Furious World Blog

Join us tonight 7pm PST on The Furious World as Peter hosts the talented singer/songwriter – Trevor Hall.

You’ve seen Trevor touring around the world with wonderful acts such as Steel Pulse, The Wailers, Matisyahu, Stevie Nicks, Ben Harper, Colbie Caillat, Los Lobos, Ziggy Marley, Rusted Root, and many others.

Trevor Hall LIVE on Furious World

Excited about our Furious World guest this Tuesday! Robert Kenner, director of the hit film, Food, Inc. will be joining us! furiousworld.com 7pm PST

In the midst of the tumult that goes on before a regular show… and I say -regular- to imply that today’s show is anything but. Due not only to our amazing guest, Simon Jacobson of the meaningful life center (and a close friend of mine) but to Marc Jacobs’s (our handsome and wise producer) new baby daughter. Her name is Samantha Rae and she’s amazingly cute, smart, and full of life. I’m in the editing bay doing things that Marc usually does like setting up the films and editing promo pieces. It’s almost too much work but there’s really nothing that can be done. The show must go on. Mazal Tov to Marc and his lovely wife Jen on the birth of their little baby girl. She is the very essence of what blessings are. I’ll see you tonight, after I finish up in here.

www.furiousworld.com
7pm PST LIVE

Peter

Yoav, a past guest from our show, sent me these words about his experience:

“I didn’t know what to expect on the Furious World.I had met Peter a couple of weeks earlier through a mutual friend,but had little time to check out the show as I am deep in recording a new record right now from dusk til dawn ,seven days a week.”

“Arrived somewhat dazed- still figuring out the LA traffic situation-and pretty much set up and it was time to begin.
I was somewhat nervous as it was my first live performance in a few months and my old songs felt strange to play.Having said that,I thoroughly enjoyed the show and being a part of the show.Peter is a gracious host and everyone was most kind and enthusiastic-a far cry from doing live television in the UK-a real family vibe.”
“In London at the moment doing some writing and mixing and back and forth between LA and Europe these next few weeks for festivals.  I can’t wait to unveil the new tunes I am pulling together,hopefully within the next few months.
Cheers for now and many thanks guys”

~Yoav

here’s a little post from our frequent guest, Bruce Warren of WXPN and somevelvetblog!  We’re really happy he had the time to say a little bit about his experience on the show.  Here goes:

“Almost a year a ago after not seeing each other for many years, Peter and I met in a secret location in Hollywood to catch up. I was in LA for a business trip and we met for tea and fruit and cappuccino. Of course much talk led to the great music of our lives and we caught up on the biz and Peter had told me about this Furious World show he was doing and that I should check it out. Always being a fan (my radio station WXPN in Philadelphia had been big supporters of Peter’s career since “back in the day”) I checked out the show and immediately dug it. Once back in Philly, Peter and I continued our conversations via e-mail and I sent him a video to this old classic R&B song called “Apples, Peaches, Pumpkin Pie” by Jay & The Techniques that I think was sort of the spark for me to come on the show - Peter thought it would be cool for me to present some interesting musical discovery on the show and I was in to the shameless self-promotion; I mean, the ability to connect with music fans on a totally different platform.

Peter instantly came up with the alliterative segment title and it’s been fun and a bit challenging for me to adjust to our new Skype relationship. I love talking to Peter and I love to share new and old music with music fans.

I hope our collective passion for music is coming across – because ultimately what the Furious World is about building a community of music fans and Peter’s wit and music is sort of the facilitator for it all over this very interesting channel of distribution.”

~ Bruce Warren

Join us tonight at 7pm PST on The Furious World Live! as we host master musician, Jeff Babko. This evening, King Ferdinand looks for his queen in part one of a four part mini-series. A hour of rock and roll, ideas, and passionately ordered chaos. See you there.
“The best variety show on the internet” Huffington Post
Thanks!
furiousworld.com

Live this Tuesday night 7:00pm PST on Furious World we’re honored to host, writer/director/actor/husband/father/friend David Hollander who’ll be talking with Peter about his new film, Personal Effects starring, Michelle Pfeiffer and Aston Kutcher. Also, via Skype video, documentary filmmaker and social technologist, Michael Sean Wright.

