I'm amazed this is still online...a testament to my once-inadequate scripting skills. Yes, my babies, we've all moved on, but I'm too lazy to bother deleting the site. We're gonna break out the motorscooters, when Josie comes home, mah chilluns.
Well I didn't exactly keep you posted as I promised below, but such is life, you can deal with it. Anyway, the gig on the fourth went well, some crazy instrumental FUN. It was very hot outside, it actually caused a finicky fuzz pedal of mine to crap out onstage (germanium transistors are quite temperature sensitive). But Erasing Adam is gaining steam. We have the practice room at Senor Briscoe's house set up, its a wonderful treat to have a "home" for the band (muchas gracias, Brandon). Dirk and I have been working together weekly writing songs and honing them to perfection. Well, not perfection, but how about "passability"? Anyway, I'll list some songs we are working on...three are songs I wrote a while ago just after the band splintered (Desperate, Head In The Sand, and Outside of Time). We've got several new songs, one of which has lyrics set to it already, several others awaiting such treatment. Also, I'd like to keep an old acoustic song of mine called "The Light Before The Dawn", which I played at the gig on the 4th. Anyway, we might start a new website soon. Don't look for us to keep the rest of the site up-to-date; it lives on as a museum of our older days. I am even considering resurrecting the Infrequently Asked Questions page, but no need to rehash, I suppose. Its comical enough to scroll through band news items from 4 or 5 years ago, below! Peace out mah chilluns.
Can you believe it? Still holding out. Yes, Erasing Adam, after 5 years of band name and personnel changes, is still at it, albeit in a very demure sort of way. However, our esteemed self-appointed Fanager (just made that word up! can you believe it??!!) and public relations officer Sr. Brandon Briscoe has an idea for a practice location that may get us jumpstarted, fairly soon. Its still just me, Dirk, and Ryan, but our first gigs will probably be stripped down, acoustic-driven shows, we hope. Of note, Ryan, myself, and Sir Thomas Funkalot Miles will be jamming on the 4th of July for an outdoor gig with (we think) Nameless Number Head Man...I havent heard them yet, but I've heard they are good. So its not Erasing Adam (Dirk is out of town, drat him), and its not quite the jazzbluesfunk jam combo of Tom, myself, and Lucian Cannole, but its hopefully an interesting blend. Practicing tonight for it hopefully. I actually WILL keep you posted, I promise.
Hold on to your galoshes folks. EA is still in business. Yes, Electronic Arts is still putting out entertainment software. But even more surprising, Erasing Adam is approaching a fresh incarnation. Ryan, Dirk, and Nic (myself) have reunited with (at least) intentions of writing, practicing, and performing new music. We have a candidate for the fourth position, taking over bass duties (which I so reluctantly relinquish!). It may be a few weeks before we know any more. But keep your nose peeled for more news!
Hehe, boy, we've come a long way, haven't we? Well, I have recorded a lot of music in my basement studio, and Dirk and I are vowing from time to time to start a band again, however, doing so is another story. We're no longer high school students, to be honest; with Dirk married, and myself a mere 4 months away from such a fate, time is NOT on our side to refute the Stones. Erasing Adam lives on as our potential, but unlikely, project. I would say, "check back for updates", but I might spit up my chocolate milk whilst laughing vigorously.
Things seem to be picking up here. Had an actual practice last night, first since the September 10 dissolution. Still no bassist, but Ryan is back in the band fulltime officially. Demos have been recorded, and further songwriting is underway. We have three songs pretty much completed with lyrics, and many more that are musically complete, without lyrics yet. We are looking at prospects for a bass player. Not much else right now, but we are getting back in gear, definately!
