Runningwiththewasters

INTRODUCING THE RASSLE

2010-02-23T09:55:00.000-08:00

I'd like to introduce you all to my good friends new band, The Rassle. Featuring ex members of the Young Lords and The Virgins, they're a brand new band outta New York. Great songs for real. I wouldn't lead you astray. Check em out at:

www.therassle.com

In the meantime, here's a taste:

Now get to it,

Mark

I LIKE MY R&B JAMS SMOOTH

2009-12-16T06:53:00.000-08:00

Which is why this song left me scratching my head. It's a serviceable, pleasant enough r&b pop song, but it seems the producers or whomever had an identity crisis and couldn't decide whether to make it a club banger or a crooning r&b jam for the ladies. Well why not both? Hence, lil' jon screaming "hey" and "do you remember" at various oddly placed parts of this song. I hear it on the radio in the morning and it just puts me off. Then again, maybe they cut a deal with lil abner/jon and had to find a place for him in the song. Maybe he's the producers cousin? I don't know but it doesn't really work. It just makes me nervous when I hear it. Quit screaming at me lil buddy, I just want to smooth out with the r&b jamz. Got it?

In many ways, little john (not from robin hood fame) reminds me of that guy in the mighty mighty bosstones who would just dance on the stage the whole concert. Hard enough work, I know. He was one of the first rock hype men. Which is really what little buddy is. Now we live in the age of the multi millionaire buddy who shouts in the background and gets paid lucratively for it. It can't last forever I guess, hence the foray into soda pop/energy drinks. Keep it up buddy, I don't think many have gone so far on so little. And besides if it wasn't for him we wouldn't have chappelle's impersonation. So i guess the world balances itself out.
As you can tell I have big ideas on the mind. On with the entertainment...

ENJOY YOURSELF, IT'S LATER THAN YOU THINK

2009-12-15T11:08:00.001-08:00

And enjoy this, if you haven't already.

DOES YOUR SOUL NEED SAVING?

2009-12-09T08:36:00.001-08:00

I just watched this documentary last night. Luckily, you can find the whole thing on youtube. It's about a child evangelist who started preaching at the age of 4, marrying people and whatnot, left preaching for a while in the 60's and came back to it, just to make money, which is what he was doing in the first place. Anyhoo, it's entertaining. Enjoy. Here's the first ten minutes. If you're interest is piqued, the rest is on youtube. search for "Marjoe", which by the way is a sweet combo of Mary and Joseph.

While we're on the subject, I also offer you this great entertainment that is Benny Hinn. You might wanna mute the volume as the soundtrack is "let the bodies hit the floor" but then again maybe you won't. Enjoy.

WHY DOES EVERYTHING ON THE RADIO SOUND LIKE LA BOUCHE?

2009-12-03T06:42:00.001-08:00

It seems we've hit a time warp and we're back in 1994. Or at least that's what you'd gather from listening to the radio. Yeah, I know. You probably don't listen to pop radio. But I do. This isn't a complaint, just an observation. But we're back in euro pop/disco clubland all over again.

You don't believe me? You don't care? Either way...

Ok, so now we've got better drum machines and synths, but hot damn if it isn't pretty much the same thing. And to think you thought the tandem of Nirvana/hip-hop had terminated this stuff, or at least relegated it to the club/dance music ghetto?
Wrong. Now it's back in full force on top 40 clear channel coast to coast. Your little brother/sister is probably bobbing along in the mirror to this as we speak, if not yourself. I wonder if there's any link between europop/dance music becoming popular during recessions? Calling all sociologists.
What a joke! This will always be around. As long as there are mesh tank tops, Redbull, hair gel and Long Island, this type of music will always exist. Got any poppers/GHB?

Now's the time in Sprockets when we dance.

Mark

I can't go on like this. THAT'S WHAT YOU THINK.

2009-11-16T10:38:00.000-08:00

THIS, YES THIS, IS MY CONGRESSMAN

2009-11-08T08:57:00.000-08:00

This is from February 2009. Not like theres more important things to be doing, right?

YOU'LL ALL BE DOING THIS BY LABOR DAY, DO IT TO IT LARS

2009-10-21T09:16:00.000-07:00

I totally forgot about this. Maybe it's only for you 1 or 2 hardcore fans. We shot a commentary this summer for our "Ah La La" video for this show "The Worm" on Fuse. That's us in Derek's backyard. He's filming so you don't really get a chance to see his pretty face. We tried to shoot this several times on tour. I even asked a gal at Starbucks in Lincoln Nebraska to film us, but we just couldn't get our shit together. I don't think she wanted to do it anyway. She left shortly after I asked her, plus they were playing fucking Michael Buble really loud and no one needs to hear that shit.

Enjoy

It's Too Easy

2009-10-15T06:54:00.000-07:00

Lord almighty, maybe I'm a sap but this trailer for "where the wild things are" is incredibly touching. Probably the best use of music in a trailer I've ever seen. This Arcade Fire song was written to be used for this. I could do without all the "inside all of us is..." advertising copy, but still I'm not afraid to say I was moved by the trailer. Of course, like many of several generations, this book has a special place in my heart. So yes, I will be going to see this movie. I'll bet almost the whole audience is 18-45. It's a kids movie for adults that, at the end of the day, dearly wish they were children. And we'll pay a nice price to feel that way again.

Mark

p.s.

In an interview with newsweek, they asked "where the wild things are" author Maurice Sendak what he would say to parents who thought the movie was too scary for children.

The 81 year olds reply? "I'd tell 'em to go to hell"
I love it

Mark

ABOUT A SONG - "Running with the Wasters"

2009-10-02T07:15:00.000-07:00

This one came about in a very unusual way. I usually write the song on a piano or guitar, with all the melodies and chords planned out and the arrangement down pat before I even start setting up mics in the basement to demo it. The original demo I did of this about 3 years ago, I just had an idea for a vibe of a song. I was probably listening to a lot of New Order at the time. I don't remember. Anyways, this one I came up with the beat first. I wanted something different rhythmically, something where the drums don't switch to the cymbals on the chorus, where all the dynamics come from the vocals or instrumentation. Almost like a drum machine dance track.
I laid down the drums and then I used my favorite setting on the keyboard, bassoon, and tinkered around until I came up with a hummable melody over the chords and had vaguely mapped out a song. By the way, I never told anyone the secret ingredient to the song, but now's probably as good a time as any. The intro do do do hook is the first three notes from that song "Pure imagination" from the original Charlie and the Chocolate factory, the "Close your eyes and you'll see a world of pure imagination. I think people subconsciously associate the melody with childhood, but that's just my psychobabble from many hours of sitting in a van.
Anyways, I wanted the song to be an anthem, something the hordes would shout along to at a football or soccer game. In fact, the original working title on my Pro Tools was "Soccer Hymn", which doesn't even make sense. Of course, the song ended up being a little too melancholy to be a successor to "ole" or something along those lines. I also had kind of a hard time singing the doo doo doo's and I didn't plan on keeping them in the song, but the guys said we had to. They were right, clearly.
Lyrically, I don't know what to tell you. I never sit down and say I'm gonna write a song about a certain subject. I usually just sing stream of consciousness type gobbledeygook along to the melody until I find a line that sends me in a certain direction. So take what you want from the lyrics.
A small last note, I had this song in the can for a while and I don't think we were gonna do anything about it. No one else in the band seemed to be very excited by it. Months later, my roommate and a friend from out of town heard the song on my computer and were appalled that we didn't play it. So I can credit them with saving this song from complete obscurity. Believe me, the songs of ours that you've never heard would make you scratch your head and ask why we didn't put this or that on the album.
I hope this has been enlightening in the most profound way.

Later,
Mark

A LETTER TO A VERY SPECIAL PERSON

2009-09-08T18:21:00.000-07:00

Hiya,

How's things brah? I'm sure you're probably bored out of your mind most of the time. I know most people think your job is exciting because they've seen so many cop shows on TV. But I know your life is as far as it gets from finding a dead porn star floating in a vat of KY jelly like they do on CSI. That's just TV. That stuff doesn't even happen to homicide detectives in Pittsburgh. And as we both know, you're far from being any kind of detective, much less homicide.
It must get awfully boring and mundane, sitting in your cruiser all day, hiding behind that awful billboard for "Dick's Sporting Goods". But I guess you gotta hide somewhere. If all the drivers on the road saw you in plain daylight, they'd all slow down and you wouldn't meet your quota for speeding tickets. Speaking of, I've always thought going 5 miles over the speed limit was kinda par for the course, right? I just figured the only cops that gave tickets for going 70 in a 65 were just anal retentive sticklers or at least really desperate to meet their quotas. Maybe you could explain better broseph, cause I don't get it.

While we're on the subject, how could you clock me going over the speed limit and not the guy in the right lane driving right alongside of me in his yellow H2 Hummer. I'm pretty sure he was going quite a bit more than 5 miles over the limit. Yet you let him go. I know, I know. Sour grapes. I can dig it brah. No hard feelings, I paid the ticket already. Money order from Rite Aid for $189.50. Kind of a big chunk of change for me these days. See, I'm a musician. Which means I'm broke most of the time. It's a tough way to make a living. But I'm sure you smell what I'm cooking. You're nearly 50 and you haven't made detective yet? Were you like one of those loose cannon cops in the movies who pissed off his superiors because he wouldn't play by the rules and they'd threaten you along the lines of "IF YOU DON'T CLEAN YOUR ACT UP MAZURSKY, YOU'LL BE HANDING OUT SPEEDING TICKETS IN PITTSBURGH THIS TIME NEXT MONTH!!!"
A bit dramatic, you think? I know. Figures. I went to school to write screenplays.
Hey that gives me an idea! Whadaya say to me riding along with you next week, watching you bust the bad guys, clean up the streets, solve the down and dirty---sorry, I got carried away. What was I thinking?

"You hide behind fucking billboards all day."

Whoah! Sorry about that. Maybe that came off as harsh. Doc says I can be a bit passive-aggressive sometimes. I guess this is one of those times. Again, a thousand apologies. Well, I guess I should wrap this up. Places to go, people to see, you know how it is. Wait. You don't. You fucking hide behind billboards all day. Which reminds me of a story I once heard.

My friends dad was driving down the highway. He's about 70 years old or so. A real live wire though. Anyways, an officer just like yourself, hiding behind a Tanning Salon billboard or something akin, screeches out and pulls him over for speeding. The cop walks up to the car and asks for his license and registration. Do you wanna know what the old man said?

"I fought for this country In Korea and you hide behind a fucking billboard just to give me a ticket!"

And do you know what?
The cop let him go.

I'm just saying.

Later,
Mark

The Crying Game

2009-08-26T21:01:00.000-07:00

It's been awhile. For me at least. I'm sure you've all been coping well without any blog posts here recently. Times are changing. Flux. That's the most befitting term for what we're up to now. Everything is very much in a state of flux. But we soldier on. Just finishing up 3 bonus tracks for the Japanese release of "Running with the Wasters". They were recorded in the luscious confines of Derek's basement. You don't need a $5000 microphone to make a good record. Sometimes the cheapest equipment has the most charm. That said, the 3 songs are all very old Takeover songs. None have ever been released, unless you managed to snag some ancient demo ages ago. Hopefully you're feeling adventurous and generous and plan on buying the Japanese import when it comes out. Because you just have to have these 3 songs. All of them predate most of the songs on "Wasters". That's right, we're talking circa 2004-2005,the very beginning. If you must know the bonus titles:

SATURDAY NIGHT
STORMY WEATHER (we may possibly rename this one)
SAY MARLENE

Writing those out, I just realized they all begin with 'S'.

To those of you in LA, we apologize for having to cancel our shows this month. As I said before, the current state of flux has rendered us unable to make it out for those shows, but I promise we'll make it up as soon as we can. In the meantime, tell your friends about us, burn them a CD. Whatever floats your boat. If you value our music, tell them to buy it online. Surprise yourself and us.

The dog days of summer and I've found myself reading even more voraciously than usual. I have a whole 4 level bookshelf with many many recent second hand purchases calling my name. These last few weeks I just finished several books I'd strongly recommend:

A People's History of the United States by Howard Zinn
This ones kind of a no brainer. I've been meaning to read this since I was 14 and just now got around to it. I bought it 6 months ago, lost it, then found it last week. As I expected, it's eye opening and infuriating. I found myself physically disgusted many times while reading this. This is a book that should make you angry Studying the real US history really illuminates what's going on right now. Things change, but then again, not really. Do yourself a favor if you haven't already, and READ THIS BOOK.

What's the Matter with Kansas? by Thomas Frank
I found this in the $1 section of my absolute favorite store in the world: Half-price books. Basically this book is about how ultra conservative republicans have captured the heartland of America and does a great job of explaining why blue collar folks time and again vote against their own economic benefit instead choosing to only vote based on a vague cultural war between the coasts and the rest of fly over America. It uses Kansas as a microcosm for the whole country. Have you ever been to Kansas. It is a 'unique' place. I'll say that. Now I know more about the history of the great state of Kansas than I ever thought one man from Pittsburgh (PA not Pittsburg KS) should know.

Wilder Times : The Life and Times of Billy Wilder
Lest you think my reading list is one sided. What can I say? I love almost all of Billy Wilder's movies (not too crazy about Kiss Me, Stupid or Irma la Douce) and this book really went into depth about the great director's very interesting life.
If you're a fan, definitely pick this up. If you've only seen Some Like It Hot then you should probably check out Sunset Boulevard, Double Indemnity, The Apartment and Stalag 17. He wrote and directed so many great, classic movies it's unfair.

Agatha Christie: What can I say? I'm crazy for her. Especially the Poirot stuff. Does that make me dangerously close to an elderly watcher of "murder she wrote". I don't care either way. I love it.

Not a book but a mini series from HBO in 1988: TANNER '88
Robert Altman and Gary Trudeau do a mockumentary about a fake candidate running for President in the 1988 Dem. Primary. A blast from the times of Dukakis and Gary Hart and in those innocent days before any Bush was in control of our armed forces. Very funny and insightful but not for everyone.

Lastly, I'd tell you the music I've been listening to but it's mostly been demo's and recordings we're making. Nothings burning up my ears at the moment.

Check back early and often. I promise not to make you wait so long until the next time. And don't be shy. Believe it or not, we like to know someones reading these rants and raves. Even if it's only to say "Hey dude". I'll take what I can get. But I'm sure you can come up with something slightly better than "Hey Dude" unless you're talking about the wonderful Nickelodeon show.

Later,
Mark

CHARACTER ARC (click on this)

2009-07-27T07:44:00.000-07:00

Last week we were graced with the privilege of appearing on the cover of Pittsburgh's City Paper. We had a good time working with the photographer Heather Mull on the photo shoot. Per usual, our initial ideas for the shoot were vastly ambitious and considering there was no budget, vastly unlikely. As necessity is the mother of invention, we climbed out onto the roof of Nic's apartment and Bloomfield and took some pictures. Of course, the local store Eons was kind of enough to lend us some very fine duds that came in quite handy. In the end, attached is the link for you to check out the story and some pics. I hope you enjoy the story.

Click on the title above, the one that says CHARACTER ARC or..

In case you don't see the link, here it is again: http://www.pittsburghcitypaper.ws/gyrobase/Content?oid=oid%3A65863

In other news, we have a big announcement to make soon. So stay on the edge of your seat and check back early and often.

Later,
Mark

DAY PLAYERS

2009-07-24T18:37:00.000-07:00

If you've ever seen the show "Extra's" with Ricky Gervais, let me say right now that it is not even remotely what it's like to be an extra in a film. Of course it's not meant to be a documentary of a day in the life of an extra. It is, however, very funny.

Watching it recently, I was reminded of a long, miserable night Nic and I spent a few years back as extras on a motion picture. Out drinking the night before, a friend told me he was going to be an extra in a picture being filmed right here in the film capital of western Pennsylvania. I was intrigued. It sounded like a different way to spend a Saturday night. Also, being a huge movie lover, I was interested in watching the actors and crew work. It also helped that the film was "The Mysteries of Pittsburgh" based on the debut novel by Michael Chabon, a writer I quite enjoy. (Check out "The Adventures of Kavalier & Clay". Those Pulitzer folks liked it so much, they gave it some sort of ribbon.). One call to the extra casting director and I was hired.

The next night, Nic, my brother Greg and I arrived at a rundown warehouse in the Strip District neighborhood around 6 PM. We checked in with the casting director and were quickly ushered into a makeshift cafeteria and began what we would spend the majority of the night doing: waiting.

A few long hours crawled by before we were called to wardrobe. The picture being a period piece set in the early 80's, the clothes we got were somewhat uncomfortable, especially the jeans. Apparently, men wore their dungarees to their belly button in the ancient year of 1983. I wouldn't know. I was still in short pants back then.
Next up, more waiting. We had smuggled in quite a few cans of Sparks, a hybrid Malt Liquor/Energy Drink, recently outlawed in the contiguous 48. It was a Saturday Night after all. Sparks helped us pass the time, though I can't say the same for my nervous system.
By the time the Winter Olympics rolled around, the entire motley crew of 100 or so "day players" were called upstairs to shoot our big scene.
I'm ready for my spotlight, Mr. De-- sorry, I won't even finish it. I'm a fucking extra.

First, a little background info.
Presently, I have no delusions or ambitions of being an actor. It was a very different story when I was twelve and my goal in life was to be on "Saturday Night Live". After months of persistence my mother signed me up for acting classes along with my two brothers. As anybody with multiple siblings knows, growing up, what you do, your brothers/sisters do. Unfortunately for me, my interest in acting was only equaled by my brothers disinterest.

Every Saturday morning we would trek to the local Arts center in the Ford Taurus station wagon. I can't say if I was a promising actor, most likely not. I do remember enjoying it quite a bit at first. But it was not to be.
My dream was cut short though as A) I quickly grew bored and more importantly B) my brothers and I were thrown out of the class.
It seems my kid brother Greg slide tackled another student who was practicing acting on the phone. Unprovoked, Greg took a running start and slid into this kid's legs, sending the poor would be Treat Williams flying into the air, along with the phone and the table it had been resting on. The kid wasn't seriously hurt. But we Solomich boys were out, personas non grata. Alas, my acting dreams were dashed. Often I wonder if my life would be different now had the floors not been shiny, slick linoleum. But, I digress...

Back to the making of "Mysteries of Pittsburgh". We were meant to be the audience at a "punk club", which looked just about how a Hollywood art director would envision a "punk club", i.e. completely contrived and cliche. The three of us were lucky enough to have met one of the principals. While Meryl Streep she may not be, Sienna Miller sure is easy to look at. Her co-stars were Peter Saarsgard and Jon Foster (had to look that one up). Nick Nolte was in the movie as well, but unfortunately he wasn't in this particular scene.
Saarsgard seemed like a nice guy, joking around with the crew most of the time while the Foster guy struck me as nervous and humorless.
The director, much younger than I expected, had made one picture before, the emotional tour-de-force otherwise known as "Dodgeball". Too bad, they weren't filming that instead.

