Flogging Molly?! Yeah. I think so.

Okay.

Yesterday started off with me feeling so anxious. It was raining. I had woken up later than I had planned. My day wasn't going the way I wanted to...

Then our PR event finally kicked off. Things were going pretty well.. Then all of a sudden people started coming in (expect pictures in the near future). The whole event was a super-smash! Thanks to everyone that helped out including all of the various organizations and performers. And Foxes and Lions seriously killed it! I've never seen them so stripped down before. It was very welcome deviation from their normal line-up. From what I saw everyone seemed to love the guys. The day was so good we even ended up raising over $200! Thank you so much everyone.

I then had to face that-which-I-was-dreading: Driving from Montclair down to House of Blues in AC before we had to open for Flogging Molly and Big D. Somehow I made the trip from MSU to Toms River in 45 minutes. I can NOT believe I did that (and didn't get pulled over in the process). Ended up getting to the HOB just after they had opened the doors and finally found my band. Dare I say it, I almost broke down and cried. It felt so good to finally be where I had been wanting to be the entire day.

Let me just say this of our set... I simply couldn't stop smiling. Looking out at that crowd make me feel near death from the levels of joy I was feeling. And then after: Oh. My. God. I had decided I'd go hang out in the crowd during Big D's and Flogging Molly's sets. I've never been recognized by so many people I didn't know in my whole life. I kept hearing, "WOW! THAT'S THE KEYBOARDIST FROM THE BAND THAT JUST PLAYED! GREAT JOB MAN. YOU GUYS WERE AMAZING!!!!" and other such variations. I have never tried ecstasy (nor do I ever think I will) but I'm guessing it feels something along the lines of how I felt last night.

The two bands were honestly amazing. Even from listening to them from our merch table, I couldn't fight from dancing along to the rhythms of their lives. Such a joyous night.

I even met the guitarist from one of my (all-time) favorite bands and HE told ME he loved my band. I almost ran away and cried. And even better... I get to hang out with him later on today and he's showing me their new demo's because he wants to hear the 'opinion of someone that knows their stuff'. This band is Suburban Legends and the guitarist is Brian Klemm (he's playing with Big D now too). Those guys were the first real band that I met and felt like "Hey, I could do this." I don't think I'll be telling Brian that later today. But seriously. I'm flying on Cloud 9 right now.

My body is sore. My heart is soaring.

As I finish writing this I am about to go get ready to play with Big D and Flogging Molly again at the Starland Ballroom. This time, I plan on enjoying the whole day anxiety-free.

Best,
Patrick O'Brien
River City Extension


(Oh and a very wholehearted congratulations to Sam Tacon who signed her first body part last night. It was a night of firsts for all of us.)

Hipsters and Hip Worlds

Wow... I never write these things. What's wrong with me?! Either that or I start one in the morning, then leave it until to finish at the end of the day and then I'm just so lost in my exhaustion and caught up in the moment I forget about going back to what I had written. I think I've started about 5 different drafts just to write this one post...

So the other day, right after I left class, I drove straight to my apartment and cleaned the whole place. I wanted my place to be so spick-and-span that I even cleaned up my roommates 'junk' (by junk I mean his TRASH). Anywaysssss, as soon as I got the 'okay' from my friend to leave, I began my fun-filled trek to Brooklyn. Let me tell you.... I HATE Rt 1-9. So much rage on that highway. Whatever happened to those peaceful forested winding roads I loved to drive on so much. I guess moving up here has made me leave all of them behind. But I digress, I prefer the driving through Holland Tunnel as opposed to 1-9. I won't even get started on driving through Manhattan (apparently traffic lights don't have any say in who's allowed to drive and who isn't).

