Xtreme Wheels

So we played a show at Xtreme Wheels with After Dark Entertainment. Here's some videos from the show, check em out!

Update.1

A lot has been going on in the world of Breckenwood the past couple of months. Despite me moving back to Pennsylvania, we have still had more than enough shows to stay active. Since the last post, we performed at Shermans again, this time with Cam too on a chilly fall night on the brand new stage! Unfortunately, not too many people showed up, but it was a fun set anyway, plus we got to eat more of their delicious food again! After trying the taco fries for the first time, Cam literally got up from the table and hugged the building. This is a must hit place for food for everyone in the area!

The next mentionable show was at Club Noir in Buffalo where we got to play for a group of friends and my brothers. It was a pretty cool venue, and it had its own draw of a few people, even after 2 AM when we got off stage. Its always nice playing a show for a good crowd where you can throw everything you got at them. This leads me to what is my favorite show of all time so far: Pump Up the Jams!

Last night, we had a mini convoy and all headed back to Franklin, PA for Pump Up the Jams with A Working Progress, Almost Lifelike and My Cardboard Spaceship Adventure. Due to complications, Cam and Nick arrived late, and MCSP graciously volunteered to go on for us, and they killed it! If you check out any underground band, check these guys out. Their music is catchy and well written, full of energy and all four of them are just great guys talking to them! During their last song, Cam and Nick arrived, so they literally unloaded and went on stage, and the response was superb! While sound checking, I was messing around and playing Always by Blink 182, and a large group of the crowd started singing along, all the way to the second verse! There was a girl wearing a Breckenwood shirt right in the front row, and through the set, many people were able to sing along to some of our songs. We all got so into it, I was jumping around and running around, Garrett would go and play and sing into the crowd, allowing Katie and a few other people to sing, and even Nick broke a sweat. Our last song, All the Small Things was just one last bang to the show. Everyone seemed to LOVE it, and dipped down with us during the interlude without us doing anything to prompt them. In all, it was just the best show I've ever played. As Mikey was saying during MCSA's set, Megen really does know how to put on a great show, outdoing people who do it for a living. Again, thanks to all the bands, especially MCSA, Megan and all the people who came out to create a fun show for all the bands! I'll upload some pictures if any get posted.

Update

Wow, I haven't updated this since like June. Fortunately we haven't done too much to write about. We've played some shows around the area, such as an old post in Cheektowaga and at TGI Fridays on the patio to good crowds. We have also been (very recently) finishing up our EP which will be out soon. Cam just needs to edit one drum track a bit and Garrett needs to finish vocals. Theres a lot of cool stuff on the album that everyone should enjoy.

Breckenwood "Tour"

Man its been a while since I last posted on here, so I have a lot of updates, so bear with me. First, let's start with New York City. Nick, Garrett, Lindsey and I made the trek to the Big Apple two weeks ago now, leaving at about 3 in the morning and only getting real sleep at about 1 AM the next night. The drive was uneventful, though we did get to see a lot of cool things, such as Mark Twain's burial site. First thing we did once we got into New Jersey was check into the hotel and unload and shower. We then grabbed our gear for the rest of the day and took a train to the city. We stopped for dinner in China Town before taking the subway up to Bar East where we played an acoustic set after some GREAT acts. The first two acts were solo acoustic acts done by Jay Loftus and Oliver Ford before Kat Webb and her R&B band stepped onto the stage and played an impressive set fit for an upscale jazz club. We got on stage, and sadly by this time the whole crowd cept the remaining band had vanquished. We played a decent set considering the exhaustion and got a CD out of it. We left after our set and headed strait for the hotel where we listened to the live tracks before crashing.



