YouTube Video from Benefit “Halo” Cover
July 21, 2009
I’m terrible at following up, but the benefit that I did with my band on July 11 was a success- the show went well and we raised $600 for the AIDS Walk Washington DC. Thanks to everyone who came out to support the cause!
Playing the show was a lot of fun. My band did two covers; Tori Amos’ “Raspberry Swirl” and Depeche Mode’s “Halo”, from their 1990 album Violator, which they were touring to support when I met them through the Make-A-Wish Foundation. A couple of months before the benefit, Marshall (jamming out on the synth in the vid below) suggested “Halo” as a potential cover and programmed the song to perfection.
Here’s a clip from the benefit show, and our version of “Halo” with me rambling for a few seconds at the beginning… (Thanks, Stephanie, for posting the video!)
For my birthday, Gwenn got us tickets to go see Depeche Mode on their current tour, which is the best present ever. Thanks to Gwenn for being the best partner a person could ask for, and a true Wish come true.
Positively Yours,
Shawn
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Dear Dave: Well Wishes From Make-A-Wisher
July 17, 2009
The storied history of my Make-A-Wish Foundation encounter with Depeche Mode at age 14 has been well documented on this blog, yet the picture is too cool not to post every time I reference this proud moment in my life.
That’s me in the white hat- you can’t see it, but it says “Surfin’ USA” on it. Yes, I regret wearing it to meet the Beatles of electronic music.
This meeting was in 1990. By the mid-90’s, lead singer Dave Gahan was battling a massive drug problem, and it looked like I was in danger of outliving my wishee. Since then, I’ve gotten more comfortable with the prospect of outliving Dave, figuring we’ll both kick the bucket from natural causes after living fruitful, happy lives. Another thing I’ve figured is that, every three or four years, Depeche Mode will be touring, and I’ll get to go see them.
On their most recent tour, however, Dave has had some health issues. Nothing drug related- he’s been clean for years now-, just a bombardment of malfunctions that included a bladder tumor and, more, recently a torn calve muscle. Needless to say, it’s been a rough tour cycle for the Depeche Mode frontman.
So it is with much sincerity that I wish Dave a speedy recovery. He was very kind in 1990, and very kind again in 2001 when I was able to get that original photo signed. From a Make-A-Wish kid, I’m sending positive healing vibes your way.
Positively Yours,
Shawn
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Me and Gwenn on the Radio
July 9, 2009
The media onslaught continues in Charlottesville… Wednesday morning Gwenn and I went on 106.1 The Corner to speak with Brad Savage about HIV/AIDS, our story and the benefit this Saturday. I was sooooo close to bringing Dab the AIDS Bear into the studio.
You can hear the interview by clicking on me and Dab.
The best part is at 1:00, when I get hung up on pronouncing “statistics” properly. Gwenn comes in for the assist, thankfully. I hadn’t had my coffee yet, that’s my excuse.
I haven’t looked forward to a show this much in quite some time. Am sorry my friends in Bella Morte are going to be rocking in Stroudsburg, PA, the same night as the show. Will miss seeing them and still remember how cool I thought it was of them when they agreed- without hesitation- to do an HIV/AIDS benefit right around the time I’d first moved to town.
It’s been a lot of fun promoting this show. Earlier tonight, I made another Synthetic Division video, this time specifically for people who have responded that they are “Maybe” going to attend the show on Saturday. In this vid, I mention that “I wish I maybe had AIDS”.
Hee hee hee.
Don’t be a “maybe”! Alright, it’s back to sleep with me.
Positively Yours,
Shawn
Share the Blog. Not the Virus. Come to the HIV/AIDS Benefit Show in Charlottesville, VA on July 11!
She Shawn’s band in a YouTube video with the song “Holding Out For a Hero”
The Curious Case of Shawn’s Buttons
July 6, 2009
So of course, I post a glorious blog last week about getting over my cough and it comes back about a day later. Figures. I got cocky and went to a smokey club to have fun with friends and spread the word about this Saturday’s HIV benefit show with my band…
Which will be- of course- a smokey club.
I’m going to check in with my doctor and let him know what’s happening so I’m not assuming this isn’t treatable. Because it’s been over two weeks now, which is ridiculous evening by my standards of recovery. Overall, I’m feeling a bit better again, but don’t want to be coughing the night away needlessly if I don’t have to.
Tonight I had band practice with Synthetic Division- the set is really coming together. After practice, Marshall the keyman and I lit a firecracker in drummer Mike’s driveway, then went to WNRN’s Subculture Shock radio show to talk about the event this weekend. That’s me and Silent Muse (who are also playing) band member Chad. I was pretending to sing “We Are The World”.
One of the best things about being in a band is making buttons. This time around, my good buddies in Bella Morte donated the button-making facilities (thanks guys!). I enlisted a graphic designer and one of my best friends, Josh, as well, and he sent along the button art below, which was so good I kind of lost my mind, as you can see.