Be that as it may, Brooklyn's a pretty fun place. Once I crossed the Manhattan Bridge the traffic all seemed to just disappear. It was like I had gone through the magic wardrobe and ended up in a whole new world. Actually, I did just that. While trying to find Pratt I was doing a bit of people watching... I have never, and I will say that again: never, seen so many hipsters in one area. They were literally everywhere. This really threw me off. I now truly come to terms with the idea of me being a 'hipster'. Growing up in the areas that I have, one gets used to being an oddball; being the 'weird' one. I never imagined how uncomfortable it would make me feel when I was no longer weird and became the norm. Don't get me wrong... Pratt was a very fun time. It's just... I've come to like being different. No matter what group of friends I had growing up, I was always the outsider. Being in Brooklyn, being an insider just didn't feel right for me. Who knew that I loved being that which I did not enjoy?

But to continue my story, not all of these hipsters were at Pratt for the purpose of attending school. That weekend was particularly special. The Annual Pratt Drawathon. (Apparently) people came from all over just to partake in this festival of sorts where numerous models (both nude and clothed) and artists (both scholastic and professional) all came together in one building and just spent the night drawing and painting and so on and so forth. As to the surprise of everyone around me, I was not at all affected by the level of nudity that existed at this event; with me being a musician and not used to these sorts of occasions. I guess I'm just more comfortable with the human body than most people of my generation.

All in all, that trip was quite the swell adventure. I honestly can't wait to go back again and visit. I've already started making some new friends. I seem to do this everywhere I go as a matter of fact. I just love meeting people. Tomorrow, I'm going to write about the amazing weekend that I ended up having.

For now, I shall simply state that my passed weekend consisted of illustrious, exciting, and eye-opening escapades with my newfound family. But that is tomorrow. It is now 2:50 a.m. I need to sleep.

I bid you, adieu.

Wow.

It's been a real long time since been on here. SO much has happened in the passed month or so. You can expect a slew of recap posts. Just need a mo' to gather my thoughts. Not to mention, there are even bigger and better events (in some cases) coming up right around the corner. Now that I have you on the edge of your seat....

These two videos have been on repeat on my computer for the passed week or so:



And in response to that:



Pomplamoose has finally blown up with their most recent cover album. I'm so happy for them. And there's something about a little asian boy crying because he can't be a 'single lady' that really hits home with me... Oh maybe thats because I'm an early-20's asian guy that ALSO can't ever be a 'single lady'.

:'(

-P

Okay so you know how they say you're dreams are really just your subconscious trying to show you something? Well... Last night (this morning) I had the weirdest one ever. I was on the Real World and it was somewhere tropical (apparently I had signed up for any random MTV show in the past). But I had no idea how I got on the show and periodically I was having blackouts, and the people were literally insane, one was a total schizo.  After about a week or so in the house featuring many raucous parties in some random tropical location, I somehow remembered that I'm supposed to be in school and I have a band that I am fully committed to. I approached the rest of my housemates and told them that I was going to have to leave.  Fair and enough, they were all pretty sad about that one.  The next day, as I was about to approach the producers and tell them I had to leave, we got our "job" that all the cast members had to perform.  All of a sudden I found myself on a Scottish farm talking to the farmer and his daughter... Yeah.... Anyways I managed to find my way to the real "job" we were working at (apparently we were working at a retail store that happened to be 2 seconds away from the farm). As I finished talking to the producers I magically found myself awake.

2 seconds ago. I think I finally figured out what this whole dream meant. It was my body showing how much everything that's been going on in the passed couple of months really means to me.  Nothing is going to stand in my way with my family.

