Saturday Realism

Wrapping Up

2008-11-10T13:12:00.003-06:00

Due to multiple graduations and movings on (though we're all still in Chicago), Saturday Realism isn't really playing together anymore. However, I finally got a hold of the tracks we recorded with Brian at the Chateau. Some of them lack lyrics and certain sections, but I present you here with all of what exists of them:

Everyone On Her Side

One Last Ride

Abandoned Coalmine

Instrumental

Untitled

Unfamiliar

Enjoy!

Spring Quarter Shows So Far

2008-04-07T19:03:00.002-05:00

4/11 - THIS FRIDAY NIGHT - It hasn't been cleared yet, but we're supposed to play at the Cobb Coffee shop with a few members of The Names That Spell. Free, tentatively at 7:30pm.

4/22 - Tuesday night at Backstory Cafe (inside the Experimental Station, 6100 Blackstone) with Rejouissance (Brooklyn NYC) and Shopping (Chicago). Doors at 7:30, music at 8:30. $6 cover charge, but it'll be worth it.

To-Do List for Next Quarter

2008-03-17T16:44:00.002-05:00

[-] Play gig at Cobb - Probably second week of Spring quarter.
[-] Score the University Theater production of Richard III - Final performance, third floor theater, 5/24.
[-] Play gig at Experimental Station (61st and Blackstone) - 4/22.
[-] Play (payed!) gig at Art in Action - 5/24, details TBA.
[-] Have 5 people in the band - A Ru is back on Wednesday or Thursday. Get pumped for more guitars and vocals!

P.S.

[+] Graduate from college.

48FF / New Tracks and Horizons

2008-03-01T00:55:00.004-06:00

We finished two tracks last week for submission to an arts benefit event. The good news is that we finished the tracks. The better news is that they're available on myspace and just below. The best news is that we have been chosen to perform at the event I just mentioned. Hooray!

One Last Ride (Final Studio Cut)

Everyone On Her Side (Final Studio Cut)

One last bit of news: Alex is finally coming back, set to arrive in mid-March. He brings many good things, some of which I don't even know about yet. More to come.

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Saturday the 1st of March took us to the basement of one of the classroom buildings to entertain the participants of Fire Escape's 48-Hour Film Festival. Kudos on the work they all did, before I say anything else. There was a three-band lineup that ended up being much more impressive and enjoyable than that of last year's event, which featured UC Hardcore legends Fuck Your Face, Saturday Realism (in its first arrangement, without drums), and The Queensmen (who are actually quite good).

This year the One Dub Dirty Love Jazz Club played first, and they pretty much deliver a solid set without fail. Only issue was the lack of drunken audience, since they're used to playing at packed parties. The Names That Spell played afterwards and blew the socks off of everyone in the room. Their line-up featured Chase Staley on guitar and vocals, a keyboardist who occasionally piped in on sax, Staley the younger on bass, and get this: a Siamese drumset that included one bass drum, two toms, two rides, two hi-hats, two snares, and two drummers, arranged on either side of the shared bass drum. I've never seen that before, and I'm pretty sure nobody else in the room had either.

The Names That Spell played a double-length set that gave no cause for complaint, with Chase brandishing his delay- and tremolo-pedal wizardry in combination with a four-foot long rack of pedals by the drummer that comprised a loop station.

Saturday Realism finally went on, and we were thinking hard about how to follow up Chase's act. We chose the road of modesty and it worked well. We got through all our originals except the Instrumental Song, managed to fit in Where Is My Mind, and closed nicely with One Last Ride, which sounded especially sweet since we had two vocal microphones. At the end of the set I think everyone felt good even if catharsis had not occurred. You can't underestimate the value of a quick, solid set on a Saturday night.

Julia's Send-Off / Art in Action / Scoring WIth Shakespeare

2008-02-21T23:12:00.004-06:00

Dave and I carried Julia's suitcases across a snow-strewn Hyde Park Boulevard late on Tuesday night, never to see her again. Well, at least not for a long time. We will miss her dearly. I can only speak for myself, but I would venture to say that we were all still riding the excitement from the home-show on Saturday that actually took place in the early hours of Sunday. By the time Dave got back from the Super Furry Animals concert I was nearly tearing my hair out with anticipation. Getting my hands on the bass to open with a Velvet Underground cover, What Goes On. I didn't even care that most of the party had left. Gnashing my teeth and punching that D-note on the bass was all that mattered. Occasionally my attention would wander long enough to hear the sweet sounds of a double-trumpet section from the couch--I could barely keep from laughing with joy.

