Start the Band

Decided to put together this short and simple song as a means to get lyrics going. Obviously I'm out a job right now, so the time is right to get music going again.

Taking Back Sunday rocks the Old National Centre at Murat Theatre

What a great show put on last night by Taking Back Sunday and tour mates Thursday.  I got to the place right as the first band hit which was only a few minutes after 7:00.  Always great when that first band goes on a decent time, and each band plays their set in the right time frame.  They were called the New Regime and they weren't too bad. Just a rocking band. Can't say much about that because I knew who I was there for.  Next up was the Colour Revoult.  Reminded a bit of Incubus in a way.  Another hard rocking band.  Had some keyboards going for it.  The singer/guitarist sang pretty gruff at times.  Nothing too exciting to report.  Moving along, we had Thursday up.  They had a video screen in the background that would play at certain songs.  The videos that played along with the songs were spot on fitting.  They had lots of energy to set up for Taking Back Sunday. I think I've seen some of Thursday before at a Warped Tour.  They definitely impressed me, and just seemed to be right on musically and connecting with the crowd.  They finished up their set with about 10 sets, and left the stage for Taking Back Sunday to delight us.

There's no bones about it, this line up of Taking Back Sunday is the line up that should have stayed together.  They weren't together for about seven years I believe.  John the guitarist and Adam the singer had a big falling out at one point, and John left the band.  Taking Back Sunday continued on, but it never seemed like they were comfortable with any line up after that.  Then somehow they came back together one night in Texas, and started recording songs in Texas as well.  There was some big airing all the dirty laundry moment and it seems like the band is all on the same page. I know I read in Alt Press magazine that Eddie Reyes, who started the whole band, said that if this line up doesn't work out, he's done with music.  Pretty strong words, but it shows the brotherhood a band can be.  It shows how much you connect with those musical mates, and what you can do together.  Brotherhood was definitely the theme when Adam would talk to the crowd at times.  Musically the band just brought it strong live.  The new songs sounded so loud and awesome live.  The old songs, which the crowd of course wanted the most, were definitely sing alongs.  Things are on the right and new page for Taking Back Sunday.  Hopefully, nothing but better things are coming their way.  

Neon Love Life "Love Control" Video

Saw that the lovely ladies of Neon Love Life have given out their new and awesome music video. All filmed here in Indianapolis, I have to share it and support it. They are trying their hardest to get out there and make a name.  Gotta support the local talents out there.  This is just a video that suits what the music is all about, and what Neon Love Life is all about.  Go check them out soon!  

Neon Love Life Video Premiere Show


Neon Love Life | Love Control from Mays Entertainment, LLC on Vimeo.

Shameless Plug 22- Shameless Plug of Myself

Podcast Powered By Podbean

Well we're at the end of the month, and I wanted to talk about some of the headlines that have caught my attention. I'll bring out this week's news and talk about some music that has perked my listening.  Drop the Needle Section featuring the months of June and July blogging by yours truly.  It is the Shameless Plug after all.  

News for the Week
Sum 41 Documentary
Screeching Weasel back in the news
Reverend Peyton's Big Damn Band tour
Heineken Pulls Ad Using Dead Kennedy's Song
Bomb the Music Industry Tour Dates

Music to Check Out
Mariachi El Bronx "Great Provider"
Gaslight Anthem "Biloxi Parish"
Hot Water Music "Up to Nothing"
Dan Andriano in the Emergency Room "Me and Denver"

Another Two For Tuesday

It's Tuesday night and I wanted to bring back the Two for Tuesday feature due to it's underwhelming popularity.






What is the common thread for these videos???

And the common thread is two bands from Chicago! See how easy that was. Check back next Tuesday for another Two For Tuesday.

Shameless Plug 21- One Hit Wonder or Steady Career?

Podcast Powered By Podbean

One Hit Wonders

I came across this article on Yahoo one day, and thought why not talk a bit about the idea of a one hit wonder.  Would you rather be a one hit wonder or no hit wonder?  Musician known for that one song or a musician known for music, and not just a song?  A couple of questions I will dive into on this hot and muggy episode of the Shameless Plug. 