Peter will be joined by Al Wolovitch, Andrew Kamman, Willie Aron, and Kristin Mooney for an hour of rock n roll, ideas, and passionately ordered chaos.

To watch the show go to:
furiousworld.com
Visit peterhimmelman.com to get Peter’s new album on download or vinyl!

Thanks!
peterhimmelman.com

In the beginning there was music. It happened all by itself and it went completely unnoticed. The sound of thunder echoing off a distant canyon. A waterfall pouring down into a clear deep pool. Dragonfly’s wings beating the night air. Then early man began banging rocks together and later, he stretched some hides over hollowed out logs. After a while, the gut string harp and a wooden flute came to be.

Those were simple times. The music was there for the hearing and when the hands and the mouths of the players stopped beating and plucking and blowing, everything went quiet. Several thousand years later, -give or take a few- Alexander Graham Bell comes around and decides he’s going to do something that’s never been done; he’s going to trap a moment in time and preserve it as though it were a fly in amber. Invisible sound waves that for years had existed in the domain of the mystical could now be preserved forever in wax. Thus began more than a hundred years of begging a question that up until that time had never been asked, namely, who owns these captured sounds? Sounds that exist long after the music stops; oftentimes long after the musician who created them ceased to breathe.

Those who’s job it was to preserve the sounds; to copy them, and to exploit them, have had a good long run. They’ve used those captured moments to provide for their children. They’ve fed themselves well and perhaps had occasion to sate every last desire, but now something’s gone wrong. Entropic forces have been unleashed that eroded empires, and swung the hands of the clock backwards as it were, -even as the technology grows wiser and more complex.

You see, it’s hard to trap the sound waves these days, or at least to claim ownership when everything’s been converted into ones and zeros -and everyone has access to them -and the only safeguard that remains, is people’s respect for the sanctity of intellectual copyrights… which is to say no safeguard at all. There are those who resist the shift and long for the days when any person between the ages of twelve and fifty five who isn’t brain dead couldn’t figure out how to get just about any piece of music for free off the internet. But times have changed and what’s an artist to do about it? Well for one thing, he or she needs to go back and discover what hasn’t changed. People’s love for and need for music. If anything, the ubiquity of music has made it more valuable and more essential to people’s lives. It’s an axiom (at least I think it is) that the more valuable a thing is, the more of it there is and the less it costs…start with air and water for example. Perhaps by stripping music away from it’s embodiment in wax, or vinyl, or plastic and letting it revert to it’s spiritual essence (which in a sense is what the ones and zeros really are), listeners might develop a new respect for the artists who create it. Now I’m no utopian and I’ll admit I’m mostly pretty cynical, but when all the protections are lost, and the way technology is progressing, it seems likely they soon will be, it’s still possible that people might continue to pay something for music they love if they feel a connection to the one who created it. It’s possible that by building a real sense of trust and community, an artist may still ask for some form of patronage for their recorded music from fans -and receive it. Patronage!? Isn’t that the same as begging money? Not quite, but if access to free music gets easier and even more unpoliceable -as I think it will, those artists who develop this deep and lasting connection with their audience may be the only ones still able to make a living. Wait, I think I hear the dragonflies…

Peter Himmelman’s Furious World – Feb 24, 2009

Directed by Michael Sean Wright, nicefishfilms

The Band:

Peter Himmelman, lead vocals, guitar, keys
Willie Aron, guitar, backing vocals
Al Wolovitch, bass
Andy Kamman, drums

Marc Jacobs, sound, live switch
Daniel Vendt, doing-a-little of everything

Special Guest:
Tom Morey

Recap by Ellen J. Berman

Apparently it was hot in the studio, but you wouldn’t know it by the knit caps o’ plenty on the band – one on Peter’s head and one on Al’s. According to Peter, having the AC on would blow the power. As a result, the viewing audience contemplates the next generation internet experience known as virtual smellovision : )

Song: Something That Just Blew My Way (Album: Himmelvaults vol.2) True to the groundbreaking spirit of this show, Peter and band launched the set with this totally obscure track, which happens to be one of my very favorite songs on Himmelvaults, vol. 2. For those of you not familiar with the Himmelvaults, they are a series of releases that come deep from Peter Himmelman’s archives of songs that haven’t previously found a home on any of his releases. Other times, the tracks are fabulous live recordings that capture something really special about a song. On some of the earlier vaults, there are also tracks dedicated to some of the stage banter and musical improvs we come to know and expect from Peter Himmelman. If you don’t own any of the Vaults albums, you’re missing half the story and a lot of great music!

