A few weeks ago we had a much needed Fall Break from school, and some wonderful people and I decided to go up to The Beach House, a little cozy place on the Oregon coast in a town called Rockaway Beach.  The house is owned by the parents of my good friend Dylan, who continues to let us escape to the peacefulness of The Beach House every chance we get.

Let me tell you: this house is magical.  Its one of those places that makes you feel like you are alive in a different way, in a magical way that makes you understand that playing on the beach, making fires, and cooking dinner are the only things that really matter in life.

So anyway, all 6 of us who went up to the house for Fall Break are musically inclined, and as musically inclined people are apt to do, we made music.  I was jamming with Dylan one morning when I realized that I should record the song we had created.  So I booted up Garageband on my MacBook.  Then I got the idea to record a song for each meal time of the day when we were all together in the house, and boom!  The Fall Break 2010 album was born.

The band: The Beach House Bums

The members: Annie Fassler, Jonah Geil-Neufeld, Walt Javins, Warren Kluber, Dylan Peden, and Alison Stake.  All students or alums of L&C.

Here’s the album.  Its fun.  It reminds me not to take life too seriously, and that my friends are awesome.

Wow, so it’s been a long time since I’ve posted on this blog.  I know you’ve all been on the edge of your seats waiting for me to post something new, so sorry about that.

I’ve been writing.  Here’s a new song called “Stormy Weather.”  Click here to hear the song. Enjoy.

Here’s the Lyrics:

Every day I go out walking
by myself
down the block
My phone is out, but I’m calling no one
talking to myself
as I walk

If I was lighter than a feather
I would tuck me in the wings that make you fly
Give me all your stormy weather
As long as you’re here babe,
I’ll make it out alive.

There are times when I am wandering
where Im gonna live and what Im gonna do
But I find the ants in my mind are marching
bringing  bread crumbs of my life back home to you.

If I was lighter than a feather
I would tuck me in the wings that make you fly
Give me all your stormy weather
As long as you’re here babe,
I’ll make it out alive.

I see all that I was given
When I see the ones who haven’t got
Its hard to miss you and stay triumphant
At least the universe is giving us a shot

I could live that way forever
when I’m with you, all I feel is love
Give me all your stormy weather
I am ready now
I’m stronger than I was

Although SmazE no longer exists, I was listening to our music the other day and realized that I wanted to preserve what we had accomplished in those years as a first-rock-band experience.  All three members of the band now play in The Audians, but we don’t play SmazE songs.  SmazE released two albums, White Eyed Darkness (2004) and All The More Reason to Spend These Years Up in a Tree (2006).

Below, I have provided three songs from our last album, so that I can preserve the memories and so that you all can hear SmazE for the first time in a long time or the first time ever.  Also, I’ve made up a little downloadable file with all of the tracks to both albums, plus some pictures of SmazE, all for free!  The download might take a bit, but its worth it.

Have fun listening + Love,

Jonah

Click Here to Download SmazE: The Master Collection.

]]> http://www.jonahgn.com/2008/11/smaze/feed/ 1 00:01:01 This post is a blog post about the past.  My first rock band was a band called SmazE (a name that comes from the union ... This post is a blog post about the past.  My first rock band was a band called SmazE (a name that comes from the union of the words smoke and haze) that existed from 2003-2007.  I played drums and was the lead singer of the band. Although SmazE no longer exists, I was listening to our music the other day and realized that I wanted to preserve what we had accomplished in those years as a first-rock-band experience.  All three members of the band now play in The Audians, but we don't play SmazE songs.  SmazE released two albums, White Eyed Darkness (2004) and All The More Reason to Spend These Years Up in a Tree (2006). Below, I have provided three songs from our last album, so that I can preserve the memories and so that you all can hear SmazE for the first time in a long time or the first time ever.  Also, I've made up a little downloadable file with all of the tracks to both albums, plus some pictures of SmazE, all for free!  The download might take a bit, but its worth it. Have fun listening + Love, Jonah Click Here to Download SmazE: The Master Collection. Music jonah@jonahgn.com no no http://www.jonahgn.com/2008/11/riddle-in-your-ear/ http://www.jonahgn.com/2008/11/riddle-in-your-ear/#comments Tue, 25 Nov 2008 23:55:41 +0000 Jonah http://www.jonahgn.com/?p=63 Hey everyone,

So I’ve got another great new song to show you all.  My friend Isaac Holeman wrote the text and is singing on this song, and I wrote the chords and am playing the guitar parts in the recording.  It is the first collaborative effort between Isaac and I, and I hope it will not be the last.

Have fun listening.  Lyrics below:

A couple three weeks ago the leaves turned the color of your hair
I threw handfuls in the wind and I laughed out a riddle in your ear
When you winked at my empathy I placed a white feather on you
When my sight parts the shadows of a darkening forest you’re smiling too.

Over hedgerows and hobbits our talk mirrored our wandering feet
Though the mud was not frozen we glided on over the lea
That November your smile was so meek and wily I chuckled right outta my skin
At the end of the day I could say that I’d do it again.

