Soul Amp

Saturday, January 19, 2008

Lake Michigan Shore Ice Formations - Ice on the shores of Doctors Part in Milwaukee in 2004 - includes video of waves

Lake Michigan Doctors Park Milwaukee shore ice formations December 2004

Michigan Doctors Park Milwaukee shore ice formations December 2004 - Pic by Mike Fisk - soul-amp.com

On the coldest day this year (2008) I went out and took some pictures of the ice and mist on the shores of Lake Michigan in Milwaukee. It was minus 14 degrees Farenheit this morning. Brrrrr..... I'll post the photos from today soon, but I thought you might want to see what it looked like at Doctors park in December 2004 (not one of the best years of my life so far... but so it goes...iiwii). Anyhow, here's the pics and video:

Lake Michigan Doctors Park Milwaukee shore ice formations December 2004

Here's a video:

Lake Michigan Shore Ice Video

Here's tune wih the cold in mind:

Deep Mercury

For tons and tons of Free Mp3s of the Soul Amp variety:

Free Soul Amp Music

And here's more coldest day in Wisconsin, Lake Michigan ice formation sunrise photos:

Friday, January 18, 2008

Prelude to Something - Werner upright piano (approx 120 years old)

Prelude to Something

Here's a tune I made up on my deceased grandmother's upright Werner piano from 1890 at my mom's house in Colorodo. It's very short. I used the Zoom to record it. More piano tunes to come as well as more band practice sessions. Enjoy. Have a great weekend!! Go Packers!!

Thursday, January 17, 2008

Techno Acid Trip Chihuahua - Melvin busts a groove!!

Staring M2 and V's talented chihuahua, "Melvin". Check him out:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8cDl-HWgy-c

Movie was directed, choreographed, and filmed by the also very talented Vanessa N. Very cool! Cracks me up!

Tuesday, January 15, 2008

Rob Nero Photography - Milwaukee Strip Mall Heaven photographer

Milwaukee Photographer - Rob Nero's Strip Mall Heaven cover

Milwaukee photographer/layout artist, Rob Nero, created the concept, images, and layout for Soul Amp's CD Strip Mall Heaven. Check out Rob Nero's website here. Here's all the images for Strip Mall Heaven . We think they fit in perfectly with the overall theme of the CD and we found them haunting and yet hopeful images (check out the dandelion). Be sure to click on them and expand them to get the full effect of Rob Nero's brilliant work (and be sure to read the awesome poem by M2). Without further ado here's the rest of the images:

Rob Nero's Strip Mall Heaven images - back of CD case

Photographer - Rob Nero's Strip Mall Heaven artwork

Milwaukee "Strip Mall" Photographer - Rob Nero's Strip Mall Heaven images - pages 2 and 7 of booklet

M2's Poem - Rob Nero's Strip Mall Heaven images - pages 4 and 5 of booklet

Rob Nero's Strip Mall Heaven images - pages 6 and 3 of booklet

Rob Nero's Strip Mall Heaven images - back cover image on booklet

Be sure to go to Rob Nero's website here. He's available for weddings and whatever other photo needs you might have.

Here's Soul Amp's top ten songs:

http://www.soul-amp.com/Top_Ten_Songs.html

Here's the Milwaukee Skyline:

http://soul-amp.blogspot.com/2007/10/sailing-in-milwaukee.html

Here's some coldest day in Milwaukee pics:

http://soul-amp.blogspot.com/2008/01/coldest-day-in-milwaukee-2008-milwaukee.html

Here's some pics of a stranded sail boat:

http://soul-amp.blogspot.com/2007/12/chinook-34-wrecked-milwaukee-sailboat.html

Monday, January 07, 2008

Solar Power - Everybody, let's get going on this!

We've got to let everybody know that solar power is a good solution to many of our enery/pollution problems. Check out this recent Scientific American article:

http://www.sciam.com/article.cfm?id=a-solar-grand-plan

...be sure to read the comments for others solar power ideas and some dissension on the idea.

here's another article on cheap solar panels:

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/12/18/technology/18solar.html?ex=1355634000&en=091b06819623f9d0&ei=5088&partner=rssnyt&emc=rss

Free MP3s... Index of Free Music from Soul Amp....and use the soul-amp.blogspot.com for learning about ways to make music and art! Enjoy!

