My Blog

Great Music Scene

Eli — Fri, 28 Sep 2007 20:32:35 GMT

Hey, I really think you all should come down to Lock 17 in Camden this Monday night from 8 on. This is a new "acoustic" night, down to earth and real, and untypical things happen, including a jam session at the end of the eve. I'm playing a set around 9....for those who rocked with me at Arockalypse at Nowhere this year, please testify here:____________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________ So this Monday 1 Oct. 8pm, LOCK 17, 11 East Yard, Camden Lock, London NW1 8AF http://www.myspace.com/antzinthejam Some More About this Scene: This pub is cozy and normal. It does NOT have that quintessential torn-wallpaper-layers-of-groovy-soot-and-art Camden or East End alterna-pub vibe like we've all come to love. BUT, it's comfy and pretty and the people are nice and the sound system is really good (they drag the main mixer up from Dingwalls downstairs). Anthony from antzinthejam (above) is really generous and friendly and excited....because people like me and other musicians I like help to shape this scene (Anthony seems to be open to my suggestions for other artist to bring in). So come out and interact and you will be creating the scene with me......nice fuzzy thought, huh? ...and then again MORE on the subject: It's been on my mind lately this whole thing about what scene to plug into. It's easy to jump on the train with a venue or night that's already hopping.....we ALL want to insert into something hoppin' hot that's bigger than us. But its a bit of a chicken-or-the-egg dilemma, cuz those scenes have to start SOMEhow. I've been thinking a lot about the lack of community cohesion in our world, especially as how it relates to art/dance/music. I hoped coming from scattered California that I might find something more solid and cohesive in London...and to some extent I have. But also of course I see so much going on and people going in a hundred directions, checking their phones for the thing better than where they're at at the moment. So I guess the healthy chaos of city life can just be that way, and yet I still question it. What do you think? Do any of you think about this stuff? Are there websites or groups talking about this? Am I just trying too hard to look for smaller-town dynamics in the big city? Please respond if you have even a tiny bit to say. And come down on Monday and cohere with me, create something with me.....get drunk.....whatever.

Looking for House Sits

Eli — Thu, 27 Sep 2007 15:46:41 GMT

Ideally in London, but Amsterdam, Spain, South of France are enticing too. I don't just sit your house, I teach it tricks, fix things love up the plants and animals, etc....go to my housecarers.com profile: http://www.housecarers.com/sitter.cfm/CleanandHelpful.htm

