Aloud

live

Henry — Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

Last Night at the Death Disco

Zuul — Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

Just a quick thank you to all the folks who showed and stuck around for us at Death Disco last nite. NYC is always so kind and we were glad to make a one night stand. Thanks to DJ Mojo and BP Fallon and of course to our own Annie Burns.

March 30 marks the next NYC show at Pianos. We're playing with a stellar pack: Motion Picture, Kelly Buchannan, and Unisex Salon and should be on around 10pm. This'll be the last NYC gig till May when our new album, Leave Your Light On, comes out. Speaking of last gigs till May... Boston your last gig till May will happen next week!! March 2 at Paper hosted at Harper's Ferry. It'll be a gas.

Currently listening:
Whatever People Say I Am Thats What I Am Not
By Arctic Monkeys

Webmaster — Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

New merchandise is now available in the Aloud store! Visit the Merch & Misc section of the store to s

One Night Band Crush: Henry Beguiristain

Webmaster — Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

Henry

Hey NYC! Get a FREE CD or T-Shirt! Read here!

Jen — Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

Ok New Yorkers, here's the deal...

On 10-5 we'll be at the Continental scheduled to play at 8:15pm. If you are at this show you can recieve a coupon for a FREE CD or T-Shirt. How do you cash in this coupon for the goods you ask? Simple. Take your coupon to our 10-20 show at the Knitting Factory (the Old Office). Bring it to the merch table and pick up your free cd or t-shirt. Simple as that.

Also, if you're headed to the Across the Narrows show this Sunday, 10-2 (the Oasis one) you may see our great friend/promoter/booker Annie Burns handing out brand new sampler cds. You'll find two new tracks from the upcoming album and one from The Sooner It Comes.

See you in October.

Currently listening :
X&Y
By Coldplay
Release date: 07 June, 2005

Henry — Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

The apartment feels pretty empty. Ex Norwegian, and eventually Jamie, were crashing with us.

We met up with EN on Tuesday at Ralph's. They have an insane tour schedule. Drove from DC to Worcester in one shot, straight to the show. Saw a lot of familiar faces at Ralph's, and met some new people (didn't see Maryanne, a bummer, but Eric the bartender was super cool).

Going back to NYC tomorrow, playing at Crash.

Henry — Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

It's felt like a long week. Tuesday we played at Ralph's with Ex Norwegian, who were on tour and crashing with us for a few days. Long time since we'd played at Ralph's. I remember the day when we were there two, three, four times a month. Burgers are still good, and (of course) I had a black and tan. Met up with the kids from Pilgrims of Sound. I was surprised to learn that they'd been following us since seeing us at Fitchburg State College in 2005 and remembered our "uniform phase".

If you're musically inclined and would like to help out Aloud...

Jen — Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

Aloud is currently looking for a bass player. This would be in a fill-in capacity for shows right now, with the hope and possibility of joining full time eventually.

We’re hard working musicians with a sense of humor who live for Aloud. We've played countless shows and gone on tours through the South, East coast, and Midwest. We've released an EP and two full-length albums, the last of which (Fan The Fury) we are currently promoting through many more gigs this year.

If you would like an audition you should meet the following criteria:

Plenty experience playing bass and in bands
Own your own gear. (We drive around in a minivan, so size is something to think about. We have been able to fit a 4x10 cab and head in the van with room for everything else.)
Be comfortable on stage and with an energetic stage presence
Look the part
Be able to tour, travel and love all the missed showers, hours in the van, and lack of sleep that comes with it
Be at least 21 years old
Backing vocals aren’t necessary, but are a big, BIG!! plus

If you’re interested please send us:

Links to audio samples of your bass playing
Links to your MySpace or Facebook
Give us a rundown of your prior experience playing bass and anything related to your bass playing that is noteworthy
E-mail address and phone number

You can send all that to aloud@allthingsAloud.com.

Thanks!

Jen

Henry — Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

Paradise show tonight. Can barely contain my excitement. All showered and ready to go, so all that's left to do is run out the clock before we have to battle I-93 and show up to soundcheck on time. I've said it before, but the Paradise is a place we've been

Henry — Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

Show tomorrow at TT's for Sidewalk Driver's CD release tomorrow. Really excited about that. It's literally been years since we played with those guys.

Listening to:
Achtung Baby
by U2

Henry — Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

Things have been crazy at Aloud HQ as of late. Taking off for tour in less than two weeks, which (naturally) means everything needs to get done at the same time.

CMJ was much funner than I expected it to be. After the first day was under our belts, I was really glad to be in New York again for a stretch longer than a couple of hours. The last time we were there for an extended period was during the recording sessions for Fan The Fury. Much as I love the city, I don't think I'd ever be able to live there for longer than a month. The stress of trying not to get run over by taxis would surely do me in before the cabbies do.

The Glasslands show (aka The Showcase™) went well. John Carr was there to man the video stuff, and having already gone through this once before with Witness..., getting this to go off without a hitch was a breeze. Later on, we were informed of a Mexican restaurant on Bedford Ave (LA Superior?) that was astoundingly good. I can't speak for anyone else, but I hadn't eaten all day and that burrito hit the spot like nobody's business. On the topic of Mexican food, I found out through Jen that Anna's Taqueria and Boca Grande (two delicious establishments in their own right) are owned by feuding Japanese siblings—shattering the fervent stereotype that Japanese folks can't make a good taco.

We crashed in Brooklyn with our friend Miah, from The Ramblers.

There are a bunch of pictures over here on our Flickr page.

Final Fury: A prologue

Henry — Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

The tour kick off managed to kick our ass. If you count this as the beginning of this leg of the tour, this is a bad sign. If you count this as a test gig, it was very helpful. For the purposes of this blog: you should consider it the first show. (For the purposes of my sanity: I will consider it the test show.) Got it? Good.

I should note that Muy Cansado was muy bueno, and if you haven't checked them out yet you absolutely should.

Anyway, why did this show kick our ass?

Final Fury: The Capitol Edition

Henry — Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

Final Fury:

Henry — Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

"Interesting" is an interesting word

Henry — Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

Bit of a brouhaha this morning over an article in The Phoenix. Supposedly, it's about Township, but it seems (enter broad generalization) it's more a piece on how the scene sucks, even though—by the writer's own admission—there is no scene.

I've never met the man and he's probably nice in person, but I can't say I'm a fan of Brodeur's work.

Jen — Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

Henry's recording backing vocals. So close to finishing. We've decided on an additional overdub session for brass. Aside from that though we will easily be able to finish tracking in the next day. One whole day ahead of schedule by the way. Then we can get on to the business of mixing, mastering, artwork, etc. I'm very much looking forward to

Henry — Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

This week's target of scorn: Arizona's immigration law. Utterly disgraceful, stupid, short-sighted, and blatantly discriminatory. I can't see how anyone apart from ignoramuses who have no concept of what's actually going down could possibly be in favor of this thing. It's like resolving to quit smoking by burning down the corner store you buy your cigarettes from. Let's cut the bullshit: this is a law that gives a cop leeway to tell someone who has darker skin "Papers, please." Period. I get it, people are bent out of shape about illegal immigration. However, this whole taking-jobs-away-from-Americans schtick is a convenient bit of misdirection tailor-made for those already inclined to believe Latinos are subhuman cretins who steal jobs, social services, and money while huffing WD-40 in our backyards and laughing about it. Let's take the usual reasons by the numbers, kids. First off, if these folks are hiding from Immigration, why the hell would they put themselves out there for the public to see by using said social services? It makes absolutely no sense. Second: the jobs they're doing are jobs that any rational American would think twice (or thrice) about doing. I'm not talking about cutting lawns here. Just as one example (I'm not going to write a dissertation on the meat industry here, either) I would recommend reading up on a company like Tyson Foods, Inc. (formerly IBP, Inc.—the folks that pack your meat, by the way). As late as 2006 they've been charged with smuggling undocumented workers, literally bussing them to their plants to work in the shittiest conditions. These weren't isolated incidents, either; this was practically in their fucking business plan. This brings me to my third point: by far, the biggest step we can take to fix this problem is by legitimizing these undocumented folks somehow. That doesn't necessarily mean citizenship, mind you, but if they're allowed to work in the open the effects can only be positive. Fair wages and benefits would place them on an even field with citizens and legal residents, which means (this is for the keep 'em out crowd) businesses would have no incentive to hire cheap undocumented labor over American labor. This is without getting into the conditions they're forced to work it right now. I highly encourage reading this excerpt from Fast Food Nation. There's a lot in there, but do a search in your browser for Kenny Dobbins; then bear in mind that this is a US citizen being put through this. And let's not forget that, folks. It's these businesses that are hiring undocumented workers, business that the right-wing seems intent on shielding from their consequences. The vast majority of the people sneaking in here aren't criminals. Like everyone else, like your great grandparents, they're looking for a better life. They're not the bad guys here, they're human beings. Let's hope the Grand Canyon state learns its lesson sooner rather than later. Otherwise, Arizona, I see a lot of this in your future: Be well, Henry

Music » Exile

Webmaster — Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

CD: $9.99 Digital: $9.99

OTHER ALBUMS • Live 2009 (2009) • Fan The Fury (2008) • Leave Your Light On (2006) • The Sooner It Comes (2004)

Exile

Release date: September 23, 2010 Label: Lemon Merchant Records (DTTR003) Format: CD, Digital

[xspf]_start(FALSE, 'order=1');[/xspf]	1.	Burning Bright	Lyrics	Buy this song
[xspf]_start(FALSE, 'order=2');[/xspf]	2.	Broken Hearts	Lyrics	Buy this song
[xspf]_start(FALSE, 'order=3');[/xspf]	3.	Darkest Days	Lyrics	Buy this song
[xspf]_start(false, 'order=4');[/xspf]	4.	Exile in the Night	Lyrics	Buy this song
[xspf]_start(false, 'order=5');[/xspf]	5.	Old Soldier	Lyrics	Buy this song
[xspf]_start(false, 'order=6');[/xspf]	6.	Counterfeit Star	Lyrics	Buy this song
[xspf]_start(false, 'order=7');[/xspf]	7.	A Light that Shines	Lyrics	Buy this song
[xspf]_start(false, 'order=8');[/xspf]	8.	The Urgent Letter	Lyrics	Buy this song
[xspf]_start(false, 'order=9');[/xspf]	9.	A Line of Lights	Lyrics	Buy this song
[xspf]_start(false, 'order=10');[/xspf]	10.	To Die at Sea	Lyrics	Buy this song

Songs written by: Jen de la Osa/Henry Beguiristain

Personnel

Henry Beguiristain: lead vocals, guitars, bass, mandolin, pianos, keys, percussion, additional production Jen de la Osa: lead vocals, guitars, pianos, organ, keys, percussion, glockenspiel, additional production Produced and mixed by: Daniel Nicholas Daskivich Recorded at: Church Street, April 2009–July 2010 in Somerville, MA Mastering: Jeff Lipton (Peerless Mastering) Assistant engineer: Maria Rice (Peerless Mastering) Additional production: Glenn Forsythe Additional musicians: Daniel Nicholas Daskivich (drums, percussion, bass on "Exile in the Night"), Veronica Dicker (violin), Matthew Girard (trumpet, euphonium, bass on "Old Soldier"), Beth Holub (violin, viola), Charles Haywood Murphy IV (bass on "Counterfeit Star"), Josh Penslar (cello), Jonathan Schmidt (drums on "Exile in the Night"), Matt Szemela (violins)

I shouldn't have to be up this early

Henry — Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

I never thought this day would come, but yesterday afternoon we finished mixing Exile. It's been such a long process, and while I mostly had a good time working on it, I'm glad it's over. I'm downloading the mixes right now and we'll be sending those along to Jeff over at Peerless to get the damn thing mastered this week. Apart from being the wizard responsible for making Fan The Fury sound like unicorns making love to rainbows—or a double rainbow—he's also responsible for sending me a kickass coffee mug for Christmas a year or two ago. But yes, record donezo. We gave the whole thing a listen in the car and are quite pleased with it. Exile is going to be a very special album, methinks. If you want in on this specialness, by the way, please consider backing us on Kickstarter. If you think this is shameless, then please read this blog post by Amanda Palmer who has similar thoughts on the subject. If you've already pledged and have been spreading the word to your friends, thank you thank you thank you. Seriously, I mean it.

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Henry — Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

Webmaster — Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

The cat's out of the bag: Aloud will be releasing their second album, Fan The Fury, this Spring with a tour to follow.

Tour dates are already piling up, so be sure to keep checking the tour page for updates!

Catalog now on DRM-Free iTunes Plus

Webmaster — Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

Aloud's music is now available on iTunes at high quality!

The new mp3s will still cost 99¢ per track, or 9.99 for the whole album (or $5.94 for The Sooner It Comes EP). Since the music is also free of the previously mandatory Digital Rights Management software, you can play the tracks on any mp3 player unrestricted. The songs are also encoded at a higher bit-rate (256kbps), which means better sound quality to you.

Already bought these albums? iTunes will let you upgrade to the iTunes Plus version for 30¢ per song. Click click on the following link to upgrade the tracks, as well as any other songs in your library by other artists:

Fan The Fury tour continues

Webmaster — Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

Aloud's tour in support of their new album Fan The Fury continues next month into the Midwest.

As of today, the band will be performing on the following dates in these cities:

9/19 - Saratoga Springs, NY
9/20 - Buffalo, NY
9/21 - Cleveland, OH
9/22 - Detroit, MI
9/25 - Chicago, IL
9/26 - Dubuque, IA
9/30 - Philadelphia, PA
10/1 - Ewing, NJ

For full details, visit the Performances page. Dates for this leg of the tour are still being added, so check back regularly to see if Aloud will be stopping in your town.

Henry — Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

Well, look at that! I can log onto MySpace now! God, I hate this freaking site so

In the spirit of Halloween II

Henry — Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

Friends, I may have said this before, but Halloween is a holiday that holds very little of my interest. It could be that at I'm growing increasingly mature (unlikely). It could be a defense mechanism against my innermost desire to dress up as Batman and hurl poorly-constructed cardboard Batarangs at unsuspecting children. It could be that in middle school the girl I had an enormous crush on dressed up as a pumpkin, therefore rendering her less attractive.

Who knows.

Thing is, I'm willing to put all that aside to talk about something scary:

People who make godawful music mating with other people who make godawful music.

To start, there's the unholy union of Gavin Rossdale and Gwen Stefani. In fact, I think they have two kids now.

Pete Wentz (Fall Out Boy) + Ashlee Simpson. I mean, if you thought Gwen and Gavin were bad, this sets the bar to a new low.

Remember kids, there were four Horsemen of the Apocalypse; three down, one to go. The End of All Music is Nigh.

The best we can do right now is identify trouble spots and do our best to prevent #4 from rearing his or her untalented little head.

And the Oscar goes to...

Henry — Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

Wow, thank you guys so much for making Tuesday night so special. I know it can be a lot to ask someone to come out on a Tuesday night and drop $12 to come see a show, so we really appreciate everyone that came by. Thank you thank you thank you. This is something we've been wanting to do for years, and we can now say we finally did it before Axl Rose released Chinese Democracy.

I Just Want To Witness... took several months of planning with the involvement of some very talented people and a few douchebags (aaaaah, I'm so kidding!).

Anyway, I'd like to take a moment to gush and acknowledge them:

Tim Hare for helping us out in a tight spot and spending his Sundays in a cramped room rehearsing the show with us, as well as his free time learning all the songs and then some. It was not lost on us that he was also juggling hats as a musical director for a play— Among The Stars— and writing and performing with another band— Young Astronomy. Plus, he was a good sport about many things that may have driven lesser men to madness. MADNESS.

Chris March for taking on a lot of the technical aspects of the show, specifically the many iterations of the helmet cam (that's right, people who didn't come to the show.. there was a helmet cam), putting in a lot of work with the Nero video, and the general use of his home.

At 939: Lauren Caso for doing an amazing job with the sound and helping us out with the specs for the last few months, as well as being awesome. Jackie Indrisano for being incredibly nice to us and taking a chance on us with booking the show. The stage crew— Alex, Killian, and Charlie (lighting)— for being so accommodating and knowledgeable (and for being good sports too... although I hear Tim's still waiting for someone to pick up his drycleaning and iron his shirt). Ashley Alexander- thank you for helping us out with promotion.

Hugh Wyman for patiently complying with our incessant requests for audio fixin's with minimal fuss and bloodshed. I just wish his laptop wasn't powered by baby hamsters, but who am I to judge..? (p.s.: NEGATIVE KUDOS).

Annie Burns, who's been incredible throughout the entire process and who was also a big catalyst and motivator for Witness. Without her, getting around obstacles (or simply plowing through them) would be that much more difficult. I don't have the words to fully express how appreciative we are of Annie, so I'll just say "Annie Burns gets shit done". (We promise we'll get around to watching Stop Making Sense as soon as we can find it somewhere.)

The filmmakers deserve many thanks (obviously), as they were an integral part of the production and worked hard on these films:

Erin Bowser, who did an amazing job with the video for Sometimes I Feel Like A Vampire. Erin was one of the first to become involved and gave us an awesome start to the show. www.erinbowser.com

Kristin Osiecki, who did most of the animation for The Last Time. We didn't get to talk to her directly, but her deceptively simple animation for The Last Time captured the spirit of the song and made my heart want to burst by the end of it.

Mike Pecci for writing and directing the haunting interludes (Capture Device, pts. 1-3). Though we'd spoken earlier, Mike was out of the country when we started the project and as such fully jumped on board later than everyone else. And yet, after one meeting he came back the next day with an incredibly excellent concept and a plan to execute the shoot as well. Kelly Scanlan, the star of the piece, was brillant. Big thanks also goes to the people behind the scenes: Beth Anderson (set dressing & props), Nicole Fisher (make-up), Tony Fernandez (assistant), Benjamin Oliver (the assistant editor), and Shannon Hatch (PA). www.mikepecci.com

Timothy Scholl for bringing When The Ants Attack The Queen to life. Again, animators get my big respect, and animating 100s of crazy ants was probably not the easiest thing. www.timothyscholl.com

Last, and far from least, our thanks goes to the man of the hour: Johnathan Carr.

If you missed the show, then fear not. The lot of us are going to get together soon and go over the show and tighten a few screws with the hopes of taking this out on the road next year.

Anyway, thank you guys again. You're the best. I love this town.

"Live and let live is, at best, a load of crap."

Henry — Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

What's a Super Bowl?

Henry — Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

Been taking it easy today. We got back pretty late last night from the Great Barrington gig. We were told to expect maybe four people to show up, but there were about 30-40 there and we got a bunch of them dancing. One of the kids was doing a crapload of yo-yo tricks in time to the music. He was doing some pretty insane stuff. He's supposed to be on YouTube somewhere, I'll post a video as soon as I find it. Anyway, they were all fantastic at the school and we spent a lot of time afterwards chatting with everyone.

It was our first out of town gig in months and it felt great just being on the road. We had a really good time playing with Jon and Ryan, too. Ryan enlightened us to the wonders of Stephen Lynch (D&D was particularly side-splitting).

Slept in today and spent most of the day watching TV while doing a few tour-related things (getting posters ready to mail out to venues). Our friend Dave came over, and started watching Michael Palin's Around The World in 80 Days. Now all I want to do is hope on a train in Europe.

Henry

Currently watching:
Michael Palin: Around The World in 80 Days

The cream cannot help but always rise up to the top. Well I say "shit floats".

Henry — Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

...And yet another obituary

Henry — Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

Town's buzzing with now-confirmed news that CBS Radio is getting rid of WBCN after 40+ years on the air. As if we needed more evidence CBS Radio, led by their Clown-In-Chief Mr. Leslie Moonves, are little more than soulless bureaucrats... As if Boston needed another fucking sports station.. As if the world needed another fucking flaccid "Hot Adult Contemporary" station that features Nickelback on their homepage. It's a known fact that Nickelback sucks, and if you like Nickelback then your musical tastes probably suck too.

And yes, there have been moments where I tune to 'BCN and groaned at the sounds of Red Hot Chili Peppers or Sublime or even Pearl Jam (you too, FNX!), but that's not the point. Like FNX, and WAAF, WBCN was part of a community— hell, this news broke on WFNX and its affiliate The Phoenix. The folks that work at these stations actually give a damn about the city they serve. Anyone who was at the Rumble this year could see that.

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Webmaster — Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

Hurricane Katrina (please read)

Henry — Thu, 01 Sep 2005 13:00:00 +0000

Yea, so aside from prodding people to come to shows and all that, I hate asking things from people on these bloggy bulletin things. But I feel this is really important to take a look at.

A lot of people in the Gulf Coast are in a really, really bad shape right now with this whole Hurricane business. People won't be able to return to their homes for at least one or two months, if there's anything to return to. That's to say nothing of the people who have lost their lives, which could be anywhere from the hundreds to the thousands.

Being from Florida, all this really hits home for me. I went through Hurricane Andrew in 1992. Me and my family were extremely fortunate that all we had to endure was minimal damage to the house, mangled palm trees, a broken car window, and 3-4 weeks without any electricity. Although I was one of the lucky ones, I knew kids who literally lost the roof over their heads, and nearly their lives. I knew others whose entire community was completely wiped out of existence.

But this isn't a pity party, and this certainly isn't about me. Natural disasters happen, and there's nothing we can do about them. What we can do is help out with the relief effort. Donate to the Red Cross or the Salvation Army. Most of you, like myself, are hurting for money (who isn't these days, eh?), so all I ask is to do what you can. Donations are as low as $5.00 on the Red Cross website. If you can't give, please encourage others to do so.

The Red Cross has guidelines regarding donating non-cash items, which you may want to read here.

I've also been told that at most supermarkets you can ask the cashier about donating at the checkout counter.

Thanks for your time.

American Red Cross

Donate Online or call

1-800-HELP-NOW

(800-435-7669)

To Donate by mail, send checks, "Hurricane Katrina Relief" to:

American Red Cross

P.O. Box 37243

Washington, D.C., 20013

HURRICANE KATRINA: Benefit, and other info

Henry — Sun, 11 Sep 2005 00:48:00 +0000

SEPT. 15, 9PM - $5 - 21
HURRICANE KATRINA BENEFIT
RALPH'S DINER
148 Grove Street, Worcester, MA
w/ Average White Boys, The Cyanide Valentine

We're playing next Thursday (9/15) at Ralph's in Worcester. It's the first in a series of shows Ralph's has put together for the hurricane relief. All the door money collected will be donated to the United Way's Hurricane Katrina Response Fund (more info on donating below). According to the United Way, the money they collect will be used for both short-term and long-term needs, which will be determined by United Way agencies in the affected areas.

We'll be playing with Average White Boys (formerly the Goonsquad... we've played with them before and they're a gas!), and The Cyanide Valentine (we've played with them before too. They're awesome, and Wendy plays viola on a track off our new record). One more band is still TBA.

We're encouraging everyone to come out to the show, (as well as other shows at Ralph's), but even if you can't, please donate to the Hurricane Relief, whether it's the United Way, The Red Cross, anyone. Any worthwhile charity will do. Believe me, I know it sounds like a tired old song at this point, but the help that's needed there greatly exceeds our short attention spans (mine included). Do what you can, and encourage others to do the same. Every little bit helps.

Cheers,
Henry

United Way Hurricane Katrina Response Fund

Donate Online or call

1-800-272-4630

To Donate by mail, make checks out to "United Way", with "Hurricane Katrina Fund" in the memo.

Mail to:

United Way of America

P.O. Box 630568

Baltimore, MD 21263-0568

Currently listening :
The Association's Greatest Hits
By The Association
Release date: 25 October, 1990

HURRICANE KATRINA: Benefit, and other info

Henry — Sun, 11 Sep 2005 00:48:00 +0000

United Way Hurricane Katrina Response Fund

Donate Online or call

1-800-272-4630

To Donate by mail, make checks out to "United Way", with "Hurricane Katrina Fund" in the memo.

Mail to:

United Way of America

P.O. Box 630568

Baltimore, MD 21263-0568

Currently listening :
The Association's Greatest Hits
By The Association
Release date: 25 October, 1990

And the new Aloud album will be called...

Jen — Thu, 29 Sep 2005 13:36:00 +0000

Just kidding. I'm so cruel.

It's been a long time. A long time spent preparing, recording, and finally mixing. The record will be done by the end of next week. This is high cause for celebration. We've been hoping to have this done for ages. I'm pretty damn proud of it myself. I can't wait for everyone to hear it. Hell I can't wait to be able to hear it as it's supposed to be.

Thanks to everyone who's been patient and to all those who won't discover it till it comes out. We're pushing up the release date (does this surprise anyone? isn't it always the case?). We're pushing it up to get everyone more excited and pull it off just right. We also need time to shop it around to bunch of different labels to find the right home for it. Then we can get it into all of your stereos, cars, and hearts hopefully. In the meantime we hope you're enjoying the album songs in the set.

If you aren't on the mailing you should sign up so you can hear clips from four songs off the album. Once you sign up we'll mail you the password to get into our MEMBERS area. That's about all for now. We've got some great shows coming. Come out coz that's where music breathes.

Jen

Currently listening :
Let It Bleed
By Rolling Stones
Release date: 27 August, 2002

And the new Aloud album will be called...

Jen — Thu, 29 Sep 2005 13:36:00 +0000

Currently listening :
Let It Bleed
By Rolling Stones
Release date: 27 August, 2002

Up late and working

Jen — Sat, 08 Oct 2005 01:40:00 +0000

So much sleep lost this week. I slept for about 15 hours today. It was quite an exciting week that included us meeting Bono and handing him our new album. Yeah, just one more thing the man has that most people don't. Thanks to everyone who came out to New York last Wed. We had such a good time. Looking forward to Saturday's show at T.T.'s with Mando Diao. The Swedes are pretty good and we get to play with good pals the Luxury.

It's hot in this apartment. We're doing a bit of work on the website tonite. We've got some new photos coming round that will make their way on. Been working on a couple new tunes tonite and listening to some even better ones. Album will be completed this Monday and then you'll get to hear it as soon as someone wants to put it out for us. We're all very pleased with it and we hope you will be too. It's just a very good collection of songs.

That's enough messing about.

Jen

Currently listening: Pet Sounds
By: Beach Boys
Release date: 16 July, 1966

Up late and working

Jen — Sat, 08 Oct 2005 01:40:00 +0000

Currently listening: Pet Sounds
By: Beach Boys
Release date: 16 July, 1966

A Week Off; New Song Tonite! (10-23)

Jen — Sun, 23 Oct 2005 11:57:00 +0000

Wow, a whole week without shows. What ever is this band going to do with themselves? Sleep might be on the menu. Yes, perhaps sleep. We've been working very hard on getting this album and everything concerning it prepped for record labels to swallow up. Hopefully sooner than later you'll be able to buy a copy of all those songs you've been hearing live. Needless to say Henry and I have been casually working on newer stuff. Hey, you can't stop you know? Only snippets of course. The focus is still this record you fine folks haven't heard yet.

