Josh Auer's Music Blog

I Were Hacked!!

2010-05-26T00:39:00.000-07:00

As some of you know, nothing makes me laugh more then when words get lost in translation. Take for example, this sign that i found in L.A., clearly written by someone with English as a second language.

Well, the joke was on me today when someone hacked into my email and sent out an add for an online electronic store to my entire contact list. I soon realized what was going on when ALL of my friends and family wrote back confused. At first I was annoyed, but once I took a closer look, I realized it was totally worth it... Thanks for the laughs hacker!

I highlighted some of my fav's:

Dear friend:

Our company is large electronic wholesalers.
We have many products
Such as: Digital Cameras, PSP,LCD TV, Laptops Notebook, Digital Video,Mp4,GPS,
And so on.
We will offer you best good's and service.
If you are interests in any product, or have any questions,please contact us.
I guarantee you that all our good's with lowest price and quality.
We will offer you excellent after-sale service.
We do hope we can have a happy and long term partnership in the near future.
Our Web address: www.itelep.com
Our mail: itelep@188.com

If you have any other problem!

Please E-mail us,
We will provide you with the best service.
thanks and wait for your news!

5

Happy Town

2010-05-19T23:57:00.000-07:00

And I'm so HAPPY about it!

In fact, I'm not sure I could be more HAPPY about being placed on the first episode of the [kinda creepy weird dramatic strange murder-y] new hit ABC TV show, Happy Town!

They really make you wait for it in this one- I'm placed at the tail end of the episode [um, so worth it... right??] in the scene where two dudes are in the Pizza Parlor chatting murders and wieners and stuff. At least that's what I got out of it.

Runs from 38:42 to 39:25 [a whole 40 seconds!]

Hope there's more where this came from. And hope you keep watching so that I don't have to. Wait- I don't mean it like that. I just mean that my time is really important and I have, like, a lot better things to do with it than you do. At least that's what I think.

Either way- enjoy the clip!

One Week of My Life Spent on Fireflies.

2010-04-09T23:47:00.000-07:00

In case you don't follow me on Twitter, or visit Myspace [which, honestly, who of you would be HERE if you didn't.... honestly??], I posted a video in which I call "The New Hotness" on my YouTube channel.

It's a cover song. And it rocks. See for yourself...

Just think folks... this nearly 3.5 minute video took a week of my life away. A week I can never get back. So you'd better like it- nay, you had better love this video. I put in a big heaping dose of extra special love powder into it- so that I can hypnotize you into all becoming devout, adoring fans of mine.

And with that, I send you on your way. All I ask in return [and by return, I mean... the fact that I give you eye awesomeness in video form] is that you worship me. No wait- I'll just take comments and retweets, actually. And your first born. Too much??

Longest Weekend Ever.

2010-04-05T01:42:00.001-07:00

So maybe I haven't mentioned it much on here, but I regularly play on Sunday mornings at church alongside some of my very talented friends [namely, Travis Ryan]. I do this for a few reasons:

1. My friends are awesome
2. It provides me with a good few hours of "dude time" each week
3. Money in the bank

Also, since I started my music career in the Christian music industry I could essentially do this stuff with my eyes closed.

We get a lot of opportunities to play as an actual band for Travis as well at conferences, other churches, large gatherings and more. Typically it's a pretty good time and is shrouded in moments of complete ass-clown-ness, which of course I love.

This weekend was particularly a busy one. Playing for 2 different churches on Easter Sunday, our schedule was as follows:

Saturday:
5am call time for Saturday conference at Saddleback Church
9am to 1pm Playing/Hanging/Eating/Playing/Playing/Douche-bagging
1pm to 2pm Short break to go home and grab my equipment for rehearsal [different gig, different gear]
2pm to 7pm Set Up and Rehearse [with full choir and string section] for Easter services
7pm to 10pm Family Dinner, Easter egg hunt, the whole "preaster" nine yards.
11:30pm Fall down dead asleep with the wife by my side

Sunday:
4:45am call time for "Sunrise Service" event in Coto De Caza
6:30am Service #1 Set to begin [ran 20 minutes late]
8:30am BEGIN PLAYING for huge Easter service [the time crunch of death between the 6:30am service and the 9am service- was so brutal!]
9am Service #1 at Church #2
11am Service #2 at Church #2
1pm Load Out/Pack Up
2pm Fall down dead alseep with the wife by my side
3:30pm Earthquake- momentary nap interruption [rude, Earth... real dick move you pulled there]
8pm Wake up. Movies/Dinner/Hang Time with me lady.

I must admit- this weekend FLEW by because of how busy it was. I couldn't believe that by mid-day on Sunday it was all over. For all the stress, anxiety, and time that went into these productions, I was glad I got to spend the weekend doing some playing with the dudes. Sometimes- every now and again- the fast paced life is nice to get back into. But when it's over, I'm reminded of how much I love sitting in a studio writing tunes every day. Here's some pictures from today- hold on tight, they're pretty awesome. See if you can find me:

Stay chill.

I felt this was necessary...

2010-04-03T01:53:00.001-07:00

just to jog your memory. You know, because I referred to my keen looks in the post below.

Thanks to my friend Trever for always making it possible for me to appear actually good looking in still life if I suck in and hold my breath 3 to 5 minutes at a time. And to my wife for dressing me [come on guys, you know behind every good man stands a woman holding a blazer and tie].

Private Things.

2010-04-03T01:44:00.000-07:00

I'm not sure I ever blogged this. Okay. I'm sure I didn't. I mean, who am I kidding really?

Well, not too long ago [about 6 months] my ultra stellar song Changing The Story was featured on a promo ad for ABC's hit prime time TV show Private Practice!

I'd say that's pretty close to Grey's Anatomy's schmappy seconds- wouldn't you?? My wife actually loves this show, so you can imagine how laid I got for this:

I'd refute that last statement... but there's no need to. I mean, come on, have you seen me?? You're probably into me, too!

Enjoy the vid- and don't forget to check out my youtube channel- I'm doing some pretty killer stuff to keep it spicy like Tapatio over there.

Ah, what other blog can you visit that will reference [successfully, I might add] the "mexican ketchup" in a paragraph and actually make it WORK with the rest of the commentary?? I'll bet several places! But here... here you get true love, straight from the heart.

Thanks for the visit! And if you aren't following me on twitter yet, you missed a hell of a day on April Fools. That's all I'm sayin.

MeTube.

2010-03-27T01:23:00.001-07:00

That's right everyone. Prepare yourselves for the end times....

Because I've got my own YouTube Channel. And basically that means bad things for the rest of the world. Having such unlimited access to music [glorious, inspirational, catchy music], being able to WATCH the master himself [me] sing and play the songs that you have spent countless hours locked inside your bedroom trying to learn, and the ability to waste several days playing videos of short clips from shows like One Tree Hill [awesome], General Hospital [super awesome], Ghost Whisperer [semi awesome], Cougar Town [sometimes awesome], and other random stuff like that time I was featured about a bajillion... okay 5... times in the mini series Samurai Girl [uber awesome] may LITERALLY give all the power in the world to the scary, scary, scary folks that sit behind these very computer screens. Sure, they may appear to be just like you and me... but, they're not. They're now music-hungry, all-powerful, mind-reading, face-melting, keyboard-tapping, song-loving mongers whose music consumption will know no end. At least, that's what I think is going to happen. Or, I hope it'll happen.