There is gobs and gobs of Free Music in MP3 format created by Soul Amp and other affliated bands or artists... and it's all here for your enjoyment:

http://soul-amp.com/freebies

Do what you like with them except make money with them. The copyrights to these sound records are all owned by Soul Amp. If you want to use them to make money, contact us at:

mailto:info@soul-amp.com

Send to friends, put them on your mp3 players (iPod and/or whatever else), burn them to CD... whatever you like... just spread the word about this crazy, strange, Milwaukee Wisconsin Jam/Alternative/Alt-Country band.

Also, enjoy browsing through the entries in this blog... there's a lot of weird crap to check out including essays, lots of photos, and even paintings.

Saturday, January 05, 2008

Fart Proudly by Benjamin Franklin - Overdriven, distorting, clipping Zoom H4 - a Hammond M3 tune by Milwaukee Alternative Jam Band: Soul Amp

Fart Proudly by Benjamin Franklin

"...To discover some Drug wholesome & not disagreable, to be mix’d with our common Food, or Sauces, that shall render the natural Discharges of Wind from our Bodies, not only inoffensive, but agreable as Perfumes..." - Benjamin Franklin (Here's the "Letter to the Royal Academy" where the quote comes from...which definitely worth a read =).)

Below is an mp3 sample that features the Hammond M3!! The M3 straight. No Motion Sound amp on this one.

Anyhow, in September, Bradly and I got together for a practice (M2 couldn't join us). We came up with tune on the fly and then I added some words later (yep this is the first time I've posted a song where I'm singing... ugh). Before the song started Brad read the title of a compilation of Benjamin Franklin's irreverant writings... so that was recorded and inspired me to write the lyrics.

Unfortunatly, or fortunately, the recording level on the Zoom H4 was set too high and so there's a lot of distortion and clipping in this tune. So this is a good sample of a Zoom H4 overdriven (if you happened to be looking for the Zoom H4 distorting).

So here's the song with vocals:

Fart Proudly with Vocals

Here's the original without vocals:

Fart Proudly without Vocals

Both are pretty "farty" tunes that no amount of studio perfume can fix wouldn't you agree?... enjoy or Not!! Have a great weekend!!!

Thursday, January 03, 2008

Ana María Rezk Rezk - Artist

Ana Mara Rezk Rezk Art

Check out the art at this link... very cool stuff:

http://arezka1.blogspot.com/2008/01/blog-post_8987.html

Just talked to my mom and it doesn't do anything for her, but I think it's quite nice art. It's inspiring me to try something similar using photography. I ran across it using:

http://play.blogger.com/

Monday, December 31, 2007

Milwaukee Jam Band, Soul Amp, releases their first slide show video...

Red Rose image - photo by Mike Fisk

Rose on Black Background - photo by Mike Fisk -- soul-amp.com

Happy New Year Everybody!

Here's a new song from the HOG gig in October. This is the last song of the first set. It's all made up on the spot including Brad's lyrics. It was recorded using a Zoom H4 on a tripod. It was mastered in Cakewalk using Ozone3. It's a rare Soul Amp love song.

So anyhow, here's the song on it's own:

Make Another Motion of Love

Here's a broadband picture video (12.5 MB) of Mike Fisk (me) photos to accompany the music:

Make Another Motion of Love - Live at the HOG - Photo Video (small)

And here's a downloadable version of the video that's much higher quality (50 MB):

Make Another Motion of Love - Live at the HOG - Photo Video (large)

Here's Blogger's copy of the video if you just want to play it right here:

Sunday, December 30, 2007

The start of a Milwaukee Jam Band....June 2004

Origin of a Milwaukee Jam Band - June 2004

Here's a pic of Brad and I when Soul Amp was just a few months old. Yep, we're a couple of goofballs.... =)

This was taken a month or two before M2 joined. We were practicing in this warehouse space of a relative of our then drummer who quit not too much longer after this pic was taken. We didn't have a band name at the time and so we thought we would call ourselves "xxx Quits" where "xxx" was the name of our then drummer who shall remain nameless. We have since become quite the Jam Band thanks in large part to M2.

