Kung Fu Fax Machine

New Song From the Good Old Days!

2011-05-03T14:40:00.000-07:00

Life is funny sometimes. It's been almost a year since our esteemed founding member, writer, violist and vocalist Trevor left for Ohio and all this time certain files have lain dormant on my computer...

...wonderful files...of unfathomable potential.

You see, in music as in all disciplines, the more you do something the better you become at it. Right before Trevor left we recorded some of our more recent songs. We'd been playing together for years, we were at the top of our game; These tracks sounded great. With my increasing experience in recording and mixing things myself, we were able to produce the tracks at no cost so this was exciting stuff! The only problem was that Trevor was gone, there would be no more shows and the idea of a CD release without a band to release it didn't make a whole lot of sense. So, I have kept the songs and enjoyed them myself for a year. It's just funny that some of our best stuff happened right as things all paused.

However, all is not lost! Trevor returns!

The advent of Spring this year brings with it the triumphant vacationer! Trevor will be visiting for a week and we want to play a little reunion show. Additionally, it's time our fans got a hold of these recordings in the form of a free CD entitled "Jammed EP." So we hope you can make it on Thursday May 12th at 8:00pm for some great live music, some good company, some food, and to get your hands on a free CD which you are bound to thoroughly enjoy.

Here's a rundown of "Jammed EP:"

1. You Think You're So Smart

Original. Everything we like to sing and play: witty lyrics, cool viola lines, funky meter changes, a rockin' vibe and probably the best bridge we ever wrote together. Big climax. Some powerful unison singing.

2. Reptilia

Cover of a song by The Strokes. Here's the song you'll hear: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b8-tXG8KrWs done Kung Fu Fax Machine style. Some awesome djembism by Jason. An awesome bassy vocal by Trevor. Viola solo. I always did love a good viola solo. Oh, and the dorian mode. My favorite.

3. Smoke Signals

We wrote this one after hearing this one guy get up in church. He was all bruised and weak looking and gave an impromptu talk from the pulpit about how his life had fallen apart. it was the inspiration for a song about how God tries very hard to get our attention, and sometimes we only start listening when our lives go up in smoke.

4. Maneater

The classic Hall & Oates tune. We did our best to extract the wicked awesome lyrics (the woman is wild; a she-cat tamed by the purr of the jaguar), strip away the dated 80's-ness and repackage it in our edgy acoustic folk-rock. I think you'll love it.

Actually I think you'll love it all. So, we hope to see you there to celebrate the old times, the new stuff, and the company of friends.

Muse Music Show Photos

2010-01-17T16:32:00.000-08:00

Here are a few images from the KFXM show at Muse Music last Thursday, courtesy of Mergeworks Media.

The Album Is Up on iTunes!

2010-01-09T23:05:00.000-08:00

Hey everybody! We are happy to announce that our debut album "The Light in the Eye" is now available for download on iTunes! Tell all your friends!

Also, we will be playing a show this coming week at Muse Music in Provo (151 N University Ave) on Thursday Jan 14. Doors open at 7:30. The show starts at 8:00. Opening for us will be Haili Gregson, Michelle Kennedy, and SLFM. Admission is $5. New songs, old favorites, and lots and lots of awesome acoustic folk-rock!

Article About the New Album in MormonTimes

2009-12-04T14:56:00.000-08:00

Check out this great article by our good friend Nicole Sheahan on MormonTimes.com!

Lyrics

2009-12-01T19:08:00.000-08:00

Deja Vu

Haven't we done this before?

I say the line and you walk out that door

But give it time and this heart of mine will be crawling back for more

Suddenly your name is the name of a street

I found you in the place we were never supposed to meet

And the dawn and the music and the lights of the town

Have the glimmer of your laugh and the pain of an eternal now

Deja vu, seeing you

Running away and running back into you

A falling tear leaves a smear on your beauty and it's all we ever do

My head is spinning a story is beginning

It's crazy but it's nothing new

Is it love or is it just deja vu?

Why do we fail to learn, fail to see, and fail to make the turn?

Maybe in the end the wind has the power over helm, bow, and stern

It's the look, the light in the eye, the touch, emotion, the pledge

Don't forget the mistake, hearts break, don't talk

Leave yourself in the dark with the wish so you look

Haven't we done this before?

More Cliches

"C'est la vie", you said to me,

"There's plenty other fish in the sea."

