My Communist Heart... and Vampires

Wow... what a whirlwind of a few weeks. SXSW music festival in Austin came and went in a wild and lonestar filled blur. Amazing and exhausting time as always. We played a handful of shows... an acoustic show at One2One Bar, got to strip the songs down for a soft rocking set, our official showcase at Buffalo Billiards was off the hook. We were a bit frightened that the Muse show at Stubbs just down the block would hurt our attendance, but we were pleasantly suprised with the turnout. So thanks to all that made it out. We also played an outdoor show for Study Breaks Magazine on what had to have been the coldest spring day in SX history. It went from mid 80's the day before to 30's that afternoon and evening. And yes... we played outdoors. Still a wonderful show though. Saw a thousand good bands, got to catch up with a lot of friends and bands we generally only see out on the road. all in all, grande time at sxsw. I slept for 2 days straight once it was over.

The next major event... MY COMMUNIST HEART finally arrived and was released for public consumption on April 2nd. People are really responding to the new material... and that is wonderfully exciting for us! We spent a lot of time locked away in dark windowless rooms writing and recording that thing... so it's amazing for us to finally get to share it with everyone!

Release shows in Houston, San Antonio (our second home) and Austin (the good ole hometown) went smashingly... just smashingly. Thanks to all that came out, sang along (how many of you already know the words to the new material I can only assume... haha), bought a copy of the new EP, talked, shared and everything... you are simply amazing. Thank for all the support. You can get the new EP through any online retailer really... go to www.soundsunderradio.com for links.

what else... ok... we spent a day shooting a new video for the song 'Effigy' with the wonderful fellas from Papertanks Productions. Jeff and Jon Ray are geniuses. The video goes to post production soon and should be available to check out soooooon. Keep your eyes pealed.

Oh oh oh... last but not least VAMPIRES! So we had the good fortune several weeks ago to have our song 'Portrait of a Summer Thief' from Cinematica featured on the CW's 'The Vampire Diaries'. This week (TONIGHT actually) another New and Unreleased Sounds Under Radio song titled 'All You Wanted' will be featured on the show in its ENTIRETY during the end sequence of the episode. It's been a pretty insane week putting that together and turning the track around for the show, and we couldn't be more happy with it. just a week ago 'All You Wanted' was merely a demo waiting to be considered for the next Sounds Under Radio record. But when the good folks at TVD called and told us what they were looking for for this end of this episode... 'All You Wanted' seemed to be a perfect match, and after hearing the song they agreed. So, make sure to watch tonight (Thursday April 8 2010 at 8/7central on the CW) and/or download the track for a limited time through Itunes. click here -- http://tinyurl.com/ycbapyr

Ok, more updates soon... be on the look out for tour dates near you, new music and all that fun stuff!

My Communist Heart

Greetings all! Ya, sooo it's a mighty fine time for an update I'de say... very long overdue. Best way to catch everyone up to the recent haps is probably to check out this interview I did with the Austin Music Examiner last week about the forthcoming Sounds Under Radio release 'My Communist Heart' (on shelves, instores and available online March 30). Keep checking back here, at www.soundsunderradio.com or on myspace/facebook pages for new info about the release... when you'll be able to sample new things... tour dates supporting the new record... etc etc etc. We've been undercover for a bit working on this new record... but we have emerged. New things very soon. Until then... check out info about the new release here below- LAng

Lang Freeman of Sounds Under Radio talks being different in a changing industry

January 18, 4:02 PMAustin Music ExaminerBecky West

Austin band Sounds Under Radio has had a very busy studio year in 2009 working on a brand new album called “Where My Communist Heart Meets My Capitalist Mind” which will be released in two E.P.’s and later a full length album. Front man Lang Freeman talks with Austin Music Examiner about how the band is striving to stay different in an ever changing music industry.

Austin Music Examiner: What can be expected from the first of the two E.P.’s, “My Communist Heart,”set to release in late March?