Perhaps some of you have heard All I Can Do. It's been circulating on some samplers in New York City and on the radio in Boston. Well tonite you'll be able to tune in once again for the preview of a new track. The song, Beaches, will premiere tonight on WFNX's New England Product hosted my good friend DJ Dave Duncun. Not in Boston, NH or Maine? No problem. The show is broadcast on the web for your mass consumption.
Here are le' details:

WFNX is broadcast on 101.7 FM in the Boston area and 92.1 FM in New Hampshire and Southern Maine. It's alsoavailable via online streaming at this address:
www.streamaudio.com/listen?station=WFNX_FM.

Tune in tonight between 9pm and 10pm.

That's all I got for now!

Jen

p.s. We've run into some very cool people we admire that have copies of the record...Bono and Ric Ocasek to name two. Yeah, we're still big fans of rock n roll no matter what we do as a band. Meeting Bono certainly tops the list of "Things I Want To Do Before I Die".

Currently listening :
Chaos and Creation in the Backyard
By Paul McCartney
Release date: 13 September, 2005

A Week Off; New Song Tonite! (10-23)

Jen — Sun, 23 Oct 2005 11:57:00 +0000

Currently listening :
Chaos and Creation in the Backyard
By Paul McCartney
Release date: 13 September, 2005

Still don't have an IPOD, but

Henry — Wed, 26 Oct 2005 13:15:00 +0000

if you do, you can buy the Sooner it Comes on ITUNES and MSN Music. You can buy a couple tunes or the whole disc for $5.96. It was pretty funny actually seeing it up there. I've also never seen anything relating to downloading ITUNES till then. Bear with me, I just now got a cell phone. We're getting there, we're getting there. :)
In the meantime you can get there. So go... now... what are you waiting for?

ITUNES
MSNMusic

Currently listening :
Hot Fuss
By The Killers
Release date: 15 June, 2004

Still don't have an IPOD, but

Henry — Wed, 26 Oct 2005 13:15:00 +0000

Currently listening :
Hot Fuss
By The Killers
Release date: 15 June, 2004

Saintly Visions and the 169 Connection

Jen — Mon, 31 Oct 2005 13:46:00 +0000

The weather is fine today. I hope it's nice in your neck of the woods. It is rather strange for Halloween though. Maybe not strange, but inappropriate.

We're all rather excited to be heading back out on the road after almost 2 weeks off! Wow, that seems to be a long stretch. This time we're off Friday to Asbury Park, NJ to visit the fine folks at the Saint.

We go on around 10pm and there's no cover!! Always a nice thing. All you need to do is message us or shoot an email to aloud@allthingsaloud.com to be put on the list.

Saturday we'll be going to New York City. We'll probably do some promoting and hunting for clothes during the day. Our soul brothers, Radio America, are playing with us that nite at 169 Bar in Chinatown.

We're on at 9pm with the Radio Americans on after at 10pm. This should be a firey spectacle. It'll be good to play with them again. Just wait till you hear their album.

So yes it'll be a fun weekend. Another midnite dash out of NYC will happen on Saturday as some of us have to work, so we must get back to Boston. We'll miss you, but we can't miss you if you're not there. Come on out and have a drink with us.

Also more cool shows at T.T. The Bear's, Ralph's, and a date for Crash Mansion have been added for Nov. We'll have that Crash Mansion date up soon, so keep checking back!

Also keep checking the website as there's some new things been added.

See you all soon

Jen

Saintly Visions and the 169 Connection

Jen — Mon, 31 Oct 2005 13:46:00 +0000

Many Thanks For A Lovely Time

Jen — Sun, 06 Nov 2005 18:26:00 +0000

Thanks to everyone who came to see us this past weekend in NJ/NY. We had such a great time and such a long drive! Thanks to Annie, Ana, Mike B., Sam, Brian Saint, Radio America (who were the best we've seen them), Neutral Ground, The Saint, and 169 Bar.

Missing us already? Don't worry about it. We've got a great show coming up on Nov. 18 @ Crash Mansion in NYC. I believe we're playing during the open bar from 9-10. What more could you ask for? Oh yeah... it's also FREE when you RSVP! It's also a launch party for Underated Magazine with many other killer bands... here are the details...

11/18 : NEW YORK, NY : Crash Mansion /
199 Bowery at Spring St. /
Underrated Magazine Issue Release Party!
21 / $5* / 9:00pm /
Subway: F to 2nd Av / 6 to Spring St / J, M to Delancey
Open bar from 9 to 10pm! *Free before 11pm w/ RSVP

We'll be staying the weekend, so we'll have ALL NITE to drink and chat!

Many Thanks!

Jen

Currently listening :
Best of Bee Gees
By The Bee Gees
Release date: 03 August, 2004

Many Thanks For A Lovely Time

Jen — Sun, 06 Nov 2005 18:26:00 +0000

Currently listening :
Best of Bee Gees
By The Bee Gees
Release date: 03 August, 2004

NYC, Radio America, and Kramer

Henry — Tue, 08 Nov 2005 14:15:00 +0000

Our trip this weekend was a blast. I think it's the first time in awhile where we were able to walk around New York instead of showing up, playing, and taking off immediately.

We were in Jersey the night before.. Asbury Park to be exact. Our friend from Republic, Brian, stopped by and we hung out for a bit. It was a much better show from the last time we were there (we were still in the studio at the time and were figuring out how the hell to play the new songs). A highlight of the evening was some dude who was likely high off crack tried to sell us some coke. We passed, naturally, and he went along his merry way. He tried to sell some to the Hot Dog guy parked outside, and was yelled at. A depressing anecdote, but noteworthy nonetheless. The four of us trekked to IHOP afterwards and made complete asses of ourselves at 3am. The waitress didn't seem to mind, and kept trying to sell us Pumpkin Pancakes.

The next day, we met up with Annie (our pal and booker in NYC) and walked around the city for a couple of hours. We ate at some diner (Cozy's??)... I can't really remember. Food was pretty good. The fries were outstanding.

By the time the night starts, the lineup is shifted at least twice (finally settling on Aloud/Radio America/Neutral Ground), which is cool. The other two bands scheduled to play did not show up, and the $50 deposit rule (which we did not pay) starts to make a little more sense. Apparently, Kramer-- the Kramer-- was there for a good portion of our set. I didn't get to meet him, but apparently he was there with a few friends grabbing a beer.

Radio America was a blast, as always. I really miss having those guys a lot closer by (for those not in the know, they recently moved to NYC). It wasn't anything close to the anitcs of the Indie Rock n' Roll Circus in March, but all seven of us wound up "on stage" (there was no stage) for the finale. The new songs sound really good, and they played an amazing cover version of T. Rex's Children of the Revolution. Hopefully another Aloud/Radio America gig will happen sooner rather than later.

Yep.. that's all that's going on. We've got Ralph's this Friday with the Bon Savants and our new neighbors The Ferns, and next Thursday we're headlining at T.T.'s.

Rock,
Henry

The morning-after report!

Henry — Sat, 12 Nov 2005 14:16:00 +0000

Amidst the slight chaos that started the evening off, everyone still managed to pull together to make an awesome night out of it.

Let me say for the upteenth time that The Ferns are friggin' awesome. Some of the outright best times I've ever had at a show have been with either these guys, Radio America, or the both of them. They're refining the direction the music is headed in, and it's really cool. I was having a conversation with Ryan (the singer) afterwards, and we're both just really excited about the place that these things are going. Things were running late, so we had to help them scurry and move their stuff offstage. I was worried their set would be cut because of the late start, but it wasn't. I was rocked for 45 whole minutes.

Afterwards, the Bon Savants hit the stage. It was the first time they've played Ralph's and the first time I've seen them on a proper stage (we played with them at Dodge St. Bar last month). Actually, that's untrue. Jen tells me we saw them at the Middle East Upstairs like two years ago, but I have only a vague recollection of said occurrence.. meh. The point is, they're really good as well. They've got a really, really great sound. It's got a kind of spacey quality without being pretentious. I think they're working on a record. Can't wait for that to come out. They've got a cool music video on their website you should check out: www.bonsavants.com.

Rebecca Nurse is a band I wasn't expecting to play with and was pleasantly surprised when the news was sprung on us. We hadn't seen these cats in ages. We've played with them a handful of times in the past and wish we could do it some more. It's the first time I've seen them with their new bass player. Last time we played with them was in Providence at the Green Room. They were headlining and they put on an amazing show. They covered a Zep song at the end of that one (forget which one), and I totally felt like I was in some kind of 70's coke party (minus the coke, of course) with Jimmy Page wailing over the loudspeakers. Which reminds me, Shawn is a hell of a guitar player.

Because of the delay at the beginning of the night, we wound up going on close to 1am. To my surprise, a good amount of people stuck around to hear us. We were trying out some new stuff with the set, messing around with the order of songs and whatnot. We've thrown Hey Now back into the set (you people happy now?? haha), and it was fun to play that again. We've been toying with throwing more of the songs off the EP back into the set as well and mess around with the arrangements some. Over the course of 100s of shows, you get tired of playing some of these songs and ultimately drop them from the set. However, it's easy to forget that everyone else really enjoys hearing these songs.

So, to everyone who was singing along: Thank You!

For those not familiar with guitarspeak, this is a bridge.

One hilarious moment I've gotta mention... So, we've started playing Slipped In Your Dream again. The problem with that song is that Jen's gotta use a capo on her guitar and retune a few things... all boring guitar stuff you shouldn't care about. So to compensate for that, Roy, Ross, and myself play some pretty little intro thing. It goes on for a little too long, and I walk over to Jen to see what the problem is. Turns out, she was hitting her guitar so hard on the song before (I think it was Don't Trust the Radio) that one of her strings completely came right off the bridge of the guitar. She fixed it quickly, but it detuned the entire thing and it sound like ass when she hit the chord.

Moment ruined.

We all stopped and "had a laugh at her expense" (or so the song goes). Good thing we weren't playing Madison Square, right? But screwed up bridge aside, Jen fixed the problem and everything else moved along very smoothly. Ryan from the Ferns even came onstage and joined us for the end of All I Can Do.

All in all, a spectacularly fun night.

Anyway, this has been long-winded enough. I hope you all have a great day and enjoy the rest of the weekend!

Cheers,
Henry

My head it hurts

Jen — Fri, 18 Nov 2005 13:06:00 +0000

A big thank you to everyone who made it to T.T's last nite. It was a fun nite and I was very please to see some faces I hadn't in a while. A special shout out to the drunkies on the right for dancing and cheering. Thanks John for the lights and gear handling. I think my favorite moment was hearing Ross sing the end bit on All I Can Do... nope I take that back. HA!

So we're off to do it all over again tonite in NYC. Come to Crash Mansion tonite at 9PM sharp and enjoy us and the open bar.

Smiles and kisses,
Jen

Currently listening :
Blonde on Blonde
By Bob Dylan
Release date: 01 June, 2004

My head it hurts

Jen — Fri, 18 Nov 2005 13:06:00 +0000

Currently listening :
Blonde on Blonde
By Bob Dylan
Release date: 01 June, 2004

One party gone and another on it's way!

Jen — Sun, 20 Nov 2005 19:40:00 +0000

Crash Mansion was a fabulous nite! How lovely a time we had. We landed on loads of traffic and got a crazy speeding ticket in CT, but finally made it a little before our soundcheck. Unfortunately, playing through the open bar means you don't have much time to take advantage, but there were many free drinks to come through the nite. Thanks to Tracy, Jeremy, and Jordan. Check them out here: http://www.myspace.com/newyorkunderbelly.

Saw many of our friends in NYC band friends from The GoStation, Radio America, Motion Picture, and Kelly Buchanan to name a few. We drank well and got back to Boston at 6:30AM the next day.

So on to the next party...

The next time you folks get to party, drink, and be rocked is at The Pill right here in Boston (or Allston to be specific). The best part is it's within stumbling distance of our places of residence. It's going to be another set full of surprises and our last show in town for the year. Celebrate all this madness with us on December 16.

Ok that's enough for now. Loads of Family Guy, American Dad, and Simpsons to fill the nite to be ended with a rousing listen to New England Product. You should listen too! DJ Dave Duncan is a music aficionado and swell guy to drink with.

Jen

Currently listening :
B.R.M.C.
By Black Rebel Motorcycle Club
Release date: 03 April, 2001

One party gone and another on it's way!

Jen — Sun, 20 Nov 2005 19:40:00 +0000

Currently listening :
B.R.M.C.
By Black Rebel Motorcycle Club
Release date: 03 April, 2001

Mellow Yellow

Jen — Sat, 03 Dec 2005 14:43:00 +0000

Taking it easy this weekend. Well, easier... I'm sitting here (watching the wheels go round and round) getting some cds ready to be sent out. The press awaits 5 tracks from the cd. I know you may be wondering when you're going to get a copy. I'm wondering that myself. What can you do? Well keep supporting us. Let Boston know you want this thing to get put out. Word will get around and make it easier for us when we're trying to get ahold of these record company guys... So here's what you can do....

1) Request "Beaches" or "All I Can Do" at these fine stations:
FNX (101.7FM in Boston or 92.1 FM in NH & So. Maine)
781-595-9369
WBCN (104.3FM) 617-931-1041
WAAF (107.3FM) 617-931-1223
on Sunday nights starting at 10pm. Out of the region? Listen here.

2) Listen to us on FNX's New England Product on Dec. 11 @ 10pm. Call in and harass us.

3) Be sure to tune in to watch us on FOX 25's Morning News show on Dec 16th. We'll be interviewed and play a song. This will happen at 8am. If you can't get to a TV set your VCR. Ratings up while we play is a good thing.

4) Keep coming to the shows and hooting and yelling how you have been. In fact this time around bring some more friends. You'll get another chance on Dec. 16. Come to the best party in town that night at the Pill (Great Scott). We've got some cool things planned for the set. It'll be a knockout. Come out and dance.

So that's where we're at now. Trying to get this record out. Wanna hear some of it? Sign up on our mailing list here and you'll recieve a password to the members area where you can hear to tracks, "All I Can Do" and "Can You Hear Me Now?", in their entirety. You'll also get to hear 30 second clips of "Slipped In Your Dream" and "Godspeed" plus a whole mess of other exclusives that you'll keep receiving monthly.
Ok this is getting to be too long. Thanks for everything folks. You really all are the grooviest.

Kisses,
Jen

Things to read while trapped in the snow.

Zuul — Sun, 04 Dec 2005 09:20:00 +0000

So many things to blog about on this beautiful predictable snowy day/morning in New England. We have been practicing new songs and they're coming along pretty well. If I didn't know any better I’d say that they rock. It’s not like I play in the band or anything..........right? Anyway, you're cold and I’m cold so I’ll cut to the skinny. We've most recently acquired a new friend, or just a friend helping us out (After a little persuading with a little talk about new cement footwear) with promo and merchandise cause we know you love the t-shits (sorry guys, I had to) and key chain CD openers......yeah, a CD opener on a key chain. This item is for all you music lovers to get back at those stupid spine labels and whatnot. We’re not taking their shit ant more! Sorry, I got a little carried away there but back to bidness'.
On Dec.11, we’ll be on WFNX New England Product with Dave Duncan at 10pm. This guy puts on a great radio show so you should tune in. No in-studio performance, but still a great radio show nonetheless.

The real kicker though is on Dec. 16, which is when we make our television debut on Fox 25 News. It starts at 8:00 am and we perform a song then an interview followed with another performance. These guys at Fox are hilarious so you should surely check it out. During that broadcast we will be plugging our last show of the year, which is on the same day. It will be the best closing show of 2005 especially because it's at Great Scott. Great Scott is a kick ass rock club and it's in the middle of Allston so it’s easy to get to. Also, DJs Ken and Terrance will be spinning on that night too. There will be plenty of goodies too so make sure you're there at 9:00 to join in the festivities (I’m sorry.... that word was uncalled for). If you get there before 11pm it's only $5, otherwise it's $7 there after.

Well that's all for now. I must get back to my newly purchased Super Nintendo. I played NBA Jam with my good friend Kris from The Luxury. They are a great band but he's not a great ball player. Anyway, if you wanna hear more fun factoids from me, I’ll see you at the show...........and don't ask me for more fun factoids.

Cheers.

Roy

Things to read while trapped in the snow.

Zuul — Sun, 04 Dec 2005 09:20:00 +0000

The Noise Poll (we've been nominated, vote for us!)

Zuul — Wed, 07 Dec 2005 16:20:00 +0000

So it's that time again. The Noise's best thingies of the year. This year we are so proud to present Jen De La Osa of our little band Aloud. She has been nominated for best Female Vocal and also nominated is one of our songs "Beaches" which is a local favorite in the beantown. I don't know about you guys but I'm voting for Mach 5 as best band to return from the dead. I'm just kidding but just so you know, you can only vote once from every computer but that doesn't mean I'm telling you to go to more than one computer or anything........ like........ that... Vote now, vote often!

— Roy

Best Song - "Beaches", Aloud

Best Vocalist (F) - Jennifer De La Osa, Aloud

Link: http://www.thenoise-boston.com/poll2005.asp

John Lennon

Jen — Thu, 08 Dec 2005 14:23:00 +0000

I always remebered this day when I was a kid in high school. VH1 would play Beatle and Lennon clips all day. I'd just sorta watch and be in state of awe. Back then it was like my Good Friday. How morbid eh? For those that don't know John Lennon died today, December 8th in 1980 just months after his 40th birthday. So I think I'll go home today and revisit some records and watch some specials.

Jen

Currently listening :
Imagine
By John Lennon
Release date: 11 April, 2000

John Lennon

Jen — Thu, 08 Dec 2005 14:23:00 +0000

Currently listening :
Imagine
By John Lennon
Release date: 11 April, 2000

New England Product Spotlight and Profile in BU's The Source

Jen — Fri, 09 Dec 2005 21:46:00 +0000

So we've found out "Beaches" has been played on this week's New England Product Spotlight on FNX's Alter Ego hosted by Paul Driscoll. Many thanks to Paul and FNX. Also thanks to Dave Duncan of FNX for having us on this Sunday at 10pm for New England Product. Tune into 101.7FM in Boston or 92.1FM in New Hampshire and Maine.

We were interviewed for Boston University's The Source this week and you can read the article this Wednesday, Dec 14 if you live in the BU dorms. Don't forget we've also got our TV debut on the Fox 25 Morning News Show this Friday, Dec 16, so be sure to program your VCRs. This is all in anticipation for our last Boston show of the year at The Pill! Come out and party for a very special set. And don't forget to vote for "Beaches" (best song) and myself Jen de la Osa (best female vocalist) in this year's Noise Poll here.

What a busy month it's been! We're geared up for next year!

Jen

New England Product Spotlight and Profile in BU's The Source

Jen — Fri, 09 Dec 2005 21:46:00 +0000

What a busy month it's been! We're geared up for next year!

Jen

The Big Day

Jen — Thu, 15 Dec 2005 13:39:00 +0000

Well tomorrow, Friday Dec 16, will be our last little hooray for a while. Tune into Fox 25 Mornng News on your TV set. We go on for an interview around 8AM and then play a song. It's going to be lots of fun.

After being up that early we're going to take some long naps and then head over to Great Scott for that nite's show at the Pill. We'll have some holiday goodies for you to have. Also some surprises in the set as well as many, many songs from our album that we're trying very hard to make avaliable to you.

It's been such a fantastic year and it'll be worth to party with all of you on Friday. A special thanks to Dave Duncan, Paul Driscoll, Michael Marotta, Carm, and Shred for all their help in the last couple weeks. See you soon!

Jen

Currently listening :
Crucified By The FCC
By Howard Stern
Release date: 10 June, 1997

The Big Day

Jen — Thu, 15 Dec 2005 13:39:00 +0000

This past week's madness

Henry — Mon, 19 Dec 2005 08:03:00 +0000

In yet another strange turn, I was able to go to bed at a decent hour, but could not stay asleep past 3:30 AM. Which can only mean it's blog time!

Last week was incredibly busy/fun/exhausting, beginning with Sunday night. We went into the WFNX studio to do an interview for New England Product, which our pal Dave recently began hosting on a regular basis. I was always a fan of FNX, but I have to say I was really impressed and the passion for music there was palpable. One thing that really knocked me out was a simple printout framed on the studio wall titled Four Rules For Working at FNX. I can't remember the last three for the life of me, but the first one was enough:

1. Always respect the music.

We had a laugh with Dave, and had a few interesting calls while we were off the air. I plan to post the interview up on the website by the end of the month. Unless I'm lazy. Then you'll have to wait.

We need to get this album out post haste.

Tuesday, Jen and I went to the Middle East Christmas party. It was fun hanging out with some people we don't get to see too often. Plus, the food was phenomenal. And free. Didn't stick around for too long, though. Got crowded, and I was pretty tired.

Wednesday, a very nice article came out about us in a paper started by B.U. students (The Source). You can read the article here.

Friday was probably the most exhausting day. Actually, no, it was definitely the most exhausting day. We did the FOX 25 Morning News show that morning, which meant getting up at the crack of dawn to be there at 6:45am. First thing, some young intern girl asks us if we're "the guys with the alcohol". We thought news journalism was decadent, but this was outrageous! (Turns out they were doing a segment on holiday drinks). Everyone there was extremely nice and very accomodating. We talked to the weather guy, A.J. Burnett, and found out that drumming is one of his hobbies. Kim Carrigan interviewed us and we went right into Beaches. The monitor situation there isn't nearly as bad as I've heard through the grapevine. It sounded great over there, but the mix that came through the TV wasn't the greatest (very little bass, fluctuating guitar volume, weak drums). But hell, I can't honestly complain since we were on TV. I plan to post the video next month on the site.

The trouble with such an early morning like that is that it screws you up when you have to play a late gig the same night. We all took naps, but that didn't seem to help much. Still, the gig at the Pill was fun (even though we were pretty worn out by the time we hit the stage-- 11:15pm). We set up the stage with Christmas lights, balloons.. during Beaches, Jen left the stage to take a few Polariods with the audience. Roy was in a festive mood and wore a Santa hat most of the night. Our pal (from Unbusted) Ben was doing sound that night, and was messing around with recording the set as well. I might wind up posting that if and when that goes through. Damn good sound man, though. Lots of people were telling us how clear everything sounded. We were going to have an afterparty at our place, but at close to 3am, everyone including us was ready to pass out. Just one of those Fridays, I guess, but it was welcomed. I desperately needed the sleep, and (not counting a useless nap) was nearly up for 24 hours.

But anyway, I want to thank everyone who came on Friday, who have supported us this week (and beyond this week), and anyone who's ever helped us out in any way. I often say that I still feel I'm in that band that has trouble bringing out more than 2 people to a show on a weekend, so the support you all give is sincerely appreciated.

Okay.. I should probably.. well.. I'd love to go to bed, but unfortunately it's 7:00am. D'oh!

Cheers,
Henry

Currently listening :
Shaved Fish
By John Lennon
Release date: 25 October, 1990

This past week's madness

Henry — Mon, 19 Dec 2005 08:03:00 +0000

1. Always respect the music.

Currently listening :
Shaved Fish
By John Lennon
Release date: 25 October, 1990

Chestnuts Roasting on an Open Fire...

Jen — Wed, 21 Dec 2005 12:39:00 +0000

Jack Frost nipping at your nose. That Jack Frost.. so fresh!!

Everyone here at Aloud HQ would like to wish you all the happiest of holidays, the merriest of Christmases, and whatever else you do. Oh and a happy new year too!

I'm be flying to Raleigh, NC tonite and Henry's already left to Miami, FL to go see his folks. Ross and Roy will be holding down the fort here in Boston with their loved ones. If you see Roy at the Pill this Friday make sure he plays no KENO. Dear me!

With a love that will echo through the ages,
(yeah about four people get that)

Jen

Currently listening :
Imagine / Give Peace Chance / Happy Christmas
By John Lennon
Release date: 18 January, 2000

Chestnuts Roasting on an Open Fire...

Jen — Wed, 21 Dec 2005 12:39:00 +0000

Currently listening :
Imagine / Give Peace Chance / Happy Christmas
By John Lennon
Release date: 18 January, 2000

Here in the light

Jen — Mon, 02 Jan 2006 17:51:00 +0000

First off a very happy new year to all of you. I hope you spent all this time with good people and good drinks. We'll be resting up for the next few weeks till the first show of the year at Positively 4th St in Troy, NY followed the next day with a show in NYC at the Continental. Another very fun show is on January 20 at Bill's Bar. It'll be part of FNX's New England Product Spotlight.

We're hoping to release the album in April and are working on some new stuff as well to be ready for the 2nd album.

Take care of yourselves this new year and we'll hopefully see you all soon enough.

Jen

Currently listening to:
Howl
By Black Rebel Motorcycle Club

SUNDAYS!!!!!

Zuul — Sun, 08 Jan 2006 21:54:00 +0000

What a glorious day for work. j/k. I don't like work on Sundays, but it does give you a lot of time to write about upcoming shows. Our next show is this Fri. Jan 13, at P4th in Troy, New York. It’s new but the people there are still awesome. Great beer, and a new location really tops it off. We'll be there with our occasional road guy Johnny Smokz. I'm positive that we won't be able to drive/load gear after Artie is done getting us too drunk, so John will take the wheel.

Then on Sat., Jan 14, we're playing the Continental in New York City, which is always a blast. That show will be good to come out to 'cause we always get fired up for NYC.

Then on Jan. 20 we will be appearing at Bill's Bar on Lansdowne St. in Boston. We are performing at 10:30pm so make sure you're drunk and willing to rock. If you need directions to any of these places then check out our site- www.allthingsaloud.com for all your rock needs and then some. For now that seems like enough golden information for all you Aloud fiends.

-Roy-

Another fun weekend

Jen — Wed, 18 Jan 2006 19:50:00 +0000

Yes music is fun.. We've been realizing this more and more. I saw Wingspan last night. I know it's Wings, but the biopic was actually quite good. What I like about Paul McCartney is if it isn't fun anymore he just stops. It's a great philosphy. He can afford more than others to say so, but it's still true... anyway... some more Aloud news... we'll be playing FNX's New England Product Spotlight this Friday at Bill's Bar. Thanks to FNX for all their recent support and for being damn cool period. The next day sees us in Worcester to visit one of our favorite digs, Ralph's Diner. We'd love to see you this weekend, so by all means come on out.

More on the album next month. I think we should be able to tell you more about when it's coming out and the details surrounding that. Very exciting!

Also, we'd like to say THANK YOU to everyone requesting us on FNX, WAAF, and WBCN. And thanks to the stations for continuing to play us! Thank you from the bottom of our hearts. We'll be getting played tonight on WMFO's On the Town With Mikey Dee as well, so be sure to tune in. Show starts at 9pm and you can listen online here or on terrestrial radio on 91.5 FM.

You can also request Aloud-"Beaches" here:

WAAF 107.3FM/ Req. line: 617-931-1AAF (1223)

WBCN 104.3 FM/ Req. line: 617-539-8000

WFNX 101.7 FM / Req. line: 781-595-WFNX (9369)
(92.1 FM in NH & So. Maine)

Thanks again.

