Gregory J MR MR

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

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. 

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.

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!

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 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!

Did a bit of recording with Kirk last night.  Tracking in my apartment is a blast, but we are definitely learning a lot along the way.

A Bed(room) in Brooklyn Pt. 3. - “You’re Never Alone”

Please note the smooth sidestep intro

As I sit down to work on some music I am thinking about how it is 10:30 and I am just now getting to what I care about most, which is working on music.  I got up at 8:45am, so I’ve spent the rest of my day at a desk at work, commuting, eating dinner, working out and talking with my roommate.

For a second this afternoon I started get frustrated and was thinking that I shouldn’t have to work - that I should be spending the whole day working on my music.

First off, because I want to make music doesn’t mean that I should be able to spend my days in my apartment writing songs.  The music that really reaches me, the stuff that was full of heart and soul was written by people after working 10 hour shifts.  They spent their entire day thinking about music, as I often do, they came home and they focused on their craft.  I also believe that every second of your life comes through in your art, whatever your artform may be.  You might as well diversify. 

Your life needs to be rounded.  You can’t expect because you have a gift that you should get a free ride to cultivate it.  If you want something, you have to work hard.  You have to stay in when others are going out.  You have to work 9-5, then come home and start really working.  You have to save your money to buy new equipment, and you have to work and work and work on your art until it gets good.  I am proud of what I have created so far, but I know that it is nothing compared to what I will do, because I will keep working at it.

I am not writing music and recording because I want to make money and become famous.  Nor do I even see this as a possibility - to be honest, I don’t see that happening.  I truly, truly, love writing songs and recording.  I love playing shows (once I am on stage). 

If you want something, you need to go for it.  But you need to expect to work hard and you have to know that it won’t be easy.  But, then again, if you really want something, that won’t matter.

Just something I was thinking about tonight.

8:45am - Wake up.  Not happy

10:30am - Arrive at work.  Happy (as one can be, settling into a cubicle)

10:31am - Caffeine.  Euphoric

2pm - Eat lunch.  Very happy.

4pm - Post lunch lull.  Not very happy.  Optimistic, though.

6pm - One more hour. Happy

7pm - Quitting time.  Very Happy.

7:45pm - Home.  Dinner.  Very Happy.

8:30pm - 12:30am: Here (pictured above).  Ecstatic.  

12:30am - 2am: Bed.  Netflix.

…..

8:45am - Vow to go to bed at 11pm tonight (won’t happen).