Gentleman Auction House's Virtual Tag-A-Long

GAH's Eric Enger remixes Elsinore

2010-01-18T20:16:00.000-08:00

hey there everybody.

apologies for the december cancellations. it takes a lot to cancel a show, and i beg your forgiveness.

january is here and change is in the air.

working hard on a new record. i repeat: hard. so far it feels like an really exciting step forward. more to come later.

checking in to let you know about a remix i did recently for our friends from champaign, IL, Elsinore. it's on the EP that is preceding their upcoming full length. i wanted to keep my distance from the chops on the original version, so i pretty much snagged the vocals and horns, set up camp at my studio and recorded a bunch of shit. they send the tracklist to get printed well before i was finished, so they are stuck with what i turned in (suckers). they seem happy with it, but never trust a musician. :) anyway, they want to get the word out, since they are offering this track up for free and spreading it around. apparently it's already getting some love on the radio.

check it out here:

Elsinore - Yes Yes Yes (Eric Enger Remix)

see ya soon.
-Eric/GAH

Bummersauce news...

2009-12-16T12:51:00.000-08:00

Big bad crummy news. Some super-sickness is forcing us to drop off of our Chicago, Champaign, and St. Louis shows this weekend. The good news is that all three shows are still going to be super-sweet, and you should definitely still go! So sorry, wish us well, and we'll catch you next time. ♡GAH

Hey, check out Eleven Magazine...

2009-12-14T08:25:00.000-08:00

Hey so in case you haven't seen it around town yet, there's a new(ish) "intercollegiate" rag in St. Louis called Eleven Magazine. You should try to find a copy (found mine at the Maplewood Jimmy John's - I think they have some in the music shop there on Manchester, too) and give it a read - it's very good stuff. They're also online in blog-form at elevenmusicmag.com

This month's issue is especially near and dear to us, because A. It features bits on two of our very good friends in the "H" section of our iTunes: Headlights and The Hibernauts, and B. Inside the front cover you'll see an ad for THIS SATURDAY'S CANS & COATS CHRISTMAS SHOW, of which Eleven Magazine is a sponsor!

So pick up a copy where you can find one, and support a very cool and promising local music mag, and support local music!

Cheers,
GAH

Oh How We Love Us Some Christmastime...

2009-12-11T11:25:00.000-08:00

Been awhile since Team GAH checked in, so he we are, wishing you and yours Seasons Greetings! We've been brushing up some of the tunes from our Christmas In Love EP, getting them all primed, polished, and ready for the ears of any and all who make it out to one of our three bound-to-be-awesome Christmas shows...

12-17 Chicago, IL - Schubas Tavern - w/ Raise High The Roof Beam and Old Stable Hands
12-18 Champaign, IL - Mike N' Molly's - w/ Angie Heaton, You and Yourn, He and Him (Ryan and Cole of Elsinore), Jet W. Lee, Say it With a Smile, and Palace Flophouse
12-19 St. Louis, MO - Off Broadway - "The Cans & Coats Christmas Show" w/Jumbling Towers, Jon Hardy & The Public, and Dear Vincent

We only get to play our Christmas tunes once a year, so we're super excited for each of these shows. Hope everyone can make it out! And don't kill yourselves buying stuff for people this year!

Love,
GAH

GAH wins RFT's "Best Indie Band" for "Best Of 2009", New shows this Fall!

2009-09-30T13:14:00.000-07:00

We're super flattered to win the Riverfront Times Best Of 2009 award for "Best Indie Band", and we offer a hearty "Congrats" to our drummer, Ryan Adams, for winning "Best Live Sound Engineer"!

The weather's cooling off and we're excited for Fall. We'll be working on new songs and laying down new tracks, which you guys will inevitably get to hear if you make it out to any of these (bound to be awesome) shows!

Upcoming Shows:

Oct 16, 2009 - Columbia, MO (US) @ Blue Note - Bluebird Music & Arts Festival w/ Starlight Mints
Oct 17, 2009 - St. Louis, MO (US) @ Off Broadway w/ Blind Eyes & The Safes & Beth Bombara
Oct 30, 2009 - Springfield, MO (US) @ The Outland Ballroom w/ Nathaniel Carroll & North Decade
Oct 31, 2009 - Stillwater, OK (US) @ The Vault Venue - Vault Video Halloween Show w/ Colourmusic & Brother Bear
Nov 21, 2009 - St. Louis, MO (US) @ Off Broadway - The Hibernauts "Velvet Suit" CD Release
Dec 19, 2009 - St. Louis, MO (US) @ Off Broadway w/ Jumbling Towers & Jon Hardy & The Public

This Sat, 8/15 - GAH w/Jon Hardy & The Public @ The Chapel!

2009-08-14T12:35:00.000-07:00

Tomorrow Night @ The Chapel! Start your night early with us - all guests at THE CHAPEL receive two drinks maximum (beer, wine or soda) for free! Show ends early too (10:30), with plenty of time left to party with the bands at Par Lounge next to the Hi-Pointe theater. Showgoers will enjoy happy hour pricing on drinks!

doors 8pm | show 8:30-10:30pm | $7 | all ages

THE CHAPEL is an all ages, not-for-profit, non-smoking, music venue that exists to serve St. Louis musicians by providing an excellent physical space and professional volunteer services.

All guests at THE CHAPEL receive two drinks maximum (beer, wine or soda) for free -- donated by supporters of THE CHAPEL.

View Larger Map

RECORDING UNDERWAY!

2009-07-03T21:48:00.000-07:00

Nothing like spending 4th of July weekend knocking out some new tunes for a new record. Working on the checklist...

Translation for everyone's signature "checkmarks":
Ryan=Bonanza
Stephen [Robot]=Bleepy boopy boop
Herbst=Spanikopita!
Eric (Guitar)=(. )( .)
Eric (OmniChord)=Yearh
Steve (Keys)=Cheers

We're finna keep on truckin', so we get back atcha with more soon. Careful with those fireworks kids. God bless America(n Gladiators)!

-gah/GAH

GAH Recommends: THE FEATURES @ THE FIREBIRD

2009-06-26T08:22:00.000-07:00

Hey all,

Just letting you know that there is a great show going on tonight (Fri. 6/26) at The Firebird that you would be wise not to miss. One of our favorite bands, The Features, will be taking the stage with Autovaughn and Fractured Army. We've been listening to the Features for quite some time now, and they just keep getting better with every record - last year's Some Kind Of Salvation is quite the jam. These guys really light a fire on stage, which we witnessed when we opened for them in Lexington, KY last year, so here's to hoping none of you miss out on this one. Seeya there!

Cheers,
GAH

Thanks! and show tonight at Off Broadway!

2009-06-18T15:57:00.000-07:00

Greetings all.

Thank you to all who voted for us and others in the 2009 Riverfront Times Music Awards. We greatly appreciate being awarded Best Pop Band for the year. We've had a busy and exciting last couple of years, and we are thankful to have the local support that we do. Hopefully we do an all right job of demonstrating how much you all mean to us.

So....if you're looking for something to do tonight, please head out to Off Broadway. We are playing our last local show for a few months while we work on recording new material and playing a few out of town dates. Tonight's lineup:

Van Gloria
Mayola
The Mhurs
Gentleman Auction House

@ Off Broadway
$7, show @ 9pm

Our pals Mayola are up from Oklahoma, and we are very much looking forward to playing with them again. They are one of the best live bands we've played with out of town. Seriously. Also looking forward to playing with Van Gloria and locals The Mhurs, who we have yet to break our cherry with. Should be fun. Go!

The GAH Guide To The RFT Music Showcase on 6/7

2009-05-28T13:04:00.000-07:00

Hopefully you all know already that the voting for the 2009 RFT Music Awards is underway (vote here!), and that the RFT Music Showcase is happening on June 7th, a week from this Sunday. Well if you didn't know, now you do.

Anywho, you can check out the Showcase schedule here, but I thought it would be helpful to those of you who aren't exactly "familiar" with your local scene for Ryan and I to recommend some bands to check out at the Showcase. And you *should* come to the Showcase - wristbands are only $5 and you can buy them here.

So, without further ado, here's the GAH Guide to the RFT Music Showcase (including a confusing map at the bottom!):

1:00 - 2:00
RYAN says: Troubadour Dali at the Cucina Outdoor Stage. I love both fuzz AND reverb. It's the complete package. Goes great with the first beer of the day!
STEVE says: Nothing like starting the day out with the DJs in The Beat Street Crew at the Main Outdoor Stage. Grab a Schlafly and soak it up, ‘cause it’s the only hip-hop you’ll get for the next six hours.

2:00 – 3:00
RYAN says: 30 MIN. SPLIT – 2:00-2:30: Jon Hardy and the Public at the Main stage. They always come charging out of the gate. Then, at 2:30, the Funky Butt Brass Band at Cucina Outdoor Stage. They'll just be getting warmed up by then. Two parties, either way!
STEVE says: While the FBBB sounds like a good time, I gotta stay planted at the Main Stage. JH&tP’s tunes are too good to miss, and you never know when they’ll break out a Springsteen or Randy Newman cover.

3:00 - 4:00
RYAN says: Kentucky Knife Fight at the Cucina Outdoor Stage. One of my favorites in town; highly recommended!
STEVE says: Having never seen One Lone Car, I’ll stick around to check out their set, which seems to owe a debt to nice-guy mid-90’s pop rock a la The Gin Blossoms and Matthew Sweet, and maybe a touch of Nada Surf’s last couple records.

4:00 - 5:00
RYAN says: 30 MIN. SPLIT: Obviously, I'm playing on the Main Stage, but if I weren't I'd split my time between us and The Monads. Thankfully, they aren't too far apart.
STEVE says: The Monads are always fun, but you should stick with us. ;)

5:00 - 6:00
RYAN says: LOGOS on the Main Stage. Easily consumable, highly entertaining, guitar shreddery. Freebird!
STEVE says: I’ve been meaning to check out The Educated Guess, who will be over at the Cucina Outdoor Stage. Anyone who warrants a comparison to Springsteen gains my immediate interest.

6:00 - 7:00
RYAN says: Grace Basement at Racanelli's. I love this band. 'Nuff said.
STEVE says: While the new tunes from Grace Basement sound quite good, if you choose to skip Ryan’s recommendation, I would suggest either checking out the Strokes-ian garage rock of The Radical Sons at Cicero’s, or hopping over to Blueberry Hill’s Elvis Room to see how Raglani is reinvented in the wake of having gobs of custom gear stolen in New York (benefit show at White Flag Projects this Sat.).

7:00 - 8:00
RYAN says: Beth Bombara at Pi, followed immediately by Cassie Morgan at 8pm. Both of these ladies make heartbreakingly beautiful music, and are about the sweetest gals you could hope to meet.
STEVE says: If you’ve been around since 1:00 and are starting to have some turntable withdrawal, check out the “dirty beats & dinosaur dance parties” promised when DJ Thumpasaurus hits the wheels of steel at Pin-Up Bowl.

8:00 – 9:00
RYAN says: 30 MIN. SPLIT – 8:00-8:30: Cassie Morgan at Pi. I'd hate to leave, but I will, to see… 8:30-9:00: The Blind Eyes at Cicero's. Another of my top five bands in town. You won't be disappointed. Highly Recommended!
STEVE says: Ditto the 30 MIN. SPLIT. You can’t go wrong with either one – two of the best acts in town. Just a shame they’re playing at the same time. If you happen to be walking by the Delmar Lounge, poke your head in and catch the Rats & People, but be warned: It might be hard to tear yourself away.

9:00 - 10:00
RYAN says: Wooden Kites at Delmar Lounge. Haven't seen them in a while, but they have never failed to rock my ass.
STEVE says: If you stuck around at The Delmar, I’m with Ryan – stay for Wooden Kites. If you’re still at Pi, you should check out Magnolia Summer. If you’re in the vicinity of Brandt’s, definitely make a point to catch Caleb Travers. If you’re near Vintage Vinyl, check out The Mhurs, who we’re playing with at Off Broadway on 6/18. And, if you’re feeling some hip-hop, from 9:00 to midnight is a truly all-star cast of local cats at the Duck Room. Get there early ‘cause it’s bound to be packed.

10:00 - 11:00
RYAN says: Theodore at Riddle's. In my top five favorite local bands, period. Highly recommended!
STEVE says: Theodore is a solid bet, but if you’re in the mood to dance, or even just some drankin’ and head-bobbin’, my favorite DJ in town, DJ Mahf, is at Pin-Up. I might miss them both, though, to catch Exercise at the Delmar, right after Wooden Kites.

11:00 - 12:00
RYAN says: Fred Friction at Riddle's. Fred's songs will sneak up on you. They are actually amazing, but his effortless delivery and booze-soaked performance will make it look like he's not even trying.
STEVE says: If you’re still at the Delmar, don’t move. Target Market is sounding better than ever, and you shouldn’t miss their set. In fact, take the opportunity to pick up their new disc!

12:00 am.
Still going? Bravo. The only show on the schedule for midnight is Bunnygrunt at the Delmar. That is, unless you’re at The Pageant checking out the Hall of Fame show featuring The Schwag, Steve Ewing, and the Murder City Players, which may very well run past midnight. Get home safe!

And as promised, for your (in)convenience, a map of the routes that Ryan (Pink) and I (Blue) suggested. This most likely isn't going to help anyone so much as it just illustrated how much walking we'll both be doing, unless of course we can hire our own private pedicabs for the day! Take note, local pedicab services - this is the place to be on 6/7! Does St. Louis even have a pedicab service?