Tweet me @stephenA1181 

News Time

Best of 2011 Lists So Far
NOFX to release unreleased EP
Bouncing Souls aim for 2012 release


Music to Check Out

Blink 182 "Up All Night"
Hot Water Music "the Fire,the Steel,the Tread"
Strung Out Retrospective
Thrice "Yellow Belly"

Wrestling and Music are Similiar?

I got to thinking in all of my random thoughts today that while it might seem worlds apart, the music industry and wrestling have some similiar paths crossing.  First off, there's the creative aspect of it.  You need to be creative to make up good songs for people to listen to, and in wrestling, you need to be creative to create a character that people can get behind whether good or bad.  Also, the way you break into both industries could be of the same ilk.  In wrestling there are independents all over the country, just like music has independent labels that you can sign to.  But if you want the big money, you find a major label for your music, and a wrestler makes the jump to the big time in WWE or TNA.  The music of a character can set the stage for how they enter in the arena and ring.  Both industries are on the road all the time trying to get their product out there.  Wrestlers might spend life like a touring band, where they work each day for a year, and maybe get off a few times in that span.  Just like a small band is trying to get their music out there, they go out and tour each small city and each big city they can to get something going.  Just a fun and different way to look at both industries, since I'm a huge music fan, and have been a wrestling fan all these years.  Let's call this Random Music Thought Sunday.  Creative name I know!

Shameless Plug 20- Two Bands One Stage

Podcast Powered By Podbean

With the announcement of Weezer and Flaming Lips show sharing a stage and trading off from songs, I got to thinking about putting my own spin on it. I thought about what two bands could be put together, but with a twist that those band would cover each other.  Just a fun way to think about the music of these bands.  Let me know your own pairings as well!

Eve 6 in the Studio

Say Anything Sign to Equal Vision Records

Max Bemis from Say Anything does Day Trotter Session

Weakerthans Full Album Shows

Craig Finn (Hold Steady) Working on Solo Album

Chuck Ragan Another Solo Album

The Wait Is Almost Over for New Blink music

Weezer and Flaming Lips on Stage Together

Two For Tuesday

I figured this feature works on the radio on Q95, so I can make it a feature on my blog.  We'll have some fun with it and you'll need to figure out the reason why I posted the two videos!  And if you're the correct guesser, you can be the host of next's week Two for Tuesday!  Talk about a fun prize.  You can leave me a comment here, or on the link I'll provide in facebook or twitter.  Good luck! Today's should be an easy one.

Song of the Moment- Frank Turner's "Peggy Sang the Blues"

My song of the moment. I just love the lyrics of it, and now that in my life I need that direction. There's something out there more than just getting a job, getting a real life, and settling down.  There's a bigger picture out there.  I can hopefully make some mark on people, and make a mark on my own life. I just need to find out what that mark can be.  I will get to where I want to go, and better times are coming.

Shameless Plug 19- Are covers of songs okay or a shameless ploy to get heard by others?

Podcast Powered By Podbean

"Are covers of songs okay or a shameless ploy to get heard by others?" Giving out my thoughts on the idea of a cover song, and what it's all about.  


Wikipedia of "Cover songs"
Cover Songs Website

NEWS FLASH!
The Movielife Final Show

Tracklisting for Covers album by h2o

Lit in the studio

Jay- Z and Kanye album together?

No Doubt back in the studio

Hot Water Music signing to a new label

Talking with JP from Midwest State of Mind

What a great interview we have here.  I appreciate the time and well thought answers that JP from Midwest State of Mind was able to give me. It's awesome to see how he wants this band to be something more than just the music, but something that stands out for the midwest.  We're a section of the country that doesn't get credit for the music we produce, and I'm happy to help this band out getting that message out there.  Go check these guys out at the Irving Theatre on the east side of town July 30th.  

Midwest State of Mind website

First off, what got you into playing music?

To be honest it had always been apart of my life. my father is a musician and we always had instruments laying around. I would fiddle around time to time and took drum and guitar lessons for a lil while, but nothing ever came of it. then about 4 years ago my friend had a jam spot and I got tired of listening and decided it was time to start participating. my friend taught me the guitar and I took that knowledge and transferred it to the bass and boom the rest is history now!

