After four consecutive nights of 10-plus hours of sleep, I have finally shaken off the remnants of the insanity that was the Shadows Fall 2007 Jagermeister Music Tour. I am just glad I survived with just a sore neck and bruised liver, avoiding any long term damage. It was great to finally get back on the road and get swept up in the maelstrom of life on tour. While we were writing out new album, Threads of Life, we were home for a lot longer then we had been used to. It was definitely the longest break from touring that we have ever had as a band. This allowed an extreme amount of latent energy to build up and goddamn, if people on this tour weren't partying like they had something to prove!! Now it is time to relax at home for a few weeks and gear up for the next rock n roll rollercoaster.
All this free time allows me to contemplate random thoughts. Lately, I have been experiencing a bizarre and sometime eerie phenomenon. I have developed a symbiotic relationship with my iPod. Let me explain.
It seems that whenever I hit shuffle it sifts through the countless hours of music and selects a song that fits the mood and vibe of whatever is happening at that exact moment in time. For example, when I was out on my mountain bike the tunes that came up on shuffle seemed to mirror the ebb and flow of the ride. When I started out, it chose some nice cruising music -- a little live Pink Floyd. As I started into the woods it kicked it up a notch with some Bon Scott-era AC/DC. And when I reached a huge incline and had to take it into high gear, I was urged on by some Minor Threat. Rounding the final corner, I was greeted by a serene lakeside view that was accompanied by some smooth Miles Davis. It was uncanny. And it seems like this kind of thing happens every time I hit shuffle regardless of what I am doing.
At first I figured it was just a cool coincidence, but then it started occurring way too often. Was it possible that my iPod was actually tapped into my everyday experience? Are there Apple-run satellites watching our every move then interfacing with our iPods? I fear it goes even deeper than that. Maybe every time we put our headphones on, the iPod picks up on our brainwaves and sorts out the information to evaluate our emotions and environments and choose an appropriate soundtrack. It receives impulses from our eyes, heart rate and body temperature -- everything you can imagine to create a complete picture of our activities and mindframe. Then it sends this information to an Apple-run database every time we update or charge our iPod.
While having a constantly evolving soundtrack is pretty friggin' cool, it raises concerns about what all could mean. Where will this invasion end? By the time the iPhone is released, they will have developed technology to implant digital seeds in our brains to make us carriers for their evil I-spawn that will burst forth from our skulls like those creatures in the film "Aliens." Now there's something to think about.
OK, enough random paranoid thoughts about iPods' impending takeover of humanity. Right now, we are gearing up for the Download festival in the UK, and I cannot wait to get back to Castle Donnington. It is an absolute honor to play such hallowed ground. I remember staying up to watch "Headbangers Ball," enduring the torture of Trixter videos and Adam Curry's hair, waiting for my chance to enter the "Win a Trip to Donnington With Iron Maiden" contest. I must have called that non-toll-free number a thousand times before realizing that I had to be 18 or older and could not have gone even if I won. Never did I think that years later I will be sharing that stage with metal legends.
After Download we will take a few weeks off to prepare for this summer's Sounds Of The Underground tour. Sounds is going to be a heavy metal BBQ keg party disaster, and we can't wait. We plan on taking the disco that was spawned in the front lounge of our bus and moving it outside in a dual tent setup. Lights, fog machine and a playlist ranging from W.A.S.P. to KC and the Sunshine Band. This is no longer a show, it is a traveling party hell -bent on destruction. Like the Boy Scouts say: Be prepared.
Well, that's it for now. I'll be back soon with more random, babbling inane thoughts and maybe an update or two about what is happening with Shadows Fall. Til then I will be watching the Red Sox and preparing for the iPod invasion.
You have been warned.
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