GRAND LAKE

out in the WATERS

2011-09-06T12:57:00.000-07:00

Extremely good times with extremely good people.

San Diego, Los Angeles, Davis, Portland, Vancouver, SEATTLE, San Francisco, Salt Lake City, Denver, Lawrence, Norman, Denton, Austin, El Paso, Phoenix and back to San Diego again.

Here are some things I saw:

Catch Grand Lake opening for WATERS at the KCPR Fall Flood Fest in San Luis Obispo. Sunday, September 25. Tickets at Boo Boo Records.

releasing the sunbird

2011-08-02T11:36:00.000-07:00

We went out on tour with Release The Sunbird last week.

This is what my phone saw:

2011-07-06T09:57:00.000-07:00

We've been busy recording at our little house by the sea.

Read all about it here.

2011-06-04T10:15:00.000-07:00

2011-05-26T13:04:00.000-07:00

2011-05-13T21:28:00.000-07:00

Sophie and Josh, first day of tracking Spent Woods.

Leaves Ellipse Videos

2011-04-04T11:45:00.001-07:00

Grand Lake - Which Days Were Those Days? from Ryan Terzian on Vimeo.

Leaves Ellipse

2011-03-15T11:59:00.000-07:00

Our new ep 'Leaves Ellipse' is out today - available wherever mp3's are sold.

Buy it on

Amazon

iTunes

Grand Lake on "Leaves Ellipse" from Ryan Terzian on Vimeo.

ONE NIGHT ONLY

2011-02-22T01:17:00.000-08:00

JOIN US AT COMPACT FOR THE PRE-RELEASE OF OUR NEW EP

'LEAVES ELLIPSE'

Friday, February 25, 2011 6-9pm

LISTENING STATION - MOVIES - PROJECTIONS - PAINTINGS - CHANTING

refreshments served

Compact Gallery 1166 Higuera Street, San Luis Obispo, CA

Its What I Want

2011-01-21T10:37:00.000-08:00

Grand Lake - "In The Mouth Of A Desert" (Pavement cover) from Echolocale on Vimeo.

New Jameson Swanagon LP 'Desolation Happiness'

2010-11-30T13:38:00.000-08:00

A month after we recorded our Blood Sea Dream LP, our guitarist, Jameson Swanagon, got to work on his debut solo LP 'Desolation Happiness'. Swanagon's efforts -- gorgeous and intricate steel-string, finger picked guitar pieces that fall somewhere between the playfulness of Satie and the sincerity of Fahey -- are now available in digital and physical form at his website, and over at his bandcamp page.

According to an early assessment from the folks at the Bay Bridged,

"The tracks on Desolation Happiness (all instrumental) shift moods frequently, moving from melodic finger-picking to eerie avant-folk at the drop of a hat. The album successfully exposes Swanagon’s deftness with his craft, both as a performer and a composer."

Well said.

p4k jacks our styleeeeeee

2010-11-17T13:47:00.001-08:00

Are the editors over at Pitchfork ripping off our rip off?

Check out the photo shopped Pavement image we used for our cover of in the Mouth of a Desert, then check out their version for a recent post about Malkmus and co. appearing on 'Ace of Cakes'.

Ours:

Theirs:

What do you think?

Where have you been, my blue eyed son?

2010-10-28T12:09:00.001-07:00

HELLO from sunny Cayucos, CA.

You may of heard, but now hear it officially, Grand Lake had to cancel some tour dates. While this was sad, it was quite necessary - to be quite honest, we had some stuff fall through, and we had some money troubles. Happens to the best of us - does it happen to the worst of us?

Anyway -
We are taking a bit of a break, but we have some VERY EXCITING dates to announce!

on November 4 we'll be opening up for the estimable ROGUE WAVE at the completely beautiful GREAT AMERICAN MUSIC HALL in the always enchanting city of SAN FRANCISCO. This is brought to you by the intriguingly corporate fellows at VERIZON WIRELESS who have magically made this show FREE. all you have to do is follow this link - and they'll explain the rest. It should be noted that the sumptuous SEA OF BEES will also be performing - amazing!SEE YOU THERE! GO GIANTS!

here are the rest of our dates for November:
11/11 - Steyberg Gallery, San Luis Obispo, CA
11/12 - Luigi's Fungarden (spelling?), Sacramento, CA w/ SEA OF BEES
11/17 - Cafe Van Kleef, Oakland, CA w/ RACHEL FANNING (formerly of SLEEPY SUN)
11/19 - The Crepe Place, Santa Cruz, CA w/ BIRDHOUSE and MATADOR (CYH Presents)
11/22 - Silverlake Lounge, Los Angeles, CA w/ CHASING KINGS

It should here be noted that these shows will all be kind of stripped-down and acoustic-ish - emphasis on 'ish'.
It should also be noted the 11/22 is Caleb's birthday - so you should go to that show and buy him a drinky drink.

In other news: our record 'Blood Sea Dream' is now available EVERYWHERE records are sold. If you haven't picked it up, you can now order the CD or Vinyl version at your favorite (preferably independent) record shop. PLEASE DO!

Now, here are a few photos from this crazy thing that happened last week in San Luis Obispo. It wasn't quite a Port O'Brien reunion (there was no Cambria, which was sad) but it was almost that, and certainly fun.

VAN'S SPACE RIDE:

photos from the facebook of Ms. Khristian Barnhart.

Tour Photos: Marfa, TX

2010-10-14T08:32:00.001-07:00

click photos to enlarge.

Tour Photos: Red Rocks and Dinosaurs

2010-10-14T08:14:00.000-07:00

We cover Pavement and go on tour

2010-09-15T13:22:00.000-07:00

We took a stab at covering arguably the greatest band of the 1990's - Pavement. Download our version of 'In The Mouth Of A Desert' from the excellent 'Slanted & Enchanted' below, or over at My Old Kentucky Blog.

<a href="http://grandlake.bandcamp.com/track/in-the-mouth-of-a-desert-pavement">In The Mouth Of A Desert (Pavement) by Grand Lake</a>

Tour dates below - we'll keep you posted as we add more.

xoox

09/16 - Epicsauce.com Presents at MiLK - San Francisco, CA
09/18 - Beehive Market - Berkeley, CA
09/19 - The Hemlock Tavern w/ Hosannas - San Francisco, CA
09/23 - ARTCenter w/ Casiotone For The Painfully Alone -San Luis Obispo,CA
09/24 - Hotel Utah (Soft Lake) - San Francisco, CA
10/06 - The Mint - Los Angeles, CA
10/09 - Dry River Collective - Tucson, AZ
10/12 - Red 7 - Austin, TX
10/15 - Circle Bar - New Orleans, LA
10/20 - CMJ - New York, NY
10/24 - Stonehill College - North Easton, MA
10/27 - Daytrotter - Rock Island, IL
11/01 - Comet Tavern - Seattle, WA

The Adventures Of Pete & Pete

2010-09-08T11:16:00.000-07:00

Last week we recorded and released a cover of 'Hey Sandy' by Polaris - AKA the theme to the brilliant 1990's Nickelodian show 'The Adventures of Pete & Pete'. We didn't really know what to expect when we gave it up to the mercy of the internets - and man were we ecstatic at the response - it seems everyone loves 'Pete' as much as we do.

