7k field trip to Third Eye Blind

Last night David, Corey and I met at the Palladium in Hollywood to take in the final show of Third Eye Blind's pre-album release tour. The show was truly extraordinary, and I was left completely inspired watching Stephan Jenkins draw the crowd in and wrap them up in a comforting blanket of music. Half way through the show, after playing some of their hits and some new unheard songs, the four band members gathered around an old duct-taped couch (which had appeared during a partial blackout) for a 30 minute acoustic set. They started with "Palm Reader," with Stephan on drums and Brad (drummer) on acoustic guitar - it was fantastic. During the first encore they played a rare track, "God of Wine," and a gentleman in front of me literally broke down in tears. I was moved watching his girlfriend comfort him, and I was touched by the raw healing power of music. I was, of course, totally excited to hear all the hits - but the highlight for me had to be Stephan on guitar & vocals and BRAD on keyboards (the guy is UNBELIEVABLE)doing a rendition of the rare full lyric version of "Slow Motion," a ballad from the perspective of a "young urban psycopath." The new tunes piqued my curiosity, and the show ended with an a capella singalong. Awesome work, 3EB, thanks for the inspiration!

two day show....kinda

Wednesday 6am, my alarm jolted me out of bed after a couple obligatory visits to the snooze button. A lot of the usual stuff followed shortly thereafter: shower, clothes, coffee, driving and another hectic day at the office. With me so far? Good. 4pm rolls around and I drive home slowly due to typical Southern California traffic. With every intention of taking a nap, I get home and am unable to sleep. Hmmm, what to do? If you guessed Madden, give yourself a gold star. 50 minutes later, after whooping Minnesota 35-17, it was certainly nap time. I closed the curtains, shut the door, cranked up the fan, set an alarm for 8pm and crawled into bed. Somewhere along the way I am joined by my favorite napping companion, my napping mentor as a matter of fact- she's a pro napper. My alarm wakes me (again) and I lay there watching tv for a bit (apparently it was turned on mid-nap by the pro). After a long, hot shower, I put in the big earrings (sorry...REALLY big earrings) and proceeded to my closet to find my 7k attire, or APPAREL if you will...LOL! I tied my tie as I walked to the kitchen to start my coffee. The smell of coffee further spurred my same-day deja vu. 9:15pm as I hopped into my truck and headed to the venue. I made a promise to myself that I'd avoid cussing in the blogs on this page, which forces me to skip telling you about parking at the venue. I unloaded, staged my stuff on the patio of the Blue Cafe and greeted some faithful friends. Coming to see us play in Long Beach, late on a Wednesday night is surely a sign of true love. After some chit-chat and a beer to counteract my coffee, we loaded-in, sound-checked our gear and dove right in. According to my onstage iPod (which generates all our tempos, like a digital metronome by the way) we started playing at 11:23pm. We struck our last notes 45 minutes later. So you see, the show started on a Wednesday and ended on a Thursday. And, THAT'S a two day show...kinda.

From the bottom of my heart, thank you to everyone that came out to see us last night/this morning. It means more than you know.

Love.

Latest Video Blog

Latest video Blog

Jeff walks to fight cancer!

Support the fight against cancer!

Greetings friends! I have a commitment to MAKE A DIFFERENCE and I need your help. I am walking in this year’s RELAY FOR LIFE to honor my Aunt P., a cancer survivor, and to raise awareness for the Global Warming Crisis.

Please visit my website and make a donation in honor of a loved one!

Learn more by visiting my page at:
http://main.acsevents.org/site/TR/RelayForLife/RFLFY09CA?px=11811891&pg=personal&fr_id=13924

Thanks for fighting with me!

Love,

Jeff

Gather 'round with your juice boxes...it's story time.

LIGHTNING IN A BOTTLE
A story about 7k making a record, by Corey Manske

Shortly following the Grand Opening of Spark Lounge and releasing their ‘Signature EP’ the emails started to fly. It seemed more new 7k music had begun to bubble under the surface. Embracing the combined coolness of his Blackberry voice recorder, a Korg digital recorder and the technological wonders of email, Jeff started sending musical snapshots of the ideas that were overflowing, and keeping him awake at night, to David, Corey and Eric. Even with brief glimpses, it was clear that 7k was about to experience an eventful and much-needed growth spurt.

