July 19th, 2010 by Rob Schiffmann
A week ago today, I had a baby. Well…Annie had the baby but I was there and my life was changed as well. Abbey has joined us and she is a beautiful pleasure and my all time favorite kid / person / everything. My favorite times are the early am hours when I get to sit and hold / feed her and sing to her. It is bringing songs back to life for me that I have not sung in awhile. I keep singing Cat Stevens, Harry Chapin and James Taylor. Anyone who knows me would think that Beatlemania would be going on in my babies bedroom but so far, I have kept the fabs at a minimum. I suppose I am introducing them selectively…like fine wine. I have also not sung any Hillary Step to her yet. I don’t know why. I am nervous to for some silly reason.
All in good time.
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July 15th, 2010 by Rob Schiffmann
Damn you, John Mayer. It’s bad enough that you are a killer guitar player. It’s bad enough that you are a kick ass singer (now that you have stopped breathing like an asthmatic). It’s over-the-top bad enough that you are a wicked lyricist who writes AMAZING songs with incredible music that somehow manages to remain cool and accessible without giving up the dignity that most pop music bails on. It’s bad enough that you are turning into a killer producer.
So why, then do you have to do the nast with Jennifer Aniston, Jessica Simpson and particularly Jennifer Love-Hewett? Isn’t that just adding insult to injury?
Well, John Mayer (if that really is your name) TWO people can play at that game. This month is officially “do things as well as John Mayer” month and I plan to do JUST THAT!
But I am not gonna have sex with any of those babes. Mostly because I am married but a little bit because those babes all beg me just a little too hard and a little too often. It makes them seem pathetic and I can’t enable that kind of thing.
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July 10th, 2010 by Ale de Vries
Rob, Jon and Ale are driving through nightly, rural Pennsylvania, on their way back from playing at HempFest. John sits in the back, Rob
and Ale are in front.
Jon: "There’s a sign on that pole there that says "WE BUY HOMES". What the f*** does that mean?"
Rob and Ale, in unison: "It means they buy homes".
Jon: "Yeah, but what the f*** does that MEAN?"
Rob and Ale, in unison: "It means THEY BUY HOMES!”
Jon: "Yeah…?!"
Rob: "It means that if you foreclose your home and are ready to die they buy your home."
[Pause]
Jon: "Whatever."
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July 1st, 2010 by Rob Schiffmann
I am going through several life changes. First of all, I am having a kid. That’s kinda major. Secondly, I am getting in shape. That’s fun and hard and good. Third, I am realizing that there are a lot of things I want to change about my music.
I want to find the fun in the music. Sometimes it’s so freakin’ heavy. We need to get some fun and even some funny in there.
Also, I want to bring in some of the soul that I get when I am playing alone / singing melodies to myself or improvising. It’s easy to let that soul disappear in the writing / producing process.
Mostly, I want to find the space in the music. I think our arrangements are really cool but when I listen back, I hear so much sound. There is so much going on. Things need to chill out a bit and open up.
SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO….coming up will be some songs that are fun, soulful and open.
Hopefully.
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June 23rd, 2010 by Rob Schiffmann
I recently saw the James Taylor / Carole King concert. I posted on facebook that I think JT kicked CK’s ass. Sorry CK, I am just being honest. As Rachel Dart said, watching Carole King was like watching Mom-Rock. JT is still awesome. In fact, his voice is better than ever, his song writing is better than ever and his band is amazing. Carole King was just kind of…eh. She sounds great at times and has one or two really good songs. And maybe there is no need to compare but when you watch the two of them together, it’s pretty hard not to. She is mediocre and he is amazing. He’s a Philly Cheese Steak and she’s a grilled cheese made at a lame diner…with soggy fries and out of tune cole slaw.
Mean? I hope not. Just honest. I still am glad they are both out there rockin’. Speaking of that, come watch The Hillary Step rock on 6/24 at 8pm at Local 269.
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May 7th, 2010 by Rob Schiffmann
The Hillary Step has a gig coming up at Caffe Vivaldi this coming Friday night, May 14th at 9:30pm. We are very excited for this gig and I am particularly excited because I will be playing some solo songs….5 or 6 to be precise. I am both excited and nervous about this proposition. It is rare that I feel nervous about performing but I am always glad when I do because it means that I am being challenged in a new way. This is not to say that I have never sung songs by myself before but I am still more comfortable sharing the stage with my fellow performers. That being said, I am looking forward to singing some new and some old songs that don’t make it off the shelf that often. Come on out and see how I do!
Tags: gigs, nerves, performing
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March 15th, 2010 by Rob Schiffmann
“Breaking Strings”
Breaking strings has always been the bane of my existence. I play hard. I don’t play super hard but I play my acoustic guitar with a sense of purpose. That’s what makes the rock ‘n roll come out. The downside is that the strings just can’t take the burn of my deep, deep rockin’ and so every now and then, I pop a string. It used to be worse. Sometimes during a gig, I would break up to 3 strings. Once I broke 3 strings in ONE SONG! However, after adjusting my technique and the type of pic I use, I have it down to a more rare event.