Eli Travelogue July 4th: London

Eli — Wed, 04 Jul 2007 10:48:25 GMT

Hello Everyone from London, England! I've been here a about 10 days now, and it's been kinda like a dream. I'm floating around the twisty old streets of London on the upper level of a double decker, eye-level with ancient brick/stone second stories, an undulating silvery sky above. Some eerie track from Broken Social Scene (highly recommend) is on the old iPod, and I wonder "is this really happening? where's my skillsaw? aren't I really fixing siding rot on some Santa Cruz house?" ........but then I hit the pavement and down into the Underground (first ever subway in the world) and rub shoulders with 20 different races and nationalities and realize this definitely is NOT S.Cruz and it's very real. I'm staying in Northeast London, Walthamstow to be exact. A poor gritty section, but safe and simple, kinda like the Mission in SF with less hipsters. Maybe a little like Washington Heights in NYC, right next to Spanish Harlem. White's a bit of a minority in this 'hood, although Polish folk are a decent percentage. Apparently the Poles have moved into London a lot lately, offering cheap skilled labor and becoming very popular and likeable by most. The language is wonderful to listen to, bubbling off the tongue with more consonants and spikey texture than any of the romance languages, but not as guttural and rough as Russian (although I love Russian for other reasons). It reminds me of Lithuanian, even though they're supposed to not be related. Anyway, here are some interesting tidbits I've gathered you may be interested in, followed by two extracts from e-mails to friends: 1) Just Whadaya Call This Place Anyway? (please skip if yer bored, scoff if you know more): just to clear it all up, this geographic region including all the little islands is called the British Isles (except the Republic of Ireland). Of these "Isles" the biggest one is called Great Britain (or Britain for short). Great Britain is comprised of three regions: England, Scotland, and Wales. These aren't states or provinces, just regions that I gather used to be more politically and/or tribally distinct. It became common for England to take on the name of the whole island Britain because it is the biggest and most "ruling" (oppressive) region. Many Scots and Welsh likely don't want to be called "British"; even though it names the island they're on, it's too much associated with the oppressive English. The United Kingdom is the political union of all regions (or kingdoms) on the British Isles (except the Republic of Ireland). So...what's the most preferred name for this nation? I have no freakin' idea. I like to call it the UK when I'm in London cos it implies groovy union and equality like that, yeah? But I would call each region by its name when amongst its locals. Roight, then! 2) Myths Debunked, Stereotypes Smashed: a) London is NOT as rainy a city as people may think (although it's rained a bunch this week). Seattle kicks its butt in that area. It's NOT that foggy either. Santa Cruz gets way more fog than here. It IS grey though. This is from a 27 year resident. b) Londoners are NOT generally stuck-up and snobby. this is an over-obvious ancient stereotype, but I think still in many Americans' minds. For one thing, the typical upper-class white "snob" that many Americans have as an image of the English is a minority in this town. Everyone else is African, Indian, Arab, Southeast Asian, Chinese, working class white, Eastern European, Scottish, Irish, etc....and every one I've had contact with is either friendly and helpful or just withdrawn and not into strangers, but MUCH more the former. In fact, for such a big and intense city, people are quite open and exuberant and interested. c) yes, this city is quite green compared to most US cities. but not THAT much. Cars are smaller. Even the English version of my Toyota Previa van--called the "Emina" (say that fast enough and you've got some very clean bowels!)--is quite a bit narrower. People are more frugal and conservationist. But its still a very consumerist western town. Traffic jams everywhere, pollution, people complaining to me about how much more money-centered and self-centered it's become lately. Gritty hoods with character are getting gentrified and invaded by Body Shop, Starbucks and the Gap.The "me me me" is strong and well and growing here. 3) Distinct Cultural Observations: per square block, there are more people making-out (snogging) in public than any American town I've been in (and I've been in about 15 metro areas in the US)!! I mean just on the street (even nicer parts of town) back against the wall, mashing faces for extended times. Not-so-distinct: more than half the people on the tubes (subway train) got the iPods on, but out of the hundreds of laptops I've seen, only one or two were Macs. 4) Books I'm Reading: The Proud Highway by Hunter S. Thompson (next to his insane travels documented in this book of letters, my travels seem like a priest's sabbatical), About a Boy by Nick Hornby ( how can I NOT read Hornby while in his town? essential). 5)Movies: Quadrophenia....the Mods and the Rockers riot to the sound of the Who in Brighton...crucial in Eli's English Education. Secretary, starring my future wife Maggie Gyllenhaal. Dead Man (one of my first carpentry jobs was fixing up James Jarmusch's house in upstate NY..I was 18-ish and had no clue who he was...just the weird tall white-haired guy who came by once to check the progress) 6)Music: Broken Social Scene. Favorite get-psyched pop song: "Ali in the Jungle" by the Hours. Ones to watch: The Union of Knives!!!!! ----> fav track Circular Breath written when the Modern Tate asked them to walk around the Tate galleries and write a song inspired by a work, and the band chose Ty Wombelly's Four Seasons, there are headphones in the room with the song playing and you just sit there hypnotized by the art and the soundtrack. 7)Busking: . The circus-type acts do quite well, but London is touch and go if yer just a guy with a guitar. Unpredictable weather is a factor, but it also makes it more interesting. In Camden Locke Market, a great cobblestoned hip market area I love to busk at, we got a monsoon once and I scrambled my gear underneath a covered area with some shoppers and we all stood in there gaping at the torrent, so I just kept playing (the "rain down from a great height" section of Paranoid Android of course!) and we all laughed and you could see that such a sudden change had kinda woken us all up. Just recently I went to this spot and sold 4 CDs and made about $60 in tips. Very satisfying day. My music has been certainly re-energized. I'm quite focused. It's very hard work, learning new songs, reviewing old, getting sick of some tunes, body getting thrashed by playing for hours at a time. But I'm doing it!!!!! And that was what I wanted to do...do it till I find a stuck or weak spot, work around or through it, change my tactics, re-assess assumptions and expectations, go in totally new directions, etc. The mob on the streets is very honest. I know immediately where I've been complacent. Extracts from e-mails: 6/23/07 London is amazing, like a cross between Seattle and NYC, but with more history and texture. The twisty streets and gorgeous clouds and spontaneous weather and DIVERSITY and art and intellect are what I'd want in a city. This makes me love the city life way more. I've been so happy and entranced. Sue is fabulous, I'm remembering how much I always liked her. Like a favorite hip aunt. Totally wise and humble and down-to-earth and easy to get along with. I've already busked a bit in an awesome canal-side market called Camden Locke. Met up with my tribe/burner friend Helen and her wonderful friend Kevin on Friday night. These are my people, totally exuberant dorks thru and thru. She promotes for a club and got me in for these two famous French DJs and took care of me carte blanche. Kevin's a DJ with a huge smile and we all three danced and laughed at all the barely-dancing people who were more concerned with how they looked. Kevin said how he always attracts people like him who are more into dancing and not giving a shit about status or image, and I was thinking the same thing about he and Helen both and we kept high-fiving and grinning goofily at each other. Helen's all heart, an extremely jolly and helpful person. We were just all tickled to have found each other. I think I'll continue to be well taken care of here. Took the top of a 2-decker bus home at 2am. The clubbing crowd milling around the bus stop and in the bus were mostly drunk and hilarious, a circus of jolliness, entertaining sexual banter and unique characters. I floated home in the top front seat of the bus, listening to my ipod and blissing on the glorious city. [and then later, the novelty and pink cloud worn off a bit..........] 7/2/07 This whole thing is a HUGE challenge. I'm quickly realizing (with a decent amount of acceptence) that "wherever you go there ya are!"; it's just life as usual, just a different backdrop. Recently rainy and unseasonably cold (even for london). Not great for busking, but I went out yesterday anyway and made a few bucks, got people interested. No matter how great a city is, hoofin' it in the rain with thousands of others on the concrete, cramming into the tube and not knowing yer way can get to ya. Its easy to go into the negative side, especially when yer not a rich tourist; ya know, like get Hungry Angry Lonely and Tired, etc. And when I'm wiped out from the big-city grind, its especially hard to make new friends...you can't touch base and go back out again like in SC, you gotta stay out till yer done, just cuz public transpo takes so long. But I also really like that...it simplifies my life, and just having a break from driving is great. And I still get up in the morning, stoked to get on the double-decker and see everything from up high, excited to finding new pockets in London....like today I finally got to Notting Hill, and I made friends with a guy who manages a club who might give me a gig if I stick around. Anyway, thanks for reading everyone. Till next time. Love, Eli

