March 26th at The Frequency, we'll be releasing our latest EP. Three absolutely brand new and rocking Sunspot songs. It's going to be an early show and a great band called Headshadow from Chicago will be opening. The party starts at 6pm, music starts at 6:30.
Advanced tickets will be $10 and will include a copy of the EP as well as a rail drink or beer. Advanced tickets will be the only way to get the free drink. We're fucking jacked about the new tunes and we can't wait to play them for you. It's also going to be our first area show since we're coming back from SXSW this year and we'll be in the mood for a homecoming party!
Click here to pick up your advanced tickets right now.
Find more about the band at sunspotmusic.com
Monday, February 28, 2011
Wednesday, February 23, 2011
Sunspot Road Mania - Ep. 153
Some highlights from our February Milwaukee and Janesville shows, a little rocking from The Everyday Motive, plus getting ready to record the first new Sunspot studio songs since 2009!
Download the SD version directly here: http://sunspotmusic.com/roadmania/sunspotrm153sd-2846375-10381.mov
Download the SD version directly here: http://sunspotmusic.com/roadmania/sunspotrm153sd-2846375-10381.mov
Saturday, February 19, 2011
A couple of awesome reasons to go out tonight (2/19)
Everybody in Wisconsin and their brothers and sisters are in Madison by the Capitol today, so when you’re looking for something to do when you set that sign down and you’re looking for a beer and a party, since Sunspot has the night off tonight (so I have nothing to shamelessly promote except our DVD which is a great way to spend an evening when we’re not playing!), let me tell you about two very cool places very near to the Capitol that are having cool events definitely worth checking out.
#1 - If you’re looking for a good case to contribute too, then look no further than the High Noon, who’s having a fundraiser for a Madison skatepark. I spent years watching skaters falling over everything at Library Mall (those railings and steps must be the hardest ones in the world, I swear!) and it’d be great to give these kids a real place where they can practice their skills without destroying anything important. And it would help clean up an area that’s been zoned off for park development for some years now, but nothing is starting because they haven’t had enough money to make anything happen. If you’re in the mood for some good old-fashioned skate punk, then that’s the place to go. Who isn’t in the mood for that? Remember playing Tony Hawk Pro Skater 2 and thinking there were some awesome bands on the soundtrack? I do. Rage, Anthrax and Public Enemy, the awesome Lagwagon and Millencolin? (Click on any of those links to see some badass videos!) Anyway, get a little taste of that tonight at the High Noon.
#2 - If you’re into anything Joss Whedon-esque (and if you’re reading this then you probably are) they’re having a big party at one of our favorite Madison clubs, The Frequency that’s completely inspired by him. It’s a burlesque show (you know, sexy and funny, but not porny) and the performers are all taking their cue from some of Joss’ best known characters. That’s more than just kind of awesome- it’s totally awesome. And it’s a great excuse to party. There’s acostume contest and everything. In a former life, I might have gone as Spike, but I’m not as blonde as I used to be.
And scope out the place, because we’ll be releasing a new EP there in just over a month! And watch for some sneak previews of the new songs on Sunspot Road Mania this week.
Whatever you choose, have an awesome night and we’ll see you back on the road next Saturday.
#1 - If you’re looking for a good case to contribute too, then look no further than the High Noon, who’s having a fundraiser for a Madison skatepark. I spent years watching skaters falling over everything at Library Mall (those railings and steps must be the hardest ones in the world, I swear!) and it’d be great to give these kids a real place where they can practice their skills without destroying anything important. And it would help clean up an area that’s been zoned off for park development for some years now, but nothing is starting because they haven’t had enough money to make anything happen. If you’re in the mood for some good old-fashioned skate punk, then that’s the place to go. Who isn’t in the mood for that? Remember playing Tony Hawk Pro Skater 2 and thinking there were some awesome bands on the soundtrack? I do. Rage, Anthrax and Public Enemy, the awesome Lagwagon and Millencolin? (Click on any of those links to see some badass videos!) Anyway, get a little taste of that tonight at the High Noon.
#2 - If you’re into anything Joss Whedon-esque (and if you’re reading this then you probably are) they’re having a big party at one of our favorite Madison clubs, The Frequency that’s completely inspired by him. It’s a burlesque show (you know, sexy and funny, but not porny) and the performers are all taking their cue from some of Joss’ best known characters. That’s more than just kind of awesome- it’s totally awesome. And it’s a great excuse to party. There’s acostume contest and everything. In a former life, I might have gone as Spike, but I’m not as blonde as I used to be.
