Statesman Article

this was the cover article on Sunday's Austin American Statesman Life/Arts section... gives some insight in to what's been happening the past few months and whats next for Sounds Under Radio...

A deal doesn't always equal an album
Austin band Sounds Under Radio returns to where it was a year after signing and then breaking up with major label.
By Michael Corcoran
AMERICAN-STATESMAN STAFF

Saturday, August 30, 2008

Comedian Norm MacDonald used to have a bit about how weird it is to see a homeless person with a dog. "The dog's gotta be thinking, 'Hey, I can do this on my own,' " MacDonald said. "He's out on the world's longest walk."

Guitarist Lang Freeman and bassist Bradley Oliver of Sounds Under Radio laugh lustily when they hear a retelling of that joke. After all, they felt like that hungry dog with the red bandanna for a year, learning the hard way that major labels can't do much for you unless they know you can sell a million records right out of the chute.

New album-oriented bands don't sign with major labels. Not in today's music business climate, when CD sales plummeted 20 percent during the first quarter of 2008, according to SoundScan. The bigger music corporations are looking for download sensations like "Crank That Soulja Boy," not a four-piece modern rock band that needs time to grow.

But Freeman and Oliver claim they were told it would be different at Epic, which brought in the team from V2 Records that had developed the White Stripes. "They offered to build the band up brick by brick, with a real grass-roots approach," Freeman says. "They sold us on the idea that it would be an indie label philosophy, with major label clout."

A visit to the 35th floor offices of Epic on Madison Avenue during the courting process proved intoxicating to the band of young Texans, all in their 20s. "You'd see all these platinum records for bands like the Clash and Oasis and Sly," Oliver recalls, "and you'd also see some of the newer acts (Epic has broken) like Yellowcard and Good Charlotte." Freeman says it was never the band's stated intent to sign with a major. "Our No. 1 goal has always been to get this record out and available to as many fans as possible. We really believed in Epic as the best way to do that."

But less than a year after signing a three-album deal, Sounds Under Radio announced its departure from Epic with a fingerpointing statement. "It became obvious to us that they weren't honestly interested in developing new artists as they had originally promised," the early August release charged. "It seems Epic Records President Charlie Walk isn't prepared to face the future of the record industry and step up to its new order of challenges."

Jeff Wooding of Epic (a subsidiary of Sony), who signed the band, declined to comment on the press release or other charges, saying, "I remain a fan of the band and wish them well. They made a great album."

Now free agents, Sounds Under Radio announced the Oct. 14 release of "Cinematica" on its label. The Will Hoffman-produced album was originally set to be released on the band's label in October 2007.

A rocky road
Things happened fast for the 2-year-old Austin band, rounded out by drummer Sonny Sanchez (ex-Sunflower) and guitarist Doug Wilson. Working day jobs, the members saved their money and hired Hoffman, the ex-Pushmonkey guitarist who's a budding star behind the board, to produce the band's debut LP of slightly subversive pop/rock songs (hence the band's name).

Sunflower's former manager Peter Raspler, who now handles 311, had gotten a copy of an EP sampler of "Cinematica" to a friend who's big in music placement in films. Eventually, a higher up at Sony Pictures licensed "Portrait of a Summer Thief" for the "Spider-Man 3" soundtrack. SUR were the only unsigned band on the CD, but that wouldn't be for long.

Sounds Under Radio was seriously courted by at least three labels, Freeman says, before settling on Epic. The ink dried in November and then ... nothing. "The first red flag was when we couldn't get anything done on the redesign of our Web site," says Freeman. Worst of all, there was no reliable record release date. "First it was going to come out in February," Freeman says of "Cinematica," which the band completed in March 2007.

"They kept pushing it back, and finally we realized that we had an invisible release date," Oliver says. "We were talking to our A&R guys every day and it was clear that they were not getting to do what they wanted to."

Frustration and disappointment peaked on a freezing February night in Dayton, Ohio. Rather than sit around and wait for the record to come out, SUR toured the northeast and midwest in the van that cost every bit of what the band made from the "Spider-Man 3" companion CD, which, unlike the movie, was a bit of a flop. To fill the gaps between bigger cities, the band booked "jumper" gigs for gas money in towns along the way. The gig in Dayton was in a pizza joint with about 23 people on hand and, to make the night even creepier, the band that opened broke up onstage. It was one of those miserable, miserable nights when being on the road in a rock 'n' roll band seems to be a career choice along the lines of signing up for the Army during Vietnam.

