Going to bed at 9PM is not conducive to sleeping through the night, it’s 3AM now and I’m out of bed and completely awake. Surprisingly things with the band finding a Jam space seems to be going pretty good. Between my Ad in the SEE Magazine and contacting every musician in Edmonton that I know, I got some call backs and found two really good possibilities that we’ll hopefully have hammered out by the end of the week. I don’t want to get my hopes up too much cause Jam spaces always seem to fall through, but this time it looks like we may be good to go. Yay!

Something else worth mentioning, this weekend I got a chance to go to the band Lipht’s CD Release Party at Jet Nightclub. They put on a great show and had wicked chemistry on stage. Their new album “A Generation Removed” (which I picked up a copy of) has freaking astounding production and some really great songs. It was recorded at the same studio we’re hitting up this winter and is a testiment to Kevin Hoskin the Engineer/Producer and the guys from Lipht. It’s nice to see those guys doing so well after all the time and energy they’ve put into their music and the new record, great job guys.

Aside from that there’s not a whole lot to report. We’ve all been keeping busy working hard and dealing with life outside the band. It’s good that things seem to be coming together for us and we should be rehearsing regularly with enough time to get ready for the studio in the coming months.

Either way, I’m keeping my fingers crossed that this all pans out.

Shane Lamotte
shane@livingillusion.com
http://www.livingillusion.com/wordpress/

Wow, I can’t believe its been three weeks since my last post, and that was when I was in Cleveland. Since I’ve been back, the distractions of life and difficulties of pulling the band together have hit again. Now that fall has come to an end and winter is pretty much here, our unheated jam space is no longer an option for rehearsing and we are falling behind. Having a place to rehearse is a huge road block (if not the biggest) especially since studio time is right around the corner.

In the last few weeks I’ve frantically been trying to find us a new place to rehearse, which you’d think wouldn’t be that hard, but it’s quite difficult when the real estate market in Edmonton is utterly stupid and none of us own a house. Sometimes I feel like the economy works against artists and musicians, but then again, whether it be housing or gas price fluctuation’s I think we’re all affected equally. With that said, we’ve come up short with finding a new rehearsal space and everything is on hold until we get one. It’s almost to the point where I’m going to need to buy a home on the outskirts of Edmonton just so the band can have a place to practice.

So I guess this isn’t so much a rant as it is a plea. Do you want or know some one who wants to make some extra coin that has a heated garage or space that won’t be getting used this winter in Edmonton, Sherwood Park, or Leduc (seriously we’ll drive out to Ft. Sask if we have to)? LOL, Who in there right mind would give up their heated garage in Edmonton over the winter, we are so fucked.

“Looks like the band is really ‘in a jam’ this time. Will they possibly be able to avoid a ‘jarring’ conclusion? To find out, tune in again next week, same L.I. time, same L.I. channel!”

Shane Lamotte
shane@livingillusion.com
http://www.livingillusion.com/wordpress/

Today is my last day in Cleveland and it has been one helluva a trip. I wasn’t sure how it was gonna pan out when I first got here, but now I’m really glad that I came to town. My flight leaves in about 7 hours to head home and I still have one last place to go before then, the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. I’m pretty excited to go there (for obvious reasons) but so far the high light of the trip has definitely been going to the Cleveland Browns vs New York Giants NFL Game last night. It was utter insanity.

Seeing as I’m in Canada I never watch the NFL, or understand why every one down here is so into it, but god damn. I can compare last nights regular season NFL game to the final playoff round in the NHL when your city is in it. By that I mean that the fans are fucking nuts! I have never ever seen (until last night) a family of 4 with young children who are cheering for the away team be called assholes in massive chants by the home team fans for so long that they get up and leave the stadium. Just messed.

People here take there football very very seriously, it actually makes me want to go to another game… and seeing as I don’t have a “team” I think after tonights experience, I will be cheering for the home team no matter where I am, haha. Shit the cops even came in and threw out a guy wearing a Giants Jersey, it was most likely for his own safety as the Browns fans were going to eat him alive. It was just wacky all night long like that and besides the fans going nuts, it was actually a really good Football game.