But yeah, I think this map might involve some inadvertent time travel somewhere along the way, and the subsequent possibilities of our past and future selves meeting. No worries, though, as NBC's Heroes has clearly disproved the theory that such a meeting would result in an unraveling of the time-space continuum. Anyway, enjoy, and see you there!

Cheers,
Steve | GAH

jelly is good on its own/ RFT Music Awards

2009-05-14T06:51:00.000-07:00

it's ok to let peanut butter take a break sometimes. in other news, if you'd like to vote for GAH or anyone else in this year's RFT music awards, the ballot can be found here: http://polls.riverfronttimes.com/polls/stl/musicawards2009/

TUES. NIGHT @ THE FIREBIRD w/ YEA BIG + KID STATIC, EXERCISE AND SUPERFUN YEAH YEAH ROCKETSHIP!

2009-05-07T23:33:00.000-07:00

¡Hola from the GAH-Team!

Remember when you used to only go out and have a grrreat time on the weekends? Well those days are over as of this coming Tuesday. Seriously. Rock out this weekend, catch your breath on Monday, and then grab some sweatbands and short shorts and come break it down at The Firebird with a sweaty slew of wound-up music including:

YEA BIG + KID STATIC

Not only have we enjoyed many a hilarious moment on tour with this dynamic duo, we're huge fans of their cheeky-meets-glitchy brand of hip-hop and suckers for their "the show is on the floor" approach to the live set. Honestly, you need to see them dance.

EXERCISE

No robot theme intended with the videos, but the parallel of electronics work just fine: Classic Casiotone props up the angular schuck-and-jive of this trio, borne out of the ashes of Berlin Whale.

SUPERFUN YEAH YEAH ROCKETSHIP

A show that anyone will love, because who doesn't like a guy getting up there in an outfit no one else would wear and giving it 110% all by himself (well, with a cardboard standup or two) and winning the crowd over with some good ol' fashion personal space invasion?

From the heart, I get real: We play lots of fun shows - hell, every show is fun in its own way - but this one promises to be about as energetic and entertaining as they come. So it's a Tuesday... who cares? Wednesday morning is going to come whether you *got the eff down* the night before or not - so you might as well come *get the eff down* anyway, because everyone else will be, with or without you (just ask Bono).

Cheers,
Steve | GAH

Homeward bound and the way it's written...

2009-04-23T17:31:00.000-07:00

Hello from Club GAH!

We're currently reverse-embarking from our two-week jaunt to the Northeastern US of A, and we'll be making our descent into the Greater St. Louis Metro area tomorrow night. Are we looking for a simple "Welcome back!"? Well sure, that's always nice, but more than that, we want to see your lovely faces...

*Tomorrow Night*

*At The Firebird*

*Right before the indomitable CURSIVE takes the stage*

Please come out to see us, give us a hug, buy a grocery bag or a cookbook (because we sell those now; GAH dickies coming soon!), and then readjust yourself for a warm-hearted and good-natured face-melting, courtesies of Omaha's indie-scene forefathers, CURSIVE, who are on tour supporting their new record, Mama, I'm Swollen. Honestly, it just wouldn't be right to miss this show.

See you tomorrow. Say 'Hi' to ya mutha for us.

Cheers,
Steve | GAH

Spring Tour

2009-04-21T15:30:00.000-07:00

Some overdue (and now kinda outdated) pictures, courtesies of Mr. Herbst...

Yea Big goes horizontal at Beat Kitchen...

Late night dinering...

Stefen says "Miso happy"...

From the backseat it looked like Stephen was getting it on...

Wide load...

Not knowing when enough is enough...

From before we left: If practice makes perfect, we must not have practiced enough...

hey, same-coat-wearing guy, f%$k you!

2009-04-21T07:55:00.000-07:00

greetings from d.c. we just finished our extended weekend in new york. we did this: odd show with old friend who sounded GREAT, face time with people we love and never see, rush hour u-turn on 6 lane queensboro bridge, gelato, awesome ''house show'' in sweaty midtown apartment, late night diner food, shopping, robot buying, wrestling the house kit, cherry pie with best friend, central park, natural history museum, dollar pool, spaghetti fest, good show with sound guy named jesus and door guy named elijah, new jersey detour to a favorite place, parallel parking miracles, crazy bike ride, angering the locals, being angered by the locals, embracing a dog who just ate my wheat thins, feeling bad for him after he ralphed them up, trying to convey that skinny jeans will never be okay, missing home, appreciating each other, paying too much for everything, doing some rock-solid impressions, pointing to the guy who has ''it.'' -ee

april showers bring...?

2009-04-16T14:36:00.000-07:00

welp, we are a week into this trip and we have finally parted ways with the constant drizzle that has dogged us thus far. today in new york is gorgeous. we've been a bit behind on the blogging, but we've been busy goofing off/playing shows. we have a new word. ask stephen what ''agleing'' is and i'm sure he'd be happy to show you. he's at the top of his game when he's agleing steve. and let me state here that i certainly question the spelling of this word, but it is his word and the definition is wonderful. anyway, shows have been good. pictures to come. saw friends. played with friends. made friends. this has been our happiest tour in quite a while. plus we've met many new dogs who we have wrestled with. and oddly, the last two nights have included bands repeatedly apologizing on stage for their performances. last night even included some bizarre girlfriend/lead singer yelling match during the songs. oh, and they had backing tracks PLUS a tamborine player onstage. yet another reason drugs are bad. anyway, no ''return'' button, so in order to prevent textual clumping i will say good day. hope to see you soon. -ee

What better way to spend a lovely Friday night...

2009-03-26T21:59:00.000-07:00

Than with your best buds in Camp GAH!

Come have a drink and cap off your week with some tunes from us and a few friends, including...

SAY PANTHER
BOCKMAN
PTARMIGAN

21+
Door: 4pm
Minors Door: 8 pm
Showtime: 9 pm
Admission: $8

Happy Hour(s) 4-9pm

Cheers,
GAH

GAH's 1st show of 2009

2009-03-09T20:21:00.000-07:00

Greetings from Camp GAH!

We've enjoyed our time off, but we're itching to get back to the stage. Be sure to make it out to our first two shows of 2009 - 3/15 at The Firebird in St. Louis, and 3/16 at Mojo's in Columbia, MO. We're opening both shows, so get there early and stay *all night* - we're stoked to play with our friends in Headlights, and the very cool Pomegranates. The headliners for the 3/15 show are New Zealand's own Cut Off Your Hands.

3/15 @ The Firebird w/Cut Off Your Hands, Headlights, Pomegranates | $8/$10 | Doors: 7:30pm | Show: 8:30pm | All Ages
3/16 @ Mojo's w/Headlights, Pomegranates | $8 / 8:30 pm

Pomegranates

Headlights

Cut Off Your Hands

Can't wait. Hope to see you all there!

Cheers,
The GAH

To whoever did this...

2009-01-28T10:58:00.000-08:00

We salute you.

GAH on Fearless Music TV tomorrow night

2009-01-23T08:37:00.000-08:00

My Fellow Obamamericans,

Last October, while swinging through New York for the CMJ Music Festival, we stopped in to the Fearless Music TV studio for a taping. To be honest, we had damn near forgotten all about it until just a few days ago, when we found out it would be airing this Saturday night.

They'll be showing our performance of "The Book Of Matches", and maybe a small portion of the (hilariously awkward) interview. You can go to the Fearless Music TV Blog and vote for your favorite band, and I guess the winning band gets to perform live? We taped three other songs, so if nothing else, maybe getting some votes will get another one of our performances aired later on down the road...?

Anyway, in case you're wondering if you'll be able to watch this, there's a really long list of stations and affiliates that will be airing the episode - check it out here. I went ahead and sifted through the list to pull out some of the cities (and colleges in those cities) that we've been to, but if you don't see your town or school here, definitely be sure to check the list.

Cable TV Stations:
New York, NY WNYW FOX Saturday Night 12:30am
Detroit, MI WJBK FOX (Starting Sept. '08) Sunday Night 1am
Cincinnati, OH WOTH Saturday Night 11:30pm
Springfield, MO KYTV NBC Saturday Night 2am
Davenport, IA WBQD MNTV Saturday Night 12am
Fort Wayne, IN WFFT FOX Saturday Night 4am
Columbia, MO KZOU MNTV Sunday Night 11pm
Washington DC Local Point TV WJLA Short Form Programming
(The Episode runs every 3 hours)

And if you're looking to get a little more use out of your rabbit ears:
America One Television Affiliates
(Over-the-Air Broadcast)
FMTV Will Air Tuesdays and Friday Nights at 1am

Memphis,TN WBXP
Des Moines, IA KDMI DT
Albuquerque, NM KIAZ
Des Moines, IA WBXF
Denver, CO KUPN
Denver, CO KCXP
Denver, CO KENY
Denver, CO K27FA
Denver, CO K48BK

And for you kids at college, the following schools will have the show on Zilo TV:

Columbia College of Chicago
Iowa Central Community College
Iowa State University
Northern Illinois University
Ohio State University
Southern Illinois University-Carbondale
University of Arkansas-Little Rock
University of Michigan-Ann Arbor
University of Oklahoma
Webster University

And, if you're not on any of those lists, I think you'll be able to see it at fearlessmusic.com soon enough.

Cheers,
Steve | GAH

wishers of luck

2009-01-09T16:44:00.000-08:00

greetings, all. hope everyone had a good set o' holidays. we sure did. as usual the Xmas show was way beyond our expectations and to everyone who attended we sincerely thank you for your energy. you provided a wonderful cap to our 2008. plus, for Christmas i got Season One of Matlock on DVD, so you know i was happy. anyway, there have been some changes in the GAH camp now that the new year is upon us that we thought we'd pass on.

this band hasn't had any member changes since its first year, and unity as a group is something that we treasure, especially on the road where strangers are many and friends can be few. we've been fortunate to meet tons of fantastic people while touring and we are sure to meet many more. thank you all for making us feel welcome. despite the requisite challenges, we had a very productive and exciting 2008 and look to continue that trend in 2009. all that said, we will be moving forward as a six-piece from here on out. in a decision that was both difficult and mutual, we've parted ways with our friend Mike Tomko as he will be moving on to pursue other interests and we will be pursuing new things ourselves. in the beginning, he was the one that demanded we put a band together to play the early batch of songs i was working on, and that i will always appreciate. he also dedicated himself wholeheartedly to pushing this band to get out and make things happen for ourselves. his drive and knowledge will be missed. as will he. we love him very much and we all wish him success, doing so with the opinion that he is the kind of person that will inevitably succeed at pretty much anything he chooses to spend his time on.

so, as far as GAH in 2009 is concerned, we have a lot that we are working on, including, of course, much touring, recording, and releasing new material. like many people i am energized by the country's change in leadership and hopefully it will be a great 2009 all around.

see you all soon.
-eric e./GAH

THIS FRI. DEC 19 @ OFF BROADWAY - A BLUE RIBBON XMAS w/GAH, The Hibernauts, Target Market, & Cold Bear Scout

2008-12-16T17:11:00.000-08:00

This Friday, you're invited to...

A BLUE RIBBON CHRISTMAS
December 19 at Off Broadway
3511 Lemp Ave, St Louis, MO 63118
Doors at 8:00 | Show starts at 9:00 | $8

Featuring...
Gentleman Auction House
The Hibernauts
Target Market
Cold Bear Scout

Sponsored by...
KDHX
PABST
VINTAGE VINYL

GENTLEMAN AUCTION HOUSE

"Gentleman Auction House put out one of the great records of 2008 with their debut full length, Alphabet Graveyard, and as if that wasn’t enough, they have also put together the excellent 6 song Christmas In Love EP for your Holiday enjoyment. If you like ["On The Rooftop"], you’ll definitely want to pick it up, the rest of it is just as good. The pefect stocking stuffer."
-Tom @ bagofsongs.com

"The mode might be indie rock, but the mood is pure Christmas. This six-song pop romance buzzes with hope and loss, ends and beginnings, and all that good wintry stuff… These St. Louis-based newcomers have created a stellar Christmas classic..."
-Linda Laban, Rock 'n' Roll Examiner

RIYL: The Starlight Mints, Beck, The Polyphonic Spree, Modest Mouse, The Rentals, The New Pornographers

THE HIBERNAUTS

"They do have a typical pop thing going on but add their own touch to the din of swirling, swooning guitar licks, trippy hooks, and lyrical effervescence… The whole album has a smooth continuity with each tune being the piece of a well-constructed puzzle."
-Kent Manthie, Amplifier Magazine

"The Hibernauts play a strong, stripped-down style of indie rock that comes forth into pop glory...Their superior musicianship and arrangement skills here are why the band ultimately succeeds. Each of the tracks here could conceivably be a single."
-Neufutur Magazine

RIYL: White Rabbits, The Features, The Strokes, The Killers, The Deathray Davies

TARGET MARKET

"This band has the aesthetic and the melodies, all wrapped up in a package of straight-up fun. Well, maybe 'fun' isn't the right word; this band has some darkness to their music, too. This one isn't long, but it's durable… Three hours later from now, [it] will still be stuck in your head."
- Music For Robots

"…Spring-loaded, danceable rhythms and howling vocals… Think the corrugated riffs promulgated by J. Robbins in his various bands, or the atmospheric, experimental angles found on ...And You Will Know Us By the Trail of Dead's recent albums. "
-Riverfront Times

RIYL: Thunderbirds Are Now!, Enon, We Versus The Shark, So Many Dynamos

COLD BEAR SCOUT

"Cold Bear Scout is the solo project of a damaged man named Steven Colbert (pronounced "Coal-burt")... He asked me to make his EP... It was one of the most fun records I've made so far because there were absolutely no rules the entire time."
-Ryan Wasoba, Bird Cloud Recording

RIYL: Sunset Rubdown, Handsome Furs, Frog Eyes, Swan Lake

Stuff a stocking with "Christmas In Love"!

