taken by name

tonight’s ‘that’s what she said’ moments

Brandon — Sun, 15 May 2011 23:42:54 +0000

“there was no ding-dong.”
“i’ll squirt all over you!”
“stop watching me and do something!”
“i like it; it just looks gross.”
“you can stay home if you’re just gonna be nasty.”

<3 family dinners.

being sick is…totally sick

Brandon — Tue, 10 May 2011 03:12:01 +0000

Sarcasm. I just wanted to engage in word play!

Seriously though, being sick blows. I had to call out sick 3 days in a row, still do some work from home, eat a bunch of shitty chicken soup and whine whine whine whine whine.

Now I'm healthy, which is nice. It kind of makes you take being healthy for granted. I'm gonna do a better job of not doing that.

this week was full of great quotes

Brandon — Sun, 08 May 2011 14:51:26 +0000

The Black Eyed Peas announced that they will be holding a free concert in the park this summer. A free Black Eyed Peas Concert, that’s just too true to be good!

Seth Meyers, Weekend Update – SNL

via ycove.tumblr.com

bass guitar and a loop station II

Brandon — Sat, 07 May 2011 02:24:46 +0000

05_Sabbatical.mp3 Listen on Posterous

This is another recording of a song I wrote recently, called “sabbatical.” It’s performed entirely (with the exception of my singing) on a 5-string bass. More songs in this style to come – I may even release a full album’s worth.

oh hey, it’s been a while.

Brandon — Mon, 16 Aug 2010 13:49:47 +0000

It’s amazing how something as trivial as the need for an electronic drum kit hinders the creation of a great band. As sad as it is for me to say, that’s really what it came down to.

Once it’s up and running, live practice sessions for Taken By Name will begin. This is great timing, as an album is completed (keep posted for more details!!!) and a second is already in the works.

Get excited.

…progress.

Brandon — Sun, 21 Feb 2010 16:49:27 +0000

Some exciting things are happening on the TBN front.

1. A live act is finally in the works. For serious. We’ll be starting practices in the next few weeks and booking some shows, as well as a photoshoot and all that exciting new band jazz. Photos will be online once they’re ready to go, and those shows will be listed to the right once they are booked.

2. The live MaxMSP patch is essentially done and it’s super exciting to look at and mess around with. Check out the screenshot below of it in action (not for the technologically faint of heart):

[singlepic id=1 w=320 h=240 float=]

3. I’m working with friend and artist extraordinaire Tony Hollums on some killer visual art to accompany the music of Taken By Name. He is responsible for the art on this site and is developing some artwork for the debut album and other supplementary materials. We want to turn TBN into a multimedia experience that encompasses all the emotions and possibilities of the music.

More exciting things to come, and rock. -b

adventures in MSP, part three

Brandon — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 19:41:30 +0000

This is starting to come together. Note the much more comprehensive vocal distortion, as well as a cleaner and cooler FM synth.

Once this is done and taken by name goes live, I’m going to start sharing my patches and ideas on this site. Feel free to let me know if you have any cool ideas as far as things I could do live, and I’ll try to do it with MaxMSP.

adventures in MSP, part two/halloween

Brandon — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 00:00:01 +0000

I’ve decided to be Buster Bluth (from Arrested Development) for halloween. YEAH.

This is what I did today. (left-to-right: improved guts for “Closet Freak” patch, guts of my new live vocal effects patch, and the final interface for the vocal patch):

adventures in MSP, part 1

Brandon — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 02:02:46 +0000

I’ve been learning Max/MSP quite a bit lately, and started building a patch that I can use for live performance for Taken By Name. Here’s one I’m getting close to finishing, specifically for the song “Closet Freak” (currently unfinished, but you can check it out at MySpace):

This is the real thing.

Brandon — Tue, 06 Oct 2009 15:32:43 +0000

Brandon here.

So I’m actually really going to be taking TBN seriously from now on. I’ve just released an EP, The Unspeakable EP, which is now available on iTunes and soon will be in all major online markets.

A live band for Taken By Name will be assembled in the near future as well. I have several great musicians and friends interested in the project, and once we settle some details, this should take off quite nicely.

Finally, I’ve made great progress on a full-length album, which is tentatively titled Kid Lightbulb. Expect to see more news about this exciting part of my life soon, including audio samples and the like.

\m/.