Songs I Bet You Never Knew I Worked On

Hey gang! Here’s a weird story about two songs that I bet you never knew I worked on!

the trouble with terkel poster songsAbout six years ago, I was commissioned to work on two songs for an English-language version of an animated film from Denmark. It was called Terkel I Knibe (Terkel in Trouble). The task was pretty unique. The movie had two songs that had been produced in Danish that needed to be re-sung, re-produced, and translated with as much humor as possible into English.  I got to see the whole movie, but more than half of the dialogue was still in Danish. A stream of bizarre, outrageous, half-understood, and obscene animated images paraded before my eyes so I could get a feel for the tone. And then I did the job! I made Americanized versions of “Mr. Cool” and “F*** Off and Die.”

SIX YEARS LATER

The movie is finally coming to America! It’s been renamed The Trouble with Terkel and has already scored a spot in the Tribeca Film Festival in New York.  It’s also making a west coast debut at the Laemmle Noho 7 on February 3rd at 10pm. . I’ll be there, and it would be cool if you were too! Be warned though; just because this is an animated movie about kids does not mean it is for kids. It is a hard R with some rau-au-au-unchy stuff. Raunchy stuff. The aforementioned “trouble,” that the protagonist, “Terkel,” is “in” is both disturbing and profound. But I’ll be singing in it for a couple of minutes, so it’s all ok!

tl;dr I made two songs for this movie that’s playing at the Laemmle NoHo 7 on 02/03/17!

For full details and tickets, check out the theater’s site: https://www.laemmle.com/films/41866


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admin, January 21st 2017 | Tags: , , , , ,
Posted in live performances, song blog, studio

Nerd Stuff Listicles on Ranker (#24-30)

There’s no better kept secret on the internet than the articles I write for Ranker.com… until now! One of these babies has over 2.4 million views. Millions! Which one? You’ll have to read to find out, but it has to do with sex and a TV show with a title that rhymes with Schmame of Schmones.

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-important-events-that-happened-before-game-of-thrones-even-started#24 – Game of Thrones Backstories that Happened Before the Books Even Started

This was extremely fun to write. It’s probably the second or third or thirty-ninth best (unofficial) prequel to A Song of Fire and Ice you can possibly read! Though practically everyone involved is already dead, readers seem to think that the whole Rhaegar-Targaryan-kidnapping-Lyanna-Stark thing will be a prominent storyline in the seasons to come whilst poo-pooing on Jorah Mormont and Mance Rayder’s storylines.
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Morrison#25 – The Best Grant Morrison Comics of All Time

I barely remember writing this one, but it’s all true. All-Star Superman has bubbled to the top, but my pick will always be The Invisibles and Morrison’s plea for a spiritual “wankathon” to keep the book from getting canned. It was my introduction to “chaos magic,” which I’m still not any good at.
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George-RR-Martin#26 – Surprising Facts about George R. R. Martin’s Writing Habits

Writing about how someone else writes their writings was one of the more grueling things I’ve been written to to write about. I can’t deny that GRRM is a quirky dude, but I guess I’m a quirky enough dude that I’m only surprised that he doesn’t have quirkier quirks. The most surprising fact about him is that he’s not more arrogant or precious about his baby (like the hacks that are currently ruining The Walking Dead). I also like his hats.
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efrem-zimbalist-jr-in-batman-the-animated-series-photo-u2#27 – The Best Alfreds in Batman History

Back to comic books, or at least, comic-book-based properties for me! I had kind of assumed that people would vote the movie actors up to the top of the list, so I’m happy to see that Efrem Zimbalist Jr.’s portrayal from Batman: The Animated Series has risen to the lead. Ranker rankers know what they’re ranking about.
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just-one-of-the-guys-photo-u6#28 – 22 Unexpected Nude Scenes in Movies

It looks like Jason Segel’s wiener is still holding down the top spot on this list. Boobs are downright commonplace, but a surprise wiener can be the most unexpected nudity of all. I originally posted uncensored images with the understanding that someone at Ranker was going to make black bars, but I guess they just went for bare-ly related screengrabs. I’m sorry, Mr. Skin, I have failed you.
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#29 – Game of Thrones Sex Scenes That Aren’t Even in the Books

This list appears to be non-voteable, which is a shame, because it could be ranked by scandalousness, egregiousness, or gratuitousness. But you know what? I don’t care. That’s because it has, at the time of blogging, 2.4 million views. If I had a penny for everyone of those views, I think I’d have like $24,000? I think it makes sense to amp up the visual intensity of a book when it’s being adapted to the screen, but these scenes have made some folks (who probably still wear buckles on their hats) get all huffy. I only get huffy over the ones that involve drastic character and/or plot changes.
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game-of-thrones-religions
#30 – Game of Thrones Religions Worth Believing In

People are just not into the Lord of Light! Voters would rather turn their lips blue or be confused, beaten and blinded by the Many-Faced God than join up with R’Hllor, and I dunno, learn how to ressurect the dead? That seems cool to me, but I guess not everyone is onboard with burning children at the stake. Sign me up!
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admin, May 9th 2016 | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
Posted in literature

LAMPSHADE MAN: the movie

Look what I found on an old hard drive. Last time this was available on the internet, there was no YouTube (who I’m still mad at). “LAMPSHADE MAN: the movie” was my third-to-last student film at the University of Colorado.

A lot of people ask me, “How did you get that damaged film look?” My answer remains, “I shot it on film and then I damaged the film.” It was a hand-wound 16mm Bolex camera. It was hand edited too. I actually had to tape pieces of film together. I wish I could say that I had all these great ideas, but really, it was my film school teaching me extremely outdated techniques. (Love you, CU!)

