Once Upon a Holocron, part 2

Living in Austin, Texas with my father was a great thing for me. It allowed me to ease into adulthood in a way very different from heading straight to college. Working in an ER, I gained a perspective on life that school could not give me. I wasn’t mature enough for college, anyway. I was having too much fun not having homework. Homework was the one reason that I didn’t do well throughout my scholastic life leading up to that point. I’d do fine in class, in fact many times I’d participate when my classmates wouldn’t, but when I wasn’t forced to sit down and apply myself to my studies, I didn’t do it at all. Having a job that allowed me to put my time in, and then leave it all behind when my shift was up was something that I enjoyed very much.

Unfortunately, this was also the least creatively active phase of my life. I think that I eventually started tinkering with a story using Dregr, Loq, and Tyna, but it never really came to any sort of fruition. The most beneficial thing that came from my time in Austin was probably my familiarity of and proficiency in using Photoshop. I had seen and even used it a little before moving, but my experience was limited as I didn’t even have my own computer, let alone a copy of Photoshop to work with. That changed when I got my own PC. I developed a passion for the software and the things that I was able to do with it.

I liked it so much that I was convinced that I wanted to make a career out of using my skills as an artist. I had my future pegged as a game designer/computer animator. By this time, Martin had moved to Florida and was working on a film and video degree. My Mom and Step Dad, having heard the career path that I wanted to follow, decided to buy me a ticket to visit Martin in Florida. They enlisted Martin to arrange a tour of the school that he was attending. When I arrived in Florida, it was like old times again, except better because there were no parents to wake up with our late night video game playing or movie watching. The tour of the school must have been funny to watch because I didn’t stop smiling the whole time. They had all these cool toys and I was going to get to play with them, or at least I thought I was. I had a great visit with Martin and arrived back in Austin energized and ready to get moving on my future.

I didn’t end up attending that school, though, and it’s just as well. In the end, although he gained the knowledge he would need to make our project become a reality, Martin didn’t seem to think that the education he got there was necessarily worth the time and money that it cost him. This may be something that he told me to make me feel better about considering other schooling options, I don’t know. It would have take a lot of money to go there, and I hadn’t saved enough to even consider going. So, I continued working in Austin and looking at different schools.

Martin and I actually didn’t talk on the phone very frequently, so when we did talk, the conversations would usually be massive updates. There is one call that I remember the content of very well. Martin informed me that he had written a script for a Star Wars fan film. It used our characters and he wanted to know if I could come back to Pittsburgh (where he had since moved back to) for a month or so to portray Loq. I did my best not to let on, but I was very saddened by this because I knew that I couldn’t afford to be away from work for that long. Additionally, I felt somewhat betrayed because I was given every impression that I’d be the one that wrote the story. Even then, I knew that I had dropped the ball by not significantly contributing to the project for two years, but deeply entrenched expectations can be painful to let go of, no matter how inappropriate they are. To be honest, I don’t think that I even understood how important this project was to Martin. For me it was just a hobby that I enjoyed working on and thinking about, but for Martin it was a product that had yet to be completed, and waiting on me to uphold my end of the bargain, understandably, was no longer an option. I told Martin that I didn’t think that I would be able to make it back for that long. Understanding that he would have to find someone else to fill the roll, I asked him if he would change the name of the jedi character. Even if I hadn’t gotten a specific story down yet, I had a very specific image of the characters, and I wanted to protect Loq. In my mind, Martin was always Dregr, and I was always Loq. I think Martin understood and he agreed to change the name.

That conversation was the first time that I felt significantly detached from the project. Though I agreed to help in any way that I could, Martin was now the driving force. I had only myself to thank for the situation, but it was hard to see that at the time. It felt like I had been creating characters and formulating possible plots for almost three years, and now someone else was going to beat me to press. The more I thought about it, the more I realized that was exactly what was happening, but it was hard to admit that it was due to my own inaction. Selfishly, I distanced myself from the project to a degree, though I tried to convince myself that I had been pushed out. I still had an interest in being a major player, but Martin already had a plan that he was ready to enact, and who was I to stand in the way of the progress of my best friend.

This concludes tape one. Please insert side A of tape two to continue.

