OVERHANG

Long live (apocalyptic) rock'n'roll, a perfect instrument for slicing and dicing. Folk music can pick up the pieces after it's all over.

Apparently, Jimi Hendrix used to introduce his music as "Electric Church Music" before lighting his guitar on fire and feasting on its strings in concert. This is a fascinating fact since it reveals Hendrix' own understanding of the tradition rock'n'roll was coming from and reveals the spiritual nature of what he was doing. Many in the early days of rock didn't know how to justify their church upbringing with their love for "the devil's music". Jerry Lee Lewis thought of himself as a future resident of hell, which makes "Great Balls of Fire" particularly significant. The Rolling Stones sympathized with Satan and perhaps the first mythic rock figure, bluesman Robert Johnson, made a pact with the evil one. It's easy to see why many people don't think of rock'n'roll (a slang word for sex) as God's music. Which is why this Jimi Hendrix fact is so revealing. Though The Rolling Stones interpreted the Two Gospel Keys' original recording of "You've Got to Move" in a sexual way on their Sticky Fingers album, the surging waves of joy and ecstasy belong--not to Mick Jagger's tight pants--but to the original Spirit from which it comes, the Spirit that calls out in a loud voice, "You've gotta move, 'cause Jesus is coming and he's comin' soon."

Posted by Grant Elgersma at 10:46 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

The title of our last blog has been altered to avoid any misunderstanding. The expletive in front of "devil" was deleted so as not to be disrespectful toward Satan.

Speaking of Satan, rock'n'roll is still the devil's music, a truth that is evident all around. White rockers are so boring. They pound out these straight half-punk, half-disco, half-country (that's three halves, if you're counting)beats on the drum kit and whine about their contemporary personal malaisies (new word; likey?). Hip hop is better sonically, but most of these guys think pleasure can only be measured by the bulge in their pants.

Give us something new, oh Lord. U2 is great, but it's not enough. By now, we all are clear on the fact that the goal is soul. But why can't that old soul come with some fresh beats and un-as-yet-discovered sonic miracles? The goal is also to overcome musical impossibilities and to bask in the revelation of God's musical creation. True feelings need to be nurtured, but some sonic spice would be nice along with it.

Posted by Grant Elgersma at 9:47 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Of course we're still looking for musicians, but we're also giving in to the temptation to work on new music. Our twenty-odd new song ideas are all over the place, like two extremes making fun of their own limitations, and we're starting to think that might be an exciting listening experience. The dense organic sound of "Another Hole..." made us want spare, catchy, bright, dark, sharp music. Rock'n'roll for R&B radio. While we're waiting for "Another Hole..." to pan out, there's no reason not to explore our new musical selves.

Posted by Grant Elgersma at 9:41 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

After realizing Matt doesn't have enough of the necessary ambition to play drums with OVERHANG, after running out of money, after Grant's physical breakdown (not being able to look at a computer screen, read, drive, watch TV, listen to music etc. without feeling dizzy and nauseated), after Joel visited Dan in Philadelphia to "remove the spite" that had been accumulating with distance and differences, the bright future for OVERHANG no longer seems like a sure thing. Which is not to say OVERHANG doesn't have a future. It just means Joel and Grant no longer think the future they had in mind is the future God has in mind.

In fact, recent experiences have persuaded the remaining members that the success of the band depends much more on God's grace than on business and marketing savvy (of which we are in short supply) or technical and artistic expertise (of which we feel most confident). We are therefore hoping that God will come to the rescue when we are at our weakest, like he has done with so many others so many times before, because OVERHANG is definitely not in a position of strength right now.

Despite the hardships, we are grateful to God that we have found a way to finance the finishing of our album. We are also planning on releasing "Arrived" in May as the lead single on a compilation disc for the Damos Agency, a promotions company that wants to put us at the top of their list. We also opened a new bank account with the guy who opened Billy Corgan's first bank account so many years ago. A good sign, we think.

Posted by Grant Elgersma at 9:45 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)