Come on, guys- MAKE IT HAPPEN! I mean, why shouldn't I be theee most popular YouTube channel in all of the YouTube channel existence? I know, right... I should be. I just should. Just look at my profile picture for the account:

[I'd say "excuse the mustache!" but it was highly intentional- I'll tell my wife you feel sorry for her]

Let's be honest... it's a pretty good time over there! I'll be updating it more and more as the videos roll in [check the playlists tab for past features], and I'll also be making some pretty killer in-the-studio style videos. So... send your requests!! Anything you wanna learn to play?? Anything you want to see me play? And better yet... anything you'd like to see me dressed up as whilst playing?? You have a little bit of free reign. And I'll make it happen.

Plus I cry when I sing. A little insider info for you... and just a preview of what's to come!

Hope you enjoy!

Kinda Like The Dog Whisperer I Think

2010-03-10T00:28:00.001-08:00

Only... with Dead People?

I'm going to tell you two truths and a lie, and you get to guess which is which, below:

1. My song is going to be on Ghost Whisperer this Friday night

2. The song is called "Piece of My Mind"

3. I see dead people

Did you guess it yet?? Okay, okay... so I don't see dead people. But apparently Melinda Gordon [portrayed by the lovely Jennifer Love Hewitt] does. And who am I to say that they can't give someone a "Piece of Their Mind" in lyrical form through my songs? Welp, I'm Josh Auer. That's who I am. But- that doesn't mean I won't let them give those ghosts a "Piece of Their Mind". And frankly, them giving some crazy not-wanting-to-be-dead people a "Piece of Their Mind" will really give ME some serious peace of mind!

Moving on [and really, as I'm writing this, in my head I'm apologizing to everyone reading for being so incredibly lame]... watch The Ghost Whisperer this Friday night to hear some serious rock and roll music stuff.

I think you'll like it. I think.

Thanks Douchebag!

2010-03-08T14:27:00.000-08:00

Montage on General Hospital

2010-03-08T00:06:00.001-08:00

Apparently the daytime TV, they love the Josh Auer. In recent months, I've gotten not one, but two montage scenes on General Hospital playing my music. Almost distractingly loud [which is a nice break from the ear-straining volume that Cougar Town seems to think is permissible].

A "montage scene" is essentially where they think the song is appropriate to play in it's near entirety over a couple of different characters or scenes. As in, the lyrics are widely applicable for the stories of multiple characters in the show. As in, the songs are totally vague and super bland but with the voice of angelic choirs [of angels] singing pure notes from Heavens down into the televisions of viewers. As in, me.

Enough about that. Here's one from back in December, this song is called Snow and is perfectly appropriate for a large Christmas-present-opening-awkward-mistletoe-kissing-makeup-with-your-estranged-lover type of scene. At least I think:

And here's one about sadness, fear, and rejection:

Glad we could end the blog on such a positive note! That being said, I will end with something positive... positively POSSIBLE- I'm going to try and keep this blog a bit more up to date with videos of my placemats and other happenings in the life of Josh. I hope this pleases you. If not, here's the invitation to never visit again:

Don't visit.

That is all.

White Flag - Greys Anatomy

2010-02-05T13:57:00.000-08:00

Three years ago I wrote a song called White Flag in the faaaaarrrrr off hopes that I could get it placed on Greys Anatomy. It was the first song that I wrote with a TV show in mind. (I wrote the entire song while cleaning carpet and recorded all the ideas into my phones voicemail) After putting together a demo, I sent it off to a friend of a friend who worked for the ABC music department and asked if she could get it on the show... she said absolutely not. BUT, she passed it along to the right people and here we are, years down the line and I am a full time ABC song writer. Thank you "friend of a friend!" It is because of you that i do not have to clean carpets anymore, for that i owe you my first child.

Anyways, back to point. Brandon Lady Slayer Collins and I recently started working with a company called Select Tracks. They are a huge independent placement company who got bought out by Bug Music... the LARGEST independent placement company. Yesterday, we while in a meeting with them, Peter Shurkin (the Creative Director) asked me if he could send "White Flag" directly to the Greys Anatomy music supervisor for possible placement. To which i said in a calm-layed back-voice, "Yeah, i mean... that'd be cool."

Really though.. how bitchin would it be to actually complete the first goal that got this whole thing rolling? And now that its actually in arms reach, it could happen. I'll keep you posted.

Gotta love them Cougars!

2009-10-30T18:56:00.000-07:00

I was just pleasantly informed that three... yep, three of my songs were in ONE episode of the new primetime show "Cougar Town" with Courtney Cox. I feel like I'm taking crazy pills here!!! It's always exciting to stumble across one placement.. but three??? Best part is that when i told my parents, my mother said "Oh is that a show about football?"
Yes mom.
It is.

Check it out for yourself:

"Take It From Here"
Bar Scene 3:15 - 3:56

"Piece Of My Mind"
2nd Bar Scene 10:22 - 10:58

"Today"
4th Bar Scene 20:21 - 20:54

LOOOOONG WEEKEND.

2009-10-25T15:50:00.000-07:00

AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH..... Sitting down for what seems like the first time since Friday. Manda and I have been so busy this year. She's been booked every weekend for the last three months and I've been writing music like a mad scientist for ABC and others alike. Good news though.. we have successfully gotten thru the weekend that we were both dreading. AND, don't let me forget... i finally got paid for having "Dear You" on One Tree Hill, so i was able to get some recording equipment and a nice lens for my camera. Boo yah! Thank you Jered Scott for showing me how to use it corrrectly and edit.

Im not one for long drawn out blogs so...
Josh, here's the bullet points of this weekend so that you can remember when you read this ten years from now.

FRIDAY

*Brandon and I drove to L.A. & met up with ABC and new company "SELECT TRACKS." These guys seem pretty rad and it looks like we'll be doing a lot of tv placement work with em.

*Manda had a rehearsal in Pasadena and then two client meetings.

*Manda and I thought we got a hotel reservation thru Expedia.com for Holiday Inn Express, but soon realized it was for a sketchy ass motel called "Hollywood Inn Express." I kid you not, when Brandon dropped me off, i saw two hookers and 24 hour Winchell's Donuts. I should have known straight from there.

*We went to Winchell's Donuts just to say "we went to Winchell's Donuts!"

SATURDAY

*We woke up at 6am to go to the flower market to get flowers for sundays wedding, then drove back to HIE and slept for an hour.

*We woke up and drove to Cicada in downtown LA to set up the reception site, then drove to this amazing 19th century church in Pasadena for the ceremony, where i got a few minutes to shoot some shots. (bus, angel, bride/groom)

*At 4 we braved Friday LA traffic and I dropped her off to finish the reception site.

*I then braved moooooore LA traffic on my way to Taylor Warrens showcase with Universal, where i spotted the real Hollywood Tower Hotel. (the inspiration behind my favorite ride at D Land)

*We did our thing and melted faces and ear drums. I took some shots there too.