2008-11-06T22:29:00.000-08:00

Little Elves and Big Elves -

On November 18th of this year, our beloved record label, Emergency Umbrella, will release our third record of 2008: Christmas In Love

Obviously we are crazy lucky to have a record label that will let us release an EP, our first full-length, and a Christmas record, all in one year (collect them all!), but more than anything, we're just happy that we got to check this project off of our Wish List.

Since Eric had recorded a few Christmas song demos over the last couple of years, and the holiday "concept" had popped up in an album song or two, a Christmas EP seemed like an inevitability.

Eric spent the better part of two weeks holed up in his basement studio with the AC cranked down to a wintry 35˚F, a fire burning in an old Crate cabinet, and a gallon of hot cocoa bubbling over the edges of his Grandma's old CrockPot. His only human contact was Steve hanging around to make sure he was keeping up with his personal hygiene, and to help rewrite all the not-quite-Christmasy-enough parts (read: sucky parts) [Ed. note: (read: drunkenly fumble with sleighbells)]. Kiley also stopped by to record all the piano parts that actually required being good at playing piano.

By the time the EP was done what rose from the cold was a cover, a re-recorded old song, a re-arranged old song, a re-written old song, an entirely new song, and an intro for good measure. Exhausted? You betcha!

So, the GAH & Emergency Umbrella present... Christmas In Love... available in stores on Nov. 18th.

A Banner Year
On The Rooftop
Home For The Holidays
Here Comes Santa Claus
Don't Want Another Christmas (Like Last Christmas)
Christmas In Love

You can preorder a copy for yourself (and all your friends - stocking stuffers!) right now at Insound.com or Amazon.com, OR you can come out to any of our shows between now and the 18th and buy a copy straight from us. Cut out the middleman! After the 18th it will be available at stores around town, at our shows, and at numerous online retailers. Bingo!

Speaking of shows, 'Here We Go A-Tourin''...

11/7 - Champaign-Urbana, IL @ Courtyard Cafe w/Headlights
11/8 - Richmond, IN @ Earlham College w/ Wax Fang, Birdnames
11/14 - Columbia, MO @ Mojo's for The Bluebird Music & Arts Fest w/ Bald Eagle, Elsinore, more
11/15 - St. Louis, MO @ The Billiken Club w/ Bound Stems, Yea Big + Kid Static
11/29 - St. Louis, MO @ 3rd Deg. Glass Factory for the Rock 'N Roll Craft Show
12/3 - Columbia, MO @ Mojo's w/TBA
12/4 - Springfield, MO @ TBA w/ Sweetwater Abilene & TBA
12/5 - Tulsa, OK @ TBA w/ El Paso Hot Button
12/6 - Stillwater, OK @ Eskimo Joe's w/Mayola & El Paso Hot Button
12/7 - Oklahoma City, OK @ TBA w/ El Paso Hot Button
12/8 - Dallas, TX @ Good Records - FREE In Store Performance
12/8 - Dallas, TX @ Club Dada w/ Cocky Americans
12/9 - Austin, TX @ Lambert's w/ The Lemurs, The Ovenbirds
12/10 - Houston, TX @ Rudyard's w/ Motion Turns It On, Spain Colored Orange
12/11 - TBA - Help!
12/12 - TBA - Help!
12/13 - TBA - Help!
12/19 - St. Louis, MO @ Off Broadway w/ The Hibernauts, Target Market, Cold Bear Sc0ut

Thanks for helping us spread that holiday cheer around like frosting on a sugar cookie. We love Christmas, and we love you all.

Cheers,
GAH

VOOOOOOOOOOTTTTTTTEEEE!!!!!!

2008-11-04T06:52:00.000-08:00

(please)

Givin' the GAH a good WOXY-clean scrubbin'!

2008-10-25T19:22:00.000-07:00

Greetings, mates!

We're back from a short October jaunt to NYC and back. On the way up we sneaked into Cincinnati, OH and stopped by popular internet-radio station WOXY.com to chat with Shiv and record live-off-the-floor versions of some Alphabet Graveyard tunes. Everyone at the station was super-nice and, to reciprocate, we tried our best to tidy up after ourselves. We also celebrated a shared love of Grampall Jookabox's videogame for his new song, The Girl Ain't Preggers. Our set list from the show:

You And Me, Madly...
Call It Casual
- interview -
I Sleep In A Bed Of Scissor Arms
The Book Of Matches
We Used To Dream About Bridges

To download the mp3 of errythang and check out some in-studio pictures head here:

Gentleman Auction House at WOXY

Stay tuned!!!!!!

RIP: Cannonballs & Catapults Tour

2008-09-29T11:43:00.000-07:00

We just got back from a fun-filled tour with our new BFF's, Yea Big + Kid Static. Thanks to everyone who came out to the shows, it was fun!

Stay tuned for info on our upcoming East Coast October trip, and another special GAH release before the end of the year!

Cheers,
GAH

"The Book of Matches" Music Video

2008-07-28T18:22:00.000-07:00

Our video for "The Book of Matches" premiered at thetripwire.com yesterday, but if you missed it (even though it's still there), here it is in all of its glory...

Thanks to everyone that helped out and donated their weekend - I hope it was worth it!

Cheers,
Steve | GAH

GAH on Daytrotter.com

2008-07-23T10:23:00.001-07:00

The radboys over at Daytrotter.com posted our feature article today, along with four live in-studio tracks that we recorded while we were on tour a couple months ago. The article is a dreamy read, and Eric even explains some lyrics! Lookout!

Cheers,
Steve | GAH

"Alphabet Graveyard" CD RELEASE SHOW - Sat. July 5th @ The Bluebird w/The Hibernauts, Colourmusic, Jumbling Towers

2008-07-04T20:19:00.000-07:00

Hey everybody,

The Gentleman Auction House debut full-length, Alphabet Graveyard, is finally coming out on July 22nd, and to celebrate, we're having a CD Release Party at The Bluebird tomorrow, Saturday, July 5th. Helping us celebrate are our good friends The Hibernauts, Colourmusic, and Jumbling Towers, and hopefully you, too!

Alphabet Graveyard was recorded at Silver Sonya Studios in Washington, D.C. last October, and after a few release-date push-backs, it's finally coming out. BUT, if you come to the show, not only can you get your hands on the record two and a half weeks early, it will also be $2 cheaper than it will be in stores. That's half a gallon of gas, right?

We've been touring all summer, playing the new songs from the record, but we're thrilled to be able to finally let everyone hear the recordings, and to play in front of a hometown crowd again. If you've been reading the blog here, you've got a pretty good idea of how the touring's been going, but if you want a few more details, head over to Annie Zaleski's blog at the Riverfront Times website. While you're there, check out the article she wrote about the new record. If you haven't been out to see us in awhile, or ever, this will be a great show to see. The Hibernauts are playing new songs, Colourmusic is shopping a new CD on their way back to Oklahoma, and Jumbling Towers just released a new EP, free for download on their website. Make sure to get there early so you don't miss a note!

Doors @ 8 | Show @ 9 | $8
6709 Olive, St. Louis, MO

Hope to see everyone there!

Love,
GAH

Bloghorn Leghorn

2008-06-28T09:47:00.000-07:00

JUNE 21ST | Mike N’ Molly’s w/ Sangamon, Curb Service, Todd Kessler | Champaign, IL

We did the ol’ rise and shine and took a trip down the road to our Dekalb favorite, the Hillside Café. With full bellies and a full tank of gas, we set out for our home-away-from-home, Champaign, IL.

After the short trip to CU, we bummed around our favorite establishments before making our way over to Mike N’ Molly’s, where we had only been once before – to see Jumbling Towers play.

We met the guys in Sangamon outside the gate of the outdoor patio, where we would be playing in a few hours. We loaded our gear to the side of the stage and enjoyed the beautiful weather while Sangamon set up and soundchecked.

The patio filled up quickly as the night went on, and the bands seemed to enjoy playing to the abundant yet attentive show-goers. Larry Gates (formerly of Lorenzo Goetz) put on an especially entertaining show with his one-man-band project, Curb Service, which brought to mind early Beck and Soul Coughing.

The audience was exuberantly receptive to our set, as every song garnered loud applause, and many audience members expressed their excitement after the show. Thanks Champaign, you consistently treat us so well.

Throughout the night, Stephen had been perfecting a sunglasses-wearing, hair-backslicking (coined?), sleazeball character that constantly offered to order people drinks. After we loaded up our gear, he unloaded the poses…

Afterwards we shacked up with our favorite newlyweds, Ryan and Jody. You guys rule.

Cheers,
Steve | GAH

Wade Bloggs

2008-06-27T17:26:00.000-07:00

JUNE 20TH | The House Café w/ Joie De Vivre, Dragonfire Parade, You | Dekalb, IL

We made good time on the drive to Dekalb, so we had a little time to relax and hang out when we got there.

We had been to the House Café before, when we stayed in Dekalb back in March, but this was our first time playing the venue.

Since there were four bands playing, real estate for gear was limited, so we used the kitchen.

The drums got set up in the server station.

After the show, we headed back to our friend (and booking agent) Bojan’s house, where we got to meet his new dog, Ines, who was sporting the cutest/most hilarious cast on her leg.

We hung out and played some "Pain" on PS3 for a bit, before calling it quits and giving in to our fatigue.

And from "Pain"...

Seven Things That Represent The Members Of Our Band:

Plaid O' The Day®:

Cheers,
Steve | GAH

Bloggy Bottom Boys

2008-06-25T19:03:00.000-07:00

JUNE 19TH | High Five w/ Ruvane | Columbus, OH

After we caught up on sleep, we emerged from Ahmed's house and headed down by the OSU campus.

We hit up a cool little restaurant called The Blue Danube (aka The Dube), where a few of us really enjoyed the "Cobb" sandwich. Highly recommended. Then we headed over to a great record shop called Used Kids, where I think all of us bought at least something.

On the way to the record shop, I noticed a sandwich board advertising some falafel. Now, I love me some falafel (and I think I've eaten it at least five times so far this month), but this looked like a horror movie about falafel...

Kiley, Mike and I headed over to Shi Sha Lounge (Columbus's first hookah lounge & espresso bar!) to drink some iced chai (delicious) and use the wifi. The rest of the boys headed down the street to the local pub to shoot some pool. Hours later, it was time to get to the club for load-in. On the way there, we were driving beside this lady. We would get to a red light, and a few moments later, she would start to go - as if she was going to run the light - and then stop sharply. This happened at a few different stoplights. Maybe whoever she was talking to on her phone kept saying "Green light" or "You can go!" just to mess with her. Or, it was her Jaguar acting up...

The show was at a venue called The High Five, a pretty snazzy venue that actually had big floor-to-ceiling windows along the front of the room (a nice change of pace compared to the standard: no windows).

The show was sparsely attended, but still a lot of fun. You can read about our set over at Don't Just Do Something, Stand There.

Afterwards we followed my friend's brother-in-law Mike (who we stayed with on our last trip to Columbus - thanks Mike & Elise!) over to his new house, where we were welcomed by their two dogs, and then called it a night due to exhaustion and a long drive the next day.

Seven Things That Represent The Members Of Our Band:

The Plaid O' The Day®:

Cheers,
Steve | GAH

Highly Il-Blogical, Captain

2008-06-25T17:09:00.000-07:00

Ewww, two Star Trek title references? Really?

JUNE 18TH | Day Off | Drive from Philadelphia, PA to Columbus, OH

We awoke and got chased out of the HoJo by the housekeeping staff – they wanted to clean! We headed over to Franklin Trailers to pick up our trailer.

Though it cost us a pretty penny, the guys at Franklin really did a number on our battered box trailer. They fixed us up with a new axle…

A new fender (we only had one, on the other side)…

New wheel hubs and lug bolts on both wheels…

New leafsprings and ubolts…

A new lock for the latch on the back…

And they welded on entirely new beams for the front of the hitch. Essentially the only thing that isn’t new is the box itself – everything else, with the exception of wheels themselves, is brand new. Thanks Franklin Trailers!

So, we hit the road, headed to Columbus for our show the following night. Somewhere in Ohio, we stopped at a gas station where the attendants feed the local raccoon population and have been doing so for a little while. Apparently it keeps them out of the garbage.

This was a great opportunity for…

Seven Things That Represent The Members Of Our Band:

And, The Plaid O’ The Day®:

We rolled into Columbus at 2:30am, welcomed by Ahmed from Sinkane, our Emergency Umbrella labelmate and host for the night. Moments later we were all asleep, and some of us were snoring.

Cheers,
Steve | GAH

"I'll Never Forgive Myself If We Don't Go All The Way Tonight"

2008-06-24T08:45:00.000-07:00

So while I formulate some bloggage for the last couple days of the tour, I felt compelled to break up all the GAH-centric content with a little bit of universally mind-blowing video.

My coworker Bobby and I stumbled onto something today that shook us both to the core. Bobby had sent his friend a video of Celine Dion covering ACDC (which is pretty hard to watch, by the way), and she had replied telling him about another Celine Dion video that she had just happened to watch earlier that day - the video for "It's All Coming Back To Me Now" - which, she noted, reminded her of "the video where Meat Loaf looks like a Klingon". This would, of course, be the video for "I Would Do Anything For Love".