The next morning we beat it down to Brian's studio to put down a cut of the Instrumental Song, clean up the trumpet parts for Unfamiliar, and even find time to lay down a few trumpet harmonies (props to Dave, of course). Tearing us away from his place was hard that night. We had a lot of momentum, so we can't wait to go back in.

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We might be there as soon as this week, though, to prepare some tracks for submission to an event called Art in Action, which pays bands $400 to perform. That's a lot of money to buy lots of things, some of which we need, some of which we don't. Either way, it'll be fun.

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The most exciting news is the offer we received (and accepted) to write and perform the score for a hybrid Shakespeare play being produced by University Theater. They're going to reimburse us for time we spend with Brian, so I'm definitely looking forward to getting through that script...

Barnight recap / Variation on Julia / Rough Track Leaked!

2008-02-07T11:08:00.000-06:00

So the Barnight show, despite encountering some bizarre tuning problems, was a blast. People were dancing, having a good time, and that makes us really happy to be performing. The guys at the frat were very accommodating in terms of giving us space and even borrowing equipment, so I want to extend a heartfelt thank you to them. We played for an hour and a quarter, mixing up our set of originals, throwing in some completely unrehearsed covers that came off quite well, and generally went nuts. Dave says he's going to compile a list of songs with three chords that everybody knows so we're more prepared for a request-hungry crowd :).

I have also heard word that people would enjoy it if we played there again, so I booked us a slot in 8th week of this quarter, so stay posted for that.

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In related news, we've found a replacement trumpet player to take Julia's spot in the band. Surprisingly or unsurprisingly, she's a first-year named Juliette, and Julia has already met with her to train her in the trumpet parts for our songs. She'll be joining our first full practice this weekend.

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A Ru sent us a missive regarding some kind of Press kit he was putting together. I don't really know what he's talking about, but it must be good. Anyway, for use in that package I acquired a rough track of One Last Ride from our sessions with Brian so far. The link to that is below--enjoy!

One Last Ride (rough track w/Brian)

Saturday Realism at Barnight 4th Week!

2008-01-24T14:46:00.001-06:00

Following in the footsteps of our friends in the One Dub Dirty Love Jazz Club, I got us booked at Barnight at Alpha Delta Phi (58th and University) for Wednesday of 4th week (next week). We'll probably start around 11:30 or 11:45 like ODDLJC. We'll be playing upstairs in the main "hall," so don't miss it.

Dave Hosts Party, Forgets that We Need Gigs

2008-01-10T10:16:00.000-06:00

Dave and one of his roommates sent out an email a few days ago notifying a large group of people about a Bacchanal to take place this Saturday at their apartment. It took more than 24 hours for Dave to figure out that Saturday Realism might want to play at that party...I love you, man.

Without further ado, here are the details:

Biannual University Avenue Bacchanal (start time is 9:30, we go on at 10:30)
Saturday, January 12th, 2008
5435 S. University Ave, Buzzer 3 South

Bring lots of wine. Er, and friends, too.

See you there!

New Videos from Afterparty / Recording in January

2007-12-28T21:07:00.002-06:00

I was reunited with my laptop last night after returning from an extended sojourn in San Francisco and New York City. I've finally begun to put up videos from our last show at Anastasia's apartment. Here are links to the youtube videos as they come up (check back to see if any more are up), followed by some photos from that show. Many thanks to the photographers and videographers!

Also, since Julia's is going back to Germany in mid-February, we're hoping to get everything recording with mixmaster Brian in Humboldt Park while we still have her. Expect a leaked track at some point.

Videos [last updated 1/4/08]:
Untitled, Abandoned Coalmine, Everyone On Her Side, If And When, (the next two are older recordings of Dave playing solo) Stealin Yr Breath part II, Motion Picture Soundtrack, One Last Ride, Where Is My Mind (done a little differently). That's it for now!

Photos:

No-Trash-Bash Update / Open Mic Afterparty Update

2007-11-24T13:45:00.001-06:00

Two more shows under our belts since I last wrote. The No-Trash-Bash was a much more successful event than REOrientation, even though its timing was unfortunate--there was another rock show scheduled at the same time! No matter - roommates and friends of roommates came, as well as a host of people who came to see the jazz band after us but were early enough to catch most of our set. The Afro-cuban version of "Where Is My Mind" got a great reception, and I heard a lot of comments about Julia's spot-on two-note falsetto.