*Did a celebratory In N Out run with the boys and then headed back to the reception just in time to experience the worst d.j. i've ever encountered. I took some shots there too, while staying completely out of the photographers way. Cant' be over stepping bounds now!!

*FINALLY!!! after making two trips of presents and wedding items to the bride and grooms room in THE STANDARD HOTEL, we set corse for home. ahhh, home sweet (non sketchy, cigarette and blood stained) home.

*We got to sleep at 3:30. Just in time to get a well deserved 3 hours of sleep. We left home at 6:30 and went to the Santa Ana Estudio to make flower arangements for Sundays wedding.

*From there, we split ways. Manda went to assist Alicia at a wedding all day and i went home to work on the next 3 ABC songs.

*She got home at 2am and we fell asleep at 3:30 again.

SUNDAY

*I had to get up at 6:30 to play with Travis and the dudes at SSC (night # 2 with 3 hours of sleep). When I came home at 1pm, Manda (after missing 9 of my phone calls) was still dead asleep. We were officially late, but sped off to the Estudio to pick up the flowers, which of course... had sucked in ALL of their water and were dying because of the heat. Good Lord!!!!! Does it ever end???

*We quickly fixed the dying flower arrangements and dropped them off to the bride... she seemed to be happy so... eh...(sigh)

*We got home around 4ish and both collapsed on the bed for a much needed 4 hour nap. Woke up and saw "Where The Wild Things Are" which was a finTAstic way to wind down from such a weekend.

Here's some shots from the weekend using the new EF 16-35mm 2.8 L series lens. (Big step up from my $80 standard 50mm)

First DEAR YOU EP Review

2009-02-25T00:23:00.000-08:00

I found the first review of the Dear You EP today by random happenstance.
It turns out all you have to do is be super into yourself and google your name at least once a day until something pops up. Perfect!

Check it out HERE.

Special thanks for Greg Lampe!

Very Important!!

2009-02-22T13:50:00.001-08:00

Let this be a lesson to everyone that the effects of Celiac Disease can be catastrophic if not diagnosed at an early stage.

NEW PICS!

2009-02-16T23:10:00.000-08:00

And just when you thought the "Dear You" photo shoot couldnt get any sweeter.... it does!
Check these out of yours truly walkin the tracks down in Riverside Ca.
Let me know whatcha think!

(beat that brando!)

LOW on One Tree Hill

2009-02-06T01:41:00.000-08:00

Hey all,
My good friend Dawn Johnson from Take Two Productions gave me a call tonight saying that One Tree Hill is going to use my song "LOW" next monday. Woo Hoo! Thats the second song from the Dear You EP to be on that show in the last 4 weeks. Not trying to toot my own horn here but this success officialy means im the more popular then Taylor Warren... who, if you dont know, is a little twerp i produce that all the ladies think is a "dream boat." (yep, just pulled a Back to the Future reference there!)
In the long run, he will undoubtably be more popular and remain better looking then me. But for now i will graciously and humbly remain on my thrown of betterness! Eat it Taylor.

If you're a One Tree Hill watcher then keep an ear out for me!

Earlier today I had lunch with another great friend of mine, Mr Reesh Lander. He opened my eyes to the "myspace banner making world" using photoshop. What good timing! Check out what i made tonight after i found out about One Tree Hill.

Mucho appreciation to Dawn and Mr. Reesh for their friendship and belief in me as an artist and professional dude.

Things I've Been Doing.

2009-02-05T00:09:00.000-08:00

I'm currently making a sweet video for you all to watch of one of the old favorite AVNER songs, Just Hold On [with even sweeter vocals sung by the man with the boyish good looks, Taylor Warren].

Trust me. You are going to love it. Give me 10 minutes.............................

Ok, here it is! Not that there's any subliminal messages or anything, right? [Hey, at least I'm consistent].

Other than just hanging out and being good-looking, [well, and re-recording that kickin' song for Taylor to wail on] I've been working on a "reel" [basically a musical resume for famous and important people to listen to and pay me to write stuff for them]. I'll show you all that in a bit. Don't want to overload you with total pure awesomeness all in one blog post now, do I?

Oh yah, and who can forget- I've spent a bit of time wielding a sword. See the proof.

Told ya so. I can only thank my pal Travis Ryan for giving me the honor and opportunity to work with the aforementioned sword during one of his shows. The Lord is good... and He blesses His faithful servant, Josh.

And just so you don't forget: BUY MY ALBUM ON ITUNES. Here's a link.

Rumor has it, they've been sellin' like hot cakes. Of course, that's a rumor I myself had to start. But I believe it to be true. However, nobody can prove that until at least another 70 or so days, when the sales statements are released. Still, though.... hot cakes.

Sneak Peak!!!

2009-01-26T22:48:00.001-08:00

Here's a sample of a new song i'm working on called "STILL." The song seemed a bit dull so i asked my good friend E. Luck to spice it up.
Let me know what do you think!!

Top 10 on iTunes' "New and Noteworthy" Page

2009-01-22T11:39:00.000-08:00

I never seem to find these things on my own!!! But with the help of good friends like Josh Gordon and Dr. Brandon (lady-slayer) Collins, they're brought to my attention. This week, Gordon told me that the Dear You EP had made it to the Top 10 spot on iTunes' "New and Noteworthy" Page. I don't exactly know how these are picked... Maybe by how many are purchased in the first week... Maybe by how many page views an artist gets... Maybe its just some random dude whose job is to play World of Warcraft and listen to new releases all day!?!? (new career path Brando?)
I don't know, It's still a mystery to me. None the less, I'm on there! And for that I'm extremely grateful.
If you wanna see it, go to your iTunes home page and click on the Pop tab in the New and Noteworthy selection.
Im the 10th one in.

Here's a pic for lazy people. ;)

Birtho Del Mandao

2009-01-21T23:52:00.000-08:00

Today marks the 27th year of my beautiful wifes life! Here's some pics to show you why I love her so much!!!

Happy birthday love!

Dear You EP Photo Shoot

2009-01-17T12:08:00.001-08:00

Here's some of my fav shots!
Special thanks to Trever Hoehne for being the man!

A Lovely Little Friday

2009-01-16T20:52:00.000-08:00

So here's the deal. My plan was to release the Dear You EP on iTunes only... I wasn't really planning on releasing a physical copy at all. But due to the recent One Tree Hill placement and a college radio push, i've been sort of forced into it. I guess it's a good thing that theres a "need" for my Ep out there right now. It's funny... I guess i always kinda planned on just releasing albums with a goal of getting them on tv. Never really put much thought into playing live or touring as "Josh Auer the solo artist." That sentence never really rolled off the tongue, you know? Well, we'll just have to see what the future has in store.

Lets not get too ahead of ourselves. First things first.
Hair cut, sweet clothes and a photo shoot. Check!

Today I drove out to Riverside, Ca to meet up with a good friend of mine [and grand-tastic photographer] Trever Hoehne. We scoured the depths of downtown Riverside looking for the perfect background for my first solo shoot. I'm extremely familiar with shooting beside a full band, so this definitely took some getting used to! But all in all, i think we captured some pretty great shots. I really enjoy Trever's style and artistic brain power... Can't wait to see the final products!
I'll post some as soon as i get them! You can go ahead an hold your breath 'til my next blog, cuz it will be soon. Promise!