For my first NFL experience, it was pretty freaking amazing. Every one (well other than Browns fans) were expecting the Giants to continue there 4 game winning streak and win last nights game, but to the predictions dismay, the Browns beat the Giants by almost 20 points. There was even an interception that turned into a 90 yard touch down for the Browns. It was a really good game and the Browns played their heart out. By far my favorite player on the Browns team is Cribbs, damn that guy can run (look him up online if your interested).

All in all, NFL Football is something that if you truly want to experience you have to go to a game. The TV does not do it justice at all. I’m really glad I went and hope it’s not the last game I get to see. On that note, I’ve gotta get my shit together and head over to the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, I’ll blog about my other fun experiences when I get back to Edmonton, everything from seeing Joe Satriani Live at the House of Blues, to getting shit pissed in a bar called Cadillac Ranch… and yes they played that Nitty Gritty Dirt Band song, lol, felt like DJing a wedding all over again.

Shane Lamotte
shane@livingillusion.com
http://www.livingillusion.com/wordpress/

Tonight I decided to sit down and set some goals for myself. In a matter of no time I wrote down over 40 goals that I have. I was quite surprised at how much I actually needed to write all that down and get it on paper and out of my head. It was everything from travel plans to music goals, to swimming with dolphins and hosting my own radio show. I wrote down short term goals, future goals, and lifetime goals.

When I started I was completely lost as to where to begin so I just essentially google’d “online goal setting” and found this really freaking cool website called http://www.8goals.com. It’s a wicked place where you can save, track, and easily set up all your goals and plans. I know this is kinda sounding like a pitch for 8goals.com, but honestly if you want to set goals then I highly suggest that site cause well, it’s free.

For fun here’s some of the music goals: Record EP, Redesign LI Look & Feel, Find Host Venue for the 2009 CD Release Party, Organize Western Canada Tour and last Open for Chevelle on a World Tour, hehe. Some personal ones that were kinda cool are: Try Scuba Diving, Meditate in India, Sail the Carribean, Host a Radio Show and Write a Book… that last one is an ongoing work in progress. Either way I’m so glad I wrote all these down!

Do you ever do any goal setting? Like 5 year plans? I think that’s what I’m going to work on next. Not really sure why I wrote this blog about it but hey, maybe you can relate, all I can say is that the future looks promising and that goal setting is good. If you’re not already doing it, then you should get on it. Haha, next I just need to start making a budget, Ugh.

Shane Lamotte
shane@livingillusion.com
http://www.livingillusion.com/wordpress/

What a rough Monday it was after our show on the 19th, although the rough Monday meant it was a pretty damn good weekend, and a good weekend it was. On Friday we hit the stage at the Starlite Room with two incredible bands, Pure City & Atlas Shrug. Both bands were freaking amazing and it was killer to share the stage with those guys, hopefully we’ll be playing together at some shows in the future.

All in all the show was really fun. The crowd was good, and the night was great. When we got there for sound check it took quite a while to get everything together as I brought in a bunch of recording gear to record feeds off the mixing board. Our sound guy did a great job of putting it all together and a special thanks to him for not killing me when I told him we wanted to do multi-track recording with out any heads up.

We were the last band to go on, and I must admit we weren’t as tight as we usually are and we had to sacrifice some decibel levels in order to do a proper recording, but either way it was still fun and we had a good crowd stick around and watch. To say the least, thanks to Art Szabo (You Rock Dude!) for an enlightening last show before we head into the studio to record the New EP.

To finish the night we we’re lacking wheels so three car loads of gear in my Focus later I made it home around 4:30am and passed out only to wake up the next day and head out to the Portal CD Release Party and do it all over again (minus the performing on stage, loading gear, etc). Yah… I’ve got nothing else to write, lol.