A mere five days later we packed up again to play at Anastasia's apartment for the FOTA Open Mic afterparty. The situation was a lot more intimate, and I found myself stressing out more over the organization of things. Finally we got started around 10:30 and kept the groove going until 11:30 or so, even after our real and "play" sets had been depleted. Anastasia and her roommate dragged me and Juanita and Julia into a bedroom to treat us to some green delicacies. While I was busy feeling like a rockstar, Dave and Seamus were still in the living room, jamming with some audience members, one of whom included Lana Harfoush of The (now-defunct, I think) Flying Fishes. Eventually I joined them and we played until about 2am when all Weezer covers had been depleted, etc. Thanks to all for coming to both of these shows, we've had a great time playing for a receptive audience!

November 10th, Hutch Commons, 9:30 PM

2007-11-05T21:12:00.000-06:00

We're playing at a Green Campus Initiative event with a bunch of other people. Please show up.

November 10th
Hutch Commons
9:30 pm - ~10:30 pm

I just realized that we have quite a bit of experience playing live shows. I can't be bothered to count them now. Why do we still make silly mistakes?

REOrientation Show Report

2007-10-29T11:36:00.001-05:00

Yeah, so I think it should be clear why I didn't post hourly "t-minus" reports in the final run-up to the show: I was too busy preparing for it.

We didn't end up securing a recording of the show because Dave and I didn't realize the difference between a CD-R and an audio CD-R. Go figure.

Come showtime, the Bhangra dancing team ended about fifteen minutes early, giving us what ended up being the correct amount of time to set up. After checking all the monitors and amp mics, we're set to go. I start strumming the first chords of "Untitled" and everything's going fine. Then Seamus starts up with the kick drum and all hell breaks loose.

One of the pedals I bought a few weekends ago has loose contacts, and because we were on a raised, portable stage, th vibrations from Seamus's drums were knocking my overdrive pedal around. The result was a horrible grinding sound. I was thus useless for most of the song, trying to get it to stop. Finally I just yanked it out of the circuit. Nobody lost their cool, but it really sucked because it was the first song and I wanted to use it on later songs, but hey--what can you do?

The rest of the set went nicely, picking up momentum towards the end. The harmonies on One Last Ride sounded great, and we played it much faster than usual, so it ended up a little country-ish. Dave's new song (I can't remember the title) closed our set of original songs and he went all out on the solo-heavy middle section. We learned a lesson or two about the use of our bass guitar from the sound guys: 1) Evidence that it's a cheap bass--the pickups were clipping. 2) Reasons not to use a shitty grunge pedal with the bass--it cut out all the low frequencies and made it sound like a shitty distorted electric guitar. Dave claimed at the time that it was what he wanted, but I don't think he meant it.

We treated the audience to Where is My Mind, which elicited some waving lighters and cell phones in the back courtesy of the band members of Gun With Occasional Music (GWOM). A great bunch, by the way. Their vocalist recently saved my ass at a liquor store by buying the mixers for which I was being forced to provide an ID.

As regards shows in the future, I had a meeting with Sam Dixon who currently runs the Music Production Organization (MPO) and we discussed ways to raise money for bands to be able to put on shows, locations for gigs, and the effort of organizing the musicians on campus. We're both very enthusiastic and ambitious, and I hope to be able to report some positive results soon.

REOrientation, T-Minus 1.5 Days: Last Minute Scramblings

2007-10-18T13:43:00.001-05:00

We have our last practice tonight. Hopefully it'll be brief, relatively professional, and not too passion-injected; you can't be playing too well the night before a show, or else...I don't want to think about it.

A bit too late, I remembered that we need to record this show. Alas, my laptop screen doesn't stay up, and so I can't get a copy of the recording. If there's anyone who reads this who would be willing to volunteer an audacity (or equivalent music mixing program)-equipped laptop as well as some recording know-how, please leave a comment so I can get in touch with you. Also, anyone who can volunteer to take photographs; I'd buy you a bottle of booze for that favor.

Soon I'll start counting down the hours.

REOrientation, T-Minus 3 Days: Rough Practice, Down to Details

2007-10-17T00:13:00.000-05:00

When Dave arrived for practice at BJ, we discovered that Seamus had been sleeping the entire day, afflicted with some mysterious illness. Nevertheless, he got up to play. For two hours or so we slogged through our setlist, and I say slogged because something didn't feel right on almost every song. Everybody's mistakes were glaring and spirits were low. However, Dave and I have seen this before--more than once we had a really bad penultimate practice in the basement of the Shoreland before a show, only to swing back up in the last practice and perform well in the end. Thus, my spirits are still high in the long run. Hopefully my optimism is infectious.