The next morning we ate breakfast in the hotel and stopped by Hoboken, because Lindsey wanted to buy baked good from Carlos's Bakeshop, the place on the TV show The Cake Boss. Because we are poor musicians, we didn't have enough quarters to pay for the parking, so out came the guitars and tambourine right in front of the shop to earn some quarters. Because of this, we landed a little gig in front of a frozen yogurt shop a few blocks down where we were treated to free yogurt, pop and a place to perform for an hour. Then, we went shopping in Times Square for a bit where Garrett rocked out on a keytar. I touched my first Mark Hoppus signature bass and found the acoustic bass I would love to own in the future. Nick started looking into a pickup for his acoustic guitar, so we can improve the quality of our acoustic shows. We finished the planned part of the visit by going to dinner at Bubba Gump Shrimp and stopping by the Build a Bear for Lindsey. As we were walking back to the car, we noticed it was gone, and had to go to the impound lot where Nick had to cough up almost $200 to get the car back. Almost immediately after leaving, we were pulled over again for now having the front license plate attached, even though the other officer said it was fine in the dashboard. Once that was finally done, a VERY pissed Garrett drove us out of the city where we stopped for gas and Nick and I took over the wheel, driving back to my house.

We crashed home at about 5:30 in the morning and awoke a little after noon to a storm which would have ruined our performance and the Relay for Life at General McLane High School. Fortunately it cleared up and we were able to go on only a little later than usual. We played what I heard was a solid set, despite not being able to hear any bass or vocals. It was nice to get out and perform for a good cause as well as see some of my friends again and sell some shirts to finance the trip back to Buffalo (because we were flat broke at this point). After the show, Garrett got sick so we headed back early and unpacked everything around ten that night. Going home after those three days was the nicest thing ever, though I would still absolutely LOVE life on the road for weeks at a time.

Now for some studio updates YAY! While in the hotel, I played the two tracks Aaron sent us to listen to and post online. You can listen to the teaser track here. Be sure to let us know what you think. Maybe I'll "accidentally" leak the whole song. We're still trying to find time for both Garrett and Cam to get into the studio together so Nick and I can get our parts recorded, so start nagging them to take off a day and go in for a few hours.



We also have great news. I guess Incite a Riot and JACT records both have lists of bands they want to put on tour, and we were one of three bands to appear on both lists. On July 10th, we will be performing a show produced by Riot and JACT in Cheektowaga at Club Reign, so we want everyone out there to come and support us so we can play the best possible show. July 7th, listen for Garrett, Cam and Nick to appear on WBNY radio station for a live performance and interview about the going ons in the band. I will be soaking the rays in Florida, or else I'd be in the studio as well.

I think that's all I have for right now, keep checking back for more information going on in the world of Breckenwood.

Club Diablo

Friday night was a hell of a night at Club Diablo in downtown Buffalo. For those who have never been there, its pretty small, dark and shady looking, and I LOVED it. It's just too bad that I'm not 21 yet. All the bands that performed Friday (Saturday) were really good, and it was nice to play alongside Birds in Mines again. Unfortunately, I had to leave as the last band was going on, but it was 3:30 in the morning and people had to get up the next morning. I'm told we played a great set, so I'm ready to start playing under bigger bands on larger stages, especially once our EP is finished. Thanks to all those who came out to see us!

Round Two at the Tralf and Updates!

So last night, Breckenwood played their second show at the Tralf Music Hall in downtown Buffalo to a crowd of like nine people, so a HUGE shout out to those people who stayed to hear us perform what I think was our most energetic show yet. Lindsey complimented on how good I looked jumping all over the stage, and Kristen said I looked like I was having fun up there. We weren't even sure if Cameron would make it, but Lindsey volunteered to pick him up and helped make the night as awesome as it was, so another shout out her her! It was a very energetic show, and there were a lot of great performances by bands all night, and unfortunately we were rushed to get off stage, but next Friday we play Club Diablo for a mere 5 bucks at the door! Enough about the show here's whats going down. I'm working on setting up a show June 23 or 24 at Club W for a touring Rochester based band where we hope to play with our friends Canoe and (the band from last night I cant remember, sorry guys). I checked it out last night and it seemed like a cool place, and even the security was cool to me. As of yesterday, Garrett ordered Tshirts, so well have those available to sell for ten bucks each I think, but theres only a limited quantity, so get them quick! Our EP is finally starting to take off too. Cam and I went in with Aaron to record this week and we got the drums and bass tracks down for everything but Loser, which we're gonna do a live recording of. Once Garrett and Nick get in there, it'll only be a matter of weeks before its FINALLY done. On a final note, we're beating Miley Cyrus on reverbnation.com in rankings for Buffalo. Keep listening, and thanks to all our fans for making this as enjoyable as it has been for us!

