbo's spilt beer in the carpet. Played with our new friends Chance and the Choir, another rare breed of good guys of rock. That might sound lame, but it's sure not meant to. The boys kindly let us use their equipment to play through which made travelling a lot easier. And yet, Southwest airlines still managed to snap one of our guitars in half on the way there. Not cool. Other than that, it was a great trip and we look forward to playing with them again soon. We also had a great time seeing many old and a lot of new faces in LA. Thanks to everyone who braved the 60-degree weather that night! November 20 "The Day After" Well, the first session is complete. And not to pat ourselves on the back, but we got some pretty good stuff down. And as long as we don't have an accident with a magnet in the next month or so, i think we'll have some fine songs to share. As I mentioned earlier here, we didn't have everything down pat, so I think we were a little surprised how well it came out. Probably the most experimental (for Recliner) and creative we've been on the fly in the studio. Ever. Uh oh, I'm starting sound like the dude from the Killers. We're back in January for a few more days - and it looks like we might have a few more to record, then maybe mix. Who knows. We could get crazy and record 8 more. That would be fine by me. But now, it's time for some turkey with the family. Happy Thanksgiving. November 19 "The Baby's" The two Recliners from California have a very odd love affair with the band The Babys. Back in the day ('78) we were what, 5? Anyway, back then, hits were way more regionalized than in today's generic Clear Channel (R.I.HELL) crap on the radio. While our East Coast friends were rocking out to Billy Joel or something, we had L.A.'s The Babys. Very California. Anyway, despite the ?quetionableø lyrics, they were doing power pop before the Foos were even out of grade school. Hell, before there was a "power pop". So John and Kevin pulled a power play, demanding right there in the studio that we record "Head First" or we would erase all the tapes and walk out. Well, we got our way. And damn, I think we did 'em proud. November 18 "4 Down" Despite the permanent fog hanging over our heads yesterday, we managed to knock down 4 tracks with plenty of goodies piled on top. Not to mention a couple bottles of Tequila, but that was mostly George. ha. Everything's sounding really good. Aaron always gets us in the sweet spot. We sound way more polished than we expected. November 17 "Wow" Our heads are a little hazy this morning as we head into the studio. Sure sign of a great show. And from what I remember, it was. We're getting set up this morning in the studio, then it's off to the races. We record fast (and furious), and we'll see how much we can get through in the 3 days we have. We're not as rehearsed as we normally would be going into the studio, so we'll see. November 14 "I'm gonna hurl" Soooo, we've got a big show coming up this week at San Francisco's Independent with Joseph Arthur, Etienne De Rocher, and Apollo Sunshine. The very next morning, we move our gear into the recording studio to record us some new hit singles. We've been writing and rehearsing at a fevered pace (for Recliner, anyhow) and the creative juices are a-flowin'. Aaron Prellwitz will again be at the helm at our friend John Vanderslice's Tiny Telephone studios. Stay tuned for more updates on that. Maybe some photos, and perhaps even a rough song or too. November 8 "A Glorious Day for America" Yes, we're all very happy today at Recliner HQ on this historic day. In fact, we've been gloating all day long. Yes, you know what we're talking about...Britney Spears is single again!! October 8 "Heavy Metal" Wow. what a weekend. First, a nice trip around AES (the American Engineer's Society, or something) trade show at Moscone Center. Geeking out with all the other gear heads. Lots of 1's and 0's. Then a nice suprise birthday party followed by some Heavy Metal backstage action at the Warfield. Matt Sorum, Scott Weiland, Slash, Metallica's rhythm machine Lars and Robert, Steve Vai, some guys from Poison, Steven Jenkins, Mark McGrath, and Donovan Leitch, Chris Chaney, Billy Morrison, Duff McKagan, Steve Jones, and Brandon Boyd (or was it Chester Bennington? - I get 'em mixed up). Whoa, felt like 8th grade all over again. On the opposite side of the spectrum, the Hardly Strictly Bluegrass Festival in Golden Gate Park treated us to Elvis Costello, Ramblin' Jack Elliot, T Bone Burnett, Richard Thompson, Emmylou Harris, Alajandro Escovedo, that I saw at least. I'm not sure which genre has the cooler clothes. I do know which has the cooler poses. Either way, good inspiration as we cram to write new songs for our studio session next month. September 28 "Tomorrow the world" Hey everybody. It's been a good week in the Recliner world. We hit a major milestone this week when the four of us opened our mailboxes to find...no, not a mailbomb - a royalty check!! Wow. Okay, we won't be pimping our rides on this money anytime soon, but you gotta start