Anyway, the setlist is ready and we're fine-tuning the performance. We've got seven original songs and, if we have time for it at the show, one extremely crowd-pleasing cover. Getting anxious yet? I certainly am.

REOrientation, T-Minus 4 Days: Working Equipment, Working Blogsite

2007-10-15T21:10:00.001-05:00

Last night I met with the organizers of the event and found out that there won't be a full sound check before the show. THANKS, Bhangra dancing people. JEEZ. Just kidding - we'll manage.

Today I gathered some intelligence about STAR, the band we're opening for. Under the "Press" link on their webpage they have a bunch of glowing reviews listed. I, however, was looking for negative reviews, for we measure ourselves against our enemies, no? Anyway, I should have known that google-ing "STAR" and a variety of its permutations would yield nothing. Those crafty bastards.

Last night my amp decided to take to the deathbed. Desperate for a solution, I bought some new cables at Radio Shack. This evening, I got to try them out, and I am happy to say that the problems seem to have gone away. The jacks on the overdrive pedal I bought over the weekend (BOSS OS-2 Turbo Overdrive) are rather sensitive, but since it's used that doesn't surprise me.

MOST IMPORTANTLY: The blog now doubles as a website, since I don't really have control over the much more creative one that Alex made. On the right-hand side you will find links to various amateur recordings of ourselves that we've collected. Enjoy, and get pumped for this Friday!

A Positive Flurry of Activity

2007-10-10T00:52:00.000-05:00

Whoa. It's been a while. A lot has changed. Alex moved into an apartment in LA and is currently working on various projects in the movie industry. Godspeed and goodluck.

To deal with our sudden drummer shortage, Dave and I took on Seamus to fill the spot. Seamus has served a valiant tour of duty with our comrades in arms, Leopold and Loeb, and now joins us with redoubled dedication.

Also new to the lineup is Julia, the subletter who replaced Alex in my apartment. She's German, unbearably cute, and the best part--she's a seasoned jazz trumpet player. We had our first practice with her last Saturday and the results put tears into all of our eyes. Even Seamus, who has less of an emotional connection to our songs, turned to look at me with an expression of shock when Julia piped up during the outro of Everyone On Her Side.

Unfortunately Julia will be spending time with family and friends back at home for a few weeks, and so she will miss our first gig: Re-Orientation. Mark your calendars for October 19th, in the Cloister Club of Ida Noyes (that's the ballroom). We're going on at 9, and we're opening for bigger Chicago band called Star. Look them up; I don't really care who they are, I just want to play a good show. We are going to sound good, and the professional stage crew manning the event certainly won't hurt. I'll announce the event on facebook, and I'm sure there will be audio tracks and photos to follow the gig. Keep your eyes open.

Opportunities

2007-07-31T15:43:00.000-05:00

1. Several months ago Alex sold his Rickenbacker, bought a bass, and made an important contact. The front man of a Chicago band called Van Go has been in email contact with Alex about a number of shows Van Go is playing in the Chicago area for which Saturday Realism might be the opening act. These guys are professional, and I might be speaking too soon, but it's really a fabulous opportunity, even if we don't have professional aspirations.

2. Last Friday Ashleigh and I attended what I thought was going to be an "Indie Rock" show. This label actually turned a number of my friends away from this event, and it's a damn shame because what we ended up hearing was really curious and unexpected.

We came about halfway through the first act, a tall man dressed in a hospital gown, playing guitar and constructing percussion and accompaniment on a drum machine nearby. If his voice had been stronger and less flat all the time, it would have been sonically pleasing, whereas it ended up being more of a curiosity.

The second guy sat on his amp, which is always a nice touch, and played an acoustic guitar with the low E string tuned to B. Holy Cow. He really knew how to take advantage of ringing open strings. His vocals were very abrasive but earnest at the same time; hailing from Brooklyn, he sang about gentrification and the need for smaller pocket communities to survive within the cities.

The last act came on, a duet of guitar and viola. The guitarist had some impressive tapping skills, but the viola player seemed to have trouble playing notes without making an intrusive squeaking sound. Their vocals reminded me of the manic singing done by Modest Mouse as well as the trance-like chants of Animal Collective. At some point Ashleigh and I both started closing our eyes because the cadences in every song were similar, but you don't have to interpret that as a criticism: it's music you have to be alert for.

Anyway, the point of all this is that the show took place in a side room of Experimental Station, an experimental community of one building on Chicago's South Side (61st and Blackstone) containing a rooftop garden, a not-for-profit bike shop, an artist's studio, offices for a social justice institute, a food-purchasing collective, and now, a free community music venue.

