I have known this guy since 1st grade. I think he and I had a whole bunch of classes together throughout our school lives, but it was not until he joined Subcoma, the hard rock band I fronted throughout high school, that he and I really clicked.

Well, he can be seen in atleast half of my silly/ridiculous photos, he can be heard playing the bass on some of my tracks, such as "Pretend its that Summer (the ice cream song)" and "Take a Tickle", and he has been such an inspirational friend and supporter of my music. He is like a brother to me.

His name is Joe Jovel.

I knew Joe from, probably about 7th grade, but always thought he was a werido. (Turns out he was, which was why he and I became such good friends so quickly later on).
Joe played bass guitar in the Jazz band throughout high school, and when my high school rock band, Subcoma, lost its bass player in early 2002, we began the search for a new one.

I sort of suggested Joe as a passing thought, since neither I nor the other two members of the band knew him well. One day at school, I asked him if had heard of our band and if he would be interested in jamming with us a couple times, to see if it made sense for him to join. He didnt seem too eager, but said he would come by next band practice.

Joe was an instant hit at band practice. Out of the four of us, he was the one with the most training on his instrument, knew it well, and showed his prowess at that first meeting. His energy gave me exactly what I needed for performances, and his skill with the bass echoed what was in my mind for the foundation of each song. He was also very good at having fun at band practice and on stage... an important part of Subcoma's live performances.

Our chemistry in the band was perfect, and we also became great friends outside of the music, which was important to me, since the band broke up in fall of 2003. We had not played much music together for years, until I moved to San Luis Obispo late 2008, and slept in his living room for a year.

There, we developed more of our acoustic sound, with me on acoustic guitar, and Joe switching from electric bass guitar, to acoustic bass guitar. He was able to play shows with me for about a year, til he moved to San Diego, but not before playing on the Clubhouse LIVE CD I recorded with fellow musician Shawn Ellis in March of 2009. The addition of Joe's bass grooves on my songs were perfect for the show, and that CD can still be purchased at my gigs. It is not yet available on itunes or online anywhere, or in stores.... but please come support the music and you can get one.

I live in Los Angeles, California now, just two hours north of Joe's place in San Diego, and you can still catch him on stage with me from time to time, and you will no doubt continue to hear him on my tracks.

I will upload a video of Joe and I playing as soon as I can.
Thanks Joe! I love you and cant wait til we jam next.
-BRIAN

Couch Surfing. What exactly does that even mean? I have no idea, but I am catchin some big waves lately.

My move to LA could be considered reckless, foolish... stupid? But hey I am young, unattached, and am blessed with good friends willing to offer a roof and a couch when I need it. So here I go.

Imagine being 4 inches tall, and in a kitchen. You are on the counter, by the kitchen sink. You climb your way up the faucet, and walk toward the edge. Peering down, you realize you are right above the garbage disposal. It is not turned on, but you know it is there, right below you. Why would you jump?

I know, that does not have much to do with my blog here, but it popped into my head and I wrote it down. Any problems you have with my blog, take it up with any large muscular bouncer, found outside any nightclub or popular bar. He will help straighten things out. Just make sure you are livid when you approach them.


No dont do that. You will get yourself killed, are you crazy???

Anyway, so my ideas have been mushed all together with the potatoes of life, the peas of motivation, the butter of freedom, and they are all sitting on the salad plate of spontineaity. Cuz I dont eat salad.

Bring it on, I say. If LA eats me alive, then I will just play my guitar inside its stomach.

I was asked to participate in April's March of Dimes this year. It was an honor to walk the 5 miles and help show support to raise funding for research and health for premature births. This is a great cause, and if you have not looked into it, please do.

We started early in the morning, meeting in Arroyo Grande, CA. They had a DJ so I didn't perform, but after walking the 5 miles, I was asked to supervise the "big bouncy jumpy thingy" for the kids. It was great fun. Mostly I juggled sticks and some of the kids were even more entertained by that than the bouncing.

