"Rock Concerto" In Ankara, Turkey

If you happen to be in Ankara, Turkey next week, drop by the University. We're performing Alexander Markov's "Rock Concerto" with the University Symphony and Chorus. Should be about 120 cats onstage!

The "Rock Concerto" is a piece for electric violin (Alexander Markov), drums (Gregg Gerson), vocals (Neal Coomer), and electric bass (that's me!), 66-piece symphony orchestra, and 50-voice chorus. I also have a bunch of pipe organ parts to cut as well. I've been playing bass for over 20 years. I've only been playing keyboards for just over 20 minutes. There's no pressure there!

This is our 5th trip to Turkey and will be our 8th time mounting the entire concerto. We've also hit in Cyprus, Israel, and Bridgeport, CT. I know it's strange routing. You'll have to speak to our travel agent about that....

Alex is one of the top tier classical concert violinists in the world. And for Pagannini stuff, he's probably the #1 dude on the planet. But he also loves Jimmy Page. So he built himself a 6-string electric violin that he plays through a Marshall guitar amp and wrote a full concerto around the instrument. Nobody can say that he isn't committed to his concept!

Needless to say, even though I'm playing the part of "Rock Bass Player" in the piece, we're all featured soloists with the symphonies we visit (electric violin, vocalist, drums, and bass). At the end of the show they give us flowers just like Miss America. It's a trip. And standing right in the middle of a full symphony is a real charge. What a sound!

Ivan Bodley
Brooklyn, NY

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Kazoozle at the Bamboozle!

9-year-old guitarist from Tokyo, Yuto Miyazawa rocked the Kazoozle stage at the Bamboozle Festival at the Meadowlands in New Jersey. The kid certainly knows how to draw a crowd!

In the photo above, myself along with Louis Appel on drums and Randy McStine on second guitar back up Yuto rocking his Randy Rhoades model Flying Vee guitar. And I have to say, even though he's cute with the guitar, which is almost bigger than he is, the kid ROCKS. We did songs like: "Crazy Train," "Highway Star," and "Freebird." Yuto plays the guitar parts and even the solos note-for-note.

Yuto and I go way back. I played with him on a visit to New York last year when he was only EIGHT. He's getting a little long in the tooth now. If he contiunes with his studies at the rate he's going and doesn't decide that it would be more fun to play soccer when he's 12 (which I would think would be great), he's really going to be someone to keep an eye on in coming years.

I get the distinct sense from Yuto that he dearly loves playing the guitar. There are no stage parents forcing him into the spotlight or anything like that. He's constantly trying to echo riffs I play at soundcheck, for instance, continuosly gathering musical information from every possible source, even the bass player. It's amazing to watch his talent develop.

And, heck, it's fun for me too. I get to play very loud and fast with him. It's interesting to have your check signed by a 9-year-old. I'm looking forward to more....

Ivan Bodley
Brooklyn, NY

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Oh, Yeah, Like We Have a Choice....

I've been putting together my new CD in the past weeks. This will be my 3rd release. It'll be here soon. I'm looking forward to it. It'll be fun.

I can't help acknowledging, however, what I know to be true: the record business is a sucker's game! It always was in a way. Artists historically have never gotten rich from record companies. But now? Forget it! Even record companies aren't getting rich off of record companies!

So why do we do it? I've been surveying all of my artist friends with CDs out. It's an endless money pit: recording expenses, mixing, mastering, artwork, manufacturing, publicity, promotion, etc, etc, etc.

The consensus seems to be that apparently we do it because we don't have a choice. It's the same reason I basically became a musician in the first place. Being a musician is a sucker's game! You want to be rich? Be a (bailed out) banker. You want to be famous? Maybe being a serial killer is a quicker route to that. But if you feel, as I do, that you would rather play music in a smoky bar for tips than sit at a desk for one second longer, rent payments and light bills be damned, then by all means jump right in.

There are ways to be smart about it, pragmatic, practical; music school and things like that. But it's still a sucker's game. I can't recommend it as a lifestyle unless you have NO other choice. The amount of work and dedication it takes to get from the smoky bar to the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame is staggering.

