i saw two skinless bodies today for an art class. 
i had heard stories of people fainting or vomiting upon seeing a cadaver, so upon entering the prosectorium and feeling my heart race i decided to sit in a chair along the wall.  there were two bags, a woman who died in her 60's and a man who died in his 70's.  we learned of their various ailments and our instructor began unzipping the old man's bag.  inside the bag was another bag, and in that bag yet another, so the tension in the room was collectively released in waves of muted chuckles and breath holding until we calmly looked upon a pile of lifeless pale meat and was hit in the face with the odor of musty flesh and chemical preservatives.  as it turns out, i did not faint or vomit but was very intrigued and became very self aware, very present. 

when i was about twelve, my yard was often full of dead birds and mice, things the cat had nibbled on.  i distinctly remember forcing myself to look upon a bird filled with maggots even as my stomach tried to pull me away.  i have always been fascinated with the idea of death and decay, maybe even perversely or overly interested...  but it is the nature and duty of the artist to not only draw and understand human anatomy, but to go deeply into the question of what it means to be alive.  you cannot know much about what something is until you know a lot about what it is not.  today i learned definitely that piles of muscle and organs are not people. 

all the skin had been removed and discarded, except on the hands, feet, and face.  the blood had been sucked out and the fat removed, leaving some of the muscles hanging loosely off the bones, the way old people's muscles sometimes do.  it was as if the whole package had been unzipped; organs that had been imprisoned their whole life.  the woman was missing a heart.  the man had a bypass surgery which was very obvious, down to the stitches on the straw-like vein.  the man's lung was spotted; the woman's lungs were gray-black. 

i was especially struck by how much the meat resembled chicken, turkey or steak.  i thought a little about how we are animals.   animal literally means anim (breath) alis (having the character of), so having breath.  we have the notion that consciousness, not breathing, makes us something more than animal.  but side by side, a dead human and a dead animal are more similar than apples and oranges, more similar than i would have thought.  it's only the shape of the form, some changes in the design.  and with this in mind it was hard to feel much sentimentality or compassion for two people who were not in the room and never had been. 

i'm unsure about what the experience will do for my drawing, painting, or sculpture, but it has strengthened my convictions about mortality...and perhaps vegetarianism.   

i have not been blogging so much.  if i blog less i should make them beefier i think.  there was a time that i blogged almost every day, in the days before the word "blog" existed, the "online journal" as we called it was terribly exciting.  there were only a handful of bands doing it, a very small number of people of any sort doing it.  my original drummer sam dobrozsi and i were computer geeks from a young age, and i attribute a great deal of our early success as a band to our savviness (nerdiness).  Before the internet, there were local bulletin board systems or "BBS's".  you could dial-up a BBS with your computer, and leave messages for other people who had dialed-up to read.  our friend mariano (now a graduate of MIT who makes robots) ran one of these BBS's from his amiga computer at his parents' house.  It was exclusively for our group of friends, half of whom would later join July For Kings, the other half would go on to become psychologists, writers, robotics engineers.  The BBS was called "Nexus Flux", literally interconnected change.  It was 1994; we were fourteen years old.  I like telling this story. 

A short time later the internet started and we had a band called SWIM.  We were one of the first local bands, if not THE first local band in Middletown Ohio to have an internet website.  At the time, if you wanted to go online and see websites, your choices were very limited.  For the few people in our community who began getting interested in this, our website, then swimband.com became a  popular and dynamic place to hang out.  There was no social networking--only message boards, which were an extension of the BBS's so popular before the rise of the internet.  At the time, if you wanted to meet people and socialize, you did it through sites that related to something you were interested in.  swimband.com, and later julyforkings.com saw a lot of users, many of whom formed lifelong friendships and even marriages.  this is still a source of great pride for me, that our music bought people together in such a direct way. 

Now I have new friends and new band members but I also have all the same friends that I did when I was twelve.  This is highly unusual and we remind each other frequently.  Our group friendship has taken on a kind of mythic, Steven King's Stand By Me quality in our minds.  In a way it is as if we shared all the core values there were to share, even at that age, although we couldn't have expressed it in words or imagined where our lives would take us. 

for some reason all my post-utopian ideas about the internet are tied in my mind to that period of adolescent geekiness i shared with my close friends.

now i kind of feel like blogging is pointless.  there is such a cacophony of ideas and slander and advertisements that the internet has turned into something of a great bathroom wall--nonsense, meaningless rabble with the occasional good joke or insight.  although i am just as addicted to googling things and facebook as anyone, i just feel overwhelmed about trying to make a noise.  i am a fruit fly rooting for myself in a football stadium the size of mars.  this is the plight of the singer/songwriter right now, or any mostly unknown artist in any field.  so instead of buzzing aimlessly, i am content to retreat to my corner of earth to focus on my crafts. 