Challenges? Hilarious? Painful?

Eli — Sat, 24 Feb 2007 03:42:56 GMT

Okay, so I've got this bad toothache and I'm down here in LA thinking of going down to a really good place in TJ for an affordable Root Canal. Hilarious, right? Umm...okay not so funny, but I just keep on laughing. It's earlier today. We're in Joshua Tree trying to finish up a lovely week in the high desert working on Philippo's cabin. The wind is kicking our ass after a pretty calm week and my tooth is killing me. This is like those days in Black Rock when you just have to admit that Gawd has the better fuckin hand and you kneel down in the howling dust grateful to finally admit that yer really not all that afterall. In that state of blissfull (....nnnot really) defeat, we finish early after almost hang-gliding to Barstow via plywood. I come inside, faint from the pain and the wind, to a message from my bank that someone has broken into my online banking account and stolen $1,800. I feel sick....oh, actually that's the Aleve/Tylenol/Advil cocktail finally kicking in (yes, pain makes me desperate). And all I could do is laugh....maybe all strong and transcendent.....more likely just a wee bit INSANE and giddy on the drug of CRISIS. OH! IS HE GONNA MAKE IT???!!!! WHAT EVER WILL HAPPEN NEXT???!!!! Anyway, the bank's gonna get back the $$, but I have no idea if my identity has been Valerie Plamed in other ways. Ah what the hell, I didn't really need my identity anyways. But even so, please send the kind crystal rainbow pink pony vibes in my direction, brothers and sisters, and DON'T BANK WITH B OF A!!! And more importantly, let me know if you wanna come down to TJ with me tomorrow and embark on the great adventure of Root Canal in An Exotic Locale.......seriously, I could use the company; I'm giving up playing love songs at my bestest friends' party tomorrow, and this is MY FIRST TIME IN MEXICO. And I'm really hilarious when I'm all jacked up on laugh gas (a WAY better drug than CRISIS) and at least entertaining when drooling out of a non-existent face..........sexy, too. Moral of the story: Pain is an amazing teacher. This is not just new age lip sevice here. When I let it, pain really pushes me to see things differently. AND........... pain REALLY FUCKING SUCKS. The fire alarm in my molar testifies. Amen.