"We went back to the Holiday Inn, just as down as we could be," Freeman says. "We had just found out that our record wasn't coming out as planned, and we'd just played a pizza joint and the freezing rain was coming down and I said, 'This is as bad as it gets. Are you guys still in?' and everybody looked at me like, 'Yeah, of course we are.' "

Starting over
They all agreed that the first order of business was getting out of the Epic contract. The band just wanted to get "Cinematica" out and Epic, which owned the rights for 10 years, seemed to be in no hurry. In the band's favor was that it didn't owe Epic anything. The advance was modest, basically covering what the band had spent out of pocket on "Cinematica." A video for "Sell Out," the leadoff single that was released digitally in February, was low budget. SUR also declined tour support because it didn't want to go into debt with the label.

After three months of negotiations, Sounds Under Radio's divorce from Epic was final; it received full custody of "Cinematica," the concept album about taking control of your life (using the metaphor of directing the movie of your own life).

"There is a sense of morality at Sony (Epic's parent company),"Freeman says. The label didn't have to give the album back. "I think they know they wronged us and they wanted to make it right."

Almost a year has passed since the original October 2007 release date of "Cinematica," but the band refuses to see it as a lost year. "I'm not going to tell you we weren't incredibly upset and frustrated," Freeman says. "But we're a better band now. We're a lot tighter now, as musicians and as band members."

SUR is more ready, more battle-tested now than they were a year ago. Rock-bottom nights in Dayton can have that effect.

'Cinematica' timeline:
March 2007: Sounds Under Radio wraps up recording its debut LP 'Cinematica,' with producer Will Hoffman (ex-Pushmonkey)

May 2007: 'Portrait of a Summer Thief' lands on the companion CD to the 'Spider-Man 3' blockbuster, joining such acts as Flaming Lips, the Killers and Yeah Yeah Yeahs.

October 2007: The band had planned to release 'Cinematica' independently, but after interest from several labels, SUR instead signs with Epic to release 'Cinematica' as is in a few months.

February 2008: Epic releases a three-song digital EP with 'Sell Out' as the first single. The release date for 'Cinematica' is pushed back a month, then another.

April 2008: The band and manager Will Hoffman officially ask to be let out of the three-album deal with Epic. Negotiations begin.

July 2008: The band is no longer under contract to Epic.

August 2008: Sounds Under Radio announces that it will release 'Cinematica' on its own label on Oct. 14, 2008, almost a year to the day that it had originally intended to release the album on its own label.

Busy week

Been a very busy week.... good as always... but busy.  

wed aug 27 - did a photo shoot at the Driskel Hotel in Austin for the article on Sounds Under Radio that came out in the Austin American Statesman on Sunday.  Almost took some shots in front of a longhorn mounted above a fireplace in the hotel bar... but decided against it.  We went with the more passive 'leather couch' look.  

thurs aug 28- The .dB Initiative played a show... it rocked in the most spacy of ways.  We were all there.

friday aug 29- Drove to Laredo for a show at Average Joes.  It rained almost the entire time we drove... and this wasn't just any normal rain... this was the "once every 5 years in south texas" kinda rain... it was nuts.  Stopped for an early dinner at a Loves truck stop (thats all there really was for miles) and i somehow got us turned around going North (where we should have been going south) on the access road to I35... there was no turn around for 7.5 miles.  Ridiculous.  I felt like a damn idiot.

Finally got to Average Joes after a quick stop by HEB for rations... loaded in, said hello to our good friends Alpha Rev who we were co billed with.  

Laredo is a very interesting place... we've been there 4 times in the past 8 months and it has just now started to get good.  It just takes time for people to get to you know you... first time not so great of a crowd, next time was better but still not good, next time was actually quite good, and this last trip the crowd was great.  Near sold out room.  

When we got there we found out that the venue was also hosting the official  after party for some boxing match that had occured that afternoon... the champ came, he was given his belt, it was great.

We played a really good show... thanks to all that came out in Laredo.  Caught Alpha Rev's set (first of a 3 day stint together)... they were amazing as always.  

