December 29, 2011

"Get down" with us on New Years Eve.

For those of you who would like to be dancing in Philadelphia on the eve of 2012, may we suggest Johnny Brenda's.
As you can see, Nick will be dropping needles down onto grooves and perhaps you'll enjoy cutting the rug to them. Complete info HERE.

If we don't see you then, be sure to have a wonderful end of 2011. We have lots of things to show you in the new year!

December 18, 2011

A free holiday song from the Spinto Band


Well, it looks like we've reached that time of year once again. When the chilling, unrelenting of onslaught Old Man Winter's steady blow pierces our skin and infects our bones. It can be a troublesome time, but not if you stop to appreciate the activities this sadist necessitates. Ultimately you shall be seeking warm fires, delicious food and good company. Perhaps even musical accompaniment? Well look no further:


This is a little recording we did two years ago and only gave out to a select group of people. Now it's available to everyone, only in exchange for an email address (BTW, we promise we will stop asking for email addresses once we've collected EVERY. SINGLE. ONE OF THEM).

Enjoy and stay warm!

December 2, 2011

The BIBA! soundtrack has arrived!

Yes, it's true. Our soundtrack to the film, Biba! One Island, 879 Votes is now available for public consumption. We were combing through the archives and even added a SPECIAL BONUS EDITION which includes 4 more tracks than the original. All we ask in return from you is an email address (so we can keep you as informed on Spinto Band goings on). The Owl Mag even wrote up a very nice review here. Next step: OSCAR NOMS, YO.


To download the Biba! album for free, simply click on the "Free Download" tab on the right, or CLICK HERE.

Hope you enjoy it!

November 27, 2011

Related videos from fellow bros.

Two good buddies of ours have released some really good videos for some really great tunes recently.

This phenomenon first occured when our dear friend LANGOR [formerly of the notorious Sw!ms] released a limited edition flexidisc single featuring production from our own Nick & Thomas. Joe plays on the disc, too! We hope this is the first of many things to come from this legend. It was released this past Friday and it'll be available on iTunes and Prairie Queen Records soon!



Only moments later our buddy ROAR released the title song from his 2010 EP "I Can't Handle Change" [similarly engineered and mixed by Nick Krill!]. He has a new record I'm Not Here To Make Friends coming out in 2012 featuring more Krill production and playing from most of us on it. From what we've heard it will change the face of pop music. Until that comes out, keep yourself entertained with this banger and buy / download the record HERE.

November 11, 2011

New song from a soundtrack we scored in the last few months.

So while we continue to "get the artwork ready" for our new album, we have been keeping busy with a number of projects. One of them was scoring the soundtrack to Benjamin Bloodwell's film, Biba! One Island, 879 Votes. It's a wonderful documentary and you should see it if you get the chance!


If the film isn't playing anywhere near you, you can do the next best thing and listen to the music we created for it, as we will be releasing the album digitally for free in December. In the meantime, here is an sneak peek at one of the tracks!

RIGHT HERE!

November 3, 2011

Teen Men

Teen Men - Fall Out A Tree from Jubadaba on Vimeo.

Over the last month I have been collaborating with filmmaker Albert Birney on a musical / visual project we are calling Teen Men.

The project was kind of birthed out of the fact that we were both coming off of really long and intense projects (The Spinto Band’s new LP "Shy Pursuit" for myself, and for Albert, his first feature film “The Beast Pageant.”) and we both needed to work on something spontaneous and make something that was more of a gut musical / visual thing than a really labored over project.

The impulsiveness and intuitive approach enabled us to produce work that is more pure and instinctual than I have made before. In the end, the experiences and skill sets we each developed during our prolonged projects allowed us to forget about the technical aspects of either the recording or filming and enabled us to present more visceral work.

We collaborated on both the musical and video aspect of Teen Men…with myself taking the lead in the studio and Albert taking the lead with the video.

The song also features Philadelphia musician Rick Flom playing piano, and Artist Catharine Maloney on vocals.

Special thanks to Gretchen Lohse for helping with the video too.

enjoy!


-nick

August 24, 2011

oh manji: the magician's secrets revealed

Everyone here at the Spinto Band home office was so flattered to have our song made into a Jumanji song parody, that we just had to get to know the people behind it. Here is a nice little interview with Graham and Nat, the brains behind the video!Link


The Spinto Band: Who are you, and where are you from?


Graham: I am Graham and I am 28 years old. I have lived most my life in a little town called East Grinstead, which is about 30 miles from London - the only point of reference in England. It is also the World Scientology HQ. This may explain why I sit indoors making videos when I should be outside in the sunshine.

Nat: I am Nat and I live in the wonderful town of Sheffield in the north of England.


SB: What was your inspiration for an “Oh Mandy” / “Jumanji” parody?