Shane Lamotte
shane@livingillusion.com
http://www.livingillusion.com/wordpress/

The Portal show was freaking awesome, and I have the swag to prove it! Even though we played on Friday at the Starlite Room, I think I was even more excited to watch Portal play at Jet Nightclub on Saturday; and let me tell you - they did not disappoint. It was such a fun and inspiring night, and now I’m even more stoked to be working with these guys on our new record!

So we got to Jet at around 9 (half way through Long Way Down’s set) to join the crowd of an already pretty packed house. We grabbed some beers and made the rounds meeting up with lots of friends who had also come out. There were tons of people there, and it was really nice to see that so many other musicians in the city had also come.

When Portal hit the stage I was front and center. They played the whole Blood Red Tape album and I was rocking out like no tomorrow. I literally got my face rocked off, seriously it’s gone, that’s how good it was. The guitars were heavy, the bass was fat, the drums were incredible and the vocals were spot on. It was an awesome show, and I was so happy that I got my hands on the new album in advance; that way I could scream the lyrics out at Kenton while they played, it was fucking sweeet.

After their set was over we drank some more beers, got some swag signed, and chatted it up. The next band Fenix Foundation played a wicked set and when they finished I was starting to burn out so we called it a night. All I can say is, if you weren’t there you seriously fucking missed out and I highly suggest you get your ass out next time Portal plays, it was that good.

Until next time, “keep fit and have fun” (Fucking Body Break, hahaha)

Shane Lamotte
shane@livingillusion.com
http://www.livingillusion.com/wordpress/

This summer I have been to Devon, Spruce Grove, Viking, Cold Lake, Fort Mac, Calgary, Jasper, Kamloops, Parksville, Nanaimo, Vancouver, Delta, and Victoria; and I’m sure I missed a few others that I can’t remember right now. I put roughly 25,000km on the Focus I drive in less than 4 months… I feel like a god damn travelling sales men… except I get to go to those places and have a giant party each time. I guess that’s just my life as a DJ, well a wedding/corporate DJ, I don’t consider myself a real DJ, you know, I don’t have a cool name like DJ Lethal or anything (haha), I just assist people in having a great time.

It was kinda nice to be out of town lots this summer, it helped keep me busy, and I made good money. Plus when you’re on the road for hours on end all alone, you certainly get a lot of time for thinking, contemplating and devising new ways to grow as a person; the universe knows I’ve been doing a lot of that this summer. All in all my time over the last 4 months has been enlightening and incredible - a cornucopia of emotions, I’ve met and reconnected with some of the most wonderful people and have had some huge life changing experiences… to top it off, it doesn’t look like the momentum is going to run out…

Here’s the rundown: The band has a sweet gig at the Starlite Room in Edmonton this Friday the 19th of September, then we’re gonna be working at Beta Sound with Kevin Hoskin doing Pre-Production for the next record/EP (which we’re gonna have mixed by Bill Kennedy), after that I’m going to Cleveland for a conference in October, then by the time I get back we should be ready to go back into the studio to start laying down tracks for the record. All the while working full time and DJing the occasional weekend. The list just keeps going…

Haha, I just thought of more, cause during all that time we also have to do the design work for the new album, redesign the website and myspace, get a proper photoshoot done, and play any gigs worth playing… although we will be taking some time off when were in the studio Holy crap my life is gonna be busy. Needless to say, it’s a good thing I like to be doing things all the time and that I enjoy it, otherwise I would probably go crazy.

So in closing, to everyone that I had the pleasure of spending time with this summer (whether you read my blog or not ), Thank You for turning what could’ve been one of the most melancholy summers of my life into one of the most amazing. You guys are awesome and I don’t know where I would be without you all, so again Thank You, Thank You, Thank You (That includes you too Kels, you will be missed). I hope that you can all make it out to one of our shows some time soon, even if you do live in another city… then again maybe we’ll just have to come to you!

