Everyday Destruction

Here is one of the bands that we will be showcasing for Monday Night Punk Rock at Red Eyed Fly.  Check them out.  They are from Waxahachie but are living in Austin now.  You can get their album Bah!!! Real Problems on Interpunk.com.

reverbnation
myspace
facebook

Ustream at the bottom of the page!

We now have concert streaming technology if you can't make it out to the shows.  We will be testing this on other shows until Jan. 3rd, when Monday nights go live.  Wanna see yourself on the broadcasts?  Come to the shows!

For all you bands that are hesitant about our Monday night gigs, this is a great way to gain more fans.  People can even see this on their iPhones.

Our Showpage on Ustream.

Writing to Specs. What the?

Today I saw an ad on Craigslist where a guy was pimping his songwriting.  No doubt a "Nashville Country" type of person.  He claims to be able to write a song to your specifications.  Where is the fun in that?  To me that is like handing a blank canvas to a house painter and expecting a masterpiece.  Get real.  Most songwriters that I know talk about what they were feeling or going through when they wrote a particular song, this guys talking about specifications.  How much more cookie cutter can it get?  Bah!  This is why I love punk rock. 

Punk Bands Needed!

My band, The Scary Mondelos, will be playing at Headhunters this Saturday night the 18th.  You better believe we're gonna have Christmas presents to give away!  Last show before the Holidays.

If you wanna drop off a demo for our punk nights starting next year, come on down and give it to Angie from The Beat Dolls or ask for me by name...Ramon.  Like I said before, we need a ton of punk bands for these.  See you guys at the show!

Monday nights at Red Eyed Fly!

Starting in January, Little Plastic Records will be putting on monday night punk shows at Red Eyed Fly's inside lounge area.

It will be 21 and up(for now), no cover, 3 or 4 punk bands, 8-midnight, Lots of giveaways, door prizes, and bar Olympics between bands. Ever heard of the game Lightning Reaction?  We will have it and give away prizes to the winners.  KAOS Radio!

This is our chance to build the scene back up and have fun in the process.  We're starting on Monday nights because you have to start somewhere, but who knows where we go from there.  We have 5 Monday nights to make this work, so we'll be needing some bands.  If you're interested, leave a comment or email us.

Adrian and the Sickness

I'm glad that you keep responding, there are many more to come.

Hi - I love doing these!!!

1. lately..more people I don't know. Which I like.


2. hmm Adrian and the Sickness haven't done a show with no cover in a while. But we are set to do one Dec 16th at Darwin's. Come. no Cover.. ha ha

3. I go to see shows when I'm not on the bill. not always punk shows. last show I saw was the Mother Truckers in October.

Thanks!!! -Adrian

Here we go!

Here are the answers from Rational Thought Neglect.


1. Mostly people we dont know. Since we're all young, our friends and fans are young as well. So alot of fans cant get rides or pay for a ticket. But we like playing to new faces, keeps shit interesting and new.

2. We have yet to play a free show, but i imagine the crowd would be better for reasons stated above.

3. All the time! Where do you think we get our influence? Live local hardcore!
http://photos-g.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash2/hs017.ash2/34225_407508541948_228400846948_4948575_8125758_s.jpg

This is the latest fact finding email that I sent out today.  If you didn't get it, you can comment  in your 2 cents.  Stay tuned to see what the local bands have to say.

1.  When you look out at your audience are there more friends in the crowd, or people that you don't know?

2.  Is your crowd better when there is no cover?

3.  Do you go and see local punk shows when you are not on the bill?

Jesto Screen Printing

Yesterday I stopped by to check out Ernesto's t-shirt printing factory.  Pretty cool setup.  He was printing shirts for a team called the Butterballs.  I couldn't stay to see the finished product, but it I have to say, it is a clean operation.  He and his partner, Jesse,  have this down to a science.  If you don't know where to go for a good deal on band shirts, talk to them and see what they can do.

I'm about to put in an order for about 50 Scary Mondeos shirts once our bassist, Matt (mathiasairbrushing.com) is done with the designs.  Yes, I like to surround myself with the best.  It makes me look cool. 

Back to Jesto, they are a green company that uses only Eco-friendly stuff, so you can feel good about your shirts not causing any pollutants. 



  
If you want 10% off, tell them that you're in a band.  We are all in this to make the scene a  little bit better.
Here is their link:  Jestoprints.com .