Zoom H4 - short review summary - recorded samples...

Friday, December 28, 2007

Milwaukee Handmade Furniture Artist - Todd Fillingham

Check out this Milwaukee artists/craftsman, Todd Fillingham:

http://www.fillingham.com/index.htm

http://fillingham.wordpress.com/

His furniture pieces are amazing!

Check out Todd's studio at:

Fillingham Art Furniture Design
1726 North 1st Street
Milwaukee, WI 53212

Wednesday, December 26, 2007

Milwaukee Holiday/Christmas Lights Photos/Images/Pics...Taken on Christmas Day!... Enjoy!

Milwaukee Holiday Lights on Christmas Day - Dec 2007 - photo by Mike Fisk

Here's some more pics of Milwaukee Holiday Lights... includes a couple pics from Candy Cane Lane in West Allis where about 5 or 6 square blocks of folk decorate their homes and collect money for the MAAC fund. This year they plan on collecting $100,000. Very cool.

There's also three videos here of a house that uses a small FM transmitter to play music into your car's stereo and then has their lights syncrhonized to the music. Also very cool. Check it out:

You can also see more Milwaukee Christmas Lights by clicking here.

So here's the pics (they're kind of psychedelic, huh?).... well you all have A Merry Whatever You Like and an Excellent New Year!!

Milwaukee Holiday Lights on Christmas Day - Dec 25, 2007 - photo by Mike Fisk -- soul-amp.com

Saturday, December 22, 2007

Cloud Gate - Millenium Park Chicago - Giant Big Old Silver Jelly Bean - Zingo Bango Bomp - Soul Amp Live at the HOG

Cloud Gate - Millenium Park Chicago - August 2007 - image by Mike Fisk

Zingo Bango Bomp and the Gate in the Cloud

It seems like the images fit. So here's Soul Amp's tune Zingo Bango Bomp and the Gate in the Cloud which was recorded at the HOG in October 2007 . It is the third tune in the first set. The photos are of the Cloud Gate which is this honking metal reflective stainless steel blob in Millenium Park in Chicago. The reflections it makes are very interesting and inspiring. I dig it.

The tune starts out as Zingo Bang Bomp (one of our new tunes this year), but then because I couldn't feel the chords right (I got them right in the first phrase, but after that I doubted myself) it morphs into a new tune which I'm calling "The Gate in the Cloud". Be sure to click the grey link above to listen to the tune.

Cloud Gate - Millenium Park Chicago - I like the effect that the flash has on the metal - August 2007 - image by Mike Fisk

Cloud Gate - Millenium Park Chicago - looks like your looking into a stainless metal toilet bowl (like on airliners) filled with tiny odd-shaped people - August 2007 - image by Mike Fisk

Cloud Gate - Millenium Park Chicago - these were taken when I went to Chicago on the Metra with E and her family - August 2007 - image by Mike Fisk

Free CDs - Britney Spears Bullshit - God's Key - Gig chatter....

Here's some chatter in between songs at the HOG gig this last Oct. Just cracked me up (and me only me, but I thought it was pretty funny... well Brad and M2 are pretty damn funny at least).... so this is not a song and so you don't have to listen.... Listen to Desert Sun instead. The thing is... come to our gigs and you can get a free CD or two (well at least they're free at the gigs (not free online) until we become huge annoying rock stars who will sell you bottles of our sweat even though we have sweat in abundance... ok ok ok... we're all over-the-hill and we'll never become rock stars and I really don't see how we can become anymore annoying than we already are....)....Well anyway....here ya go:

Free CDs

Friday, December 21, 2007

Milwaukee Christmas Lights - Ziedler Park

Took some photos last night of the Milwaukee Christmas Lights at Ziedler park and some on Wisconsin Ave. So Enjoy and have a Happy Whatever You Like and a Merry Anything You Choose to Celebrate!! =)