The Big Scene
"Action"
"Cue "punk" music.
The extras start pseudo slam dancing-- jumping up and down mostly. After five seconds, the music abruptly stops and we continue dancing, pretending this is the most raucous 'punk' gig ever. It is a very strange atmosphere, I must say.
In the midst of the sea of awkwardly attired 'punks', the actors walk through the crowd, hammily delivering their lines. Paddy Chayefsky, this is not.

"Cut", yells the director. "Good work everybody. Let's try it again".
And so forth forevermore.

Fast forward four hours. We've finally finished our star-making performances. The casting director announcesthat while most of us can go home, they need some of us for another scene. We don't need to mull this one over. It's nearly 6 AM.

As we're walking to collect our meager pittance ($50 for nigh on 12 hours!?!) I spy them filming the next scene: a mohawked 'punk' giving a simulated blow job to Saarsgard in the "punk" clubs' bathroom. I don't need to be here for this one. I'll be in my trailer Sienna.

On the drive home, all three of us agree we would never be extra's again. It's completely not worth it. But hold on. Maybe it was. I've got the story, if you can call it that, to share with you, dear reader. That's gotta be worth something, right?

Three years later, I still haven't seen "Mysteries of Pittsburgh". Apparently it's terrible and no distributor in their right mind wants to touch it.

Still a good book though.

Later,
Mark

THE GREATEST THING ON YOUTUBE

2009-07-10T21:28:00.000-07:00

No, it's not a fat guy miming to a song in front of his computer and it's not some cutesy kid getting scared by his parents. It's a clip from the Dick Cavett show, from way back in 1970. I've come across many clips from his show and it makes me sad that late night shows used to be like this, with amazing guests. And look what we have now, "Jaywalking"? I digress...

This is a clip of John Cassavettes, Peter Falk, and Ben Gazzarra promoting their movie "Husbands". Obviously they're totally wasted, especially Falk. This really cracked me up, especially all the pratfalls. If you're unfamiliar with Cassavettes, do yourself a favor and check out his pictures. May I suggest "Killing of a Chinese Bookie", "Minnie and Moskowitz" or "Husbands".

The clip takes a bit to get going, but once these guys come out, it's really funny and entertaining. This is what late night talk shows should be, but they're really aren't guests like this anymore. As a bonus, the commercials are included. It's a great time capsule for a time I never knew, but seemed like alot more fun than today.

These are parts 1 and 2 out of 4 clips. Check out the rest of the episode.
Oh and just for fun, here's a clip of Cassavettes punching dear old Ronnie Reagan in a clip from "The Killers" in 1964.

Later,
Mark

WACKO JACKO BITES THE BIG ONE

2009-06-25T17:50:00.001-07:00

Pittsburgh, PA (Reuters)- With the untimely demise of the "King of Pop", Michael Jackson, the young, relatively unknown rock group The Takeover UK are holed up in their compound/Head Quarters here in their hometown on the edge of Western Pennsylvania. The band, according to spokesman Charmaine DeLillo, are reeling from the news. "Each member of the band has the utmost respect and regard for Michael Jackson's music. He was the best singer, the best dancer, and at one point, the best-looking motherfucker on the block. We are saddened and dismayed to hear of his unfortunate and far too early passing. We ask for our privacy at this difficult time to mourn the loss of such a revered figure", said DeLillo.
The Takeover UK first collaborated with Mr. Jackson, or Wacko Jacko as they lovingly nicknamed him, on the previously unreleased B-side "Come Get Sum", which was to appear as the flip side of Jackson's smash hit, "Black or White" released in 1991. A controversy over the lyrics and artwork to the song forced Sony, Jackson's label, to replace it with a less sexually/politically offensive number. The two artists never collaborated again.

fresh old shit

2009-06-16T20:52:00.000-07:00

hey.. i wanna introduce myself.

I'm Derek, the new bassist of Takeover. It took me a while to post here because I wanted to feel like a member of the band first. I joined in February, I've been on a couple tours and had a few screaming matches with the guys. I paid my dues man... now I finally feel like a true member of the band. That said I wanna share a bit of myself. Believe it or not.. the guys in the band made me responsible for recording our upcoming release. I feel honored but I also hate them for it, I'll be going deaf at a young age.

So I'm not gonna lie, I'm "trying" to find optimism in the world of music. I truly believe that our current day industry is the biggest pile of horseshit in the world. I hope you are with me. At the end of the day I just want peace in my heart. I want songs with longevity. Did you notice that modern pop singles are hot when they're first released, and 2 months later it's considered "old, or outdated?" Why is that? I'll tell you.. there's no passion put into the songs anymore. All the wrong assholes are in charge of everything. We could really use some radio play but we're gonna do honest work until we get there. That means no fucking people over.. I thought of breaking the law or burning certain venues down, that won't help, it will only put me in jail and then the band won't do shit. fuck getting press for doing stupid shit. I'm over that idea.

People know me as being a close minded person who only listens to 60's girlgroups.. That's kinda true. So I guess my point is.. don't fall into an unsacred path. Here's some shit to move your soul, if it doesn't then keep watching till it does.

Here's a song that I just adore lately. it was written by Carol King and Gerry Goffin. performed by the beautiful Dusty Springfield. this crazy bitch used to throw plates back stage before performances to relive stress. I love it...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3PKXE5qvJ3E

mwa
-love derek

The Drought is Over

2009-06-10T22:53:00.000-07:00

Well, we're about 80% done with our first song("Across the Car") of what will hopefully be our next release. We've been recording in Derek's basement for the last three weeks in an attempt to get something a little more homegrown. It's sounding pretty good--and by good I mean bombastic.

It's a hell of a driving song. No, not driving guitars, I mean it's the kind of song that'll sound best with a red left arm slung out of the drivers side window, while you're on your way home from work. I'm excited to see how people react to it. We've never done anything like it before.

"Golden Age" is on deck and although we've been playing it since last Christmas, it's going to be nice to finally get it on wax. . . or silicon, or whatever. I'll keep you posted.

Luv,
Nic

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2009-06-10T22:48:00.001-07:00

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GUNNIN' FOR THAT #1 SPOT

2009-06-08T10:28:00.000-07:00

Not too long ago I asked you dear readers to request a song of ours on Sirius/XM radio. Well I'll have you know, you did well!
This past weekend we reached #15 on the AltNation Weekend top 18. From all of us, I'd like to extend a very sincere thank you to every one that emailed a request for "Ah La La". It worked!

Being the insatiable, avaricious lot that we are, obviously we want that #1 position. And I hope you can help again. This time, in addition to personally emailing a request for "Ah La La" by The Takeover UK, if you could email as many friends as you can and tell them to do the same. If they've never heard us, by damn, turn them onto us! I don't mean to start some shitty chain letter. Nothing bad will happen to you if you don't, I assure you. We don't wield any such magical, karmic powers. But if we could climb even higher, perhaps even to the top spot, well, life would be sweet not only for us, your humble entertainers, but also for you. Just knowing what power you hold in determining what is popular can be a mighty swell feeling. So please go forth, ye mighty power brokers of pop music justice, and request away.

Please send your requests for "Ah La La" by The Takeover UK to :

AltNation@siriusxm.com

Any and all help is appreciated immensely. We're at #15, but let's get it. Let's get high..er!!

In other news, we'll be taping a few songs for the FOX music show FEARLESS TV later this week in New York. I'll keep you posted on when it will air. Oh well, I'm off to the studio (aka Derek's basement) to record some guitars for a new song.
Keep on the lookout here in the near future for a new feature. I promise you it will be entertaining.

Later,
Mark

I'M A BELIEVER

2009-06-03T18:47:00.000-07:00

The other day I bummed a cigarette to a guy on the street. He thanked me politely. As I walked away, he turned to his friend. "Usually I hate Anglo-Saxons, but he was actually nice". WHAT??!! First off, I don't think I'm even Anglo Saxon. My family is originally Irish and Russian. I'm not quite sure what denotes an Anglo Saxon. I'd look it up, but I really couldn't be bothered. Really, that's not the point. As for this wonderful fellow's ethnicity, it was wonderfully vague. Greek? Armenian? I don't know and I don't care. But I thought the whole thing was bizarre and funny at the same time. I don't know why I felt the need to share that with you. Moving on...

So here we are in New York. We filmed a video on the subway last night for "Don't Wait Up". The G line to be exact. We spent quite a bit of time rehearsing with 25 or so extras. Thanks to all those who helped out. Hopefully it'll turn out great.

As for now, I'm in the back of Monster Island, the same place we made our album. We're finishing up a song, "Hellbound and Heavensent". We started it a few weeks back while we were on tour. This song is actually the very first song we wrote together as a band. Which reminds me...

The summer of 2004: The Takeover UK has just formed. We decide to spend 4 or 5 days together in Ocean City Maryland at a friends apartment. We drive down in a Jeep Cherokee. Instead of sunny days at the beach, it rains the entire time. Rather than basking under the warm mid-Atlantic sun, we sit on our friend's porch and play guitars and sing, the rain sloshing down.
One night we head out to the honky-tonk boardwalk to busk. Within the first ten minutes a drunk runs to the ATM and hands us $80. We're ecstatic. "We're gonna make a G this week", we boast to one another. The next night we make $3.47. Busking doesn't seem to be the road paved in gold we thought it would be. But we do write a song. And we learn how to harmonize together to boot. Oh and I contracted scabies from sleeping on the friends couch. How I'm the only one that managed to contract such a dastardly thing, God only knows. That was 5 years ago. I'm much better now, thank you very much. Took care of that in one fell swoop to the doctor's office. Why am I sharing this? You don't need to know this.

Anyways, we're happy to let you know there will be loads of new songs by the end of the summer. Just get ready to enjoy yourselves.
Later,
Mark

PLEASE DON'T TAKE THIS THE WRONG WAY

2009-05-28T07:49:00.000-07:00

I have something to ask of you, dear reader/music lover. The whole thing makes me a bit apprehensive, but fuck it. Here goes:
Our first single "Ah La La" has been getting some play on the AltNation channel on Sirius/XM radio. We need your help to get it into the weekend top 18. If you could please, please, please email them and request "Ah La La" by The Takeover UK, we'd be mighty obliged.
Send your requests to:

AltNation@siriusxm.com

And please, tell your friends to do the same. The more people that do, the more likely they'll play our songs. The more our songs are played, the more people will hear our music. The more people hear our music, the more popular we will become. The more popular we are, the more kids, who otherwise would be left with disturbed and panic at the disco, will get into better music in general. The more young kids into great music, the better popular music will become. Advertisers follow the 18-35 age demographic. Imagine if all these young people were requesting their radio to play bands like us and the hundreds of other worthwhile bands/singers out there. The face of popular music would change. Gone would be the days of complaining about how much the radio sucks, how today's pop music is all manufactured drivel, how music was so much better in the old days.
You, the listener, hold all the power in your blog reading hands. I think most people don't even realize it.
Often times, we'll be driving in the van on the way to another gig, listening to the ipod. A song will come on that was a hit in it's day, be it the 70's, 80's, 90's. And usually someone will remark, "This would never be a hit today". And they're usually right.
If you've caught yourself lamenting the state of popular music before, you are right in every way. It IS worse today than it was ten years ago. Granted, the charts have always been filled with stupid, meaningless bubblegum balderdash. But like our politicians, the media gate keepers sorely underestimate the public's intelligence. The basic thought is: if it isn't dumbed down, easily identifiable, lowest common denominator sentiments (i.e. "I love you, I miss you, I really wanna kiss you, I like your pants around your knees") being expressed in the song, then it will undoubtedly be over the audience's collective heads.

I SAY, BULLSHIT.

Do you think, in the modern pop climate, "Come as you Are" by Nirvana would make it onto your local Kiss/Star FM Top 40 pop station, sandwiched in between Katy Perry and Nickelback on your drive time commute? Hmm. Food for thought.
Of course, back in '91 it was probably played in the middle of a stellar block of C&C music factory and Vanessa Williams songs. But you get my point, right? There will always be dumb pop songs on the radio, but why not make the other 40% of popular music, especially rock music, worthwhile, artistically credible music. Our standards have been lowered I'm afraid. The radio's dead, shouts the peanut gallery. It's dying, I retort. But your typical nurse or construction worker still flicks on the radio when they're driving to work, be it terrestrial or cosmic interstellar overdrive.
YOU CAN MAKE IT BETTER. IT'S ALL IN YOUR HANDS, DEAR FRIEND.
Now what was my original point? Oh yeah.

Please email Sirius/XM and request our song, "Ah La La" by emailing:

AltNation@siriusxm.com

Just had to remind you. Lest we forget, this whole self-righteous spiel was motivated out of shameless self promotion. I too hate all those lame bands that leave you a myspace comment asking you to vote for them in some weenie battle of the bands or some or other wack contest. I hope you aren't lumping us in with all those yahoo's and actually find great value in our music. We do it for the kids, and as everybody knows, Trick love the kids.
Later,
Mark

PS Anybody can leave a comment now. You don't have to be a registered member of this site. Drop us a line. We'd love to hear that we're not shouting at the walls.

Heaven Knows You Couldn't Care Less

2009-05-22T21:53:00.000-07:00

Tonight we decided to let our shimmering, frosted-tipped hair down, went with the old, comfy sweat pants instead of the flash new Seven jeans and became the very thing we have always despised. That's right, tonight we were a cover band. Albeit, only for 3 songs, all of which were Smiths/Morrissey ones. It was a benefit for an animal shelter in our hometown. We spent the week learning and rehearsing songs that we didn't write (though I really wish I had written "Panic" and/or "Please Please Please Let Me Get What I Want").
This is very much new ground for us. Many bands have a cover or two they occasionally whip out. Our humble band, however, has only played 3 covers in 5 years as a band, and that was at a friends wedding where the bride and groom requested certain songs. Nic and I have written so many songs over the years that it seems silly to learn another bands songs when we should be learning a new one of ours.
Either way, this week was a bit different for us, but in a good way. Personally, I spent the week in Smiths/Morrissey overload. In addition to rehearsing 3 of their songs everyday, I read a nearly 400 page Smiths biography, purchased quite a few Morrissey albums I've never had, and spent hours listening to them. You'd think I'd be a bit sick of Morrissey's romantic whine by now, and you'd be kind of right. However I better get over that quick as there are about 9 CD's coming in the mail next week. (I truly love getting things in the old snail mail. Fuck an email.)
In other news, we've started work on a new release. Tentatively it'll be a mini-album, about 8 or 9 songs. Hopefully we'll end up recording 15-20 and have several songs as bonus tracks for those who've signed our email list or some other exclusive, super secret fan only release.
As far as the new material goes, we couldn't be more excited. We're working in Derek's basement studio. Being the master and maker of wonderful recordings, Derek is pulling double duty, playing and engineering. I hope he knows what he's getting himself into! You can kiss your coffee supply goodbye right now! We'll be video taping a lot of the recording process and hopefully putting up on the web for you to check out our progress.
The first song we've been working on is one of Nic's. It's very much a departure from our album, but still keeping with our previous work melodically. I hope we can get it out before summer's in full swing because if there was any justice in the world it'd be the summer jam of '09. Breezy, that's all I can say right now. I hope your interest is piqued.

In random news, a nice fan from Tokyo sent us an email with this picture:

Apparently it's from a display at the Tower Records in the fashionable Shibuya section of Tokyo. I was surprised because a)I don't think our record is out officially in Japan and b)That's not our album artwork, it's the cover for the promotional copy of our record. Oh well, it's pretty sweet either way. Maybe we'll be one of those bands that's only big in Japan and unknown in the States. We'll take what we can get at this point. Maybe we'll just tour Nippon and leave those of you back home in the US to fight over who's way gnarlier, Trapt or Shinedown.
On second thought, nah, we've gotta fight the good fight in our home country. We're not giving up, not by a long stretch. I just know that the average kid in the US can do better than Nickelback, Seether or Saliva. There's another road to take, I swear. A road that isn't the soundtrack for a teenage rapist. Actually there's lots of roads to take, who am I kidding. I just wish modern rock radio didn't sound like the future line-up for the Three River's Ribs and Wings fest (where I once saw 3 Doors Down, remember them? I do. "If I go crazy will you still call me superman" or maybe that's a morrissey lyric. I dunno, my brain's fried.)
I'm rambling. That means it's time to shut it down before I do any further damage. Just you watch, next week we'll get asked to be the main support on Hinder's summer tour, then they'll read this and retract their offer. Damn it, I knew I should've kept my mouth shut.
Later,
Mark

RED STATE MAN

2009-05-19T08:07:00.000-07:00

A month or so ago I was watching the top 20 countdown on CMT (that's country music television for you city slickers) and the video for Rodney Atkins' "It's America" came on, his chart scorching ode to the stars n' stripes.
Now you probably don't know this, but I've had a keen interest in modern country for almost 5 years now. I used to watch CMT or GAC all the time. During that time I knew all the big country hits, you name it. From Alan Jackson to Little Big Town, I knew 'em all. In recent years I haven't had the time to keep up with it aside from the odd hour or two Josh and I will jam out in the van to a country station on the radio. What can I say, I just get a big kick out of how ridiculous a lot of the lyrics and sentiments are. I do genuinely like a smattering of songs, mostly by Toby Keith but that's another post entirely.
Anyway, this "It's America" song came on and it was another one of your typical flag-waving patriotic summer jams. There's at least 3 or 4 every year that make the charts. What really caught my eye was half way through the video.
Rodney plays a good ole boy car mechanic. He walks outside of his garage and comes upon a Mexican mariachi band, much like the one in our "Ah La La" video. He makes a ridiculous facial expression upon seeing them. His face says "What the Fuck" and "Oh hell no!" at the same time. Rodney is none too pleased with these foreigners. Moments later he gladly helps a white rock band with directions. Thank God they're not Mexicans!
I just wanted to point this little bit of racism and xenophobia out. I know it's not exactly a news flash that a country video would have some small minded racism in it, but I was just surprised that it got through in such a corporate age. Modern country is very sanitized. The only thing that differentiates most songs from top-40 pop songs is the instrumentation i.e. pedal steel, fiddles and obviously the twang. Ven that's out the window now with Taylor Swift.
Regardless, check out the video. The whole things pretty funny but if you value your time just skip to 2:30 and look for the scene I'm talking about. His reaction comes at 2:38, so keep your eyes peeled. It's blink and you miss it.

Later,
Mark

ABOUT A SONG - "Kill Me Dead"

2009-05-18T07:22:00.000-07:00

I realized that our blog often times doesn't talk much about our music. That's fine though. As a wiser man once said, "Talking about music is like dancing about architecture" or something along those lines. Still, we wanted to give you, dear dear reader, some insight into what's behind our songs. That said, I present the first installment of the new feature, "About A Song", featuring the track "Kill Me Dead" from our debut "Running with the Wasters".

