For The Greater Good

Dang it. I keep forgetting to immediately post here when new songs go up. For your consideration, For The Greater Good.

Cars Roll Down - Video!

Remember how I mentioned ages ago that I was shooting a video? Well that sucker is finished and up for the world to see! Giant thanks to Craig Wenaweser for directing it. He lended a professionalism that The Heated has not yet seen. It's like a real video. Also, giant thanks to Regina for recording the song. It's great when your friends make you better than you would have been on your own... like twenty times better, I'd say. Statistically, that seems about right.

Cars Roll Down - Performance Version on Vimeo.

Winners!

Congratulations to EcoChicHandKnit, My Dear Darling and soulflower. You are the winners of a clementine tea towel given to the person you are thankful for. Everyone's comments were equal in my eyes so in the end, I pulled your names from a hat. I mean, how can one judge who does and doesn't deserve a towel? I will be in touch as to where they should be sent.

Giving Thanks

It's about time for another giveaway. Since Thanksgiving is coming up though, it's going to be run a little differently than usual. Up for grabs are 3 Clementine Dishtowels printed on unbleached cotton towels. To "win" please post a brief comment telling us about someone you feel grateful to have in your life. Rather than sending you the free towel, we'll ship it off to the person who has made your life a little better. Please make sure to give us a way to contact you! We'll post our favorite 3 comments on Thanksgiving day.
By the way, if you think this doesn't sound like Cristina, you're right (it's Jenny).

The Heated Is Accepting Applications

Here's what up (taken from my craigslist ad). Passing this on to your musically inclined friends would be appreciated.

Dear Musician,
I write songs. I need kick-ass musicians to play these songs with me and help me develop and arrange them for a full band so that we can become popular and make some money off of our efforts. I would love to have some non-standard instruments, especially some brass. No instruments too weird for me to consider including. Of course, a drummer and bass player are needed too. I have been playing as The Heated for a few years now, have a good little following, good contacts with local bands and a few contacts at clubs and local blogs.

Click this link for an application: http://www.theheated.com/application.html
Click this link to listen to The Heated: http://www.theheated.com/mp3s.html

If you have any trouble with those links, please email info@theheated.com for further assistance.
Thank you,
Cristina

Momentum

The Deli SF has begun featuring the show. Check it out!

Chicks hatch, you know.

Putting a band together is like dating. There's the awkward set-up, the stuttering emails as you clumsily attempt to arrange schedules. And sometimes, when you meet, there are creepy vibes. Really creepy vibes that make you want to never see that person again. Then there are the ones who you like and they like you but there's just not a real connection, you know, musically, which is close to the groin region.

I was exchanging emails with a cigar-box banjo player who also has synaesthesia. He seemed really excited but then got too scared. It saddened me as I really want to know what colors my songs are but alas, it was not to be. I exchanged emails with a few bass players and a guitarist but it just didn't work out. They want to co-write and I want a benevolent band dictatorship. There was a drummer I had a few sessions with but things just didn't fit and by that I mean to say that he dumped me. That's what my big announcement was going to be. Sigh. The drummer, not the getting dumped. It's hard to be out there again. It takes a long time to get things done and in the meantime, you're all vulnerable with your imploring advertisements and singing songs to strangers in one-on-one situations. Sometimes I get frustrated and want to ditch the whole thing. I'm too old. I'm too lame. It's too hard. I'm too scared. But I have these ideas and so on I go.

From the beginning, I've wanted to add a percussionist, not necessarily a drummer. So I've recruited a friend of mine to play percussion. She doesn't necessarily know how to play but as far as I can tell, she has a good sense of rhythm and a willingness to learn. So far, I have provided her with a snare drum and a tambourine. I got my ass out to the Richmond this morning to pick up some el cheapo stands. They're ridiculously rust-covered. There will be some scrubbing. She'll probably end up with a Frankenstein drum kit which pleases me. We'll see. We'll see what happens here. I want to have good feelings about it but I know all about not counting your chicks before they hatch. Anyway, I should talk more about this band forming process. I'll let you know what's up.