Hey all,

So it's been a minute since I last thought to post on here. Haven't been doing much along the lines of public work in the music world. I've been just doing a lot of practicing lately. There are some really big shows/performances coming up really quickly that I need to be prepared for:

1. As soon as the weather permits it, I will be covering an old Alton Ellis song with a friend. He recently hired me out to record the saxophone parts to the song "Rock Steady". For those of you (like me) who grew up listening to ska, this is a classic and simply a memorable piece. I haven't picked up a saxophone in some time so that's going to be a lot of fun. 
2. Another event that I got hired out to do was a CD Release party for our good friends The Amboys. The party is going down on the 19th of this month and I honestly can't wait. Just from listening to the tracks they asked me to learn I can tell this album is going to do big things for them. If you're looking for something to do on a Friday night with some really cool people, this is the place to be. And if you're wondering where I mean by "this"... I'm talking about the Asbury Lanes!
3. Though, these two are paled in importance when it comes to our own show on the February 20th. This is going to be my highlight of the month. Oh, and the final line-up has been officially decided:
1. Foxes and Lions
2. J'ac
3. Midatlantic
4. River City Extension
5. Status Green!

So if you have no idea what to do with yourself next weekend... I can guarantee you will not regret coming out to either The Amboys' or Status Green's CD Release parties. Hope to see y'all there.

-Patrick

Publicity Stunts... The Good, The Bad, The Sad

Recently I had to read an article about a variety of publicity stunts that were pulled years ago. Some of these stunts were good bits of entertainment, others were poorly planned out and put together.  Then there's the group of stunts that are just plain sad that they either worked or were pathetic in general.

The Good:
DC Comics, 1993
This publicity stunt was pretty impressive. I honestly remember the tail end of this happening. The fact that Superman has been running since 1938 and is still one of the top contenders in the comic book world is quite impressive. Not only did this sequence of events take place on the comic shelves, the "death" of Superman even found itself to the television circuit many years later.

JMP Creative, 1990
Jim McCafferty is a highly daring executive. That stunt of his took pure talent and killer instincts. Well... It took all of that and a bit of luck. If a person is willing to risk everything just to attain success, (in this situation) they rightly deserve everything that they get. This stunt had to have been extremely successful seeing as Jim owns a multimillion dollar marketing company.


The Bad:
ProShade, 2006
ProShade's publicity stunt was nothing except garbage. First off... where does anyone get off selling a visor-sunglasses-lanyard combination?! That's idiotic! Second of all, their stunt was pretty insulting towards Mount Rushmore (a national monument). Not a smart move if your public audience highly appreciates the particular monument that you're insulting.

SonicYoga.com, 2002
The owner and creator of SonicYoga.com does not deserve the publicity that he has attained. Jonathan Fields, in an attempt to get as much publicity as possible told an organization a blatant lie. Now, while I think it is a good thing to take risks, to lie to your public is pretty low in my book. His stunt ended up working but I still think it was highly undeserving.

The Sad:
Burger King, 1998
Years ago, Burger King publicized that it had created a "Left-Handed Whopper"..... People actually believed them and then got angry when they didn't get their custom-made burger. Need I say more? This is just disgusting that the masses have gotten this witless.

GoldenPalace.com, 2004
I remember, back in high school, there being this big "hype" over a grilled cheese sandwich. Little did I know, GoldenPalace.com had bought the damn thing for $28,000 and that this act had gotten them a huge amount of publicity. I mean, seriously?! A grilled cheese sandwich. $28,000. I want some of whatever they were smoking! Again... America and it's lovely witlessness showing again.

For those of you who haven't seen this stupid piece of lunch, here it is:

-P

Traintracks, IMAX, and lots of snacks!

This week has been a pretty exciting one overall and I'm so thankful for that.  I've seen some pretty interesting people all over Jersey; some I liked, some not so much.  Despite the magnitude of so many different events, 3 really stick out to me in no particular order:

The first of these is the interesting weekend I experienced last Saturday (1/23/10).  The night before I ended up getting an email from my singer: we had a photoshoot the next day.  Somehow I managed to find my way down to Farmingdale by 11:30 (which for those of you who know me is quite a feat in itself) and I am so glad that I did.  Turns out the shoot was for our upcoming show at the Stone Pony.  Status Green (some good friends of ours) is having a CD release party in February and we are playing (I honestly had no idea about that one) and we needed photos for all the promo getting done for the night.  Either way, this was my first photoshoot ever.  Needless to say, I was really excited.  The day was filled with typical railroad track photos and some pretty interesting graffiti. Here's a video documenting the day (courtesy of Lou, Status Green):
February 20th @ the Stone Pony

