The past few days have been incredibly hard. We had to cancel Saturday's show. A friend of mine tried to commit suicide. Someone has hacked my debit card. Another friend is leaving town for good. My car's Check Suspension light came on. I think I have mono. And...
Drew quit the band last night. He'll be sending an official letter to all our fans after the show Friday, but the news was broken to me last night. I'll let him explain the reasoning later, rather than put words in his mouth. It took a lot of the starch out of me. And I didn't have a whole lot to begin with.
What this means for the Shaft, I don't know. This could be the shortest Geek Rock tour on record and we may end up only selling ten of our CDs to a very small audience. I'm at a complete loss as to what to do. I hate making music alone. And I hate losing Drew even more. I thought we were just starting to click as a band. I clearly thought wrong.

If anything, rob.plan is meant to be a completely open look at what is going through my mind. This will occasionally lead to discussions of a rather personal nature for God and sundry to see. But, we want to set the precedent very early in our careers that we are going to be very open with our fans. Bands have been killed because of ill-informed speculation, and I hope Arturo Got The Shaft never ends up as one of those bands.
I was really rejuvenated after I got back from an Interim trip to Ireland and, though sorely missing Eire, was glad to be alive. I'm currently at a loss to explain what happened between now and then that has cast such a pall on my everyday existence.
The fact that I sincerely hate my job at Wal-Mart and that I'm not taking any history classes this semester really leaves me without much motivation to do anything. It is getting to the point that I'd really rather sleep than get up in the morning. It seems dreaming is the only real time that I am truly content. All the stress of school, money, family, and whatever the hell you are supposed to call my love life consume my every waking moment. I'm in constant fear that everyone is going to think that the CD/band/me suck or that my professors are going to think I'm some idiot jackass or that I'm never going to get anywhere with my life.
I'm scared to death of ending up like my father. And fear only makes you work hard enough to keep the nightmares away.
I used to say that I judged my existence on my desire to shave; how much I actually wanted to look presentable said something about how I felt I was doing in my life... I've been forcing myself to shave for quite a while.

This past week has seen a lot of our grassroots promotion for the band with the two of us playing at a couple parties. Many thanks to these folks whom I still don't believe we actually *know*. Much rock was brought and many a string broken. With all the work we've had with the sound system, it is good to know we can still fill a noisy college party with sound all by our little unamplified selves. It's rough work in front of definitely unforgiving crowds, but somebody's got to do it.
Everyone who has bought the CD has enjoyed it so far, definitely a good sign. I have to admit I've always been scared to death of what people think of our music, but every bit of encouragement we've heard has meant the world to us. Drew is thinking that I'm pushing the CD too much, so if you happen to see me running around with a shiny piece of plastic in hand, quickly put a bag over my head and beat me with reeds before I tarnish the noncommercial name of Arturo Got The Shaft yet again.
This weekend will easily be the busiest weekend for the Shaft yet with two big shows on two big days. We're looking for bringing an unusually mellow amount of rock to the Blue Moon Friday (which probably won't happen), and then total rock obliteration at the Haymarket Hideaway Saturday. If you have the means to attend both shows, they will be quite different but all with the same geek rock attitude that has been the staple of the World's Uncoolest Band.

Never release a CD. No matter what your friends say. No matter what your bandmates think. Releasing a CD is guaranteed to make you pop up with stress zits like no other.
Last night, Drew and I rocked out to an ungodly hour and both agreed that we *had* to get up at 8:00am to print the labels and inserts for the CD. We've been trying for nearly half a week to get them printed ahead of time, but ran into problem after problem after motherfucking problem. We were getting desperate and absolutely against pushing back the release date. It was 20 February. We were releasing our CD.
Let me go on the record as saying that the printing facilities in the City of Hastings largely suck to such a stupifying degree, that mere astonishment caused us to patronize one of the many horrible options we were presented with. Let me also go on the record as saying that Drew and I are two reasonably intelligent gentlemen... unless we are sleep deprived. I don't believe collectively we could have established enough cognitive function to use crude stone tools. So, sleepy, stupid, and sincerely pissed off, we proceeded to trapse all across Hell and sundry in an attempt to find a place to print our labels. We succeeded... kind of.
So, in short, the CD is ready for people to purchase and the quality is up to our usual high standards. It caused possibly the worst day in Shaft history, but by God, we sold our first CD to Mr. Ben Clark at 11:13pm, making the release date by a full 45+ minutes. With the evening set in, we are pretty well good to go for our expected indulation of CD requests. Come and get 'em, they're nice and fresh.