Jolly good show.

The Beat Dolls. show was good last night.  Before it started I had a chance to walk over to Stubbs and got to hear a few Social Distortion songs.  They went way back at the start of the set.  They played The Creeps, Mommy's Little Monster, and Another State of Mind before I had to head back to Flamingo Cantina.  I wish that I could have gone in, but duty called. 
I am very glad to say that I don't have to play bass anymore with The Beat Dolls.  It kills my hands.  Most of their songs are fast and have what I call sprinting bass lines.  They aren't particularly difficult, it's just when you have to do them all back to back that makes my hands hurt.  Never rehearsing with them doesn't help either.   I am way more comfortable in front of the Mondelos with my favorite guitar in my hands.  I am glad that they found a bassist that is a good fit for them.  Check them out next year with the new guy, Barry.
The balloon drop was funny.  I wish we could have done it during the set, but we were running short on time.  For any of you bands considering doing the Psycho Hoot night with Johnny Hootrock, be advised that it's not an even split of stage time, they go on for 2 hours. 
Oh yeah, I did get to see Social D. in their tour bus while I was at Stony's Pizza(mmm).  Big bus and a big trailer, it must be nice.  And, later a guy and a girl come in with some Mike Ness autographed stuff.  They had a drum head and a Beat Dolls cd signed by him.  It was all that they had when they saw him so they gave it to him, and he scribbled on it.  Pretty cool. 

What is a balloon drop?

When I lived in Hawaii, they used to do this all the time.  We went and bought a bunch of Lotto scratch offs and balloons.  We will also be putting cards for free t-shirts and maybe free drinks from the bar.  Anyway, if you wanna do this at your next show, here's how to set it up.  Angie from The Beat Dolls. will demonstrate.

Carefully roll up your tickets or coupons like this and then push it into the balloon

. 



Blow up the balloon and the ticket will fall into it.  Put all of the balloons in a big trash bag or something and when the time is right dump it on the audience.  Remember, the higher you do this from, the better.  We're gonna try to get up on the upstairs part of Flamingo Cantina tomorrow night.  We play at 11:30 or so.  I bought a bunch of scratch offs, so get ready to pop some balloons.  See you there.

Headhunters show.

It went well.  Ernesto got double booked in the same time slot on both stages.  He played drums for Jane Doe Eyes and then ran over to play guitar with us.  It took a couple of songs to get the cold off of our hands and then it was a lot of fun.  Looney explained that every time we emailed him about booking, he though we were the Scary Mandelas keyboard music.  Now that he knows, he promised to book us more often.  Next up is my final show sitting in with The Beat Dolls. at Flamingo Cantina tomorrow night.  You should come.  We're doing a balloon drop!

It's Showtime!

In our triumphant second gig since the Warped Tour in July, the Mondelos will be at Headhunter's on the inside stage at 10:30 tonight with Jane Doe Eyes.  We've had zero communication with the club as usual. 

I don't know the guys that booked us, and I don't have a great feeling about this.  I just finished shining my shoes and am about to change my strings while watching a Johnny Cash DVD to complete my ritual. 

Every time that we've played there, they have spelled our name wrong.  Up on the sign, it's always spelled wrong, the chronicle spells it wrong, every DO512, or other website spells it wrong, it's just always wrong.  It really shows the lack of professionalism that goes into things these days.  It's not that hard.  No double or silent letters, just like it sounds...The Scary Mondelos.

Ernesto has to  play two sets back to back as a guitarist and then drummer.  That's hardcore because he doesn't ever stop moving.  Maybe he'll have to hold back a little tonight.

New Disaster

Hey,
We're a little late getting back to you but I wanted to read your blog and get hip before answering. So, I apologize for the late answer. I like your industry night idea. Sounds cool. Anyway, on to the questions...
1. We've been together for about 5 years or so.
2. I would say, if I had to select only 3, that my favorite local venues would be Red Eyed Fly, Stubbs, and The Parlor on North Loop.
3. I believe that we've earned the most from a show at Red Eyed Fly. Heath's a cool cat and treats bands fairly.
Good luck with the blog. Cheers.
~Natchet

