Trevor hoffman rules!

Wendy's DrummerCam: Friday 4/24/09 @ Club Tavern in Middleton, WI

Anybody else coming?

I know Suppan kinda sux, but I can't wait.

Ranting on Thursday

And I write this as I'm sitting in a bar on a beautiful day, when I should probably be outside and I definitely haven't been blogging as much as usual lately, but that's because we've been spending a ton of time finishing the writing and recording for the final singles and the rest of the album.

I'm excited for you guys to hear the new songs too, the creative process has been harder than before not only because we put ourselves on the monthly deadline (which has fell to pieces a little in these final three months because we need time for mastering and manufacturing) but we've been pushing the limits of what we can do inside a rock song. This experiment in singles has been awesome for us. I've really enjoyed it, even when there was pressure to write when inspiration wasn't giving it up and staying up all night to finish recording and editing videos.

It's liberating because we knew what we were doing from the get-go. I love the full experience of an album, but I also love being able to record a song and thinking about it only and not worrying about how it meshes with the other tracks on a record. How many people listen to records all the way through anymore anyway? (Except if you're on a roadtrip, but who does a roadtrip without an iPod anymore?)

Listening to music "professionals" over the years, it's always been the same shit. You need to be consistent, you need one song to sound like the others, you need to create your niche and beat it to fucking death. You need to record a three-song demo and send it to an A&R person and pray to God that they love your band. But what if you can create without chasing something, where you're really just writing songs because you (and hopefully the people you've connected with through music) want to listen to them?

That's what we did and I'm looking forward to hearing the final CD (and it really is a CD and not an album, it's a collection of songs (like a Greatest Hits that never were hits!)... yet, we're working on the unifying theme to bring the works together) because I love that songs like "Uncanny Valley" and "Square Root of All Evil" can co-exist together. You can have an old-school heavy metal song and a punk song and an acoustic tune and they're all unified by the band. Isn't that what "Jack" or "Bob" radio stations are about? I consume music like that now (and it is completely because of MP3s, I never had even a 6-disc changer) and maybe that's changed my opinion. I used to love to listen to tapes all the way through (because fast-forward and rewind was a pain in the ass most of the time) but I don't do it anymore. Yeah, digital has probably killed our attention spans a little bit, but it's also brought back the single- which is how rock n' roll music started in the first place. And that's kind of cool. It's come full-circle and that's kind of exciting.

All my friends say the same thing, they hate what's on the radio. It's songs for idiots (and I mostly agree.) All my RSS feeds say the same thing, the music business is in the dumpster and people are getting fired and nobody but superstars are making money (ever wonder why EVERYONE is doing store-exclusives lately? It's because they get HUGE advances that they wouldn't get otherwise. I love Prince, but if he just released a three-disc set without the promotional power of Target behind him, it wouldn't go anywhere.) It's the Wild Fucking West out here and isn't that awesome?

There's never been a worse time to be a rockstar, and that's the coolest part about it. That's why punk started in the first place, because there were people that couldn't relate to The Eagles or The Beatles, so they made their own music. As not professional as possible, as not technical as possible, with the worst recording equipment available (ever listen to The Misfits original recordings?) But it didn't matter because they loved it. The problem with punk was that you can't wage a revolution with nihilism and self-destruction.

But you can wage one with The Internet. And you can wage one through your life and the people you know. There's no system anymore where you have to go through some kind of corporation for anyone on the planet to hear your music. And while there might not be private jets and mountains of cocaine in the new system, there's plenty of personal connections with the people who dig what you do. That's better than a jet at least.

And I love it, I love the fact that I can post a video and get a response on Facebook in five minutes. People can say they like it or alternately, that they think your shit blows. Or people can email us direct requests for songs they want to hear at shows. I love serving as a bard to a community, a community of people that I know and like. Because when you're writing songs isn't it always not just about impressing yourself, but knowing that someone that you know might dig it too? Isn't that part of the fun? There's no nameless "public" where you're trying to adhere to a formula that they might like. I don't need to beg a program director to play Sunspot or schmooze him all night. We can put the songs online and we can see the songs that work and the ones that don't. Anyway, as we come to the close of the year-long experiment I'm just really enjoying what's been happening.

We're a better band than we were a year ago, we're better songwriters, and I'm prouder of the music we've created in the last year than I've ever been before. Wow, that sounds dick-ish, but I've just been really enjoying this whole process. I hope you guys like the new CD (and DVD!) and the bonus tracks, but if you don't, ha, I guess I'll find out and that's the best part.

Reminder: MAMAs voting ends tomorrow, Tues 4/28!

Just a reminder that voting for the Madison Area Music Awards ends tomorrow!

If you haven't already cast your vote, you can sign up at http://www.themamas.org/

Your $5 donation will go to an excellent cause of School Music Programs! Anyone can vote - you don't need to live in Madison.



Once again, this writeup on 77Square about our video for "Sweet Relief" includes some in depth information about the video...

And here's the video itself, nominated for 2009 Video of the Year:


Thanks again for your support!

