Josh Highland’s Blog

I got an advanced copy of the new AFI album. major bum out. Read my review here.

http://www.notpopular.com/review.php?review_num=170

I sit at a desk for 8 - 10 hours a day, so I listen to ALOT of music. It had been a while since I listened to a Bad Religion album. When I was in high school Bad Religion was one of my favorite bands, along with AFI. One thing that I always liked about Bad Religion was how thought out and intelligent they lyrics were (same reason I like iron maiden so much).

The other day at work, I threw in "recipe for hate". Amazing. The flow of the songs and the emotion and meaning behind the songs swept me up. I ended up listening to every bad religion album over the last 2 days at work.

As I listened, I kept track of some of the lyrics that I didnt understand the meaning of. Here is a short sample:

• sheaves
• maelstrom
• quintessential
• provisions
• sartorii
• paradigm
• anomalies
• affinity
• stratified
• aberrations
• automatons
• sequestering
• antithetic
• porticos
• sagacious
• opulent
• heed
• pseudo
• malevolent
• utopia
• disposition
• superlatives
• altruistically
• hewn
• recompense
• pretension
• enshroud
• populace
• garner
• mirth

Yes, a punk rock band using "antithetic" and "opulent" in the proper way in a song. Needless to say, dictionary.com has been my friend lately.

I love the fact that Bad Religion, mainly Greg Graffin doesnt dumb things down just because he is in a punk rock band. I really respect Bad Religion for that. I might not agree to everything that he sings about, but I respect them very much. If you havent listened to Bad Religion, I suggest that you do your self a favor, and listen to the music, and read the lyrics, you just might learn something.

"10 million dollars on a losing campaign
20 million starving and writhing in pain
big strong people unwilling to give
small in vision and perspective
one in five kids below the poverty line
one population runnin' out of time

…This is just a punk rock song,
written for the people who can see
somethings wrong…"

On Monday I went to The Showcase Theatre in Corona California to see xDEATHSTARx, and Embrace Today. I got there before the doors opened and hung out with everyone, and caught up with some old friends outside until xDEATHSTARx took the stage.

I havent seen xDEATHSTARx play a decent venue since I left the band 6 months ago, so I was excited. It was strange to not be on the stage at showcase, but cool at the same time. They opened up with 2 new songs that I didnt know, they were fast, heavy and all around good. I moshed the entire set. Its really different when you are on the other side of the music that you helped write, and going up for the sing-a-longs that you wrote. I did the guest vocals for Represent, and that really made me miss being in the band. Damn me for having a career that makes it hard to tour. All in all it was a great time, good kids on the floor dancing with me, and good friends on the stage.

After xDSX, Embrace Today went on. Talk about good. I love their music, their message, and the guys in general. The best part of the set for me was when they covered firestorm. It sucked that only about 10 kids at the show knew the words. What the hell happened to kids knowing who Earth Crisis is? "Firestorm" is the "Stairway to Heaven" of straight edge hardcore!

After Embrace Today was done, Massive Matt introduced me to the peacock brothers, and I interviewed them for a new podcast that Im going to start. We talked for about all sorts of things, from politics, to religion, to education. It was a really deep conversation. I learned a lot about those guys that I never knew, like how they were valedictorian and salutatorian of their high school, received full ride scholarships to college, but dropped out to be in embrace today. After all of that. I checked my mp3 recorder (my IEpod)… it didnt record any of it! stupid device! grrrrr! Im sure I will get a chance to talk to those guys again. They were awesome. Probably the best dudes I have met in a really long time.

Saturday I went to chain reaction in Anaheim California. Cave-In was playing. We got there early because we thought it would sell out. The show was only about half capacity, about 120 people or so, which was really cool.

The first band Lorane Drive, I did not like at all. I was given their cd to review a while back, I couldnt handle it. Seeing them live made it even worse. They FAKED an encore! Opening bands dont get encores. It was lame.

Second up was Doom Riders. They ruled. Straight party music. Good times for sure. The singer reminded me of Andrew W.K. a bit. The sound was SOOOOO loud that I had to go into the bathroom and pack my ears with toilet paper. It was that loud.

