January 2012
11 posts
Reggie and Ellen
I just came back from a whirlwind couple of days in LA, California, where I had the honour of performing alongside Charlie Puth and Emily Luther. Though it was their second appearance, this was my first time performing on national TV and the experience was completely mind-blowing.
What I would like to say first, though, concerns all of the people who made the Ellen experience truly magical for...
Round 1: Facebook Like and Tweet! →
This is round one of five. To help me progress, please vote for my video on the left, tweet the link, and like it on Facebook!
rezalmartinez asked: Will you let your fans know how you proposed by sending them to my blog? ;)
metheelephant asked: By the way, did you propose to your girlfriend? :O :)
metheelephant asked: Haay Robert :3 I'm so excited for you going with Emily and Charlie to LA! My question/request is if I can get you to "vlog" a bit when you're in LA? We would love to see what you guys spend time on when being on a trip like that :D (And make sure to film something from backstage at Ellen!)
“I can change 23 chromosomes and 40,000 DNA in the human body. If someone is...”
– Huh Kyung Young
http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/01/20/us-korea-election-miracle-idUSTRE80J09X20120120
The Debt Blame
I’m going to rant. I’m going to rant, but I’m going to do it whilst taking care to rant with brevity. My tea will get cold if I don’t.
I cannot access a social network without seeing a slew of posts about which US presidential candidate is ‘the best’ and which party should be ruling, and frankly it’s becoming intolerable.
So let me pose you a question...
Treehouse Kindergarten →
I would build a time machine to be 4 years old again just so I could go here.
1 tag
Charlie asked how I was doing. Here’s how...
December 2011
8 posts
rezalmartinez asked: Why are you both so cool? Seriously...
wwwyoutubecomsmosh asked: charlie, when is your next album coming out?? and emily, robert and Charlie i love your voices they are amazinggg :)
The car goes where the eyes go.
With your mind power, your determination, your instinct, and the experience as well; you can fly very high.
~ Ayrton Senna
rezalmartinez asked: How did you learn to play such an amazing guitar solo?
tumblrbot asked: ROBOTS OR DINOSAURS?
November 2011
2 posts
2 tags
Turning Tables
I had an interesting thought last night. I was watching the Assassin’s Creed Revelations trailer, and the narrator was explaining that as an assassin for the Templars, “only you can bring light and purpose to the world”.
Bear in mind that as the monologue played there was gameplay of people being offed with swords, axes, explosives, etc.
I wonder how well a game would go...
October 2011
5 posts
Dictionary.com Wants Me Dead
The more serious I’ve become about writing, the more I’ve immersed myself in a world of words, and, being the geek of the family, I decided to subscribe to dictionary.com’s ‘Word of the Day’.
They send one word a day to my inbox, like ‘anoesis’, ‘lummox’, and ‘cosmogony’. Today they sent me two, in this order:
sepulchral...
1 tag
Workaholism
The Occupy movement has dominated social and conventional media for weeks now, and I’ve seen so many different points of view flung around. There are those who call themselves ‘the 99%’, those who are called the ‘1%’, those who claim not to be part of ‘the 99%’ because of the perceived attitudes they see in ‘the 99%’, and even those who call...
Investigate the Truth
Sharing information and pictures has become as easy as clicking a link, especially on Facebook and Twitter. A trend I have noticed, however, is for images and quotes to be misattributed to people and events.
Today I came across an article that was shared on Facebook, and the article sported a graphic picture with a bold caption, “Christians burnt alive by Muslims in Nigeria (November...
Steve Jobs: Creator of Lasting Change
I learned of Steve Jobs’ passing on a plane. The details of his passing were revealed on me on an iPhone. How apt that his transition was broadcast by the very technology he created.
Rather than write a lengthy article on his life, which I in no way have the authority to do with any accuracy or true personal account, I will instead reflect briefly on my thoughts concerning Steve and his...
September 2011
3 posts
RockStars for Life
Yesterday I posted this status on my Twitter feed:
News. Enormous, life-changing, blog-worthy, vlog-worthy, shout-it-from-the-nearest-available-rooftop kinda news. Tumblr update coming soon.