N: Great song + great film + a bit of time to kill = Oh Manji. It started with just singing the chorus and then I thought...'I know...!'


SB: Do you do a lot of these videos? are there any other videos planned?

G: I have never edited video before in my life. However, since putting this together, I have just been constantly editing films down to 3 and a half minutes in length with instrumental versions of songs on top of them. That way, if Nat ever decides she wants to do this again, I might be able to save some time if she chances on one I've already prepared. I've got my fingers crossed for American Psycho / Man in the Mirror

N: I think this is a one off!


SB: How long did the video take?


G: The video itself took about 5-6 hours. It only took that long because
a.) FUN FACT: The word "Jumanji" is only spoken 3 times in the movie "Jumanji". This didn't give me much to work with.
b.) CONTINUITY FACT: Robin Williams actually goes to the shoe factory THEN has a shave. This made picking shots of the shoe factory quite difficult without suggesting that Robin Williams has a beard that grows back instantly. I bet he could totally do that if he wanted though.

N: Graham did the hard work here, I only spent about an hour writing the lyrics and then recording them (hence the continuity error)


SB: Do you do anything else music or video related?


N: I do (real, non-comedy) songs in my band Nat Johnson and the Figureheads: www.natjohnson.co.uk (and in my old band Monkey Swallows the Universe: www.mstu.co.uk)


SB: We have a song called "Later On" if you were to make a song parody
with it about the plot of "Star Trek II: the WRATH OF KHAN" what would
the first verse and chorus be?


G:
James Tiberius Kirk is rebuking Kirsty Alley
Her decisions killed the whole crew
Wait - it's fine. It was just a test run

So later on we meet Khan - he seems to want to know where Kirk is. KHAAAN
KHAAAN

Oh-ho-ho KHAAAAAAAN

Oh-ho-ho KHAAAAAAAN
Your mind worm's in Chekov's head
Oh-ho-ho KHAAAAAAAN
He's telling all our secrets
Oh-ho-ho KHAAAAAAAN
We'll get you in the end though

KHAAAAAN
Oh-ho-ho KHAAAAAAAN


SB: We recently became addicted to the board game Settlers of Catan.
Have you played that game? Do you know if it is as dangerous to play
as Jumanji?


G: I heard someone say it once. I think it is 34% less dangerous than Jumanji.

N: I've never heard of it but I'm pretty sure all games have an element of danger which is what makes them fun. I once lost at scrabble and the word 'loser' became magically tattooed across my face. I've since won a game and can go out in public again without a mask.


SB: What song would you use to parody Settlers of Catan?

G: I would use "Man in the Mirror". It is the only song I know. It also has the same number of syllables as "Settlers of Catan" (as long as you say "Settlers" as 2 syllables), which is the main criteria.

N: I'm not sure how you pronounce Catan (Cay - tan or Ca- Tan?) but if it's the latter I would probably try and do that 'Whatta Man, whatta mighty good man' song by Salt N Pepa/En Vogue.


SB: What is the best Robin Williams movie where he has a beard, and why?


G: Happy Feet. It's a shame you can't see it, but if you get the Blu-Ray version, you can hear it bristling in high definition audio.

N: Does he have a beard at the start of Mrs Doubtfire? I can't remember, but how about a video of Mrs Doubtfire to the song Sex on Fire by Kings of Leon?


SB: Is Robin Williams the hairiest man you've ever seen?


G: I just Googled "Hairiest Man" to properly research this. I found this: http://www.odditycentral.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/02/hypertrichosis.jpg. I don't have anything to add.


SB: If you were stuck on a desert island with Robin Williams and he died and you had to eat him what would be the first part of him you ate? Why?

G: In Dead Poets Society, he says "Sucking the marrow out of life doesn't mean choking on the bone." so I'd probably try that to see if he was right.

N: Any part of him I didn't have to shave first.


SB: Do you have anything else you would like to add? Or any special message for the eight people who read this blog?

N: Just that I saw you in Manchester a few years back and it was good, come back to the UK! Hi Spinto Band blog readers!

August 20, 2011

Oh Manji

We've had a lot of wonderful things happen to us in our 10+ year career, but a musical synopsis of the movie JUMANJI parodying our song "Oh Mandy" has got to be in the top 5.

May 16, 2011

Two new songs in the back of our van.

Caught by the Irish music blog Cock and Bull. (Also captured: Insulting the Irish, Nick telling a funny joke, Nick apologizing for how funny his joke was).


April 12, 2011

Kick it Mike

MIKE QUINN - BIG SHIT from Mike Quinn on Vimeo.


