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31 May 2008 the goonies switcheroo



   Go back into the annals of beloved '80s films, and you'd be hard pressed to find a movie closer to the hearts of thirty-somethings than The Goonies.  I'll spare you the synopsis, as you most likely already know it, but if you don't, no need to worry - you've seen 20 other movies like it in its time. The template: nerdy but affable underdog(s) suffer unrelenting ridicule by jocks in varsity letter jackets but ultimately have their comeuppance, usually stealing a smoking hot girlfriend or two in the process.

   In the case of The Goonies, a band of awkward, socially outcast kids set off to find a buried treasure, narrowly averting almost certain death and outrunning, among others, a popular high school jock named Troy.  Troy is one of  the classic cinematic archetypes of the 1980s; the jock. He's good looking, rocks a period-relative badass Mustang convertible, and he's a total prick.  All we can do from the moment Troy enters the frame is to wait with baited breath to see Troy lose and the Goonies win. 

And in that end, back in 1985 when the underdogs had their day, (and their bag of jewels), and the final credits rolled and we called our parents for a ride home, we realized something fantastic: It's true, we weren't Troy. But for the first time, thanks to The Goonies, we no longer wanted to be Troy. It was okay to be us, thank you very much.

   Cut to present day.

   What happened to the better part of a generation that once walked out of their local theater rooting for the Mikeys and Chunks and Datas of the world? They've turned into Troys. Troys who can't accept the differences in others and condemn the things they don't understand. Finger-pointing, shit-talking Troys.

   Ask yourself: with whom do you identify more these days, Troy or the Goonies? And if you're reading this and you happen to be an Internet shit-talker, could it be because you think I'm Troy?  Because honest to God, I've always fancied myself a Goonie; the underdog who toppled over the narrow-minded naysayers and walked away with a treasure.

   So maybe this whole thing is one big misunderstanding and it turns out we don't need to go down as a generation remembered as having spent the '00s wearing our asses like hats after all. Maybe it will turn out that we needed a little time to figure out that in the end we're all just a bunch of Goonies.

   JM

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29 May 2008 crush request accepted



Yo Pete-

I could have easily written this to you in an email, but you've been so cool to write positive things about me on your blog(s) that I want to respond in kind.

Here's using blogs for something other than pointing out boob jobs and slight limps.

-Ting, ting, ting-

You're one of the best eggs in the music industry, hands down. With as much talent as you have, I'd expect you'd have some eccentric ego, but from what I can tell you seem to have none. (That actually makes you more talented, by way of some crazy cosmic arithmetic.) Every time we get the chance to hang I'm inspired by your creativity. Your mind is like a stadium with the dome open... you have ZERO judgment when it comes to things that move you. When most people get the feeling they might like an idea, or a shirt, they run it through a series of filters; 'what should I think, given my personal attributes?' 'How does this read?' 'What would Kanye do?' You have what makes talented people successful for years and years - a brave sense of self and a completely authentic relationship with your tastes.

That's why I'll throw a guitar in the car and be there anytime you need me. It's a short list. (I'm lazy.)

Isn't it weird when you're alone in your hotel room and the ice in that bucket melts, shifting it all and making it sound like someone's hiding in your closet? That always gets me.

Sorry.

Point is, I think the world of you. And wish you all the happiness your artsy head will accept. Fame is just one big lesson in being a man, and you're doing a bang up job...

Best to you and your lovely wife...

Oh, and what's up, blogosphere. Have at it.


JM

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17 May 2008 happy birthday richard young



To Richard Young, the creator and webmaster of mystupidmouth.com, the longest running JM fan-centric message board,

Happy Birthday, my friend. Allow me to both embarrass you and explain to the public at large as to why you're the topic of this blog.


In about the year 2000, (that's the past, you know,) Richard Young started a web site called mystupidmouth.com. He designed it to be a forum for fans to discuss all the goings on of a young upstart named John Mayer. (That's a fancy third-person way of saying ME.) Users could share pictures, links, concert reviews, musical esoterica, and anything JM related. It began as a way for Richard to spread the word about my music and allow other burgeoning listeners to communicate with one another.