2:30am we were all loaded out, and we hit the road... decided to drive home and grab some z's in our own beds since we were playing so close to near austin the next night.  made it home around daybreak (7:30am).  Pulled in to the drive, I got in my car to go get some breakfast, came home and passed out.  Van sleep is not real sleep.  Even if you crash out for hours in the van is like you were only sorta napping... not true rest.

sat aug 30

rouse the troops around 4... every still sleepily gets in the van at 5, drive and load in to Merkaba Lounge in Pflugerville at 6pm.  This is a another show with Alpha Rev.  Load in, backline the stage, get merch set up, hand with Richard and Ian from Merkaba... great peeps over there.  By the time we all get settled the night begins with the Ars Supernova, we hit stage afterwards... do our thing.  Props to Ian Lee for sticking over on the light console.  He looked like he was about to lose his lunch the entire evening (i think he has the flu), but he ran a great light show... Ian knows all the songs from Cinematica so he always rocks the cues.  We love playing there.  Alpha Rev played another amazing set.  I jumped up on stage mid set for an impromptu duo vocal performance of the beatles "nothings gonna change my world" with Casey from Alpha Rev.  He played piano and sang lead... i floated some harmonies on top.  It was great fun.

2:30am we were loaded up and headed out to get a bit of shut eye before the follow days afternoon sweat fest.

sunday aug 31  BATFEST in Austin... the annual outdoor festival on the south first street bridge in Austin... well its generally on the S. Congress St bridge, but because of some odd politics it had to be moved this year.  Regardless... it was a bridge, it was outdoors, it was hot, tons of people, it was awesome.

We arrived for load in at 2:30pm right as The Feds (a band from Dallas) hit stage.  i've always been a fan of The Feds... and I must say, they absolutely stomped ass.  Got a chance to hang with the guys after the show... could not be any nicer of fellas really.  Hope to do more shows with them in the future.  They really were fantastic.  The Feds end at 3:30, we load on stage line check and go start downing water... its hot... i mean really hot.  By showtime at 4:30 it was 100+ degrees outside, the crowd began really closing in on the stage... to it was great, but man was it warm.  Played the show with as much energy as we could... felt like we were playing in slow motion toward the last 2 songs of the set.  the quote of the day, which I don't even remember saying to the audience... but was recounted to be by numerous people was, "its so hot out here that my feet are getting sunburned... through my shoes."  I really did feel that way though... my feet felt like they were melting.  Anyway... we had a handful of small technical difficulties during the show, but we soldiered through and I don't think anyone knew.

So thanks to all the folks that came and soldiered in the heat with us.

Following us were Alpha Rev... caught part of their set from the merch booth and the other part from our trailer whilst loading up our gear.  

Chatted with the boys from Ludo for a bit... hadn't seen them since we played with them in Omaha during our winter tour... then it was literally -10degrees... drastically different from that day.  Anyway... great guys, great band.  Fantastic to get to reconnect... hoping to see them out on the road again.  They had just wrapped a stint on Warped Tour and said that this show was hotter than anything they experienced the entire time they were on that tour.  That says a lot.  

So around 9pm we departed... navigated the odd downtown traffic of the festival and some 10k run that was happening.  It was intense.

more later

LAng

stuff and such

So i just realized that the blog here has been relatively dormant the past 2 months, ok lets just be honest... its been completely inactive... but I have to say, happily we have not.  While my online update of the haps has not kept up, we have been forging onward, driving many miles, playing many shows, sweating on many stages and doing our laundry as often as possible to keep our clothes and our van from smelling like a high school locker room.  Needless to say... I will update more often I promise.  Here though is a recap of shows and general happs and highlights of the summer... and and by the way its official "Cinematica" will be in stores OCTOBER 14th!

 

june 25 - Lang solo acoustic show at Antone's in Austin TX... song swap with some good friends.  These nights generally become a whiskey blur and sing a long around 1am.  always good times with fellow songwriters.

 

june 27- lang and bradley duo acoustic show at City Tavern in Dallas TX... did this show with our old friend Taylor Davis... I miss Taylor.  He lives in Dallas now... but (and i'm totally not joking about this) he used to live under the stairs at the Sounds Under Radio house here in Austin TX.  Short version of the story... Taylor (a singer/songwriter and road traveling troubadour) needed a place to call 'home base' while he was on tour... that place became a nook below the staircase in our living room where he had a lamp, a twin sized matress, a small box fan and a lightup, human sized santa clause (one that you would generally find in someones front lawn during the holiday season... really don't ask).  We only charged him 100.00 in rent a month and it worked well for everyone.

 

June 28- Lang and Bradley duo acoustic show in Bastrop TX.  The venue 'Big Mouth' has an amazing kitchen... best salmon dish i've ever had.  The rice is divine as well.  Great room... old building build in the 30's, renivated, hard wood floors, tall ceilings, you almost done even need a PA in that room the acoustics are so wild. 

 

June 30 -Live web inverview with Open Labs... we own one of their "Miko" keyboards and its about the coolest piece of gear a music nerd could over want to own... we talked about how we use the box, the company, etc... we love those folks.  The interview is on youtube, easily searchable.

