CARBONELL - Sunrise

Hi. I wrote this song today as I was sitting
beside a campfire at Bolsa Chica State Beach.

New Wetsuit

Hi. I just got this sick new wetsuit by Nine Plus that I bought at Mollusks in Venice Beach. I haven't got a chance to try it out yet because of work and rain, but I'll post a review as soon as I do. Super stoked! Shiny premium japanese rubber and blind-stitching throughout, cool retro design.



So yeah, I got a chance to try it out a few times and love this wetsuit. The material is super smooth and extra warm. My arms don't feel restricted at all and I have complete range of movement which is great. The only setbacks about the suit is that the rubber is really soft, so I have to be extra careful not to nick it on any rose bushes or anything like that!

New Paint Job

I painted my board using white spray paint and gloss. This is my 9'6 Brandon Montoya custom flat nose longboard.

Scarf

I made this super chunky scarf. The colors came out kinda cool. I used light grey, dark grey, and baby blue for the main section and pink, yellow, and blue for the ends. Triple strand, double crochet. That keyboard has a broken A key and is really annoying to play. I also painted those drawers a long time ago, and the wall.

Art

I made this art using a piece of wood, acrylic paint, yarn, screws, a sharpie, and my fingers. That's right folks... finger painting!

Crochet stuff

I made a few scarves and a bracelet. It was cold so I figure I better keep my neck warm. I also wanted a little color at the end of my sleeve.

CARBONELL - Lost Balloon

I wrote this song using a lot of metaphors and imagery.



The song started like this

Kafka

I composed an atonal duet for two flutes to accompany some words by Kafka. Here I am playing flute and speaking lines from Kafka's short story titled "Conversation With The Drunk"

Penny Sparkle

Hi. I transcribed the song Penny Sparkle by an awesome band called Blonde Redhead and made a unique arrangement. In this recording I am playing alto sax, flute, clarinet, jew's harp, and singing. This was kind of an experimental project for me and is an accumulation of a couple different ideas put into one piece of music. Firstly, I play the Jew's Harp and always wanted to see if I could make a hip groove by looping the sound of this cool little instrument. Secondly, I wanted to use a larger array of instruments and since I play many woodwinds, I figured that I could apply a classical trio atmosphere to this song. Lastly, I wanted to make a video that portrays a little snapshot into my recording process. Here you will see me singing and playing all the various instruments I used to record this arrangement. Please go listen to the original and try to go see Blonde Redhead live in concert. They are very very amazing!

Playing with Jon

Hi. I sat in with my buddy Jon Maclennan at the Tribal Cafe gig and found this video he posted. This song is in the key of F# for me. Super fun key...NOT! Hahah that's the fun thing about pop music, weird keys. Anyway.. it is always a pleasure to play with Jon. I recorded on his CD "Suspicious Love" way back in 2005. Also, he is one of the best longboarders I know! Seriously.

The Get Up Kids

One of my favorite bands growing up was The Get Up Kids. I love their song "Hannah Hold On" so I learned it on guitar and made this little video. I don't think I deeply understood the meaning of the song until I spent some time really learning it and thinking about the words. I find that this song fit exactly with what I was feeling at the time. Music is an amazing thing isn't it? On a more musically theoretical note.. this song has a great moving bass line! I also switched out a lot of the normal chords for suspensions, inversions, or chords with a lot of common tones so that the harmony would be more stable throughout the song. Dynamically, I really dug into the crescendo leading out of the bridge for dramatic effect. I also used a lighter pick on this one. Lastly, the seasons are changing here in California. The breeze is offshore, the water is cold, and animals are migrating. Don't ever let someone convince you that Southern California doesn't have seasons... you just have to know where to look.

Sweet Baby James

Hi. I bought a James Taylor record the other day from a thrift store for $1 and quickly fell in love with the song "Sweet Baby James". I learned how to play it on guitar and made this little slideshow which features my sister Vanesa's cool photography. That's her horse Dillon too!

Gold Mine Gutted

Hello. One of my favorite bands ever is Bright Eyes! I transcribed one of their songs called "Gold Mine Gutted" off of the CD "Digital Ash in a Digital Urn". Here is my arrangement written for Jazz Quartet. This is a live recording from a fantastic jazz club in Los Angeles called Charlie O's that has recently closed down. It was definitely one of my favorite places to play... Here's the band: Cameron Hicks on the Drums, Ben Shepherd on the Bass, Brice Albert on the Guitar, and myself on the Alto Saxophone. Please check out the original if you get a chance!

