December 19, 2009
December 16, 2009
December 13, 2009
December 11, 2009
turned to paper
jon's uncle robin is in town joining us for some recording for the next two weeks...along with bringing up a bunch of guitars and castanets, he also pulled up his sketch pad:
a view of some of the mic amps and slap-back echo tape recorder.
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thomas channels his inner "craigermeister" and plays a bit of washboard.
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jeff layin' track.
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after being bit by a squirrel, nick decides to do some computing.
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joe playing a little guit-box. looking good joe!
a view of some of the mic amps and slap-back echo tape recorder..jpg)
thomas channels his inner "craigermeister" and plays a bit of washboard..jpg)
jeff layin' track..jpg)
after being bit by a squirrel, nick decides to do some computing..jpg)
joe playing a little guit-box. looking good joe!
December 4, 2009
November 23, 2009
We've started recording the new album...
...So hopefully we'll have more updates on the process, such as this:
More to come!
More to come!
October 30, 2009
October 26, 2009
Dickerbocker of the Day Award
One of the pleasures of touring is traveling about and being introduced to daily doses of new places and new faces. Sometimes, the new faces strike a chord and leave an imprint in our consciousness that needs a title. We have decided to title these people the Dickerbocker of the Day. The Dickerbocker of the Day excels in such talents as cutting you off on the highway, disrespecting your friends, walking away while you ask a question, or trying to steal your credit card number. Some days, it is tough to choose a winner of the Dickerbocker award, but other days, it takes some serious deliberation to narrow it down. We usually gather the selection committee in the van after the show, and as we drive to our nightly lodging, attempt to decide on the dickerbocker of the day.
For example, the Dickerbocker of the Tour (so far) goes to the Dickerbocker of the Day for last Friday (pictured below).
This dickerbocker-supreme happened to be behind a bar we stopped at with friends. We ordered some drinks from this man (shown here with a hoodied accomplice) and then ordered more drinks and sat at his bar for quite a while. During this time, it became apparent this guy was a total dickerbocker. He ignored us, and pretended to not remember who we were... He also charged us different amounts for the same drink! In the end though, he won the award for his contorted facial features and hand gestures that led us to believe he had a little baby raccoon that would squirm about whenever someone ordered a drink.
Runner up (so far) of the Dickerbocker of the Day is a guy attempting to steal a Credit Card number by offering a gift certificate from wal-mart. The committee apologizes to this man, if he called sincerely with a gift certificate, but found it hard to believe he lived in Nevada, but didn't know where Reno was when we asked.
The selection committe doesn't stop at the Dickerbocker Daily Award. They go the extra mile to award someone the prize of GOOFENBACKER OF THE DAY. Goofenbacker of the day is awarded to the person who excels in such traits as intoxicated flirtation with the waitress, actions resulting in wife or girlfriend sitting at least 40 feet away, over-competitiveness in non-competitive gaming, and an overall obliviousness to all actions. In summary, the goofenbacker of the day usually thinks, in his own head, that he is the coolerbacker of the day.
For example, the Goofenbacker of the Tour (so far) goes to a tremendous Goofenbacker. He won the award, almost sealing a lifetime achievement award in the process. It was a stranger (artistic rendering to the right) who ran away with bocker of the
Day for last Thursday. Again we found ourselves in a bar, minding our business, when a neighboring patron approached us with a toast. Before any of us knew it, we were drinking to the following, "Cheers to being single, seeing double, and sleeping triple." It is important to note that Goofenbocker made this toast while sitting next to his wife and sister.That was just the start of the goof. Other amazing feats this gentleman accomplished were:
-Doing pushups in the middle of the bar
-singing Eye of The Tiger at maximum volume
-telling the waitress, "keep an eye on me! I'll be needing you a lot tonite."
-Utilizing erratic postures while attempting to dance with his wife, forcing his wife to exit the dance floor.
The list goes on from there, but the committee wants to let it be known that to win either Goofenbocker of the Day or Dickerbocker of the Day, one must portray unique traits not mentioned in this post as the most important feature of any Dickerbocker or Goofenbocker is the ability to make us laugh about them on the drive home.
We will be announcing the awards daily via our Twiiiittter feed.
For example, the Dickerbocker of the Tour (so far) goes to the Dickerbocker of the Day for last Friday (pictured below).
This dickerbocker-supreme happened to be behind a bar we stopped at with friends. We ordered some drinks from this man (shown here with a hoodied accomplice) and then ordered more drinks and sat at his bar for quite a while. During this time, it became apparent this guy was a total dickerbocker. He ignored us, and pretended to not remember who we were... He also charged us different amounts for the same drink! In the end though, he won the award for his contorted facial features and hand gestures that led us to believe he had a little baby raccoon that would squirm about whenever someone ordered a drink.
Runner up (so far) of the Dickerbocker of the Day is a guy attempting to steal a Credit Card number by offering a gift certificate from wal-mart. The committee apologizes to this man, if he called sincerely with a gift certificate, but found it hard to believe he lived in Nevada, but didn't know where Reno was when we asked.
The selection committe doesn't stop at the Dickerbocker Daily Award. They go the extra mile to award someone the prize of GOOFENBACKER OF THE DAY. Goofenbacker of the day is awarded to the person who excels in such traits as intoxicated flirtation with the waitress, actions resulting in wife or girlfriend sitting at least 40 feet away, over-competitiveness in non-competitive gaming, and an overall obliviousness to all actions. In summary, the goofenbacker of the day usually thinks, in his own head, that he is the coolerbacker of the day.
For example, the Goofenbacker of the Tour (so far) goes to a tremendous Goofenbacker. He won the award, almost sealing a lifetime achievement award in the process. It was a stranger (artistic rendering to the right) who ran away with bocker of the
-Doing pushups in the middle of the bar
-singing Eye of The Tiger at maximum volume
-telling the waitress, "keep an eye on me! I'll be needing you a lot tonite."
-Utilizing erratic postures while attempting to dance with his wife, forcing his wife to exit the dance floor.
The list goes on from there, but the committee wants to let it be known that to win either Goofenbocker of the Day or Dickerbocker of the Day, one must portray unique traits not mentioned in this post as the most important feature of any Dickerbocker or Goofenbocker is the ability to make us laugh about them on the drive home.
