6/25 - skye and i saw less than jake at the metro! the suicide machines and fishbone opened for them. it was an amazing show!1 i love the suicide machines and i love less than jake!! they played a lot of my favorite songs. skye and i did some dancing in the pit before they got knocked on the head too hard! i only cried a little bit during this one.
6/29 - KLEENEX GIRL WONDER!!! we saw kleenex girl wonder at the hideout. mocktag opened for them and they were cool too. KGW was amazing!! i had a shit ton of fun and he played so many songs i liked!! i honestly wasnt expecting them to sound so good!! it was so amazing seeing one of my favorite songwriters perform! i even got to talk to him a little bit (photo below)
i hope he comes back to chicago again soon. i wish i could have talked to him a lot more! also i didnt cry too much here.
7/4 - milwaukee summerfest FOUNTAINS OF WAYNE - i went with skye and sean to the summerfest in milwaukee, it was my first time going there. we saw a few bands but we mostly went to see fountains of wayne. the whole day was really fun, even though it was really hot and water was espensive. at 10pm they finally played and skye and i were up in the very front right in the center.
this one was crazy!! they played soooo many good songs!! i was screaming and jumping up and down so much! this is the one i cried the most at. i was having so much fun:)
7/5 - capn jazz! this was my 2nd time seeing capn jazz. last time was in october at their "secret show" at the empty bottle. that one was one of my favorite shows of all time!! this was just as good, but it wasnt the same as seeing them for the first time!
i think they played a nearly identical setlist to that last show. it was an amazing show and tim kinsella threw his tambourine into the audience a lot more than he did last time. i had a great time, and i saw a lot of my friends there! i dont think i cried at all.
7/6 - THE BEATLES COVER BAND!!! holy fuck i was feeling absolutely insane at this show. i dont know what compelled me to act like i did. i couldnt stop dancing and screaming the words to songs. I WAS EVEN YELLING AT THEM ON STAGE!! I KEPT YELLING TO RINGO LOL. their ringo looked so weird but it was perfect.
i went with skye and a few of our friends to this one, it was at the weekend festival in the neighborhood next to mine, so only a few minute drive over. i had so much fun heckling the beatles cover band and pretending they were the actual beatles. id go see them again for sure. i only cried a small amount when they played golden slumbers. they did a lot of songs i liked BUT THEY COULD HAVE HAD A WAAAY BETTER SETLIST. they skipped over most of revolver (my fav), rubber soul, and white album.
i hope next time they play more of my favorite songs. they play in the area fairly often ive heard. i have a theory about beatles cover bands but im already writing a lot so ill save it.
whats next? this friday we have an eat my jorts show!! we have our new song out too!! ill post the cover art i made below!
next week im seeing telethon!!!
and lastly !! the beginning of august weve got long birds shows!!! ill post the flyer i made for the chicago one below. this is probably the best flyer ive ever made :0
ive got a few more things i could saw but i think ill save that for another post and keep this one mainly focused on concerts.
lots going on in the last 2 weeks since i made a post ahhh. i first wanna talk about my student recital! it was last week on saturday, 6/21.
this recital went better than i ever could have hoped for!! i had 16 students perform (ages ranged from 6-53) and the whole thing took just under 90 minutes. everyone played amazingly and had a really fun time.
i feel so glad that i was able to give my students a performance opportunity! people were telling me how great everyone was and it felt so good!! this is one of the proudest moments of my life! it feels so great to see all my hard work, and my students' hard work be visible to everyone!
this thing was stressful and so much work, but it was totally worth it in the end! i am excited to plan the next one for december!!
movin on, the last 2 weeks i was teaching at my community college. i dont have much to say except that sucked away so much energy and time. i had to work both of my jobs a lot of days. i had absolutely no time to write or work on any of my music :( and i think that was the worst part.
my music production class was actually pretty fun and chill, but still a lot of work. i have a 2 week break and then i gotta do this one more time.
in 2 weeks (before my next session of classes) we have an eat my jorts show! i made the flyer and its one of my favorites ive ever made so im posting it below:)
more music news! LONG BIRDS!! i FINALLY just finished booking our 2 shows in august, in chicago and milwaukee. every thing has fallen into place, now sean and i just gotta practice more! oh and speaking of sean, we recorded some songs he wrote the other week.
im playing drums on 3 songs were recording and the recording is turning out killer so far!! im getting really good at recording drums, things are especially sounding good in my music room.
okay final thing. this is very important. tomorrow night i am seeing one of my favorite musicians perform. KLEENEX GIRL WONDER!!! I CANT FREAKING BELIEVE IT DUDE!!!! its for real!1 tomorrow!! i gotta post more often so i dont have to type as much all at once.