Next was Cave-In. If you dont know about Cave-In, you dont know about their colorful past and music styles. Cave-Ins first album was full of heavy break downs, mosh parts and screams. Their later albums are really spacey indie rock. Thier newer album has brought them back to the hardcore scene with heavier music. At their shows you get a nice mix of indie and hardcore kids.

Cave-In took the stage sporting some amazing facial hair. Everyone had beards but the drummer who had a hessian ass mustache going on. I loved it. They are amazing musicians who put on a great show. After 3 songs Little Ryan started to heckle them to play "juggernaut" (their heaviest song). The band thought it was funny because they dont normally play it. A few songs went by, then they played "Moral Eclipse", a heavy song. Only a few measures into the song, and the place was going nuts. Myself included. Cave-in is probably the only band that can play music a song that will made me want to cry, then one song later make me wont to rip someones head off. They played a lot of good songs. "Jupiter" is one of my favorite songs so Im glad they played that one. Ryan continued to heckle them between songs to play juggernaut. They finished the set without playing it. The house lights came on, and the show was over. About 10 of us kept screaming at them to play "Juggernaut". They finally came back out and were still surprised that we wanted to hear it. The lights went out again, and the started playing. When the first break down hit, it felt like a bomb wet off. The floor instantly opened all the way up. Front to back, side to side, no place was safe. Bodys were flying, kids were moshing, it was amazing. I dont think many people realize that Cave-In used to play amazingly heavy songs. I also dont understand why Cave-In doesnt normally include many of their heavier songs in their set. Its obvious that people like them and appreciate them still. It was a really good show. Im glad I went.

Jimmy Eat Worlds album "Clarity" came out early 1999, I was in college, I had just lost my girlfriend, most of my friends had moved away. It was a lonely time for me, but a good time. I really related to this album and played it over and over. Track 10, "For me this is heaven" was good enough for Amy and I to use it as the first dance at our wedding.

The last time I saw Jimmy Eat World play was in 2001, at the Glasshouse in Pomona Ca. It was one of those shows that you still talk about if you were lucky enough to get a ticket.

I was really excited to hear that J.E.W. was going to be playing Glasshouse again. They could sell out a stadium if they wanted to. Long story short, the show sold out in 2 minutes through ticket master, I didnt get tickets. I knew Amy wanted to go, so I bought some off of eBay.

The show was last Friday. It had been a long time since I had been to an emo/indie show, especially at glasshouse. The first thing we did was check out the merch table. There was a huge sign "CASH ONLY". This should have served as my first warning that the crowd at the show was going to be full of lames

quick side note:
shows are not concerts, concerts are not shows. Concerts have assigned seats, and you cant get near the bands. Punk bands and all the bands that play some form of derived punk music (emo/screamo/hardcore/etc.) dont play concerts, they play shows. 99% of the time there are no credit cards or ATMS at shows. Its cash and carry only. If someone says "I went to a so and so concert", you know they arnt into the scene surrounding the music.

Amy wanted a hoodie, until we saw they price was $40! shirts were $25!, and cds were $15! CDs at shows should be $10 thats they way it has been, and should be. I told the merch guy I could get the cd for cheaper then that at best buy. He didnt have an argument.

Inside the venue, we hung out… another CASH ONLY sign was by the snack bar in the back. Thee place slowly began to fill up with people, then the opening band went on, Jade Shadder. They wernt that good, but they are friends with J.E.W. so they got the show. The drummer of that band was the only redeeming thing. The guy went off, and was really fun to watch.

By the time that Jimmy took the stage, the place was packed with 1000+ people. They opened up with "For me this is heaven", Amy and I were happy. They played really well, then again, everything they touch turns to gold. The crowd was really non-responsive to the older songs, but lost their minds during the songs that got radio play. During those songs I saw some thing that should not be part of a Jimmy Eat World show, including but not limited to:

• metal horns thrown in constently
• moshing / kids trying to mosh
• crowd surfing
• constent screaming of "you fucking rock! WOOOOOO!" between each song

Jimmy played for almost 2 hours, tons of energy. It was a really good set. They are amazing musicians, and great song writers. I would gladly pay the money to see them again. They will probably never play the Glasshouse again, but I hope they do. It would be even better to see them again in a super small club (I saw them at the barn in riverside circa 98).