We will be announcing the awards daily via our Twiiiittter feed.
October 8, 2009
Our Triumphant Return to America!
In celebration of our newest release, Slim & Slender [now available in record shops and digital outlets!] we have decided to tour almost half of the U.S.A. Only half? Well, we here at the Spinto Band offices like to keep things conceptual. Since Slim & Slender is almost half of an album [in terms of quantity!] then it follows that we do almost half of a tour.
But upon reflecting we wondered, "How can we make this more than almost half a tour?". We came to a unanimous decision: recruit only the best and brightest of touring partners! Now, we've written about these greats before so some of you may already be familiar with them, but in case you're not, here's a refresher [with illustrations courtesy of Johnnie Cluney for Daytrotter]
Earlier this year Generationals busted onto the scene with Con Law, a record of almost insurmountable pop music that has caused music makers around the globe to 1) Be inspired or 2) Give up.
Pepi Ginsberg is a mysterious yet whimsical lady and her music conveys this. We were lucky enough to spend a week with her in the Highlands of North Carolina this summer and even got to be extras in a music video for her next single on her upcoming 2010 album! Her songs are musical bee-hives that leave you with memorable stings if you dare approach them.
As you can see we've got to step up our game. We'll be playing tunes from the new record, as well as some older tunes we haven't played in years, perhaps along with some fun covers? We're pretty excited about it. This'll be a "last hurrah" before we hibernate in the Garden Center this winter. So here it is, the Park The Van Family Values Tour:
OCT 21 - Philadelphia, PA - Johnny Brenda's
OCT 22 - Cambridge, MA - TT The Bear's
OCT 23 - Brooklyn, NY - Union Hall [Park The Van Showcase]
OCT 24 - Washington, DC - Rock 'N Roll Hotel
OCT 25 - Chapel Hill, NC - Local 506
OCT 27 - Asheville, NC - The Grey Eagle Tavern
OCT 28 - Atlanta, GA - The Earl
OCT 30 - New Orleans, LA - The Marginy Theatre [Park The Van 5th Anniversary Celebration]
NOV 01 - Birmingham, AL - Bottletree Cafe
NOV 02 - Nashville, TN - The Basement
NOV 03 - Bloomington, IN - The Bishop
NOV 04 - Chicago, IL - Schuba's
NOV 05 - Urbana, IL - Illini Union Courtyard Cafe
NOV 06 - Pontiac, MI - The Pike Room at Crofoot
NOV 07 - Pittsburgh, PA - Garfield Artworks
Also of note: In addition to having some copies of the new 10" EP for sale, we'll be having a Spinto Band rummage sale full of old, odd, and out-of-print T-shirts for 5 bucks each! Also, you may noticed the lovely tour poster above which was designed by Strawberry Luna. We'll have a limited edition screen print for sale at all of the shows above (while supplies last!)
So please, drop by and say hi!
October 1, 2009
Oct. 1 2009 Yo! Noid goes down.
For the past few months, Jon has been dedicating a few days out of the week for Yo!Noid training. Today he accomplished what everyone knew was coming:
for those of you unaware, Yo! Noid is a platform video game released in the United States for the NES by Capcom during November, 1990. It stars the Noid, the claymation mascot of Domino's Pizza in the late 80s, traipsing through fourteen different side-scrolling levels throughout various locations of New York City to battle his evil duplicate, Mr. Green, for the public good, and for the massive pizza reward[4]. The game is a modified version of an earlier Japanese release called Kamen no Ninja Hanamaru.
September 27, 2009
September 10, 2009
The Spinto Band on the Sound of Young America LIVE!
We are very pleased to announce that we will be performing on The Sound of Young America for a live taping in Philadelphia as part of the Philly Fringe Festival.
The taping occurs this Wednesday at the Adrienne Theater at 10:00 PM and costs 15 bucks. We'll be sharing the stage with some radical guests, such as the director of the Mütter Museum, talented artist / cartoonist Charles Burns and funny bunny comedian Kent Haines. We're going to be hopelessly struggling to compete with the level of awesome surrounding us...But come anyway, we're going to play a tune or two from Slim & Slender.
Buy tickets here!
August 23, 2009
New Spinto Band Release!
Coming this fall we have a brand new EP entitled Slim & Slender. It is a collection of four little tunes we recorded at Nick's paper lab in Philadelphia earlier this summer. The songs were only loosely rehearsed and utilize more acoustic instruments than previous Spinto Band records. It contains a cover of one of our favorite songs, "Brazil" as well as three originals. The tracklisting is as follows:
1. Jackhammer (Slim Version)
2. Brazil
3. Keep Them Alive (Slender Version)
4. Thayer Function
The first half of this record is up now on our myspace and those of you that follow Hypemachine, "Jackhammer" is available and ready to be "loved" so please click that little heart for us!
The physical release will be in a special 10" vinyl format with artwork designed by the incredible Rachel Bone of Red Prairie Press (who also gave us the art of Moonwink). Park the Van Records will be distributing it worldwide on October 6th.
We'll be doing a small tour to this October as well, but more on that later. Back to working on the FULL LENGTH at our new GARDEN CENTER.
August 22, 2009
August 21, 2009
Music for Listeners flipped 180 degrees...
The Spinto Band has just participated in a (willing) takeover of San Antonio's finest music program, Music For Listeners. The wonderful hosts, Michael and Orlando, are putting their three hours in the hands of bands across the world and we were lucky enough to be one of them!The show airs TONIGHT from 1:00 AM to 4:00 AM EST on KRTU (91.7 in San Antonio). If you're not in the area you can also listen directly on the internet here.
What can you expect to hear on the show? You can listen to Jon wax nostalgic on Frank Zappa's "Peaches en Regalia", take in Nick's Lomax-ian field recordings of local Philadelphia area musicians, indulge an essay and playlist by Thomas inspired by the drums of the Ronnettes' "Be My Baby" and hey, maybe even Joe will dispense some video game tips for "Yo! Noid". On the 180, anything can happen!
Once premiered our show will be archived here. Take a listen or something!
August 11, 2009
The Studio...Revealed.
Friends, we give you the Garden Center.