'Hey Sandy' was featured on Urban Outfitters's blog, Largehearted Boy, L.A. Record, Strangers In Stereo, Consequence of Sound, O.C. Weekly, Pinna Storm, and the Bay Bridged among others. Wow. That was awesome - Thanks everbody!

While we were happy to get so much blog-love, we were un-prepared and rendered speechless (for once) when one of the creators of the show, Chris Viscardi, emailed to say he liked the cover. Approval from one of the creators of the greatest TV shows EVER. Stick. A. Fork. In. Us.

You can click through to any of the above sites for a free download of 'Hey Sandy' or look below to get it from us via bandcamp.

<a href="http://grandlake.bandcamp.com/track/hey-sandy-theme-to-the-adventures-of-pete-pete">Hey Sandy (Theme To The Adventures of Pete &amp Pete) by Grand Lake</a>

xxoo

The meteoric rise of fuckwave

2010-08-18T15:58:00.000-07:00

Things are certainly heating up for us here in Grand Lake land. As we prepare to perform our album, Blood Sea Dream in its entirety at Cafe Du Nord next Tuesday, we're going to warm up a bit. I'll be playing some songs all by myself on Friday afternoon on KRSO 1350AM (that's right, AM)...they have this show called 'The Drive'. Check it out here at 5:oopm.

This morning we woke up to a sparkling review of the record by writer David Downs in the East Bay Express. Grab that here, and read all about the new genre we've created: 'Fuckwave'. Its really the genre to end all genres. Literally. The origins of fuckwave are traceable to the New Sincerity movement- as specifically applied by the poet Joseph Massey. Read up comrades!

We'll leave you with this track from the record:

Don't forget to get tickets to the show!

Blood Sea Dream on VINYL!

2010-07-27T12:12:00.000-07:00

Hey everybody -

we are pleased-as-pie to announce the release of our record Blood Sea Dream on 180 gram vinyl - August 10, 2010 on Hippies Are Dead Records.

to celebrate - Terrorbird Media and Hippes Are Dead are co-presenting this awesome show, which Grand Lake/HADR have curated:

Tuesday, August 24 at Cafe Du Nord, San Francisco
GRAND LAKE
ITS FOR FREE GRACE (TED NESSETH OF HEAVENLY STATES)
SEAN SMITH & THE PRESENT MOMENT

DJ sets by James & Evander

Ted from Heavenly States will be playing NEW songs - which you perhaps have not heard. Sean will be blowing your mind completely. With his guitar. J&E will be keeping things moving between sets. F-yes.

Doors are at 8pm - show is at 9pm. $10. 21+
Nathaniel Russell designed the below poster:

Click HERE to RSVP on thee olde Facebook.

Spark Video part II

2010-07-13T15:24:00.000-07:00

Yes, yes, yes - we posted a version of this video before, and promptly took it down a week later. Some wondered to themselves 'why'? I'll tell you - its because we forgot to add the key ingredient - a kitten named Skooter. And more ducks. And a dog named Sophie. And other things.

So - we are pleased to present the NEW video for 'Spark' - from our album Blood Sea Dream (out now on Hippies Are Dead).

The SF Weekly posted the mp3 of Spark for FREE download, with a tidy track review here. Get it while its hot.

Hope to see you at the show on Friday - if you need more convincing to get out and go, check out this band The Lambs - they are also playing, and I really think they're quite good. They have free songs to download here.

Mission Creek - This one time at bandcamp...

2010-07-05T12:03:00.001-07:00

We've got two shows coming up in the Bay Area this month, both part of the Mission Creek Music Festival.

Sunday, July 11 finds us at Oasis in Oakland with like, a BILLION bands from Oakland including former Grand Lake drummer Ryan Parks (as B. Hamilton). The marathon show starts at high noon, but expect Grand Lake to play around 10pm.

Friday, July 16 we'll be playing the gayest show ever (don't freak out, we mean that in a good way, as half our band is gay) at the Eagle Tavern with the Lambs and Parenthetical Girls. All the info is at MCMFs site.

We've updated grandlaketheband.com with a new essay on 'Blood Sea Dream' by former KCPR music director Graham Culbertson, as well as a list of record shops that carry the album (this is being updated all the time). You'll also find links to buy the digital version (if you haven't already, please pick it up!) and a link to our completely updated bandcamp site - which now reflects our ENTIRE discography, some of which is FREE.

&amp;amp;lt;a href="http://grandlake.bandcamp.com/album/blood-sea-dream"&amp;amp;gt;It Takes A Horse To Light A House by Grand Lake&amp;amp;lt;/a&amp;amp;gt;

Check it!

More live dates to come, as well as an announcement about the long-awaited vinyl release of Blood Sea Dream. Stay tuned!

oxox

Pavement

2010-06-28T12:05:00.000-07:00

John and I were lucky enough to get to see Pavement play at the Greek last Friday - it was awesome.
This was one of my favorite moments (video not mine) :

That was rad - this might be more rad - from Reading in the early 90's:

That's it for now - we've been bad at blogging lately - but we'll be back in the saddle in July.

xoxo

Spark Video - Tour Dates

2010-05-26T11:01:00.000-07:00

We shot this video in San Francisco and Oakland, with Ryan Pierce, who is the best.

Our record is here in CD form! We will now drive around a bit and try and sell them to you. Here's where its all going down:

5/26 - The Fillmore w/ Ok Go, San Francisco, CA
5/28 - The Hawthorne Theater w/ Ok Go, Portland, OR
6/2 - Bottom Of The Hill w/ First Aid Kit, San Francisco, CA
6/4 - Crepe Place w/ Citay, Santa Cruz, CA
6/5 - Sophia's w/ Man/Miracle, Davis, CA
6/11 - Pehrspace w/ Ghost Porn, Los Angeles, CA
6/13 - Steynberg w/ Sparrow's Gate, San Luis Obispo, CA

GRAND LAKE AT THE FILLMORE!!!

2010-04-20T16:28:00.000-07:00

We are exceedingly happy to announce that we will be playing the FILLMORE on May 26, opening for Ok Go. In addition we'll be traveling up to Portland just after to play with them at the Hawthorne Theater. Needless to say,

WE
ARE
EXCITED.

Tickets!
Fillmore
Hawthorne

Both shows are ALL AGES and cheaper in advance, so buy a ticket now!

Blood Sea Dream

2010-04-14T22:45:00.000-07:00

Ladies and Gentlemen, Boys and Girls ~

Grand Lake is more than pleased to announce the pending birth of our first full length record, BLOOD SEA DREAM.

The record, which we've been working on since summer 2009, is being released on CD, LP, and MP3 by the kindly and good folks at Hippies Are Dead. You may be acquainted with HAD already as a fine music blog, which is great, but now, you should know, they have become a music blog AND a record label. This is awesome because

a: they are very nice
b: they are putting out our record.

So - here are things you should know:

1. Blood Sea Dream is streaming in its entirety at our new site which is located at

grandlaketheband.com

To stream the album, click 'Play' on the top of the page.

2. Hippies Are Dead Records are giving away a FREE download of 'Louise (I Live In A Fantasy) via their site. Click here for that.

3. We have been hard at work for the last little while making videos and such. Below is our newest video, for the above mentioned track. Watch it! For more, visit our BRAND NEW YouTube channel.