You have got to check out the song below that was recently recorded in (guess where) my dorm room.  Its the first time I think anyone at Lewis & Clark has recorded a fifteen-something-person a cappella group in a dorm room that can barely fit two beds.

The song is Landed by Ben Folds, and the group is Lewis & Clark’s only all-female a cappella group, The Merryweathers.

Enjoy

Love, Jonah

1. Busted Peach – O Heavy Hour! (2008) The Yard Studio

2. The Audians – Aliens and Friends (2008) Riverbend Studio

3. Busted Peach – Brown Paper Bag (2007) Riverbend Studio

4. The Audians – The Audians (2007) Engine Studios

5. Sima Cunningham – Squeeze (2006) Engine Studios

6. The Cajun Vagabonds – Grounded (2006) Riverbend Studio

7. SmazE – All The More Reason to Spend These Years in a Tree (2006) The Yard Studio

8. SmazE – White Eyed Darkness (2004) The Yard Studio

9. Sunflower Community School – The Setting of the Seal (2003) Delmark Studios

10. The Cajun Vagabonds – Not From Concentrate (2003) Delmark Studios

11. Sunflower Community School – Sunflower Volume Two: The Sunflower Family (2003)
Delmark Studios

12. The Cajun Vagabonds – Episode I: The Phantom Accordion (2001) Delmark Studios

13. Sunflower Community School – Blue Sunflowers (2001) Delmark Studios

Click here to listen to the song.

Lyrics:

The Carrot Song
Jonah Geil-Neufeld

Carrots are long orange straight and round
you can buy them at the store but they come from the ground
They taste good with almost everything
you chop them up and put them on salads, in cakes, and carrot flavored ice cream

Carrots also have nutricious properties
They’re rich in dietary fibre, anitoxidants and minerals
there are so many things that carrots can do
And PS I love you.

Carrots are native to Europe and southwest Asia but are now grown all across the globe
They are full of beta-carotine which gives them there unique orange hue
If you eat too many of them you will get a disease called hypercarotenemia
Which causes your skin to look like you just used way too much spray on tan

Now there is  a popular ready-to-eat snack
There’re called Baby Carrots and you don’t even have to peel them
You just pop them into your mouth, and they’re good for dipping too
And PS I love you.

This has been a song about carrots
but it’s really a song about my love for you
Cause who really gives a fuck about carrots
What did carrots ever do for you?

No they won’t stop the terrosist attacks
and they won’t stop the war in Iraq
Carrots won’t stop the genocide in darfur
and Carrots won’t pay for your college education
and Carrots won’t get obama elected as the next president of the united states
There’s not much that carrots can do for you
but PS I love you.

Here’s another song I recorded in my dorm room the other night.  It’s quite a simple song, just guitar and vocals.  I hope you enjoy it.

Click Here to Play the Song

Lyrics:

I Can Remember
Jonah Geil-Neufeld

I was crying on the way home
And I felt like rain drops

I was skipping down the pavement
And I felt like summer

CHORUS:
And I know we’re never going back there
But I can remember

I was laughing through the fog
And I felt like clouds

CHORUS:

Love,
Jonah

Here’s a list of the instruments you will hear in the track:

• Acoustic Guitar: Jonah
• Lead Vox: Jonah
• Backing Vox: Jon Wash, Annie Fassler
• Vocal Bass and Beat Boxing: Jonah
• 6 OZ box of Annie’s Macaroni & Cheese: Jonah

Click the play button to play, or you can download the song.

Here are the lyrics:

I Don’t Need You To Know
Jonah Geil-Neufeld

I was taken in
on account that I don’t want to go to war
And I was trying to tell you
that my beliefs are what I do
and there ain’t nothing that’s worth killing for

I know we disagree
but we act like everything’s fine
But now I’m really glad
to tell you that I’m really mad
I’m done pretending like these problems are mine

CHORUS:
I don’t need you to,
I don’t need you to know
This ain’t no give and take
this ain’t no quid pro quo

I was thrown in jail
on account that I know who I am
But these words that I am writing
are not getting up and fighting
they’re just making a quiet stand

I know I’ve done some things
I might not have in retrospect
But when I look back and I see them
I would only want to keep them
Because I haven’t finished living yet

CHORUS:
I don’t need you to,
I don’t need you to know
This ain’t no mistake
this ain’t no leaving home

I was shipped off
to spend days cutting big old trees
And all the time I was complying
while the government was lying
That’s the moment I was finally freed

I know that I can’t speak
for all of us or any other living soul
But there are things I will discuss
and there are things that I will trust
and there are things that I don’t need you to know

CHORUS:
I don’t need you to,
I don’t need you to know
‘Cause I can make it,
I can make it on my own

It’s such a good feeling.

I took out my MacBook, booted up Garageband, and sang.  The result:  Six tracks of Jonah, all a cappella.  I made up the lyrics on the spot, as I was singing.

Enjoy.

-Jonah

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Update:  Here’s two other experiments.  Enjoy.