Lang Freeman: Well... one of the goals with recording this record was to create something that was larger and more grand than anything we’ve ever done before... yet at the same time more create something more delicate and more intimate, and I do feel like we were successful in achieving that. With the recording of our first record 'Cinematica' we were still a band becoming... a band learning what and who we were going to be as artists all through the process of making a record... this record on the other hand differs in that we started with a foundational musical identity, but the challenge for ourselves was to grow from there, expand the framework, push our own boundaries as musicians, songwriters, artists and people in general. What we found was something very reflective of where we had been and what we had experienced the year prior both personally and professionally. There is far more angst, aggression and angularity in this new record... but it's balanced and juxtaposed by some far more delicate and what we feel very beautiful things. It's a record about finding those balances.

Austin Music Examiner: What can be expected from the second E.P. “My Capitalist Mind” to be released later in the year?

Lang Freeman: So the second EP, planned for release later this year, is really going to be an extension and conclusion of sorts to the 'My Communist Heart' EP. The two pieces were written to be one continuous movement... we write song singularly yes, but our natural tendency as writers is to write in a themed record format. That's how we feel we can best express the things we are trying to say. I love the drama of a full length record that takes you somewhere from song 1 to song 10... and this was our goal for writing this record. A themed element, a thread that made the album a compositional and unified whole. So... the second EP can almost be considered a second act... the time between the releases as somewhat of a theatrical intermission. Like I said, we're drawn to the dramatic elements of records and the sense of theater that a great record can create... and in my mind, what better way to create that drama than to have a strongly definable and hard set spot to breath in the middle? That was the concept.

Austin Music Examiner: Will a full length be released out of these two E.P.’s? If so, what can be expected from that combination?

Lang Freeman: Yes yes, yes... the plan is most definitely to at some point release the 2 EP's as a fully realized and combined album that is 'Where My Communist Heart Meets My Capitalist Mind'. We have a good number of ideas for that combination floating around and we're still sorting through them all honestly... though the core plan is to combine some elements of visual arts and other multimedia to the package so that the record is not just simply the 2 EP's stitched together. The plan is for something much more... not just your normal record... we want to build an experience for the listener that goes far beyond the normal "put CD in player or iPod and press play" experience. We are very much in to exploring the combinations of artistic medium... and we're going to try to use the full length release as a palate or canvas for that.

Austin Music Examiner: What was the idea behind the concept of releasing an album in two parts/two E.P.’s and then combining them?

Lang Freeman: Well, the modern music industry is a very changed place these days... in a certain sense it's frightening at times because really... there are no more standards and there are no more steadfast rules as to how ones is supposed to go about releasing their music... but in that, it's also a completely liberating and and exciting place to be. It's a wonderfully open ended environment for independent bands and artists to release things and reach people in completely different and unique ways, we're no longer locked in to 'record cycles' and standard formats for release. It's actually quite an inspired time in the industry if you can look at it optimistically. So with that all in mind we decided to try something different with the release or with these releases as it may be of 'Where My Communist Heart Meets My Capitalist Mind'... we write, record and appreciate the full length LP record format... but we wanted to go about presenting that in a different way this time. We are not reinventing the wheel by any means... but we're exploring different ways to reach people and different avenues to get new music to our fans with consistency while giving new ears a chance to hear and experience what we do.

Austin Music Examiner: What was the idea and inspiration behind the titles of these releases?

Lang Freeman: Well, the titles of each EP really serve the greater conceptual good of the combined record... yes, this is a album about politics, but is neither about domestic/ international affairs nor about communism or capitalism directly for that matter... it’s about people, and the internal politics of the self. This is an album about the HEAD versus the HEART... and how we as individuals choose to cope with their agreements and their disagreements, and what happens when they either align or don't. It's about how we try to influence them, and then all the successes and setbacks we can find at each turn. The head and heart often rest in polar opposition for whatever reason.... yet can in the right moments blissfully align. This record is about how those things affect us and those around us, those that we love and those that love us... and ultimately what that struggle does to us as people, what it does to the self and what it does to the relationships we build. This record is in a sense a dialog speaking to that struggle and the things we learn and discover from it.

Austin Music Examiner: What can be expected to be seen from Sounds Under Radio in 2010 besides the new releases?

Lang Freeman: Touring touring touring. We've been on the road consistently for the last few years and we are eager to get back to say the least. The process of recording a record is a time consuming and arduous one... it’s a labor of love no doubt but it keeps you stationary. So, in that labor we are excited about taking these new songs and presenting them to audiences in the best way that we know how... by performing live. So for 2010 you can expect us to be releasing these EP's and record, touring like madmen, writing new songs, recording new songs and trying to reach people in any way that we can.