By the way... i absolutely despise the 91 freeway. All you So. Cal. ers out there will back me up on this... right?

...And The Beat Down Continues!!!

2009-01-14T00:06:00.001-08:00

Damn It Feels Good To Be A Gangsta!!!

One Tree Hill

2009-01-13T12:04:00.001-08:00

Many of you may not know this, but as a child i always dreamed of destroying Taylor Warren in the race for "most myspace plays in a day." I worked 27 long years toward this goal and finally achieved greatness. Below is an excerpt from the front page of the Los Angeles Times:

January 13th, 2009
Mark your calendars, it's official! Last night, Josh Auer enihilated Taylor Warren in Myspace plays after his song "Dear You" was heard on the popular TV show One Tree Hill. At the end of the day, Auer had an staggering 1,854 Myspace plays. Only to be beaten by The Killers, Panic At The Disco, Fall Out Boy and about 750 much more popular bands. None the less, on January 12th, Josh Auer was officially more popular then Taylor Warren, whose plays hardly reached 1,500. Eat it Taylor!
Will day two repeat this success? Only time will tell!

Dear You EP released on iTunes!!!

2009-01-11T22:08:00.000-08:00

Brando called me from Ohio [where he's visiting family and trying to smooch ladies] and told me that my EP was up and available on iTunes! Hoo-Ray!!! My old band had a few albums on iTunes and i've produced a bunch of bands that are on iTunes but this is the first purchasable record that i can call my own. Which is rad.. like the movie.
Click here, take a listen and leave a comment! Thanks!!!

Dear You EP on iTunes!!!

2009-01-09T20:44:00.000-08:00

Just found out my first EP will be available on iTunes on January 12th.
Some people i work with were able to pull some strings with the Apple people because of the One Tree Hill placement on Monday...
You know, the official "i'll have my people talk to your people" situation.

It worked...So im stoked! And if im stoked, you have to be stoked..
isnt that how it works?

Check out the cover! My good friend Jimmy did it... he rules the nation!
Well, technically Bush runs it, but jimmy is a close second when it comes to artwork.
Check him out HERE!

josh

AVNEWS...

2009-01-05T12:38:00.000-08:00

You see, that's an uber clever way to combine Avner with the word "news." Infact, it turns out Avner combines well with literally every word... give it shot!

So obviously things have been a bit slow in the Avner world, but have no fear, Avner will never die! We will, with out a doubt, write songs and play random shows at some bar/concert venue for dozens of people from time to time... Don't count on new merch though, we still have plenty of the first batch. Most of which i wear on a regular basis.

So here's the latest haps with us dudesvners [.........see??]

Todd tied the knot with his lovely sweetheart and bff, Sara Watkins. She's got more talent in her bow hand then Todd and i do in both our "rock fists' combined. Google her if you'd like, you'll see. [go ahead and google "rock fists" as well] Todd hopes that one day, with the help of his lady, he'll land "lead fiddler" on the broadway classic, Fiddler on the Roof.

Joey has once again returned to the road with another huge act that I know you've heard of! Yep, Mr. Jesse McCartney. He's mostly stage managing the tours and teching the show, but from time to time he'll sit in for a few songs and melt the 13 year old girls' screaming faces off with his devilish drum fills. [Beazulbudada..budada..budada.. budada..bub!] Joey has been secretly taking vocal lessons and hopes to one day take over as lead vocalist for Jesse...

As for me? well Ive been busy writing song after song after song after song for ABC... many of which are super lame and will never reach the public ear. But I did happen to write a song called Dear You right around the same time Avner put out our multi platinum cd burning Free P. One Tree Hill is going to be using Dear You during one of their episodes on January 12th! Keep an ear pealed. I've been taking wood classes and hope to one day literally be one tree on a hillvner.[..........see?]

with lovner,
avnosh.

Roxy Theatre

2008-12-30T10:28:00.000-08:00

On December 26, I had the chance to put a band together of my favorite dudes and back up the up the fabulous TAYLOR WARREN for a show at the ROXY THEATRE. Hollywood was freezing and super windy so we decided to treat ourselves with another famous L.A. delight... Rossco's Chickin And Waffles. My wife snapped a few shots while me and the boys were on stage. Check em out!

Taylor Warren

Tyler DeYoung

[notice the stellar facial expression]

Rakeshrift, The Gluten Free Priest

Loren Ferard

ME!

'Twas a blast. Lookin forward to the next gig... whenever that shall be. I'll keep you posted.

Birtho del Savioro

2008-12-26T02:47:00.000-08:00

Wishing You The Merriest Of Christmases!

Some things that went down.

2008-12-23T02:47:00.000-08:00

December has been a busy month for this guy. Here's a quick summary of the pretty crazy things going on right now:

My wife and I took a sweet vacation to Las Vegas. It was the best week of our year!! Plus we took some rad pictures. I'll probably post more later, but here's two for now:

Then I got sick, whilst in Vegas. I got Manda sick. I've been sick SINCE Vegas.

Oh yah, then this happened again:

As if once wasn't bad enough. Then Amanda's company had a photo shoot and of course, as her assistant, I was a part of it [not sure how proud I am of that but I do think that hanging out with my wife is pretty cool]...

Musically speaking, it's been busy, too! We've been finishing up and re-arranging all of the stuff for Lifetime, as I talked about previously. When Brando and I aren't busy doing that, I've been writing for ABC more and more and he's been doing totally lame school stuff [masters shmasters, am I right??]. I'll show you some of those songs later- one of them is on the cusp [yes, cusp] of being placed on a commercial for the show "Brothers and Sisters". Yippee! And another Prime Time placement is up and coming in January. I'll keep you on your toes just because I can. Until then.... stay classy.

Well, this was embarrassing!

2008-11-25T02:16:00.000-08:00

And I'm NOT talking about our facial expressions!

Yes, that's right. Brandon and I have been working together so much that he showed up at my house wearing the same shirt that I was wearing. Regardless of the fact that it is MY band's shirt and it's far, far more lame for me to be wearing it than it is for him.... I still think I wear it better. What do YOU think??

Quizzes by Quibblo.com

That aside, B and I spent tonight filming some awesomeness for our SUPER sweet 2nd edition of our studio's video blog. You'll hate it, just you wait! Until then, hold onto your butts!

VIDEO BLOG #1 The Magical World Of Josh And Brandon

2008-11-17T12:56:00.001-08:00

So for the past few weeks, Brandon and I have been working with Lifetime. You know, the t.v. station you'll catch your mom, wife and sister huddled around shedding out tears. Well, they needed bacground music for a whole new re-branding add campaign and we got the opportunity to be apart of this. Its been an interesting road filled with multiple genre demos, chipotle and Brandon and I going slightly insane at the studio. But we got the job!!! And finally got the music supervisors the right music for these commercials.

So we thought it would be good to start up a video blog to show you the rest of our journey with Lifetime.
The song doesn't have any drums or percussion but you'll get the idea.

Enjoy!

Too Late.

