Attention, North America! The first DA (Diefenbaker acoustic) has arrived!

DA performance of Maybe Michelle, recorded live and sorta drunk at the September 26th, 2009 band practice. CLICKY CLICKY!


Where: Diefenbaker practice space, Hampden, Baltimore City, Maryland.

Who: S. Fedak (AKA fakeradish): vocal
J. Borneman (AKA Johnny Diefenbaker): acoustic guitar

More audio goodies coming soon (like tomorrow)!

Johnny D.

"What's Doin' With Diefenbaker?" volume 2 - post-09/24/09 band practice

Songs played:

"It's Not So Easy For Everyone"
"Interstate 80"
"Maybe Michelle"
(all Borneman/Fedak)

Long band practice tonight. Long and enjoyable, no rickness in sight. I think it went over an hour and a half, but I didn't pay much attention to when exactly it started. A very long practice to only get around to playing three songs, eh? Well, I'll try to break it down for you...

Far and away the star of the evening was the Casiotone MT-68 (see previous post). We started with "Not So Easy", for which the keyboard very able-ly (sp?) provided the rhythm track... massively through the bass amp, of course. I thought it was sounding great overall, though Shari's still having trouble with the phrasing (she only sang on that one, no keyboards attempted). We attempted to iron out the biggest wrinkle, the "remember those you left with and those left behind" line a few times, then ever forward.

Next up, we worked on "Interstate 80". Much rickness has been experienced in the past with regards to coming up with a keyboard part for this song, so Shari wanted to try out her new best friend, the MT-68, on this one and see if some new inspiration could be manifested. One cheap distortion pedal later, and we had a 20-minute version of "I-80" that sounded like an outtake from Radiohead's "Kid A" record. Nothing really set in stone as for the key part, mind you, but new sounds and ideas abounded, and it sure did sound good while it was going on. Something to build on, to be sure. The MT-68 strikes again...

What better song to end on, for "struggling rock band" Diefenbaker, than "Maybe Michelle"? We ran though it twice, MT-68 in tow, and it sounded great. As always. Cised.

The one piece of bad news for the evening (for me, at any rate) is that, apparently, all of the covers that we were previously working on have been vetoed. While, as Diefenbaker's sole songwriter, it's certainly flattering that the singer is so into the originals that she finds the covers boring, I, personally, will miss Lush's "Kiss Chase" and Love Spit Love's "Am I Wrong?" at band practice. Not to mention Aimee Mann's "Guys Like Me", Metric's "Gimme Sympathy" and ol' Bruce Springsteen's "My Hometown" from the I'm Busy demos that never even made it into the current incarnation of The Dief. Farewell, dear friends, I shall always remember your chord progressions ;____;

Keep on rockin' in the free world, Rickies
Jonathan Diefenbaker

SUPPLEMENTAL: Casiotone MT-68

As Johnny Diefenbaker stated, the source of awesome was a Casio keyboard. He failed to mention that it was one of my many loves, the Casiotone MT-68. Oh Casiotone, how I love you. Upon being pretty dissatisfied with the drum beat he chose for "It's Not As Easy for Everyone", I lept from my seat and grabbed the Casiotone and hooked it up to the bass amp. The beats, they were a-bumpin'.

Any donations of exceedingly crappy keyboards are strongly encouraged. Although, I wouldn't really call the MT-68 crappy. You should hear the pipe organ sound. I bet if I combined it with an amp and a distortion pedal it would sound amazing.

"What's Doin' With Diefenbaker?" volume 1 - post-09/22/09 band practice

Tonight's was quite the atypical band practice. Lately we've been in a pretty good rut as far as band practice structure goes: Enter practice room, set up and "duck" around for 15-20 minutes, then launch into one of our four songs, repeat song, move on to next song, repeat that song, etc., and, poof, an hour's gone by. Things were a bit different tonight, but it all still worked out... eventually.