THINK, DAMMIT!

Eli — Wed, 29 Nov 2006 06:17:31 GMT

Just came from my songwriting group (three guys ripping apart eachother's songs with love and wisdom) after a long hiatus. And shit, I just LOVE that environment. I'm getting clear on why I've felt so stagnant and BORED lately. I REALLY LOVE AND THRIVE IN A RIGOROUSLY INTELLECTUALLY STIMULATING ENVIRONMENT. And I just ain't been gettin that lately. Not at parties, not at work, not at community functions and meetings. Am I actually seeing myself write that I need a fucking high octane book club!!!???? Upping the ante mofo. Find the fuckers that push me good. In music, in books, in observing and disecting this mind-blowing world. This isn't about over-cerebral, folks, this is about SOUL. Getting dirty. Not being married to the brain, but fucking PARTYING with it, USING it. I've been meditating and praying a lot lately and really going deep with my spiritual practice, not cuz its the cool thing to do in California, but because it fucking WORKS. I'm so much stronger and calmer (and thus more able to be raunchily and delightfully off-balance and raging....on ocassion...when I fucking feel like it). But it's possible that this pendulum swing of letting go of my maddening mind and getting peace from it now warrants swingin back into playin' hard with it; a glorious tool rather than a misfiring (back-firing) gun. Uh-HUH. This feels good, and I hope it finds you well.

Love Rock

Eli — Tue, 17 Oct 2006 05:43:47 GMT

Once upon a time there was a Sixth Grade Air Guitar Moment of Glory It came straight from the Heart of the Universe and created many Goosebumps of Great Wonder Images of You and I having an On-stage Simultaneous Rock Orgasm flooded my small mind in that Stripe-walled Vermont Bedroom Where is that love now in this Feeding Frenzy of Life? I will not Claw My Way to the Surface I will relax and sink to the bottom and find that Lover's Rock And become solid A Song Beneath the Frenzy (copyright 2006 Eli Salzman)

Rock Fantasy

Eli — Thu, 12 Oct 2006 05:02:07 GMT

First in a possible series. Okay, I admit it. Me impossibly singing that Freddie Mercury tenor for Queen's "Somebody to Love", complete with full back up vox and rippin guitar solo. Cheesiest showtune in their catalogue, and pure genius.....oooo....chill up my spine.....classic fantasy-induced goosebumps. (incidentally, yes that WAS me doing the spotlight "Let's Go Crazy" Prince airguitar solo in an orange dress and hockey helmet and rollerskates in the middle of the roller-rink at Decompression to cheers of hundreds......in case you were wondering......I had my way with that air axe...)

Aaahhhhhh......

Eli — Wed, 11 Oct 2006 04:49:35 GMT

so cool to have a journal with an audience (I like to imagine...hope). Mmmmm....I am so stoned on good food right now. Who needs drugs when there's O'Mei (my favorite gourmet chinese place) just a few blocks away. I've become more of a connoisseur of food highs lately, often correlating to overall quality of ingredients and preparation, not surprisingly. I'll get a cheap taco, enjoy it and feel full. Like having a Rolling Rock after a hard sweaty day. Then I'll go to a place like O'Mei, eat a simple yet PERFECT dish, and I'll be FLOATING for at least an hour after, like someone laced it with opium or something. My friend Lady Kennedy cancelled a casual dinner date and here I am in the luxury of my own pleasureable company (if I do say so myself.....to myself). Also MYGOD, the college radio right now is ON FIRE. This DJ can do no wrong. I think it helps that I'm reading Diane Ackerman's "A Natural History of the Senses". I highly recommend it. Whoever you are reading this, take yourself out on a date to your favorite restaurant, enjoy the laughter of the roudy table next you like its a babbling stream, and let the intoxication carry you away...... ........and then come hear me sing about food at the Viper Room Acoustic Lounge in L.A. Novermber 5th........life's just too short.

