I may have mentioned before that Buffalo Tom’s appearance on the TV show My So-Called Life was sort of a big moment of inspiration for Beat Radio. My friends Rich and Edan thought it would be cool to do a sort of 1990’s rock radio version of our song Golden Age. I had a great time doing it, and it sort of ended up reminding me of listening to WDRE when i was in high school, and 90’s alternative radio.

you can find the original version of this song (and purchase the LP on gold vinyl) here: beatradio.bandcamp.com/album/golden-age
produced and performed by Richardson Reigart (dixonrocks.com) and Edan Rosenberg (westdakota.us) along with Brian Sendrowitz.

I feel lucky to have lots of friends who are great musicians.  It’s probably no secret that Tim Lannen is my favorite.  Tim sent over a remix of Golden Age this morning, and it’s awesome.  Check it out here.

Golden Age (Andy or Jenny remix) by andyorjenny

I’ve talked about Tim’s band The Diggs alot.  Andy or Jenny is a new project with some great stuff in the works.

Here’s a remix of an Andy or Jenny song I did last fall.  Here’s a cover of a song by the Diggs I did.  Cheers!

Woke up to get to hear @kcrwkramer playing “Golden Age” on The Lab.  Awesome!

our friends Antique Shade sent this remix over yesterday - it’s awesome

Golden Age Remix by Antique Shade

Funny, waking up before 5am does something to you.  Running the track at the high school, focusing in on the old scoreboard each time you pass it by.  The way it contrasts against the sky.  You’re not exactly awake, but you feel like its something that’s more than being awake.   There’s a beauty and a strangeness to it.  You feel like you’re in a Michel Gondry movie.   You feel like you’re inside the song Mr. Tamborine Man.

What I’m trying to do, is to change.  I want to grow.  This feeling is not borne out of anxiety or regret, but out of a burning desire.  It takes practice.  Left to our own devices we stay the same.  We stop believing. Believing is the real work.  Our dreams and desires are meant to be realized. Our true selves are meant to be expressed. To quote Julian Koster, “You wouldn’t exist if the universe didn’t need you.” 

I’m right in the middle of alot of different things, and it takes this kind of work for me to remember not to try and control every detail of it.  I just need to do the work, joyfully.  Without fear of rejection. Embracing failures as steps along the way.

Running this morning I was elated.  I can see why people get really into running; it makes you brave.  I got up at 4:45.  I can feel myself getting stronger physically and spiritually.  Nothing has changed really, other than my perspective.  I had a conversation yesterday with my best friend John, about what I’m doing here, and what’s going on with the band.  I’ve always valued his opinions about music and art above anyone else’s.  His perspective on what’s been happening lately with Beat Radio woke me up in a whole different way.  I’m still learning how to see the good things and not focus on what I’m lacking.  I had a few other people reach out to me yesterday with new ideas, and I feel like doors are beginning to open.  I’m looking for open doors.  I’m hunting for opportunities. 

I’m reaching out to all my favorite music writers.  I want to play them my songs, and tell them my story.  I’m breaking through the wall that seperates DIY artists from the establishment.  I’ve already made a few cracks, out here fumbling in the dark.  So I’ll ask you guys to help, which I know is something I’m already doing indirectly everyday.  Sometimes it helps to be direct.  Can you reach out to people you know and tell them about your favorite Beat Radio song?  I’d love to hear what you think.  Let’s tear down every veil.  What’s our next move?

Love Bri
wearebeatradio@gmail.com

So yeah, I’m using this month to get rid of the fear of failure.  It hasn’t done me any good, and I’m ready to let it go.  It’s human nature.  It’s self preservation.  If you dont get your hopes up, you can’t get let down.  If you don’t really put yourself out there you can’t get rejected.  But there’s so much more i want to do.

Liz (my wife) called me out on a bunch of things over the weekend.  Tough love.  She said i only listen to my heart 5% of the time.  I knew right away that she was right.  That 5% is where all my best work comes from.  With each success we’ve had, I’ve always tagged some reservation on to it.  Its a terrible habit I’ve developed.  I hear myself in conversations, adding disclaimers, convincing myself that it’s only this good, not that good.  Like, “we’re making alot of fans, but we still can’t afford to tour” or “we’re getting great reviews on all these blogs, but we still haven’t been able to get into the rotation on any of these radio stations we’d hoped” or “we’re selling some records, but we still can’t afford to hire a publicist to get the word out to the right people.”

What is that?  That’s crazy talk.  Just because something is true doesnt mean i always need to say it.  I’m not going to do that anymore.  Im going to be proud and happy for all the good things that come our way.   I’ve always been grateful for everyone’s support, and I will never take that for granted.  I’m going to keep the focus on the good things from now on.

I’m working out a plan this month to break the band.  I don’t know what it is yet, in the specifics.  I’m starting with a strict personal spiritual regiment:

• Get up at sunrise and go running, 2 1/2 miles

• Meditation - 15 minutes

• Morning Pages - write three pages, dreams, visions, plans.  This is something I learned from a book called The Artist’s Way, which I’d recommend.

• Spend at least 1 hour in the evening sending the music out to people, start out with ambitious targets, and follow the fear.  Go right after the things that scare me the most, the things i want the most. Ask for help

• Feel love/focus on love - at least 3 times a day.  (Liz reminded me Love is the opposite of fear.)

In the past I’ve set grandiose plans and followed through on them mechanically, and tried to control every detail and outcome.  I always crash and burn.  I’ve come to realize that getting lost in a state of being confused and overwhelmed is nothing more than a sophisticated excuse.  I’m purposely not going there with this.  I’m turning inward.  I’m working on believing, and having faith that everything will be revealed.

We put the word out to see what song from the new album people might want to take a crack at remixing, and so here are the individual wav files for the different tracks for our song Golden Age:

golden age vox only (wav file, 54.9MB)

golden age individual tracks zip file (wav files 350MB)
Would love to hear what you guys come up with.  We’ll be posting our favorite remixes here on the blog, and we’ll send a Golden Age T Shirt and copy of the Vinyl to the person who does the one we like the best.  So, yeah, I guess it’s a contest.  Fancy.  Send us your mp3’s and/or soundcloud or bandcamp links to info@beatradio.org.

New T-Shirts Available at our store!  Fancy.

you can rock the new LP on youtube now.  we’d love if you pass along to friends, and let us know what you think about the songs.  best, bri