math rock on harp?? (Patreon)

HIIIII EVERYONE!!! I hope you had an AMAZING holiday!!! I made my signature "lentil cookies" and "Grinch grapes" (which I make basically every year haha) and they were both pretty big hits at our little family holiday get together. What holiday traditions do you have?? Did you do them this year as well?

I'm currently sitting at my work desk, drinking some pumpkin tea, alternating between binging math rock and harsh noise because these are both genres I don't fully understand but want to try applying to the harp. I'm SHOCKED that there's not a book or a resource available to learn how to play math rock (although Trevor Wong on YouTube has been extremely helpful), especially for harp. As far as I know, the only resource books that exist for a particular style of playing harp is Jazz Harp: A Practical Method (which I own) and the International Rhythmic Collection that teaches you how to play in various rhythmic styles from North and South America and Europe (I also own this book, and it's AMAZING). 

I recently had the idea to not only create an all-encompassing advice book for gigging harpists and harpists wanting to use effects pedals, but now I'm wondering if I should also try to create a guidebook for how to play math rock on harp? A math rock guide book would be, like, a long term, 3-year goal, because first I would need to break out of my little 4/4 comfort zone and learn how to actually play math rock. Just thinking out loud here: I would love to include Yvette Young in a collaborative project like this; a fun book about how to apply the principles of math rock guitar to "math rock harp" in an easily digestible format that doesn't scare the crap out of any harpists who want to venture into that genre. Who knows?! Maybe this will be a thing one day! Fingers crossed.

Last week, I was lucky enough to see my good friend harpist Naomi SV while she's visiting NYC!! We went to The Witches Brew Coffee & Tea House, which is my absolute FAVORITE whimsical place to bring friends if they have the time to drive out there with me. It gives ✨~spooky vibes~✨ all year long, and you can sit and order pot after pot of different homemade teas and chat as long as you want -- for as many times as I've been there, I've NEVER seen it get crowded, and it's the coziest place to plop down and catch up (they have mismatched, thrifted furniture all over the place, and I never use the term "cottage-core", but if I did, I feel like it would apply here)!

I brought up my "general advice for gigging harpists" book idea to Naomi, who graciously offered to do some illustrations for it. I really think this would be an amazing project to work on, whenever I have time between the ridiculous number of projects I'm currently working on hahah. I wish I could tell you all about them, but most of them are under NDAs, so I'll only be able to talk about it when the projects are announced... but I seriously cannot WAIT for that day!!!

I'm sure you've seen the Instagram reel about it, but Josh from JHS sent me a custom JHS pedal called the "Whoppie Joonie" for Christmas. I seriously CANNOT believe he remembered that I called them Whoppie Joonies. We hung out during the first week of November when he was visiting, and I brought him to Dunkin Donuts (of course -- because what's more 'Long Island-y' than a late-night Dunkin run??) and we chatted until they closed. The Dunkin Donuts employee also told me I "looked like an anime character", and held up the reference photo below, which I later realized was Howl from Howl's Moving Castle. Absolutely amazing.

So yeah, that's what's been going on lately. A lot of stress surrounding my recently-diagnosed TMJD, but I'll keep you posted on all of that once I go to the appointment for my custom mouthguard sometime next month... Basically I'll have to wear a custom fitted mouthguard every day, during the day, for as long as I can, over an approximate 10-month period, to realign my jaw properly and prevent further damage. They think this could help improve my tinnitus, but -- as is the case with all strange, sudden medical issues -- they can't be sure. So I'm taking everything day by day! 

Back to math rock!! If you have any suggestions for bands to listen to, or resources to check out for more math rock goodness, please comment below!! ♡

ALSO THE WINTER STEAM SALE IS STILL GOING ON SO DON'T FORGET YOU HAVE UNTIL JAN 5 TO PICK UP ANY GAMES YOU'VE HAD YOUR EYES ON ♡♡♡