Tag Archive for "benny-dacks"
The Final Mastering Session
Scott Walton and I were putting the finishing touches on the album and we decided that we would capture the moment with a live broadcast. Here are the videos we shot. A few people tuned in on Justin.tv and we recorded the last few hours of a 5 month endeavor that resulted in the new album. Thank you to everyone who was involved. There are too many names to list without leaving anyone out.
Watch live video from thatwasthen on Justin.tv
Watch live video from thatwasthen on Justin.tv
Watch live video from thatwasthen on Justin.tv
thatwasthen Storymaker Live at The Dragonfly
On August 22nd, 2010, thatwasthen and Gypsy Saddletramps rocked out at The Dragonfly in Hollywood. Here is a clip from our newest song entitled “Storymaker”.
STORYMAKER
Hammer to the cellular
I have heard your call
Answering the questions
Beckoning come one, come all.
Smashing through the anagrams
Tired of this mix
Disappointed Miss Disjointed
with her bag of tricks.
I BET YOU USED TO PLAY WITH DOLLS
A storymaker like Samuel Clemens
Weave a tale for me
I’ve choked my hope down
I’ll turn it around
Warning to the sandbox girl:
Be careful with your toys.
Because, you see, you’ll inevitably
be replacing them with boys.
I BET YOU LIKE TO PLAY WITH DOLLS
A storymaker like Samuel Clemens
Weave a tale for me
I’ve choked my hope down
I’ll turn it around
Off to sail the sea,
Down that Mississippi.
I’ve choked my hope down
I’ll turn it around
Warning to the sandbox girl,
I won’t be your doll.
My Mistake Live at The House of Blues
Brenton Sinay, rocking out.
Our fans sent us this video footage of our performance at The House of Blues. We’re not sure how they pulled it off, but somehow they managed to get these amazing clips. Thanks to the ninja efforts of several anonymous fans, you can see one of our newest songs entitled “My Mistake“.
Brenton’s Holiday LoveFest – Benny Dacks
In the spirit of the holidays, and the joys of expressing your love and appreciation for those close to you, I am writing about my bandmates. I want them and the world to know how much I appreciate their hard work and the people that they are. Part Three: Benny Dacks.
What Benny has, I lack. His understanding of the forward progress of mankind and humanity make him almost prophetic. And he’s not even a socialite! He’s a computer whiz.(but do we need to delve into that? See: http://thatwasthenmusic.com for proof of his extraordinary vision.)
Instead of musing on his computer prowess, I’ll share a story that’s particularly pertinent on a day like today. No one in thatwasthen is a rich kid. We work hard for what we have, and we appreciate it as hard as we work. Today the band gave their families a personalized DVD for Christmas. We had little else to give but our thanks and our hard work. Ben is an example of that hard work. He and I spent countless hours over the past three weeks putting together something heartfelt but palpable. And when I had to go to work to keep my lights on, he was working by himself. Mixing audio, cropping pictures and designing something we were proud enough to show our families. This is where Ben’s value as a friend and a bandmate TRIPLES. Having the know-how and the focus is one thing, but the drive to carry out one’s own vision is another.
Ben will teach us all how to dream up our goals and then ACTUALLY go about making them a reality. If I had any problem with any thing, I’d bring it to Ben. Because he doesn’t panic. He’s comfortable solving problems. I’m more into whining about them.
He left a few days ago to spend some much-needed time with his family in Rhode Island, and we already miss him. When he returns we will resume class with Prof. Benny Dacks.
Much love to you and your family, Ben. I hope you don’t freeze out there! We need those bass-strummin’ fingers!
Benny gets LOOOOWWW when he plays the bass.
Benny gets LOOOOWW when he plays his bass.
Numerical Poetics
I was exploring some old hard drives that I had been saving, thinking they had fallen victim to the dreaded “grinding death”. Upon plugging them in after over 3 years of being stored in an electrostatic bag in my closet, the damned thing booted up no problems. I had enough time to recover some lost lyrics/poetry. Here is a random file from the collection I restored.
SYN /ACK
5/22/2006: 10:50 PM
We will often dive off to see,
knowing quite well, knowing you quite well the peril.
A signature of Constantine instantly erased,
An arms race for bombs made of silver and gold,
It’s almost a shame your wore it… so long.
You forgot to recharge.
Is a bullet worth the sense or the cents.
Is it negative intent to prevent,
Who is to blame?
Who is to repent?
Still we’re creating massive kingdoms afire,
with selfish amazment regarding the food chain.
We love to image we’ve made of ourselves,
We hate to know our graves are 14 days old.
You are on your way for a better existence.
Encryption crumbles revealing fatal source code unethical to public eyes.
Displayed for a short while: the downfall of a comprimised consciousness.
I hear it pays well! But, it’s not the first time we’ve heard this tune.
The anger to the ends.
But what actually ends?
A day in the life of Benny Dacks
I’d like to give our fans a quick insight into what it’s like to follow me around for a day.
I recently revived this Apple iBook with a dirty hack that I like to call the Hackintosh – HotWire Edition. The power button was broken when I received it. It’s previous owner had broken the plug for the power button clean off the motherboard. This left two insanely close, bare contacts. Here are a few shots of the process.
Here is the 'new' one and my old iBook G3 it's replacing.
A random piece of metal I decided to exclude from the rebuild process.
hmm... Heat shield maybe?
This ladies and gentlemen is how true geeks start their computers.
Here is a time-lapse video of the new Hackintosh:HWE in action!
After a long day of ripping apart laptops and eating soup, I’ll head to our studio to lay down some bass. We have some really cool gear at our disposal.
I love this amp. It belongs to our rehearsal studio.