How did your band come together?

We've all known eachother for years since childhood, then eventually we decided it was time to be heard outside our jam spot, and see what we could do. it just seemed right. our original lead guitarist taught me and Andrew(singer) how to play. we all understood music the same way and just decided we can do this. If we were dedicated  enough!

What influences you music wise?

Well straight out as far as bass goes Flea is the man I look up to

him so much he is a true musician and entertainer. I strive to gain skills comparable to his stage presence and musical skills, but I love all types of music right now I'm on a Dubstep kick. I thought  electronic music was taking over and I wanted to see what all the hype was about dubstep got me the first time.  once I realized it was all low frequency music I was hooked.  But I'd say Jim Morrison is my main inspiration I love his style and his mind really opened me up in my early teen years. But just to name some bands I really dig Cage the Elephant, the Black Keys, RHCP,Sublime,Rusko, DatSik, The Knux, Blind Melon, Led Zep, Clapton, ya know and all the other founding fathers.

What are you doing with the band right now, besides playing the bass?

Well right now were working on trading instruments for particular songs, like I said I play guitar too, so we're gonna start working on putting together our individual ideas I believe all of us continually write music and make music not just for the band but for ourselves it's the ultimate release. I'm also the contact for the band and handle most of our external affairs booking, etc.

Any plans for the band?

Yes you know it were a hard working bunch and have got long and short term goals right now were putting the finishing touches on MidwestStateofMind.com, putting together a merchandise catalog (T-shirts,stickers, match books,pins, etc)

And most importantly looking to expand on our first release "First Things First" demo and record a full length album.

Any good live show story to share?  

One time in particular stands out we were playing in a really small bar called Lizards, and absolutely packed the place. we were playing with Vanity Theft a national act you may have heard of this band. they did good and were hard to follow but we did and killed it. towards the end of the set everyone stormed the stage and danced with us and I remember a couple of the girls from the band Vanity theft getting on stage too and grinding on me ha. it was pretty sweet beer got spilled everywhere and everytime the drummer Sean hit the cymbals, they would splash beer it was something outta a music video I swear lol. and our Cd Release show at birdys was excellent over 250 people came out and was just an all around amazing high energy show one of our best performances hand down.

Any bad live show story to share?

Haha nothing that is scarring, but ya know there's been a couple hiccups breaking strings with no back up guitar, or places being completely unprepared for our crowd service wise, or no PA or a shitty PA, incompetent people ya know these things happen but nothing too bad.

If you could play with any band, what band would that be?

Well personally theres no where I'd rather be than with MWSM, but as a band I'd love to open for Cage the Elephant or the Chili Peppers just to name a few. 

Final Word/ Parting Shot!

If there's one thing I could say to all people from the Midwest is I hope you believe in us and trust in us to represent the Midwest. that's what kinda started this whole thing mentally and eventually the naming of the band is that the Midwest gets no love or respect yet over the past century we've gave so much to pop

culture and continue to be underestimated. Its a shame and our mission is to help people understand were no different than the people from the coasts the same things go on here and we can all relate to one another.  and most importantly love one another Love+Music=Life I truly believe that and if anyone else does tell them it's M.O.E (music over everything or Midwest over everything whichever you prefer and can identify with)  And thank you Stephen for this opportunity and taking the time to show love and genuinely care about the local music scene. Let's all unite and change this stigma!

 Thanks again,

Jp(Bassist at Midwest State of Mind)

"Where is your mind at?" 

Blake from the Goodnight Fields tells me the message of their music

Another artist got into contact with me about giving them some love on my blog.  Feel free to visit their site and listen to the music along the top of the page. Some uplifting music if I say so!  

the Goodnight Fields

"The Goodnight Fields came about due to Blake's longing to make music that gave back in the same way music gave something to him. A wish, hope, dreams. He was lucky enough to find three other incredible musician who felt the same way. Blake wrote most of the material the band is currently playing in the Spring of 2010. After a lot of hard work and searching, the band was brought together and first began locally performing in Muncie and Indianapolis the following October. As of April 2011, the band has played over 30 shows, traveled as far as Wisconsin to open for Lifehouse, recorded an EP and a full length album, filmed a music video, and had more fun than they ever imagined possible."