tomorrow morning ill be starting to teach my 2 summer classes at my local community college. i have this for the next 2 weeks. so ill be working 7 days a week, and some days ill be doing both the college job and my lessons job. too much. i have to wake up early too :( i am doing a music production class and a drumming class. im already exhausted thinking about it.
im making a post today! its onlyh the first week of june so hopefully ill be able to post at least 2 more times and update a little more this month than the last 2 months!
i have a lot coming up that im really worried about so ive been pretty stressed out lately. i really just want to do the things i enjoy like writing songs or playing some video games but i have too much to do. although, i have made some really good progress with a few of the songs that ive been working on and im happy about that!
even with all my stress and worried i am glad i have a really caring and supportive partner. skye is sooo great:) we went to the round 1 arcade for the first time together on wednesday night and it was a lot of fun! it was
a pretty spontaneous decision but im glad we did it! we won a few prizes tooo!!
right now my friend rose is staying at my home for a few days before they move to alabama, its kinda fun having a room mate for only a few days.
i need to post more blog posts on here!! im so busy ! I APOLOGIZE!!!!
before i go any further i completely forgot to post about a huge project i was working on. heres a link to it! Constant Headache - Hi and Bye People
this is the first constant headache album! i recorded, mixed, and mastered it! and even did some drumming, backing vocals, and mandolin(ing). this is the first big project that i made that wasnt for one of my own bands. i love how it turned out and im glad i got to help my friends make this!
anyways now that thats out of the way, i can update you for the whole entire month of may. first of all i have been doing some updates on this sites layout and i think its looking pretty coo. i have been enjoying making the chrono trigger backgrounds for each page!
earlier this month we finally had an eat my jorts practice. i drove down to champaign with skye to meet dylan and dylan! we rehearsed songs, learned the one i wrote, and recorded backing vocals for 2 songs.
on my songwriting page im uploading a sneak peak of one i wrote! i think were playing a show in july? idk i have to set it up D:
skye and i also celebrated our 3 month aniversay this month! we went to the museum of science and industry in chicago and it was an amazing time!! i love them so much!! i have been really really happy with them. we play pokemon go together a lot!!
my job has been pretty overwhelming lately. i set up a recital for my students and its next month. its a lot of work, i feel unorganized, underprepared, and behind a lot for my lessons. i dont think i actually am but i really want to do the best i can with this job and i know i can do better. im excited for the recital though. next month i also start teaching some summer classes at the community college by me, this will be a lot of extra work and ill be really really busy.
i think thats all im gonna write for now. im gonna try to hold myself to updating more often for real for real. id much rather make a few blog posts going into more detail on the things im doing and feeling rather than one big post that only glosses over things.
hi!! two days ago it was my birthday. april 22. i didnt think id be alive this long!!!! but i am so whatever!
i got to spend all day with skye which was really nice! they make me feel so so amazing and special! we have been playing a lot of minecraft lately!!! FLINT AND STEEL!!! (srry about that)
yesterday we drove up to madison wisconsin to see the smoking popes!! god i love that band!! we even got in for free since jack from telethon put us on the list!! thanks jack!!! it was a really fun little road trip and it was skye's first time seeing the smoking popes!
anyways i have some news im so hyped about!! august 1!! mina is flying back in town and we are playing a long birds show!! i love this band so much, and even if it barely exists anymore im still so glad we can do it sometimes! and im happy to know theres also other people who still love the music! were gonna have sean play drums for us for this show. we are also thinking of doing a second show on the 2nd!
i have been working on writing a lot of 'long birds style songs', so i cant wait to get a new band going with the same sound. but i think its going to be really hard for me to find the right band members.
off topic but im sad that ave mujica is over for now i was loving that anime. next month i hope i can blog post more than 2 times in a month!
NOT AN APRIL FOOLS JOKE!! I PROMISE I JUST HAVE TIME TO POST AND IT JUST SO HAPPENS THAT ITS APRIL FOOLS TODAY!!
in my last blog post i mentioned i met someone "very very cool". those were my exact words and those words were definitely an understatement!!
the person who i was talking about is my PARTNER!! and their name is SKYE!! we started dating literally a day after i posted that!
weve been together for a little over a month now and so far skye has been a fricken amazing partner to me! they are so sweet and so loving! i feel so lucky to have them in my life and i am so happy
that weve been getting to spend so much time together! we are hanging out almost every day and i love it! i was helping skye set up a neocities a little bit so hopefully theyll
have a site on here eventually too! skye has been so supportive and caring towards me since we met and i am sooo in loovee!!