Jeux Sans Frontieres

Hello there! I transcribed one of my favorite Peter Gabriel tunes called "Games Without Frontiers". I did this project using my ears, a notation program called Sibelius, and GarageBand for minor effects. If you like this version, you should really check out the original. The image you see below is from a demonic and sensual sculpture found in Ballaja Square in Old San Juan Puerto Rico.

Surf Contest

Hi. I'm gonna be competing in this sick longboard surfing contest! Super Stoked...

Alex Nester Show

Hello. I played a cool concert with my good friend Alex Nester at the Mint in Los Angeles on October 18th. It was super fun and the band was funky and soulful. Oh yeah, the video below... I taught myself how to chew gum and play sax at the same time about a year ago. Now I do it all the time! I hope it doesn't look too unprofessional.

Crochet

Hi. I like to make stuff...Music, Art, and even Hats! Let me know if you want me to make one for you :)

a smile that shines for miles

Hi. I wrote a new song that's a lot different than what I have been doing before. I guess you could call it an electronic popish song or something... I had made these tracks without lyrics in Sibelius for a different project a long time ago and would randomly sing along with it trying to make up a song every so often. Well, one day I was driving and got lost and ended up taking the wrong freeway and I finally came up with some lyrics that I liked for this song. Anyway... it's a love song called
"a smile that shines for miles"

Alto Jazz

Hello. My favorite instrument to play is Alto Saxophone! I played a gig a few weeks ago in Northridge CA with some old buddies I went to college with: Shawn Williams, Emily Cohn, Emilio Terranova, and Brijesh Padya. It was a lot of fun to play straight ahead jazz at this cool coffee shop called Barclay's.

CARBONELL - Sparkle

Hi. I wrote a new Carbonell song called "Sparkle". It's about how sometimes a relationship may change but both people still hang on to the memory of what they once had together. Lyrics co-written by Sabine Wang.

Carbonell and Friends Show!

Hello. I organized a Singer/Songwriter showcase at Tribal Cafe in Echo Park on September 25th. It was so much fun! The artists that performed were: Albert Chiang, Angela Vicente, The Bearfruit Duo, Jon Maclennan, Genevieve Artadi, and Myself. I plan to do a lot more of these kind of showcases, so check back for future dates! Here is a video of me performing my Carbonell song called "The Meter's Empty"

Brea Jazz Festival

Hello. I played at the Brea Jazz Festival with Louie Cruz Beltran on Friday September 22nd. This was a great outdoor festival and a lot of fun. I got a free shirt too! Here is a video of me soloing on some minor descarga song.

Day of the Drum

Hi. I played with Chalo Eduardo and the Brazilian Beat Band in the Day of the Drum Festival at Watts Towers on Saturday September 24th. I love the costumes in this ensemble! This is a traditional Brazilian song called "Pegando Fogo"

La Vida Music Festival

I played at the third annual La Vida Music Festival at the Ford Amphitheatre last Saturday. It was a lot of fun! I played Tenor Sax with Louie Cruz Beltran's Latin Jazz Ensemble and Chalo Eduardo's Brazilian Beat Band. Here is a picture of me wearing a funny costume! Also, here is a video of Louie's band rehearsing "Spooky"

Carbonell Flyers

Some creative flyers I made for a Carbonell gig. Made with acrylic paints and a sharpie on index cards!

New Carbonell Recordings

I recorded some new versions of my Carbonell songs. I use an Edirol recorder and edit with quicktime pro and them create a mini slideshow on iphoto. This method seems to work pretty well for my needs. I tried uploading my files onto a direct link website but had a really hard time with that, so I decided to just upload the videos on youtube instead. Oh yeah... sorry about all the bird noises. That's Benny the Cockatiel singing along. He's my biggest fan!

Sunshine Video

Here is a music video for my Carbonell song "Sunshine". This video was made using the reflection from a television that was not turned on. This was an earlier version of the song where I repeated the verse and chorus 3 times. In later versions I added additional lyrics, but at the time I felt that this was all I needed to say. I couldn't think of any other songs that used this approach of minimal lyrics and still think it's pretty cool.

Carbonell Show

I played a Carbonell show at The Talking Stick in Venice Beach CA on August 29th. Here is a video from that performance. The song is called "On The Sand and In The Sea". This song is a story about a time when my friend Alex and I went surfing at this intense beach break and we were overwhelmed by huge waves! It shows the beauty of nature and the joy of spending time and sharing experiences with friends :)