That being said, yesterday in rehearsal I broke a string in the middle of working on the song “Well Anyway”. Usually when this happens, all rocking stops until I change the string. This process generally takes about 1-2 minutes. Yesterday, however, a different process took place. When I broke the string, the band just kept playing the section of the song that we were currently in. They played for awhile and then they started jamming on it. Greg took a solo, Ale got all jazzy on the drums, Eric rocked the keys, etc.. It was awesome. So, we have created a new band sensibility. When / if a string breaks, that is not cause for commotion or stagnation. It is now a reason to jam in the middle of the song until the string is back and we can rock again.
Once again, little tragedies become little gifts!
Tags: instruments, playing, Strings
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February 19th, 2010 by Ale de Vries
One of the (many) fun things of playing in a New York City band is that you get to be in a lot of different rehearsal studios. 
That’s great, because we don’t plan our rehearsal very far ahead, and with so many places all over town we can almost always find a place, even last-minute.
And another fun thing about it is that – as a drummer – you get to play on so many different drum kits. There’s an element of frustration to that, too – I always end up spending at least 15 minutes each rehearsal moving around toms, adjusting hardware, and changing the ‘resident’ cymbals for my own. And for some reason the cheap and beat-up kits always sound great and the $3,000-plus kits always sound crap (which goes to show that investing in an expensive kit means nothing if you don’t know your Drum Tuning 101).
But recently, in one of those studios with a bad-sounding expensive kit, there was this treasure chest of percussive delight – rainmakers, shakers, claves, cowbells… and an ugly green cheap plastic LP woodblock. I went "hmm", attached the little green woodblock to my hi-hat stand, and without telling the other guys just started using it.
So Rob was like "is that a little woodblock action going on there?" and I was like "yeah" and he was like "killer". So the woodblock sound had found a fan base and it was decided I should get one.
The next day I went to the music store and tested every woodblock and cowbell they had in search of the best sound. I tried all the red, blue, black, stainless steel, and actual wooden stuff they had, in every possible price range; even considered getting an electronic pad with programmable percussive sounds; almost ended up with an overpriced matte-black block because it looked so cool and was endorsed by one of my favorite drummers; and in the meantime my girlfriend patiently followed me around the store while the store clerks started to throw me increasingly annoyed looks and every other customer flinched at the sound of me whacking on the next piece of metal or plastic or wood.
I ended up buying an ugly green cheap plastic LP woodblock.
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February 16th, 2010 by Rob Schiffmann
I often feel like all my songs need to be about deep and moving elements of my life. I rarely let myself write about some small little pleasure in my life. It feels strange to write a song about the fact that I dig watching “24″ and “Survivor”. I would feel odd writing a song about the awesome Chipotle app that I got for my new iPhone. So today I am going to cross that barrier by writing this little ditty.
“Sausage & Peppers” (to a very major key jaunty tune)
Yummy yummy sausage in a nice warm piece of bread
Peppers in my mouth and joy in my head
Sausage Pepper sandwich, please never go away
You are different but you are as good as PBJ.
Yummy yummy sausage sits alone on my plate
I really should eat it after the PM known as 8
But down into my tummy you will simply slide
Sausage pepper sandwich, will you be my sandwich bride?
Oh, sausage pepper sandwich.
Oh, how I love you so
Oh, sausage pepper sandiwch
There are tears in my eyes
You are just the perfect size
And they also give you fries!
Yummy yummy sausage from the little place next door
You can be my sandwich pimp and I, your sandwich whore
You are the stuff of legends that will forever be told
Oh sausage pepper sandwich…you are even awesome cold
Tags: lyrics, sandwich pimp, songwriting
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February 3rd, 2010 by Rob Schiffmann
Are you a shaker spaz? If you have experienced any of the following, you may be.
1) You can dance and rock to the beat and yet, when you have a shaker in your hand, you just can’t keep the rhythm.
2) You have stood in front of a microphone trying to record a 16 measure shaker part and, by measure 12, you are shaking to something that is definitely not the beat of the song you are recording.
3) You have watched all your friends/band mates shake the shaker and make it look simple, but then when you try it, you become way too aware of what you are doing and are thus unable to exhibit any kind of soulful shaking.
If, after reading this, you now feel you may be a shaker spaz, fret not. Many have been where you are. There is still hope. The one and only way to cure shaker spaznocity is the following:
Keep shake-a-laking.
For some sa-weet shaking, come check out The Hillary Step live at Arlene’s Grocery (95 Stanton St. btw. Orchard / Ludlow) this Friday night, Feb 5th, at 8pm.
Tags: gigs, instruments, shaker
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