Still moving at a snail's pace, admittedly, I am churning out much new music myself, and finally recieved a contribution from Reneau in the form of lyrics today. We have been too busy to meet in recent weeks. Ryan's interest has again been snared a bit by a demo he heard, and once we form a live band, he'll be fulltime with us again we think. We are working on possible bass players, that is the main snare we have come across. Our new emerging style (at least that I have been writing) is a very eclectic blend, utilizing a lot of ambience in parts, sometimes with an echoey U2 bent, sometimes with a washy slow Radiohead "float down the Liffey" sound. For the harder stuff, think of the fuzz-ridden antics of bluesy Led Zeppelin proto-metal combined with the complexity of progressive rock. Much depends on the abilities of whatever bass player we eventually hopefully acquire, as there arent a torrent of bassist candidates who can play some of the speedy progrock basslines I tend to write. As long as their solid I can live with that though. Are YOU a bass player? Do YOU need to email me? Maybe so! Anyway, who will be the John Paul Jones to my Jimmy Page? the Chris Squire to my Steve Howe? the Adam Clayton to my Dave Evans? yes...we need a bassist. goodbye my friends, i shall inform you of more on a later occasion.
So sorry for the long delay without news. The website management was inaccessible until today. Theres so much to tell, too. The band fractured on September 10, officially. Ryan and Enrique, wishing to pursue heavier musical outlets, left to form a modern metal band. We departed on good terms, of course. Dirk and myself are continuing on, working in my basement studio to produce a CD of semi-experimental music. Ryan has offered his services on drums, and eventually he will probably reform with us once we get a bass player for live shows. Chances are our first major live gig will only be acoustic, at a place such as Jacob's Well, but the songs written so far translate very well to an acoustic implementation. I (Nic) have taken over guitar duties in full, and also songwriting. The band's sound will change dramatically, obviously, but we are optimistic it will change for the better (if that were possible, lol). So just wanted to let all of you confused people understand. And the website is not all updated right now, theres a lot to do, and i will get it done in the weeks ahead. Peace out, visit again soon!
Hi folks its Hap Hazard here. Oh sorry, its actually me. And I'm not in OOOOOlathe. sorry to those not from KC, or to those who dont watch enough TV, twas a local TV commercial reference. anyhoo, whats going on with us...practices have not been happening, but a flurry of Neufish songwriting coupled with the fevered mind of Dirk has prompted a new project on the horizon...I (neuf) am acquiring a computer based home studio, and we are going to work on writing and recording an entire CD of experimental music. Should be interesting, I hope. But we shall see. Yes we shall!
Been about a month now. We have been practicing a month now in the Alley. Also trying to iron out some problems concerning our direction as a band. It seems that differences of opinions on the matter have driven us a bit apart at the moment. Hopefully things will work out. The band in general will be "cooling down" for a period...dont expect any gigs til late summer, at best. You never know though. We could do an impromptu gig on top of the Apple Studios building in London, which reminds me of a certain vocally-talented someone I know who is travelling to London to see Brian and Mindy Clark, et al; keep Dirk and Katerina in your prayers as they visit the U.K. next week. Peace out!
Buenos dias once more, my nonexistant reading audience. Much has passed this last week. We did a gig at Johnson County Community College, a Battle of the Bands, and of course, being out of practice and a bit too "avant-garde" (not to mention Christian) we lost, but it was still quite fun. Well worth it IMO. Also, great news, we have been granted permission and are formally scheduled to use the Alley (name of small building used by high school class of our church) to practice in on Monday nights! Just like the old days, except now its official! We can continue REAL practice once again. Its been probably SIX MONTHS I'd guess since we were regularly practicing once a week. We praise God for getting this worked out. New songs worked on, a few potential gigs on the horizon.
Hello again you wacky Erasing Adam groupies (ha!), more news has arisen. We have resumed practice! Yes, rising like a phoenix from the ashes, Erasing Adam has been revived! We just got frustrated with not practicing, and over the past couple weeks have been jamming at my flat on Mondays. Also, very soon we should be getting a room assignment at the church so we can practice there, with a PA system and not as many irritable neighbors. Ryan got a couple new snare drums, a Pearl Chad Smith Signature and a Pearl piccolo snare. They are very nice. I bought a super cheap Danelectro baritone guitar, which I have converted into a six-string bass, of the sort lots of sixties artists used, like Harrison and Lennon on later Beatles albums (yes they did use one!) and Jack Bruce of the Cream. It should make for some very interesting sounds, allowing me to incorporate guitar-like things like upper range melodies and chords while still holding down the low end. We still have not heard from Cornerstone, but we can only assume they will come to their senses soon. If not, well, then thats their loss...next year they will beg us to play, but sorry, too little too late. ;) Anyway, we have started to work out many new songs. I'll post some thoughts on them on the NeufNotes page, probably. Stay tuned! We try to anyway, but when you have fresh strings its a bit tough...
