Jonathan Piper » pain

It’s official, we’re a band.

Jonathan — Sun, 31 May 2009 15:55:36 +0000

Yup, Aquapuke is officially a band. Not only did we play the Che Cafe, we finally got a flyer that’s not done up in Microsoft Word. The show was crazy in a good way, probably our most energetic yet (and boy, did it hurt). Turns out substituting grape juice for wine didn’t make a huge difference. Thanks to everyone who came!

Oh, the IASPM paper is over and done with. It ended up going really well. A number of people showed up just for my paper, which I wasn’t expecting at all. We had a great panel with some very interesting discussions, as well. All around a great experience. I definitely feel a lot better about myself after yesterday. Thanks to everyone for all your support! You’re the best!

Aquapuke and the Industrial Transsexual

Jonathan — Fri, 29 May 2009 04:58:56 +0000

Because I’m so absolutely sure that there’s someone out there who is curious about Aquapuke but unable to attend a performance, I’ve decided to upload a recording that Clint and I made of the final rehearsal of Aquapuke and the Industrial Transsexual, our most recent piece. It should be clear, of course, that this recording represents only half (or maybe less) of the performance. Not only is it missing the unprocessed sound of the tuba and voice and the acoustic effects of a performance space (this is only what we patched into ProTools from the effects rigs), it’s missing the most important component of all – our bodies. We imagine Aquapuke as not only a sonic endeavor, but also as an expression of the musical possibilities of self-inflicted bodily violence. What you don’t get in this recording, for instance, is the sweat pouring into our eyes, the pain building in our backs as we approach hyperventilation, the extreme torment in Clint’s throat as he tries to get out one more primal scream, the intense suffering in my lips and diaphragm as I reach for the highest note possible after playing for 29 minutes, and finally the offering of our bodies as surrogates for Kim’s once we have died our musical deaths. In short, this is nothing like the real thing. Hopefully it’s enough of a tease to make those of you who haven’t made it to one of our shows yet to get off your butts and come THIS SATURDAY, MAY 30TH, TO THE CHE CAFE AT 8PM. $6 COVER, ALL AGES.

Apparently the WordPress audio player plugin hates our music and makes it sound awful (or more awful, depending on your opinion). So here’s a link for a direct download if you’re that interested: Download

UPDATE: Youtube videos of the show! Thanks, CacaPeneVagine!

Aquapuke Part 1 of 2

Aquapuke Part 2 of 2

Progress, or…?

Jonathan — Tue, 27 Jan 2009 05:17:18 +0000

I rode about 30 miles with William today, give or take a few. I don’t remember what roads we took, so I can’t plot the route. I do remember a few bitchy hills, though, that I’ll have to add to the training regimen. The biggest thing that I took away from today’s ride is that I seem to be making progress. It could simply be that I was riding with another person today – that always serves as automatic motivation – but I really do feel like something tangible has improved. My muscles got less sore during the ride, even when I was coming home by myself, and I was able to endure the pain for slightly longer each time I pushed myself. Ross tells me the pain never goes away, that getting better is simply getting better at handling the suffering. I still have a lot of work to do, but today was a step in the right direction.