The show also made me realize that I just dont like seeing bands play live, but I like the atmosphere that the "scene" around a genre. Im glad to say that I got to see Jimmy Eat World before they blew up. Its not the bands fault. Im happy they are doing well for themselves.

Jimmy Eat World will always hold a special place in my heart.

Saturday was the "Jesse James no love party", in long beach at west coast choppers / monster garage. xDEATHSTARx was invited by Jesse James to come out and play the party. The party started at 12, xDSx went on at 12:30. There were about 800 people or so there when they played. The sound at the show was amazing. When the band started, I was blown away. It felt like the first time I saw the acacia strain. I was in xDSx for 3 years, I know all of the songs, but something was different this time. The last song of the set was represent. During the guest vocal spot, I ran up and took the mic. It felt good to be back on stage and screaming my head off, even if it only lasted 30 seconds.

There was a roller derby set up there. It was pretty awesome. There is just something about girls on skates, beating the crap out of each other that is simply amazing. Ive invited the LA Derby Dolls to the notPop roller jam 2005. I hope they come out.

The rest of the bands were what ever to me. Droid, Manic Hispanic, High on Fire, and the Adolescence played. After the Adolescence, Jesse James got on stage and said something unimpressive in a drunken snooper, then introduced the special guest… DANZIG.

DAN freaking ZIG! He was rocking his typical gear, samhain logo belt buckle, and a rubber looking shirt, and long black hair. I had never seen Danzig in person, but I have been a fan for years. A few months ago, Frank Pavich showed me where he lives in Hollywood. They played a few songs off of Danzig 1. There is something about Danzig that is captivating, it was amazing.

After a few songs, Danzig invited Doyle out onto the stage, then the Danzig band was transformed into the Misfits! Doyle is a beast of a man! He stood about 7 feet tall, looked like bodybuilder and with this face paint and hair, reminded me of real life frankenstein. He dwarfed Danzig. The Misfits was great. They didnt play long, but they played with the energy and heart that I would expect from them. I can really see how The Misfits have change the face of both punk rock and metal over the years. Danzig closed the set with his signature song, mother. The crowd was probably louder then danzig himself. I have seen hundreds of bands, and heard thousands of bands, but Saturday night will be forever engrained in my mind.

Whats ever funnier is that xDSx played Hellfest with Jerry Onlys version of the misfits a year and a half ago and no one cared. Sure he might be a balding jerk, but damn there is something electric about Danzig.

I'll be the first one to admit that I love AFI. I have been a huge fan of them since 1996.
I was cruising around the internet today when I came across a tribute to AFI. I thought cool, I'll check it out. WORST IDEA EVER!

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/B0000BV1XT/ref=pd_sbs_b_1/002-1530767-9041606?%5Fencoding=UTF8&v=glance

This tribute possibly the biggest pile of crap that I have ever put into my ears. It was like a train wreck. I knew that it wasnt good, but I couldnt stop. Davey may have a feminine look going these days, but his songs are not girly pop songs. 90% of the songs on this tribute are sang by girls, with a poppy version of the song behind it. what the hell!

other tribute cds that I have checked out over the years and have also sucked:
Along the way - a Tribute to Bad Religion
Take Warning - The songs of operation Ivy

When will I learn to stop checking out tribute cds to my favorite bands? If anything I guess it makes me appreciate the original band that much more.

I wrote this on may 15, but im just getting around to posting it

I�ve been working hard on things lately. I feel like I have so many things going on, I get one night a week to work on each one.

In the past week, I have added two new features to notpop: "notify admin" and message board spell check.

Both explain themselves, the notify admin will send me an email with information about a problem a user is experiencing, so I can fix the situation.