And scope out the place, because we’ll be releasing a new EP there in just over a month! And watch for some sneak previews of the new songs on Sunspot Road Mania this week.
Whatever you choose, have an awesome night and we’ll see you back on the road next Saturday.
Monday, February 14, 2011
Friday, February 11, 2011
The Hero with a Thousand Faces
No, no Joseph Campbell tonight, I’m just sitting around thinking about working on new songs and the style of the music we’re going to be putting out (at The Frequency on March 26th, hooray!) and I realized that we should be thinking about an image refresh as well. Ya know, some new threads to spice up our look and keep things interesting. And that got me to thinking, I haven’t looked at a lot of the old Sunspot press photos for a really long time. Much like any band that’s been playing together for over a thousand years (that’s not really an exaggeration, we speak of the time in “band years” which are derived from how long the Beatles were together, ten years equal to a full millennium in “band years”) And our 15th anniversary as a band is this Summer! How awesome is that?) we have had a variety of looks. We might carry our own amps, but it’s still show business, baby.
By this time, over a decade into our illustrious career, we’ve transcended a couple of fashion generations. We started playing when all the chic types were still wearing flannel (meanwhile, I was wearing an ice-cream blazer like I was Sonny Fucking Crockett) and since then we’ve gone from all the shiny shit that people wore at the turn of the Millennium (remember that shit? Silvery and glittery and all that? What the fuck? It was like we were all trying to be disco balls) to emo hair being in for a little while, and then everybody did the Elvis Costello glasses (you know they even sold them without any kind of prescription so people were wearing them just to look cool, pretending to have an eye disability just to look good? That’s just bad karma to me, although I did tell a telesurveying job (for Ameritech, remember that shit company?) one time that my father passed away so that I could quit without having to give notice, so I guess that’s just the pot calling the kettle black.) Next it was beards, Jesus, every band guy had to have a fucking longass beard like we were in some Biblical epic. So, what’s it going to be next, I dunno, and I’m not sure what we’re going to try either... but I thought I’d put in some of my favorite “looks” we’ve had over the past few years, some still look good, some decidedly do not. If you’re reading this on Facebook and can’t see the pictures, just goto loseroftheyear.com.
Happy New Year’s 2001, dorks.
Who is this guy? I’m like a fat Eminem in this picture from 2001.
Oh My God, Oh My God, that’s me with the anime button-up shirt and yellow pants from 2002
Drunk in 2003.
By 2005, things were very pleathery in my world.
2007, We’re moving to black jackets, kinda like how the movie version of The X-Men had black outfits, but I probably should’ve used some concealer in that pic, yeesh.
2008, we’re doing much better.
2009? We’re gorgeous and this time without facial hair!
2010, Even sexier, but this time with spunk!
Some of these photos were taken by our good friend, Matt Apps, you can see more samples of his work below:
By this time, over a decade into our illustrious career, we’ve transcended a couple of fashion generations. We started playing when all the chic types were still wearing flannel (meanwhile, I was wearing an ice-cream blazer like I was Sonny Fucking Crockett) and since then we’ve gone from all the shiny shit that people wore at the turn of the Millennium (remember that shit? Silvery and glittery and all that? What the fuck? It was like we were all trying to be disco balls) to emo hair being in for a little while, and then everybody did the Elvis Costello glasses (you know they even sold them without any kind of prescription so people were wearing them just to look cool, pretending to have an eye disability just to look good? That’s just bad karma to me, although I did tell a telesurveying job (for Ameritech, remember that shit company?) one time that my father passed away so that I could quit without having to give notice, so I guess that’s just the pot calling the kettle black.) Next it was beards, Jesus, every band guy had to have a fucking longass beard like we were in some Biblical epic. So, what’s it going to be next, I dunno, and I’m not sure what we’re going to try either... but I thought I’d put in some of my favorite “looks” we’ve had over the past few years, some still look good, some decidedly do not. If you’re reading this on Facebook and can’t see the pictures, just goto loseroftheyear.com.
Happy New Year’s 2001, dorks.
Who is this guy? I’m like a fat Eminem in this picture from 2001.
Oh My God, Oh My God, that’s me with the anime button-up shirt and yellow pants from 2002
Drunk in 2003.
By 2005, things were very pleathery in my world.
2007, We’re moving to black jackets, kinda like how the movie version of The X-Men had black outfits, but I probably should’ve used some concealer in that pic, yeesh.