I have been listening to the songs on your website right now, so who would say has influence your sound?  Or what has influenced the sound because I can get the sense of hope and living out your dreams in the music? 

Each member of our band is into a different kind of music, which definitely helps keep our music interesting and somewhat hard to pin down genre wise.  While we all pretty much like the same music, we all have our favorites. Suz is into music that fits in the pop category pretty consistently (and lots of Taylor Swift), while I am always drawn towards bands that are in the contemporary folk/pop/alternative genre like the Avett Brothers,Mumford and Sons, Good Old War, Head and the Heart etc.  And Guster.  I like Guster a lot.  You could actually say I'm obsessed.  Throw all those bands together and you get why we write the songs we do.  Pat is really into Muse and ska, and I think that's why his bass stuff is so epic and his fills leave a lot of pop band's bassists in the dust.  He also recently bought a stand-up bass for our folkier music, which really adds a cool flavor to the tunes.  Bianca is more into indie rock artists, like Florence and the Machine (I think that's her favorite), which can help you understand why her drums aren't like a normal pop band's drums.  She is very adamant about looking at drums in a creative way, rather than a keep the beat way, which we all really appreciate.  

We are always influenced by bands and solo artists that are serious about expressing themselves in a way that connects with listeners on some personal level.  Our little catch line is even "music that means more."  We're all about creating music that people get into emotionally.  While I am against being preachy, we really like to try and take it the next level and give people hope in a lot of our music as well.  Our songs are pretty sad (which is funny, because we're pretty happy people), but if you look for it, they are rarely bleak and doubtful.  Hang On, our latest album, is actually sort of a concept album about...get this...hanging on.


Have you been playing out much?  Any memorable live show story you want to share? 

We've only been a band for about 7 months, so we've mostly only played in Indiana (although we've played inMilwaukee, are playing in Ohio in a few weeks, and are planning a midwest winter tour).  We've played over 40 shows in that time though, which is pretty crazy because when we started back in October 2010, Pat was the only member who had been in a serious band previously with any contacts in the music scene.  We sent a lot of emails and made a lot of phone calls, and got the word out and started gigging at venues in Muncieand Indy.  We were lucky that people responded to our sound in such a positive way, and before we knew it we were getting asked left in right to play at all kinds of non-venue related events, too.

Probably the coolest show we played was back in November where we managed to secure a spot opening on the Rave Bar Stage for Kris Allen (sp?  That dude from American Idol) and Lifehouse.  Kris's guitar player actually bought our EP that we were selling at the time!

What bands would you want to play a show with if you could choose any bands?

Oh, geeze.  Again, I think any artist who is serious about connecting with their fans.  (*Cough AND GUSTER cough*). 

What have you been listening to lately?

I mostly just listen to Guster on a repeat, no joke.  But recently (I can't believe I'm admitting this) I bought my first country album.  I had heard Need You Now by Lady Antebellum a lot on the radio, since it was a crossover hit, and it had become my guilty pleasure.  In my defense, it's a cleverly disguised pop song, and I wondered if the rest of the album was the same.  To my initial disappointment, It wasn't.  But after some time I managed to get into it, despite my usual disinterest towards country themes and lyrics.  It's funny, if you give most CD's a few spins, you can get into it. There are a LOT of talented songwriters and musicians out there, no matter the genre.   

Plans for the band.

The Goodnight Fields are mostly interested in making some sort of career out of this, even if it's not a glorious one.  We're not all about making the big bucks (well, we are of course, but we're realistic), and mostly we would just love to sustain ourselves doing what we love.  Our immediate plans are mostly just to do what we can independently to promote, play, and get a grassroots fan-base going, and hope we eventually attract the attention of a record label that can help us achieve that goal. 

Final word/ Parting Shot.

I think that sums our band up in a nutshell.  We've got our first studio album out, Hang On, which you can download from our website.  We'll also be releasing a new EP at the end of the summer.  We're also releasing a pretty epic music video here in the next week where  I play a burning piano. 
We appreciate anybody who gives our music a chance, and we certainly hope you like it! 

Thanks for having us Stephen,

Blake