Friday, April 14, 2006
first posted on http://www.myspace.com/stateofbalance
Today I engineered for the first time an entire vocal session....I was the singer. I got some pretty good sounds just out of my mbox and an SM-58. It took a while to start sounding as rock as I wanted to sound, but what the fuck it was fun. After the 3rd hour, every line I sang had me on the floor with a head rush and getting nauseated. I was singing really forcefully, and no I wasn't hurting my voice. But the songs were sounding pretty fucking good so I kept it. I'm writing lyrics, music and melodies so it's really difficult to get an objective view of everything. I'm still a little nervous to play it for anyone. Today was a very inspired day.
I worked on a three songs. Two of which are nearly finished and one I got the bridge written.
That third one is weird. I wrote the music about a girl that was so beautiful
as a person she just rocked my vision of what true beauty is. We "didn't"
date because she was religious but we hung out alone and with groups all the
time. We were very close. School eventually ended that year and we knew we wouldn't
see each other much after that. We were both just crying in each other's arms.
So I wrote this piece. A few years later she died in a car crash. The year before
she was nursing her sister back to health from a near fatal accident and she
told me that she prayed to God, asking for God to spare her sister and take
her instead. I still moarn her loss periodically, but today I got a little closer
to resolution. The song will end up being about my life as told to my friend,
whereever she is now.
Sometimes I feel she is very nearby.
BC
July 01, 2005
I hung with Ray Freeman(aka Raethoven) when he came through Portland with George
Lynch of Dokken fame and I went up to Seattle with them. Ray was the tour manager
when I did the Chris Caffery gigs. He helped me out immensely and I wanted to
return the favor in spades. It was a great time. Rob DeLuca(Spread Eagle) and
Andy Freeman(Blokk 16, 30 Stones) were both in the band. I helped them out with
Merchendise, selling and counting, and getting people where they needed to go.
My Civic logged some miles for sure. I hung probably the most with George and
his daughter and her friend. We ended up going out to dinner and talking about
building pickups. This guy really knows his shit. Works with Duncan on building
them from scratch. He actually helped design the XXX with Peavy, which evolved
into the JSX. Cool dude. His daughter kept asking me questions about my wife
and little girl, Lisa. They were really great people and it showed me that,
while difficult, being a playing musician can occur even if you have kids. But
you have to work your frickin' butt off.
Pretty fun situation to find myself in. The band all liked me and invited me up to their room to hang for a bit as well. Mike Frowin, known as Fro, is a really great guy. He and I had a conversation about Rock-n-Roll and kids too. He plays with Jeff Pilson also, involved in Lynch/Pilson and War & Peace. Great drummer.
I also talked to Paul LaPlaca from the Chris Caffery band. Sounds like the band did really well and had a great time. Heard from Chris too. The first run of Europe went over really well.
BC
May 25, 2005
It has been quite a long time since my last post here on State of Balance.net. But it is for a good reason. I have spent quite a bit of time preparing for a tour with Chris Caffery’s Faces and working with about 6 different bands. Some of you may have seen me singing lead, playing bass guitar, playing jazz, blues, hard rock and some have seen all of that on the same show. Since winning the Metallica contest last year, my demand as a musician has seen an increased dramatically and I just can’t keep up with everything. I hope to be doing some State of Balance shows sometime in the future. I have also released a short run of State of Balance Demo 05. If you would like a copy please email me for info: bcshred@stateofbalance.net
The short tour with the Chris Caffery’s Faces was awesome. I got to live some long standing dreams: sharing the stage with world class rock musicians, playing in some really amazing venues, headlining over people way more famous than me and kicking some ass and having a ball. I met some really great people along the way. Some notable people that I respect and have befriended: Nick Douglas(Doro/Deadly Blessing), bass player extraordinaire. Nick is one of the sweetest, coolest and down to earth people I’ve met in my entire career as a musician, I hope to see you soon buddy. Paul LaPlaca(Zandelle/ex-October Thorns), multi-instrumentalist. Paul and I roomed in Cleveland and had a great time talking very deeply about our hopes and dreams for the future. Paul is full of life and brings the best out of people, not to mention kicks ass on three instruments: Vocals, guitar and keyboard. Jeff Plate(TSO/Savatage). Thanks for the guidance and patience. Chris Caffery. Thanks for the opportunity of a lifetime. Plus met some other really great musicians, producers and studio managers: Nick Chimboukas, Pete Benjamin, Ray Freeman Jr., Butch, Wade, Igor, Bobby Jarzombek, Mark Wood, Paul Morris, Ted Burger(a close friend of Paul LaPlaka) Billy Graziadei, and many others for a brief time. As great as this experience was, I knew it couldn’t last forever. As of two weeks ago, I have been spending quite a bit of time with my family. A situation arose that needed attention and I am home to take care of business. My very close friends know about this and I just want to keep it private right now. I may change my mind. But for now, I appreciate your respect for my privacy. The highly-acclaimed Ira Black(Vicious Rumors, Heathen) will be replacing me in Faces at this time. I wish him the best of luck.