Smooches,

Jen
Currently listening to:
Band on the Run
by Paul McCartney & Wings

Many thanks for a fine, fine weekend

Henry — Mon, 23 Jan 2006 18:48:00 +0000

Thank you everyone for the fantastic weekend. It was definitely a hell of a first hometown show of the year, and it was great to see so many familiar and unfamiliar faces. The guys from Scamper were front and center cheering us on (or giving us the finger... I forget which), live reviewers extraordinaires Steve Gisselbrecht and Tom were there, Mike from Harris was there, Richie Hoss from The Drags, ... If I've left anyone out let me know, and I'll edit this faster than.. something fast.

Thanks to FNX and Dave Virr (aka Dave Duncan) for hosting the whole thing and having us on in the first place. The Bon Savants were fantastic as well. This is the second time we've played with them and it was pretty awesome. I have to say Thom has a pretty sweet Rickenbacker/Vox setup. Enviable, perhaps. Yes.

I was speaking to the dudes from Scamper at the show as well. Apparently, they're starting a regular podcast thing on 2/6 with local music, bits, and whatever else comes to mind. I know they were recording a few things at the show, so we'll see if anything blush-worthy ends up on it....

It was fun to go back to Ralph's the next day, too. I was pretty disappointed when Sunday rolled along and there was no show afterwards, and there won't be another till 2/16. We're working on something for 2/2 in Boston, but as of now we're still waiting for a confirmation, so that may not even happen.

Regardless, we're moving forward behind the scenes. We'll finally be able to release all the details on the album that you want next month, and we'll be shooting a video for Beaches as well. Rest assured we will not go the route of absolute cheese and film it on a beach. Or will we? You'll have to wait and see.

Actually, no, there will be no beach scenes that I know of.

Aside from those things, we're planning some very exciting things beyond the album, and beyond the video even. And now that we've got the recording behind us, we plan to beef up our touring schedule this year. Which makes me happy, because playing makes me happy.

You know what doesn't make me happy? Bills, work, and terms like "blog". So touring is a decidedly better route. Though now that I think of it, a tour would undoubtedly spawn more bills, more work, and more blogs. I can't win.

I'll wrap this up with some instructions to you:
- Keep requesting Beaches on WFNX, WAAF, and WBCN.
- Buy Funeral, The Arcade Fire's album
- While you're at it, buy the new Strokes album (First Impressions of Earth)
- Listen to music every day.
- and click on those links, eh?

Cheers,
Henry

Currently listening to:
Funeral
by Arcade Fire

The Best Music Video Of All Time

Zuul — Tue, 24 Jan 2006 19:58:00 +0000

Wanna be in a music video? Then you should be on mailing list for sure cause were are in the midst of making our music video debut. The video is for the song "Beaches" off our soon to be released LP. We will be looking for extras so join our mailing list (if you haven't already) to be put on notice. We have teamed up with famed cinematographer Tom Fitzgerald to shoot with us. We have tons of great ideas so this video will be phenomenal when we finish. We start (and hopefully finish ) in Feburary. We will definetly need extras so if you wanna be part of this just look out for the casting call. The best way to be notified promptly is to join the list, and yes this is the second time I told you to join the mailing list so go do it.

-Roy Blaze-

Art

Jen — Thu, 26 Jan 2006 16:24:00 +0000

More work is being done on the artwork for the cd this weekend. We should have that stuff sorted soon and off the to the presses so you can all get your physical or digital hands on it. Right now I'm at work, but I'm buzzing over all the cool stuff coming up: the album, the video, the gigs, etc. One other little card we've got up our sleeves, but I'm not saying anything yet!

No gigs this weekend, but the rest will be needed. Off on our first CT gig next Friday (the 3rd) at CT College. I'm missing NYC right now as well. We were there as two ships that pass in the night a couple weeks ago and I miss it terribly. There'll be another one night stand on 2/22 at the ultra cool Death Disco. It'll be good to see DJ Mojo and our favorite nyc Bartender again.

Till then just know we've got great things planned and soon you'll get to hear much more. Hopefully very soon.

Jen

Currently listening to:
(What's The Story) Morning Glory?
by Oasis

BOSTON: NEW show added

Jen — Fri, 27 Jan 2006 01:11:00 +0000

We've added a new Boston date that is right around the corner. We'll be returning to Bill's Bar on Thursday, Feb. 2 for Rock Candy. The bands go on around 10:30pm, doors at 9pm. And after the rock you can roll your ass on the dance floor coz you don't care that you have work the next day. And those of still not legal? You can come along as it's 18 . You may not have work the next day... come to think of it you probably don't have class on a Friday too. Lucky bastards! You've got no excuse.

We'll be traveling the next day to New London, CT to play CT College. If you go to school there please do drop on by!

Toodles,

Jen

Currently listening to:
First Impressions of Earth
by The Strokes

Godspeed to us all.

Zuul — Wed, 01 Feb 2006 21:54:00 +0000

Well hello, I didn't see you there.......... Anyway, I’m pleased to announce that we have just put up our first live song. The new "single" Godspeed is available on our website for your listening pleasure. It was taken from the last show we played in 2005 at Great Scott in Allston, Ma. The sound guy (Ben from the Unbusted..... I don't know his last name) mixed it and uh, mixed it. Also, we have new pictures up on the website as well. The ones only worth looking at are the bass players pics. Even though I do the MySpace blogs for Aloud, I’m also secretly turned on by him and dude..... it’s the hair. Now back to things less sexy. The new pics are up and if you’re in the area come by and see us at Bills bar on Lansdowne St. in Boston. Hopefully we'll see you there, if not, you’re probably in the hospital or something. Stay safe........

Your neighborhood D.A.R.E. administrator,

Roy Blaze

Currently listening to:
Midnight Marauders
by A Tribe Called Quest

A little more news

Zuul — Mon, 06 Feb 2006 16:20:00 +0000

Make plans. We will be playing our last Boston show before our cd release on Thursday, March 2. It will be at the new indie rock dance night Paper held at Harper's Ferry (yeah who'd have thought?). Listen to the music, dance to the music, drink to the music. We'll be MIA in April and should be back in May to release the album. More news on that later. See ya on March 2.

NYC fear not, we'll be there in a couple weeks...for FREE...

I must have crossed the Rubicon

Henry — Thu, 09 Feb 2006 07:17:00 +0000

I don't care much for the Grammys, but I do care about bands. And one of my favorite bands royally cleaned up again. The nominees weren't too shabby either, which leaves me with some hope for the world of music at large.

The moments were everything comes together.. I live for those. The knowledge that you're surrounded by really supportive and good people

We're brainstorming on some very big ideas and I'm so excited. Aside from the record and a UK tour in the summer (which is in the preliminary stages at this point), nothing is set in stone. Still, just talking about these other things is enough to get me going. Everyone on earth realizes things when they're too late most of the time. Everyone. That's why moments when you turn that on its ass are amazing. There is no "one day". It's like they say, Today is the first day of the rest of your life, so there's no sense in fucking about.

You'd be excited too if you were planning on writing in MUSICIAN as your occupation on your 1040.

This weekend is going to be pretty busy. Friday (tentative) and Saturday we're going to be filming our very first video, for Beaches. The director, Tom Fitzgerald, seems like a kid who's real together and at least sounded like he knows what he's doing. No word on when that video will be available, but I, for one, am anxious as hell.

Speaking of video, that FOX 25 footage from December I promised unfortunately cannot be provided. It's due to licensing issues with the station (they don't license to websites). A total bummer, I know, but ya'll are smart kids. I'm sure you'll figure out a way to download it somewhere someday.

We're also taking the final pictures for the album art, which is fucking awesome. Our old friend Eddie Gutierrez is taking the photos, and he's been a big help with working out the art concept. This is like one of the last things we have left to do, and then it's off to the plant to get pressed.

Pre-production on the record began last April, recording went from May-August, and the mixes were finalized and mastered in October. So as you can tell, I'm incredibly anxious to get this record out. Nothing official just yet, but it looks like this puppy's finally gonna be out in early May. Not so bad, considering it's been finished since late October. That's like what, 7 months? Actually, that kinda sucks. This must be what being pregnant is like, minus the stretch marks.

I long for the days of 1 to 2 records a year being the norm again.

Last thing.. the show at Connecticut College last weekend was a friggin blast. We played something like 90 minutes, and we all have massive fun. Playing colleges is great. Students seem so much more interested in music, at least in a purer sense. It's the best when you grab someone who yes, has their favorite bands, but is more interested in just seeing music. And for that, we thank you, the kids at Conn. Coll. (and Laura for booking us!). Laura was even nice enough to get us a hotel room for the night, where chaos commenced with us, Ale (Jen's sis), and our roadie "Johnny Smokz".

I actually tried to write out a blog on some scrap paper that night after 5 Amber Bocks, brandy, Mike's Hard Berry, little sleep, and god knows what the fuck else. Let's try to decipher:

Hi Everyone! I'm here in New London, CT we just finished playing Connecticut College and had a goddamn blast!! Colleges are always fun, everyone there was very nice and really enjoyed the show we're all
we're all hanging out in a holiday inn Right now having a few beers. My writing is getting realy sloppy now and will probably look really funny in the monring- HA!

Thanks for Laura for having us play. Now, let me see if I can remember a few names... Jeff, Cline... or clam? and then

............I prefer "Cryptic" to "Drunken Buffoon" myself.

Anyway, I should probably be getting to bed, kids. Thanks for reading!

Goodnight!

Cheers,
Henry

Wanna be in our music video?

Jen — Thu, 09 Feb 2006 17:11:00 +0000

So yes it's last minute. We've got a bunch of extras signed up but figured if anyone is free tomorrow and would like to participate then we'd give you the info:

Friday, Feb. 10; 2PM @

Skellig Irish Music Pub & Restaurant
240 Moody Street, Waltham, MA 02453

Cheers,

Jen

Download it!

Jen — Thu, 09 Feb 2006 20:31:00 +0000

So in case you missed the bulletin you can now download the live version of Godspeed from the Pill. Go right back the Aloud myspace player and download that track to your iPod or whatever you got. We'll be putting up more studio cuts from the album next month for you to listen to. Till then learn this one. :)

Keep being rock stars!

Jen

Music Video

Zuul — Sun, 19 Feb 2006 19:27:00 +0000

Hooray, we finished the music video for beaches. Our director Tom "Fitzi" did an unbelievable job on it. It should be released within the next couple of months or so for your viewing pleasure. It has plenty of spunk and all the pizzaz you could dream of. If you need some more aloud before the video is out, then you can check out our website at www.allthingsaloud.com to hear more of our artistic craft. For now, you can hear Godspeed and downlaod it as well. Well, that's all for now for i have to get back to work. See y'all later. -

-Roy Blaze-

One by one, ticking timebombs won.

Henry — Sun, 26 Feb 2006 01:13:00 +0000

Just found out one of my favorite bands in the area broke up. I won't name names, in the hopes that it's something that's not final, but damn. They were really damn good and I was looking forward to hearing new stuff from them. I'm bummed about it. If you're going out tonight, have a few drinks in memoriam.

Roy moved into the neighborhood (finally!), so now the Nexus is complete and all four Alouds live in a one-block radius. Not sure if that's cool or if it's just sad, but either way... no more out of the way trips to Watertown!

We were on Scamper's third podcast last week, Can You Hear Me Now? made it's podcast debut as did some of Jen's drunken babble. I had a few things to say to Nate's digital recorder yesterday, so let's see if that makes it in a couple of weeks. Ha!

What else... what else..

Oh yes, album artwork is all but complete. We're looking at a release for it in very early May.

What's it going to be called? What's going to be on it? How much longer are you going to lead us on, ya fucks?!

Okay okay. *ahem* Our 11-song album is going to be called Leave Your Light On. I'd also like to take a moment to dispel any rumors on the title: it has nothing to do with another record of a similar name. Most of you should know it's a lyric in Godspeed (which if you haven't heard, you should download the live version here). However, our next single is going to be called What A Frame.

Kidding. Or am I?

As for what's going to be on it:

1. Release
2. Palm of Your Hand
3. Beaches
4. Can You Hear Me Now?
5. All I Can Do
6. Slipped in Your Dream
7. Bleeding Heart
8. Love is a Beast
9. Wouldn't It Be Sweet
10. Late Last Nite
11. Godspeed

And there you have it. That's all the news that's fit to blog.

Oh wait, right, we're playing Harper's Ferry next Thursday and you all had better come! Or else. Or else what?

Exactly.

Huh?

Cheers,
Henry

Currently listening to:
Room on Fire
By The Strokes

Hello to the Netherlands and more songs

Jen — Sun, 26 Feb 2006 19:23:00 +0000

I'd like to welcome all our friends from the Netherlands who added us this week. I imagine you probably found us on Rebel Radio. Thanks Marc! Not sure when we'll have a chance to head out there, but fear not for all things are possible through rock n roll.

Also, there's more tracks from our upcoming album, Leave Your Light On, for your listening pleasure here. In fact all the tracks on the player are from the new album in some form. 3 studio cuts including "Beaches", "All I Can Do" (a personal favorite), and "Wouldn't It Be Sweet". When you click on those you'll also see a pic of the album cover as well. There's also still the live cut of Godspeed (studio version on album of course) that's avaliable for download. Just click the button...

I'm feeling so generous... here's some more info...

Leave Your Light On

1. Release

2. Palm of Your Hand

3. Beaches

4. Can You Hear Me Now?

5. All I Can Do

5. Slipped In Your Dream

6. Bleeding Heart

7. Love is a Beast

8. Wouldn't It Be Sweet

9. Late Last Nite

10. Godspeed

And there you have it... the tracklisting for our splendid little disc. And I still like it.

Also, give a listen to these fantastic bands I've been loving recently.. The Arcade Fire and the Arctic Monkeys...

It's nice to be so excited about bands.

Currently listening to:
Funeral
By Arcade Fire

It's Official: LYLO out in May

Webmaster — Tue, 07 Mar 2006 03:58:00 +0000

It's finally happening. Leave Your Light On, Aloud's first full-length album, will be released this May in stores and online on Lemon Merchant Records.

The guys and gal will be hitting the road in earnest this May as well for the Northeast US leg of the Leave Your Light On tour.

Want the tracklisting?

1. Release
2. Palm of Your Hand
3. Beaches
4. Can You Hear Me Now?
5. All I Can Do
6. Slipped In Your Dream
7. Bleeding Heart
8. Love is a Beast
9. Wouldn't It Be Sweet
10. Late Last Nite
11. Godspeed

Clips of Slipped In Your Dream and the studio version of Godspeed can be found in the Members Area.

Three songs (Beaches, Wouldn't It Be Sweet, and All I Can Do) can be heard on the Aloud MySpace page. Also available till the end of the month is a free download of a live version of Godspeed.

Leave Your Light On: The Northeast Tour

Jen — Tue, 14 Mar 2006 19:58:00 +0000

We've just put up all the tour dates for the Northeast leg of the Leave Your Light On tour. Have a look... oh we know how lazy we can all get, so here they are:

5.02.06 Leave Your Light On released in stores and iTunes
5.04.06 Sin-e
5.05.06 The Saint
5.09.06 Fitchburg State College Funday
5.12.06 Mohawk Place
5.13.06 Positively 4th Street
5.17.06 WMFO On the Town With Mikey Dee
5.18.06 Dodge St.
5.19.06 T.T. the Bear's Place
5.26.06 Ralph's Diner

More dates may be added as well as more radio appearances. Keep checking back for updates. May is going to be a lot of fun.

Jen

Currently listening to:
Sly & the Family Stone - Greatest Hits [Epic]
By Sly & Family Stone

You are the water washing me...

Jen — Thu, 16 Mar 2006 18:15:00 +0000

It's a right nice day and the end of my work week. I'm at work by the way but it's the afternoon, so there's not much to do. I'm really just thinking about how fun May is going to be. Plenty of shows and radio to keep us busy. The CD art looks great and is off to the presses. I can't wait to put my hands on one. Thanks to Liz and Jerry for being excellent CD Models and Eddie for taking such great photos.

While I'm throwing out Thanks Yous, thanks to Tom for filming the music video for Beaches. That should be up soon for all of you to check out. I can't wait for you to see it. Oh a bit more news and developments... Beaches is going to be on a FNX's New England Product compilation. Not sure when it'll be out, but we'll be side by side with some great bands like Taxpayer, Dear Leader, and Piebald.

So enjoy the new tunes that are up now. I think we're going to get the studio version of Godspeed and Slipped in Your Dream up on the player in April. Be sure to check out all the tour dates for May as well. For all of you who've messaged me about when we're coming to your town, fret not. We've working on it. Hopefully you'll see us in Philly, DC, and maybe Virginia by the end of the summer or at least the end of the year. If you've got hints, suggestions, on how or who or where to play there message me.

Ok that's enough for now. Oh and since you can't get your hands on Leave Your Light On till May 2, go grab up the new Arctic Monkeys album, Whatever People Say I Am That's What I'm Not. It's excellent.

Cheers,

Jen

Currently listening:
Whatever People Say I Am Thats What I Am Not
By Arctic Monkey

Compilation cd

Zuul — Sun, 26 Mar 2006 12:38:00 +0000

Hello everybody, I am pleased to bestow on to you the current information.....and who doesn't like information, like when i get with other bands girlfriends at shows...wouldn't you like to know.Anyway, the 2006 FNX " Wicked Good Local Bands " comp. CD which should be out in the next few weeks is gonna be a doozy. Bands like Dear Leader, Taxpayer, Protokoll, Aberdeen City, and an exclusive track from The Damn Personals. And of course will have our own track "Beaches" in the mix. Now you know these bands are good if you've heard alot about them but you've never met them. That's rock baby. So this means that we need our pedestal to stand on. You've met us and if you haven't, then come to our show and have a couple of pints or if your lucky, i'll hook you up with some nips. Yeah, i said nips.....the cheapest bottle of alcohol known to man........to a very cheap man.

Your neighborhood blazer,

-Roy-

Currently listening to:
Midnight Marauders
By A Tribe Called Quest

Here is the music

Jen — Mon, 27 Mar 2006 16:18:00 +0000

Check the music player.. go on check it.. didn't check it did you? Waiting for me to give you the info eh? Ok.. here is it.. You can now download some tracks for the album. Go get yourself a copy of "Beaches" and "All I Can Do". The live version of Godspeed is still there to get too. Next month we'll put on the version from the album and you'll be able to download that one as well. Mark the date on May 2 you'll be able to purchase a copy of the entire album on CDbaby.com and Tower Records in Harvard Sq. Soon after that date you can download it off of iTunes.

Until then, happy downloading! Share these with your friends, burn them cds. Put them anywhere you want.

Yours in Rock,

Jen

Currently listening to:
Past Masters, Vol. 1
By The Beatles

Le' Video

Jen — Mon, 03 Apr 2006 18:22:00 +0000

The video Beaches is up on our page (if you haven't noticed). Hope you enjoy.

New tunes on the MySpace player should be coming this week as we get ever closer to the May 2 release date of Leave Your Light On. Thanks to all the podcasts who've been playing us recently (a special nod to Jersey Todd and Desert Highway).

A new website will coming soon too. All the shows in support of the cd are going to be lots of fun. We've got Sin-e with good friends GoStation, Mohawk Place with Johnny Nobody, Ralph's with Radio America, Dodge with Agency and of course our Boston cd release with Emergency Music, the Luxury, and the Daily Pravda.

Looking forward to a very busy next month.

Also... I'm falling asleep.. Shoulda called out of work today.

I'll try to be more colorful next time.

To all the cool kids (that's all of you!).. adios.

Jen

What's a podcast?

Webmaster — Wed, 05 Apr 2006 04:02:00 +0000

Aloud has been featured on a number of Podcasts recently.

Beaches has gotten spins on the Jersey Todd Show (as well as Godspeed: episodes 20 and 21) and Accident Hash (also broadcast on Sirius Satellite Radio) podcasts.

Can You Hear Me Now? has been featured on the Scamper podcast (as well as a number of Henry audio snippets and Jen drunk talk).

Aloud's also getting plays on Desert Highway. Thanks to Jersey Todd, Ernest, Scamper, and C.C. Chapman for spinning the tunes. More podcasts to be added soon.

If you'd like to feature Aloud on your very own podcast (let's face it, everyone's got one these days), email aloud@allthingsaloud.com.

You Are the Water Washing Me

Webmaster — Wed, 05 Apr 2006 04:04:00 +0000

The video for Beaches directed by the talented Tom Fitzgerald of Impact Films is now ready for mass consumption. Go the Aloud's MySpace page to check it out and share with your friends. The video has also been accepted into a number of film festivals and should be avaliable on allthingsaloud.com shortly.

While you're on the MySpace page watching be sure to download Beaches and All I Can Do for free!

The Beginning is Nigh (?)

Jen — Thu, 13 Apr 2006 18:27:00 +0000

Yes, the time is slowly creeping up. We just received all the cds for Leave Your Light On yesturday. It's amazing to see all these copies. We're all getting geared up as hell for everything that's coming. You know I've been organizing and everything and May always felt a long ways off and now it's just around the corner. 2 more weeks and you buy this baby.That's pretty bitchin. A big thanks to everyone involved. I'm sure you'll see your names in the liner notes.

I think tonite we'll finally put up the studio version of Godspeed and Slipped In Your Dream like we promised. You'll be able to download Godspeed as well.

We'll be doing some more work on a new website this weekend. Hopefully that'll be up next week or so. You'll be to download some tracks, listen to the entire album, and watch the Beaches video there as well.

Henry and I were toying with the idea of recording an acoustic version of this very cool tune I won't mention and putting it up in the members area, so if you want check that out when it's ready sign up on the mailing list.

Besides releasing Leave Your Light On come May 2, I'll also be celebrating turning 24.Although we'll probably be practicing for the fine people of New York City since we kick off the Leave Your Light On tour there on May 4 at Sin-e. What a fun show that will. They'll all be great actually. NYC, FItchburg, Troy, Buffalo, Salem, Boston, and Worcester. Oh let me count the ways.

Hope your days and nites are going well.

-Jen

Live on WERS...sort of

Jen — Mon, 17 Apr 2006 12:38:00 +0000

A couple weeks ago we had the pleasure of stumbling into the WERS studios in lovely downtown Boston to record a couple live performances. You listen in on Sunday night/Monday morning, April 24th at 12:05 AM. And tune into 88.9 FM or listen online. You should be able to hear Godspeed and/or Release.

Happy Easter/Passover (late as it may be) to everyone. And if you're in Beantown today go out to a barbecue to watch the Marathon.

Only another two weeks away till the record's out. Cheers!

Jen

Groupies

Jen — Mon, 17 Apr 2006 17:41:00 +0000

Believe it or not one of them has started the first Aloud MySpace group here. Join or watch.

-Jen

Two more songs up on MySpace

Webmaster — Wed, 19 Apr 2006 04:06:00 +0000

A little note to let you know another two songs from Leave Your Light On are up on the Aloud MySpace. Those would be Slipped In Your Dream and Godspeed (studio version - the live version is gone, sorry). You can download Godspeed, Beaches, and All I Can Do while you're there.

A lot of you keep asking when/where you'll be able to get a copy of Leave Your Light On. We couldn't possibly keep that information from you for much longer being as the CD will be out in two weeks.

Release date: May 2, 2006
Buy it here: CD Baby
Tower Records in Harvard Square, Cambridge, MA

It's already in the process of being added to iTunes and should be there shortly after release date. Leave Your Light On will not be for sale through our store so you'll want to get it from Tower or CD Baby (if you're not in Boston). More vendors will be added soon. Keep checking back here for updates.

Don't forget the tour kicks off on May 4...

A couple of minutes with Henry

Jen — Wed, 26 Apr 2006 14:06:00 +0000

Henry got a chance to talk with the folks at IndiePulse, an excellent music blog. We got ourselves a little feature and Henry reveals his masterplan involving Keebler Elves.. Strange? Yes!

Check it out HERE.

Cheers,

Jen

Currently listening to:
Past Masters, Vol. 2
By The Beatles

Pushing a Cart With Square Wheels

Webmaster — Thu, 27 Apr 2006 04:09:00 +0000

Henry had the opportunity to speak to online music blog IndiePulse. The colorful interview includes questions about how he and Jen write a song, favorite towns to perform in, and how to (hypothetically) kill a Keebler elf.

Don't believe it? Click here to read it!

Allthingsaloud.com v6.0 Launched!

Webmaster — Tue, 02 May 2006 04:13:00 +0000

To coincide with the release of Leave Your Light On, we did what any sensible person would do and completely revamp the website. While Internet Explorer is still recommended to view the site as it was intended, we've tried our absolute best to make it as cross-browser/resolution compatible as possible. If there's anything ridiculously gross on your end of the monitor, please, let us know at webmaster@allthingsaloud.com and we'll see what we can do.

A few new things you can look forward to:

More videos! Beginning with the music video for Beaches, which you can watch right here.
A new download section, where you can download selected mp3s from Leave Your Light On, all the tracks off of The Sooner It Comes EP, and all other sorts of tomfoolery for your computer.
A revamped Store area, with links to purchase our CDs as well as a link to our very own CaféPress store.
You can also listen to all of Leave Your Light On (streaming) right here (requires JavaScript, Flash).

Where the hell's the Members Area?
It's being put away for the time being. Our goal is to integrate the Members Area more into the current site, and make it easier to log in... That's right, no more passwords of the month. You'll be able to log in to the Members Area using the email you registered with. When? Not now, but soon. Until then, consider everything open game. Explore, children!

MAY 2 Marks the date

Jen — Tue, 02 May 2006 14:51:00 +0000

Hello brothers and sisters....

It is my great pleasure to inform you that our debut album, Leave Your Light On, is out and in stores on this May 2. Also getting a little bit older today is myself (yes that means it's my birthday). But I digress....

Buy the album online here or if you live in our part of the world run down to Harvard Square to Tower Records for a copy. The album will be up on iTunes and other online distributors very soon as well as additional stores.

Roy, my sister, and I spent the entire day Sunday packing 350 CDs to send off to college radio stations across the country. You'll wanna keep checking the website to see which ones are playing us, so you can request us. Speaking of the website, we've launched a BRAND NEW site to coincide with the release of the CD. You can listen to the ENTIRE album there and download some tracks as well including all the tracks from our EP, The Sooner it Comes.

We're resting us these next two days to kick things off on Thursday in New York City. Then on to Easton, Fitchburg, Buffalo, Troy, Salem, Boston, and Worcester. Tour dates are on our page.

This is going to be a very fun month. We're tickled pink.

Much love,

Jen

In depth

Jen — Sat, 06 May 2006 19:45:00 +0000

This is a fantastic review on the band you should read. I loved every line.

Check it out here. Thanks to Liz for reviewing us on her wonderful blog!

Cheers,

Jen

Currently listening to:
The Beatles [The White Album]
By The Beatles

Not near Tower Records in Harvard Sq?