 

July 5-  Exit Music Festival Waterloo Park, Austin TX... i'm sure if you live in Austin you read about this one in the papers.

 

July 11- San Angelo Tx... Steel Penny Pub.  What a little oasis in the middle of nowhere Texas... Steel Penny... great club, great stage, amazing people there.  Stayed at the Howard Johnson... I think the AC in our hotel room was broken.  No one slept.  Got up as early as we could to get on the road to San Antonio... long drive.

 

July 12 San Antonio TX... acoustic show at the Cigar Club.  We so rarely get to do these kinds of shows... super intimate, super interactive.  Played some old songs, some new songs and some bizzare things no one has ever heard before.

 

July 13 - Scout Bar, Houston TX... always an amazing show.  Zakk United over at the Buzz in Houston puts this show on every week... near sold out show, thanks to everyone who made it out late on a Sunday.  We had to get back to ATX for an early morning radio engagement... drove through the night, home at 6am.  Tired, but worth it.

 

July 17- back out in Bastrop for more great acoustics and salmon.

 

July 18- early morning interview on KLBJ fm... played 'Wasteland' acoustic... chatted.  Later in the afternoon went over to ME Tv for a spot on 'Tex Mix,' chatted wit Josh Shephard, played some videos... good times.  Quick power nap, soundcheck at Stubbs, dinner...

 

July 18th- ahhhhh our hometown headlining show at Stubbs.  We love everyone in Austin... thanks so much for AGAIN making another hometown show so great for us.  For the first time ever we played ALL the songs from the forthcoming "Cinematica" record in the set... plus a whole slew of others... personal highlight was finally doing our song 'Perfect Machine' live... its a 10 minute opus, but its one of my personal favs from the record... that was the first time we had ever played it live.  Ended the set with it... ahhhh.

 

July 19th- Bums in Temple TX with our good friends and musical cohorts Mothers Anthem.  I absolutely love playing shows with these guys... its always going to be a good show.  Thanks to everyone in Temple for making our first outing in your city such a success... we will be back soon!

 

July 24 - Lang solo show at Flipnotics with Johnny Goudie... this room is amazing.  Its a tiny little space, sells out with 50 people, but its so intimate that its worth the discomfort.  I had to do a quick set and bolt out... but thanks again to all that made it out.  Such a fun time... got to play some new things I'm working on and see how people react... good testing ground for new material in front of friends and fans.  Had to jet quick and meet up with the rest of the band and the van... headed to Dallas that night to cut our drive to Tulsa the next day in half.  Rolled in the my parents house at 3:30am to find my mother still awake and ready to great us... we always try to stop by and stay with them when we roll through Dallas.  No hotel can beat a mothers hospitality!

 

July 25- Long drive to Tulsa... spent an hour just trying to figure out how to get our van near enough to our venue to load in.  Finally worked it out... we were one of the festival headliners which was both a blessing and a curse.  We had a fantastic crowd... mid sized rock club, but the other headliners on our night were Austin's Ghostland Observatory and Paramore... both of whom I had interest in seeing at least some part of... alas we were sweating it out on stage.  Bradley knocked over his rolad Juno 60 ( a 30 year old analog synth keyboard) and time almost stoppped as we saw it go crashing to the floor.  All was ok though... those things are built like tanks. 

 

July 26- Bradyfest in Ft Worth TX... been awhile since we've been back to Ft. Worth... near sold out crowd, could not have asked for a better time. 

 

July 29- taped a live show at ME tv... might become a DVD or something at some point... saw some rough cuts... its looks amazing. 

 

July 31- .db Initiative show at the Lucky Lounge... who are these guys?  They rule.

 

Aug 1- Laredo TX... Average Joes.  Got to mile marker 2 in I 35 (could throw a stone in to mexico), go stopped by the border patrol on the return drive to Austin (had to drive back after the show... early load in the next day at Merkaba Lounge in Pflugerville, just a few miles N of ATX).  We love Average Joes... Laredo is actually a really cool place... people love their rock n roll music there! 

 

Aug 2- Merkaba Lounge... this place has the coolest sound system and lighting rig in the area... we love playing here.  Our good friend Ian ran lights for us... Ian has had a copy of Cinematica for a while and has memorized all of the cues... he rocked an amazing light show.  Bradley got fogged out a few times by the fog machine which was on his side of the stage... it kinda looked like something out of 'Spinal Tap' from where I was standing... I saw it happen once, and laughingly almost missed a verse of Wasteland.