So we loaded up both videos on You Tube, and just out of sheer curiosity, we decided to play them simultaneously, with the Celine song muted. Whoa. We then watched them again, this time with Meat Loaf muted. Whoa again. We also managed to track down a version of the video with a running length of 7:39, (only two seconds longer than Meat Loaf's video), but we think there might actually be more crazy coinciding moments with the 6:00 version. I'm still posting the long version, though, for those of you who want to see them end at the same time.

Enjoy! I'd recommend muting Celine and listening to Meat Loaf for the full "whoa" factor. Also, notice the sweet Mark Wahlberg cameo in the police getup.

Meat Loaf

Celine

Celine's long version:

Now, I'm sure you're busy gathering all your brains that are inevitably strewn around your computer, but wait just a second, because it's about to get messier.

Check this shizz out.

Now feel free to mop up.

Cheers,
Steve | GAH

[EDIT: After a little research, I found out a couple things: 1. Though the two videos were done by different directors, both songs were actually written by Meat Loaf collaborator Jim Steinman. In fact, "It's All Coming Back To Me Now" was originally supposed to be on Bat Out Of Hell II, but was left off in favor of "Anything For Love" with the intention of including it on BOOH III, which was released in 2006 - when the song got the Meat Loaf video redux. 2. In an even more bizarre twist, check out the random similarities (i.e. a huge house with arched doorways and windows, moonlight shining in through billowing white silk curtains, candles everywhere, etc.) in the video for "Total Eclipse Of The Heart", which also happens to be a Steinman penned song. I wonder what his house looks like...]

Ain't Too Proud To Blog

2008-06-21T17:48:00.000-07:00

JUNE 17TH | M-Room w/ Seymore Saves The World, The Weather Underground, Padre Pio | Philadelphia, PA

We arrived in Philadelphia after an overnight drive from Boston, looking for somewhere to get some breakfast and take an early morning nap, but when we parked the van, we noticed something that kinda made us lose our appetites…

[NOTE: I’ll try to explain this as best I can without really knowing that much about it…] The bearings in the wheel hub had apparently stopped spinning, fused, and melted until the collar that they normally sit inside had fallen out altogether. At that point the wheel was just spinning loose on the axle, grinding away at all the working parts.

We decided to jack the trailer up to take the weight off of the wheel so we could determine how bad it was. Once it was elevated, we could literally pull the wheel right off the axle. Somehow by the grace of God it hadn’t fallen off on the highway, which would have been awful.

Mike, Stephen, and Ryan walked down the street to the Gulf service station, where the nice guys there helped us find the closest place to have the trailer serviced.

We found a place 30 miles away in Jersey that could repair the trailer in 24 hrs., but we needed to get it there, and there was no way we could risk pulling it in the condition it was in. So, we had to resort to our second tow of the tour…

With our trailer in someone else’s hands, and load-in still hours away, we had the day to kill. Priority: Cheesesteaks. Red Face Robot tagged along.

Afterwards we went second-hand shopping…

And then got some gelato…

It was a nice day to sit outside and enjoy the weather...

Finally it came time to head to the M-Room for load-in.

I especially liked the way they painted the hand dryers in the bathroom the same color as the walls. Nice.

Somehow Stephen still had plenty of energy. I was delirious. Oh, to be young again…

Over the last few shows I’ve found myself getting more and more into taking photos of the other bands. I’ve always been into photography, but of the mind that the world needs another photographer like it needs another world war, so I keep it strictly hobbyish. Anyway, I’ve been having fun with Kiley’s little point-and-click, and on this night in particular, I kind of got carried away…

Padre Pio

The Weather Underground

Seymore Saves The World (with Shawn, the bassist! Back from the Carson taping with Cloud Cult!)

Since we didn’t really know anyone in Philly, we hopped over the river to a Howard Johnson to stay the night, since it was closer to the trailer repair place. Stephen was finally tired, but still dedicated to his text conversations.

The Plaid O’ The Day®:

Seven Things That Represent The Members Of Our Band:

Cheers,
Steve | GAH

Blog Day Afternoon

2008-06-20T16:39:00.000-07:00

JUNE 16TH | The Middle East Upstairs w/ Seymore Saves The World, Hospital Bombers, and Daniel Oulette | Cambridge, MA

We rolled out of bed early to eat some breakfast and say goodbye to our lovely hostess, the Tomkos’ Aunt Donna (Uncle Chris had already headed off to work for the day).

It didn’t take us too long to get to Boston and make our way over to Cambridge, where I managed to catch a glimpse of the elusive Cosmic Moose…

The Middle East is a restaurant/bar/venue with an large downstairs stage and a more intimate (read: smaller) stage upstairs. Oh, and I almost forgot to mention the enormous mural on the outside of the building…

We had to ask a cop who pulled up behind us outside whether or not we were okay to park in our spot since the signs were kind of confusing. He told us he was from a different department, but that “these guys are dicks, and they’ll probably ticket my cruiser if I leave it here too long.” Needless to say, we moved.

Kiley, Stephen and I wandered across the street to a little quirky collectibles boutique, where Stephen found another gem of a robot for his ever-growing collection. Ladies and gentlemen, I give you Red Face Robot:

Red Face Robot wasn't sure if the Middle East was a robot-friendly venue...

RED FACE ROBOT: "Do you know if they serve robots here?"
SCOTT FROM SEYMORE SAVES THE WORLD: "Well, if they serve Minnesotans, my guess is they'll serve anybody..."

They were keeping it pretty frigid in the venue, so Stephen had to bundle up in one of our merch-tablecloths…

Daniel Oulette opened the show with a very unique set that I can try to describe as a baritone-voiced Morrisey singing to goth-midi-techno tracks in front of video projector art.

You know, why try to describe it when I can just show you…

Up next was a Dutch band called the Hospital Bombers whose sound landed somewhere between the throwback guitar pop of the Shout Out Louds to the classic roots rock of Tom Petty. Funny side note: They were headed to play Piano’s in NY the next night.

Speaking of the next night, this was the first of two nights that we would be playing with Seymore Saves The World. Tonight, however, they were without their bassist Shawn, who was in LA taping a performance for Carson Daly with his other band, Cloud Cult. His bandmates Scott and Nate picked up the slack quite well.

Our set went well, thanks in part to the Middle East’s awesome soundguy, Jeff. If only every soundguy out there was as cool…

After the show we decided that since we didn’t have anywhere to stay, we would just drive overnight to Philadelphia. I guess since I’m writing this, it’s obvious that we made it alive, but that doesn’t mean that we didn’t come really close to having things go horribly wrong….

Cheers,
Steve | GAH

Blogging Footage

2008-06-19T14:47:00.000-07:00

Here's a couple video omissions from last week...

Herbst sadly evokes a drunken Waits...

Some sweet dancing courtesies of the soccer players in Sweetwater's "Swing Time" virtual sports room...

Cheers,
Steve | GAH

Blog Eat Blog

2008-06-19T14:06:00.000-07:00

JUNE 15TH | Piano’s w/ Le Rug, Scott Alexander | New York, NY

Kiley, Eric E., and I took the 9:00am train into Penn Station to meet up with some friends and see the city. Kiley and I wandered around Times Square for what seemed like hours until we met up with some friends in Soho (I think) for lunch.

Apparently you can buy crystal meth on the streets for $5 in NY.

They’re getting pretty creative with the makeup names nowadays.

Here’s a weird wall sculpture thingy of John McEnroe that we saw in the ESPN zone. It moved and everything. Eww.

We got to Piano’s at 5:00 for load-in.

The show got pushed back an hour and we didn’t play until midnight. Here’s what happens when we hang out with our friends at a bar for seven hours…

Good news is that they’re apparently pretty strict with their employees’ hygiene.

We played with a band called Le Rug…

You can read a review of our set at Venus Magazine’s website.

After an exhaustingly long day we headed back to Jersey for our last night at the Tomko’s aunt & uncle’s.

No 7 things. No Plaid O’ The Day®. And I’m retiring MVP Of The Day by awarding the Tomko’s Aunt Donna the award for the last three days. The woman did not rest until we had everything we could possibly need or want – you couldn’t ask for better hospitality at a five-star hotel. Aunt Donna... pssht, more like Saint Donna! Thanks Aunt Donna!

Cheers,
Steve | GAH

Blogarithm

2008-06-19T13:48:00.000-07:00

JUNE 14TH | Café Metropolis w/ The Marquees | Wilkes-Barre, PA

We hung around the Tomko’s aunt & uncles and ate some awesome breakfast (omelettes, French toast, seasoned potatoes) and some awesome lunch (burgers, hotdogs, thai peanut noodle salad, tuna mac salad, chicken drumsticks, etc.), and then piled our full bellies into the van to head back to Pennsylvania. I tried to pour an Emergen-C packet into my bottle of water right when the van hit a pothole…

We got to Café Metropolis, which looks like this from the front…

This from the back (which is the main entrance)…

And this from inside…

We played with a local band called The Marquees…

After the show we high-tailed it back to Aunt Donna’s for leftover pizza and burgers.

Seven Things That Represent The Members Of Our Band:

The Plaid O’ The Day®:

Cheers,
Steve | GAH

Bob Loblaw's Law Blog

2008-06-19T13:17:00.000-07:00

JUNE 13TH | Day Off | Cooperstown, NY/New Jersey

We got the van back from the Ford dealer and were relieved to find out that the problem was very minor: When Mike got the oil changed in the van a couple weeks back, he had them change the air filter, too, and when they closed the air filter compartment, they pinched off the vacuum hose for the brakes. Simple fix, but a potentially scary situation.

We had no show for the day, so we figured we’d make a stop at Cooperstown on the way to Mike and Stephen’s aunt & uncle’s house in Jersey. While Eric H., Stephen, Ryan and Kiley walked around the quaint little NY town, Eric, Mike and I checked out the Baseball Hall of Fame.

There’s so much stuff to look at and read – you could literally spend an entire day in the museum – so I focused my camera on the things that mattered most… Cardinals history...

He's Getting Close:

Awesome Cooperstown Bathroom Graffiti:

Scrawling 1: "ALFONSO SORIANO IS THE BEST GO CUBS!!!"
Scrawling 2: "haha he broke his wrist Go Cardinals"

Manufactured Dramatic Picture Of The Day:

We got into Jersey late, but the Tomko’s Aunt Donna had been sweet enough to not only stay up for us, but keep some authentic Jersey pizza warming for us in the oven. After checking out some kid pics of the Brothers Tomko, we went to bed.

Seven Things That Represent The Members Of Our Band:

The Plaid O’ The Day®:

Cheers,
Steve | GAH

Captain's Blog: Stardate 7734 (upside down on a calculator)

2008-06-14T17:19:00.000-07:00

JUNE 12TH | ~~The Bug Jar w/ The Show Is The Rainbow, UUVVWWZ | Rochester, NY~~
La Quinta w/ Beers | Buffalo, NY

Rise and shine in Erie, PA, and the merch spills out when we open the trailer. Should have been an obvious sign of things to come, but we weren’t looking for signs. We were looking for breakfast.

We had decided to head up to Niagra Falls on the way to Rochester, NY, so after breakfast we started on what would become quite an adventure. We got to the Canadian border, only to be redirected to the Canadian Customs immigration department for not having our passports (we had kinda sorta checked to see if we needed them or not, and the kinda sorta consensus was that we didn’t). At the immigration office we were informed that not only should we have registered all of our gear with U.S. Customs before coming to Canada, not all of us were “approved” to cross into Canada - more exclusive details on this in the Official GAH RFT Tour Diary®.

So after being declined by Canada, we were redirected back through U.S. Customs, who were significantly less polite than the Canadians. Go figure. Anyway, after 20 min. of having our van and trailer searched despite having paperwork stating that we never actually entered Canada, they sent us on our way.

As we approached a toll booth near Buffalo, Mike had the van brakes seize up on him and almost plowed into the car in front of us. We stopped at a gas station in Depew, NY to check it out, and decided to take it over to the service station next door.

We met Ernie and Johnny, the guys at FastTrack, who took a look at our brakes and determined that since we still had a warranty on the van, we should get it towed to a Ford dealer.

Mike called the Ford dealer, whose service shop was about to close for the day. Mike explained that we had a show in Rochester that we were trying to get to, but the guy on the phone told him they would look at it tomorrow, and depending on the problem, they might not be able to get a part in until Tuesday. Having no other choice, we called a tow truck to take it to the dealer. Mike rode along to drop the van off.

Ernie, being the nice guy that he is, gave Eric H. a ride to UHaul to see if they had a van that we could rent, only to find that they don’t have passenger vans. Ernie then drove Eric H. and I to the airport to try to rent a vehicle (or two), since we were still trying to make it to the show that night. After finding that almost every rental company had no available vehicles, we talked to Shannon at Enterprise, who told us she had no minivans, but if we could wait awhile, she could get us an SUV. At this point we had ruled out making it to the show, but an SUV could actually move the seven of us from the service station to a hotel, so we decided to go for it.

Meanwhile, back at the service station, Eric E., Ryan, Kiley, and Stephen had nothing but time on their hands. Boredom sets in…

A human snowman...

Herman the snail...

Ryan Archer Adams of Robin Hood's Merry Men...

Finally, Eric H. and I returned with our Chrysler Pacifica

We headed over to the Buffalo Brewpub for some hotwings. When in Buffalo…

Finally we got a room at the La Quinta down the street and put an end to a long, crazy day.
Our MVP Of The Day is shared between Ernie and Johnny at FastTrack, and Shannon and Kate at Enterprise. Thanks for your help, guys.

