DJ Trava

Archive for the ‘Music’ Category

Three days here, and after all the talk about how we were going to find out how the rest of the world thinks about music, all we’ve talked about is curry.  My friends are convinced that the best Indian restaurant in Singapore is this one, and it’s because of their curries.  I am arguing that it could be any one of the dozens of Indian restaurants here, but we just happened to stop at this one first.  Chau, the other big ego in the band, is arguing that this isn’t coincidence.  He feels that since we’ve woken up in a pure state of touristic consciousness, our path is unfolding in ways that are already predetermined.  All we have to do, he argues, is keep doing what we’re doing.

This is an old argument between us.  I can tell that the other band members are as irritated as me, although they certainly do a good job of pretending that they’re enjoying every moment of the food.  It keeps popping into my head that we’re actually eating Chau’s car.  He sold his ‘73 Impala so we could have room and board while we’re here.  This baigan choka, then, I imagine, is the dashboard mat.  He’s busy eating his rear-view mirror while we’re deciding what we should do for the rest of the day. So far, the only good idea is to eat more curry.

We’ve been playing together for only two years, but we argue like bands that have a history that lasts at least a decade.  I think this might be a testament to our staying power, but I also know that my thinking is delusional.  It doesn’t seem to matter all that much.  Later on this afternoon, we have a meeting with a band we met last night, because we want to see how we sound if we mix.  It’s a good day.  This is a very good day.  Whether or not free will will win out over determinism is an issue that might not be resolved this time around, but there’s little doubt that we’re living a dream we always had.

Travis played the piano and like many other young musicians, actors, singers and artists he found his way to New York City and wanted to forge out a career there. He sang and wrote his own songs and ultimately wanted to make his own albums and have a solid solo performance career he wanted to play in some Broadway productions as well as a few of New York’s famous piano bars. He loved the musical theatre and he figures the experience of playing for a few Broadway shows would further his ultimate intentions of following in the iconic footsteps of his hero and main inspiration, Elton John. Travis believed that one day the tourists who visited the city and stayed in one of the New York luxury hotels would one day be there to watch him perform.

Like most of the other young hopefuls Travis arrived into town with very little money and no connections or job prospects. He has a nice baby grand piano back at his home in Massachusetts, but he could only bring his keyboards when he moved as he had no way of moving his piano or anywhere to put it. So, armed with only his keyboard he began to search the want ads looking for calls for pianists in both clubs and shows. As it turned out there was a little Italian restaurant near his small studio apartment that had a piano in it. Travis noticed this as he stopped in to ask for an application to wait tables there. He returned that night to check out the piano player and was told that their latest musician became sick and returned to his home upstate.

Travis wasted no time telling the owner of the place that he could play the piano and offered to perform that night for free as a sort of audition. The little old man who still ran the register and greeted guests agreed to this trial run and it was actually the beginning of a positive relationship. Travis was good and he quickly gained some local following who would frequent the restaurant and order dinner and or appetizers and drinks on the nights Travis played. He in turn received a regular, though small, income and had the perfect opportunity to try out new songs and material. He played there at that restaurant for the first two years he was in the City.

When it comes to boutique hotels, New York has a stunning variety to choose from.  Our hotels are extremely distinctive, following in the boutique tradition of emphasizing uniqueness.  We offer a splendid alternative to the chain hotel, with an array of choices that will suit every style and sensibility.  All of our hotels meet the highest standards of the industry, offering lodging that is contemporary and still traditional, where the best of the old and the best of the new come together.  There is always an impeccable sense of design here that would impress even the most seasoned New Yorker.  Comfort and luxury are our specialties, and we hold firm to the local standards of service, which are perhaps the highest in the world.

You’ll love the sense of rejuvenation you’ll feel after one night here, and you’ll find yourself ready to go off and have your own New York adventure.  New York is what it’s cracked up to be, having been a magnet for the best minds in the world for generations.  It attracts people from all walks of life, and all cultures, languages, and sensibilities.  It’s the kind of place that’s not like any other kind of place in the world, and fosters innovative and courageous talents like The Strokes.  Headed by charismatic, and slightly insane, lead singer Julian Casablancas, the Strokes began here in 1999, as part of the garage band revival.  Casablancas and the band’s guitarist, Albert Hammond, Jr., met at a boarding school in Switzerland, where they were sent for bad behavior as young teens.

They met again in New York City, when Hammond was attending Tisch, and shared an apartment.  They joined forces with Nick Valensi, Nikolai Fraiture, and Fabrizio Moretti, to form one of the most successful bands in rock history.  The climb, in retrospect, seems very quick and easy.  The Strokes rose very quickly to the top of the charts, after the band had already made a huge impression on London audiences.  For their hometown friends in New York City, catching on took a few months longer, but just as sure.  The Strokes sound is undeniably contagious, with skillful and stylishly sloppy playing accompanying vocals that are positively retro.  In the post-ironic musical present, the Strokes are a wonderfully self-conscious yet passionate band of romantic muses, singing the same songs of love and loss that we always already grew up on.

The company I work for arranged for my department to fly to Australia and stay at one of the top Melbourne hotels where we will participate in a drumming experience for team building and leadership training. There are 27 people in my department, that’s quite an expense for our company to make us learn how to drum. We were all laughing when we got the memo, but, any chance to go to Melbourne, Australia, even if it is with all my fellow co-workers, sounded good to me.

When we all assembled at a conference room in the hotel, I had no idea what to expect. The facilitators put us at ease right away and told us that by drumming together has been scientifically proven to help boost our immune system, relieve stress and is an unbeatable ice-breaker because it requires team work and it will motivate, inspire, empower and unify our whole department. Of course they knew what our first question was, ‘how will drumming do this?’ and they were prepared with an answer: they told us to consider the pure and simple musical elements which are the building blocks of music, drumming and percussion. Those elements are rhythm and harmony, melody and pitch. But, they also included timbre into the mix which is more a dynamic rather than an element.

They continued to explain that the elements and timbre have the potential for promoting and inducing relaxation, peace, calmness, energy and rejuvenation. All are a part of healing. The very elements and dynamics of percussion and music have been used the world over to induce healing. The healing does not refer to the healing of bleeding skin, or other physical traumas, though it may help with how quickly these ailments heal. Rather, the healing refers to developing a greater sense of well being. They told us that whatever state a person is in, that combining the elements of music and the dynamics of percussion, will only increase the sense of well being and relaxation, so then it can be said that a healing has occurred. So, the art of drumming is an ideal healing art.

But, we had no idea what this had to do with building up are team. They handed us our drums and told us that by the end of the day, we should have created a piece of music, all percussion, that we would be proud to play at any symphony house. I’ve never had so much fun in my life. My whole department, every single person all worked so well together and we even found out that some of our team mates were very talented drummers! We worked through the whole day, not even noticing the time, we enjoyed everyones input (drumming) and tried to figure out how to incorporate everyones own sense of rhythm into our creation, our symphony of percussions. When we got to play our piece in front of the facilitators, we were all beaming with smiles and totally paying attention to all the nuances and changes in rhythms anyone brought into the piece. We all just flowed with the beat. When it was over, I noticed a few of my team mates were crying. From that day on, I knew my department now had the means to work in harmony together.