The advantage it has as a venue over other places is that nothing else is happening--no coffee machines, no beer taps, no televisions--to distract from the music, and the space allows for a pretty intimate musical experience. Not everybody wants or needs this, but the Hyde Park music scene, which has been seeing some of its better days recently if you ask me, could really benefit from a space like this.

I spoke to the guy who organized the event, and he basically said that if I could get some acts together, the space was ours. So - I make a call to any and all musicians in Hyde Park - if you want a chill place to play, get in touch with me: saturdayrealism@gmail.com. Best of luck.

Saturday Realism Re-Emerges

2007-07-23T09:50:00.000-05:00

Hi folks, we closed up a several month-long gap in performances last Friday night to play an opening show for the University's premier improv comedy group, Off-Off Campus. We played on the second floor of University Church, which Off-Off has rigged with a stage, a PA system, and stage lights.

Two nights before, I was overjoyed (and I mean really) to see Alex pull up in the alley behind the apartment in his Jeep Cherokee and start unloading a Pearl drum kit from the back. Thanks to some dude who in LA who played the drums for the Romantics, we had a a chance to use our own drum kit at a gig for the first time ever.

It was a mixed blessing. Though we didn't have to deal with transportation issues as much, we did have to deal with getting used to the quirks of a brand new kit. For example, we forgot to bring a carpet for the kick drum, and it ended up sliding away from Alex every time the pedal made contact. We had to stop in the middle of Taxman to fix it.

Once that was handled, there was still the levels situation to take care of, and the Off-Off guys made no offer to tweak things a little bit after we got on stage, so often there was feedback from the microphone near the drums, or the guitars were too loud, etc.

I don't mean to be totally negative, though: we eventually found some kind of groove. Dave's songs all went down really well. If and When included an unforeseen a capella vocal breakdown for one of the verses that required Alex to get off the drums and sing up front (you can see it on video here). By audience request, we played a thinned out version of I'm Down. Also, we sang into a lamp, a touch I envisioned to be an homage to the Stop Making Sense performance of Naive Melody by the Talking Heads.

There was a bit of frustration following the show about the drums and the drumming, and all the various other problems, but I know I had a good time, and it was still a learning experience despite this being one of the least professionally organized shows we've ever played. Stay tuned for other performances during the summer, perhaps at the Saturday Realism apartment complex, who knows?

More videos:
Taxman - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AhOYXGgoQQI
I'm Down - http://youtube.com/watch?v=fsdY1W4VPZc

Live Audio from BARS show

2007-06-25T12:59:00.000-05:00

The recordings from the BARS show during finals week have finally appeared. The drums are up way too high in the mix, but overall it's a good archive of a really fun and instructive experience.

Taxman (The Beatles)
She's Got Everyone On Her Side
If and When
Abandoned Coal Mine - As the song ends, listen carefully for the sound of two girls swooning.
One Last Ride
Untitled
I'm Down (The Beatles)
Where Is My Mind (The Pixies)

And one more for which Saturday Realism joined up with Leopold and Loeb for a grand finale.

All Along the Watchtower (Dylan/Hendrix)

Thanks to everyone for showing up. We appreciate any and all feedback you have about our music.

We Have A Domain Name!

2007-06-10T18:46:00.001-05:00

That's right: over the weekend, Alex registered the domain name "www.saturdayrealism.com",

So, you can get there by clicking here. It's undergoing construction (it appears), but it's still open to access. Check there soon for more video and audio from the BARS show last Thursday.

L&L and SR Rock BARS / Incredible news

2007-06-08T11:40:00.000-05:00

LAST night Leopold and Loeb and Saturday Realism joined forces for a combined concert in the Bartlett Arts Rehearsal Space (BARS).

After scrambling earlier in the week to secure a PA system, monitors, and an actual performance space, everything finally came together, though there was some stress with about 15 minutes to showtime when the Reynold's Club people failed to understand that we DID in fact need the PA system for our show as opposed to the tiny surround sound speakers spread throughout the room.

Deena Heller, a third year, played first, exhibiting an unexpectedly feisty manner with anyone who offered her any help setting up (She cussed me out when I offered her my tuner, hehe), but she channeled that frustration, whatever the cause for it may have been, into some enjoyable songs, including one that was the first she ever learned to play on guitar.

Next came first-year Joe Flesh, who played a number of spot-on renditions of some classic songs including "Puff the Magic Dragon," and "The House of the Rising Sun." He also played a few originals, one of which was called "I want to dance with the robots but I want to make love to you." He specified, before playing, that "you" refers to everyone in the audience. My favorite line (everybody's, I imagine): "Now take off your underpants and do the boogie, woogie, boogie woogie woogie with me!"