Don't get me wrong. Playing the big stages is the greatest thing ever. But you don't walk straight from the music store buying your first instrument onto the concert stage. It's a long hard slog.

Putting out a CD is almost akin to buying a lottery ticket, albeit a very expensive one. The chances of me putting out a "hit" record are staggeringly against. One has a better chance of getting hit by lightning...twice...than winning the lottery. But instead of allowing this information to convince me against buying an occasional lottery ticket, I'm now afraid of lightning. Such is the tortured internal calculus of the artist's lifestyle.

My CD is coming out whether I like it or not. I may sell tens of copies. I may be heard by literally a dozen people on the radio. But I don't have a choice. I'm compelled to document my work. I'm forced to make my material available to the world. If the world chooses to ignore it, that's fine. I have to put it out there.

For me the journey is the reward, as it is in so many other aspects of life. I'm having a blast being a musician, touring the world, playing with talented and/or famous people, occasionally creating art or at least some unified purpose of spirit within a room of like-minded musicians and audience members. If my CD turns out to be little more than a musical photo album of some of my experiences, so be it. I'm a richer person for being able to look back at the keepsake of some work I've immensely proud of....

Ivan Bodley
Brooklyn, NY

Check out my website: www.funkboy.net
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Spinal Tap: The Voice of a Generation

I was reminded as our band traveled to Ohio last week of the enduring legacy of the Christopher Guest masterpiece mockumentary: "This is Spinal Tap." Our entire trip we were constantly intoning "Hello, Cleveland!" in homage to Spinal Tap. This is the 25th anniversary of the release of the movie in 1984. And to this day I think I quote Tap almost daily, hourly.

Something about the film captured what it means to work in the music business so perfectly, with such nuance and accuracy, that it took a parody of the business to paint the real picture. You have to laugh to keep from crying sometimes. I've met all of the character types portrayed in the film in my travels. I've been lost trying to find my way to the stage in unfamiliar theatres too many times to count. I even worked for the lady that the character Bobbi Flekman was based upon. Fran Drescher had it closer than she knew.

To think that this quarter century old film still has such presence today is staggering.

I met Harry Shearer very briefly at a gig in Austin, TX a few years back. Despite his enormous body of professional work, all I could really say to him was: "I'm a huge Derek Smalls fan. I even have your action figure!" He replied: "Thank you for not calling it a doll." Yes, I own the set of three Spinal Tap action figures in testimony to my respect of their achievements.

I was thrilled in 2005 to see Tap perform their classic "Big Bottom" at the Live 8 concert before about a billion people. In a continuing show of their genius, they invited every bass player performing at the entire festival to join them onstage for the song. Brilliant. Even Derek Smalls' wig is now salt and pepper to reflect that he's a rock star of a certain age now (see photo above). If you didn't see the performance, here's a youtube link.

I recommend the deluxe edition DVD release of the movie too because it contains nearly another feature film's worth of deleted scenes, equally brilliant to the main cut of the movie. And there's and entire commentary track to the film done by the three principals in character! It's like having a third entire movie. Hysterical.

I'm not on Christopher Guest's payroll, nor Embassy Pictures. But what I am is a working class musician who appreciates the unique voice Spinal Tap gave to my profession. Turn it up to 11!

Ivan "Funkboy" Bodley
Brooklyn, NY

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Gigs That Do NOT Suck

There are gigs that suck. And then there are gigs that do NOT suck.

Last night we played the official VIP after party for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction ceremony in Cleveland, OH with Hall of Famer Sam Moore.

This is from Rolling Stone online:

"Drenched, drummer Lars Ulrich mugged for photographers and showed why he’s been a driving force in the band: After more than 25 years playing speed metal, he’s still got fast feet — and a quick wit. When a journalist asked where the after party was, Ulrich had an answer ready for the room: “Your mom’s house.”

"Soul man Sam Moore (of Hall of Fame duo Sam and Dave) played the official after party at House of Blues, turning in a set that included a nuanced rendition of the Police’s “Every Breath You Take.” Metallica bassist Rob Trujillo was at the bash, but our party reporter said the rest of

Metallica weren’t in sight. Maybe Lars wasn’t kidding."
The lovely and talented Will Lee and Sid McGuiness from the World's Most Dangerous Band joined us onstage for a couple of songs each. It was really nice of them to stop by after having played the ceremony.

