hello invisible readers,
just to let you know that we have a video posted of ourselves playing a song on our myspace page. you can go there and watch the video. it was recorded at the new moon with me, jesse, scott, namiah, jessica, and emily all performing. it's kind of noisy and grainy. but there you have it--modern technology.
happy new year,
steev for TIC
12.04.2006
LAST SHOW OF THE YEAR!
so we've come to the last show of the year. we'll be playing on saturday at the bremen cafe in milwaukee. to our dismay, we will be without a rhythm section. but to our delight, we will be playing with our good friend and commrade jeremiah nelson aka patchwork. he's really good. hopefully there will be one other performer opening, but we're not sure who it will be.
so please everybody come out and show your support. this will be our last performance for a while as we try to figure out what we want to accomplish next with the band. the ep is finished with some new songs posted on our myspace, but it is not yet ready to be released. we'll keep you updated.
happy celebrations,
steev and TIC
so we've come to the last show of the year. we'll be playing on saturday at the bremen cafe in milwaukee. to our dismay, we will be without a rhythm section. but to our delight, we will be playing with our good friend and commrade jeremiah nelson aka patchwork. he's really good. hopefully there will be one other performer opening, but we're not sure who it will be.
so please everybody come out and show your support. this will be our last performance for a while as we try to figure out what we want to accomplish next with the band. the ep is finished with some new songs posted on our myspace, but it is not yet ready to be released. we'll keep you updated.
happy celebrations,
steev and TIC
10.30.2006
What is a national bellwether?
hello "friends," here's to good intentions!
our sparkling new 5-song ep called "national bellwether" is now mixed, mastered, and sitting around on a cd-r. packaging and release information will be arriving later this year or early next. we think you will all love it and come crawling back to us, tears streaming down your faces.
the songs on the new record are bursting with nervous energy and will make for some frantic swaying, i can tell you.
the first "single" is up on the myspace for copious downloading. "the leaves are falling and so am i" is an ode to being insecure at a time when "security" is all the rage. i'm sure you all remember those days!
steev
hello "friends," here's to good intentions!
our sparkling new 5-song ep called "national bellwether" is now mixed, mastered, and sitting around on a cd-r. packaging and release information will be arriving later this year or early next. we think you will all love it and come crawling back to us, tears streaming down your faces.
the songs on the new record are bursting with nervous energy and will make for some frantic swaying, i can tell you.
the first "single" is up on the myspace for copious downloading. "the leaves are falling and so am i" is an ode to being insecure at a time when "security" is all the rage. i'm sure you all remember those days!
steev
9.18.2006
o my good glory. . . i just heard the coolest thing. and it wasn't that garrison keillor was doing a split ep about minnesota with sufjan stevens (although that may or may not be true). no, this is something entirely unrelated to public radio. it was a song that we finished recording last night in the dank basement studio of jeremiah aka patchwork. i will hopefully have a rough mix up later this week. the song is called "the leaves are falling and so am i" and it combines the best of all possible sounds--noise, strings, a choir, a catchy chorus. it's all very exciting. the record is almost finished now and will most likely be "released" in 2007. we have one date left this fall--saturday, september 30th in west bend at pillllars cafe. it's a great venue, all ages, smoke-free. we're playing with juniper tar again, so everybody should just come and watch.
steev
steev
7.17.2006
Recording
we're a week into recording our new ep. scott, namiah and i put down the initial rhythm tracks last sunday, then emily put down cello on tuesday night. i went back this weekend to add acoustic guitar, banjo, and one electric guitar line. what do we have left? jesse has been put on notice to perform electric guitar. piano needs to be done and also vocals. we're still a way from finishing, but it's turning out great. we're recording with jeremiah nelson--sometimes known as patchwork--in his home-made studio amidst the detritus of the algoma building in oshkosh. the original 6 songs have been cut down to 5. the last song "the long defeat" will most likely go on our next EP "ghost stories" which we will hopefully record later this year. we recorded a demo of it, but the song is still too new to put on the ep.
