If you’re in the market for a van with air conditioning, cruise control and “interstellar overdrive,” then head over to Craigslist and search for a “Tricked‐out 2000 Dodge Ram ‘///PRIMETIME///’ Van” The Lights Out, a Boston band with a big, hooky, guitar-centric sound, has posted a series of Craigslist ads in major cities across the country featuring their trusty tour van, Tim, as an unconventional way of promoting their latest full-length, Primetime. Those who contact the band will be invited to listen to the title track and share their ideas for the ultimate band van. The Lights Out will produce YouTube videos featuring their responses. Primetime will be released at the stroke of midnight on 1/1/11, making it the first album released in the new year.
The van appears with pictures of the hallmarks of hitting the big time: hot tubs, mansion interiors, extravagant dancehalls and private plane interiors. “Special Features (Battle Scars)” include: “Band sticker on the rear window covering up a bullet hole from being run out of Cincinnati by a mob of angry boyfriends.” And “Albino replacement door is from Asbury Park, New Jersey, when we raced the other bands to decide who would headline that night. We were in the lead when we saw Springsteen on the street. He gave us a thumbs‐up and our driver lost control and drove into the tilt‐a‐whirl.”
“We’re a band that always goes for the unexpected, from our music, to our live show, down to how we market ourselves,” says lead guitarist, Adam Ritchie. “You’ve got to keep moving in order to stay fresh, and in a world where certain social media platforms have become routine and expected, we’re doing a 180 and pulling a stunt on the back roads. With a new set of rules comes fun new ways of breaking them.”
The Lights Out have enjoyed an incredible year and aren’t looking back. They’ve headlined a showcase at CMJ, signed a licensing deal with MTV, were featured in an Absolut vodka commercial, and opened up Gillette Stadium for the New England Patriots’ season. They’ll soon be hitting that road again to support Primetime, touring extensively.
The Lights Out describe their sound as, “the perfect soundtrack for a bank heist.” Their breakneck, anthemic pop-rock is full of catchy choruses and melodies you’d want to hear when you jump into your getaway car. Their live performances are equally exciting. “The Lights Out put on one hell of a show,” is how Performer Magazine succinctly describes the experience. The Lights Out don’t arrive at their turn-on-a-dime tightness and complex vocal harmonies by accident. The band is hard working, recording each of their live performances and critiquing them to perfect every note.
Rishava Green (Lead vocals, Guitar), Jesse James (Drums, Vocals), Matt King (Bass, Vocals) and Adam Ritchie (Lead guitar, Vocals) formed The Lights Out in 2005 without having played a note together. They have released three EPs and one LP previously.Click Here to Read More..
Originally, from Connecticut, the black hole for tours between New York City and Boston, Agent Bishop Booking Agency’s “Agent Bishop” moved to Boston in 2003 to attend Northeastern University and kick start his career in the music industry. While attending college, Agent Bishop bought himself a bass starter kit. Within 5 months, he knew he’d make more money selling the instrument than playing it, so he set his sights on booking instead. He explains, “I started booking national tours, then switched to [booking] locally, before settling on Boston alone.” Although they work with a number of venues in town, such as Harper’s Ferry and Great Scott, the Agent Bishop Booking Agency tends to book regularly at Café 939 and Church of Boston. Since he started his booking career, 75% of Agent Bishop’s concerts have either sold out or have had at least 200 people in attendance. This kind of track record has caused a number of publications to take notice, including The Weekly Dig, The Metro, Boston Band Crush, and Ryan’s Smashing Life, who have written up previews or reviews of Agent Bishop’s shows.
Agent Bishop managed to squeeze in a little time in between booking and promoting Boston’s finest bands, including This Blue Heaven, Sarah RabDAU, and Green Light Go’s own Neutral Uke Hotel and The Motion Sick, to tell us what it’s like to be on the other side:
Green Light Go: What is the day-to-day like as a booking agent?
Agent Bishop: I’ve taken a different approach to booking. I book one show a month, that’s it. I feel that bookers in the Boston area spread themselves too thin; they just grab bands and throw them together to [make a profit]. That may work at first, and the venues may love it, but how does that help the scene [evolve]?
I plan my shows months in advance. I pick bands that I would want to see together, bands that can help the club grow, bands I can learn from, and bands that will cause fans to say, “I can’t miss this show!” With a month to plan I can properly devote my time to promotion and marketing. What I’ve learned is that the more time I give press, the more likely I am to get coverage.
I send out my press releases and posters three weeks before a show and I’ll usually follow up via email (or personally) within a week or two of the shows. A personal touch has worked well for me. Whether a press contact gives the show coverage or not, they are on the list…that is my general rule.