The bottom line is this – When you hear a song from the Vaults on Furious World, you realize the precious quality of each and every episode of this amazing show. Diehard fans will hear songs on this program that Peter has NEVER played in concert. And new listeners get to enjoy a diversity of tracks which represent a lifetime of hard work and a catalogue of music that is as deep in quality as it is copious in nature.

Song: Only Innocent (Album: From Strength to Strength) What a great follow up to the first track. This has long been a fan favorite that in recent years has gotten very little air time. Only Innocent hails from Peter Himmelman’s album: From Strength to Strength, which is like an unofficial greatest hits album for many fans. More song requests probably come from this album than from almost any other. The title track of Peter Himmelman’s official “Best of” album is Mission of My Soul, which is also a track that first appeared on From Strength to Strength. You get the idea…

Segment: Phantoms of the 405
Peter reminisces about a beloved family pet from his childhood, his dog Reggie.

Special Guest: Tom Morey
What an interesting guest! Tom Morey is perhaps best known for his innovations in the surfing industry as the creator of the boogie board. But he’s much more than that. Tom showed us his intellect, his sense of humor, his skills as a musician, his modest nature, his thought processes as a true philosopher, and also a soft spoken generosity in sharing his surfing knowledge with Peter, who very much wants to be able to find a level of comfort with the sport to be able to go surfing with his 12 year old son who loves it. I find myself completely stunned by the support being given to Peter Himmelman’s Furious World by so many remarkable people across a wide variety of industries and disciplines.

Song: Georgia Clay (Album: The Mystery and The Hum) This is an early fan favorite on Peter’s upcoming album which will be released on March 17th. Stay tuned for details!

Song: Theo (Album: My Lemonade Stand) This track immortalizes Peter’s sweet faced border collie Theo in song.”Early one Sunday morning – The family piled in our car. We set out to buy a regular dog. But we came back with a superstar.” : ) Shout out to Willie Aron for great backing vocals – Great job by our special guest Tom Morey, who sat in on drums.

Segment: Turtle Talk
Who knew someone’s beloved pet turtle could impart so much wisdom in so few words?! This week’s Turtle Talk features the sage King Ferdinand dispensing very important career advice to Peter Himmelman’s intern Daniel Vendt. Amongst various pearls of wisdom he dispensed, King Ferdinand tells Daniel we must be passionate about what we do to be successful in our careers.

Song: Trembling in the Beams (Album: The Mystery and The Hum) Peter moves to the piano to play this beautiful new song, which was well received by the folks in the chatroom during the live broadcast of this episode. Some commented on the similarity from an instrumental standpoint between this track and a song called Gravity Can’t Keep My Spirits Down, which appears on Love Thinketh No Evil. From a lyrics perspective, Trembling in the Beams doesn’t tremble at all as it stands solid in its own right.

Special Guest – Tom Morey – Part II
This segment really highlights Tom’s philosophical, broad thinking nature as he shares his thoughts about the world economy and the nature of time.

Segment: Furious Folks
Furious Folks features various people in Peter’s world outside the studio. Continuing on this week’s dog theme, which probably began with last week’s revelation regarding the passing of drummer Andy Kamman’s dog Chloe, may she rest in peace, Furious Folks introduces us to Bernardo Alejandro (sp?) – the dog whisperer. : ) Actually, I think Bernardo is more of a dog trainer and doggie daycare guy who gives our four-legged friends long walks in the sunshine when their families are all cooped up in offices, classrooms, and studios. Peter hops into Bernardo’s van which is loaded with a bunch of canine clients including Theo. The group arrives at a very scenic spot for a glorious long walk. Out in the serenity of nature, Peter contemplates what people would be like if we each had a Bernardo to take us away from our daily grind. This segment takes a philosophical bend up until Peter announces that on the way back, one of the other dogs urinated on Theo’s white fur, and Peter makes a point to remind himself to wash Theo before petting him : )

Song: Flown This Acid World (Album: Flown This Acid World) – This song which represents breaking away was a perfect segue as we transitioned from the Furious Folks segment on being out in nature.

