So, I am trying to learn more about video editing. I hope to make a short film for the 48 Hour Film Project next year. As an exercise in editing, I spent all day making a music video for Jean-Paul out of public domain footage from the Prelinger Archives. It was particularly interesting to try to cover as much of the story of Jean-Paul as I could using the limited footage available. It turned out okay. I could work on fixing some of the timing and making things a bit better, but I only wanted to spend a fixed amount of time on the project, so once I reached that limit, I figured, I should just be done.
It contains a lot of strange stuff including prominent use of an old stag film, spiders, educational films, war films, commercial propaganda, etc. I don't want to ruin things too much by giving away specific sources. I tried hard to build the tension and dramatic elements. I think it was reasonably successful given the time and material limits.
If you don't like spiders or are bothered by a brief period of flashing lights, I'd suggest passing on this...
Here it is:
Better quality stream on Revver (with ads you can turn off):
A giant, giant thanks goes out to all of you who helped make our 100th show at The Middle East Upstairs a blast! We had an awesome capacity turnout, excellent crowd participation (possibly the best 30 lives dancing yet!), and a really fun lineup of Green Light Go artists. We were joined by our new friends Shawn Fogel and his unnamed all-star band, and our old friends, local awesomes Static of the Gods.
We got to spend time with Janelle, Heather, and Matt from Green Light Go, which was a wonderful treat, as they came all the way from Michigan and Arizona to be there for the show. They've done a lot of amazing work for us!
So, thanks again for all your support. We hope to plan our 200th show soon!
For now, though, we have a lot of great stuff coming up, including a mini-tour:
On 07/12, we'll be in our nation's capital, lobbying for rock at The Grog and Tankard.
In August, watch out for our themed Ash Wednesdays residency at Church in Boston. That means a FREE show every Wednesday in August featuring The Motion Sick and some of the bestest bands in the Boston area:
If can you only see The Motion Sick once this year (how sad that would be), now is the time:
Come to our wondrous 100th show!!!! We have a ridiculously amazing, amazing lineup! You don't want to miss this. We don't want you to miss this. No one should miss this!!!!
First, Shawn Fogel - http://shawnfogel.com/ - performing with his band that includes world-famous music journalist Michael Azerrad (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Azerrad - Our Band Could Be Your Life, Come as You Are: The Story of Nirvana, Spin, Rolling Stone, Musician, Details, MTV News). Shawn is also well known for his work in the Zambonis, the hockey-themed band who has peformed at many huge NHL events, and The LeeVees, which features Shawn along with Adam Gardner of Guster.
Next up, your favorites, The Motion Sick, but enough about us...
Following TMS, we've got Boston's Static of the Gods (http://staticofthegods.delverano.com/) described by Skope Magazine: "Layered textures of infectious and mature pop rock with an edge unite to create Boston's hottest rising band ..."
The night will close with New York's Pela (http://www.pelamusic.com/), who sell out every show they play in NYC and are bound to start doing the same in Boston. Pela has had a song featured in the TV show scrubs and have shared stages with The Flaming Lips, Norah Jones, Sleater-Kinney, Mission of Burma, Devendra Banhart, The National, The Decemberists, Gomez, Rainer Maria, and others.
06/07/08
Green Light Go Showcase
The Middle East Upstairs
Cambridge, MA
Pela
Static of the Gods
Shawn Fogel
The Motion Sick's 100th Show Celebration!!!!!
18+ $9adv/$10dos
We recommend getting tickets in advance.
---
In other TMS news, screenshots from Dance Dance Revolution have come out and 2 out of the 14 feature The Motion Sick's "30 Lives" video!!!
Check it out: http://themotionsickreviews.blogspot.com/2008/05/dancedancerevolution-universe-3-screen.html or http://tinyurl.com/3fgokm
We've also posted a bunch of new live video and photos at: http://www.themotionsick.com/themotionsick/livephotos.html
You can visit our Youtube channel at: http://youtube.com/user/TheMotionSick
Just a summarized update on what we've been up to for the last bit of time...