Burningman Word Album

Eli — Tue, 26 Sep 2006 02:15:00 GMT

Though my own camera was barely used in The Freest Town On Earth, the pictures come flooding in from the flash cards at the back of my brain (to the uninitiated, this may not compute, like annoying inside-joke inscriptions in a year book...I only hope that will motivate you to go to Burningman next year and get yer virgin spanking)....... At work today my breath catches as my hand comes away from my screw gun tingling with that magic…white….dust. Here’s Susie K Dancin’ in the Dust for the first time as we roll along the long car line into BRC. The best drug on the Playa (other than sleep), that “Belly Burn Churn” that grabs you as you warp onto the Blessed Cracked Lakebed, has infected us and we can’t stop smilin’ and giving Altoids out to complete strangers. Here’s me getting spanked by our greeter (Susie, whas her name again?). Even though I’m not a Playavirgin, she gives me the option and I bashfully (NOT) oblige. I think she likes my ass, because she spends more time stroking it than spanking it. Ohhhh…if this is wrong, I (SLAP) don’t (stroke) wanna (sssslap) be (ssssttttroke) right!! And here are quotes on signs one word at a time every 50 feet welcoming us: "There is Nothing to Fear But Fear Itself” And here is Susie K delivered safely to her EarlyEarly Crew Superhero Boyfriend Adam. He has already styled her bike and they are blinking and kissing and closing the tentflap….. And here is Susie and Adam and Brad and Daylon at the coolest early week runway-laden disco on the Playa. Smiling from fuzzy ear to fuzzy ear, raising big carpet dust to the BeeGees while approving mannequins look on lustily. And here I am with soap in my eyes running blindly behind the Water Truck handing my lavender soap around the slippery bodies when I realize that one of the bodies is my friend Tani whose address in BRC coulda been anything but has ended up at Yodel Camp right next to us! Here I am coming home to BR 4am with Gingalicious on the Night of the Burn and us swimming past and under lighted jellyfish within the larger jellyfish of the parachute in the blissful breeze. We have just come from exploring the sparsely-charted outer space that is the deep playa. Are we now getting swept back in to a deeper microcosmic deep Playa? But wait, who is this feaux-furred salt-n-peppa bearded magician laugh-crying toward us? I guess we’re not in Uchronia anymore, Toto. And here we are emerging up onto the crow’s nest to find Todd taking a dangerous nap in his sleeping bag at 34’ altitude! (he says it’s the best sleep he’s had…now THAT’s Pleasure to Burn!!) And here I am with Solar and her Playaguy Adam on a circular spaceship artcar orbiting through the timeless night with Bits-O-Honey, Blankets, and the Deepest Slowest Grrrrooooves ever delivered by a DJ in Burningman History. And here I am on the back of the Gingalicious Trike warming my hands on the creamy and furiously pedaling thighs of the Sweet and Spicy One as the silky deep Playa floats by. We come upon a lighted tube gurgling little brook sounds with a journal and pen dangling from a string holding entries about love and addiction…… And here is Barleycorn Capitan Erectomungus 7am popping up the ladder that comes out of the tophole of his yurt, cracking a gorgeous crusty barely-awake (Barley-awake?) smile down upon me, successfully competing with the infant sun. And here I am laughing with Atrea and Jesse on a couch in center camp. I’m giddy from my 7am gig singin my guts out, Atrea has produced a drool-enducing iced double mocha jus fo me, and my outfit is black, deeply striped and easily my favorite. And here I am getting totally smooched at the Deep End by the hottest and smartest redhead from Seattle. I can still feel the place where she squeezed my butt…….mmm-MMM….this recovering dorky seventh-grader is almost disbelievin’!! {much more to come as the flashcards slowly trickle images abck into my memory banks}