GLG: Since Agent Bishop is based in Boston, is that your central market in terms of booking, or do you book national or international shows as well?
AB: I’ve had my taste of booking nationally and I’ve even managed tours while travelling internationally, but I’ve come to the conclusion that I should target a local scene. Boston is a growing market and I want Boston to be a target stop for agencies. I believe that it’s the market’s responsibility to build that confidence.
GLG: What are some of the most noteworthy artists you are currently working with or you've worked with in the past?
AB: Over the years I’ve worked with Jason Mraz, Head Automatica, O.A.R., My Chemical Romance, and TheFutureheads, in terms of promotion and marketing. In terms of booking, I’ve worked with nationally touring acts HUMANWINE, Inoia, (Green Light Go's) The Motion Sick and Do Not Forsake Me, Oh My Darling, and I even did a stint with The Warped Tour.
GLG: What is the best piece of advice you’d give a band that thinks they are ready to head out on the road for a tour?
AB: First, expect to lose money. Tours are money pits. Between renting a car and buying gas, food, and alcohol (we all know that’s part of the equation), a band has to expect to pay what they would for a vacation. A tour is just a vacation that requires you to work. With that in mind, don’t be afraid to ask friends, family, venues, or fans for a place to stay. If you want to save money, look for that third cousin, aunt, or college roommate you barely speak to anymore. Also, when negotiating shows, see if the venue is willing to put you up as part of the deal. Often times, booking agents are more than happy to offer you a place to crash. The same goes for fans.
A band also needs to map their route carefully, put in the work to promote their own shows, bring enough merch, and LOCK THE VAN! I can’t tell you how many of my colleagues have gone on tour and have had their gear stolen. Also, be aware of health coverage. Some bands have members with full-time jobs, but most don’t. If you’re injured on the road and don’t have coverage, that can be the end of the tour and the beginning of years of debt. There are websites designed to help musicians without health care, like Rock For Health, so read them.
Finally, document as much as you can. Every band expects to make it big, so packing up the van and hitting the road is the first step to realizing that dream. In the age where social media rules, fans want to experience life on the road along with the band (after all, they’re stuck behind a desk while you're out living the dream, right?). If a fan can relate to you, they’ll want to support you.
GLG: What is the best thing about booking shows? What challenges do you face as a booking agent?
AB: The best thing is seeing a show sell out, because that means I did my research and followed my instincts. When you believe in something strongly, the results will follow.
Even if a show hasn’t sold out, if I can look around the room and see people smile, or talk to someone afterward and hear them say, “That was an amazing show,” I go home happy. I also want to note that one of the reasons why I love booking all ages shows is because parents bring their kids. Kids have no inhibitions and they’re just as happy watching a show as they are running around in a circles dancing or pretending to be a ballerina. I could have 30 people at a show, and if I saw a group of kids loving the music they are listening to, I leave with a smile.
One of the challenges is finding the right mix of bands. I look for bands that people haven’t seen on stage together before, or bands that will make the fan look at the bill and say, “Wow, why hasn’t anyone put these guys together?!” The whole reason I started booking was because I thought clubs didn’t know who to put on a bill. It’s a delicate balance to find bands that fit together, but don’t sound exactly the same. When I can find that balance, everyone wins.
GLG: In addition to the bands you are working with, what current albums have you been listening to lately?
AB: I’ve been listening to Hey Marseilles’ To Travels and Trunks, Good Old War’s Only Way To Be Alone, Kingsley Flood’s Dust Windows, Aloud’s Exile, and Apollo Run’s Here Be Dragons. Volume 1.
The Other Side highlights the talented folks behind the scenes of the music we listen to. The Other Side features producers, engineers, booking agents, photographers, radio DJs, management teams, and label representatives.
This week’s The Other Side is brought to you by: Lauren Roberts
Golden Bloom's mega man Shawn Fogel had the chance to answer some questions for Canadian website FERNTV, "the only website on the planet that combines the beautiful world of entertainment with that of the environment." Wow, that's a pretty neat concept.
In anticipation of the Golden Bloom and Neutral Uke Hotel (a Mr. Michael Epstein of The Motion Sick will be in tow) showcases at Toronto's NXNE 2010festival on June 18 and 19, Fogel talked to FERNTV about Fan the Flames, its producers and the album's message. To which Fogel replied, "If you're not frustrated to the point of action by the injustices that take place in this world then you're just not paying attention. On the other hand, if you're really paying attention you can't help but be filled with optimism by amazing things we do for each other every day. That's what the album boils down to - being frustrated and optimistic at the same time." Sounds like something we can all relate to.