2008-11-11T00:38:00.000-08:00

So I wrote this sweet new ABC song last week. I made a little youtube clippage for your enjoyment. Let me know what you think!

In other news, me and Brandon are still working on the re-branding for that TV station I mentioned last week or so. We're going round and round, back and forth with the producers trying to get it right. I'll keep you posted. We'd love to see our music up on the screen, airing daily! Now, back to the pro-tools.

Up To You

2008-11-04T12:04:00.001-08:00

Hey all. So I know I haven't been able to finish MY version of the song "Up To You" that I told you about HERE [remember all the pretty pictures??] and recorded at The Den Recorders in Pasadena. BUT, I did get a chance to have my favorite protege, Taylor Warren track vocals on it. Since he's on his way to the top, I figured I'd finish his version before mine.

Go ahead and check out his Myspace Site to hear his version of "Up To You"! It came out great and the young ladies are already wanting to have his babies [which may or may not be due to any of the songs I'll write for him, ever].

And in case you're wondering, this is the REAL reason all of those ladies are wanting Taylor babies:

Pretty easy on the eyes! Anyway, hope to get my version done in the next few days and put it up on the old 'space. Until then, I'm spending most of my time killin' ABC with the mad hits I'm writing!

This commercial

2008-10-31T22:58:00.000-07:00

Gets him every time:

P.S.- Happy Halloween from the Auers!

Re-Branding.

2008-10-29T11:55:00.000-07:00

So my good buddy Phil calls me from time to time whenever he needs a custom piece of music for something. He's the person responsible for getting my song "Love Grabs You" on that TV show [RIP] "What I Like About You", and for many many other cool placements.

Phil is working with a TV channel/network who is in the hopes of re-branding their image to reflect their target market and create a younger scene. All last week, Brandon and I worked on composing a custom piece inspired by, in the words of Phil:

"Looking for a unique instrumental track....upbeat with exotic travel kinda sounds. Must be kind of romantic (_________ is for chicks).
If you have any thing with Hawaiian sounds...big plus. Think of the branding theme of a new Airlines. Actually pretend you are scoring a new TV ad for an Airlines that takes gals away... to a fantasy land...far away from their horrible miserable lives."

We made a few different versions to give them variety and show them what we can do, but here's my favorite.

So, ladies, where to? Hawaii? The Bahamas?

Cross your fingers for us! It's looking pretty good at this point. I'll keep you posted when I get more info. And here's a picture from my wife and I's anniversary cruise back in September:

Janu and the Whalesharks

2008-10-28T03:06:00.000-07:00

For the past two weeks, I've had the pleasure of mixing and mastering the stellar tunes of this funky indie band. I gotta be honest- their music is catchy as hell! I've loved being a part of this project for them and even more than that, I'm honored to be the one that gets to finally help them wrap-up their long anticipated EP.

You must check them out! Now, I'm pretty sure that the final mixes aren't yet up on their 'space, but when they are.. prepare for greatness! These are some talented kids so keep an eye out!

Listen to 'em HERE!

Still, lots of stuff going on for TV and other random creative outlets. I'll keep you posted. Until next time...

Sorry!

2008-10-22T00:10:00.000-07:00

I know, I know. I'm trying to break old habits, not get back into them.

This past week or so has been crazy busy with some great exciting projects, but one thing at a time. First, some sweet studio pictures that my wife took:

Tyler DeYoung, drummer extraordinaire, came up to track drums for me.

A big thanks to my buddy Trever Hoehne for allowing me to borrow some of his gear, including this awesome pedal... Super Hard On. Yes... seriously.

Sometimes when my wife takes pictures of me I panic and then I try to eat things. This explains a lot, right?

I think Todd and I both have come to the understanding that he is never getting this back.

It's so good, it's almost painful. Well, maybe more painful, less good. And now for some killer "action" shots:

More thanks to my good friend Travis Ryan for allowing me to borrow his guitar as well. You read it here first, people... I would be nowhere if it wasn't for people giving me stuff. I mean, lending me stuff temporarily [or, more long term, you know, depending on where I move to... very suddenly... out of nowhere, and happen to pack with me]. Really though, the day was awesome and my friend Charlie really killed it with being the producer for the day. To take a back seat on that end of it was really different and equally refreshing for me! I had to battle myself to just be the artist.

The song I tracked was called "Up To You" and it should be listen-able in the next week or so. Gotta finish the editing on it. It came out pretty damn good if I don't say so myself when you consider that we didn't load in until 2pm, start tracking until 3:30pm and had to be DONE and packed up by 11:00pm! It was a quick day but totally worth it. If I haven't told you yet, I work well under pressure.

Now, back to my current projects... you'll hear more from me later.

Any Guess?

2008-10-14T09:55:00.000-07:00

From these pictures, can anyone guess what my wife and I have been up to lately? Here's a hint: it takes us to the eXtreme in this almost 90 degree weather...

Oh yah, and here's a mushy one, for the ladies:

In other news, I'm going into the studio [a REAL studio] here in a few hours to record the song "Up To You". My good friend Charlie picked me do gift a free session to, because he's doing some training thing and wanted someone who not only wrote rockin' tunes, but could bang out a song in a day. That's me, folks! Wish me luck. I'll keep you posted with pictures and stuff later.

Taylor's New Song.

2008-10-11T10:58:00.000-07:00

So, since good old [or young, you know] Taylor seems to be on the rise with his career, I figured maybe I should put a bit more time into the music I'd been writing him. The more $ONG$ I can write for him now, the more $ONG$ his potential label loves, the more $ONG$ make it onto his album, and the more.... awesome he sounds [well, too]. Anyway, since Taylor and his dad are having a bunch of meetings with a bunch of people, I figured I'd let them browse through some of my older stuff, [think AVNER] and re-vamp it for them [with all the stuff I've learned about producing since I recorded them originally]. They picked a few songs, which I'll be showing you on here. The first of which is one of my favorites, and will indeed be on my OWN album when that happens.

It's called A Loss For Words, and you can listen to the original version [with my vocals, the old recording] in the video below [no fun stuff to look at this time... just black... like your hearts].

Now, to hear Taylor's new, kick-your-teeth-in version, visit his Myspace page HERE! It's the first song on his player.

And just so you don't get bored, here's a couple pictures of me from the good hair day I had last week:

I'll bet you all almost forgot what I looked like, huh?? Speaking of my album [from above], a friend of mine offered me a day in a pro studio to track one of my songs! I'll be doing that next week, so stay tuned for studio pictures and general delirium!

New Song.

2008-10-06T22:56:00.000-07:00

I wrote this song a few years back right after my band, PAX217 broke up. At the time, it was really theraputic and serious. I figured now was as good a time as any to re-vamp it a bit and sell it along with the rest of my soul, to ABC.
I figured it was only right to put up some memories of the good ol' days with my boys for this one. Enjoy!

Kinda Cool.

2008-10-05T01:13:00.001-07:00

So, last year Amanda's sister [that would be my sister in law, yes] asked me to write a song about New York because her friends were planning a trip and she was making some rather intense and personal travel kits. I say intense in a good way... the planning gene must run in their family!