A lot of people compliment me on the music. The music is awesome. It’s by The Gravitones, the best band from my hometown of Loveland, Colorado. My band, The Vanishing, was probably the 9th or 10th best. Maybe lower. We were pretty bad. Anyway, all the music comes from the Gravitones 2001ish album, “Echolalia,” which I can’t find anywhere on the internet, but I’ve got a copy.

Finally, a lot of people mention how muscular I looked when I played Lampshade Man. That’s not me. It’s Jeff Slutz. He was in The Vanishing too. He’s an accomplished music producer, whose stuff I also cannot find on the internet. I had no muscles in college.

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admin, June 8th 2012 | Tags: , , , , , ,
Posted in videos

Zombiegeddon!

Not long ago, I wrote in this space, asking for people to send in their best zombie impression. The end goal was to create the backdrop for a “radio play” about zombies. “Zombiegeddon!” is the result, and the third track on American Chipfunk.

The dialog comes from a screenplay that I meant to produce as a film before I ran out of money. The brilliant voice acting and improvisations were provided performed by my sister, Emelie O’Hara, and her friends, Ian Tindell and Curtiss Frisle. It was a lot of fun to do some sound design on a piece that didn’t have to conform to the rigorous rhythmic standards of music.

Have a listen or download it for posterity:

Zombiegeddon! Lyrics Download

Everybody loves zombies now. Film studios love them because they’re cheaper than dragons. Horror fans love them because of their uncanny resemblance to the living. Christians love them because Jesus was one. I love them because I really think I’d be happier in a post-apocalyptic zombie world. In that world, when someone annoys you (and they’re undead) you’re allowed to hit them in the face with an ax. In fact, it’s encouraged. If they do turn out to have been living, you just claim that you thought they were a zombie! Sadly in the real world, you’re pretty much never allowed to hit someone in the face with an ax.

Now that even the morons in Hollywood have figured out that zombies are awesome, is it still cool to like zombies? Heck yes, but only if you’ve done your research.

Usually, I like to write a top ten list or history lesson with each of my song blogs, but that’s not gonna happen on the topic of zombies. Nope. Since I’m a zombie expert, you’re getting a top 30-or-so list of the best zombie stuff ever. What’s “stuff?” Anything can be stuff. Movies, comics, video games, 3-minute radio plays from my album, tv shows, you name it. I’ve even ranked them this time. Please feel free to disagree loudly and often.

My criteria for “what makes a zombie” can be summed up in two words: infection and resurrection. Here’s the best 32 things ever made about zombies.

32. Return of the Living Dead Movie The punk sibling of George A. Romero’s flicks. It has a naked zombie girl for most of it.
31. Resident Evil Movie It’s not the best of it’s breed, but it sets the tone
for it’s superior sequels.
30. Resident Evil 5 Game The best looking zombies in game history.
29. Day of the Dead (Remake) Movie This one got bonus points for taking place in CO.
28. House of the Dead Game No arcade is complete without this cabinet and it’s two plastic guns on wires.
27. Resident Evil 2 Movie Basically, it’s the first movie expanded to a
citywide scale. Monsters are horrible though.
26. Dead Snow Movie Not the most sensical zombie film, but the zombies are Nazis. So there’s that.
25. Pandorum Movie I’m still not sure this fits the genre, which is the
only reason its this low on the list.
24. Resident Evil 3 Movie The third time was a charm. It’d be nice if the trend continued for the fourth.
23. I Am Legend Movie They screwed up the ending.
22. Dead Space Game This is a borderline genre call as well, but it’s so
damn good. Possibly the scariest game ever.
21. Thriller Music Video Normally, I don’t like when zombies dance. Did you know Michael Jackson’s in this?
20. I Am Legend Book It’s much better with the original ending, because
then the title actually makes sense.
19. Undead Movie Few have seen this Australian comedy, which sucks. Its almost as good as Shaun of the Dead.
18. Resident Evil 4 Game Re-invigorated the survival horror and zombie genres.
17. Dead/Alive Movie The bloodiest movie ever. Works for me.
16. Dead Rising 2: Case Zero Game This mini-game sets the table for Dead Rising 2, which could compete for the top spot on this list.
15. Land of the Dead Movie Romero’s take on classism in the USA.
14. Zombieland Movie It’s not perfect, but it’s a decent training video
for the actual zombie apocalypse.
13. Planet Terror Movie Robert Rodriguez’s zombie apocalypse not only has great zombies, it has great characters.
12. World War Z Book This book is the definitive work on how it will all
go down on a global scale.
11. [Rec] Movie This Spanish movie is the Blair Witch of zombie films. It was remade poorly by Americans.
10. 28 Weeks Later Movie This sequel is great because it’s about screwing it all up after we defeat the zombies.
9. Dawn of the Dead Movie The classic satire on American consumerism.
8. The Walking Dead Comic It’s not even finished yet, and it gets 8th place.
7. Left 4 Dead Game This was the first simulator to really get it right.
If everyone played it, we’d all be ready…
6. Left 4 Dead 2 Game ..and this is the definitive simulator. I practice
once or twice a week, just to stay sharp.
5. Night of the Living Dead Movie Simply put, Patient Zero.
4. 28 Days Later Movie This is the most hardcore zombie movies get without being Italian and unwatchable.
3. Shaun of the Dead Movie More than a comedy, it’s a zombie amalgamation, a zombgalmation, if you will.
2. Dawn of the Dead (Remake) Movie I’m sure people will disagree, but for me, this one summarizes the genre perfectly.
1. Dead Rising Game Every facet of the zombie apocalypse you could ever want to explore and it all fits in the mall.

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admin, September 1st 2010 | Tags: , , , , ,
Posted in Mp3s