Producer Eric Rathgeber quickly ear-marked three songs and pre-production began. Having never played the songs together, 7k and Eric gathered at Spark Lounge one beautiful Sunday afternoon to see if they could ‘catch lightning in a bottle’. Hopping onstage, the boys were all smiles as it had been months since they’d played together. Traditionally, the band warmed-up by each member picking a song. After cranking through ‘Wrong Girl’, ‘California is the End’ and ‘Make it Up’ they were ready to poke around with the new stuff.

Not unlike a first date, the first couple passes through the new songs were tentative and exploratory. After a dozen passes, suggestive chatting and a dozen more, everyone smiled. A round of celebratory beers cracked open and studio time was booked. Yep, it happened that quickly!

A few weeks later, on a damp Friday evening, Jeff and David arrived at Cement Records to record reference tracks. They plowed through the three tunes, playing to a click track, in about 40 minutes. That Sunday morning, Corey arrived with drums, and a myriad of liquids to keep him rocking, to meet Eric. After setting everything up, mic placement, getting tones and a brief lunch break, he ripped through the tracks one after another. Eric watched from the control room as Corey pounded in his usual focused, deliberate and passionate fashion. Sunday evening came, and the drums were done.

Over the course of the next couple months, Jeff and David both enjoyed their chance to do their thing in the studio. For the first time ever, 7k recorded their parts privately, separately and secluded from one another. With the drum tracks recorded, Jeff arrived with his bass to record bass tracks. He was battling the flu and could barely speak (much less sing) after losing his voice…so a chance to just play bass was a welcomed change! Jeff had crafted punchy, meaty bass parts and Eric enjoyed watching Jeff challenge himself and give amazing bass performances. As for David, he came into the studio with his usual brand of melodic wizardry to add to the mix. As per usual, reading the Wall Street Journal between takes, David had prepared zillions of melodic tidbits while Eric requested a zillion more on acoustic guitar, the two spent a bunch of time together and were like pigs in mud. After kicking the nasty flu bug, Jeff returned to Cement Records to deliver his best vocal performances ever. Adding to his unique style, Jeff effortlessly injected warmth and sincerity into the sweeter, more conversational lyrics.

Entering the mixing process, everyone was ecstatic about the music. Sitting in the control room, Eric and David grinned from ear-to-ear as Jeff and Corey head-nodded infectiously to the beat. Everyone was mouthing the words and whaling away on their air guitars. And there it was- lightning in a bottle.

Ducks. Rows. Shows.

Happy Monday folks!

For the better part of a year we've been busy getting all our 'ducks in a row' so-to-speak. I won't bore you with all the lengthy details, but rather I'll offer up the end result: we've got ducks, rows and (most importantly) SHOWS!! We had a long and productive rehearsal yesterday and plan on much of the same for the remainder of the week. There is an ever-growing list of shows on the home page, most notably OUR FIRST SHOW which is next Saturday in El Segundo. If you click the 'youtube' button on the homepage you can enjoy our latest VIDEO BLOG. We're excited for the show and have a few surprises up our sleeves. After having seen a few shows at the Blue Cafe in Long Beach, it's been on my personal list of venues I'd really like to play and NEXT WEEK WEDNESDAY we'll be rocking there- yay! We're really looking forward to seeing you all at the shows!! How about you leave your ducks and rows at home and come on out for some fun!!

-Corey

iPod equals closet

Ever had that experience of looking down as your thumb whirls 'round the scroll wheel on your iPod? It's like the proverbial gal standing in the mouth of her gigantic closet, which is packed with more clothing and pairs of shoes imaginable. We all know what she blurts next, "I have nothing to wear." Well that's me. My closet is my iPod. I zing through 44 zillion songs and have that look on my face as if the trash is starting to smell. Well yesterday, I had had enough. I hopped online, went straight to iTunes and bought some new music. This morning I'm enjoying new music by the likes of Chickenfoot and Dredg. A 7k favorite for some time, Dredg released their new record this week and I just couldn't help it. Chickenfoot is the latest 'super-group' with singer Sammy Haggar (Van Halen), guitarist Joe Satriani (solo), bass player Michael Anthony (Van Halen) and drummer Chad Smith (Chili Peppers). Yay for new music. Yay for iPods. Yay for closets. Well...where else would you put all that stuff??