The list of craig

I put an advertisement up for musicians today. It's time to get The Heated going places.

That is what I am talking about!

The Deli Mag choose my show as their featured show for Saturday. Sweet. Thank you, Deli Mag. Please don't forget that it starts at 7:00 pm. I'll be on first and I'm very prompt. Then Camp Out. Then Ayla Nereo. Excellent.

So original

I went out and put up flyers in various establishments up and down Valencia Street on Sunday evening. I must admit, I was really happy with the way this flyer came out. The deer and the tree are actually two totally separate images. It just occured to me to make the tree smaller and they'd look like they belonged together. So I went out to put up my awesome flyers and noticed another band had the exact same idea I did. They had a deer and it was the same size as my deer, facing the same way. Man. It was very "collective subconscious". Theirs was hand-drawn but othewise, it was the same damn flyer with different band names on it. If I run across the other flyer again, I'll take a picture.



You should come to this show, by the way. Please notice that I'm moving up to weekend shows. Sure, it's free and starts at 7:00 pm but I'm still happy. Plus both Ayla Nereo and Camp Out have been so nice in their emails that I have positive feelings about how things will go.

What's coming down the line in 2009?

Last year I didn't choose a theme and I know that disappointed some of you. The truth is, I really needed less focus and by spreading my interests out last year, I got a lot done. I can't tell you how happy I am that The Heated's tea towels are taking off. In my estimation, about 50 people received one for Christmas or Hanukah. Do they do gifts for Kwanza? Anyway, I learned how to screenprint in spite of feeling like I had no time to learn how. 

In fact, I also took a woodworking class and a computer class, all while feeling I had no time to do so. Turns out, I had time for both. I loved both of them too and it's led me to believe that there are a lot of things I tell myself I don't have time to do (though I have other excuses I use too) but that I have been lying to myself. So this year, I am going to pursue the things I want to without bullshitting myself into thinking I can't. Here's what's on my list:

1. See more nature. I want to go on hikes and see pretty things. I don't always want to leave town but luckily, I am surrounded by ocean. That counts as nature. I went to college in the middle of a forest and found myself so homesick for it the other day, I could barely breathe. Must remember to see trees.
   
2. Work out again. Believe it or not, I've developed the cutest little gut this year. I call it my rind. It's precious but it can't stay. Plus, my physical therapist said I need to work my shoulders out again. Back to push-ups and pilates. Also, I enjoy going on walks. That counts as exercise. Having that injury really slowed me down this year, which hadn't happened to me before. It's been weird and I miss working out. 
   
3. Calm the hell down. I have anxiety issues, that's no secret. I will continue my quest for peace of mind through embarassing self-help books that I buy off Amazon because my anxiety prevents me from buying them in stores. This is my resolution every year. I gain ground slowly. 
   
4. Get a creative community together. Call it The Heated. I found out the other night that a friend of mine plays the violin and has never mentioned it! My sister-in-law plays the guitar and banjo. I have another friend who I think I could talk into playing some more guitar and possibly bass on some recordings. It was never my intention to do this alone and while my brief foray into band-dom earlier this year ended in heartbreak, I'm going to get back up on that horse. I've got this ambitious vision of what I want The Heated to become and this year, I will pursue it more than ever before. 
   

That being said, I want you to understand that I think people go about their New Year's resolutions all wrong. People write lists and then start on January 1st. By January 21st, they've already overwhelmed themselves and quit. Here is the key to New Year's resolutions, the idea that you must hold central in order to prevail: you have all year! Don't take everything on at once but take everything on. In fact, that's what I'm going to theme this year: Take Everything On. 

Ain't it always the way?

Not to brag or anything but check out who is on the Etsy House Warming Gift Guide. It's The Heated, that's who. As I type, I have a screen drying in preparation for more owls. I feel excited and overwhelmed. Would I be happier if all this attention were for my music rather than my merchandise? Aw, who gives a crap. This is awesome!


I would like to mention that my wife with her great ideas and excellent taste, is who I'd really like to thank. These towels were all her idea, of course.

So nice, I did it twice.

