Key West (03.29.11)

Key West... pretty venue, cool crowd.

Yes, I finally got a new skin. I do it once every three years, apparently.

I played my second show at Key West yesterday, and I still really dig the place. It's been fun, and we've had a nice batch of new faces in the crowd there, along with my usual batch of zany Zaksters. The show was good; I purposefully picked a set list that was 100% full of fresh tunes compared to my show there a few weeks back. Hey, I like to show my versatility. You can't blame me for trying to entertain.

Key West Set List...

Wonderwall (Oasis)
Jane (Barenaked Ladies)
This Afternoon (Zak Claxton)
Starman (David Bowie)
Big Yellow Taxi (Joni Mitchell)
Fire & Rain (James Taylor)
Things Behind the Sun (Nick Drake)
Always Tomorrow (Zak Claxton)
Love Hurts (Everly Brothers)
Triana (Zak Claxton)
Blue (Joni Mitchell)
Any Major Dude (Steely Dan)
Plush (Stone Temple Pilots)

Big thanks to everyone who supported my show!
Triana Caldera, Diana Renoir, Asher Scribe, Gavin Zane, Alexis Fairlady, Horizon Darkstone, Jordan Hazlitt, TheaDee, Xerxes Ninetails, Kat Claxton, Key West owner Liz Harley, and my terrific manager Maali Beck!

A brief encounter with pelicans

Here's a pelican on the Redondo Pier that someone other than me photographed nicely.

It's a new week, but while the weekend is still fresh in my head, I thought I'd give you one of my every-so-often reports on the wildlife in my home town of lovely Redondo Beach, CA.

Yesterday (Sunday March 27, 2011), my ladyfriend Kat suddenly and distressingly was hit with vertigo. Having had the old room-spinny feeling a few times myself, I asked her if it got worse when she moved the directional orientation of her head, and she confirmed this strongly. That's the hallmark of an inner ear infection, and a short while later, we were in the car and headed for our local immediate care center, which I like to call the "Doc in a Box". Ocean Medical is actually a fine practice, and I've received good care there for close to 20 years.

It's been kind of blustery weather around here recently, but Sunday started clearing up about the time Kat, my son, and I took off toward the doc's. Going inside the clinic with Kat, I was happily amazed to see that there was not a single soul in the waiting room, a rare luxury. After making sure Kat was set up to be seen, I got back in the car and took the Boy to McDonald's upon his request (I would have been much happier with lunch from Hennessey's Tavern in Riviera Village or even Fatburger on PCH, but there's no accounting for a 5th grader's taste). After grabbing some unhealthy sustenance, we drove back down toward the Avenues in South Redondo so we'd be close when Kat's appointment was done. I drove down the Esplanade, and then up Paseo de la Playa for a block. Surprisingly, there was some street parking available, and the Kid and I sat in the car, eating our respective burgers and looking out at the nice view of bluffs on the north side of Palos Verdes.

It must be lunchtime in Pelicanland.

Pelican Squadron
As we sat there enjoying the quickly-warming day, windows down and parked next to the beach, a large shadow blocked the sun for a moment. I glanced up and there was a fascinating sight: six pelicans in a tight-wing formation, looking every bit as coordinated as a team of Blue Angels. Pelicans, when you see them up close, are freakin' huge. They weigh upwards of 30 pounds, and can have a wingspan of nearly 10 feet. Combined with the extended beak they sport, pelicans can look like teams of dragons flying out of a Tolkein novel at first glance.

Our pelicans around here are common California Brown Pelicans (Pelecanus occidentalis californicus), but makes them no less awesome than anything, ever. Despite having grown up here and having spent nearly my entire life within a short walk of the Pacific Ocean, I'm glad I don't take for granted things like seeing flocks of huge seabirds, or pods of dolphins swimming by. Anyway, it must have been that time of day when the pelicans all head south for some good fishing, before making their way back north around sunset. After that first batch came another, and then another. Finishing our lunch, the Kid and I hopped out of the car and sauntered over to the edge of the lot above the strand, and watched as the teams of pelicans in varying-sized groups fly directly over us, seemingly close enough to reach up and touch.