Picking up Speed

With the school year coming to an end, Breckenwood is gaining momentum. We're going into the studio a.k.a. Garrett's house with Webb Mobile Studio Productions to record our first EP, either self titled or Loser of the Year. We're hoping to get a great sound out to people as soon as possible. Once we get closer to a release, we'll start looking for a CD release show, so if you want us to perform for you guys, let us know. We'll also have t-shirts available pretty soon for people to buy. We just had a full weekend of playing two shows at Buff State and Borders again in Orchard Park. The Buff State show looked like a dud due to weather and a lack of a crowd, but a group of girls from Mt. Saint Marys came out to support us with a group of Nick's friends, one of whom came onstage to sing and play The Mighty Taco song with Nick. Earlier today we stoped by Borders to play another two hour set of all of our music, again acoustic. I personally think it was one of the most tight sets we've ever played together, and despite being sick, I had a good time doing it. Keep checking our facebook and twitter accounts for information and details of upcoming shows!

April 21, 2011 Update

So last Sunday morning we were all getting together at Garrett's to do a quick photo shoot, but Cam went back to sleep with his phone on silent, so it never happened. We did them instead last night before practice and they turned out pretty good. We have one up on the facebook now. Thanks to Garrett's friend, Emily, for taking the picture for us, it was a blast. We went down Elmwood avenue, and even got a picture at Breckenridge and Elmwood, which is where the name Breckenwood comes from. We are all super excited to head down to Kent State on Saturday to play a headlining show with some great bands including Eastway Heroes, Sight Unseen, Eric Courtney and All Ends Up. I also came up with an idea for a music video, once we get the EP recorded for one of the songs, so if anyone (especially 5-6 girls) want to be in a music video sometime in June, let us know. Thats it for now, but here's the picture on facebook:

Mike Bird

So I was on Facebook yesterday, and I was invited to a benefit show. I didn't know what it was for so I checked it out. It was for an avid show goer named Mike Bird who had a serious spinal injury after a crowd surfer hit him. There is a benefit show at Xtreme Wheels on May 22 from 1:00 til 11:00 P.M. so come on out and help support Mike. According to the Facebook page Confirmed bands to play thus far:

RHINOCEROS
ENDEAVORS
BETTER TIMES
LAPSE
AGITATOR
REAL PEOPLE
WHAT LIES BENEATH
ANCHOR ME DOWN
ENOUGH
ALERT

There's also a blog set up with more information here

Rathskeller @ KSU

In just over a weeks time, Breckenwood will be heading to Kent, Ohio to perform at Kent State University, which happens to be the farthest west (fun fact) we have traveled for a show to date. I saw the pictures of the fliers today, and they look pretty cool, despite Brian and Micah still being in the band, haha. Oh well, we'll still post em. Arnt messed up things like pennies and stamps worth more money in the future?



Anyway, we're driving quite a few people down to Kent for the weekend, hoping to draw at least 20 people for us. I'm giving it another day or two to see if the flier gets fixed before I go to Capen and use my quota to just print off like 300 fliers to hand out on campus. Sadly we're still taking 3 cars for people, 3 basses, 1 bass amp, 4 guitars, 1 combo amp and 1 half stack plus a drum set. We're working on getting a trailer for when we go on tour (news to be announced) later this summer. Just wanted to mention that little ditty. Thank you and good night.

Here's the flier I edited:

Franklin Rocks!