Big Shit is the first video off one of our favorite albums of recent memory. Mike Quinn's Magico helped us get through the 14th hour of our drive back from Austin a few weeks ago and it helped us burn the bacon in our fry pan this morning. It helped us wash the snarkiness of LCD Soundsystem from our mouth even though we think the snark was ironic-snark. It helped us rethink the word "magic" and have a moment where magic isn't about wizards and potions, but about waves bouncing off the walls and into holes in your head that causes you to stop everything and start dancing.

April 7, 2011

How The Spinto Band tried to sneak into the Arthur Premiere

So, in case you only read about the spinto band via RSS feed, we thought we should post this little story here as well. Hopefully you are all well and enjoying the changing of the seasons. With the exodus of winter here in Delaware, we find that not only does the weather change, but so does the quality of movies hitting the cineplex. We were surfing around Rotten Tomatoes the other day and something caught our eye. It seems as though the remake of Dudley Moore's spot on critique on socio-economic injustice is finally finished and being released this weekend. The Arthur remake stars the spicy Brit Russell Brand. We should add, his last name is quite fitting for a modern day celebrity.

Well, before we get too off topic, we wanted to let you know what caught our eye about the release of Arthur is that we hadn't heard back from the producers about our cover of Christopher Cross's Arthur Theme (Best That You Can Do). We recorded it about 6 months back, and were hoping it would be included in the horse scene of the movie.

Since it appears that they won't be using it, we might as well utilize it the best we can. Below is a new device someone has named a widget. Please enjoy:












April 1, 2011

Poetic blog or modern Mad Libs?

There is someone who has been composing some very interesting HTML in the past month. This someone is either a 1) mad genius or 2) mindless bot. Regardless of the source, the results are striking. Look at it their work here (or click the image in case it's no longer there).

Not sure if you have "google alerts" for the "spinto band" such as we do, but it certainly helps with the discovery of these kind of gems. What is the thought that went into the writing / programming of this?!

Surely, only the most brilliant of poets would be capable of writing such odd but poignant verse as:

Hives have come by sacrificing that everything is considered with standard, and that this masculism told outside of supplement to buy the first-person. He's endless and has only been granted before at the cycle, spinto band.

Or perhaps it is a jumbled pile of copy-paste being created by a bot to generate "google alert" hits. But for what purpose? There are no links or hint of advertising that I can find.

I continue to look at the page with endless fascination in its deconstruction of the English language and post-modern web layout. William Burroughs and the Dadaists were known to do "cut-ups". Is this any different?

February 23, 2011

For our own benefit...

We have a confession to make.

This month marks the anniversary of our addiction to the Super Nintendo game, Super Bomberman 2.

Yes, it has been a full year since we introduced this dangerous distraction into our lives. It seemed that whenever we got together we played a couple (or dozen) rounds of this game. It began as much-needed break from the long recording sessions, tiresome practices or grueling load-outs...but it soon grew into something it prevented us from doing those things entirely. We were not playing Bomberman anymore. It was playing us.

Just like David Hasselhoff's daughter famously filmed him drunkenly eating a Wendy's hamburger, Jeff secretly recorded footage of us during a round of Bomberman...So we could see for ourselves how this game affects us and how little control over it we have. These are the sobering results:

February 16, 2011

SXSW: Round 1


this will no doubt be a true showdown, be sure to r.s.v.p. here: http://austin.noisepop.com/

"let it not be said that i could not play the game, or abide by the rules." - clair huxtable

February 14, 2011

Friends From Another (Milk) Mother

This weekend The Beast Pageant made its west premiere in San Francisco. It was there that our dear friends Albert Birney and Jon Moses met up with another one of our dear friends, Jonathan Mann. To make things even crazier, Cheston Gasik showed up!

Jonathan is one of the most diligent, creative and prolific songwriters I know (he has been writing a song a day for over two years) and he was inspired to pen a number about the film. It is so thrilling to see these minds get together from afar. Some day we will all be living in a giant house together.

January 27, 2011

Experiment!

1. Press PLAY on the top left YouTube video.

2. Count THREE "MISSISSIPPIS" and then play the next video.

3. Repeat step two until all videos are playing.

4. Enjoy



January 21, 2011

New year, new things.

Happy 2011! The album is done and now we are hibernating / preparing for an international release / world tour / getting our clothing line together / negotiating promotional tie-in w/ Burger King (they are doing a makeover of the BK Kids Club Gang and basing the characters off of us!)

Ryan Cormier of the Wilmington News Journal wrote a nifty little piece about our studio. They also took some fun pictures of us pretending to play instruments (Jeff doesn't actually know how to play maraca! WHOOPS!). Read the entire thing HERE.



Also, we are playing another local show in our collective womb, MOJO MAIN in Newark, DE. We are playing with a spectacular act that you NEED TO HEAR. They are called Lost In The Trees. We're super excited. Here are the deets:



See you soon.