I, of course, whipped up a super sweet song that she gave me a poem to use as lyrics for. She included it onto the mix CD of New York songs she gave each of her friends for their trip.

About two months ago, Westways Magazine wrote up an article on making travel kits and my song was mentioned. Seeing as I got my name in the press, figured I'd share...

Hopefully one mention in the press of many, many, [undeniably] MANY more to come. If you recognize this issue, scan the pages to feel in person the ink that my name in nation wide syndication!

It's going to be a long day.

2008-10-01T14:00:00.000-07:00

So, my home-made vocal booth has been getting more and more shady for a while now. Last night, in a surge of empowerment, I decided to tackle the booth and make it more stable and strong [like myself]. Since it got too late for me to go out and buy anything, the project dragged it's feet into today and I'm spending my afternoon drilling and building instead of writing and tracking. Not happy. Here's me being proud of myself for being 80% done:

Until I noticed something.

See this proerly made corner right here. This is bitchin.

See this corner:

These do NOT look the same. Why, why, WHY in my right mind did I screw the cross beam to the outside of the verticle brace [don't worry, it's guy lingo. Dudes... you got me, right?]??

Oh yah, Brandon was here to help. And make fun of me. Wait... with me. Make fun WITH me. Here I am, delirious at this point, wearing a tiny witch hat in silent protest to what I know I must do....

And here I am, fixing the problem. Oh by the way, note the back corner, which was ALSO put together wrong [and differently than the other wrong corner]. Can't I just write songs and be cool?? I am clearly not cut out to be a construction worker.

Hopefully tonight and tomorrow will be filled with nothing less than my glorious voice filling our hallways. Well, I guess not... that's what a vocal booth is for. To hold sound in [or out]. But at least I'll be surround by it!

Super sweet.

2008-09-29T19:12:00.000-07:00

So, over the summer, me writing for ABC slowed down a LOT as their fiscal year came to a close [and begins again in October.... counting down the days, seriously!!].

As I took a step back from actual song writing for ABC [which you can see a few posts down, I've been doing a ton of producing], I got the opportunity to write songs for an up-and-coming young artist [slash super cool dude that lives near my wife and I] Taylor Warren. Writing songs for Taylor has been really fun for me, and it's been great for him, too. If you click on the link and go to his 'space, you'll hear "Who I Am", which is a song I wrote about a month and a half ago and had him sing on [and already has 17,000 plays on his site]. Oh yah, you can also buy "Who I Am" on iTunes if you search the music store for Taylor's stuff. You should. Trust me. Not only is the song amazing but I get paid. Which should be your main concern. Plus that way you can have a piece of me to take with you everywhere you go.

Just spent the day today finishing the bridge and mixing/mastering the second song for Taylor and his myspace, named "Someone Like You", which my sweet dude friend Brandon co-wrote with me. I'm sure Taylor has what it takes to make it a hit! Nothing like writing a song and then finding someone who sounds ten times cooler than you to sing the crap outta it!

In honor of the fact that I have the skills to do so.... a quick pre-release snip of Taylor's new song, "Someone Like You" [accompanied by a vibe-y picture from Taylor's video shoot a few months back]:

Keep your eyes on Taylor. He'll be the next big thing, guaranteed! And, if I can, I'll be holding on for dear life as he rises to the top [special thanks to his dad, Todd, for allowing me and encouraging me to do so!!].

Hopefully I'll be previewing many more songs for Taylor and for ABC to you in this fashion. Would that make you, blog readers, feel special? I hope so. Because to me, you are all so, so special. And just to keep your interest [as I know that's what 90% of you are really here to see...], here's a picture of me standing in front of bricks in Mexico.

Yes, I know. But ladies, I'm still happily married... hate to be the continual heartbreaker but what can you do if you're born like this??

Samurai Girl Marathon!

2008-09-26T15:33:00.001-07:00

Yes people, that's right! In case you missed it the first time around, ABC Family is having a Samurai Girl marathon will all of the episodes thus far. Since it's technically still being considered a "special event" and not yet a "TV show" [they're debating picking it up...], this may be your last chance to hear my music ALL over TV to the colors of an Asian girl kicking some serious ass with a sword. I'm just sayin!

And while you're at it, go and VOTE HERE to turn Samurai Girl into a TV series for good!!

Tune in Tomorrow at 3pm to ABC Family to watch Samurai Girl and listen to my beautifully extraordinary voice!!!

Don't forget to cast your VOTE to keep it a show, too. Hey, if they liked me so much the first time around, they're bound to keep liking me, right? And that's good for ME and YOU and EVERYONE. Well... maybe it's better for me than you.

The Glorious Day.

2008-09-25T20:45:00.001-07:00

Now, I realize I may have other things to tell you, but those can wait. You see... there is a pressing issue that I need to share with you, as this day quickly fades away and will not return for another 364 [and that leaves you all very little time to find that perfect "something" for your favorite loved one...]. Today, is the celebration of the most jubilant event known to man [or at least my family because, let's face it, I'm their favorite]. Yes, let the Heavens rejoice... the celebration of my birth!

So yah, today is pretty important. Because, officially, 27 years ago my mom went to the hospital and out I popped, into the world. That's right... it's my birthday. I am officially part of the "late twenties" scene. So, to celebrate, my wife and I did a few of my favorite things!

We went to Disneyland:

I promise she's not crazy...

See...

Oh yah, by the way, we were in line for the new Toy Story ride in California Adventure. It's awesome!! And I totally kicked Amanda's ass.... just sayin'.

Crazy eyes in the Haunted Mansion! And Amanda thinks this one is funny because my hair looks like the mountain top...

We ate pizza:

Mmmm...Maui Zowie [the Josh Auer birthday tradition]!!

Crazy eyes for pizza!

That about sums it up. Someone "upstairs" must have forgotten to alert the weather man about this blessed day because the heat was miserable! Hence why we enjoyed exactly 1.5 rides today at the Happiest Place on Earth. Thankfully, since we have passes, we didn't have to feel bad about only spending an hour there. Poor suckers who had to stay there in the 95 degree weather... we're off to grab some dessert and see a movie in the ice-cold-air-conditioning! Delicious!

I know, I know.

2008-09-23T23:26:00.000-07:00

I'm terrible at blogging. I realize this. But, the wife and I are working to quickly change this situation... so to all who are still reading: HANG IN THERE! We'll be updating you with some fun, great, interesting things in the near future!

Let's try and catch you up to speed on what it's been like for me the past few months.

February:
Finishing up producing with the wonder kids Sun From Shadow, and started producing a few songs for Tom Solis. Oh yeah, I also found out that, in two months, I'd be losing my studio. That was fun and interesting.

March:
Finishing up Tom Solis and freaking out about the loss of studio situation. Oh yah, and writing "the hits" as per usual.

April:
Moved my entire studio [did I mention my wife and friends surprised me with an AWESOME new desk before I got home from Tour in January??] to my house. Working from home = cramped and stressful, but more time with the lady. I started talking to and working with a fabulous man by the name of Travis Ryan. His music is great and we hit it off as friends, too! I start not only producing his stuff, but playing with him live.

May:
Recording Travis lots. Still writing hits. Travis records his version of "Changing The Story" and it kicks ass. You can hear the song, my version, on my 'space.