I'm really glad to have invited both Deena and Joe, and I hope that they might play with us in the future. Thanks again, performers.

Saturday Realism got on stage at around 8. Minutes before, Alex and I were crouched against the wall, hungry with excitement as Akio from L&L introduced us. We took to the stage like it was no big thing, but the dramatic lighting from the ceiling was really making it look like a professional affair, which is always a big morale boost for young performers like us.

Taxman went OK in my opinion, though the bass I was borrowing from the L&L bassist made me miss a few notes; I'm used to the flatwound strings and low action on Alex's bass.

We definitely picked up the momentum from there, nailing "Everyone On Her Side." I noticed Alex throwing in some really colorful "fills" (quotation marks because Alex's drumming style is a bit unconventional; he sticks things in where were a seasoned drummer wouldn't dare mess around). We played an unusually slow version of "Abandoned Coal Mine," but it came off without a hitch. "One Last Ride" was also a bit slow and too loud as well; I couldn't hear myself singing and so I assumed that the audience couldn't tell what I was singing. Alex won't stop saying how much he likes "If and When," so I'll just leave it at that. My solo in that song gets better each time we play it..."I'm Down" flubbed as usual--it's practically a tradition now--but it was a charming flub, so we didn't stress over it. Dave's "rhymes with One Last Ride" song was probably the best version we've ever done with it. I really got into the boogie groove at the end. We ended with "Where is My Mind," and I can honestly say my bass playing hit a high point for that song last night.

Leopold and Loeb rocked after us for a solid 45 minutes - the only chance they've gotten all year to play a full set after a slew of botched events. After they finished, we all came onstage to do two last covers together. First, "All Along the Watchtower," which started out as the Dylan version but transformed quickly into the Hendrix version when Alex and Akio took things to another level of solo with a battery of delay, distortion, and octave pedals. We ended together with "Let Down," a cover we'd spent a while practicing the night before. Though many will agree that covering Radiohead can be a really difficult endeavor, I think we got the right feeling, with everybody who was near a mic joining in for "you know, you know where you are when, you know wheeeeere you aaaare when, floor collapsing falling, bouncing back and oooooone daaaaay, I am gonna grow wings a chemical reaction (cue Akio on the higher notes)," etc.

Akio recorded the whole show, so that might be appearing within the confines of our web territory sometime soon. Thanks to everyone who came, and we look forward to seeing you at shows in the future.

***** ***** *****

MY neighbor upstairs is one of the organizing members of longstanding campus improv group, "Off Off." Late last night, after too many cigarettes, he asked if Saturday Realism would be interested in opening for Off Off shows during the summer. I nearly wet my pants. Of course! Both groups will benefit: SR produces lots of new material under pressure of scheduled performance dates, Off Off gets a more interesting show, and both groups get to swap audiences for additional exposure. Some of SR might be missing over the summer, so we haven't worked out the details, but it might end up an incredible experience.

Unrelated: Os Mutantes & Cafe Tacvba in Chicago

2007-06-03T17:25:00.001-05:00

This is music related, so I thought I'd post it here as well.

Os Mutantes ($25) and Cafe Tacvba ($40 - yikes, I know) are playing at the Metro in Chicago this summer on July 11 and August 4 respectively. These are both excellent groups and I am really excited to see them. If you're thinking of joining me or want to know a bit more about these bands before you see them, just let me know.

Albert Hammond Jr., guitarist for The Strokes, is also playing there this Friday, and it it's not sold out by then, I'll consider going to that.

June 1st show Photos

2007-06-03T15:33:00.000-05:00

Here are some shots from the June 1st show we played on the quads. If we didn't sound good, we certainly looked good. Many thanks to Corey for the photography.

[Abandoned Coal Mine]

[She's Got Everyone On Her Side]

[She's Got Everyone On Her Side ]

[Dave's Song Whose Title Rhymes With "One Last Ride"]

[Taxman]

[One Last Ride]

[I'm Down]

[Mr.] Hyde Park Music Festival, 5pm TODAY / Finals week show

2007-06-01T12:29:00.000-05:00

It's not really a festival, but a bunch of bands from the new and old generation of the Hyde Park / University of Chicago music scene are playing today (Friday, June 1) on the Eckhart quad. The event starts at 5 pm, music at 5:30 (we're opening!)

5:30 - Saturday Realism
6:20 - Cola Wars
7:10 - Health and Beauty / Unled Tit
8:15 - Leopold and Loeb
9:10 - Passerines
10 - Modern Temper

There MIGHT be food. Please come and enjoy the wonderful music (not just ours!).