I hope to be doing some work with my friends in NYC in the near future, but for now I am home in Portland, Oregon, where the trees are green, and the air is just a little sweeter. Hope 2005 is going well for everybody.
Brandon Cook
-----------------------------------------------
3/23/04 Here is the link to video of me playing with Metallica
rtsp://rm.elektra.com/metallica/metallica_com/2004/mot/mar18_portland_300rm.rm
Put this in your browser and it will start real player. My playing is at plus/minus
10 minutes and 45 seconds .
Brandon
3/21/04 I went down for the meet and greet and started to get kind of nervous.
I didn't know what to expect on a personal level. But at the meet and greet
they were cool. I was introduced one by one to the band as they came through
the line. First was Hetfield. The label rep told him who I was and he said with
the Hetfield grin, "We'll see what you got." He took photos with me
and my wife and continued through the slew of folks waiting for autographs.
Rob Trujillo, was cool. Lars came next. I told him that I wanted to play Black
Night by Deep Purple, cuz I know he loves DP. He turns to Kirk and goes,"Dude
this guy wants to play..." and they start singing the riff. Then I told
Kirk that I had harmonized the main solo for One and that I wanted to try it
out with him. He was very excited saying he was glad that the winner was someone
who could play. They were off to get dressed for the show and do their warmup
rituals. I spent some time watching Godsmack, who totally killed. Drummer Shannon
Larkin has been a hero for years and to get to see him play his ass off like
he did was truly a spectacle. Godsmack are amazing live. there music isn't real
high risk, but they rock nonetheless.
So I start warming up, and one of the Metallica roadies starts trying to psyche
me out. "You're going to get nervous, this is Metallica." So, I said,"This
guy's trying to psyche me out," really loud. And everyone starts laughing.
Toby the fan club guy says,"He won't quit either." I said it ain't
gonna work, because I've been through to much to be there. The Roady was pleased
with himself, he knew what he was doing. Either I was gonna crumble, or get
competitive. The latter occured.
So I get called into the room. They were still learning a couple of tunes before
they went on stage and asked me to just watch for a few minutes. By this time,
I am totally warmed up completely calm and ready to play. They call me up to
bat and Hetfield says, "Do you know Breakin' the Law dude." Hearing
the Garage band sarcasm in his voice, I pretended not to know it and screwed
up the riff on purpose. That got em laughing at least. Then Lars calls "Black
Night" and we play the first few riffs of the tune. That was kind of cool,
because I could hear the Ian Paice come right out of Lars. Then we got started
on "One", which I ended up totally smoking. As soon as I started playing,
I looked right in Lars' face as if to say,"Don't hold back at all."
Throughout the tune, he and I kept making eye contact and he was giving me cues
and dynamic stuff, I would grit my teeth and do exactly what he did. When we
got to the heavy section, I just totally let loose. I was hanging in there tight
as can be, right with them on every rhythm and it was really fast, really fast.
When we got to the main solo, I got right up next to Kirk and started smiling
and looking right in his eyes"Don't hold back." He didn't at all.
The last dual lead came and went and I was really tight with Kirk. Man that
was cool. I had dropped my pick and Hetfield handed me one. When the song was
done, my mind was in pro musician mode and handed it back to him. Then I said,
"Wait a second can I have that back." Hetfield said,"Man that
was great, you can have anything you want....except my guitar and stuff."
That was funny. Everyone was impressed with my playing, handshakes all around.
Then we played Blackened. I had never played it but sure enough it was counted
off. I did my best to stay with them and used my ears to pick up the song. Lars
was really impressed. The whole time he just kept saying"Dude you really
did your homework". Everyone started to leave and I asked to play one more.
