There was a brief and very happy window of time when the Abbey Lounge was the center of our Boston/ Somerville universe, so it makes us very sad to see them closing. The Abbey was the place we always knew would be there for us with cheap beer, good bands, and the best sound system in town, hands down. If it wasn’t for J Grimaldi and Eric Saulnier, there’s a very real chance that we’d still be twiddling our thumbs in a practice space in Everett trying to figure out how to book a Tuesday night anywhere in the Northeast that would have us. And it’s amazing to look back on how many really great bands we were able to play with and become friends with simply because we had the inexplicable in to set up weekend shows there on the occasional basis… The In Out, The Operators, The Bigger Lovers, seemingly dozens of shows with Jennifer O’Connor, the very much-missed and beloved Red Zone Cuba, Soltero, Tony Goddess, K., Antietam… It’s saying too little to say that the Abbey set us up on our feet and made us a feel a part of a tiny little music scene that, for us, felt like the whole entire world. We feel so very lucky that we got to see and be a part of as many cool shows as we did and are really grateful to the Abbey and everyone who worked to make it the completely cool place that it was.
Then Richie said, “Hey man let’s dress up like cops. Think of what we could do!”
After quite a few years (4, we think) of talking about a new record, of trying different pedals here and keyboard sounds there, of considering and re-considering harmony ideas, of laying down vocal takes and then deleting them and then laying them down again, of just plain trying to find time to go in hit the ‘Record’ button, the mini-opus (to be so bold) of our silly (to be so self-deprecating) little world has finally gone off to the lab in New Jersey to have it’s levels balanced, tracks sequenced, and dynamics leveled off, all in the hopes of a finished product seeing the light of day in a record collection somewhere (to be so hopeful) sometime in the early part of 2009. For what it’s worth (to be so Stills-ian), we’ve been listening and living with this thing for quite a long time and, after so many starts and stops and mini-failures and successes, are really happy with what we’ve come up with. While none of us could have possibly imagined it could have taken this long (we’ve all switched residences at least once, switched jobs, moved our studio, and logged a withering amount of miles up and down 95 since we first started this thing) we think that we have emerged from the tunnel and we hope to have it all available very soon.
We’ll have a title and track order very soon and information on when and how things will be coming out in the next few weeks. We also hope to be seeing a bit more of the inside of rock clubs in the new year, so as much as it’s possible, we hope to see you there. In case we don’t speak again before 2009 we hope that everyone has a safe and happy holiday season.
Peace, love and soul,
Vince, Chris, Jon
CCLR @ The Middle East, Saturday 6/14!
We’re playing at the Middle East upstairs this coming Saturday at a show we think you’ll really, truly enjoy. We expect it to be very hot, as in sweat and sticking clothes, and while we admit that it’s fun to go out in comfort, isn’t it also fun to go out once in a while and really get down in it? As in full on? We think so.
We’re the second of four with Barn Burning, the mighty M’s from Chicago, a very wonderful band who knows how to get it done, and Centro-matic. We hope that we still know how to bring it. We hope that you do too.
xxoo,
Vinnie, Chris, Jon
It’s Not Funny How We Don’t Talk Anymore
After a break for the holidays, (and we hope yours were happy), we’re looking to begin mixing on the new record. We’re calling it “Black Clouds” at this point and we’re looking at an August release. Though its been about the biggest thing on our minds for the past four years, or maybe because of that, we can’t hardly wait as it were to mix it, master it, clear out its airway, stick it in a jewel case, and release it out into the world. We’ll post picture from the recording soon and more as we come across it.
We also have a New York show coming up in January with two incredible bands who play out about as often as we do nowadays; the legendary Hobokeners The Scene is Now and the equally legendary Franklin Bruno fronting his band The Human Hearts. The headliners, incredible band number three, are our favorites from the Old Line State, the working on legendary status, The Oranges Band. It all goes down at Cake Shop.
Until then,
Chris, Jon, Vince
I Heard Her Call My Name
We’re plotting, in our own small way, to overthrow our everyday lives and get back into some MUSIC. Some shows, some recording, some new friends, some old cherished ones, some we don’t see as much as we should, some who wish we’d forget their phone numbers…..which is a long way of saying we’re taking this little medicine show back out into the daylight and that we hope to see you soon.
On September 22nd, we’re at the Abbey East, our very favorite PA’s Lounge with Philadelphia’s mighty Swimmers, Albany’s Albumen (who we love and were snowed out last time we tried to have them down) and the excellent Antiques.
On October 14th, we’re happy to be back at CMJ in NYC at the invitation of Jennifer O’Connor and Kiam Records. What can we say about Jennifer that we haven’t already said? It will be a great night with performances from the Hotel Lights, Clint and Amy, and others, and it all goes down in the lovely surrounds of the Living Room.
Other than that we offer you Internet wishes from Providence, Boston, Philadelphia, and from our collective meeting hole in Roxbury. It may just be the Mad Dog talking, but as day-to-day life intrudes more and more into the little worlds that we’ve all worked so hard to build, we hope that somehow, somewhere, sometimes, without you even knowing it, that great little radio song will continue to find you and that it plugs you back in and keeps you moving around and around and around and that you never stop feeling that way forever.
