Scenes From The Scene Vol 2.

How an emotional boy got me out of a funk.

On Friday the 13th I was at the peak of my week old cold and the long work days had worn me out. I hadn?t seen my girlfriend since the New Year?s Eve Show, it was half a month later, and I had a show at the Cup in Wantagh the next day. I was ready to cancel. There was no way I could play a full three hours.

I was looking for a few good musicians to perform at a moments notice. Christine Sweeney was singing at Café Mojo, and many phones were off or busy. Fearing inadequacy, I took some vitamins, left Jon Sills an instant message, said a prayer, and went to bed early.

Waking up less under the weather, I got a call from resident percussionist, Toby Muzik. Jon would be playing the last minute show tonight, bringing his entire band, Bittermint.

As I entered the Cup that night, Toby was alone, gazing around, with his usual enthusiasm. Justine the Scientist was over to work on earlier recordings, so we had the equipment for a live record. Laptops set up, mics well placed, we were ready. My throat needed a tea-break and Mr. Sills was nowhere to be found. I had only his drummer, as the start of the night loomed. As the clock struck nine, Jon walked in with violist, Emi.

We decided to switch off sets, as a musical tag team event. Bittermint kicked it off, with a powerful barrage of their signature abrasive acoustic rock. Each song was followed by sarcastic on-mike banter, as chords were recalled from memory, and Jon?s stage personality dominated. The one day?s notice didn?t allow for rehearsal, only adding to their raw live sound. They produced the authentic emotion, all too absent from the usual whining that defines the ?emo? genre.

I hopped onstage, contrasting Jon?s emotional baggage, with a blend of light love songs, jazzy melodies, and power pop rock. The Cup gets rather loud with a crowd, but I knew that there was at least one table listening. I managed to keep the room?s attention by subtly employing my passive aggression, toying with dynamics (when the room got loud I lowered my playing until the people interested had to stop to listen).

Jon began another off-the-cuff performance, when Bittermint?s original muse walked through the Cup?s misty door. A fire haired woman strutted past the stage before settling in the opposite corner. To any square, she was just another young vixen, out with her friends for a cup of Joe. Those who knew Louisa?s sordid past with Jon knew better.

Her presence went unnoticed by Jon for a moment; then the inevitable happened. Jon was considering his next song during an extended mic break, when he saw her. Gears visibly shifted, Jon spewed ?There?s the girl who ripped my heart out, stepped on it, ran it over with a truck, tore it into a million pieces, and left it on the side of the road, waiting to die.? I choose to believe he was speaking in metaphor.

The Jon Sills that we now know was spawned one fateful day years ago, when Louisa brought young Sills to Pisces to dump him. After a few whiny ballads elicited abuse from Jesse Forgione, Jon showed a more promising side by singing that he was ?shaking, like a dog shitting razorblades.? With encouragement to pursue this darker path (and grow testes), Jon soon turned his writing voice towards a wittier and more vengeful kind of lust and lost-love lyric.

Back at the Cup, Jon and Louisa exchanged words and birds, boosting Bittermint to another level of performance. Jon finished strong, dedicating the rest of his set to both Louisa, and her best friend Debra. Each ?ripped my heart and hope you die? went to his red haired inspiration but his ?Love you till Tuesday? songs were for Deb.

You may think this was torture for those in the café, but there is something to be said for angst sparking creative combustion. Jon played the rest of his set intensely, and with new fuel to his fire. I returned for a final set, letting the Cup simmer down to a boil, swallowing a prescription of anti-depressing sound.

MattJasper.com