Gregory J MR MR

A belated Valentine’s Day gift for all the sappy lovebirds

Wed, 15 Feb 2012 08:42:52 -0500

A belated Valentine’s Day gift for all the sappy lovebirds

The power of the internet. Rosie and Me is a great, thoughtful,...

Thu, 26 Jan 2012 23:28:04 -0500

The power of the internet.

Rosie and Me is a great, thoughtful, beautiful group from Brazil. They write songs that put me to sleep, songs that keep me awake and songs that make me grab my guitar and get better.

I met Rosanne through Soundcloud, which I had just jumped on a the time because I heard of it through a friend and thought I should test it out. I threw a few tracks up there, not thinking anything would really happen, and Rosanne started to reach out to tell me she was enjoying them. We kept in touch, talked about home recording and supported each other as new and excited things happened for each of us.

Rosanne asked me to sing on the title track, “Arrow of my Ways,” which was a huge honor for me. She sent the tracks to me and we were able to collaborate, thousands of miles away, from our home studios in Brazil in New York City respectively. Rosie and Me have created something beautiful, and I am really excited to be a part of it.

Check out their album on bandcamp, give them a listen on soundcloud. They are great people, reach out to them if you dig what they are doing. I think you will.

Hey Tumblr - I know it’s been a while, but I recorded a...

Mon, 02 Jan 2012 21:43:56 -0500

Hey Tumblr - I know it’s been a while, but I recorded a quick demo of a new song that I’ll be including on my next album, Illinois. The song is tentatively called “The River”.

Can’t wait to show you the other tracks that I’m working on. I’ll update more often than I have been, I promise.

I’ve spent the last couple of months working on a 9/11...

Wed, 14 Sep 2011 22:20:18 -0400

I’ve spent the last couple of months working on a 9/11 focused campaign for dosomething.org, which focused on getting teens around the country to submit thank you messages for emergency service workers.

As part of the campaign, we took the 4,000 messages that we collected over 2 weeks and decided to project them on buildings around NYC so that everyone could see the gratitude that America has for people that risk their lives every day to help strangers.

We were initially concerned that our sketchiness would get us arrested (driving around NYC on 9/11 with a huge battery, projector and computers, projecting out of a moving car) but the opposite was actually the reality. We found a great spot in a parking lot near ground zero which ended up being right across the street from the NYPD, FDNY and a large group of police officers stopping cars at checkpoints.

We had the perfect wall and, magically, a power outlet, and we set up shop and started projecting the thank you messages on the side of an old, beat up building. Almost immediately, officers started to stare at the messages and were showing their co-workers what was going on. A lot of them started taking pictures and calling people out of the police department.

By the end of the night, we had about half a dozen officers come over to us, incredibly graciously, to tell us how much those messages meant to them. One officer shook all of our hands, told us that we were doing an amazing thing, and that this was exactly what they needed on an extremely tense day.

It was easily one of the highlights of my time in NYC so far, and I couldn’t imagine spending 9/11 in any other way than saying “thank you” to the people that deserved to hear it.

photo by Keri Goff

This is happening tonight at The Living Room in NYC. If you are...

Fri, 09 Sep 2011 20:13:05 -0400

This is happening tonight at The Living Room in NYC. If you are in the area, come out. I’ll serenade you with bittersweet songs.

My parents are visiting in NYC (great timing, right?), but they...

Sat, 27 Aug 2011 18:17:45 -0400

My parents are visiting in NYC (great timing, right?), but they are staying in Manhattan, which is basically impossible to get to right now cause of the hurricane. I grabbed my bike and headed towards them from Brooklyn, checking out the abandoned lower manhattan on the way. It’s pretty awesome to bike around the city in the pouring rain while no one is around.

This is Kevin, he is getting the heck outta dodge.

Sat, 27 Aug 2011 12:03:46 -0400

This is Kevin, he is getting the heck outta dodge.

Arrowhead - Colorado (Taken with instagram)

Mon, 15 Aug 2011 12:32:23 -0400

Arrowhead - Colorado (Taken with instagram)

In less than 1 week, I’ll be returning to Colorado after...

Sun, 07 Aug 2011 18:38:52 -0400

In less than 1 week, I’ll be returning to Colorado after being away for more than 5 years. It’s a tragedy, but all will be rectified soon.

Cannot WAIT for this album. CANNOT! mutemath: ODD SOUL

Sat, 06 Aug 2011 15:24:09 -0400

Cannot WAIT for this album. CANNOT!

mutemath:

ODD SOUL

This showed up in the tip jar while I played last night. ...