i spent a good deal of the summer working on music, first the release of July For Kings's monochrome and then the basic recording for an upcoming solo album.  now i am back in school at NKU still working on a bachelor of fine arts in painting.  i am really going to focus on my painting for the next few months, and then return to the solo album during winter break.  some of the paintings will tie into the album.  hopefully i can complete everything in the winter.  if there is one thing i am good at, it's being alone for many hours and focusing on a creative task.  unfortunately i feel less and less good at being able to properly exploit my talents and sell myself to the world.  with that said, it is the work i truly love; the recognition has to come second.  i think everything happens in phases though, and this is a good time to just do what i do best and really refine my crafts.  despite this i am continually amazed at the amount of people who continue to be interested in my music despite any strong effort or budget to promote it!  i feel very fortunate, and i always have. 

in other news, i'm in Indianapolis right now sitting in a grassy vacant lot.  I just watched a mosquito bite me twice without killing it, just to see if i could do it.  It was uncomfortable to watch, seeing her hind legs raise as she drove her spike into my skin.  If i was a centimeter tall and had an exoskeleton maybe it would have been sexy.  But as it is, my hand itches in two places constantly and I am slightly regretting the decision. 

i am waiting for david mead to play.  i also want to ask him about what his life is like.  i could easily have gone that route instead of going back to school.  he puts out solo albums which are frequently sparse and piano/acoustic based (and quite beautiful lyrically and melodically), and travels the country almost constantly, either by himself or with one other guy.  i think it is smart for me to get a degree and possibly grad school now, so that i have more options.  although i feel the pull of music and the road constantly.  i think as long as i am expressing myself i am generally happy.  summers and winter breaks will have to suffice for recording for now.  although you would be surprised how much music i can record in that time!  i write a few things a week even when i must paint most of the time.  i have my own painting studio now.  it's cozy. 

i am reading a book called the Tao of Physics.  it is about the links between eastern mysticism and modern physics.  nexus flux?  as it turns out, according to the most modern science and centuries of sages, everything is just energy and we are all interconnected- unconscious participants in a great, beautiful, cosmic dance.  neat. 

that's the update for now.  please keep in touch.  thank you for your support and friendship
i look forward to making more stuff for you
joe

i am working on a new solo album.  it includes new and old songs.  i have nine or ten songs started
i have a bunch of ideas including the possibility of making a series of paintings to accompany the songs.  i want the packaging to be really special and unique, coming off the 100 covers thing for JFK.  i figure these days, either people want to own physical CD's or they don't.  the people that no longer buy physical CD's, they will probably not buy my CD's no matter what.  but for the people who still find album art valuable, i feel an obligation to make the art really interesting and heartfelt.  and perhaps the people who download or burn the CD will STILL want to buy artwork.  i don't know.  just trying to think of ways to keep afloat and keep making music.  i think the curvature stuff was pretty successful, tying my art to my music.  this will just be the next step. 

like curvature, the album is quite dark and quite weird, especially compared to the pop extravaganza of july for kings monochrome.  honestly i really could USE another upbeat song or two for this solo record since all my pop songs went for JFK, but nothing has come out yet.  i've been playing with this thing in 5/4 and 7/4

i am hoping to be able to finish at least 12 songs while working on accompanying paintings

anyway, here is what i am looking at:



recorded:

1 half right
2 monkey
3 i can try
4 as soon i can (come home)
5 street light
6 magic
7 flute weirdness / cicadas
8 ultra cinamatic
9 epinephrine
10 four leaf clover

need to start:

11 wait for you
12 throat

need to prioritize:

13 what is real
14 nothing
15 highway
16 sleeping through
17 cemetary sun ?
18 wrong day ?
19 christmas day
20 walk carefully
21 the fog
22 tarantula

need to finish/re-write

23 i don't get lonely (desert song) ?
24 sea fishing
25 i won't
26 we are music
27 the corners of our eyes


i hope you are well

hello!  man is it nice out today.  i'm at school finishing up some of my final projects for classes.  finals are next week. 
that means, i'm going to have a lot more time very soon for music. 
if you haven't heard, this summer we are releasing another july for kings album! 
it's called "monochrome" and will have eleven tracks.  the official release date is June 23rd with a CD release show on June 27th at the Madison Theater in Covington, KY with Cavashawn and Smalltown Sleeper--two great bands.  this is a beautiful venue with great sound.  we are hoping to get cincinnati papers and TV involved and make this a huge event.  please mark your calendars! 

if you can't wait until June 23rd, we have cooked up an idea for some of our more active/passionate fans to help us finance the record in return for getting a special edition cd a little early.  this is from the website:

July For Kings
Monochrome

Coming June 23rd...with your help!