Letting you wonderful fans know, we have officially entered the Cornerstone New Band Feature contest. We sent them a nice package yesterday via 2 day air. We will know whether we are on stage before the Ides of April (a bit too late for those of March innit?). Rest assured we will let you know either way, either with triumphant fanfare or dismal acceptance.
NEWSFLASH! Tonight the new demo songs are posted in MP3 format! Download away! Have fun, spread them on Napster, whatever! They still are not perfect, but they are MILES above our past try. We are sending this off to Cornerstone, trying to get on stage. So download our demo songs, and tell us what you think [via forum, fanlist, email, whatever].
I've somewhat rewritten this month's band news due to breaking news from the studio. Last night we actually completed all the guitar and bass tracks! The only things left are background vocals and piano. It'll be done at least by the end of the month, and will shortly be posted on the site for your enjoyment. We still have not had a full band practice in ages. New songs are coming along though. Once we get back to practicing we will hit the floor running, with loads of new material, which we are very pleased with so far. Right now we are all working to try and meet the deadline for the Cornerstone entry. Stay tuned; when something big happens (on the verge, I can taste it) you will be the first to know.
Well folks its been over a month since I've updated this so I figure I owe you an update. We are finishing our latest recording, a 3 song demo CD with Home, Heaven Awaits, and Salvation. The basic tracks are done, the lead vocals are done. All thats left are guitar overdubs, a bass solo overdub, backing vocals, and mixdown. We are working to finish it in time for the Cornerstone entry deadline, so we can be onstage at Cornerstone. Also things seem to be panning out for us in the sense that we will soon have a place to practice, it looks like. thats all for now, adios.
Recording went well on Monday, we got the basic bass and drum tracks to the three songs, as well as a scratch rhythm guitar. Next Monday (ed. note - actually the 5th of February) we will overdub all sorts of stuff: the veritable armada of guitar overdubs (it will be like a guitar orchestra) and maybe a bass overdub for a solo, and of course Dirks lovely voice.
Recording is again upon us. This Monday we will start a demo recording at Mike Anderson's home studio. We'll record Heaven Awaits, Home, and Salvation, probably. This CD will be used as a current demo, and also to get us into the lineup at Cornerstone, potentially. Thats our game plan right now...
Well the new millenium is upon us. So what, you ask, is chillin with the most happening band of the next thousand years? Not really sure, but as far as Erasing Adam, we're trying to iron out some administrative issues, and hopefully will be able to record soon. All of us are itching to get into a studio and commit some of these songs to tape (figuratively speaking of course, we'll be recording digitally). The New Years Eve gig went quite well, we were painfully loud (hahaha!), but they seemed to enjoy it. Also a gig (albeit an unconfirmed one) at a Methodist church in Lees Summit...sorry I dont know which one, I need to find out from Enrique. But anyway, soon we'll be off to Abbey Road Studios in London to complete our multi-platinum debut album under the experienced production of Sir George Martin (see Friends and Affiliates page).
Back again...Fridays gig went well overall. Enrique and Dirk were rather frustrated and had a bad night, but me and Ryan were rocking! I was (for once) really on, aside from a few tuning mishaps due to a fresh set of bass strings (but the tone! the tone!). It was videotaped by Brian Foster and Tim Brooke, who are (editors note: "supposedly") going to edit together into something we can always bug Enrique with. We went on after a hardcore band called Entropy, and had to cut it a song short due to time constraints. Next we might be playing at our church for a New Years Eve thing. Hopefully soon we will be back to the studio, though.