Song: Wet Matches (Album: Imperfect World) – This track’s a total rocker featuring Peter Himmelman on lap steel.

Song Teaser: Iron Man

Song: Racing Off to Nowhere (Album: Unstoppable Forces) – There are various forces in this world that seem unstoppable. For Peter, one of them is the great bass player, Sheldon Gomberg. For a long time Peter was really sucked into the tv scoring world, and it was Sheldon’s persistence that got Peter more forcused on recording his own music again. Sheldon was definitely a serious force behind both Unstoppable Forces and Imperfect World, plus his bass on those albums was just AMAZING.

Song: Discipline of Rain (Album: Unstoppable Forces) – I was so happy when this song finally found a home on a recording. It’s a song that has its roots in rabbinic teachings about the way to live our lives. As with rain, if we are too forceful or not forceful enough, problems ensue.

———————-

After Show -

Tape rolled again, as Willie Aron and Tom Morey performed a brief jazz jam.

———————-

After After Show -

Tape rolled yet again featuring Peter and Tom continuing their earlier discussions about surfing and music.

———————-

Post Show Chat:

Peter Himmelman, Tom Morey, and Director Michael Sean Wright popped into the chatroom to say hello and announce that Peter Himmelman will be at SxSW Interactive performing March 13th through the 17th at the Belmont in Austin. More details to be released at http://furiousworld.ning.com

Peter Himmelman’s Furious World – Feb 3, 2009
Directed by Michael Sean Wright, nicefishfilms

The Band:

Peter Himmelman, lead vocals, guitar
Al Wolovitch, bass
Andy Kamman, drums

Jim Hershleder, camera, lighting and visual design
Marc Jacobs, sound, live switch
Daniel Vendt, doing-a-little of everything

Special Guests:
Sharon Waxman
Chris Pirillo
Guest Backing Vocalist???? (name please?)

Recap by: Ellen J. Berman

Song: Easy to Be Broken (Album: Skin) – What a great surprise!! I don’t think I’ve heard Peter do this song since he was touring in support of Skin, the album on which this track appears. Skin was a controversial album for Peter – People either loved it or completely didn’t get it. Skin was created as a concept album about survival of the soul and reincarnation. The longterm goal for the album was perhaps to bring it to Broadway. The Skin tour consisted of incredible live shows where Peter Himmelman and his band played the album from start to finish and would then go on to play a second set of assorted fan favorites from previous albums. Fans have long hoped that a soundboard recording of one of these gems will someday surface – In the meantime there are a couple of audience recordings floating around which at least give you a flavor of these shows.

Some of Peter’s strongest material to date at that time appeared on Skin, but for some listeners, the strength of the music
got lost in the format of the concept album. Not every diehard fan lists the album as a favorite, but I will say that my most
successful fan contest in terms of overall participation occurred when for the 10th anniversary of Skin, I gave away a CD of
the album signed by all the band members. Many people were anxious to weigh in on their favorite track on that album to compete for the prize!

Interlude:
After the song, Peter comments that since doing Furious World there’s been more smoking of cigarettes in his backyard than he’s seen in a long time – And as much as he personally hates smoking, the only thing he hates more is the idea that nobody smokes! : ) He jests that someday we’ll find out that smoking is actually good for you : )

Song: Consumed with Evil (Imperfect World) – When Peter was touring with the Israeli rock band The Flying Baby to support the album Imperfect World, Peter would generally play this song on lap steel – This year, I’ve heard it done both acoustic and on electric guitar, and I think the song has been sounding really great!

