Cuidado

My mind...My thoughts travel fast...They move as if they're late to a terminal and have to board PRONTO! I make decisions because they feel good. I live in the moment. I'm easy to please...I'm slow to anger...just...slow in general.

I realize that I don't think about things until after the fact...

(AHEM...Mister Greene, may we blow up that village with all those innocent families?)

Yeah, sure go ahead...BLOW 'EM UUUUUUUUUUP!!!

8 days later...

Wait, I can't BELIEVE they just decided to blow up that village...
(Sends blower-uppers an angry email...)

By the time my emotions kick in, the email is LATE and my emotions are almost exorbitant.

I wish I was good at being the bigger person. My flesh is like a teething toddler...I need to soothe these gums...these cutting teeth are almost unbearable. But instead of waiting for the pain to subside...I just kick and scream...and sometimes I don't even get the teething ring.

I've played that pitiful game of, "No one understands me..." and believe me, sometimes I don't want people to understand me... It's dark in here.

I wanna know how to love harder. There is one person...I wish, (talking directly to that person) I wish I could love you harder. I wish you'd see past the "Jirod is just being a diva" facade and see that I really try with you. I wish you would see my strengths. I wish you could see my knowledge. Acknowledge my knowledge. Hell, ask me a question. Dig deeper. Maybe you do love me, you just show it differently, huh?

My life can be whatever I want it to be, because my Creator gave me a freedom to chose from gifts that no ordinary man should have, but I'm blessed, so He has given to me to share with others.

I'm all over the place with this one.

To my few subscribers... I love you...everyone I know, and who knows me...I love you. I'm just jotting down my thoughts.


J

Come With Us

I sit up thinking almost every night about where it is we're supposed
to go in life. Where is The Ars Supernova supposed to go from here?

I watched the 51st Annual Grammy Awards Show on Sunday night. I watched
as each performer took the stage and offered up his/her/ or their best
musical gifts to an audience of fans, peers, and producers. I watched
as the winner(s) of each categorized award walked on stage to accept
their molded, gold-ish, phonograph...

And I saw us...

As it would seem to most... A silly day dream. I laughed to myself and I said, "A dream"

When I lay my head down, and I sleep...Sometimes I dream the most vivid
of dreams, and sometimes, I don't remember those dreams throughout the
course of the day...but...

There is one dream that just will not go away. This dream haunts my
thoughts throughout the day. It dances in my head throughout the
evening.

I dream of carrying our music; our message beyond 6th street. This
dream reaches beyond Austin, Houston, or Dallas. Though touching each
city with fashion and finesse, we reach out beyond this great state of
Texas toward the edges of our nation and even the corners of the Earth.

I believe the "greats" had dreams just like this dream I've been
having. I believe Quincy Jones dreamed about it. I know Michael Jackson
dreamed about it. I'll bet Bruce Springsteen dreamed about it, and
Stevie Nicks, The Beatles... They all dreamed of stepping out and
reaching forward to touch someone in another part of the world.

I've never been so close to tasting this dream. It's sweet, I can smell
it. The work, the hard work in the specialties of each player in this
band can seem bitter, and a bit sour at times.

More than being a performer, or a musician... Being a humanitarian.
Keeping our supporters on our minds daily is a major focus. Giving
back...or rather just GIVING, because that is what keeps us going.

True, we've a lot of work to do as young musicians. We've a lot to
learn, and still there are dues to pay, but to know that we've got each
other as we travel down this road with uncertainty at our heels, but
with faith in our hearts... We can share this light, this LUMINA with
the world.

Even after the first album, we're still MESSENGERS... Even after the
second album, we will still be LUMINA. We will continue to bring forth
a message of hope to any and everyone who will listen. We will still
show that light to anyone who is searching for positivity through
poetry and instrumentation.

We are not saviors. We are not perfect. We do not know ALL there is to
know. Artists are what we call ourselves; players in a band founded upon
key principles: truth, wellness, hope, love...MUSIC.

Friends...supporters...family.
.... That's who you are to us.

We're striving... Moving at a rate that seems unreal when we think back
to how far we've come in only two years. The six of us are only PART of
The Ars Supernova. We need you to come along with us on this journey.

I love you.
Cheers,
Jirod

Music's Sour Notes

Mainstream Music America has developed a unique pallet for its taste in Music; a pallet that I find to be comparable to that of an infant. You know, it's got to be simple, soft. It can't be too hot or too cold. It's gotta soothe the gums, and feel good on the way down. Well, maybe not the pallet, but rather, a softer appetite.

The texture and tenderness of the music that majority of today's society is willing to digest is similar to that of PEEPS. You know, the little soft, chewy, ever-so sugary little candies that are available mainly during Easter time.

