It's Too Easy

Lord almighty, maybe I'm a sap but this trailer for "where the wild things are" is incredibly touching. Probably the best use of music in a trailer I've ever seen. This Arcade Fire song was written to be used for this. I could do without all the "inside all of us is..." advertising copy, but still I'm not afraid to say I was moved by the trailer. Of course, like many of several generations, this book has a special place in my heart. So yes, I will be going to see this movie. I'll bet almost the whole audience is 18-45. It's a kids movie for adults that, at the end of the day, dearly wish they were children. And we'll pay a nice price to feel that way again.

Mark



p.s.

In an interview with newsweek, they asked "where the wild things are" author Maurice Sendak what he would say to parents who thought the movie was too scary for children.

The 81 year olds reply? "I'd tell 'em to go to hell"
I love it

Mark

ABOUT A SONG - "Running with the Wasters"

This one came about in a very unusual way. I usually write the song on a piano or guitar, with all the melodies and chords planned out and the arrangement down pat before I even start setting up mics in the basement to demo it. The original demo I did of this about 3 years ago, I just had an idea for a vibe of a song. I was probably listening to a lot of New Order at the time. I don't remember. Anyways, this one I came up with the beat first. I wanted something different rhythmically, something where the drums don't switch to the cymbals on the chorus, where all the dynamics come from the vocals or instrumentation. Almost like a drum machine dance track.
I laid down the drums and then I used my favorite setting on the keyboard, bassoon, and tinkered around until I came up with a hummable melody over the chords and had vaguely mapped out a song. By the way, I never told anyone the secret ingredient to the song, but now's probably as good a time as any. The intro do do do hook is the first three notes from that song "Pure imagination" from the original Charlie and the Chocolate factory, the "Close your eyes and you'll see a world of pure imagination. I think people subconsciously associate the melody with childhood, but that's just my psychobabble from many hours of sitting in a van.
Anyways, I wanted the song to be an anthem, something the hordes would shout along to at a football or soccer game. In fact, the original working title on my Pro Tools was "Soccer Hymn", which doesn't even make sense. Of course, the song ended up being a little too melancholy to be a successor to "ole" or something along those lines. I also had kind of a hard time singing the doo doo doo's and I didn't plan on keeping them in the song, but the guys said we had to. They were right, clearly.
Lyrically, I don't know what to tell you. I never sit down and say I'm gonna write a song about a certain subject. I usually just sing stream of consciousness type gobbledeygook along to the melody until I find a line that sends me in a certain direction. So take what you want from the lyrics.
A small last note, I had this song in the can for a while and I don't think we were gonna do anything about it. No one else in the band seemed to be very excited by it. Months later, my roommate and a friend from out of town heard the song on my computer and were appalled that we didn't play it. So I can credit them with saving this song from complete obscurity. Believe me, the songs of ours that you've never heard would make you scratch your head and ask why we didn't put this or that on the album.
I hope this has been enlightening in the most profound way.

Later,
Mark

A LETTER TO A VERY SPECIAL PERSON

Hiya,

How's things brah? I'm sure you're probably bored out of your mind most of the time. I know most people think your job is exciting because they've seen so many cop shows on TV. But I know your life is as far as it gets from finding a dead porn star floating in a vat of KY jelly like they do on CSI. That's just TV. That stuff doesn't even happen to homicide detectives in Pittsburgh. And as we both know, you're far from being any kind of detective, much less homicide.
It must get awfully boring and mundane, sitting in your cruiser all day, hiding behind that awful billboard for "Dick's Sporting Goods". But I guess you gotta hide somewhere. If all the drivers on the road saw you in plain daylight, they'd all slow down and you wouldn't meet your quota for speeding tickets. Speaking of, I've always thought going 5 miles over the speed limit was kinda par for the course, right? I just figured the only cops that gave tickets for going 70 in a 65 were just anal retentive sticklers or at least really desperate to meet their quotas. Maybe you could explain better broseph, cause I don't get it.

