RM64 Artists Record

I have an hour to kill before Rhetorical Criticism so I thought it would be cool to show you some music from bands that live in our city and the city we grew up in. These cats are either good friends of ours or we play with them a lot and secretly hate them. See if you can guess which is which!

News on the March
http://www.myspace.com/notmband

We’ve been buddies with this band for nearly two years now (maybe longer). The only thing nicer than the guys who make up News on the March is the music that spills out of their amps, a sound that encompasses Rock, Western Swing, and Pop to produce some of the brightest and darkest music I’ve heard out of almost any Houston band.
Check em out!

Driver F
http://www.myspace.com/driverf
We’ve know these guys since high school (Matt has known them eveeeeeen looooooonger) and we’ve had the privilege to witness there transformation from ska band to “in your face” pop rock, although I personally wish they were still a ska band. Seriously, with nonstop driving drums, powerful horn lines, and vocal battles between front men Andy and Tyler, this is the perfect music to wake up, eat a mess of bacon and other breakfast meats, and then constantly work out all day, with Driver F blasting through those trendy, white headphones.
Check em out!

Earnie Banks
http://www.myspace.com/earniebanks
I think it’s unfair to say that this is my favorite band to ever come out of Houston, Texas, seeing as it is made up of 4 of my best friends, but I don’t really even care. This is my favorite band to ever come out of Houston. Spacey keys and guitars, fat bass lines, and the most technically gifted drummer I know made up this Rock, almost Shoegaze at times, band. Another fun fact is that Robbie and Rohan, of E.B., played with Tomas and myself in “Playground” before this band was made and we hooked up with The Eastern Sea. Although they were waaaay too short lived, this band will always be a favorite. You can even see a 2006 version of me sitting on the ground watching them in this next video.
watch?v=B3e2bipIZTU

Old Coyote
http://www.myspace.com/oldcoyoteblood
These guys are what I hope people think of when they think of “Texas” music. Two members grew up playing with Matt in their old band “Alaska is for Players” (Come to think about it we have played with a lot of band members on this list.) These guys have such a great dark, twang to their music, think about calm moment right before they picked up the bloody mess of a girl in “Texas Chainsaw Massacrer”. Listen to the second song in the video below, you won’t be disappointed.
Check em out!

Look up these great bands too, I just gotta get to class!

The Wild Moccasins, Houston
Papermoons, Austin
No Mas Bodas, Austin
Young Mammals, Houston
Penny and the Pupoholics, Houston and Austin (depending on if she has a broken leg)

We’ll have some of OUR new songs and videos up this weekend/ next week too, so check back!

GOODBYE

Oh well.

Here I am, six days removed from the SXSW safari and still decompressing. Five straight 4am bed-times and a 24 hour drive back to good old Utah set me back a bit. Listen: I wish I had a more unique angle w/ which to report on SXSW than “Holy shit it is crazy,” but it really is crazy. Bands and people everywhere. I can’t imagine how it would take the good city of Austin any less than two months to clean up all that trash. (more…)

Whew… it’s been a while!

My lack of Internet access was half due to us being on the road and half due to myself enjoying any excuse to not have to be hooked up to a computer.

Although I’m super computer and tech savvy (brag brag *vomit*), I tend to enjoy my solitude… and the whole smart phone and online social networking phenomena has been somewhat of a terror for me.  I’m increasingly introverted, and my profession somewhat demands the opposite… However I find it even more difficult to break this shell through the no-longer-anonymous Internet than I do in person.  Tweets, Facebook status updates, and Myspace bulletins seem egotistical to me – I can’t justify publicizing my daily activities or emotions because I can’t figure out why the fuck anybody would care.

Not that I frown upon anyone who is active in this culture.  It honestly doesn’t bother me in the least to know other people partake in such activities (unless, ahem, they’re doing them constantly on their iPhone whilst in a real social setting, neglecting the fact that there are actual people around them)… but as for myself… well, it just doesn’t feel like me.