4. You might also consider watching this video, where in which Caleb interviews Caleb about the new record:

5. Our MySpace page has also gotten a bit of a makeover. You should scope it, because it looks pretty.

Ok - that seems like enough, right? Blood Sea Dream is due out at the end of May - we'll of course post an update as soon as we have more details. Until then, we hope you'll catch our next set, which is at the RICKSHAW STOP in SAN FRANCISCO on APRIL 29. We'll be opening the show - so don't be late - supporting two very awesome bands - Casper & The Cookies (members of OF MONTREAL, we hear) and Aquaserge (members of STEREOLAB, we are told). Tickets are available here.

We love you, and thank you for continuing to support Grand Lake -
kissies!

Shows

2010-03-24T13:51:00.001-07:00

BACK TO BACK WAREHOUSE MADNESS

To clarify:

April 1 : Victory Warehouse, 7470 San Pablo Ave, Oakland, w/ Turbo Fruits and more

April 2: Ghost Town Gallery, 2519 San Pablo Ave, Oakland, w/ Greg Ashley, Blank Tapes, Giant Cloud, Rad Cloud, White Cloud, and others

Lull

2010-03-03T12:51:00.000-08:00

We've been keeping our heads down as of late, taking a teeny break from shows to finish up album-related things, like art, and videos. We've completed shooting a couple of little spots, as well as an actual music video - there are some pics below!

More details on the album release to come later this month.
Best,
Caleb

Shows, Pics, Fixies

2010-02-18T22:38:00.000-08:00

Grand Lake - Why Do You Lie To Me? from Army of Middle on Vimeo.

Many thanks to all of you (and there were so many!) who came out to our last couple of shows in San Luis Obispo and San Francisco! Opening for Thao and the Thermals was amazing (doubly amazing to get to play with Thao a bit during her set) and opening for Alec was a treat - made even better by how many of our friends were there with us - awesome.

Hippies Are Dead posted some photos of the SF show - check that out here.
Update: Video above from San Luis Obispo w/ Thao and the Thermals.

Meanwhile, a song from our first EP, Nevermint, landed in a documentary about riding fixed-gear bikes in Japan. Thanks to 500 Records for that, and check out the clip below.

JUNKUN Part 1 of 2 from GOOD.is on Vimeo.

We just added a show in Santa Cruz, at the UC on Friday, February 26. MySpace has the details. Hope to see you there!

Shows this week!

2010-02-03T20:32:00.000-08:00

Hey friends!

We've got a couple of great shows coming up this week:

Feb 10, Downtown Brew, San Luis Obispo w/ Thao and the Get Down Stay Down, and The Thermals
(tickets available at Boo Boo Records in SLO - buy some vinyl while you're at it, ok?)

Feb 12, Cafe Du Nord, San Francisco w/ Alec Ounsworth (of Clap Your Hands Say Yeah)
(tickets and such are here)

Grand Lake - Riderless Horse (KZSC) from Army of Middle on Vimeo.

Video, shows, etc

2010-01-30T10:41:00.000-08:00

Busy times, as usual, for Grand Lake - last week we finished tracking our new album (release details TBA), and played shows with Maus Haus and Battlehooch in Santa Cruz, and the Donkeys in San Luis Obispo.

Videos from the Santa Cruz show are below, as well as a couple clips from a radio thing we did on KZSC.

This week we're playing at Thee Parkside as part of SF IndieFest's Winterfest 2010. Tickets are available here.

We're also completely happy to announce that we'll be opening for Thao and the Get Down Stay Down, and the Thermals, one night only in San Luis Obispo on February 10. Tickets are available at Boo Boo Records in SLO.

Grand Lake - It Takes a Horse to Light a House from Army of Middle on Vimeo.

Grand Lake - Why Do You Lie To Me? from Army of Middle on Vimeo.

Grand Lake - Riderless Horse from Army of Middle on Vimeo.

Album Update, Press

2010-01-13T12:59:00.000-08:00

The New Year is off to a great start for Grand Lake - the first week of 2010 saw us playing our first show at Cafe Du Nord (read all about it at the SF Weekly), Jameson played solo shows in Seattle, Portland and Berkeley, and we were nominated as the 'best emerging band' on the SF Deli (vote for us here!).

We also spent the last couple of days tracking at Studio Paradiso in San Francisco (see above photo). We've been working on our debut full-length album for about 6 months now, and we should be finished tracking and mixing by the end of the month. Release details are still TBA, but we're shooting for a Spring release date.

We've got some shows coming up, and we'd love to see you at one:
1/24 - The Crepe Place, Santa Cruz w/ Maus Haus and Battlehooch
1/28 - The Crossroads, San Luis Obispo w/ The Donkeys
2/2 - SF Winterfest @ Thee Parkside w/ Two Sheds (tickets here)

Into the New Year

2009-12-28T22:21:00.000-08:00

Thanks to everyone who came out to our CHRISTMAS MIRACLE show at the Uptown the other night. I was a huge success, and very fun, mostly because people came and had a good time - so thanks, thanks, thanks! If you didn't get to go, or had such a good time you'd like to relive the experience, Hippies Are Dead posted some pictures here. Also, below are a couple of great videos made by our most excellent amigo, Mr. Ryan Pierce.

Man/Miracle - Hot Sprawl from Army of Middle on Vimeo.

Grand Lake - Concrete Blonde on Blonde from Army of Middle on Vimeo.

In other news, the Trailer for 'Townies' came out today - Townies is a new web-series filmed in our hometown of San Luis Obispo. John and I are in an episode (which will be out in January), and the series looks really great. The trailer is below, but also check out townies.tv for more stuff about that. We appear for a second in this well put together trailer - we are wearing furry things on our heads:

Our amazing guitarist, Mr. Jameson Swanagon has a bunch of things coming up in the first week of the new decade. He'll be performing solo concerts in Seattle, Portland, and Berkeley, all in the first week. In Berkeley he'll be performing as part of the renowned Trinity Chamber Concert Series. Be sure to get all the details here.

Grand Lake will be performing at Cafe Du Nord with our good friends Rad Cloud on January 6. Tickets are available here.

A CHRISTMAS MIRACLE?

2009-12-15T23:47:00.000-08:00

In preparation for our upcoming show at the Uptown this Friday, John decided he needed to make a confetti blower:

See you at the show!

Photos, Milk, Confetti, Seance, Press

2009-12-14T00:03:00.001-08:00

Photos by Alex Cruz
Check out her amazing blog, KULTURKAMPH
I don't wanna ruin the above story with words.

I'm happy to announce that Hippies Are Dead posted this about our new EP. I'm also happy to announce this lovely post from Clatter, a delightful blog I first discovered via Music Induced Euphoria.

New EP, Press

2009-12-10T11:32:00.000-08:00

See that thing in John's hand? That's right - its our new EP! And now that we officially have them, you should probably buy one. All you have to do is spend $6.00, go to our MySpace page, and click a few buttons.

Or, you could mail us $6.00 and a note that says "this is for one of your EPs" and we would in turn mail you one. Our address is 5412 Claremont Avenue # 4, Oakland, CA 94618.