Once Upon a Holocron, part 1

Martin and I go way back. We met in gym class at Mt. Lebanon Senior High School during our junior year. We were the only two dorks in the class that wouldn’t take their shirts off in the pool. Though that was not the trait that would carry us into a lasting friendship, it was at least enough to give us a reason to talk. It didn’t take long to find out that both of us were raging Star Wars nerds shared a passion for Star Wars. This was after the Original Trilogy had been re-released and shortly before Episode 1: The Phantom Menace premiered, so it was easy to tell who all the other Star Wars fanatics were as it was difficult for them to contain their excitement.

We eventually started hanging out (when I wasn’t grounded due to bad grades) and quickly grew to be good friends. One night during our senior year, we went to go see our brothers perform in the Evening Theater Company’s rendition of Our Town. I can’t say that I really remember the play specifically, but I do remember expressing to Martin during the intermission that I had gotten the performance bug, and that I thought that we should choreograph a sword fight. I can’t remember now whether or not I had mentioned lightsabers specifically at the time, but it wasn’t long before Martin had convinced me that we could shoot the fight and add the lightsaber blades in afterwards using a program called Photoshop. With no experience in fight choreography or special effects, we decided that this was a good idea.

Fast forward through some love blindness and the hellacious experience that was Bye Bye Birdie, and we arrive at the end of the school year, close to our graduation. I was in a sci-fi literature class and our final project was pretty much to just create some sort of sci-fi work. Martin, our friend Kaye (who had bought into the whole fight scene thing that now had more story to it, and also happened to be in this sci-fi class as well) and I decided to use this opportunity to actually film this thing that we’d been working on for months. Holy crap, it was bad! I don’t remember whether it was Martin or I that came up with the script that we shot, but it actually ended with me trying to dramatically say the line “I couldn’t kill my own brother.” with a straight face. The fight scene wasn’t so bad. The costumes could have used some work, though. I was in a black t-shirt and jeans. The shirt had an image of Darth Maul with his double-edged lightsaber and some probe droids on the front, and the words “JEDI DO NOT CONCERN ME” on the back. Martin was in his Neo Maximus outfit. It was a dark grey trench coat with the sleeves and a majority of the lower half cut off. 7-inch-long vertical slits were cut 3 inches apart into what remained of the coat below the waist, creating the appearance of the garment that Maximus wore in the arena in Gladiator. If memory serves me correctly, there were washers dangling from the bottom of every strip, too. It was awesome. In the end, Kaye and I both got awesome grades for that project, creatively titled The Loq Drodn Project, and the characters Dregr Jarrat, Tyna Chik and Loq Drodn were all finally brought to life for the first time.

Soon after that, we all graduated. Fate of the Academy, as The Loq Drodn Project had come to be known, was in a precarious spot. We didn’t have a script, or even a concrete story, but we wanted to see something come of our efforts before I moved to Austin, Texas in a month and a half. We decided that we would do what we could  to film a movie trailer for a film that would never be… or, at least wouldn’t be before I moved. We both enlisted the aid of our mothers to help us fabricate better costumes. Martin’s ended up better than mine. I looked like I was going to prom in a cool cape.  He had Jedi Robes, though they closely resembled what you might expect to see Moses parting large bodies of water in.

We spent a whole day filming out in the woods. Martin was quite  the trooper. We were out there filming just a couple days after he  had undergone surgery to have one of his organs removed. Yes, we filmed Martin roaming the woods like a yeti in Moses robes while sticks and branches poked at his yet-unhealed stitches, and that was the easy part. He did all of our fight scenes, too. Our  brothers were there as well. Mark donned his brother Martin’s Neo Maximus coat while my brother, Daniel wore a tan bathrobe with the sleeves rolled up. This was quite a classy effort. We did the best we could and had a fun time. No dialogue this time, just action shots.

I departed Pittsburgh soon after with all of my stuff. Retrospectively, I feel ashamed that I all but abandoned the project that Martin and I poured so much time and energy into for the past year. I was too shaken to feel that way at the time, though. It’s not that I was frightened, but it was a new way of living after that. I had a job working at an ER. I had a car that allowed me the freedom to go where I wanted to go, when I wanted to go there. I had spending money. Most of all, though, I was living with my Dad, who I had only visited since the age of 2. The fan film was definitely still on my mind, but I didn’t work on it very much for the first year that I lived in Austin.

