Had a great night at the Rwanda; Rises Up release party last night. Brett and I got up to perform "Carry You" at Tatoo Rock Parlour. There were performances by the Heartbroken, Hot Hot Heat, Sara Sleane, Crash Parallel, and many more. All of the artists had written songs for the album that goes along with the documentary. It was a very different experience working on a song based around a sample recorded in a different language, in a different country., but it was totally inspiring. We took a sample of the vocal and then a sample of some drums recorded seperately, and they fit together perfectly. The song really just fell out after that. It shows that music is truly the universal language. Make sure to check out the documentary and the album on iTunes! I posted "Carry You" here on my website for you to check out.
xoLuke
Luke in Humvee simulator
Wednesday, May 19, 2010
I Finally managed to find time to edit some of the video together from my trip to Afghanistan. While we were there they put us through some simulators that the army use as training tools. Obviously a common thing soldiers deal with is hitting roadside bombs and vehicles rolling. We were rolling at a fraction of the speed....(hard to imagine what it would actually be like to be in that situation). The toughest part of the exercise was when they stopped the Humvee while it was upside down. While suspended you have to undo your seat belts. I crashed my full weight down on my head, good thing the helmet was on,. We then had to open the doors and make sure everyone gets out o.k. I was with guys from Default and the Carpet Frogs...very crazy.
Much respect to our soldiers who do the real thing.
-LM
Oil Royalties
Monday, April 12, 2010
The absence of copyright reform legislation in Canada has created a generation of people who see no harm in illegally sharing files, and the resulting loss in sales is negatively impacting the development of Canadian talent, both here and abroad. As Bono said in a recent NYT op-ed piece "A decade’s worth of music file-sharing and swiping has made clear that the people it hurts are the creators — in this case, the young, fledgling songwriters who can’t live off ticket and T-shirt sales like the least sympathetic among us — and the people this reverse Robin Hooding benefits are rich service providers, whose swollen profits perfectly mirror the lost receipts of the music business."
This is from a recent article about unpaid oil royalties in the Boston Globe;
“What most people don’t know is that under a poorly drafted law in the 1990s, oil companies [that] received leases between 1996 and 2000 in the Gulf of Mexico are now drilling on public land for free,’’ said Markey, chairman of the House subcommittee on Energy and Environment.
The governments don't seem to like it when rich oil companies don't pay them royalties... how are hard working artists supposed to feel as millions enjoy their creations for free because of rich internet service providers and government apathy?
Judie Tzuke
Saturday, April 10, 2010
My writing session yesterday with Judie Tzuke was really fun. After my adventerous, somewhat chaotic train ride out to her home in Weybridge we had a great day together. I love the song we wrote and am thrilled that I will have collaborated on a song that her voice will be on...amazing voice, one of a kind.
Near disaster on my way to Weybridge England!
Friday, April 9, 2010
So I have this cover for my iPhone that doubles as a wallet, the iPhone slips into it and there are pockets for credit card, ID etc. I was always losing either my wallet or my phone so I figured that I'd only have one thing to lose (not sure about the logic of that one, but we'll just move on with the story).
So I'm on a train from London's main terminal, London Waterloo. I decide to catch up on some e-mails, and foolishly take my iPhone out of it's little wallet/case. I'm so entrenched in my e-mails that I barely realize the train has stopped at my destination. I rush to get off and am outside the train when I realize I'm holding my naked iPhone...shit!! I dive back in the train as the doors are closing and frantically try to remember which seat I was in, as people look at me like I'm a lunatic! I find my wallet in record time, and try to dive back out of the train, but am too late, and nearly get caught in the doors, and have a conductor yelling "bloody idiot!". So I'm stuck on the train going to the next stop. Sigh. So I get off the train at the next stop, go underground to the other side and see that there is an 11 59 that heads back toward Weybridge. I can already see a train heading my way so I double check with another conductor "does this train go to Weybridge". He say's "Yah, that's it comin' this way". So when it stops I hop in, then I look up at the digital read out and it says it goes non stop back to London Waterloo!! So like a mad man yet again, I dive out of the train just in time. I said to the conductor "dude, that's the wrong train, it goes to London Waterloo". He very calmly replied "oh shit, I just told two other people that it stops at Weybridge!". So those poor saps were stuck 40 minutes to Waterloo!!!! So I said to him...."so what time is the one to Weybridge?" And he said "11 59". And I said, "But that one said 11 59". And he said, "I know, there are two 11 59s." And I said "Seriously? Doesn't that defy logic, since they both go the same direction". And he said "yeah, seems that way doeesn't it?" (I'm not making this up). All I could do was laugh, and hopped on the 11 59 train to Weybridge.
This is a picture of my dazed and confused reflection in the 11 59 train window (take your pick)!!
