andnow

that the poetry I have put up on this page sounds very ‘woe is me.’ Well maybe that’s when I write the most, when I’m feeling that way. All of these etchings are straight out of my journal, and I felt no need to hold back, because my whole life all I’ve ever done is hold back. So if it sounds ‘woe is me,’ well, even though I love life and being alive, my time on the planet has been, I wouldn’t say easy, although that is what has given me the dirt from which to grow my flowers. Am I complaining? No I’m expressing things exactly as I feel they are. If it’s too ‘woe is me’ than maybe I should be in therapy instead of opening my vein and spilling my blood on everybody else.

met Jaime in January of 06, the day I moved to Los angeles. I had lived there a couple of times before, the last time being the year 2000. I had taken the California Shuttle Bus down from San Francisco. I planned to meet a Drummer. We were hanging out at his place, and then he said,
"I met this guy who plays rockabilly. He wants me to be his drummer, but i don't really like his kind of music. He's pretty cool though, want to come with us to a bar?" I figured why not. Soon the dude arrived.
"Hey, my name's Jaime. Jaime Sol Black."
"Jaime so what?" I remember thinking. He definitely wasn't shy. He grabbed my guitar and started singing one of his songs. Then he looked up and said-
"on this part, i want some girls to sing backup vocals."
Who is this guy? I thought. Bit of a maniac. He was funny though. He couldn't stop talking about PBR and his punk rock friends from back in New York. He liked my Operation Ivy shirt and asked me if I wanted to play Bass for his band.
"Well, I want to start my own band."
"You can do that too. You can play in my band and start your own band."
He seemed pretty adventurous and I liked that, like he'd be ready to go tour to Europe at the drop of a hat. He had a pirate's instinct. He was also the brokest person I knew besides yours truly, so I knew he couldn't judge me for my impencunious lifestyle.
So we all ended up over at Obriens, which funny enough, 2 years later, we were playing there all the time. There was a band called Saucy Monky fronted by a really hot chick who claimed to be an ex stripper. She also somehow had finagled her way onto U2's jetplane. Jaime kept telling her she sounded like Karen O from the Yeah Yeah Yeahs. I didn't think so but I assume she took it as a compliment.
We soon made our way over to Jaime's to watch some movie with the Grateful Dead and Janis Joplin. I thought it was cool that Jaime wasn't a one dimensional punk rocker, that he had eclectic taste and was a bit of a beatnik as well.

First they poison us so we can't think
with soft drinks and pharmaceutical drugs
then they outlaw the vitamins
and things that are good for us

They squeeze us dry make us sweat for the money
then they take it back
there is no hope for tomorrow
all we do is sorrow tryin' no to get too far behind

Why you
robbin' the people blind
what did they ever do to you
to make them feel the way you do
and to do these things you do

Who do you send to run the wars
that are fought for your benefit
bought and paid for by
the working people's deficit

So you could line your pockets
with your money and bad deeds
causing people to suffer
because of the life you lead

what will you do
when all is said and done
when your life is over
and your the only one
left to pray for your soul
that you left behind
who screams and cries,

Why you
robbin'
the people
blind?

I met Jaime Sol Black on a january day in 2006. it was the day i moved back to the city of angels, in fact. That night we batted ideas back and forth, swigged guinness at o'brien's in santa monica and talked about band name ideas and music we liked. 2 years later we were playing that same bar as the Dirty Suits. after various changes of band personnel, and even after the coming and goings of yours truly, we managed to play over 40 gigs in 08. The Dirty Suits consist of Sir Daniel Raznick on lead guitar and vox, Johnny 'flyin' lion' Mitchell, on Drums and piano, and vox Jaime Sol Black on rhythm guitar, lead vox, and me, Jeremy Ferrick, on bass and vox.
Chapters of our tale include flying through south central los angeles and oakland. In South Central we played with an ever changing ensemble of cast mates in the garage of the ever so legendary Marshaune Mack. Playing around town, we made various stops at the Kibitz Room, Unknown Theater, O'Briens, and even a wild bacchanalian show at the vintage clothing shop on Abbot Kinney, the Stronghold, which was quite the night of revelry.
Guitarist Daniel Raznick, a practicing Buddhist and Soulful human being, has trained at Musician's Institute in Hollywood, studied and played with jazz greats, and enlightens the sound of the Dirty Suits with his groovy leads.
Drummer Johnny Mitchell, a venice beach celebrity in his own right via Shreveport Louisiana, Nashville, Club Med, and many other regions across the world, provides a strong backbeat, swagger and spirit that is beyond this universe.
Jaime Sol Black is a reincarnated Jack Kerouac- this time choosing to use his guitar as his muse. He's got moxie, he's got attitude, and he always has a new song to write.
as Dostoyevsky once said, true autobiography is an impossibility, so I'll leave that to Mr. Black.

I met Jaime Sol Black on a january day in 2006. it was the day i moved back to the city of angels, in fact. That night we batted ideas back and forth, swigged guinness at o'brien's in santa monica and talked about band name ideas and music we liked. 2 years later we were playing that same bar as the Dirty Suits. after various changes of band personnel, and even after the coming and goings of yours truly, we managed to play over 40 gigs in 08. The Dirty Suits consist of Sir Daniel Raznick on lead guitar and vox, Johnny 'flyin' lion' Mitchell, on Drums and piano, and vox Jaime Sol Black on rhythm guitar, lead vox, and me, Jeremy Ferrick, on bass and vox.
Chapters of our tale include flying through south central los angeles and oakland. In South Central we played with an ever changing ensemble of cast mates in the garage of the ever so legendary Marshaune Mack. Playing around town, we made various stops at the Kibitz Room, Unknown Theater, O'Briens, and even a wild bacchanalian show at the vintage clothing shop on Abbot Kinney, the Stronghold, which was quite the night of revelry.
Guitarist Daniel Raznick, a practicing Buddhist and Soulful human being, has trained at Musician's Institute in Hollywood, studied and played with jazz greats, and enlightens the sound of the Dirty Suits with his groovy leads.
Drummer Johnny Mitchell, a venice beach celebrity in his own right via Shreveport Louisiana, Nashville, Club Med, and many other regions across the world, provides a strong backbeat, swagger and spirit that is beyond this universe.
Jaime Sol Black is a reincarnated Jack Kerouac- this time choosing to use his guitar as his muse. He's got moxie, he's got attitude, and he always has a new song to write.
as Dostoyevsky once said, true autobiography is an impossibility, so I'll leave that to Mr. Black.