Comic Books, Drag Race, & Life in New Zealand
Krisis has been creating Crushing Krisis since 2000, writing songs since 1996, and reading comics since 1991. He is a Customer Success and Digital Brand Strategy executive, serial organizer, parent, and feminist, among other things. Based in Philly through 2017, he now resides in Wellington, NZ.
by krisis
This week was like a reward for good karma. I mean… not that i’m the nicest person on earth, but we’ve sorta established that i tend to let myself get walked all over until the very last second where i totally flip out, and that’s not too often. But… this week just felt like someone saying thank you to me for who i am – i don’t think i spent a single unhappy moment. Sure, a few of them were nervous moments, but nervous is an emotion that can go either way.
by krisis
Well, to be fair to my mother, i never liked the live version of “Heartbreak Even,” and now it’s eclipsed my entire musical collection, so… there’s something to be said for studio production.
by krisis
Randomly, let’s rank all of the songs on the Ani DiFranco album after three days of listening! “Heartbreak Even” is definitely the best song in the set, but “So What” and “Marrow” are vying for the next best slot. Funkalicious “Ain’t That The Way” and “o.k.” are quite good, but i think they’re slightly topped by the guitar-based “grey” and “Imagine That.” “Garden of Simple” and “Subdivision” occupy a more middling acoustic rank on the charts, though “Your Next Bold Move” is surprisingly great. “Reckoning” is slow and thoughtful but i don’t mind, because the album needed that exact emotion once and it fits perfectly. “Tamburitza Lingua,” “What How When Where (why who)” and “Fierce Flawless” are all songs that are good and bad at once, with parts i’m obsessed with and parts i find rather boring. Past that i could take or leave the rest of the album, instrumentals and all. Obviously i’m still only three-quarters of the way through appreciating Reckoning, but i honestly can tell you i’ll never truly love “School Night” or “Old Old Song” since they’ve got two bad verses for every good one, and “Rock Paper Scissors” and “Sick of Me” are both a little too off kilter to catch my attention. So, there’s some unwarranted opinion that’s bound to change sometime soon; “Heartbreak Even” cannot possibly stand up to another week of continuous repeat, can it?
by krisis
So, um, yeah. My mother hated last year’s demo because she’s stupid. Or, rather, she is all about the show that’s put on for her, and she can’t notice lyrics or songwriting without it. The demo was explicitly meant as a showcase of those two things, since it totally lacked quality of production, but she could never get past that so she never really listened to it. So, suddenly she’s handed a tape with a studio quality “under my skin” on it, and she wants to send it to the record companies right now despite the fact that it still pretty much sounds like shit. Of course, she doesn’t care, because the studio EQ and the backing vocals are there so she can gush all over it and say that i’ve never done anything worthwhile ever before in my life. Which is the worst compliment she could ever pay me, because this is the product of my life, not its sum total. Or something. This is why she’s in Florida right now and i don’t mind so much…
by krisis
I’m starting to feel famous. Or, more accurately, people are actually starting to know and recognize my songs. Sure, it’s not hundreds of people, but i have enough of a market for the upcoming disc that i’m actually looking into getting it printed rather than just burning them one by one. The fact that i played “Under My Skin” last night twice and that people sang along makes it that much better. Amy thinks it’s an ego thing, but honestly i’m just happy that all of my sonic toiling is finally having an effect on people. Not quite a rock star yet, but i’ve got some years left before i get my diploma to work on it :p