A good time was had by all....

Ivan "Funkboy" Bodley
Brooklyn, NY

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Whether 'Tis Nobler in the Mind to Suffer...for One's Art?

I call this photo: "City Street, 2:01am." That's fairly descriptive, right? It doesn't really pertain to anything other than the fact that as a musician I'm usually up at 2:01am after just having gotten home from work. So I see this view of the city a lot.

So what is it, exactly, that we do as musicians? The darker view is that we entertain drunks and tourists in bars, pass the tip bucket, then go home with a stack of $1 bills feeling like strippers just off our shift at Billy's Topless. When we get hired to do a private function in a mansion or country club, I've often said that we're curios in the parlours of the rich and famous. There's no feeling quite like dressing in your finest James Bond shawl collar tuxedo, cuff links, studs and bow tie, only to be made to take the service elevator out by the dumpster scum in the alley because you're an (ugh!) musician. That's the seamy underbelly of what we do and how we're regarded by polite "society."

A brighter view of what we do was once put to me by a painter who said that even in bars full of drunks, we create a unity of spirit and energy, bringing people together in a common expression of joy with our meter and musical ruminations. I find this an incredibly bright spin put on an otherwise questionable profession in (formerly) smoky nightclubs where vice and alcoholism are practiced simultaneously with our unifying artistic expressions. But the painter had a point, especially as it pertains to concert stage performances, festivals, original music, etc. Occasionally we are part of some very powerful vortex of human energy, moving a massive crowd in perfect unison towards some realization of joy or pathos or catharsis or protest. These are the moments we cherish.

These are the moments we think about at 2am when getting home from another bar in the city. Even if two people in the bar have been entertained, transfixed, transported, soothed, or encouraged by what we do, there's some nobility left in what we're accomplishing. It's easy to lose sight of sometimes. It's also difficult to explain to the laity that playing a bar gig isn't a lowering of professional standards. Quite the opposite, it allows us to practice our craft, keep fluid on our instrument, and generally stay in touch with people, tastes and trends.

The challenge here is trying to find avenues to introduce new original material. This proves much more difficult. Drunks in bars want to be entertained by cover material, songs they know. This is understandable. After the economy has tanked, the pension fund is gone, the pink slip has been delivered, the last thing a late night reveler wants to hear is an experimental piece of music advancing the boundaries of jazz harmony and stretching concepts of previously accepted listenability. This is as it should be. People need and deserve to be entertained in a setting like that.

But if a musician is aspiring to be an artist rather that just an artisan, there needs to be some venue available to stretch the boundaries, to create anew. Fortnately for me I've found a couple of like-minded compatriots this year who have also decided that it's time to do something original. We've been meeting at the drummer's house every week or so to play and record each other's original material. The results have been enormously satisfying.

To whit, I'm about to release a CD of my original writings recorded with my friends Jim Dower on keys and Joe Goretti on drums. All of it is us playing live in the "studio" (ok, Joey's spare bedroom), all fun stuff. The music is something like Ramsey Lewis and Lou Donaldson having a jam session with The Meters. It's soul jazz. It's music you can simultaneously wrap your mind and your booty around. It's our expression of who we are, what we do, and why we play music at all. I'll keep you posted about the release date. I'm aiming for May 1. Stay tuned.

Meanwhile I'm off to play another long bar gig tonight, entertaining drunks and tourists in Times Square. It's not Madison Square Garden or Carnegie Hall. But I can't think of a nobler pursuit....

Ivan Bodley
Brooklyn, NY

Check out my website: www.funkboy.net
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Road Rage

I call this photo "Road Rage." It's a self portrait, shot in traffic, that just happens to capture my old skull and crossbones rear view mirror air freshener.

Alas, the air freshener died finally. It took about a month for the smell to finally die out so I could just enjoy the artistic value of it. It's an old homage to one of my favorite movies of all time, Alex Cox's "Repo Man." The line is: "There's one in every car. You'll see..." I quote this movie every day of my life, just like i do "This Is Spinal Tap." But to be accurate, in "Repo Man" they're referring to a standard green pine tree air freshener, not the skull & crossbones. So there, I've really revealed something very personal to you about my life. Don't judge me.....