     After several years of intermittent recording and mixing at various studios, we have what we feel is our very best work: a brand new full-length album entitled Monochrome.  Unfortunately, we cannot afford to release and promote it properly without your support.  The phrase "independent artist" is misleading--as independent artists, we rely entirely on your patronage.  We could not make albums or play shows without your financial and emotional charity.  Through buying CD's, coming to shows, sending e-mails and posting comments, you encourage and enable us to continue creating music.  We need you now more than ever!  To overcome the difficulty of releasing a major label quality release without a major label, and to offset the cost of downloading and burning, we are humbly asking for your support. For a donation of $30 dollars or more you will receive a limited edition, one-of a kind pre-release copy of Monochrome featuring one of 100 unique alternate album covers. The covers are black and white photographs shot by yours truly and individually signed by the band. This album will be delivered by mail two weeks before the official release.

Please check back soon to view and select your album cover. 

we have the images picked out.  i am hoping to get the coding done for this (with some help from our drummer's brother, Troy McQuinn) in the next week or two.  we'll give you guys a few days notice so you can be ready to pick one out when they go on sale.  there has been a lot of interest in this; i am hoping we will sell them quickly. 

some other shows coming up including mad frog on may 1st.  check the tour pages

i hope you're well!

so did i mention i give every month a theme?  this started as exotic fruit week, which i enjoyed so much i extended to exotic fruit month in January.  at the end of the month, i decided it would be good to use every month as an opportunity to pick some trivial subject i have been interested in but never properly explored.  a month is a good amount of time.  february was cologne month.  that's right, perfume for men.  i was running low on cologne and needed to investigate before i bought a new one, so i figured what the hell.  wikipedia has an enormous article on perfume, which i found kind of difficult to read.  basically, the egyptians created it and the romans refined it.  and today Calvin Klein makes it.  and hundreds of other companies and people from Antonio Bandaras to Sean John.  

through men's magazines, free samples at department stores, and my friends and band-mates I smelled about 20 colognes in 30 days, and I have to say, that was more than enough.  some of the fragrances i tried were:  

Calvin Klein Euphoria  - smells like my bandmates
Lacoste Style In Play  - smells like my friend Thom
Tommy by Tommy Hilfiger  - smells like tommy hilfiger
He Wood by DSQUARED2 - smells like wood
Spirit by Antonio Bandaras  -  found some for only 10 dollars!  great for going bowling
Hugo Boss  - warm and calm, i have worn this off and on for years.  
Boss Hugo Boss  
Armani Aqua Di Gio  - my former cologne
Dolce & Gabbana The One  - just right
L'homme Cologne by Yves Saint Laurent  - very similar to The One
Unforgivable by Sean John  - okay
London by Burberry  - i really like this
Polo Black - ew
DKNY  - i spilled a sample of this on my locker at school.  now, it reminds me of oil paint.   
Prada Infusion
Prada
Kenneth Cole Black  - ew
Armani Code  - ew
Burberry The Beat - too sharp

after taking a poll of women who happened to be around (and you should always differ to women in these kinds of matters) we agreed that a couple are just right:  Dolce & Gabbana The One and L'homme Cologne by Yves Saint Laurent  Those are my recommendations if you are looking to buy a men's cologne.  and don't wear the same cologne as your friend, especially if you know your friend's signature scent.  i accidentally discovered that i do know what most of my friends are wearing through recall.  i sprayed my friend Thom's cologne on me.  and all day i just kept thinking he was standing too close.  

that wraps up last months exploration.  
i am currently enjoying "classical music month".  more on that when the month is over.  i am thinking if i have personal themes for all 12 months and stick to them every year, by the time i die i will know a great deal about exotic fruit, cologne, classical music, etc.  yes, the overarching theme of the themes so far is luxury and romance.  that's just how i roll.



hoping to see you guys at the mad frog friday!

wow there is so much happening right now.  for starters, i am drinking V8 and it is delicious. 
i am nearing the end of my spring break, which has not been much of a break since so much has happened and i did not go to the beach
people die and people are born. 
if real life is going to happen, i guess it should happen while i'm on a break from school. 
the stars keep spinning

last night we played a show in indianapolis and drove home.  the bars close at 3am (we usually have to wait until the end of the night to get paid), so i didn't get here until 5 or 6 this morning.  so today is the first day in a long while that i woke up and didn't have anything on the agenda.  instead, i am drinking vegetable juice, working on websites and july for kings stuff, and later i will make sushi with a girl.  that is the best way to make it. 

