I started writing some new songs and hope to put out a new record later this year. At the latest, it'll happen in November since thats been how it's went down for the past two years. I get about a month and a half off of work in July and August so I hope to do the bulk of recording during that time when my mind is clear and I can take the time needed to record.

At the moment, it's looking like it's going to be quite different from the past two. I don't really feel like making a big fuss out of it nor do I really have the equipment now to do another Electronica-style record. I'd say that it might end up like a cross between David Grey's "White Ladder," Neil Young's "Silver and Gold," and some of the messyness of the Bradley Nowell acoustic record. Change is good so we'll see what happens.

Tomorrow is my birthday and I'll be spending it teaching little kids how to speak English. Haha. Later. Brad

Even though I had another insane weekend with Rory turning the town of Fujisawa on it's head, I figured I'd write about something simpler for now. The English and Japanese languages.

One odd thing about being in Japan is finding the balance between still being able to spell basic English words and learning Japanese. While this may sound a bit odd at first to anyone not here, imagine not watching TV, listening to the radio, reading newspapers, seeing advertisements, or taking in a number of any kind of media in your native language. Add to that, only being to speak with friends in English once a week if your lucky. The end result is that I can feel my written English ability slipping away faster than (insert awesome metaphor here cuz I can't do it).

When students ask questions about how to spell certain words in English, I find myself constantly second guessing how to spell simple words like "Couch" or "Twelfth." Without the help of spellchecker I have no idea. I can only hope for their sake that they look up the proper spelling later. I have heard some accounts of Americans speaking much slower English than ever before as a result of coming to Japan, but luckily I think my East Coast upbringing won't let that happen.

I'm frantically studying Japanese, mainly kanji at the moment, every chance I get in between going out and work. So far it seems to be going quite well, although I'm not really expecting to attain fluency. If you ever have any time to kill, studying kanji is one of the best ways to do it. As a result, I usually keep a notebook with me at all times in case I end up waiting for something / stranded. If you're interested, all you really need is a pen, notebook, and this website. Just be sure to change the Romaji to Hiragana as you go.

In other news, I just got done watching the Rambo movie from last year and it was pretty cool. Also, I've been listening to a ton of Imaginary Baseball League lately. If you've never heard of them, they have lots of free mp3s on their site since they broke up. I've been a fan for quite sometime, and it makes for great quiet music while waiting for the first train of the day at 5am.

In my music news, I'm still working on new songs. Sometimes it feels like work which isn't any good. Hopefully it'll just come naturally if given enough time. I'd really like to put a new record out by this November.

I'm going to Shinjuku this weekend. If I don't write before then...Mata ne!

Music: Myspace.com/TheNationalPool
Email: thenationalpool@gmail.com
Pictures: Flicker/TheNationalPool

It's been a very long time since the last post, but here we go.

Japan:
I moved to Japan in March 2008 and am having a great time. I started up a new blog here: http://yokohamabrad.blogspot.com/ Check it out. I'm playing at a venue in Tokyo at the end of June with some other awesome musicians. After we practice for the show in the coming weeks, we're planning to play in the street so hopefully I'll have some video of that up on the YouTube Page.

Music:
I've been writing a little bit lately. I don't have an electric guitar over here, only acoustic and limited equipment. I'm hoping to release some acoustic stuff later on this year, and possibly a free EP of acoustic cover songs if anybody wants it. Work and play have been keeping me busy but I definitely intend on putting out more music.

Albums:
We still have two records available for sale all over the Internet. Thanks to everybody who's been supporting us and buying the music. Keep it up. I know I have a tendency to go MIA on the Internet sometimes and it's awesome to see people still into the music.

For more detailed info on how Japan is going, again check out the new blog:
http://yokohamabrad.blogspot.com/

Later,

Brad

Here is the definitive list of Podcasts that have played songs by The National Pool on their shows. We would like to extend our greatest thanks for the airplay. We can't do it without you guys!

This list will updated as new shows play our songs.

Jersey Todd Show - Ep. 63
GD's Bite Size Bonus - Ep. 236
The Stam Podcast - Ep. 38
The Broad Cast - Ep. 13
Music From The Other Side - Ep. 2
Learn Japanese - Ep. 40
Joyrise - Ep. 156 and 186
Radio QRM - Ep. Disjointed
News From The Other Side - Talk Ep. 20
144oz - Ep. 198
Suburban Transpondency - Ep. 44
My Cup Of Tea (In Japanese) - 1/17/07
Most People Are DJs - Ep. 80
The M Show - Ep. 133
Hawaii Surf Session Report - Ep. 122
Music Business Radio - Ep. 21
This Week In Science - 1/16/07
Evil Genius Chronicles - 1/16/07
Hot Buttered Pop Culture - Ep. 220
Robot 40 - Ep. 16
Is This Thing On? - Ep. 33
A Weekly Fix - Ep. 21
Gatorcast - Ep. 33
Way Past Bedtime with Gustav Bertha - Ep. 28
Startled Bunny: Global Edition - Ep. 6
Not Another Local Band - Ep. 21
Next Big Hit - 2/9/07 - Ep. 201
Contrast Podcast - Ep. 46
Bald Guy Show - Ep. 156
Japanese Pod101.com - News 41 2/17/07
America Unsigned - Ep. 5
Radio QRM - Which Way To Peterborough?
Dropshock Radio - Ep. 32
Candid Radio - Ep. 202
Regional Music Show - Ep. 1
Sourcetrunk - Ep. 19
Freeskier Magazine Podcast - 2007 Jon Olsson Invitational
Crankcast - Ep. 79
The Big Ugly Podcast - 2k7 04/12
Radio Orphans Podcast - Ep. 94
Big Phil's Love Parade - Ep. 77, Ep. 80, and Ep. 109
Confessions Of A DJ - Bonus Traxx Ep. 3
Suitcase Full Of Dimes - Ep. 37
Japan Talk - Ep. 65
That Blue Jeans Guy - Ep. 63 and 96
Dark Compass - Ep. 261
Top Of The Podsafes - Ep. 83
Journey Inside My Mind - Ep. 83
Borderline - Ep. 77
Dave Rabbit's 1st Termer Exp. - 4/20/07
Indie Music Sampler - Ep. 42
Brunchohol - Ep. 31
Notes Underground - Ep. 58
Lip Gloss and Laptops - Ep. 56
The FredCast Cycling Podcast - Ep. 67
64mm Vlog - Ep. 54
Get Jacked! - Ep. 270
The Second Floor Lounge - Ep. 14
Get Busy Radio - 4/20/07
Endless Shouting Matches With Yourself - Ep. 9
Alt.Cast - Ep. 111
Chub Creek - Ep. 91
Wasting Time Podcast - Ep. 15
Ambient Falls - Ep. 5
Joe's Podhole - Ep. 95
The Sunday Showdown - Ep. 24
Lip Gloss and Laptops - Ep. 56
Startled Bunny Podcast - Aug 25, 2007
JogTunes Indie Podcast - Ep. 14
On Hold Podcast - Ep. 65