Lackluster at Trophy's

http://www.myspace.com/lacklustertexas

Last night I was at Trophy's for a Comic Con after party show.  Not as many nerds as I would have liked to see, but there were a few.  One guy walked in holding a wizard's staff.  I'm sure it'll be better tonight.  You gotta love the nerds. 
Winston from Muchos Backflips is running sound and he said that he was also booking for the club now too.  Amanda Lepre went on first and did an acoustic thing that seemed like it was never going to end(she spent more time pimping her video game band to the delight of the nerds), and then the punk show started.
The Beat Dolls rocked the stage all dressed in black, like the human version of the bar band from Star Wars, followed by a San Antonio band called Lackluster.                    
I listened to their mp3s on myspace this morning.  Now I think the mix should have been better for them last night.  I don't know if it was a stage volume problem or a mix problem, but the vocals weren't up front like this band deserves.  Lackluster's songs are full of rich harmonies and clever lyrics, but I didn't get it until I listened to the recorded stuff.

All that said, this is a tight, entertaining band and the force was strong in them.  They had good sounding gear, and they new how to use it.  After then, just like the poor planet of Alderaan, the punk show was silenced!

Another San Antonio band called Education took the stage and put out their "I just rolled out of bed, threw something on, didn't bother to comb my hair, and here I am" vibe and I was outta there.  Don't get me wrong, I gave it a chance.  They were great musicians if you're into that kind of 101X radio mush that's trendy right now, but it just wasn't for me. 

Outside, we talked quite a bit to the Lacklusters, and exchanged contact information for the booking people that we know in our respective cities.  Yes, Trophy's paid.  It was not enough to cover the gas of an out of town band in one vehicle round trip from San Antonio, but they also gave each band a six pack of Pabst Blue Ribbon which is worth about 3 bucks.  By my calculations, Trophy's made out like bandits.  For a five dollar door charge on a decent crowd drinking from the bar, they hired 13 musicians for $112.  Come on people, it's time for a revolution.

Barenjager

Angie from The Beat Dolls swears by this stuff for smoothing out her vocals and taking the edge off of her nerves.  Anybody else have any favorites?  Oh, and if you send an evite to littleplasticrecords@gmail.com it will list your show over to the left there.

Sonic Bids

I found these on sonic bids today.   Name Event Date Deadline Date Added Location Price Dunn Bros Coffee Nov 26, 2010 Aug 26, 2010 Spring, TX, USA No Cost 35 Conferette 2011 Mar 10, 2011 - Mar 13, 2011 Dec 17, 2010 Oct 29, 2010 Denton, TX, USA $20.00 Mango's Cafe Houston Jan 29, 2011 Oct 29, 2010 Houston, TX, USA No Cost Up to 11 Entertainment: Dallas/Ft. Worth Feb 1, 2011 Oct 25, 2010 Dallas, TX, USA No Cost

Adrian and the Sickness

I don't have a story about these gals, but their name reminds me of my friend Adrian(the drummer of the best band that I ever knew, Sin-C).  He is fighting Bronchitis right now up in Ft. Worth.    Get well soon, and let us know when you, Mike, and Jebus start gigging with the new band.  The Mondelos might be headed up there in January. 

Sorry, kind of got off topic.

Here's what one of the more successful acts in our scene had to say:

1. We have been together since 2004..so that's 6 years.
2. Our fave local venue's to play: Continental Club and Antone's because they have great monitors and sound and RED 7 because they are the Red River club that seems to respond to our booking requests the most. And the people that work there are nice.
3. The Continental Club has paid us the most for one show. They are one of the few places in Austin where a band can make decent money. But you do have to draw to make money... So if you don't draw, don't bitch at the club. Be thankful they let you play.
Thanks guys

Sound Refraction

 Oh, I get it.  you were Antidote for Irony.  I actually had downloaded one of your other songs earlier this year and put it on a comp. cd to listen to while I was driving to work.  I remember playing it for the guys in the band and telling them how great it was.  I don't remember the name of the song, but it went something like, "I don't care something something, I ain't gonna something something..."  Anyway, it was very catchy and the recording was great.  Great guitar work. Very talented dudes.  What ever happened to that cd?  I'm gonna have to go looking for it now.