"KILL ME DEAD"

Before The Takeover UK existed in earnest, I failed in my attempt to start the band in Boston where I was attending college. I hooked up with a good friend of mine Lee and we recorded an album in various apartments around Allston over the course of a year. Four of the songs ended up being our first demo in 2004.
I moved back to Pittsburgh and The Takeover had it's first practice the day I got back in June. That summer we practiced like madmen in the garage at Nic's parent's house. Soon enough, we'd played our first show and many more were to follow. The beginnings of the band yielded many songs that Nic and I had written over the years and brought in to the band. The first year or so, let me tell you, we sounded much different than we do on our debut. Still, some songs made it through the years and onto the album. "Kill Me Dead" is one of them.
I'd left Boston for good, but I'd also left behind a girlfriend. I'd subleted a room at an apartment with 3 girls already living there. She had been my roommate, then my girlfriend. Normally that would be a bad idea, but I was only there for 6 months. We tried to do the whole long distance thing (LD relaash, as some may call it) over the summer, which really just entailed me calling her in the wee small hours of the morning after a night out boozing with the band. Come September, I'd booked a flight to Boston for a long weekend.
Immediately upon arriving, things were different between us. There was a distance, awkward silences and all that good stuff. We tried to go about like I had never left but that was an exercise in futility. Still, we tried to make the best of it.
She had to work one day, so I went over to Lee's apartment and we tracked a new song I'd written back at home. When we'd finished the music and it was time to do vocals I realized I had nothing, no lyrics. Not even the germ of an idea. We decided to take the night off and come back to it the next day, hoping the lyrical muse would vist in the meantime.
I went back to the girlfriends apartment. She'd gotten a new dog, and she was smitten. I'd seen girls that were all about their dogs before, but she took it to a new level. I was able to tear her away from the dog long enough to take her to dinner. When we finished she said she was tired and wanted to go lay down. It was 8 PM. I took her back home then went out to meet Lee at a bar. We proceeded to get pretty boozed up and I stumbled back home after last call. (I know this makes me boyfriend of the year, but please, hold your applause).
By the time I'd crawled back into bed, she was fast asleep snuggled up with the new love of her life. I honestly don't remember what happened next, but she woke up and was none too happy with me. (Surprise, Surprise) Words were exchanged and all of our frustrations over trying to make an impossible situation work came tumbling out.
I may or may not have threatened to throw the dog out the window.
A pile of her clothes however, went straight out the window and landed in the branches of a tree outside. I was rightly told to take my leave, which I quickly did. It was 3 AM.
I wandered around Allston aimlessly for a bit, drinking coffee to sober up. I chatted with a few homeless buddies I'd known from my years haunting the streets there. I called Lee. No answer. Doubtlessly he was fast asleep as I should have been if I wasn't so stupid. 3 or 4 hours dragged by with me sitting on the curb outside a convenience store. Finally Lee answered at 8 AM. After explaining my predicament, he told me to come over, which I quickly did.
The next night we laid down the vocals to the new song. Of course, the lyrical muse had visited me. I had some things I needed to say.
Now you know the genesis of said song. I can't say that most of our songs are rooted in specific stories like this one, but I figured it was a good song to start off our new feature. We'll be back soon with another installment.
Until then,
Mark

YOU'VE GOT THE TOUCH, YOU'VE GOT THE POWER...

2009-05-17T21:36:00.000-07:00

We've been home for a week now. I'm just trying to get into some kind of daily routine. I'll let you know when I've found it. One of the best parts about being home is getting to watch movies, read books and overall relax. That said, I thought I'd share some of the entertainments I've been occupying myself with recently.
MEDEA
No shithead, I'm not talking about the Medea Goes to Jail drag queen guy. Though if you're into that sort of thing, by all means, good for you. This is a film of Euripides's' classic Greek tragedy directed by Lars Von Trier based on a script written by legendary Danish filmmaker Carl Dreyer. Maybe those names mean nothing to you. That's fine. Through some strange feat I ended up majoring in screenwriting in college and writing a mini-thesis on this Lars Von Trier guy. The name of the course was "Contemporary Scandinavian Cinema". And they say college doesn't prepare you for the real world. I digress...
Being made in 1988 for Danish TV, I was a little put off by this costume tragedy at first. However, after reading some back story about it on wikipedia, I was quickly drawn into this tale of that most sunniest of themes, infanticide. Woman's Scorn, hell hath no fury, etc. etc. This is probably the OG telling of that story. Apparently this is very hard to come by in the States. I got it from Netflix. And if this makes you think I'm a pretentious d-bag, I'll have you know I watched 2 full discs of "Girls Next Door" last night at my girlfriends insistence. As Meatloaf sang, "I would do anything for love..." You know the rest. Check this out.

CHOKE
I DVR'd this one a few months ago, but I just got around to watching it Tuesday. Based on the novel by Chuck "Fightclub" Pahluniakadingdong and starring the always dependable Sam Rockwell, I was pleasantly surprised by this one. Not many movies can jump from absurd comedy to serious drama. I feel like they could have done more with this comically but I liked it none the less. Every body's a critic. There's some genuinely funny scenes in this movie. The whole holy foreskin plot point is a movie unto itself.

GLASVEGAS
Derek played a few songs in the van and I liked what I heard so I picked up their debut album. 4 or 5 songs on here I really like. I read a few reviews but they all seemed to miss the point that at the core, these songs are doo-wop songs with digital delay all over the guitars, and Arctic Monkeys type rambling work-a-day world lyrics. The whole albums not great, sadly but there definitely one of the better sounds I've heard this year. Of course the sticker on the CD had an NME quote that said "The best band in Britain". But I'll let that slide as our first press bio has us being called "pop geniuses", which I hope we are, but maybe we should wait till the 2nd album for that one. Ha ha! Check out "Daddy's Gone" or "Go Square Go".

I also bought the new DOVES album, "Kingdom of Rust" but I've only listened to it once so far so I can't really comment. I like all their other albums so I imagine I'll enjoy this too. To what degree, I don't know yet.

I picked up ELTON JOHN'S GREATEST HITS in the used bin. It's the one with him in the white suit on the cover. This one means a lot to me. Everyone always thinks I'm joking when I say my favorite song of all time is "Rocket Man". Well, dear reader, I'm not. A little back story...
When I was just a young shitkicker my uncle got me a tape of this album on a road trip to some regional landmark. I had a little mini tape player and I jammed this all the way home. My older brother hated/hates Sir Elton and let his feelings be known. My uncle, of the fun loving variety, told me to keep playing "Rocket Man" again and again to my brother's absolute horror. I think it was the 10th time that poetic line was crooned: "Mars ain't the kind of place to raise your kid, in fact it's cold as hell". I had fallen in love. I still know all the words.

Finally, we're letting our hair down this coming Friday, May 22nd at the Brillobox in Pittsburgh and playing a short 3 song set of Smiths/Morrissey covers. We're definitely doing "Panic" and probably "Please Please Let Me Get What I Want". I'm very excited about this as The Smiths are one of my favorite bands. In fact I'm in the middle of reading "Morrissy/Marr: The Severed Alliance". If you're a Smiths fan, I'd strongly urge you to check it out.

Today I also bought a book I've been meaning to pick up for literally years: Howard Zinn's "A People's History of America". It's in the on deck circle, swinging a bat with the donut on.

So as you can see, I'm working hard/hardly working. We're also gearing up to start recording again and for this we're all incredibly excited. In the meantime, I gotta go. I've got some pining, miserable English lyrics to learn.
Later,
Mark

FUNNY HA HA

2009-05-12T10:06:00.000-07:00

We're a full time working band, but we've been also been known to moonlight in the comedy world from time to time.

A world premiere, just for you. Our first acting gig, on the Jake & Amir show on CollegeHumor.com Pending on how it's received, we might just chuck the whole music gig and concentrate on acting.
You be the judge.

Watch Jake and Amir: Making the Band. Perform. on CollegeHumor

Sweet Baby Jesus Am I Tired

2009-05-12T08:31:00.000-07:00

It's springtime in Pittsburgh. No rain today, the sun is actually out strutting it's stuff. We managed to miss a good part of the winter here at home, though it caught up with us several times on the road. 3 months of touring and we're back home. We're all keen on taking a break from one another but it won't last long. We begin recording with Derek next week. So one week off, that's all we get, but that's fine by us. Writing and recording new music is what we all live for. So you won't hear any complaints here.
The tour went by in a haze. So many "things" happen. But what to tell you, the reader? What would you be interested in hearing about? I've read tour diaries of other bands, you know, the ones that usually go something like this:

"We played Tuscon today. The show was amazing! A fan kept
calling out for us to play some older stuff, and we were
more than happy to oblige! Danny even got a chance to try
out his new jokes on the audience. Let's just say they need a little
fine-tuning! After the show, we hung out and talked with some of our
amazing fans. Always a pleasure! Later us and our tourmates,
Shining Time Station, hit up the local vegan Crackerjack buffet.
Archie ate so much brisket tofutti he almost puked! Luckily Randy
was taping the whole thing. He even caught Joey tying Jimmy's
shoelaces together! We jammed out on the new Coheed and Cambria
on the way to the Days Inn. Definitely a sweet album! I love those
guys, good friends from the Nintendo Fusion tour.

That is exactly what I don't want our blog to be. I have a big problem with how many bands talk to their audience. They talk down to them. I don't even like the word "fan". It denotes some sort of heirarchy between music-maker and listener. But where would any musician be without an audience? Even more importantly, this type of dialogue is FUCKING BORING! I don't want to hear about how awesome your life is, or the mundane habits of your wacky drummer. I want the nitty-gritty, the mishaps, the crazy shit that goes down when you're riding around our crazy-ass country in a van and frequenting nightclubs--those famous dens of ill repute. Maybe it's just us, but every night there's a different insane person getting up in our shit or at the very least unknowingly entertaining us with their crazy-talk while we load in.
Forget my made up tour diary above. I found a real tour diary from a band called All-Time Low, whom I've never heard but I have seen on the cover of Alternative Press. Enjoy:

Ooohooo So last night we celebrated two awesome occasions...well 3 since matt's molars finally grew in...anyways yesterday was Haloween and our first night of our tour with Sugarcult. I must say, it is pretty strange touring with a band who I spent the better years of my middle school life watching on MTV. Regardless of where this band has been, it definetly didn't eff with their personalities. They were all super nice to us and each came up and introduced themselves. The show went pretty well but it wasn't a good judgement of our the whole tour is going to be because Sugarcult didn't even headline, the Eagles Of Death Metal did, and the tickets for $25 on Haloween night :) I'm sorry but I would never go to a show if those were the circumstances...I'd be out expanding my collection of holiday treats. Tonight the 'real' tour begins so we will see how it goes. We are playing Washington State University in Pullman Washington. We haven't done too many college shows, so this should be interesting...anyways before we got on the road a couple days ago we were couped up in Ben Harper's (formely of yellowcard, now in amber pacific) house/studio in long beach, CA working on our new CD :). We demoed some hot licks that were going to send over to our producer matt
squire so that he can put in some input....
Much Love,
Jack
--jbstar

Get the point? I'm sorry for the length of that, but I didn't write it. I planned on writing up some of my most memorable moments from our travels but this blog is too long as it is. Short and sweet, I say. Always leave the audience wanting more. I'll post some stories soon, I promise.
Oh and fyi, I swear on my unborn child's life that I wrote up my fake tour diary before I even found that real one. I just googled "tour diary rock" and it was one of the first ones that came up. Apparently boring tour diaries are all the rage.
Later,
Mark

A SNEAK PEEK AT THE TAKEOVER UK ON THE ROAD

2009-05-01T19:07:00.000-07:00

It hit me like an electric surge. We don't have any pictures up from our nearly 3 month tour of the US. Well, I'm here to remedy that, and quick. I'd like to share with you, kind friends, a few snap shots of the many, many friends and fans we've been lucky enough to meet in our travels. Thanks again to all who helped. Enjoy.

Our surly but lovable bus driver Don. They say alcohol and guns don't mix, and they're right. Here Don celebrates his beloved Minnesota Timberwolves victory over the hated Utah Jazz.

Here's Alex, our touring sax player. Definitely an eccentric, but really one of the most down to earth Scientologists I've ever met. I'm not sure what's going on here as this was taken in late March at a Home Depot outside Des Moines, but what a smile, huh?

Ah, the lovely Lisa Baumgartner, treasurer of our Toledo, Ohio street team. Poor little thing, she's all tuckered out from stickerbombing the entire west side that day. Truly, she is without peer. One of us, whose name will be withheld, was lucky enough to get to know her in the biblical sense, if you know what I mean. The random girl in the foreground really fucked up this otherwise wonderful pic. Thanks lady.

Kurt, Josh's drum tech.

I think Derek, our bass player, took this one. Don't know much about what was going on here. I think this guy was one of the drifters our driver Don picked up down El Paso way. I swear I've seen that face on the back of a milk carton before. Moving on...

The bands that open for us usually aren't so great, but this one man phenom brought the house down in Phoenix. I forget the band name. Sadly things turned ugly backstage when his manager flew off the handle about how much he was getting paid and Josh had to put the sleeper hold on him and Razor's Edge his manager. Despite the fracas, we wish them nothing but the best of luck in the future. Oh the places you'll go!

Backstage at our record release party in our hometown of Pittsburgh.

Backstage, Boise, Idaho. Some of our European radio pluggers made it out to the show. What can I say, we like to party!

Finally, some kind folks who were nice enough to let us crash on their floor in Kansas City. They even let Derek share a trundle bed with their Uncle Jerome, the kingly white-haired gentleman and a true class act. He even made us his apparently famous Lasagna for breakfast the following morning. Thank you to all the kind, gracious folks who've given us shelter in our travels. You truly are kings without peer.

Well, that's it for now. We've still got a week or so to go until this tour is over. I'll be sure to post more pics when we get home and have time to sift through the wreckage.

Later,
Mark

Not 21? Not a problem!

2009-05-01T14:08:00.000-07:00

we realize the majority of our shows on this tour have been 21+, so to make it up to you, we have been doing acoustic shows in the parking lot of the venues. thats right, kids, send a message, or just come on down a bit early, and we'll do up our set for you, campfire style. no reason age should stop you from joining in on takeover mania.

see you on the sidewalk,

josh

In It For The Money!!

2009-05-01T13:30:00.000-07:00

We give our music away for free. I'm not talking downloads. I'm talking physical Cd's, the kind that are fronted by our record label whom we then have to pay back. We've been on tour since the middle of February and every night we announce from stage: "We've got free Cd's for all of you, just come over to our merch table after we play and we'll give 'em to you". Smart business plan? No. But really it's more important to us to get the music into people's hands than make a small profit. In an age where you can pretty much get whatever music you want for free, we figured why not? Instead of hoping people choose your album over a few more beers at the bar, we'd rather they go home with our CD. I know if I was in the crowd, I'd like a free CD from a touring band.
The reality is the internet is a wonderful thing. But it's also terrible as well. Music lovers are barraged with hundreds of thousands of bands, all vying for your attention. Myspace friend requests, advertisements, and don't even get me started on the tremendously lackluster bands gigging it out every night in some beer-stained watering hole every town across the country. I don't blame people for not wanting to give a band a chance. Hell, I'm like that myself most of the time. It's a tiring and grueling process, separating the wheat from the chaff. But we figured if you like pop music, there's a good chance you'll enjoy our songs. Thus we put it in your hands, no strings attached.
But Mark, didn't Radiohead give their last album out, pay what you want for it? Yes, friend they did, well the downloads at least. But they're also an arena size band that's been promoted by EMI for the bast 15+ years. This is our debut album. We're slugging it out like thousands of other bands, competing for your, dear friends, attention.
So you give your music away for free, you might say, Big deal, you could download it for free anyway. And you'd be right. That's why I'd also like to announce that once we finish this tour in a few weeks, we're gonna hunker down here in lovely Pittsburgh and record a mini-album and then...wait for it... give that away for free too. I hope no one from the label is reading this! We've got a whole slew of new songs and we can't wait to record them and get it out there to you, the world. If I don't say so myself, I think you'll enjoy it.
Since alot of our shows are 21+, we've decided to play for free for those too young or lacking fake ID's. Outside every show, we're offering to play a free acoustic set for any and all comers. Free Free Free!!! Where does the madness end?
So come on out and see us play, you'll get a free CD out of it. And they say there's no such thing as a free lunch?

Later,
Mark

Does Anybody Actually Read This?

2009-04-16T06:58:00.000-07:00

"Don't be yankin' on my doors"
The graveyard shift mini-mart employee, surly as can be, fixes Nic with a death stare.
Welcome to Portland Oregon. It's 2 AM and pissing down rain and we've just played a show down the street and Nic's trying to buy some beer to take back to our hotel, just around the corner. The doors to the cooler remain locked. The minimart guy ain't budging. "You think you can come in here and just yank on my doors? Get the fuck out of here!" Stupified, as Disturbed would say, Nic walks back out to the van and hands me the money, warning "Don't yank on the cooler doors. The clerk is crazy".
I go into the store, walk back to the beer cooler, gently try the door, see that it's locked and turn to the clerk. "Is it too late to buy beer?" He looks me up and down. "No"
A few seconds of eternal silence. The store is empty, save the two of us.
"How do I access the beer then?"
More silence. Then...
"You need the key"
"How do I get the key?"
"You come over here and give me your I.D. I give you the key"
This guy is pissed, fuming under his breath. I slowly walk to the counter and give him my passport. He hands me a key chained to a slop bucket. He leans over the counter and gives me the same death stare Nic told me about. "Don't be yankin on my doors". His voice is low and gravelly.
I unlock the cooler, grab the Pabst, relock the door, and take it back to the counter.
"You ain't buying this for that guy that was just in here yankin' on my doors, is you?"
"What? Nah, man. I'm by myself", I lie. He looks at me as if I might be the man that dropped him on his head when he was a child.
"Good, you better not be. Cause that guy was a douchebag, comin in here, yankin on my doors and shit"
He rings me up and I skidaddle the fuck out of this surreal minimart.
"That guy really doesn't like you", I tell Nic. "He called you a douchebag".
"Me a douchebag! That guy is seriously disturbed", Nic says in disbelief.
We drive up to the doors. The guy is looking out the window. I roll down the window and hold up the beer, smiling. Nic gives him the finger. "Douchebag!"
I've never seen a man's face turn so red in anger so fast. We peel out of the parking lot, just as king shithead comes running out of the store.
What would have happened if we hadn't left? God only knows. Despite this, I still love Portland. Just don't be yankin' on anybody's doors.