This is a loud and emphatic message to all the divine forces who seem to be trying to prevent Arturo Got The Shaft from rocking fully:
It is Wednesday, 20 February 2002 and we *ARE* releasing our CD today!

The Shaft has come quite a long way in a year.
I was just noticing at tonight's rehearsal how much we have changed from the two guys with acoustic guitars that talked our way into the Blue Moon last April. For one, Drew is becoming rather salty on lead. His ear is becoming really finely tuned and his autonomy in choice of sound is becoming really apparent. This may seem like something any good band should do, because it *is*. However, it is a new experience for me; I feel like we are accelerating to another level of musicianship.
You'll see a lot of instrument changes this time around from the Shaft, but more importantly, I think you'll be seeing a real band. Before it was always the Rob (and Drew) Show. Now, Drew and I have become a more collobrative unit of mutual hatred and spewing slander. It is probably the most productive musical relationship I've had.
With all this improvement and change does bring a little worry with me: will we lose the special something the Shaft had back when we were playing two horrible and often out-of-tune guitars? What allowed us to keep coming back even though by all rights we sucked terribly? If it was the lively show that we tried to present, I would like to think that last year couldn't even hold a candle to what we have in store. But, I'm am a bit worried that our hard rock aspirations may forget to bring along what was good about our original sound. I guess only time, and our fans, will tell...

Well, the Shaft just rocked unreasonably hard in preparation for the spring tour, and I must admit I am excited beyond belief. The band has some seriously hilarious surprises in store for everyone. Lots of new songs are in the works, enough to fill another full CD and each one we finish seems to rock harder than the last one. I always love this part of the whole Shafted spring. The preparation is always the most exciting.
With all the stuff that comes with promoting the band in new areas, inevitably the question gets asked, "What is Geek Rock?" I don't think I've given a reasonably good answer yet.
The Geek Rock Revolution is all about taking something back for us. Sure, geeks generally land "good jobs," if by "good" you mean "brain trust wage slavery." Geeks, as a rule, don't end up in the lower economic classes and are as a matter of habit usually very well off in material wealth and career security. But, we are always missing something. We are always on the outside looking in. We are *always* geeks.
The music we write is about geeks and geek culture; the questions that keep us up at night, the issues for which we fight. What falls under this category? Everything from reminiscing about the video games we played as kids to the things we miss the most. We write about deadhead white-collar jobs, social awkwardness, comic books, sci/fi novels, the backs of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles cereal boxes. We also write about lovesick loneliness, yearning, wanting, disappointment, and betrayal. Sound like every other rock band out there? Well, the one predominating thing of the music is to tell everyone, including ourselves, that we are *not* alone. There are thousands of us children of the atom in the world and the only thing that separates us is a social stigma that we should have rejected a long time ago. Arturo Got The Shaft strives to draw that line in the sand with a smile... Music that lightens the mood, never takes itself too seriously, and lets every geek feel like he or she is a part of something special.
And perhaps that's what we want most out of the people who listen to our music. There is a sense of belonging and affinity when you're geek that is largely lacking. All geeks feel lonely... and we think no geek has to.