Jen — Sat, 06 May 2006 19:58:00 +0000

then you can buy it online at Tower here.

-Jen

Currently listening to:
Magical Mystery Tour
By The Beatles

Stuff @ Night

Jen — Tue, 09 May 2006 19:38:00 +0000

A super guy and fantastic writer, Jonathan Perry, wrote up a piece about us in Boston's Stuff @ Night.. You can pick it up for free or read it here.

Thanks Fitchburg for a fun time. It was great to play outdoors! Next stop Buffalo and Troy.

Don't forget we're on FNX's New England Product (101.7FM) this Sunday, May 14.

Cheers,

Jen

Currently listening to:
The Joshua Tree
By U2

Shows on Tour POSTPONED

Jen — Thu, 11 May 2006 18:56:00 +0000

Dear Buffalo and Troy,

I'm sorry dear cities, but we're going to have to postpone our trip. An unexpected family emergency came up and one of us has got to go get that sorted out. We're doing our best to make up the dates for some time this summer. That doesn't mean you can't get a copy of the album though. Just go here to grab it up.

Sorry again folks.

Cheers,
Jen

Currently listening to:
Wake Up
By Arcade Fire

Shows in Upstate NY postponed.

Webmaster — Fri, 12 May 2006 04:16:00 +0000

We sincerely apologize for the inconvenience, but at the last minute Aloud's performances in Buffalo, NY and Troy, NY have been postponed until further notice. Unfortunately, Henry had to leave town on last minute's notice to tend to a family medical emergency.

The band intends to make up the performances at a later unspecified date. Check back for more details when they become available.

Writeups & shows & interviews- oh my!

Webmaster — Wed, 17 May 2006 04:17:00 +0000

Tune in tomorrow night (that's Wednesday 5/17) to WMFO at 9pm to listen to more interviewy goodness. Aloud appears on On The Town. Pals the Doom Buggies are the live band of the night. Not in broadcast range? Visit www.wmfo.org to listen to the online stream.

Yesterday Jen and Henry had a little sit-down at the Common Ground in Allston with Selene Angier, who will be publishing an article in this Friday's Boston Metro.

Check out the Boston Phoenix on Thursday for a flew blurbs as well.

Is that all? Of course not! There are two shows this weekend you should be attending!

5/18, the gang hits their favorite Salem haunt Dodge Street Bar (with guests Agency, from New Jersey).

The week culminates in the band's first hometown show of the tour (and their first in the Boston area since March!) at T.T. the Bear's Place this Friday (5/19). The show begins at 9pm with The Daily Pravda, followed by The Luxury at 10, and Emergency Music at 11.

Just a day away

Jen — Thu, 18 May 2006 15:15:00 +0000

Yes, indeed we are just a day away from the Boston CD Release show on May 19, 2006 @ T.T. The Bear's. Excitement ensues. Fabulous bands will share the stage with us: Emergency Music, the Luxury, and the Daily Pravda.

We had a nice write up in the Sidekick section of the Boston Globe today. Pick up a copy as I will be later on. I haven't seen it yet, but Ross has and gave us the best line, "Their song Beaches is worth the price of admission alone". Most excellent. And we're having better weather this week in Beantown. Hopefully it'll hold up for tomorrow.

Aside from releasing Leave Your Light On, in stores this week is also the FNX Wicked Good Local Bands cd featuring that infamous track, Beaches. Other bands include Dear Leader, Taxpayer, Unbusted and it's only $3.99. Get 'em at Newbury Comics.

Check out the Metro tomorrow too for a piece on us and the show by the very talented Selene Angier. And then don't forget to make it to the T.T.'s show that night!!!! If that isn't enough Aloud tune in Sunday to WBCN for Boston Emissions (104.1FM) at 10pm. We'll be playing some tunes and talking about the album.

Well I think that's all. Wish us luck. We'll be warming up tonight at Dodge St. in Salem. Much love to you and yours.

Cheers,

Jen

Currently listening to:
Rubber Soul
By The Beatles

"Well, so what? What's wrong with bein' sexy? I mean there's no... " "Sex-IST!"

Henry — Fri, 19 May 2006 15:06:00 +0000

We got a very, very nice article profile thing in the Boston Metro this morning. Jen and I did the interview on Monday with Selene Angier, and the whole thing was very fun and relaxed. I wish we could've had more space to fit all those quotes in, though. There were some real nuggets, like....

like....

Yea.

For the record, Jen and I barely attended less than a semester at Berklee, and learned nothing.

Don't get me wrong here, I have friends who graduated at Berklee and they're very wonderful, capable, and talented folks. But come on, I have to keep some kinda punk-rock modicum here!!!

Now that I've completely derailed this blog, we've got our hometown CD release show tonight at T.T.'s. We're playing with some excellent bands we really enjoy. In fact Hugh, our producer, is playing geetar in the Luxury tonight as well. What's that you say? Rain? Fuck the rain! We'll build an ark! Get me some pine and about two million terraria!

Set times are:
Aloud (that's us): Midnight
Emergency Music: 11pm
The Luxury: 10pm
The Daily Pravda: 9pm

And check out their websites:

www.emergencymusic.com
www.theluxuryband.com
www.thedailypravda.com

Then, buy our album here:
www.cdbaby.com/aloud2

And then... and then.. (NO MORE "AND THEN!")

Oh yea, and props to our guys in Agency. We had such a fun time at Dodge last night, down to the spontaneous rap combustion at the end there. Seriously, what the hell was that? (Awesome, that's what). Hopefull that Roy ass-pic won't surface anywhere.

Okay, kiddies. See you all tonight.

Remember, if you don't come out tonight... They win.

Cheers,
Henry

Currently listening to:
Revolver
By The Beatles

Hello Again

Jen — Tue, 23 May 2006 19:08:00 +0000

It's nice to be home early today. I'm sitting here getting some copies of our new album, Leave Your Light On, in envelopes to reviewers. I admit I'm a little tired today. Henry and I were up watching the season finale of 24 last night. Spectacular. We also added a bunch of radio stations that added the album last week. Take a look here.

A big thank you to everyone who came out to the shows this month. NYC, Stonehill College, Fitchburg State, Salem, and Boston we love you. Thanks to everyone who bought the album and all the great bands who played with us. May was a great month to put out a disc. And it's still not over... This Friday we'll be at Ralph's Diner in Worcester, MA with very good friends Radio America, Violet Nine, and September Twilight. I can almost taste that Ralph's burger now.

Speaking of Radio America, Roy is in NYC right now with them having a hell of a time. Hope you boys are all right. Actually, no I don't coz I'm not there to have the fun with you. HA!

More NYC news... We've had to cancel our appearance at Death Disco scheduled for June 7. Death Disco is moving the Delancey to the Annex and will only be featuring only two bands. We'll be back there later in the year.

Leave Your Light On debuted at Number 5 on the June Top 30 Noise Chart (Boston for those of you not from around). Hip hip hooray. Thanks to all those lovely DJs. Also, on the chart are good friends, the Silver Lining, who are releasing their disc on June 6. We'll be joining them on June 13 as part of their residency at the Abbey Lounge.

I think that's about it. Check out www.allthingsaloud.com for all the press we got last week. Should be a bit more this week and I'll be posting that as well.

Cheers,

Jen

Currently listening to:
Goats Head Soup
By The Rolling Stones

Don't Trust the Radio - Aloud on XM tomorrow night, lots more stations around the US, & more!

Henry — Wed, 24 May 2006 16:22:00 +0000

As you may or may not know, I'm a fan of Howard Stern and everything that he's doing at Sirius. Some could even say I'm a "nerd" or "dork" about such things.

But this week, I'm willing to put aside any nerdtastic feelings I have about XM rival, because tomorrow night (that's Thursday for the calendar-deprived) we're being featured on The Radar Report on XM.

The Radar Report airs every Thursday at 9pm on XMU Channel 43, and also on DirecTV channel 831 and AOL.

Don't have XM and want to listen? Go here to sign up for a free 3 day trial. Sketchy, I know, but they don't need a credit card or anything and it looks legit.

Could there possibly be more news? But of course! We've gotten a lot of radio station adds all over the country. Visit our site's radio section here to see if we're playing in your neck of the woods. It's being updated every day or two lately, so keep checking back.

Speaking of your neck of the woods, we've got a distribution deal from Super D distribution via CD Baby in thousands of stores all over the U.S. and about 100-200 others worldwide. So if you walk into a store and can't find LYLO, ask and chances are the store will be able to special-order it for you from Super D.

BTW, you can still save the trip and buy Leave Your Light On here at CD Baby.

Is that all? Yea, I think that's it. For today anyway. I hope.

Cheers,
Henry

Currently listening to:
McCartney
By Paul McCartney

#5 with a bullet, and more stations added.

Webmaster — Thu, 25 May 2006 04:20:00 +0000

Leave Your Light On has made it to #5 in The Noise magazine's Top 30! Thanks goes out to all the stations playing LYLO and everyone requesting Aloud!

The Top 30 is compiled by Tony Schinella, of Politzine, complied from playlists reported by WAAF, WBCN, WFNX, WMBR, WMFO, WTCC, and WZBC. The list is published in The Noise magazine.

Speaking of the radio, more stations have been added from all over the country and Canada. Check out the Radio section for updates.

Bos. Phoenix review, XM Radio tonight, and more stores where you can buy LYLO!

Henry — Thu, 25 May 2006 12:31:00 +0000

One of the funnier things about us is getting compared to bands I either don't listen to, or have never heard of (more at the end of this particular blog).

While I don't get the comparisons to Heart and Aerosmith (I'll accept Fleetwood Mac), I will say that a nerd like me shouldn't ruin this fantastic review in the Phoenix by Sue Bell, and you should read it. (Thanks Sue!!). And there's a nice picture in there courtesy of our pal Becky.

My parents love Heart, which makes the reference even funnier. They had this whole story about this Heart concert they went to in the 70s and were absolutely flabbergasted when they saw someone nonchalantly shooting up some heroin at the concert.

Don't forget, tonight catch our lovely music on XM's Channel 42 (XMU) at 9pm on the show The Radar Report. If you don't have XM, you can sign up for a free 3-day trail. I can understand the hesitation signing up for trial offers for crap, but let me assure you.. I, your little guinea pig, did this yesterday and it was painless. All they need is your name and email address.. no credit card or anything.

Aaaaaaaaand like I mentioned before, there are tons of stores in the US (about 2,208) and worldwide (close to 200) where you can purchase Leave Your Light On. Remember, if they don't have a physical copy in the store, you can have them special order it. I'm getting all the names of the stores up on the website, but that's going to take a few days.. it's a lot of stores to list people!

Either way, you can always buy that sucker on CD Baby (www.cdbaby.com/aloud2). Do it!

So now, I want everyone to chime in on this, because I'm probably biased here or something. Here are some bands we've been compared to that I've never actually heard:

Fugazi
Squeeze
Marshall Crenshaw

and bands I don't really listen to:

Aerosmith
Fleetwood Mac (okay, I'll concede to this one eventually...)
Heart

I mean, am I the crazy one here? Do we really sound like Heart? Is there something I'm missing? I knew when Roy said "Wings is cheesier than Journey", he was playing with powers he couldn't possibly comprehend or understand (we'll deal with Wings vs. Journey some other day).

Lord knows what Schlock-Rock Forces the boy has unleashed.

That's right, I went there.

Oooh, barracuda.

Cheers,
Henry

Currently listening to:
How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb
By U2

Aloud and the NME.

Webmaster — Fri, 26 May 2006 04:22:00 +0000

NME is throwing a 10 Year Birthday Celebration and Aloud has decided to try and crash the party. NME is having a contest for unsigned bands to play the big show and you can vote to get Aloud across the pond. "That's fantastic" you say? How can I vote? Simply register at NME.com here. Once you're registered click over to the Aloud NME page here and vote.

It is reported the band is already devouring tea and biscuits morning, noon, and night to adapt to English life. Don't disappoint them!

I wanna see my smiling face on the cover of the NME?

Jen — Fri, 26 May 2006 04:51:00 +0000

The NME is throwing a big party to celebrate their 10 year exsistence. Cheers to that. For those of you who don't know the NME is pretty much the Rolling Stone of the UK. In any case, they're having a contest to have an unsigned band play at said show. But wait, Aloud, you're an unsigned band aren't you? Why, yes.. indeed. The contest is based on your votes. So here's what I need you to do. First you've got to go to NME.com and register. Then you need to go the Aloud NME page and cast your vote.

We're already making poor attempts at accents. Sign up and send us on a plane, won't you? Worth a shot...

Cheers,

Jen

Currently listening to:
Rotten Love
By Levy

Support "Wicked Good Bands", fight AIDS.

Webmaster — Wed, 31 May 2006 04:24:00 +0000

Aloud has been included on the WFNX compilation Wicked Good Boston Bands Vol. 2. Pick up a copy exclusively at Newbury Comics for $2.99.

The CD includes tracks from other Boston artists The Damn Personals, Protokoll, Aberdeen City, Dear Leader, Piebald, Unbusted, Taxpayer, Scamper, Ryan Lee & the Mindless, Harris, and Pure Impact.

Profits from sales of the CD will go to the AIDS Action Committee, New England's oldest and largest AIDS service organization.

I've got canned heat in my feet tonite baby

Jen — Fri, 02 Jun 2006 23:05:00 +0000

And I suppose I do...

We added some more shows for the summer. And are getting out to Pennsylvania in August. We're trying to cover Philly, NJ, and Baltimore if we get the chance as well. Perhaps some upstate NY gigs are in order too.

Don't know if there's much else going on. We've been working hard on getting the album into all sorts of hands. There should be another video coming this summer. It's gonna be a doozy (how do you spell that?).

If you haven't done so already, take the time to register and vote for us on NME.com. If we get enough votes we can go to England to play their 10 year anniversary concert. They won't send you spam or anything and if you feel uncomfortable about giving out your info to them you can always make it up. I'm registered with them actually. The cool thing is you have access to a ton of videos, news, and whole albums. It's pretty bitchin'.

There's some more news and things to read on us at the website. Check it out, yo!

Hope all is well with you and yours.

Cheers,

Jen

Currently listening to:
Regretfully Yours
By Superdrag

Bleeding Heart

Jen — Sun, 11 Jun 2006 20:22:00 +0000

I think I mentioned before we'd be rotating tracks from the album up on the player. Where's this new track you say? Well it's up! Would I lie to you? If you take a look you'll see Bleeding Heart on there. Take a listen, leave a comment you beautiful person you.

A quick thank you to all the folks from La Cocina last nite and a big high-five to Violet Nine for having us. I fear I was a little too tipsy and after changing out of my Ben Sherman shirt at the rest stop I may have lost it. What a shame. It was my favorite shirt. It's that striped one I wear in the Beaches video. I've lost a dear friend.

Here's the shirt in action...

:(

If you're bored and haven't voted for us on NME yet, all you have to do is register and vote. You can make up info when you register and don't worry you won't get any spam or the sort.

Thanks everyone!

Cheers,

Jen

R.I.P. striped Ben Sherman.

Currently listening to:
Every Picture Tells a Story
By Rod Stewart

More U.S. stations added.

Webmaster — Mon, 12 Jun 2006 04:27:00 +0000

Check out the updated list of stations in our radio section to see where you can hear Aloud!

This week, stations in California, Colorado, Iowa, Maine, Minnesota, New Jersey, Nevada, New york, Pennsylvania, and Tennessee have been added.

We'd all like to extend a big thanks to everyone for the momentum Leave Your Light On has been gaining. LYLO has made Top 20's and charted as high as #2 on CMJ charts in areas that have never even heard Aloud. Keep it going! Call these radio stations and tell them you want to hear Aloud.

Mucho thanks and the rest of June

Jen — Wed, 14 Jun 2006 14:47:00 +0000

Thanks to everyone who came out last night to the Abbey Lounge. We had a terrific time. Special thanks to the Silver Lining who were the best I've seen them. Absolutely on fire.

Henry and I are going away for a week. I'm off to my folks and he's off to visit his. I'm sure there'll be a blog while we're out.

To those of you we missed this month we'll be back to you by the end of the summer. We'll be back in NYC and Boston in July. Then Ross is off for three weeks in Africa (but that's a story for a later blog). August we're back with bells on. We'll be able to make up that cancelled Buffalo date and hopefully the cancelled Troy date as well. Until then you've got the album...

Cheers,

Jen

Currently listening to:
Every Picture Tells a Story
By Rod Stewart

For your digital enjoyment...

Jen — Mon, 19 Jun 2006 20:12:00 +0000

Those of you waiting to purchase Leave Your Light On at the iTunes music store do not have to wait much longer. Head down to iTunes right now and download the new album.

In other news, we've added another date for June. It'll be a very fun, mellow show at the Burren in Somerville; MA (Davis Square). This'll be a rare acoustic performance for us. Henry and I are going to play a bunch of covers and then Ross and Roy will join us for some tunes off the album. Do come down and enjoy a pint of Guinness. This is sorta something me and Henry used to do in Miami way back when, so it'll be an interesting thing to witness us all not playing loud rocknroll.

Just got back from South Carolina today. I went off to Myrtle Beach for the weekend and was able to sneak out to Charleston while I was there. Can't wait to come play for you folk. Fine town, fine times. Back in Raleigh right now. Don't worry Boston I'll be back home on Friday.

Cheers,
Jen

Wario and iTunes

Henry — Wed, 21 Jun 2006 03:12:00 +0000

I hate writing on laptops. I had this whole thing written out, quite possibly the awesomest blog in the existence of blogging, and boom. Stupid laptop mouse thing closes the page, and now it's gone. It's all gone and shattered like so much lamp on scalp (name me that reference, and I'll buy you a Coke).

Anyhoo.. this past weekend, the folks at Apple snuck up on us when we weren't looking, and Leave Your Light On is now officially available on the iTunes Music Store. No longer will you kids with loose morals and no scruples about not owning a physical CD be held back any longer! That's right, I totally went there you jerks. Err... I mean... please buy our CD. Each song can be bought at the low, low price of 99 cents per song. Isn't that like a dollar per song, you ask? Yes, that is correct. I think buying the entire album outright might wind up being cheaper, too ($9.99 if I'm not mistaken.. but don't quote me on that).

I was also going to talk about how we had a new acoustic gig added on the 28th, but I see Jen's already mentioned that. In fact, she's already mentioned the iTunes thing too. This blog, however awesome it would've been, is a sham, and I have Jen to blame for it. A hex on your house, de la Osa!! Twice!!!

Been visiting the folks this week, which means I've been travelling to various parts of Florida (all two parts). I've rediscovered my love for playing N64 as well. You might call me a nerd, but you'd change your mind if you saw the heated competition as me, my sister, and my 10-year-old cousin pound away at those outdated controllers for absolute supremacy in Mario Kart. I'MA WARIO, I'MA GONNA WIN!!!

(NERD!)

A thanks to Sam and the fine folks at WEXP for a fun late afternoon interview. We'll be posting that on the site for everyone to hear later in the week.

Hope everyone's having an awesome week. And you should all watch Nacho Libre. Es muy bueno.

NaCHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO,
Henry

Currently playing:
Mario Kart 64

We're on more stations, in the Phoenix (sorta), and CMJ news

Henry — Wed, 28 Jun 2006 14:02:00 +0000

ello hello, kiddies.

Radioplay across the nation (always wanted to say that) is doing very well. We almost cracked the CMJ 200 last week I'm told something pretty rare on a self-released debut and it's all thanks to you guys! Keep it up! Check out the updated full list of stations here. I've also posted a selected list of stations below that have the album in heavy and medium rotation. Thank you, thank you, thank you everyone!

As you may or may not know, the Phoenix has a thing called the Phoenix Band Guide. Said "band guide" has a thing called the "featured artist". What does this have to do with anything? Weeeeell, Aloud is said featured artist for the time being.

YAY.

Don't forget:
1) You can by our album (Leave Your Light On) at CD Baby.

2) Or you can buy it on iTunes.

3) We've got an acoustic show at the Burren tonight. Jen and I are going to be playing a ton of covers at we really like at 9pm (don't worry, Ross and Roy will be in on the fun for a few Aloud tunes). The Bleedin Bleedins are on after us (10pm), followed by Gitanes Pales (11pm). It'll be a gas. And I might wear my cowboy hat. You'll just have to wait and see.

Cheers,
Henry

Currently listening to:
Beautiful Day, Pt. 1
By U2

Some top notch reviews!

Jen — Mon, 03 Jul 2006 13:35:00 +0000

We got some rather fantastic review this week.. check 'em out!

The Northeast Performer (CD Review)

The woman in the striped shirt really wants to get into Room #12. She is pounding on the door, and if that is indeed Jen de la Osa of Aloud, then she had best be let in that room. Her voice on this record is strong enough to possibly bust through the three locks and the door-chains and whatever else may block her way. As part of the one-two vocal punch on Leave Your Light On, de la Osa cuts a strong presence on almost every track. She shares vocal duties with the similarly talented Henry Beguiristain, whose smoothly resonating voice is also capable of rising to powerful heights, despite his normal cruising altitude of calm.

Aloud is a band that is almost impenetrably complicated in its simplicity. They are a part of the new wave of bands that pray not at the altar of greasy garage noise but that of hooky melody. They may even be riding the leading edge, judging by the complete sound of Leave Your Light On.

All signs point to Aloud being a great band: their musical and vocal performances are top-notch and their songwriting skills. It is only after a few flashes of mighty brilliance does it become apparent that Aloud is on the fast track to totally finding themselves as a band. This is never more apparent than in "All I Can Do," a song that features both vocalists working together, building refrains, and finding all the right harmonies, seemingly on the fly. The first half of the track is pleasant enough, but Aloud hits paydirt at the midpoint and never looks back. With assets such as strong writing and equally strong voices, there is no reason to look back, but plenty of reason to keep a torch burning for Leave Your Light On. And open up the damned door, already. (Lemon Merchant)

-C.D. Di Guardia

The Noise (CD Review)

This one is a grower. The first listen left me rather indifferent, but listen number two got my attention, and I was hooked by listen number three. (Im on about number 99 now.) Speaking of hookstheyre all over the place on Leave Your Light On. Some of the tracks here rock, some are slow and poignant (and, yes, poppy), but every single one of them wormed its way into my skull and took up residence. The songs are written by singer/ guitarist Jen de la Osa and singer/ guitarist Henry Beguiristain, and whoever plays the leads has impeccable taste in which notes to play and which ones not to, but it is really the vocals that set this apart. Both Jen and Henry can hold their own, but when they sing together, the whole is definitely greater than the sum of its parts. As the press kit says, they leave the garage rock in the garage, but I can still smell some motor oil on the floor in Can You Hear Me Now and Late Last Night. Album closer Godspeed is damn near perfect, aside from being too damned short.

Tim Emswiler

The Noise (Live Review)

Aloudmembers of whom have been present since the pub stage setstear up the remainder of the evening with more enthusiasm than the dwindling crowd can cumulatively muster. I know, I know, its a Tuesday... although as they win a few people over certainly someone will accidentally miss that last 69 bus to Harvard or Lechmere. Sans gimmicky uniforms for awhile nowapparently they made the band feel like they were showing up to work and not to rocktheir big, crunchy archtop guitars, tight drumming, and neat driving bass produce a sound not unlike comfort food, which Im starting to crave a little after all the Buds. During one of Henrys vocal parts, Jen steps aside from her mic and sings along, and dammit, she means every word nobody can hear. So do they allfrom back to back-leaning pick-me-up power playing to three part harmonies on two mics, they mean itthey really, really do, closing the night with a cover of Helter Skelter that just screams for high-fives all around.

John O'Hara

A great big cheers to all of them.

-Jen

Currently listening to:
The Graduate (1967 Film)
By Dave Grusin

Born on the 5th of July

Jen — Wed, 05 Jul 2006 04:26:00 +0000

Not quite as exciting as being born on the fourth, but quite a lot of fun to be had.

Not to be missed. Stay after for Radio America. Handsome gents.

Cheers,

Jen

Currently listening to:
The Wee Hours Revue
By Roman Candle

You like free t-shirts?

Jen — Fri, 07 Jul 2006 03:00:00 +0000

Well now you can have one. Purchase a copy of our album, Leave Your Light On, in the month of July and get a free Aloud T-Shirt. Click here to see what these bad boys look like. Need to listen to more of the record first? Click here to listen to the whole thing.

Where can I get said record? Well you can try CDBaby, iTunes, Napster, Amazon, or Tower Records (Harvard Sq location) to name a few. For a full list of distributer try this. Once you've bought it contact us at aloud@allthingsaloud.com. We'll get your info and send along your shirt.

Ok, off to get some rest for tomorrow show at Bill's Bar.

Cheers,

Jen

P.S. thanks to all you wonderful folk who showed up to Trash Bar last nite. Our eternal thanks to Radio America, Annie Burns, DJ Mojo, that wonderful bartender who went to B.C., and all the other bands. :)

Currently watching:
From Russia with Love

NEWS: Tour resumes, videos, new stores.

Webmaster — Tue, 18 Jul 2006 04:30:00 +0000

Ross Lohr, drummer and economist extraordinaire, is off in Africa for the next three weeks saving the world. "I will be in Tanzania for three weeks doing a research project on economic development and education in furtherance of a project that will link Newton students and citizens to a community in Tanzania," Ross elaborated in the latest Aloud newsletter.

As such, the band will be on a short break for the next few weeks while Ross is in Tanzania. What's a band on sabbatical to do? "We're kinda in the middle of a songwriting splurge," says Jen. "We've been working really hard on new songs for the past month or so," says Henry. "So far, Jen and I have two completed, and we also started working on one of Roy's tunes." We won't be seeing the fruits of their labor in this department for quite a while.

However, the Leave Your Light On Tour resumes with make-up shows from May in Buffalo and Troy, NY on August 11th and 12th (respectively). They'll be trekking through NYC, Pennsylvania, and Massachusetts in August. More dates are currently being added for the Fall, check the tour page often.

Wouldn't It Be Sweet is slated to be the Fall single from Leave Your Light On. A video for Wouldn't It Be Sweet is planned for early Fall, with Beaches director Tom Fitzgerald once again at the helm.

Ever wonder who the girl on the cover is? All will be revealed this week when the first of (we can hope) a series of installments makes its debut. "Leave Your Light On: Behind the Scenes" will feature cover girl Elizabeth Acle answering questions about the photoshoot, and her history with the band.

Finally, Leave Your Light On is now available on Napster as well as iTunes. If you haven't already, buy it now! You'll be eligible to receive a free Aloud t-shirt with purchase of Leave Your Light On (limit one per customer). Just email your receipt to aloud@allthingsaloud.com.

What's going on with Aloud this week?

Jen — Tue, 18 Jul 2006 14:37:00 +0000

Well just check out the website. Find out why Ross is in Africa, when we're filming a new video, and when we'll be in your town next.

Also coming at the end of the week is a little film project on our cover girl for Leave Your Light On, Elizabeth Acle. That's right. Many of you have asked if that was me and the answer is no...yo.

