RECORDING MULTIMEDIA OVERLOAD!

So I finally finished mixing the "When Worlds Collide/Dragula" medley that we are submitting to the nu metal/ska compilation. I posted the video already, but in case you didn't catch it you can find it here:

Now it's time to go on a journey. A photo journey!

This is the guitar rig I used to get close to nu metal territory for the cover. The 5150 has been my live amp since...2004? The Voodoo above it graced the 1s and 0s of most of "Closet Polar Bear's" distorted tones and that little guy on top is what Country Dave calls an amp.

I decided to reamp the guitar DIs through real amps, instead of using PodFarm 2.0 that I use for demos. Since PodFarm doesn't have a dual mic option, I decided to try out the "Studio Fredman" dual 57 mic technique for extra metalic girth.

Some sort of cable tester is essential for any sort of complicated reamp bedroom -> garage -> amp -> bedroom monitors setup. Test tones will keep your friends from shooting you after you ask them to play the same riff 50x straight.

I tried a few pedals as input boosts before the signal hit the front of the amp. This OS-2 has a story...and is broken, but you can hear more about that in the video.

Here is the back view of my epic "Tower of Power" (take that horn section!).

Rear view of the Voodoo Amps custom built JCM800 clone.

This is how it looks with the "garage door" up. I found a pleasant ambience added to the sound after the Isis sticker was added. But seriously, the presence and global mid sweep knobs came in handy in dialing in the HP2 grind.

Curtis called my 5150 "vintage" a while ago, but I'm starting to realize that his assessment was somewhat accurate considering that there is now a 5150 II, a 6505, and a 5150 III. So here it is: the slightly "less-vintage" back of my FJA modded 5150.

Recording and mixing was fun as always. I went through 5 mix iterations before I was happy enough with something that I could present to the band. I hope Curtis isn't going to rage quit the band because he's been replaced by triggers. Actually the room and overhead mics made it to the final version, I just replaced his toms, kick and snare with Steven Slate Samples.

Other highlights included "correcting" (not because they were out of pitch but because they were actually wrong) the first 3 notes every time Anthony played his bassline on the "When Worlds Collide" verse and finally figuring out how to automate my wah-wah in PodFarm. I kept the "in the box" tone for the extra guitars that come in on the instrumental parts between verses on the "Dragula" part of the song. I actually "played" the wah with one of the faders on my Akai MPD24. It's so much easier than multiple takes with your foot, haha.

Now your real reward for making it this far down my blog: the premastered mix that the rest of the band is currently deliberating over. Enjoy!

When Worlds Collide/Dragula Mix 5asdfk; by Half Past Two

Party All The Time

Hey folks,

Lindsey here! Long time no blog, eh? I know we've kind of been slacking. The last blog was before our Skaloween show. We fail.

Anyway, lots of exciting stuff has been happening here in the world of Half Past Two. For one, we are working away on new songs and having ever so much fun with the demo process. We're just about finished laying down all of our tracks for our super awesome "Zombie Medley" (When Worlds Collide/Dragula Cover) for the ska/nu metal compilation. Can't wait to hear the finished product of that.

Speaking of super awesome silly covers, back in the summer, Dave & I got bored and created an acoustic cover project we call Lemon Law. After reconnecting with my love for Eddie Murphy's "Party All The Time" we decided to do our own take on it, which you can enjoy here:
Party All The Time by Lemon Law: It's a Thing

Of course it's nowhere NEAR as amazing as the original, but we felt like we needed to pay homage to Eddie Murphy for creating the best song ever.

Well that about does it for my blog. Follow me on twitter, my name is liveviamusic annnnd don't forget to PARTY ALL THE TIME!

TTFN

Linds

Blog Frenzy!!

Hey everybody! Anthony here with a blog update not being sent from my phone (featuring 5% less typos!).

So I'm sitting here avoiding homework and watching the world series and it got me thinking: are Dodger fans boycotting the oranges and blacks of Halloween because they would be wearing Giants colors?

Anyway, something more HP2 related:

I couldn't let Tyler be the only one getting into the Holiday spirit and bringing out his inner nerd! So here's a sweet promo for the show!



My apologies for biting Lindsey's "Stay Classy" but I really wanted you all to stay classy!

So, that's it and that's all folks
-Tony Grizz.

P.S. Buy Tickets Here!

SPECIAL COVER SONG ANNOUNCED!

I know the anticipation has been building for a while, but I'm glad to finally announce our special "Halloween" cover!

"Dragula" by our favorite band from the Great White North: (no, not rush) Black Coffee!

If you're wondering what all of this excitement is from, you must have been living under a rock and completely oblivious of our Facebook feed. I took a DJ gig on Pandora and ended up like this:

And finally, I gave Curtis a grueling interview on all things drums, mole people, and "death metal." Country Dave also mentions his diminishing role in the recording process.

That's it for my video recap. We'll have additional rhythm section recording interviews and some footage from the Halloween, but if you can make it out be sure to come. We have a very cohesive costume theme that we're all excited so make sure to see it in person!

Checkin' in from the East Coast

Hi friends :)

I'm writing you from my sister's house in Philly! I've been having an East Coast adventure since last Tuesday. I spent a few days in New Hampshire visiting friends I made when I lived out there, spent a night in Boston, played in New York for a day, and got into Philly last night.

The fall colors here are AMAZING! I wish I could bring them home with me. I will miss playing in piles of leaves like a 5 year old when I get back to CA.


I'm definitely going to miss all of the amazing food out here too like the German food in NH, Carnegie Deli cheesecake, and apple dumplings from Philly. I think eating is my favorite form of entertainment while on vacation, haha.

