RPM Challenge 2008. Issue #35

Hey Friends! I first want to apologize to everyone in the Idaho/Spokane areas who planned on coming out to the shows last weekend. TJ and I postponed the gigs to a later date due to The Pass being closed and weather making it not so safe to travel. We're not mailmen...you dig? Seriously though, it just wasn't safe to make the trip and we hope to reschedule soon.

Also, my band COLLIDER now has a Myspace page up! If you are a "friend" of mine on Myspace, please "friend" COLLIDER as well! I'm excited to see what everyone thinks of it so please let us know! As I stated before, COLLIDER is another project I have separate from my solo material. The musicians you saw at the CD Release show backing my solo music are COLLIDER and as well as acting as my live backing band, we rock in a very different way and musical style under the COLLIDER moniker. "KS" shows and COLLIDER shows will be different musical experiences, and would you not expect a musical alter-ego from a comic freak like me? I think not...



Thursday was the Season Premier of LOST and though I'm not a big TV guy I am forever obsessed with this show. Unfortunately, there have only been 8 episodes filmed before the Writers Strike started but us LOST fans (you know who you are) are more than happy to have that. In December of 2006 I had a chance to go to the LOST set and see a scene filmed in Hawaii and for me it was a freak-out moment. There was even a HUGE script book right next to me more than likely outlining the entire season and though everything in me told me to snag it and run, I tried to play it cool. Remember the scene from last year when "Sayid" was working at a restaurant and was called to sit at a table in the dining area with a man interested in hiring him? I was 10 feet to the left. AWESOME.


Last week I was catching up on all my friends' blogs when I was inspired from a posting that my friend Peter put up. RPM CHALLENGE 2008 is a worldwide social experiment in musical output and getting artists to quote "get off your ass and write something". Though I feel I have been off my ass lately (though wanting to plant it in a movie theater more and more lately), I decided I will accept this challenge.

The challenge goes like this...

Artists all around the world who accept adhere to the goal of recording an album during the month of February that is #1: Ten songs long, or #2: 35 minutes in length.
It's not a competition but more like a personal goal to see what you an accomplish when you don't have time to OVER ANALYZE YOUR MUSIC TO DEATH. I think it's a great idea, and here's the kicker...you can't use ANY ideas that you previously had or recordings that you put down prior to February 1st. It has to be all new starting NOW. The experiment's motto? DON'T THINK, JUST DO.

I think this will be great for me because though writing songs is my job, it will force me to work quickly build a body of work in a very short period of time. My goal is it will be something that is completely different than anything I have ever done prior. RPM 2008 also works well because it's just for you, no energy given at all to how it will be accepted commercially that sometimes works it's way in the goings on of writing music for others to enjoy. Will I share it when it's done? Maybe. I'm not even going there until it's done, and that's what makes me really excited.

I'll keep you posted on how it's going, and if anyone else wants to do this as well, please don't hesitate to share your experiences. I'd love to hear them...

Enjoy the COLLIDER songs that we performed at my CD Release Shows in the videos below!

-KS