Well you can't say that again

Cos all of that jazz gets under my skin

I think I'm barking up the wrong tree

This isn't all it's cracked up to be

I just don't know what to do these days

Cos it all just seems like more cliches

You and I will never see eye to eye

I don't think it's even worth it to try

You say good things come to those who wait

Well I've been waiting forever and a day

For a change of pace, a change of place

Because I'm all bent out of shape

So I'm going onward and I'm going upward

Just forgetting the past to be free as a bird

If it takes two to tango and three is company

Then what is this all for?

You've got a five-finger discount on my heart

You know that all's fair in love and war

So I'm out of the frying pan and into the fire

In a rut like a cage and bogged down in the mire

I think I'll lie low until the smoke clears

She didn't call me, it was music to my ears

If I've said it once, I've said it a thousand times...

Beautiful Soul

A feather falls, you turn that smile on me

The world slows down and drifts about so gently

I hear your voice like a calming summer breeze

With just one word you set my heart at ease

You have a beautiful soul

You don't look back don't worry 'bout a thing

You keep me here and now, you keep me hoping

You see the silver lining in the darkest part of me

You change the world and make it look so easy

Learn to Play

Rule number one is do what you want as long as it's fun

Rule number two is be yourself as long as you're exactly like everyone else

Rule number three is play their game, the rules will never change

You will see, it's guaranteed, you'll never be free

But at least you'll never be lonely

Learn to play the game and you'll never be lonely

Gee aint it a shame that you couldn't control me

Just Because

Just because you're perfect doesn't mean I have to love you

Just because you're beautiful doesn't mean I have to care

Just because you shine like rays of sun hanging above you

Doesn't mean I have to see you or take you anywhere

So why am I standing at your door?

Just because

Just because you're open doesn't mean I truly know you

There's a twinkle in your eye and I wonder what it hides

I may have my weakness, do you really want to see it?

I know I should know better, is this really worth a try?

So why am I standing at your door?

Just because

You can choose your road, you can't choose where it goes

Everyone knows that this one doesn't go where I want to

But let's just be fair: I don't care

I just thought I'd share I only do what I want to

So just because you beckon doesn't mean I have to follow

Just because there's music doesn't mean I have to dance

Just because the pond is deep doesn't mean the shores aren't shallow

Just because I'm lucky doesn't mean I'll take a chance

So why am I lying in your arms?

Why am I falling for your charms?

Just because

Lying Stars

I've been wishing on some stars for way too long

And for a time I thought they'd give me what I wanted

What do you do when the one you love is happy without you?

Every time I see you with him I am haunted

I could be the hero and walk away

It would do no good to start a fire

So I walk slowly out of sight

You and I got to do what's right

And I hope you forget me like the day forgets the night

And I won't cry, you and I got to do what's right

I'd give you anything you want but you only want him

The irony's so thick that you could cut it with a knife

I may not like it, you may not see, I guess it wasn't meant to be

Maybe I should just write a song and get on with my life

I could be the hero and walk away

Cos it would do no good to start a fire

Underneath this quiet resignation I've got more to say

Are you happy or are you just scared nothing better's gonna come your way?

It just does not seem right to say goodbye, are you sure we should?

I just gotta know before I drop it for good

Kill the Messenger

A boiling crowd gathers to settle the matter

And he thinks he can calm the seas of their rage

The people want change but they'd just as soon hang

A scape-goat and call it a day

In grossest deception he gets a warm reception and his false friends pull him on stage

With flashing third eyes the sharks arrive and they feast on his name,

They feast on his name singing...

Come and kill the messenger

Hey let's kill the messenger

I thought that was the name of the game

The world was supposed to change but it's just staying the same

And we're gonna need somebody to blame

Come and kill the messenger

Yeah let's kill the messenger

Sacrifice and aint it a shame

Sure it don't seem fair but that's neither here nor there

At least he'll get his fifteen minutes of fame

With bloodlust appeased they turn off their TVs

And prattle on discussing their views

A prime-time attraction is the perfect distraction

as long as the message is approved

And now that he's dead, there's more to be said

And there's money in expounding your sins

Revived by the pen, he gets up again,

Gets a book deal, and everybody wins, singing...

Some say he had it comin'

Some say, "Better him than me."

