Merry Xmas From High School Sam
Posted by Sam at 8:03 PM | tags: life, audio

Ahhh... high school. A time of learning and growing. A time of finding oneself, becoming an adult, and rebelling against authority. A time of acne-covered faces, raging hormones, and a general awkwardness that I've never quite outgrown. High school, for many, signified a time to do well in school, ready oneself for college, and learn the merits of teamwork by participating in organized sports.

Organized sports... Ha! I rode a skateboard.

No, I never really did the high school thing very well. Don't get me wrong, I don't regret a second of it! High school is directly responsible for sculpting me into the shining example of adulthood you see before you.

Adulthood... Ha! Today, I launched my army of cut-out paper monsters into a full-frontal assault on a rival gang of paperclip terrorists. Viva la immaturity!

While not the typical high school pastime, my livelihood was comprised of playing in a numerous variety of bands (and just being loud in general, I guess). Punk banks, metal bands, rock bands, impromptu experimental noise bands... it was all good. I was in one band called Meat Locker. We sang about our undying love of meat. Yep... undying. I'm a vegetarian now. Ironic. Anyway, in a couple of the more progressive iterations of band members, we actually felt confident enough with our "sound" to venture into the studio and record on eight tracks of analog, reel-to-reel, glory. I'm not talking about hanging mics from the ceiling here (although, we did that too)... nope, this was a full-throttle, multi-track recording studio. And the resulting magnum opus launched us into rock and roll stardom.

Rock and roll stardom... Ha! Oftentimes, we played shows to an audience of one... two on a good night.

Yesterday, while digging through a pile of trash (that I've been dutifully hauling from one apartment to the next), I stumbled upon a demo tape of one of the aforementioned "more progressive" bands that actually made it into the studio. We called ourselves Burnside (for some reason) and we were destined for greatness... in our own minds anyway.

In 1997, Burnside recorded nine tracks at Paul (Intercourse) Interlande's Pie in the Sky Studios in Easthampton, Massachusetts. At the time, we considered these nine tracks to be better than anything that has ever been recorded in the history of music. Eight years later, and the nine song demo is simply embarrassing... which is why I am proud to offer it to you now, as an early xmas present.

Yes, I spent a few hours today (at work, of course) digitizing the Burnside audio cassette (audio what now!? Audio cassette. You remember those, don't you?). And now here it is in 192 kps mp3, DRM-free, awesomeness. I even scanned and included the album art (and lyrics too). Aren't you lucky...

Click here to download the entire Burnside Demo (.zip, 60mb)!

Not sure if you can to commit to the entire album? Well instead, you can download my favorite track from the demo, Not Being With You, and decide from there.

Enjoy!

DISCLAIMER: (You knew I couldn't offer up something like this without a disclaimer.) Some of the tracks on the Burnside demo might seem a wee bit sketchy in theme, but I assure you, they're not. Think irony. Think sarcasm. Think high school sense of humor. Additionally, think high school sense of morality.

Comments: 7 | Post a Comment | Permalink

embarassing!? sorry sam. although i admit there was plenty of room for improvement i still hold a lot of love for those songs. i think there's really only one or two i could live without. but definitely keep our little bonus track at the end!

Comment By bryan on December 23, 2005 8:43 PM

Well, maybe you're right. Not embarrassing on the whole... just a few spots in each track where I'm just forced to cringe. And honestly, the cringing is in direct response to the bass lines. I really wanted that Steve Harris glug-glug-thwack sound... but what came out in the mix was closer to belch-belch-fart. Ewww... sorry guys.

Comment By Sam on December 23, 2005 10:52 PM

P.S. Bryan, you wouldn't happen to have a Power of One tape lying around... would you?

Comment By Sam on December 23, 2005 11:19 PM

I'm with Bryan I really like some of these songs. And its already loaded into the iPod. Reminds me of driving around town in my first car most likely on the way home from Dennys. Actually I kind of miss my tape deck...damn you to hell iTrip!

Comment By TheDarkLordDerfla on December 24, 2005 6:37 AM

By the way who drew the cover art?

Comment By TheDarkLordDerfla on December 24, 2005 6:38 AM

The cover art was done by Hans Harmsen... an amazingly talented man, a good friend, and an all around super-hottie!

Hans, wherever you are, I hope you're kicking ass and saving lives...

Comment By Sam on December 24, 2005 9:58 AM

sam, of course i have Power of One hanging around!

now that's one that i cringe alot, though cant help but still like those songs too...especially at that point not having any clue what a decent guitar tone sounded like.

Comment By bryan on December 24, 2005 3:35 PM