Segment: Phantoms of the 405
As Peter’s driving, he recounts the experience he had with Neil, a massage therapist who helped Peter resolve an issue he was having with lower back pain – Within a couple of treatments, Neil healed Peter, but one day showed up to work with a cast on his leg from a fall he had taken. The way Peter was positioned for the massage, his face was directly in contact with a very foul odor emanating from Neil’s cast. Rather than saying anything, Peter began to contemplate how he would fare in a torture situation of this nature. : ) Instead of being honest with Neil and asking him to wrap a bag around his cast, Peter said nothing. All along, Peter thought he was being nice by not saying anything, but as a friend later pointed out, it would have been nicer to be direct – since as a result of not saying anything, Peter has never hired Neil back.

Special Guest: Sharon Waxman, editor in chief of http://thewrap.com – According to Sharon, the LA Times laid off 300 people and is a veritable ghost town now- At a time where we’ve seen the music industry crumble and the news industry following suit, Sharon states that the only way for people like her and Peter to keep doing what they love is to reinvent themselves. As Peter reinvents himself through Furious World, Sharon seeks to re-invigorate her career through the launch of her new site http://thewrap.com – This emerging on-line resource focuses its reporting for those customers who are “interested in understanding the changes going on in entertainment and media culture, and navigating a global industry.” Sharon firmly believes that “If (what you’re doing) is good, then people will show up.”

Segment: Chip Lundeen
This week Chip demonstrates karate strikes to disable an intruder – According to Chip, if you use karate to defend your wife
and children, they’ll love you for it. : )

Song: One Shot at Love – (Album: Love Thinketh No Evil/Unstoppable Forces) Originally released on Love Thinketh No Evil, this song was re-recorded and later re-released on Unstoppable Forces. When I first heard the newer version, I was surprised the song had found a new home and thought it sounded very Springsteen in that particular incarnation. Only later did I find out that Shane Fontayne of Springsteen fame played guitar on that track. D’oh! : )

Song: Dozen Roses – (Album: the Grammy nominated, My Green Kite) This is one of Peter’s kid songs that works well for any audience! Tonight’s performance of Dozen Roses features great boogie woogie piano by Daniel K man – Daniel’s been doing some touring with Peter over the last few years and is an amazing pianist!

Soft and Wet Jam – vocalization by Connie/Bonnie (name please!!) – Wow she was GOOD. Peter commented that she sounded like a blonde haired, Jewish, Macy Gray.

Segment: Turtle Talk
King Ferdinand delivers pearls of wisdom on the topic of Aging – claiming “we only truly manifest our potential in our adulthood” and we should not be swayed by popular culture’s addiction to youthfulness. In seeking to move toward a world that embraces the rich rewards of maturity, King Ferdinand sagely reminds us that,”Revolution starts in the mind.”

Special Guest: Chris Pirillo of chrispirillo.com/live
According to Chris’ site: “Chris Pirillo has been participating in Internet conversations since 1992, having
launched Lockergnome.com as a content publishing network and building Gnomedex to be one of the blogosphere’s highly regarded conferences.”

Song: Improv: Searching for the answers to hear the sound

Peter sings as Chris gets a headset on to be able to hear Peter for his segment of the interview.

Once the tech issue was resolved, Peter and Chris discuss the future of technology as Chris thinks it could evolve over the
next 5 or 10 years.

Song: Time Just Flew (Album: Love Thinketh No Evil) – nice segue from talking about technology as it relates to the time space continuum -

Segment: Furious Folks
This segment is new on Furious World and focuses on the people in Peter Himmelman’s immediate world.

Tonight’s Furious Folks introduces us to Avi Rokah – Peter’s Karate Teacher, who is a former Karate World Champion and five times US National Champion. According to Peter, learning from Avi Rokah is like learning baseball from Hank Aaron – This segment is a fun insider’s look at one aspect of Peter’s life outside the studio.

Song: Impermanent Things (Album: From Strength to Strength) I found this to be an interesting song choice – I think it’s the
musical expression in this case of what Avi was trying to convey about the role of karate in his life – According to Avi,
eventually it’s not about winning or losing – I think he was trying to tell us that for him Karate became something much
greater on a philosophical, spiritual level. I think Impermanent Things ties in well with this notion.

Song: Mission of My Soul (Album: From Strength to Strength) Always great to sing along to this song and a great way to end
the show!