Corrollary

After our show in Lincoln Nebraska. Gas station. I go in to get something to drink. I need to use the bathroom, but there's and out of order sign on the door. Skinny, meth-head looking clerk rings me up as he talks on the phone. The van is still being gassed up and I really need to relieve myself. I scan the perimeter, weighing my options. I walk around the store, the clerk watching me through the window. There's a huge dumpster and a vacant parking lot behind it. Ghost town. 1 AM. Tuesday night.
The ground is wet, it's just rained. I take care of business quickly and start back to the van. The clerk rounds the corner and walks toward me.
"You just piss on my dumpster?" He stares at me with glassy eyed suspicion. I notice scabs all over his face, taking the emphasis off his rotted teeth. Give me a fucking break.
"What? Nah, man", I lie again. I seem to to say that alot, especially when accused of dastardly deeds. But actually I didn't piss on "his" dumpster, but the ground, which is wet anyway.
"I'm gonna check. You better not be lying", he says and starts off towards the dumpster. I scurry to the van.
"Can we get the fuck out of here" I tell the guys.
"Why? What happened?"
"I'll tell you once we leave, but please, let's just go. This guy is fucked up"
Happily, we prepaid for the gas and Nic has to go back inside to get our change, which he does quickly and returns to the van, looking at me quizzically.
"What did you do?"
I explain.
"Well, that guy just told me he called the cops on you"
Like I said, can we just get the fuck out of here.
Now I know my actions weren't very classy, but back the fuck up man, I'm tired and weary and the bathroom was broken and I didn't even piss on the dumpster. And besides it's not "his" dumpster. What's up with all these minimart clerks and their false sense of propriety. I worked at a bagel shop before, but it certainly didn't lead me to believe that the place was mine. Sheesh.

ten minutes later, highway outside of town. 2 police cruisers, lights flashing, the four of us lying on the wet pavement, hands behind our heads, batons digging brutally into... JUST KIDDING!

You wish,
Mark

Things I've learned So Far This Tour

2009-04-02T11:40:00.000-07:00

1. Priceline = no more Motel 6
2. SXSW is still kind of worth it even if you play one set and it's 17 minutes long.
3. White Sands, New Mexico is incredible, especially at dusk. (Wait till we get some pics up. It looks like we're walking around in Antarctica with tank tops on.)
4. Des Moines is still my least favorite city in America--although we did meet some cool folks this time around.
5. David Cross is a swell guy, and enjoys hugs and the flavor of Mark's hand.
6. Wavves' new album is not available in Wal-Mart.
7. I need an i-Pod and a laptop right quick.
8. "The Sound and the Fury" is impossible to read while "Songs for the Deaf" is blasting on the stereo.
9. The Saltan Sea is kind of gross, but the drive from there to San Diego is beautiful. The landscape changes every 15 minutes. It goes; desert, badlands, Kenya, Switzerland, Pennsylvania, California.
10. Don't ever get your car fixed at Pep Boys. It's an auto parts store. Think about it.
11. Courtyard Marriott's have computers in the lobby.

Nic

minivan cab driver has the same gps as us

2009-03-28T11:03:00.000-07:00

Our van broke down last night. It could have been a million times worse. Luckily we were a block away from our friends house and in the middle of LA and not in some desolate desert hamlet. It made the most godawful noise and the smell of gasoline started pouring in through the vents, literally choking us. Everyone on the street was looking at our van. It sounded like a little mini Cessna airplane taking off. We had just left for our show at Spaceland. Nic being the only one who knows anything about cars diagnosed the problem as spark plugs and we found a nearby garage, dropped it off, and called a cab, preferrably the minivan kind. $60 cab ride to silverlake. Nic pronounced Sepulveda as Se-pull--veda, similar to Sepultura. We made it to the show, but I may or may not have lost one of my guitars. Standard fare for me. I lose everything. You'd think I'd keep better track of something like a guitar, but no, apparently I don't.

later,
Mark

Mystic Knights of the Desert

2009-03-24T10:36:00.000-07:00

I'm at a Holiday Inn in Demning, New Mexico. We've actually stayed here before, 4 years ago on our first tour. It's one of those swanky ones, with a bar in the lobby and a continental breakfast. Of course, the continental breakfast has no bearing on us at all as we're never up and ready to eat by 10 AM. Speaking of hotels/motels/Holiday Inns, I wanna talk about the nastiest place I've ever stayed in.
An hour or so after crossing into Texas, you'll reach Marshall, Texas. Nick thought that might be where that movie "We Are Marshall" took place. I thought it was in our neighboring West Virginia. I guess I could look into it, but I can't really be bothered by some wack Matt McCauneghey?? movie. Anyways, in our quest to save money, we decided to stay at Marshall's Budget Inn. Now there are motels called Budget Inn all across the US, but I don't think they have anything to do with each other. All of them have different logos and signs and look completely different.
We should have asked to see a room before we forked over the $53 to stay there.
Remember that kids, if there is an inkling of doubt in your head that the motel you're staying in might be the kind where roaches are playing poker when you walk in, ask politely to see a room.
I can't describe the smell. Just take my word it was a godawful mixture of sulphur, BO, rancid cheese and a faint lingering dirty diaper smell!
OK, it wasn't that bad, but it was bad. Let's leave it at that. Our new bass player Derek was tempted to sleep in the van after I told him he was sure to contract Scabies if he slept in one of the beds and Scabies lay eggs in your skin. He toughed it out as did the rest of the boys. Thankfully, my recent purchase of an air mattress at Super Target in Orlando really came in handy. No Scabies here. You'd have to ask the other boys if they were so lucky.
Short story short, a screaming baby kept us up most of the night and woke us up from a few hours of unrestful sleep at 7AM. Did I mention that I love babies?
So we stayed in a flea bag motel. It wasn't the first time, and it sure as hell won't be the last. It was just the worst. So remember Marshall, Texas and Budget Inn and stear clear amigos.
In better news, we had a day off on our drive out of Austin to Phoenix so we stopped at White Sands National Park in New Mexico. You've gotta go through a government checkpoint or 2 to get there, but Sickels was wearing a Jack Daniels hat, so the guards just asked if we were all US Citizens, we said "Yes, Sir" and he waved us on. I appreciate the security, especially considering the government Missile testing ranges around there and lord knows what else.
White Sands is wonderful. Sand that is pure white and looks like snow as far as the eye can see. We goofed around a bit and filmed some stuff on our sweet camcorder and everyone offered that White Sands would be a "pretty great place to take 'shrooms". So if you're at all prone to desert mysticism or 'shrooming or our nations lovely national parks, or just white sand, check out White Sands.
I'm off now, but hopefully I'll check in sooner next time. Internet connections aren't as easy to come by as everyone would think.
OH and as a small side note, OUR DEBUT ALBUM "RUNNING WITH THE WASTERS" COMES OUT, OR DROPS AS SOME MIGHT SAY, TODAY, TUESDAY MARCH 24TH.
So if you have a heart at all you'll go to your local record store or Amazon and buy/order it. Help a brother out.
Later,
Mark

CRAZY LADY LIVING IN A BAG

2009-03-17T19:25:00.000-07:00

Apparently I talk in my sleep. Obviously, I haven't been aware of it, but never the less, yes, I'm a sleep talker. Much better than being a sleep walker. I recently came across the ultimate somniloquist, Dion McGregor
(www.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dion_McGregor). Dion was a song lyricist whose only success was some Barbara Streisand song. But McGregors real claim to fame was his talking in his sleep. His roommate started recording his vividly detailed dream talk in the early 1960's. Fucking Decca Records put out an LP of him talking in his sleep in 1964. I was amazed when I found that out. That's postmodern before postmodernism really took over our culture. Of course, you don't have to go hunting high and low for this rare vinyl gem because (surprise surprise!!)Dion McGregor has his own Myspace page.
http://www.myspace.com/dionmcgregor I'm not saying you'll be blown away or even entertained for a long time, but it's some wacky stuff and we all could use a little Wacky D in our lives.
Moving on.
Another bit of wackiness and proof that something is terribly wrong with what we humanoids find entertaining. Imagine 2 of the most grizzled, crotchety, nastiest, alcoholic old men you can think. Imagine they were roommates (!?) who absolutely hated each other and argued incredibly loud all the time. Now imagine your apartment was adjacent to theirs. Got the picture?
Well, there were 2 such old men who had some enterprising neighbors who managed to tape record their incredibly entertaining arguments which often include one of them threatening imminent death and/or grievous bodily harm to the other and frequently telling the other to "Shut up, little man!". That's right folks, I'm steering you to listen to 2 nasty, drunken old men arguing. You can listen to them or even watch youtube videos with puppets playing the parts of the old men. Both are pretty funny. Apparently, these recordings were well known in their native San Francisco/ Bay Area in the late 80's/ early 90's, but I never claimed to be CNN.
Read all about it and listen: www.shutuplittleman.com

Here they are, with puppets playing the old men.

and here's another just for the hell of it:

That's it for now. We'll be in Austin for SXSW, so if you're down there or going to be, drop us a line or even better, come see us play at Maggie Mae's on Friday, March 20th @ 5pm sharp.
I'm glad I could share people arguing and talking in their sleep with you. Who knew it could be so fun?

Later,
Mark

hit the road, jack.

2009-03-09T09:15:00.000-07:00

After our show last week in NYC, we decided to take our friends offer to crash at his place in Jersey. In between New York and his house, is the wonderful, and friendly neighborhood of Paterson, New Jersey. For any of our fans who actually live there, you know just how friendly it can be.

It's 2 am, and we're at a red light under a bridge. we were also near some railroad tracks. I know what you're thinking, under a bridge + railroad tracks + 2 am = trouble.. well, hey, you're right! The scene couldn't have been anymore out of a movie, and just when i realized this, the star antagonist comes rolling up with a ski mask on. im not joking. i mean, it WAS cold outside, but even still, everything was set in place for my bandmates and i to get robbed.

Dude comes strolling past my window (i was driving, and the only sober one, so the guys didnt totally realize what was going on) giving me the nastiest, most evil, mean muggin' look of all time. Did i mention both of his hands were inside his pockets? Right then and there my instincts kicked in - RUN THIS GUY OVER! well, not really, but my suspicions of this guy being a total creep were correct, when i saw him out of my side mirror. He walked past our van, stopped, looked in the back window, and then lunged forward at my door. This is the point where in a split seconds time, i slammed on the gas, cut the wheel to the left, almost ran into the car in front of me, and went through a red light. I also possibly could've ran this guy over.. the world may never know.

Now, im not totally positive we were about to get robbed/car jacked, but given the circumstances, its highly possible. Thank God for my ongoing battle with my stomach, and its inability to consume alcohol, or we all could've been in trouble that night.

cheers,
josh

PITTSBURGHNIGHTLIFE.ORG

2009-03-08T18:31:00.000-07:00

Nightlife in Pittsburgh.
Some images might spring to mind or maybe you're drawing a complete blank. Regardless, The Takeover UK would like to share a snapshot of a night on the town in our wonderful hometown with you.
This last Saturday, a couple of us had the pleasure to check out the 'Burgh's hottest nightspot, "The Matrix" for the very first time. For the uninitiated, The Matrix is located in Station Square, just across the Monongahaela from downtown. This, my friends, is where the fun-loving denizens of Picksburgh come to let off steam, bump and grind, and drink away the horrors of the work week.
A few days home from tour and an invite to a friends B-day party gave us all the reasons we needed to throw goop in our hair, break out the silk pants and silk shirts with dragons and flames riding up the back, shell out $10 to park and drink all the redbulls and vodkas we could stomach. Luckily you, my friends, are never far from our minds. Wanting to share all the magic, we took a couple choice pics of our night and we're thrilled to share them with you. So sit back, close your eyes, and scroll through the partypeople of Pittsburgh. Maybe you'll even smell the AquaVelva and puke...

Here I am standing next to a short guy. She's off camera, but this guy was dancing with an Amazon woman who looked like she's slam dunked a few b-balls in her day. FYI- my buddy Ian and I would pretend to be posing for a pic next to our subjects while my girlfriend would snap the pic of said subject. Sneaky, isn't it? And yes, if it looks like I'm having the time of my life, that's because I am.

Ah, this is my lovely girlfriend and two Euro looking dudes. She went up to these guys and told them she worked for PittsburghNightlife.org and asked if she could take a picture with them. After asking if it was a sex website, they happily obliged.5 minutes later they came looking for her, asking if she would delete the picture because one of them had a wife. She deleted one of them, but kept this one. Sneaky, Sneaky. PS - dude on the left is wearing our signature brand "Takeover UK Ibiza-style" sunglasses. Available at most Pac-Sun stores.

The crowd going crazy to an All American Rejects jam. Oh yeah! When we got to the club, they were playing the Electric Slide. So pending on your taste this is a step up or a step down.

A spry, scantily clad lady dancing on the bar. At least 5 middle-aged gentlemen sat on stools staring up at her like this was the Rhino Spearmint. Happily, she left with the one who had the smallest bald spot out of all of them. I'm still convinced she was an escort, but maybe it's true love.

This guy was sitting with said gentlemen, watching the gals gyrate on the bar. He was really getting into it, dancing in his seat. In fact, he was so infected by dance fever, he jumped up on the bar and started getting jiggy with it. The Matrix not being that kind of club, the DJ was none too pleased to see this young man dancing with the ladies. He proceeded to tell the young man to get down. Some words ensued and the DJ tackled this guy and manhandled him all the way to the side exit door. The whole incident lasted 30 seconds. Poor guy, my girlfriend swears she saw him dancing alone by a payhone in the parkling as we were leaving.

Another lady dancing on the bar. Me and Ian enjoying being two of the many partypeople.

This guy was a real bummer, you know, a real Debbie Downer. He slid up to my gal, roses in one hand, a Bud Ice in the other and offered to buy her a drink. He then proceeded to tell her about his exciting life. "I'm a fat black man with a car, and a house. Who gives a fuck about me? No one, that's who." She tried to soothe him by telling him there's someone for everyone but he wasn't having it. But hey man, at least you've got a car and a house. Way more than me. I'm just a 1/4 owner of 1997 Ford Club Wagon.

A few more highlights from our night out on the town.

P.S.-- there's the B-day gal herself, Lindsay, on the far right gazing at the next America's Best Dance Crew

We came, we saw, we took some choice pics. And soon, we're back out on the road again. Will I ever return to the Matrix? No. I can breathe easy and know that I'll keep that promise. But I hope this be a lesson for you all to take away. You've gotta make your own fun wherever you go. And if a friend drags you to a crowded, sweaty dance club filled with cheesy dudes and obnoxiously drunk girls, bring a camera my friend.

Later,
Mark

Strange

2009-02-26T13:14:00.000-08:00

So there we are, rolling down some highway in south Georgia, on our way to Macon, the site of Duane Allman's death, and the sirens come suddenly, as they usually do. A few days prior a guy at a music store in North Carolina warned us the cops down here will pull you over for no reason. Just give them a reason and they'll lock you up. With that in mind, we waited for the officer to waddle to the van. Portly and Eagle Scout-ish modeling some killer Raybans, he spoke in an accent that would probably be subtitled on reality TV. "Hello, I'm Officer Strange. Pennsylvania, huh? You boys are a long way from home" (cops always say this) We present the needed identification and he waddles back to the car to run it. Thankfully there's no weed or whatnot in the van so we're not really sweating bullets. He comes back, this time on the passenger side, and asks us what in tarnation we're doing down here. We explain we're a traveling band and on our way to Macon for a "gig". He becomes very friendly and mumbles some story about how he pulled over Merle Haggard once. Apparently Merle was sleeping in the backseat and his assistant was driving. Officer Strange took a picture of Merle sleeping.
We always keep a few of our CD's up front to give to cops and whatnot. Apparently he didn't hear me say "Here, I'll get you a CD" I reach into the glovebox and Strange stiffens up and shouts "HEY, WHAT'S HE REACHING FOR" My hands stop rummaging. I'm not getting capped over this. "One of our CD's", I tell him. "I can't accept that", he says, "but if you drop it on the ground, what's to stop me from picking it up?" I drop it out the window. He picks it up and proceeds to give us detailed directions to Macon, though I'm holding the GPS in my hands. We were speeding, according to Officer Strange, but he doesn't bother giving us a ticket and sends us on our way with a smile.
I wonder what Merle Haggard looks like sleeping in the backseat of a DaeWoo? Probably like an angel.
Later,
Mark

Get the Memo?

2009-02-22T10:16:00.000-08:00

Not even two months in to 2009 and it's already been the most juxtaposed year in our bands near five year history. And it will certainly be the biggest. First of all, yes, in May we'll have been a band for five years. The Beatles would have already been flirting with the future of Rubber Soul by now, but things seem to happen slower in this age. At least important things. People get married later, people go to school longer, people take forever to get their music careers started.

But it's certainly starting. Good things are brewing despite the unfortunate fact that they will all happen in the wake of Adam Shash's departure. But, it went down on good terms and we've rapidly moved on with Derek White in his stead. Adam's prime chops and good humor will be severely missed; however, things change and Derek is a welcomed addition to the band. He's been a long time friend and collaborator with the band, plus he's an incredible songwriter and is well versed in the recording process. We're all looking forward to getting back to writing so we can take advantage of D White's sharp songwriting prowess.

And for those of you who aren't aware, we are in the midst of a massive American tour right now. And chances are we'll be grazing by your town in the next few months. So keep checking our dates. Also, our album release date will be on March 24th. Buy that. See you soon.

Luv,
Nic

DAHN SOUTH

2009-02-16T08:34:00.000-08:00

We're leaving for tour today. This time we're heading down south, all the way to Flordia. So now's your chance to come check out our live show. We haven't been down south in 3 years. We're all excited and we've got a pretty big announcement to make very soon. Well, it's big for us. Maybe it won't matter to you. But it's a huge change for us. I don't mean to be crytpic, but we'll make a proper announcement soon. Maybe you can guess what it is? Probably not.
We're excited to get out on the road again, though it's never easy leaving our loved ones. But we've gotta do what we gotta do. We were thinking of names for these upcoming tours (Not that we're Bon Jovi and really need a name for our tours quite yet) and I thought "Still Payin the Dues" was apt. Hopefully we won't have to name our next 6 tours the same. Either way, if you enjoy the songs, please come see us live. And don't be shy, we're rather nice fella's and only a couple of us bite. But hey it's all the rage to bite nowadays. Just ask Chris Brown.

Later,
Mark

Green Grow the Rushes

2009-02-04T22:00:00.001-08:00

As you may know, our hometown Steelers won the Super Bowl. The following are pictures of the kicker Jeff Reed. Someone sent me a link and I just thought I should share them with everyone. These aren't private pics mind you, they're on several websites. But they really say alot. To me, this could sum up Pittsburgh.
And yes, this man really is a highly-paid professional athlete, the elite of the elite. See if you can guess which one he is?