 

Aug 6- Antones in Austin TX... opening for Blind Melon.  Seriously... people generally only know this band for their song 'no rain' and the sad passing of their lead singer... but really... they are one of the most underrated bands of the 90s.  new front man... did a great job, crowd was stellar.  thanks austin for another great evening.

 

Aug 8- Fitzgeralds in Houston TX... played with a band called Hypernova... all the members just 9 months ago moved to the states from Iran.... they reminded me (in a pleasing way) of Joy Division... although I had just watched the bio pic 'Control' about joy Division the night before... so that was fresh on my mind.

 

Aug 9- Lake Charles LA... Rikenjaks.  First time in Lake Charles... there is a massive bridge leading in to the city... its insane.  Lovely place though.  After our show we were all at the merch booth and we saw what could only be described as a swarm of police officers roll in to the bar... we didnt know what the hell was going on.  we counted 10 of them... they asked for the bartenders licenses etc, and then as quickly s they came, they left.  very bizzare.

 

Aug 10 - looooong drive to Dallas.. but it was well worth it, opening slot for Need to Breath at the House of Blues in Dallas (one of our absolute favorite rooms around).  Near sold out show... great energy, great everything.  My parents came out to that show... I got an email from my dad the next day that said, "That show kicked ass!" Thats not language he generally uses so it had to have been good... we thought it was too.

 

Aug 15- Cavern Club in Dallas... did a headlining show on the tiniest stage on the planet.  10x10... we squeezed all of our gear and persons onstage and made it happen.  Actually one of the better shows we've played in a while... just good punk rock synergy.  Opening the show were Jet Black Stare whom our old tour manager Ryan now tour manages... great to catch up with him, AND Congress of a Crow from Tulsa... I had caught 1 of their songs at D fest weeks before... super nice folks.  Got their trailer stolen the next night though... uggg.  We stayed a few blocks away with my old friend John... he has the coolest house in Dallas... or at least thats what I think.  We watched DVR'd versions of "Its Always Sunny in Philadelphia" till 5am... that has to be one of the funniest shows on television.

 

Aug 16- made the long haul from Dallas back up to San Angelo to the Steel Penny.... this place is getting better every time we go.  Love it.  the .dB Initiative was supposed to open the show, but last minute could not make it... but to our good fortune (and slightly to theirs as well) our good friends in the band Nothing More had their evenings engagment in Odessa cancelled last minute due to flash flooding (crazy huh?).  We found out about it early in the afternoon and told them that they should come down to San Angelo and open the Sounds Under Radio rock show at the Steel Penny (only a few hrs drive from where they were and in the direction they were heading).  So they did... it was fantastic.  I love that band. 

 

Aug 21- Lucys in San Marcos... been a while since we've played San Marcos so w didnt quite know what to expect... but man, you folks brought it out... thanks for coming and supporting, filling the room and making us want to return again as soon as possible.  thank you.  I do have to say though... Lucys has probably THE WORST load in we have ever encoutered.  Its on the second floor... one staircase up, super skinny staircase, no midway landing... miserable to haul roadcases up and down.  Woke up the next morning more sore than i have been in a long time.

 

Aug 22 Northgate Music Festival College Station TX... its like a mini SXSW in College Station.  Absolutely wonderful event.  Been a few months since we've been back to College Station... and again, you people were amazing.  We were getting stopped on the street for pics... it was maddness in the best of ways.  We played a great show... had an amazing time.  Ohhh... best story of this event though... mere MOMENTS after we get in to town I'm driving the van and trailer and am backing up our beast of a vehicle to load our gear in for the show... up a bit of an incline in to a drive behind the venue... I make a few turns and adjustments and all of a sudden.. POP, the trailer tongue slides straight in to a crack in the concrete of this driveway... total one in a million chance this would happen... one hole in 100 square feet of driveway and i somehow landed our 2 in in diameter trailer jack 3 inches deep in concrete... and no matter what I did I could not get the van to move... so after 10 minutes of trying to rock forward and back (mind you... this is a big ole van with a tandem axle trailer loaded with 3000 lbs of gear), i was getting no where when out of the blue a man in overall comes over and offers to get us out of our predicament for a small fee of $10.00.  We had to make a move so we payed the good fella 5 before he did the job and 5 after... 2 minutes and a few cranks of a jack later... we were free.  Needless to say, we loaded our gear from the street after that... I wasnt about to try again.  Thats what wheels on cases are for anyway.

Ok... home for a few days, doing laundry writing songs, etc etc... more to come!