The Plaid O’ The Day®

Seven Things That Represent The Members Of Our Band:

Cheers,
Steve | GAH

Bilbo Bloggins

2008-06-14T16:59:00.000-07:00

JUNE 11TH | Garfield Artworks w/ The Show Is The Rainbow, UUVVWWZ, Moustache Required | Pittsburgh, PA

We got to Pittsburgh with plenty of time to kill, but we decided to find the venue first and then figure out where to go. Some shots from the drive…

We found the venue, and then headed back the way we came to a cool strip of shops. We hung out there until load-in, at which point we headed back to the venue, only to find out we still had an hour to kill. So we napped in the van.

Garfield Artworks

We opened the show with a solid set, capped off by Darren from The Show Is The Rainbow joining us onstage to bang a drum on “The Book of Matches”. We loaded off, and then proceeded to be thoroughly entertained for the next couple of hours:

Moustache Required

UUVVWWZ

The Show Is The Rainbow

For his spontaneous percussion contributions, his own energetic set, and because he tattled on us to our booking agent for playing a good show, Darren is Our MVP of the Day. Also…

The Plaid O’ The Day®:

Seven Things That Represent The Members Of Our Band:

After the show we loaded up and drove to Erie to stay with one of Stephen’s friends, planning to hit Niagra Falls on the way to Rochester, NY, the next day.

To be continued…

Cheers,
Steve | GAH

Don't blog about it, BE about it!

2008-06-14T16:25:00.000-07:00

JUNE 10TH | Matinee w/ DJ Larry | Akron, OH

After grabbing some breakfast, we headed down to Sweetwater headquarters, where Matt gave us the grand tour. Sweetwater is a recording studio that grew into a pro-audio and musical instrument retailer, and they do most of their business online (90% of their orders ship same-day!), but we had no idea what we were in store for when we walked in.

We were especially fans of the “arcade” area…

We finally tore ourselves from the free arcade games and hit the road, headed for Akron, OH.

The Matinee

The super-tiny stage

DJ Larry, who provided the music trivia before and after our set

Our set was cut short due to a tripped breaker, but we weren’t too bummed, since the bar patrons didn’t seem too interested in live music (I guess they normally just have the music trivia). This guy thought we should change our name to “Auction Gentleman” and auction ourselves off as dates throughout the show. What a novel idea.

We spent the rest of the evening hanging out, having drinks, taking pictures, and then arguing with each other (which probably happens with most bands after a weird set and a few drinks)

The arguing ceased once we got back to the house we were staying at and got to play around with Our MVP of the Day, Cooper:

The Plaid O’ The Day®:

Seven Objects That Represent The Members Of Our Band:

Cheers,
Steve | GAH

Blump on a Blog

2008-06-12T15:10:00.001-07:00

JUNE 9TH | Mid City Grill w/ Prabir & The Substitutes | Ft. Wayne, IN

The Mid City Grill in Ft. Wayne, IN

Prabir & The Substitutes

Seven Sit-Down Fast Food Restaraunts in Terre Haute, IN that Represent the Members of Our Band:

Our MVP Of The Day: Our friend Matt who put us up for the night on short notice.

The Plaid O' The Day:

Check back tomorrow for the news from yesterday!

Cheers,
Steve | GAH

You're my mate, and I will stand by you

2008-06-10T14:09:00.000-07:00

JUNE 8TH | The Bluebird w/ Mates of State, Headlights | St. Louis, MO

It was nice to have a day in town to make sure we had everything packed that we need for the next couple weeks. Mike went out and bought two new trailer tires, thus securing the MVP of the day. Congrats, Mike. You better relish it, because you can only win once.

While Mike was buying tires, Kiley and I were chasing a house sparrow from the top floor of my apartment stairwell, through my apartment, and out my balcony doors. Here's a visual aid:

I guess now's as good a time as any to mention that I'm compiling a tour diary for Annie Z. at the Riverfront Times which I guess will be posted once we get back, so if it seems like any of these entries are brief or truncated, it's because I'm trying to avoid telling the same boring stories twice.

Moving on, the Mates of State/Headlights show was SO good. I could go on, but speaking of the RFT, I'll let Ryan Wasoba tell you about it.

Needless to say, we had a blast, and it was a real pleasure sharing the stage with such awesome and talented musicians. I'm really glad that they got such a good turnout, so we can keep bringing bands of their caliber back through town.

On a more personal note, seeing Kori & Jason perform together is kind of special for me, since Kiley and I really enjoy being able to perform together in our band. It's a little bit of an inspiration to see a married couple succeed as a band, and as a married couple. Kiley and I watched the Mates of State documentary Two of Us on our last tour, and it evoked the same feelings of inspiration, and in a way, reassurance. Sappiness and sentimentality aside, it made me realize that not very many people get to do this with their "mate", and a lot of people don't even have a "mate". So, I just wanted to take a second and let you all know, Right Said Fred has you covered.

Also, here's some photos and video of our set at The Beat Kitchen last Friday, courtesy of TooMuchRock.com.

And without further ado, I give you:

The Plaid O' The Day®:

and Seven Objects That Represent The Members Of Our Band:

Until tomorrow...

Cheers,
Steve | GAH

Well, we rock a house party at the drop of a hat...

2008-06-09T23:23:00.000-07:00

JUNE 7th | Birthday Party | St. Louis, MO

We headed back home on Saturday to play at a birthday party for a friend of the band. We were about an hour out of town when this happened:

13" trailer tires (or at least the specific size we had) are apparently kind of a rarity. We know because the kind folks at the strawberry field just off of the highway helped us call every tire place in the area. They ended up having a friend drive a tire he had laying around over to the field to meet us, whereupon he promptly sold the tire to us for $20. Score! I give you our MVPs of the day:

So we had to take the newly acquired tire down the road to the Gas & Tire to get it fitted on our wheel. Another $20, and cheap beer next door. Score again!

We finally made it back into town to set everything up for the birthday show. Fattback kicked it off with a genre cornucopia, complete with a sweet cover of "Psycho Killer".

Our set was a blast, and we had some party guests twice our age dancing more than any of our audiences in recent memory. There was a congo line.

Plaid O' The Day®:

Seven things that represent the members of our band:

Stay tuned for "coverage" of our bonkers show with Mates of State and Headlights!

Cheers,
Steve | GAH

MATES OF STATE! HEADLIGHTS! BLUEBIRD! TONIGHT!

2008-06-08T16:35:00.000-07:00

We can't contain our excitement for this show! Get there early! We go on at 8:00!

Blogger!? I just met her!

2008-06-08T14:24:00.000-07:00

We've embarked our June tour, and though we're back in town tonight for the Mates of State/Headlights show (it's still part of the tour, I swear), we'll be hitting the road again tomorrow and remain out-and-about for the next couple of weeks.

In an effort to include you all in the many mundane moments that occur throughout a typical day in a GAH tour, I'm going to try and get some daily(ish) content up here. Probably not a good sign that I'm already a day behind, but hey, internet (and free time) has been scarce.

JUNE 6th | The Beat Kitchen | Chicago, IL

The venue:

The stage:

The Plaid O' The Day®:

MVP of the day: Liz, who bought us a round of drinks (DISCLAIMER: The minor is drinking ginger ale)

Seven Objects That Represent The Members Of Our Band:

Stay tuned for tidbits from yesterday (this is going to get confusing, I can tell already).

Cheers,
Steve | GAH

2008 RFT Music Awards

2008-05-26T20:47:00.000-07:00

The RFT Music Awards are in full swing again this year, and there are a heap of sweet St. Louis bands nominated. Please take a second and cast your vote for all of your favorite bands, but remember, you can leave certain categories blank, so if you don't know who any of the bands in a specific category are, you don't have to pick the one whose name you like best. If you find yourself scratching your head while you skim over a bunch of bands you've never heard of, you should go out to more shows!

The RFT Music Awards Showcase is happening on Sun., June 1st, and we're scheduled to play the main stage at 3 p.m. It'll be a bonkers day of St. Louis music, so make sure you're there. You can check out the schedule here.

CAST YOUR VOTE HERE!

And on a more self-centered note, the night before (May 31st) is the Bluebird's BBQ Bash featuring yours truly, our friends in The Bureau, local power trio The Feed, Blind Eyes, and DJ Commiekay. Should be a fingerlickinggoodtime - don't forget the A1.

Everyone gear up, cause summer's a comin'.

Cheers,
GAH

coming to you at 1000 beats per minute

2008-04-29T17:33:00.000-07:00

hiya.

and goodbye michigan.

we've had a few great shows and some technical issues (like having too much time pre-show to drink and play pool). last night was our last night with Canada. very sweet folks. in three cities on this trip we managed to say with three different members of that band. and last night ended in a 13+ person percussion fest' at the tail end of their set. hopefully we all broke some stuff. insta-cred, no? no.

this morning we woke up dark and early and headed to Daytrotter for a session live off the floor that will probably be available sometime in the next coupe months. now we are across the river in davenport, iowa, boust to "ghost-ride the whip to the undead beat." whatever that means, we're gonna do it.

ALERT (Happiness Level Orange): Stephen bought two more sweet robots.

as usual, we are missing some great shows in st. louis while we're gone. i hope you're there.

k, now i've gotta get gone. show starting soon. adios.
ee/GAH

sneeze

2008-04-24T21:37:00.000-07:00

tomorrow we head out again for a short jaunt. this will mark our maiden voyage in our new van. we will be playing a few shows with Canada, then Bear Colony, and then our twinkies in Elsinore. we have a Daytrotter session sprinkled in there somewhere as well. stay tuned.

who else here hates allergy season?

Who Wore It Best?

2008-04-18T22:22:00.000-07:00

For those of you unfamiliar with all things red carpet, there is the common phenomenon of two (or more) celebs wearing the same designer clothing to the same (or different, but chronologically close) event, which usually results in a side-by-side photo in publications such as US Weekly called "Who Wore It Best?". It's exactly what one would expect: You, the reader, are left to decide which celeb looks better in the identical outfit. Here's an example...

Having never arrived on the red carpet to any sort of Hollywood awards show, I've never had the emotional backhand (I'm assuming, here) of realizing that I'm wearing the same dress as some other diva. Maybe some of you girls had the unfortunate high school experience of showing up to a dance with the same dress as some other skank (because if they have the same dress as you, they're a skank, right?). BUT, I think I get it, now. Due to recent circumstances, I think I know how it feels.

Allow me to rewind, and retrace some steps...

Last weekend we shot our music video (for "The Book of Matches"). I spent the few weeks prior organizing everything to make sure all elements were in place for this project. I arranged for the equipment, the location, the actors, the costumes, the props, etc., and footed (almost) the entire bill for the whole production, since I'll be using it to (finally) get my film production degree. It was a long and arduous process getting all of the elements in place, but with some help in key positions, it all fell into place and the shoot ended up going smoothly and without any serious complications.

The general idea was this: Three different projector "screens" would paint the "backgrounds" of a few different scenes within the lyrical storyline. The band plays in front of the middle screen, and Eric narrates (sort of, by singing) the story that takes place around him, featuring a main character (played by Mr. Billy Schuh of Foundry Field Recordings), his children (played by Cat and Chris McMillan), and the town he lives in, that is accusing him of the murder of a handful of local teens. The action slides from screen to screen as the band plays and Eric moves into the foreground of each scene. The entire video was one long steadicam shot, filmed on Super 16mm film.

The "townspeople" are portrayed as an angry mob, donning all-black attire with white masks, and as the end of the song draws near, the town "burns" in the projection images, as two fireman (also masked) enter to try to extinguish the fire with confetti cannons filled with blue confetti - metaphorically mimicking fire hoses.

Here's some photos:

At this point you have every right to be asking "What the hell does this have to do with celebrity clothing?" Well, Eric sent me an email this morning which contained a YouTube URL and ended with "Holy crap", and there enlies your answer...

I give you the video for "Love Me Dead", a song by Ludo, another St. Louis band, who recently released their major-label debut You're Awful, I Love You (produced by Maroon 5 producer Matt Wallace) on Island Records:

I know. "Whoa", right? Oh, wait, you haven't seen our video yet, have you? Well, allow me to connect the dots:

1. All shot in one take
2. Lead singer "hosts" and "narrates" entire video
3. Background "players" in black wearing white masks
4. Character turning on/off a light
5. Fireman characters using blue confetti as water
6. Use of fast motion (theirs)/slow motion (ours)
7. Crazy ending where everyone falls down (oops, I gave it away!)

So this leaves me/us with a predicament: Their video is done and out and on YouTube and available, whereas ours is a couple weeks away from any kind of premiere... In the words of the infinitely wise David Byrne, "How do I work this?" This is already my attempt at a psuedo-public disclaimer whereupon I state "I, Steve Kozel, did not intentionally rip off any elements of the Ludo video, and if I was going to, I probably would have included a couple other cool things that they did."

How does this happen? It's soooooo bizarre. Can we chalk it up to regional influences? Does it sell better that way? Should I arrange a sit-down with Ludo where we figure out some kind of video double-bill with MTV? Can they sue me? Who wore it better, and at this point, does it even matter? If they're on Island, does that automatically mean they win, and all I get to show for this is a diploma? Does it matter that the diploma is the least important aspect of this entire project?

All questions aside, I hope to have a video to show you all in a couple weeks. Stay tuned.

