Jenni Tarma

Fear not, for the happy event of the Rabbits Rabbits Rabbits EP release will be upon us soon! A couple of months ago, our little project that started almost entirely by accident went into a studio, and recorded four songs, which have now been pressed onto vinyl, and are almost ready to be distributed out into the world. The recordings came out great, and I am super proud to be part of this.

We are celebrating the release with a show at Spaceland on September 6th. We're playing with Eastern Conference Champions, and we will be onstage at 10pm.

You can stream the EP here. Thank you Bandcamp.

Improper grammar on publicly displayed signs (= signs intended to be viewed by the public, displayed in the public arena) is one of my main pet peeves. Another pet peeve of mine? Inconsistent capitalization. With all that in mind, you can imagine the overwhelming rage I felt when I saw this sign at the Highland Park Home Depot, a place I visit roughly every other day:

I felt an unusual mixture of irritation and anxiety whilst looking at this. Also- "key shavings tray?" WHAT?? Like, a tray for tiny metal shards? If you say so.

I am a woman obsessed. Last week, I heard an insanely catchy synth-fuzz nugget on the radio while I was driving. Because it was on KCRW, where they play a bunch of songs without telling you what they are, and because I’d arrived at my destination (home), I got out of the car and went to look at the playlist online to find out what the song was. Turns out the KCRW site is confusing, difficult to navigate, and generally sucky. Also, either their clock is off, or my car clock is off, but whatever the case, it was not possible for me to locate this song. I then spent a good couple of hours googling the bands on the playlist, and exposing myself to music of varying levels of crappiness in the process. To add embarrassment to what was already an infuriating situation, my “research” also forced me to actually spend time on Myspace, which is apparently now like some sort of internet ghost town, populated by roving packs of feral, goth teens, and firmly devoid of any actual content or information. Anyway, at this point, most people would have probably given up on this pointless quest, but somehow the degree of difficulty I was experiencing just made me more determined to find this song. Eventually, and almost certainly by accident, I was able to put two and two together. The magical song is called “Hollywood”, and it’s by Marina & The Diamonds. SUCCESS!

The next thing I wanted to do was post the song on the blog. Stupid Imeem had stopped existing in the meantime (bought up by the accursed Myspace), so I had to/still have to find a thing that will let me embed an MP3 on a blog. NO, not link to a URL somewhere else on the internet, but please GIVE ME CODE TO EMBED THIS FUCKING THING. Is that too much to ask? Yes, yes it is. Because after looking at, oh I don’t know, six or seven alternatives, I was finally able to ascertain that no, none of these things will let me do the one thing that I need to do. I even texted a tech-oriented friend for suggestions, and since he is having the same issue, I feel entirely validated in  having utterly failed to solve the issue. So, the bottom line is, I simply cannot post this awesome “Hollywood” song. Is it more pathetic that I’ve now spent somewhere in the region of twenty man-hours trying to make this happen, or that in spite of my efforts, I haven’t worked out how to do it? Hm? OK, well the next best thing is a Youtube video of the song, so here it is.

Also, my iPod got “corrupted,” whatever the hell that means. So, tragically, I have at least temporarily lost all my precious Neil Young and Tom Petty and Royal Bangs. Literally the only music I have on my iPod right now is Marina & The Diamonds. I have to check the external hard drive, because unless I’m a total moron, I’ll have backed up my music library on it. No guarantees. But for the time being: Marina & The Diamonds.



Well well, I did not think that the fickle laws of LA Guestlisting would permit me to space out to Massive Attack at the Wiltern last week, but I was wrong! They are, needless to say, one of my favourite bands, and it was sweet getting to see them in all their monolithic, awe-inspiring glory. The only slight bummer was that the mix didn't quite do them justice, but hey, win some, lose some. The other pleasant surprise of the evening was that the extortionately-priced drinks at the venue (to be expected) were, for once, also pretty strong (not expected). The Wltern must also be collecting crazy karmic points, because the after-show party was nicely stocked with an open bar, not to mention abundant CHOCOLATE! Yeah!

I have been taking lots of pictures recently, which I think is something that is OK for me to indulge in, since the only thing being wasted is my time, rather than mass quantities of film. The only thing I have to be careful of is not wearing out the patience of our neighbours; I can only stand in their front yards for so long, zooming in on their flowers and shrubbery, before they start to think it's creepy. Anyway, Rabbits Rabbits Rabbits already used one of my photos for a show flyer a couple of months back, which was hugely exciting for me. This time, however, I took the bull by the horns, clicked open ye olde Photoshop (sitting there, ignored, in my applications folder for embarrassingly long), and made a flyer with a picture I'd taken a while back. Combined with the excitement of the actual show itself, it was almost enough to push me over the edge.

This flyer tells you everything you need to know.