While we're on the subject, how could you clock me going over the speed limit and not the guy in the right lane driving right alongside of me in his yellow H2 Hummer. I'm pretty sure he was going quite a bit more than 5 miles over the limit. Yet you let him go. I know, I know. Sour grapes. I can dig it brah. No hard feelings, I paid the ticket already. Money order from Rite Aid for $189.50. Kind of a big chunk of change for me these days. See, I'm a musician. Which means I'm broke most of the time. It's a tough way to make a living. But I'm sure you smell what I'm cooking. You're nearly 50 and you haven't made detective yet? Were you like one of those loose cannon cops in the movies who pissed off his superiors because he wouldn't play by the rules and they'd threaten you along the lines of "IF YOU DON'T CLEAN YOUR ACT UP MAZURSKY, YOU'LL BE HANDING OUT SPEEDING TICKETS IN PITTSBURGH THIS TIME NEXT MONTH!!!"
A bit dramatic, you think? I know. Figures. I went to school to write screenplays.
Hey that gives me an idea! Whadaya say to me riding along with you next week, watching you bust the bad guys, clean up the streets, solve the down and dirty---sorry, I got carried away. What was I thinking?

"You hide behind fucking billboards all day."

Whoah! Sorry about that. Maybe that came off as harsh. Doc says I can be a bit passive-aggressive sometimes. I guess this is one of those times. Again, a thousand apologies. Well, I guess I should wrap this up. Places to go, people to see, you know how it is. Wait. You don't. You fucking hide behind billboards all day. Which reminds me of a story I once heard.

My friends dad was driving down the highway. He's about 70 years old or so. A real live wire though. Anyways, an officer just like yourself, hiding behind a Tanning Salon billboard or something akin, screeches out and pulls him over for speeding. The cop walks up to the car and asks for his license and registration. Do you wanna know what the old man said?

"I fought for this country In Korea and you hide behind a fucking billboard just to give me a ticket!"

And do you know what?
The cop let him go.

I'm just saying.






Later,
Mark

The Crying Game

It's been awhile. For me at least. I'm sure you've all been coping well without any blog posts here recently. Times are changing. Flux. That's the most befitting term for what we're up to now. Everything is very much in a state of flux. But we soldier on. Just finishing up 3 bonus tracks for the Japanese release of "Running with the Wasters". They were recorded in the luscious confines of Derek's basement. You don't need a $5000 microphone to make a good record. Sometimes the cheapest equipment has the most charm. That said, the 3 songs are all very old Takeover songs. None have ever been released, unless you managed to snag some ancient demo ages ago. Hopefully you're feeling adventurous and generous and plan on buying the Japanese import when it comes out. Because you just have to have these 3 songs. All of them predate most of the songs on "Wasters". That's right, we're talking circa 2004-2005,the very beginning. If you must know the bonus titles:

SATURDAY NIGHT
STORMY WEATHER (we may possibly rename this one)
SAY MARLENE

Writing those out, I just realized they all begin with 'S'.

To those of you in LA, we apologize for having to cancel our shows this month. As I said before, the current state of flux has rendered us unable to make it out for those shows, but I promise we'll make it up as soon as we can. In the meantime, tell your friends about us, burn them a CD. Whatever floats your boat. If you value our music, tell them to buy it online. Surprise yourself and us.

The dog days of summer and I've found myself reading even more voraciously than usual. I have a whole 4 level bookshelf with many many recent second hand purchases calling my name. These last few weeks I just finished several books I'd strongly recommend:

A People's History of the United States by Howard Zinn
This ones kind of a no brainer. I've been meaning to read this since I was 14 and just now got around to it. I bought it 6 months ago, lost it, then found it last week. As I expected, it's eye opening and infuriating. I found myself physically disgusted many times while reading this. This is a book that should make you angry Studying the real US history really illuminates what's going on right now. Things change, but then again, not really. Do yourself a favor if you haven't already, and READ THIS BOOK.

What's the Matter with Kansas? by Thomas Frank
I found this in the $1 section of my absolute favorite store in the world: Half-price books. Basically this book is about how ultra conservative republicans have captured the heartland of America and does a great job of explaining why blue collar folks time and again vote against their own economic benefit instead choosing to only vote based on a vague cultural war between the coasts and the rest of fly over America. It uses Kansas as a microcosm for the whole country. Have you ever been to Kansas. It is a 'unique' place. I'll say that. Now I know more about the history of the great state of Kansas than I ever thought one man from Pittsburgh (PA not Pittsburg KS) should know.