Over the next 20 minutes, we probably saw 80 pelicans cruise by. We also had a laugh when a large crow (still a lot smaller than his pelican pals) decided to pretend to be a pelican, and adopted the same fixed-wing flight style, cruising along with a group as they soared down the beach. Sometimes it's those little things that form long-term memories, and hopefully the Boy enjoyed our pelican watch as much as I did.

With my boyfriend radar ping getting louder, I told the Kid it was time to go, and I had to cackle at my good timing as we pulled into the clinic's parking lot just as Kat was walking out and calling us. She got in, and another McDonald's run was needed (this time for her, upon smelling a car freshly perfumed by french fries), and then headed home. But I'd have to say that the pelican observation was the highlight of an otherwise mediocre weekend. Kat, by the way, has all manner of pills that will help her get better soon, so perhaps on a coming weekend, we can go down to the edge of the water again (without it being a side-trip for a doctor visit) and enjoy some more of my local flavor. Nature... you awesome.

Why this post isn't about my recording session

Pretty simple solution to this mystery: I'm not posting about my session because it didn't happen.

Sometimes, you have to be realistic about situations, and then make a mature decision that isn't necessarily the one you want to make. I wrote an analogy to my musical compatriots on Friday: say you're 10 years old, and you'd had a trip to Disneyland circled on your calendar for months. But then, the day for your trip to the Magic Kingdom finally arrives, but it's raining like hell. The park is still open, but many of the rides will be closed, and you'd spend the entire time scurrying from one spot to the other to find shelter. In a word, it would suck, and perhaps worse, you'd have spent the money for the tickets, and your folks probably wouldn't be up for going back right away when the weather does clear up.

Well, a 10-year-old wouldn't care. Given the choice, he's going to say, "I'm going to Disneyland!" However, a grown-up person is going to realize that the trip isn't going to be ideal, and it could actually end up being a really shitty time. And that, folks, was where we ended up the day before my scheduled recording session. Of the four musicians involved, the only one of us that seemed 100% ready to go was Ken Lee... three cheers for Ken, who is a trooper as always. But without getting into the details, neither Bunny, Phil, or myself seemed particularly ready to make great music, all for different reasons. Ultimately, you have one shot to record something that you'll have to live with forever, and whatever we might have done on Saturday, it wouldn't have ended up being something we'd all be proud of.

It takes a lot of focus to make music out of thin air. It takes vision and commitment to that vision. Due to these various circumstances, I had zero confidence that we'd be able to shut out all the distractions of life and dedicate ourselves to walking out at the end of the day with a couple of great songs done. And had we pushed ahead and tried to do it anyway, it could have been a disaster... and I'd probably not be able to afford the time or money to re-do the recordings, had that been the case, so I'd be stuck with them. That's a way bigger disappointment, truth be told.

Making the Most of It: Video Shoot
So ultimately, while I'm disappointed that we didn't record this weekend, I know in my heart it was the right call. As if all of our other reasons weren't enough, it turned out that the storm we had here in the LA area this weekend was way stronger than anyone had expected, and it would have also been shitty just getting back and forth to the studio in Riverside from our home near the beach. Instead, Kat and I spent the weekend starting work on an epic new video we're putting together for my song "Waiting for This", which is going to take a bunch of time to do right. But by working on the video, at least we used the weekend for creative fulfillment, which is what we'd have done if we'd been creating music.

A still from the "Waiting for This" video footage we shot Saturday. The gloomy weather was cooperating nicely for the vibe.

Hopefully this pose I'm striking will make sense when you see the completed video. Or not.

I'll let you know when we re-schedule the session. I currently have a backlog of tunes that are completely ready to go for the studio, including "The Other Way", "Look Out For Me", "Perfect Girl", "Go Easy on Me", "Black Phoebe", and more. It's my hope that all of the crap that prevented the last session clears up soon enough to push forward with the recording of these tunes... they're too good, in my humble opinion, to sit here festering.

Back to the Studio on Sat 3/19

I'm Zak Claxton, and I approve of these tissues.