I've loved my time out here, but I can't wait to get home and play the SKALLOWEEN show at The Vault. Our costumes are pretty much amazing. I've just got a couple more finishing touches to put on mine before it's ready to rock. I don't think I've been this excited about dressing up in costume since I was a kid. I'm thinking about bringing a bowl of candy to put out by our merch so if you come say hello I may give you a trick or treat, most likely a treat though because I don't have many tricks up my sleeve.

As Tony Grizz mentioned, we are indeed revealing a very special cover at the show, but it's the one and only time we'll be playing it so make sure you're there! You'll be bummed if you miss it. A little reminder to any of those who have to travel a bit to get to Temecula, make sure you leave early enough to avoid traffic so you don't miss any of the bands.

Well I think that about does it for my blog. I'm going to head out to Rittenhouse Square (a park in the middle of the city) and work on writing some lyrics for new songs. I'll see all of you on FRIDAY! Can't wait to see your goofy costumes :D

thanks for stopping by,
Lindsey

p.s. i'm bitter grizz stole "stay classy". now i have to think of a good sign off. grrr

The Headphones are Working!

1Hey everyone! This is Anthony with your monthly (I'm trying to be more accurate than weekly) update!

Today Half Past Two is recording! What are we recording you ask? New material? A new album? No! We're recording a cover song! It's for a compilation on Animal Style Records due out New Years Eve! We're unveiling this cover for ONE NIGHT ONLY this Friday at the Vault in Temecula where we'll be sharing the stage with Voodoo Glow Skulls, Chase Long Beach and more! So make sure to come out in costume and join in on the party!

So, back on the recording day! Tyler Moore, Dave, Curtis, and myself are all laying down the milky goodness that is the rhythm while Lindsey and the Doc are out of town. We'll have video soon of the whole process along with the incredible slow moving man!

Anyway guys, I have to jet so we can get this thing started. Stay classy and eat abba-zabbas to slow life down a bit.

Stay classy,
Tony Grizz

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Country Dave Speech Bubble Contest Results

Good news! EVERYONE IS A WINNER!

We had a contest on our facebook earlier this week to caption Country Dave at The Grove in Anaheim.

Congratulations to all the participants and while Country Dave was a little too busy (important) to reply to all of you, he had me acquire highly authentic forgeries of his autograph accompanied by personalized notes. Enjoy!

Tyler Thinks He Can Sing...Again...

Whoop The Whooping Cough by All Hell Breaks Loops

So a while before recording "It's About Time" I worked up some demos showcasing my less-than-stellar vocal chops. They were meant to be more of a reference for "what could be sung" by the lead rather than "this is the melody," mostly because of my liberal use of the "extremely flat" stylistic effect.

It seems that new demo season is now upon us once again, and to kick things off I figured I might as well start it with a bang...err a whoop! Here are my amazing lyrics:

Whoop Whoop Whoop Whoop the whooping cough.

I gotta a song to tell all the masses

Be aware and keep your minds active

Petrussis transmission can stop

Infants and young at the highest risk of all

Adults can spread all it takes is a little cough

Immunize and we will

Whoop Whoop Whoop Whoop the whooping cough.

Don't even try to blame Dave for the out of time ska guitar. That was 100% Tyler.

Bhakti's Favorite Song Live Is...

...Legacy. But maybe not this fast. I was doing some sound design for a friend of mine who wanted a solo "so insano fast that no human could play it" so I ended up penciling in 64th notes in Cubase. With liberal amounts (abuse) of pitch wheel automation and a hasty sampling of one of my real guitars I ended up with this:

I Know Mix 4 (no vocals) by Gnardvark

And that made me think of Dragonforce and all sorts of other studio tomfoolery, such as playing at half speed and then doubling the tempo. For the video clip of Legacy I just skipped to the doubling the tempo part. Lindsey's headbanging is a lot more epic in normal time. From 0:27 - 0:30 it's actually Dave singing, but you can barely tell that Lindsey takes over at 0:30 because of the super artificial sped up pitch shifting.

If enough people are interested I could share more fun facts about Legacy (the original and not the 200% version). If we have enough interest we could have interviews with Dave and myself about the meaning behind the lyrics, where the music came from, how many versions of the song we had to go through, etc. For that matter, if you want to know any more "Behind the Music" details on any of the songs (especially with ones with less sensical names...Sean Connery I'm looking in your direction) we would love to spill all the gorey details.

Comment away and let us know what your favorite song is!

Work Blogging

Greetings from the afterlife.

If you watched Dave's video blog, you know that I'm unfotunately deceased.

Turns out the Egyptians were right. Good thing they buried me with a Double Double from in-n-out. You really work up an appetite travelling all the way to the other side.

You know, it's kind of weird....HP2 members seem to be dying a lot these days. Luckily Dave has 9 lives and was able to come back to life after both the tragic shark attack and the car accident. I'm still waiting for someone to summon me back to life, it doesn't just happen automaticaly for me. Shux.

Before I continue I just want to give a big giant THANK YOU out to all of you who came to the show on Saturday. It was so much fun and we really appreciate everyone's support, it helps us stay motivated to keep this party ska train going.

Anywho, I'm at work right now...somehow, despite being dead. It's slow today/boring. I guess people aren't in the mood for smoothies on cloudy days. You know what would be really awesome? If someone came to visit me at the Robeks in Fullerton! Then perhaps I wouldn't have to stand around watching the clock slowly tick.

Oh shoot, my break is over....I guess I won't be able to continue writing about nothing....

Well I have something really awesome to put on here, once I'm finished making it, so stay tuned....

seriously,

it's rad.

LOTS OF LOVE!

Lindsey Smith

Expert Smoothie Maker

Robeks Juice

Fullerton, CA

Dave's Video Blog #1

Okay, so I know this is a video blog so there shouldn't be any writing, but BACKGROUND TIME!