Later,
Mark

The Worst Thing I Have Ever Seen

2009-01-27T11:56:00.001-08:00

I have a nagging suspicion that I shouldn't be sharing this with you. Surely, some of you may already be familiar with it. Rarely have I been shocked by something I've seen on the internet. Enough with the disclaimer...
I'm just gonna post the site and move on. If you see it, you see it. Be warned it's disgusting and graphic and you might wanna think twice about watching it. My vagueness is probably enticing you even more. Maybe you won't be shocked at all by it. Regardless I was and here it is: www.2guys1horse.com

P.S. I heard about it in a documentary I saw called "ZOO", when someone, who will remain nameless, put it in their netflix queue ok. That's innocent enough. It's not like I seek out this stuff. Sheesh!

With that out of the way, we've been laying low for the most part. We're home for another few weeks and then back out on the road for a good long stretch. Tourdates are going up on our myspace as we confirm them, so check early and check often, cyber ones.
As for me, I've been reading and watching alot of movies. Some things I recommend:
Books:
The Dark Side of Genius: The life of Alfred Hithcock (I'm a huge Hitchcock fan and this really illuminated alot of things about him, though I question how the author could possibly have known his deepest, darkest secrets just by watching his films.)
I also recently read the wonderful Hitchcock/Truffaut book. Both are definitely for those with more than a passing interest in his movies. Other books -
Agatha Christie anthology, David Mamet "Bambi vs. Godzilla",
Martin Amis - Koba the Dread: Laughter and the Twenty Million (about Stalin and the 20 + million people he had killed)

Movies: I managed to find all 3 Harry Palmer Films from the 60's on DVD - "The Ipcress File", "Funeral in Berlin" and "Billion-Dollar Brain". They're great 60's cold war spy thrillers with Michael Caine as a sort-of anti-James Bond. Highly recommended. "The Umbrellas of Cherbourg" by Jaques Demy - This is one of the most beautiful movies I've ever seen. All of the dialogue is sung. Don't let this put you off, though. It's wonderful and young Catherine Deneuve might be the most beautiful girl I've ever seen.

Music: The Delta Spirit "Ode to Sunshine" - great album. Tom Petty - "She's the One" soundtrack (really just the song "Walls" though) and Vivaldi (I forget which pieces. I'd have to upstairs and root through my stuff and that's just not happening right now)

Finally, I'm researching about the nuclear blackmarket for a screenplay I'm working on. Just in the beginning stages, but I'm pretty excited about it. Everybody needs a hobby, I guess.

Take care,
Mark

Worst Woman Alive

2009-01-16T12:36:00.000-08:00

i stumbled across this gem of a news story recently...

"New York (ChattahBox) – In an unusual case that proves some gifts are not unconditional, a New York doctor is suing his ex-wife for $1.5 million dollars for a kidney he donated during their marriage, after alleging she had an affair.

Richard Batista has also stated that he would be happy to receive the kidney back, instead of the money, and that the choice is completely up to her.

The bitter lawsuit comes following a divorce that he alleges occurred because of an affair his wife has with a physical therapist, who she was seeing due to an unrelated injury, two years after Batista gave her his kidney to save her life.

“I saved her life and then to be betrayed like this is unfathomable. It’s incomprehensible,” he told reporters. “She engaged in an extramarital affair and refused to go to marital counseling and reconciliation.”

He also states that she delivered the divorce papers in the middle of a surgery he was performing on a patient, and then refused to allow him to see their three children, adding added pain to the betrayal."

ouch.

josh

Good Grief!

2009-01-05T10:44:00.000-08:00

My car only plays casette tapes. I was digging through the armrest and found a tape that was not labeled. Lo and behold, it turns out to be a mixtape I made for myself many moons ago when I was in the 7th grade, I believe. Through Side A I thought of myself as a really cool little kid. But Side B kind of demolishes any good taste I had on the A side. Maybe they cancel each other out and leave me as just a normal
7th grader. Either way, this tape is very of it's time, that being the mid 90's.
Now you can figure out (roughly) how old, or should I say young, I am.
Without further ado... (?)= me guessing at the song title with wikipedia's help

SIDE A
GREEN DAY - Pulling Teeth
FUGAZI- Forensic Scene
FUGAZI- Combination Lock
JAWBOX - Static (?)
AVAIL - Simple Song
GUIDED BY VOICES - As we go up, we go down
GUIDED BY VOICES - Game of Tricks
THE CLASH - Stay Free
THE CLASH - White man in hammersmith palais
SEBADOH - Soul & Fire
EVERCLEAR - Nehalem
ALL - Million
MY BLOODY VALENTINE - 1st song on Loveless
HURL - (?)
THE TONICS - (?)
NWA - Express Yourself

SIDE B
{cringing!}
SKANKIN' PICKLE - 4 songs from the Green Album, the only Skankin' Pickle album I ever owned. Honestly.
SUPERCHUNK - Detroit has a skyline
SCREECHING WEASEL - Instrumental from A better Tomorrow
JAWBREAKER - Million
SWERVEDRIVER - Sandblasted
SUNNY DAY REAL ESTATE - Seven
SUNNY DAY REAL ESTATE - In Circles
SPECIALS- Do Nothing
GOLDFINGER - (?)
DANCE HALL CRASHERS - (?)

Glad I got that off my chest. Yeah, there's some embarrasing ska/punk on there. But whatever, I'm sure you also had the best taste in music in the 7th grade too.
Later,
Mark

...Minutes From the Mall

2008-12-17T12:27:00.000-08:00

Hello Hello,
3 pots of coffee, lots of Super Mario Brothers, a few Beatles magazines and 11 hours of recording and we present to you the 4th installment of The Takeover UK's annual Christmas song pageant, "Christmas in LA". We started the band 4 & 1/2 years ago, and every Christmas we've wrote and recorded our own Christmas song (except for last years which was a cover of that Phil Spector X-mas tune. Long story). The plan is to have our own album of Christmas originals in a few years. We might have to double up in the coming years, pumping out 2 a year or what have you. But that shouldn't be a problem. Lack of material has never been a problem. Either way, I can't think of any rock band of yesterday or today that's released an album of Christmas originals. Hopefully we can be the first. It's not that we particularly love Christmas music. Sure, I like a couple odd songs here or there, but on the whole I change the station when Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer comes in, as I'm sure you do too. I guess we just like the idea of it. Besides, it's not like our songs are the normal holiday fare. Who said Christmas songs have to have a positive and uplifting message?
We're back home now, trying to settle into some kind of normal routine, which is easier for some than others. I'll let you know when I've found one. We're taking the rest of the year off, which sounds like a long time but remember, that's only a couple weeks. We'll be back out touring early next year and our album is now set to come out Tuesday, March 24th. So now we're scrambling to get the artwork done
We're also just putting the finishing touches on our first video, for "Ah La La". It's a fun video, if I don't say so myself. Then again, we probably don't share the same sense of humor as most people. But hopefully you'll all enjoy it.
In total randomness, the holidays remind me of this one T.V. commercial that used to be played all the time here in Pittsburgh when I was a youth. I'm sure most locals of a certain age will recall it. It was for some car dealership, but it stuck out because they had a great jingle that a bunch of kids sang with a bouncing ball jumping from each word. "Century Three, Chevrolet, Lebanon Church Road Pittsburgh". As soon as the jingle was over, one youngster said "Minutes from the Mall". I bring this up because in my more dubious days, I used to tell people, mostly girls, that I in fact, was the youngster who said "minutes from the mall", my first foray into showbiz. Of course, I was not the youngster who said the quasi-famous line and of course even if I was, it's certainly nothing to brag about. And that's why so many people believed me. Who would make up such a thing? Regardless, I'd just like to apologize now If I misled anyone. And to the kid, who is surely an adult now, probably with a subprime mortgage, I didn't mean to steal your thunder. You did a great job.
Mark

Tour, tour, tour, Tree of Smoke, Troubador, Tombstone, Pauly Shore

2008-12-09T21:47:00.000-08:00

We're finally back home. It was fun and all, but, I was tiring of the floral patterns that graced the Motel Six's not quite queen beds. I left after the home town gig sick and bound for Chicago, spending two nights on a hard wood floor at a friend of a friends in the Mexican district. No soup to be found but tortilla with pork-rinds and heavy cream.

The Midwest was harsh. But we slowly befriended our tour-mates and watched some sunsets through bug splattered windshields and eventually wound up in the westwest. Seattle was bunk but pretty. Portland was even prettier and not bunk at all.

We crossed one of those big Golden-like Gate-like bridges when San Francisco seemed to be burning with one of the most beautiful sunsets that I can imagine hung above it. So very sadly, Southern California really was burning when we drove south. We drove through the smoke and the hills were rolling for miles into it. The Troubador sounded better than any club had yet.

"When you guys going on?" asked Pauly Shore as we stood on stage tuning, obviously about to go on. "Right now, Pauly," I said.

He bobbed his head for a few songs then wandered to the bar and out of sight for good.

We saw old missed friends in LA and then drove further south where The Shys displayed their immense hospitality and friendship toward us, letting us share their beautiful homes and beers.

We headed back east, through the desert, Tombstone, and eventually ended up in our own beds.

The end. Give or take a few stories.

Nic

drink water before bed instead.

2008-12-01T17:48:00.000-08:00

so i had a little drinking injury on tour. i wouldn't actually call it a mishap seeing as it was a collective effort. after being on the road over a month, and being in a bar with free booze every night, you're bound to put a hurtin' on your body. my mistake was taking ibuprofen and aspirin every day when i woke up. not good for you, or your stomach.

after consuming the aforementioned tokyo tea's in san francisco, i thought i was nursing a really killer hangover on our way to LA. i thought wrong. minutes before our set at the infamous Troubadour, i was vomiting blood in the bathroom. at this point i was weak, dizzy, and fever bound. i soldiered on though. my love of rock n' roll and playing live were the only thing that got me through it. did i mention i had to play later that night as well? yeah, i did.

anywho, a week went by, and i did my best to relax, and lay off the sauce. it didnt seem to help... nothing did. i was sick all week, i couldnt eat, i wanted to puke 24/7. i finally got the courage to check myself in the ER and find out what was wrong with me. they took me in fast... after i told them i had no health insurance, and had no way of paying them, they waited on me SLOOOOOW. so 6 hours later i find out i had an inflamed pancreas, and actually ripped a hole in the lining of my stomach from vomiting. all from drinking and taking painkillers. let this be a lesson, kids. im now at home with strict orders of no alcohol drinking, no OJ, apple juice, fruit, mexican, pizza, coffee, soda, caffeine, anything spicy (aka anything good) for an ENTIRE MONTH. sheesh. i am rehabbing in my apartment with my cat, and i will live to drink another day... i just wont be taking anything for my hangovers the next day.

until next time,

josh

"I Want to Buy You Something...What Can I Buy You?"

2008-11-18T13:50:00.000-08:00

Hello All,
We finally got a couple days off and I'm here in Sunny LA. It's snowing back home so I feel rather good about that. It feels like somehow I'm winning something by missing the terrible weather. We're on the last leg of our tour. It's been a wild topsy turvy time but we've come out of it with some great new friends, our tourmates The Shys and Army Navy. Great guys. We're like a big gang rolling from city to city, causing problems everywhere we go. Oh and also playing some shows as well. We actually played 2 shows last night and for that my body will not forgive me.
The night before in San Francisco at first seemed like it would be a rather tame night, being a Sunday and all. We only had 2 drink tickets each (pretty standard) and none of us were in a partying mood. That all changed when a very, very energetic and loud dude came up to us after we played and screamed, literally in my face,: "ohmigodiloveyouguyswhowantsadrinkcomeonletmebuyyouguysadrinkwhatcanibuyyou?" Naturally, being the populists we are, we joined our new ostentatious friend in several rounds of Tokyo Teas, which are pretty much 6 hard liquors mixed up with some kind of sweetener. Danger, as Mystikal would shout. One of the casualties was Sickels, who was throwing up blood the next day before our set at the Troubadour in LA. Now I could say there's some lesson to be learned here, but that's a bunch of hogwash. we'll make the same mistakes again, same as you. In the meantime, we've got some more gigging to do.
Later,
Mark

Video shoot

2008-10-27T10:27:00.000-07:00

"More excitement, more energy," yells the camera guy, who only minutes earlier had jumped in our overcrowded van, his lighting man sitting in the same seat. I turn around and look at the four Mariachis wondering if they even understand him, let alone feel like complying. The older, more respectable looking one turns to me and smiles a big golden smile--literally, he has gold teeth. We all start pounding the ceiling of the van and singing along to our soon to be first single, "Ah La La". Gatorskinned jackets are gyrating everyones laughing but confused. Is this going to be in the video? I thought we were just driving to where they were shooting the video.

We finally pull into the park where the shoot is taking place. "They couldn't get the chickens," someone says.
"What, no chickens?," Josh says.

We climb into the back of this moving van. "OK, so you're having a great time, singing, dancing, jumping around. Then the door swings open and you all jump out and start running from the INS," the director yells. OK, sure. We some how manage to turn the fiesta music that the Mariachi band is playing into some strange but awesome version of "Ah La La." The door swings open and there's our manager and the camera guy from the van earlier dressed in the worst cop costumes I've ever seen. They're still wearing jeans. We scatter. This happens four or five more times. The Mariachi band needs to be back in NYC at 11:30, it's 11:50. They don't seem to mind. God, I need more sleep. I'm wondering if someone is gonna buy us lunch. I'm wondering if this video is gonna be as ridiculous as it seems.

Nic

Road Dawgs

2008-10-12T09:29:00.000-07:00

hey, its been a long time since we made a post on here. sorry bout that, but we've been really busy. in less than 2 weeks, we're going on a full U.S. tour! im talking like 40 dates people. its gonna be brutal, yet super fun. we're doing a week with the von bondies, then the rest of the tour with the shys and army navy. check out both of those bands... awesome.

we're also shooting a video for "ah la la" next week. really excited for that. its gonna be funny... we'll let you know when its done. we also are getting the pre-releases for our debut full length "running with the wasters" soon. i know it seems like its a long time coming, but trust me, it will be worth the wait. the album drops late-january or early-february. we will be touring our asses off in 09... we're going international too, so make sure you're checking our myspace lots and lots

goodbye for now, and see you on the road!

josh

Where does it come from, Where does it go?

2008-09-18T13:14:00.000-07:00

hello all,
One of my absolute favorite contemporary bands is
The Sleepy Jackson, from Australia. If you're unfamiliar, go get both their albums now. Their debut "Lovers" is amazing as well as their sophomore release, "Personality" If you like your pop music left of center, you will love this. One of my best friends, Blair from the awesome NYC group, YOUNG LORDS (http://www.myspace.com/YOUNGLORDS), turned me onto them after their debut came out. I've been in love ever since and hungry for any morsel I could get from them. In my opinion the Sleepie's mainman, Luke Steele, is one of the best songwriters around today. There are few groups or singers whose work I love all of, but he is one of them. Blair just hipped me to a new side project of Luke's, Empire of the Sun. I've posted the video to their first single below. Their album drops in October. Again, another amazing song. The Sleepy Jackson is much more of a rock band than this side project. Much more in the Beach Boys/ELO vein. So if you don't dig the electro vibe of this song, don't let that stop you from checking out his main band. Words can't express how much I dig his songs. When I got their 2nd album, I burned a copy for everyone else in my band. They all love it too.
I wouldn't lead you down the wrong path, friends.
Not to be mysterious, but very soon we will have some news about touring and, wait for it... tour dates. I'll let you chew on that for a bit, my web browsing friends. In the meantime get your groove on with these lovely songs. Enjoy.
Mark

EMPIRE OF THE SUN "Walking on a Dream"

THE SLEEPY JACKSON "This Day" from Lovers

THE SLEEPY JACKSON "I Undertand What You Want" from Personality

YOUNG LORDS 'Down So Long"

High time for a Post

2008-09-03T11:05:00.000-07:00

Seeing as none of us have posted a word since the 18th of last month, I figured it was time for a morsel, something, anything to be put up here on this, our blog.
Before I get into what I'm going to get into I'd just like to state for the record that the word "blog" is positively cringe-inducing for me. If you're like me and were wondering who the guilty asshole was that coined the term, Wikipedia has this to say:
The term "weblog" was coined by Jorn Barger[7] on 17 December 1997. The short form, "blog," was coined by Peter Merholz, who jokingly broke the word weblog into the phrase we blog in the sidebar of his blog Peterme.com in April or May of 1999.[8][9][10] Shortly thereafter, Evan Williams at Pyra Labs used "blog" as both a noun and verb ("to blog," meaning "to edit one's weblog or to post to one's weblog") and devised the term "blogger" in connection with Pyra Labs' Blogger product, leading to the popularization of the terms.[11]

So it really should be log, like "Captain's Log stardate whatever" but this Peter Merholz character just had to make it blog. I'll give him a pass though, how can anyone know that some word they create would enter the modern English language.
Speaking of, can anyone confirm for me the youngest blogger out there? I'm not talking some parent of an infant who started some cutesy blog pretending to be their drooling, crying baby. There's gotta be a 2 or 3 year old out there with a blog. Please, send some links if you can. Enough of this.
Concerning ye merry Band, we just played in New Orleans for the first time a couple weeks ago. Sickels, our drummer, had never flown before and did a great job of keeping it together on each of the 4 flights (layover in Houston aka George HW Bush airport!!!). Though I guess it's not hard to keep it together when an air marshal has knocked you out with the but of his gun. We had a lot of fun running around the city. Nick was intent on finding a real Voodoo kind of shrunken head but all we could find in the French Quarter were tacky, Beer T-places that sold mall brand shrunken heads. Oh well, maybe next time. For me, this was my 2nd time in Norleans. I have to say it was infinitely more enjoyable this time around, seeing as I had the living shit beat out of me by a group of young guys outside a bar (50 cent mixed drinks!! Come on, that's not fair!). I had to fly home with 2 black eyes and a chipped front tooth, sitting in between 2 obese women, one of whom had an infant and politely asked to use my tray to feed said baby. Regardless, I like New Orleans alot more now.
We're also prepping up to make some videos. We're toying with the idea of having a running story that begins where the last video started off. The labels having some problems picking a first single, which is a good thing. Most bands only have 1 or 2 single worthy jams on their albums. Our album is pretty much all singles save 3 or 4 songs. It's the internet age, the single has returned, which we're quite happy about in a strange sort of way.
Snyder has Nick's Pix. Being named Mark I don't have it so easy. Mark's Larks? Hmm. I dunno. Regardless, here's some stuff I've been into recently and I urge you to check out:
- The Americanization of Emily
Those who know me, know I'm really into film having gone to school to write movies. Paddy Chayefsky, in my opinion, is the top screenwriter of all time. Period. If you haven't seen "Network", do it. Now. Forget about Tarantino.
This picture is about a coward who becomes a war Hero during D-Day. I won't give the plot away, but it's very poignant and even though it was made in 1964, it might ring more true today. Satire at it's best. See this if you can. I don't know how hard it is to come by. I taped it off TCM, godbless that channel.
- 45 by Bill Drummond
If you've read this blog before then you probably know about my fascination with the KLF. Well this is a memoir written by Bill Drummond, half of the duo. Nick and I swear by "The Manual", their how-to-make-a-hit-record guide, and this is even more insightful. Drummond really understands pop music. He doesn't take it seriously but still can't help but be consumed by it. Quickly becoming a hero of mine. I ordered it on Amazon but I don't think it's that hard to find. Also check out his website:
http://www.penkilnburn.com/
- Generation Kill
I'm a huge fan of "The Wire" as hopefully you are too. I didn't know what to expect of this HBO mini-series made by Burns and Simon, creators of "The Wire". But it is great and really gives a tremendous insight into the invasion of Iraq. I know Nick's really into this too, so that's half of the Band endorsing this one.
Check out the articles it was originally based on and later turned into a book of the same name:
http://www.rollingstone.com/news/story/5938873/the_killer_elite/

- M83 "Saturdays=Youth"
I first heard this French one man band on the internet radio while at work. The song "Graveyard Girl", really stuck out and reminded me of New Order for some reason.
I picked up the album on the strength of this one song and surprisingly was not disappointed. It's electronic pop with a very discernible MY Bloody Valentine influence. Definitley for a mood, but very strong.

