Who The Hell Is Fritz Haber?

I recently had the pleasure of seeing two very different disaster movies. 2012 was every bit the entertaining piece of crap that I thought it would be. The special effects were incredible, the dialogue was abominable, and you could telegraph every plot twist and eventuality 15 minutes into the film. A number of great actors lined up to sell out for the flick and I in turn did my part to sell out and watch it. I hang my head in shame. When the movie ended I did my best slow-building sarcastic clap-- you know the one at the end of big speeches in cheesy movies where one guy claps alone really slowly and loudly until the whole crowd erupts into a roar of applause. A few people laughed, my girlfriend gave me a disapproving look, and we bolted for the exit. The walk home found us pondering the Mayan prophecies and the actual scientific proof that the earths magnetism has been eroding to some extent. Perhaps in 2012 we'll look back at this craptastic movie as a prophetic harbinger of doom. Hopefully not.

The second film was Collapse, a documentary that's playing only in one theatre in New York and only at one showing a day at 1:25 pm. That said, if you're unemployed like me and have some free afternoon time, I highly recommend seeing it though it will possibly leave you scared shitless if you buy into the gospel it is preaching.

The movie is centered around an interview with a man named Michael Ruppert, a brilliant ex-LAPD cop turned investigative writer who graduated valedictorian of his class and became increasingly interested in Peak Oil. Like most people in the peak oil community, he assumes we've recently passed world peak oil production and that the governments of the world are quietly figuring out what the hell to do as they gobble up any field that can get their hands on. Gloom and doom ensues.

I recently read Omnivore's Dilemma, which has a passage about how the seemingly innocuous invention of oil-based synthetic fertilizer by Fritz Haber in the early 1900's actually allowed an otherwise impossible population explosion. There are actually billions of people that could not even be alive on this planet if synthetic fertilizer didn't allow us to make enough food to feed everyone. Interestingly, Haber's invention of synthetic nitrogen is also the underpinning for synthetic gunpowder which made the unprecedented scale of destruction in World Wars I and II. It's funny that the history book rarely mention the guy.

Anyhow, long story short. Skip 2012. Definitely check out Collapse. You can catch the preview here:

http://www.collapsemovie.com/COLLAPSEMOVIE/

Also, a couple of my friends made some brilliant music videos recently that I think you'll like:

Hurricane Bells "This Year"


OK Go "WTF"

OK Go - WTF? from OK Go on Vimeo.

See you soon,

Eytan

Pettyfest 09!!!

I went to Pettyfest 2009 at Bowery Ballroom last night, which was sick. Lots of drunk and stoned people shouting along to the hits and some great performers-- Nicole Atkins, Adam Green, Steve Schlitz, Antony Ellis, members of The Strokes and The Killers.

One of my favorite performances-- and this took me by surprise -- was the dude from Augustana singing "You Got Lucky." They're not a band I generally have a strong opinion about one way or another, but his voice was sick and he had a commanding presence-- like a subdued Mick Jagger with the wrist at the hips with a dash of Joe Cocker in the vocal tone.

The only song they skipped that I would have loved to hear is "Don't Come Around Here No More"-- probably because the sitar and electronic drums are hard to replicate.

It was a fun after-party. Those Killers dudes are tall. Who knew?

In other news, life's been good and busy lately. I've joined Nicole Atkins and The Black Sea on keys and we're heading out on tour in October/November. We've got a gig at Webster opening for Rhett Miller Sept. 19th that I'm pumped for. Nicole's a true talent-- her voice really blows me away. I've worked with a few talented female singers in the past, but her voice just has a distinctiveness and power that sets her apart from the pack. She's also super fun to hang with as are the other dudes in the band so it's been fun.

I'm mastering my record on the 25th (can't wait!) and had two great shows so far-- one at Mercury Lounge and one at The Bell House for the Shemspeed Festival. I have to say I love my band. They're all incredible players and totally great to hang with. We're still getting to know each other but I can tell we'd have a great time on the road. Still trying to come up with a name for them-- leaning towards Eytan & The Intertron but the final vote isn't in yet.

I also did a cover of KC and The Sunshine band's "That's The Way I Like It" that's gonna be in an upcoming MTV film. I totally changed all the chords and rocked it out. I think it's pretty sweet.

I have this tendency to think that over-Twittering and Blogging is a narcissistic pursuit, but I'm breaking myself out of that way of thinking. I find myself reading people's comments and blogs all the time, so I guess there's something sweet to this whole thing after all.

By the way, I'm totally not an obsessive Tom Petty fan. It's a weird coincidence that he's in two of my three blog-posts. Promise.

That's it for now...

E

If This Is It

I have my first show tomorrow night-- pretty exciting. I tend to get a bit perfectionist and focused on details, but I'm just gonna have fun. The band is really kick-ass and all really cool people to hang with. I could definitely see us having some good times on the road down the line.

Kevin, the trombone player, says my tunes sound like Huey Lewis & The News which is either the awesomest or most depressing thing someone's said about the record.

I'm sure everyone including myself will be more comfortable by the second gig when we've had time to digest all the material, but I think it should be pretty rockin' tomorrow night. The horn players especially have learned a lot in a short amount of time, but they seem totally up to the challenge which is great.

I got to meet Taylor Hanson this week after the Tinted Windows gig that my buddies Locksley opened for. He's a super nice guy and really easy to talk to. Chatted a bit with Adam Schlesinger as well, who's written some pretty incredible songs including "That Thing You Do" ad "Way Back Into Love." If all goes well, I'd love to build the type of career he has writing for movies and other artists on top of doing his own stuff. He was also really friendly and easy-going.

Nick Zinner from YYYs was there too. Didn't get to chat it up with him unfortunately, but he's pretty fucking incredible. You never would expect to see the dude from the YYYs and the dude from Hanson hanging out together, but it made me realize how silly all the distinctions between indie and pop can be and how we're connected as musicians and songwriters regardless of genre.

I Fight Authority, Authority Always Wins

I never realized how impossible it is to avoid Google or it's subsidiary properties (YouTube/Blogger) until I left my job there on Monday. I find that one has no viable alternative to the world of Goog. What would you have me do? Use Yahoo or Vimeo?

It wasn't a pretty break-up, though I have no regrets. But it kind of feels like breaking up with say... Angelina Jolie. Which is to say, you can try to put her out of your mind but inevitably you're gonna see her face everywhere and there's nothing you can do about it. That said, my feelings for the Goog are in no way wholly negative. Hey, those bonuses paid for my record!

In the closing months, I found myself watching Office Space quite regularly and listening to the Coug's "Authority Song," as well as FOB's "Sugar We're Going Down." I even added a last minute track called "Queen Bee" to my record to exorcise my corporate demons.

My new goal is to never have to work for someone else again. I think it's doable but will take some hard work and some serious strategery.

I wouldn't say Tom Petty is one of my influences, but I watched the Running Down A Dream doc a few months back and I've found myself inspired ever since. Not on a musical level, but just inspired to stand up for myself and take more risks. When you see Petty's whole story, you realize what a bad-ass he was, especially in the early days. Whenever I find myself swallowing my self-respect or being a total pussy, I ask myself "Would Tom Petty stand for this?" I've done a lot of things in the past couple of years that Petty never would have stood for. But the last couple of months I think I've started doing him proud.

My buddy Mike recently told me he thinks any time you commit to something 100% it always works out. Not sure if that's true, but it's a comforting thought.