This is the end of side A. The story continues on side B of this cassette.

I Think I Know a Guy Who Knows a Guy

This is the image that I recently created for DoubleShot!’s search for a replacement guy. We’ve been spoiled in the past in regard to finding talented people to join the group. We found Steve, the first new guy, in our first round of auditions. Dre, our second and latest new guy, actually found us right as we were about to start looking again.

We’ve auditioned a few guys recently and they have proven to be talented vocalists, possibly talented enough to become the newest addition to our group. That said, we still find ourselves wanting more options before we decide on a replacement, and it’s no reflection on the guys that have come to sing for us. Personally, I think that it’s hard for me to ignore the fact that when we find the new guy, the old guy (Dave) will be leaving.

Having very similar senses of humor, it won’t be pleasant to see the person that I’ve laughed the most with in the group have his “final” concert. He’s been a quiet (if not occasionally inaudible)voice of reason over the years, making rehearsals, concerts, photo shoots, and other such things that much more efficient and enjoyable. He also hauled me around town for rehearsals and gigs when I was without a car*, allowing me to save both money and sanity. He’s a valuable member of the group, and he’s leaving a big pair of shoes for the new guy to fill.

Tonight, we’ll be taking a page from the conception of the group and will be heading to Señor Frogs for karaoke night. Though we’ll do some singing, our motivation for being there will be to scout out some possible auditionees. A few of our guys went out earlier this week, though it doesn’t sound like they really found anyone. Hopefully tonight will have a better showing. If not, we might have to get creative in our recruiting efforts.

*It occurs to me that I didn’t mention previously that I got a car. I did. It’s cool.

Public Transportation, How I Hate Thee

If there is anyone reading this blog that is debating ditching their car and relying on the Port Authority to get you about town, please consider it carefully before changing your life that way. I hear it’s great for the environment as there are fewer poison-spewing vehicles on the road. That’s good. You probably get more exercise walking to the bus stop then you do walking to your parking spot. That’s good, too, unless it’s in inclement weather, then it’s bad.

I’m having a little difficulty coming up with other good things.

You may look at the title and think to yourself “Hate is a rather strong word. Does he actually loathe the Pittsburgh Public Transit System?”. Yes, I absolutely do… part of it. I’m cool with the trolley. It’s never really done me wrong aside from being late a couple times. The bus is where my ill will lies.

Let me tell you a short story demonstrating the sort of pattern I see in relation to using the bus system that drives me nuts.

One morning, a man named Duke awoke to find the perfect day outside his window. Energized by sunshine that greeted him as he walked out the front door, Duke enjoyed the mile walk from his house to the bus stop. As he neared the stop, he saw his bus nearing the stop as well. Duke hurried to the stop where someone was already waiting. The bus stopped, allowed the person who was already waiting to board, and just as Duke was two feet away from the door, the evil driver slammed the door in his face and sped off, which surprised Duke because he’d never seen a bus move faster than five miles-per-hour. The dust and smoke from the bus’ tires cleared leaving only the driver’s cackle hovering in the air. That single instant changed Duke’s life forever. He would have gone on to get a lottery ticket at the 7-11 and win five million dollars. Then, getting to work ahead of schedule, he would have been given a promotion for being so reliable. But most tragically, at the celebration for his promotion, Duke would have met the woman of his dreams, who just happened to be newly over her last relationship and ready to start again. He would have married her, too. Instead, he got to wait another 45 minutes for a bus, making him late for work instead of early. He got fired upon his arrival at the office. That’s when Duke became an alcoholic. The End.

That was a true story*. The saddest part is that it all could have turned out alright if that doody-faced driver had kept his door open for two more seconds.

I need a car.

*Facts in this story are limited to Duke’s interaction with the bus, not including speed and/or cackling.

Contemporary A Cappella & Me

I’ve been in DoubleShot! for years now. In that time I’ve learned to listen to music with an arranger’s ears because, even though I don’t directly arrange much of the music that DS! performs, I’m constantly participating in the final product, and there’s always a way to make the music better. Rare is it that I take an introspective look at the product that I am helping to make. Now, when I say introspective, I don’t mean in relation to the group, but rather a look to my own thoughts and emotions.