LAng

Sounds Under Radio on MTV's The Real World Hollywood

Greetings All,

Tonight (Wednesday June 25th) Sounds Under Radio's 'Portrait of a Summer Thief' from the forthcoming Cinematica release will be featured on MTV's "The Real World-Hollywood" episode #2011. You can tune in at 9, 10 or 11 ET/PT to see the show and hear the soundtrack! If you miss these broadcasts... have no fear, there will be many re-broadcasts! find out more info at www.mtv.com

ALSO... don't forget to check out the Sounds Under Radio online store by visiting;

http://soundsunderradio.bigcartel.com/

To celebrate the inclusion of 'Portrait of a Summer Thief' on MTV's The Real World Hollywood, the band will be giving away FREE 3 Song preview EP's with any online purchase for the next 10 days!

indiana jones, Dallas, CC and moving

indiana jones... i just have to say it... i was disappointed for the most part.  while the ten year old boy in me who's favorite movies are and forever will be  'raiders of the lost ark', 'star wars,' 'rad' and 'the goonies' was absolutely satiated... the older, more mature (and more cynical i must admit) 20-something person i am today, who much more prefers watching 'films' than 'movies' felt like i was watching an older and greyer harrison ford star in a B level parody film poking fun at the movies that the 10 year old in me loved so much in the 80's.  anyway... bradley and i discussed this on the van ride to and from Corpus Christi this past weekend and we came to agree... you just can't make those kinds of movies anymore.  that kind of humor... that kind of campy action and general style of film making that was acceptable and flourished in the 80's... well... it just doesn't work anymore.  audiences are conditioned for different things.  while we can watch movies from the elder 'vintage' and enjoy them as they were then... its difficult to enjoy a new movie with that same motif (and oh ya... an obnoxious amount of CGI) in the same way.  you just can't.  same thing with why the newer 'star wars' films just didn't hold up... same idea... and oh ya, Jar Jar Binx was the most annoying character in the history of film.  that didn't help those films.  people said that the Ewoks in the original star wars trilogy were annoying (i beg to differ actually), but it can't be argued that Jar Jar Binx was exponentially more aggravating of a character... i almost walked out of the theatre on that one.  wow ya.  so ok... indiana jones wasnt THAT bad, but i was a bit let down regardless.  

ok the shows... 

Acoustic show in Dallas... just Bradley and I made the trek for this one... very intimate, very interactive... we had a lot of fun.  I think someone posted a few clips on youtube... search out if you're interested.  went down a day early to spend an evening with my parents... two of the absolute best people on the planet hands down... i wish i got to spend more time with them.  I missed my now florida dwelling older brother by a day as he was in town for a golfing expedition earlier in the week... he's the one who introduced me to led zeppelin, pink floyd, the beatles and this whole rock and roll thing... so you could say he's to blame for all the things i do :)  haha

Coprus Christi... flag day celebration.  Good to get back out with the electric guitars and turn our amps up... which we did.  it was loud and raucous and just completely enjoyable.  got a write up in the Corpus Christi Caller as we found out when we got there and a handful of folks said that made it out to the show because of the paper... pleasant suprise for us!  Bradley got a new case for a lot of his gear... it cuts his stage set up time in half, but required to design an entire new trailer pack for all our our road cases... which wouldn't have been so bad if it hadn't been 110 degrees while we were doing it.  2 hours playing human sized tetris on a 6x12 trailer with a few other guys is not my definition of fun... but we did it, got all of our gear to Corpus and I have to say... this new pack (even with the addition of the new case) is actually a better pack than the old.  What strange things I find satisfaction in these days.  

Drove home after CC... short weekend of shows... made it back to home base around 7am just as folks were heading out to their sunday morning church services.  We pulled in to the SUR house driveway, parked the van and were exhaustedly stumbling towards our beds just as our neighbor Bernie (a super nice fella actually) was walking out to the street to get his sunday paper... i think we startled him for a second... but our neighbors know what we do... they know the hours we keep and actually are really great about being accepting of us, watching the house when we're on tour and keeping an eye out on everything when we're away.  Our house is in a very 'family oriented' neighborhood in Austin and I think when we moved in many of the neighbors were afraid that we were going to be throwing wild parties in to the wee hours ever night of the week and i'm sure they put the police on speed dial the moment they heard what we do for a living... but the truth is, we're actually quite tame when we're at home... we are home so infrequently that when we're here we just want to rest... quietly write songs and enjoy a little life outside of the dingy rock club... however much we do love them... when we're home is nice to kind of turn that off for a bit.  i actually think the neighbors like us now to be completely honest... we even get invited to neighborhood events and have notes put in our mailbox that generally begin with something like, "Dear Band Guys... you are cordially invited to..." its actually quite amusing.  