Then something interesting happened; People started to know who I was as a function of common knowledge. In fact, as time went on, this knowledge became increasingly more common, sometimes dispensed by way of mass media, day-glo headlined supermarket checkout line messaging. Did Richard Young decide that his work was done?

Nope. Richard Young kept mystupidmouth.com going, all the while stressing the focus of the music over the lifestyle pieces. He still does to this day. I can't fathom why someone with as much energy and enthusiasm as Richard would continue to moderate his message board, but I think it has something to do with faith; ultimate faith that the 30 year old semi-household name he first saw as a lanky 22 year old nobody in an Atlanta folk club still has a story to tell.

So when Richard e-mailed me the bar he'd be at celebrating his 28th birthday, I had to drop by.

And Richard - when you wake up tomorrow morning and take a look at this picture of us and wish to yourself there was a better representation of how you really appear,

now you know what it feels like.

Cheers,

JM

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09 May 2008 "where the light is" trailer

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04 May 2008 tyftwd 5 - as promised!

This is harder than I thought, releasing a work in progress like this. Usually these sorts of things never go further than my kitchen or my car, but it seems to me as the walls are down on all things digital and seeing as I've never gone wrong sharing music with people, I consider this an experiment. And a thank you.

I consider myself lucky for several reasons, but after walking back into my apartment after a week of writing and recording music, I'm most lucky that I have a craft to hold onto in my life. I can't fathom what it would be like to be in the public eye and not be able to pick up a guitar and remember who I am and what I do for a living. (That's not to knock anybody, silly press rabbits. I'm sure the other way is fun, too.)

And to answer the question, the record will come out when it's great. So who knows. See you around and thanks for playing.

Be Good To Each Other.

John


*NOTE - I originally posted a different song but it felt like a cop-out. This one is as unfinished a performance as I can ever post. Even the lyrics aren't set in stone. Have at it!

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04 May 2008 tyftwd 4 - tour details

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03 May 2008 tyftwd 3 - pics



THE CHAD - Here's the best way to sum Chad up: There was this story in Wired magazine that he brought to my attention a few months back, about the leader of a team that salvaged boats. This man held an unlimited master's license, which qualified him to pilot ships of any size. I would say the same holds true for Chad, except he holds an unlimited master's license in sound engineering, with an emphasis on my music.



The big rig



The Shaman - Rene' Martinez



Steve's drum kit

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03 May 2008 tyftwd 3 - sidetracked!!!!

One thing about Steve Jordan, you never know when you're going to up and record a track. "Roped into Groovin'", Chad calls it. And so it went, not 3 minutes after his entrance, we're putting together a recording. Here we are working out a version of "Crossroads", which you might remember served as the inspiration for a Britney Spears movie.

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03 May 2008 tyftwd 2 - tone hunting

It's always fun to use some studio time to build a guitar sound. Even if it's not for the song I'm working on at the moment. Here's a '65 Strat, TS10 Tube Screamer, a Two Rock JM Signature Combo and a TINY Blues Junior amp... Trying to scale down the rig. In fact, the tune I'm working on today is kind of a lesson in economy; I'm recording through an amp I bought to play in my hotel room during my stay in Japan and I fell in love with the simplicity of it... Enjoy... Steve Jordan is on the way in to place drums on the track...

(This was shot in a format that iMovie disagrees with, so sorry for it being so out of sync...)

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03 May 2008 standby

Having wireless issues.... goodies coming soon... JM

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03 May 2008 tyftwd:1 - studio essentials


Here are a few of the things I never enter the studio without...




The Hoodie

Not only is it a simple and effective way to maintain a nice working temperature, it's always a nice thing to put the hoodie up and zone out in front of the mic. It's like a little bedroom you can wear.




The Handheld Recorder

Great for logging my lyrical and melodic ideas... I can go for a walk or hide out in a vacant room and work out the tough stuff without the self consciousness of doing it in front of other people.



The USB Drive

No more taking home rough mixes on CD... They take too long to burn, and they immediately become digital files as soon as I get them anyway. I leave at the end of the night with two tracks; one with scratch (rough) vocals and one without, so I can sing along into the aforementioned digital recorder.

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02 May 2008 saturday is take your fans to work day

This blog is less for the "general public", whom I generally admire, and more for the FANS,

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