ClumsyMonkey.net

Axtech wrote:Note my sig-tastic goodness.

Well, well, well......look who it is! That’s right...Me. I've been feeling a little wistful lately so I thought I'd come on and say a few words if no-one minds. I don't think there will be any earth shattering revelations or IME breaking news of any sort...just a fine hello and other assorted niceties.

I must admit that I haven’t dropped in on the message board to take a look in about...oh, eight months or so but I did the other day. Interesting. I guess it's the usual well-intentioned, good people we've come to know and really appreciate over the years and the regular smattering of arseholes we can all have a good laugh at. It's all good, for in our little corner of the universe we can think and say what we feel...I like it! I imagine I should apologize on behalf of the band (alas, that is my usual lot) for not coming by and saying a few words now and then but I can only speak for myself on this one and maybe by some kind of osmosis, for the others. I think that perhaps when you're moving towards another phase in your life you can get pretty wrapped up in it, sometimes at the expense of other things. That being said, I know from talking to the guys that they are all immersed in projects and daily living type of things that are keeping them busy and content. Brian and Bruce are out there with their separate projects and doing well, hopefully some of you are giving them some support at their respective shows and basically hooking up with them and even each other. I'm pretty sure they like to see some familiar faces out there. Jag is producing some excellent artists I'm sure you'll be hearing from at some point and also doing some TV work and twenty other things so I guess you can say he's building his empire! Me?......I guess I might as well toot my own horn a little. I've started a groovy little event and entertainment company called Mobscene Entertainment. There are about a half dozen events in the works but I'll let you in on the first one. We're putting on a jazz show at The Gladstone Hotel Ballroom onThurs. Oct. 28th that will be fantastic. Headlining is Kevin Breit and his group Folkalarm. You have to see this band to believe it! Kevin is an awesome and weird guitar player that’s totally entertaining to watch. We also have the Pat Labarbera Quartet and The Tara Davidson Quartet, both are fantastic. The DJ for the night is DJ Boom Boom. It should be a lively and drunken evening. Jag is going to record it live for us and I think Brian and Bruce will be there to taunt me with their unconditional love! I'd love to see some of you down there that night. As for playing myself...which is not to be confused with playing with myself. I have not swam into those waters seriously since our last show in November '03. I was pretty banged up after years of playing and had some serious shoulder problems that to some degree still plague me. I actually thought I was finished after recording TQMD. I had to walk away from playing for a while. But I must admit to feeling a little antsy these days and may put a little something together soon. I'll be looking for players...anyone interested? I'll keep you posted.

I've recently found myself wondering if I should get on here at some point and squish some of the IME rumors making the rounds. But they're just so entertaining!!! How about just a couple of them. Here it goes...Not once within the group did we have any meaningful discussion about making a DVD for that last show we did in Barrie. We just had a feeling it would be something special so we called in some favors from good friends of ours who would document it. We just wanted to have it in case we felt like doing something with it in the future. I'm told some of the quality is a little dodgy but I wouldn’t know since it's sitting on a shelf in my hall closet unwatched. So...no DVD (soon anyway!). Ahhh, that felt good. Hows about another. A reunion?...with Edwin?... This was the funniest and most ridiculous one. I feel that IME was absolutely at its playing and artistic peak on the last tours we did. Why step backward? Nothing against Ed, he's a decent guy but we're musically worlds apart and also, Brian helped to lift us to be the live and recording band we wanted to be. So...no reunion...definitely. I could go on but I think I'll leave it at that. I imagine that brings things back around to IME. I don't even know what to tell you at this point. I think the decision was to not make any decisions. I'm sure all the guys have thoughts on the matter but we've not spoken collectively about anything regarding this stuff. This speaks to the whole matter of everyone being in a different headspace at the moment. My personal philosophy is not to close doors on too many things in life because I don't like having too many `what ifs' or regrets knocking around in my odd shaped red head. Again though, the other guys may have something completely different to say about all of this. The important thing for me is that me and these great musicians have gone through a lot together and and I'm glad to still call them friends. It's not always that way in our line of work. I think we all miss getting on stage in front of you guys though. I don't miss the business aspect or alot of the people and the politics involved. And oh yeah, has anyone turned on the radio lately...ouch...unbearable! So have I been vague enough?...Good!

I think the thing to remember in all of this is that we're just a bunch of regular guys going through our own successes and failures like anyone else. Maybe we should be a little more up front about the goings on in our little worlds but you know us, we're pretty private guys that feel accountable most of the time only to ourselves, each other and our families. All this with a sincerely deep appreciation of those who have come along with us for the ride and given us incredible support over the years. I guess I don't expect everyone to understand all this but I know most do.

I think I may have enjoyed this! Sorry if there's not any juicy material here. But I'm sure someone out there will come up with something out of this brief missive. A word of advice...just read what’s in the lines, not in between. Excellent health and well wishes for all of you. I hope to see some of you at one of Bruce or Brian’s shows and hell..even at my jazz extravaganza on the 28th. Take care and be good out there!


Christian