Also up is a new review on the album posted this week on Revolt Media. Still haven't heard the album? On the fence about buying it? May I make a suggestion? Here's the deal.. You can listen to the album in it's entirety on the website! Just go there and click on Listen to the Album. Download some tracks from the album, so you can listen on your iPod for a while. Then to add some fuel to that burning fire buy your copy before July is out! When you buy it this month at any of our retailers we'll send you a Free Aloud T-Shirt. Not a bad deal, eh? Just make sure to email us at aloud@allthingsaloud.com when you've bought the record. Put "I want me free t-shirt" in the subject.

Download savy? iTunes and Napster both carry the album.

Cheers,

Jen

"1: Who's That Girl On The Cover?"

Jen — Thu, 20 Jul 2006 15:41:00 +0000

Now you get to find out! The first installment of Leave Your Light On Behind the Scenes is up. Find out who our cover girl is and how she got mixed up with us. Check our videos section. Leave a comment!

Check back soon for the next installment featuring LYLO photographer Eddie Gutierrez.

Cheers,

Jen

Waiting on a friend

Jen — Wed, 02 Aug 2006 15:03:00 +0000

Hey folks. It's seemed like a very long three weeks that we've been away from you. I don't know how bands take a whole year out, but I suppose it's coz you have to at some point. We're all itching to get out there and play for you. The roar of the amp and the rush of the stage is something we miss dearly. Ross will be back tomorrow though.

We've got some great shows lined up this month. We'll be back to Troy and Buffalo on the 11/12 to make up for those cancelled dates back in May. The next week on the 16/17 we'll be in New York for Death Disco and our debut in PA at John and Peter's in New Hope. We'll cap it off with a hometown show at T.T.'s. It's a Miami-themed nite so it'll be a double hometown show for Henry and I. All the bands playing that nite have members that were originally from the beach. Things are interesting down there right now.

So how are all of you doing? Leave a comment. How are you dealing with the heat? It's 100 degrees outside today. No joke. What you been up to?

Cheers,

Jen

Currently listening to:
Aladdin Sane
By David Bowie

Help Aloud get on CD Baby compilation.

Webmaster — Mon, 07 Aug 2006 04:37:00 +0000

CD Baby is hosting their yearly competition to get in on their compilation, and you can help get Aloud on it!

All you have to do is get Aloud onto the CD Baby Top 100 in the month of August. How do you make this happen? Simply by purchasing a copy of Leave Your Light On from CD Baby. It may seem like a monumental task, but last year folks got into the top 100 by selling a mere 30 CDs in a month.

So come on, guy.. you've waited this long to buy a copy of the record. Make it happen!

NEWS: Tour/radio info + special guests.

Webmaster — Mon, 07 Aug 2006 04:41:00 +0000

Ross made it back in one piece from his trip to Tanzania, which means that Aloud is back on the road! The tour resumes with make-up dates in Buffalo, NY (8/11) at Mohawk Place and Troy, NY (8/12) at Positively 4th Street.

For you Buffalonians (Buffalo-ites?), be sure to tune in to WBNY 91.3 FM in the afternoon. The band will be in-studio for an acoustic performance and interview.

The following week on 8/16, Aloud heads back to New York to perform at Death Disco (now at The Annex, 152 Orchard Street on the Lower East Side). If you want to get into this event for free, RSVP by shooting an email to annie@annierock.com (we all like free things, yeah?).

24 hours and approximately 70 miles to the southeast later, Aloud performs in New Hope, PA for the very first time at John and Peter's.

As always, the band manages to squeeze a hometown show into the mix. Flanked by Sidewalk Driver, The Under, and Straight to Video, Aloud dives into Miami Night at TT the Bear's Place in Cambridge on 8/26. Why Miami? Sidewalk Driver, The Under, and Aloud themselves have founding members from the Sunshine State's favorite city. Reportedly, there will be Cuban cuisine to keep concert-goers (and most certainly, the bands) well fed.

For more information feel free to visit the tour page, and we'll see you on the road!

Henry's big weepy thank you to everyone.

Henry — Thu, 10 Aug 2006 18:50:00 +0000

Hey everyone.. Just took a look at some radio charts and whatnot, and Leave Your Light On is still going strong (and if I'm not retarded about reading this thing, better than when it was released!)

So consider this a big THANK YOU to everyone that's supported us... everyone out there that's been requesting us, all the stations and DJs that have been playing us all over the country, everyone that's given us writeups.. Too many people to list, but you know who you are, and rest assured that we're very appreciative and grateful. Is that redundant? You bet.

I don't have to tell you that making an album and everything surrounding that process can be an uphill and often discouraging battle (if you're doing it right!), especially if the deck is stacked against you from the get-go and your resources are as limited as ours. So the overwhelming positive response to LYLO has knocked me on my ass some (in a good way, of course!). Big ups (big ups?? wtf?) go to Hugh, first and foremost, for being in the trenches with us- both before and after the producing the record, and Annie Burns for all her footwork and hard work on our behalf in New York. We haven't thanked Tom Polce enough either, who had the monumental task of mixing the whole thing down. And of course, our "inner circle" pushing us to make this record for years (y'all know who you are). I know I'm probably leaving someone out and I'll feel like a complete douchebag later. Oh right, and Eddie for taking all those photos, and Tom for all the work he did on the Beaches video, and Blair for those stills from the video we've gotten so much mileage out of, Liz and Jerry for being photographed for the artwork...... and of course, all of you for actually going out and buying the damn record..

I'll stop now before this turns into a big old Oscar acceptance speech (knock it off, Henry, we haven't even won a damn thing!)

Keep requesting LYLO!!
Here's a list of stations where you can request us.

Tell your friends to buy LYLO either at CD Baby or iTunes.

Keep this shit going!!

Check us out tomorrow afternoon (around 3pm) on WBNY 91.3 FM Buffalo, and then tomorrow night (9:30pm) at Mohawk Place with Shaking Hands. Saturday, we'll be in Troy, NY at Positively 4th Street (you should stop by Sunday too, as Artie is holding an anniversary show for Positively 4th Street).

You're all beautiful, man. Seriously.

We'll see ya tomorrow night.

Cheers,
Henry

Rockin' in Buffalo

Zuul — Fri, 11 Aug 2006 18:24:00 +0000

Hello friends, from the road!!

After a brief stop at Niagra Falls, we are live in the Studio at WBNY, Buffalo State. We are about to do an interview and a few acoustic songs on the air! We have shows tonight at Mohawk Place in Buffalo, and at Postively 4th Street in Troy, NY. We hope to see you out there!!

Sincerely,

Ross

I got nothin'.

Henry — Wed, 16 Aug 2006 14:40:00 +0000

Hey kiddies... Much to write about, and not enough time to do it in. I'll be away for the next couple of days in NYC and Pennsylvania so I won't have time to go into detail, but I'll yap all about it soon enough, I'm sure. Still waiting for Ross to get me those damn pictures too. Took loads of video, so as soon as I can edit all that down (assuming there's any usable footage) I'll post that up too.

Morale's high, the air conditioner's fixed, and everyone's happy.

Playing at Death Disco tonight in NYC (it's at the Annex now), and John & Peter's in New Hope, PA. I'll see you there!

Cheers,
Henry

What a ride!

Jen — Sat, 19 Aug 2006 04:41:00 +0000

Just got in from this week's round of shows. NYC and New Hope you were gracious and kind. Thanks :)

I'm tired. Glad to be in Beantown, but missing the late nites and friendly faces. Stay tuned for pictures galore. I know I promised you some from the Buffalo/Troy trip last week, but they're coming. Just waiting to get them from Ross. In the meantime here are a couple.

This is Ross and I at Niagara Falls just before hitting WBNY.

That's mighty close...

Our oh so delightful Chevy Venture...

We shot a lot of video as well, so Henry will be putting together his own video blog for you. Hopefully that'll go down in the next week or so. Also happening next week is our hometown show at T.T. the Bear's on August 26. It's sort of a themed night as all the bands playing having some members originally from Miami (Henry and myself if you didn't know).

Hope you're all having a great end of summer. August is almost over. Some of you will be heading back to school.. others.. well we'll all still be working, eh?

Take care. Hope to see as many of you as I can soon.

Cheers,

Jen

Music on the Road

Dirty Pretty Things: Waterloo to Anywhere

Hard-Fi: Stars of CCTV

Arctic Monkeys: Whatever People Say I Am, That's What I'm Not

The Verve: Urban Hymns

David Bowie: Aladdin Sane

News regarding Tower.com

Webmaster — Sun, 20 Aug 2006 04:45:00 +0000

Due to recent events with Tower, Leave Your Light On is no longer being sold at Tower.com. For details, read here.

Leave Your Light On will still be available at Tower Records in Harvard Square (Cambridge, MA), and hey.. you could always purchase it here.

Buffalo and Troy in pictures

Jen — Tue, 22 Aug 2006 22:40:00 +0000

As promised photos from the road...

First stop was some sightseeing at Niagara Falls

After being wowed by the falls we took off for our interview at WBNY.

Henry and DJ Bill @ WBNY

After the interview we drove to Colin's house. Colin plays in Shaking Hand who we were playing with that night at Mohawk Place. He's also is a band called Johnny Nobody. It was then that we got hungry.

We eat fresh, Subway style.

We arrive at Mohawk Place.

D.B. Blaze

Most of you don't know this, but Roy is rather good on a skateboard.

...so we had a fantastic time playing at Mohawk and decided to go out and celebrate with Colin and co. Warning: stupid, drunk faces abound.

What a long nite...

Then we all got really sleepy.

On the way to Troy for the next show.

Welcome to Positively 4th Street.

Johnny Mystery plays a set before we go on.

Ever wonder what the view is like from behind a drum kit? Wonder no further.

And there you have it.

Cheers,

Jen

Photos from Death Disco last week

Henry — Wed, 23 Aug 2006 18:15:00 +0000

Our friend Nev Brown took a few photos from our show at the Annex last week.. As soon as I get a minute to breathe, I'll be putting together another little tour-diary type video..

That's all I've got. Enjoy!

Cheers,
Henry

More on that NME magazine

Jen — Thu, 24 Aug 2006 18:48:00 +0000

So it seems the NME is wanting to write about new bands and asking you out right for suggestions. Check out their blog about it. Henry was good enough to photoshop us on the cover of the NME...

What do we need from you? We need you to message the NME and tell them about ALOUD! Tell them how you love us and how much they need to review our CD. Give them our myspace page: myspace.com/aloud.

Show them the love.

Cheers,

Jen

style="float:left;">Currently listening to:
Whatever People Say I Am, That's What I'm Not
By Arctic Monkeys

Enigmatic lyrics get fans thinking Aloud

Jen — Fri, 25 Aug 2006 13:00:00 +0000

We got ourselves a little write-up in today's Boston Herald. If you're in Boston please do go pick it up. Here is the link for you online junkies:

http://theedge.bostonherald.com/musicNews/view.bg?articleid=154329

As a bonus you can download "Beaches" and "Wouldn't It Be Sweet" while you're there.

Boston kiddies we'll be at T.T. the Bear's Place tomorrow for some Miami fun. Cuban food will be served. Order yourself a Cuba Libre. That's rum and coke.

Details:

08/26: Saturday

CAMBRIDGE, MA : TT the Bear's: 10 Brookline Street, Central Sq.
MIAMI NIGHT
with: Sidewalk Driver (12am), Straight to Video (11pm), The Under (9pm)
ALOUD @ 10PM; $8, 18+

Cheers,

Jen

O for Out

Jen — Wed, 30 Aug 2006 14:48:00 +0000

Hope everyone is doing well today. I'm doing all right. Thought I'd check in to update you on what's going on in the world of Aloud...Oh but before I do, August has been a lovely month. Thanks to all who came out to Mohawk Place, P4, Death Disco, John and Peters, and T.T.'s. You've made this month a great one full of hotels, smiles, and cheap food.

In September we'll be playing some more shows. First at Dodge (Salem) on 9-14. The following night Crash Mansion (NYC) for our good friend Annie's annual birthday blowout. The next week come join us at Great Scott (Allston) for a show presented by Northeastern Performer. We'll cap things off with an appearance at MEANY Fest hosted at Fat Baby (NYC).

After Sept. we'll be taking some time away from the road to start working on new material, but not before giving you another music video for Can You Hear Me Now? as well as another Behind the Scene video on the album.

Now why don't you still have the album? If you buy it on CDBaby before the end of tomorrow your sales (in addition to the rest for the month) will get us on their compilation. Click that link and buy! Out in the modern world? Download only. Hit up iTunes for Leave Your Light On.

I'll be off to Miami tomorrow for a friend's wedding. Just missed Ernesto. Never fails. Always a storm down there. Be sure and keep bothering the NME to check us out while I'm gone. Stay cool duckies.

Cheers,

Jen

Back again

Jen — Thu, 07 Sep 2006 18:04:00 +0000

Henry and I got back from Miami yesturday. A good friend got married. Cheers!

A quick change on the tour schedule for this month. After a booking snafu we will be playing Dodge St. on Sept 21 NOT Sept 14. Sorry about that folks.

Things are being played out behind the scenes right now, but I can divulge any of that right now for you. You can be sure it'll be up here though once I can. Some fun things to come... of course the whole world may end tomorrow and none of this will happen. But you'll just have to keep waking up everyday to find out.

We'll probably begin filming the video for Can You Hear Me Now? at the end of the month and end somewhere in early Oct. I'm hoping to have it for you here in Nov. In the meantime we've still got the Beaches video and the Behind the Scenes video on Leave Your Light On cover girl Liz Acle.

Well keep living and listening to good music and we'll do the same.

Cheers,

Jen

New MySpace track, video news, and ice cream?

Webmaster — Fri, 08 Sep 2006 04:47:00 +0000

Summer is over, but that doesn't mean the fun has to end. The band had time to sit with the Boston Herald last month for this informative piece. They've also become pretty frequent bloggers on the Aloud myspace page. Click here to view and subscribe. Right now you can check out pictures from August's trips to Buffalo, Troy and New York City. While you're there you might notice another track from Leave Your Light On has been added to the player. This is the lead off track for the album and the inspiration for the artwork.

In other news, Aloud has cancelled plans for the video to Wouldn't it be Sweet. Instead the next video will be for the song Can You Hear Me Now?. Handling the reigns on this will be Beaches director Tom Fitzgerald.

This month check out the band in Boston, Salem and twice in New York City. For more check out the Tour section.

If you've come here looking for ice cream, you've been had. HA!

* Annie's Rock n' Roll Birthday *

Jen — Wed, 13 Sep 2006 13:09:00 +0000

We will be in NYC this Friday for good friend and Aloud guru Annie Burns's Bday extravanganza. There will be FREE booze, FREE cake, FREE toys, and wow! FREE admission with RSVP. Also that nite will be a raffle to give away some amazing vintage rock n roll posters. Did we mention all the other amazing bands? You'd be sensible to be there!

The details:

Friday 09.15.06 * Annie's Rock n' Roll Birthday * Crash Mansion (9pm)

Annie Burns & NewYork Underbelly present:

Annie's Rock n' Roll Birthday
with (in order of appearance):

This Is Exploding (Cleveland)
Fire Flies (NYC)
Aloud (Boston)
Kelly Buchanan (Brooklyn, full band)
Kill the Lights (Toronto)

Crash Mansion.
199 Bowery (@ Spring), NYC.
Subway: 6 to Spring, F to 2nd Ave.
$5 before 11 pm/$10 after 11 pm.

Open Bar 9-10 pm . FREE Jello Shots & cake & toys!
FREE entry before 11 pm with RSVP to rsvp@annierock.com.

www.annierock.com

Boston we'll be back for you next week. Mark the date: Sept 20 @ Great Scott w/ The Motion Sick, The Limit, and Diamond Mines presented to you by Northeast Performer Magazine. More on that next week.

Still need the album? Buy the CD. Buy the MP3s.

Cheers,

Jen

NEWS: NYC show rescheduled, Allston & Salem...

Webmaster — Sun, 17 Sep 2006 04:51:00 +0000

Unfortunately, the NYC show scheduled at Fat Baby has been rescheduled due to a mix-up at the club. The show (part of MEANYFest) has now moved to the infamous CBGB on Friday, 9/22. The upside is that this means the show is now 16+. Bring your friends. Your really underage friends. Might be good to check CB's one last time before they head out to Vegas! For details on the show, click here.

This Wednesday (9/20) the band takes a hike down the street. They peform at Great Scott with The Motion Sick (11pm), The Limit (10pm, from CT), and The Diamond Mines (9pm). The show is presented by Performer Magazine, and is 18+. We're looking at all you Boston University freshmen here. Drop your iPods, Helios, and your Facebooks (what?) for a minute and check out some live music in your backyard!

Thurdsay (9/21) Aloud rocks Salem, MA with The Silver Lining at Dodge Street.

More shows are being booked for the fall, so check the tour page regularly.

Buy that CD yet? Huh? Huh?

On a Sunny Sunday Morning

Jen — Sun, 17 Sep 2006 14:00:00 +0000

It is quite lovely outside. It was a great night in New York on Friday. Happy Birthday again to Annie. A big hug to everyone who came out to watch us. We're all sore from driving home, but it was well worth it.

Just a few notes on this month's remaining shows. If you took a look at the calander you'll notice some dates have been changed. Some booking snafus went down, so the Salem and MEANYfest dates were moved. In fact all the shows are happening this week!

Here's the rundown:

Wed, 9-20 @ Great Scott, Allston, MA 1222 Commonwealth Ave
Hosted by Northeast Performer, with The Motion Sick, The Limit, The Diamond Mines. 18+, $8

Thur, 9-21 @ Dodge St, Salem, MA 7 Dodge St, with the Silver Lining; FREE; 9:30PM

Fri, 9-22 CBGB for MEANYfest, New York, NY 315 Bowery; not sure when we go on, but I would count around 9:00PM. 16+, wow really? yes! 16+, 7pm Festival start time, with The Jack-Ons, The Amaury, The Ropes, Ariel Aparicio and the Hired Guns, Exit the Ordinary, Ten Pound Strike

The nice thing about rescheduling the MEANYfest date is we'll get to play CBGB one more time before it closes down and moves to Las Vegas. Everyone waiting for a reason to visit this historical rock landmark, this is your chance!

That's about all my rock n roll family. See ya soon.

Cheers,

Jen

Boots done me in

Jen — Thu, 21 Sep 2006 22:44:00 +0000

Firey feet means a good show. Thanks to everyone who came out to Great Scott last night. Thanks to Michael and the Northeast Performer for sponsering and of course Carl and Tim of Great Scott. Truly lovely evening. We're doing it all over again tonite with the Silver Lining at Dodge St. in Salem. Come around 9.

Tomorrow we'll be at M.E.A.N.Y.Fest in NYC. We'll be competing for studio time and swell gigs, so if you're in the Big Apple come on down and see us. It's being held at CBGB, so it'll be your chance to check out the legendary rock venue before it's gone in three weeks.

Cheers,

Jen

Currently listening to:
Empire
by Kasabian

Good to be back, good to be back.

Jen — Sun, 24 Sep 2006 01:45:00 +0000

A special thanks for all of you who came out to Great Scott, Dodge St, and CBGB this week. It was great playing for everyone. You pushed us out of our tired shells to play some music for you. As you can see we haven't got any shows lined up right now. We're taking a little break to chill out and work on some new songs for you. Hope you're as excited as we are about this!

Still, fear not some more shows are in the works before the year is out. Can't believe we're almost at 2007. Got some special news and goodies planned for you for then as well.

Keep checking back for more.

Cheers,

Jen

A Northeast Soul

Jen — Wed, 27 Sep 2006 15:58:00 +0000

Dropping a line to all of you. It's midweek finally! I've spent the last couple of days in court on jury duty. Don't be annoyed or frightened when you get called. It's actually a lot of fun and more interesting than you think. I'd do it all over again if I could.

We've been rehearsing 4 new songs this week and having a damn fine time with it. We're working with Hugh again (produced LYLO) and he's been coming in to rehearsals to check things out. October will be a little quiet from us as a result, but of course as you've just read it doesn't mean we've stopped working.

That's really all for now. Hope everyone is enjoying their week.

Cheers,

Jen

Currently listening to:
A Northern Soul
by The Verve

Apparently we all got the memo.

Henry — Wed, 04 Oct 2006 07:15:00 +0000

Sometimes that's how shit goes down. You get together to practice, and everyone comes in with a red t-shirt. And not just any red, either. I'm talking practically the EXACT SHADE OF RED. No planning. No phonecalls. It just happens. Everyone takes off their jacket/sweater, and blammo. One has a picture of a GameCube controller (video game nerd); one with the Duff Beer logo (TV nerd); another with the Rolling Stones tongue (music nerd); and finally the plain red t-shirt (Econ Major....... nerd).

We are a big bunch of nerds.

Naturally, Hugh had the innate wisdom to wear white. But he's not in the band, now is he? I've also posted those pictures from last night's rehearsal (since I wound up leaving my camera there).

After slogging away at this for weeks, I actually had a really good time at practice tonight. The road was a little smoother tonight. Definitely a welcomed contrast to all the business crap we've had to get in order. Mind you, it's necessary crap, but it's crap nonetheless. Hopefully something good will turn up from all of this. (This is where I tell you to stay tuned for more details in the coming months).

Can anyone believe that U2 is putting out a Best Of? It's supposed to be a complete retrospective of the whole catalog, unlike the other Best Of 1980-90 and 1990-2000. I'm more than a little upset. They should be working on a proper album, damnit! What the hell is another Best Of going to do for them? I'm sure everyone else cares as much as I do. In the end, it doesn't really matter I guess. Rock music criticism is wholly unimportant, or so the quote goes (-ish).

Once again, I'm up much later than I would like to be with nothing but my thoughts and the New Radicals playing in the background. I'm off to bed, kiddies.

Shut up, you... I hear you laughing.

Cheers,
Henry


This is Hugh.. the man behind the madness.


	My mess.

The real P. Diddy is somewhere in this picture.

Currently listening to:
Maybe You've Been Brainwashed Too
by New Radicals

They say the devil's water it ain't so sweet.

Henry — Thu, 05 Oct 2006 05:46:00 +0000

Anyone else get a chance to listen to the new Killers album? I'm not certain just yet, but I think this could be one of those albums that I'll dimiss for a week, then will enjoy it more and more with every listen until I think it's absolutely brilliant. Most of my favorite music has gone that route, so I'm hopeful.In any case, When You Were Young is a fantastic song I wish I'd written. Before I go any further, I'd like to say a) yes, I like the Killers. I think Hot Fuss is a good album and I had to make myself not listen to it after having it on repeat for a good two months, and b) Roy, you can kiss my ass. The Bravery suck, and this is an objective fact. I realize the Killers could be major douchebags personally, but I'm sure they could easily get into Great Scott on a Friday night without getting into a fight with the bouncers.
(I really don't care, actually. I thought I could be amusing and topical by bringing that anecdote up. I was there that night and I still didn't notice anything so... what the hell do I know? However, Roy: I will challenge you to fisticuffs!).

But ANYWAY (Chuck Klosterman much?), if I can see that I'm going to think Sam's Town is brilliant *eventually*, does that mean I *already* think it's brilliant? Is this some sort of time paradox?

I actually bought it off of iTunes. Don't get me wrong, I love, love, love the fact that iTunes exist and people use it. I think digital downloading is the next big medium. But personally, I need to have a CD. I need physical artwork. I need to have the superior quality that uncompressed audio provides (never you mind 95% of what I listen to nowadays is off my iPod— I just need to know the option is there). But my folks inadvertently put a monkey wrench in the works by getting me an iTunes gift card. So you tell me.. do I get up off my ass, take the train down to Newbury St, pay $11.99-plus-tax, take the train all the way back to Allston, and then rip this onto iTunes? OR do I just give in to convenience (and Jen's calls to "just fucking do it, man")?

That being said, buy my band's album and it will please me.
for the iTunes camp: link
for the OCD-like-Henry camp: http://www.cdbaby.com/aloud2

So ANYWAY (definitely Chuck Klosterman), based on my future appraisal of the Killers album, I would recommend you grab this up.After you buy my album. We're certainly better than the fucking Killers (he says with a smirk, certainly not taking a page from the book of Oasis).

I'm sure I'm going to get a lot of crap for vast portions of this blog.

Cheers,
Henry

Can You Hear Me Now?

Jen — Sun, 08 Oct 2006 14:37:00 +0000

We had a meeting with Tom on Wednesday. You remember him? He did the video for "Beaches". So we finally had this meeting about doing a video for "Can You Hear Me Now?". This is going to be a very different video from "Beaches". Lots of surreal images and a storyline running through it. I think you'll enjoy it very much. I don't want to divulge too much information about the story since I'd like for it to be surprise and open to interpretation. Nothing mind blowing. I'm not saying we're trying to make a video about the meaning of life kiddies. If you take a listen to the song the story's all there anyway. Speaking of, if you haven't listened to the album yet you can here. Or better yet buy it here.

You may have noticed noticed we've added a Boston date. We'll be at Bill's Bar for another FNX night on Nov. 10 with Violet Nine and the Break Mission. We're on in the middle at 11pm. I know you New Yorkers have been asking about a New York date. It's being worked on and we'll put it up as soon as we have it. I imagine those shows would probably round up the year for us as we're working on new material still. Second album is shaping up nicely. We actually just did some more demos this past Saturday.

Cheers,

Jen

Currently listening to:
Pop
by U2

Another Tower Falls

Jen — Wed, 11 Oct 2006 13:45:00 +0000

Hey all. Just a quick note about our record. This mainly concerns Boston folk. Tower Records has been bought out and therefore won't be stocking Leave Your Light On. So please don't go down there expecting to find a copy. But please feel free to buy one here.

Cheers,

Jen

New vid/Tickets for Robbers on High Street

Jen — Tue, 24 Oct 2006 15:50:00 +0000

Good morning/afternoon/evening.. wherever this may find you.

Been a while since I posted one of these, so I thought I'd say hello. We start filming the video for Can You Hear Me Now? this weekend with Beaches director Tom Fitzgerald. We'll have the help of a couple actor friends of ours in this one. We'll be going for a slightly more surreal feel for this one and hopefully we'll have it up by the end of Nov. for you; a little holiday treat as it were.

In the meantime we've still been shutting ourselves in the rehearsal space working out new songs. We've got about five new ones right now with a couple more in the works. You may get to hear some soon enough...

What am I talking about? Well, if you've noticed we've added two shows to the schedule for November. The first at Bill's Bar for the FNX New England Product night with Violet Nine and the Break Mission. The other is a very special treat.. We'll be supporting Robbers on High Street at the Middle East Upstairs on Nov. 29. Those new tunes? They may just be ready for this one. You can buy tickets for the show at Ticketmaster or in person at the Middle East Box Office. Here's some great flyers Henry made up for the show...

Again if you still haven't heard the album take a listen here. Then go buy it here or here. Or download some free tracks here. That's all the news for now. I'll let you know how the video shoot goes.