somewhere. And I find the bottom to be as good a place as any. $1.62 That's how much we made on Internet plays alone (on sites, like Rhapsody, RollingStone.com, etc.). Whooo-eee. It's the start of something big, I tell ya. Well, when you consider you get .0001 cents per play, that's not bad. Okay, that's not really the rate, but it doesn't bother us. Bought us a coffee this morning, didn't it? Big show tomorrow at 330 Ritch in San Francisco. We're fired up, got some news tunes, some new threads, and a new pedal. What could be better? See you there, we hope. September 7 "Why we love podcasters: Part One" Sorry, it's been a while since we've posted...but we've been busy writing. Way back in early 05, when podcasting was less than a year old and most casters were still in double-digit shows, Recliner started contacting a few of them to see if anyone would play our music. The results were unbefuckinglievable. Not only did people actually get back to us, but suddenly our music was being introduced to a whole new audience of listening enthusiasts worldwide. Instantly we were hooked, and it hit us like Ike how big this was. We started telling anyone we knew in a band, "holy shit you've gotta get on this, it's the new college radio!" For those of you unfamiliar with the game, here's a brief, opinionated and highly generalized breakdown of the radio kingdom: Commercial radio stations pretty much play you when someone with mad promotional cheddar tells them to (this is not their fault btw, it's just the nature of the beast; babies cry, wineglasses break, and big radio plays the same 18 songs all day, with a commercial break after every two). If your favorite commercial FM station dedicates even 30 minutes per week (between commercials, so let's make it 20 minutes) to new/unsigned/local music, you should thank your lucky stars. There was a nice little window there a decade or two ago, when college radio was a great sub-radar venue for an unsigned band to get their music out to a broader audience. But since the majors have been hip to this arena for years now, college stations are increasingly flooded with music (free iPods, etc.), making it nigh impossible for the little guys to break through the noise and clutter (there's also the lovely dynamic of dealing with the occasional MD in BFN Junction who thinks he's Nic Harcourt). A big disclaimer at this point would be that Recliner is extremely lucky to have a few great friends and allies in the college radio world, but let's just say (and we think they'd agree) that it's hard out here for a pimp. Enter the podcaster. Picture a hardcore music fan in their basement late at night with a behringer mixer, a cheap microphone and a laptop, recording a show with their favorite music sheerly for the love of it. Unhindered by formats or time restraints or commercial demands or the iron fist of the FCC. Now imagine a small army of these people, constantly introducing their favorite new tracks to anyone in the world who cares to subscribe. The minutemen in the War Against Suck, as it were. If you are a musician, you should be experiencing a tingling sensation right about now. Not that the podcasting world is or will be 100% pure and perfect and untouched by the commercial machine (just mention a certain spice blend found in many Indian and Thai entrees, and you'll bring many a podcaster to a simmer). But for the indie music world (bands and fans alike), podcasting is the best thing since canned beer. So here's to you, Mr. Podcasting Guy. We hereby pledge allegiance to the podcasters of the world. If Recliner ever becomes a household name, if we ever get big enough that people who ride in limos are courting Big FM over a mango ceviche to play us 20 times per day, we'll owe it mainly to you and you can bitch-slap us if we ever forget it. We'll have more here shortly in the way of links, both for shout-outs and to introduce you to the best podcasts around, but for now you can dive right in at musicpodcasting.org put that in your pod and smoke it - cheers, Recliner August 7 "Genius" Went to check out our friends in One Way Bliss on Saturday night at the Hotel Utah (a SF Classic) and ran into some music friends we haven't seen in yeeeeears. Good to know the rockers keep on rockin'. Like August 3 "Genius" Who knew these guys had a sense of humor? Brilliant. July 26 "Freefall from Outer Space" Good name for a song, or maybe a band. Also, one of the craziest things we've seen on video - or somebody's music video. Check it out here. Read more about it here. Scroll down and look at that photo of him stepping out. There's a sadness to it. "Ground control...tell my wife I love her very much, she knows..." July 26 "Reasons for Getting Up - Part II" The new Minders CD, It's a Bright Guilty World, only being partially homeless, having your video sent out to millions of Rolling Stone subscribers, listening to old Soundgarden and writing very un-Soundgarden-like songs while jobless (goes nicely with the almost homeless), and VH1's supergroup with the Nuge. June 27 "Reasons for Getting