-"30 Lives (Up-Up-Down-Dance Mix)" included in 2008 Dance Dance Revolution Video Game
-"30 Lives" video on "120 Minutes" - MTV Latin Amer., MuchMusic, Fuse On Demand, and many other regional, national, and international stations - 2008
-CMJ Spotlight Artist - 3/14 - 3/21 2008
-CMJ Independent Select Tracks Chart #67 - "30 Lives" - Feb. 2008
-CMJ Top 200 #71 - The truth will catch you, just wait... - Feb. 2008
-CMJ Top 20 Most Added #13 - The truth will catch you, just wait... - Jan. 2008
-Blender feature "30 Lives" Breakout Video - Feb. 6, 2008
-SPIN.com Band of the Year - one of 8 finalists in the Underground Category
-Best Boston albums of 2006 - Boston Metro - Jan. 4, 2007
-"Satellite" Music Video screened at the 2007 BIMINI Intl. Fest. of Animation Films
-2006 Grammy Entry #60 in Best Pop Performance By A Duo Or Group With Vocal
-2006 Grammy Entry #127 in Best Pop Vocal Album
-2006 Last Band Standing, WFNX and AI New England Competition
-2006 Fuse TV Bodog Battle of the Bands City Finalists
-SPIN.com Band of the Month - Feature in SPIN Magazine, Apr. 2006
-SPIN Essential - Music You Need to Download! SPIN Magazine, Mar. 2006
-Microsoft - New Music Feature - SPIN Magazine, Mar. 2006
-SPIN.com Band of the Month, Jan. 2006
-SPIN.com Band of the Day, Jan. 13, 2006
When we were down in Austin for SXSW, we met up with awesome fellow Aidan Williamson, who interviewed us for Strange Glue. He was a swell guy and asked us a bunch of interesting things and did a great job writing it all up for your amusement, enjoyment, and education...
"This interview is over!" exclaims The Motion Sick's guitarist Patrick Mussari as he slams his hands down on the table in front of him, and all it took was a small mention of two words, Joy Division...
A lot of super-rad news. First, upcoming shows in brief:
05/08/08 - Cambridge, MA - TT's - w/Semi Precious Weapons and Sidewalk Driver
05/09/08 - New York, NY - Baggot Inn
06/07/08 - Cambridge, MA - Middle East Up - w/Pela, Static of the Gods, Shawn Fogel
07/12/08 - Washington, DC - The Grog and Tankard
If you like to dance, and we know you do, you'll be soon dancing for high scores to the dance remix of "30 Lives," which will be featured in a whole bunch of upcoming releases of the video game DANCE DANCE REVOLUTION. That's not all!! Your feet will be enjoying themselves grooving along while your eyes take in the wonder that is the "30 Lives" music video, which will also be included in the game!
If you haven't seen the video yet (what's wrong with you?), head over to http://themotionsick.com/30lives/index.html and watch. Or, if you are a traditionalist, you can view it on any of the many places it's airing: "120 Minutes" on MTV Latin America, "The Wedge" on MuchMusic, Fuse On Demand, and many, many other regional, national, and international stations. The video is also airing in a number of stores including: Foot Locker (1500 locations), Champs Sports (550 locations), Footaction (375 locations) Harley-Davidson (300 dealerships), 55 Against All Odds clothing Stores, 5 Against All Odds for Women stores in New York, New Jersey, Massachusetts, Connecticut, and Pennsylvania, and a chain of tattoo parlors in NYC. It was featured on a number of web sites including a front-page feature on Blender as the "breakout video." Watch it over and over again!!!!
Don't foolishly forget to read our blog: http://themotionsickreviews.blogspot.com/ or check out new pictures and video: http://themotionsick.com/themotionsick/livephotos.html
We've got a ton of great shows coming up as well...