A long post, I know. But I'm making up for not "blogging" (cringing!) in a while.
Well Sickels is calling, he's gotta go to court about this whole being knocked out by an air marshal thingy and he needs a ride.

Later,
Mark

what a way to be remembered...

2008-08-18T12:51:00.000-07:00

i stumbled across this obituary while reading a messageboard... this is certainly a very odd, and unforgiving way to send off a family member.

"Dolores Aguilar
1929 - Aug. 7, 2008
Dolores Aguilar, born in 1929 in New Mexico, left us on August 7, 2008. She will be met in the afterlife by her husband, Raymond, her son, Paul Jr., and daughter, Ruby.

She is survived by her daughters Marietta, Mitzi, Stella, Beatrice, Virginia and Ramona, and son Billy; grandchildren, Donnelle, Joe, Mitzie, Maria, Mario, Marty, Tynette, Tania, Leta, Alexandria, Tommy, Billy, Mathew, Raymond, Kenny, Javier, Lisa, Ashlie and Michael; great-grandchildren, Brendan, Joseph, Karissa, Jacob, Delaney, Shawn, Cienna, Bailey, Christian, Andre Jr., Andrea, Keith, Saeed, Nujaymah, Salma, Merissa, Emily, Jayci, Isabella, Samantha and Emily. I apologize if I missed anyone.

Dolores had no hobbies, made no contribution to society and rarely shared a kind word or deed in her life. I speak for the majority of her family when I say her presence will not be missed by many, very few tears will be shed and there will be no lamenting over her passing.

Her family will remember Dolores and amongst ourselves we will remember her in our own way, which were mostly sad and troubling times throughout the years. We may have some fond memories of her and perhaps we will think of those times too. But I truly believe at the end of the day ALL of us will really only miss what we never had, a good and kind mother, grandmother and great-grandmother. I hope she is finally at peace with herself. As for the rest of us left behind, I hope this is the beginning of a time of healing and learning to be a family again.

There will be no service, no prayers and no closure for the family she spent a lifetime tearing apart. We cannot come together in the end to see to it that her grandchildren and great-grandchildren can say their goodbyes. So I say here for all of us, GOOD BYE, MOM."

ridiculous, right? i thought so too.

josh

Quite Possibly The Biggest Douchebag in the World

2008-08-14T14:38:00.000-07:00

Hello all,
A few months back I caught an episode of BBC America Reveals "Britain's Biggest Spenders". This guy was on there. He is quite possibly the biggest douche in the world, but also a very entertaining guy. If anyone deserves their own reality show, this man does. I would watch it, for the same reason I peek my head out of my car window when we pass by a traffic accident. Wasn't it the Circle Jerks who called it "Casualty Vampires"? Anyways, just a little intro into his world. I'm not sure how well known this shithead is in the UK but I'm sure noone in the States knows who he is. But if I ran the TV networks, his would be a household name. The video below doesn't go into it, but this guy also bought a seaside town in Bulgaria and named it after himself, which I think is pretty sweet. Let's be honest, if you had the kind of juice to buy a town in some eastern european backwater and rename it after yourself, you'd do it. I'd do it. Enjoy the glory of this humble man:

Later,
Mark

AMeriCan Eagle MuSIc Union ThinGy

2008-08-10T12:25:00.000-07:00

My internet's been nonfunctional and we've all been very busy with work and music and such, so I apologize for the lack of content on here recently.

Soooo. . .

My friends gave me some tickets for the second day of the American Eagle Music Union festival yesterday in my hometown of Pittsburgh. Of course, I graciously accepted and decided to attend it. Well, let's say I half attended it. Miller Light bottles were $7 and there are two local dives within a few blocks of where the festival was held. So, I'm sorry to say that me and my friends spent more time hurriedly sucking on $2 I.C. Lights, giving our selves just enough time to get back for Spoon or Gnarls Barkley. Only to be swayed by the temptations of "one more drink". And then another and another.

I only caught the tail end of Gnarls Barkley, but did catch them doing an amazing cover of Radiohead's "House of Cards". Then I was planning on watching Spoon but I forgot to bring sun glasses and the sun was brutally posted directly above stage left and I just couldn't deal with it, so back to Excuses we went. (Excuses, by the way, is the name of one of those dives. No seriously.) Anyway, long story short--I watched most of the Raconteur's' (if that's how you spell that) set. At least enough to see Jack White slay the shit out of some blues licks. But I could really care less for that band. They seem very generic to me. Plus, Brendon Benson looks like he hates his life when shares a stage with Jack.

Then Dylan was up next. The throngs were strangling in and although the sun had stopped punishing my dumb ass for not bringing some shades and sun screen, me and the gang just didn't feel like being there anymore. "Nic, you walked out on Dylan?" you ask. Well, kind of. See, I'd just seen Dylan a few months back. And I had my fill of his raspy melodyless mumbles. Don't get me wrong, I love Dylan. I own most of his albums and have multiple books and dvds that attempt to unravel the mystery that is Dylan. And I love them all. I even think his last album was brilliant. But he doesn't even attempt to sing those songs right. I know, I know, he doesn't give a fuck and there IS some sort of comically endearing quality to that, but at least give something remotely similar to the songs that made everyone fall in love with you. No matter what Rolling Stone says about his shows still rocking and his "on a whim band" tearing it up, at the end of the day it's just frustrating. So I watched him crackle and croack through two old classics and took off.

My only real highlights actually came from the free college stage. The Depreciation Guild was great. As were The Royal Bangs. They tore ass with some Thin Lizzy/Television style dual guitar onslaughts. Go listen to their song "Brother" on MySpace. It rips.

Props to 'merican Eagle for getting all those big names to come to our little rust bucket of a town, but call me old fashioned, I'll take three bands and a bar. I guess I'm not really much for festivals. Especially ones that are held in shadeless parking lots with $7 beer.

Love,
Nic

city slicker

2008-08-04T10:07:00.001-07:00

this past week i went on vacation. i spent a few days at the jersey shore, where i got really, REALLY, fucking sun burnt, and a few days in franklin, pa. franklin is in northwest pennsylvania. its in the cut. i did things a normal city boy may have never done... such as shoot guns, go "4 wheeling," and swim in murky ass lakes in the middle of the woods. i hung out in log cabins, ate wild berries (be careful), and met many mixed bred, porch dogs. im not sure if country life is the life for me, but i had a good time, and made me realize, shouldnt we all get out of the city more often??

josh

Nic Snyder's top 3 modern slow jamz

2008-07-17T17:36:00.000-07:00

This is not a joke. These 3 songs are about a year or two old. But I haven't heard much since then that's anywhere near as good. Especially since everyone who sings R&B these days rips off T-Pain and drenches their vocals in auto-tune/vocoders.

1. "You Don't Know My Name" by Alicia Keys - "Woo Hoo, Woo Woo Hoo." This song is just hard as fuck. I forgot about it till I saw it on On-Demand a few days ago. Girl Talk needs to sample those back-up vocals. I'm not really all that familiar with Girl Talk, though. So maybe he already has. But if not, I suggest that he does. The video is recommendable as well.

2. "Until The End Of Time" by Justin Timberlake and Beyonce - I first heard this song on the radio (WAMO) and instantly liked it. I only caught the last minute of the song, but the end of the song is all Beyonce and she pretty much makes the song. It's got it all as far as modern R&B goes. The strings at the end of the bridge sound like they sampled them from "Loveless". It even has some social commentary at the beginning. This ones for the lovers though.

3. "Me and You" by Cassie - Maybe the video to this song is what originally drew me to it. But it stands up on its own. It's very simple but has the sweetest harmonies and strange 80's synth hooks. And another good bridge as well.

I'll put another NixPIx thing up in the next few days.

Nic

Lawnchair Larry

2008-07-09T15:46:00.000-07:00

now i know this story is 25 years old, but i just read about this guy, "lawnchair larry." to me this story is really ridiculous, and had me cracking up... the idea of a guy floating 16 thousand feet above the ground, on a lawn chair, with a sixer of miller lite, a gun, and some sandwiches is really funny. can you imagine what his friends thought as he zipped up into the sky, totally out of sight? absurd. anyways, enjoy...

(1982, California) Larry's boyhood dream was to fly. But fates conspired to keep him from his dream. He joined the Air Force, but his poor eyesight disqualified him from the job of pilot. After he was discharged from the military, he sat in his backyard watching jets fly overhead.

He hatched his weather balloon scheme while sitting outside in his "extremely comfortable" Sears lawnchair. He purchased 45 weather balloons from an Army-Navy surplus store, tied them to his tethered lawnchair dubbed the Inspiration I, and filled the 4' diameter balloons with helium. Then he strapped himself into his lawnchair with some sandwiches, Miller Lite, and a pellet gun. He figured he would pop a few of the many balloons when it was time to descend.

Larry's plan was to sever the anchor and lazily float up to a height of about 30 feet above his back yard, where he would enjoy a few hours of flight before coming back down. But things didn't work out quite as Larry planned.

When his friends cut the cord anchoring the lawnchair to his Jeep, he did not float lazily up to 30 feet. Instead, he streaked into the LA sky as if shot from a cannon, pulled by the lift of 42 helium balloons holding 33 cubic feet of helium each. He didn't level off at 100 feet, nor did he level off at 1000 feet. After climbing and climbing, he leveled off at 16,000 feet.

At that height he felt he couldn't risk shooting any of the balloons, lest he unbalance the load and really find himself in trouble. So he stayed there, drifting cold and frightened with his beer and sandwiches, for more than 14 hours. He crossed the primary approach corridor of LAX, where Trans World Airlines and Delta Airlines pilots radioed in reports of the strange sight.

Eventually he gathered the nerve to shoot a few balloons, and slowly descended. The hanging tethers tangled and caught in a power line, blacking out a Long Beach neighborhood for 20 minutes. Larry climbed to safety, where he was arrested by waiting members of the LAPD. As he was led away in handcuffs, a reporter dispatched to cover the daring rescue asked him why he had done it. Larry replied nonchalantly, "A man can't just sit around."

The Federal Aviation Administration was not amused. Safety Inspector Neal Savoy said, "We know he broke some part of the Federal Aviation Act, and as soon as we decide which part it is, a charge will be filed."

what makes this story even more ridiculous, is that some years later, larry shot himself in the heart in a forrest in california. poor, larry.

until next time,

josh

PBR Street Gang

2008-07-02T09:26:00.000-07:00

Christ, I just saw Apocalypse Now for the first time since I was in something like middle school. What a fucking amazing masterpiece of movie that is. I never realized were "Charlie don't Surf" came from. . . Ol' Bobbie Duvall. Phenomenal Dialogue.

Speaking of the Apocalypse, anyone who's read Cormac McCarthy's "The Road" should be thrilled to know that John Hillcoat is doing the movie. He directed one of my top five favorite movies, "The Proposition" (Nick Cave's first screenplay). So if you haven't read the book, do yourself a favor and read that. You'll probably cry a good manly cry.

...TALKS TO ITSELF VOL.3

2008-07-01T04:32:00.000-07:00

Here at Running with the Wasters, having run out of things to write about, we offer up another ghastly installment upon which we attempt to let you, the reader, get to know us, the boys in the band, a little bit better. An entertaining read I'm sure, for the few brave, bored souls that bother with said blog. Enjoy.

This installment: The notorious Wine enthusiast and occasional drummer, Joshua Sickels.

Name: josh "ice" sickels

Age (real or pretend): 26

What do you do in the band?
play drums, acting drill sergeant

How many pets have you had?
37

37, wow that's a lot. What kinds of pets did you have? 37 dogs?
(unintelligible...groaning...) Sure

Favorite Actor?
Daniel Day Lewis. and i only really like two movies he was in. he is just THAT good.

Which movies?
(...loud shreiking noise in background, sighing...) Um, I-uh, I don't remember, man.

Fair enough, Favorite Actress?
probably leslie mann. i think she is hilarious, and totally smokin' in that older woman type way.

Have you ever read Gun's N' Ammo?
no, but i like the title.

If you could have written one song througout the history of recorded music, what song would it have been?
this is a ridiculously hard question to answer, and im pissed at you for asking it. though maybe not the greatest song ever written, my personal favorite song is "im only sleeping" by the beatles. so yeah, that.

How many women have you slept with (real or imagined)?
a gentleman never tells, though im certainly no gentleman. my girlfriend will probably read this though. pass. (Editors Note: Noone in the band has answered this question straightforwardly or honestly. Perhaps for the stated reason)

If you could meet any historical figure, living or dead, who would it be and why?
this is another difficult question to answer. i'd like to say someone more universally important or some bullshit, but honestly it would have to be john lennon. im in the business of rock n' roll, and who better to hang out with than the guy that wrote the best songs of all time? call me generic, no care, ever.

What did you get overall on the SAT's?
didnt take them. fuck any test that single handedly can help determine the course of your life.

Top 5 recent albums?
mystery jets - 21, my morning jacket - evil urges, vampire weekend- s/t (though our buddies in young lords fucking DESPISE this band, i think they write great tunes), the new sigur ros is really good, i wanna say the new supergrass record, but really its about a 6.5 outta 10 at best. i dont know, i havent been blown away by anything recently.

Favorite Rapper?
mainstream- ludacris - dude is just fucking hilarious. great punchlines, GREAT voice. his voice is like a cartoon characters. underground- mc juice - best battle rapper ever, great freestyler. his wordplay and delivery are so on point. you got a much more serious response than expected, huh?

Chicken or the Egg: which came first?
chicken. has to be. SOMEONE created that chicken.

Best Concert you've ever attended?
probably the one and only time that i saw radiohead. it was unreal. borderline religious experience.

Would you rather stab yourself in the ass with a razor sharp Ginsu knife or watch your parents have sex for 20 seconds? (I'm talking a really deep stab wound, you won't be able to sit down for a month)
i would rather stab myself in the ass with a ginsu knife and leave it there for 20 seconds, than watch my parents have sex.

What's wrong with our country?
TOP 40 RADIO.

Favorite Author?
i have cable, sorry. (Editor's Note: We strongly suggest the answer to this question as a worthy answer to the previous question.)

And finally, if you could tour with 3 bands still together today, who would it be?
my morning jacket, lil jon, and andrew w.k. my morning jacket because their music is great, and the other two... c'mon, now. you know why. probably the two most raging bro's of all time. just screaming and in your face. party till you puke.

CHED CHEE GOES BANG BANG

2008-06-30T12:30:00.000-07:00

Hello,
This is the bearded one, Adam. I rarely write here and I don't know what to say.
The other guys keep bugging me to post something, but I just don't know what to talk about. So this is my post. Oh, I guess I could say the new MY Morning Jacket rules, except for that "Highly Suspicious" song. That song haunts my dreams like a wizard haunts the deciduous forest. Later.
Adam aka Cheddar go Bang Bang

NIXPIX

2008-06-24T17:26:00.000-07:00

I apologize, and realize I've been leaving you and your ipod with out a musical compass over the past few weeks. Things have been busy on the farm. But, without further wait. . .

1. "Dionne Warwick's Golden Hits (Part One)" by Dionne Warwick - When most folks my age think of Ms. Warwick, they think "psychic friends hotline". And what a damn shame that is. But I suppose it's her own fault. Either way, it's not completely her that is to be cherished when listening to this collection. The brunt of the praise should be bestowed upon good old Burt Bacharach and the wonderful Hal David, who not only wrote these chillingly beautiful songs but produced and arranged them as well. These tracks all share a similarly majestic production value that, for 1962, '63, and '64, should not be scoffed at. If you can listen to the sax solo in "Anyone who ever had a Heart" or the coda for that matter without the hair raising on your arms, then you probably lack that human function all together and should go to the doctor. I'm sure any collection of Dionne's early hits will do. I'm not even sure if they put this particular collection on CD, but do yourself a favor and make sure that you get "Walk on By," "I Smiled Yesterday," "Anyone who ever had a Heart," and the original version of "Always Something there to Remind Me" into your life. She's the soul singer you didn't know you were supposed to love.

2. "Coney Island Baby" by Lou Reed - This is by far my favorite Lou Reed album. Solo Lou that is. To be honest I don't really even like 75% of his other stuff. Solo stuff that is. I mean, this is a pretty common opinion though. It's not as if I'm saying I don't like Dylan's voice. I think most of Lou Reed's albums are shit. Sue me. Anyway, this album is about as close as he ever got to recapturing the magic that the Velvets had. The songs are simple and grooving. The production is tight and encompasses the best of what the seventies sounded like in an engineer's both. And the musicianship is flawless and perfectly tasteful--not the typical Lou bullshit.
Bob Kulick's licks are smokin' and all over the thing. He later went on to overdub the guitar that Paul Stanley pretended to play on a few KISS albums. His bluesy bite gives the whole album kind of a southern rock vibe that works perfectly with Lou's New-York-cool tunes. Just listen to "A Gift" and you'll catch what I'm saying. It's cool as the other side of the pillow, and mildly hilarious. The title track is probably one of the best songs Lou's written since "Oh Sweet Nothin". This album has somehow slipped through the cracks. But if you love the Velvet Underground but think that Lou Reed solo albums are predominantly hoarse shit, then give this a spin. (Sorry Lou, it's not like you don't know your a dick though.)

INTERVIEW WITH MEGA METH!

2008-06-19T14:27:00.000-07:00

Make sure you check out the intro below, you'll get a better understanding of where we are coming from...

Names:

Bovice: The name is Bovice

Orpheous: Well I'm Orpheous, a.k.a Gak Daddy. Orpheous is my birth given name.

Age:

Bovice: None of yer bizness

Orpheous: 47 years/8 months/3 days/16 minutes and not one second sober.

What do you do for a living?