I'm terrible at blogging, just really really bad. So instead I'm going to vlog, because that should be better?

I figure there is no better way to start off my vlog then with someone who's not me staring in the video, so I turn you all over to my friend Margie, the professional Lindsey Smith impersonator.

As you can tell, I'm a great camera man.

Now the real question is, how does this new (and dare I say improved) Lindsey Smith-like person sound? WELL HAVE I GOT AN EXTRA SPECIAL TREAT FOR YOU!

Sean Connery by Half Past Two

Party!

Hiya friends!

It's Labor Day Weekend...you know what that means, put the white clothes away until memorial day. Just kidding, that's a stupid rule. Anywho, loooooong time no blog. I've just been really busy....with um...uhhh...ya. Okay so I'm just lazy, whatever! Don't judge me! Not everyone can be as awesome as Anthony with his weekly posts! I think the problem is, I usually have nothing interesting to say. Nothing has changed, I'm just procrastinating because I have to pack for my trip up to Parchers to see mi familia.

SO since I'm not exciting, I'm going to tell you about the top 10 things that are currently exciting me.

1) THE SHOW COMING UP ON SEPTEMBER 18TH AT THE GROVE - sorry, I had to plug it.....besides, if you're reading this blog, it means you're cool, and all the cool kids are going so you already have your ticket, right?

2) SAVERS!!!!! Seriously, have you been to this place? It's a giant chain of thrift stores - only they are AWESOME, GIAGANTIC, METICULOUSLY ORGANIZED, AND AMAZING! Ever since they built one in La Mirada I've been a fan, but it's really grown into an addiction over the last few months.

3) GUPPY TEA HOUSE SHAVED ICE - do I really need to explain myself here?

HOW I MET YOUR MOTHER - It's my favorite show. Can't wait to buy season 5 and for season 6 to start. IT'S GOING TO BE LEGEN - wait for it - DARY! WHAT UP!? Barney Stinson is my hero in life

PHIL SHANE - A God amongst men, truly. He may only be 5 feet tall, but his hair, glittery jackets, and Vegas style lounge singing is nothing short of amazing. He plays often in the OC area, but if you're curiosity gets the better of you, and you want to see this guy in action, the only place to see him is Rembrandts in Placentia. Why you may ask? The walls are coated in velvet....and the people are just...classic. HINT: Have him sing his Birthday song to you. Also - be prepared to say HOT DAMN!

ASIAN PHOTO BOOTHS - Okay this is nothing new, I've just been more obsessed than usual as of late. I have this evil plan in the works that involves somehow getting all of HP2 into one of these things. I'm not sure how this is going to work quite yet...roofies?

THE ROOM - Worst movie I've ever seen, ever. It's so very, very, very bad....yet incredible.

FRANK TURNER - This guy is awesome. He's a lyrical genius, seriously. He's Poetic, but not overly dramatic, poignant yet tactful somehow, ughh. He's just awesome, and I'm really hoping I can scrounge up the money to see him when he's in LA.

THIS HELMET - I fought Jengo for it.

DEMOLITION DERBY - Okay, so every year during Labor Day weekend, there's a county fair in Bishop, actually it might be a tri-county fair, anyway, it's awesome. Of course it is nothing close to as extravagant as the LA/OC fairs(no pig races), but they have rodeos and a DEMOLITION DERBY which features cars tricked out by local businesses. People get smashed on cheap beer while the cars smash into each other. It's kind of redneck, but it's always a good time.

So there it is! A blog, by yours truly. I'll try to make some room in my schedule for a weekly blog between making smoothies at my cousin's Robeks and floating on a raft in my pool.

lovelovelove you all :) :) (ya, all 4 of you who probably read this)

*Linds

HP2 (not at all) Weekly Blog!: The Return!

Okay, so when I promised to blog weekly I was just a slacker college student without a real job. Weeks later and I'm now a middle school teacher with an hour commute (both ways!) and the 9-10 hour work days, so I apologize for falling off!

Now that my apology/plea for sympathy is out of the way it's time for some news!

Okay, so we've got some pretty sweet shows coming up real soon! Let's get those out of the way right quick, shall we?

Sept 18 we're playing with some local acts at the Grove of Anaheim. We'll be doing our thang on the outside stage warming you guys up for the new-look Chase Long Beach (Sorry guys, I wont be sharing the stage with this this time), Starpool and Reel Big Fish!

Oct 4th We're making our very first trip to the Valley! We're playing at the SVC Sports complex with our friends Maxwell Smart and Kounterfeit Change. ($8 with flyer [to be posted later], or $10 at the door)

Oct 29 Skalloween in Temecula with Voodoo Glow Skulls, One Pin Short and one of our favorite So Cal bands: Skamikaze!!

So there you have it. That's the list of shows we've got going on for us for now.

Speaking of shows, we feel like we need to add something... something more than we've been able to give at recent shows... something like ANOTHER NEW SONG!! That's right, we plan on busting out another new song for your ears at the RBF show in a couple of weeks. Now, at the time of this writing I haven't actually learned this new song and we've never played it as a group, but I've got faith in our abilities! And now that I've told all of you faithful HP2 blog readers, we kind of have to play it, don't we!

Alright.. let's see.. is there anything else I need to cover? Hrmm.. not that I can think of. I guess that means I can stop blogging so I can go to sleep, huh? I mean, it's almost midnight and I need to wake up early in the morning so I can go to work and not get fired. Soo... I'm out!!

Whoa whoa whoa whoa whoa wait!! I forgot to tell you guys. You all should do yourself a favor and go out and see Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World. It's seriously awesome! Ask Lindsey or myself. We'll gush about it and I personally will get super excited and probably hug you!! Doo it! And then after you watch it, please tell all your friends!!

Ok, now it's time to sleep. For reals. Goodnight!