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Keep your eye out for a show during finals week. We're hoping to book Hutch from 7 to 10 pm.

SMAC Soundscapes Show / Beatles Cover Band?

2007-05-27T17:53:00.001-05:00

We pulled our gear into the Smart Museum courtyard at about 5:45, thinking we were going to see the Passerines' preparing for their performance in the Lobby and The Electric Shoes' setting up in the courtyard.

The Electric Shoes were nowhere in sight. The Passerines were setting up in the courtyard. There was no PA system in the lobby. "What the hell is going on?"

The organizers fucked up big time, and it was only the beginning. Because of some insurance technicality, a second PA system, which was present, could not be used in the lobby. To compensate for this, one speaker and one microphone was moved into the lobby, and all lobby performances were conflated with courtyard performances, thus shortening the sets. No big deal.

We went on at about 7:20, according to plan. Our set (if I remember correctly, which I doubt):
Taxman
She's Got Everyone On Her Side
If and When (my new song),
Dave's new (untitled) song,
One Last Ride
Abandoned Coal Mine
I'm Down
Where is My Mind

We played well through One Last Ride, pulling off a successful version of Dave's new song, the one we've practiced the least. There were tuning issues at the start of Abandoned Coal Mine, and then a mistake towards the end that killed the powerful finale. Our morale took a serious hit; at the end of the song Dave said into the mic, "Can we just do that again at the end of the set?" Dave's brother joined us to play the lead for Where is My Mind and another Pixies song that they did as a duet, Alex providing a hint of a backbeat. It was frustrating to lose the momentum we had at the start, but I got a lot of really positive feedback from people who had attended the show. We agreed that the next time a similar thing happened, we would all put down our instruments and have a group hug.

One thing the organizers forgot to tell the performers was that everyone had to be gone by 9pm. At 8:50, as our good friends Leopold and Loeb were setting up, the organizers told them that they couldn't play, since it would take about 15 minutes to pack up the PA system. They ignored the edict and rocked the first and last songs of their set harder than anything we had seen all year. Akio's guitar kept getting unplugged, and in the dark he couldn't reconnect it, so he threw it aside, stood up on the amp, and sang the last words of the song with Shreyas to massive applause from the remaining members of the audience.

I later found out from the sound guy that the organizing committee changes every year, so they never get a chance to learn from their mistakes. Bad for them, worse for the musicians.

***** ***** *****

A friend reports to me an incident in which a resident of his dorm complained to him that I had frustrated his attempt to woo a lady at a party the weekend before. Another conversant then asked, "Is he the guy in that stupid Beatles cover band?"

Website / SMAC Soundscapes / Trumpets / Spoons

2007-05-20T01:30:00.001-05:00

Alex is making his own version of the band website. Less content, at the moment, more interesting design. Find it here.

***** ***** *****

I received an email notification of our selection as one of the performers for the Smart Museum Soundscapes event. We're super excited--here's the info:

Friday, May 25, 2007, 6 - 8 pm. Be there or be quadrilateral.

***** ***** *****

On Friday I took the Red line train down to the Morse stop (the second-to-last one) in Rogers park to buy the trumpet I had found listed on Craigslist. The man who sold it to me was a lot fatter than I expected he would be. Then again, I am in Chicago.

It hadn't been touched in months--that was clear. I spent much of the train ride with the instrument in my lap, polishing off smudges with the friction of my skin. It must have been a bit strange to the other passengers.

I gave it a try as soon as I got home and found that while I could play notes, I didn't yet know what mouth shape corresponded to what note. I'm going to sound terrible for a while. Hopefully my roommates won't have second thoughts about living with me next year because of it...

If anyone who reads this plays trumpet, please get in touch with me; I have some questions for you.

The amp, by the way, sounds great. It'll blow you away at the next show.

***** *****

We all attended the annual UChicago Summer Breeze concert today and got to see a very much-admired band, Spoon, play a very relaxed set of mostly their old songs. I think Alex and Dave would agree that it was a thoroughly inspiring show. I certainly felt like going home to play music. In fact, that's what I'm about to do right now...

Catching Up

2007-05-16T00:38:00.000-05:00

Phew, I've got a lot to cover.

Since the Riot Folk show in Hallowed Grounds, we've played three gigs.