The other thing you could do is wait until the next Grand Lake show, which is December 18 at the Uptown. We'll be selling them there. But why wait? If you order the EP now, you'll have it in a couple days, and you can listen to it, learn all of the songs, and be the kid at the show that knows more than the other kids who didn't get the EP. You can walk by the merch table and be like "god, I already have that... when are they gonna release an album..." you see? There are distinct advantages to ordering this now.

Hippies Are Dead agrees with this. Please read this post if you need further convincing.

A Christmas Miracle, Press

2009-12-01T12:06:00.000-08:00

Grand Lake is pleased to present the ultimate in free XMAS shows in Oakland, CA -

'A CHRISTMAS MIRACLE'
starring:
PANCHO SAN
SPARROW'S GATE
MAN/MIRACLE
and of course, GRAND LAKE

Also in attendance will be super-groovy xmass deejayz and the bleeding and wounded spirit of Christmas, St. Nick. Bring your best winter coat - it will be snowing.

Our latest video and content from our new EP has started making the rounds - check out this post on the Bay Bridged, and also this one on Music Induced Euphoria (a highly recommended blog for Strokes fans).

The tragic results of a recent interview with John and myself can be read here.

Also, this blog posted a review of Nevermint. Better late than never!

New Video, New EP, Fall

2009-11-24T15:22:00.000-08:00

Heyo, and happy T-Day.

John and I moved recently, which is part of why our blogging has been a little slow. Here is a picture of what Fall looks like in our new neighborhood:

We have a couple of things to announce: 1). We have a new EP on the way, and it is available for pre-order now! $6.oo, includes free shipping, and you get two new Grand Lake tracks, plus two cover tracks - the Silver Jews' 'Slow Education' and Port O'Brien's 'Pigeonhold'. Three songs are streaming on MySpace, and the video for the Silver Jews cover is below:

Grand Lake - Slow Education (Silver Jews Cover) from Army of Middle on Vimeo.

Actually, the video is number 2). Our good friend Ryan Pierce made this little nugget, which was shot while we tracked the song, although I don't think this actually qualifies as a 'live' video, but it kind of is. In a way.

Hope you enjoy it! We are pretty big fans of the Silver Jews, and if you haven't ever heard them, we reccomend you pick up any of their albums on Drag City.

Couple of shows coming up in December, but more on that later.

Cheers!

News, Posters

2009-11-09T18:29:00.001-08:00

Alright, so its been a few since we've posted about anything, the reason being because John and I moved across town, and our internet access has been spotty. The update: Halloween at Ghost Town was great fun (more to come on that in a week or two), our show at Thee Parkside was great, and we've got two more shows this month coming up!

On Thursday, November 19 we're at the Hemlock with Silian Rail and Ash Reiter. The following Saturday we're playing late at Kaleidoscope in San Francisco - this one is all ages!

Hope to see you at one of these shows, more to come soon.

UPDATE:
The all ages show I mention above. The details are here. The poster is below.

Treasure Island Sunday, Wiretap Music, Halloween!

2009-10-19T21:16:00.000-07:00

John and I were lucky enough to see a bunch of amazing bands at Treasure Island on Sunday. Best of the bunch was definitely, without a doubt Grizzly Bear. Holy god, they were amazing. They sounded tops, and during their set the clouds parted, pouring dazzling sunlight on thousands of shivering kids. There were pelicans too.

Thao and The Get Down Stay Down were also awesome, and Willis (drums) was being generous with his whisky. Amen. I missed Vetiver's set, which I was bummed about. Caught the Walkmen (disappointment - sorry), missed Yo La Tango (tears), saw Beirut (I liked them more than I thought - plus Zach Condon is kinda hot).

Of course, the highlight of the night was the Flaming Lips. Fucking awesome. Indescribable. A good friend got me a VIP pass, and so I was back there for most of the day abusing the privilege of free beer. At some point, a lot of the backstage security people decided that I was a member of the Decemberists (I don't know which one - maybe that Colin Meloy guy) and so they let us hang out stage left for the Lips' set. We then tried to convince other drunk people that I was in the Decemberists. That didn't work as well, as most people didn't seem to be as drunk as we were. Anyway, it was completely great, and here are some blurry photos:

Steven Drozd, Wayne in the bubble, Michael Ivins

Dancing furry people and smoke:

Confetti!!!

Speaking of the Flaming Lips, Grand Lake has been featured on Wiretap Music for the past month, and the video they made shows a clip of me comparing the Flaming Lips to a really fantastic erection. We are truly huge fans. Check out the video here.

In other news, we're playing a seriously rad show the night before Halloween. Here is the poster:

If you'd like to go, you can save two dollars by clicking here.

Press?

2009-10-04T16:41:00.000-07:00

Port O'Brien's cover of Beyonce's 'Halo' has been making the rounds on zee blogs lately. Since John and I made the assist on this one, I figured I'd post some links:

We.Like.It.Indie
RYMix.org
Oddly Amazing

(photo from RYMix)

We're playing a set at Kimo's in SF on Wednesday.
See you there?

Falkor's Revenge, Port O'Brien, Videos, Photos

2009-09-27T21:55:00.000-07:00

As previously mentioned, John and I did some playing with Van and Graham of Port O'Brien over the summer for the Bay Bridged feature 'New, Improved, Live'. The sessions came out this past week, resulting in some awesome videos and mp3's. Check out the below video, and for the rest of the session go here.

New, Improved, LIVE: Port O'Brien - "Leap Year" from The Bay Bridged on Vimeo.

Last week we ventured down to San Luis Obispo to guest on an episode of a new web series that's being filmed called 'Townies'. In our episode the show's star gets invited to an 'underground' show, and we were asked to play the band at the show - Falkor's Revenge - a ridiculously over-the-top noise band (kind of). Jameson couldn't make it down with us, so our friend Graham from KCPR stepped in to play Falkor no. 3. We don't wanna spoil too much (the series won't be online until January), but here's a video we took of our rehearsal:

While we were rehearsing our scenes this older guy was kind of milling around, convinced that Falkor's Revenge was a real band. And he LOVED it. He hung around for a while, trying to chat us up, and finally after we finished filming he found us behind the building and told us all about his band 'Baked Ham', how to expand our consciousness, the meaning of chaos and etc. Here is a video of him:

After we said good night to our No. 1 fan, we still had work to do. Falkor's Revenge was needed to film a scene outside of the venue, as the star approached. This was complicated and involved many extras, some with bikes, and the scene had to be shot over and over. The task was made more difficult due to that fact that we were in San Luis Obispo - a town that I love dearly but that is unfortunately full to the brim with the type of people that like to drive by groups of people and scream things from their cars. The shoot was interrupted about three times by this kind of thing, which probably added an extra hour or so. Here are some things people yelled:

"How can I get in this porno?"

"Fags!" (this person also threw a water balloon in the general direction of the crew)

"Butthole!" (really)

The whole experience was really fun, really funny, and we had a great time. Many thanks to Carl and his crew for letting us be Falkor's Revenge. Amazing.

Unfortunately we had to get back to Oakland the next day. Work. Sad face. On the way up the 101 we saw the following car, which pretty much iced the cake of a great trip south:

People are amazing.

Press, Photos

2009-09-22T23:19:00.000-07:00

Our hometown college newspaper posted this rather thorough review of 'Nevermint' ... and they even discussed my favorite novelist, Paul Auster, in the same article. Amazing. Check that out here.

