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.

annoying people

Don't you hate how on campus there are so many annoying people. There's the people who always push you forward onto a crowded bus, even though theres no room for you, let alone them. God forbid they wait another 5 minutes for the next bus or even worse, walk ALL THE WAY back to the dorms. If you walk back from the spine its actually faster than waiting and taking the bus.

People also walk way too damn slow, or just not walk at all. I mean I do walk really fast, but in NSC for example, theres like 2 450 people lectures letting out and filling again when I'm leaving class. Theres those people who just stand there in the way, not trying to move out of the way, which causes at least ten minutes of congestion into the next building over. Or else between a lab and class I have, I have to cross campus in ten minutes, and theres people in one of the tunnels that walk sooo sloooow, making it nearly impossible. Half of the problem is people just mozying on along either talking to a bf/gf or on the phone while walking right down the middle of the hall or standing right in the middle of a busy intersection.

I can probably go on and on, but I'm watching American Wedding so I'm not thinking too much about this.