If we were to give you a "virtual tour", we'd make your virtual-self turn 180 degrees to this sight:
This is an attempt to recreate what the world looks like to Jeff Hobson. It it also a general view of the tracking room. You may have noticed by this point (or our last studio update) that this building has horizontal lines running amongst its walls. These are what folks in the industry call "slatwall". It has many uses...Mainly:
Hanging up things on the walls like musical instruments! If you know the Spinto Band, then you know one of our biggest pet peeves is decisiveness. With new-fangled these "slatwalls", there is no commitment or consequence if you want to put something up on the wall! You can take things down or move them around as you see fit. Also, As you can probably see, we've adopted two pianosauruses from the local animal shelter. These two, Cassidy and Meadow, provide much needed 1) Security and 2) Unconditional Love within the Garden Center. Anyway, moving on...Let's visit the "Control Room".
This is the room where we take control! Can anyone spot the burlap? Good. Now if you virtually turn around you'll find yourself looking at this:
Yes, everybody. It's the "Chillaxin Zone". You can tell by the delicately placed acoustic guitar. It's either 1) Was just being played by someone who was chillaxin or 2) Chillaxin all by itself. Okay, enough of that...Let's go back into the tracking room!
To play some video games! That's right! That white paper hanging above the television is entitled "Games beaten in the Garden Center". There are already five games on there and if that's not a sign of our [Lack of? - Ed.] productivity I don't know what is! Not sure if you can tell, but that is the Yo! Noid Nintendo game being played. I'll leave you with some wise words...taken directly from the Yo! Noid Game FAQ, written by someone who goes by the handle of simply "Psycho Penguin".
If we were to give you a "virtual tour", we'd make your virtual-self turn 180 degrees to this sight:
This is an attempt to recreate what the world looks like to Jeff Hobson. It it also a general view of the tracking room. You may have noticed by this point (or our last studio update) that this building has horizontal lines running amongst its walls. These are what folks in the industry call "slatwall". It has many uses...Mainly:
Hanging up things on the walls like musical instruments! If you know the Spinto Band, then you know one of our biggest pet peeves is decisiveness. With new-fangled these "slatwalls", there is no commitment or consequence if you want to put something up on the wall! You can take things down or move them around as you see fit. Also, As you can probably see, we've adopted two pianosauruses from the local animal shelter. These two, Cassidy and Meadow, provide much needed 1) Security and 2) Unconditional Love within the Garden Center. Anyway, moving on...Let's visit the "Control Room".
This is the room where we take control! Can anyone spot the burlap? Good. Now if you virtually turn around you'll find yourself looking at this:
Yes, everybody. It's the "Chillaxin Zone". You can tell by the delicately placed acoustic guitar. It's either 1) Was just being played by someone who was chillaxin or 2) Chillaxin all by itself. Okay, enough of that...Let's go back into the tracking room!
To play some video games! That's right! That white paper hanging above the television is entitled "Games beaten in the Garden Center". There are already five games on there and if that's not a sign of our [Lack of? - Ed.] productivity I don't know what is! Not sure if you can tell, but that is the Yo! Noid Nintendo game being played. I'll leave you with some wise words...taken directly from the Yo! Noid Game FAQ, written by someone who goes by the handle of simply "Psycho Penguin".Yo! Noid has never really received the mainstream recognition it deserved in my
opinion, because it is one of my all time favorite games. Featuring lots of
innovative gameplay, the game is a fantastic side scrolling action/adventure
game that is great fun for the entire family! Overall, Yo! Noid for the NES is
one of my all time favorite games. I was also quite surprised to see that no
one wrote a guide for this great game yet, so I decided to!
July 30, 2009
under the covers
hey everyone,
our RGBs (real good buds) National Eye just posted a song on their myspace page that is totally RTOE (radical to our ears). They are certainly SSR (super studio rats) and it is always EE (extremely exciting) to hear what they come up with. Uh Oh! this time the JOU (jokes on us) National Eye came up with a cover version of our song "late!" If you ask me you should GGALU (get going anf listen up) to this fresh new jawn (thing). They showed it to me AFMA (a few months ago) and it was really cool, and i can assure you it holds up and it is SCEWLTIASTNPM"U" (still cool even when listening to it after seeing the new pixar movie "up")
listen on my friends, and hopfully OEWMASDS (our ears will meet again some day soon)
link: http://www.myspace.com/nationaleye
.
our RGBs (real good buds) National Eye just posted a song on their myspace page that is totally RTOE (radical to our ears). They are certainly SSR (super studio rats) and it is always EE (extremely exciting) to hear what they come up with. Uh Oh! this time the JOU (jokes on us) National Eye came up with a cover version of our song "late!" If you ask me you should GGALU (get going anf listen up) to this fresh new jawn (thing). They showed it to me AFMA (a few months ago) and it was really cool, and i can assure you it holds up and it is SCEWLTIASTNPM"U" (still cool even when listening to it after seeing the new pixar movie "up")
listen on my friends, and hopfully OEWMASDS (our ears will meet again some day soon)
link: http://www.myspace.com/nationaleye
.
July 2, 2009
...Are you ready for a Freakend?
Probably the anticipated moment of the Summer happens on the [long] weekend starting July 16th, when we and our fellow battle beasts, The Sw!ms & And the Moneynotes tour and conquer the east coast. What cities will fall prey to our unstoppable musical cavalcade? Here's a HEADS UP:
July 16th - Baltimore, MD - The Talking Head
July 17th - Manhattan, NY - The Mercury Lounge with Big Bang TV!
July 18th* - Scranton, PA - The Bog
July 19th* - Jermyn, PA - Eleanor Rigby's
Since we're about to hunker down and actually start recording the next album (which should be any day now hopefully), we believe these may be our last shows on this side of the coast for quite sometime. Come out and say goodbye before we enter hibernation!
Those of you may know we play with these dudes alot, but there's a clear reason why: Because they're two of our favorite bands in the world. If you haven't familiarized yourselves with them yet, please do so now.
THE SW!MS
The Sw!ms released their phenomenal Itemlord LP a few months ago and are currently in the running for Wawa's Hoagiefest Contest. Their submission is clearly the best, but it wouldn't hurt to vote for it a couple more times! Go HERE to do so! Also, the Sw!ms singer/warrior Brian Langan designed the show poster above.