In just a couple more days, I'll be doing something that I love to do, and that's recording my music at a great studio with great friends.

On Saturday March 19, Kat and I will head back to Sound Sanctuary Recording Studios in Riverside, CA, where we'll be joined by my co-producer Phil O'Keefe and my good pals Bunny Knutson and Ken Lee. All four of us are multi-instrumentalists, so it's always interesting to see who ends up playing what once we get rolling. I recorded my entire last album at Sound Sanctuary, and was there last May to do a coupe of tracks that are already in the can for my next album. For Saturday's session, we'll be doing two more new songs: "Look Out for Me" and "The Other Way".

I've generally documented each of my sessions with photos and often videos too, and blogged about most of them as well. If you want a retrospective on our sessions at Sound Sanctuary, they're all right here:

March 20, 2008: "This Afternoon" & "Falling Down" (sorry, no blog of this).

June 29, 2008: "You're Like a Cloud" & "Thanks Anyway"

November 15, 2008: "The Sands of Redondo" & "Always Tomorrow"

March 21, 2009: "Waxing Gibbous", "Come Around" & "Lines on Your Eyes"

July 25, 2009: "Fade Away" & "Waiting for This"

August 15, 2009: Overdubs for a few songs.

October 10, 2009: Mixing session for entire first album.

May 1, 2010: "Time Never Waits for You" & "Shine"

No Cold's Gonna Stop Me
As you can probably tell in the pic up top, I have a cold. While that's likely going to mean postponing the recording of vocals, we still have plenty to get down on Saturday for the two new tunes. In a way, it's more of a rock star thing to come back and do vocals at a separate session anyway. But in any case, I'm not going to try and sing through the ton of snot in my head (sorry for the TMI). Once you put your voice down on record, you have to live with it for the rest of eternity, so I'm going to pass on trying to sing just because I'm there. We can easily spend 12 hours making sur the guitar, bass, drums, and keyboards are rocking anyway. And we will!

Common Colds & Banana Doses

Oh banana, why hast thou forsaken me?

I hab a cobbon coad.

(sneeze... cough...)

Sorry, let me start again: I have a common cold. Yes, the ominous-sounding nasopharyngitis, or acute viral rhinopharyngitis, has taken up residence in my head. It's really not the end of the world, I promise you. Here are some not-very-interesting facts about the common cold: adults get 2-4 of them each year on average; kids get 6-12 of them. It's been my experience that adults who have school-aged kids in the house get them a hell of a lot more often than those who don't, which is why my pet name for my son's school is the Germ Factory.

Anyway, my lovely lady Kat had it bad last weekend, and now it's my turn. Again, no big deal. Looking at it optimistically, since I have a recording session this coming Saturday, I will likely be ship-shape by then, so it's a lot better than if this particular virus had waited a few more days to invade my body. So, hooray for punctual viruses, I guess. I already seem to be feeling better than I did over the weekend, so expect less whininess in days to come... hopefully.

Now, let's talk about something that's actually somewhat interesting.

The Banana Equivalent Dose

Nuclear accidents are horrible. But are they worse than... a banana?

I am a big fan of bananas. More often than not, the first thing I consume each day (after a couple cups of coffee, several cigarettes, and some water) is a banana. Bananas are really good foods from a nutritional standpoint; they're good for your heart, nervous system, kidneys, bones, and blood. They even provide dietary fiber, which as one gets older, is appreciated as well. However, I recently found out something about bananas I didn't realize: they're radioactive.

(Cue ominous music)

No, really, they are. Many foods are naturally radioactive, but bananas are particularly so, with a good amount of radioactive potassium-40 in each delicious bite. Now, radiation is bad, right? Exposure to large amounts of radiation can cause your cells to mutate, giving you cancer and other forms of radiation sickness. This is scary shit. When you hear about radiation, it's often in conjunction with things happening in the world like the current problems with the nuclear power plants in Japan. When you see headlines about radioactive steam being released, it's human nature to not be very happy about such things, and possibly to want to see an end to all nuclear power solutions.