Peace, Love, and Understanding,
Vinnie, Jon, Chris
I Got Eight Carburetors, and Boys I’m Usin’ ’em All
A quick word on what we’re up to, where we’re at, and how it relates to you. The album keeps inching toward a real life outside its home in that beautiful, leaking basement we call Home Base in Roxbury. We’re actually kicking around titles and track orders and starting to line-up the guest stars to play those things we can’t fake. We’re shooting to have the whole thing finished by October and for anyone waiting, we promise that the new album is going to be really great. We still enjoy listening to it after far too long thinking, emailing, and talking about it. We’re looking forward to some fun band stuff when the work is done, like touring a little bit, and getting out of our home city (cities!), drinking and sleeping on a floor as opposed to huffing it home at 3 in the morning and sleeping against a bass drum or amplifier while Chris gets wired and stays up all night. Not that we’re complaining. We love it. And miss it and can’t wait to do it all again.
We have two shows coming up that are going to be great. July 28th at PA’s is in honor of our very amazing friend (and fine songwriter in his own right) John O’Hara. We’re playing with Writers in Crisis and Tricunx, featuring some more amazing friends from the Operators. On August 3rd, we’re back at PA’s to officially celebrate the release of the Little Airplane Heart 7″. It’s with the amazingest Jennifer O’Connor, Clint MI and Amy Bezunarta, and Hilken Mancini. What do you mean you haven’t bought your copy yet? That would explain all that clear red vinyl crowding our floor. By all means, come to the show and buy it or order from us or Kiamrecords.
Pardon us,
Vince, Chris and Jon
New Song, New Vinyl, and May Shows
We have two shows coming up this month and on top of that, our new 7″ is going to be slowly finding it’s way out to radio, press, and, we hope, your turntables.
On May 3rd, we’re happy to be playing the opening night of Jennifer O’Connor’s residency at the Living Room in Manhattan. This will be the de facto NYC release show for our split 7″ with Jennifer and we’re looking forward to getting back to New York for the first time in a while. The Living Room is quite a nice club with great sound and we expect it to be a great show.
On May 19th we’re opening for Television’s Richard Lloyd at TT’s in Boston. “Marquee Moon” is an album we all really love, and if you don’t own it please check it out and then make your way out to TT’s to see the show.
The “Little Airplane Heart” 7″ has arrived in the mail and is now for sale; subscription or otherwise. The song, a love child borne of us and Ms. O’Connor, is up in the MySpace player and we hope you like it. To buy the 7″ single (with “Little Airplane Heart” on the A side, and “Mostly Air” by us and “Watching You Go” by Jennifer on the flip), go here, or to subscribe to the 5-record, Kiam 7″ subscription series (featuring 7″s from us, Mascott, Jesse Sykes, Dump, and the Hotel Lights) contact jennifer@kiamrecords.com
We hope you all are well. We’ll have more shows this summer and fall and, we hope, a new record by the new year-ish. Thanks as always and we hope to see you soon in a more volume-drenched setting.
jon, chris, vince
What We Talk About When We Talk About Split 7″ Singles
It’s been a little while since we had anything to announce, so we hope this finds everyone well. Now for our announcement:
We’re very excited to let you know that Kiam Records, the label run by our good friend Jennifer O’Connor, is starting up a 7″ subscription series. It will consist of five 7″s released over the course of ’07, each one a collaboration between Jennifer and another band of her choosing, and each one showing up in your mailbox all unannounced and guerilla-style. We’re even more excited that she chose us to be on the very first one.
We wrote and recorded a new song with her, “Little Airplane Heart,” over MLK weekend at our new studio and are all supremely happy with the results. Details are still a little hazy about what other songs will be on the single but there will be one new song from us as well and a new song from Jennifer.
The series is going to be limited to about 800 subscriptions, which are already starting to sell. The other 4 bands participating in the series are fantastic; Dump (James McNew from Yo La Tengo), Jesse Sykes and the Sweet Hereafter, Mascott, and North Carolina’s the Hotel Lights, so those 800 subscriptions might go quick.
You can sign-up for the series early by sending $25 and your address over PayPal to jennifer@kiamrecords.com. We’ll have a release show for the 7″, which is coming out on swanky red vinyl, sometime in the next couple of months. That’s it for now. We’ve been collaborating with Jennifer on and off for several years but we must say, in the most humble way we think we can, that the results this time out far exceeded anything we could have ever imagined. We’ll post more details at our myspace page as we get them.
Peace, love, and soul,
Jon, Chris, and Vince
Nearly Rolling
Andy has been slaving night and day all week getting the studio ready for Saturday. I’ve only been working nights, and Vinnie got to see the studio in person for the first time Monday, and showed off his drywalling skills. We’re 95% ready to roll tape! We started framing the wall and door to seal us off from the rest of the basement. After the weekend we’ll build an inner wall and door for better isolation.
The second part of the wall without the door is finished, two layers thick with insulation between, just some final cracks to seal.
After some clean up and setting up shelves we got the equipment set up, and I checked the wiring and tested the tape deck.The corner is filled with bagged insulation for sound control. We’ll make it look better later, we promise.
We threw most of Andy’s equipment on shelves and brought in a small army of amps, so we’re just about ready for Saturday. After that recording we’ll continue improving the studio and post updates whenever something looks good.
So Very Moved.
Happy New Year! Andy (of the Big Disappointments) and I ended last year by cleaning the new studio space, discussing the layout, and finishing the move from the old space. We have a ton of work to do (just look at the pictures), and we have to do most of it in the next week and a half so we can get back to musical work. It looks a little rough now, but it’s nothing a wash and some paint can’t turn around, and it’s 3.64583 times bigger than the old space (not kidding), and more than worth the effort. Next we have to build a wall to seal us off from the other basement spaces, paint the pipes, walls, and floor, put in nicer lights, set up the equipment, and record as if it was our day job.
If the story behind this sign is boring, we won’t mention it again:
First half of the move in a holding area:
Second half of the move in the new space:
More space than we know what to do with:
We’ll probably have another picture update after the weekend.
-Chris