AND THE MONEYNOTES
And The Moneynotes just released their crazy-good "On The Town / On The Vine" EP on frickin RED VINYL so be sure to grab it [and pay for it] while supplies last!
* No official ATMoneynotes on these dates, but some members of the band may be playing!
July 16th - Baltimore, MD - The Talking Head
July 17th - Manhattan, NY - The Mercury Lounge with Big Bang TV!
July 18th* - Scranton, PA - The Bog
July 19th* - Jermyn, PA - Eleanor Rigby's
Since we're about to hunker down and actually start recording the next album (which should be any day now hopefully), we believe these may be our last shows on this side of the coast for quite sometime. Come out and say goodbye before we enter hibernation!
Those of you may know we play with these dudes alot, but there's a clear reason why: Because they're two of our favorite bands in the world. If you haven't familiarized yourselves with them yet, please do so now.
THE SW!MS
The Sw!ms released their phenomenal Itemlord LP a few months ago and are currently in the running for Wawa's Hoagiefest Contest. Their submission is clearly the best, but it wouldn't hurt to vote for it a couple more times! Go HERE to do so! Also, the Sw!ms singer/warrior Brian Langan designed the show poster above.
AND THE MONEYNOTES
And The Moneynotes just released their crazy-good "On The Town / On The Vine" EP on frickin RED VINYL so be sure to grab it [and pay for it] while supplies last!
* No official ATMoneynotes on these dates, but some members of the band may be playing!
June 29, 2009
Real Men...being Male
The Spinto Band has long been characterized by the media with such words as "nerdy", "cute", "dandy", "diminutive", and "young". While some of those adjectives may be apt, we refuse to let such stereotypes define us. Just see for yourself how strong and manly we can be when we break out the tools and start buildin shit.
As you see here, Joe is fuckin' cuttin the shit out of this piece of wood. Why? Who knows? You'll notice the garage door has to be kept open beacuse the odor of Joe's sweat, while pleasant to smell, can be toxic to people with allergies to testosterone. Sam folds his arms in the background while quietly chanting, "Cut that shit, Joe. Cut that shit."
In this next image we find a confident Nick about to drill fuck a piece of 2X4. Jeff is helping, but he doesn't have to. Joe brings a tool to him while giving him a look of "Can you handle this shit?". You can't see it in this picture, but Jeff is mouthing "I can handle anything you give me, bro"
Photographed here is essentially Sam's buldging biceps holding a mirror against a wall. He's lifting a it up and down effortlessly just like he does when he's bench pressing the weight of a sumo wrestler. What's the purpose of this task, you ask?
Well, if you even have to ask you probably don't know a THING about acoustic reflections. Look it up and talk to us later. This photo is just to show you that Joe is simply practicing the manly tradition of putting smoke in your lungs. It's his 64th today and it's only 11:00 AM.
In this final photo we find Nick and Jeff hoisting up a 350 lb sound baffle to the ceiling with only the aid of their tape measurers. Why? Because they can. You can't see it very well, but that's Jon in the background making a list of every taxidermied animal head trophy he's slaughtered and where he plans on hanging them up.
Well, there you go! I hope next time you think of the Spinto Band you get scared just thinking about us.
As you see here, Joe is fuckin' cuttin the shit out of this piece of wood. Why? Who knows? You'll notice the garage door has to be kept open beacuse the odor of Joe's sweat, while pleasant to smell, can be toxic to people with allergies to testosterone. Sam folds his arms in the background while quietly chanting, "Cut that shit, Joe. Cut that shit."
In this next image we find a confident Nick about to drill fuck a piece of 2X4. Jeff is helping, but he doesn't have to. Joe brings a tool to him while giving him a look of "Can you handle this shit?". You can't see it in this picture, but Jeff is mouthing "I can handle anything you give me, bro"
Photographed here is essentially Sam's buldging biceps holding a mirror against a wall. He's lifting a it up and down effortlessly just like he does when he's bench pressing the weight of a sumo wrestler. What's the purpose of this task, you ask?
Well, if you even have to ask you probably don't know a THING about acoustic reflections. Look it up and talk to us later. This photo is just to show you that Joe is simply practicing the manly tradition of putting smoke in your lungs. It's his 64th today and it's only 11:00 AM.
In this final photo we find Nick and Jeff hoisting up a 350 lb sound baffle to the ceiling with only the aid of their tape measurers. Why? Because they can. You can't see it very well, but that's Jon in the background making a list of every taxidermied animal head trophy he's slaughtered and where he plans on hanging them up.
Well, there you go! I hope next time you think of the Spinto Band you get scared just thinking about us.
June 21, 2009
On the joy of burlap...
Well, it's about week two in the studio building process and we've been learning many lessons in the process. Introductory courses in plumbing, construction, and insulation have all been covered...But perhaps the most unexpected lesson was our first one: Burlap 101.
Don't ask us why or how, but we recently came into a gigantic surplus of free burlap...More burlap than you could ever dream of. Being the clever, resourceful and thrifty band that we are, we decided to put it to good use. It just so happens that the burlap turned out to be a perfect material for some of the sound baffles we were planning on making. The burlap could be used as a seal for the insulation filling the wooden frames.
How much do you think you know about burlap? On the surface it doesn't seem like the most exciting material, but we found it to be a lot more complex than it lets on.
First of all, its appearance. Burlap can house a great many items, but the previous tenants of our bags were cocoa beans. We were first awestruck by the charming simplicity of their design:
We were even more excited to find we had four different designs of cocoa bean bags. Each representing one of the four primary colors [taking into account both additive and traditional subtractive sets], or, sort of like the Super Famicom / SNES logo. And what a wonderful display of origins these bags had! From Ecuador to Indonesia to the Cote d'Ivoire (The Ivory Coast). What a cosmopolitan set of burlap! Here's some other examples from the internet demonstrating the diversity of burlap design
The next thing we discovered about burlap was how tricky it is to work with. We spent a good two days ripping burlap without proper tools such as scissors or knives and instantly felt like we were in Soviet Russia...[i.e: In Soviet Russia, you don't cut burlap...BURLAP CUTS YOU].
The final thing we learned about burlap is that it has the tendency to smell like sweaty locker room socks.
But they make for great sound baffles!