I'm not here today to debate nuclear power's long-term feasibility; like many folks, I have mixed feelings about it. But I will fill you in on a good way to keep perspective about being exposed to radiation, and that is something called the Banana Equivalent Dose. It's a scale that lets you compare radiation effects versus the exposure form eating a banana. If you ate one banana each day for a year, that would mean you've ingested about 3.6 millirems of radioactive material.

What does that mean? Well, don't be overly reassured: being in the vicinity of a nuclear accident is never, ever a good thing. But sometimes, you need to be aware that a very small exposure to radiation isn't something to cause widespread panic. Eating foods like bananas, potatoes, kidney beans, nuts, and sunflower seeds will expose you to radiation, as will flying in an airplane, or walking outside on a sunny day. Unless you are very close (i.e., within a 20-mile radius) of a nuclear accident, chances are likely that your exposure to radiation doing everyday things will result in a higher dose. Getting a few chest x-rays is generally way more radiation exposure than what most people are getting in the Fukushima plant area.

Is nuclear power a safer alternative than coal and oil-based fuels? Short term, the answer would seem to be yes. Long term, with the half-life of spent nuclear materials being decades long, the commitment to maintenance for hundreds of years is a bit frightening. Uranium mining and other activities that have to happen for nuclear power to function is also dangerous and creates long-term problems. For fulfilling the needs of the populace of the Earth, I have yet to hear about any viable power source that doesn't also come with massive drawbacks. But at least keep in mind that hiding in a bunker when a power plant that is thousands of miles away from you malfunctions is silly... at least if you plan on eating bananas while you're in your hidey hole.

Tsunami Wake-Up Calls & Lunacy at Moonacy

No words.

Before I begin the more lighthearted part of this post, my thoughts go out to the people affected by the Sendai quake. Having been through the 6.7 Northridge quake here in LA in 1994, I can't even wrap my head around what an 8.9 would be like. Hopefully the toll to humanity is minimized, with Japan being the world leader in earthquake preparedness.

In an extremely minor way, the quake affected me personally. I live not far from the beach, and at 6:48am, not long after I rolled out of bed to start my work day, the phone rang. It was my local reverse-911 system (did you even know there was such a thing?), letting me know that a tsunami was headed for us. But the recorded voice was calm, and said there were no plans of evacuation. It's good to know we're prepared for such things in any case. Still, I flipped on some local news to see if I could get a sense as to whether or not this would screw up my otherwise mellow day, and it seemed that it was mostly a precautionary measure. The waves had passed Hawaii at 3:30am, and were scheduled to hit my area at about 8:30.

Weird start to the day.

From my home, a walk of about three blocks has you looking directly down the hill toward the Redondo beach harbor, so I called up my darling Kat and then strolled over to her place. We walked together up the street, and looked down a few minutes later. Indeed, by staring intently, I could see the small effects of the tsunami hitting here on the West Coast. And by "small", I mean "barely discernible from any other day of decent surf". A Coast Guard boat about a mile out bobbed a few times as the first waves passed beneath it, but all in all, while I'm glad we seemed prepared for the worst, nothing major seemed to happen anywhere in Southern California as a result of the tsunami. The possibility of more waves coming in still exists, but I'm pretty sure there's nothing to be worried about around here.

Panic level: zero.

Moonacy Writers Session (03.10.11)
Previous to all the natural disasters and such, I performed last night at the Moonacy Writers Sessions, which is a series of Thursday-night show of original music put on by Moondoggirl Moomintoog in conjunction with IndieSpectrum Radio's Fox Reinsch. The show (which also included several of my musician pals like Matthew Perrault and Juel Resistance) turned out to be supremely fun, and between the folks who were physically there in SL and those listening in on the Internet radio stream, over 85 people heard me play some live Zak Tunes for a half hour.

Spooky! Me like.

Rocking original music in an abandoned church. That's a good Thursday night right there.

Moonacy Set List...

Perfect Girl (Zak Claxton)
Falling Down (Zak Claxton)
You're Like a Cloud (Zak Claxton)
Always Tomorrow (Zak Claxton)
The Other Way (Zak Claxton)
Shine (Zak Claxton)

My view from the stage. Photos courtesy of Kat.