Cheers,

Jen

Currently reading:
The Ground Beneath Her Feet
by Salman Rushdie

What do YOU want to hear next?

Jen — Thu, 26 Oct 2006 12:41:00 +0000

It's that time again to rotate a tune from Leave Your Light On on the MySpace player. Release will have to go and another song must take it's place. This time we're leaving it up to you. Chime in on this blog and tell us what song you want to hear next. Beaches, All I Can Do, and Godspeed are already on there, so you can't pick those. Also don't pick Release because we just had it on there. :)

You can listen to the entire album here. And if you feel like buying it afterwards you can do that as well.

Ok chime away...

Cheers,

Jen

P.S. Tomorrow we begin filming the video for Can You Hear Me Now? We'll have photos from the shoot after the weekend.

Currently listening to:
Language. Sex. Violence. Other?
By Stereophonics

Back In the Habit.

Jen — Mon, 06 Nov 2006 14:44:00 +0000

You might have noticed from our new photo that we've got a gig coming up this week. After hibernating with new songs for a month we're back out in Boston for FNX's New England Product Spolight on Nov. 10 at Bill's Bar. The Break Mission will open at 10pm, with us on at 11pm, and Violet Nine headlines at Midnight.

Here's a little visual for you...

This show will be streaming as well (as you can see at the bottom of the flyer) at banddigs.com.

You might hear some new tunes at this show... If you can't make it to this one fear not... We've still got this show at the end of the month up our sleeves...

Buy tickets for our support slot with Robbers On High Street here or in person at the Middle East Box Office..

We'll have another tune from Leave Your Light On on the MySpace player soon...

Cheers,

Jen

P.S. Video for Can You Hear Me Now? went fantastic!! Tom is editing as we speak. Henry should have a blog up with some photos soon.

Let's not forget... the General Erection

Henry — Tue, 07 Nov 2006 17:30:00 +0000

Hey everyone, today's election day.

Whatever the hell your beliefs and opinions are, don't forget to vote.

Don't know where your polling place is? Click here: http://www.vote411.org/pollingplacebystate.php?ms=rtv_index.
Depending on your state you can get a sample ballot to know just what the hell your voting for.

Project Vote Smart www.vote-smart.org
It's a really good resource to look at voting records and such. Might have to try the link a few times, since traffic might be a little high today.

Good luck.. Godspeed.. Rock n' roll,
Henry

Currently listening to:
The Wall
By Pink Floyd

I write bloggings (or, the Can You Hear Me Now? blog)

Henry — Wed, 08 Nov 2006 23:46:00 +0000

Now that we've gotten this whole voting mess out of the way, I can write about the video shoot a couple of weeks ago.

So how was it?

Well, it was loads work that happened to be fun, and I can't believe how much we got done so quickly. I'll probably be vague with a lot of this so I don't spoil the whole damn thing, but...

We were working with Tom Fitzgerald again, who did a wonderful job on Beaches. We decided to go with something a little different and go in the opposite direction from the Beaches video. No performances or anything, just a concept and a storyline for the video. That was great because it gave us freedom to get really surreal with it. And since none of us were obligated to actually be in the video, we could fuck around on the set and not really have to work. HA!

Most of that burden was carried by our friend Crystal Lisbon. As luck would have it, she's a professional actress (and a good one at that).

Also some quick shout outs (shout outs?) to Liz (our album cover girl), Greg Baldi (the man in the wig), Brandon (with the hat), and of course.. Wyman, the best ticker-scroller this side of Allston.

Gotta run to practice now, but here's some photos! Everyone likes pretty pictures yes? Yes?

Cheers,
Henry

Quick note

Jen — Sat, 11 Nov 2006 15:27:00 +0000

A quick thank you to everyone who came out last nite to Bill's Bar. Hope you like the new ones and we'll see you again on the 29th at the Middle East...

Buy your tickets for this show here.

Cheers,

Jen

Currently listening to:
October
By U2

And the new song on the player is...

Jen — Mon, 13 Nov 2006 15:23:00 +0000

nothing... Yes unfortunatly MySpace is being ridiculous and annoying and not allowing us to upload the next song from the album onto the MySpace player.. so no Late Last Nite for a little while.. Sorry folks. We'll keep trying.

Until then you can listen to the all of Leave Your Light On here. And if you like it enough please feel free to buy it online here or iTunes. Or if you're in our part of the world pick up a copy at our next show (buy tickets for that show here)...

Cheers,

Jen

Currently listening to:
October
by U2

Getting Late... Late Last Nite

Jen — Sun, 19 Nov 2006 16:51:00 +0000

So yes, late last nite, Henry was able to put up Late Last Nite for your listening pleasure. Please enjoy.

Also, got your tickets for our 11-29 Middle East show with Robbers on High Street? No? BUY NOW!

Cheers,

Jen

Currently listening to:
Zooropa
by U2

Lord Don't Slow Me Down

Henry — Mon, 20 Nov 2006 09:39:00 +0000

A few things:

Anyone who's into Oasis (or band documentaries) should check this out. Free screenings to the new docu, just email an RSVP. If anyone's going to the Boston (but really, Cambridge) screening hit me up. (Trailer is here if you're curious: www.youtube.com/watch?v=6xUUZb5NdwY ).

Speaking of trailers, color me nerd (NERD!), but the new Spider-Man movie looks like it's going to kick ass. (Shh... the leaked trailer with Venom is here, for fellow nerdboys. Quickly, before it's taken down.)

This blog isn't going very well, is it?

I made the mistake today (among other mistakes) of taking a nap around 8pm. Woke up at 1am, haven't been able to sleep since. Feels like I've been wearing myself down lately, I should probably cool it. Go vegetarian (yea, right), try some transcendental meditation or something trendy-yet-probably-helpful like that. Perhaps do a better job of keeping in touch with my family. Feels like I haven't spoken to them at all in months. This is untrue, of course— I'm just absolutely horrible when it comes to returning anyone's phonecalls. Not being constantly on the road is killing me. I might have a touch of cabin fever.

I had way too much fun this weekend, though. This includes spending the hours of 12pm-8pm on Saturday with Roy playing Gears of War (NERD!).

Been reading Johnny Cash's autobiography, courtesy of Kris. It's good stuff, I highly recommend it.

But not the same way I recommended the new Killers album. Turns out it didn't take, and it's not all that great. A couple of good songs on there, and my opinion on what a great song When You Were Young hasn't changed. But the rest feels like they tried too hard and overshot. Best comment on the album was from Pitchfork (yea, yea, I know): " aiming for Springsteen and missing even slightly results in Meat Loaf". I don't hate the album though, and I suppose they get points for trying to do something outside of their comfort zone. Or not. What the hell do I know? I'm listening to it now anyway. How's that for ya? (NERD!)

Also, my admission that this album basically sucks should not indicate my support for the Bravery. You hear me Roy? THERE WILL BE A RUCKUS. AND FISTICUFFS.

Blogging isn't helping me sleep, and I've gotta be up in about three hours. Jay-sus. But it's all good. The thought of calling out of work tomorrow is crossing my mind, but I mustn't (responsibility and whatnot). Already taking a day off for the holiday this week. Roy, Jen's sister Ale, and myself are headed down to North Carolina to meet up with Jen this Wednesday. Something like a 14 hour drive. Should be fun. Or absolutely horrible.

Oh right, I must do the band thing and plug the hell out of our show on the 29th.

Robbers on High Street, the Shills, and The Televangelist and the Architect. I've been hearing some noise about the Shills lately, all good. Should be a good time. Middle East Upstairs. The show's 18+, and if you buy tickets at the Middle East box office you save a little money. Get your tickets here, if Ticketbastard is your thing:
http://www.ticketmaster.com/event/01003D4DAE10AC96?artistid=961088&majorcatid=10001&minorcatid=60

I'm heading down to Central Square at some point early this week, so if anyone wants me to get tickets for them, let me know and we'll work something out.

My pal Beca (I've special permission to call her Becky) took a shitload of photos at the Bill's show. Those should be up and about as soon as we can sort through them all. When I say shitload, I mean it. Something like 650 photos, whittled down to 230, which needs to be brought down to something reasonable. Like.... 12. A bunch of them were taken rapidly in sequence, so it almost looks like a movie. I made a little animation of it, but the thing's like 85 MB. So... no. (NERD!)

Cheers,
Henry

Friday night arrives without a suitcase

Henry — Tue, 21 Nov 2006 07:38:00 +0000

There's four sampler tracks of the "new" Beatles Love album. I'm really digging it, and I'm really overwhelmed by it. Lady Madonna, with Hey Bulldog somehow fitting over it and Eric Clapton's solo from While My Guitar Gently Weeps playing as well. Somehow it all fits together nicely. Speaking of While My Guitar Gently Weeps, the demo version from Anthology 3 is on there now with strings. Fucking gorgeous. Can't stop listening to it. I love that band. When it comes to music, whenever I'm lost that band is my center. Like being wrapped up in your favorite blanket.

My blanket of the moment happens to be Sgt. Pepper.

You can listen to the four sampler tracks here:http://www.nme.com/mediaPlayer&function=right&playlist_id=745&unsigned=

And oddly enough, my three favorite bands of all time are putting out records of rehashed material on the same day. Oasis (Stop the Clocks) and U2 (U218) are putting out Best Of's, as well as the fabs with Love. I'm kinda happy about the Oasis best of, even though there are absolutely no new songs on it. Conversely, I'm disappointed about the U2 best of, even though there are two new songs on it. I can understand that it's supposed to coincide with their Beatles Anthology-esque autobiography, but they've already got two (count 'em) Best Of's already out there (one of them was put out just three, four years ago). What the hell, guys?

Gonna go to the Oasis screening tomorrow at the Kendall for Lord Don't Slow Me Down. Very excited about that. I love band-on-the-road type documentaries.

Finally saw Borat tonight. It was excellent, but I've seen the Borat skits on Ali G for a while. Not to take away from the movie, but I think the skits were better. All the same, I'd recommend the movie to everyone I know. Especially if you won't get it. There's something great about that humor, catching people unawares and on camera.

Finally got around to working on a demo. That makes me happy.

Anything else?

Why, yes:
http://www.ticketmaster.com/event/01003D4DAE10AC96?artistid=961088&majorcatid=10001&minorcatid=60

Cheers,
Henry

Currently listening to:
Love
By The Beatles

Musicnation

Jen — Thu, 23 Nov 2006 09:11:00 +0000

Everyone likes to vote and feel important, no? Well we'd like to think that the Aloud camp we offer such opportunities. So here's another one.

Go check out our video for Beaches at Musicnation.com.

View it there and tell your friends to check it out there too!! The more views we get the more we'll get the chance to be most viewed on the site and have a chance at THREE Epic records contracts they're giving away with this! So please check out the Beaches video here, leave a comment, and pass the message along to your friends.

Thanks in advance... and speaking of advance if you need tickets to our show at the Middle East Upstairs next week go here. (I know I've been mentioning this quite a bit, but really it's because I'd love to have you there :), really.)

Cheers,

Jen

Currently watching:
The Man with the Golden Gun

Had A Good Holiday?

Jen — Mon, 27 Nov 2006 03:33:00 +0000

Hope those of you who celebrated Thanksgiving had a rather nice one. Thought we'd share some of our holiday with you. I think I might have mentioned that I went down to Raleigh, NC to spend it with my folks. Henry, Roy, and my sister joined me there for the Turkey meal. It also possible that Henry, Roy, and myself may have discovered a love for Guitar Hero II. Observe...

I would recommend a bottle of wine to make playing more fun. That's Roy Blaze approved.

After all the fun and pie we all drove back up the East Coast and are back home preparing for Wednesday's gig with Robbers on High Street.

I may also recommend buying tickets for Wednesday's show if you live here in Beantown. Or not. Take a plane.

Cheers,

Jen

Currently reading:
U2 by U2
by U2

Time Change for Wednesday's Gig

Jen — Tue, 28 Nov 2006 15:21:00 +0000

Heyo, heard yesturday that tomorrow's show is being pushed earlier. So instead of going on at 10:30 we are now going on at 10:15 and the entire show is starting at 8:45. Even better for a Wednesday night, eh?

11/29 CAMBRIDGE, MA : Middle East Upstairs
472 Massachusetts Ave (Central Square)
w. Robbers on High Street (11:00), Aloud (10:15) the Shills (9:30), The Televangelist and the Architect (8:45pm)

If you haven't got tickets yet I would recommend just getting them at the Middle East Box Office. They'll be a little cheaper in advance ($10 vs. $12).

Can't wait to see you there!

Cheers,

Jen

Currently listening to:
Empire
by Kasabian

Did someone say "boobs"?

Henry — Fri, 01 Dec 2006 15:45:00 +0000

Hey everyone, it's Henry. Just wanted to give everyone a big Thank You for Wednesday night's show. It's the best I've felt in months, and hopefully you all felt the same way. We got the whole thing on film, so hopefully we'll get an edit to you all sooner rather than later.

Special thanks goes to our new friends, who contributed to yet another Aloud milestone:

We don't have anymore shows scheduled for this year unfortunately, but stay tuned.. there are more good things coming before Christmas by way of the interweb.

Speaking of the holidays, these make good stocking stuffers. I'm just sayin'...

Rock!

Henry

Were You at the Middle East last week?

Jen — Sun, 03 Dec 2006 17:48:00 +0000

Then you'd know we were having the gig filmed and photographed. All around great guy Mick Murray took these photos of the show. We love them. You should love them too.

Cheers,

Jen

Currently listening to:
Window in the Skies Pt.1
By U2

Happy holidays, from Aloud.

Webmaster — Wed, 06 Dec 2006 04:54:00 +0000

The four of us would like to extend our warmest wishes for the holiday season to you and yours. We'll be working our collective creative noggins this month on some new material while the whole world drinks egg nog. We'd also like to say THANK YOU for everyone who came out to a show, bought a CD, or dropped us a line! It's been a good year.

We're happy to announce that long time friend/nyc booker Annie Burns (of annie*rock) is now managing us. Be on the lookout next year for all the new Aloud related activity the five of us have been planning. In the meantime, please take feel free to listen to our album in it's entirety for FREE here and if you feel so inclined you can purchase it here.

Leave Your Light On makes for a great stocking stuffer!

Happy Holidays!

Jen, Henry, Ross, and Roy

Comment on them, won't you?

Jen — Wed, 06 Dec 2006 19:46:00 +0000

So some of those Middle East photos are on our MySpace pics page. Check 'em out if you didn't wanna sift through 173 photos on Mick's Flickr account. :)

And feel free to leave a little comment.

Cheers,

Jen

Currently listening to:
Quiet Zone EP
By The GoStation

Aloud & co. Receives 5 Nominations.. Vote today!

Webmaster — Wed, 13 Dec 2006 05:20:00 +0000

Aloud, their debut Leave Your Light On, and Lemon Merchant Records have received a combined 5 nominations in this year's Noise Poll (conducted by the Noise Magazine).

Vote for the band and crew in the following categories this month!

#3. CD
Aloud - Leave Your Light On
#6. Vocalist (F)
Jen de la Osa (Aloud)

#7. Guitarist
Henry Beguiristain (Aloud)

#17. Record Label
Lemon Merchant

#18. Producer
Hugh Wyman

While you're there, cast in a vote for Photographer (#16) Mick Murray, who took fantastic photos for the band at the Middle East this month.

Vote early, and vote often! Everyone here appreciates the support.

Link: http://www.thenoise-boston.com/poll2006.asp

Hey everyone.. VOTE FOR US! (5 nominations for Aloud & the album)

Henry — Wed, 13 Dec 2006 21:53:00 +0000

Hey kids.. Just got word that we've been nominated for some stuff in the Noise Poll. Please vote for us in these categories, so we can brag about it next year. :D

#3. CD
Aloud - Leave Your Light On

#6. Vocalist (F)
Jen de la Osa (Aloud)

#7. Guitarist
Henry Beguiristain (Aloud)

...that's me. :D

#17. Record Label
Lemon Merchant

... that's our self-owned record label

#18. Producer
Hugh Wyman

Again, the link is:
http://www.thenoise-boston.com/poll2006.asp

We've also got a lot of friends on this list, so I'll refrain from recommendations.. except for Photographer Mick Murray. Vote for him! He took those new kickass photos of ours. :)

Vote early
Vote often!

Cheers,
Henry

You should vote for us!

Henry — Mon, 18 Dec 2006 15:58:00 +0000

Just a little reminder that we've been nominated for a few things in this year's Noise Poll. Please vote for us! The poll closes on 12/29/06. But don't wait, just go and do it now.

Cos if you're anything like me, you'll probably be like "Oh, that's cool. Aloud's totally like the greatest band ever. I'll vote for them on my lunch break." Then you go on your lunch break and are too busy thinking about whether you should go to Subway, or give in to deliciousness and go to Wendy's. And because you're occupied chowing down on your #1 w/ cheese (medium) with a Frosty—to go— you completely forget to vote.

Here's the link: http://www.thenoise-boston.com/poll2006.asp

Vote for this stuff..

#3. CD
Aloud - Leave Your Light On

#6. Vocalist (F)
Jen de la Osa (Aloud)

#7. Guitarist
Henry Beguiristain (Aloud)

#17. Record Label
Lemon Merchant

#18. Producer
Hugh Wyman

And cos he's such a talented guy, we're putting our support behind Photographer Mick Murray (#16)....... and Nate Rogers (#22) for Best Centerfold. Honestly, how could you not vote for something like this?

Vote early & vote often,
Henry

Tell Rolling Stone you love us!

Jen — Wed, 20 Dec 2006 13:42:00 +0000

Rolling Stone is having a competition this week. They're listening to one song from bands on myspace. We've submitted 'Beaches'. They'll announce who gets to be featured on RollingStone.com this Friday! BUT they want to hear from you! They want to hear who YOU think deserves the recognition!

Tell them you want RollingStone.com to feature Aloud!

Thanks for everything folks!

Jen

HO HO HO

Zuul — Thu, 21 Dec 2006 17:25:00 +0000

We're happy to announce that long time friend/nyc booker Annie Burns (of annie*rock) is now managing us. Be on the lookout next year for all the new Aloud related activity the five of us have been planning. In the meantime, please take feel free to listen to our album in it's entirety for FREE here.

Leave Your Light On makes for a great stocking stuffer! And if you've got some spare time, we've been nominated in five categories in this year's Noise Poll. Here's a rundown of what we're nominated for:

#3. CD
Aloud - Leave Your Light On

#6. Vocalist (F)
Jen de la Osa (Aloud)

#7. Guitarist
Henry Beguiristain (Aloud)

#17. Record Label
Lemon Merchant

#18. Producer
Hugh Wyman

http://www.thenoise-boston.com/poll2006.asp

Happy Holidays!

Jen, Henry, Ross, and Roy

Currently listening to:
Boy
by U2

You've Got 2 More Days

Jen — Thu, 28 Dec 2006 02:46:00 +0000

That's right. Two more days to vote for us in the 2006 Noise Poll. If you haven't heard we've received 5 nominations this year. Voting ends December 29, so you've still got time to give a dog a bone. Here's what we're up for:

#3. CD
Aloud - Leave Your Light On

#6. Vocalist (F)
Jen de la Osa (Aloud)

#7. Guitarist
Henry Beguiristain (Aloud)

#17. Record Label
Lemon Merchant

... that's our self-owned record label

#18. Producer
Hugh Wyman

Here's that link: http://www.thenoise-boston.com/poll2006.asp

The New Year is almost upon us. I'm delighted myself to say goodbye to 2006. Some years simply feel like a fling. Onward.

On a different note, you should all go listen to a copy of James Brown's Live At The Apollo. A true soul brother. It's absolutely sad to have him gone.

Cheers,

Jen

Currently listening to:
Live at the Apollo
By James Brown

Happy New Year

Jen — Wed, 03 Jan 2007 19:41:00 +0000

A belated Happy New Years to all. The 2006 Noise Poll has closed, so thanks to everyone who voted. The results will be printed in the February edition of the Noise and we'll let you know if we won anything. That month also brings us back on the road with two gigs scheduled and more to come.

In other news, we're still working out more new tunes that may turn up in our set lists. You may have heard a couple back in November. More to come on that later.

All the best for the new year!

Jen

Quieter Bands?

Jen — Thu, 11 Jan 2007 05:23:00 +0000

Interesting piece. Pete Townsend's take on modern bands getting quiet. He's not necessarily saying it as a criticism. What do you think?

Check out the article here: http://www.nme.com/news/who/25769

We promise to say it loud. Sometimes quiet, but mainly loud. Both are good, but it's just our style.

Cheers,

Jen

Currently listening :
Kasabian
By Kasabian
Release date: 08 March, 2005

Can You Hear Me Now?

Jen — Mon, 15 Jan 2007 14:55:00 +0000

We had a chance to watch the first cut of the "Can You Hear Me Now?" video yesturday and it's really looking very cool. Tom and Henry will be doing some more work on it today and we'll be posting it up in February. IF you can't wait that long though we'll be giving our mailing list an exclusive look at it. All you have to do is sign up for the list.

In the meantime it wouldn't be us if we weren't asking you to vote for something. Yes, that's what I'm about to do. We've submitted the video for "Beaches" on Musicnation.com. The winners are in three different categories (rock, urban, pop) and they'll walk away with a record deal from Epic Records or a chance to perform on ClearChannel's "Stripped". There's still time till the contest, but you'd be spectacular incredibly awesome to register on their site (only takes a minute). Once you've done that watch "Beaches" to get us on the Most Viewed page and leave us a comment. Thanks for all that love!

Keep checking for dates to be added in Feb. and March. That'll include a NYC date. I know you folks have been asking me about it. :)

Cheers,

Jen

Bringing It To the Boroughs

Jen — Tue, 30 Jan 2007 03:42:00 +0000

I keep getting asked when we're headed back to New York and now you have your answer. Mark your calanders for March 1 as we invade Brooklyn's Luna Lounge. More details to come on this gig. We're happy to get back!

Also, voting on Musicnation.com started today. Thanks to you we're ranked 60th place out of 551 videos!! :)

But we need you to keep voting, keep leaving comments, and keep viewing. Vote for Beaches now. You can also text V1db to NATION (628466) to vote.

Fantastic! Wonderful week thus far... coming soon... the video for Can You Hear Me Now?

Cheers,

Jen

Currently listening :
The Bootleg Series, Vol. 6: Bob Dylan Live 1964 - Concert at Philharmonic Hall
By Bob Dylan
Release date: 30 March, 2004

Muchas Gracias

Jen — Thu, 01 Feb 2007 18:35:00 +0000

Why hello... We'd like to thank everyone who voted for us in the 2006 Noise Poll. Our music guru and producer for LYLO, Hugh Wyman, took home 4th for best producer and yours truly received 3rd for best female vocalist. Thanks for voting us in friends.

And while I've got you in a "my vote counts" mode head on over to MusicNation.com to vote for the video to our song Beaches. Or you can text V1db to NATION (628466) to vote.

Cheers,

Jen

The Kids Are Alright, but the City of Boston doesn't think so.

Henry — Thu, 08 Feb 2007 14:00:00 +0000

Hey all, some news here that affects those of us in Boston... This hasn't really made the news because the City of Boston did this with very little fanfare.

Last Tuesday, the Mayor's Office of Consumer Affairs and Licensing issued a directive to all venues operating underage events. Now, the new guidelines for these venues are that all events that go on past 11pm must be 21+. All underage events must be over by 11pm, and there cannot be a secondary event proceeding it.

This affects all clubs in the city like The Paradise, Great Scott, and Harpers Ferry (TT's and the Middle East are in Cambridge, so they remain unaffected). It's largely believed to be a reaction to stabbings that occured on Lansdowne Street last year and last month, and follows another temporary directive that was more specific to Lansdowne. It goes without saying people should be feel safe when they're out trying to have a good time. But the fact is the crime data does not support the aims of this directive.

This directive only serves to further burden the Boston Police Department and make the music community in Boston suffer. Really cool and viable places like Great Scott and Harpers Ferry that host 18+ and all ages events will suffer. The underage population and bands with underage members will have their already narrow options limited severely.

If, like us, you do not support this directive, we ask that you please contact the Mayor's office and voice your concerns. Even if you live outside of Boston, go ahead and get in touch! (Or you can email Mayor@cityofboston.gov). Be firm if you must, but please be respectful.

Here's a good article on the situation from the Weekly Dig: http://www.weeklydig.com/blog/articles/further_civic_paranoia

Please spread the word.. copy this to bulletins and blogs (code for posting is below), tell your friends, sign petitions.. this needs as much support and attention as possible.

"Don't let the bastards grind you down",
Henry

Code to copy to your blog or bulletin

Last Tuesday, the Mayor's Office of Consumer Affairs and Licensing issued a directive to all venues operating underage events. Now, the new guidelines for these venues are that all events that go on past 11pm must be 21+. All underage events must be over by 11pm, and there cannot be a secondary event proceeding it. This affects all clubs in the city like The Paradise, Great Scott, and Harpers Ferry (TT's and the Middle East are in Cambridge, so they remain unaffected). It's largely believed to be a reaction to stabbings that occured on Lansdowne Street last year and last month, and follows another temporary directive that was more specific to Lansdowne. It goes without saying people should be feel safe when they're out trying to have a good time. But the fact is the crime data does not support the aims of this directive. This directive only serves to further burden the Boston Police Department and make the music community in Boston suffer. Really cool and viable places like Great Scott and Harpers Ferry that host 18+ and all ages events will suffer. The underage population and bands with underage members will have their already narrow options limited severely. If, like us, you do not support this directive, we ask that you please <a style="font-weight: bold;" href="http://www.cityofboston.gov/contact/default.asp?id=55" target="_blank">contact the Mayor's office and voice your concerns</a>. Even if you live outside of Boston, go ahead and get in touch! (Or you can email <a href="mailto:Mayor@cityofboston.gov" target="_blank">Mayor@cityofboston.gov</a>). Be firm if you must, but please be respectful. Here's a good article on the situation from the Weekly Dig: <a style="font-weight: bold;" href="http://www.weeklydig.com/blog/articles/further_civic_paranoia" target="_blank">http://www.weeklydig.com/blog/articles/further_civic_paranoia</a> Please spread the word.. copy this to bulletins and blogs, tell your friends, sign petitions.. this needs as much support and attention as possible.

Currently listening :
London Calling
By The Clash
Release date: 25 January, 2000

The Kids Are Alright, but the City of Boston doesn't think so.

Henry — Thu, 08 Feb 2007 14:00:00 +0000

Currently listening :
London Calling
By The Clash
Release date: 25 January, 2000

The Kids Are Alright, but the City of Boston doesn't think so.

Webmaster — Mon, 12 Feb 2007 03:53:00 +0000

The Mayor's Office of Consumer Affairs and Licensing issued a directive to all venues operating underage events. Now, the new guidelines for these venues are that all events that go on past 11pm must be 21+. All underage events must be over by 11pm, and there cannot be a secondary event proceeding it.