Don't ask us why or how, but we recently came into a gigantic surplus of free burlap...More burlap than you could ever dream of. Being the clever, resourceful and thrifty band that we are, we decided to put it to good use. It just so happens that the burlap turned out to be a perfect material for some of the sound baffles we were planning on making. The burlap could be used as a seal for the insulation filling the wooden frames.
How much do you think you know about burlap? On the surface it doesn't seem like the most exciting material, but we found it to be a lot more complex than it lets on.
First of all, its appearance. Burlap can house a great many items, but the previous tenants of our bags were cocoa beans. We were first awestruck by the charming simplicity of their design:
We were even more excited to find we had four different designs of cocoa bean bags. Each representing one of the four primary colors [taking into account both additive and traditional subtractive sets], or, sort of like the Super Famicom / SNES logo. And what a wonderful display of origins these bags had! From Ecuador to Indonesia to the Cote d'Ivoire (The Ivory Coast). What a cosmopolitan set of burlap! Here's some other examples from the internet demonstrating the diversity of burlap design
The next thing we discovered about burlap was how tricky it is to work with. We spent a good two days ripping burlap without proper tools such as scissors or knives and instantly felt like we were in Soviet Russia...[i.e: In Soviet Russia, you don't cut burlap...BURLAP CUTS YOU].
The final thing we learned about burlap is that it has the tendency to smell like sweaty locker room socks.
But they make for great sound baffles!
June 14, 2009
For IMMEDIATE RELEASE
We have a studio!
Sorry about the sparse postings, but over the past couple of months we've been on a quest for the perfect building for us to record our next album. For a while our journey seemed to consist of one disappointment after the other but we're happy to say we stumbled upon heaven.
Deep in the woods of Delaware, Spintonic Headquarters is slowly rising. We've got some pictures of the process [building, boasting, and burlap] for you but not quite yet.
I really hate to shove this word down your throats again, but we have a TWITTER and alot of the small pleasures [and pains] in studio-making can be more easily expressed in 140 characters.
But, psst: the best stuff is still on this weblog!
Sorry about the sparse postings, but over the past couple of months we've been on a quest for the perfect building for us to record our next album. For a while our journey seemed to consist of one disappointment after the other but we're happy to say we stumbled upon heaven.
Deep in the woods of Delaware, Spintonic Headquarters is slowly rising. We've got some pictures of the process [building, boasting, and burlap] for you but not quite yet.
I really hate to shove this word down your throats again, but we have a TWITTER and alot of the small pleasures [and pains] in studio-making can be more easily expressed in 140 characters.
But, psst: the best stuff is still on this weblog!
June 12, 2009
The People You'll Meet
When a musician gets ready to hit the road on a tour, a lot of exciting thoughts pass through their head. They get to play their music to fans, make new fans by playing to strangers, and help, first-hand, spread their music around the world. It is an exciting part of the job.
There are other reasons to get excited for a tour though. The places you'll go and the people you'll meet are of particular interest to me. Especially when it is late at night in a peculiar town and the person you meet is totally wasted. I was lucky enough to capture two of the dozens of drunk people on a spot of video, and finally, get them online. These two meetings took place during a February/March tour in which we traveled all around Europe.
There are other reasons to get excited for a tour though. The places you'll go and the people you'll meet are of particular interest to me. Especially when it is late at night in a peculiar town and the person you meet is totally wasted. I was lucky enough to capture two of the dozens of drunk people on a spot of video, and finally, get them online. These two meetings took place during a February/March tour in which we traveled all around Europe.
May 20, 2009
Guerilla Drive-Ins, MacGuffins, and a sample from our new EP...
We've teamed up with our friends at West Chester's own Guerilla Drive-In to create their new MacGuffin message!
MacGuffin message? Well, to explain: The Guerilla Drive-In hosts "guerilla" style drive-in movies. They are "Guerilla" in the sense that they are unannounced and unpredictable except to those priveledged few who are GDI members. How do you become a GDI member? You need to FIND THE MACGUFFIN!
The MacGuffin is an AM transmitter, wired to an ex-Retropod Sony Sports Walkman, playing a continuous-loop answering machine cassette, all stuffed inside a weatherproof Pelican case. The MacGuffin broadcasts a short message on AM 1700. The message contains the secret access code you need to find out where and when Guerilla Drive-In movies will be shown.
Sounds fun to me!
Anyways, the Spinto Band has provided the background music for the current MacGuffin. It's a sample of our cover of "Brazil" that will be appearing on the next EP. In addition to that, we've also included a secret MESSAGE within a MESSAGE especially for Spinto Band fans. If you'd like to hear it, you need to go searching through the woods of West Chester, PA.
Or you could go to the Guerilla Drive-In website...
Or maybe even BoingBoing!
Regardless, the Guerilla Drive-In is an amazing institution we're happy to take be apart of...as long as it makes us all GDI members!
May 13, 2009
Spinto Band Bus Reviews: Wicker Man
Back in March we found ourselves traveling around Europe on a sleeper bus. The great thing about being on this bus is that we had a fridge to keep our veggie burgers, and there was no bedtime, so we spent many a late night traveling on this bus nuking boca and sitting in the lounge and searching through the bus's hard drive filled with odd movies selected by our busdriver, Shameless Sean. I had forgotten that following some of these movies, we decided to record quick movie reviews as we are all critics, all of us, every one out there.
First up: Nicolas Cage's 2006 remake of Wicker Man. As producer and lead actor, the whole band, plus our pal Nik Minton, were intrigued to see how the Oscar winner would tackle the cult classic. The video picks up as the film ends and the credits roll:
The title frame and music balance is brought to us by the awesome editing software included in my flipcam. I think the future movie reviews will have to be edited some other way.
First up: Nicolas Cage's 2006 remake of Wicker Man. As producer and lead actor, the whole band, plus our pal Nik Minton, were intrigued to see how the Oscar winner would tackle the cult classic. The video picks up as the film ends and the credits roll:
The title frame and music balance is brought to us by the awesome editing software included in my flipcam. I think the future movie reviews will have to be edited some other way.
May 3, 2009
Spinto de Mayo
Happy May Day, friends.
It's going to be a busy week in the east coast Spinto Band offices. So let's just cut straight to the chase and throw out a bunch of information in no particular order?