ok so tonight marked the next to last rehearsal we are going to have in our current rehearsal space... its actually quite sad... this little 12x18 room has been good to us... its gotten us ready for tours, its helped us write a great many songs and its helped us grow as a band in more ways that we could have ever imagined... its been the place that we've spent almost every waking hour of our lives when we're not on the road... yet its time to change the scenery... mix things up a little bit and see if a new environment will spawn some new creativity and tell us some new and interesting... so goodbye room 62... you have been the good to us.

alright... san antonio this weekend and actually a webcast interview on sunday with our good friends at Open Labs who make an amazing product called the 'miko' which we own and are soon to integrate in to our live show... if you're in to checking it out visit www.openlabs.com  -alright thats all for now... 4am and i need to try and sleep.  we shall see if it actually happens or not.

quiet... the nothing more guys are sleeping downstairs

Greetings all... so its monday at 1am... or technically tues at 1am (it is the morning now i guess) and I'm quietly working away in the upstairs studio in the Sounds Under Radio house in Austin Tx.  Been writing a lot lately and Ive actually taken recently to gaff taping (gaff tape for those that don't know is like over glorified duct tape that is used on stages because of its durability and also ease of removal) pages from my writing journals to the walls of the studio... I have also gaff taped a sharpie on a string to the same wall so that I can stand in front of what i've now deemed 'the word wall' and make swift edits and changes, combine things, fracture things, break them down, build them up... so on and so forth.  I've been challenging myself recently to exploring some new ways to write... and this method has actually been quite helpful and inspiring.  There is something i'm finding to be rather powerful about just standing in front of these words... words that hold great meaning to me... and in a way confronting myself again with these themes and ideas... I can't close my journal, I can't escape it... anywhere in this room the words are all around me... I have to face them and I have to be honest with them and myself.  Its been brutal sometimes... but again, a great means of catharsis once i've gone through the process.   I wish I knew how to post pics on this thing because the 'word wall' is actually quite amusing to see... I'll try to figure it out and get something up soon.  

So downstairs right now (and thus why i am 'quietly working upstairs') are sleeping our good friends in the band 'Nothing More'  who are staying with us for a few days while they begin tracking parts of their new record in a studio here in Austin with our much loved producer Will Hoffman.  I can't wait to hear what comes of this collaboration... I've been hoping Will and Nothing More would work together for quite some time now... glad its finally all going down.  But needless to say... they have an early morning, so are fast asleep and the rest of us here are trying to respect their need for quiet...  although I keep hearing what might be a smoke detector beep every few minutes... probably need to go investigate when i'm done writing this.

so road updates... once again, been traveling a great deal in the great state of Texas... I believe in the last week we saw almost every mile of IH35 in Texas... Laredo Tx took us too the Mexican border and a trip in the the DFW metroplex took us about 50 miles from the Oklahoma border on the north.  IH35 really is an aweful highway... constantly under construction, traffic jams at every corner... I once heard 35 referred to by a fellow musician as a 'work horse' highway, 'no frills... just lots of pavement and potholes.'  that is the damndest of truths for sure.  From border patrol stops and drug dog at 4am heading out of Laredo, to 10 mile long roadjams in Waco (which we hilariously found out to have been caused by our good friends in the band Alpha Rev and their broken down mini bus), 35 has been a good... yet painful road companion the last few weeks.  

Last weekends show at the Cavern Club in Dallas (a tiny room modeled after the Cavern Club in Liverpool where the Beatles found their start) proved to be an amazingly intimate and suprisingly fantastic show for us.  We in the 11th hour had to strip back and perform the show as a trio acoustic (or acoustic in the way that we do acoustic i guess) as Sonny had some last minute family issues to attend to... but we soldiered through and had somewhat of a 'VH1 Storytellers' evening in the Cavern Club with a few hundred of our closest Dallas fans and friends all packed in to a room whos capacity I could only imagine to be no more than 50 or 75 people.  It was hot and cramped... but it was amazing show... stellar sound in the room a wonderfully attentive audience... also my folks (who live in Dallas) got to come out to the show which was just great for me... always such a blast having them there at shows.