June:
As ABC slows down for their fiscal year, I start working more with my wife on the weekends. She doesn't pay me. During the week, I'm writing, recording, producing.... mostly naked. Still working from home. Did a sweet commercial song with my dude friend Brandon for a real estate company called "Hom Group". Yes hom. NO e. It rocks and takes us forever to get it just right synching to the video. I'd prove it if I could. Can't.

July:
My good friend and composer buddy, Brandon, leaves for Paris [at this point I start a blogging competition with him... that I completely failed at]. He's gone for a whole month! I blogged once. He blogged practically daily. Still playing a lot live with Travis... it makes me realize how much I missed the stage, so I'm happy to be here! Travis has had a great response to the first few songs he recorded, so in late July we decided to take on another few songs to make it a full length album. Sweet! Time with the dudes is abundant.

August:
Busy month! Working a ton doing producing and playing with Travis. My best friend, Todd, got married! I was a groomsmen [the better man]. Travis blogs more than I do. I played a camp with him for a few days [Cal Baptist New Students Retreat]. Read Travis' blog about it here!!! There's video and everything. It'll be sweet, I promise. Still working a TON for my wife. Still not getting paid. Studio is still at home.

September:
Yeah! The wife and I celebrate 5 years of marriage with a much needed cruise to Mexico. I won a karaoke contest that gave me the honor of portraying Elton John in the last night's show. I have a video of it, but I'm trying to work out the kinks with the audio [so that when it does get posted, you can enjoy it in it's full glory].

Okay, boring stuff over. Exciting stuff??? ABC is using the crap outta my songs! That we know of, I've been used a few times on General Hospital's spin off Night Shift. We're stoked. Then, we find out that I've been played on ABC's prime time mini-series, Samurai Girl. More stoked! Come to find out that this show has used me 5 times!!! Well, 4 with me singing and 1 of my wife singing. All Josh Auer songs, composed by yours truly. I'm a superstar! And it feels... real good.

Today, we found out that the songs from Samurai Girl are available via iTunes. They are part of the soundtrack, but can also be purchased individually for the low low [standard, generic] price of $.99 each!

We're excited! Oh, and I forgot to highlight the one at the bottom, and they didn't include the song "It's You", but it WAS indeed played in the series. We heard it with our own ears so it's no lie.

Last week, I got to be in a video that Travis [you remember, we JUST talked about him] was doing. Here are some sweet stellar pics from that:

Oh yah, Travis is good looking. That doesn't hurt in this industry!

I promise more pictures of life and fun next time. But let's be honest... don't check back tomorrow or anything. It'll be a few days!

PLAYING CATCH-UP

2008-07-02T12:24:00.000-07:00

Not to be confused with ketchup, which is a delicious addition to any entree and apparently makes a good magic trick!
Like most things in my life, i got super into blogging and then got super over it.
i tend to be super about things. It looks like the Dr. is holding up his end of the bargain so rest assured that i will be SUPER into blogging for the month of July. After that, there's no guarantee.

So here's the plan. Over the next week or so, i'll be Ketching you up with events that have taken course in my life since my last post... January 15th. Lets actually go back a few weeks back from there.

JANUARY

Im a free man! Songwriting for ABC was really picking up towards the end of '07, so after much thought, i decided to leave my humble position as a carpet cleaner and focus on music once again. This has been years in the making! What better way to reward hard work then to hit the road with good friends NUMBER ONE GUN? All is well until i receive two emails saying that Im loosing my studio and that the writers strike is causing abc to stop ordering songs. Fantastic! i'm now jobless without a studio!

On to the good news [now that ive complained like a fat kid forced to count calories]
This turn of events lead me to move my studio into the second bedroom of my home, which my loving wife gratefully agreed to, and start producing bands until the writers strike concluded.

I got to work with a bitchin group of teen sensations collectively known as Sun From Shadow.

It was a long road filled with endless nights, hundreds of carls jr runs and crazy producer hair.

But the product of our labor is one that will bring a smile to your face and set your feet-a-tappin'... mostly because when they left each night, i re-recorded all their parts.
Just kidding boys... or am i?
mwaahhahahaha! [evil laugh]

February is next and it will change your life...

I MADE A DEAL

2008-07-01T12:43:00.000-07:00

Hello everybody.
My good friend Dr. Brandon Collins [pictured below] left for Paris yesterday and i made him a deal that i if he blogged his trip then i would keep up mine. Those of you who are familiar with my myspace have most likely experienced the magical brain power of the doctor. His piano and string arrangements are featured on almost all of my songs. For the next 30 days, i'll be left to creating my own piano and sting arrangements, which will undoubtably ruin the song and turn away listeners.

I hope you're happy Rakeshrift. Have fun skipping around and eating gluten free french fries.

On Tour Now!

2008-01-15T01:19:00.000-08:00

So, since Josh has been MIA lately to his blog, I figured I'd give you all an update, in bullet-points [as is my anal, uber organized personality]:

1. Josh is our on tour with our good friends Number One Gun

2. Come see him play with said band on January 24th at Chain Reaction!

3. He's gone 'til January 31st.

4. Just before he left [in the new year] he wrote/recorded 4 new songs for ABC's music division, Fifth Floor and was so excited to now finally have the time to do so [as he went FULL TIME into music starting 1/1/08]! These songs, if you want to listen, are on his myspace.

5. His wife is sweet and awesome, huh? Giving you updates and everything. I guess that's what happens when you're left home for 3 weeks! :)

A picture of Josh the amazing to tide you all over:

Taken by the uber talented moi! [as seen in his glasses]

Hope you enjoyed this quick update! After Josh settles into the tour a bit, I'll make SURE he starts keeping this updated better himself!

Vote For Jered's photo!

2007-12-24T23:28:00.000-08:00

Many of you remember this shot that I photoshopped myself into from the Switchfoot show. Well, our great friend Jered Scott has entered the original photo into a VH1 music photography contest of sorts.

He could use ALL of the votes he can get! So, please go here and VOTE NOW. He has until the 31st and he really does deserve to win with a shot like this:

Please note: you DO have to sign up for a VH1 account in order to vote, but it's no big deal. Feel free to make up bogus information about yourself as well.

Once again, go here to vote!!!

Merry Christmas!

2007-12-19T22:52:00.001-08:00

So, for the second year in a row, my wife, her sister and I are recording a few songs of re-worked hymns for our parents as a personal [and cost-effective] Christmas gift. You can listen to last year's here.

This year, to spice it up, we decided to add some pictures onto the package. So, thanks to our good friend, Jered Scott, we have this to show for it:

And a few of me, "hans solo":

Okay, so maybe that last one is a bit over the top.

Stay tuned for more photos from the studio and clips of the three of us and this year's project!

Anatomy Of A Christmas Cover Song

2007-12-11T23:27:00.000-08:00

Being in the spirit of Christmas, my good buddy Matt [Courage Call] and I decided to record a last minute Christmas Song. Now, when choosing a cover song, one must abide by a few key rules...
1. The song cant be too too famous.
2. The artist must no longer be performing said song.
3. [and most important] The song MUST date back to a time period between 1986 - 1994.
Using these guidelines, we were forced to choose none other than Mariah Carey's "All I Want For Christmas." An Obvious choice.