-Anthony

1000 Miles Away 800% Slower

1000000 Miles Away by Half Past Two

"1000 Miles Away," covered by whales highly influenced by the Blade Runner soundtrack, paulstretch and Sunn O))). The whales had the following comment about the track, "if the entirety of heaven was trapped inside a glacier below 0 degrees Kelvin and attempting to play morse code upbeats as a way of communicating with the rest of the universe."

In case you're wondering how to pull this off with other HP2 tracks there is an excellent blog post on Create Digital Music and a how-to video on LifeHacker.

For those of the Mac persuasion (Dave and I included) you can get a OSX port of paulstretch on Kent Williams' blog.

Enjoy and post or tweet back with your own epic masterpieces!

Drum n Bass/Ska Crossover?

Solitaire by All Hell Breaks Loops

Not really a crossover...but the genres do share a surprising amount of overlap in terms of musical heritage. Anthony's steady blogging inspired me to do the same. So here is a little window of what is going on inside my head, musically speaking.

BHAKTI CHALLENGE! Put horns over my track! The shape of things to come?

PS Giving titles to songs without lyrics is hard.

Almost Weekly Update!

Sorry folks, no update last week, small update this week.

Things are running on turbo right now in the life of your favorite bassist: I'm finalizing paperwork for my very first teaching position at a middle school, I just played my last show with my other band Time to Renew, and I've been fervently trying to learn and perfect a set worth of Chase Long Beach songs as I fill in for them this Thursday at the House of Blues Sunset Strip. So needless to say the blog felt my neglect.

Let's see though news time... we're gearing up for our Bella Terra gig and should have a whole host of covers to go with our originals for our three sets we'll be performing on August 28th. Oh and speaking of music, many of you missed out on a fun show last week when Dave, Lindsey and myself saw the Ataris at Chain Reaction. There were no Sharkbot sightings and Chris Rowe looms like Alton Brown when he wears his glasses.

Anyway, this was the worst blog ever so I'm out.
- Anthony

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Weekly Update: Last Minute Style!

Holy crap guys! I almost broke my promise!! I'm sure at least 3 people would have been really pissed if I didn't update the blog this week, but I've until midnight (pacific) because my Week ends on Sunday, not Saturday! Also, fair warning here: This blog will have a lot of images of my face, so if it's not something you enjoy, I would suggest stopping right now!

So here's the update:
First, the Doc hit the OC fair already but I'll add a recap because that makes my post look way longer. So the show was a lot of fun and it was actually the first time anyone in my family has come out to see me play since my days in The Guilty Parties. Everything was great onstage except for the facts that my strap decided to stop being a guitar strap and decided it wants to spend an eternity as garbage! Luckily my ever present roll of duct tape was on hand and I was able to fix my bass while Dave regaled the crowd with tales of wonder and mystery (or so I would like to think, anyway).
Despite the ease of which we performed onstage, the day was not without it's adversity! First, the Doc had to tune three instruments (tenor sax, trombone, alto sax) and check two different horn mics! Then, it turned out Lindsay was lost and couldn't find her way into the fair. Security wouldn't let her in the front and the mystical gate 7 was nowhere to be found. Country Dave rode off in his mighty steed (Honda Element) and dashed off to Lindsey's rescue just in time for her to get into the gates two hours before we played.
After the set is where the real fun began though! We waited around and enjoyed some Skeletones tunes before my friends decided they were famished and that we needed to watch the ALASKAN PIG RACES! So Lindsey and myself arrived first and saved seats for Dave and Curtis; while we were waiting we bet cold hard cash on the which pig would be the grand champion. Of course my pig (good ol' number 3!) won his first championship! So now Lindsey owes me a Dollar with a Pg drawn on it that is to be presented to me at the next Half Past Two practice! There will be pictures and/or video of this pig presentation ceremony for sure!
More about the fair though... Not only was there good old fashioned fun at the fair, but there was 100% pure American fair goodness in the form of ridiculous fired food! Most eye-popping was the Fried Butter, which tasted like a delicious buttered churro! It was the bomb!! Also the bomb was the deep fried Klondike Bar!! (pictures courtesy of Animal Style Records)Speaking of extreme fair food: I decided I would tackle the infamous Jumbo Mexican Funnel Cake Challenge!! This challenge, however, proved to be far too much for a man like me to handle. I'll leave the professional chomping to the pros like Adam Richman of Man Vs. Food fame. Here's a before and after of my valiant effort to consume this beast:
As you can see, I didn't go down without a fight, but I left the fair beaten and drunk on funnel cake. I also left with a new hatred for anything churro or funnel cake until I can recover fully from this hearty beating.

Oh yeah, news. You guys are here for actual news, aren't you! Well, we're playing at Bella Terra in Huntington Beach on August 28th. We'll be playing three 45 min sets, so you'll have plenty of times to check us out and watch us perform both originals and covers while looking fantastic! More details on that soon!

Anyway folks, that's all she wrote, so I'm out!

Peace,
Anthony

OC Fair

The fair was once again conquered by HP2 and the Skeletones. Thanks to everyone who came out! For those who missed out, I pulled a "Roland Kirk" (I recommend three for the festival) and Tbone time for the skank. Curtis rocked steady with some extra tasty drum solos, Lindsey wailed (a friend told me "I couldn't even tell she was sick"), Captain County Dave crooned, frolicked and warmed up the crowd while Anthony's bass strap was finally fed up with all his grooving. ("end with a quote") (or two): "Pictures or it didn't happen"
-D#C Bhak

p.s. Did any one try the deep fried butter? Its all I kept hearing about.
Oh and Tyler, your 70's hip hop sample throws me off every time I visit this page. There is my comment about it. Peace!

Hp2 Blog: Beach Style!

