New Song & Video from The Idle Hours: "The Road"

Hey all! I know it's been a few months, and a heckuvalot of things have happened.  I feel like I always come to you, full of promises to be better, like a bad lover...alas, I have no great excuse, except the usual busy-ness of travels and teaching.

But the good news! I have a new video to share. If you've been following my previous posts, I have a project with Nashville producer Marc Lacuesta (newly Grammy-nominated for his work with Francesca Battistelli) called The Idle Hours. We released an EP in August, which includes a very special song to us called "The Road."  Yesterday we released a video for the song!  It's been 7 months coming, but with the talents of Austin Jose and John Enriquez at Homeroom Production-Creative, we've put together a lovely children's story to underline the feel of the song.

Also, keep your ears open for the legendary BJ Cole on pedal steel guitar. BJ was kind enough to play on our song during a recent stay in Nashville and we were very lucky to have him.  Enjoy!

 

A story of friendship forged across the universe.  This is the Official Music Video for "The Road" by The Idle Hours. Download the song at http://TheIdleHours.bandcamp.com // "The Road" is written and performed by The Idle Hours (Alfa Garcia/Marc Lacuesta), featuring B. J. Cole on pedal steel // Published by HD Music Now (Mission Viejo, CA) // Support The Idle Hours at http://www.Facebook.com/TheIdleHours
-------
Concept by: Alfa Garcia, Austin Jose, John Enriquez, Rob Bieselin
Illustration: Austin Jose
Motion graphics: John Enriquez, Kevin Weyrick Knowles
Direction: Austin Jose & John Enriquez
Producer: Homeroom - Production Creative
Executive Producer: Alfa Garcia
------

from The Idle Hours (EP), released 26 August 2014. Recorded in Nashville, TN
Lead vocals: Marc Lacuesta
Background vocals: Alfa Garcia
Pedal steel guitar: B.J. Cole
Acoustic guitars: Alfa Garcia, Marc Lacuesta
Electric guitar: Mike Payne
Melodica, Maracas: Marc Lacuesta
Piano: Alfa Garcia
Upright bass: Vinnie Lu
Engineered and mixed by Marc Lacuesta
-------

"The Road"
(lyrics and music by Alfa Garcia/Marc Lacuesta)

If I had another eye, I'd see the whole world
two to keep me between the lines, as the road turned
one stayed on the setting sun behind me
if I had the eyes to see.

Alone I keep a steady keel, my conscience
timing like an idle wheel across the distance
ever-wishing you were here to give me grace
to fill the empty space, singin'

Ooooh... this wandering road.

This old North Dakota blue is an ocean
deeper than the fields we knew as children
and when I'm feeling very small and overcome
our song will guide me home, singin'

Oooh... Ooooh...
this wandering road.

----

New Video! WAR!

[View full-screen in HD for best quality]

WAR! Teaser // Season of writing.

"WAR!" is debuting on April 22nd on ISAtv, but here's a quick teaser courtesy of Conrad, the director.

I've been transitioning back to a season of writing, and the whole thing feels slightly off-kilter for me. I've learned that the best way to get into creativity is to find a sense of calm.  A lot of the time, this means that normally minor distractions can start to feel like frustrating ones.  That doesn't mean they aren't good distractions - I just played the songwriter's round that I host at Renaissance Hotel last night, and am gearing up for a showcase I'm playing with my publishing company in a few weeks, not to mention I'll be MOH at my sister's wedding in 2 weeks - but my first goal is to be more productive with songwriting. So hyper-focused am I at getting to this goal, that I often forget that the trick is sometimes just to let it go (cue that song from "Frozen" that I'm not actually a big fan of. Sorry.)

So far I've averaged a song per week.  That's OK, the gears are just warming up.  More scratches to come soon...

   By the way, here is the flyer for the showcase I am playing next month.  It is hosted by Gas Can Music, which publishes "World Go Blue," and is open to music supervisors looking to license.  If by happenstance you are a music supervisor who's stumbled onto my blog and would like to join the event, you can email Licensing@GasCanMusic.com.

Shooting the War! Video

Two weekends ago, I had the immense pleasure of gathering some friends together to help me shoot my video for "War!", which will debut on April 22nd. I can't actually properly express how much fun this whole thing was, so here's a GIF to give you an idea. Photos shot by Red Lebrun:

As you can see, we are decked out in face paint and some interesting costume choices. We got together one Sunday for a massive pillow fight in the park.  We will be pairing these shots with some band footage we gathered at The Great Company in downtown LA.

The idea for this video was born out of a small idea I had a long time ago to pair the song "War!" with some kind of fight. I ran over the list in my head - zombie fight, paintball fight, water fight, and eventually pillow fight. After approaching a couple directors and running into small hiccups left and right, I put the idea on the back burner while doing my travels in the Fall and Winter. Eventually, I brought the idea to my friend and director Conrad Lihilihi, running the idea of a zombie fight past him. He instantly got excited about the concept and came back with some of his own input. I was getting a really good feeling that we were on the same page, and also felt that the video would need the kind of comic timing that Conrad is naturally great at.  Eventually, we fleshed out the logistics and realized the zombie fight would get costly and might seem too violent (I wanted to move away from anything controversial - like in last year's "Blue" video). We opted for the pillow fight instead, and I'm super happy with the way it all came out.  Stay tuned - the video will be officially out soon, but in the meantime, you can listen to it on Bandcamp!