05/08/08
TT the Bear's Place
Cambridge, MA
11:45 PM - The Motion Sick
10:45 PM - Semi-Precious Weapons
9:45 PM - Vivian Darkbloom
8:45 PM - Sidewalk Driver
18+
Semi-Precious Weapons and Sidewalk Driver are two of the best glam rock bands in the universe right now. You really need to see both of them...then, to prevent an overdose of glamity, you've got Vivian Darkbloom and The Motion Sick providing alternating sets of indie rock.
05/09/08
The Baggot Inn 82 W. 3rd St.
New York, NY
10:45 - The Motion Sick
21+
Rescheduled from our March tour!
...and, you'll be hearing more from us on this one, but we are throwing a big bash to celebrate our 100th show. It will be awesome and it will sell out, so buy your tickets in advance.
06/07/08
Green Light Go Showcase
The Middle East Upstairs
Cambridge, MA
w/Pela, Static of the Gods, Shawn Fogel
18+ $9adv/$10dos
07/12/08
The Grog and Tankard
2408 Wisconsin Ave, NW
Washington DC 20007
7:30 - The Motion Sick
21+ $8
We're back in DC playing early in the evening so we can head on over to our political office for a strategy-building session to examine the possibility of a 2012 bid for President...first band in office!
We've started our political climb by getting involved in a campaign looking at carbon offsetting. Check out http://www.aroundgoeswhat.com/ to learn more.
We've got some more excitement in store for the Summer, so keep your ears on us...
The dance remix of "30 Lives" will be featured in the 2008 version of Dance Dance Revolution! The game is made by Konami and the song "30 Lives" is based on the famous video game code "The Konami Code." We're very excited to have been chosen and we are really excited to look like uncoordinated idiots to our own song...at least I'm (Mike) not very good at DDR...luckily, that never stopped me from playing.
As our subscribers have increased and our technological needs have changed over time and geographical scope, we are going to be moving our e-mail list to Fanbridge. This system will allow us to more accurately target our audiences by location and interest, so that we can best get important information out to you, but minimize the number of messages that you might receive. Fanbridge has a very strong privacy policy and never shares or distributes addresses. We'll be automatically moving everyone over to this system soon.
*charted at 62 different stations over the course of the campaign, including core stations KCSU, KHSU, KTSW, WAWL, WITR, WMUA, WONC, WTSR and WUSB, plus many great non-cores
*Top ten at 16 of those stations, and went to #1 at WMCX
*“30 Lives” led total spins, with maximum spins at WAWL, which spun it as many as 30 times a week!
UPDATE: TOUR DATES 3/8 (Springfield, MO) and 3/9 (Tulsa, OK) JUST ADDED!
Hello Friends,
We're super excited about our Boston CD release show, which kicks off our upcoming tour that leads us down to SXSW (and hopefully back)! Keep an eye out for our super-fancy, photo and video-enhanced bloggery while we're out and about.
Our new album, The truth will catch you, just wait... has been on the CMJ college radio charts for almost 8 weeks now with a peak position so far at #71! "30 Lives" also hit the airplay chart at #67! The video for "30 Lives" is airing nationwide and on a number of international networks including MTV Latin America.
As a special thanks to the countless people who helped out with our current CD, we've worked it out so that our CD release show is FREE!! It also features rocker Jason Bennet and the inimitably awesome Bryan McPherson.
You can see more details and links to the Facebook events pages at: http://themotionsick.com/
02/27/08
The truth will catch you, just wait... CD Release Show!
Church 69 Kilmarnock Street
Boston, MA 02215
9:00 PM - Jason Bennet and The Resistance
9:45 PM- Bryan McPherson
10:30 PM - The Motion Sick
FREE!
21+
02/29/08
The Baggot Inn 82 W. 3rd St.