Bovice: I'm on disability from the government. Broke my back. I'd rather not talk about it.

Orpheous: I work at a recycling plant. I collect the cans all day and they recycle them. Usually get a 5 spot for each Ruffie's bag I fill up.

So when did megameth start?

Bovice: Yer gonna have to ask Shithead. Ha ha! That's my nickname for Orpheous. I can't remember shit

Orpheous: Haha, crazy fucker, we were at a Rusted Root concert at the Point, probably around 1997, and we were totally inspired...not by them, but by this dude who was catching fireflies during their set. We went up to him, he was blown out of his mind, he told us his name was OshKosh B’gosh, but also went by Father Time. We went and got a few fresh squeezed lemonades, a corndog, smoked a massive amount of meth (this was our first time), stole his wallet and came back home and thought it would be hilarious to translate our evening into a song.

How come you guys have never played a show?

Bovice: None of us much like crowds. Myself, I get nervous as all shit when I'm in a room with more than 5 people in it. I get the shakes.

Orpheous: HA! You always get da shakes! And it ain’t got nuthin to do with crowded roomz! But in answer to your question, the thought crossed our mind, but after 6 some years of doing meth, like Bovice said, we developed a phobia of crowds. And really, there just isn’t enough Meth in the world to make that go away.

So what kind of music are you into?

Bovice: Pantera! That's what I'm squawkin about. Dimebag Darrell R.I.P. If I ever get my hands on that shithead that capped him! Boy, you don't wanna be there!

Orpheous: I can dig me some Pantera, but best band ever, hands down, Molly Hatchet. Lately ive been listening to some Deep Purple, George Clinton, and the Adam Sandler Comedy CD with that fucking goat. You remember that goat? “Yo goat, you got some kinda knot on your head” then the goat says, “What? Yeah, you better KNOT mention that again you fucking cocksucker”. Priceless.

Whatever happened that night all the police and fire department came to your apartment above ours?

Bovice: I don't remember much but I'd guess it had something to do with our lab. Shit, it catches fire seems like every other day now. Good things none of us got any damn kids running around!

Orpheous: Yeah I mean, it was just some big misunderstanding. We were recording Meth Train, and you know our old landlord reddy? That crazy fuck, he called he police because of the noise. The fire department was there because BoHam measured the batch of meth wrong, and POOF! Luckily we were all outside getting arrested when that went down! As the cop car pooled away, BoHam is running after the cop car screaming “IM SORRY! IM SORRY I BLEW UP OUR HOUSE!” I think he had a beaker in one hand and a pack of Chesterfields in the other. It was hard to see. Crazy dude.

What were the circumstances with you guys getting evicted?

Bovice: Again, it all comes back to our meth lab. (this ain't gonna be read by no police is it?) uh I mean no comment

Orpheous: Also because Reddy tried joining the band, we sent his ass back across the courtyard. 2 weeks later we’re at the Magistrate.

Favorite movie?

Bovice: Chariots of Fire

Orpheous: Grizzley man! SHIT!

Favorite book?

Bovice: Anything by Steve King. I love that fucker!! Spooky shit.

Orpheous: Hatchet, that dude is the dude!

Have you ever seen the takeover uk live?

Bovice: Who? Nah man I ain't into that shit

Orpheous: Nah Vice, remember that one time we went to that shanty Brillo Box and tried getting in telling them we were on the guest list, but they weren’t havin it? So we offered them some meth (thinking were in Lawrenceville, who DOESN’T do hard drugs there?) but then they called the cops. We got to hear about 2 and a half songs from outside the bar before the cops rolled up with the ATF. What a fucked up night that was…

Why do you still wear Jenco Jeans? Aren't they a little out of style?

Bovice: Well I only had one pair of pants for a long time. I ain't wearing 'em anymore. I got me some Hanes Her way sweatpants. Stole 'em from my grandma. Ha Ha! God rest her soul

Orpheous: I wear em’ cuz they got them huge pockets man. Do your Levi’s got pockets than can hold methamphetamine cookbooks?

What got you into music in the first place?

Bovice: Who said I was into music? I'm into Megameth man! Shit, it's a way of life

Orpheous: Exactly, its more like gang type shit. But for me? I realized that If I was really really fucking high, that music just sent that high fucking 10 times farther…It’s all about trying to reach that “Ultimate High.”

Where do you see yourself in five years?

Bovice: Shit that's an easy one. Dead or in jail! Shit! Ha ha!

Orpheous: Yeah, Hopefully Dead. I don’t think my body can take much more of this. With AIDS and just about every other STD in the book, my recreational drug use should hopefully just put an end to my life…

What's the goal for Mega meth?

Bovice: Just one day at a time cuz. Ya know, I mean, shit, I'm just trying to cook up this new batch of shit before it explodes again. My body can't take no more burn marks. Charred flesh don't feel so hot! Get it, hot! Shit!

Orpheous: Oh hell no they don't, I got burns in places you wouldn't believe! But our goal...hmm...just getting our name out there on the Internet. We tried posting comments to Queens of the Stone Age, but they never replied. All we want is to tour with them. Not really, they blow, but I’m sure they got some good drugs we can steal off them.

Have you ever tried to quit using drugs and alcohol?

Bovice: Ha ha ha! Shit no!

Orpheous: Haha, The only time I really ever put any thought into that, is when I’ve been carted off to jail. But the thought was “How the hell am I gonna quit using drugs and alcohol?”

How many times have you been to jail?

Bovice: Now that's none of yer goddamn bizness Mark or Mac or whatever the fuck yer name is. Shithead

Orpheous: Me? 27 times for anything ranging to possession, simple assault and rape. But I’m currently on house arrest. One time we let our dog eat my bracelet we threw him on an ongoing train. The 5.0 came and said that I was supposedly in Youngstown Ohio. I ended up getting taken to the State Pen and had to serve 6 months for that. Worth it!

If you could live anywhere in the world, where would it be?

Bovice: Candyland, but only instead of candy, the trees were made of crack or glue or some other shit. Whatever man that's a dumb fuckin' question, shithead

Orpheous: Elba, that place they carted Napolean off to. Or Intercourse, PA. Crazy Amish broads running amuck.

Let's say you win the powerball for 100 million bucks, what would you do with the money?

Bovice: Man, what the fuck do you think I'd do with it. Feed the hungry...only not food, but crank or dust!

Orpheous: Right on! I’d like to start a slew of burlesque houses and bunny ranches. Plus get a straight connection with the Meth lords themselves.

What do you think of our president, George W.?

Bovice: I think he's an alright guy. He just gets a bum rap. I heard somewhere he used to blow tons of rails and slam like a fifth of jack a day. Sounds like an ok guy.

Orpheous: I heard that too!! I mean people gotta stop givin him so much shit. All he wants to do is protect our god damn country and serve God. I used to think god was bullshit, but I’m a born-again.

What's the solution to the war in Iraq?

Bovice and Orpheous: KILL EM’ ALL!

Boxers or briefs?

Bovice: I'm a commando man. Shit, that shit costs money.

Orpheous: I tend to rock the Man-kini

And lastly, what did you do with Ian's DVD collection we know you guys
stole?

Bovice: You never told us where you guys moved to. I'd like to come see your new place, me and orpheous. Shit man.

Orpheous: But we did take that shit to the Record Exchange!! Sorry Ian!

LADIES & GENTLEMEN, I GIVE YOU... MEGAMETH!

2008-06-19T12:31:00.000-07:00

Where to begin?
I used to share an apartment in Pittsburgh with my buddie/TUK roadie Ian. We lived in a decent neighborhood, in a not-so-decent apartment building. Despite constant threats of eviction from our absent minded landlord who would forget that we paid him the rent, it was a nice time in my life.
Our first night in the apartment. Ian and I are sitting on the couch surveying our new domain when this god awful noise starts blaring from above us. Like the cup of water in Jurassic Park, only the glass of water actually shook itself off the table and smashed on the floor.
It sounded like a band playing, but it was hard to make out anything. We swore we heard the words "crackpipe" being screamed over and over again. This was our first introduction to "MegaMeth".
After 2 more nights of this noise, Ian and I went upstairs and knocked on the door. We couldn't take it anymore. We're easygoing guys, but noone could put up with this racket. I don't know how to describe the man that opened the door in any other way than "crazy looking". It was Megameths' guitarist, BoVice. One word. He shared the apartment with his bandmates, Orpheous, and BoHam, who we suspect was Bovice's brother. A pungent stench of chemicals and urine hit us as soon as the door opened. Almost choking from the smell, we kindly asked them if they could not play after 11. They were surprisingly nice about it and said sure. And that was our first encounter with the boys/men of MegaMeth.
Over the next year we became "buddies" of some sort with the guys, whose ages we could never guess. They were definitely scary, but also lots of fun and endlessly entertaining. We encouraged them to start playing shows, but they just didn't want to. They were happy just to beat on their instruments in their apartment and record songs and put them on the internet. Concerning their instruments, MegaMeth are very unique. They're, as Orpheous likes to say, a "power 3-piece" . Orpheous, the tallest of the 3 and certainly one of the hairiest men I've ever met, is the singer. Bovice plays solely wah-wah guitar. BoHam plays a crappy electronic drum kit, you know, the kind that's just pads. They all scream along on the chorus. Which brings me to their music.
For 3 guys that do more drugs than anyone I've ever met or seen in a movie, they actually write good songs. They do the whole verse/chorus/verse structure. Their choruses are even catchy. I'm no big fan of metal, but I can't help but like Megameth. So what's stopping them from being on the next Ozzfest? Their lyrics.
All their songs are about smoking meth, smoking crack, robbing people, and all kinds of dubious/nefarious and downright immoral/illegal behavior. That, couopled with their scary image, might scare most people off. It doesn't matter though. They're not interested in becoming rockstars. They just like playing together.
We've since moved out of the apartment and I hardly ever see the guys, but I did run into 2 of them recently and luckily I convinced them to do an interview with me. Boham wasn't there. Apparently he was arrested shortly after we moved out and is still in jail as of today. They wouldn't say what for, and really, it could be a myriad of things. I'm posting the interview as soon as he sends it back to me. Believe it or not, MegaMeth are surprisingly web savvy. So get ready world. I give you...MEGAMETH!
check out their music here:
MEGAMETH'S MYSPACE

M

A MILLION BIG ONES

2008-06-17T06:17:00.000-07:00

I just read a short little book called "The Manual: How to have a Number One the Easy Way". Published in 1988, it's a cheeky instruction book on how to write, record, manufacture, distribute and promote your very own pop single and how to get it to #1 in the official Gallup Charts in the UK. It's very specific to the UK, and not the UK of 2008. Alot of it is dated, but the idea is wonderful. You can read it here: The Manual It was written by 2 guys, Bill Drummond and Jimmy Cauty, better known as the KLF. They have also have gone by several other names: The Justified Ancients of Mu Mu, The JAMs, The Timelords. As the Timelords the duo released a novelty single, "Doctorin' the Tardis", a mash-up of the Doctor Who theme music and Gary Glitter's "Rock and Roll (Part Two) and some Sweet song. You can hear a sample of it on their wikipedia page:
KLF WIKIPEDIA
They were savaged in the press for making a dreadful single, which they acknowledged as true, a flat out attempt to have a number one aiming for the lowest common denominator. It worked and they made quite a bit of money. Oh, and they put it out themselves on their own label. My favorite part of the whole single idea, they put a Ford sedan on the cover of the single. The whole gag was that this Ford wrote the song. They had a friend pretend to be the Ford in phone interviews. When they were scheduled to play Top of the Pops, they were just going to have the Ford on the stage and nothing else while their song played! I personally think that's brilliant. When the BBC said no, they hired sexy backup dancers to strut around the Ford. Genius!
Another great gag they pulled was their exit of the music biz. They played the 1992 BRIT Awards show with the metal act, EXTREME NOISE TERROR. In what was described as a "violently antagonistic performance" in front of "a stunned music-business audience", the performance consisted of "a limping, kilted, cigar-chomping Drummond firing blanks from an automatic weapon over the heads of the crowd". At the conclusion, a voice announced over the PA system that "The KLF have now left the music business". To top the night off, the band dumped a dead sheep with the message "I died for ewe—bon appetit" tied around its waist at the entrance to one of the post-ceremony parties. When I found out about this recently I kept thinking, why oh why have I never heard about this or these guys. I'm sure those of you over in the UK and of a certain age remember this, but for us Yankees, these guys are totally obscure. Maybe they were just before my time, but I've never heard anyone I know mention them. I read an interview with Bill Drummond where he said he was planning on cutting off his hand on stage that night, and throwing it into the audience. His bandmate convinced him otherwise, and they killed the sheep instead. Yowza!
While certainly all of these stunts are incredible and incredibly entertaining, it was their final gag that really leaves one scrathcing his or her head.
1994. KLF has earned quite a nice sum of money from their #1 hit and other succesfully charting songs. Having all this money and having disbanded you'd think these guys would relax and enjoy the finer things in life, having really pulled off the great rock and roll swindle? (Malcom McLaren pales in comparison. Do you think Steve Cook was set after the Pistols broke up? Isn't he a DJ in LA now?) Well obviously, no. So what do they do? They withdraw a million pounds sterling (about 3 million US dollars), go to some obscure island off the Scottish coast and burn all of it. It takes a little over an hour. Their buddy films it. These fuckers burned a million pounds! Later, Drummond said he regretted it. Ya think? What was the point? Art? Either way, they've got my attention. So we salute you KLF. Crazy motherfuckers.
They just don't make 'em like they used to.
M

Here is a ridiculous video of them performing on some wacky show. I don't know about you, but I find this endlessly amusing and ridiculous. I pine for the simpler times in pop music.

This is them on the Top of the Pops with the world's most famous pedophile as a very special guest. I know it's 2 videos of the same song, but they're both so wonderful in the best possible way. Enjoy

And finally, KLF with Extreme Noise Terror at the 1992 Brit Awards, with their infamous shooting a machine gun at the audience.

...WITH MY LOUISVILLE SLUGGER

2008-06-10T10:43:00.000-07:00

I don't know why it came to mind, but I just remembered something that happened to me when I was a wee young boy, probably 10 or 11. My brothers and I used to get our hair cut at this real old time barber shop in Uptown Pittsburgh. It was like out of a 1950's movie, the barber sign and all. It was called "Harry's", that being the name of the barber who owned it. A family tradition of some sort, my grandfather got his hair cut there, so did my dad (what hair he still had). Naturally, my 2 brothers and I would go there once every couple months to get a trim. I don't remember ever seeing a woman at Harry's. It was like a VFW or Elks lodge: old time barber chairs, guys getting shaved with a straight razor, and always 3 or 4 old men in the back playing pinochle. After Harry finished, you had to grab a broom and sweep up your own hair and put it in the dustbin. I never really liked the haircuts I got there, but it didn't bother me until high school. Which brings me to my memory.
I was getting my hair cut before basketball practice, and I was running late. My mom was supposed to pick us up an hour after she dropped the 3 of us off. I sat in the barber chair as Harry trimmed my already short hair. My kid brother Greg, who could never sit still, was staring out the window, it being a bright, sunny day. His eyes grew wide and he called our attention to outside the shop. Harry put down the scissors and went to the big, dirt streaked window.
Outside, there was group of 3 guys, all worked up and yelling at a long-haired guy, that in hindsight kinda looked like Andrew W.K. Long, stringy hair and acid washed jeans, you'd think this guy had ate their children, the way the gang of 3 was screaming at him. We opened the door to hear what was going on. Even some of the old guys playing pinochle set down their cards and ambled to the door. What came next was unexpected. After yelling at each other for 5 minutes or so, Andrew W.K guy started walking away towards the barber shop. One of the gang of 3 wasn't having it. Handily, he picked up a brick and ran up behind the unsuspected long hair, smashed it over his head. Andrew W.K. instantly crumpled to the sidewalk.Blood streamed down his greasy hair. The barbershop went silent. The gang of 3 fled. Harry grabbed the rotary phone and called 911. We wanted to go outside and see if he was alive, but Harry told us to stay inside. He finished the last bit of my haircut, and my mom arrived right before the cops did. Harry told us to get out of there. I'd never make practice if we didn't leave before the cops arrived. They'd want a statement, he said.
On the ride to practice my brothers and I excitedly told my mom about what we had witnessed. A little horrified, I'm not sure she believed us. That night she let us stay up to watch the 11 o'clock news. There was nothing about the attack.
My older brother Kevin, always the cynic, swore the guy had to be dead. There was no way he could survive a brick to his head, he proclaimed. Greg and I were sure we'd seem him twitching though as we were getting in the car. There was nothing about it in the news. After a day or two we forgot about it and moved on to talking about baseball cards and action movies.
I stopped getting my hair cut at Harry's after I moved away to college. A freak of nature, Harry's was totally destroyed last summer by a tornado. His building was the only one touched by the tornado. A tornado in Pittsburgh. Yeah, me too.
I like to think the guy survived, the knock to the head giving him the idea to write such gems as "Party Hard" and "Party till ya Puke". Wikipedia doesn't mention Andrew W.K. ever living in Pittsburgh and I don't think their ages match up. Maybe he was his older bro.
I swear I haven't thought about it in 10 years at least, but for some reason I remembered it just now. I was going to write about a movie I saw last night, "Spanking the Monkey", but my memory got in the way. What's the point? Beats me.
M

Heat Wave

2008-06-07T07:46:00.000-07:00

It has been really hot lately. Disgustingly hot. The type of hot where as soon as you walk outside, you immediately wanna take a shower. There are rumors of temperatures rising near 100 degrees. Keep in mind, I live in Pittsburgh, and it's early June. Global warming anyone? When you're freezing in January, all that keeps you going is the thought of those sunny, summer days... well, now that they're here, they can go fuck themselves.

On a side note, Adam and I's beloved Pittsburgh Penguins(Mark thinks hockey is for Canadians) lost in the Stanley Cup Finals. It started as a blow out, with Detroit going up 2 games to 0, but the Pens fought their way back to make the series 3-2; one of the wins included a 5 hour long, triple over time game(which ruled. They were one shot, and one second away from tying the series, and forcing a game 7... but it just wasn't in the cards for us. Nevertheless, I am proud of them. I didnt even think they were gonna get that far anyways. Looking forward to next season.

Alright, people. It's time for me to go pool hoppin'.

cheers,

josh

Takeover Touch Tunes

2008-05-29T12:05:00.003-07:00

Next time you're out boozing around, feed the jukebox (as long as it's a digital Touch Tunes jukebox)a few sweaty bills and play our whole new e.p. for the rest of the regulars. I bet your next beer will be free and you won't go home alone.