Also, here's a photo recap of some highlights from the last week or so:

News, Posters, Crazy People, Art

2009-09-08T13:16:00.001-07:00

We're playing a set in a couple of weeks at the Hemlock tavern in San Francisco - with other amazing bands, White Cloud and Rad Cloud. The show is $6.00 and starts at 9:00pm on Friday September 18.

Our west coast shows were amazing, in large part because of Guidance Counselor, an amazing band from Portland Oregon. Here is a dark video I took of part of an amazing performance in Portland:

When we finished our little West Coast Jaunt, I of course went back to work. The first day back, this man did a little dance:

In the middle of my work week, John and I ventured out the to the Art-Murmur in Oakland. We were late, and only one gallery was open. Here's what we saw:

News, Press

2009-08-23T16:42:00.001-07:00

Just got back into town after a couple of so-cal shows... San Diego was surprisingly great, and LA was predictably.... LA.

Many thanks to those of you who were able to come out to see Guidance Counselor and ourselves at the Uptown last night. Guidance Counselor has a smoke machine, and I'm a little jealous.

Unfortunately my phone was dead throughout our little trip, so I didn't get any pics or videos - sucks! We're headed up to Portland this week so hopefully I'll remember my charger this time and get some stuff.

The Bay Bridged included in this week's weekend mix, which was rather nice of them. Check it here.

Press, News

2009-08-20T11:51:00.000-07:00

We're headed to LA tonight to play with our friends Dirt Dress at the Silver Factory Studios.
Tomorrow night finds us in San Diego w/ Manuok at the Tin Can Ale House, and Saturday we're home in Oakland at the Uptown with Guidance Counselor and the Super Cutes.

Busy weekend!

The Bay Bridged has it all here.

The Nightgowns

2009-08-17T23:10:00.001-07:00

This is the Nightgowns - Grand Lake's new favorite band. They hail from Tacoma, Washington, and we happened to be sharing a bill at Old Ironsides in Sacramento the other night. Their set was totally perfect and floored the three of us. Great songs, interesting things happening sonically, and the delightful antics of lead singer Trevor Dickson both on and off stage combined to make the Nightgowns the best band ever. According to us.

Check out their MySpace.
Get their album 'Sing Something' on iTunes. Listen to them on Last.fm.

God we love them.
.
Watch this:

Amazing.

In other news, we're in LA this Thursday, San Diego this Friday, and Oakland this Saturday, with some other awesome bands. MySpace has the deets.

RECOVERED!

2009-08-14T11:40:00.000-07:00

I was out of Oakland for about two weeks. The night that I got back and moved into my new place on Filbert and 27th, the Oakland PD gave me a ring and informed me that they had indeed found our stolen van, Lucy. After two and a half months. Unreal.

She was abandoned apparently by whoever had stolen her, around E. 22nd and 17th - not all that far from where I've been living since last October. Miraculously, she still runs, and only suffered minor damage - the rear-view mirror has fallen off, the speakers are gone (but the stereo is still intact), some light fixtures are busted and the power steering fluid has been drained (strange, right?). All in all though, she's pretty much her old self. I can hardly believe it.

After a coordinated rescue effort (I had to ring Dylan from Man/Miracle to help me get it, and Jameson had to come from the City cause he had the keys) we found evidence that suggests that someone had been living inside of Lucy for the last little while. Of course everything that I had left inside was gone, replaced by a curious set of tools, a pair of women's high-heeled boots, an empty suitcase, a busted lock-box from an armored car company, some suspicious looking rags, and some old spoons. Yikes.

Lucy isn't quite ready for a long trip at the moment, so we are still not playing the Washington dates that we canceled earlier - but she should be up and running in the near future. We are indescribably happy that she's back.

In other news, we scored a nice shout out about our tour and free live single from Hippies Are Dead. Check that out here.

Our little end-of-summer jaunt begins this Saturday in Sacramento, when we play Old Ironsides with Buildings Breeding. If you haven't already, make sure you download our free live tracks by visiting us on bandcamp.

Washington will have to wait

2009-08-08T13:59:00.000-07:00

Hey there -

We are again very not pleased to announce that we have had to cancel two of our tour dates, due to lack of Van. As you may recall, our van was stolen a little while back, leaving us without adequate means to transport ourselves long distances.

We are still playing all of our shows in California, and we're even making it up to Portland - but Seattle and Olympia are just a little too far without Lucy.

Sorry about that, and thanks for understanding.

The dates we are cancelling:

8/25 - The Comet Tavern, Seattle, WA
8/26 - Brian's House, Olympia, WA

Sorry Washington, State of my birth - we'll do it again some other time.

Tour! Free Single!

2009-08-05T14:02:00.000-07:00

Heyo!

We are happy to announce our end of summer West Coast Tour!

In celebration of this we are offering anyone who wants it a FREE DOWNLOAD of TWO NEW TRACKS via bandcamp.com.

Hit up the above widget or just head here to download the tracks.

Our tour has stops in Sacramento, Los Angeles, San Diego, Oakland, Seattle, Olympia, and Portland. We're totally excited and can't wait to see you at one of these shows!

Cheers!

News, Video

2009-08-03T14:48:00.000-07:00

Helloooooo!

I took a little time off from blog town, which my next post will describe a little more closely. But now we're back, with the latest in Grand Lake news.

A week or so ago we played a couple shows, and capped off a busy week with an epic recording session - 8pm to 5am with our friend Jeff. We're working on our debut full-length, tentatively titled "Boontling". The idea with this one is live and raw, which is probably a complete 180 from our last two studio releases. We'll keep you posted. We hope to have some new tracks for you by the end of the year.

While I was away, the Deli SF posted this little review of the below mentioned show. With the following video of a newer song "Louise":

Coming up we're doing a bit of travelling - I'll post the official August tour schedule sometime soon. Cheers!

Rad Cloud, White Cloud

2009-07-24T11:39:00.000-07:00

Jameson has been playing with an awesome band in the city called Rad Cloud, a rock'n'roll duo consisting of California poet Bob Thayer, and the enchanting Sarah Ashton.

Rad Cloud is releasing their first album on Saturday at the Makeout Room - our friends Dirt Dress open the show.

Check out this video, and for more this post on Hippies Are Dead.

Rad Cloud Invitation from Bob Thayer on

Also, we are not happy to announce that we will not be playing at the Makeout Room on August 1st. In our stead, our good friends White Cloud will be playing. White Cloud is super awesome, check them out here, and please go to the show!

Update: Fresh White Cloud Track here: "Trance State"

Like what you're reading? Follow us on Twitter.

Crazy People, Hecklers

2009-07-23T10:08:00.000-07:00

We played a set at the Stork Club last night (always a great idea right?), and it was pretty alright, except that John got bounced of course because he's only old enough to drink in every other industrialized nation on the planet. (almost).

Also we got severely heckled during the entire set by Ryan Parks' friends, who on this particular evening were wearing face paint that made them look less metal and more like Juggolos.

Must feel awesome to be them.

Anyway, before that we were at Boontling trying to break Jameson's amp so that we could fix it.