Big thanks to all who supported my show last night at Moonacy!
Diana Renoir, Misti Raleigh, Alexis Fairlady, Indy Darkrose, Vaughan Michalak, Beth Odets, Kayy Moonshadow, Leondra Larsson, Aurelie Chenaux, TheaDee, Kat Claxton, hosts Moondoggirl Moomintoog and Fox Reinsch, and my management team of Rusty Seisenbacher and Maali Beck!

Bad week to be an animal in Redondo Beach

I live in a town that I love. It's called Redondo Beach, CA, and it's a suburb of Los Angeles. I've lived in this general area almost my entire life, having grown up in Palos Verdes just south of here, and living in my current home since 1995. Despite traveling around a lot and enjoying different places for different reasons, I still feel most at home in Redondo.

Redondo is pretty idyllic. It's a pretty seaside community. I call it a little town, but that's only in comparison to nearby Los Angeles; over 65,000 people live in Redondo Beach, and it's all part of the greater LA area with nearly 18,000,000 people within an hour's drive. But Redondo still has a smaller community vibe to it. It's a place where you never feel obligated to dress up; and during the warm months (i.e., most of them), the standard fashion is a pair of flip flops, board shorts, and a t-shirt. Throw on a sweatshirt and a pair of Vans sneakers when it's cooler.

So, Redondo has nice schools, great weather, low crime, and a generally good vibe. While I'd love to spend the entirety of this post talking about what a sweet place my hometown is, there are a couple of troubling things going on at this very moment... both involving animals, with one of a very personal nature, and one from an environmental viewpoint. Let's take care of the personal first.

The Last Days of The Moop


That gray fuzzy thing is my cat, Captain, also known by many other names... my personal favorite being The Moop, or Moopy, or Moopy-Doo, and so on. Moop was born in May 1992, making him well over 18 years old. That's over 90 years old in human years, and it's fortunate that he's lived this long... especially considering that a couple of years ago, the vet diagnosed him with kidney disease, telling me he would likely be gone in two or three months.

Well, he's hung on, and had a pretty happy life as far as I can tell. However, the past couple of weeks, he's really slowed down, and now for the past three days, he's barely eaten. I don't want to prematurely eulogize him, but it's safe to say that like all living things, Captain's life had a beginning and a middle, and is probably quickly approaching the end. It's going to be rough on me, and very rough on my 11-year-old son, to whom Moopy is particularly close.

So Long, and Thanks for Being Fish



About mid-morning today, my Internet started lighting up with reports about a troubling situation happening less than a mile down the street from me. Millions -- yes, millions -- of dead anchovies have washed up in King Harbor, here in Redondo. The reasons aren't very clear yet, but it would seem that the initial conclusion for their cause of mass death is oxygen deprivation. What the authorities don't seem to know yet is why.

We had a big wind storm last night, and they are theorizing that the giant school of fish sought refuge in the harbor, only to have the relatively sealed-off area quickly become depleted of oxygen in the water. The result is a little horrifying, as per the pictures above. In a way, the oxygen theory is a more reassuring answer than other possibilities, like the fish having been exposed to toxic waste, or an oil slick, or other disaster brought on by humans. Hopefully there aren't other factors (like methane buildup) that caused it.

In any case, down the street from me at this moment, there are a lot of people scooping dead fish off the water surface, because it's starting to get warmer, and having millions of dead sardines roasting in warm weather is going to present a whole new problem unless it's taken care of quickly. In the most selfish view, ignoring the tragedy of massive loss of life, it's going to smell really bad around here by Thursday if the cleanup action isn't handled with speedy efficiency.

It Glums Me Out, Man


As is probably understandable, I'm feeling a little glum as a result of this stuff. There's really nothing I can do to a) make my cat immortal or b) go back in time and prevent some ecological disaster from happening. It's all just part of life, and you can't expect everything to be rosy-perfect every day. However, I do tend to remind myself that as a whole, I'm a pretty damn lucky guy who's had a ton of good stuff outweighing the bad in his life by a mile.

Send good wishes to the Moop, and hopes that no more fish wash up here in my hometown. Thanks in advance.