Cheers,
Steve | GAH

damn you, dontrelle willis

2008-04-07T15:58:00.000-07:00

hurry...someone's coming....

we have been back home for a couple weeks. this past tour was tons o' fun. met some new folks and got to play some shows with our friends. now we're gearing up for a short tour at the end of the month and an EP release. The Book of Matches will be in stores May 6. however, we will have some available at our shows before that.

the EP features two songs from the upcoming full-length, one b-side from those sessions, and two songs we knocked out ourselves at home. hope-y you like-y.

mmmm, baseball season.

apples and bonanza

2008-03-16T11:59:00.000-07:00

aloha.
here we are, enjoying a break on this tour, recovering from SXSW madness. if i see one more pair of black skinny jeans, i swear...

we are in austin for one last night before heading on to houston to play the first of a couple shows with So Many Dynamos. our shows up to this point have been pretty great. we started the tour playing a few shows with our labelmates Bald Eagle and Witch's Hat. they bring it. it should be noted that they've also got some ringers on the basketball court. and i've got blisters. go figure.

bless our friends in stillwater, oklahoma. one of our favorite places to play.

this morning we said goodbye to Emergency Umbrella Records' jigga Billy Schuh, who is also the Optimus Prime of The Foundry Field Recordings. billy has been accompanying us for the last week+. he's unanimously our new favorite person, although for me it was a tough choice between him and Taylor Swift. seriously, the country version of that song (NOT the top 40 version) is kinda classic country and western. in a good way. but the pop version sucks with the different drumbeat, etc. everybody ruins everything.

in addition to the club shows, we played a house show in wichita that was fantastic due mostly to the kindness of the people putting it on. they housed all 3 EU bands and provided food and sodas for all. it was wonderful.

most of the trip so far has been spent battling sickness. i started it and the rest of the band followed suit. our first SXSW show came on the heels of our low point. the ol' throat wasn't feeling so hot at that point, but some Throat Coat and a little whiskey propelled me right along.

got to spend a lot of time with our dearests in Headlights. played some shows together and then got to watch them kill during some of their ELEVEN! SXSW shows. they have infinite amounts of fun playing. i could watch them always.

saw our friends T.J. and Nick from Aloha rock the Polyvinyl party. they both worked on our record and it was nice to see them again in a less crazed environment. that first song on the new Aloha EP is so effing good.

Colourmusic rips.

Nice to see Jon Hardy and the Public. love that record. and they always sound great.

Saw our friends in Two Cow Garage. can't wait to play with them again. lordy.

some other bands we were able to enjoy at SXSW:
Dizzee Rascal
Someone Still Loves You Boris Yeltsin
Tilly & the Wall
The Constantines
Portastatic
WHY?
The Weakerthans
Portugal The Man
Rogue Wave
Black Diamond Heavies
Cloud Cult
Mahjongg (which was crazy-good)
Yeasayer
David Bazan

sorry, we have 7 members and we all like different ish. that's the small list.

all right, gotta do laundry while i can.

we miss you.

-EE and GAH

p.s. google new pics of ryan cabrera. it will blow your mind. what a jag.

Weekend In Review + DOWNLOAD: "The Book of Matches"

2008-02-17T18:25:00.000-08:00

Thanks again to everyone who made it out to our shows over the weekend. It was simply fantastic to get back to Columbia and Champaign again. Oh how we've missed you.

On the bill Friday night at Mojo's in Columbia, MO was our longtime friend, Lucas Oswald (Minus Story, Never Perfect Intentions). He is playing guitar in Will Reeves', of Bockman, new project Penny Marvel. They were awesome!

Also that night, we got a chance to play with Evangelicals from Norman, OK. They were really cool and it will be a treat to join them and Headlights again on March 11th at The Cavern in Dallas, TX.

Hanging out with Nina and Jaret from Emergency Umbrella was also super-great. With how much we talk on the phone and email, it was very nice to share a beer and escape the stress of finishing this record, even if just for one night. They started making plans for a crazy label barbecue in Austin during SXSW. So excited!

Saturday night, after a long drive crammed into Steve's car and Ryan's truck (we need a VAN!), we arrived at The Highdive in Champaign, IL. We were a tad bit worried about how the night would go, since Cowboy Monkey stopped doing music, and weekend shows at The Highdive are now early shows (7pm-10pm), but our worries quickly melted away as we loaded our gear up onto the big stage and got out of the rainy cold outside.

Sharing the bill with us that night was Tunnels, who we had not played with before but featured Stephen Ucherek of The Living Blue, and Cameron McGill & What Army, who we have played with twice in Champaign and just released his third full-length album, Hold on Beauty. Both bands played great sets and as usual, the Champaign crowd was wonderful to play for. There was a myspace message for us today from someone who was there on Saturday who shot part of our set on video. Hopefully he uploads it soon.

It was a fantastic show in our home away from home that was topped off by a WONDERFUL sit-down late dinner with some of our favorite friends CU friends, Ryan and Dave of Elsinore, Jodi, Mike, and Rachel at Seven Saints. The benefit of playing a show that's over by 10pm is that you can EAT at a good restaurant and relax when you are done. So nice to be eating asian wasabi sliders instead of loading the truck at 2am in the rain!

Oh and by the way, we are hoping to have the new EP for sale at shows starting March 6th @ The Bluebird. Cross your fingers that we get them back from the pressing plant in time.

+++++
DOWNLOAD ALERT!

The kind folks over at Largehearted Boy have been kind enough to post a FREE download of "The Book of Matches"! Please support their site and let them know how much you love them.

TWO NEW TRACKS UP!!!!

2008-02-07T14:57:00.000-08:00

you can go to our myspace page to check out two brand new GAH tracks

The Book of Matches which appears on both The Book of Matches (EP due in stores 5.6.08) and Alphabet Graveyard (LP due in stores 6.3.08)

and

Our Angry Town Stamps Them Out appears on The Book of Matches

we recorded these with our great friends, Devin Ocampo, Chad Clark, and Nick Anderson in Arlington, VA at Silver Sonya/Inner Ear Studios

the album artwork was done by the fabulous Mr. John Vogl at The Bungaloo - thebungaloo.com

we hope you like em!

love,
gah

Victoria w/ Gentleman Auction House, Early Day Miners & Grace Basement @ The Bluebird

2008-01-23T10:31:00.002-08:00

go...

Ok, so maybe we jumped the gun...

2008-01-21T16:39:00.001-08:00

mixing is almost there

a few changes need to be done, which Devin will be taking care of tomorrow - shouldn't really be a big deal

otherwise, we are in the home-stretch and just about ready to let TJ tag in to master the record

everything sounds so great - chad and eric really rocked this stuff!
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in other news:
we will be touring/playing this Spring with some of our favorite friends; Bald Eagle, Witch's Hat, Elsinore, Cameron McGill, Sinkane, Canada, Light Pollution, Headlights, etc.!!!!

let us know if you'd like us to come to your city as the touring bug seems to be infecting all of us and we are all itching to get out on the road...

-----

we hope to see you at The Bluebird on February 8th! we are so lucky to be playing with Early Day Miners, Victoria, and Grace Basement

-mike

mixing = done.

2008-01-15T07:55:00.000-08:00

mission accomplished. all the songs are mixed and i'm very happy with the way things turned out. i fly home in a few hours and then we'll evaluate what we have and get our ducks in a row for mastering. heads up, tj.

i'll gush again later about chad, devin, nick and t.j. i 'm sure. but they all worked hard under sometimes strange circumstances to make this project what we all hoped it would be. the scope of the thing exceeded everyones plans and expectations, and their contributions and efforts were greatly appreciated.

chad, nick and i all agree: kriss kross were some hard-ass rappers. investigate for yourselves. the proof is in the videos, my dears.

although i've gotten a bit used to the busy streets of d.c., i kinda can't wait to get back to st. louis. a beer with my friends sounds fantastic. 5000.

"In Sicily, women are more dangerous than shotguns. "
-ee

the home stretch

2008-01-14T00:30:00.000-08:00

i am happy to report that 9 songs are completely mixed. in the bag. knocked out' the park. done. yay.

i've extended my stay by a day to wrap this ish up. whew. chad has been mixing his ass off despite still being sick, and all of our thoughts are constantly with him. his devotion to this project has meant a lot to all of us, and i can't express my gratitude enough. anyway...

today, after he banged out "we used to dream about bridges," we revisited all the previous near-completed mixes and hammered them home. turns out there's a rick james thing happening in "i sleep in a bed of scissor arms." who knew? but watching the video of "super freak" on youtube was spectacular. some effed up musical things going on in that song that we never noticed before. not to mention some even more effed up visual things. like, the temptations, seriously? so confused. and every second rick james was on screen i got a little more scared.

wish us luck tomorrow. 3 songs to go.

i hope 2008 is Year of the Pad Thai. yum.

now, "getting back to my emcee status..."
-ee

currently listening to: "Ghost Town" by The Specials
currently watching: "The Godfather"
currently eating: not enough

p.s. apparently the area around the studio used to be "the hooker district." and he tells me this now...

halle berry kissed fred durst, don't tell my dad

2008-01-12T23:26:00.000-08:00

here we are. last two days. eek.

saw some more of john "yoko" vogl's artwork for the record today. love him. at least there will be something nice to look at.

last night chad whipped up his most krayzie bone mix yet. suddenly "you and me, madly..." is all tweaked out and dark. the process freaked me out so much i had to put on headphones and take a nap. i woke up to a pretty exciting mix. our mutual love for tchad blake and aural excitement is coming through. i was hoping when we started that he'd take some liberties and push the songs in new directions. done. he struck again today with an even more drastic dose of production fuckery with "a good son." i like risk-taking in mixes. hopefully the rest of the band agrees. time continues to escape, but the man has his head down and is plowing ahead. we spent most of the evening tweaking and ironing things out. all is well.

when i head home it will be interesting to try to sleep without hearing the sounds of screaming and sirens. ah, city life.

today was the first day that i broke down and ate pizza for dinner. i've had much better studio eating habits this time around. no beer/fast food breakdowns. just mango juice and falafel. how old am i?

have you SEEN that fergie video? jesus h.

i can't think straight at the moment. i should probably sleep.

fuzzy wuzzy was a bear.

4 songs to start and the rest to finalize tomorrow. seems crazy, but my fingers and toes are crossed.

i'm a terrible blogger.
-ee

keep it movin', to the k.i.m.

2008-01-11T21:23:00.000-08:00

coffee.

new recipe: bread, cheese, veggie chicken patty, garden vegetable cream cheese spread. combine. nuke. yum.

we're in the trenches. i have a separate workstation in the back of the studio to do prep work. nick is gone. chad is owning it. lots of effed up sounds blasting through his new genelecs. very exciting.

more coffeeeee.

"you got me trippin', stumblin'..."

d.c. is icky today. wet and dark. insert comment.

some songs basically done. some yet to be tackled. time, what?

things are looking up for "If I'm The First To Go," "Call It Casual," "Good Behavior," and "ABCDEFGraveyard." praise chad clark.

bounce to the beat now.
-ee

Progress, FINALLY! - Eric Checks In...

2008-01-06T23:06:00.000-08:00

just wrapped up day 2 of pre-mixing at silver sonya. i've been working with nick anderson, who was assistant engineer to devin ocampo during the tracking phase and has been assisting chad clark with mixing as well. let me say that nick has been a huge asset to the project and his hard work and attention to detail has not gone unnoticed. we've been holed up in silver sonya's new space (a great loft in d.c. with natural light, tons of instruments and a shower!) for the last couple days and have had a fantastic time hanging out and working together. i think i just had a moment with him and he's not even around right now. gooey.

last night we knocked off early because nick had to work at the galaxy hut, a great small bar in clarendon, va. i closed the place down with him, and met his friend jay, who is a recording engineer originally from st. louis. the best bar conversation i've had in years. normally i shy away from that type of thing because bar conversations tend to veer towards football and office jobs, two things that share an unappealing ickyness and hit the red on my personal yawn-o-meter. but talking about q-tip and how guitars ruin songs made me very happy to be spending the night out and about. nick's generous bartending certainly helped as well. (i should note that a few solo rounds of pool at another nearby establishment earlier in the evening got things started off on the good foot).

tomorrow nick and i will finish prepping the last few songs for the first day of real mixing, which will begin on tuesday with chad.

i am sleepytime station. pop bottles. chat soon.

currently listening to: beck - the information
currently reading: the tender bar by j.r. moehringer
currently eating: veggie chili cheese fries from ben's, a chili joint that blasts goooood r 'n' b
currently remembering that i'm grossed out by: "what-i-did-today" blogs and people who write them

-ee

Album, Christmas Show, Tour, Oh My!

2007-12-18T14:26:00.000-08:00

things are uber busy here in the GAH camp...

waiting for this record to be done has been excruciating - each night, we go to bed with bated breath, hoping to wake up to a finished album - finally, we now have a true idea of when we will get to meet the product of our efforts

----
*flashback - mid-November:
Chad Clark, our fearless mixer, contracted some sort of non-Super Bug related flu - it was awful - a week of misery, coupled with an ever-rising temperature resulted in a hospital stay for Mr. Clark - as it turns out, this was no ordinary elementary school influenza - little did we know, Chad had come down with some sort of super virus that the doctors were completely baffled by

after being released from the hospital, Devin and Chad tried to get back to work mixing - serious fatigue began to set in for Chad and we also became aware that he had developed a heart murmur from the ordeal

Chad kept insisting that he was cool and that he was happy to be back at work, but shortly after Thanksgiving, he went under heart surgery to try to correct the problem caused by the illness

everything with the surgery went GREAT and he is doing well at home in DC - hopefully he doesn't have to have another procedure down the line - let's cross our fingers, we are all so happy that he is ok
----

OK, so everything considered, coupled with the stress of trying to mix 12 songs by a 7 person band, with almost 40+ tracks per song, from a thousand miles away, we have made some new decisions as to how we will finish this album

on January 5th Eric E. is going to fly to DC and spend a week working with Chad and Nick - no more emails trying to nicely explain a 1db change, no more FTP server madness! - we all agree that this is the absolute best way to get the record finished and it also gives Chad a chance to properly recuperate - so excited

it now looks like the album should be out this April - MANY more details on that to come!