we have finished a few mixes for the new album and they sound amazing.  john mcguire, our new guitarist has taken the reins with mixing.  he is incredibly talented and you will agree when you hear the record.  we are starting to put together a creative plan for how and when we want to release this. 

meanwhile
i found a contest i would like to win: nameyourdreamassignment.com/the-ideas/joehedges/

the people at lenovo and microsoft have more money than they know what to do with, so they are offering $50,000 to someone to photograph his or her dream photo assignment.  they're also giving away a couple Lenovo thinkpads, which i also would not mind winning.  :)  i have two ideas open for voting: july for kings cross country tour and my sister amy and i rafting the ohio river.  both things that i have wanted to do (and shoot) for a while.  the entries advance in a chart based on votes, and on april 3th, public voting closes and a panel of judges will decide who of the top 20 entries win the prizes.   now, there is no guarantee that i will win if i get either of my ideas in the top 20.  but it sure is worth a shot!  here's dan and i talking about it:



anyway i would greatly appreciate it if you could take a few seconds to register and vote for both my ideas at nameyourdreamassignment.com/the-ideas/joehedges/.  please?  thanks so much guys!

thanks Dan!

you may be reading this blog through facebook notes, myspace.com/joehedges, myspace.com/julyforkings, or at it's official home, www.joehedges.com.  this self-syndication is getting pretty hardcore.  it is nice of facebook to allow rss feeds.  thanks for reading.  

as i said in my last entry, with the new jfk album coming out i am going to attempt to blog more this year and generally keep better contact with you guys.  that is going to include some pointless anecdotal stuff from my daily experiences.  here goes.  

i am currently in chicago.  i came up here just for a day staying with my friend Thom thanks to megabus.com, where i got a $10 ticket.  i will go almost anywhere if i can do it and only spend $10.  yesterdayi ate chicago style pizza and visited the museum of contemporary art.  today i am hoping to take lots of pictures.  

january was exotic fruit month for me.  i have begun creating themes for my months.  i would encourage you to do this.  it has added a great deal of focus and purpose to my life.  as exotic fruit month draws to an end, i would like to reflect briefly on my discoveries.  first, the good ones:


(not my photo)

the kumquat.  the humble kumquat is by far the greatest of my exotic fruit discoveries.  kumquats (or cumquats) look like miniature oranges and taste like "nature's sweet tarts".  they're about the size of large grapes and are a delicious bite sized snack.  unlike the orange, the skins of kumquats are sweet and the centers are sour.  that means, when you first bite into it it is sour, but then changes to sweet as you chew.  this is a taste sensation not to be missed.  go out and buy some right now and let me know how it goes.  

another great fruit to try is the feijoa.  


(not my photo)

feijoas are about the size of a kiwi and taste somewhat like kiwis, only with a tangy minty overtone.  delicious.  you just cut them in half and spoon out the insides.  you can eat the skin too althogh the taste is too intense for me.  

mini bananas.  taste pretty much like big ones, only smaller.  good if you have small friends, pet monkeys, or are in a mario kart race.  

some fruits i do not reccomend:

prickly pears.  wtf.  these things are impossible to eat as they are filled with little unchewey seeds.  

kiwanos (horned melons): again, seeds are a huge problem and a big inconvenience.  but the upside is that they look like aliens when you cut into them.  and i am pretty into anything that resembles an alien or a dead alien.

that wraps up exotic fruit month.  thank you for your pretend interest.  


hey, do you know any squirrels?  they are awfully nice in the cleveland area.  i hate to stereotype but i think the squirrels are nicer in cleveland than cincinnati and many other areas.  i took this at a park



we exchanged contact info and he is coming down to cincy this weekend.  we are going to catch up on american idol on the dvr.  


last weekend we played in cleveland at the HiFi.  unfortunately this show was full of technical issues, even worse than the mad frog.  hopefully we are finished with equipment issues for a while as this was two shows in a row.  i think john is beginning to think this band is cursed.  i promise you john, this is atypical.  but we have generally been playing well, and starting to really gel.  the other night at practice we worked out a new show intro, and are going to begin introducing more songs from the new album into the live show.  

speaking of the new album, we really need a name for it.  
we have a few working titles:  

revival
pieces of paper
narrative
no silence between these walls

hmmmm

i like three syllable words.  coming off "nostalgia" and "curvature" we need a new word.  narrative is our current favorite.  
some concept for this album that may help:
it is new and old songs
looking forward while celebrating the band's history
i think all the songs are story-songs.  

that's all i've got for now.  my side is sore from shoveling snow.  that says something about the amoutn of snow and the amount of a wimp i am.