Some say nothing at all,

Grateful someone else took the fall

While their stains remain unseen

Screens

This picture has been modified from its original version

It has been formatted to fit your screen

The following preview has been approved by all audiences

It will be rated, but not by me

And if you think you've seen all there is to see

We are stronger, weaker, deeper

Than what you see on the screen

And if you think that there's nothing more to me

Just remember there's more to life

Than what you see on the screen

Objects in the mirror are closer than they appear

They will see us for who we are when they com near

And we are currently experiencing some technical difficulties

What we say is not always what they hear

Moment for a cameo in the perfect mise en scene

But due to careful blocking the chance goes by again

Images projected for all the world to see

Built on expectation and careful editing

"It is easy in the world to live after the world's opinion

It is easy in solitude to live after our own

But the great man is he who in the midst of the crowd

Maintains with perfect sweetness the independence of solitude" - Ralph Waldo Emerson

Torture

Moonlight reflects in your eyes

Shrouded in silent midnight

I wonder is there more to beauty than sight?

Held captive, at least by my eyes

Sit here and sigh, tell me why

You're made of silk in a world of stone

Lovely and alone

And it's torture

Sweet, sweet torture

Smiling, you cross my path

Some conversation and we share a laugh

And then you're gone like you were never there

Like you didn't even care

Drifting through the heavens you go

Caught in your halo stars lose their glow

You're more like the moon than you'll ever know

Lovely and alone

I could climb up to where you are

Rush to your side, no matter how far

I could learn the secret of the verse

Learn the poet's finest work, win your heart with a word

I could try anything, be anything, brush against infinity

But no matter where I go or what I know

Or what I try, I cannot lie

You still elude me

The Sun Is Setting On Us

The sun is setting on us

We're bathed in the golden glow of a fading day

Why is the day so much more beautiful as it dies?

Why are you so much more beautiful now that I'm losing you?

I hear the wind rustle through the trees

Lamenting the loss of the falling leaves

Why are the leaves so much beautiful when they turn?

Why are you so much more beautiful now that I'm losing you?

The rain coats the road in tears

The sun the paves the road in gold

As deep, blue evening closes in

A fleeting flash across the sky

Why are the stars so much more beautiful when they fall?

Why are you so much more beautiful now that I'm losing you?

Fire From Olympus

I was given fire from Olympus

A light from the heavens

A blessing that I never could deserve

I was given fire from Olympus

Strength from the heavens

A blessing the I never could deserve

A queen to calm the mind of this king

The Light In the Eye

2009-11-13T17:35:00.000-08:00

December 1st promises to be an important day in our lives as it will mark the culmination of over a year's worth of recording, mixing, and design with Mergeworks Media (www.mergeworksmedia.com) and over two years' worth of songwriting and composing and performing with our band Kung Fu Fax Machine. After a long wait, and many long hours of work from friends and family, we will release our debut album The Light in the Eye.

Trevor and I started playing songs we wrote together at open-mic nights in Provo in the fall of 2007. As we started jamming with percussionists, we began to realize that the guitar/viola/djembe combination had a unique sound that people wanted to hear more of. Looking back after a couple years of performing locally, I was finally asked how I would describe the overall statement of our band? My answer in one word: wood. Both the sound of the band (three finely crafted pieces of wood) and our lyrics are earthy and real. I think a lot of the appeal of acoustic music could be pinned on that idea. Nothing electronic. Nothing artificial. The acoustic musician can pick up his instrument, walk into the woods, or sit down on a sidewalk and play without any help from electronics. Just a man and his wood.

The songwriting lives in a very imperfect world. Things go wrong. You don't always get what you want. Mankind struggles on through conflict, striving to find peace and beauty. The album walks through our thoughts on the conflicts and struggles of our lives from the circular nature of relationships in "Deja Vu" to the balance between security and freedom in "Learn to Play" to the question of identity and acceptance in "Screens." The answer is learning to find beauty in all aspects of life, even the struggle. The slow ballad "The Sun is Setting On Us" comments on the beauty one can experience in the midst of loss. As we sing in "Beautiful Soul," "You see the silver lining in the darkest part of me." We all face problems. As we stand over the broken guitar and contemplate where to go from here, we must realize that life is "Fire From Olympus", a "blessing that we never could deserve."

Fans will recognize favorites from local performances like "More Cliches" and "Kill the Messenger." There are soft, contemplative moments, but mostly the album keeps an aggressive pace. We hope you rock out to it. And, at the same time, we hope you pause to think about the lyrics. We've worked hard on them.

So, it is with pleasure we announce the wait is almost over and we will see you in early December!

Mike

2009-11-10T23:03:00.001-08:00

Hey everyone! Welcome to Kung Fu Fax Machine's blog. Here we will post the lyrics to our debut album The Light in the Eye which will be released December 1st, 2009. We will also post anything we are thinking/writing about and information on upcoming performances. Enjoy!