“Funkin’ Blame Game” single captures Andrew Thomases asking the important questions

Here at OTBEOTB there have been some tremendous guest blogs I’ve had the pleasure of putting out recently. Material placed upon these digital pages is required to speak; to have a message that’s as relevant to the reader as it is my own two eyes. And Andrew Thomases may have just made one of the most urgently poignant features I’ve had yet.

The singer-songwriter delves into the delicate guts of his recent single “Funkin Blame Game”, a muscly blues tune further enhanced by the presence of fellow rocker Anne Bennett on backing vocals. The duo together only adds to the punch of the lyrical message, which is what what may excite me most about giving a platform to Thomases words here.

We currently live during a time in history in which US human rights are vanishing at an alarming rate; actions initiated by discrimination and fear against those in society who are different. Subsequently, it strikes a chord to me to hear Thomases ask the question, why do people blame others for their actions instead of taking personal responsibility? To me it feels like a societal wound; you aren’t what we consider normal so we’ll harass you for that and deny our heinous actions are wrong.

But I’ll let Thomases take it from here and explain the rest. Enjoy this important bite of food for thought!

What is going on in society today? It seems to me that people tend to blame other people for their problems and refuse to take responsibility for their own actions. Whether it is small individual actions or large-scale political or cultural sentiment, people are looking for scapegoats. This trend has bothered me so much that I recently wrote a song about it called “Funkin’ Blame Game.”

As the lyrics explain, I tend to believe that the blame game derives from a deeper narcissistic trait that is rearing its head. We see it more and more in our leaders, and that opens up the door to emulation of that trait by everyday people. The narcissists believe that they are always right, that they cannot make mistakes, and, thus, any problem must be caused by others. If others blame them for something, they play the victim and complain that the blame is unfair.

*Thanks to Andrew Thomases for the image*

This blame game is damaging our moral fabric. It is teaching our kids that it is wrong to admit to a mistake. That, if something goes wrong, they should point a finger at someone else. Some people no longer have the courage to take responsibility for their actions, especially the decisions that turn out wrong. This seems most prevalent in the people who should be leading our country. Without their leadership, spinelessness turns to anger, and anger is now turning to hate and splitting society into factions. These people are not serving as proper role models for our younger generation, and I fear that the blame game will continue.

“Funkin’ Blame Game” is a direct attack on this type of behavior. Under the funky bass line, the catchy guitar riffs, and the ear-worm vocal melodies, the song chastises all of us for falling into the trap of providing excuses rather than admissions. How constant deflection of flaws is just not credible. And, it also explains how the blame game is killing our society. However, the song ends on a positive note. It asks all of us whether we are prepared to stop playing the blame game. Don’t you want to cease playing the blame game?

Watch the lyric music video for “Funkin’ Blame Game” down below, and check out more of Andrew over at his website AndrewThomases.com. Big thanks to Andrew for contributing to this one!

June 29, 2022 0

Andrew Thomases provides burnout relief for needed times

Burnout is a term that’s only grown in relevancy since the COVID-19 pandemic entered humanity’s worldview. I picture burnout as the Opera’s mysterious Phantom; covertly sly in the parlors of mental exhaustion as it quietly adds to the brain burden. You don’t see it coming, or at least I never did.

In my mind I thought burnout required massive amounts of exhaustion brought on by a dogged fight with piles of important work. But as I’ve learned now, those feelings can manifest through a variety of triggers both large and small. I deal with such issues to this day, which is why I appreciate those who’ve felt the burnout and can offer advice on potentially easing it.

Enter musician and previous OTBEOTB feature Andrew Thomases. He and the lovely people at Muddy Paw PR have put together a great feature on the subject of salving burnout that I’m so pleased to share with you below! -C

Bay Area-based conscious rocker Andrew Thomases is not only a talented singer-songwriter, but an experienced attorney as well. He has always had a passion for music, but he put that passion on hold to develop a career and raise a family. In the midst of the pandemic, his love was reignited, and he reveals his journey back to music in his new single “Exploring.”

Thomases takes on themes of empowerment and curiosity in the song. Through it, he encourages listeners to be adventurous again and try something they’ve always wanted to do. It is a powerful reminder to make the most out of life, something that he often advocates for. Read his story below on how the process of making music helped him escape burnout and reinvigorated him throughout the pandemic.