a couple of shows in august:
TIC with patchwork on the 5th at the rock island cafe in neenah
and
TIC with Scourge of the Sea on the 15th at indie coffee in madison
come out to cheer us on and listen to the new tunes,
steev
we're a week into recording our new ep. scott, namiah and i put down the initial rhythm tracks last sunday, then emily put down cello on tuesday night. i went back this weekend to add acoustic guitar, banjo, and one electric guitar line. what do we have left? jesse has been put on notice to perform electric guitar. piano needs to be done and also vocals. we're still a way from finishing, but it's turning out great. we're recording with jeremiah nelson--sometimes known as patchwork--in his home-made studio amidst the detritus of the algoma building in oshkosh. the original 6 songs have been cut down to 5. the last song "the long defeat" will most likely go on our next EP "ghost stories" which we will hopefully record later this year. we recorded a demo of it, but the song is still too new to put on the ep.
a couple of shows in august:
TIC with patchwork on the 5th at the rock island cafe in neenah
and
TIC with Scourge of the Sea on the 15th at indie coffee in madison
come out to cheer us on and listen to the new tunes,
steev
6.26.2006
successful? who among us can really claim to be successful at anything we accomplish? am i a successful songwriter or musician? did i write a good song? if so, why am i performing it for free, to five people in a coffee shop on a thursday night? unless i'm so successful that only certain people really "get" what i'm trying to say or do. i said to emily that i'd obsess about this for three days--today is day 3. we drove up to appleton to play at the copper rock and not a single person showed up from our mailing list. nobody showed up that we knew, period. there were a handful of people sitting in booths, but nobody so much as clapped most of the time. we just kind of looked at each other and smiled. it's one thing to play for nobody in the basement of the oshkosh public museum, when at least you know you're going to make enough for room rent. but to play for nobody and make nothing? that sucks. i mean, i read about bands who played for empty rooms on their road to success, but not when they were almost 30, with three kids and a full time job. so BUGGER OFF!!
[steev]
[steev]
4.09.2006
we got back last night at 2:30 am from a nice show at the bremen cafe. we played with juniper tar, who should have their own tv series, and opening the show was janet schiff and her band. i think it was our first show with this line-up: me on electric guitar, jessica on piano, emily on cello, scott on bass, and namiah on the drums. everything went well. thanks to everybody for coming and to janet and "the tar" for playing with us. we're in the midst of a shakedown of sorts right now--working on new material and looking for new shows in new places. our next performance will be in oshkosh with Madison Greene. that will be a benefit show. details forthcoming. we hope to showcase some new songs with our current line-up. and right now i'm listening to my wife watch "elizabethtown" in the next room. all i hear is like a montage of vintage rock ballads or whatever. i'm not interested in watching it at all. goodbye.
2.17.2006
so punk planet finally got around to reviewing our cd. it's a mix of good and bad. i'll give you the exerpt, then i'll give the whole thing.
the exerpt:
"The Inkwell Collective delivers with its beautifully crafted folk-inspired indie rock, braiding a cello and viola seamlessly into rock band standards like the guitar and piano."
sounds good, right? ok, here's the rest:
"But the lyrics, my goodness, the weak sauce lyrics! Listening to words distracts from the music; you can't help but think that the "wordsmith" behind it all is trying too hard to achieve the kind of lyrical finesse of the likes of the Weakerthans or Neutral Milk Hotel. Vocalist and guitarist Steev Baker's voice is strong and capable, but you just can't get over the words spilling from his lips. Baker says so himself, "lately I've learned to think and speak in cliches" ("My use of metaphor"), and he continues in the same song to treat us to this: "You were the miracle and I was the skeptic / I was the gash and you the antiseptic / You are an animal and I'm a carnivore / You are the oxygen but I'm afraid I'm underwater [sic]." There are times when you can't help but feel as if you're listening to words he wrote in his high school poetry journal."
so there you have it! i don't have any comment except to say that i'm glad to finally get an outside view of the album. and now back to my high school poetry journal. . .
steev
the exerpt:
"The Inkwell Collective delivers with its beautifully crafted folk-inspired indie rock, braiding a cello and viola seamlessly into rock band standards like the guitar and piano."