Up this Morning" A Neko Case t-shirt and her songs swimming in my head from last night's show, a new dark, cherry red Gibson acoustic guitar, fog, sun, the World Cup, "Morning Becomes Eclectic", a Band of Horses, news of a new baby Hay, four new tires, Peet's, and a fresh coat of paint on my attitude. June 21 "First Day o' Summer" Is it really the first day of summer? I actually have no idea. That's what I was told. Some things I'll check out for myself. "Yo, there givin' out free slushies at the 7-11, dude." See I'd have to check that out for myself. Or "We know where the weapons are...and we will be greeted as liberators." That's another one I might want to find out for myself, or at least wait for a confirmation. But I'll take it on faith that it's truly the first day of summer, because my god it frickin' hot! And if it's not, who cares? Anyway, happy summer. Time to toughen up those feet and break out the summer bands (Apples in Stereo, and uh...Recliner spring to mind). See you at the BBQs. June 14 "Sasquatch Sighting" Took a while to get this up...a Recliner Fan sighting (really, if you look close, that's a Recliner t-shirt) at the Sasquatch Festival in Washington a coupla weekends back. While we weren't one of the featured headliners, we're told we were blasted from some car speakers in the parking lot. Representin'! June 6 "The Charlatans" Last night, my faith was restored in a basnd I almost forgot about. The Charlatans UK played one of the best shows seen this side of 12 months. At a less than capacity Fillmore (putting it nicely) in SF, we were a little worried at how the size of the crowd would effect the performance...but Tim Burgess and the boys from Manchester were not. They came out blazing with a confidence, swagger and style that Liam and Noel could take a note from. The show had many high points, right up to and endeing that brought be me back to 1995 all over again. Wow, these guys are good. I think I will be revisiting every CD by the band on Rhapsody today. If you get the chance to see them this tour, you will not be disappointed. Best Monday night in years. May 30 "The curse of diamond" What the heck is going on? Two gigs cancelled in less than a month. One due to a city permit pull, the other due to a bar closing with two-day notice. What'a recliner to do? Well, schedule more gigs, for one. And drink lots of tequila over memorial weekend. In, well, in memorial. But that's not all. See, if they're going to cancel us here, well we'll have to fight them elsewhere. Uh, yeah. Playing in places like LA. And Las Vegas. And maybe even Japan. Yeah, that'll show 'em. You can't take this kind of thing lying down--under a patron haze. No, you need to take it lying down under a doe eyed...nevermind. What I'm really not getting at is that we've got some shows in the works in some far off, and real close lands. Just be patient with us, please. May 5 "Animal noises" You may have noticed the new look for Recliner on our home page. It's a frame from our new video for "Float Away." In the can as of today, so look for it up on the site soon. We've also got a bunch of new men's and women's t-shirts with artwork from our CD. Come on out to one of our upcoming shows to get your very own. In other news, Kevin plays with We Are Invisible on drums at a show coming up in late May. Details to come. Hope you are all well. More from us soon. April 11 "Inspiration (and a band called Elbow)" I'm a starstruck geek, I'll admit it. A few of us had the great fortune to see a great band out of Manchester the other night. Elbow. Not a great name (in my opinion), but a great band. Take some Peter Gabriel, throw in some Pink Floyd for the new millenium and you've got the right idea. Anyway, we were partaking in some food and drink with our lady friends prior to the show. In walked the boys from Elbow. I was struck by what regular guys they all were (and the singer's named Guy). Not sure what I expected. Somebody who creates music that good, and that nuanced can't be that normal. Can they? So, there they were. Drinking pints just barstools down from us, and the urge to express my "fan-dom" overcame me. But then I got all self-conscious like that wasn't very cool. And if you'd ever seen me stutter my way through fawnings toward other well-respected artists, you'd agree. My tongue swells, my brain stops working, and I become a thirteen year old girl. But I didn't want to sleep with them, I just wanted to tell them I was a big fan and was very inspired by their music. That, in my opinion, has to be the highest compliment. I would certainly appreciate that kind of acknowledgement. So off I went. As i approached, I got even more nervous, but before I knew it, the words had spilled out of my mouth: "Hey, what time do you guys go on tonight?" Smooth, huh? No "hey, great to meet you." Or, "your music has inspired me to dig deeper in my own songwriting..." Or even, "that is a cool beard." Nothing. I just want to know what time it is that you're going on so I don't drink myself into a stupor over here and miss whatever