Another thing that doesn’t feel like me:  Playing music to backing tracks.

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First, I made a new music video

So we have finally gotten to the point where I am good enough at Record to actually start demoing our new record.

Right now we have our eyes set on about 10 to 12 songs,
and we are not sure about how many will actually end up on the record but we are planning it out to fit respectably on vinyl so it may turn out to be shorter than what we would first be inclined to do as CD generation artists.

Right now we have been playing 3 songs live pretty consistently that will without a doubt be on the future LP:

The Match
Santa Rosa
Central Cemetery

There are also some songs that we have been working on
that aren’t as much live type songs, even though we have played them at certain shows.

Here’s one:

Say Yes

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This is an old tune for those of you reading that have heard anything I recorded
during the first two years of college. But we are bringing it back from the dead
to be a nice droned out summertime tune. Though its very incomplete,
note the long space at the end of the track with no melody, this recording
is somewhat close to what I would want for the finished product.

The other track is yet to be titled,
but as we have discussed putting together the record,
this song has come up many times as an opener.

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

So do you know how much latin america enjoys our classic rock n’ roll music? If you have ever been south..Argentina, Uruguay, etc. it’s ALL they play, and you know this. Anyway, while visiting my artist friend Gonzalo for dinner we met his friend and guitarist Gitano….who knows every single fucking Stones, Beatles and Zepplin song ever and sings them all with Argentinian accent and sometimes different words. Holy shit! So what could we do? Despite my utter hatred for Led Zepplin I had to get on board with the festivities. Plus this guy is funny as shit. Other activities that night involved eating alot of ice cream and flying a toy helicopter robot around the loft with search lights.
And that’s not all internet. We are still recording and it is saving my life. I have had an incredibly adult week of parking tickets, student loan payments, car accidents (2 in one week), and a never ending list of Band to do’s, as well as the 2nd shoot for the video that happens tomorrow. Who is doing our makeup and hair? Very important….and well, as of now my dog has volunteered. But I have faith that Los Angeles will cough up a makeup artist right quick and we will find ourselves in the middle of what L.A. does best, which is film every fucking thing. I would also like to add that I balanced myself on my hands the other day and did not break anything. Yeah, I think we all know that makes me a winner. If I had time I would run for president.

We told you we were gonna black her out... Her name is Black Betty, aka the Swagg Waggon... just kidding.

So being on the road, makes it a little less convenient to update but we’re filming as much as we can to make a little documentary, so as soon as we get the chance to edit all this, we’ll probly have a good 10 esipodes of videos for you all.

We’re in Jackson, Mississippi right now at my grandmother’s house. We got in yesterday at 8 somethin in the morning, fresh off ripping up a show in New Orleans and then hangin out with some of our friends, and having a little too much fun- stark contrast bein here, but the food is much better. Safe to say we just chilled most of yesterday, but now we’re up and getting ready to eat one last homecooked meal before we head to Memphis to perform…

Anyway, breaking news… SXSW is CRAZY. Honestly, we’d heard all the talk about it, but we really didn’t give it credit… Well any doubt was put to rest as soon as we exited the freeway. Can’t wait to go back to Austin.

So… the last two legs of this tour we’re on may end up looking a little different by the time we get to them but for anyone out there who want to see us in your town (and sorry for the delay on posting this), the first leg of our tour post SXSW looks like this:

Mar 22 2010 9:00P
Bank St. Bar New Orleans, Louisiana
Mar 24 2010 7:30P
Nocturnal Memphis, Tennessee
Mar 27 2010 8:00P
Lager house Detroit, Michigan
Mar 29 2010 8:00P
Schubas Tavern w/ Janelle Monae Chicago, Illinois
Mar 30 2010 8:00P
Schubas Tavern w/ Janelle Monae chicago, Illinois
Mar 31 2010 8:00P
The Varsity Theater w/ Janelle Monae Minneapolis, Minnesota
Apr 2 2010 8:00P
St. Andrews W/ Janelle Monae Detroit, Michigan
Apr 5 2010 8:00P
Smith’s Old Bar w/ Janelle Monae Atlanta, Georgia
Apr 6 2010 8:00P
Smith’s Old Bar w/ Janelle Monae Atlanta, Georgia
Apr 9 2010 8:00P
National Underground New York, New York
Apr 10 2010 8:00P
The Knitting Factory New York, New York
Apr 12 2010 8:00P
North Star Bar Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Apr 14 2010 8:00P
Asylum D.C, Washington DC
Apr 16 2010 10:00P
Half Shell Virginia Beach, Virginia

Oh my god. We have a jam house! This is last weekend’s fun and craziness. We are now in the middle of tracking 3 songs. Amazing what resources will do to promote creativity. So much of a bands stress has to do with lack of resource and time. So much so that you either pull together like a family in hard times, or destroy each other and show up drunk to the Christmas party.

Also, we are shooting a music video this week that is ultimately the product of a lot of people’s talents and gifts of time for love of our band. Can you believe that? People still do things for free because they want to. This is amazing to me and I feel very lucky to have the support. I sort of can’t believe it. And I continue to humbly ask the universe for more and look for opportunities to give.

And oh my god. Check out this little girl who is playing me in the video. She is incredible.

So the reason we have been absent from the blog is because SXSW has taken over our lives
and since I’m the only one I can convince to memorize the login information for this blog,
I found my self exceptionally spread thin.

We played 6 shows in 4 days, all of them unofficial, and had an amazing time in front of
hundreds of awesome people who came out to drink free booze and have a blast,
with us and our friends. We have tons of videos to post so look forward to that.

Just because we havent been posting doesnt mean we havent been recording at the house.
More than ever, we have been working on new tracks and getting ready to record a full length
record. New demos will be coming in the next few days.

Hello Internet. Updating you on this weeks activities so far. This is another cover for one of our ep’s. Yes, this is a real bathroom. What are we saying? Umm, I think we are saying this needs to be available already and done with. No more being precious and waiting around for everybody. Here. Take it. Don’t take it. Whatever. Or maybe we want to know who Tasha is and why her name is possibly one of the most common ones found in public bathrooms. ANYWAY our EP’s will both be released in 3 weeks and I am grateful because I am ready to be done handling these tender little balls of creation and getting them ready for school, packing lunches and calling other people’s parents and such to see if they can come over.etc. I am ready for them to have their own jobs and apartments,… so I can focus on all of the new gems we are demo-ing up right now.

And what we a re working on now is sooooo much fun! Thanks to all of our gear sponsors we have been able to take advantage of sudden vacancies in friends homes, or sudden needs to track vocals in a kitchen..or  sudden needs to play and record just about anywhere. I would like to take a sec to say that I am especially stoked on the Novation right now, as it has made it so easy for us to create on the spot amazing vibes with almost unlimited sounds. Splitting the keys has also been a real asset to the creative process. I am enchanted with that thing, and it is so easy to play. The keys have a super good sturdy feel unlike most cheesy keyboards. And that is important. Because I LIKE TO FEEL GOOD!

Poker night in Stillwater

Stillwater, OK is where I am right now. Hometown of Garth Brooks (I’ve been informed). Subsequently: Hometown of Chris Gaines? You would think so, and yet no one here knows what the hell I’m talking about when I ask. Talk about life in the shadows.

I made the trek w/ a couple good friends of mine, Chris and Anna, owners of Slowtrain Records.  We left a couple days ago and stopped here in Stillwater because Anna has family here.  We are en route to Austin, of course, for SXSW, or as Anna’s grandma likes to tell people, we’re “driving to Texas to go to a concert.”

Anyway, this stop has extended to me lots of kindness, air hockey, and free food. So I kind of never want to leave, but here’s the thing:

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