sounds good, right? ok, here's the rest:
"But the lyrics, my goodness, the weak sauce lyrics! Listening to words distracts from the music; you can't help but think that the "wordsmith" behind it all is trying too hard to achieve the kind of lyrical finesse of the likes of the Weakerthans or Neutral Milk Hotel. Vocalist and guitarist Steev Baker's voice is strong and capable, but you just can't get over the words spilling from his lips. Baker says so himself, "lately I've learned to think and speak in cliches" ("My use of metaphor"), and he continues in the same song to treat us to this: "You were the miracle and I was the skeptic / I was the gash and you the antiseptic / You are an animal and I'm a carnivore / You are the oxygen but I'm afraid I'm underwater [sic]." There are times when you can't help but feel as if you're listening to words he wrote in his high school poetry journal."
so there you have it! i don't have any comment except to say that i'm glad to finally get an outside view of the album. and now back to my high school poetry journal. . .
steev
2.12.2006
post-rock wisconsin
we're playing a show on february 25 with west bend-based rock band canyons of static. they're an instrumental post-rock band like others you may have heard of--explosions in the sky, mogwai, godspeed you black emperor, mono, etc. etc. i've been poking around the internet, looking for other such bands from wisconsin. it turns out there are currently quite a few. so here are the bands with links (mostly from myspace):
wooden robot is an all-acoustic act with upright bass, saw, dulcimer and other traditional instruments.
canyons of static combines guitar, drum, and bass with violin and piano and also project original films over the band while they play.
wood & wires are from madison and they have a viola player!
frail by design augment their sound with samples and electronics.
sounds like braille has a traditional 3-piece rock line-up. and they rock.
pillllars caffe
225 S. 5th Avenue
west bend, wi
25 february
7pm $4 cover All ages!
with singer/songwriter dan klotz and post-rock band canyons of static
1.09.2006
NEW FOR 2006!
what's new with you? not much here. we've been trying to get together to work on new music for the past few weeks, but between chicken pox and observances, it's been difficult. emily and i did get to record cello for "leaving wisconsin", which you can find at my solo site. it will be the title track for a collection of demos i hope to finish this year. of course, that's what i said last year. . .
the collective is playing a show in oshkosh at the water city grill on january 26th, so everybody should come and listen there. hopefully we will be doing some interesting things there. or maybe it'll be embarassing. either way, come over and get a drink and listen to some sad music.
demos of all of our new songs are now available on the website. they may not be there for long, so if you'd like to hear the basic structure (mostly just acoustic guitar and vocals) of some new songs, head over to our dot com.
i'm doing a solo show on friday the 20th of january at the new moon. i'm going under the name "inkstained" and will hopefully be accompanied by emily and kara. also performing is stephanie ott/tuesday parker as "the daffodil mafia," krist krueger as "southerly," and andrew johnson as "holly & plastic." they all rock, so come and check out a very different take on acoustic music. maybe i'll just call it "post-folk." i don't think anyone uses that term yet.
post-steev
what's new with you? not much here. we've been trying to get together to work on new music for the past few weeks, but between chicken pox and observances, it's been difficult. emily and i did get to record cello for "leaving wisconsin", which you can find at my solo site. it will be the title track for a collection of demos i hope to finish this year. of course, that's what i said last year. . .
the collective is playing a show in oshkosh at the water city grill on january 26th, so everybody should come and listen there. hopefully we will be doing some interesting things there. or maybe it'll be embarassing. either way, come over and get a drink and listen to some sad music.
demos of all of our new songs are now available on the website. they may not be there for long, so if you'd like to hear the basic structure (mostly just acoustic guitar and vocals) of some new songs, head over to our dot com.
i'm doing a solo show on friday the 20th of january at the new moon. i'm going under the name "inkstained" and will hopefully be accompanied by emily and kara. also performing is stephanie ott/tuesday parker as "the daffodil mafia," krist krueger as "southerly," and andrew johnson as "holly & plastic." they all rock, so come and check out a very different take on acoustic music. maybe i'll just call it "post-folk." i don't think anyone uses that term yet.
post-steev
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