At first, the thought was just to do a shot gun recording for our Myspaces, but as we got more involved in the arrangement and ideas started to pour, we decided to do a full production and invite some of our friends down to join in.

I used my computer to snap some shots throughout the session for your viewing pleasure. Thanks to Apple's Photobooth, we are all now left handed.

Enjoy!

Our good friend Tyler [Amaradio] came down to play some drums for us. All the arrangements are square so its time to start tracking.

Matt thought it'd be funny to hold the headphone chord while i was playing. Unfortunately it was. Turns out, many things are funny at 2am.

Here, matt demonstrates how large his... triton is. Again...2am.

Matt had a great idea where the bridge of the song drops out to just stomps, claps and a large gang vocal. So we threw up a couple mics on a wooden stage and got to stompin'.

Next Comes the Vocals!!!

Hey! Amanda showed up!

Problem... Turns out Mariah was very talented and sang some challenging vocal lines. At this point we're having a hard time with a melody in the third verse.

hmmm....

NICE!!! Now for a little background vocals...

A couple of last minute edits and voi la!!! Its as simple as that! Take a LISTEN and let us know what you think... and then buy me something for Christmas.

New Song Up on Myspace!

2007-12-06T23:38:00.000-08:00

Hey all,

Josh posted the song that was picked up by Reaper on his myspace earlier today. We'd love to get some comments about the song so go listen and come back to tell us what you think!!

The song is called Tell Me! Remember, it was supposed to be along the lines of the punk/rock band Jet. How do you think he did??

Recording Session Gone Bad...

2007-12-02T23:37:00.000-08:00

This weekend, i had the opportunity to co-write and play bass/guitar on a song with producer Philip Steir. Philip and I go way back. We met in San Francisco in 2002, when we worked on "Engage," my first band's sophomore album. Since then, we've worked on a whole heap of great projects together. So when i got the call for this, i agreed without question.

The song [which will be used for an independent food documentary due out in 2009ish... i think] was supposed to be kind of a dark, eerie piano piece. Think Tori Amos meets "American Beauty" meets "Nightmare Before Christmas." I'm always down for something challenging. But for me and my pop-rock background, this definitely stretched my boundries. In the end it turned out pretty sweet, but while writing and recording i spent about 11 hours in a 55 degree tracking room. Low and behold, today I wake up with a lovely sinus infection.

I'm ready to start a new week filled with song writing, Emergen-C, and hittin' the Singer's Saving Grace pretty hard until I feel my flawless self again.

I Need You Video

2007-11-29T00:07:00.000-08:00

Thanks to a new acquaintance who we'll call "miss duct," you can all see just how awkward i look on stage without a bass to hide behind.

Well well...

2007-11-28T17:01:00.000-08:00

Looks like someone got to play with Switchfoot last night, too.

Relient K

2007-11-28T02:42:00.000-08:00

So, I haven't blogged about this yet but about a year or so ago, I had the priveledge of singing back up vocals for some of my great friends in Relient K. I sang on one of the tracks from their newest album "Five Score and Seven Years Ago" called "I Need You".

Since our lives have all grown so busy in the past few years, the only time I really get to connect with these guys is when they pass through southern California on tour. So, of course I jumped at the chance to see them live and hang out when they played with Switchfoot tonight to a sold-out crowd at the Bren Center in Irvine.

It was literally like going to a high school reunion for me, since these bands and I shared many stages and tours over the years with my former band.

Tonight, when I arrived, I had no idea I was going to be pulled up on stage to sing along with the track I'd recorded with them. Luckily, my good friend Jered was there to take some shots. So... here they are.

And, the crowning glory:

Yes, that IS in fact my belly button dent that you can see through my shirt from stage. But, doesn't the black look slimming?

Video from the studio

2007-11-27T01:07:00.000-08:00

As Amanda said earlier, I spent the day in the studio and wanted to give you all an update on my progress. This is what I'd consider the "half way" point in the song- the bass, guitars, and drums are pretty much done. I figured it'd be cool to show you all what it sounds like before I put a melody to it and finish it up. Also, enjoy some of my sweet studio pics [some are from today, others are old favorites].

Mini Vacation

2007-11-26T13:34:00.000-08:00

After busting his finger open on Saturday, Josh took a few days off of music [which for him normally means taking time away from RECORDING, because mostly he writes in his head and not on a guitar anyway]. We spent the weekend with good friends and family and with each other! Last night we headed out to Cabazon to do some outlet shopping [and failed at our attempt to find Josh the perfect pair of black jeans]. Then, we stayed at Morongo, one of the nicest rooms we've paid for since we've been married. It was a last minute week-night splurge. But, we had a great time! It was good to take a day off, but Josh will be back in the studio this afternoon. He's working on a slower song for ABC that a soon-to-be-made-known female vocalist will be singing on, and then he's recording a few "Jet" styled songs and still trying to land one on Reaper.

Here's a pic from yesterday... more updates to come after tonight [as I'm never ceased to be amazed with what Josh can do in 5 hours alone at the studio].

A bit of frustration.

2007-11-24T22:32:00.000-08:00

So, today I was getting ready to record some drum tracks at my studio for a new song that I'm going to try and get in on the show Reaper [which I am watching a tivo of as I type...]. I'm lowering an old mic stand, or at least trying to, and my finger got pinched in the process. I didn't even realize it was actually cut until I unscrewed what I had been doing and found a chunk of my missing skin [sorry for the graphic description].

Needles to say, drumming didn't last too long today and led to a frustrating set back...

Tomorrow's a new day and a new chance to record. Tonight, it's neosporin and me kickin' it.

Approval and getting towed.

2007-11-11T19:53:00.000-08:00

Today, Josh got the OK on the vocals he sang for the Clay Aiken demo. Yes! We're thrilled. :)

We also got his car towed, because his key stopped working. That means 2+ weeks of one car for the two of us until his truck can get re-keyed. Yikes. At least it's on it's way to being fixed. It'd been acting up for quite some time.

We'll keep you posted on Clay Aiken.

Tonight's project.

2007-11-10T22:37:00.000-08:00

Well, it's 10:30pm and my wife Amanda and I are in the studio tracking some vocals for a song written by the uber talented and fabulous Eve Nelson. She's sending the song over to Clay Aiken for consideration for his new album and his team wanted to hear a male vocal on it... so it came my way. Eve is a new friend of ours in the Auer family and we're delighted to see where the relationship will end up down the road. It's funny how similar Eve and I seem to be- sense of humor and all. Must be a musician thing, because we totally hit it off!

In other news, Dawn Johnson, our favorite friend and contact from ABC's affiliate Fifth Floor Music [songs composed for television] has ventured out on her own project- Take Two Productions. I'm thrilled to be a part of it, and look forward to the growing opportunity I have in working with her!

Don't worry- I will still be working with Fifth Floor in the coming year- more now than ever, and with them gaining shows left and right, be on the look out [or, would it be "be on the listen out"??] for some of my stuff on ABC's shows- from day time to prime time! Trust me, we'll alert you the SECOND we hear anything!

Now, back to recording...