In a cold room, in a cedar castle, Peck writes to you. With warm hands, a blanket around my shoulders, and a contorted face, let me welcome you to SEMINA MUSIC, my new blogg.

I'm not the first to use this name. Back in the 1950's, there was a 'Zine in the Bay Area with the same name. Started by Wallace Berman, SEMINA was a hand-collaged collection of visual art, poetry and invective from artists like Robert Duncan, Cameron, Jess, Bruce Conner, Joan Brown, Allen Ginsburg. Lots of other wonderful people contributed to this proto-punk journal. Most of them knew each other, many lived together at various points. In honor of the spirit of the SEMINA crew, I've stolen their name for this blogg and for my crew. Here's some of their work and info:
http://realitystudio.org/bibliographic-bunker/semina-culture/
http://www.nyu.edu/greyart/exhibits/semina/semina.html

For my purposes, "Semina" means that which is seminal, seedlike, starting something from which something else may spring.

Now some differences:
My starting point for this blogg will be music. Most people I know either make or listen desperately to music. "Espere" is French for hope, so I mean we listen hopefully. We hope that the hope we hear is really there, and not imagined.

As some of you already know, I have a band: The Crymuscles. We are named after the muscles involved in crying. You have Crymuscles. I'll write about us, but also about anything. Nothing, (not even poo!), is off limits in this blogg.

So, As my friends on Redtube might say, ENOUGH PRE-FACIAL:

Lots of g-merde (g-shit in French) has been stirring round the town lately. A week ago, I interviewed Matt Montgomery of VS.THEM about their new album, "A Sunny Day" which will be released Sunday Dec.7th (AKA tonight!!) The release party is at Sweetwater Station in Larkspur, 500 Mgnolia ave, 94903.

On my way to the interview, I got a ticket for not wearing my seatbelt on the way to Matt's home/studio off Novato blvd. It was a motorcycle cop. I begged him to let me off, telling him that I am an experimental performance artist and that my work is virtually un-salable. He responded that being a policeman is a form of performance art, and that I should try it. Touché, mon pere. He tore the ticket off and said "Take Care, Man." I liked that he called me "man", and my potential rage was stemmed.

In Montgomery's home studio, I listened to the first four tracks of the album, which are actually one continuous piece of music, called "Zombie Serenade". A Serenade, Matt informed me, is a multi-movement piece, both vocal and instrumental, that is lighter in character than a symphony, more focused on tunefulness than thematic development.
But this piece does have plenty of both tunefulness and thematic development. Opening a rock album with such a piece is bold, and in this case, riveting. I wrote a bit more about the record in a little piece that hit the racks in this past Wednesday's North Bay BOHEMIAN, a local paper, whose jock I am on.

On the CRYMUSCLES tip, a lot is cooking. We've got three shows this month, and each of them are new experiences for us. First on DEC17th, we'll be playing a FREE show at 19 Broadway in Fairfax. The bill is pretty sick: Crymuscles @ 9, Vs.Them @ 10 (myspace.com/vsthem), & Judgement Day (myspace.com/stringmusic) @ 11. I spent way too long making a discoball out of construction paper for the flyer. Check it out on my pagina. All the Muscles are pretty excited about playing with these two bands, who are so powerful and original.

The next morning, we're headed to Santa Barbara to play a supreme party at ROY. My brother Austin, and his girlfriend Anneliese, are throwing this party as a benefit in support of a trip they are making to Nairobi, Kenya. There, they plan to work with those affected by the HIV/AIDS epidemic, in hospitals, classrooms, and elsewhere. They've begun a blog, called the "INDESTRUCTIBLE BEAT", which will chronicle their experience there. You can read what's going on there at www.indestructiblebeat.blogspot.com
The party'll feature Austin's exotic DJ selections and the Crymuscles, playing two sets, (which means playing every song we know so far!). If you are in striking range of Santa Barbara, I highly recommend that you make it to this unforgettable night. 7pm, 7 West Carillo St, Santa Barbara CA, 93101

When we get home from Santa Barbara, we're gonna start working right away on combining two bands together. On New Year's Eve, the Crymuscles and the Greg Scott Band (www.myspace.com/thegregscottband) will be playing two extra long sets as one band, merging our setlists and styles together. The party is happening at Sugar Lounge, 377 Hayes st., SF, CA 94102. More allure to come soon about this.

On the "Le Chronique" tip, our new album is sounding more and more like an album. The first mix day is happening Dec.13th. We're hoping to have four new songs up on the myspace in the days to follow.

OK, I GOTTA RUN OUT THE DOOR. Peace out, humans, thank you for reading Semina Music.