Bienvenidos once again; we have a gig this Friday, the first of December at Nightlight [sic?] [that's "spelling incorrect" for those of you in Palm Beach County] which is an annual concert at a church in Lees Summit, entitled Aldersgate United Methodist Church. We are scheduled to close the evening, starting late at 11:00. Will be a good show...I will have to run to get there on time, as Friday is also the opening night for a musical presentation at OUR church called Experiencing God, in which I play acoustic guitar. But be at Aldersgate, and bring several thousand of your friends.
Hello hello again...its been a while since I have updated this page. The Jacobs Well gig went very well indeed, and speaking of the Well we will be back there soon doing a 30 minute acoustic set on I believe the 17th of November. Be there. Still working on new songs.
Just a quick update on Jacobs Well. Tomorrow night we play at the Jacobs Well coffeehouse. First up around 8 or 9 is a group called Aslans Child. No clue about them. They will play around 30 - 45 minutes as far as I know. Next we will play from 45 minutes to an hour. Do not miss this gig, in that we will be debuting two new songs, Heaven Awaits (a 8 minute song that we did actually play first last Monday at UMKC) and the nearly ten minute long "Home." Be the first to hear this soon-to-be masterpiece. Just kidding. But do come hear us, complete with a real lead singer, and two brand new (and quite long) songs.
Hello hello again! A couple days ago at our Monday practice, we were unable to use the Alley (building of the high school class at our church; its where we practice), so we went over to Ryans house and worked acoustically on songwriting. Heaven Awaits is virtually ready for performance, and Home, another new song masterminded by Chi and contributed to by the rest of us, is quickly approaching readiness as well. New gigs on the horizon too. As well as the UMKC gig on the 9th of October, we will be playing again at the Jacobs Well Coffeehouse on the 20th in October. We are playing with an acoustic group called Aslan's Child; I think Kim Knabe (helps run the coffeehouse) knew them or something. Should be an interesting contrast. We will be better than ever before, I assure you.
MP3s are available now on my Zebox page, so get on over there and download some original albeit badly recorded Erasing Adam studio material! Anyway, we are developing new songs with a new sound, a strongly progressive theme incorporating complex structures and diverse instrumentation. We are finishing writing "Heaven Awaits" and are also working together on a few other new ones. Fun fun fun!
OK...brace yourself...MP3s will be available soon for download! I've got to find a place to stow them online, and then you will be free to download three of our songs (Wasted, Through Your Eyes, and Obey His Law). Also, we are playing a special at our church (Kansas City Baptist Temple) tomorrow night. "Salvation" will be the song we play. Should be fun. Adios.
Well, it doesn't look like Spirit Fest or the Starlight gig are going to happen. Oh well, they're loss...we have been doing some writing. Our newest song "Heaven Awaits" is a really cool song. It combines a smoothly flowing verse with jazzy overtones, a straight-ahead rock chorus with a seemingly dissonant chord progression, a Santana-esque instrumental latin jam bridge, a sweetly melodic classical guitar interlude, an instrumental build up on various themes from the rest of the song, and finally the climax as we return to the chorus. Very cool song, I assure you. Not as "listenable" as other songs due to its complexity, but there is a deep richness to it musically speaking. First song to feature Dirks lyrics, too. Anyway next gig might be September 2nd Sunday evening service. We MIGHT be playing one song as a special. Next certain gig is the UMKC Bible Study's concert at Pierson Hall on campus on October 9th.
FINALLY! Some progress... We have finished recording our demo. Tomorrow night it will be copied to CD, and I will start making copies like a madman. We are angling for two gigs around September 1-3. The Rock The Light festival at Starlight theatre, with Jars of Clay and Jennifer Knapp, and also a Christian stage at Spirit Fest. We have to send our CD to these people right away. But I will keep you posted.