----
also, anyone within a reasonable driving distance of this unstoppable cheer-filled weekend, need to get their butts in their cars and head on down to Off Broadway this Friday and Saturday....

Tomko Bomb Co. Presents:
A Very Merry Christmas Spectacular

Friday, December 21st:
The Bureau
The Hibernauts
Witch's Hat (Columbia, MO)
The Makeshift Gentlemen
& VIDEOLOGY

Saturday, December 22nd:
So Many Dynamos
Gentleman Auction House
Light Pollution (Dekalb, IL)
Laite
& VIDEOLOGY

@ Off Broadway - 3509 Lemp Ave, St. Louis, MO 63118
Doors @ 8:30pm | Show @ 9:00pm | $7 | 18+

Sponsored By: Vintage Vinyl, KDHX 88.1FM, Dividing By Zero, Apples & Cats
Media and TheBungaloo.com.

----

ok, so last but not least...

we will be coming to a town near YOU in 2008 - keep tuned in to our Myspace page to keep up with the tour as it is confirmed - we are so lucky to be playing with, and playing for, a bunch of our most favorite friends on this trip and already, we have multiple dates with Bald Eagle, Witch's Hat, and So Many Dynamos in the works

Update!!!!!!!

2007-11-24T12:45:00.000-08:00

as Chad and Devin are holed up in the new Silver Sonya location, surely tearing out their hair [sic] at the seemingly endless number of layers and tracks, the mixes are coming together and a light is beginning to show at the end of the tunnel

we were finally able to snatch a listen to "Angry Town" yesterday and it is so exciting to hear the record begin to finally take shape - we are SOOOOO close, you can almost taste it

----

since returning DC, we have been fortunate enough to share time and the stage with some great old friends, as well as some very awesome new ones - here's a little recap...

*November 7th @ The Bluebird (St. Louis, MO): we played with one of our most favorite St. Louis bands, Say Panther, and one of our most favorite Champaign bands, Headlights, who are now playing out as a quintet with Kenny and Nick of Decibully joining the ranks on guitar and bass/accordion respectively - simply awesome!!!

-as an aside, both Say Panther and Headlights have new records in the works, please save your lunch money, take your piggy bank up to Coinstar, snatch some bills from your momma's purse, or whatever you have to do to make sure that you own these records the day that they come out!

*November 16th @ Cowboy Monkey (Champaign, IL): the Cowboy Monkey is absolutely one of our favorite places to play in the country, hands down, and this looks to have been the last time we will ever get to play there - they are rumored to be changing things around and tearing out the stage come New Year's - we did get to play with some great new friends though, Des Moines', Jacob Tyler Wolfgang, Chicago's, Rachel Ries [amazing!] and Champaign favorites, Casados

after the show, Tristan took us back to Headlights' chalet, which is nestled in between two corn fields in the northern part of Champaign-Urbana, where Erin, Brett and him live and record - this was our first time staying with Headlights and we all were up uber-late drinking PBR, eating Pokey-Sticks and smoking our corn-cob pipes

good times had by all

*November 17th @ The Bluebird (St. Louis, MO): it is a rare treat to play in STL and get to share the stage with not just 1, but 2 bands that we have never played with before. this was just such an occasion! we had such a blast with St. Louis', Bo & The Locomotive, and Michigan stalwarts, Saturday Looks Good To Me

there were so many things working for us on this night, playing with SLGTM: 1) it was a Saturday, 2) it was their first time playing in St. Louis, and 3) Ryan Howard, of our other favorite MI band, Canada, plays drums!!!

----

it is nice to be home to not only get a chance to relearn the songs after we dissected the crap out of them in the studio, but to also spend time with family and friends and just chill out a little

there is so much on the horizon:

*two cool shows left this year
December 8th
@ The Mad Art Gallery for the 4th installment of The Rock n Roll Craft Show
December 22nd
@ Off Broadway for A Very Merry Christmas Spectacular w/ So Many Dynamos, Light Pollution and Laite

*new record/tour this Spring

*Kiley and Steve's wedding next August!

*Stephen and former Team Up!!! counterpart Mario Martinez have been playing together again - they're performing tomorrow, Nov. 25th, as Thankful Tree @ The Lemp Arts Neighborhood Arts Center

*Ryan is gearing up for a Dock Ellis Band tour this January

*Eric H. is finishing a full-length Slow Parade album as we speak

*Mike is recording albums for both Geoff Koch and The Makeshift Gentlemen this winter

*Eric E. has most likely written about 30 new songs since we have been home and being that the Christmas season is his most prolific time of the year, expect many more songs to be in the works

etc. etc. etc.

stay tuned for more updates as the mixes begin to pour in - there is talk of us possibly getting to hear 3 more tomorrow!!!!!!!

As mixing begins, let's take a look back...

2007-11-12T14:20:00.000-08:00

So it seems like half the world has been some kind of sick in the last few weeks - from the "superbug" staph infections in Virginia a month ago to the mutated cold-virus variant that's made headlines recently. So it would only make sense that as Steve and Kiley's tummies recover from food poisoning (or a 24-hour flu, but it's unlikely) last Thursday, Chad Clark shakes off his own mega-flu bug to begin mixing our record at Silver Sonya's new studio location (that's right, no longer within Inner Ear! Maybe it's the "outer ear" location?).

While we wait patiently to hear the first batch of rough mixes, and John Vogl toils away on the album artwork, we might as well take a look back. Here's some photos from the last few days (taken on Steve's 35mm, since Stephen's digital camera got yoinked in the robbery):

Here's a look at the (old) Silver Sonya control room, with Señor Devin Ocampo at the helm.

Oh, Digital Performer...

The door to the room...

View from the vocal booth...

The drive back was quite a picturesque trip through the Appalachian foothills, with West Virginia being a particular highlight.

We especially enjoyed passing through Wheeling, WV, and agreed that it looked like a very cool town. Maybe next time we'll stop and have a look around.

There's lots more news about the new record that we'll be able to report soon, and maybe we can even get some video from the recording up here, too, so stay tuned.

Cheers,
GAH

Tracking Day Twelve... Drawing To A Close

2007-10-19T18:37:00.000-07:00

we write this at the tail end of 12.5 straight days of tracking

exhaustion is rearing its ugly head and the thought of our nice warm and familiar beds at home have never felt so far away

everyone here has been amazing - we have been staying with Eric E's cousin Amy for the last few days since the robbery and it has been a great boost for us to come home to made "beds" and plenty of food in the fridge

Devin has been a serious trooper this whole time, working over 12 days straight without a break and putting up with all of our shenanigans (robots, coloring books, crosswords, etc.) - we cannot thank him, and the rest of the studio staff, enough for their hard work and hospitality

seems to be the same story as always though...

band wants to make record
band plans to track all of their parts quickly and accurately - "shouldn't take more than 7 days" they say
twelve days into it, they're just now finishing tracking

if you multiply that by how long this would have taken, had we decided to go it on our own at home like the last record, then it is unlikely that we would even be releasing this until 2009!

seriously though, it is exciting to know that we are going home tomorrow, but all of us are completely overjoyed at how things sound and are very glad that we were able to pay so much attention to each these songs - we all came up here wondering if certain songs would fit and if we would have a cohesive record and by about day 3 things already sounded so full coming out of the speakers that the songs began to sound and feel like an album all on their own

mixing will now happen the week of November 12th, with Chad and us communicating by phone and FTP server and mastering will be completed on November 21st with us receiving the final product as we are eating our Turkey Day leftovers on the 23rd

please wish us luck on the drive home - somehow Stephen and Ryan made it to STL in 13 hours earlier in the week, but it is highly doubtful that this group of four will set the same land speed record

there are some very exciting things on the horizon and we will continue to update the blog as to the progress of the record

xoxo

---

some things that might have slowed us down a bit...

robots!

getting the perfect angle

new Office episodes online

catching mice

the toy bin in the control room

impromptu drum-offs including neither of our two drummers

food!!!!

12 songs + 7 members

cellphone games

...

Tracking Days Nine Part Two & Ten... Eleven?

2007-10-18T10:22:00.000-07:00

yesterday, was a little on the slow side

we showed up at the studio a little early, being that we had to bail out of the condo much earlier than expected in order to not be charged for another day, and all four of us basically found a spot on the couch/floor to crash for a little bit - the cops didn't leave until after 3am and it was very hard to get to sleep after that

in light of the previous night's incident, we still got some things done - trumpet mostly done and a decent chunk of vocals

we, as a group, decided that we would finish tracking the record today (day 11) and then head home on Friday

mixing has now been moved until mid-November and it has also been decided that we will have TJ Lipple from Aloha master the record the week after mixing

despite being behind schedule, the new plan of attack fits well into our supposed deadlines and we all feel very good about the rapport and process that we have established here

so here is how it breaks down...
Devin O'Campo - Producer/Engineer
honestly, Devin was the perfect person to work with, he is patient, professional and has a spectacular ear; he is in-tune with our direction and intent and every single change that he has suggested has been for the better!

Chad Clark - Mixing Engineer
hearing Chad's contribution to this project is something that we are very excited about, besides being a very awesome human being, he is a fantastic engineer and there are many things from his body of work that we know and love!

TJ Lipple - Mastering Engineer
we all heard TJ mastering the new Headlights' record through the walls of the lounge! this decision, we feel, was a no-brainer and completely makes sense with regards to the process that we have created for this album! it is a definite plus to also have been able to have kept all three parts in the family at Silver Sonya

most importantly, each person in the chain represents a set of fresh ears and ideas, which in the end will make the most difference to the record - this time around, we were very fortunate to be able to abscond to the east coast, forsaking any and all responsibilities and obligations that we would have had at home, to make a record where instead of worrying about why the headphone amp wasn't working or where the mics need to be moved, we got to think about the instruments and parts that we were playing and how to make them the best parts that they could be

this has been an awesome experience and we are anxious to see it through

---

on that note, we have decided on a name for the album

John Vogl, who will be doing the album artwork, has decided to make a visual depiction of the title

we are not quite ready to share the name with everyone just yet but we are hoping that after reading/seeing this you will SHARE with us what you THINK that the title is... (John apologizes for the scribbly handwriting, see below for the transcript)

TRANSCRIPT
G: Good czll putting "A" in that empty grzve...
H: Fuckin' right

---

Gettin' Robbed Ain't Cool...

2007-10-17T11:03:00.000-07:00

in recent years there has been an epidemic of bands getting their trailers and vans broken into while they are on tour and we definitely spent our first night in the condo nervously trying to sleep while our equipment truck sat outside on the street

little did we know that just over a week later, as we pulled up to the very same condo at approx. 1:30am, three dudes wearing hoodies and ski-masks would rush the van holding guns, demanding our money

in a matter of moments they got away with Mike and Eric E's wallets, all four of our cell phones, our GPS unit, 2 iPods, Eric H.'s bag of books/etc., Stephen's two very nice cameras, and the $1.38 in change from Mike's pocket

Steve was smart enough to empty his pockets onto his front seat while they rushed the van, although as he tossed his wallet it went through the van and fell out the other side - due to the nervousness of the KIDS who were robbing us, none of them seemed to notice this and we were lucky to be able to keep the wallet in the end

talked about f-ed up

we hurriedly went into the house and fumbled with the Vonage phone to get a hold of the cops

as an aside: as the hoodlums ran down the street, a cop car drove past on the cross street which we later found out was actually driving around looking for these same three guys who had robbed somebody else a few blocks over

within 10 minutes of the incident 3 cop cars, a detective in an unmarked car and the crime scene investigator were on the scene

while the CSI dude took pictures of the remnants of Stephen's camera bag which they had discarded along the sidewalk, all four cops decided to take our information down individually and redundantly, all the while firing off questions like; "why couldn't you just record in St. Louis?" and "what kind of music do you play?"

we definitely were reaping the benefits of the graveyard shift

a very sleepless night later, we have decided to abandon the condo, in which we stuck out like a sore thumb anyway being the big group of kids with the Mom Van who kept really weird hours, and are currently at the studio trying to keep on keepin on and work out where we are going to stay while we get things finished

Steve was able to get a new phone this morning, although it did take us three T-Mobile locations in order to find one that would honor his contractual discount, which was an incredibly trying experience without our trusted Tom Tom GPS - he is also now the designated Sugar Daddy for the rest of the trip since Eric and Mike had to cancel almost 10 cards between them and he is the only one who's wallet survived the robbery

too bad we didn't spray paint "GAH" over all of our shit, then it'd be easier to spot it on Craigslist

crap!

---

Gettin' Robbed Secret Tip! #1

if you EVER get your phone stolen, call the phone company up and FIRST ask to purchase the $6 insurance

one you have done this, then call back and report your phone stolen - you will then get a phone for free

if you DON'T, the person on the other end of the line will tell you how you now have to purchase a replacement at LIST price - not FREE or even at the DISCOUNTED rate that you pay when you sign a new contract

Mike is learning this one the very hard way!...

---

Gettin' Robbed Secret Tip! #2

it might be a good idea to spread your credit cards out amongst your luggage when traveling - getting stuck without an ID or any form of currency, plastic or otherwise, really blows

---

all of this being said - we are extremely lucky to have made it through this alive, unhurt, and with only a minor amount of things taken from us - it really puts things into perspective as far as the importance of material possessions goes and we are glad that at least it was only the four of us who had to go through this and not the whole band

we will DEFINITELY be keeping this blog up, although you will not being seeing anymore of the fancy pictures that we have had so much fun taking/posting, so please keep tuning in for more updates

now let's get on with making a record...