First of all, we are playing our [home?]town of Wilmington, Delaware this Thursday. It won't be the usual Spinto Band performance, however. The concert is in part of an all around benefit / celebration to raise money for the Delaware College of Art and Design's scholarship program. The show will be similar to our Kennett Flash show in respect that the Sin City Band will be playing as well. To top things off, Beast Pageant creator and Spinto Band visual collaborator ALBERT BIRNEY will be in attendance, showing some of his artwork. If you feel the need to donate to a good cause, come out and celebrate with us. More information here.
Second of all, later that night Park the Van n00bz (aka recent signings) Generationals will be playing in Philadelphia that very same night at the Kung Fu Necktie. I'm informed this will be their FIRST EVER SHOW ON THE EAST COAST. Historical to the max. They are really good. You should listen to them and see them live! Plus, they're playing with Spinto Band favorites Cheers Elephant and Brian Ashby (of THE TEETH).
Third of all, we will be returning to Washington D.C this Friday opening for pop giants These United States. Our previous Washington D.C show was really one of the best of last tour. Must be all the taxation without representation.
Fourth of all, remember when YouTube was the internet site everybody was talking about? It provided information and entertainment in more than 140 characters. In fact, it had (and still has) thousands of of CHARACTERS. You know, like, entertaining people on it. It was such a big deal that they hosted their own celebratory event and invited us to perform at it! It was one of the all-time strangest events we've had the pleasure of doing and we're very proud of it. Oh yeah, here are some motionless photographs (I know, very anti-YouTube) that were taken during that lost weekend.
It's going to be a busy week in the east coast Spinto Band offices. So let's just cut straight to the chase and throw out a bunch of information in no particular order?
First of all, we are playing our [home?]town of Wilmington, Delaware this Thursday. It won't be the usual Spinto Band performance, however. The concert is in part of an all around benefit / celebration to raise money for the Delaware College of Art and Design's scholarship program. The show will be similar to our Kennett Flash show in respect that the Sin City Band will be playing as well. To top things off, Beast Pageant creator and Spinto Band visual collaborator ALBERT BIRNEY will be in attendance, showing some of his artwork. If you feel the need to donate to a good cause, come out and celebrate with us. More information here.
Second of all, later that night Park the Van n00bz (aka recent signings) Generationals will be playing in Philadelphia that very same night at the Kung Fu Necktie. I'm informed this will be their FIRST EVER SHOW ON THE EAST COAST. Historical to the max. They are really good. You should listen to them and see them live! Plus, they're playing with Spinto Band favorites Cheers Elephant and Brian Ashby (of THE TEETH).
Third of all, we will be returning to Washington D.C this Friday opening for pop giants These United States. Our previous Washington D.C show was really one of the best of last tour. Must be all the taxation without representation.
Fourth of all, remember when YouTube was the internet site everybody was talking about? It provided information and entertainment in more than 140 characters. In fact, it had (and still has) thousands of of CHARACTERS. You know, like, entertaining people on it. It was such a big deal that they hosted their own celebratory event and invited us to perform at it! It was one of the all-time strangest events we've had the pleasure of doing and we're very proud of it. Oh yeah, here are some motionless photographs (I know, very anti-YouTube) that were taken during that lost weekend.
April 24, 2009
Recording Works in Progress
In accordance with the Obama Administration's insistence on transparency, we thought you might like to take a peak at what we've been up to.
Here's Joe giving a deliberately delicate strum.
Double the amps, double the fun.
Here's Sam about to give a good pounding to his tiny Casio.
In the "biz", we call this "LAYIN DOWN SOME VOX"
Not sure if you know, but Jeff's brain is formatted like a drum machine. In this picture he is reprogramming his internal patterns to include a triplet of ride cymbal fills in the 3rd verse.
Nick engineers, Jeff hears, and Jon covers his ears.
A picture for nerds, by nerds: Instead of using a traditional headphone splitter, we have geniusly hooked up two tuning pedals in order to create a makeshift one!
Here's Joe giving a deliberately delicate strum.
Double the amps, double the fun.
Here's Sam about to give a good pounding to his tiny Casio.
In the "biz", we call this "LAYIN DOWN SOME VOX"
Not sure if you know, but Jeff's brain is formatted like a drum machine. In this picture he is reprogramming his internal patterns to include a triplet of ride cymbal fills in the 3rd verse.
Sam whistling into a plastic telephone microphone.
Nick engineers, Jeff hears, and Jon covers his ears.
A picture for nerds, by nerds: Instead of using a traditional headphone splitter, we have geniusly hooked up two tuning pedals in order to create a makeshift one!April 14, 2009
A Pageant is Brewing...
A few months ago, we contributed some music and instrumentation to a film entitled The Beast Pageant. It is a collaboration between the amazing minds of Jon Moses and Albert Birney. Judging by the trailer, this film looking to be a visual FEAST.
The film is still listed as "in production" on imdb, but if you donate $25, you will receive a DVD and CD soundtrack upon its completion...Not to mention your name in the credits! Now, I ask of you: HOW DOPE IS THAT?
The film is still listed as "in production" on imdb, but if you donate $25, you will receive a DVD and CD soundtrack upon its completion...Not to mention your name in the credits! Now, I ask of you: HOW DOPE IS THAT?
April 6, 2009
Singing on the streets of Penn State after the bars close.
Have you ever been on a college campus where 27 bars have been condensed into 5 blocks? Have you ever been on those streets once they close? Have you ever tried singing to them in hopes that their drunken judgment will be impaired enough to give you some money?
They probably won't, but it will still be fun.
They probably won't, but it will still be fun.
April 1, 2009
We should have checked the internet...
We were going to do a write up on our experience at our motel last night, but after looking at the reviews of it on Trip Advisor, we felt it could best be summed up by excerpts of other reviews:
NASTY DUMP! I checked into this motel for a week, but checked out after only one night. The room was disgusting with bugs under the bed and dirty carpet. There was no TV remote, the refridgerator didn't work, the microwave was broken and very dirty, and the staff was unhelpful. I spoke to the owner to request a refund for the portion of the week I did not use. He told me if I wanted service I should have gone to the Holiday Inn.