Just got back from the Blue October show over at Knickerbockers in Lincoln. I saw them a few months ago at a friend's behest, and found that they rocked supremely. Sadly, tonight Lando and I had to make a early retreat because both the band and the crowd were very much below our standards of rocking. If you haven't heard Blue October yet, do yourself a favor. They are a hard rock band with a classically trained violinist who is seriously the best I've ever heard. Add an extraordinarily charged lead singer and a really decent sound, and you have a rock band that I suggest.
However, tonight the rock was seriously sub-par. Blue October came out stating something to the effect of "we've been on tour for a while now, so if we look like shit we apologize." Hey, it was Valentine's Day, it was the end of a long list of dates, whatever the extenuating circumstances, Blue October decided to make the night really light on the rock. Damn.
So, Lando and I leave ears ringing and very much pleased with the violin solo we just heard when we spot a dude just outside the joint handing out flyers. Since my early days in the Cult of Wallism, I feel bad for anyone handing out flyers in the cold, so Lando and I grab one and head off to the car.
"Hey, dude, it's a new place down the street and they are looking for bands."
"Dude! I'm in a band!"
"Dude!!!"
So, we head down the street to a place called the "Haymarket Hideaway" to talk with a guy named Jeff. We found the place with the greatest of ease and found it to be kinda weird. It was clean. It was comfortable. It had atmosphere. Can bars like this exist in Nebraska? Promptly we went up to the bar and had a conversation with a class act by the name of Jeff McCandless and got a feel for the place. Talking with a few of the people there, we found out that the place just opened a few days ago and was trying to make a name for itself in the Lincoln nightscene. I gave Jeff our info, and he told us to check out the stage. Walking around I kinda felt like it had an Irish pub feel... This Jeff fellow clearly goes out of his way to make everyone have a good time. So, we suggest to all our fans in the area if you are going to Lincoln for a night on the town, be sure to stop by Jeff's place under the overpass. You might just hear the Shaft there soon.

Drew and I took the big trip down to Manhattan, KS to pick up the sound system we'll be using for the spring tour. Big thanks to Aaron and Chivalrous Productions for the use of their system. Our rock will be much, much harder now that I won't have to scream over our hard playing styles.
We couldn't just set it down... So we invaded Shaft friend Derek's basement and hooked everything up. Despite getting an incorrect mike cable and forgetting to get mike clips for our stands, we did manage to get the system up and running with little fuss. Before long we were rocking pretty hardcore. Drew's acoustic Ibanez sounded really, really cool through the system. I am sincerely looking forward to our future rocking.
A slight problem is the size. We have two cabinets with some bigass (a scientific measurement) speakers in them that come up to about my waist and Drew's knee. We'll probably only need one set for all our coffee shop gigs, and I'm a little afraid that the owners are going to get all freaked out when we bring our big cabinets. The good news is that we checked the sound on really low levels, and didn't have to turn up very much at all to get a good solid balance. It'll be a week or so until we get back our stuff from Yanda's repair shop before we can really put the system through the ropes, but right now it seems like the perfect sound system for the band.
Another couple dates are up for the tour, and more keep trickling in as all the people we sent CDs to get back to us. My personal goal is to play 10 shows over the spring and it is looking like we are going to get reasonably close to that when it is all said and done.
I've gotten a ton of input from people about our pictures, to which all the credit goes to Erin Koger, the Supreme Shaft photographess. I just hope people are taking the time to listen to our music too.
Need a Valentine? Just ask Lovemasta Drew and Rob. The Shaft is dedicated to bringing the most happiness to our fans, and if extending our Valentine hearts to even one and a half of you helps, it is *our* pleasure to do so. Seriously though, make sure this 14 February you make sure to let everyone you love know how you feel.

how much would you give for a second chance?
how much material in this physical world would you produce?
for another chance? an opportunity to undo one action?