Yesterday, we all woke up early and went to Garrett's for a 9:30 A.M. rehearsal, which apparently helped. After driving the 3 hours to Franklin, PA, we played a killer show to one of our largest crowds yet. The opening band, Last Chance, Louis was TERRIFIC. Watching Bernie and guitar was like...I don't even know. It was just natural for him to be playing. Destanie's voice was simply AMAZING as well. Just a great performance. We went on next and played one of our best shows musically, with me only messing up Life After You a little bit. We ended our set with Garrett's dedication of Common Fool to his mom before rocking out to Loser of the Year and then All the Small Things by Blink 182! Almost Lifelike rocked out after us with some great covers that were really well performed and even threw in 2 original songs by singer Zoe Walters. My Cardboard Spaceship Adventure then took stage with a GREAT high energy set that got the crowd jumping. It was a great set, thanks to Meagan, who put the whole thing together for Diabetes Research. Afterwards, we got to interact with a lot of other bands, and fans. We even signed a shirt for one fan, even though it wasn't our shirt! The people from Franklin were great. I can't express how much I would like to play another show here in teh near future! Thank You Franklin, PA! Thanks to Grace for the picture.

March 29, 2011

So it's only four more days until Breckenwood heads on down to Franklin, PA to perform a benefit show for the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation performing with My Cardboard Spaceship Adventure, Almost Lifelike and Last Chance, Louis. Come on out, it's for a great cause and its only 5 bucks! Shows at the Barrow Civic Theater in the Little Theater.
So now that that's out of the way, in the last post, I mentioned some upcoming shows. I've got the Kent State show on April 23 confirmed and we have a new show scheduled for May 27 at Club Diablo like I previously mentioned with the Buff State show and the radio performance later in July. We also plan to start recording the weekend on May 8-9 in hopes to have our 5 song ep out there. We still don't know what songs we want on there, so if you have any preference, let us know.
Today we also had a VERY good practice. We did a good run through of all of our songs, and they are becoming tight. During the beginning of practice though, some dude came to the door, and thinking it was Aaron, the recording guy, it was just some drunk guy walking by named Derick who just wanted to rock out for a bit with us. Those were probably the best performed songs we have ever played with all four of us! If we perform like that on Saturday, it will be a damn good show! I think that's all I got for tonight, but keep checking back every once and a while for updates!

Updates!

So spring was almost here, but winter crapped on us once again. My eyes have been all red and puffy from god knows what, but at least it'll be getting warmer. With the warmer weather, look for us to be all around the music scene. As of now, I'm talking to a guy who should help us record our EP as long as everything works out. I'm also working on a few things. For starters, Nick and I were talking to people we hope can organize a really cool show that I won't reveal because it's a long shot. I'm also in the process of organizing a show April 23 at Kent State, the day after another possible show at Mohawk Place with Speakeasy 3 and Days of Old! I've also been in touch with a woman who has a little restaurant back near home in Girard who is interested in us playing a few shows throughout the summer. Hopefully we can get all these things finalized in the upcoming week or so, so we can get our music out there are play some awesome shows! We have an upcoming show next weekend in Franklin, PA at a diabetes concert. My main goal right now are to get new promo shots done now that our line up is finalized, get our EP recorded and put onto CD and if possible get a little merch going. Keep checking back for more updates.

Villa Maria Battle of the Bands

So, last night was the BotB at Villa Maria in Buffalo, New York. I had to miss the first 2 bands because I was taking an Organic Chemistry test, but all the bands I heard we're great. Congratulations to Pig Rectum for taking first place last night! Although it is agreed on that it wasn't nearly a good show for us, it was a milestone. We were able to "unveil" Nick as our new guitarist in his first electric show. We also got to set up behind a curtain for the first time, so emerging from behind it while playing was pretty cool. We played four songs, and ended up 5 minutes short, which we didn't have anything else planned. We also performed Common Fool for the first time, which was really rough. Nick started out and when the rest of the band came in, were off. The rest of the song was iffy at best, with a very rough interlude. The drums weren't with the band, I forgot the chord progression and Nick wasn't comfortable, all of which contributed to a less than perfect performance. The people were really friendly and helped make sure the show ran smooth. Hopefully I can get some pics uploaded soon.