I have stayed in some real stink holes in my time, but this one was by far the worst! When I got to my room there was marijuana stems between the sheets and it appeared the sheets had been used by a hooker just before I arrived. I also found a used tampon in the dresser drawer.
We have a high tolerance for the occasional "mom & pop" or even a slightly "flea-bag" motel. This place was over our line, which was pretty low.
- Parked next to abandon vehicle with two flat tires
- Drunk approached us for beer, followed us in to the lobby and then we discovered he was a resident there.
- First room hadn't been cleaned. Second room was only slightly better.
- Large dog in next room barked
- Random person pounded on our door very late
- Hard core porn on the TV.
Only reason I stopped there was I had a coupon giving a reduced rate. They refused to honor it because the state fair was there that weekend. Found out later the state fair ended a few hour before we checked in.
1. Hair in bathroom shower
2. Toilet did not flush
3. No amenities (soap, shampoo)
4. Had to request towels
5. Rips in the comforter
6. Flat sheets instead of fitted sheets
7. Loud parties
8. Unrestricted PORN on channel 45
9. Newly Remodeled
Here are the reasons you should never stay there: (1) there was a horrible smell throught the building. (2) there was no clean linen in the room, just a dirty bath towel hanging over the shower door, and the blanket was in a ball on the bed _NO SHEETS< style="font-weight: bold;">when my husband called them from the room they came to the room showed him the laundry room and wanted him to make the bed. (3) no heat or airconditioner- did not work and the floor was soaking wet!!!!!!!!!!
The place was a dump! We decided not to stay and ask for a refund and the manager wouldn't refund our money. We ended up staying somewhere else, due to the unsanitary conditions and realizing they weren't going to give us a refund no matter what. We decided the money wasn't worth our safety and health to stay there. Terrible place, beware of this one!!!!
1. Pulled into what appeared to be a lobby with very undesireable people screaming profanities at each other.
2. Got to room stepping over trash and unsecured doors.
3. The bathroom floor was sticky so I kept my shoes on the entire night.
4. Porn on TV for no reason.
5. Recepticle covers were missing, and the one in the hallway was burnt like it was just recently on fire.
6. The boxspring to the bed was broken in half which made for a recliner type bed.
7. The peephole to see out of your room to the hallway was plugged up with toilet paper.
8. There were people fighting in the room next to me.
9. There was someone barfing all damn night in the other room next to me.
10. And to top it off, there were roaches in the drawers and in the doorjams...disgusting.
Recap:
I had to sleep in my clothes with the lights on to keep the roaches at bay and leave the AC on high to drown out the fighting and barfing along with the undesireables roaming the hallway. All in all I got about 1.5 hours of sleep which ruined my entire Sunday.
1) The whole hotel (including lobby and halls) reeks of stale cig smoke
2) There was garbage all over the parking lot
3) There was garbage bags and other trash floating in the pool
4) The carpeting in the hallways was peeling up
5) The room reeked of cigarette smoke even though it was non-smoking
6) The floors creaked really loudly, which kept us up all night
7) The shower was filthy (we didn't end up taking showers because we would have come out dirtier than when we got in)
8) The bedsheets on my bed were stained (Ugghh!!!) and ripped
9) The "free" breakfast consisted of a few cold english muffins and brown bananas
10) The only thing better than the price, is leaving the hotel after a horrible night of sleep
I know it's April 1st, but this is NO JOKE!
The only thing that was good about this hotel was that they were showing Scanner Cop on TV. If you haven't seen this fine film, do yourself a favor and watch this instead:
NASTY DUMP! I checked into this motel for a week, but checked out after only one night. The room was disgusting with bugs under the bed and dirty carpet. There was no TV remote, the refridgerator didn't work, the microwave was broken and very dirty, and the staff was unhelpful. I spoke to the owner to request a refund for the portion of the week I did not use. He told me if I wanted service I should have gone to the Holiday Inn.
I have stayed in some real stink holes in my time, but this one was by far the worst! When I got to my room there was marijuana stems between the sheets and it appeared the sheets had been used by a hooker just before I arrived. I also found a used tampon in the dresser drawer.
We have a high tolerance for the occasional "mom & pop" or even a slightly "flea-bag" motel. This place was over our line, which was pretty low.
- Parked next to abandon vehicle with two flat tires
- Drunk approached us for beer, followed us in to the lobby and then we discovered he was a resident there.
- First room hadn't been cleaned. Second room was only slightly better.
- Large dog in next room barked
- Random person pounded on our door very late
- Hard core porn on the TV.
Only reason I stopped there was I had a coupon giving a reduced rate. They refused to honor it because the state fair was there that weekend. Found out later the state fair ended a few hour before we checked in.
1. Hair in bathroom shower
2. Toilet did not flush
3. No amenities (soap, shampoo)
4. Had to request towels
5. Rips in the comforter
6. Flat sheets instead of fitted sheets
7. Loud parties
8. Unrestricted PORN on channel 45
9. Newly Remodeled
Here are the reasons you should never stay there: (1) there was a horrible smell throught the building. (2) there was no clean linen in the room, just a dirty bath towel hanging over the shower door, and the blanket was in a ball on the bed _NO SHEETS< style="font-weight: bold;">when my husband called them from the room they came to the room showed him the laundry room and wanted him to make the bed. (3) no heat or airconditioner- did not work and the floor was soaking wet!!!!!!!!!!
The place was a dump! We decided not to stay and ask for a refund and the manager wouldn't refund our money. We ended up staying somewhere else, due to the unsanitary conditions and realizing they weren't going to give us a refund no matter what. We decided the money wasn't worth our safety and health to stay there. Terrible place, beware of this one!!!!
1. Pulled into what appeared to be a lobby with very undesireable people screaming profanities at each other.
2. Got to room stepping over trash and unsecured doors.
3. The bathroom floor was sticky so I kept my shoes on the entire night.
4. Porn on TV for no reason.
5. Recepticle covers were missing, and the one in the hallway was burnt like it was just recently on fire.
6. The boxspring to the bed was broken in half which made for a recliner type bed.
7. The peephole to see out of your room to the hallway was plugged up with toilet paper.
8. There were people fighting in the room next to me.
9. There was someone barfing all damn night in the other room next to me.
10. And to top it off, there were roaches in the drawers and in the doorjams...disgusting.
Recap:
I had to sleep in my clothes with the lights on to keep the roaches at bay and leave the AC on high to drown out the fighting and barfing along with the undesireables roaming the hallway. All in all I got about 1.5 hours of sleep which ruined my entire Sunday.