Wilder Times : The Life and Times of Billy Wilder
Lest you think my reading list is one sided. What can I say? I love almost all of Billy Wilder's movies (not too crazy about Kiss Me, Stupid or Irma la Douce) and this book really went into depth about the great director's very interesting life.
If you're a fan, definitely pick this up. If you've only seen Some Like It Hot then you should probably check out Sunset Boulevard, Double Indemnity, The Apartment and Stalag 17. He wrote and directed so many great, classic movies it's unfair.

Agatha Christie: What can I say? I'm crazy for her. Especially the Poirot stuff. Does that make me dangerously close to an elderly watcher of "murder she wrote". I don't care either way. I love it.

Not a book but a mini series from HBO in 1988: TANNER '88
Robert Altman and Gary Trudeau do a mockumentary about a fake candidate running for President in the 1988 Dem. Primary. A blast from the times of Dukakis and Gary Hart and in those innocent days before any Bush was in control of our armed forces. Very funny and insightful but not for everyone.

Lastly, I'd tell you the music I've been listening to but it's mostly been demo's and recordings we're making. Nothings burning up my ears at the moment.


Check back early and often. I promise not to make you wait so long until the next time. And don't be shy. Believe it or not, we like to know someones reading these rants and raves. Even if it's only to say "Hey dude". I'll take what I can get. But I'm sure you can come up with something slightly better than "Hey Dude" unless you're talking about the wonderful Nickelodeon show.

Later,
Mark

CHARACTER ARC (click on this)

Last week we were graced with the privilege of appearing on the cover of Pittsburgh's City Paper. We had a good time working with the photographer Heather Mull on the photo shoot. Per usual, our initial ideas for the shoot were vastly ambitious and considering there was no budget, vastly unlikely. As necessity is the mother of invention, we climbed out onto the roof of Nic's apartment and Bloomfield and took some pictures. Of course, the local store Eons was kind of enough to lend us some very fine duds that came in quite handy. In the end, attached is the link for you to check out the story and some pics. I hope you enjoy the story.

Click on the title above, the one that says CHARACTER ARC or..

In case you don't see the link, here it is again: http://www.pittsburghcitypaper.ws/gyrobase/Content?oid=oid%3A65863

In other news, we have a big announcement to make soon. So stay on the edge of your seat and check back early and often.

Later,
Mark

DAY PLAYERS

If you've ever seen the show "Extra's" with Ricky Gervais, let me say right now that it is not even remotely what it's like to be an extra in a film. Of course it's not meant to be a documentary of a day in the life of an extra. It is, however, very funny.

Watching it recently, I was reminded of a long, miserable night Nic and I spent a few years back as extras on a motion picture. Out drinking the night before, a friend told me he was going to be an extra in a picture being filmed right here in the film capital of western Pennsylvania. I was intrigued. It sounded like a different way to spend a Saturday night. Also, being a huge movie lover, I was interested in watching the actors and crew work. It also helped that the film was "The Mysteries of Pittsburgh" based on the debut novel by Michael Chabon, a writer I quite enjoy. (Check out "The Adventures of Kavalier & Clay". Those Pulitzer folks liked it so much, they gave it some sort of ribbon.). One call to the extra casting director and I was hired.

The next night, Nic, my brother Greg and I arrived at a rundown warehouse in the Strip District neighborhood around 6 PM. We checked in with the casting director and were quickly ushered into a makeshift cafeteria and began what we would spend the majority of the night doing: waiting.

A few long hours crawled by before we were called to wardrobe. The picture being a period piece set in the early 80's, the clothes we got were somewhat uncomfortable, especially the jeans. Apparently, men wore their dungarees to their belly button in the ancient year of 1983. I wouldn't know. I was still in short pants back then.
Next up, more waiting. We had smuggled in quite a few cans of Sparks, a hybrid Malt Liquor/Energy Drink, recently outlawed in the contiguous 48. It was a Saturday Night after all. Sparks helped us pass the time, though I can't say the same for my nervous system.
By the time the Winter Olympics rolled around, the entire motley crew of 100 or so "day players" were called upstairs to shoot our big scene.
I'm ready for my spotlight, Mr. De-- sorry, I won't even finish it. I'm a fucking extra.