Acoustic Show at Borders

So a lot has happened since the last entry in the world of Breckenwood. For starters, theres a lot more shows scheduled on our facebook that you can check out. In the past weeks, we have been jamming with Nick Bonaventura, who I had played with before in C is for Cookie. After learning the lead guitar parts and even adding some backup vocals, it has been decided that Nick should become the newest face of Breckenwood. We "unveiled" him today at our acoustic show at Borders. The set went alright, and was kinda shaky setting up because of a difficulty setting up mics and avoiding feedback. Our set started out on a rough note, but smoothed out by the time we played the second half of our show. There were quite a few familiar faces and unfamiliar faces giving us a fresh crowd. I think Garrett has a recording of some of our songs, though I'm not sure. While packing up, we apparently earned 8 bucks...the first money we have ever made as a band. Keep checking back for news and information!

New York City

So after a crazy beginning, the Breckenwood NYC trip is coming to an end. Cam came up on Wednesday with Kelly, Garrett took a bus up on Thursday and Claudia and I drove up on Friday. I was supposed to pick up Garrett's guitar and amp from his house, but the door was locked with no way in, so we had to leave without it, prompting him to purchase a new Fender guitar for the show. For us, the drive in was uneventful and we're hoping the return journey will be to. Cam is leaving around nowish according to his plan and Garrett is leaving tomorrow. While we were here, we go to see a lot of the city, eat NY pizza and play a decent show for a great crowd.

Bar East

About 24 hours ago from now, Breckenwood took the stage at Bar East in Manhattan, and it was an interesting one with lots of talent throughout the night. We found out we were the headlining band after we got into the building, which added to the night. By the time we finally got to perform, the tube amp Garret borrowed wouldn't warm up properly, so we ended up borrowing the house guitar amp as well as the bass amp. It started out iffy at best, but we all grew more comfortable, except Cam, who wasn't able to use 3 cymbals for the show he was used to using. We got a live recording that sounds really good (except for all of our mistakes). Garrett says Nothing Left to Prove sounds the best and Life After You is terrible because I don't know the song at ALL. Its on my to do list now. Before our next shows, we definitely need to get a few more rehearsals in. We even added All the Small Things to the set, which we still have never played in practice, and pulled it off alright, thanks to the crowd singing along. I'd just like to thank Garrett's cousins, Cam's uncles, Kelly and Claudia as well as everyone else who stuck around to watch us. As of initially posting this, I have found out that Bar East would like us to perform there again, so look for us in the warmer months!

Buffalo Harbors Benefit Show

In a hidden gem of Buffalo, The Game Room on the 2nd floor of 700 Main Street was a great place to see. There was a giant Twister like floor design right in front of the stage with a 6 foot chess board on the floor complete with 1 foot tall pieces. Along the back wall were probably 15-20 old school arcade and pinball machines. This is definitely a cool place to check out. The people who work there were mad chill and easy to get along with. The stage itself was raised about 2-3 feet from the floor and had all kinds of cool lights and even a smoke machine. There were even local businesses representing themselves including the Liquid Energy Juice Bar. They had samples of wheat grass shots that were surprisingly good, so everyone should check it out. There was also a food station and a beer distributor, that I wasn't able to check out. The opening bands/acts were pretty good, but of course everything ran a little behind, but it was a very successful event for producer Andrew Stanek. Our set was quite good, despite Lambros not showing up. The crowd response seemed really good as we played a nice full set consisting of Rediscovery, The Middle, Emergency, Nothing Left to Prove, Are you Gonna be My Girl, Our Acoustic Song I cant remember the title of and ending with Loser of the Year. We then bullshitted a cover of All the Small Things due to the demand for an encore. After the second or third song though, Garrett cut open his finger again and was bleeding profusely all over the stage, his guitars and own hand, but he made it through. All in all, it ended up being a great night, and hopefully we will have some new video and audio posted online on our facebook.