Summertime Jamzzz

2009-07-20T12:46:00.000-07:00

As I mentioned below, on Friday John and I played some music with Port O'Brien. Most of the band was out of town (Cambria is up in Alaska working, Ryan is on the east coast [?] ), and so John and myself were enlisted to help make some noise for a Bay Bridged feature called 'New Improved, Live'. Also present were new Port O'Brien multi-instrumentalist Graham Lebron, and Patrick Abernathy (formerly of Rogue Wave, Beulah, currently proud papa and leader of Pancho San).

POB has a new album coming in the fall, and so we played some new songs off of that, as well as an amazing Beyonce cover. Track titles include "Oslo Campfire" "Leap Year" and "Love Me Through". Good stuff to be sure, so be on the lookout! I don't know when the official videos will be released from the session, but until then, I've posted the below gems to hold you over.

Posters, News, Dopplegangers

2009-07-19T12:35:00.000-07:00

We've had a pretty busy week, as usual it seems. Played shows in Oakland, Davis, and San Francisco... John and I went to San Luis Obispo for a few days, and then filled in as rhythm section for Port O'Brien for a fun recording session in Oakland (more on that next post).

This week finds us busy too, with a set on Wednesday night at the Stork Club in Oakland and a recording session (new material sooooon!) on Friday.

Worth mentioning:
After our set at the Knockout Wednesday, we of course went next door to Cancun for burritos and tortas. While we were eating John was like "oh man, is that Ryan Parks?" and I looked over, and it wasn't Ryan Parks, but it was clearly his doppleganger.

Crazy People

2009-07-13T15:44:00.000-07:00

The above video was taken in front of Rooz at the Oakland Mission Creek show. A group of us, I think it was Ryan, Jameson, Danae, and John, were standing in front, talking, when this dude just kneels down in front of someone's van and starts peeing. Concerned, Ryan was like "Dude, watch your knee", because it seemed obvious to us that he was about to pee on himself. Then the guy starts rambling about how his deah-head friends taught him this trick, blah blah blah... the funny part though, was that the guy peed for like 10 minutes. I mean, a REALLLY long time. It was amazing.

News, Photos

2009-07-12T14:30:00.000-07:00

Figure a: Setlist, Strange Flyer

Last week was pretty good. I tracked some bass on ex-Grand Lake drummer Ryan Parks' in-progress album. We played a fun set at Metamusic in Santa Cruz, and had a great time playing OMFG Oakland last night (although I didn't get any photos or video... I'll be sure to throw up a link to some if anyone else posts). During our first two shows as a three piece, we discovered that 1. Being a trio is very different, 2. being a trio is very challenging, and 3. being a trio is fucking rad. We're excited. We will be playing a last minute show at the Knockout on Wednesday, which apparently is the official SF kick-off of the Mission Creek Music Festival. This rules because we like playing alot, and we especially like playing at the Knockout. See ya there?

Figure b: B. Hamilton, PhD. tickles the Wurly:

Press

2009-07-08T11:46:00.000-07:00

The completely awesome Australian mp3 blog Oceans Never Listen posted a nice review of Nevermint today. I'm an avid reader of this particular blog - great name, great content. Check out the review here.

The Bay Bridged and Music Induced Euphoria both posted blurbs about our upcoming shows and lineup change.

Last night I had dinner at Lanesplitter with a long-lost friend, and it was really great to see him. And that's it for today I think. Hope to see you at one of our upcoming shows!

News, Press

2009-07-07T09:46:00.000-07:00

We'd like to announce a line-up change. Going forward, Grand Lake will perform and record as a trio consisting of Jameson Swanagon, John Pomeroy, and myself.

Although Erika will be missed on the keys and vocals, we are excited about what she will do next. Have you ever heard her songs? If not, you should. Give 'em a listen here.

Also, Speed Of Dark gave Sandusky Sunset a mention. All American?

Shows

2009-07-05T12:19:00.000-07:00

Heyo!

We're playing a couple sets this coming weekend, and a couple more later this month:

Friday, July 10 we're in Santa Cruz at Metamusic
Saturday, July 11 we're playing Rooz Cafe as part of the Mission Creek Music Festival - see post below for details.

Thursday, July 16 we make our Davis debut at Sophia's Thai Kitchen for the KDVS Cool As Folk Concert Series.
Wednesday, July 22 finds us back in Oakland at the Stork Club, with Seasick, and our good friends Dirt Dress who are traveling up from LA.

As always, check the MySpace page for more details, shows, and etc.

Hope to see you at one of these!

Press, Fanta

2009-07-03T12:26:00.001-07:00

We were happy to notice that our ep 'Nevermint' made a 'best of 2009 so far' list. Our pretty little studio debut scored us an honorable mention on Stranger Dance.

Now, here is a picture of some refreshing Fanta, the official beverage of Grand Lake:

Press, Mission Creek, Tapes

2009-07-01T13:23:00.001-07:00

There's a nice little live review of a set we played at the Starry Plough last month in this month's issue of Performer Mag. Pick one up for free wherever you find one (I usually see them at record stores or in studios), or view the digital version here. I am particularly proud of the photo, in which I'm sporting my 'Legalize Gay' tee.

The Mission Creek Music Festival is fast approaching, and this year the festival is coming to the East Bay. We're very happy to be headlining an all-day party/show at Roo's Cafe in Oakland (quite near the lake actually). The SF Guardian's Blog has the details.

Also, our first cassette single is available at 1-2-3-4 Go! Records in Oakland, at 4oth and Webster in Temescal. Get one there for only $5! Includes a digital download and button. Yes.

Work

2009-06-30T14:03:00.000-07:00

The other day at work, I noticed a rather crazy looking woman doing a rather crazy dance to some in-memorial MJ playing from an unseen jam box on the street. I took some video:

After her inspiring routine, this woman came in to sell some CD's, and after a little chatter, she told me her name is Filippa. She did a little Shakespeare for the entire store, then launched into a rousing version of the well-known American poem "Desiderata". Enjoy:

This kind of thing happens pretty frequently to anyone who works on this particular stretch of Telegraph Ave. in Berkeley... But Filippa's routine certainly makes it into my top 5 crazy people moments.

In other news, we've been working pretty hard on new music - particularly on new sounds via sampler and drum machine. Here's a clip of Jameson and John figuring it out at Boontling:

Catch us next July 11 at OMFG Oakland! A little part of the Mission Creek Music Festival in the East Bay. Deets on our MySpace of course.

News, Freestylin' in Sac, Dogs in SLO, shows...

2009-06-23T20:56:00.000-07:00

This post is a recap of a super fun weekend in Sacramento, Oakland, and SLO... Click on the pictures if you want them to be bigger.

On Saturday, we played a set at Old Ironsides in Sacramento - it was pretty fun. We got there and sounchecked. The sound guy was super nice.

Then John got bounced and had to wait outside all night.

Because John had to wait outside all night, we waited outside all night too. That's when we met Christine. She was a spirited woman, with undeniable talent. After telling us a story about doing mushrooms and shape-shifting, she informed us that she occasionally dabbled in free-styling. Then she performed for us.

After our successful evening debut in Sacramento, we bid our new friends farewell, and went back to the bay. I went to work.