2008, we’re doing much better.
2009? We’re gorgeous and this time without facial hair!
2010, Even sexier, but this time with spunk!
Some of these photos were taken by our good friend, Matt Apps, you can see more samples of his work below:
Thursday, February 10, 2011
Sunspot Road Mania - Ep. 152
Check out the action from last weekend's triple-header: Merrill, Polar, and Middleton after the Packers won the Superbowl... with the Udder Run snowshoe race in Athens as a special bonus!
HD version available for download here: http://sunspotmusic.com/roadmania/Sunspot-Road-Mania-Ep-152.mp4
HD version available for download here: http://sunspotmusic.com/roadmania/Sunspot-Road-Mania-Ep-152.mp4
Monday, February 07, 2011
Friday, February 04, 2011
Beyond The Bowl
Well, there's been a lot of excitement lately around the whole Super Bowl and "Go, Pack!" song and that's been great. I want to make sure to reassure you though, that, even though that's been getting the majority of attention as everyone gets ready for the Big Game, that we're also working on a new EP release for a March debut.
So next month, there's going to be new music and videos coming at ya. And it's been a long time since we officially released a new studio recording, so we've decided that it's high time to get back to it. To aid with the writing process, Wendy and I are participating in February Album Writing Month (FAWM for short), which is an awesome challenge for songwriters, to come up with 14 songs (an album) in one 28-day month (is Leap Year cheating?) I know that Aquamunkee, Tim from Government Zero, and Cactus Joe from The Guppy Effect have been doing it for the past few years and they absolutely love it, so I thought it'd be a fun challenge to take up and who knows, one of those demos might end up being on the new recording. So, check it out if you're curious and if you like any of the ideas in particular, then tell us about it! We love feedback so we'll be trotting out some of the new material at live shows too and we'd like to hear your opinion. We like to hear your opinion in general, what are your favorite songs and what would you like to hear more of?
People in the "music industry" are always harping about the fact that acts' songs should sound alike, at least on an individual recording. And that's partly true, it's good to know that when you're getting a group of songs, that if you like one of the songs, chances are you'll like the rest. But we've never been particularly good at that. I mean, almost all of our music consists of rock songs, but they're not usually in a particular genre because sometimes we're in a heavy mood and sometimes we're in a light mood or whatever (not to sound like Goldilocks or anything.) But, we'd also be interested in knowing people's favorites to know what kinds of songs you like the most. Sometimes it's nice to know what people like, even just as some feedback to the quality of the material and if it's having its desired effect (or if it's having an effect at all.)
Anyway, I just wanted to let you know that we are, indeed, in full writing mode, and you'll be hearing brand new Sunspot in short order. Now, let's party hard this weekend and Go, Pack!
So next month, there's going to be new music and videos coming at ya. And it's been a long time since we officially released a new studio recording, so we've decided that it's high time to get back to it. To aid with the writing process, Wendy and I are participating in February Album Writing Month (FAWM for short), which is an awesome challenge for songwriters, to come up with 14 songs (an album) in one 28-day month (is Leap Year cheating?) I know that Aquamunkee, Tim from Government Zero, and Cactus Joe from The Guppy Effect have been doing it for the past few years and they absolutely love it, so I thought it'd be a fun challenge to take up and who knows, one of those demos might end up being on the new recording. So, check it out if you're curious and if you like any of the ideas in particular, then tell us about it! We love feedback so we'll be trotting out some of the new material at live shows too and we'd like to hear your opinion. We like to hear your opinion in general, what are your favorite songs and what would you like to hear more of?
People in the "music industry" are always harping about the fact that acts' songs should sound alike, at least on an individual recording. And that's partly true, it's good to know that when you're getting a group of songs, that if you like one of the songs, chances are you'll like the rest. But we've never been particularly good at that. I mean, almost all of our music consists of rock songs, but they're not usually in a particular genre because sometimes we're in a heavy mood and sometimes we're in a light mood or whatever (not to sound like Goldilocks or anything.) But, we'd also be interested in knowing people's favorites to know what kinds of songs you like the most. Sometimes it's nice to know what people like, even just as some feedback to the quality of the material and if it's having its desired effect (or if it's having an effect at all.)
Anyway, I just wanted to let you know that we are, indeed, in full writing mode, and you'll be hearing brand new Sunspot in short order. Now, let's party hard this weekend and Go, Pack!
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