My Writings. My Thoughts.
Rock Apocalypse, August 2011
// May 23rd, 2011 // Comments Off on Rock Apocalypse, August 2011 // Uncategorized
The info is out!
Rock Apocalypse Rock Festival is coming and will be held in Sundre, Alberta, Canada August 6, 2011. And, you guessed it, TLA is a headliner. But there are ONLY 340 tickets available and once they go public, they will sell out FAST. From the website
“This outdoor show will include 13 of the hottest breaking ROCK bands in Southern Alberta. A complete celebration of their hard work and incredible talents on display August 6th, 2011 for a intimate and extremely privilaged crowd. Tickets will be made available TO THE PUBLIC on June 1st, 2011.”
TLA is giving away 2 VIP tickets in a raffle, available to Fan Club members only! If you are not an Official Fan Club member, then click here to become one!
As well, WE have tickets for sale RIGHT NOW! And, if you are part of the Official TLA Fan Club, you guys can get $10.00 off the admission, whether that be a regular or VIP ticket…it doesn’t matter which! The Coupon code will come in the welcome email (with other stuff).
Once you have it, just go here to get your ticket:
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| Standard Ticket | VIP Ticket |
The Critics
// April 1st, 2011 // Comments Off on The Critics // Uncategorized
We just got a battery of critiques on our last CD “Still Standing” and I must say, I am little confused with the total lack of consistency. Some examples:
- We get one guy saying he loves the writing, melodies, yet the production is some of the worst he has ever heard
- On the other side we get another who loves every aspect of the disc. Just loves it.
- We get one guy who loves the overall sound production and engineering, yet some of the songs don’t work for him
- We get another critic that says TLA sounds like Motorhead and Jason sounds like Lemmy. This guy also goes so far to say that all the songs sound the same. I can see what he is saying here as ‘Burning Stack’ and ‘the Last Light’ sound like almost the same song (not).
- Etc.
We have had these critics state that their most popular songs from the disc are anything from ‘Left For Dead’ to ‘Still Standing’, ‘Habitat For Insanity’, ‘Twilight Radio Waves’, and one was even ‘Break Me’. So obviously everyone’s specific tastes within this genre of music are totally different, as they should be. About the band and disc some say “Refreshing and different”, some say “Awesome, fresh, old skool rock” and some say “tired and dated” and “it’s been done”.
Taylor’s Annoying Rings
// March 14th, 2011 // Comments Off on Taylor’s Annoying Rings // Uncategorized
Drums are awesome, what sucks about it is this stupid little ring that carries after you hit a drum. 99.9999% of music has been so digitally altered and edited that no one except a drummer would know about it. It’s kinda like a crappy ring that just doesn’t sound good, and deadens the drums tone. I have spent literally hundreds of hours trying to get my kit to sound good. There are hundreds of theories and methods about how to get the perfect sound, and the fact is that there is no one way to get your drums to sound good. For my drums I usually tune the top and bottom skin to the same pitch, if not tune the bottom a little higher. The biggest thing is to get even perfect tension on every tuning lug…its f******g hard. The perfect drum tone is going to have a nice “dooo” sorta noise that naturally dampens itself after about a second or so with no annoying ring. Drummers spend forever trying to get it, but once they do it’s easy to re-achieve. New skins and the right skin help a lot as well.
The drums I am using currently are an old set of Pearl Exports. I’m not totally sure what year they are but I do know they are from the early to mid ‘80’s. They are a birch shell with a cheap cedar outer ply. Not a bad combination, they are about a low to mid-grade drum. The birch in the shell gives a nice resonance but not a lot of depth, while the cedar outer plies mostly give an inexpensive filler. The drums were originally covered with a plastic coating which can be compared mostly with a krazy carpet. I have since taken the plastic off and stained the shells a darker kind a mahogany color. This lets the wood breathe easier and gives a warmer tone. The only problem is I f*****d up and got stain on the skin seat and threw out the easy tenability of them…although it’s fixed now.
The History of TLA – Part II
// March 7th, 2011 // Comments Off on The History of TLA – Part II // Uncategorized
This week we have part 2 of the History of TLA. It’s a big one…so enjoy!
Taylor Sanderson - TLA Drummer
About 4-5 months later in early 2009, TLA’s long time drummer Shawn Speirs (the guy who was with the band before the first CD in the late 90’s and came back after the first CD) seemed like he didn’t want to quit, but he didn’t seem to want to be in the band anymore either. So the band asked him to leave. It was a hard decision as Jeff and the guys had a problem (and still do have actually) rewarding Shawn’s loyalty to the band and the music by dismissing the guy. As Jeff says “It was brutal. One of the worst things I have ever had to do. But we needed someone behind the kit who wanted to be here and really wants to be here…if you know what I mean”. It was a few months (about 3) before they found his replacement, Andrew Whiting. In April 2009 Jeff was camping in the middle of nowhere and got his 4×4 stuck in a huge mud pit. He and his wife and 2 year old son walked for 10 km (Jeff’s son was carried) before finding someone to pull them out. Andrew was part of the group of guys who helped do that. Andrew stayed with the band throughout the disc and left August 2010 due to his lack of interest. It was a mutual decision for him to go as it was clear to everyone that their paths were not going the same direction anymore.
The guys wanted to be sure that the guy they replaced Andrew with had talent, that the personality would fit with the other band members, and that the person had the commitment level that they are at: to do whatever it takes to make it in the music biz. An extensive tryout/audition period began late August with about 10 drummers. Many of these guys were really good and committed like you wouldn’t believe. Jeff says “It was heart breaking to let some of these guys know they hadn’t been chosen as they wanted to be in TLA so badly, and a good 4 of them were excellent drummers!”. In the end, Andrew was replaced late September 2010 by Taylor Sanderson. Taylor is 19 years old, but plays as good or better than guys who are 10 years older than himself. Taylor is a ‘savant’ (for lack of a better term) when it comes to the drums. The band says time and again they are lucky to have him. To show the commitment level Taylor has, he has to drive 1 hour in each direction 3 times a week to practice with the band…once again, wow! Continue Reading