New York, NY
7:00 PM - Below Average White Band
8:30 PM - RasKahl International
9:30 PM - The Fire Men
10:30 PM - The Motion Sick $5
21+
03/01/08
Dr. Watson's Pub
216 South 11th St.
Philadelphia, PA 19107
9 - Spinning Lucy
10 - The Recovery
11 - Stuntditch
12 -The Motion Sick
$7
21+
03/03/08
Mojo 13
1706 Philadelphia Pike
Wilmington, DE
302-798-5798
The Motion Sick is the Mojo Mondays showcase band
FREE!
21+
Doors 8:30 PM
We play at 10:00 PM
03/04/08
The Red and the Black
1212 H Street NE
Washington, DC
9:00 PM - The Motion Sick
9:45 PM - The BreakUps
10:30 PM - The Ambitions
$8
21+
03/05/08
Birdy's
2131 E. 71st St.
Indianapolis, IN
Jascha
The Peggy Sues
21+
03/06/08
The Pit
1860 Scherer Parkway Dr
St. Charles, MO
Love and a Sidearm
The Mirror Stage
Cold Bear Scout
7 PM
All Ages
$8
03/07/08
South Pole Lounge
734 Airways Blvd.
Jackson, TN
Art of the Neanderthal
Randolph Robinson & the Widdershins
Damage 19
All Ages
$7
03/08/08
The Front Porch
310 South Avenue
Springfield, MO
w/The Hard Lessons
Nathaniel Carroll & the Party Line
The Silent Years
All Ages
$5
Doors: 7 PM
Show: 8:15 PM
03/09/08
Sound Pony
409 N. Main
Tulsa, OK 74103
w/The Silent Years
FREE!
03/11/08
The Door
2513 Main St.
Dallas, TX 75226
The White Tie Event, The Crash Moderns, Elevation, After Midnight Project, The Ropes, Innerpartysystem, Sequoyah Prep School, Edison Glass, Lives of Famous Men, The Real You, Morning State
$10 under
$7 over
All Ages
Doors at 6:30 PM We Play at 7:30 PM
SXSW 03/12/08
Bikinis Sports Bar & Grill
6901 North IH-35
(Exit 239)—5 buildings north of Pappadeaux’s
5 minutes north of UT
Austin, TX
FREE!
We play at 6 PM
SXSW 03/14/08
DJ Ashen Presents: an EssentiaL Media Group Showcase @ Beso Cantina
307-b W. 5th St. Austin, TX 78701
12:15 PM - Lavonne
1:05 PM - Jonny on the Rocks
1:55 PM - Rama Duke
2:45 PM - Gaby Moreno
3:35 PM - The Heroine
4:25 PM - Battle Alaska
5:15 PM - Hello Vegas
6:05 PM - Everyday Tragedy
6:55 PM - Oh Juliet
7:45 PM - The Motion Sick
8:35 PM - The Vettes
9:25 PM - Me Talk Pretty
10:15 PM - Resident Hero
11:05 PM - Anarbor
11:55 PM - After Midnight Project
1:05 AM - No Bragging Rights
FREE!
21+
----------------------------
The Motion Sick
http://www.themotionsick.com
http://www.myspace.com/themotionsick
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http://www.last.fm/user/TheMotionSick/
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http://www.friendster.com/themotionsick
Join our mailing list at:
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I am quite excited to let you all know that today, I had the opportunity to write the Note Books column on Largehearted Boy! I've been a regular reader and fan of LHB for several years, so it's quite an honor for me.
For those of you unfamiliar, Note Books is a column in which musicians are given the chance to discuss books that influence their songwriting. There is also a complementary column called Book Notes in which authors discuss music that influences their writing.
At the present, we find ourselves in a difficult situation. The Motion Sick is a band that really loves making music. We really do. That is why we're here. We are not expecting fame and fortune, but in order to keep making music, we do need to achieve sustainability. Sounds easy, right?