#2: Avatar IMAX-3D
Oh. My. God.  I originally was quite indifferent about this picture... until I saw it for myself.  My whole world was turned upside-down, topsy-turvy, and every other possible variation of the phrase.  I don't even care that the movie was Pocahontas or Fern Gully, it was just that good.  I will honestly admit, my eyes teared up a bit from the beauty of the world James Cameron created.  I don't even know what to say about this movie.  I've never felt so satisfied after watching any movie. Ever. And that's including my favorites.
If you have the chance to, then you must come see this picture.  It'd be even better if you did it in the same format that I did.  IMAX-3D was just... I can't even find words to describe it.  There's a very good reason why this movie has attained and earned the title of #1 Grossing Movie Worldwide (without taking into account inflation). Please. See it. You will not regret it.

The third highlight would have to simply be my Grandmother's 90th Birthday.  I cannot believe we hid 30 people in her little house... with her actually inside there too!!!  Hahahaha.  She was so surprised to see everyone, and then started to yell at all of us for not telling her.  What a woman.  I count my blessings every time that I see her smiling face.  Long story short, I partied with a 90 year old woman until 10 p.m. That's what I call a party.



All in all, I'd say it was a good week. =)
-Patrick

Twitter... The next big rockstar?

I recently had the displeasure of reading an article whose sole purpose was to present the "danger" Twitter faces because its use-rate has plateaued. If you really want to you can read the article here: Personally, I think that CNN has taken a turn for the worse if this is what they find themselves writing about. I mean honestly, will the world really change if Twitter was no more? Or if people stopped signing to the micro-blogging site? The answer to those questions is simple: No. Understandably the website is a pleasant little medium for people to post their daily opinions and shenanigans, but without such a site people will still get on with their lives.

Even still, the existence of a plateau does not indicate the impending "death" of a website. Twitter boasted a whopping 19.9 million visitors just last December 2009. And that is not including those people who jumped onto the smartphone craze after this passed holiday. I seem to be seeing more and more of those phones everywhere I turn. It's like everyone decided to go out and get either an iPhone or a Blackberry all at the same time. But I digress, Twitter is not going to die out my friends; at least... not anytime in the near future.

Now for some shameless promoting:
Follow me on Twitter and come give my band a listen: River City Extension

The Unmistakable Man

Hey all,

So I am...

The keyboardist of the band, River City Extension. As cliched as it sounds:

My life is my music. My music is my life.

I basically spend my days living a pretty uneventful life but lately I've been experiencing more and more exciting things. My music (our music) is truly on the move up and hopefully life will be more exhilarating as the days pass. On top of my life with RCE, I pass time going to Montclair State University as a Communication major with a concentration in Public Relations. This is mainly a part of my back-up plan for attaining some kind of work in the entertainment industry. My true passion and all of my dreams lie within the work I have been doing with new-found family.

In other news...

This morning (maybe it was afternoon?)... At 1:00, I finally woke up and found the best email waiting for me. Our full-length album, The Unmistakable Man, is finally FINISHED. This record has been our main focus over the passed 4 months. I cannot believe all that work is finally over. We are currently looking at a release date sometime in late April or May. Honestly, this is a major turning point in my life. It's quite unbelievable how one simple record could open so many different doors. I do not profess to believe in any particular higher-power, but if ever there was a time for doing so, now would the time where I would be profusely thanking such a being.

So...

Even if you're reading this just because you have to, or if you are reading this because you actually want to, or even if you are reading this merely to take a peek into another person's life, I wish you the best of luck. The fact of the matter is that you actually read this and somehow made through all the way to the end. I look forward to placing my life and my world for all to see. Good night.

-Patrick