Remember when I told you about how the power of laziness caused me to both record demos and videos at the same time? Well, what you didn't know is that I recorded more than one song. This song has been stuck in my head recently, mostly because it's called Ohio and with the elections coming up, there's been a lot of talk about Ohio. I actually wouldn't be surprised if I wrote the first part of this song near an election. Maybe eight years ago? It took me that long to finish this song.

The first draft of this song had a lot more city names, like I was trying to fit in everywhere that I've been because I have been many places. But I think you get the idea. It's less about where I've been and more about where I ended up.

If you watch carefully, you can see that I almost fall over at one point but keep going like a champ. Also, I like how the room is in total disarray because we had just painted it. Maybe next time, a little more attention to detail will be paid. I'm not wearing shoes either. That's unusual.

Trois

Believe it or not, I went back to acupuncture today, despite "the incident". I didn't mention it to the woman who stuck me with needles this time because it was a different woman than last time. However, I became very nervous when she looked me over for needles with the exact same look on her face that Jane had when she did the same scan. I asked again, "You got them all, right?" She said, "I hope so. We charge extra for the ones you take home." Yes, ha ha. I love a sense of humor.

This Thursday, October 23rd at Thee Parkside: The Heated has their first paying gig! That's right, get your five dollars ready and make your way to the Potrero Hill area of San Francisco with Whitey On The Moon (oh, I'm going to ask them about that band name, you can be damn sure of that) and B And Not B. The 22 line stops directly in front of the club. It will be way past my bedtime but I promise to rock regardless. I will rock as if it was my job, which it is, because you will have paid good money. I will be playing a solo show without Gee on Monday at Blondie's too, if you're in that area, which is 16th and Valencia... It will most likely be a shortish set but may whet your appetite for Thursday's show.

This was not my dream: but my wife told me today that she had a dream that we had a three-way with Jan from the television program The Office. But apparently, Jan is really high maintenance and brought along three alarm clocks to make sure she woke up in the morning.

"She spent the night?" I asked my wife. It would seem that after that kind of thing, one should put their clothes back on and leave as quickly as possible. Apparently, it wasn't that great either and so we plotted to wake up early and have a make-up session, sans Jan. So, I'm not the only one with weird dreams. I had really lame stress dreams that I woke up crying from. Twice. Damn it. I might need more than acupuncture.

Press Release

For Immediate Release:

Cristina Espinosa placed an ad for a drummer for her previously solo-project The Heated on a whim. The ad read as follows:

Low-key drummer sought. Must be ridiculously good looking.

There were actually two replies but when the first respondent realized there was no money involved, only Gee Fortycoats remained as a contender. The Heated’s self-titled, debut EP was released this past April and already included far more instruments than Espinosa could hope to include in a live performance as a solo artist. So when it became clear that this new drummer also plays guitar, mandolin, various percussion instruments and banjo, Fortycoats was asked to stay on. Thus it is with great pleasure that The Heated announces this new line-up will debut on September 16th at El Rio. The show begins at 8:00 pm and admittance is free.

Fresh for the internetz

Hey folks. I've been recording demos so that myspace can have some fresh material. I decided to record vocals and guitar at the same time, mostly so that I don't have to use a metronome. That's how I use laziness for innovation. But wait, I took it one step further and decided to also record a video at the same time so I wouldn't have to do that later and the sound would match up perfectly. My laziness is your reward. Please check out the new (and by new I mean to say that I wrote it years ago and am just introducing it now) song, For The Greater Good.


(I'm such a Mac commercial, aren't I? Recording songs to Garage Band, downloading video, splicing it together in iMovie, uploading it to YouTube. )

Also, if you are newer to The Heated, you may not be aware of my video for The Current Or The Undertow? You can find this song on my self-released e.p. The owl stays on my desk. I like keeping him around and asking him questions like, "Owlie, do you think I'm so, so pretty?" and he nods and nods.

Even when I was 17

I made this little number up to give to members of my street team ("Little Helpers"). By street team, I mean my friends... they could be a team. It covers three months worth of shows cuz I like to plan ahead.