I think the 80s are back

We'll, I was disappointed when they took Night Court off the air a couple months ago because after that I had nothing but the Weather Channel to keep me company while I eat my morning cereal. But then, something miraculous happened. VH1 started playing videos again. And in the past few weeks, MTV followed suit. That, combined with all the synth melodies and beats from Lady Gaga and 3oh!3, might just bring the 80s back. If I could make a poll on this blog, I would ask you if you thought this was a good thing or a bad thing. I think it's pretty sweet, but then again I was mad when Nirvana killed cock rock. I'm just happy to see music on a station that calls itself Music Television. If they want to air shows about trailer-trash seeking old rock stars' attention and frat boys' drama with bitchy girls, that's fine but they should've renamed the station TTSORSA&FBDwBG. But I guess that doesn't have the same ring to it, does it?

Bitstrips Tutorial featuring "Scott Bakula"

Hat tip to tech guru Jeff Powers of Geekazine for including our song "Scott Bakula" in his video tutorial showing a creative way of generating custom artwork in Bitstrips.

The song wasn't quite long enough for the whole tutorial, so he creatively edited it into an "extended" version.

If you aren't familiar with Bitstrips, it's a fun site that enables you to create your own online cartoons.

And if you're interested in technology news, I recommend checking out the Geekazine site and podcast. It is one of a handful of podcasts I subscribe and listen to regularly, and I really enjoy it.

Thanks Jeff!

Geekazine Tutorial for Bitstrips featuring "Scott Bakula"

at DNA studios... New songs in the making!

Cool article on our "Sweet Relief" video in 77Square today!

Thanks to Katjusa Cisar for the write-up, you can check it out here.

Also, voting for the MAMAs ends on Tuesday, so there's still time!

Trashy Hot Video

Here's the video for our song, "Trashy Hot". It's a first-time experiment, we handed out some video cameras to our friends and had them record us live doing one take of the song at our show on March 28th at The Frequency and then we put it all together.

Thanks to Wyatt Bowman, Steve Harrington, Jeff Klahn, Dave Conner, and Matt Apps for their fantastic camerawork!


Watch Trashy Hot in Music  |  View More Free Videos Online at Veoh.com

Download the full-quality version here.

Behind the scenes at Leine's Brewery Milwaukee

Thanks Brewmaster Dave!

Wendy's DrummerCam: Friday 4/17/09 @ Exclusive Company in Milwaukee, WI

omg

I just got a skillet, two bloodys and a bag of donuts at bar louie in Milwaukee for 9 bucks.

Union Pulse at Exclusive Company...

playing "All Along the Watchtower"... Dylan party in full swing!

Slumdog Millionaire

Man, this one is kind of a downer for a while, but uplifting at the same time. I have a real hard time with poop and there is a scene with a lot of poop in it that I found disturbing. Not to spoil the movie for anyone. I do like the dancing during the end credits - true Bollywood style. It reminds me of the movie that was on one time when we stayed with some Indian friends in Toronto after our show.

Snakes on a plane

I'm tired of these m.f. rats in this m.f. deli. Letterman, anyone?

"Dig Your Grave" - LOST Video

Here's something to keep the LOST party going even after the show is done tonight and since next week there's no new episode, here's a montage video of my favorite character from LOST, John Locke, set to our song, "Dig Your Grave".



Warning: ***MAJOR SPOILERS*** for every season of the show up until the fifth! Download the song at http://sunspot.bandcamp.com/track/dig-your-grave and of course, ABC and Touchstone own all the copyrights to the footage from LOST, no infringement is intended.

Best Wikipedia Error Ever

I was just thinking the other day that I didn't remember the last time I read something completely bonkers on Wikipedia. Until today.

I watched this video



and then I didn't remember Malibu very well, so I looked up his entry on Wikipedia.

Here's my favorite part:

In addition, McBee (ie, Malibu) has trained in karate at the Billy Blanks World Karate Studio, and hand-to-hand combat and swordsmanship with Anthony DeLongis. He has been known to characterize his time at the Massachuseets Institute of Technology, where he studied Astro-Physics, as "the best time of [my] life."

I forgot why people don't trust everything they read on Wikipedia, and now I can thank Malibu for the "most excellent" reminder.

Wario

Well, I finished Wario Shake It for the Wii. It was a pretty fun game, but I would not rate it higher than Smooth Moves. Also, Wario is not quite as lovable as Mario. There are some sweet bosses, but as usual with these Wii games, you finish the game and it tells you that you only have 26% of the treasure and 37% of the missions completed and stuff to get you to keep playing the game. Call me old school, but when you beat the last boss, you are done.

I love this truck stop

Massage flip flops and a gun case for $50! Flying J in Benton Harbor MI, yo!

The kneepads

are for the grouting. Really.

RIP Dave Arneson

First Gary Gygax last March and now D&D co-creator Dave Arneson has joined him on the big hack and slash in the sky.

I was a big Blackmoor fan (especially the way they connected the worlds in the D&D Gazetteer sets) and I just wanted to take a moment for someone who made my life a lot more fun.

Thanks, Dave.

Wendy's DrummerCam: Friday 4/4/09 @ The Polo Room in Polo, IL

Sunspot Road Mania - Ep. 91

Sunspot in Polo with Axiom. April 4th, 2009.



Click here to download the episode directly.

Gi jane

Wendy in illinois

This weekend in Polo, IL

Saturday we will return to The Polo Room in infamous Polo, IL. The last time we were there, we were treated to such things as getting $2 bills for change at the bar, a centrally located stripper pole, and some VERY enthusiastic and fun people.

Why on earth would we NOT go back?

We'll be joining our good friends AXIOM in a night of both acoustic and electric rock. Come on down!