Well, as it turns out, it's much easier to accumulate fans, supporters, and champions than it is to sell records. I don't mean to imply that we are ungrateful regarding the numbers or quality of those who send over their hard earned greenbacks to get their hands on everything we've got...we really appreciate it! I also don't mean to demand that anyone who enjoys our music is somehow obligated to fire the benjamins at us. I certainly understand that we can't be a top purchasing priority for the cash-strapped, and we appreciate your support in whatever way you might be able to provide it: kind words, letting your friends know, writing our URL on your forehead in black marker, etc.!
Part of the problem is that I am thoroughly convinced that the value of music has decreased very significantly in recent years. A number of things play a role in this. Music piracy aside for a moment, I think the biggest problem is actually that there is so much music out there that it's difficult to differentiate between the good and the bad. This is a result of the breakdown of the major-label monopolies that kept a short leash on radio and television until the turn of the millennium. We've got a glut of bands on myspace, youtube, satellite radio, etc. Instead of 100 albums a year that get airplay, we have 10,000 (I am making up numbers). While none of these independents is turning out numbers in the platinum range, I suspect many more musicians may be getting national exposure than in past eras. I also suspect that many of these bands, despite significant press, airplay, etc., are barely breaking even or even losing money. That's right, I would wager that many of your favorite indie bands that seem like they've probably got mansions and sports cars are struggling to pay their bills (The Motion Sick's members have mansions and sports cars - if you consider an '88 Volvo to be sporty - but we also all have additional employment).
Ultimately, it costs a lot of money to function as a band. I won't throw numbers at you (and I'm sure it differs for each band), but whatever you might think it costs, you can probably multuply it by 10. So, this brings us to a complicated problem. What is the new model for achieving musical financial sustainability? How can it be done?
One of the traditional sources of income for a band is record sales. That is why the industry went into panic mode when piracy became prevalent. It's easy to argue that piracy increases exposure or allows people to try things they wouldn't normally try. Admittedly, I might be curious enough to download the latest Britney Spears record, but if I had no access to it, I certainly would never make an effort to seek it out, let alone pay anything for it. This is an honest example of increased exposure through what is essentially illegal distribution of music. Does it help Britney? Well, I don't ever buy any Britney merchandise, I don't wear her line of perfumes, and I am not going to see her perform live. The only way that you could arguably say it benefits her career is through the furthering of her brand. I am, after all, writing about her in a web log entry about The Motion Sick!
I don't think Brit's got a new album out this year, but The Motion Sick's second album, The truth will catch you, just wait..., came out at the beginning of the year. In less than a month's time, pirated digital copies have been posted on dozens of blogs and file-sharing sites, and a number of promo copies have gone up for sale on eBay and other sites. For the first few weeks, I decided to be aggressive about getting the infringing files removed from sites like rapidshare and sendspace. After a short while, it became clear that keeping illegal copies of our album off the web would require full-time work in order to be successful. That's not really something I am very interested in spending my time on. Anyway, maybe it's fine to allow blogs to post full copies of our record. After all, our goal is really to spread our music far and wide...but then, the million-dollar question is, how do we pay for our next record? I just don't know the answer...
I'm not sure that anyone in the music industry does.
Much is going on. Our CD release show and subsequent tour are coming up!
First, 4 exciting tidbits:
1. The truth will catch you, just wait... has been screaming up the CMJ radio charts! We were in the Top 20 adds and we've been on the charts ever since. The positive reviews have been pouring in!
Now, some tour news! We're working out some final details, so we actually have some availability and some open slots for bands to join us on some dates. Details with each date below:
02/27/08 - Boston, MA - Church - FREE! - 21+
The truth will catch you, just wait... CD Release Show!
1030 - The Motion Sick
945 - Bryan McPherson
900 - Jason Bennet and The Resistance http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=11018905916
03/07/08 - Jackson, TN - South Pole Lounge - 734 Airways blvd.