Heading back to the metroplex actually later this week for a bono fide acoustic show and a little writing sabbatical... light week of touring so it'll be a good opportunity to kinda get out of my element here... do some fresh thinking and some fresh writing.  Been doing a few of these acoustic dates recently and have a slew of them lined up for the coming months.  Been really cool to hang out with some friends and fellow songwriters... don't get to do that much with how busy we are these days... so its been good for us to be working and also be hanging with friends.  Did a show with a good friend Johnny Goudie in Houston 2 weeks ago... we traveled together to and from the show and I can honestly say... I haven't laughed that much in a long time... I'm thinking about inviting him on the road with Sounds Under Radio every now and again just to keep us entertained.... ha... and oh ya... he's a BRILLIANT singer and songwriter as well... that doesn't hurt at all.  Also had Casey McPherson travel back from Dallas to Austin with us this last weekend (his band Alpha Rev as well as our other good friend The Soldier Thread played at the Cavern with us), such a good time hanging with Casey.  Another BRILLIANT songwriter we are fortunate enough to call a friend.  

 Anyway... after writing in Dallas early this week, acoustic show on Thurs, we are back in Austin late week... rehearsals (working in some new material) and then a rock show in Corpus Christi this weekend... busy as always.... but busy is good!  more soon

so many shows and not a lot of blogging

so apologies for the lack of communication as of late... we've been spending a lot of time on the road and a lot of time locked away in a rehearsal room writing and rehearsing new material.  its nice to be back in texas for a bit... its quite hot here as the summer has crept in upon us a bit early this year.  we've been touring all across our great state for the past two months... spending a few precious days at home locked away in our studio in between mini tour bursts.  admittedly its nice to get out for a few days, then come home and sleep in your own but... BUT to be honest we are really beginning to miss the elongated road travel... there is something so wonderful about getting out, getting in a groove of momentum... the machine (musically and mechanically) just seems to flow so well after a few weeks.  i miss that.  but again, i can't complain that much... good austin texas style mexican food and sleeping in my own bed 2 nights a week rather than sleeping in a row of the van or in a dingy hotel room is pretty boss.  and yes... i did just use the term 'boss,' ... it among several other forgotten words are creeping their way back in to my formal and informal dialogue... im trying to bring em back!

so we've had some amazing shows, have met some amazing people and have seen many miles of this great state of texas the last few months.  after sxsw (which it appears was my last blog entry), we just started pounding the highways here and have hit every city you can imagine and everyone that you probably can't... the most remote and interesting thus far had to have been Tomball Texas... where we played an amazingly enjoyable show at 'Garys Spot' with our good friends Mothers Anthem.  This was an establishment where the owner (kindly and graciously) per our request removed what could only be described as a stripper pole from the center of the stage.  Kirk from Mothers Anthem and I both agreed that it would be a far better situation if the pole was removed as we mutually felt that potential bodily harm would come to he and I if the pole remained.  Gary (the club owner) was very kind and minutes after our request for the poles removal he had a staffer on stage with a tool kit removing the pole... but not before Kirk and I took pictures with the pole... we simply couldn't resist.  Anyway... it turned out to be a fantastic show... amazing crowd, amazing energy.

the largest 2 shows that we have done in the past few months both took place in Austin TX our hometown and homebase... one opening for the band FILTER at a sold out show at Emo's Outdoors... a stage that we had suprisingly never played in all of our time in Austin.  The guys in FILTER could not have been any kinder to us and could not have put on a better show themselves... i think it was their first live performance in like 6 years... and they slayed it.  We did out show in front of a hometown audience that was full of many folks that had never seen us live before, which is always a frightening thing... but we just did our show the way we do it... sweaty, loud and full of rock fists (a now Sounds Under Radio trademarked stage move), and the audience was fantastically responsive.  that night could not have gone any better.  

The next time we hit Austin was for a close to sold out headlining engagement at Stubbs... it had been 4 months since we played a headlining show in our hometown... far to long for our comfort and wanting, but it just happened to work out that way with our touring scheduel for the past 1/4 year.  Anyway... the night went smashingly and was a huge booste of morale and energy for us... so thanks to all the folks that came to that show... it meant a great deal to us, you really have no idea.  

so... forthcoming the rest of the summer... a few festivals, lots of touring in the southwest and our record 'Cinematica' WILL be coming out toward the end of the summer... its been a long time coming and it will soon see the light of day!!!!  

final thoughts:

go buy the new Death Cab for Cutie record 'Narrow Stairs' its brilliant and in constant repeat in the Sounds Under Radio van cd player

check out the new band 'The .dB Initiative' ... a new local austin outfit... ambient and spacey rock maddness.

the new Indiana Jones movie... i cant wait to see it.  

alright... hope to see you'all soon at a show.

LAng