Zoology 2 Released

Zoology 2's would-be FAQ.

What the hell is this stuff?
It's Scott Thomas Chavez, Kenny Pardo, and Steev Dinkins improvising in a rehearsal studio (except for a few rehearsed pieces).

What were you guys thinking?
We were trying not to.

Is that Scott or Steev on vocals?
It's both of us at different times and/or the same time.

So you guys call this music?
I guess so. It's more like cinéma vérité and documentary approach, so you could call it raw realism recording, as opposed to conventional commercial recording.

So are these songs or something?
It's all one big edited heap of happy accidents.

So you guys just wanked off in the studio?
Actually we worked pretty hard for a year and half to be able to do stuff like this.

Why are there so many fuck ups?
Because we didn't exactly know what we were doing and were caught wallowing in it.

And you expect people to pay for this?
No, it's available as a free download from bandcamp or right here. 

Also available for free - Volume 1.

Zoology 1-3 Released

Finally after 4 months of editing, mastering, and experimenting with the final song order, Zoology 1-3 is getting released. Over 130 tracks, 3.5 hours, fresh from the middle of industrial silicon valley Bay Area suburbania.

This was a long time dream that many musicians don't quite understand. See, early on in playing with bands, my favorite moments weren't perfecting songs, they were the stupid things that happened in between rehearsing songs. What happened when the guard was down was far more honest, real, weird, and full of character. We're in love with weird sounds and Zoology is full of just that - unconventional ravings of 3 monkeys.

The technical stuff was insane:

http://holyzoo.com/photos/1969-2005/2001-2002_Holy_Zoo_Band/large-88.html http://holyzoo.com/photos/1969-2005/2001-2002_Holy_Zoo_Band/large-85.html

The quality of sound that came out of all this tweakery stands up after all these years. We all had in-ear monitoring of mic'd drums, guitar, bass, vocals, and audio samples. The final recordings here are essentially my monitor mix from night to night which I constantly tweaked with for 9 months.

Here's the blurb from CDBaby and BandCamp so far:

Zoology Volume 1 of 3. Frustrated by rehearsing songs, Holy Zoo invent an unpredictable universe of freeform fuckery, miraculous disasters, happy accidents, psycho rhythms, ridiculous improvs, and violent wipe outs, rattled off from out of nowhere. Set up in a dingy rehearsal space for 9 months, live - no overdubs. Recorded from April-December 2002. Volume 1 starts the journey in unknowing genesis, technical difficulties, angst, and comedy. Be sure to check out Volumes 2 and 3.

Be warned, this stuff is brutal, offensive, and uncensored.

Volume 1 Direct Download - Uncensored Version

Here's Volume 1 Artwork by Scott Chavez.  

Holy Zoo Faire

After more than 12 years, Holy Zoo Faire is finally finished, including copyright and digital distribution setup. Only thing now is waiting on CreateSpace to give thumbs up on ordering a proof for the physical CD.

Here's the album on BandCamp

Update:  The physical CD is up now on CreateSpace.

Digital purchase is also available on Amazon, iTunes, and CDBaby.

Full image artwork...

Disable Canon EOS Utility Image Auto Import

Well, the Canon Utility software install resulted in this helper app to launch and offer to import images - the MemoryCardUtility app.

Well, I don't want it to launch when I mount a CF card. I found this on a forum on how to disable it. It's NOT OBVIOUS!  

Open the Apple Application, "Image Capture" in you Applications folder. 

Canon selects their helper app deceptively called "CameraWindow".  I say there are too many apps from Canon. Jeez.  No wonder iPhoto, Lightroom, and Aperture were so revolutionary.  

So select "No application" from the pulldown menu and you're done!

GH1 Halloween Video

Halloween 2009 from Steev Dinkins on Vimeo.