Hello, I'm back again to add to this messy little news page. Enrique and Ryan are still out of town (out of country, in Enriques case) as far as I know, and Dirk gets hitched up tomorrow, so he'll be gone for a while. So we have been and will be out of practice for a while. Oh well. Dirk, Lucian Cannole, and I finished the song we cowrote for his wedding, its the first project remotely related to us to hit CD. We have some more to do on the Erasing Adam demo CD. Hopefully it will get us on stage at Spirit Fest...needless to say, I am personally expecting each and everyone one of you to be there...
Each and everyone of WHO? I mean, really, its not like anyone ever visits this site ON PURPOSE! heh heh heh...
Well we are almost done in the studio. We have finished most of it. While I was in California, Enrique added tons of acoustic and electric guitar tracks to the songs. Saturday while I was rocking out with Yes at Sandstone (greatest concert ever) Dirk and Ryan recorded some tentative vocal tracks in the studio. Tonight me and Dirk will return to redo/fix some of the weaker tracks. Speaking of Dirk, I havent told you yet, he is all but officially in the band now as our lead vocalist. Sorry to disappoint, but he will be unable to continue the Andy Castro nose flute solo tradition. But he can sing. Tuesday me and Dirk and Lucian Cannole will be in the studio on a secret side project. Also the name of our band will be changing to Erasing Adam, referring to getting rid of the old man/nature pictured by Adam in the Bible. So you can say buh bye to Point Blank. I'm too lazy to change all the names and banners and addresses on the website right now at least. So sorry. But thats the scoop.
I just got home tonight, we were recording in the church studio until 11:30. We did about a gazillion takes of the three songs for our demo CD (Wasted, Through Your Eyes, and Obey His Law). So far, all we have is drums, bass, and rhythm guitar, like in a live situation. But it sounds beautiful, with some nice compression on the bass (which is mixed nicely between fuzz and clean tone), great tube tone on the guitar, and some absolutely wonderful reverb that enlivens the drum tracks. We have to go back and add in vocals and acoustic + lead guitars, and then we will do the final mixdown and master it to a CD that will be given to "influential" people, ie. record label people, coffeehouse owners, etc. Also we are having Dirk Van Adler try out with us as a potential (note that word, my rumorous little friends) lead singer tomorrow at practice.
Just got done with the Jacobs Well gig, things are opening up as far as opportunities. The studio is opening up, and we are scheduled to get in a week and a half, when we will cut a 3 or 4 song demo. This is not our "CD", but just something to give to local coffeehouses, radio stations (yeah right), record companies, and anyone else interested. Also on that topic, we are seeing a potential open door with a Christian music label. But we'll see. Also we are cautiously considering trying out a potential fourth member right now, but no I'm not going to say his name.
Next gig is on May 19. We are playing for the college class's (at our church) coffeehouse, Jacobs Well. It should be a good show, we'll have vaguely around an hours worth of stuff. come and see us, I dont know, around 9:00 that Friday night. I dont know when exactly we'll play, but you can hang out til we start. Not as if people come to hear us anyway! Oh well...
Last night was awesome. Two people accepted Christ. Praise God! Which, by the way, is what we are about. The show went beautifully, I must say I do not remember ever playing a gig like last night. We got it videotaped...I reviewed the concert a little while ago. Good overall, a few problems here and there (Enriques guitar was a bit soft, Enriques and my mics were off at key points) but overall a better-than-average gig. Hey if you enjoyed it that much give me five bucks and I'll make you a copy of the tape. So now we are officially a trio. Chi-Neufeld-McGaughey. [sigh] We'll miss you, [sniffle] Castro [SOB] {hahahaha}.
Again, I have logged on to keep you, the lonely confused internet surfer who somehow managed to wash up on my website by a freak accident, informed on Point Blank affairs. Control your excitement. GET READY TO ROCK WITH POINT BLANK MARCH 10. As cheesy as that last bit of propaganda was, you need to come support the band as we play our last gig with the Castro singer man. We will put on at least a better show than we did at past Friday Night Live gigs. Everything short of felonies and instrument smashings. Just kidding. Ahhhhhh look at aaaallll the lonely people. Duh DUH duh DUH duh DUH duh DUH duh DUH. [SLAP] Sorry, I needed that. Anyway, to the one or two people outside of me who just might skim this, you can see us play at the Alley at I think 7 or 8 o clock on the 10th. Sgt. Neufer and the Lonely Websurfers Club Band. Dont ask.