Second Show

Breckenwood goes on to perform their second show tonight at 11:15 at The Game Room in Buffalo, NY. We currently have some momentum going for us, with a recent second place victory at a battle of the bands and a few more shows coming up in the next few weeks. We are hoping to get a good live recording to use as part of a promo pack for use to get into the University at Buffalo battle of the bands on March 11. Despite all that is going for us, there is bad news. Lambros has decided to part ways with the band after the show tomorrow, leaving Breckenwood a power trio. After a run through of the set list earlier this week, Cam, Garrett and I decided we can pull off the trio, and just "hire" a guitarist when needed. For anyone who wants to check us out tonight, we go on late, but there are great acts tonight, including Stu Fuchs of Babik,On Guard, Mel Latimer and A Relative Term all for Buffalo's waterfront!

2nd Place

So, I got a call two nights ago while in the library from Garrett saying we took second place at the Tralf, meaning we won $200 in a mastering gift certificate from Supernova. That said, there is still a lot going on in the next couple of weeks. We headline a show next Friday at 700 Main Street in Buffalo starting at 8 P.M. then we're off to the Big Apple. There are also two more shows in the works. One is a Battle of the Bands at UB on March 10th and the other is a show my friend is helping put together at Edinboro University of Pennsylvania.

The Tralf

We had a Blast at the Tralf last night. Garret and Lambros were both upset by the really crappy amp, which kept squealing, but I guess it didn't carry to the floor. We had a great crowd, and it was nice to see all the support from friends and brothers and family. Right before we went on, I was feeling pretty nervous and sick, and Lambros was feeling anxious until he downed 2 beers and became "ready to fuck shit up." It took a while to set up, and I don't think anyone could hear everyone properly, so we were performing blindly (or deafly). The crowd seemed to really enjoy us, and participated in a couple of songs. For a first show it went really well. Canoe, the band before us did really well and there was this really awesome band Wellness Exchange. Theica also tried to perform, but their bassist was sick and the guitar player broke a string, so they ended up having a bad night. The University at Buffalo newspaper, The Spectrum wrote an article about the show which you can read here.

Pre show jitters

So in less than 24 hours, Breckenwood goes on stage to perform our first show with the new members at the Tralf in Buffalo, NY! Today, Garret found out we were featured in the Boom section of Artvoice this week. Apparently we're in a contest to beat out another band in online voting. If we beat them, we get to play a finals show 21+ where the winner will win $5,000! You can vote for Breckenwood at . If you are reading this, you should check us out, and help us win!

Breckenwood

Not that anyone actually looks at this yet, but heres whats happening in the world of Breckenwood: lots of stuff. For starters, there are several shows lined up in the next couple of months, including a Battle of the Bands at the Tralf in Buffalo January 29, A show at the Bar East in MANHATTAN February 19 with a live performance from Breckenwood on Buffalo State radio the 17th. We are also performing for the Harbor on February 11 with another possible show in April. On the inside much going on. There is a slight bump in the current line up we are working on resolving. With lots of recent rehearsals and more to come this weekend, we are getting more and more prepared for Breckenwood's debut show with the new additions with a couple of new songs. As of now, we are also looking to record a 3-4 song EP before trekking to the Big Apple to continue to spread our sound. Lot's going on, so if anyone is reading this, we hope to see you at one of the shows!

New Bass

So sadly, there was a typo in the email address of the guy I was supposed to buy the Hoppus signature bass from. Fortunately, I landed a BEAUTIFUL black fender jazz bass with a bridge cover. It looks and sounds extremely sharp and I cannot wait to play it live. When I first got it there were some problems, like the electronics fell out immediately, though nothing a few toothpicks cant fix. There is also a chip in the body revealing that it was repainted black, and it used to be metallic red. More interesting that that, before the red, it was PINK! It must have had an interesting life thus far.

My New Bass

So after months of searching high and low, I FINALLY purchased my Mark Hoppus signature bass in pink. I literally lost like 7 of these basses online before the owner and I came to an agreement. It should hopefully be here in a couple days, and I cant WAIT to play it for the first time.