Josh is a talented musician and played a Synthetic Division set with me last year when Gwenn and I went to Los Angeles. Right now, he’s working on album artwork for Lauren Hoffman’s Interplanetary Traveler, the subject of the last blog entry. Josh is probably one of my favorite artists on Earth and it’s nice that his artwork, and creative spirit, will be at the show.
As for others who can’t be at the show, but would like to donate to the cause…
Well. You can go to me and Gwenn’s official fundraising page here. Also, any Decker’s Daily coffee sponsorships of $5 from now until Saturday will go to benefit total this Saturday as well.
Share the Blog. Not the Virus. Come to the HIV/AIDS Benefit Show in Charlottesville, VA on July 11!
She Shawn’s band in a YouTube video with the song “Holding Out For a Hero”
Read My Column in Poz, Cute YouTube Video
July 2, 2009
The best part about being sick for a week was writing. I blogged every day last week! So, really, if your reading this and wishing me well, you might have to decide whether your care for my well-being as a human trumps your love for my incredibly witty style of writing.
Which is on display in this month’s issue of Poz!
I wrote a column called “Maybe Baby”, about the oft-asked procreation question, specifically whether Gwenn and I are interested. And no, that’s not our baby in the photo, but it is our Goddaughter, Evie. She’s guest-starred on Decker’s Daily many times, most notably in Episode 38 as my would-be assassin, after debuting a few days earlier in Episode 34.
Aside from me, she’s logged the most Decker’s Daily appearances. Which is fitting, because when our good friend Lauren was pregnant with her, we spent most of the pregnancy in coffee shops. When she was born, we were at the hospital, and have seen her explore babyhood and life on this planet for the last 9 months.
As for exploration of other planets, well…
Lauren just had a birthday, and as you’ve seen before, I have a knack for making cool YouTube cute baby vids. My first work, When Babies Have Babies, feature my niece, Katelyn. Then last Christmas, my second niece, Helayna, debuted in the sorta sequel, When Babies Save Christmas.
Inspired by those earlier works, I made this for Lauren, changing a Happy Birthday text to a plug for Lauren’s music, which I love. So, without further ado, here’s Interplanetary Travelers, starring Evie and Lauren Hoffman. Enjoy the ride!
Positively Yours,
Captain Shawn
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She the band in a YouTube video with the song “Holding Out For a Hero”
Synthetic Division HIV Benefit Show July 11
June 22, 2009
I’m very excited to be playing another show with my synthpop duo-now-trio, Synthetic Division. Not only that, it’s a benefit for the AIDS Walk Washington DC, which Gwenn and I will be walking in with Team Supersnack in October.
Here’s a video I made to promote the July 11 show.
If you’re on Facebook, the Event page is here.
The details are as follows:
Synthetic Division w/ Silent Muse
Venue: Outback Lodge in C’ville, VA
Doors at 8 pm, close at Midnight
$10
To see another promo vid featuring a Synthetic Division song, click here. Any friends who read the blog and are coming to the show, we will be playing a couple of new songs. I look forward to finishing up some new material and posting it on synthetic-division.com.
Positively Yours,
Shawn
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Bruno’s Balls Out Performance
June 1, 2009
Bruno meets Eminem at the MTV Movie Awards.
The YouTube video may be taken down by the time you read this blog. If so search “Eminem Movie Awards” over and over again until you see the clip from the MTV Movie Awards, a 2-hour promo for the Twilight sequel in which the main actors came across as too cool for school. The highlight was Bruno (Sasha Baron Cohen of Borat fame) descending from the ceiling in an angel-winged get-up. A “mishap” occurs, and he drops down into the 69 position right on top of Eminem.
Who freaks out as his yes men/bodyguards start manhandling Bruno. It reminded of when another one of my favorite comedians, Triumph the Insult Comic Dog, pissed off Eminem at the MTV Music Awards several years ago. Em is a classic bully. He can dress up as stars and make fun of them, but if someone pranks him he doesn’t handle it too well.
Yeah, he’s a rapper and a guy’s balls were in his face. But c’mon, it’s the entertainment business. And rappers need to stop pretending they are all straight anyway. They way they oversell that. Really, how many times do you have to say you bang girls - lots of girls- in one song? At first, I thought Eminem was in on it, but after watching it on TiVo several times, I think his entourage would have given it away if they knew it was going to “go down”, so to speak.
As for the Twilight co-stars, they looked a little too cool to be there. I was hoping Bruno and his family jewels would drop down a few more times to liven things up. But what do you expect with vampires? The actors kind of epitomize my issue with the whole genre: that it takes itself way too seriously.
Kind of like Eminem, I guess. I was going to order Twilight on In Demand, now that I’ve finished the vampire book, but now I’m not sure. I might wait for Bruno: The Vampire Slayer to get made, in which teabagging unsuspecting rappers is the new holy water or crucifix defense against bloodsuckers.
I could be waiting a long time. Unless I write that story myself. Hmmmmm…
Positively Yours,
Shawn
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Book #2 Finished… Now What?