Sat, 06 Aug 2011 13:24:35 -0400

This showed up in the tip jar while I played last night. Whoever did this, I love you (Taken with instagram)

Tomorrow night I am playing my first show of the summer at Bar...

Thu, 04 Aug 2011 23:01:24 -0400

Tomorrow night I am playing my first show of the summer at Bar 4. I have a few more exciting shows coming up in the next month at Rockwood and The Living Room, but I am really looking forward to getting back to my home base to play for my friends.

If you are in Brooklyn tomorrow night, come out!

I like Portland a lot (Taken with instagram)

Sat, 30 Jul 2011 04:20:52 -0400

I like Portland a lot (Taken with instagram)

Pretty excited this is out, it’s a great short documentary...

Mon, 18 Jul 2011 22:11:17 -0400

Pretty excited this is out, it’s a great short documentary by my friend Erin Crumpacker and Lauren Sieczkowski. I was honored to write and record the intro tune in my little ol’ apartment.

joshruben:

laurensieczkowski:

“PROFESSOR CHOCOLATE” A Nuumte Oote Production

This short documentary film made by Erin Crumpacker and myself tells the story of Neill Alleva and Rob Monahan, aka Professor Chocolate, two elementary school science teachers who can also school you in everything you need to know about finding and enjoying gourmet chocolate in New York City.

A few fun facts about this video!:

- All of the stop motion that you see was made with chocolate; whether it was bars, M&Ms, cocoa powder, syrup, or Easter bunnies.

- You can order any of the decadent bon-bons you see at Chocolate Moderne by clicking here.

- The two good looking tour-goers you see are the Carrot creative/producer extraordinaire Will Hutson, aka The Hipster Diet, and the beautiful model/actress/voice-over genius Sarah Natochenny, aka Ash of ‘Pokemon’.

- The music that you hear was composed specifically for this piece, by a myriad of talented composers in true collaborative spirit. Included are songs by the bands Fort Lean, Wakey!Wakey!, and Ian Hultquist of Passion Pit.

To watch other videos made by Nuumte Oote, you can click HERE or HERE.

To satisfy your sweet tooth after watching, head on over to www.professorchocolate.com to schedule a personalized chocolate tour, or pick up their guide book over at Amazon.com.

Bon appetit!

Check out this fantastic documentary made by my uncannily talented filmmaker friends, Erin and Lauren. But don’t do it without chocolate at the ready. This is so well done.

A bed(room) in Brooklyn part 4 - Kamikaze I wrote this song a...

Sun, 17 Jul 2011 11:18:59 -0400

A bed(room) in Brooklyn part 4 - Kamikaze

I wrote this song a while ago and put it aside, forgetting about it until about a week ago when I was practicing some older stuff. Not sure if this will make it to the new recordings, but I am definitely going to start playing this more often at live shows.

Hope you enjoy!

Wednesday night backyard movie watching (Taken with instagram)

Wed, 13 Jul 2011 21:22:55 -0400

Wednesday night backyard movie watching (Taken with instagram)

John Mayer at Berklee

Wed, 13 Jul 2011 07:56:55 -0400

John Mayer at Berklee:

A great read, something that I have been thinking about a lot as I write and record this next round of songs.

Hi Tumblr, It’s been a while. Why has it been so long? I...

Tue, 12 Jul 2011 21:56:59 -0400

Hi Tumblr,

It’s been a while. Why has it been so long? I started a new job at a Non-Profit called DoSomething.org, which is this incredible organization that helps young people take action on causes they care about. It’s inspiring as all hell, so I have been working into the wee hours of the night trying to prove my worth.

That being said, I’m hoping to hop back on here more often. Right now I am back in my studio (aka room) continuing tracking for a bunch of new songs that I’ll be finishing in the studio sometime in the near future.

As a “I’m back”, here’s a video of Michael Caine impressions.

No rest for the inspired,

Greg

Possessions from my cubicle - 1 surfboard, 1 casio keyboard, 1...

Mon, 20 Jun 2011 17:50:07 -0400

Possessions from my cubicle - 1 surfboard, 1 casio keyboard, 1 box of CDs (not pictured) (Taken with instagram)

Developing Your Creative Practice: Tips from Brian Eno

Thu, 02 Jun 2011 13:01:29 -0400

Developing Your Creative Practice: Tips from Brian Eno:

“The difficulty of always feeling that you ought to be doing something is that you tend to undervalue the times when you’re apparently doing nothing, and those are very important times. It’s the equivalent of the dream time, in your daily life, times when things get sorted out and reshuffled. If you’re constantly awake work-wise you don’t allow that to happen. One of the reasons I have to take distinct breaks when I work is to allow the momentum of a particular direction to run down, so that another one can establish itself”

I agree.