The spell check is really cool. I have wanted A spell check feature for years on notPop. I stumbled across a javascript/php/linux application that would allow me to do finally have one. It uses php to power a linux binary called "aspell", the javascript will replace the misspelled word. It works really good.

Last night I went to the bury your dead DVD video shoot at chain reaction. I pushed my way to the very front of the crowd. During the first song, big Eric threw his guitar and accidentally smashed Matt in the head. There was blood everywhere. I got a bunch of blood on me. For the last few songs, I did some stage dives. The show was super fun. I�m all beat up today though. I have bruises all over me from being pushed by the crowd, and having kids headwalk/stagedive on me. It�s all in good fun though. I�m glad I went. I think the DVD will be pretty good.

I�ve also been working a bunch on my house. It�s really coming together. I think I�m almost done with all of the dry wall work. That means that I can get it all textured, and then I can paint, and then get the flooring put in! Before I do that, I need to put my master bathroom all together. It�s still all ripped a part.

I like working on my house so much, that I want to buy another house, an old beater, fix her up and either rent it or sell it off. I think it would be way fun, and a good way to make some money. I could also employ some of my friends to do some of the labor for me, giving them a job, and also helping me out. It�s a win win situation! Anyone have a beat up house they want to sell for cheap?

I wrote this on may 19th, but I am just posting this now

Today during lunch I stopped by del taco to grab a bite to eat. I saw some kid in camo shorts and tattoos in the corner, along with some other similar looking guys. After I ordered my food, I realized who it was. It was the band Pale Horse all the way from Connecticut. They had played the church 2 nights earlier. I thought they were on their way to Vegas after they played. Apparently the show got shifted back a night, so they stayed in Redlands all yesterday. Thom put them up at his house.

I ate lunch and hung out with those guys. I bought a cd and a shirt from them to support them on tour. Its cool because I wanted to buy merch at the show, but I didn�t have any cash on me. I really like their music.

I really like the fact that we have a venue in town and that we can help out touring bands. I�m learning that actions really speak louder then words when you extend friendship and hospitality to people. When you�re a small band on the road you�re basically homeless, and living out of the van for weeks on end, and most of the time really broke on top of it. I�m glad that Redlands and kids from xdeathstarx can extend the favor and spread the blessings that we have had. More times then I can remember have had people we didn�t really know let us sleep at the place, shower, and feed us when we had no place to go.

Matthew 25:35 For I was hungry, and you gave me food to eat; I was thirsty, and you gave me drink; I was a stranger, and you took me in;

so I havent updated my blog in over a month; several reasons.

1. no one reads this, so why bother updating
2. so much has been going on, so the number of updates would be insane
3. i havent had much "free" time to work on fun things like updating my blog

ok, so lets talk about this whirlwind that is known as my life for the last month.

Jan 22 - phoenix fest
xDEATHSTARx played phoenix fest, in phoenix AZ. We drove my dads truck. phoenix wasnt as far as tuscon, so that was good. We played second to headline, right under evergreeen terrace. It was a fun show. they covered op ivy, I was stoaked. We hung out with them afterwards. I was bummed that they wanted to go to a strip club and get drunk, all but josh, their guitar player. We stayed at jews house. Lizzy got us food.

Jan 28 - glasshouse show
We played glasshouse with bleeding through. My mom came for the first time to see us play. I was nice to have her there and finally understand what being in a band is kind of like. It was a fun show. To bad that its the last hardcore show that glasshouse will have. The sound on stage sucked ass. I guess the sound in the house was good, so thats not so bad.

The days leading up to the 19th are a blur.