Behind the "Cup of Coffee" Music Video

This was an amazing and incredibly busy day in April. It took us a long time to get the video out because I'd been hoping that I'd be able to get a video for "War!" out first. Alas, I underestimated how busy 2013 would be, but I'm happy that I was able to release this before year's end.

"Cup of Coffee" (the video) is a project spearheaded by Eliot Aether, who approached me earlier this year saying he felt a connection to the song and wanted to do it justice by putting a video together. Eliot has worked with some great talent in the past, and I knew I'd be in good hands.  He singlehandedly gathered a team of camera operators, a Director or Photography (Sergio Arguello, guy with a great eye and amazing resume), a makeup/hair person (Tammie Lee), as well as an post-production team that worked for months to get the final video together.  We shot in the beautiful piano studio of David Andersen (davidandersenpianos.com), a room full of Steinways that just about took my breath away. Also to thank - for her warmth, openness, and sweaters (it was cold that day) is the sculptor Tanya Ragir (tanyaragir.com), who lives with David and agreed to let us take over their backyard for an afternoon.  You can't see it in the video, but her sculptures are placed around the backyard, and they're perfectly inspired.  Justin Juarez is the handsome guy who agreed last-minute to be part of the shoot. I think we pulled off our romance fairly convincingly - apartment arguments and awkward beach strolls included.  My favorite part of shooting with Justin was making up something to be mad at him about (kind of hard, since he's such a nice dude).  I think I recall making up a bit about how I had caught him talking to some girl at a bar, some blonde girl with big boobs. To which he retorted, "I don't even like big boobs!"  That got us laughing for a little while.

Anyway, here's the video if you haven't seen it!  Thank you to the amazing team who put it all together!

Official music video for "Cup of Coffee" // DOWNLOAD the track at [http://alfamusic.bandcamp.com] // Heard on E!'s "Keeping Up with the Kardashians"

Presented by Antidote30/Playa Design
Executive Producer: James Elliot Green | Producer: Jared Green
Director: Eliot Aether | Director of Photography: Sergio Arguello
Camera Operator: Abdul Malik Abbott
Editor: Katrin Leo Pako | Colorist: Jake Blackstone
VFX: Jason Fordham | Makeup & Hair: Tammie Lee
Actor: Justin Juarez | Special thanks: Tanya Ragir (tanyaragir.com) & David Andersen (davidandersenpianos.com), Phil Roc, Katz Carter, Paul Condon, Rob Bieselin.

About the track:
"Cup of Coffee" is from the album "World Go Blue", released 29 January 2013
Nick Adams (drums), Alfa Garcia (lead vocals, piano, guitar), Marc Lacuesta (BGV's), Paul Wight (electric guitar), Steve Wight (bass)
Written by Alfa Garcia. Published by Gas Can Music, Orange County, CA.
Recorded and mixed by Paul Wight. Monrovia, CA. Mastered by Alan Douches at West West Side Music. New Windsor, NY.

LYRICS: http://alfamusic.bandcamp.com/track/c...
www.alfa-music.com

Mid-December; digging out thermals.

The cold is a daily fixture now, creeping in despite the sun; making things still and forcing the hurried mind to slow. I am grateful that "cold" in LA is in the 40's-50's. See, I'm headed for Chicago this weekend, where it's more like 18 degrees. Brrr.  I'll have to dig out the thermals.

But despite that, I am happy to be able to go back and headline for Mt. Prospect's fundraiser event to benefit victims of Typhoon Haiyan and the recent Illinois tornadoes.  I got a call a few weeks ago from an acquaintance I'd made out there, who owns the beautiful E+O restaurant out in the suburb.  I don't know what made him think of me, but I'm grateful.  Chicago will become my most-visited city in 2013.  I think this will be my 4th trip out there this year.

Speaking of benefits, my songwriter friend Andrew Abaria and I put together a fundraiser concert this weekend at his gorgeous home in Silver Lake. We raised $900 for Direct Relief's efforts in the Philippines and got 4 boxes worth of clothing to donate to my family's church in Bohol, which is distributing goods to the earthquake victims.  I couldn't help but think about how lucky we are, as I folded well-made polo shirts, designer jeans and intricately woven blouses into Atlas shipping boxes. How lucky we can give this stuff away.  How insane there are people in this world who don't even have a reliable set of clothing to wear every day.

Austin, Rob and me putting together the last of the clothing donations.

Meanwhile, I'm getting together the December songwriter's Round at The Renaissance on Friday, which I'll be playing along with some other new LA songwriters I've met.  And then debuting the "Cup of Coffee" music video tomorrow.  I am really excited for this one.  I was a little unsure at first - thought the whole ordeal was too made up for me - but now...now I think it's just right.  For as much as it's about sticking to your guns, being an artist is also about trying out new experiences. And that's definitely how I see the whole experience of shooting this music video. 

Oh, by the way. I almost forgot. I was featured in Candy Magazine in this month's issue!  Kind of awesome.  The shot is below.  I've never seen Friday Night Lights, but it sounds like a neat comparison...