But that's not what I'm enraged about. I'm mad as hell. And I'm not going to take it any more! OK, I'm not really that mad. I just couldn't resist another movie quote. What I am concerned about, however, is road work, as in touring, as in life on the bus, as in "Hello, Cleveland!" (see above).

As I've mentioned, I have an upcoming, impending, imminent CD release coming down the pipeline. Any day now, really. It's all stuff I managed to get recorded in between other gigs and travels. It's a trio effort, myself, Jim Dower on keys, and Joe Goretti on drums. These are guys whom I consider my "road buddies."

We travel. We play. We back up soul legends like Sam Moore, The Temptations, and recent special guests of Sam's like Elvis Costello, Sting, Wynonna, Travis Tritt, etc, etc.

But here's my concern. And I'm not sure if this is just a semantic problem or not. We never ever get on a bus, each person to a bunk, and hit the highway. As much as we would like to, that's just not the reality of the music business these days. Every gig is a one-off. Every show is a weekend out and back. The day after we play with one of these lovely superstars, we're unemployed again.

There's no touring. Tours don't exist for us in the way that people perceive. I'm constantly asked: "so are you around town these days?" The answer is: "yes, I'm around!" Call me for your gig! I'm not on a plane to Bali. I'm in Brooklyn! Last year I spent 50 nights on the road. And by "on the road" I mean away from home. The longest kip was a week in Tokyo with Sam Moore. I assume that could be considered a "tour." But we played only one town, Tokyo. Out & back. No bus. No itinerary.

That means I spent 316 nights at home. (Last year was a leap year, wasn't it?) Don't get me wrong. I did 214 gigs last year. I was busy! Working! But "touring?" Not so much. I think there's a mis-perception about what we do and how we do it.

Even the big "touring" bands tend to go out for a month in the summer only. I've got one buddy who's currently on a superstar tour, as big as tours ever get. And he's home every week or so unless they're overseas. So while I'm happy to perpetuate the myth, the legend, the mystique of what it means to be a "Rock Star," I'm leery about letting the perception remain among people who actually know me and know what I do for a living.

I know another person who is actively trying to develop a "rock star" career. It's kind of funny to see what this person goes through and what this person is actually aspiring to. By that definition of "rock star," that's exactly what I am and what I do. And while Bill Wyman's solo 45 from 1981 was called "Je Suis Un Rock Star," I'm not sure that's what I really am.

So here's the topic of discussion: Do I perpetuate the mystique for the public? Do I save the real deal for clinics and classes? I'm not trashing hotel rooms, demanding only green M&M's, doing drugs or hanging out with groupies. I WORK for a living. But I do enjoy my work.

Your thoughts?

Ivan Bodley
Brooklyn, NY

Check out my website: www.funkboy.net
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It's the Stupid Economy, Stupid!

So I keep having friends asking me how the "economy" is affecting my business. This is always an interesting question to me, not because I consider myself having any particular interest in matters financial, but because I'm a musician. By definition, until I have my 25th million-seller, I don't have any money. And I'll argue with you a long time about how rich most "rock stars" actually are. Yes, there are exceptions. But even Michael Jackson has run into "financial trouble."

So for all intents and purposes, I have no actual "money." My rent is paid. I'm fine. But "money" in the stock market? 401K? Real estate holdings? Not so much. I have a couple of basses. They have pink strings. Nice.

Furthermore, the people asking me these questions are invariably of a similar financial stratum as myself. None of us ain't got no money! Never did. So unless one of us gets laid off from our job at GM, the "economy" affects us how? The news media is all abuzz with the financial world going to hell in a hand basket. It certainly is. And we could well be on the brink of a major depression, certainly the worst recession in 30 or more years.

And?

So now what do we do?

We survived the "recession" of 2001 when NYC completely SHUT DOWN after 9/11. I was working in the Village for $15/night just to get myself out of the house. I was ready to flip burgers or lick envelopes, whatever I had to do, to keep my head above water. Fortunately I never had to. So unless this latest one turns into the dust bowl again, I think we'll survive it as well. What choice do we have?