-The National Pool

Hey everybody,

I'm very happy to announce the arrival of our second album, Home. We've been working really hard on it for quite some time now and it's great to finally set it free. Some of the songs are only a month old while I've toying around with others for about a year now. It contains six songs and is an E.P.

I submitted it into iTunes, Emusic, etc tonight (Nov. 13) and it should be available to buy within the coming weeks. Some stores will get it faster than others and I'll be sure keep everyone updated. At the latest it should be available by mid-December I'd say.

The overall vibe of the record is quite relaxed compared to some of our other songs. The subject matter on the album deals a lot with death and rebirth, combined with a healthy dose of my love for all things science related.

Musically, we used more atmospheric keyboard sounds and I tried to go for slightly more tweaked out guitar sounds.

I may edit this post at a later date to give additional info on the record if I think of anything. If you have any burning questions about it, you can send email to: thenationalpool@gmail.com.

Enjoy the 3 tunes I put up on the Myspace page and I'll keep you posted as to when it's available for sale.

-Brad

Hey everybody,

Our music is also available now in the brand new Amazon.com DRM-Free music store. Check it out. You can play those mp3s in any mp3 player and burn as many CDs as you want with them.

We finished the new EP and it should be available for sale in the music stores within the next couple months. I'll posts some songs from it as soon as they're ready.

-Brad

At long last, here is a full update. I hope it's interesting.

Why no blog posts lately? Things have been very busy and there also wasn't much going on to write about. Any free time I've had was spent studying Japanese, being lazy, or going to the podcast, Modern Music Business.

Lending A Hand: Since The National Pool is only a studio project for the moment, getting the word out can be a bit tough. So if you like our music, please lets your friends know about it. I've also uploaded the AO1 single to a torrent. Click here for our listing on The Pirate Bay. If the download goes slow at first, blame Comcast and be patient. I will be seeding this torrent forever and rest assured you'll get it.

New E.P.: We will be done recording by the end of September at the latest. From there, we master the record and submit it into iTunes which could take some time. The album has a very chilled out vibe to it. The single from the record is called "Home" and my favorite song title is called "We Want You Dead." As of now, the record is untitled.

Once we have the record back from being mastered, we'll be sure to post songs to the page. I also plan to start work on at least one full length album to release by early next year.

Here is the current track listing:
       1. We Want You Dead
       2. Walking Down The Hall
       3. Aurora
       4. Home
       5. Changing Tides
       6. ???

Design: Within the next month or so I hope to do a full redesign of our "site." I say "site" because it's really just a Myspace page. Nonetheless, it will look different.

I suppose that's all for now. If you want to say hi, email thenationalpool@gmail.com or Skype: thenationalpool

-Brad

This is more of a half-blog post.

1. Real blog post with news and things is coming this weekend.
2. EP almost finished recording. Should be out in a couple months.

Talk soon.

Brad.

Hey,

It's been awhile since I've posted. Things have been quite busy.

Show: Dave from Magic Bullet Theory set up a show in D.C. on June 20th at The Velvet Lounge...or maybe it's in Baltimore. I'm not too sure. It'll just be me and him. Guitar and drums. Should be interesting. Expect video of it later on.

Tunes: We might release a new record later on, just not too sure now. There are five or six songs that are finished that may come out as an EP. We'll see what happens.

Podcast: Check the Modern Music Business podcast. 10min every week of Music Business talk.

Gotta run. Hopefully I'll post more soon.

-Brad

Brad here. It's blog time.

Podcast: I started up a new podcast called Modern Music Business. If you've always wanted to hear me talk about the recording industry for ten minutes every week, then your dreams just came true. Stop by the site and subscribe in iTunes.

Also, check out the ever-growing list of podcasts that have been playing our music. I'd like to say thanks again to everyone thats been supporting what we're doing.

General News: I'm pretty excited about the new Earth-like planet that was discovered. I suppose I won't ever get to go there though...it's a damn shame. I guess I'll just have to keep watching Sci-Fi for now.

I'm planning on taking the JLPT later this year. If you have any tips, feel free to get in touch. Also, if you speak Japanese and have Skype say hi too. Our tag is: thenationalpool.

Also looking forward to the new Ataxia record and Laura Veirs coming to Nashville.

What I'm Into Lately: Letters From Iwo Jima, Father Ted Season 3, Bebel Gilberto, and Gregory Issacs.

Mata ne.

Brad