First, a little background info.
Presently, I have no delusions or ambitions of being an actor. It was a very different story when I was twelve and my goal in life was to be on "Saturday Night Live". After months of persistence my mother signed me up for acting classes along with my two brothers. As anybody with multiple siblings knows, growing up, what you do, your brothers/sisters do. Unfortunately for me, my interest in acting was only equaled by my brothers disinterest.

Every Saturday morning we would trek to the local Arts center in the Ford Taurus station wagon. I can't say if I was a promising actor, most likely not. I do remember enjoying it quite a bit at first. But it was not to be.
My dream was cut short though as A) I quickly grew bored and more importantly B) my brothers and I were thrown out of the class.
It seems my kid brother Greg slide tackled another student who was practicing acting on the phone. Unprovoked, Greg took a running start and slid into this kid's legs, sending the poor would be Treat Williams flying into the air, along with the phone and the table it had been resting on. The kid wasn't seriously hurt. But we Solomich boys were out, personas non grata. Alas, my acting dreams were dashed. Often I wonder if my life would be different now had the floors not been shiny, slick linoleum. But, I digress...

Back to the making of "Mysteries of Pittsburgh". We were meant to be the audience at a "punk club", which looked just about how a Hollywood art director would envision a "punk club", i.e. completely contrived and cliche. The three of us were lucky enough to have met one of the principals. While Meryl Streep she may not be, Sienna Miller sure is easy to look at. Her co-stars were Peter Saarsgard and Jon Foster (had to look that one up). Nick Nolte was in the movie as well, but unfortunately he wasn't in this particular scene.
Saarsgard seemed like a nice guy, joking around with the crew most of the time while the Foster guy struck me as nervous and humorless.
The director, much younger than I expected, had made one picture before, the emotional tour-de-force otherwise known as "Dodgeball". Too bad, they weren't filming that instead.

The Big Scene
"Action"
"Cue "punk" music.
The extras start pseudo slam dancing-- jumping up and down mostly. After five seconds, the music abruptly stops and we continue dancing, pretending this is the most raucous 'punk' gig ever. It is a very strange atmosphere, I must say.
In the midst of the sea of awkwardly attired 'punks', the actors walk through the crowd, hammily delivering their lines. Paddy Chayefsky, this is not.

"Cut", yells the director. "Good work everybody. Let's try it again".
And so forth forevermore.

Fast forward four hours. We've finally finished our star-making performances. The casting director announcesthat while most of us can go home, they need some of us for another scene. We don't need to mull this one over. It's nearly 6 AM.

As we're walking to collect our meager pittance ($50 for nigh on 12 hours!?!) I spy them filming the next scene: a mohawked 'punk' giving a simulated blow job to Saarsgard in the "punk" clubs' bathroom. I don't need to be here for this one. I'll be in my trailer Sienna.

On the drive home, all three of us agree we would never be extra's again. It's completely not worth it. But hold on. Maybe it was. I've got the story, if you can call it that, to share with you, dear reader. That's gotta be worth something, right?

Three years later, I still haven't seen "Mysteries of Pittsburgh". Apparently it's terrible and no distributor in their right mind wants to touch it.

Still a good book though.

Later,
Mark

THE GREATEST THING ON YOUTUBE

No, it's not a fat guy miming to a song in front of his computer and it's not some cutesy kid getting scared by his parents. It's a clip from the Dick Cavett show, from way back in 1970. I've come across many clips from his show and it makes me sad that late night shows used to be like this, with amazing guests. And look what we have now, "Jaywalking"? I digress...

This is a clip of John Cassavettes, Peter Falk, and Ben Gazzarra promoting their movie "Husbands". Obviously they're totally wasted, especially Falk. This really cracked me up, especially all the pratfalls. If you're unfamiliar with Cassavettes, do yourself a favor and check out his pictures. May I suggest "Killing of a Chinese Bookie", "Minnie and Moskowitz" or "Husbands".

The clip takes a bit to get going, but once these guys come out, it's really funny and entertaining. This is what late night talk shows should be, but they're really aren't guests like this anymore. As a bonus, the commercials are included. It's a great time capsule for a time I never knew, but seemed like alot more fun than today.





These are parts 1 and 2 out of 4 clips. Check out the rest of the episode.
Oh and just for fun, here's a clip of Cassavettes punching dear old Ronnie Reagan in a clip from "The Killers" in 1964.





Later,
Mark