Recently, I found myself trying to think of a way to make one of our songs “rock” more. It wasn’t fat enough. It didn’t drive like I wanted it to. As you can imagine, this can be a frequent difficulty for a contemporary a cappella group. Capturing the sensation that you get listening to a song on the radio will ever be a challenge for the all-vocal world. I frustrated myself with that though process for as long as I could tolerate, but eventually gave my mind the respite it needed. My thoughts managed to remain on the subject, but shifted gears. Was it even possible to get the sound that I was looking for from six voices?

I quickly found this to be a frustration as well. Although I am very proud of the work that my group mates and I do, and the happiness that we’ve been allowed to share with people, I found myself resigned to the fact that I just wasn’t going to be able to crank the sound out of the group that I was looking for.

What does that mean? It may mean that it’s okay for me to explore other methods of creating music. That sounds pretty rational to anyone reading this post, I’m sure, but let me assure you that it was a revelation to me. I don’t know if this is the case with most people, but when I get in the mode of doing something one way, I all but forget that there may be another way to do it. This is what happened with DS!. I got used to the fact that I had one group of people that I made music with, and that was it.

When that occurred to me, I got depressed for a second because I irrationally thought that it was one or the other. Then I got excited at the thought of doing something new, even if my current group had to say goodbye (in due time, of course. There’s procedure in our handbook to follow). Finally, I realized that I can continue with DS!, and possibly do something new at the same time. This rocks.

Since then, I’ve seriously pondered how I would approach multiple musical styles and the sort of sound I would like to accomplish with each. Just the possibilities make me excited, and in the meantime, I get to continue making music with DS!

The word of the week: Opportunity

I am tempted to say that the event of which I am about to write is a “once in a lifetime” Opportunity. With a little reflection, though, I realize that the truth of that statement is completely dependent on how active one is, and how much one works to make opportunities present themselves.

This Saturday, I, with DoubleShot!, will be auditioning for a show called “The Sing Off.” It’s a competition that pits a cappella groups against each other American Idol style, each hoping that they’ll come away with the record deal that the show promises to the winning group. Similar to the other reality competition shows that are currently popular, there will be a cattle-call day of auditions. This is a very unattractive way of spending a Saturday… so we’re not going to. Since the producers of the show knew of DoubleShot! since the very beginning, we’ll be auditioning directly for them, skipping the preliminary audition completely. As we’ve seen in recent music history, reality TV like this can spawn careers for the participants, even if they don’t win. What’s the saying? “There’s no such thing as bad publicity.” That’s what we’re banking on. We’re not even sure that we’ll make it beyond the audition. But, if we do, this will be a huge spot of nation-wide visibility for us. “As seen on NBC’s ‘The Sing Off’” is a phrase that will carry a lot of weight soon.

If we do make it, it’ll mean putting life outside of the competition on hold between Thanksgiving and Christmas for the shooting of the show. This is good for the aforementioned reason. It is also bad. It would all but halt the progress that we make on our music and stage show (aside from the songs that we compete with). We also stand to confuse our audience, current and future, as we would be performing with only three of the six current group members. The chances that the other three guys could get away from their jobs for almost a month to shoot this show in L.A. are practically nill. Luckily, if you offer a serious musician the chance to be seen on national television doing the thing that he or she loves, they’re probably going to be much more inclined to join the group, even if only temporarily.

I’m excited about this coming Saturday. I have many different emotions rolling around: fear of rejection, joy that we could be on national TV, sadness that I already know that it can’t be done with all of the guys that got us to this point, anger that our preparation level is not what it should be, etc. It will be very interesting to see how this audition will shape the future. The only thing I know for certain is that I’m in it to win it.

*tap* *tap* *tap* Is this thing on?

Welcome to The Book of Luke, Chapter II! (for chapter I, go to luciuswclavius.livejournal.com)

I’m hoping that creating a new blog will prompt me to be more active in the chronicling of the life and times of Luke Clavey (me, for those who haven’t read my profile). Please feel free to comment in any way you see fit to any of my posts. There’s nothing that I enjoy more about blogging than when it turns conversational.

And with that, I have to get back to work.