Feb 19th - The wedding of Josh Highland and Amy Abernathy
On the wedding day, Keller and I drove down to newport so dylan could cut my hair. It was raining like mad. We saw 12 totaled cars on the way down there. Every few miles, cars were spun out, flipped over and just wrecked. Dylan did a rad job cutting my hair. We got to the chappel later that day and everything was good, until the sound guy couldnt be found. He showed up late, but i was to pre-occupied with everything else. The ceremony was amazing. Amy was beautiful. I wanted to cry when I saw her. I had to keep my eyes fixed on chad because I know I would lose it if I didnt. I actually dont remember much of the ceremony or reception. There was so much going on, so many people, so many things all going on at once. It was the best thing ever. I wish i could of spent an hour with every guest there. We left the reception and went to downtown disney and stayed at the california grand hotel. They had the room all decorated up for us with rose petals, and baloons. It was a nice touch to the finish of a very long day of celebration.

Feb 20/21 - The Mini Honeymoon
Despite the rain, Amy and I hung out at downtown disney and then south coast plaza, we spent most of the day shopping. Amy got a pair of seven jeans, I couldnt find any pants under $250 bucks that fit me well, and I wasnt about to pay that, so I didnt get anything. We are going to take a really nice trip in June. This was just a quick getaway.

Feb 23 morning - Dr. Church
At the Bleeding Through show, CJ from sinai beach told me I should go to see his sinus dr, dr church. So I had an Apt time with him. He stuck a camera down my throat, up my nose and in my ears. He saw some problems, gave me a bunch of meds, he might want to do some surgery, but we are going to try to some meds first. He also gave me this crazy sinus rinse that I have to use in the shower where i shoot medicated fluid up one nostral until it starts to come out my my other nostral, and mouth. It sounds gross, and it is, but it helps a bunch. Maybe this will help my singing voice.

Feb 23 afternoon - The car in the garage isnt mine
I come home to today at lunch. I live in a condo complex, and my garage faces another garage. The 80 something year old lady that has the garage across from mine forgot which one was the gas and which was the break when she was backing out of her garage. Her car slammed into my garage, taking out the door, and the wall between my neigbors and I.
In the process she severed a water main, and the whole complex had to be turned off, so im with out water for the next 24 hours until it can be fixed.
The best part is that when she took out one of the load bearing beams, and my roof which was wet and heavy, started to cave in on itself. One of the beams holding up my roof broke, so now my roof is leaning and about to fall in. A construction crew came by and put in some temp. supports, so it doesnt fall down all the way, until an insurence adjuster can look at it, and then someone can fix it. This sucks, I have the worst luck ever. Hooray to being a home owner, Boo for old ladies who shouldnt be allowed to drive anymore.

Feb 26 - Amys B-Day / Crowbar
It was Amy birthday, but she let me me go to a show anyways… It was crowbar! Freaking Crowbar!!! We had to drive all the way to the House of blues in hollywood. I drove with eric, natalee, and kevin. Some wild stuff happened in the car once we hit sunset strip, im not going to mention that stuff here, but it was amazing. It involved an old soda cup, piss, and traffic. Crowbar was amazing just watching them play, It was a sight to see. Im way stoaked to have seen them. Metal crowds suck ass.

March 5 - Goltry House Party
It was eric and joys birthday party. The plan was hatched at my wedding… a formal birthday party. Everyone in shirts and ties. Thats just what we did! 4 bands played. Aces metal band, Plague of Shoel, Plague: The Red Letters, xDEATHSTARx. It ruled because it was just our friends, and some random "hardcore" (notice the quotes, indicating how HARD they are) Kids. The randoms just stood on the side. They didnt REPRESENT their mosh crews haha. The show was really good. Afterwards one of the kids talked to me about his band. They have 4 singers also, he sumorized his band in this sentence… "xdeathstarx has influenced us alot, we have 4 singers also, people say we are trying to be like you guys, but i dont think so. We are way heavier then you, and not as old school sounding as you"…. 4 singer and youre not trying to be like us? xdeathstarx is old school hardcore? ha! Ok, so as the party wound down, They rootbeer kegs came out. I had made a rootbeer bong, and planned on using it till i puked. It took 10 rootbeer bongs to get me really puking, but once it happened it happened. I puked all over the place. It sucked ass. Im sure there is pictures floating around. Amy got upset at me, I got upset at myself for making myself look like an ass. It was cool all except for the puking, I shouldnt of done that.