This affects all clubs in the city like The Paradise, Great Scott, and Harpers Ferry (TT's and the Middle East are in Cambridge, so they remain unaffected). It's largely believed to be a reaction to stabbings that occured on Lansdowne Street last year and last month, and follows another temporary directive that was more specific to Lansdowne. It goes without saying people should be feel safe when they're out trying to have a good time. But the fact is the crime data does not support the aims of this directive.

This directive only serves to further burden the Boston Police Department and make the music community in Boston suffer. Really cool and viable places like Great Scott and Harpers Ferry that host 18+ and all ages events will suffer. The underage population and bands with underage members will have their already narrow options limited severely.

If, like us, you do not support this directive, we ask that you please contact the Mayor's office and voice your concerns. Even if you live outside of Boston, go ahead and get in touch! (Or you can email Mayor@cityofboston.gov). Be firm if you must, but please be respectful.

Please spread the word.. copy this to bulletins and blogs, tell your friends, sign petitions.. this needs as much support and attention as possible.

###

Keep checking back here to see if this will affect any of Aloud's scheduled Boston shows.

Links
- Boston Herald article (Henry quoted)
- Boston Globe article
- Weekly Dig article

Libertines in Drag

Jen — Mon, 12 Feb 2007 05:28:00 +0000

We had the chance to catch Radio America this past weekend at an old familiar haunt, Ralph's Diner. It was nice to visit what used to be our home away from home. It was even nicer of course to catch the boys in action complete with new drummer Robbie (he's from Texas we here). We had some time for a little photo opp...

Some of you may have seen us play with them in New York. Speaking of the Big Apple we'll be headed back on March 1 this time to the new Luna Lounge in Williamsburg. I'm told it's rather fantastic and much nicer than the old room. Joining us onstage will be the Shapes. Check them out if you're planning on coming to the show. Many more shows throughout the next two months as well.

There'll be some more news in the next couple of weeks including a new look for the website, the premeire of the Can You Hear Me Now? video, and more.

In the meantime (there's always that phrase in one of my blogs, eh?) you could take a minute and vote for our Beaches video at Musicnation.com. If you're reading this on that crazy technology that gets it to your phone you can also text your vote! Text V1db to NATION (628466). All your help is always appreciated my fine folks.

In more news on the directive Boston passed against underage shows past 11, we've found out you can petition the city to have the event go on at the normal hours. So if we've got to do that then that's what we'll do. But keep writing your letters and we'll do the same! Also our Henry got quoted in this article on the situation in the Boston Herald by Michael Marotta.

Keep fighting the good fight.

Cheers,

Jen

Madness On Ice

Jen — Thu, 15 Feb 2007 18:57:00 +0000

If you're in New England today you'll notice all the massive amounts of ice everywhere. That's right I'm sure many spent the morning shoveling themselves out. But no matter, as true/honorary New Englanders, we'll be fighting it this weekend. I've been looking forward to our gig at India Queen for quite some time. There's many reasons to come to this show. 1) It's FREE, 2)t here'll be fine Indian food and 3) of course Bob Nash, the charismatic owner. He's a complete laugh, makes a mean drink, and will have you enjoying yourself before you know it. Throw in some great tunes (including a handful of new ones!) and sounds like quite an evening. Get some skiing/snowboarding done during the day and come join us and Fire Flies (NYC) in Hanover, NH this Friday (2-16).

Now, if you really wanna lay into that skiing you should check out Sunday's gig (also with Fire Flies) at the Sunday River Brewing Company which is just down the mountain from the Sunday River Ski Lodge. Not a bad deal, eh? And it's President's Day weekend, so you'll have a nice long one before the drudge of 9-5 comes to oppress you once again.

You're going to enjoy these new songs as well. I really think you will.

See you this weekend...

Jen

Currently listening :
Stop the Clocks
By Oasis
Release date: 21 November, 2006

On a Sled, On My Way Home...

Jen — Sat, 17 Feb 2007 20:30:00 +0000

Just back from Hanover. We had a lovely time playing for everyone at India Queen. Special thanks to Bob Nash, Cindy & co., and of course Fire Flies who put on a fantastic show. It was truly an adventure trying to drive through the snow ridden streets. Two-ways became one-ways and we had to hurry after our set and move the Aloudmobile before it got towed for snow removal. Roy moved fast on that. That's good because we'll need the van tomorrow to travel to the Sunday River Brewing Company for another show with the fabulous Fire Flies. Will there be snow you ask? I should hope so as this place is located just at the foot of the mountain of the Sunday River Ski Lodge. It's President's Day weekend; you have Monday off. Come on out.

Cheers,

Jen

Currently listening :
Whatever People Say I Am, That's What I'm Not
By Arctic Monkeys

Sunday River Show CANCELLED

Jen — Sun, 18 Feb 2007 21:10:00 +0000

With much regret I must inform you we've had to cancel our show at the Sunday River Brewing Company. Unfortunately we've had to deal with the theft of some equipment and a large whole where a window used to be. We have no way of getting to Bethel tonight. Our sincerest apologies to everyone who was going. You should still go check out Fire Flies as they will be playing two sets tonight. If I were you I would.

Good news is we should have everything up and running by Thursday when we head off to Portland.

Cheers,

Jen

I don't need no instructions to know how to rock

Henry — Thu, 22 Feb 2007 06:12:00 +0000

Hello kiddies.. It's Henry again. Jen said I should write a blog, because she's written a million of these, and I'm already on the computer, so...

As many of you know all our pedals were swiped from our van last Sunday, which meant we had to cancel our show at Sunday River. To say that I'm angry about it is the understatement of the year, as I spent the past three days wishing massive bodily harm on the culprits. But it could have been worse, and thankfully— thanks to credit cards, generous friends and family, and some reverse engineering— we'll be totally back up to speed in a couple of days.

Screw all that, though.. just like Carl don't need no instructions to know how to use the Foreigner belt, we don't need no stinkin' pedals to know how to rock. After getting the wind knocked out of us (and the window knocked out of the van), we're back on track this weekend in Portland, ME and Troy, NY. Specifically, we're playing the "new" Geno's in Portland, and in Troy we're bringing it to Positively 4th Street, our usual haunt. It'll be good to see our favorite peeps out in Troy again (our boys in Blackcat Elliot, for one), and Artie keeps a great jukebox selection.

Damn.. I still can't believe our stuff got stolen. The annoying part is having to scour eBay. I don't like auctioning, I just want to buy my stuff and get it done with. But no, I just had to go and get pedals that have been discontinued. I did some mad sniping on a couple of delay pedals, though. Whoever "denobler" and "gitbox1" are, they must really hate me.

Two to five business days can't come soon enough... Bah.. no use dwelling on this.

Also, new website is just over the horizon. We'll be making use of YouTube and Flickr accounts, so if anyone has any photos or video of us, do let us know! Email aloud@allthingsaloud.com.

I always feel so much pressure writing these things now. I feel like I'm supposed to write pages and pages of stuff, but I should probably cool it... brevity is the soul of wit, or sommat..

Okay, off to make some more credit card charges before getting to bed. We'd better see you all this weekend!

Cheers,
Henry

Currently listening :
Raise High
By Radio America
Release date: 10 October, 2006

I don't need no instructions to know how to rock

Henry — Thu, 22 Feb 2007 06:12:00 +0000

Currently listening :
Raise High
By Radio America
Release date: 10 October, 2006

Cheers Portland!

Jen — Fri, 23 Feb 2007 16:53:00 +0000

Hey a mighty thanks to the folks in Portland who came out to see us play! Thanks for buying our cds, wearing our buttons, and cheering us on. The new Geno's looks fantastic. Much bigger room, better sound, and quite a proper stage. They've even got a nice lobby out front. :)

So once again, THANKS!

Tonight we get back in the van (with a new, not smashed window) and drive out to Troy, NY for our return to Positively 4th Street. We absolutely love going to see the man we call the mayor of Troy, Artie. Fun fact. You know Uncle Sam? Well he lived in Troy. One night some guy at P4 took us out to see tha statue just around the corner from the club. Another fun fact with that old Boston/NY rivalry... Uncle Sam was born in Arlington, MASSACHUSETTS. HA! :) Stick a feather in your hat and call it macaroni. It's really funny we sing that song being as it was an insulting ditty from the British to us. I say no more! No more sir!

But I digress...

Ross was typing up March's mailing list in the car last night. I must say my favorite yet. Sign up if you haven't! Some very cool news to be shared with you all awaits you.

Well that's all from me today.

Cheers,

Jen

Were You At India Queen Last Friday?

Jen — Fri, 23 Feb 2007 19:10:00 +0000

Then you might be interested in reading this which the fabulous Michael Witthaus had printed in the Claremont Eagle Times and on his own website Local Rhythms. Here's a little snapshot of the gig.

Thanks Michael!!

Cheers,

Jen

Back For A Spell

Jen — Sun, 25 Feb 2007 14:13:00 +0000

Oh, what a busy weekend it was for us. Portland, Troy once again thanks for treating us so well. I think we're all getting used to the cramped quarters in long drives and awful late night food again. We took yesterday to catch up on all the sleep we lost and to try and replace more of the gear that was stolen last Sunday. Getting there, so no fear :)

Last night Henry and I went out to see LYLO producer and music guru Hugh Wyman play guitar with the Luxury for their CD Release. It was a great bill and fun was had all around. We ran into Paul Driscoll from FNX and he mentioned he'd played Godspeed on the New England Product Spotlight a couple times this week, so big thanks to Paul and FNX for continued support.

Much more ahead in the next month. We start it off right and proper with our return to New York (Brooklyn really). We've been away for four months and we're playing the brand new beautiful Luna Lounge (that's right it's moved kiddies). If you haven't been out to the new Luna I've heard nothing but great things, so there's really no real reason for you to miss this show! Fire Flies, Uncut, and the Shapes will be joining us. We're be on stage early this time at 8PM SHARP! Bring friends!

That's all for now.

Cheers,

Jen

A Message From Ross

Zuul — Tue, 27 Feb 2007 05:44:00 +0000

Hello friends of Aloud!

Just a quick reminder that we're finally heading back to New York City!! And, for the first time since July, we're hitting up Brooklyn. On Thursday, March 1st, make sure to head over to Luna Lounge. The club has recently relocated from Manhattan to Brooklyn, under the same management but with a bigger and better space. Joining us on the bill are The Shapes, Fire Flies, and Uncut (from Toronto, eh?). What's great for you is that we've been working hard in the rehearsal space on some new material, and you can catch an exclusive preview of what our second full length album just might sound like at the show. Just for you New Yorkers. Because we love you.

With love,
Ross

Currently listening :
Neon Bible
By Arcade Fire
Release date: 06 March, 2007

A Message From Ross

Zuul — Tue, 27 Feb 2007 05:44:00 +0000

Currently listening :
Neon Bible
By Arcade Fire
Release date: 06 March, 2007

Just Back From Brooklyn

Jen — Fri, 02 Mar 2007 10:44:00 +0000

It's very early in the morning, but I can quite fall asleep so I thought I'd say THANKS to everyone who came out to tonight's show at the Luna. It was great to get back to New York and you were the best crowd of the year thus far. Another thanks to Annie for filming and being manager extraordinaire (how the hell do you spell that?). We got to meet Rob from the Luna tonight. Very cool guy. All of you should really go check out that club. Beautiful space.

More news is coming along... Next week you should have a new website to take a peak at as well as the official release of the video for Can You Hear Me Now? You'll be able to see that here on MySpace, on the website's new media player, and on YouTube. There'll also be the annoucement of some rather exciting news about a rather exciting event here in Boston. Stay tuned.

Speaking of Boston, March 8 will be returning to Great Scott in Allston. right on the corner of Comm and Harvard Ave. Always a pleasure to play the neighborhood. Bostonians come show these New Yorkers what you got. This'll be a special send off night for seniors at Boston University, but all are truly welcome as we take this night to watch Ross go out in style (he'll be graduating from BU in May).

Ok, I suppose I should try and get some sleep now...

Cheers,

Jen

Hitting your town?

Webmaster — Mon, 05 Mar 2007 06:11:00 +0000

Aloud is planning on a national tour this fall. Want to see the band in Nebraska (or anywhere else, for that matter)?

You can help!

If you want Aloud to play your town, school, venue... whatever... Then get in touch by shooting an email to aloud@allthingsaloud.com.

Can You Hear Me Now?

Webmaster — Mon, 05 Mar 2007 16:51:00 +0000

View the music video!

Can You Hear Me Now?
Directed by Tom Fitzgerald

With: Crystal Lisbon, Greg Baldi, and Elizabeth Acle

Click here to share this video! [show/hide]
Copy and paste this code to your blog, MySpace, LiveJournal... or anything else we haven't thought of:

Related Links
- Aloud YouTube channel: www.youtube.com/aloudvideos
- Aloud Media Player: [ click to open ]

Introducing the Aloud Media Player (a quick guide)

Webmaster — Tue, 06 Mar 2007 02:40:00 +0000

Since a new website has just been birthed, we all wanted to sweeten the pot a little more and introduce (trumpets, please) the brand new Aloud Media Player! Don't know exactly what to do with it? Feeling a little overwhelmed? That's okay. That's what this post is for.

First off, there's no way around this: you're going to need Flash Player in order for this baby to work. If you don't have it (and what kind of interweb person doesn't?), the good news is you can get that for free here.

The first menu you see presents you with four choices: Music, Video, Photos, and Downloads.

Music.
The Music section allows you to listen to streaming versions of both Leave Your Light On and The Sooner It Comes EP in their entirety. Neato little controls will pop up for you at the bottom, allowing you to skip between tracks, play, and pause.

Case in point, that big ole button that says MAIN in real big letters? That will always take you right back to the beginning. The BACK button on the top right will take you back a step. Seems fairly obvious, but you gotta explain these things to be sure, y'see...

If a song's not working for you, give it a few seconds to download some.

Video.
Watch the music videos for Can You Hear Me Now? and Beaches. The Play/Pause button will ___fill in the blank_____. A convenient little scrubber will pop up at the bottom of the screen in case you want to go back a bit because you swear there's a backwards message in Beaches.

Photos.
A fairly simple process. You can choose to click on a particular photo, or just scroll through them back and forth, again and again and again. Just like riding the teacups at Disney World.

Downloads.
Download the whole The Sooner It Comes EP for free, as well as a handful of interviews the gang has given on the radio over the years. Just click and save.

Easy-peazie, right? Got it? Good. Now click on Media and go... Media it up?

Ready to Rumble in Allston

Webmaster — Tue, 06 Mar 2007 04:05:00 +0000

Aloud has been selected by WBCN to participate in the 29th Annual Rock n' Roll Rumble.

The band performs at on Monday, April 2nd at Harpers Ferry in Allston with Baker (11:30pm), Ark Royal (fomerly Almada) (10:30pm), and Cassavettes (9:00pm). Aloud performs at 9:50.

Tickets for the April 2nd event are $10. There has been a bit of confusion in Boston lately concerning shows, so to make it clear: all Rumble shows are 18+.

You can purchase tickets at Harpers Ferry or online through their website (click here to order tickets, additional charges may apply).

Related Links
- Purchase Tickets: www.harpersferry.musictoday.com/Har ... t=330
- Harpers Ferry: www.harpersferryboston.com
- WBCN: www.wbcn.com

“The way for newspapers to meet the competition of radio and television...

Henry — Thu, 08 Mar 2007 06:57:00 +0000

...is simply to get out better papers"

And boy, did the Metro take a giant leap forward by including us in the paper this morning! If you were unable to pick up a (very free) copy because of distance or laziness, then you can check it out in pdf format here. We're on page 16 (and a cute little graphic on the front page). Big thanks to Luke O'Neil for the writeup and all the nice folks at the Metro.

So, what's new for today? Any long narratives about some obscure observation in Henry's life that's too mundane to be interesting, but not mundane enough that it's funny? No no.. Just a plug for a show tonight.

Great Scott in Allston, kiddies. Tonight. And this is a special show, too. Why? Because Ross put this one together as a BU Senior Sendoff for... BU.. Seniors... being.. sent off... to... uhm...

WHO LIKES TO PARTY?!

This is certainly not limited to BU students, so if you just want to come see Aloud, you should come! We're playing the favorites as well as a handful of new songs. This will be our last show (in Boston before playing the Rumble).

There's been confusion as of late over this, so to clear the air: This show is unequivocally 18+, and will last well after 11pm.

Joining us for the evening are BU band Copel, Big Lev the Lazy makes his debut, and Mercutio will be spinning music the entire night. Who knows, we may even dress up nice for this.

If you're the charitable kind (you are, aren't you?), a portion of tonight's proceeds will go to the Newton-Tanzania Collaborative. It's an organization that Ross started (remember his trip to Africa last year?) that links schools over here with schools in Tanzania to help 'em out with things they need.

Let's review:

Great Scott
Tonight (March 8)
9 (ish)
1222 Comm. Ave.
$8
18+
Green B Line to Harvard Ave.
Bring hot friends.

See ya tonight!

Cheers,
Henry

P.S. Five points to whoever can tell me who said that quote without resorting to Google.

Great Scott, Marty!

Henry — Sat, 10 Mar 2007 20:35:00 +0000

Wow-wow-wee-wah! Thank you so much for coming everyone.. It took me a day and a half to really recover from the Great Scott show. We'll have some photos up from the show as soon as we get them. The year started off a little bumpy for us, but between this show and the Luna Lounge show in New York, things have been so great.

Which reminds me, I saw a lot more flashes going off Thursday night, so if you've got photos send them our way: aloud@allthingsaloud.com. We'll put the best ones up on our Flickr account and give you full credit, of course. There's a way to set it up so you can instantly share photos, but I have to figure that out. It appears that at 24 my knowledge of technology is starting to slip. Seriously, 10 year olds are starting to kick my ass at Mario Kart.. what's with that?

Mega thanks to everyone who came to rock out, Carl Lavin, Tim, Ben, and all the Great Scott staff for being nothing but supportive of us for years, Steve and Tom (who have also been supportive of us for years), Wyyymaaan, Copel (not to be confused with Copal), Big Lev the Lazy, Becky, Mark & Joni, Dave Palmer, Matt.... I could go on and on thinking of names— and I probably forgot someone, like a jerk—, but you all know who you are. And of course, congratulations to the BU Class of '07.

I'm gushing, I know, but it's been a real good weekend. And although I have to return one of my pedals because it's on the fritz, I just found out the uber-rare footswitch for my Evil Twin amp just came in. Which means I can use it again. (If you are confused, please see this blog entry).

We'll see you all at the Rumble in a few weeks..

Cheers,
Henry

New Duds, New Hair

Jen — Mon, 12 Mar 2007 19:54:00 +0000

A very quick note: Added some photos from last week's Great Scott show in the pics section. Hang tight while we organize our Flickr page. :)

Cheers,

Jen

Yes, Aloud are on Flickr

Jen — Wed, 14 Mar 2007 01:11:00 +0000

Ok, I finally got around to really organizing our flickr page with the most up to date photos we've got. Click here to check out photos from this month's shows at the Luna Lounge and Great Scott as well as photos from the Beaches music video. We'll keep adding to this as we go on through the year. If YOU have any photos of us that you'd like to see up there from this year please send them to aloud@allthingsaloud.com and we'd be happy to add them to the collection.

Cheers,

Jen

Currently listening :
Neon Bible
By Arcade Fire
Release date: 06 March, 2007

MySpace bands... I'm putting you on notice (or, Beware the Ides of March)

Henry — Thu, 15 Mar 2007 15:23:00 +0000

Okay, it's time for me to say this to you, bands. Enough is enough.

Spamming me, spamming this account, and spamming people will not get you more fans. I don't care what people do or don't do with their MySpace accounts. We're set up here to screen comments and things like this before they even make it onto our page.

To be clear, I'm not talking to bands/musicians/manufacturing companies that take time to add people, make friends, send out invites .. networking, essentially. I'm talking to those of you who paid 20 bucks to get one of those robot programs that essentially spams everyone and a half on MySpace.

I know being in a band is hard, and it's a constant daily struggle to get people's ears pointed your way. However, folks at large (and I'm lumping myself in there) are BOM-BAR-DED day in and day out with advertising, marketing, gimmicks, scams, popups, and spam. Seeing one of your "Hey! I noticed you were a fan of _____! Check this out!" makes me cringe and never want to listen to or watch your band ever. It's even slightly depressing. Why? Because it shows you don't care. It's probably an irrational response, because you could very well be the greatest ever in the history of music. But I guarantee you everyone is thinking the same thing: DELETE. The majority of people will give you the same attention they give to a McDonald's commercial.

This is not for my benefit. Like I said, we screen comments, so in that sense I don't really care what you do. But if you continue with these shenanigans, you would be doing a disservice to yourselves and in a broader sense other bands and musicians that use MySpace without resorting to spam. Personally, I would rather see a friend request than some obviously mail-merged message in my inbox about your next single.

For god's sake, connect with people.

Or else, your next default MySpace pic may look like this:

You are officially on notice.

Cheers,
Henry

Currently listening :
Horses
By Patti Smith
Release date: 18 June, 1996

MySpace bands... I'm putting you on notice (or, Beware the Ides of March)

Henry — Thu, 15 Mar 2007 15:23:00 +0000

Currently listening :
Horses
By Patti Smith
Release date: 18 June, 1996

Tunesssssssssssssssss

Jen — Mon, 19 Mar 2007 12:21:00 +0000

Quick note. I just added Release and Can You Hear Me Now? to the MySpace player. We've now got 5 tunes on there. Not a bad deal. So go on! Listen!

Ross is back from San Diego (he was away for a week). Shows are in order this weekend in Troy, NY and Saratoga Springs, NY. Fun, fun, fun.

There is more I could say, but let's wait.

Squash the monster,

Jen

Currently listening :
Neon Bible
By Arcade Fire
Release date: 06 March, 2007

Up the State

Jen — Fri, 23 Mar 2007 20:24:00 +0000

Of New York that is. Getting ready to head out tonite. We'll be in Troy tonight and Saratoga Springs tomorrow night. We're joined by fellow Bostononians the Sterns tomorrow at King's Tavern.

Just got in the brand new drumhead we got done. I won't give any hints because it's just too good to ruin for you. New York you get first crack at it tonight. It really is quite awesome. We've bringing around a small lighting rig with us, so you'll get to check that out tonite as well.

Next week will be our prelimanary round for the WBCN Rock n Roll Rumble. They're having it at Harper's Ferry this year. The good thing is the sound is really really fantastic. But we'll need you to come in and fill up that HUGE room. It can feel quite vast without your goreous bodies to fill up space and cheer us on. No excuse for not singing along all right? :)

Ok, I should finish getting ready for tonite.

Cheers,

Jen

Currently listening :
The Clash
By The Clash
Release date: 25 January, 2000

No Sleep Till Boston

Jen — Mon, 26 Mar 2007 13:18:00 +0000

We had delightful little time this weekend though. Friday we headed out to Troy to play Positively Fourth Street. The show went well and we had a chance to catch up with our favorite bartender Patrick. Pat used to work at P4, but just opened his own resturant called the Golden Fox. We met up with him and his partner Joe there after they'd closed up. If you are in the area get your Sunday best on and check out the Golden Fox. The place is gorgeous and Pat is the best bartender you'll ever meet.

Pat was good enough to put us up for the night and in the morning we were off to Saratoga Springs. I'd never been there before and the town is quite pretty. The main strip is pretty cool. It's filled with a bunch of restaurants and stores. We stopped in at Saratoga Guitars. It's a good thing we did coz I was able to buy a Traynor footswitch from them. This is the last little thing I was missing from when our pedals got stolen. It's been so hard to find one of these. This was a pretty awesome moment! Saratoga, I love you.

After hanging around we went to the club to set up. All the folks at King's Tavern were super nice and so were all the locals. Very easy to talk to and they'd come right up and introduce themselves. We were lucky enough to have fellow Bostonians the Sterns with us as well. Anyway, thanks to King's Tavern. We'll try to come back in a couple of months.

So all in all a good weekend. I think we ended up back in Boston around 4am or something. Also, please note that McDonald's at 3am or any time of the day is a BAD idea.

We took a bit of video, so there should be a little something from the weekend coming up soon.

Boston, we'll see you on April 2 for the Rock n Roll Rumble.

Cheers,

Jen

Currently listening :
Neon Bible
By Arcade Fire
Release date: 06 March, 2007

Rumblings of the WBCN Nature

Jen — Wed, 28 Mar 2007 13:00:00 +0000

Bostonians! This year Aloud was invited to play the WBCN Rock n Roll Rumble. We'll be putting our gloves in the ring this Monday, April 2 at it's new location in Allston at Harper's Ferry. We're on second around 9:50pm. If you've been thinking about coming to a show now is the time. And of course we'll have those new songs that I keep raving about with us.

Cheers,

Jen

PS. There'll be some press in the Metro and the Boston Globe's Sidekick this Friday.

How to keep busy in Saratoga Springs, NY

Webmaster — Fri, 30 Mar 2007 16:53:00 +0000

During some off time the band carouses through Saratoga Springs' music shops, rigs an iPod to the van, and play some foosball.. as filmed by Henry (mostly). Oh, and there's a dog too.

Click here to share this video! [show/hide]
Copy and paste this code to your blog, MySpace, LiveJournal... or anything else we haven't thought of:

Related Links
- Aloud on YouTube: www.youtube.com/aloudvideos
- Saratoga Guitar: www.saratogaguitar.com
- Last Vestige Music Shop: www.lastvestige.com
- Kings Tavern: www.freewebs.com/kingstavern

How to Keep Busy In Saratoga Springs, NY

Jen — Fri, 30 Mar 2007 21:16:00 +0000

Aloud home movie #1: Saratoga Springs, NY:

http://vids.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=vids.individual&videoid=2018559702

ENJOY!!!!

Cheers,

Jen

Rumble On The Streets of Allston

Jen — Mon, 02 Apr 2007 18:23:00 +0000

Hey guys. Let me begin by saying how truly excited we are to be bringing you a blistering set this evening. We're all waiting for it to be 5:00pm so we can go pack up our gear and head over to Harper's Ferry for our Rock n Roll Rumble soundcheck. All the bands playing tonight are fantastic and it really is going to be exciting. So we're on second and hit the stage at 9:50pm.

Cassavettes are on at 9. Then us followed by Ark Royal and closing the night will be Baker (we played with them at Hennessey's back in February).

We're very geared up.. So get on your dancing shoes you sexy little swines and mosey on up to the front of the stage. We play better when you're there to cheer us on.

We love you all. :) :)

Jen

It's not whether you win or lose...

Henry — Tue, 03 Apr 2007 22:43:00 +0000

....it's whether or not you have to get up the next morning to go to work... ugh....

First, foremost, of the highest import: thank you thank you thank you thank you thank you thank you everyone that came out to support us, friends old and new, people we've never met before.... Speaking for myself (I'm sure my bandmates would agree as well), you gave us so much last night. You clapped along, you sang back to us... You met us halfway. It got us absolutely manic onstage (I'm hurting for it today all over), and it was worth every second. We love all of you.