The night after the Riot Folk show we played at Pataphysics Headquarters (Chase's basement). Alex came in exhausted after getting stuck in Kansas for 5 hours on his way back from LA. We ended up playing last, because it was already late and most people had left. It was a depressing, but a learning experience nonetheless. We played bass (somebody from Fuck Your Face lent us theirs--it had a skull and crossbones on the fretboard--rock on, man!), acoustic, and electric guitar. Mel was supposed to drum for us, but we didn't have enough practice with him so we ditched the idea. Walking back from the gig, we resolved to find a drummer.

A few days later Cory sent Alex an email about a Battle of the Bands / AIDS fundraiser event, hosted by a fraternity hoping to improve its public image. We filled out the application and found ourselves one of six bands selected to play. With a lot of struggling and phone calling and stressing out, we managed to get a hold of a drumkit in another dorm for two days of hardcore practicing with Alex on the kit. By the Friday evening before the show, we were pumped to blow the competition away.

When it came time to play, Alex found that he couldn't hear us sing and that the hi-hat was slipping away from him every time he hit it. Also, after perfecting a cover of Taxman the night before, we were told that only original music was allowed in the competition (the prize? $200 and a 10-MINUTE set the day of the Summer Breeze concert...lame...), but we said Fuck It All and played our best on Taxman and Where Is My Mind, by the Pixies. The crowd seemed to like it, and that's the point, isn't it?

So we didn't win, but we had a good time and met some of the other bands, keeping in mind the fact that the six bands that had played were basically the new generation of bands in Hyde Park, which is pretty exiting to think about.

I just returned from another gig we played at Pataphysics Headquarters. This time we played second, following a heavy-rock band, which was a nice change for the audience, I think. On the quick we decided to make the transition smooth by playing a hard-rock version of Which Side Are You On. I sang terribly; the result was superb. We played the usual lineup, plus a kick-ass cover of Spoon's I Turn My Camera On and an impromptu cover of Why Don't We Do It In The Road, with Alex singing from the kit, and ended with Where Is My Mind. The people were really grooving for the last one, faking the lighter-waving gesture and everything. SO much fun.

This Thursday I'm taking a trip with Alex down the blue line to check out a really loud Fender amp (Princeton Chorus, for those who care to know). I'm probably going to buy it. Alex is looking into a decent drumset and we've also considered getting a PA system. Basically, since the MPO (Music Production Organization) has done a shitty job of hosting gigs, we're going to take things into our own hands. Our new apartment (though we haven't moved in yet) should be large enough to host medium sized gigs. It makes such a difference to be in control of the sound space. It's been one of the most stressful things we've had to deal with, and we're tired of it.

Meanwhile, I did terribly on a Shakespeare paper, and I'm worried that all this band activity is somehow interfering with my schoolwork, through invisible forces. Who knows. That probably belongs on the other blog.

P.S. I'll put up pictures that Cory took at Battle of the Bands.

Cheers!

-Saturday Realism

Live Footage on Youtube

2007-04-23T10:35:00.000-05:00

I posted videos from three of the shows we have played at. Some are of lower quality than others, so I apologize.

The Stranger Song
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fhrLmIwZ5HA
American Something
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3YC6hDo0yXw
She's Got Everyone On Her Side
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l3PZNcXyZX4
Which Side Are You On
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bjPS8j0SIeU
Losing My Religion
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eo2virSgdyI

NEW TRACK!!!!111!!ONE!!

2007-04-10T01:23:00.000-05:00

Yeah.

I don't know where this came from, so I have a strong suspicion I stole it from somewhere. If anybody recognizes it as stolen property, seriously: let me know.

Now all it needs is lyrics...

NEW TRACK

With Fresh New Faces

2007-03-30T15:28:00.000-05:00

I decided to link this blog with the email address of my personal blog, Living Blindly, so that I could manage both blogs without signing out. Yes, I'm selfish. As a result, I had to take off all the old content here because it was a hassle to transfer. I kept it on my computer, though, so it's not totally lost.

In recent news:

[-] Dave Nagel is performing solo at FOTA's second open mic night this Thursday, April 5th, sometime between 9 and 11 pm at the Hallowed Grounds coffee shop. His act, stripped down to just an acoustic guitar, should be much better than our quasi-fiasco last quarter at the first open mic. I wish him luck.

[-] Alex Ru.'s stint with Hollywood has been pushed back all the way to September. This sucks majorly for him, but it means he'll be around to play shows with us. Last night he and I were cooking up some new material and I hope to get it ready for the road soon.

[-] Alex de Raadt St. James (he needs a nickname badly), who just came back from a year-long leave of absence, might bo collaborating with us in the capacity of a DJ/electrician.

[-] With luck I'll secure a bass from an acquaintance, so that Dylan Montanari will be able to play with us as well.