Anthony here with your promised weekly update (of course Tyler already updated, but mine is here regardless!). I'm blogging from my phone with no spell check and auto correct so expect typos!

So the news for today is as follows in this surely shot blog:
We finally almost maybe know what time we're here tomorrow at the OC fair! If you come out and see us tomorrow remember that we're playing in the action sports arena and the show starts at 6pm. Seating is first come, first serve so make sure you get there early! The loser you are to the stage, the closer you get to be to the amazing Bhakti as he plays the trombone, as well as two saxophones at once!

I'm personally looking forward to playing at the OC fair this year because I feel like an honorary member of Orange County! I drive out here from Riverside a couple times a week (or every other day, as is the case this past week) and really enjoy my time here.

Speaking of OC and me being here all the time, I came out to the practice studio last night for a stellar session with the Tyler Mooreless Half Past Two (more on that soon!) and then promptly followed that with quite possibly my last show with my other band Time to Renew. Thanks again to Dave and Lindsey for doubling the crowd size at the Blue Cafe last night! And today I spend my day taking in the sun and boogie boarding at seal beach with my family! I love this place!

Okay, so now on to Tyler Moore news! Don't worry, he's still in the band, but to his allergies to funnel cake, deep fried foods and fun in general (also his deep seeded fear of large crowds of happy people enjoying themselves) Tyler will be spending his saturday playing Magic The Gathering in a dark corner by his lonesome and listening to the blackest of fantasy metal.

So in the interest of finishing this blog so I can join the rest of my family in the sand and get to boogeying I'm signing out! Peace!

- Anthony

Ps holy crap i just dunno that's been bloodiness whole time using my voice
Pps the voice recognition isn't that great

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Come Collaborate with HP2, Internet 3.0 Style

My blogs are so awesome they make sound! Anyways, just wanted to spill some thoughts about an online collaboration/social media site that I picked up on. Thounds.com (get it, thought + sound) is a relatively young platform for throwing all the musical ideas in your head on the wall that is the internets, and seeing what sticks. Any registered user (and from what I've seen it's a much more international audience than other similar sites like Indaba.com) can listen to your idea, post a new riff or line and then share your collaboration with everyone else. There is even integrated soundcloud integration when you are satisfied with the final version.

Now, to be fair, the downsides. Flash doesn't play nice with internal digital routing like JackOSX. I don't know if there is an easier PC work around, but when I wanted to sync up the audio stems from Reason I experienced some tone altering clipping as well as having to start and stop the tracks by hand...err by mouse. I know it's a lot to ask of a Flash based recorder, but having midi integration into my DAW (Cubase, btw) of choice would make the syncing and recording ONE BILLION times easier. The groove in my example is just off because of the manual start/stopping and that makes my ear sad.

I know this is asking for a lot, but some type of sequencer would be great as well. That way you could take the ideas and iterations that people have layered on top of your original idea and expand them into a whole song. I think the beauty of Thounds is that it is so simple, and literally anyone with a laptop and a built in mic can jam with anyone on the internet. For more complex collaboration, Indaba seems the way to go.

So if you have any ideas to throw on top of my 70s sample driven jam, layer it on and leave me a comment. If you have any ideas you would like to hear HP2 on, leave a comment. If Bhakti decides that Thounds is the preferred medium for writing our next album, he can leave a comment. Maybe crowd sourcing HP2 songs would be the best way to break Country Dave's writer's block. Hm...

Weekly Update: Genesis

So, I've noticed something recently. Guess what that is. Do it, I'll give you time.

Did you guess yet? Don't lie, you just kept on reading--where's the fun in that? Okay, fine but since you didn't guess I'm not taking you out for ice cream. Your loss.

Anyway, as I was saying: I noticed something. And that something is that the members of Half Past Two are terrible... at updating our blog! True story. The history lays beyond this post. But good news! That's changing here and now. Back in my Guilty Parties days I used to update our blog once a week and since they're dead and we're not I figured I'd bring that tradition to HP2!

Now, what will this weekly blog post entail? My guess is news updates, talk of new material, funny stories, typos and probably a whole lot of stupid things extending from my finger tips into your brain case. I have a feeling these will mostly come late night or in class so get used to tangents because when this baby hits 88mph you're going to see some serious shit!

So lets start this update with a little news:

What's going on with HP2? Well, lets start with out most recent show, shall we? First off thanks to everyone who came out and saw us, we were on first and it's always difficult being the being the opening act, but you guys that were there danced and made us feel welcome. Second, those of you at our last couple of shows may have noticed that we busted out a new, untitled song. I personally think it's pretty sweet and so far the reactions have been good. We've got some more new stuff on the way (despite Dave's rumored [according to Lindsey] writer's block) that from what I've heard in demos is pretty damn awesome.

Speaking of awesome! We're playing on July 31st at the OC Fair! Now, I've never been to the OC Fair because I'm not from OC so I never got the invite in the mail. Of course I've recently been informed that it's not an invite-only affair so the past 25 years I've lived in Southern California and not gone are all for naught. I'm not bitter... except I am. Either way, I'll be making up for the past 25 years by rocking out with Half Past Two on the Action Sports Arena opening for The Skeletones this July 31st at an undisclosed time! ('ll let you guys know when I find out, don't worry!).

And with that being the end off the news that I have noting more to offer. Nothing relevant anyway! So for the sake of my own personal entertainment while I sit through this developmental psych class, I bring you: Classroom Observations!

We're two hours into class and I kind of stopped listening while I was blogging (see the sacrifices I make for you?) but I've noticed that none other than Bilbo Baggins himself (from my previous blog) has moved on to bothering other women in class after he got the cold shoulder from that girl last week. He got shut down not once, not twice, but three times last class session and he's moved on to the girl who asks questions that have just been answered! I think they make a great pair because while he's chatting her up she's not talking so it's a win for everyone! Was that mean? Sorry, I get cranky in the morning.