As you may know, I am a 54-year-old attorney by day, and I have been practicing law for 27 years. So, I have had my run-ins with burnout. Whether it’s the tedium of work or the hardships of life, sometimes you just feel like you are stuck in a rut.

How do I overcome this? I challenge myself to get out of my comfort zone by learning new things, meeting new people, and traveling to new places. I love exploring all aspects of life, so I want to make sure the sense of adventure is always present. Planning a trip gives me something to look forward to. Meeting new people gives me new perspectives on life. And, learning new things keeps the mind active.

For me, the last one is the most important. I have loved music since I was really young, and I started playing bass guitar when I was about 10 years old. I played in cover bands throughout high school, college, and law school, and once in a while, I would try my hand at writing a few bars of music for a new song. However, I never really sat down to write a whole song or even learn how to do so. Then, mid-life hit, and that coincided with the pandemic, which gave me more free time outside of work. So, I dusted off my bass, bought a new guitar, and taught myself how to play chords and melodies. I watched tons of videos on music theory and playing guitar. I realized how invigorating it was to learn new things. I began looking forward to finishing up work for a day so I could turn to making music. I even found some lyrics I had written decades ago and began building a song around those.

I also taught myself music recording and production on my home iMac. Lots of tutorial videos online, and lots of trial and error. Again, it was a challenge, but I enjoyed the process of gaining new knowledge.

At first, I recorded a very personal song about my dad’s passing during the pandemic and sent it around to family and close friends. I was reluctant to send the song to folks, because I was really putting myself out there – both because of the personal nature of the song and because it was the first time I played and sang one of my original songs for anyone else. I was pleasantly surprised that I received positive feedback and encouragement to create more music. Again, if I hadn’t put myself out there and explored something outside my comfort zone, I might have never continued in my music writing endeavor.

But, I dove in with a passion. I had some guitar licks in my head, some song ideas that were kicking around, and some chord progressions that sounded cool. I looked forward to working on them each evening and on the weekends. It was great to have something exciting to turn to each day. My music-making got me off the proverbial couch. Much less TV watching, and much less surfing the internet. I was creating, learning, stretching, and experimenting. It was great.

The positive reception has certainly been rewarding. It has also revealed to me that a new interest or hobby has tremendous benefits. It has been great for my psyche and other parts of my life. I no longer feel stuck in a rut. If I contemplate something new that may be outside of my usual routine, I now relish doing it rather than worrying if it would be uncomfortable or frustrating. Sometimes the best things in life are the ones that take a bit of exploring and challenging oneself. Enjoy the adventure!

Thanks again to Andrew as well as Erica from Muddy Paw for the feature!

May 12, 2022 0

Andrew Thomases brings color, shading to the sprawl of “Suburban Void”

As a kid growing up in the embers of a slow-dying small town, I was far from typical. I wasn’t into mindless goofing off with friends and I didn’t go out and get into the kind of trouble that’d inspire Bruce Springsteen to write Greetings From Asbury Park. I might have read about those exploits, but I tended to flee from what helped young people cope with their existential “Thunder Road”.

Thankfully, Andrew Thomases is back here on OTBEOTB to fill in the blanks for me with his new single “Suburban Void”. The track is a power-chording thumper; it feels like an omage to every thrashing band at a teen movie house party with adjoining lyrics to match and set the scene.

Thomases growls his way through this leaned landscape of kids doing the random, mundane, and sometimes downright foolish as a way to escape the nature of their means. And, like all of us when we’re young, those methods eventually include many bad/embarrassing choices. That’s echoed in Thomases words, in which he looks back on these moments and finds them to be pathetic.

But I think that’s to be expected with the 20/20 vision of hindsight. If only we knew then what we know now, as they say. Growing pains are a real thing no matter your status or stature; sometimes we’ve got to get embarrassing to get better.

Just brace yourself, there will be embarrassing hairstyles along the way.