WE MAY HAVE SLOTS AVAILABLE FOR BANDS TO JOIN US FOR THIS EVENT
03/08/08 - Dallas, GA - The Skyline - 251 West Memorial Drive
w/ Amida, Grady Sewell, Unseen Stimuli (CD Release)
Doors at 6:30 - Show starts at 7:30 - All Ages - $7 http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=8261247955
03/09/08 - Somewhere in LA or TX - details coming soon
03/11/08 - 03/15/08 - We'll be in Austin for SXSW - We're still finalizing our Austin appearances during this time and may still have some available time for parties/events in the Austin area (contact us for details) - more details about these dates coming soon!
We're putting the finishing touches on our 2nd album, The truth will catch you, just wait... to be released on 1/1/08, but mailing list subscribers will have an opportunity to get it earlier!
Due to an aligning of planets, I was allowed to accompany the boys for
their whirl-wind-weekend tour.
Day 1:
Mike and I started off Friday morning by getting up at 7:00 to pack and
get ready. Several Soy Lattes and a trip to the store for supplies later
and we were on our way to meet the van. The van had just gotten new tires
(who would let us hooligans break them in? Thanks Patrick's Sister!),
which led to stories of the last time Mike and I tried to go on a road
trip in a car with new tires (The tires and the car decided to go their
separate ways). It was a long ride to Essex, which involved serious
conversations of death by diarrhea (Thanks to Ana for bringing the science
and for showing up the boys on the poop talk). I won't say much about
Essex, except that no one had much good to say about Essex. After the
band played, I locked myself in the van to take a nap. I was awakened to
go meet the best waiter I have ever had. Our friend had me in hysterics
when he said "I saw my grandmother in a bikini.” That is my new favorite
exclamation. We then found a hotel and got a few precious hours sleep.
Day 2:
After Travis got back from dropping Ana off, we headed to Philly for some
lunch. After some wandering around, Mike and I decided to go to an
uber-hip/yuppie restaurant that served me a vegan "Big Mac". It has been 15
years since I've had a big mac, but this was pretty convincing. Almost
disgustingly so, but cool all the same. After this we tracked Travis and
Patrick to some barstools where Patrick proceeded to dazzle me (and the
eaves-dropping bartender) with his theories on back pain; needless to say,
I think we were seconds from being booted out the door. From there we
continued on to Morristown, to New Jerseys “Only espresso and Hookah bar.”
The Motion Sick played a tone-downed, extra-long set. I had a few seconds
of awesome rock drumming to “Every Rose has its Thorn” while Travis
checked the sound levels. I think I can safely say that everyone was
blown away by my awesomeness. Travis, you better watch your back.
Sometime amidst all of this, Patrick made a discovery of epic proportions.
He has found that as long as you are doing the robot you can say what you
really want/insult people, and it will be okay. Ask him to demonstrate
next time you see him. Thanks to our local guides (Rachel and John), we
then explored the town. After patronizing another diner and being waited
on by the kid from Knocked Up, we were brought back to the comfort of
Gary's home. Thanks so much again to Gary for putting us up, treating us
to breakfast and a few guffaw-inducing stories.
Day 3:
This was my first time in New Jersey and I certainly did not see the
armpit that everyone talks about. In fact we lounged around all day and
didn't get on the road to NYC until mid-afternoon. Once in New York, we
met up with Matt who accompanied me on my quest for caffeine. This show
had an interesting set of music- Massey was on first, who played drums,
synth, and sang all at once. Did anyone else catch a Trent Reznor vibe to
the music? (Note to editor, that's you Mike- if you think I'm crazy for
saying TR then just go ahead and take that out for me). Up next was The
Newspeak Ensemble, which is a sort of Political Modern Classical Composer
Troupe, led by my dear friend and Ex-band mate (in our Blitzkriegbliss http://www.blitzkriegbliss.com days with Mike) David T. Little. They started off with a more "rock" vibe doing up some Massey tunes, then did some other pieces including a work by David, his Love song to Oil, which was pretty awesome. The electric
violin with distortion made my day. They finished up with their pièce de résistance, “War Pigs” by Black Sabbath. Next up was The Motion Sick, who
were happily re-united with bass. They cruised through their set, barely
stopping to breathe and rocked harder than I've seen them do in some time.