Look for Sounds Under Radio to be under "Austin Examiner Band Watch" in 2010 as this band continues to put their signature touches on the Austin Music industry. Keep updated on band news from their myspace www.myspace.com/soundsunderradio. Many thanks to Lang Freeman for his time with this interview.

Valentine's and Grammy Bliss

Happy St. Valentine's all ye out there!

This will be just a short post, tonight, but I thought it would be nice to send a quick note to everyone...here's a few highlights from the new year thus far:

College Station, TX (Jan 09): Bradley dumps the Juno for the second time in his live career...captured on film, you can see both an astonished and shocked expression on his face. Both he and the Juno made it through, but we're all wiser for the experience; there's now Velcro on the on the Juno keyboard stand to prevent any more catastrophic moments. Aside from that, the show was awesome.

Shreveport, LA (Jan 09): The good folks at KSCL (Centenary University) put a show together in one of their fabulous on-campus auditoriums for Sounds Under Radio, and we had an absolute blast rocking the radio-friendly crowd. We made good friends, had good coffee (and pie!!!), met the campus mascot (some sort of dingo type creature that was fond of our road merch girl, Lorri), and had an amazing show. Oh, and by the way, we came in #5 on their Top 100 for 2008!!!!

San Antonio, TX (Feb 09): Two acoustic shows in one day make for good times in Bradley's hometown; we played a Best Buy in-store in the early evening, followed by a wonderful Valentine's show at the fabulous Cigar Club. It was a "goodbye" of sorts for the Cigar Club, which will be closing its doors at the end of this month...but, thankfully, the club will be re-opening in mid-April under the name "The Gatsby", and will be back as a premier live music venue in San Antonio. Jacob is a good man, and he loves good music. We wish he and the club all the best, and extend our thanks for the good times at the Cigar Club thus far.

....and how have I been spending my Valentine's Day??? (well, it's Feb 15th, but, sometimes girlfriends of band members have to wait until Sunday for an appropriate V-day)...scanning the blogs for videos of Grammy performances that I missed last weekend...and let me say this: Radiohead (Thom and Jonny) doing "15 Step" with the USC Marching Band: BLISSS!!!! Amazing.

...and I feel a little weird saying this...but, JT....wow. That guy is the real-f'in-deal...singing with Al Green? Holy cow. That's right: I just said "holy cow". But it's for JT.

This weekend brings us back to College Station with Flawless Escape and Ars Supernova (dual record release), San Antonio (Sam's Burger Joint w/The Solider Thread!!!), and Austin @ Stubb's for a hometown headlining event!

Much love everyone, and holy cow!
BO

Apologies and a means to redeem!

Greetings Austin Fans and Friends,

We just wanted reach out and extend our most sincere and deepest
apologies to all of you who came out to Stubb's in Austin on Sunday 
night to see us on our opening engagement supporting the band OURS.
For reasons of tact and professionalism I will not go deeply in to the
specifics of what made the evening become what it did except to say
that we were invited by OURS (not the venue or promoter) to perform
Sunday evening, but due to some extremely unprofessional behavior by
the band and their touring staff, we were forced to cancel our show.

If anyone is in need of a refund for their Sunday night tickets please
contact our management at; management (at) soundsunderradio (dot) com, they will
be happy to assist you through that process. We would also like to
extend our most sincere gratitude to both Stubb's and C3 for their
support and professionalism in this difficult situation.

More than ever we are looking forward to making this up to you all
this coming Friday night (Dec 19th) when we return to STUBBS for our
own 'Hometown Holiday Headlining Show.' Again, a thousand apologies
to all that made it out Sunday hoping to see a Sounds Under Radio rock
show. We promise that this coming Friday we will more than make it up
to you!

-Lang/Bradley/Doug/Sonny

'Hometown Holiday Headlining Show'

FRIDAY Dec 19th at STUBBS

w/ Language Room and Nothing More

Doors open at 9pm

advance tix at www.frontgatetickets.com

Running Jokes and Holiday Shows

Season's Greetings, all!