Then we drove down to San Luis Obispo, for another show. Jameson and Danae drove me down with them. We were all squished into the front of Jamie's small pickup truck. It was alright. We stayed at Jameson's parents house - they have the most comfortable couch in the world, which is called 'The Cloud'. Amazing. They also have dogs. Here is a picture of one of them, his name is Tucker.

The next day we hung around San Luis - ate some stuff, went to the park.

Walking near the park we saw an interesting cactus

The park was nice. San Luis Obispo is the most relaxing place on earth.

Then we played a really fun show with Starfucker. They are amazing and a ton of our friends were there. Adam took a video of one of our newer songs. Here it is:

After the show we hung around Jameson's house a little more, then John and his friends went to play some Mario Cart at Ryan's house. I went with them, and got to meet this delightful princess of a dog. Her name is Sophie:

The next day, I hung out with my Mom a little in Cayucos. She has a very cute dog named Felony.

After that, Jameson's brother Cameron had a barbecue for his birthday. Everyone had to wear hats.

Our new single, 'Sandusky Sunset', was released digitally today (although its much better on cassette, and when you buy a cassette, you also get a free digital download). If you can't make a Grand Lake show, or are for some reason not into buying a cassette, you can download the digital single at any of the usual online retailers.

Amazon

eMusic

Posters

2009-06-23T14:06:00.000-07:00

Grand Lake is 'headlining' the Oakland portion of the Mission Creek Music Festival, sponsored by Wiretap and Oaklandish. Yeeeah!

Press, confessions

2009-06-21T13:38:00.000-07:00

Check out this post from 'The Devil Has The Best Tuna', a tasty little mp3 blog. I'm definitely into the imagery of cassettes as zombies.

We played in Sacramento last night and it was great. I broke a bass string (this happens more than I'd like to admit), but we tore through the last few numbers and it went over well. I felt like kind of an asshole, because the crowd asked for an encore, and we didn't give them one. Shit happens.

We're playing San Luis Obispo on Monday with Starfucker (excitement!), and I will make a proper post with photos and vids of our busy weekend prolly on Tuesday.

Oh, and, Happy Father's Day! Here's a youtube shout out to my Pop:

News, Chinese Food

2009-06-17T11:41:00.000-07:00

Yesterday Jameson did some recording of our saxophonist friend Jacob Rex Zimmerman (Atka Quartet). After they wrapped up their session over at Mills, the three of us went out for some food in Berkeley. I got the fortune pictured below, which I think may be the oddest fortune I've ever gotten. In case you can't read it, it says "Music melts all the separate parts of our bodies together." Sexxxxxxy.

Our cassette single is done, and available, but at the moment, only at live shows. The cassettes (pictured below) come in super amazing sleeves designed by our friend Celeste Zoellezi, with matching buttons, and a download of the two songs. All that for $5. Come pick one up at any of our next shows. MySpace has all the dates.

Still No Lucy, Tonight's Show

2009-06-11T09:31:00.000-07:00

No word on our missing van yet - keep them fingers crossed! I'm mostly hoping that crack smoke doesn't leave a residual odor - does it? I actually had a dream last night (this morning I guess) that I was with John and Jameson, eating burritos, IN THE VAN. When I woke up I half expected the van to be back in our possession, but, alas.

Tonight we're playing a set at the El Rio in the city. Its quite exciting, because our cassette single is all finished, and they will be available this evening. The show is being put on by the deli, and our friends at the Bay Bridged posted a lovely little blip about it here.

News, Press, Podcasts

2009-06-09T12:00:00.000-07:00

Its been quite a week for us in Grand Lake land... as you may have read, our beloved van, Lucy, was stolen on Sunday. Hippies Are Dead posted a nice 'be on the lookout' type piece about that. So far, Lucy hasn't turned up again, but we remain optimistic.

The Bay Bridged posted their latest podcast today, which features Grand Lake. Give it a listen here. Topics covered in the interview include the origins of Grand Lake, our affinity for Cassingles, drinking, quitting jobs, and gut-feelings. Niiiiiice.

West Coast Performer Mag's Brian Echon wrote a tidy little feature about Grand Lake in this month's issue entitled "Grand Lake: When Pain Is The Muse" - oh the drama! Check that out here.

Stranger Dance included "Sandusky Sunset" in an mp3 round-up type post. Check it here.

Thursday night we play our first ever headlining show at the El Rio. We will also be selling our new cassette single Sandusky Sunset for the first time. They are all done - and they are beautiful. They are also only $5, which includes a digital download and a button. Hellz yeah.

THEFT

2009-06-07T17:30:00.000-07:00

This is the suckiest post I hope I ever have to write:

Today while I was at work, our beloved van, Lucy, was stolen from a spot on Regent and Parker in Berkeley. In the back of the van was Erika's yamaha stage piano. So this double-sucks.

If you see some punk kids riding around in a 1989 Baby-Blue Toyota Van with an Amoeba Music sticker on the back, please let us know when and where by emailing us.

The police said that there is an OK chance that Lucy will be found sometime in the next couple of weeks. Meanwhile, we will be dedicating our set on Thursday to her. We will wear black, funeral style.

In case you spot a van that matches ours, here is the license plate number: 2PSC424

Press

2009-06-03T15:11:00.000-07:00

The wonderful mp3 blog Music Induced Euphoria posted a little blurb about the pending release of Sandusky Sunset - read it here.

Today I'm busy folding and gluing cassette sleeves. This is what they look like:

They are cuter than me.

Press

2009-06-01T08:25:00.000-07:00

The b-side to our new single has been featured on the Noise Pop New Music Podcast. Click here for that.

Press, News

2009-05-29T21:17:00.000-07:00

Hippies Are Dead posted a nice little ditty about us the other day. The post includes a live track, dug up from our last Santa Cruz performance. Read it here.

Our friend Alex, an incredibly beautiful resident of the East Bay, took some photos of us and our amigas the other night at the Knockout. Check it here.

Newzzz

2009-05-27T22:32:00.000-07:00

We posted the b-side of our new single on the MySpace today - its a tune we've been playing live for a couple months called "Why Do You Lie To Me".

The single drops officially on June 23. We'll have them for sale before then, at the El Rio in San Francisco on June 11. The cassettes are rather pretty, with nicely screened sleeves, a button, and a free digital download of course.

Earlier this evening we had our first full rehearsal with our new drummer John. It was awesome! He's pretty great - a very different drummer than Ryan, with a lighter touch, and we had a good time digging into some new material. You've got plenty of chances to see John at any number of upcoming shows through September. MySpace also has those dates, which we posted as well. Post, post, post. That's all we live for? gah.

News

2009-05-21T22:43:00.001-07:00

So we're about to change things up a little in the world of Grand Lake.

A large factor in the formation of our band was our amazing drummer, Mr. Ryan Christopher Parks, AKA B. Hamiliton. Ryan is an excellent musician, and like many excellent musicians, has a lot of projects going on. Its been decided that for everybody's long-term happiness, Ryan will be leaving Grand Lake this month. In fact, Ryan's last show (stop crying you babies) will be this upcoming Tuesday evening at the Knockout.

Come see Ryan's last show with Grand Lake - its the last time you'll ever get to see him scream at me in the middle of Sandusky Sunset (at least from behind the kit).

Ryan Parks - RIP bro. Grand Lake will miss you.