A fitting end for the tour. We stopped off for a snack at Two Boots Pizza with
Ken, who then led us to the magical place where vegan whoopie pies live.
Patrick, Ken, and I partook of the whoopie pies and we'll never be the same
again. Though I cannot totally claim the whoopie pie responsible, I was
magically transported back in my bed by 5:00 am Monday morning.
As I begin writing this, it’s 5:30am on Monday and I just got home in time to shower and start my workday.
That’s right, even insane rock n rollers have to work on bank holidays… Needless to say I’m exhausted and the fact that it’s raining, isn’t helping my motivation to do work or even be conscious at this point. Damn.
Well, we were touring this weekend and I know some people liked to read our blogs from when we were on tour in 2006, so I thought I’d give yall a little recap of some of the events that took place on this little jaunt.
Our first destination was Essex, a suburb outside of Baltimore. It took us about 8 and a half hours to get down there. We actually made it 2 minute before we were scheduled to load our gear in, so that was nice. Oh, I should mention we had a few guests with us for some of the trip, the one and only Sophia Bliss and a hitchhiker named Ana. Ana has an obsession for fresh fruit, and wasn’t carrying an axe or Bud Light. I also learned that Sophia is infatuated with Whoopie Pies for what its worth. Anyway, I hate the fucking NJ Turnpike.
I should mention we were without Matt for the first two dates of the weekend, which was a bummer. He was missed. Essex was interesting. I have to say that I’ve grown to appreciate non-smoking venues more and more each day. The venue (Macs) was huge. Ginormous stage, big bright lights and $2 Miller Genuine Drafts. Rock on. The sound was great, but our playing was ass-tastical. Yes that’s right, even The Motion Sick can crank up the suck on occasion. We just had an off night; I’m blaming it on the NJ Turnpike. I did get to see a good friend from High School, who made the trip from Washington D.C. Thanks to Karen, Stacey and Heather for making the jaunt to support our band.
The headlining band dropped off the bill, so oddly enough there was a hard rock Christian music show going on in a church behind the venue. Mike and Patrick made their way over to the church and were able to recruit a band called Morningside (http://www.myspace.com/morningsidemd) to open the evening at Macs. They had a ton of energy, even after rockin out at the church. Thanks to those guys for playing a double, it was cool. Piano Black (http://www.pianoblack.net/) closed the show and they were cool too.
We went to a diner for some late night eating action and had quite possibly the coolest waiter EVER! I don’t remember his name, but he was one funny guy. We stayed somewhere near Baltimore that night and slept on some crazy comfortable beds. I got up early to drop off Ana in Baltimore, her destination of choice. We hope she found more fresh fruit to consume and that there weren’t any crazy parasites or anything in the Baltimore water…
Saturday morning we made our way to Philadelphia to hang out for the afternoon. Hung out downtown for a bit and walked the streets to find some eats. Mike and Miss Bliss went to a joint (http://www.continentalmidtown.com/) with Vegan Big Macs and swinging chairs to sit in. They expressed that it’s cooler than it sounds. Patrick and I went to a brewery/restaurant called Noddinghead Brewery (http://www.ripsneakers.com/nodding/). They had an AMAZING beer called the “wet” Chinook Double IPA. It was smooth as silk, great beer, great bartender and good food. We tasted a bunch of their other beers and they were all tasty as well. Good find.
Next, we headed to NJ for the rock show. We arrived in Morristown and headed to the venue, which is a cafe/hookah bar. There was a bit of a misunderstanding with the venue, as we had been told there were supposed to be 2 other bands playing that night. It turned out to just be us. We set up and played a semi-acoustic set that included the debut of playing the new record in its entirety. We played about 17 songs that night and had a whole lot of fun trying new things. I think Mike will post the set list somewhere, so look for that. It was an early show, so we met up with Mike’s sister Rachel (you owe me some booty shaking) and her friend John. We “hit the town” for a bit and ended up at a pub with a fucking incredibly bad funk/R&B cover band. Nothing puts you in a worse mood than hearing a 4-minute finger tapping bass solo… I’m glad Matt wasn’t there to hear it, because he probably would have punched the guy in the face.