So I called Battery. Kirk busts out the opening riff, and I jump right in. The
fastest I had ever played that song, but also the tightest. At the end Kirk
says to me" Dude you fucking kick ass." Thanks and handshakes. Lars
was about to leave to go do the show and I hand each of them a clean copy of
my State of Balance CD and ask if it's okay to hook up after the show.
Lars says "I got a flight afterwards, but okay five minutes."
Show totally rocks. Masterful. I am in ecstasy knowing that I had just jammed
with one of the greatest bands on earth. These guys are legends and I totally
hung with them. It was a great moment.
After the show, I hook up with Lars and tell him a little about myself. About
teaching, and my musical beating from Marty Friedman and how it changed my outlook
about music for the better. He gave me a copy of the jam session and made sure
I had everything I needed. Then he turns to me with my CD in his hand and casually
says,"I got your CD, if you need anything, let me know." How could
I turn him down,"Can I contact you(Lars stares at me like no phone calls)...by
email(nice recovery)." He says to contact his assistant and he'll put me
through.
I want to thank the guys and girls at KUFO. Cort and Boomer, Dan Bosyck(sp?
sorry Dan.)Becca for dragging me all over, thanks for your patience. and Katie
from Electra, thanks for hanging with me and my wife Yoko and for Dan taking
me back downstairs to meet with Lars again. And to Toby and the other Metallica
Roady for trying to psyche me out. I think you knew it wouldn't work. And to
Metallica. What more can I say? You gave me the chance of a lifetime.
And thanks to all the people that voted for me. Couldn't have done it without
you. Hopefully all of you can read this.
Brandon Cook-----3/21/04
Photo courtesy of Metallica.com
03-16-04 Hello Everyone,
The contest is over, and I have emerged victorious. Thanks to all of you who
took a moment to vote for me. I really appreciate everyone of you and the time
you spent. It means a lot. I get to jam with Metallica on 3/18/04 at around
5pm.
Brandon
03-13-04 Dear Friends and Family
Please go to KUFO.com and vote for me in the final round of this radio contest.
If I win I get to JAM WITH METALLICA. These guys are heroes of mine and it would
be a dream come true. Follow this link:
http://www.kufo.com/kufomettalent_pollFINALS.shtml
Click on my name, then enter your name and email address, then click on "Cast
my Vote" Voting goes until Monday at 11:59pm.
Thank you very much for your help,
Brandon
02-03-03 Happy New Year, People:
Yeah, a little late I know but I have been busy getting a few things together for the band and other long running projects.
First, there are some changes being made in the Live Line-up of State of Balance. Since all members live in different geographic locations it is necessary to put together a live band here in Portland, Oregon. Dustin Murray lives in the SF Bay Area with his wife and his new baby boy. Paul Lamb lives in Hamburg, Germany with wife and little boy. I hope that they can still be involved in the future. But, for now, I must continue my path of playing this music that I wrote.
I got a band together for two very good shows: one at DV8 and the other at
Conan’s Pub. The band’s lineup was:
• Dave Ballew, guitar
• Paul Palfey, drums
• Gabe Salo, bass, back-up vocals
This was a very good line-up but, since these guys have extremely busy lives already, I will continue the search for the “right” guys. Gabe will be the only new member continuing with the band.
Second, I have another project in the works. This is a very different project from State of Balance that will include one of my former students, Kyle Williams on Guitar. All of us will be singing in this project. I still have some songs to finish so I won’t immediately be singing lead.
I have continued making demos of myself playing guitar and singing for projects larger than life, but haven’t really gotten any bites just yet. I have also continued writing for State of Balance. The riffs and melody ideas keep coming and I keep recording them on my hand-held recorder. Some of it is really heavy and technical, other ideas are very delicate and beautiful. I have a very broad music collection and I refuse to be quarantined by the limits of style. I look at bands like Queen, Queens of the Stone Age, FooFighters, System of a Down, Metallica and Megadeth that paint with a very broad palette, and define style by being bold. They are very inspiring to me.
This last year has been a very dynamic, fluid and educational one. I have learned so much about myself and the sacrifices and difficult tasks one must face in making a career in music. Now, I face another challenge. I will be opening a music school with my business partner, Jason Thomas. We are very close to signing a lease deal that will enable us to expand our music school into areas other than guitar and bass. We have a great place picked out and we see a great opportunity to grow a very cool business. We have been doing this for a long time and now we will finally be on our own, completely.
Feel free to contact me about lessons, questions, gigging or any other question you might have for the band.