Rehearsals, shows & video blogs....oh my!

Howdy Hey Everyone-

First things first, you'll be pleased to hear Jeff has won his battle with the vocal monitor, David has thwarted his gnarly amp problems and my ankle pain is now only recognized as mild, all of which are positive developments in Rehearsal Land from last week. We did, however, finish off last week's rehearsals with a strong performance. This evening we hit it hard again and I'm so excited I feel like a kid waiting at the entry gate of Disneyland for the first time.

The list of shows grows. I smile all the while. I'm actually toying with the idea of revealing the set list before the show. Ah yes, the joys of contemplation.

All I can say about video blogs is stay tuned. If you haven't visited our link on Flip Cameras yet, go check it out. These things are really cool.

Don't cry for me Argentina. My ankle thing is nothing to worry about. As always, I'm committed to playing my butt off and I've had to deal with worse. My goal is for YOU to have a great time at the show and I won't let a pesky ankle get in the way. Some of you may've heard my 'dislocated finger before House of Blues show' story or my 'threw out my back before a 3 hour show in Flagstaff' story. If you haven't, maybe they'll appear in blogs to come. :)

Have a wonderful day everyone!

-Corey

Rehearsals and such...

Rehearsals and such...

Hi everybody! Corey here, just thrilled to be blogging and prepping for a show...yep, a show. You may or may not know it yet, but there are upcoming 7k shows, the first of which is June 20th. As details trickle in and you mark smiley faces on your calendars I just wanted to give you a peek into rehearsals. Sound like fun? Good.

Last week, like a bear coming out of hibernation, 7k yawned and shuffled into our first rehearsal in....well....a long, long time. We smiled at one another as we peered with wonderment at our equipment. As we looked over the 15 song playlist with that 'how does that song go again' look the cobwebs started to clear. We blasted through all 15 much to our surprise and delight. Some were rougher than we figured, while others were magical. Whatever YOUR favorite 7k song may be....yep, we played it. We felt like a 7k cover band as we zig-zagged through both new and old stuff. It was exhausting and nearly-satisfying. Thankfully, we rehearsed the next night too.

As we slipped into our second rehearsal, it felt good. Technical troubles and sound system mumbo jumbo aside, we had a tiny helping of that 7k swagger coupled with some sweaty smiles and elated eye contact. We cranked through the playlist remembering many of the twists and turns we used to really love on the 7k roller coaster. In short, we had a blast and started to resemble kids on Christmas morning.

Last night we were ready like race horses in the starting gate. Rehearsal #3 began and we hit the ground running. We started to poke around with set list suggestions and show ideas. There's a show right around the corner, and we can taste it.

Tonight we'll kick off rehearsal #4. David is dealing with a tricky amp dilemma, Jeff is frustrated with a faulty vocal monitor, I'm experiencing a great deal of physical pain in my right ankle and yet the three of us simply CANNOT WAIT to play music together.

All is well good friends....all is truly well. See you all at the show.

Rock it,
Corey

7k has a blog!

Greetings 7kers!

I am thrilled to be sitting here writing this, our first real blog in almost a year. The last 18 months has been such a trip, it's hard to find meaningful words to express it. David, Corey and I have been working harder than ever before to create new music & all the condiments that go on it - videos, pictures, a new website, a real BLOG, new myspace & facebook pages... we even joined TWITTER. Yay technology.

Our work, however, pales in comparison to the contributions of our dear friends and supporters, who really made this all possible. We would like to name and recognize some of those people here:

Eric Rathgeber
Christine Cassidy
Scott Sanford
Liz Sanford
Curtis Andersen
Kristin Gust
Jim Gust
Rene Bordelon
Lindsay Lusk
Ami Garvin
Jeanette Gonzales
Kathleen White
Our Parents & Family

7k really belongs to all of you - those listed and those reading this.

So without further ado, please DIVE IN and re-unite the 7k circle!

Jeff, David & Corey