It’s the Noise Tank (lovesyou) EP. It’s short. It’s fast. It’s for sale at iTunes but I’m giving it away for free. Maybe you’re wondering… why the iconoclastic business decision Doc? Well its simple, I released it to be heard and I think giving it away will increase the number of people who hear it. Feel free to share, post, or whatever.

Money is great, but hey, I didn’t do it for the money. As much as I’d love to have your four bucks, I’d rather not let that stand in the way of anybody hearing it. Although it’s literally costing me money, I consider giving it away for free to be a worthwhile personal investment. Maybe you’ll really enjoy it. Maybe you’ll get up out of your seat and dance to it. Maybe you’re at work, and when that first songs picks up tempo, you’ll start slam dancing right there at the office… who knows… go nuts! That’s why I’m giving it away.

You can find info on it here at it’s page on Focus Media,
the Noise Tank (lovesyou) myspace,
and the crazy band personal site for it.

Basically it was be and a bunch of my friends on different instruments. I released it myself as I always do… I mean I literally released out of my bedroom. I didn’t really expect it to go anywhere, but it got all these write ups in these big magazines, and it got all this radio play and stuff. For a super tiny little indie release, I’d say that was pretty successful. But that was way back in 2005, and to be honest, I’m sick of talking about it. The actual physical CD’s are sold out, and I’m doing Numbers Game now, and the whole thing feels over.
So…. enjoy Noise Tank (lovesyou)…. For free!!!

As always – If you like it – share it with friends!
Even a convenient Zip file. Oh my.

George Kuchar, an amazing film maker and a former teacher of mine just got a nice article in Vice. Cccccheck it out

The debut Numbers Game video for “Love Dreams Love” on Vimeo.

Written and Directed by Doc.
Produced by Doc.
Photography Doc.
Editing & Post-Production Doc.
Music by Numbers Game.

The Dreamers: Tucker Bennett, Chris Corrente, Ray Lordi, Naomi Larrick, Kelli Ryan, Zach Shipko, Taeer Maymon, Eric Wilson, Jeff Lee, Orion Ananda, & Doc.

Numbers Game is: Doc (vocals, all instruments & production)

Extra special thanks to Tucker Bennett, Katie Sell, Erlin Geffrard, Joseph Michael, the San Francisco Art Institute, and Urban Ore Berkley for providing me with truck loads of junk on the cheap.

Production notes: Shot entirely with a Canon GL1. The lo-fi effects were achieved by re-recording and re-shooting footage off of an old circuit bent VCR. It was shot entirely at the San Francisco Art Institute’s Studio 8 and in the Focus Media tree house.

I wanted to come up with a video that complements the lyrics and feel of the song. I didn’t want to act the song out in any way, but provide a sort of visual accompaniment. I think my lyrics in Love Dreams Love are pretty simple and to the point, so I also thought the video should be simple and to the point. I started by writing down the most obvious way to approach the project: "everybody feels alone and we’re neck deep in junk". I had a lot of ideas about the best way to visually express that. All of them were pretty complex, most of them were too complex for me to pull off, and none of them felt right. After a few days it literally came to me in a dream, "smashing stuff!". Although it’s ridiculously simple, I think it’s the best way to get the idea across. I find that in life you have to remove a lot of debris before you get to anything good, but since digging for something good is all anyone can do to occupy themselves, you might as well try.

The only other thing I wanted to say about this project is that making a song and a video can seem like a daunting task. Conventional wisdom will tell you that you need money, film experts, a record label, a recording studio, and industry people for moral support. You don’t! I would like to say to anyone out there who’s like me, this is just one more example of someone who did it for themselves, and you can too.

Apart from the smashing you see my friends doing, I did everything else on my own. I shot it, I directed it, edited it, I moved junk around, I cleaned up, and I even circuit bent a VCR for those lo-fi special effects. I did the music too. I sang, played guitar, bass, piano, drums, and all the synth stuff. The best part is that I didn’t have to wait for other band members to show up. I work usually late at night in a small apartment on my own time. I’m free to do what I want, how I want, and I’ve never been restricted or micromanaged by a record label. In case anybody has had any doubts, you really can do it yourself, and it’s easier than you think. Until just 10 years ago, you used to have to buy expensive equipment to do this stuff, but now all you need to be an autonomous one person media mogul is a pile of cheap computer components, maybe a guitar, and an idea. Go for it.