So we (Clean Hands) rounded up the year with two shows in November. One at the Miramar Theater and one at Bay View Brewhaus. The Miramar show was the biggest venue to date that we played. We played with Tomorrow Ever After and Fuzee. Aside from my bass drum moving too much forward, the show went pretty well.
The Brewhaus show was great. We gave out two-song disc samplers of the rough recordings. People dug it and it was sort of a 'thanks for all the support' effort. The EP wasn't complete in time which our guitarist was pretty bummed with. But it's pretty complete now and we'll have it online soon for download AND have it available for free at our CD release party. So this year, we nailed 7 shows in the short time all three of us have played together.
Keep posted for the link to our album on bandcamp.com
My wife told me that before I left for the studio. It kept with me all day.
I've been kind of monopolizing the blogspot the last few entries. Sorry 82. So my guitarist in our band works full time at a studio in Milwaukee, and was able to record our 4-song ep this week. I went in tuesday morning to lay down the drum tracks. Took some effort and hard work but overall, it went well. It was my very first time recording anything with a metronome, so I felt pretty nervous, but it went well. Our bassist went in later as our guitarist edited drums. Everything's done except vocals. We should have the record ready to go by next weekend's show in Bay View.
I've never felt more proud of anything I've done music-wise. My band mates and I are getting better and better and are very happy with the result. Last night I was listening to some of the tracks and they sounded great. I can't wait to share it with the one's who've always believed in me.
Going into the Live on North show , we were a bit frustrated that we were supposed to play at 12:30AM! Well, we ended up starting 30 minutes early, so that's a bit better. Turns out we had an amazing turn out. Friends old and new came out and danced to our songs...We had a great time. We played real tight, and they loved the Prince cover too! So it looks like the next couple shows are in November. Both should be a good time. In the mean time we're going to hopefully record a 3 song ep to hand out at the shows.
We(Clean Hands) had a great double booked evening a few weeks ago on the East Side. The art gallery opening was more like a glorified practice for us. A small handful of people came out and had a good time. AND we got paid. Awesome. Later in the evening we played with a few young bands at Live on North down the street. What a packed crowd. It was super rad seeing so many kids (most likely supporting their friends) and overall, we had a good time. We'll be back October 1st headlining a bill. This weekend we play Landmark Lanes with Lady Cannon and the day stars. Should be a fun time.
After a pretty successful show at the Vnuks Lounge in Cudahy Wisconsin, we've booked quite a few shows going into November. This Friday we're either shooting ourselves in the foot, or boldly making a name for ourselves booking two shows in one night. The first show will be at Starship on Farwell ave. There's a local artist showing some art at the small store, and we're playing some music afterwords. It's more like a glorified practice. I also have to find a way to tune it down a bit since we're in a small store. The 2nd show, we go on at 10:30, and it's at a small venue, but should be well-packed. Either way, it'll be a lot of fun getting our name out there in the thriving music scene.
Monday night I asked my wife if she'd be interested in checking out Milwaukee's Decibully Tuesday at Chill On The Hill at Humbolt Park. Since we had nothing else going on, we headed down, but missed opening act Juniper Tar. We were both in awe of how many people where hanging out at Humbolt. There were TONS, probably the entire town of Bay View showed up! It was quite enjoyable relaxing on the large hill watching one of the best bands in town. They opened with what sounded like a new song, then went straight into "Sing Out.." They started playing a few older gems, but got into some of the new stuff off World Travels Fast, and even nailed some b-sides and up-coming material for their next record. It was an interesting crowd. Mostly parents with kids, small dogs...and the few in the front dancing to Decibully. One child yelled out after a song "THAT WAS GOOD!" Everyone around him bursted out laughing. Here's the set list in it's entirety in no particular order
Sing Out Sing Out... My Lighter and Strings Meg and Magill Somewhere in the World Live By The Lake Penny Look Down I'm Gonna Tell You Broken Glass Let's Not Fight Don't Believe The Hype Let Me In My Lord Blood We Bleed
I think my favourite tunes of the night where Broken Glass (because it sounds AMAZING live) Blood We Bleed and My Lighter and Strings (because they never play that gem). Overall, amazing night. I'm ready and fired up for my band's show Saturday. Hopefully won't break any sticks or do anything stupid.
My wife and I often discuss music in the car while listening to stuff she enjoys, which is mostly top-40.
I've had a problem with top-40 for most of my life, as it's just throwaway crap which, truthfully, is not meant to have a lasting effect.
To the average listener, top-40 and pop are synonymous. However, upon discussing this with my wife, we determined that they are not.
We defined the two as such:
Pop = a genre of music whose songs have sing-along-able hooks, yet tends to not sound dated years later (which is why there can be such thing as pop-punk).
Top-40 = a genre of music that uses all the latest conventions and technologies that burns out rather quickly. Top-40 songs are used in retrospective VH-1 shows, like "I love the 80s."
Let's illustrate:
This is pop:
This is top-40:
Both songs came out in 1999. Which sounds more dated?
I guarantee you that just a few years from now, we'll be talking about Keisha and Lady Gaga nostalgically just like we do with the Backstreet Boys.... or we'll be talking about their comeback albums.