it is you guys do. You're musician's right? Well, I did find out when they went on, and I think I even managed to squeek out, "big fan" as I gestured to myself like an ape. I think they even said, "Cheers!" as I turned away. Hell, they could have asked me to stick around and write some songs with them. But how would I know. I was half-way out the door already. Regardless, they put on one of the best shows I've seen in quite some time. And Earlimart impressed as well. And I'm inspired to grow a beard. Go figure. March 21 "It's still cold" So here it is, the first day of Spring (I think) and it's colder today than it was three months ago. Welcome to the winter of our...nevermind. So a few months have passed by, and we still have yet to reveal any of the aforementioned media products (see below for details of what you're still missing). Fret not, my friend! Said media devices are coming soon. In the meantime we thought we'd ruminate on a few other developments happening here and there. First of note would be our inclusion on the new Sansa e200 mp3/video player. One song. Pre-loaded. Ready to go. Challenging the dancing shadow people for mp3 dominance? No, probably not. But how cool that we're going to have a song on 6 million or so mp3 players? You'll be able to download our videos and watch them on there too. Hey, we're not corporate shills. In fact, we'll be the first to point out that it would be a lot cheaper to just buy our CD. But if you're looking for an mp3 player, you might want to check this one out. What else? Well, we've got a video in the works. The plot, or lack thereof, are under super-double-dog secret lock and key. But rest assured, it will be a sobering undercover look at the troubles of teens in America. That, or we'll just try and make it amusing. Bank on one of those. Now back to stoking the fire so we don't all freeze to death out here. Until next time, stay toasty. March 13 "Damn its Cold" What the hell? Snow on the Twin Peaks! It's cold in San Francisco. Give us some time to thaw out and we'll post some more soon. Seriously, it is c-o-l-d. cold! February 22 "World Domination" Hey there, sorry it's been so long. Lot's of activity happening here at the Recliner Headquarters. Lots of planning, plotting, and acting on all those things. Things like new t-shirts. New videos. New singles. Your basic world domination stuff. It occured to us here at Recliner HQ that we should probably get together and play too. The March first show for the Insomnia Radio show is a step in the right direction. The show is also our first ever live webcast. So all you fans in Peoria (why is it always Peoria?) can listen along as if you were there. And geez, it's only a 2 hour time difference. Why even our friends in Japan can listen along as they enjoy their morning cup of coffee. Shout out to Tokyo, y'all. Speaking of world domination, what is up with the White Stripes winning a grammy for their worst album yet? Just asking. See you at the show. January 27 "What's it all Mean?" Now that we're grizzled veterans, we're used to getting a few questions when we release a new record. Why? That's the first one. But then somewhere down the line, someone (no, not our Mom) asks, "hey, what is that song about?" Or, "dude, what the hell are you saying..." So here, for the first time we thought we'd preempt any of those questions and go ahead and just lay it all out for you in a song by song synopsis. If for no other reason than to be able to say, "Mom, don't you read the website?" 1. The Great Destroyer -- All about el Presidente, his reelection, and his view of things (I know, there's nearly more words in the description than the song) 2. Masuki Jones -- From the perspective of a servicemen making his way Japan and falling for a "special" girl. 3. Leaving Hollywood -- Partly for Elliott Smith. Also in part about a friend who gave up on a dream. 4. Float Away -- Resentment, wanting out, and masking those feelings all at the same time. Fun stuff. 5. Little Aeroplane -- Planes are circling the house (in the form of a 1-year old boy), with energy to burn, and all you want to do is sleep. 6. Do This -- Getting sick of taking abuse from "the man" and wanting out. 7. and 8. The Message/She Said -- Means absolutely nothing -- and everything. And written in as long as it took to record. 9. Anyone But Me -- Always on the ladder to greatness, never getting to the top. Wouldn't it be nice to trade places with somebody who had. 10. Hello Sun -- Sometimes waiting to meet an old friend, or a very new one is like waiting all winter for the sun to peek out. 11. The Killer -- When someone nearly does you in, and it becomes a serial habit, you probably shouldn't let them back in. 12. Dear Delilah -- Cheaters get theirs in the end. Or at least they should. 13. Can't Deny -- Sometimes when you're not feeling so hot, it's hard not to wear it on your sleeve. So there you have it. The things that can drag you down, mellow you out, or just plain drive you nuts. Our tranquilizers.

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