Read more of the interview here. It's almost summer in Toronto, which means it's time for NXNE. NXNE has always been a whirl of a week (or weekend) of running from show to show, trying, but usually failing to catch a cab, and stumbling into a showcase that when you end up finally leaving at 3 a.m. you are completely enamored with a new band. Plus it's Toronto; it's clean, safe, the people are nice, and well, I'm excited as heck to see Golden Bloom and Neutral Uke Hotel in my former hometown (ahem, of six months).
Friday, June 18
Golden Bloom Presents: Neutral Uke Hotel at NXNE The Painted Lady - 218 Ossington Ave, Toronto, Ontario, Canada, Show: 9:00 PM
Boy/Girl duos seem to be all the rage these days: She and Him, GLG's own Naked Hearts, and now Michael Epstein, lead singer for The Motion Sick, is joining this growing trend. And we like this trend...if that's what it is.
For this new venture Epstein puts down the guitar and takes up the bass alongside his own darling, singer/drummer Sophia Cacciola, for the duo Do Not Forsake Me Oh My Darling.
This is no ordinary album or band; its references to a cult British television series will mostly likely be lost on Americans, but it's still marvelous music, even if you don't exactly know what spies they're singing about. Epstein and Cacciola have found an innovative way to put the classic sci-fi drama The Prisoner (which was only on TV from 19670 - 1968) into a musical form on their debut EP, The New Number 2. Two words. Awe-some.
The Boston Globe recently interviewed Do Not Forsake Me Oh My Darling about their new EP, and their admiration for the bizarre TV show they have based this project around. Read the entire interview, with both members, on The Boston Globe's website. On the duo's site you can check out the hard-rocking track "Episode 1: The Arrival."
I mean really, how can you go wrong with songs about a British secret agent?
Click Here to Read More..
It’s nice to know that someone still likes to play a good old prank and crack a joke for April Fool’s Day. On Saturday, April 3, Shawn Fogel will take the stage at the Lizard Lounge as part of the April Fool’s version of The Cover-Up live music series. Hosted by Brendan Boogie and co-organized by Andrea Kremer, the Cover-Up is a live music series based in Boston, where stars of the Boston music scene pay tribute to favorites from the past.
Shawn Fogel, leader of Golden Bloom will dust off some of Weird Al’s “hair raising” greatest mock pop hits and play them in his own divine manner. No stranger to playing a power pop hit, Shawn Fogel played the SXSW Beatles on Ukulele party last week. The power-pop sensibility and bright energetic melodies earned Golden Bloom a 9 out of 10 from BLURT Magazine for Fan the Flames, released August 18th, 2009. Spin Magazine said of the first single off the upcoming full-length, “’Doomsday Devices’ feels like a great b-side from the [Wilco] Summer Teeth era.” Selecting an unorthodox approach, Fogel worked with producers Peter Katis (The National, Interpol, Mates of State), Roger Greenawalt (Ben Kweller), and Dylan Magierek (Mark Kozelek) on the latest album.
The full line-up includes:
Sidewalk Driver as Spinal Tap
Oranjuly as The Monkees
Golden Bloom's Shawn Fogel as "Weird Al" Yankovic
Nate Leavitt & Brendan Boogie as Tenacious D
In addition to the music, will be live comedy by Tim McIntire, Lamont Price, and Ken Reid.
Click Here to Read More..
Ryan's Smashing Life has it in for The Motion Sick and Golden Bloom proclaiming them "two amazing bands you should already know." Now we know Ryan is in the know, which is why we gave him a sneak peak, or listen if you will, of The Motion Sick vs Golden Bloom split release. Don't miss out, check out Golden Bloom covering The Motion Sick's "30 Lives" and The Motion Sick returning the favor on Golden Bloom's "Doomsday Devices."
In Boston? Get your tickets to the release show tonight at the Middle East before it sells out!
Click Here to Read More..
If you’re in the market for a van with air conditioning, cruise control and “interstellar overdrive,” then head over to Craigslist and search for a “Tricked‐out 2000 Dodge Ram ‘///PRIMETIME///’ Van” The Lights Out, a Boston band with a big, hooky, guitar-centric sound, has posted a series of Craigslist ads in major cities across the country featuring their trusty tour van, Tim, as an unconventional way of promoting their latest full-length, Primetime. Those who contact the band will be invited to listen to the title track and share their ideas for the ultimate band van. The Lights Out will produce YouTube videos featuring their responses. Primetime will be released at the stroke of midnight on 1/1/11, making it the first album released in the new year.
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