one of the really really fun things weve done together was drive up to minnesota to see paul baribeau play a show!! he said it was his first show in 10 years!! i had gotten a ticket for myself before i met skye but i was able to take them with me!!
we had an amazing time!! paul baribeau was amazing to see! i never thought id get to see him play!! i even got to talk to him a little bit. one of the craziest things is the day after the show skye and i went to the mall of america, and just
when we were leaving to drive home, WE SAW PAUL BARIBEAU AGAIN!! he said hi to us while we were going up the escalator and he was going down.
anyways thats all for now! expect more posts about how much i love skye!! photos below!!
i gotta stop forgetting to post blog posts or ill forget all the important things happening! ive just been busy but i think things are calming down a little which im glad about.
first of all!! the show i played with telethon was insane!!! i had soooo much fun and im never gonna forget it!! i love that band so it was so cool to be a part of it for just a little bit:) a photo is at the end of this post,
another cool thing is i played the rpgmaker game end roll!! i played it while my online friend sorrel watched me cause its one of his favorite games! i loved it! it was so well put together and the story was great and i cried a little bit. i miss you so much kantera
i am finally wrapping up my work on the constant headache album! its been a long process and im happy with how it turned out! the album will be out in about a month weeee!!!
im putting a kgw cover up on the writing page of this site.
lastly!! i met someone very very cool recently!! sooo im excited to see where that goees and what it turns into:)
ahh!!!!11 so some exciting news!! next week (one week from today) ill be filling in on drums for Telethon!! im so excited! theyre one of my favorite bands and i cant believe its happening! were playing at the beat kitchen! thats all i wanted to say! gotta go learn 8 songs lololol
i wish i was posting here more but i have been feeling really discouraged lately about a lot of things i like doing. i think im overwhelming myself with all the things i want to do and lately that pile of stuff is getting too high.
im not sure what to do anymore.
i also miss playing music with people i trusted. i miss playing music with my friends that i believed and that believed in me.
hi happy new year and happy holidays and stuff. was hoping to post more with some of the stuff ive done but ive been too busy and havent made time to make a blog post.
in my last post i wrote about 2 shows i was playing and those both were really good shows. i am so good at the drums. on the home page i wrote a list with my favorite releases from this year. i think i might add a music review page eventually and put that there?? im not too sure.
but check that out! lots of killer stuff on there and tell me if you found anything new that you like! my email is reunitedairlines666@gmail.com send me an email or ask for my discord (or message me if you know me irl of course). stay tuned for a list
of my favorite shows i went to in 2024 as well!
im not really a person to make new years resolutions but i do have some long term goals that i am/have been working towards. not gonna share them in this post because id like to write more about them than just a sentence or so.
i really just hope i can keep living this rock and roll life that i am living. lets gooo.
im waaay too busy!! but i think thats good? right? or if i wasnt busy i think id just be sad.
i have a lot going on lately, i think i always do, but ill just write about a few things. on saturday i worked and then i went with my friend rose to the ghost arcade!!
which ive been dying to go to for so long! it was a lot of fun and i wanna play more bubble bobble lol. on sunday i also worked and then went to have band practice with my
friends' ska band the land before tim. im filling in on drums for them for a show next weekend, and that was our only full band practice well get. im a little nervous but it should be finee.
i am also playing an eat my jorts show tomorrow. im slightly excited for it, but i think it will be just alright. im not sure.
a new sour note symphony album came out and it was really good! ill be doing a favorite albums of the year list soon! ive been getting back into playing the long dark and its a lot of fun.
i wrote a song the other day which im pretty happy with too. i added the lyrics in the writing page. i wish i could sing better i just dont know what to doo??
i have more to say but i need to get ready for work soon though. so i will see ya later
so 2 weeks ago today i got my vasectomy. i just thought id write about it a little bit. i had been thinking about getting it done for a few years, and lucky it was 100% covered by insurance.
i was in and out of the place in about 45 minutes, the procedure only took about 25 minutes. it was pretty chill. i was not in any pain, except for when they applied the anesthetic, which felt
exactly like getting a rubber band snapped on your balls. which was strangeee. but they did that twice on each side. then they started the procedure which was very quick! they prescribed me antibiotics as well.
i relaxed most of the day and wasnt uncomfortable. i had to wear a jock strap to support my balls so they werent just hanging out. that was the annoying part loll. overall there was a small soreness, but nothing major. i had to wait a week to cum,
but when i finally did everything was still cool and working. and today about feel as normal as ever. so overall it was really easy and the recovery was quick!! and im not going to have kids!!! hella
okay lets talk about some music!! this last weekend i went to this improvised music fest in chicago. i went friday and saturday. it was sooooo fricken sick!! i loved every bit of every performance.
