Chicken sandwich, Carl.

August 17, 2009 at 5:08 am · Journals

Well, hello! It’s been a busy few weeks for me, and I’m only now getting to take a little breather. Seemed like a good time to stop and tell you all about what it’s been like to be Marc With a C recently.

Now, as many of you know, I was lucky enough to have numerous songs of mine integrated into a play titled Sex Times Three. The show was put on by a group known as the Wallflower Theater who were absolutely wonderful to me. I performed as part of the show every night, and it was a really neat learning experience for me. I certainly got a good lesson in discipline. You see, I’m used to playing at sweaty rock and roll clubs. Someone will come up to you before show time and say “Hey man, you wanna go on in like 10 or 15 minutes?”, and you’ll say “Sure”. Then you go outside, hang out, smoke cigarettes, drink beer, and wander onstage whenever you get around to it, mostly. But… that’s not how it goes in a theater environment. Nope. About a half an hour prior to stage time, I was sequestered backstage, and that’s where I sat quietly, waiting for a cue to go elsewhere. Every five minutes, a stage manager drops in to tell you “ten minutes” or what have you. It’s like a doomsday countdown, because all I could do was sit and think, counting down the seconds. It was one of the first times I’ve ever experienced stage fright. For this reason, I would almost always bungle the lyrics to my opening song, “Anything But Plain”, without fail. Luckily, when I explained this to the very gracious stage manager, she offered to do a little dance every time she walked backstage to announce the time to us. She mostly made good on the promise.

I also wasn’t used to playing almost the same set with the same stage banter each night, but I fell into the habit pretty quickly. And now I kinda hope we get to stage the show again sometime. Also, can you believe that there wasn’t a single prima donna in the cast or crew? Turns out that most of what I feared about drama folks was unfounded. I can’t thank those Wallflower folks enough.

For the occasion of the shows, we’d pressed up a *very* limited run of a soundtrack to the play which featured lots of older Marc With a C songs, all newly recorded in relatively quiet incarnations. There was also a brand new song on the CD called “Fighting For Love Is Like Fucking For Virginity”, and even though I currently have no plans to reprint the soundtrack, folks that want to hear the new song shouldn’t fret. It will likely show up on the next album, but….. shhh.

Speaking of said new album, I’ll probably start recording it in the fall. I prefer recording when it’s cooler outside. Mostly because the tapes are a-rollin’ in my garage, and I tend to sweat like a pig during spring and summer.

Other than that, let’s see… there was the AntiBabe 13th anniversary show that I performed at, which was weird. Half the crowd was there for me, half just wanted to see girls wearing nothing but nipple tape. The two halves didn’t see eye to eye, leading to a very strange vibe. So I played some offbeat stuff, like a medley of “Terror Song” and “Duel Duet”.

Last night’s show, though? Man, that was a winner. I was able to play with two really great bands: a video game rock band called Random Encounter, as well as the superb video game *orchestra* known as Select Start. Both were lots of fun, but man, Select Start especially blew my mind. You haven’t lived until you’ve seen a string section attack the music from Dr. Mario. I was especially happy with my own set, and I really wish that I’d recorded it. Here’s the setlist:

Anything But Plain
We’re All Gonna Die
Ammonia
I Will Repossess Your Heart
Chicken Pox & Star Wars Guys
Town In Flames
Freezing In Florida (request)
Charles In Charge (request)
I’m In Love With Everyone I Know
Nerdy Girls
Pinball Wizard
Happy To Be Alive

encore:
No London In Brazil (request)
Stairway To Rudolph

And while we’re on the subject of shows… I’ve been asked quite a bit lately why I’m not leaving Orlando to do a ton of road shows. There are numerous reasons for this, and I’d happily list a few of them for you, but it’d all just seem like excuses. So instead, I’ll say the following: I’d like to come to your town and play a show, I really would. If I can, I’ll do it. Just contact me with an idea for a suitable venue in your region, and if I can make it happen, I’ll try to do some road shows in 2010. Probably not a ton of them, but at least a few. I’m excited at the prospect, I assure you. So please, don’t be shy… tell me where you want me to go. Within reason.

Also, the deluxe edition of my Linda Lovelace For President CD/DVD is now totally sold out. However, I’ll be repressing the audio portion of the album in mere weeks… as well as some physical copies of my last album Losing Salt due to popular demand. Dontcha worry, I’ll make a big honkin’ deal out of it once they are available. You know me.

With that, I think I’m gonna go and rewatch some old episodes of The State. Maybe get writing done in other forms. Hope that you’re all meeting your goals. You’re the bestest.

Love on ya,
Marc