We left the pub and hit the diner. I scarfed down a killer Patty Melt (the one thing I should never eat late at night) and called it a night. We drove to John’s father’s house in Morristown, who was gracious enough to allow us to crash there. On the way we spotted a buck on the side of the road just chillin out… Pretty cool, and despite John’s attempts to convince me it was an 8 point deer, it was really only 2 points. John’s father Gary is a great funny guy and we’re so very thankful for his endless hospitality!! His daughter Emily, is an up and coming musician whose music video for the song “Little Boxes” can be seen on the ShowTime TV. Check out Emily’s website (http://www.emilyeddey.com/), she’s a great young talent with an amazing voice!
We hung around the Eddey household for most of the day, chatting, eating bagels and listening to crazy stories, but mostly Patrick and I slept. We left in the late afternoon to head to NYC to load our gear into The Knitting Factory. We got there an hour early, so we dropped off the gear and searched for grub. We went to a Mexican restaurant down the street and nothing says “I Love New York” more than $6 beers at a restaurant. After we ate, Patrick and I sent out on an adventure to track down some Duct Tape. Why you ask? Well, the reason is simple; Patrick has frequent meltdowns on stage and most recently “fractured” his guitars ability to keep a strap attached to it. Patrick being the craftsman that he is, can duct tape a strap to a guitar like no other human being alive. Simply awesome. We found the Duc-a-tape (red tape to be exact to match the guitar), and proceeded to head back to the venue.
The Knitting Factory staff rocks, they’re wicked friendly and accommodating. The first band to play last night was Massey (http://www.myspace.com/masseyatloophole). He’s a one-man band, pretty cool. After Massey was The Newspeak Ensemble. I can’t describe them very well, so maybe Mike will insert a little blurb here about them. Mike says check them out at: http://newspeakmusic.org It was then our turn to rock out NYC. It was great to have Matt back, I missed the bass. We rocked that shit so hard; I think we may have knocked Tribecca on its ass. Let me tell ya, that’s hard to do in a town that’s owned by Robert Deniro… We played a great set and then set off into the night knowing that NYC had just been annihilated by The Motion Sick. After stopping for pizza and vegan whoopie pies, we headed home, into the dark of night and under the radar of the NY State Police cruisers.
So, there you have it. I’m sure I’m missing some key moments that happened that were funny or whimsical, but I’m honestly too brain dead at the moment to remember them all. I hope this shit isn’t too boring, I really can’t tell. In any case, continue to check out our website, myspace, and facebook for updates on us. The new record is going to be done soon and we’re really excited for that, and for our new video, “30 Lives”. Be well my friends, and be excellent to each other.
We've got a bunch of exciting shows coming up including another special premiere screening of our video in NYC, and our appearance on Halloween as the band Poison:
Select Accolades
-SPIN.com Band of the Year - one of 8 finalists in the Underground Category
-Best Boston albums of 2006 - Boston Metro - Jan. 4, 2007
-"Satellite" Music Video screened at the 2007 BIMINI Intl. Fest. of Animation Films
-2006 Grammy Entry #60 in Best Pop Performance By A Duo Or Group With Vocal
-2006 Grammy Entry #127 in Best Pop Vocal Album
-2006 Last Band Standing, WFNX and AI New England Competition
-2006 Fuse TV Bodog Battle of the Bands City Finalists
-SPIN.com Band of the Month - Feature in SPIN Magazine, Apr. 2006
-SPIN Essential - Music You Need to Download! SPIN Magazine, Mar. 2006
-Microsoft - New Music Feature - SPIN Magazine, Mar. 2006
-SPIN.com Band of the Month, Jan. 2006
-SPIN.com Band of the Day, Jan. 13, 2006