Plenty of free food, and lots of support from local sponsors. Special thanks to Stephanie Bunch and Trevor Moriarty for their immense effort in putting it together. Thanks Ginny Rhoads of Farmers Insurance for getting me involved as well.

I hope to see you all at the next one!

Driving home from an open mic in Arroyo Grande last night, I just felt a little lost. I am not sure why it hit me, but I could not go back to the house. Not yet.

I stopped off at Pismo Beach around 9pm. My brother in law called and we spoke for a while, but after the conversation I still felt like I should stay out there by the water.

I have never felt more raw in my life. Out there on the beach at night, alone with my guitar. I performed for the ocean. And the ocean performed for me.

I made it hope a few hours later. But that show will always be one of my favorites.

Alright man, here's my input:

Everything you're doing is good. Your stage presence is great, the way you interact with the crowd like a master famous musician is one of your greatest strengths. Rarely is it the most musically talented people that make it big, it's the ones who know how to work the crowd and have that magnetic stage presence. So keep doing that. I love your hat idea too... very unique, creative, and fun. Might not work so good with larger crowds, but when it comes to having sold out concerts at the Pavillion or something, you could reserve the hat thing just for the one's with backstage passes or something. As for your music itself, I am way impressed with how well you play and sing, how you are always in tune and on key. Your ability to construct a melody has also greatly improved, where before sometimes it would seem too random or wandering, it seems that now you take it right where it needs to go. It fits the music just right, leaving that back part of the listener's brain satisfied.

The only thing I could think of to offer for constructive input is to try to sing more from your belly or even chest. You've got a lot of volume, but it still sounds like all of your voice is coming straight from your throat, thus limiting it and making it sound like the treble's high and bass is low or off. It lacks that kind of bass-y power and animal magnatism that comes from the chest or gut. But it's only noticeable at parts where one expects there to be more thickness or bass to it. Your voice is perfect for everything else. Experiment singing from your chest, your gut, even try imagining your voice is coming from your entire body at once, all the way to your toes. That doesn't mean it has to be louder, just more whole. Like I said, play around with it and see if you get a sense of what I'm talking about. I could totally be wrong, and if your singing voice doesn't change one bit, you're not going to lose any fans. You are really good.

I hope my contribution to your greatness helps you out in some way or another. Damn proud of ya man!

Each passing day spent is one of constant work... for myself.
I am my own manager, booking agent, producer, sponsor, stylist (obvious haha), and I have no personal assistant.
Constantly having to be aware of scamming "industry professionals" is taking a toll on my love for the entertainment industry... which was minimal at best to begin with. But there are some good apples out there. There must be. Otherwise no new apple trees would grow.

I am constantly on the phone, meeting with other musicians or booking agents, and doing research on people after I meet them.

Stay tuned, I have criticism of my shows I will start sharing with ya :)

DUDE!!! the most craziest thing happened just now...ok....a little warm up. So ive been on the comptuer for about an hour and ther ehas been a spider just chillin on the crease between the ceiling and the wall for the same amount of time. i just decided i could use a few mintues with some of your music and i decided to put scimitar on. right when the music starts another spider comes up the wall and is in the same crease but like 4 feet away....it stops untill you start to pick up beat, and hten it starts to walk to the other spider(the smaller one). i know it cant see it yet, its just cruisin. And it just walks and walks getting closer and closer....3 feet.....2 feet...your tempo builds.....1 foot....its getting to the climax of the song and his like 6 inches away...and he stopped...like 15 seconds of no movement from either spider. then like your song picked up real quick and the big ..ed to move...it got like 1 inch from the little spider, paused and then there was like a short battle that was wuickly won by the larger of the two. he began wfeeding right away....and the music slowed as he began to feed.......ok, tell me thats not the freakiest thing that youve heard....its like that music was meant for that......weird....so yeah...crazyness....btw...tis freakin HOT!!!!!!!