Hola folks. I guess I can spue some more useless info for the nonexistant fans out there. Andy is rehearsing again with us for his long awaited farewell concert. Its fun having him around. I (Neuf) am about to get a home studio with which I can write and record songs, to catch up with the ever-churning-out songwriter/guitarist Enrique. My English is poor tonight. I must be tired. I think I'll go to bed. Man, this is turning into a diary. Ha ha ha! Goodnight.
Well hey hey hey I'm back. As if anyone ever reads this. But anyway, we are in the midst of, well, change. Without Andy, we have to think more about vocal parts. Chi has been writing progressive songs, and we have been improvising and playing off each other at practice in order to develop a good sense of structure on them. We hope to actually finish recording soon. Its been a long time. No more gigs this year, at least. Maybe in January, at least by February.
Andy has decided to leave the band. He feels that this is God's will for his life, and we completely respect his decision. He'll stick around for the Iola gig, and then we'll have to develop our own singing skills (hah!). We'll miss having him in the band, but que sera sera etc etc etc. I'm looking forward to seeing the church in Iola, and seeing what God is doing there.
We are going to play in Iola Kansas for Kyle Guenther's church on October 22. Talk to Jim Lee for info, I'm not well informed on this. The performance at the Lees Summit park went well, we are growing more capable and confident musically. Enrique is writing some very intricate and interesting new songs, deriving mainly from the 70s Yes progressive vein. They should be great on the CD.
The Rally went great, not as many people as we expected, but still praise God. Two people were saved. We've decided to spend less time gigging and more time recording and the MOST time practicing and writing. Also, aside from FNL and other good ministry opportunities, we need to look more for paying gigs. Chi has expressed desire to [gasp!] get a job and save to buy a digital studio ($1000 or more). So if you happen to be Bill Gates, send us a check. Heh heh. No gigs on the horizon! Looks good (at least relaxing). Maybe if we push it, we'll have our CD out by fall.
Yaweh was...interesting. We probably won't return for our second performance. We have been assessing our musical weaknesses, and trying to sound tighter and more together as a band. Tomorrow is the Raytown Rally. We practice tonight.
We played decently at F.N.L., but we had some sound problems, namely, our amps were feeding into the mike, muddying Andy's voice to the point that it was unintelligible. We'll try to correct that. Right now we are in the midst of three weeks of heavy gigging (at least for us). F.N.L. was only our second gig, and this week we play at Yahweh coffeehouse (with a possible 500 - 600 people), and next week we have the Raytown Vision 99 rally, easily the most important of the three. We MUST be prepared. But we will be. Im sure the Alley website has some info on it.
It's been a while since I've posted. We have only been able to record one night so far, the next session scheduled for next Friday. We'll be playing at the Alley again the Friday after (the 16th). We also will be playing at school for a sort of "Variety show", its now called a "Pop Concert." However, our most serious undertaking in the next months is the Raytown rally. We have been given the opportunity to host a rally at Raytown on May 1st. We've been praying that God would give us fruit, and that that fruit would remain. We can't understate the significance of this event. Also, we're going to be playing at Yaweh coffeehouse soon. Preparation is needed, but amongst the predominant punk rockers, the musical contrast alone is enough to set us apart as something different. We're the alternative to alternative! Hah!
Preparing to record in less than two weeks. I have no idea how it will go, but after a session at the Chi house, we found out how much better we sounded when we recorded live. Shouldn't be a problem, because we'll have 16 digital tracks at our disposal. We're signed up for the Battle of the Bands at Jaweh (however its spelled) coffeehouse sometime late Spring. I'll keep you posted.
Whenever he feels like it.
Which, quite honestly, is not very often.
Oh well.
Are you still reading this???