Nic

Whiskey in the Jar

2008-05-27T10:51:00.000-07:00

I wanna talk about Thin Lizzy. If for some godforsaken reason you're not familiar with this quintessential Irish band, let me tell you, do yourself a favor and go to Itunes and download their wonderful album, "Jailbreak". It's a great place to start.
For the rest of you who are only aware of their biggest US hit, "The Boys are Back in Town", there's so much more than just that wonderful song. Usually, a bands biggest hit is the most hated song of the hardcore fan, but "Boys are back in town", while not my favorite Lizzy song, certainly is a great one, for the harmonized guitars alone. And if you haven't noticed, The Takeover UK is very fond of harmonized guitars. A song on our forthcoming album, "Main St. Crush" had a working title of "Steely Dan" as the harmonized guitar lines reminded Nick of said bands "Reeling in the Years". Now I like Steely Dan. I don't love Steely Dan. And "Main St. Crush"'s guitars owe more to Thin Lizzy than anyone else. But really, Steely Dan and Thin Lizzy are both pretty cool, strange names. So it's just as well.
I digress. My favorite Thin Lizzy song is "Running Back", which is a ballad of some sorts, on Jailbreak. Phil Lynott's lyrics are simple but cutting. It's a very simple song, save for the guitar solo, and I really wanna cover it. We don't really cover songs, as we have so many of our own, and really I think most covers are a waste of time unless the artist takes a song and makes it distinctly it's own. So we'll see. I certainly don't wanna disrespect one of my favorite bands.
I go to the used CD store alot and I'm always plucking stuff out of the 2.50 & $5 bins. Recently I purchased: Sparklehorse "Good Morning Spider", The Posies "Frosting on the Beater" (which I had on tape before), and I got my little bro a CD by this band Ruth Ruth. A blast from the past, Greg and I had seen Ruth Ruth open up for Everclear at one of the first concerts we went to. My first concert was supposed to be Fugazi at Metropol, but alas, my mom wouldn't let me go. My brother and I devised a full proof scheme to allow us to go the Everclear show. We bought the tickets and told our mom we won them on a radio contest. I'm almost certain she didn't believe us, but I guess our will was so strong she gave in and let her 12 and 13 year old sons go to the show. Strangely, she had no problem letting Greg and I play shows on school nights with our punk band, Disturbed Youth. Actually, Everclear was not my first show. My first show was one I played with my first aforementioned band. It was on a Tuesday night at this long defunct place called Luciano's in Uptown Pittsburgh.
This must have been in 1995. Jeez, that makes me sound old, but we were really young.
And 13 years later, I'm still doing the same thing. Jeez.
Later,
M

Party Time

2008-05-23T15:08:00.000-07:00

so last night was the ep release party of "it's all happening." it was a total blast. the crowd was amazing. everyone sang along, at times even louder than the band. a lot of old friends came out that normally dont. i couldn't have asked for more. thanks to triggers for playing, mike "skeebo" gralewski for running sound, and sean finn for dj'ing as well. also, a big thanks to our friend mike from california, who actually called the bar and bought us a bottle of jack daniels. i dont wanna thank him for the hangover im suffering through right now, but even still, that was a total sweetheart move on his behalf.

cheers,

josh

The Takeover UK Talks To Istelf: Second Edition

2008-05-20T16:13:00.000-07:00

Here's the second installment of the idiotic Takeover UK Talks to
Itself. And I (Nic Snyder) am going to get nitty gritty with Mr. Mark
Solomich.

N: Age (real or fake)? 26.

M: That's the real deal

N: What's your favorite watering hole in Pittsburgh? New York? LA?

M: Jeez,this makes me sound like a drunk. I can say with certainty I drink the
least out all the boys in the band. Pgh: the Cage NY: tough one, let's
just say NOT the reservoir; LA: I forget the name, but it's way down on
Sunset near Echo park, you can smoke there. Let's face it though, all
bars are pretty much the same.

N: How long can one go without showering before the ladies start to
complain?

M: I actually tested this in college; Let's just say quite a
while, a week maybe. Probably more, but I was sick of feeling dirty so I
took a shower, but I had the distinct feeling it could go on for quite a
while. I wouldn't recommend for everybody though.

N: What's the most uncomfortable nights sleep you've ever had?

M: Every night I had to share a bed with Sickels; or maybe the nights I didn't sleep at
all cause I was so uncomfortable where I was attempting to sleep i.e.
vans, cubbyholes, floors etc.

N: What's your favorite Clash song and why?

M: Hmmm. Tough one. White Man in Hammersmith Palais. One of the first Clash songs I heard, still one of the best. Joe Strummer laughing is great.

N: Have you heard the new Spiritualized record "Songs in A and E" yet
(because I'm listening to it right now and it's fucking awesome)?

M: No Nick I haven't. Is every song really in A and E? Let it come down is
great. I saw them live in Boston. Not so great. Maybe if I was on
shrooms I would've enjoyed it more.

N: I believe they all are in A or E, Mark.

N: What's your favorite guitar moment on the upcoming TTUK album? The ten
minute dueling wah-wah guitar solo on our cover of Edgar Winter's
"Frankenstein". Righteous.

M: What two TTUK songs from the past are most deserving of being on the
second album? Probably Carol Anne and Black Flowers, since we still
occasionally play those, but really, we're getting ahead of ourselves.
You and I still have many more hits to right before we decide what goes
on our next album, which is tentatively titled " Butt Fucking Turbo
Tits: The Takeover Uk Gets Sum"

N: Who in the Beatles do you most remind yourself of?

M: Ringo. I'm that good looking and I love gaudy jewelry.

N: If you could live anywhere in the world in Pittsburgh, where would it
be?

M: Maybe you worded this one wrong; did you mean anywhere in the world
BESIDES Pittsburgh? In that case I'd say the South of France

N: No I meant anywhere in the worl as long as it was in Pittsburgh. But we'll skip that one.

N: We all know your favorite movie is Major League. How do you feel about
about Two and a Half Men [Charlie Sheen's newest work]?

M: Watched maybe one episode. I did however go to a taping of an episode out in glorious Burbank. Charlie Sheen is the Gary Cooper of Generation X. Brilliant
actor. I'm serious.

N: The strong silent type? His Dad, Marty, is better.

N: What's the last album/song that made you pick up a guitar and write a
song?

M: The Mystery Jets new album "21" Wonderful songs.

N: Do you believe in Global Warming, and if so what can TTUK do to help?

M: Do I believe in global warming? Of course I believe in Global warming.
It's not the Tooth Fairy. It's real and it's all happening (ha ha) as we
speak. While I believe only governments can implement real, lasting
change, I think as artists we can inform ourselves more and speak out
against those who would choose to view Global warming as a myth or at
least not very important. Like our president. In effect, call people out
on their shit.
Oh and turn the light out when you leave the room.

N: And lastly, what time is practice tonight?

M: Good question, I was meaning to tell ya'll that I'm getting my hair cut at 5:45 and we'll probably have to push practice back a lil. I'll call you. Don't Call me.

NIXPIX

2008-05-15T11:56:00.001-07:00

1. "Moby Grape" by Moby Grape - While you've hopefully still got Alexander "Skip" Spence on your noodle, you might as well go buy (or more likely steal) this album. It's a total 60's San. Fran. pop album. The Grape were hyped to hell and back and had five singles released at once. This ham-fisted marketing scheme put the first in their not-so-far-off coffin. But this album is a fantastic rave up of guitar rock and beautiful harmonies. On "Hey Grandma," they three part the word Robitussin, "makes me feel so fine". It's a good album for sunny day burn-rides through the back country.

2. "High Land, Hard Rain" by Aztec Camera - Roddy Frame was a boy wonder with a deal on Scotland's Postcard records. He eventually got the big label bump and put out this 80's power-pop gem. It's got a bit of sheen to it, but the swagger in the songcraft more than makes up for it. "Oblivious" is too big a pop hit to be slept on all these years. "Walk out to Winter" is the type of song where each part can be mistaken for the chorus, until it bursts in to one of the biggest choruses you've ever heard. Sounds like kin.

Nic

Hello Jennifer, Can I call you Jen?

2008-05-14T07:49:00.000-07:00

Hi,
I am Adam. I play bass. I also sing high harmonies. You may know me as "Bang Bang", or "Butt Tits" or "Cheddar". I have many nicknames. This is my first blog. Hooray! I love hockey (Go Pens!). I love Kells! I love Sportscenter. I am moved by smooth harmonies and sweet melodies. I like you. Goodbye friends.

GITCHYA SUM!!!

2008-05-14T07:37:00.001-07:00

Well, since none of the other guys will post anything, I will attempt to briefly inform you of a FREE, that's right, FREE download of our debut EP, It's All Happening on last.fm. From now until next Tuesday, when the ep drops in stores and online everywhere, you can download all 5 tracks, along with several podcasts of us attempting to be funny and tell stories behind the songs for FREE. Go to: http://www.last.fm/music/The+Takeover+UK/It%27s+All+Happening Did I mention it's totally free? But only for a limited time so tell your friends and lovers to go over and get it and tell their friends and lovers.
In the meantime, we've been busy rehearsing new material, doing some press, and just gearing up to promote our first release.
Maybe when the hockey seasons over, Sickels and Butt Tits will stop pretending to be Canadians and get on here and fill ya'll in with their wonderful, sordid lives.
I saw Death Cab for Cutie play live on Fuse the other night. Now first off, I'm certainly no fan of theirs, but more power to 'em for selling records and doing well for themselves. That said, the jams off their new album are really not good. Boring is the adjective that comes to mind. And in pop music, that's a cardinal sin. When your first single is a radio edit of a slow languid ballad with no hooks to speak, you might wanna rethink it. And no, it's not operating in the same sphere as the Radioheads of the world. This is not experimental and challenging music. It's bland and boring. But hey, that's just what struck me as I watched these beardo's playing on tv to an audience of bored teenyboppers who didn't know what to do with their hands, since they couldn't really rock out or dance. Just wait kids, we'll be here to save you soon enough. In fact, you can download some righteous jams right now at Last.Fm. Go forth and "Gitchya sum" (copyright 2007 M. Solomich)
Later,
M

SOMETHINGS BURNING

2008-05-05T08:51:00.000-07:00

I've attempted to watch "Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas" at least 4 times these past few months. I'm a big fan of Hunter S. Thompson's writing, and also Johnny Depp and Terry Gilliam, but for some reason I absolutely cannot finish watching this movie. I fall asleep in the first act everytime. Maybe it's that trying to visualize a drug experience on film is an impossible feat. The whole acid trip sequence of peoples faces stretching and turning into animals just kinda feels like a well worn cliche used to describe every acid trip in every film. I do get a kick out of Benicio all fat and grizzled, but it doesn't sustain my interest past a few minutes. Has anyone else had this problem with Fear and Loathing? Have you ever wanted to like something based on it's pedigree but just can't get into it?
A movie I recently saw that did hold my interest was Michael Haneke's remake of his own movie, "Funny Games". Without giving anything away, this movie will either make you really think about violence in society and entertainment, or, as I overheard several fellow moviegoers gripe on the way out of the theater, make you think "I can't believe I sat through that". I feel strange saying I loved it, or even I enjoyed it. Enjoying a story like Funny Games will make you question your own humanity. Either way, I think it's an eye opening film and will stay with you long after you've seen it. And that, considering most current movies, is quite a feat unto itself. Then again, maybe I just like pretentious movies. I did go to film school afterall. Still, my favorite movie is Major League. So put that in your pipe and smoke it.
I've been listening to the debut album by The View, "Hats off to the buskers" . I actually purchased it twice, having lost my first copy.
Strangely I'm not blown away by it. Theres probably 4 or 5 songs I don't even really like. But the songs I like, I really love, "Face for the Radio" and "Wasted Little DJs" especially. Check it out if you get a chance. They're pretty big in the UK but as always, virtually unknown here in the States.
Alright, that's more than enough from me.
Later
M

Personality Crisis

2008-05-01T11:43:00.000-07:00

On June 15th, we are playing with the legendary, and influential, New York Dolls. I am totally psyched about this. This news couldn't have come at a better time, as my step dad's only son just died... New York Dolls are one of his all time favorite bands. He was so excited when I told him. I think that's the only thing he is happy about right now, understandably. Anyways, I can't wait to get drunk and singalong to trash!

Josh

THE TAKEOVER UK TALKS TO ITSELF

2008-05-01T09:12:00.000-07:00

In our first installment of The Takeover UK Talks to itself, vocalist/guitarist Mark Solomich sat down with bassist/vocalist Adam "Cheddar Bang Bang" Shash on a rainy spring night in their favorite gentlemens club, The Cricket, to ask him some deep, penetrating questions.

MARK CHATS WITH BANG BANG

Age?
25

How many slampieces have you had?
only quality Lovers. (editors note: this does not answer the question)
Why do you like REM so much?
The band has existed longer than I've been alive.
Each one of their 14 albums has the ability to move me.
I feel as though I have grown up with them.
They sound cool.

How long have you had a beard?
5 years. since spring break '03.

Ever think of shaving it off?
Daily, i'm just very concerned that the skin below is very pale.

What different nicknames do you have?
ched chee. cheddar butt tits. bang bang. shitty titty. butt tooth.

What are your favorite and least favorite of those?
favorite - bang bang.
least - ched chee.

Favorite female singer?
Kate Pierson.

Favorite Bassist?Paul McCartney and Mike Mills.

Election '08; who's Cheddar backing?
Rock around Barack.

Favorite TTUK song to play live?
Kill Me Dead

Was your family's name always Shash or is it one of those Ellis Island things where they shortened it and Americanized it when your family came to the States?
DeSashio

Your dream day off from work and the band?
no alarm clock.
romp w/ Kels.
over easy, sausage, home fries.
Sun, grass, trees, soccer balls, frisbees.
dip in the ocean.
man utd vs. liverpool at anfield.
dinner and drinks in vegas, or london, or nyc.
many more drinks on my estate with all who are near and dear.
(Ed.'s note: He has an estate? Why is this the first time I'm hearing of this?)

Finally, Have you ever seen a grown man naked?
too many times to count.

ABSOLUTE BEGINNERS

2008-04-30T09:31:00.000-07:00

Sickels did an interview with Go and Crash, a UK website. Check it out to see just how charming and charismatic he is in print. And just to answer your question. Yes, he is that charming in real life. Lock up your daughters.
Check it out here:

GO AND CRASH INTERVIEW

M

FUCK EVERY OTHER YOUTUBE VIDEO EVER

2008-04-29T22:32:00.000-07:00

To help you forget about Mark's grim, and downright repulsive news story, I give you this...

Isn't this the song from Rocky 4 or some shit? I seriously laughed my ass off for a good 10 minutes after watching this. I gotta say, that dog drives better than some friends of mine. Enjoy.

Josh

Dear People,

2008-04-29T17:43:00.000-07:00

I'm gonna bug you about music a lot, cause that's what I like to do to people. So here's some albums I'm going to force on you.

In no particular order, I'm gonna get all Amazon here.

1. "Pussy Cats" by Harry Nilsson (Produced By John Lennon)- No, I did NOT discover this through the Walkmen's pointless rehashing. Just listen to Nilsson's cover of Jimmy Cliff's "Many Rivers to Cross." Hair raising. Best snare pause ever.

2. "Oar" by Alexander "Skip" Spence - He was in the fucking awesome Moby Grape. He went to jail, somehow managed to get a solo record deal, got out, used most of his advance money for the album to buy a chopper that he rode to Nashville. Then he recorded an album in two days--or something like that (it's disputed). Then pretty much vanished. All that aside, his music alone makes Tom Waits jealous.

3. "Chocolate and Ice" by My Morning Jacket - Probably my favorite contemporary band. This e.p. (e.p. mind you) is like 70 minutes long. Just as good as "At Dawn" in my opinion--probably better. Listen to "Cobra". I kept yelling for them to play it when they came to Pittsburgh. They didn't.

I'll let you digest these albums for now and continue this later. The bar awaits.

Nic

CURRENT EVENTS

2008-04-29T06:02:00.000-07:00

A big part of this page will be us just talking about what we're interested in: music, film, vegetarian food (Sickels only) and current events, etc.
That said:
ROCK ME AMADEUS
This recent kidnapping story coming out of Austria is fucking crazy. If you don't, know about it, read about it: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/7371959.stm
This guy is super creepy. He kidnaps his own 18 year old daughter, imprisons her in an underground bunker beneath his house described as a "Soundproof dungeon behind 300kg steel door", and proceeds to rape her for the next 24 years, resulting in 7 children. One died in infancy. 3 others were left on the porch of the house he shared with his wife, leaving them to raise them. That's right, a wife. And she swears she had no idea all along. That leaves 2 other kids, who have never seen the light of day, including the oldest, a 19 year old girl. Look at his picture, this fuck is mega creepy, Candyman creepy. Not to mention that all of this happened in the German language. And they think those polygamist kids in Texas are gonna have a hard to adjusting to society?
This is a terrible story and all, but what I really wanna know is HOW THE FUCK DO YOU BUILD A BUNKER WITH 2 BEDROOMS, A BATHROOM, AND A LIVING ROOM UNDER YOUR HOUSE WITH NOBODY, NOT EVEN YOUR FUCKING WIFE, NOTICING?
Please, I need to know. I really need to know. I'm not asking how he kept these kids and woman down there for 24 years without arousing any suspicion at all from his wife or neighbors. It's the DEMON BUNKER OF HELL I'd like to know about? Do you hire contractors? What do you tell everyone? Then, after it's built, what do you pretend it's used for? Doesn't the wife ever wonder, "Gee Yosef, remember that bunker you built underneath zee house? Yah, zee one zat took 2 years and cost us 10,000 marks? yah, zat one. vell, vwat do you use it for? I'm just curious Yosef, don't get angry."
Mind blowing.

On the lighter side; I'm really into the new Mystery Jet's album "21". If you like our band at all, I think you'd be really into it. Check out their videos too, especially for "Two Doors Down". I'm a bit mad though, as they stole part of my idea of having cheesy 80's dancers dancing in the background. But touche, it's brilliant.
Also, I saw the new Harold & Kumar picture. Hilarious. Sure, there's some lowbrow moments, but all in all it's definitely worth checking out. "I'm serious about that Kool-Aid"... brilliant.

later,
M

HELLO, HELLO

2008-04-27T12:06:00.000-07:00

Welcome to The Takeover UK's official blog. That's right, we're joining the thousands or millions of other people out there on the cyberweb voicing their opinions, talking smack, telling jokes, and overall just thinking out loud.
All 4 of us will be posting to this, you've been warned. Things are really starting to pick up for us. Our first proper release, "It's All Happening", a 5 song ep drops in the US on Tuesday, May 20th. If you can't possibly wait till then, by all means head on over to Amazon and pre-order your copy today. You can find it here:

PRE-ORDER "IT'S ALL HAPPENING" from AMAZON.COM

I promise you this won't be your average band blog. We're not the kind of guys you meet every day. It might not always be pretty or even coherent really, but we promise it will be vastly entertaining. Look for almost daily updates.
That said, welcome, thanks for coming, and come back soon, ya hear?