Ohh lesson of the day from the professor: No Cop, No Stop. She also hates parking meters. I like her attitude! I'm totally with her. Parking meters are dumb. I don't carry change with me, man! And when I do, I have pennies! Why don't vending machines and parking meters take pennies?! They're not too small, they all take dimes! Pennies are a totally valid form of currency! I mean, you throw a penny in a wishing well and it's still going to do just as much as a quarter. What am I going to do with all these pennies? My wallet weighs 37lbs! It's causing my pants to fall off! I'm so not happy right now!

Okay, this post was stupid but I'm not about to proofread and prune so you'll read it and you'll like it! Or, if you hated it you probably didn't make it this far. So... that's it!

-Anthony (Maybe this weekly blog wasn't the best idea, be prepared for the worst!)

I'm in class, but blogging anyway!

So everyone, It's Anthony here again giving my first blog live from a classroom at Cal State San Bernardino!!

Why am I blogging instead of taking notes? Well, because note taking, as I'm sure you know are fully totally boring! And anyway, I'm feeling confident enough with my developmental psychology knowledge. (Also, I'm still totally taking notes, I'm not a badass--I'm here to learn!)

You know, you see some funny things in class like a dude that looks like Bilbo Baggins (pictured, right) totally hitting on the girl two seats in front of me. He's totally gone creeper and moved to where he's no sitting next to her and she's clearly not delighted by his decision to stay there for the remainder of the class. There's a lot of facebook happening here on all these laptops, so I'm not the only slacker in attendance today. There is far more FarmVille than I would like to see personally, but maybe it's just because maintaining a farm is totally not my style. I used to play Animal Crossing on the DS back in my undegrad days, but that Tom Nook was a damn crook and my neighbors were so demanding! I couldn't handle the stress!!
"You never visit me anymore, I'm moving"
"Deliver this package to Hooks, the elephant and he'll give you a rug!"
"You bought that painting from Red Fox, that's a fake!"
"I don't feel like talking about this, stop hounding me!"
"We already have this fish in the Buschemi Museum, Chachi, you should go find some fossils so you can make me and my owl daughter master curators that don't do anything for you, it's like to whole town is worthless without you, no go pick all the weeds because we're not going to do it for you, you worthless friend!!"
Woah, I think I got a little carried away with my Animal Crossing references. I think I just opened up some old woulds with that one. Lets get back on topic, shall we?

What's going on here... OH YES! I'm still in class waiting for things to end. Not a whole lot more going on here today now that Bilbo has calmed his approach and the girl two seats in front of my is leaning heavily away from his hairy creepshow advances. Everyone else seems to be paying attention to the lecture today. Lame! Oh man, my teacher just made a reference to playing doctor as a child and her version involved way less pretend life saving and way more naked people.

Speaking of naked people! (The follow has nothing to do with naked people) You know, we're playing the Glasshouse with Pato Banton, whom HP2 Drummer Curtis Marrero saw a couple of years ago at USC as described his show as "...Awesome." And if you don't know Curtis, you may not know that he doesn't just throw "awesome" around like it's some kind of trivial word--awesome actually means awesome to Curtis!

So that's it and that's all, I'm going to join the majority of my classmates with laptops and go on facebook and talk to my friends.

So once again please, come and check us out tonight as the show will be totally fun! Trust!

Peace,
Anthony

Tri-Force Games

I can remember the good old days. Playing Ocarina of time with Paul and Dale till the sun came up. This one goes out to all Zelda fans!




(HP2 Plug:)Tell me what you think is "wrong" with this version. You can do so at our show @ the glasshouse with Defunked, Maxwell Smart, and Pato Banton this Tuesday July 13th.

Ska in the Park is over!

Holy crap guys, was that a fun show or what? Yes/No/Maybe (Circle one)

So to recap Saturday's Ska in the Park in Dashes acting the part of bullet points:
- Bhakti danced a whole lot, played with Half Past Two, then danced a whole lot more!
- Lindsey wore a tiny top hot
-I kept telling people my old band isn't getting back together, but they need to watch Half Past Two's set for awesomeness
-Half Past Two delivered said awesomeness
- Tyler's Zoom Q3 Handy Video Recorder fell off our combined superampstack 6000 (that's it's spiritual name, anyway) but it survived!
- Curtis wore a killer purple shirt!
- Patrick Holder returned from his Asian adventure
- Dave encouraged a kick with a broken foot and in a wheelchair to get in to the pit
- That kid totally got into the pit with his wheelchair
- Bands rocked
- There were lot of horns
- Mustard Plug made me feel like I was in High School again
- I ate a free hot dog, but passed on free cake (chocolate, no less!)
- Defunked made a mess on the roof with silly string and streamers and I was totally jealous
- Grim Luck fans marched into the main room carrying their cello player above their heads from the alley stage
- We played a NEW SONG and it ROCKED!!
- Most importantly I made funny faces while playing, like this one:
-Last, but not least I learned that the Ska scene is very much alive.

So there you have it kids, that was Ska in the Park. Sure there was about 27 bands that I didn't mention, but hopefully a lot of you were there and got to experience the day! Hopefully there's a next year and hopefully it's awesome.

Speaking of awesome!!! We're making our awesome return to awesome Pomona, California for our next show!! We're playing the Glasshouse on Tuesday, July 13, 2010 with Defunked, Maxwell Smart and Pato Banton! Check it out because there will likely be rocking and/or rolling happening! Also, the Glasshouse now has a glass front again, so it's no longer the particle board house! Everybody wins!!!

Thank you and Goodnight!
Anthony

No One Needs To Dave?

Someday I want to write a song this awesome.