Replacing Mr. Parks on the drums will be difficult, however, our good friend Mr. John William Pomeroy will most certainly be up to the task. Here is a picture of him:

Isn't he lovely in his Amoeba Music shirt? We think so. John is an amazing musician who also fronts his own band called the Cerfs. Jameson and I have been Cerfs fans for years. Check out their MySpace here.

John's first show with Grand Lake will be at the Starry Plough in Berkeley on June 5th, with our very good friends Sister Grizzy. Hope to see you at that one too.

Our cassette is officially dropping on June 23rd, although I should expect you'll see it at our shows a bit before then.

Onwards and upwards!

Posters

2009-05-17T11:41:00.001-07:00

Video

2009-05-16T11:18:00.000-07:00

Last night we went to a film screening at ATA in San Francisco that our good friend Bob Thayer curated. The night featured a performance by Rad Cloud, poetry by Erik Noonan, and several short films.

Jameson's debut silent film "The Big Feet" premiered. I was totally blown away by many elements of it - the cinematography was beautiful, the story intriguing, the acting (particularly Danae Swanagon) was great, and the music was perfect.

Here it is (but really, you should full screen this, in a dark room, with headphones, or good sound).

Press, news

2009-05-11T14:10:00.000-07:00

Man its been a little hectic in our neck of the woods. We've been working on finishing our cassette single (all the little annoying details, the packaging, the internet stuffs, etc), working on new tunes, and booking shows and stuff. Sometimes all this stuff drives me a little crazy, and its so nice outside, and I just want to sit beneath a tree, with my feet in some kind of water, and read the new Roberto Bolano novel I just picked up at Moe's. Eh bien.

Today, Hippies Are Dead posted some videos of some new tunes, two of which will be on our cassette single (out in a few weeks I think). Read the post here. I posted my two faves from that show, Sandusky Sunset and Carapoforo, below.

See you at the ATA Friday, or at Pehrspace on Saturday (our first set in Los Angeles!).
'Sandusky Sunset'

'Carapoforo'

Dates

2009-05-11T10:45:00.001-07:00

May 16 2009

8:00P

Pehrspace w/ Dirt Dress

Los Angeles, California

May 26 2009

8:00P

Benefit show - super short set at the Knockout

San Francisco

Jun 5 2009

8:00P

Starry Plough w/ Sister Grizzly and Nobody Beats

Berkeley, California

Jun 11 2009

8:00P

El Rio w/ Beatbeat Whisper, The Heated

San Francisco, California

Jun 22 2009

8:00P

Steynberg Gallery w/ Starfucker

San Luis Obispo, California

Jul 11 2009

8:00P

Mission Creek Music Festival - ABCo Art Space w/ White Cloud

Oakland, California

Drunk

2009-05-09T23:11:00.000-07:00

I was a little tossed in this clip from last fall, while we were mixing 'She's A Hater' in the studio.

Press

2009-05-03T21:53:00.000-07:00

'Nevermint' got a great review from West Coast Performer Mag.

D-Tour

2009-05-02T01:09:00.000-07:00

Jameson and myself went out this evening to see an amazing documentary about our friend Pat and his band, Rogue Wave, called D-Tour. Of course we were going to like this movie even if it wasn't that great (we like most everything any of our friends do), but I don't think we were prepared for how great the film was.

Which is why I'm posting this blog - you gotta go see it! I think there are a couple more screenings of the film, which is part of the San Francisco Film Festival this year. Unfortunately for you, if you missed the May 1st screening, each showing of the film doesn't come complete with a Rogue Wave acoustic set, with special guest John Vanderslice (Damn that was awesome!).

Read all about the film here, or just watch the trailer below.

Rant

2009-05-01T13:41:00.000-07:00

I don't usually use this blog to rant about stuff, but what the hell - this rant has to do with one of our biggest influences - the Breeders.

I just read through the Pitchfork review of the new Breeders e.p. "Fate To Fatal". What absolute garbage. I can't stand it when punk-ass critics tell legendary songwriters how their songs should be written, or how they should sound. This guy, Paul Thompson, has the nerve to write the following about the track "Pinnacle Hollow":

"As it is, it's intoxicating, but I can't help but wonder what it'd sound like with a bridge."

Are you fucking joking Paul Thompson? Nope, he's not. And this isn't the first time this particular reviewer has been called out on being a complete ass (click here for that story).

In the same review Thompson complains about how one of the tracks sounds "lo-fi" and "straight off the four-track". Gee - I thought Pitchfork had a viagra sized boner for lo-fi sounds (read Wavves, Nodzzz, Crocodiles, Blank Dogs, Vivian Girls, etc.).

You can listen to Fate To Fatal, and hear for yourself what a bunch of utter shit this review is, on lala.

UPDATE: Ok. So here's a post by Rupture, who's remix of an Architecture In Helsinki got slammed by Paul Thompson on Pitchfork.

UPDATE NO. 2: On a tip from my good friend and co-worker Kyle, I checked out the Hunches MySpace blog, and read the most entertaining rebuttal of a bad review EVER. The review doesn't come from Pitchfork, or Paul Thompson, but the way the Hunches handle being slammed is amazing. Enjoy it HERE.

Press

2009-04-28T16:24:00.000-07:00

Stranger Dance
Music Induced Euphoria

2009-04-28T12:12:00.000-07:00

Wednesday night we're playing an early set at the Knockout in SF - our last Bay Area set until June. $5 gets you in - be there around 8pm to catch Grand Lake.

For the rest of April and May we'll be busy working on our next release, a cassette single that drops digitally in June, and will be available at shows and select record shops just before that. We're also working on new music videos, and short films, some of which we'll be showing at a screening on May 15 at the ATA in SF. See above poster for deets.

Press

2009-04-21T15:31:00.001-07:00

Largehearted Boy

Press

2009-04-21T15:27:00.000-07:00

KEXP

2009-04-20T21:28:00.001-07:00

East Bay Express

News

2009-04-13T11:53:00.000-07:00

We've been busy working on new songs to record and play live. Two new songs will definitely be released as a cassette single and digital download in June (perhaps the cassette may appear earlier). Those songs are called "Sandusky Sunset" and "Why Do You Lie To Me?". Alternate titles have been "Werewolf Workweek" and "Faggot Isolation Paranoia Blues".

We're hoping to release some form of single every couple of months until the end of the year. Of course we'll keep you posted. We've got some great shows coming up, our first round out of the Bay Area, in Santa Cruz, San Luis Obispo, and Los Angeles over the next month or so.

We also were just informed via gchat that 'Nevermint' was at No. 1 on KCPR, the college station in San Luis Obispo all last week! Here's to our first solid gold hit.

Yeeeeeeah.

Press

2009-04-12T16:47:00.001-07:00

Pasta Primavera

Press

2009-04-07T13:47:00.000-07:00

Hippies Are Dead

Press

2009-04-01T11:39:00.000-07:00

RCRDLBL

Press

2009-03-30T15:46:00.001-07:00

New And Used Records

News

2009-03-30T11:50:00.001-07:00

We had a great string of shows last week around the release of Nevermint. On the heels of that we are in the studio tomorrow recording the first of four 3 track singles to be released in various formats between now and 2010.

The first single is called "Blood Sea Dream" and we may release it digitally and on Cassette.

Stay Tuned!