"The Rickness" (a general bad mood) was present from the beginning. Due to reasons totally unrelated to the band (residual effects of fryed cheese consumption over the weekend at the Maryland RennFest, threatening emails from health insurance providers) I (Johnny Diefenbaker) did not enter the practice in the correct mental state. Add to that the fact that we were going to attempt to add another song to the repertoire this evening and I only found out what song it would be after I entered the practice room. Conditions were not ideal, to say the least.

One run-through of "Maybe Michelle" (and a brief break to familiarize ourselves with our parts for the new song) later and things were off and running.

Discussions were had as per the desired BPM's and rhythm track for the new one, the history of the song (it's an original, actually quite old... circa 1997, I think), after which multiple run-throughs were attempted. Another Casio keyboard was brought in and a much more fitting drum track was introduced, which made me see the old-ass (to me) song differently and got me "butt-cised"(excited) about it as a Diefenbaker song.

Songs played this practice:

Maybe Michelle (Borneman/Fedak)
It's Not So Easy For Everyone (Borneman)

If you'd like to hear an extremely rough version of "It's Not So Easy", I'd refer you to Diefenbaker's soundclick page. As mentioned in the below supplemental post, though, the versions of the songs there bear very little resemblance to the "full band" versions one might hear on a tuesday, thursday, or saturday night if one happened to be passing by a certain rowhouse in Baltimore.

SUPPLEMENT: Why Diefenbaker?

I'll be perfectly honest here - I was not the one who chose the name for our band. However, after quite a lot of personal reflection, it makes sense. We are a Canadian/American duo. We both enjoy Due South. There are, however, contrasts - I might possibly be superhuman; however, Jeff is not Italian-American. We also do not own a mint-green Buick Riviera. But these are small things.

Also, please pay no mind to the demos below. They are in no way representative of our sound. I do the vocals now and I have a sense of pitch and what not. It is Vecchio with no Fraser, and thus less harmonious.

The Diefenblog: An Introduction

Why, hello there.

Welcome to the first post in The Diefenblog, a blog conceived as your one-stop informational resource as to the goings on of rock n' roll band Diefenbaker, a group heretofore shrouded in both mystery and disinterest. At the very least, check back weekly for the "What's Doin' With Diefenbaker?" post for a rundown of the band's thrice-weekly practices to keep up with the songs played and the progress made. MP3's of song snippets in-progress from the practices and special DA (Diefenbaker acoustic) performances also coming soon.

What is Diefenbaker?

Diefenbaker is a Baltimore, Maryland, based indie rock band. The band began practicing and refining material in August of 2009, after a preliminary period of songwriting starting in February of 2009. The band's sound bears the influence of '70's and '80's British post-punk and new wave over a template of '90's and '00's Britpop and American alt-rock.

Who is Diefenbaker?

So far:
J. Borneman - guitars, back-up vocals
S. Fedak - keys, lead vocals

Lyrics: Borneman. Music: Borneman, Fedak.

Current setlist?

Maybe Michelle (Borneman/Fedak)
Kiss Chase (Berenyi) (Lush cover)
Interstate 80 (Borneman/Fedak)
Am I Wrong? (Butler/Butler) (Love Spit Love cover)

Anything currently available to listen to?

The "demo stage" of Diefenbaker (February '09 to July '09) produced 10 rough demos, essentially an album's worth of songs, which has since been dubbed "I'm Busy: The Diefenbaker Demos". Comprised of six new originals, one old original, and three covers, it's available for listening or download here: www.soundclick.com/diefenbaker . Three more originals and another cover are currently being worked on outside of band practice sessions, more in keeping with the "full band" dynamic and the influences that both members bring to the group. When demoed, these songs will form the beginning of a second Diefenbaker "demo album", tentatively titled "Farewell, Diefenbaker!"

Look for the first post-practice blog tomorrow, Tuesday, Sept. 22, sometime around 10 pm EST.

That is all.

Your friend,
Diefenbaker