My ultimate aim with all this stuff- Photoshop, various music recording and programming software, playing music, writing, taking pictures- is to eventually be OK at all of it. As in, I could be totally competent at all these things, whilst at the same time managing not to excel at any of them. Truly, a jack of all trades, but a really mediocre one.

Holy smokes, the times they are extremely busy! The last couple of weeks have been nothing if not action-packed. Apart from the house renovation, which is turning out to be fairly soul-crushing in its ability to eat up lives like it’s not big thing, a handful of other things have happened. Mike and I drove up to Paso Robles last weekend to watch the lovely Jesse Hoy of The Deadly Syndrome wed Lawren Sample. The wedding itself was gorgeous and the location stunning. My enjoyment of the day was impeded only by the incessant stream of snot pouring out of my nose (again, the result of having way too many things to do for way too long), and the fact that I had to make an unscheduled dash back to LA in the middle of the night for a video shoot the next day. Clarification: I was asked to play bass in the video for NERD’s upcoming single, and couldn’t resist the opportunity to, uh, stand in the freezing desert in the middle of the night with the afore-mentioned stream of snot making the whole thing somewhat of an ordeal. It seems unfair to complain about having been styled in a manner inadequate for night-time temperatures, considering there were girls wearing literally nothing but body paint, but yes, it was fucking cold. I guess the video will be made to look as though some sort of nomadic tribe of freakishly good-looking girls (I am by no means including myself in this) are having a wild party in the desert, with Pharrell and Co just randomly stopping by and getting their drink on also. The song is called “Hot N Fun”, which is ironic as the shoot was actually pretty cold and shitty. I was primarily hoping to meet the band and get some networking done, although now that I think of it, it’s questionable whether I would have been able to make a good impression in my sand-caked, snot-covered Native American/highway bandit get-up. Anyway, if Pharrell, or any of the other two (three?) dudes in NERD are reading thing, please be aware that I will make myself available for your future bass needs, hopefully even of the variety where there are audiences and live sound involved.

 Moving on. The last week has also seen extensive studio action from both Correatown and Rabbits Rabbits Rabbits. I feel as though I haven’t talked quite enough about either band on this blog… These are both projects that have been nothing but an absolute joy for me to be involved in. Apart from the fact that both bands are comprised of outstandingly lovely individuals, it’s a total privilege to be able to put my creative music hat on in such talented, magical company. Correatown has been killing it on the sync/license front (songs have been featured on both Gray’s Anatomy and Ugly Betty in recent months), and is putting together new material for public consumption. The new, more electronically-inclined direction the band is taking is like an explosion of sparkles and spooky magic, and a total blast to record. I can’t wait to hear how the final versions turn out. The RRR ep, on the other hand, is shaping up to be a superb wedge of sophisticated, intricate guitar bad-assery. One can only feel pity for Hot Hot Heat, as they know not how horribly they are about to be blown off the stage when we open for them in a couple of weeks.

Note the Grammy holder in the background. Need to be prepared. Dan as a Rabbit, but a Rabbit that can also play the drums, engineer, and produce.I can't stop staring at this power conditioner and its magical screen.I took the bull by the horns recently and also decided that it was time to get my ass into gear and start being a somewhat-published writer again. I’ve contributed snippets to the LA Record in the past and need to get back in the saddle again. It’s stupid that these things are the first to go when all this “important,” “grown-up” crap gets in the way. I’ve always enjoyed being able to churn out drooling adoration/scathing contempt for whatever I most recently witnessed in the local clubs, so it really is time to quit slacking off on that front, and, you know, take the laptop down to the coffee shop where I can join all the other idiots working on their writing assignments, or big screenplays, or whatever. Besides, soon I’ll be too old to play music full-time, and so I must start to cultivate my future as an over-worked and underpaid writer of some sort. All joking aside, I intend to take myself down to The Echo on May 21^st, where I will stand around while Francis & The Lights play their music, after which I will write down my opinions and email them over the LA Record. Speaking of making plans for the future, I have also been working more on my amateur (at best) nature photography, but that’s for another giant blog entry in the future. If anyone has ideas on how to go about becoming a person that takes close-up pictures of flowers and leaves for money, email that shit over.

I will never cease to be amazed at the stuff nature can just casually barf out like it's not big deal.The social schedule is packed. Steak, wine and jokes were enjoyed by all as Miss Minogue and her managers invited Mike and I over for a hang at their fancy hotel last week. Mr Adrian Eccleston, passing through town on the tour of Drake Becoming A Huge Artist, was kind enough to buy me a glass and sake and a bowl of edamame at some hip restaurant downtown a couple of nights ago. Misters Nick Sizer and Rod Mattheson, reigning kings of Drum Teching and Monitor Engineering respectively, are stationed at The Wiltern this week, and invoicing Massive Attack for their services. I am very excited to catch up with both of them, even if the usual LA guest list clusterfuck won’t permit me to actually see the show. That is all.