Hey....We've been together about 2.5 yrs. All the venues in Austin are awesome but 3 of our favorites are Emo's, Red Eyed Fly and Red 7 (and of course Stubb's so I guess that's 4). All the venues we have played have been fair with their pay. We've been paid according to the number of people that we bring to the venue or by guarantee. This makes it difficult to say who has paid us the most because they are different methods to the payment. I hope this helps. Please keep an eye out for our new album that is due out at the beginning of the year.
Thanks,
Jacob T.
Sound Refration
www.myspace.com/soundrefraction
www.facebook.com/soundrefractionband
www.reverbnation.com/soundrefraction
www.twitter.com/soundrefraction

Guitars and Amps

My Austin Pawn Scum page has some good deals on gear from the local pawn shops.  If you're starting a band or need something specific, check it out.  I see a lot of band gear going for half off of new.

My band lives off of pawn shops and craigslist.  Rarely do we have the money to get something new.  It's taught us a lot about the quality of amps and guitars.  HarmonyCentral is a where we go to see what users have to say about stuff that we are looking to buy. 

Rational Thought Neglect: Hire them!

 I've found that if you use words like "hire", it adds a sense of obligation to compensate from some places.  You could say something like, " I heard that you're looking to hire a band for your party, and we're available."  Wow, I just forked up a dollar to myself as I typed that.  It makes some people feel professional to be talked to like that and that's what you want.  Inflate their egos a little.  Anyway, don't feel too bad, you've already played at 2 venues that most bands haven't.  Check out what they said:

Rational thought neglect.
Austins all teen crossover thrash/hardcore punk band

1. We've been together for about a year now (excluding our
Short fued in the summer).

2. Red 7, Emos, Stubbs BBQ

3. We never get paid. Just battle of the bands stints and free shows. Book us!

-Johnny Koresh (frontman)

Thanks Convoi!

Buddy's isn't a bar that would come to mind normally, but it will from now on.  Thanks for the info.

1. ConvOi! has been around for 5 years, a little over 1 year with our current lineup. Check us out at www.convoi.us

2. In Austin; Headhunters, Red Eyed Fly & Buddy's Place.

3. Of all the clubs in Austin we have played, Headhunters has paid us the most money.
Good luck with you new blog.
Cheers!
ConvOi!

Good, somebody is paying attention.

First to respond, The Beat Dolls.  You just wasted your votes.  It's hard to compile a list of good venues if you don't name any.  Just a simple list would suffice.  Never being known to hold back, here is what they had to say:

1. The Beat Dolls. have been around for about 5 yrs off & on, on & off, off & on again.

2. Our fav venues r the ones that dont want a guarantee that we'll bring enough people to fill their bar, cuz frankly, we aren't able to make that guarantee every single show.

3. no venue has paid enough to mention. our fault? theirs? both? either way, thats the answer, though i believe there r people @ these venues who do care about the bands, but as a whole venue, i havent had that particular experience. sounds a little jaded, but when asked to think of these things, these r our experiences.

The Project

The first round of questions has been sent out.  If you missed the email, don't feel left out.  Use the comment box to leave your band name and answer the questions below to be part of the project.  Please no cover bands, I hate them.

1.  How long have you been together?

2.  What are your 3 favorite local venues?

3.  Which local venue has paid you the most for one show?

Ha!

I snatched up Austin Punk Rock.  This is post #1.  I guess the purpose of this is to figure out the punk rock scene here in town and help promote it and nourish it back to health.  Eventually, I'd like to put together an invitation only industry night to all the punk bands.

The reason I think this is necessary is because running a band is hard work and it forces you to be self absorbed.  Whenever people ask me about my band, they always say, "you ever heard of _____?"  I find myself never knowing the band that they are talking about, and I know a lot of bands.  My memory is almost super human, so I know for a fact that I have never even heard of a lot of bands, not even a mention or a name on a sticker somewhere.

Above I mentioned invitation only and I don't want to send the wrong impression.  I only want industry people that can help each other.  They did this thing in Dallas when I was up there.  From 7 to 9 it was all bands and industry people, like photographers and recording guys.

You brought in a Demo, handed it to the DJ, and he played at least one song off of it.  There were discounted drinks as a thank you from the venue, and at 9pm all of the fans for all the bands would show up and hang out with the bands and watch a local show on stage.

It was a great way to build a fan base, which meant that you were becoming more and more marketable to the clubs, which is how we measure success in this town.

I'm gonna kick things off by sending out a questionnaire to every punk band with an email address that I can find.  I'll give a deadline to see which bands actually read their emails daily.  Then, I'll put up all of the replies and all of the band's names, so that you know who said what.  Wish me luck.