Something I’ve been working on for the past few months with my close friend Brittany Mahrer blew out of the water in a big way. That something is a non-profit organisation that we started in April...
1 tag
Human Being
“Let not a man glory in this, that he loves his country; let him rather glory in this, that he loves his kind.”
- Bahá’u’lláh
This is one of my favorite quotes, but it had a particular impact on my day today. As you may know, I’m a member of the performing ensemble known as Rhythm of the Universe (ROTU). ROTU has members from over 90 countries and we have had the...
February 2011
1 post
Nine To Five (And Back Again)
Being intensively trained to do something is quite an undertaking. Taking on what you’ve been trained to do as a full-time job? That’s something else entirely.
For the past two and a half years I’ve trained as a musician and songwriter at the Berklee College of Music in Boston, MA, a school that’s turned out everybody from Quincy Jones and Alf Clausen, to Dream Theater...
November 2010
1 post
Missions
Oh my, I’ve disappeared recently, haven’t I? Well, maybe not, but when I spend a period of time putting things out there in shows and on the net, and then take a break, it feels like I’ve been away for more time than has actually passed.
I’ve been working on a mission. That mission then spawned several others and before I knew it I had more on my hands than I knew what to...
October 2010
4 posts
1000 →
Pushing for 1000 fans. Once we reach our new goal I’ll announce a contest which will put you in the position take part in the release of my singles, win a little software and have a lot of fun!
Social Change
Ahead of my trip to the 8th Annual Music Industry Weekend at Bosch Bahá’í School next weekend, I wanted to pose a question to you all. I’m going to be on a panel leading a discussion on songwriting and social change and, though I have my own thoughts, I wanted to put this question out there:
If you could name a song or two, from any point in history, that has in your mind had an...
Face Time
The value of face time. That’s something that’s been on my mind recently. When I first began communicating with my booking manager Ethan Schiff, it was done purely through e-mail and text messaging. It was actually quite amazing how much we achieved without ever meeting each other. Another example of a ‘faceless’ relationship is the one I had with producer Dan Cantor. For...
Left
After having left my tumblr account alone for such a long while, I figured I should provide a brief explanation lest things happen and objects be.
When I created this blog my intention was to very closely document the creation and release of my first album. The intention of this blog is still the same, but my own intentions changed.
I decided that a full album, especially as such an unknown...
May 2010
11 posts
Single
I’m currently working out details for the release of two digital singles ahead of the album. I’m now considering a Spring 2011, only for the reason that I want to make sure that these songs are as good as they can be at this point in time.
In anticipation of this I’m going to release a digital single in the next month, then another several months after that.
Choosing the...
Flow
Deciding on a track-list is rather like being given all the possible combination of character traits for a new-born child and being able to choose the outcome. Well, sort of.
It seems to me that in recent years records have increasingly veered away from the tradition format of coherency; that is to say that the album, whilst it is technically regarded as a piece of art, may not entirely feel...
“A friend of mine told me, ‘I guess you’ve got to go through a lot of...”
– LeBron James
WatchYou Are Here (3)
WatchYou Are Here (2)
WatchYou Are Here (1)
WatchLocation hunting. Finding places that resonate with me, hunting for places that inspire ideas for the album.
“How a person masters his fate is more important than what his fate is.”
– Wilhelm von Humboldt
1 tag
Location Hunting (1)
Location hunting for music. I’ve started taking long walks and looking at everything from different angles; walking on the other side of the street, taking different routes to familiar places, looking up where I’d look down and down where I’d look up. Building this album isn’t just about having the right songs, it’s about creating something immersive, something I can...
April 2010
5 posts
Practice, however, can lead to completely mind-numbing moments. Time to change things up a little.
Practice is one of the most efficient processes I know of. Time spent + effort applied = result directly proportionate to input.
Up with the sun again. Boston smells like ashes and fresh greenery. Ah, sweet contradiction.
The Rhythm of the Universe is a Beautiful Madness
Posters are funny things, especially at a place like Berklee. I often take time between classes to check the multitude of message boards around the campus and there is always a huge range of things being offered; shows, recording time, part-time jobs, bands looking for players or writers. I came across a humble, but colourful, poster, posing the question, “What if everyone became a...