Rogue Shark

I came across the Rogue Shark Bot and after a lengthy battle I calmed the sentient beast with (of all things) a gypsy song. He purred like a kitten and then told me to "pass the song on, , do it in the form of a remix, and only give it out to loyal HP2 fans." Prove your fan-ness and come to our Fullerton show on June 11th and get the very special remix of Closet Polar Bear.

The World Is In Unspeakable Danger

So Here's the thing, I'm dead and all, but that doesn't mean I'm not looking out for you guys in the land of the living. With that in mind the following things have been brought to my attention recently:

and

This, of course, can only lead to one possible outcome, Ladies and Gentlemen I present to you the greatest threat humanity has ever known, Kung Fu Bears On Horses

If I were you guys, I'd bolt the doors and make sure your food is locked in a bear safe container.

- Dave

Things Just Got a Little Heavier!!

Hi, I'm Anthony Rondina. You might recognize me from such bands as: The Guilty Parties.... umm and... yeah, that's pretty much it!

So you're wondering why I would be posting on the Half Past Two blog, right?

Of course you are, silly! Don't be embarrassed, nobody expects you to know why--that's why I'm here--to let you know why I'm posting! Duh!

Anyway, now that you're thoroughly confused the real reason why I'm here will be revealed:

I've been recruited to pick up the bass guitar and once again rock stages all across Southern California and beyond!! So starting tonight at Aladdin Jr. in beautiful Pomona, Ca With Dubfound, The b Sharps, Outlaw Nation and Deals Gone Bad I'll officially be playing Bass for Half Past Two from now on until forever (or when they realize I don't know what I'm doing onstage and find someone who knows how to rock in a more proper fashion!).

So now, a little about me since I'm sure you're all dying to know. Once again, I'm Anthony--yes, I know; it's nice to meet me! I'm much obliged to meet you as well kind sir or madame. I rocked the bass guitar for The Guilty Parties quite handily for almost 7 years out here in Riverside and after our recent breakup I was unsure of my return to music. You see kids, I'm in the midst of earning my teaching credential as a special education teacher (two more months and I'm done! [almost]). But my good friends in HP2, a band I've admired since we played their first show 178 years ago at a wild Andrew Jackson White House party, tempted me away from a life without music filled only with education and aspirations of time travel. Did I just say time travel? Where did that come from? Who am I? What am I doing here? Why are all of my words appearing on this screen in front of me?

This post is going nowhere--just like The Guilty Parties! HEY-O!! (It's okay, we're all still good friends, otherwise this joke would be in poor taste, Just like The Guilty Parties[Double HEY-O!!!]). But really, I think this was a terrible first post, so look forward to more of this! Also, I don't feel as though I've made a point until I photoshop Dave's picture, so here it is:


That's right, you guys never saw Dave's dinosaur friend, did you? That's one of the many things I'll bring to this band!

Alright, I think that's enough.

Peace,
Anthony

I'm Dead

and frankly death gets boring, you have to type in the smallest font possible, they only ever play Slayer or Tom Waits, you can't use correct punctuation, it's a weird weird weird place to be, but most of all it's really boring; so I turn to you guys, keep me entertained, send me questions to my death formspring http://www.formspring.me/countrydavedead if the questions and answers are really good I'll repost them here, please send away, there's really nothing else to do//

+daveofthedead

Patrick Holder Sighting...In Thailand!

Patrick discusses why Thai ladyboys make the best adventuring partners.

Welcome to Handcuff Week!

In case you haven't noticed, we've recently started weekly themes that can be found in the last two weeks worth of blog posts. Today marks the first day of "Handcuff" week, so I figured I would start by thinking out loud about what handcuffs really mean to me.

Since Country Dave was recently murdered by a shark in a previous blog post, I think it's safe to let all of his skeletons out of the closet. Country Dave wasn't always country.

Circa 2010.

Sadly, "Country" Dave didn't always walk such a strait line.

"County" Dave circa 2003.

And by "County" I mean "County Prison" Dave. You see, 2003 wasn't a good year for Dave. He graduated high school but his friends ended up scattering to the winds for college. Dave was left with little prospects at home so he turned to selling pre-huffed spray paint to kids at the after school program where he claimed legitimate work. When the kids realized the colorful paper bags were impotent, they told their teachers and to make a long story short...Dave started an unhealthy obsession with Johnny Cash.

Until next time, stay away from handcuffs and spray paint!

SHARK ATTACK!!!!

HELLO HP2 FRENZ,

WE REGRET TO INFORM YOU THAT COUNTRY DAVE WAS VICIOUSLY ATTACKED BY A ROGUE SHARK. GOOD THING I SNAPPED THIS PHOTO AS THE SHARK RAVAGED DAVE'S FACE SO THAT WE CAN TRACK DOWN THE ASSAILANT!



R.I.P. COUNTRY DAVE, R.I.P.

WOODSHED!

I've been getting pumped all week. Long gone is puny skin and bones Tyler. Here to stay is mega ripped buff guy Tyler.

I attempted to take a picture with a camera, but I underestimated my strength and absolutely SHREDDED the camera.

Instead we're left with an artist's depiction of my current state:

Happy shredding for what is left of Woodshed week!

With my Horn

Too busy to blog. Practicing. Get it? Sorry Danny, I'm not writing any more today.

I've got JOKES!

Hello Friends,


Q: What do you call tree on tree murder????

A: WOODSHED!!!!!!


GET IT?!?!
....LIKE BLOODSHED BUT WITH WOOD!



Thus concludes my blog for woodshed week.

Until next time, EVERYBODY WANG CHUNG!

-Linds

Chart + Re + Use

A redefinition of the concept of Chartreuse. Current band members of HP2 get theme songs. Enjoy!

