Guavaween Extravaganza

Hear ye! Hear ye! And you… yes, you with the handcuffs and whips… you know who you are. Let this serve as an official invitation to Systematic Chaos’ 1st annual Guavaween Extravaganza! We’ll be kicking off the festivities during Guavaween at our old haunt, Market On 7th, on Halloween night. Depending on how many people are left standing by then, we’ll fire up the show around 10pm, and will play until 2:00 or so the next morning (or until the SWAT teams come in to chase the stragglers out of Ybor).

Guavaween itself needs no introduction. If you know what it is, you know how much fun it can be (and how wild it can get). We’re pleased and privileged to render a showcase at Market On 7th, with a full light show, fog machine, and full costumes. The centerpiece of our show will be Del Westcott’s amazing Halloween drum kit (which you have to see to believe).

So if you’re not afraid of having a good time, come on out and make some noise with us. We’re going to be in the thick of it during Guavaween, performing a number of Halloween songs specifically for our Guavaween Extravaganza. We guarantee that a good time will be had by all.

Market On 7th
1816 East 7th Avenue
Tampa, FL 33605

[cross-posted @ SystematicChaos.us]

So Long, John

I finally got off of my ass and finished a song that I started working on last year. After I’d crash-landed with This Old Dawg, I started working on a song that I wrote for my uncle, Loyd Short. This song was called So Long, John. I recorded everything but the vocals, and then I got so frustrated because I wasn’t getting the sound I wanted that I wound up dropping it. I’d always intended to go back to it, but I never did.

Well, I finally did. In the time between now and the last time I worked on the song, I’ve learned a lot about Cubase, and recording, mixing and mastering in general. Mixing and mastering ten or so songs for my band, Systematic Chaos, gave me an incentive to finally wrestle Cubase and my DAW to the ground and provided a damned good laboratory to experiment in. Given how well So Long, John has turned out, I think I’ve earned the right to taunt them both mercilessly.

All I’ll say about the song is that it’s dedicated to my uncle, Loyd Short, for whom I started writing lyrics while he was laying on his death bed. So the lyric “I heard them say you’d leave today” is literally about waiting for someone to die. I couldn’t say what I really wanted to say to him before he died, and so this song is my way of making up for it.

As for why it’s called “So Long, John” and not “So Long, Loyd”, that’s sort of a long story. Suffice it to say that I called him John and he called me John. That’s all I’ll say about it. The rest is between us.

in the song.

• So Long, John – Lyrics
• So Long, John – mp3 audio sample

[cross-posted @ Wicasta.com]

Systematic Chaos

The band has had a recent name change. After our rhythm guitar player left, the drummer and I started pushing for a name change, because neither of us liked "The Traveling Wildebeests". This sparked off an elaborate, multi-tiered program of voting, using algorithms that only our drummer understood and which he probably had stolen form the National Security Administration, and which involved seemingly half of the people on the Eastern Seaboard. After all that, we finally arrived at a name we could all live with.

Systematic Chaos.

It's my first name of choice (my first, and the one I campaigned for, was "Cat Daddy Pirates"), but as I said, it's one we can all live with. That's the important thing.

I've set up a band page here on JamWave, but haven't done much with it yet. But if any of you yahoos want to befriend the band, we're at;

jamwave.com/systematicchaos

The Traveling Wildebeests

You may have noticed that I've been posting gigs with a different band. I finally had to decided between playing lead guitar with the Just In Time Band or playing bass with The Traveling Wildebeests. Well, I'm a bass player. Always have been. The guys in the Just In Time Band were great, but I simply want to play bass again.

Roster

• John Hester - Guitar, vocals
• Wicasta Lovelace - Bass, vocals
• Del Westcott - Drums, vocals

Check us out on MySpace; The Traveling Wildebeests

Just In Time Band

Looks like the band roster has finally settled out. The first bass player didn't turn out so well, but the new guy seems to be perfect for what we're doing.

I finally learned the name of the band, too. We're called the Just In Time Band. I hope to get the guys on JamWave, but right now we only have a MySpace page;

Just In Time Band

Members

• Billy Boyton - drums, backing vocals
• Wicasta Lovelace - lead guitar, vocals
• Jeff Scott - guitar, vocals
• Wayne Talbott - bass, vocals

More later.