although my favorite group was the group that closed the saturday night show. they had a drumset player, a percussion(almost drumset like setup) player, and a man who was playing the record player. yeah he was playing it!!
he had records of solo jazz instrumentalists, and he had those plugged into effects pedals and was manipulating them in live time. it was insanely cool!! that group was intriguing the whole time! i was sooo mesmerized. afterwards i got to
talk to the guy who was doing the record player stuff and he was extremely nice and answered a lot of questions i had. he even gave me some advice on other events to go to to meet other musicians who want to play improvised music.
he said he will be on the look out for me in the future too. maybe hell want to play with me one day! i got to talk to the drumset player too, i talked to her last year when i saw her play. shes really talented too! shes probably around my age but hopefully i can pick her brain more sometime too.
for a while i was getting together with my friend to play free jazz. he played electric guitar and did a lot of effects stuff while i played drums. i had a lot a lot a lot of fun doing that, and i wish we could again. but he said he was getting too busy and didnt want to put the time into that anymore which was pretty sad.
but its okayy.
this week i should have some more free time than usual. i need to get to work on mixes for constant headache and eat my jorts. as well as working more on writing my own songs! maybe get this website looking a little nicer too!
today i dont work, and i got through most of my emails i needed to send yesterday after my lesson and before i went to the bats show. it was a cool show, i love bats, i just dont really like going to shows at bars lol.
this morning i bleached the roots of hair and right now i have my green hair dye in! im happy to be doing it again! i def needed a touch up.
the rest of the day im gonna practice piano, im learning a chopin prelude. play some undernight in birth, maybe some tetris. i feel motivated to write some new lyrics so going to do that! and tonight im going to that
free jazz show. none of my friends want to go so im going alone (as usual). i dont mind going to shows alone, but its usually more fun if i take a friend. maybe ill paint my nails too? im listening to superchunk.
ive been so fricken busy lately, yesterday was the first day in a while that i had nothing planned so it was good to have some time to myself.
im going to too many shows this weekend. tonight im seeing my friend jess' band called bats from nashville. and on friday and saturday im going to the catalytic sound festival, which is a free jazz fest. (not free as in money, but free as in form)
i went to it one day last year and it blew me away!! i still want to get an insane and chaotic jazz combo together, its just hard to find the right people as always.
on sunday i have practice with a band im filling in on drums for a show for. that show is in 2 weeks, and we also have a jorts show that same week. and ontop of all that i have work!!aaaaaa
which is also sooo much work and ive been getting easily overwhelmed with it lately. but i take teaching so seriously so its hard not to stress about it. all i want to do is teach and inspire!! and im usually good at it, but i need to keep being good at it and
i worry about that sometimes. i always second guess myself with my job, its hard not to do. i dont know. im still getting used to teaching independently. so hopefully i get better at it.
still working on updating this site. i added the page where im gonna put in progress lyrics and songs/demos. i added on there the other day.
also the year is coming to a close. ill have a write up of my favorite albums from this year. (which unfortunately might be kinda short?? idk i had a hard time finding new releases this year and im kinda bummed about it)
anyways i gotta go.
im getting some work in updating this website. i think ill just write a little bit about one of my obsessions.
kleenex girl wonder
so this website is named after the KGW song "Reunited Airlines" i honestly am so bad with thinking of names but i love that song so it just kinda stuck.
kleenex girl wonder (graham smith) is one of my favorite music artists. hes got an intensive discography with so so many great songs. eventually i will do a ranking/review of all the albums on here.
but if you havent heard of kgw, start with the album Ponyoak. i found this cd of this album a week or 2 ago at a record store that i went to after an awful date lol. i already own the record for that album but it was insane to see that cd in the wild so i had to buy it!
i think the thing about kgw that draws me in is mainly the insane lyrics. this dude is a literal genius when it comes to writing words to songs. i dont understand how he comes up with so many crazy idea, or how the songs are paragraphs and paragraphs long, but still flows together as a complete idea.
this has impacted my writing style a lot (for the worse probably) because a lot of times i get too caught up into trying to emulate this writing style. it doesnt help that bad religion is one of my other favorite bands, who also use an incredibly dense lexicon in their lyric writing.
its tough to try to reach the insanely high heights of my favorite song writers when im working on my music. ill get there someday. so far im very proud of all the songs/lyrics ive written. the ones i am working on now are getting even better i think!
i can go on and on about lyrics and writing. its my favorite part of the songs i like. ill end it here for now. i need a break from all this html stuff. more updates to come on this site though! i love kgw. i hope i can meet him one day and see him play my favorite songs!