I hope that everyone had a lovely Thanksgiving filled with both wonderful and dysfunctional family moments (because, what are the holidays without a few reminders that we all love those around us, no matter how imperfect they are!).

We are back on the road for a select few dates before Christmas, including a bill with one of our favorite bands, Ours! It promises to be a great show. That will be followed by a special Hometown Headlining Christmas Show @ Stubb's on December 19th; not to give anything away, but, you might hear a Sounds Under Radio Christmas Carol exclusive that night...so make sure to come out and celebrate with us!!

We'll also be hitting Dallas, San Antonio, Denton, Corpus Christi, Monroe (LA), and San Antonio once again before Santa jumps on his sleigh.

So, we have this running joke in the band...when, after a couple of days of being out, road fatigue sets in, all of us have moments when we tend to forget where we are, where we're going to, when we're playing, etc... So, for example, when Bradley asks Lang "ummm, where are we playing tonight?", the answer, unequivocally, is always "It's Wednesday, we're heading to Chicago, and we're opening". Even if we're in Pennsylvania. It's meant to incentivize band members to read their daily sheets (that contain all this info), but, has turned into a fantastic way to rib your colleagues in their moments of tour vertigo.

Hope to see everyone in the next couple of weeks to wish you all a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year in person!

-Bradley
Sounds Under Radio

Thank you to everyone - and a few other notes from Lang

Greetings Everyone!

So it's a few weeks after the release of our long awaited debut album 'Cinematica,' and we wanted to extend a very large and a very warm THANK YOU to everyone that made it to one of the Texas record release shows last week… AND an enormous thanks to all of you that picked up the record in stores and online… you helped make us the #2 Top Seller last week at Waterloo Records in Austin TX… a feat only reachable by your amazing support… so thank you all so very much! We've been waiting to let people here this album for quite a long time now… and we couldn't be more excited to finally be sharing with all of you. If you haven't yet picked up the record… please visit www.soundsunderradio.com to find a portal to all your favorite online retailers carrying 'Cinematica'!

We're currently on tour through the Northeast and Midwest following a very successful CMJ Music Marathon show in New York City… where coincidentally our van was broken in to, yet thankfully nothing was stolen… except for a few cds, but hey… we just consider that reaching out to new fans and spreading the word! Be on the look out for new national tour dates (being added every day), if we're in your area… come out to a show! Oh and speaking of spreading the word… we have a new program called 'Clatterhead' we are debuting today! Basically… if you're willing to help spread the word and share the music of Sounds Under Radio we want to give back! Check the link below for info on how to get involved, how to get exclusive acoustic cuts, unreleased tracks, and tons of other perks for helping out!

www.soundsunderradiorewards.com

Also… please make sure you respond to the Fanbrige Confirmation email that has come to your inbox (or quite possibly your spam box)! We have changed email servers and by confirming for our list you will be assured to continue receiving news, updates and general Sounds Under Radio info from us. So please do that now… its just one click! http://soundsunderradio.fanbridge.com

Also also… if you've gotten the record on Itunes, don't be afraid to write a review… we'de love to know what you think!!

Sounds Under Radio FALL tour dates (more dates being added every day):