Tracking Days Eight & Nine, Part One...

2007-10-16T14:17:00.000-07:00

keys = done!

we got some super sweet keyboard sounds out of Steve and Kiley at the studio here and it is definitely one of the best "new" things about this record - not that the sounds were bad before, but everything from using the $30,000 piano to running the keys through little guitar amps has just absolutely been a godsend for this new batch of songs

percussion = done!

shakers, tambourines, floor toms, etc.

Mike got a chance to bask in the sunlight as he beat the snot out of a pair of floor toms - there is definitely something about tracking in the front room and getting to see what is going on outside, on what is a very "industrial" corridor, and feeling the heat of the sun - very liberating

---

that being said, Eric E's vocals are done on about 6 tracks, give or take a pre-chorus or two
keys are done
percussion overdubs are done

the rest of today (day 9) will be spent doing lead vocals and trumpet

we are hoping to be finished by tomorrow, tracking at least, but that is yet to be seen - Chad and Devin are being super cool about the schedule - in their minds, we are here to make the best record that we can possibly make and something as silly as a schedule shouldn't get in our way - talk about relieving the pressure - it is good to know that we aren't being forced to make compromises on important tracks and that everyone involved is committed to making the best possible record

---

we witnessed a classic moment today right outside the studio as we were lunching on our sandwiches from Best Buns...

2 "rival" ice cream trucks hit the same street at the same time - seriously, not since the ice cream vendor at the 1904 World's Fair ran out of cups (and teamed up with another vendor to spawn the "Waffle Cone") has something of this magnitude happened in the frozen dairy product industry - it is one thing for two blue honda accords, or two white econoline vans to cross paths, but for two ice cream trucks, from different companies and ethnicities for that matter, to hit the same street at once is just b.a.n.a.n.a.s. - weird

---

tonight we are looking to partake, for the second night in a row, "Half-Priced Create Your Own Pasta" night at The Luna Grill, which is in walking distance from the studio

we ventured out last night, in search of Italian food, and upon discovering that the Italian place was very much overpriced, resorted to The Luna Grill, where Steve, Stephen and Kiley had eaten days before, only to discover the miracle that is "Half-Priced Create Your Own Pasta" night - which happens every week on Mondays and Tuesdays

we are also hoping that we are not as exhausted as we have been the past few days when we get back to the condo tonight, because we are definitely behind on the newest episodes of The Office and this Thursday night may be the first chance we will have had to catch it LIVE on the air, so we gotsta get prepared

Tracking Day Seven... and Then There Were Four

2007-10-15T13:51:00.000-07:00

day seven started off with a cacophonous jolt! - Stephen laid down the last of his percussion tracks (stand-mounted baking sheet, shakers, 7-tambourine solo, etc.) - the videos of him performing these tracks are seriously some of the highlights for the last week - gonna have to YouTube this stuff when we get home

after that we got started on lead vocals, which really meant that the rest of us slept, watched movies and did crossword puzzles in the lounge while Eric E. jumped in the booth

vocals, vocals, vocals, vocals, vocals, vocals...

vocals day 1: 4 songs down
*this is a huge accomplishment - the 4 songs with vocals all of a sudden have a new life, which is a great reward after 7 straight days of constructing these song shells bit by bit

after we wrapped the session for the day, we finally got to go to Galaxy Hut, which is a bar down the street [sic], where Nick, the 2nd Engineer from our tracking sessions at Inner Ear, also works

- (everyone here says that things are "right down the street", which is strange because you have to take the 395 to get to everywhere that we have gone and it seems like getting on the highway should negate the phrase "right down the street", oh well)

Nick's band is called The Hailing and they are super awesome, we discovered them today on Myspace and now cannot figure out why Nick downplays his band so much - definitely go check them out

a couple pitchers of Stella Artois proved to be a good finish to another long day of tracking - we will never learn though, our first night to knock off early and we go out to the bars

---

Ryan and Stephen left to return to St. Louis this morning (Monday) and it was sad to see them go - Mike, Steve and the Erics are now the lone 4 and somehow the condo is still a mess

left to track is Eric E's vocals on 8 songs, Steve's keyboards, vocals and trumpet, and Mike's percussion before we start mixing, which looks to be on Wednesday at our current pace

---

Sparkling "Mike" has a better falsetto than Steve

Tracking Days Five & Six...

2007-10-14T11:36:00.001-07:00

in the short time since our last post, Devin has been replaced by Sparkling "Mike", a tin wind-key robot with real! sparking action, we needed someone who could get the job done for us and "Mike" stepped up to the plate...

---

flute, done!

xylophone, done!

guitars, done!

in all seriousness though, Devin is really rocking this shit
since we moved from Inner Ear to Silver Sonya, we have been double-timing these overdubs and it finally feels like it is all coming together
songs are beginning to sound whole and we are growing more and more excited to finish this record

quick re-cap...
Friday: Kiley knocked all of her tracks out like a champ - keys, flute, vocals... + we did group vocals/stomps/claps for three songs
Saturday: Eric E., Mike and Steve's guitars were finished as well as Mike's xylophone parts

here is what is left on our list, we are so close, but there is still a tremendous amount of stuff to do...
Stephen and Mike's last few percussion overdubs
Steve's trumpet and keys
Eric E. and Steve's vocals

week #2 is going to be great - tracking will be finished and mixing will begin

back at the condo we have all started watching Entourage Season 1 - Jeremy Piven is so awesome
we have also taken to listening to the new Radiohead album independently, as opposed to all together in the van on the way to and from the studio - this methodology should make it very interesting on the long drive home when all of our opinions coalesce at once

hopefully we will have some photos of the sites next week when Chad kicks us out of the studio to start mixing - we are all very excited to see the Smithsonian

Ryan and Stephen leave tomorrow to head back to St. Louis, leaving Eric E., Steve, Mike and Eric H. here for the remainder of the week - let's wish them a safe journey home

---

we found this place to have some really cool crossword puzzles...
www.bestcrosswords.com

TEAMWORK

2007-10-13T14:50:00.000-07:00

As Kiley sits at the airport waiting for her flight, which has been delayed almost 5 hours at this point, and Stephen and Ryan plan their Monday morning departure, it becomes apparent that our first week here is slowly drawing to a close. The tracks sound great, but we still have a lot to do. Mike is currently banging out the remainder of his guitar parts, while vocal tracking still looms large, and Steve has yet to track anything. Luckily, the guys here are total champs and are dedicated to doing this record right and not sacrificing quality for time, so we've adjusted our timeframe to comfortably accomodate the rest of the recording process - making sure we're not rushing things and regretting mediocre takes.

Looking back to Sunday, when we first loaded our gear in and got acquainted with the studio space, it doesn't seem like we could have even anticipated things going as well as they have. Yes, we've been running behind, but anyone with a halfway healthy sense of reality had to have expected that to happen - the most important thing is that everything is sounding great. Really great. Almost TOO gr-- naw, never mind.

Anywho, here's our "Go Team!" moment from Sunday night:

Tracking Day Four...

2007-10-12T11:50:00.001-07:00

capital city conundrums and monkey bread madness bring day four of tracking to a close...

drums - done
bass - done
$30k piano - done
eric's guitars - done

---

tensions are high - we are running about a day behind the original schedule
chad and devin seem confident that we will finish on time, which is extremely helpful considering the extremely long list of things that have yet to be tracked - here are just a few of those items

percusion overdubs
mike and steve's guitar
xylophone
kiley and steve's keyboards
stomps and claps
flute
trumpet
vocals, vocals, vocals
etc. etc. etc.

kiley leaves to go back to st. louis tomorrow, so we are hoping that we have all of her tracks completed by the end of friday
cross your fingers

that being said, we have discovered a wonderful new place called Best Buns Bread Co. - MMMMMMMonkey Bread!!! - man this stuff is good - it has inspired multiple impromptu songs in its honor

hearing Headlights' record playing through the walls has been a good boost for us - we are definitely excited to play with them again on November 7th @ The Bluebird

aside from the stress of trying to complete a record in two weeks, we are all having a great time - the weather has been wonderful, the sites that we see on the way to and from the studio are amazing and we arrive everyday to a place that has begun to feel like home - devin, nick, chad, tj and don have all been so wonderful to work with

plus, this shit is sounds bangin!

Watching:
The Office

Listening:
Janet Jackson "Rhythm Nation"

Tracking Day Three...

2007-10-11T12:14:00.000-07:00

day three...

bass = done!

guitar = almost done (eric's that is)

it has been an incredibly long week thus far - 12 to 14 hour days worth of GAH played repeatedly over the speakers

that being said, everything is sounding incredible
Devin has proposed some minor changes here and there with the rhythm section and it has paid off tremendously - sections of songs that we have grown accustomed to have now found a new life

today's schedule is a daunting one...

a) the remainder of Eric E's guitar
b) the remainder of Stephen's drums
c) some piano
d) stomps and claps
e) and if we have time... Steve and Mike's guitars, trumpet, etc.

today also is the last day that we are tracking on the Inner Ear side of the studio, as we move back into Silver Sonya tomorrow to finish up the tracking and to start mixing on Monday

---

it has been weird to hear a familiar sound coming through the walls as we sit in the lounge

TJ Lipple, from Aloha, has just started mastering the forthcoming Headlights LP and it sounds amazing - these guys are such good friends of ours and it is just another point on a long list of fateful happenings with regards to making this record

So Many Dynamos are in town tonight - hopefully we can figure out a way to make it over to catch their set

---

Watching:
eachother sleep

Listening:
Headlights "TBA"
Hawksley Workman "For Him and The Girls"

Tracking Day Two...

2007-10-10T12:02:00.000-07:00

previously on the GAH Recording Blog...

drums, for the record have been tracked, save for a series of Stephen's overdubs and one "mystery" song

Devin presented us with a 9x12 grid (songs down the left, instrument cataegories across the top) - this means that we are not "done" with this record until we have filled up all 108 boxes on the grid, which does not account for any experimental indulgences we may make later on in the process and is somewhat vague considering that one column called "drums" is supposed to account for two members of the band, thus causing many blocks on the grid to be divided into two seperate smaller blocks

which brings us to day three...
1) we're gonna get bass'd in the face by eric h.
2) eric e. will most likely come back with and equal and opposite reaction on guitar
3) stephen's gonna bang Rhianna on a cookie sheet
4) and... maybe some other guitars, keyboards, items from the briefcase o' percussion, vocals?, etc....

----

Watching:
The Sarah Silverman Program

Listening:
St. Vincent "Marry Me"
Radiohead "In Rainbows"

Photo Update 2 - Silver Sonya/Inner Ear Day 1 - 10/7

2007-10-09T17:04:00.000-07:00

our new home!

2" of gah

production meeting with devin and nick

eric h. playing Joe Lally's [of Fugazi] first bass

as we end most days... catching everyone up on season 3 of The Office

Photo Update 1 - Richmond, IN 10/5

2007-10-09T16:30:00.000-07:00

ryan, mike and steve attempting to change a blown tire

blown!!

Big Princess tears up the living room

eric e. and his best setlist ever

Here in the District...

2007-10-08T20:43:00.000-07:00

Greetings to you and yours and from us and ours.

Here we are in our nation's capitol, ankles-deep into tracking our new full-length at Silver Sonya Studios, in Arlington, VA. Drums are in the bag on 5+ songs (Call It Casual, You and Me, Madly..., 24th, In A Bed of Scissor Arms, New Moon, A Good Son), and we're a couple hours away from wrapping up our first night of tracking. But not everything has gone so smoothly...

(dramatic pause)

Friday night we stopped off at Earlham College in Richmond, IN, to play a house party with a couple local bands - both of whom ripped through energetic sets and had us totally psyched to keep up the night's momentum. We opened with "I Used To Dream About Bridges", which had the packed room bouncing around and heating things up, setting up "Call It Casual", which banged up until the second verse, when we were rudely interrupted by the arrival of the po-lice. The minors split out the back door, and everyone else fought for their right to party while the officers wandered around carding kids and explaining why people can't be on the front porch drinking because that's public intoxication. Disagreements abound and three arrests later, the house show - and party - is officially over.

Saturday brought a different kind of show entirely, opening up a show at a D.C. dive bar for a friend-of-a-friend and a couple local bands. The crowd (who mostly showed up after we finished) was a bunch of young(ish) professionals out to get loose and socialize (or maybe "socially network"?), who probably wouldn't have paid much attention to our set anyway, seeing as they didn't seem to care a whole lot about the acts they (presumably) came to see. All that aside, we got to play for Devin, one of the engineers at Silver Sonya, who enjoyed our set and got to formulate some recording ideas for the week to come.

Our drive to the condo we rented was a little (well, no, very) intimidating, as we basically rolled straight through the ghetto at 1 a.m., ending up on a small inner city dead end, at the end of which sat our condo. Not really having any bearings as to where we were, and fearing that our surroundings might be the high-crime-rate type, it was night spent worrying about our gear in the truck.

The next day brought relief (our gear was fine), and a trip through some really cool restored neighborhoods near downtown D.C. (and actually really close to our condo) and on down to the Eastern Market to rummage through a bunch of cool vendor tents. Later that day, we finally got to set foot in the studio - loading all our gear in and getting the room arranged and mics placed.

Which brings us to today, the first day of tracking, which has gone tremendously well and is about to draw to a close. We're loving the way everything is sounding, we're loving the guys here (Devin, Nick, TJ and Chad are greater than great), and we're so psyched about the rest of the week. It looks like this record is going to be something we can be really proud of, and hopefully something all of you really want to listen to. Over and over again. Forever.

Cheers,
GAH