May 29, 2009
It’s been a little over a year and a half of the most nonstop writing of my life. But Book #2, the vampire book, is finally finished as of 2 AM Wednesday morning. To mark the occasion, this was my Decker’s Daily photo the next afternoon.
That’s straw paper in my mouth. It wasn’t until after the photo was snapped that I figured out that vampires holding iced mochas are not scary, no matter how rock solid their body is with well-defined muscle.
I forced myself to stop blogging about writing the book, but now that I’m done I’m lifting the ban. I’ve been irregular in blogging the last two weeks because I was really cracking down on finishing the book- a humorous tale of vampirism, set in a small town, centered around a group of incoming freshmen.
Yes, HIV is involved. It’s my specialty!
The book was a joy to write. I discovered my addiction to iced mochas through this ordeal. But, at this moment, I am relieved that it is out of my hands. Right now, my lit agent is going to look over it and then we’ll submit it to the publisher. When I get any word on it, I’ll definitely blog it.
So… with colleges out of session and no more high school talks… how does a positoid fill his day? Of course, I’ll keep drinking iced mochas, and Gwenn will keep snapping Decker’s Daily photos, which are being called “Iconic Imagery!”, “Daring Pictures!” and “Bravery in the Face of Mochas!” by no one. What’s cool about the joke of Decker’s Daily is that I got some sponsors (Thank you again!), and one of them actually led to one of the discussions I had last week with an incredible Gay/Straight Alliance formed at a nearby high school. It’s very cool the random ways in which we meet people, isn’t it?
With book #2 complete, finding a creative outlet didn’t take long. Tonight I had band practice with Synthetic Division. “Wait,” you say. “Can you really call a synth duo getting together with an iPod band practice?” Yes, you can! But you don’t think so, how about a synth trio? With a drummer?
A human drummer!
That’s Marshall on keyboards. He joined me when my bandmate left in 2007, within a month of the end of his previous band, In Tenebris. That’s Mike Johnson on drums, he was in In Tenebris with Marshall, so they immediately locked it down without any problems.
Now, if Christina- the former singer of In Tenebris- shows up at practice next time, I’ll know that I’ve been kicked out of Synthetic Division. The victim of a non-violent (hopefully) takeover from the inside. But really, adding drums and a friend to the band is going to make things a lot more fun.
I’ll be posting more about our first Charlottesville show in July next week and, as I wait for a word on the book, I’ll be turning to music for artistic solace.
Positively Yours,
Shawn
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New Depeche Mode Album, Old Synthetic Division Tale
April 21, 2009
Today, Depeche Mode’s new album, Sounds of the Universe, comes out. As many know, they are my favorite band, and I got to meet them at 14 through the Make-A-Wish Foundation, the highlight of my existence until I got laid.
Today’s date is a triumph for the band, but the date of April 21st conjures up bad memories in my own musicial career as Synthetic Division…
Eight years ago to the day, local, conquering legends, The Dave Matthews Band, were returning to town to play UVA’s football’s home, Scott Stadium. I
was starting to get some momentum as a one-piece synth act in
Charlottesville, and figured it was time for a big move, something that
would really get folks talking. I booked a show at the Tokyo Rose’s “The Dawning” Goth night, a 150-or-so person capacity room.
Then I made up these flyers, which were posted around town.
This flyer was REALLY postedi n Charlottesville, VA, likely to the horror of the public.
Things were looking good for the upset, but Matthews has people in town. The word must have gotten back to them because at the last minute, Neil Young was brought in to open for DMB, outdrawing me by about 49,850 people. Without Young tapping into my fanbase, who knows what would have happened on April 21, 2001?
Their spot secured, Dave Matthews and his band left town victorious. All I was left with was a Purple Heart Award in the C’ville Weekly’s post-Dave show coverage. I wanted the cover and one word: TRIUMPH.
This past weekend, DMB returned to play two shows, picking at the unhealed, bloody scab of a hemophiliac trying to clot. Trying to forget what could have been. As I look back at that ill-fated Battle of the Bands, my old buddies in the Mode are here once again, just like they were in those early teen years when I discovered them.
Positively Yours,
Shawn
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Hear My Tori Amos Remix
April 10, 2009
I’ve gotten back into writing some music as of late, and here’s something I did for the Subculture Shock compilation disc for the Spring fund drive.
If you’re not familiar, Subculture Shock is a radio show that plays underground alternative music, and they started playing my music back in 1999 after I moved to Charlottesville… I remember what a thrill it was to hear one of my songs on the radio.
Here’s the song I gave them. It’s a remix of a Tori Amos song, “Raspberry Swirl”, that Synthetic Division- my synthpop duo- first covered a couple of years ago. (You can buy the cover on iTunes). You can listen to the remix here.
Enjoy! And here’s the original Tori song. Which is about a lesbian love affair. Being lipsynched by Divinette, the drag queen.
I Am Not Your Senorita,
Shawn
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