1) The whole hotel (including lobby and halls) reeks of stale cig smoke
2) There was garbage all over the parking lot
3) There was garbage bags and other trash floating in the pool
4) The carpeting in the hallways was peeling up
5) The room reeked of cigarette smoke even though it was non-smoking
6) The floors creaked really loudly, which kept us up all night
7) The shower was filthy (we didn't end up taking showers because we would have come out dirtier than when we got in)
8) The bedsheets on my bed were stained (Ugghh!!!) and ripped
9) The "free" breakfast consisted of a few cold english muffins and brown bananas
10) The only thing better than the price, is leaving the hotel after a horrible night of sleep
I know it's April 1st, but this is NO JOKE!
The only thing that was good about this hotel was that they were showing Scanner Cop on TV. If you haven't seen this fine film, do yourself a favor and watch this instead:
March 30, 2009
Rider Fail
As fans of the Fail Blog, we often times find ourselves noting fails of our own. Such was the case the other night during an otherwise brilliant show at Denver's own Larimer Lounge. We encountered what we dubbed a Rider Fail.
If you are unfamiliar with what a rider is, check out The Smoking Gun's list of band's riders (I like the Chili Pepper's meditation room). A rider can be described as a list of junk the venue/promoter provides a band to make them more comfortable on their tour. The Spinto Band has one of these. While it is rarely filled, when it is, we get quite excited. We have items like a veggie tray w/hummus, a case of beer, case of water, and the all important chips and salsa.
We sometimes receive a smattering of these items. Denver was one of these nights, but we got a kick out of which items the promoter chose to include. Something is noticeably absent. Have you ever eaten salsa with apples? It's on the same plane as having a meditation room without an area rug or aromatherapy candles.
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The blurriness here represents Tom's confusion as to how we can eat the salsa:
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We consider this a Rider Fail, but perhaps one could consider it a Bartender Win. The bartender needed some salsa for his NCAA basketball party the following day so he decided to charge it to the show budget while conveniently forgetting to bring any tortilla chips. Either way we had a good laugh about it and left the salsa, untapped, atop the counter. We prefer it Spicy anyway.
March 27, 2009
Ocarina of Rhyme
If you haven't heard of Team Teamwork's Ocarina of Rhyme yet, I thought I would post this link here for everyone to download.
We have been rocking out to it in the van. It's pretty fun for all of us Zelda fans.
Lost Woods - Clipse
Hyrule Market-Common
The Owl - JayZ
March 23, 2009
TOURannosaurus Rex
Southbysouthwest was funzo, but now it's doneso. The real action is just about to begin:
The SPINTO BAND North American Tour 2009!
03.23 - Tuscon, AZ - Club Congress * #
03.24 - Los Angeles, CA - Spaceland ^ #
03.25 - San Francisco, CA - Bottom of the Hill #
03.27 - Salt Lake City, UT - Kilby Court #
03.28 - Denver, CO - Larimer Lounge #
03.29 - Omaha, NE - Slowdown #
03.30 - Lawrence, KS - Jackpot Saloon #
03.31 - St. Louis, MO - The Billiken Club (St Louis University) %
04.01 - Chicago, IL - Schuba's %
04.02 - Newport, KY - Southgate House (Parlour) %
04.04 - Sate College, PA - Bar Bleu
04.05 - Brooklyn, NY - The Bell House %
We're particularly excited about the dates from Salt Lake City to St. Louis as we missed those cities the on our last tour.
But that's not all. We've got a couple of local shows in celebration of our 10th (yes, 10th) anniversary of playing our first show, a high school battle of bands. We came in second that time. Let's hope we get enough votes this time around!
4.10 - West Chester, PA - The Note
4.24 - Kennett Square, PA - The Kennett Flash **
We will be sharing the stage with tons of awesome groups, noted above by the following symbols:
* = Golden Boots
^ = Light FM
# = Maps & Atlases
% = The Rural Alberta Advantage
** = The Sin City Band
Come out and see us for possibly the last time in a while!
The SPINTO BAND North American Tour 2009!
03.23 - Tuscon, AZ - Club Congress * #
03.24 - Los Angeles, CA - Spaceland ^ #
03.25 - San Francisco, CA - Bottom of the Hill #
03.27 - Salt Lake City, UT - Kilby Court #
03.28 - Denver, CO - Larimer Lounge #
03.29 - Omaha, NE - Slowdown #
03.30 - Lawrence, KS - Jackpot Saloon #
03.31 - St. Louis, MO - The Billiken Club (St Louis University) %
04.01 - Chicago, IL - Schuba's %
04.02 - Newport, KY - Southgate House (Parlour) %
04.04 - Sate College, PA - Bar Bleu
04.05 - Brooklyn, NY - The Bell House %
We're particularly excited about the dates from Salt Lake City to St. Louis as we missed those cities the on our last tour.
But that's not all. We've got a couple of local shows in celebration of our 10th (yes, 10th) anniversary of playing our first show, a high school battle of bands. We came in second that time. Let's hope we get enough votes this time around!
4.10 - West Chester, PA - The Note
4.24 - Kennett Square, PA - The Kennett Flash **
We will be sharing the stage with tons of awesome groups, noted above by the following symbols:
* = Golden Boots
^ = Light FM
# = Maps & Atlases
% = The Rural Alberta Advantage
** = The Sin City Band
Come out and see us for possibly the last time in a while!
March 14, 2009
More South by Southwest Infotainment
Not sure how many of you guys have your minds on Austin right now, but we certainly do. I mean, just look at this poster!
Some of the finest music in America will be heard in Room 710 that Saturday night, courtesy of Park the Van Records!
Also, here's a little infocard about our shows you can look at, print out, and use to write on the back when and where the Vivian Girls are playing:
Some of the finest music in America will be heard in Room 710 that Saturday night, courtesy of Park the Van Records!Also, here's a little infocard about our shows you can look at, print out, and use to write on the back when and where the Vivian Girls are playing:
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