Check out the lyric video for “Suburban Void” below:

January 27, 2022 0

Andrew Thomases leaves us to wonder can we really “Outrun Evolution” on new single

Last month, we took an unflinching look at the state of our Earth through the lens of humanity with Andrew Thomases and his single “Will You Miss Me When I’m Gone”. The track is an alt-rocker’s plea to his fellow man to think about the consequences of negative actions against the environment. That’s because we may end up taking a lot for granted that won’t ever come back if we stay on this current path. I think in many ways, we’re already taking a lot for granted that’s already vanished into the stratosphere. It’s a difficult realization to live with, but an important one noted on the song.

This time around Thomases gives us the gear-shifting grit of “Outrun Evolution”, a tempo-bending single showcasing some nasty guitar lines and mankind’s equally nasty poker hand of self-inflicted circumstance. It’s a branch not far removed from “Will You Miss Me When I’m Gone”, except it looks at humanity’s progress as a Pearl Jam rocker’s edge Icarus fable; destined to burn up in the sun astride trademark wings of white-hot six-stringed wax.

There is certainly a case to be made that our society is doing too much too fast to remain sustainable for the long haul. That progress without care can lead to cataclysm; fable’s long cursive strokes turned into reality’s nightmare. As I said before that’s a level of emotion difficult to confront head-on most of the time, but Thomases is among those creators who force our eyes (and ears) to dwell on the sights we need to behold. They’re often horrific, but they must be viewed. To paraphrase rapper Mac Miller, sometimes we only grow from anguish.

From my own perspective, both of Thomases’ tracks gave me pause thinking about the world at large. There’s a part of my soul buried in my spirit that can’t take the subject because it seems so negatively daunting; that we only stand up to lose a little more ground with the passing of each day. But another portion of me applauds Thomases for speaking out; the great rockers, folkers and raconteurs never backed down from a cause no matter the circumstances.

So take a moment with “Outrun Evolution” and “Will You Miss Me When I’m Gone”, and never give in to those odds.

November 25, 2021 0

Don’t sleep on meaning unveiled behind Thomases new single “Will You Miss Me When I’m Gone?”

I really enjoy the approach musician Andrew Thomases is using to make his appeal for saving the Earth on new single “Will You Miss Me When I’m Gone?”. To quote the singer-songwriter:

“Throughout my life, I have always been concerned about climate change and the impact humans have on the planet. What will the environment look like in a few generations? Will our grandkids be able to enjoy it like we do? I decided to write a song about it, and I write it in the voice of the environment. “Will You Miss Me When I’m Gone?” is a warning and a call to action, as we must act quickly to preserve what have for future generations. Otherwise, they may not even know what they are missing.”
Andrew Thomases

Thomases buoys this concept in on the back of jangly, Pavement-style power chord waves bearing an off-center mellowed honesty that holds no weight back in the choogling punch of its lyrical intents. And while some might lead that “warning” with a fueled, angry venom upon their lips, Thomases has a straight-up approach similar to the likes of They Might Be Giants, John K Samson, a rolled smooth Mark Lanegan or the Crash Test Dummies. Words aren’t a poetically overcooked word mince because at the end of the day the stakes and consequences of the subjects are real not whimsical license, and that’s the type of urgent emotion in play here. It’s not a time for games. No matter how you communicate, it’s overdue to make the important matters heard.

That perspective is echoed and illustrated even more deeply in the official lyric video for “Will You Miss Me When I’m Gone?”. Issues like severe deforestation, pollution, and rising ocean waters get the top billing as Thomases declares a simple admonishment from the Earth to its people, will you be sentimental when all you knew disappears? It seems like such an obvious question, but as the highest offices/powers in the land go longer and longer willfully without an answer, endgame possibilities start to feel more and more prominent and possible in the months and years ahead.

Music with a message is not only essential for highlighting these matters, but in how it’s meant to stay with the listener once the track has ended. To later ask, how do you see this concern now; did it change your perspective or make you dig your heels down further? In a world with a still-ongoing pandemic the dividing lines between us become easier and easier to discern this way, especially on matters of masks, vaccines, and overall regulations.

But the climate of our world exists outside such black and white perspectives. Good or bad results based on our actions are coming whether we like it or not, and as Thomases points out we’re beyond past needing to start paying attention.

Be sure to check out Thomases and “Will You Miss Me When I’m Gone?” across social media and on digital music platforms!

October 18, 2021 0

Tag: andrew thomases