No Explanation

Your move Tyler Moore.

Pictures of Things

G'day Mates,

In honor of chartreuse week, I went around my house and took pictures (with my crappy cell phone camera) of various objects that are chartreuse in color...kind of.

First off is this plate. Wow! Look how awesome and swirly the paint on it is. .


Second, we have this lovely pair of sweat shorts that I wear frequently around the house.


Look! Costco loves chartreuse! It must be because they are both C words.


This next one, is my personal favorite - a box on the side of my neighbor's house. I saw it & felt like it was really picturesque and needed to be turned into photographic art.


Neither of these are chartreuse, but if you put them together, they would be.


and finally, A PICTURE OF CHARTREUSE WRITTEN IN CHARTREUSE! WOW!


I know that all of you feel like your life has really been enriched by my series of chartreuse photos. Reading this blog definitely wasn't a waste of your time & life at all......right?

Stay Classy,

Linds

p.s. What is the first thing that comes to mind when you read/hear the word chartreuse? Not going to lie, I think of vomit. lawlz

Bodhi

In the Slab mixing? Yes. Thematic posts in paint? Yes. Heres my proof:

YO INTERNET IT'S DANNY

HEY THIS IS HP2'S MANAGER DANNY. EVERYTHING I SAY IS REALLY IMPORTANT AND SO I WRITE IN ALL CAPS. DEAL WITH IT.

I WEAR HATS BECAUSE I MEAN BUSINESS.

ANYWAYS I HAD A POWER BRAINSTORM SESH EARLIER TODAY AND MY TOPIC OF STUDY WAS...

WHAT IS HOLDING HP2 BACK?

I DRANK LIKE 4 MONSTERS, WATCHED SOME NASCAR AND THEN REALIZED WHAT I CAN'T DEAL WITH IS...

...TYLER MOORE...

AND HIS IMAGE.

THIS FOOL CLAIMS TO HAVE A LIP PIERCING SCAR DATING FROM LIKE...WHEN I WAS IN MIDDLE SCHOOL. IF YOU MEET HIM YOU WOULD TOTALLY AGREE THAT HE IS THE LEAST METAL DUDE ALIVE. IF HE WAS DEAD, AND GOT A ZOMBIE VIRUS...JUSTIN BIEBER WOULD STILL BE METALLER. ANYWAYS WITH SOME CAREFUL APPLICATION OF MY MANAGERIAL CRAFT I WAS ABLE TO ENHANCE TYLER'S LOOK.

BEFORE... I KNOW, TOTAL TOOL. YEAH I TOTALLY TOOK THIS SWEET SHOT.

AND NOW:

IT FINALLY GIVES HIM THE METAL CRED THAT EVERY SKA BAND NEEDS. THE PLUGS ARE KINDA AMBIGUOUS THESE DAYS WITH ALL THOSE HIP HOPPERS SPORTING FACIAL ALTERATIVE JEWELRY, BUT THE HAT TOTALLY TELLS YOU WHERE THIS KID IS AT. SUNGLASSES WERE ADDED BECAUSE, LET'S FACE IT, TYLER COULD USE ALL THE COOL HE CAN GET.

AIIGHT MY PEEPS. UNTIL NEXT TIME, DEAL WITH IT!

-DANNY

THE MEGAMANAGER

More Free Music

I made a six song folk EP lovingly entitled "Reinventing Peter Yarrow", for my Dad as a gift. I figured I would put it here incase anyone has any interest in County Dave actually singing country.

In other news, the new song demo process is in full swing, get stoked kids, it's going to be epic.

xoxo,

Dave

My Not So Secret Shame

So yeah, here's the deal:

As long as HP2 has been a band there have questions about my past band, the Anti-Fun Society. People have asked me about it, wanted to hear it, and wanted to know who exactly is this Dustin Richardson character that apparently flies around like a humming bird when too wound up with energy (true story). Well I'm here to tell you and give you some free, commentary-less (sadly), music.

The Anti-Fun Society started sometime around 2004 or 2005, I'm really not sure because I'm bad with dates. It was made up of myself on guitar, Dustin Richardson (www.myspace.com/operationdanger33) on bass, and Ryan (I used to play trombone in HP2 long long long long long ago) Humphrey.

We were just a couple of dudes who all kind of liked pop-punk so we figured, "hey let's start a band". Actually it's way more convoluted then that, but I won't bore you with details.

Okay so we've gotten to the free music part... which honestly I'm kind of scared to give out. Some of this stuff has not aged well, at all, even in the slightest. I've divided it up into two sections:

SECTION ONE:

Bearelling Along - Anti-Fun's first, last, only, worst, best, but mostly worst full-length album. It's weird to look back at the songs that 19-20 year old Dave was writing. It's like this weird time capsule into the longing, bitter, whiney world of a 19 year old... unlike now where that's certainly not what I write about at all, nope, nadda...

SECTION TWO:

We're No Fun Anymore - Our first demo. Done over two three hour recording sessions (if you're name isn't Tyler Moore and you can guess the name of the studio we recorded at just by listening to it I'll give you a cookie), this is um....well... you can tell the songs were all kind of unfinished but we just really wanted to record something so we could be a real band!

We're Not A Band Anymore - This is pretty much just a collection of odds and ends that have been sitting on my computer for a couple of years. Cover songs, the Love Songs For Robots acoustic EP, live stuff and all the demos for our second album that never happened (including early versions of 1,000 Miles Away & Aaron, The Castaway). I feel like this is where our best stuff is... also some of our worst (I'm looking at you Poisoning...)

So without further ado

The Anti-Fun Society Is Sorry Collection

Bearelling Along - http://www.mediafire.com/?gmmwvdej2dy

We're Not Fun or A Band Anymore - http://www.mediafire.com/?zztw2yyjl4m