performing in oakland tonight!
our friend, aj kirsch (who’s also a professional wrestler… that thar is a link to his facebook fan page), will be kicking ass tonight in oakland for a national karaoke contest semi-final round!
after winning 1st place in san francisco’s regional rock division karaoke contest, he’s singing “the way you make me feel” by michael jackson tonight for a battle to the LAS VEGAS finals.
stakes are high. he invited me along to do some back up dancing and acting. remember the girl from the video?
i’ve packed a short black dress and heels, and i’m ready to rock.
in other performance news, i have an audition on sunday for which i’m regularly rehearsing. it’s an exciting week!
xo
–aimes
PS stay tuned for a variety of videos and audio files from our jams with VEX over the weekend! we did quite a few funny rando tunes…
MUSIC!
LET THERE BE (live and unedited) MUSIC!
listen to some first tracks from a set we played at calvin & natsuko’s wedding at our myspace.
i recently rediscovered my roland edirol, so i brought it along to hear what happens to the recordings outdoors. (as a journalist, i had only ever used the thing at very close range inside.) turns out there’s a reason this thing costs what it does! it was surprisingly good.
of course, there’s the ambient “guests arriving” noise (but i rather like that).
if you listen closely, you can hear the difference between the organic capture of my voice right above the device and the capture that came through our little mic amp. crazy.
also, some kids run by arguing and shaking rice, which adds extra flavor. :)
challenge! because the edirol was sitting at my feet a good two meters from the back of the speakers, the resulting amplitude was very small (the audio track was reading below -38 in playback scope). but after duplicating and tracking the original about 20 times, i got enough power out of it to achieve the current (acceptable? too low? you-tell-me!) volume.
we would be interested to hear what anyone thinks.
your criticism helps us grow.
–demilo
and now… for something random!
why and how this happened… we will never know.
–demilo
natsuko & calvin’s wedding
yesterday afternoon, we played our first gig for complete strangers. last night, we left the event with new friends.
it was about a month ago when we first met natsuko and calvin. they still needed live music for their wedding, and they were surprised to find the sound they were looking for at all wrapped up, the shipping and gift store where travis works in mill valley.
at first, natsuko and calvin thought they were hearing a cd. they were delighted to find it was travis playing and fell in love with the feel of his songs and his enthusiasm for music. 
over the next month, we worked out via phone and email a song list of covers and originals for their wedding and reception. we played songs like “all you need is love” by the beatles, “oh what a day” by ingrid michaelson and “grow old with you” by adam sandler. it was really fun, and we learned some covers we might never have attempted otherwise.
the wedding was at calvin’s brother’s house in belvedere, right on the water. the reception at the lodge at tiburon was laid back with outdoor bar around fire pits and a nice intimate indoor room for dinner. it was an intimate event, with 30 or 40 guests.
i played my keyboard more than the guitar this time, and it affirmed everything about my recent decision to stay more key-friendly. i love the guitar, but the piano is really where i got my start and feel most comfortable. it will be fun, though, to play a bunch of instruments on the upcoming album.
we had an amazing time, and we learned that calvin and natsuko are great people. we were very happy to be a part of their special occasion.
that’s our last officially lined-up gig for awhile, although we would welcome more (send them our way)! otherwise, we’ll be practicing the songs for the album and getting our tracks up to chop.
xo
.demilo.
jonelle & ben’s wedding, 9/26/2009
on saturday at 6am, travis and i set out from the bay for incline village on the north shore of lake tahoe to play some live music at jonelle and ben’s wedding.
it was a beautiful setting on the water—sunny, warm and windless. jonelle and ben both looked stunning. they had rented a house with a huge yard and had the reception—complete with games of badminton and horseshoe—on the grass in the back.
the bride’s song requests were the coolest:
PROCESSIONAL
(1) Tupelo Honey – Van Morrison
(2) Nothing Else Matters – Metallica
(3) Over the Hills and Far Away – Led Zeppelin
RECESSIONAL
(4) Seven Brides Road – The Eagles
we played about 30 minutes before and 30 minutes after the ceremony itself.
aside from the sunshine detuning my nylon strings, the gig went flawlessly. there were no amps allowed on the beach, so it was purely acoustic. but that made the event very relaxing, fun and enjoyable. everyone had a great time and travis and i were happy to visit with friends in a stunning location.
we’re playing another wedding on October 16 for a local couple in belvedere. it’s much more involved with a longer set list and a host of beatles and neil young covers. we’re looking forward to it!
thanks, jonelle and ben!
–aimes