Make good choices

Shane Lamotte
shane@livingillusion.com
http://www.livingillusion.com/wordpress/

Join us at the Starlite Room for an evening with some of the best progressive hard rock Alberta has to offer! Not only will you get to see us and the band from Calgary that opened for Ashes Divide (Pure City), you will also get to see the wickedly toolish sounds of Atlas Shrug. The show is entitled “A Night for the Progressive Thinker” and it’s gonna freaking ROCK!

Living Illusion:
http://www.livingillusion.com

Atlas Shrug:
http://www.atlasshrug.ca

Pure City:
http://www.myspace.com/purecity67

Time and Place
————–
Start Time: Friday, September 19, 2008 at 9:00pm
End Time: Saturday, September 20, 2008 at 1:00am
Location: Starlite Room
Street: 10030 - 102 Street
City/Town: Edmonton, AB

Call me at 780-904-7625 for Tickets. Hope to see you there!

Shane Lamotte
shane@livingillusion.com
http://www.livingillusion.com/wordpress/

P.S. You should definitely come hang out with us at Portals CD Release Party the next day, Saturday the 20th of September at Jet Nightclub!

What can I say, it’s just been messed, this whole summer I’ve been having experiences which make me re-evaluate my entire life. From the passing of the first girl I ever loved, to attending the wedding of a friend I have known for over 20 years… this has been a summer of deep contemplation. One for the history book of my life, and it has, without a doubt, given me inspiration to play my guitar.

That’s pretty much all I have to say for now, I just wanted to give a quick update seeing as I haven’t posted in over a month. I’ll be posting another note soon, with an update for our next gig which is going to be at the Starlite Room on the 19th of September. The show will feature some of the best progressive rock Alberta has to offer so check back soon.

“Summertime and the livin’s easy”

Shane Lamotte
shane@livingillusion.com
http://www.livingillusion.com/wordpress

Last week at the ASHES dIVIDE show I had the pleasure of getting my hands on a pre-release copy of Portal’s new album entitled “Blood Red Tape”. For those of you who don’t know, Portal is a Progressive Hard Rock band from Edmonton, and in my opinion one of the best Prog Rock bands in Canada. They’ve been around for about 7 or 8 years and we actually had the honor of playing with them back in 2006, although it wasn’t until recently that we we’re formally introduced to one another.

I remember when I first moved to Edmonton in 2002, I picked up a copy of The SEE Magazine (I had no idea what it was at the time) and as I was reading through it I saw an Ad for a show that Portal was playing at RED’s. I was so removed from the scene at the time that I had no idea who they were, and I was so broke I couldn’t even go to the show. I did however manage to go online and hear some of their music. And from that moment, I was hooked to their unique style of aggressive intelligent music, and I was in awe to think that such a good band was from Edmonton.

All that aside, I have to say, “The New Portal Album is FUCKING AMAZING!” I can’t even begin to explain how well put together “Blood Red Tape” is. It has been years in the making, and it was worth every ounce of energy they put into it. It is some of the best production I have ever heard and it stands up to any signed acts recording production. I am still totally mesmerized from the production alone, the tunes themselves on top of it just add to the awesomeness of the record.

The songs are exactly what you would expect from the evolution of Portal. From 10 minute epics to straight up rock in your face tracks this album has everything a fan of hard rock could ask for. The album keeps you full of suspense and anticipation for whats to come while pounding you to the ground with fat guitar riffs, supreme vocals and amazingly heavy/complex drums, only to come full circle and show you the melodic style Portal has been known for.

By far my favorite aspect of the album is the replay factor. The songs are done in such a way that every time you listen to them you get to hear a little more within the songs that you didn’t catch the first time around, it makes you want to listen to the songs over and over and over. Needless to say, this is one of the best albums I have heard all year… And I don’t mean best album from an indie band, I mean best album all around. But shit, don’t just take my word for it, go take a listen yourself: http://www.bloodredtape.com/

And if you’re in Edmonton I highly suggest you come out to Portals “Blood Red Tape” CD Release Party on September 20th at the Jet Nightclub (the old Kings Knight Pub).

Shane Lamotte
shane@livingillusion.com
http://www.livingillusion.com/wordpress/