Seasonal listeners... These are people who are into what's in for the time...

So, how does a musician SO far from the PEEPS ever survive in a mush mouth music society...

Well, because this is MY blog, I'll tell you the first thing that came to mind. I'm slightly embarrassed, but whatever.
There are two ways to get attention.

Now, this is tricky...Because You have to get exactly what I'm saying.

A.) Be like a silent fart... No one notices you...or they may feel you breeze past, and they're thinking, "Okay, I can handle this". But then all of a sudden, you're a presence so strong and unbearable, they've got to notice you!

B.) Be a LOUD fart...Be bold and out in the open. Unashamedly spreading your presence toward everyone within a 15 foot radius. (How exactly do I know the right radius...Kid test, mother approved? I dunno)

Education...Do people really want to know about this music stuff?
Do people really want to know why this harmony was used?
Do people really want to know the colors painted by this composer to make this sound?

Nowadays, people want instructional videos on how to listen to music, or how to dance to music; how to eat, sleep, drink, treat their significant others, and how to make money.

BIG GENERALIZATION... Yeah, sure...but they come from somewhere huh?

By sticking true to yourself and to your craft seems to be the best way, but it's not always the easiest, nor is it the most popular.

I find that whenever I write lyrics for songs, if I try to write about something I know nothing about, the song sounds empty, or if I try to write a song that's very "radio friendly" I end up with A, B, A format that is more than depressing.

Maybe I ride this artist just a bit much, but that's what I liked about Solange Knowles' second album. She kissed the industry-sewn, teeny-bopper genres goodbye and put on a colorfully brilliant new attitude.

Gnarls Barkley, heck, even Mr. West... These are a few people who've taken barriers, and blew them away like paper boats down main-STREAMs. (corny, but you get me right)

Infants scrunch up their faces whenever they taste something sour...
They really haven't developed a strong enough pallet to withstand the sharp taste...

To the music infants of the world who would rather settle for the sugary sweet innocence of easy listening...

GROW SOME.....taste buds...A little salt never hurt anyone...


Cheers,

Jirod

I LOVE METROMINT!

The video should explain the majority of this blog. But Again, Many thanks to Metromint for sharing such an awesome product with us.

Everyone in the band enjoyed drinking it. I actually had to hide a few bottles.



Yeah...It's Water...but it's cooler. (HA, I love it!)
Michele Thorne, thank you so very much!


Cheers,
Jirod Greene
(and the other Metromint drinkers pictured: Dietrich, David, Ross, Matt, and Alejandra)

Renascence- From Our Album Lumina

The word Renascence means new birth or life; a rebirth.

Our song Renascence was written especially for young women. As a man, I cannot even begin to imagine the pressures that society seems to place on young women to live up to the standards of "beauty". It hurts to see young women try so hard and then fail because of the constant change in standards of this word; "beauty".

However, I do know how it feels to work at something for so long and work so hard and still feel like you're missing the mark. We all search for approval in some way, shape, or form. Sometimes, it may be a kind word, a compliment, a smile or a hug.

I've heard and witnessed so many stories about young women who failed to see the beauty in themselves and sought other, more tangible ways to define what they considered beauty. TV and magazines can paint such a twisted picture of "perfection", and some women may see that and believe THAT is beauty. Let me be the first to tell you... A great majority of the things you see in print are edited masterpieces. Adobe Photoshop works wonders and can fool the untrained eye.

But more than that. The song Renascence talks about a young woman who lives to please others, especially a man in an abusive relationship. She's beaten, battered, and broken not only by him, but also by this worldly view of beauty that she has been trained to believe is the way for her to live. In the end, the woman finds an honest friend, or maybe she looks in the mirror at herself and realizes that she's always been beautiful, but she gains confidence in herself. She finally opens her eyes and for the first time, she loves herself. She sees that light, that positive bright-shining light within herself.

In the Spring of 2007, a Texas A&M Student lost her life to the hands of an ex-boyfriend. Pictures of her will forever be branded in my memory. She was beautiful. Her personality lit up a room. She gained the strength to move on without him. She's no longer here because this man did not appreciate her beauty. He could not see how someone so young could have so much strength to live her life without him. So instead of allowing her to live her life without him, he ended her life.

Whoever you are, where ever you are...No matter what you're going through, through this song "Renascence", I'm connected to you. You don't have to feel inadequate. You don't have to feel like you're not beautiful. Love yourself. You ARE paramount. You ARE important. It's okay to start over; to redefine who you are in life. Sometimes we need a refreshed mind. 2Pac said it best, "Keep Ya Head Up."

Cheers,
Jirod