October 15, 2008 | The Stafford (Record Release Show) - College Station, TX

October 16, 2008 | The Cavern Club (Record release show) - Dallas, TX

October 17, 2008 | Jacks Patio Bar (Record release show) - San Antonio, TX

October 18, 2008 | La Zona Rosa (Record Release Show) - Austin, TX

October 19, 2008 | Scout Bar (Record Release Show) - Houston, TX

October 22, 2008 | CMJ Music Festival (Trash Bar) - New York, NY

October 23, 2008 | Roc Bar - Baltimore, MD

October 25, 2008 | Joclyn's (w/ Jealousy Curve) - Philadelphia, PA

October 28, 2008 | Picador - Iowa City, IA

October 29, 2008 | Vaudeville Mews - Des Moines, IA

October 30, 2008 | Sokol Underground - Omaha, NE

November 1, 2008 | Crosstown Station - Kansas City, MO

November 3, 2008 | Replay Lounge - Lawrence , KS

November 13, 2008 | Lucy's - San Marcos, TX

November 14, 2008 | The Warehouse - Shreveport , LA

November 15, 2008 | Cafe Chi Alpha - Lafayette, LA

November 20, 2008 | Lambert's (Lang solo acoustic) - Austin, TX

November 21, 2008 | Average Joes - Laredo, TX

November 29, 2008 | City Taver (Lang solo ac show) - Dallas, TX

December 4, 2008 | The Cavern Club - Dallas, TX

December 5, 2008 | House of Rock - Corpus Christi, TX

December 6, 2008 | Jacks Patio Bar - San Antonio, TX

December 12, 2008 | Blue Monkey Tavern - Monroe, LA

December 13, 2008 | Andy's - Denton, TX

December 19, 2008 | Stubbs (Hometown Holiday Headlining Show) - Austin, TX

December 20, 2008 | Cigar Club (SUR acoustic show) - San Antonio, TX

Adventures in Touring, and Awkwardly Named Roads...

It's been a while...and for that we (collectively) apologize...

Let's see, here's what we've been up to:

Independently releasing a record ('Cinematica' was released October 14th - do you have it yet???!?)
Booking a national tour
Rehearsing like mad men

Currently, we're on tour (in the middle of Iowa at the moment); here's a quick re-cap of some of our adventures:

Our van was broken into in Newark NJ...it was a clean break-in; the criminal (still at large) popped the lock off of our back door Javier Bardem in "No Country for Old Men" style. After going through every piece of luggage, pillow, blanket, etc... in our van and finding no cash, he decided to take nothing. Nothing. No-thing...how fortunate are we? Aside from having no way to lock our back door (aside from literally chaining it on the inside every night), we made it out incredibly lucky. The dude didn't even take our Sirius Radio (thank you, cb).

We had our massive coffin-like road case fall out of our trailer while driving in downtown Baltimore.

(read that sentence again)

So, I'm driving (this is Bradley), and Sonny and Doug are in the van with me; we're leaving our hotel in downtown Baltimore, middle of lunch rush traffic. Lang is in NYC doing a CMJ panel at the time...we hear a massive "thud", and think nothing of it. 3 city blocks later, we're alerted to the fact that our trailer door has swung open by the screeching scream of a female Baltimore City Traffic Cop. Simultaneously, I glance in my sideview mirror to change lanes only to see what? The "SUR" stencil on the side of our coffin-like merch case careening down Lombard Ave in Baltimore MD. Hydrenaline pumping, I quickly slam the car into the sidewalk, scream at everyone to "get out of the car" without clarifying that, indeed, our merch case was bounding down the street (Sonny thought that we'd hit a pedestrian or something). After a couple of insightful questions from Sonny/Doug, the crew mobilizes, we get the merch case, which, by the grace of God, hit nobody/no cars/no mailboxes...while rolling a massive merch case down Lombard, a truck driver asks (in his best Baltimore accent) - "yous guysss got a gig t'night??!?".

"No sir, we played last night...we're just dumping gear on busy city streets today".

For the sake of full disclosure, it was me (Bradley) that inproperly closed the trailer door the night before. I'm sure I'll live that down in 2011 or so.

So, two potentially awful incidents, and we come out unscathed. We're lucky dudes.

Good news:
'Cinematica' debuts #2 at Waterloo Records, Austin TX
CMJ (College Music Jamboree) festival in NYC was a massive and smashing success. Tour dates on the East Coast and Midwest have been equally successful/fun.
Our single "Portrait of a Summer Thief" was added to XMU's rotation. If you have XM, make sure to request it through the proper channels.


My last rant will cover the subject of the name of a road in Iowa City IA...we passed it on the way to load-in @ The Picador (great club - thanks for having us, Doug!), and I almost stopped the van...the name of the road is:
"B'JAYSVILLE RD"

No lie.

Our local Iowan friends in the band (the fantastic band) Ely Falls noted that it is actually pronounced "Buh-Jays-ville", as opposed to "Bee-jays...". You could see how hilarious something like this might be to a few road-weary out of towners.

Omaha, NE tonight with A MOMENT LOST, then KC on Saturday, Lawrence on Monday, and home for a few days of well deserved rest. Will post again soon.

Happy Haloween!
Bradley
Sounds Under Radio