I've seen some corporate clients cancel parties that bands I work for have had booked. I've seen wedding bands lose bookings because rich people are now afraid to spend $50,000 on a wedding by hiring a band. They trim their budgets to $40,000 to make themselves feel better. Mazel tov!

The bigger problem in NYC is not the latest economy. It's that the last two mayors have CRIMINALIZED sound. Any sound at all. If there's ONE crank on the block that calls the cops to complain, they're compelled by law now to show up and stop the noise. I don't know how familiar you are with sociology and demographics. But there's ALWAYS ONE crank on every block. So now that Manhattan has become a playground for millionaires, there is no support for arts, culture, or especially live MUSIC.

I've been yelled at for playing too loudly in night clubs in NYC for about the past 10 years. Lest you think I'm the reincarnation of John Entwistle (of The Who, Buiness Book world record holding loudest band. What? Too obscure of a reference?), the irony being that I get these reprimands before the band ever plays a NOTE. I.e, the clubs are getting hassled by the cops. And they're trying to head off the problems before they start. So needless to say clubs are closing at an alarming rate in New York.

The first ticket the cops give a club owner for a sound violation is $750. Keep in mind that a sound violation technically now can be for even ONE decibel of sound audible outside. That's right: ZERO sound. The second ticket for a sound violation is $1400. The third ticket is a padlock on your door. The city closes you down permanently. It's happened a couple of times already on Bleecker Street, home of music in New York, birthplace of the music scene that spawned Jimi Hendrix, Bob Dylan, Joni Mitchell, Donny Hathaway, etc, etc.

So most of the gigs I do for money in the past 5-10 years are increasingly private parties, out-of-town gigs, weddings, funerals, and bar mitzvahs. I ain't mad. I'm happy to keep working. But that brings us back to the "economy." More of these type of functions are generated by corporations. And corporations are having a devil of a time with the "economy."

My "economy" hasn't changed. My rent bill, light bill, gas bill, and phone bill are all due the same time every month. So how is my business affected by the "economy?" I'll have to get back to you on that one. I'm a freelance musician. Everything I do is a one-off on a personal referral. The day after one plays at Carnegie Hall, one is once again unemployed. I'm unemployed a certain number of days on any given week. When I do my end-of-year roundup for 2009, I'll let you know....

Ivan Bodley
Brooklyn, NY

Check out my website: www.funkboy.net
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Digital Distribution?

Does anyone have any good experience with digital distribution and/or physical cd fulfillment? I'm gearing up for a new release. The title of my new release, you ask? Why, I'm glad you asked! The "album" (do we have albums any more?) will be called:

"Pigs Feet and Potted Meat."

There's a sneak preview of the CD cover. You're the FIRST person on your block to see that. Feels pretty special, doesn't it? Trust me, the CD is even more fun than it sounds! But more about that later.

What I'm interested in is hearing about anyone's experience with digital distribution, positive or negative. Do you actually find yourself getting PAID for downloads? Does your digital distributor take a bigger bite of your life than they should? Stuff like that.

For instance, I'm getting checks from one digital distributor one of my CDs is with, but not the other. Hmm...

Ivan Bodley
Brooklyn, NY

Check out my website: www.funkboy.net
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To Blog or Not to Blog?

That is the question! In this day and age, with SO much information available on the web, what would necessarily make one blog more interesting or readable than another? What could possibly make me think that I either have anything to say that anyone else cares to read or foolishly make me believe that even if I had something unbelievably PROFOUND to offer the universe that it would ever be discovered in a random blog posting? But I've been encouraged by knowledgeable voices from several quarters that blogging is the wave of the future. It's the way to keep in touch with an increasingly wired in populace. And, let's face it, with a new CD that I'm about to release, a blog is one of the best ways to get the word out about what I'm doing. So much more information about that will follow: the recording process, my influences in composing the music, stories about our weekday afternoons in the studio creating something from nothing in the face of so many unemployed hours in the winters.

So for now, I simply say to you: Blog we must! I've decided to embark upon an exciting new chapter in online communications. I only hope that you're mildly entertained by any of it or moved to contemplate, act, or respond....

Ivan Bodley
Brooklyn, NY

Check out my website: www.funkboy.net
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