Chandra Emmons is a raging stud. Mad props to her Imperial Geek Cartooning abilities. Could she be some sort of mystical goddess of all things artistic? The world may never know. We've been adding a few more of her artistic impressions of Drew and I and will add a few more in the coming days. They are all high quality, but I would be lapse in admitting my personal biases if I didn't mention that I think the Lord of the Rings one is the best of the collection. I about lost it the first time I saw it. Drew does resemble Gandalf in a weird ogrelike way. Any comments about my halfling appearance will earn a swift kick in the teeth.
We are getting ready to announce a contest to accompany the CD launch as soon as Drew and I get together and come up with a few decent ideas. The idea of a limerick competition was presented and may end up being the final decision, as it both rhymes *and* reminds me of Ireland. The winner of the competition will receive not only a copy of our album, but also a free song via telephone to any person of their choice. Can you choose yourself as the recipient? Well, aren't you the selfish one.

Up entirely too late again... But, going for the third day of continuity in keeping this thing updated. Is it really about keeping the site fresh and updated now? Or is it more of a personal vendetta? A quest to prove that, yes, I can stick to doing something for a period exceeding 15 minutes? Only time will tell...
I know what you're thinking. Being a South Central Nebraska coffee shop rock star must be money for nothing and chicks for free, but you know... some days it does get kind of difficult. I keep dreaming about that big show: a crowd jumping and screaming, Marshall stacks bigger than small houses, big confetti cannons, a guitar with a pickup... Just shouting into the mike and hearing the defining scream of a million geeks back at me. What a beautiful dream. Hell, right now I'd settle for a drum and bass player.
But, just as I'm about to get down on myself, one of my friends will mumble the words to a Shaft song and I'm as set as any rock star can be for the next week. Or someone will nod his or her head at a show to the beat of one of our tunes. Or someone will laugh hysterically to "Why Don't You." It's the little things that make someone feel like a rock star.

Drew and I wrote the first truly collaborative Arturo Got The Shaft song tonight. Usually, I have the song completed and he brings in a fill or a different guitar part. He was fiddling around on his twelve-string and I, by some totally divine stroke of luck, found a progression that fit instantly. The song literally fell together in the space of a few heartbeats.
And what a song it is. Seriously, it has the great potential to become the best song the Shaft will do this Spring, if only I write reasonably decent lyrics. But the tune, oh the tune... It is hard as nails.

It's kinda funny how ships pass through the night. How we sometimes stumble right past each other without a clue what is going on in each others' minds, in each others' hearts. The what-ifs, the only-ifs, the woulda-shoulda-coulda-beens. It's pretty funny indeed.
I've been writing "Still a Princess" for almost a week now and still can't get the next verse out of me. It's like Marla Singer; that cut on the roof of your mouth that would heal if you could only stop tonguing it. Drew figured out an extraordinarily kickass solo to it so I've kinda painted myself into a corner; the song simply rocks too hard to let go. I guess I'll have to suck it up, after all, I am a rock star.
I'm going to try to keep this .plan thing from turning into something that never gets updated. There is nothing I hate more than a band website that has absolutely nothing as far as news between CD releases. Then again, there is nothing I hate more than a band that posts "Hey, I just got a nosering" as substantial news. It is in this duality that rob.plan is written. No, it's not official Arturo Got The Shaft news. Yes, it is something that should be fresh, new, and from the band every single time you visit the site. Be prepared for some horribly scatological crap, but it is some food to keep the masses full while the band isn't generating headlines. It has been almost a year since the Shaft has sent anything out on the email list simply because I was doing my history thesis and there was nothing worthwhile and concrete to report. We had a lot of ideas, some songs were written, etc. but nothing that could be called substantial news. So, for those thin times in the ongoing Shaft saga, rob.plan will keep you updated on where we are, if a little informally.

Finally got this goddamn server-side include thing working. Hopefully I'll be able to get the site ready for release in this next week. Of course, whether or not the CD will be replicated and ready for the site release or not is another question entirely... After the worst practice in human history a few days ago, me and Drew rocked out last night. The show is really shaping up to be a blast.