Also important: congratulations to Baker. They're a great bunch of people and they're a really good band to boot. Kudos, kids, and give 'em hell! I believe they're playing the semi-finals on the 13th. The boys in Ark Royal rocked and as far as the Cassavettes go, you haven't heard the last of them.

Our manager Annie was able to make it into town for the Rumble too. We love her to pieces.

The whole night was insanely fun, and we were all really glad to have been invited. I got to talk to Shred for a bit, and for a guy nicknamed after a jagged-sounding transitive verb he's super cool and incredibly not jaded. I was reminiscing with him about the first time we had contact with him, I think it was either late 2002 or very early 2003. We had emailed him about playing a show at the Middle East (where he was booking at the time), and after scolding us for littering Allston with Aloud stickers he gave us the choice of playing the Upstairs (capacity: less than 200) or the Downstairs (capacity: 575... used to be a bowling alley back in the 70s). We all know what happens when you give a band of 19 and 20 year olds a choice like that. "Life lessons!" he said.

Well, that's all. I think there was video taken as well as a lot of photos. I'm sure they'll be posted soon.

But not now. I'm taking a nap before heading out to night #3 as a spectator.

Be well,
Henry
(Hoping no one starts schooling me on the difference between transitive vs. intransitive verbs.)

Currently listening :
Neon Bible
By Arcade Fire
Release date: By 06 March, 2007

The Rumble, in pictures.

Henry — Wed, 04 Apr 2007 13:18:00 +0000

First batch was taken by Joni Lohr, second by Mick Murray. Enjoy!

WFNX/Phoenix Best Music Poll 2007.. WE'RE IN!

Henry — Thu, 05 Apr 2007 15:11:00 +0000

We got nominated for this thing in the local paper/radio station and I need to get a ton of people to vote for us. So we win. So we can like.. you know.. brag about it. And the best part is that it's actually legit.

Since most of you folks are from out of town, the Phoenix is an independent local newspaper that's incredibly supportive of new and local music. They also own WFNX, also an independent radio station that plays new music all the time (along with the occasional RHCP, but nobody's perfect). In other words, this is not one of those Music Nation OMFG GET A MILLION ZILLION DOLLARS!!!!11 things, which I flat-out refuse to take part in anymore. So no prizes here.. just guts n' glory.

http://www.bestmusicpoll.com

The category we're up for us Local - Best Female Vocalist (Jennifer de la Osa).

There's also an option for write-ins, so if you could please write Aloud in the local categories (with particular attention to Best Act and Best Album - Leave Your Light On) that would rock my world. Hell, if you want to write us in for best local rap act go right ahead! Then when you're done, tell your friends.

You do not have to be from Boston to vote!

Thanks everyone... and apologies for gratuitous use of bold.

Cheers,
Henry

"The entire front row knew every word" (The Rumble, revisited)

Webmaster — Fri, 06 Apr 2007 03:42:00 +0000

Photo: Mick Murray

Photo: Mick Murray

Photo: Joni Lohr

Whether you missed it or you were there for the extraordinary show this week, photos and reviews have been posted!

Photos by Mick Murray:
www.flickr.com/photos/mgmphoto/......... 870/

Photos by Joni Lohr:
www.flickr.com/photos/9 ...... /sets/72157600046473293

Performer Magazine (Northeast) review of the evening, by Ashley Willard:
www.performermag.com/rumble_rap_up_2007.php
(Scroll down till you hit Night 2).

Read the Aloud blog!
blog.myspace.com/aloud

Aloud congratulates Baker on their win Monday night, and commends Cassavettes and Ark Royal for putting up a fight! Many thanks go to Shred as well for inviting Aloud to participate.

Most importantly, Jen, Henry, Roy, and Ross would like to thank each and every person who trekked out to Harpers Ferry on a Monday night to cheer the band on and participate!

Related Links
- Aloud on Flickr: www.flickr.com/photos/aloud
- Mick Murray: www.flickr.com/photos/mgmphoto
- Joni Lohr: www.flickr.com/photos/92579064@N00/
- Baker: www.bakertheband.com
- Cassavettes: www.cassavettesmusic.com
- Ark Royal: www.myspace.com/thearkroyal
- WBCN: www.wbcn.com

Aloud nominated for The Phoenix Best Music Poll 2007

Webmaster — Fri, 06 Apr 2007 05:42:00 +0000

It's voting time again!

Aloud has been nominated for The Phoenix's Best Music Poll 2007 (Local - Best Female Vocalist - Jen de la Osa).

Take a minute to vote at www.bestmusicpoll.com. Just click on Boston, and you're good to go! For extra credit, use the write-in feature to vote for Aloud in just about any category you please.

Voting began yesterday, and will continue through April 20th when the winners are announced.

Vote early, and vote often!

Related Links
- Best Music Poll: www.bestmusicpoll.com
- Aloud blog: blog.myspace.com/aloud
- The Boston Phoenix: www.thephoenix.com
- WFNX: www.fnxradio.com

It's somebody's birthday today

Henry — Fri, 06 Apr 2007 12:30:00 +0000

They grow up so fast, eh?

Happy birthday Rossooooo..

Feel free to send him your wishes (or pictures of boobies) here.

Cheers,
Henry

Currently listening :
Neon Bible
By Arcade Fire
Release date: 06 March, 2007

It's somebody's birthday today

Henry — Fri, 06 Apr 2007 12:30:00 +0000

They grow up so fast, eh?

Happy birthday Rossooooo..

Feel free to send him your wishes (or pictures of boobies) here.

Cheers,
Henry

Currently listening :
Neon Bible
By Arcade Fire
Release date: 06 March, 2007

Aloud receives Rumble wildcard, show this Friday.

Webmaster — Mon, 09 Apr 2007 03:56:00 +0000

Click here to enlarge

It appears Friday the 13th is Aloud's lucky day. The band have received one of two wildcard slots to advance to the WBCN Rock n' Roll Rumble semi-finals.

Aloud faces stiff competition from Baker, The Silver Lining, and Protokoll.

Come on down to Harpers Ferry this Friday and lend the guys & gal your support once again!

Tickets for the event can be purchased from Harpers Ferry via their website, via phone (800-594-TIXX (8499)), or in person at the venue.

Info:
WBCN Rock n' Roll Rumble
at Harpers Ferry
158 Brighton Ave, Allston, MA
Age/Tickets: 18+/$12
Doors at 8pm

Related Links
- Purchase Tickets: www.harpersferry.musictoday.com/Harp...outlet=330
- WBCN: www.wbcn.com
- The Silver Lining: www.thesilverliningband.com
- Baker: www.bakertheband.com
- Protokoll: www.protokoll.us

Rumble preliminary round.. a video recap

Webmaster — Tue, 10 Apr 2007 12:35:00 +0000

Aloud cavorts in their hometown of Allston while prepping up for their performance at the WBCN Rock n' Roll Rumble. Special guest cameo by Nate Rogers, of Scamper. But it's a quick one. Show footage filmed by Eliot Fontaine.

Click here to share this video! [show/hide]
Copy and paste this code to your blog, MySpace, LiveJournal... or anything else we haven't thought of:

Related Links
- Aloud YouTube channel: www.youtube.com/aloudvideos
- WBCN: www.wbcn.com
- Cassavettes: www.cassavettesmusic.com
- Ark Royal: www.myspace.com/thearkroyal
- Baker: www.bakertheband.com
- Scamper: www.scamper.net

We Made It To the Semi's

Zuul — Tue, 10 Apr 2007 15:58:00 +0000

The Rumble revisited (update)

Webmaster — Sun, 15 Apr 2007 11:53:00 +0000

Photo: Joni Lohr

Photo: Joni Lohr

Photo: Joni Lohr

Photo: Joni Lohr

Here's a list of all the places you can find photos, reviews, and video that has been posted about Aloud's run in this year's WBCN Rumble.

Video recap of the preliminary round:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=gTvc9Ya5dis

Photos by Joni Lohr:
www.flickr.com/photos/9 ...... /sets/72157600046473293 (Prelims)
www.flickr.com/photos/9 ...... /sets/72157600075715137 (Semi-Finals)

Photos by Mick Murray:
www.flickr.com/photos/mgmphoto/......... 870/

Performer Magazine (Northeast) review of the evening, by Ashley Willard:
www.performermag.com/rumble_rap_up_2007.php
(Scroll down till you hit Night 2).

Read the Aloud blog!
blog.myspace.com/aloud

Aloud would like to congratulate their new friends in Baker for their second Rumble win, and extend thanks to Shred, The Silver Lining, Protokoll, Cassavettes, and Ark Royal.

Most importantly, the band would like to thank everyone who came out to one or both nights to cheer Aloud on!

...and... Scamper?

Related Links
- Aloud on Flickr: www.flickr.com/photos/aloud
- Aloud on YouTube: www.youtube.com/aloudvideos
- Mick Murray: www.flickr.com/photos/mgmphoto
- Joni Lohr: www.flickr.com/photos/92579064@N00/
- Baker: www.bakertheband.com
- Cassavettes: www.cassavettesmusic.com
- Ark Royal: www.myspace.com/thearkroyal
- The Silver Lining: www.thesilverliningband.com
- Protokoll: www.protokoll.us
- WBCN: www.wbcn.com

Only one week left to vote!

Webmaster — Sun, 15 Apr 2007 12:23:00 +0000

Our very own Jen has been nominated by the Boston Phoenix in this year's Best Music Poll. You can help us win by voting at www.bestmusicpoll.com, but time is running out! To begin, click on the link and then click on Boston.

Write-ins are allowed in every category, so naturally we encourage you to write Aloud in wherever you want.

The last day of voting is Friday, April 20.

Related links
- Best Music Poll: www.bestmusicpoll.com
- Boston Phoenix: www.thephoenix.com
- WFNX: www.fnxradio.com

All the cool kids.. go to free shows in NYC with open bar.

Webmaster — Sun, 15 Apr 2007 12:24:00 +0000

Photo: Michelle Manesh

It's been a long time coming, but it's happening again. Aloud and their soul brothers and/or nemeses in Radio America are sharing the stage next month in NYC at Crash Mansion, with the UK's Caffeine and The New York Howl.

The show is on Friday, May 4th and part of New York Underbelly's weekly Between a Rock and a Hard Place. There is free vodka between 9 and 10pm.

You can also get in for free before 11pm, but only if you email rsvp@newyorkunderbelly.com. Otherwise, it's $5 (or $10 after 11pm). Don't be silly and RSVP!

Info:
New York Underbelly Presents
Between a Rock and a Hard Place
at Crash Manion
199 Bowery, New York, NY

Subway: 6 to Spring Street; J & M to Bowery and Delancey; or F to 2nd Ave.

I know it looks funny, but the plural of nemesis is in fact nemeses. Nemeseeeeees.

Related links
- New York Underbelly: www.newyorkunderbelly.com
- Radio America: myspace.com/radioamericarocks
- The New York Howl: www.newyorkhowl.com
- Caffeine: www.caffeineuk.com

Here's Your Update

Jen — Sun, 15 Apr 2007 15:53:00 +0000

A great big THANK YOU to everyone who came to Friday's show for our set at the WBCN R n R Semi Finals. Thanks for cheering, singing along, and making us feel big. We didn't advance to the finals, but you certainly make us feel like winners. You've been a most impressive bunch.

This is means now of course that we're going to be hunkering down to write new songs for a new record we hope to bring to you as soon as the world will allow. We will of course be making a stop in a little town called New York with our Big Apple counterparts Radio America. Expect the unexpected.. or something. Joining us that night will also be Caffeine (from the UK) and The New York Howl. Big time stuff! Oh and did we mention it's FREE??? Just rsvp to rsvp@annierock.com. And if that weren't enough there's an open bar from 9PM-10PM.

And Boston, set your calanders for a rock extravaganza at Hennessey's on May 24th with those rascals Scamper, the Sterns, and Rooftop Suicide Club. This event with be sponsered by WFNX. This will be a rock n roll riot. And the Scamper boys will ensure all the laughs you can handle coz they're quite funny guys.

THANKS AGAIN EVERYONE!!!! You blew us away! :)

Cheers,

Jen

PS. A great big THANKS to main Rumble man Shred!

Currently listening :
Combat Rock
By The Clash
Release date: 25 January, 2000

Online mailing list entry fixed

Webmaster — Tue, 17 Apr 2007 06:13:00 +0000

Just a quick note, we've fixed a bug that wasn't allowing mailing list entries on this site to go through.

So.. sign up!

Two days left..

Henry — Wed, 18 Apr 2007 05:17:00 +0000

Hey everyone.. just piping up here for a second. The polls close for The Phoenix Best Music Poll on the 20th, so you've got 2 days left to vote.

Whenever you get a moment to do so, of course.

Just click here: www.bestmusicpoll.com, then click on Boston and ~~violin!~~ ~~viol~~ bingo! You're set to go.

Specifically, Jen's been nominated for Local - Best Female Vocalist. Honestly, that nomination would've been mine if it weren't for my plumbing, if yaknowwhatimean. But before I sue the Phoenix for discrimination, feel free to write Aloud in for any other category you please.

We're up against a lot of talented folks in there (like the Bon Savants, the Luxury, the Rudds, the Silver Lining, Ryan Lee Crosby etc etc), so be sure to stuff the ballot box with Aloud.

What do you mean I can't say that?

Even if you're not from Boston, it doesn't matter. You can vote for national acts too.

Peace out, homies,
Henry angling for a win in the Rap/Hip-Hop category.

Currently listening :
Agency
By Agency
Release date: 07 March, 2006

Two days left..

Henry — Wed, 18 Apr 2007 05:17:00 +0000

Currently listening :
Agency
By Agency
Release date: 07 March, 2006

“What else do you have besides a connection to your fans?"

Webmaster — Wed, 18 Apr 2007 19:47:00 +0000

Aloud has been featured in INsite magazine this month! Writer Andrew Palmacci sat down with Henry, Jen, and Roy at Harry's in Allston a few weeks ago to talk about Leave Your Light On, what the next album may look like, and what's left of the "traditional music industry structure".

Roy wasn't actually quoted in the article, but trust us. He was so there.

And a quick post-script from the writer: the word "influences" near the end should have been something to the effect of "some unsigned bands Aloud likes", followed by a list of some unsigned bands Aloud likes. But since that didn't make it in time for the final edit, we hope some unsigned bands Aloud likes are at least a little flattered.

Enough ado.. Click here for the article.

Today is a great day for working on music...

Henry — Fri, 20 Apr 2007 14:21:00 +0000

...but I'm stuck at work. Bleh.

There's always tomorrow.

Someone here at work made a very educated (and subsequently correct) guess as to the origins of my last name. That's the first time that's ever happened. In a life filled with "Henry B...buh... burger... Bergerinisstain?", this was a small victory.

Still, I'd rather be home, finishing up breakfast, and working on some tunes.

And now, "Macho Man" Randy Savage:

Cheers,
Henry

Currently listening :
The Best of Guided By Voices: Human Amusements At Hourly Rates
By Guided by Voices
Release date: 04 November, 2003

Today is a great day for working on music...

Henry — Fri, 20 Apr 2007 14:21:00 +0000

Currently listening :
The Best of Guided By Voices: Human Amusements At Hourly Rates
By Guided by Voices
Release date: 04 November, 2003

Oh baby, I'm dreamin' of Monday

Henry — Tue, 24 Apr 2007 05:01:00 +0000

How appropriate that this song decides to come on when it does, eh?

First off— fully aware that talking about the weather is, at best, mundane and terribly banal— today was absolutely gorgeous. Topped out at 81ºF, and it was just windy enough so that you weren't sweating like a madman. The only thing that would've been more perfect is if the pool in my building was open, and if I didn't have to actually make myself go to work. I walked all the way to the bus stop without a jacket for the first time since old man winter came by.

There may or may not have been a slight brisk to my step.

Work, as usual, was absolute crap. Especially lately, all I've wanted to do is walk right out of that place, go home, write 500 songs, and play Super Mario Bros. when I'm finished. But it didn't bog me down like it usually does on Mondays, even with double the usual workload. Thankfully, it's a temp thing and its termination next week is something I've been facing with more joy than dread. I met up with Jen for lunch and got a phone call from a hospital (where I last worked as a temp for 2½ years). I applied for a few permanent jobs through them when I was let go in February, but hadn't heard back— pretty standard for hospitals, but of no immediate help to Henry's wallet. Anyway, the woman I spoke to said a permanent position opened up. I'm fairly certain that since they bothered to call me they're probably going to hire me. Goodbye temping. Hello paid time off.

And with the new cell phone I just upgraded to, I can actually get good reception all around my apartment. No more of the "can you.. hello?... can... can you... can you call me on my house phone? Hold on................................................... House phone. HOUSE," song and dance.

Now before I sound like too much of an adult...

For the last two weeks I've been recording little 30-to-60 second ditties as they came to me, something I don't usually do. Me and Jen have been worked on one of them yesterday and today and it's almost a song. I think when it's done it'll be one of those special ones. We were going over some production notes for the 6 or 7 songs we've got planned out so far. I'm so excited about this record. It feels more.. I don't know.. current? Like we have something to say? I'm the last person to get down on old stuff, like the first album. That's where we were at when we made it, and that's that. It's a moment frozen in time. But that being said, this is the first time we've been working on all brand new stuff for an entire record. It can get difficult, but everyone is bringing their all to this. It's good stuff too (he says modestly), but screw all that. It's been fun, and we're doing our damnedest not to repeat ourselves. And that's really all I can say right now without repeating myself.

Okaly dokaly.. I'm through nerding out for now. At least until Spider-Man's out next week. Gotta work on some more stuff now, so it will probably be another late night.

Jesus, I'm so not rock n' roll it's scary. I'd better go finish that one Miller Lite in the fridge, stat!

Wouldn't you know it.. it's nearly 1am and I still feel good about the day.

Cheers,
Henry

Currently listening :
Jam Collection
By The Jam
Release date: 18 July, 1996

Oh baby, I'm dreamin' of Monday

Henry — Tue, 24 Apr 2007 05:01:00 +0000

Currently listening :
Jam Collection
By The Jam
Release date: 18 July, 1996

Roy...

Henry — Wed, 25 Apr 2007 03:06:00 +0000

...Rules

Cheers,
Henry

Long Time

Jen — Thu, 26 Apr 2007 13:52:00 +0000

How is everyone doing? It's been a while since I've sat down to blog with you. How are we these days? Quite fine. As you can see from Henry's blogs we've been busy writing more songs. Just put down a demo for one yesterday and we're writing again on Saturday. We've been rehearsing these at the space of course and practicing for next Friday's show in New York City. If you don't know we're headed back to Crash Mansion. It's Free with an rsvp to rsvp@newyorkunderbelly.com. Also there'll be free vodka from 9-10pm. Can't beat that can you? Yes, we can. We'll also be playing with our favorite New York City kids, Radio America. Check out all the details here. We'll have some of these new songs in tow as well. :)

Not much else to say except that we're really keen on making this next record. We're scouting out producers and Ross is jumping around in excitement as is his usual healthy self.

You all are amazing.

Cheers,

Jen

Currently listening :
Greatest Stiffs
By Wreckless Eric
Release date: 08 February, 2001

Long Time

Jen — Thu, 26 Apr 2007 13:52:00 +0000

Currently listening :
Greatest Stiffs
By Wreckless Eric
Release date: 08 February, 2001

Yes, it's another birthday in Aloud Land.... World... Plaza... milkshake.....

Henry — Wed, 02 May 2007 13:56:00 +0000

Leave some comments and let the little lady know she's loved, eh?

In the meantime, here are some Google Image Search results for "Happy birthday, Jen":

Great success,
Henry

Sundays Were Made To Be Days Like This

Jen — Sun, 06 May 2007 20:52:00 +0000

Hey there myspacers. We were in New York this weekend with our partners in crime Radio America to stir up some trouble broadway style... Well maybe not broadway style! Friday's show was a lot of fun. From a bashed up cover of Wreckless Eric's "Whole Wide World" to RA's Tom and Jesse ambushing us onstage for "Don't Trust the Radio"; easily my most favorite moment of the evening.

We met some great people and brainstromed some more for the next record. There's one more show scheduled this month and that's right here in Boston @ Hennessey's. Oh what a great bill! Scamper, The Sterns, Rooftop Suicide Club and your very own. I suspect more onstage ambushing. After that we're going to sink our teeth wholey into this album. That's what the summer's for!

Now I'm going to continue relaxing on this very excellent looking Sunday afternoon. Buffalo wings, Sam Adams, and The Who @ Isle of Wight. What more could you ask for?

Cheers,

Jen

PS. Henry's got photos from New York. Should be up fairly soon. :)

Don't miss it! Aloud, Scamper, The Sterns, The Organ Beats

Webmaster — Thu, 17 May 2007 06:19:00 +0000

This Thursday is your last chance to catch Aloud live before the gang hunkers down into a secret underground factory to work on their second album. Performing at this show is Scamper, The Sterns, and The Organ Beats (Noelle from Damone's side project).

This is also Scamper's annual "Moustache show", so if it's your thing, you're encouraged to grow your very own upper lip caterpillar.

INFO:
Thursday, May 24th
Hennessey's Upstairs Rock Club
25 Union Street
Faneuil Hall, Boston
$8; 9pm; 21+
w. The Sterns, Scamper, Aloud, The Organ Beats

Related links
- Scamper: www.scamper.net
- The Sterns: www.thesternsband.com
- The Organ Beats: www.theorganbeats.com
- Hennessey's Upstairs Rock Club: www.myspace.com/hennessysupstairs
- Damone: www.damone.net

That's all for now, folks.

Webmaster — Sun, 27 May 2007 06:22:00 +0000

With the performance at Hennessey's last week behind us, Aloud goes into hiding till the Fall. The band wishes to thank everyone that came out to catch a show and bought a copy (or copies) of their debut album Leave Your Light On.

Aloud will be spending the dog days of summer off the road, working out new material for a second album.

Keep checking on the Aloud blog to keep abreast of the latest goings-on behind the scenes.

Related Links
- Aloud blog: blog.myspace.com/aloud
- Buy Leave Your Light On: CD Baby / iTunes

An update from Henry

Webmaster — Fri, 15 Jun 2007 12:44:00 +0000

Hey all, it's Henry. Just dropping a line to let the world know what's up!

A lot's been going on behind the scenes this summer (if you even want to call it that... 55ºF in the middle of June? Give me a break...). As you can gather, the four of us are taking some much-needed time from shows and have been working very hard on new songs. We've got about 8 so far, with many more on the stove.

I know the whole "0mG, we're working, like, so totally hard behind the scenes" rap doesn't really work for you content-hungry interweb types. So until we can fully satiate your needs for instant audiovisual gratification, you can do a few things. First, you can look up the word satiate. After that, check out our YouTube channel, Flickr page, and our blog (where I basically do what I'm doing right now). These links are provided at the bottom of the screen anyway, but I linked them here anyway because I'm just awesome like that.

Besides that, we want to congratulate (Leave Your Light On producer) Hugh Wyman on getting married last week. I'm sure we all congratulated him in person already, but I'd be hard pressed to remember much after the ceremony. That's the downside of open bar at a wedding reception, kids!

Thanks for reading. We'll see you soon!

Cheers,
Henry

Related Links
- Aloud YouTube Channel: youtube.com/aloudvideos
- Aloud blog: blog.myspace.com/aloud
- Aloud on Flickr: www.flickr.com/photos/aloud
- Satiate?: www.answers.com/topic/satiate

What has four legs and ticks?

Henry — Mon, 02 Jul 2007 12:29:00 +0000

The first half of the year is up. Summer is in full swing. Bees are mating with birds as the North Atlantic waters are a toasty 50ºF. This also (somehow) correlates to the fruits of our interview with Performer Magazine's C.D. Di Guardia finally being published in this months copy of Performer Magazine (Northeast).

Here's a link to the article:
http://performermag.com/nep.spot03.0707.php

The interview itself was very fun and comfortable (to the point that, whilst gesticulating, yours truly knocked over his beer). The photoshoot with Pat Piasecki was wacky. Ross was bothering unsuspecting passers-by with the bullhorn— which we did not get on tape, unfortunately. It would creep me out if some 6-foot-tall tennis-playing dude with a bullhorn was saying "Hey" to me from 20 feet away.

We had our first rehearsal at the new place last Friday and walked out with another new song by accident. As soon as we get that air conditioner, I can officially say the new place is awesome. This actually reminds me of a very short-lived rumor that came out a couple years ago.. something about us having an enormous couch in our rehearsal space and internet access. People busted on us for it. Didn't quite understand that one, as we had neither of those things and could barely fit ourselves into that room. But we did have a good laugh about it in our tiny, humid, intertron-enabled couch palace.

Anyway, some more news aimed at you Boston-area folks. Our plan so far has been to can it with the live shows till the Fall, but our good friend/WFNX jock Dave Virr aka Dave Duncan (aka "Topher Grace"?) is celebrating his birthday on August 8th, and invited us to perform at his birthday show with (yes, more friends) The Sterns, Baker, Thom Moran (of Bon Savants fame), and Ryan Lee Crosby. Yes, we're all friends here, even if we have competed against each other (of course I'm referring to a croquet game with Ryan).

So, come on out and show Dave some love. And read the Performer article, damnit! EMBRACE THE CHEEKINESS!

....embrace it....

Cheers,
Henry

Currently watching :
Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind

What has four legs and ticks?

Henry — Mon, 02 Jul 2007 12:29:00 +0000

Cheers,
Henry

Currently watching :
Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind

A break from the break.. Aloud live in Boston

Webmaster — Fri, 06 Jul 2007 04:03:00 +0000

We all know the band is working on songs in some underground bunker this summer, but when FNX jock Dave Duncan invited Aloud to perform for his birthday in Boston, they couldn't refuse.

As well as Aloud, The Sterns, Baker, Ryan Lee Crosby, and Bon Savants frontman Thom Moran are scheduled on the bill.

August 8, 2007
WFNX New England Product Spotlight
(Dave Duncan's Birthday party)
at The Baseball Tavern
1270 Boylston Street, Boston, MA

Related Links
- WFNX: www.fnxradio.com
- The Sterns: www.thesternsband.com
- Baker: www.bakertheband.com
- Ryan Lee Crosby: www.ryanleemusic.com
- The Bon Savants: www.bonsavants.com
- New England Product MySpace: myspace.com/newenglandproductfnx
- The Baseball Tavern: www.thebaseballtavern.com

Working on follow-up album this Fall

Webmaster — Sun, 02 Sep 2007 05:54:00 +0000

After months of innuendo and badly kept secrets, Aloud officially begins recording their follow-up to 2006's Leave Your Light On.

The band will record in NYC this Fall with producer Chuck Brody starting September. In the past, Chuck has worked with The Walkup, Northern State, and Wu-Tang Clan. Most recently he's worked with Yoko Ono and Peter Bjorn & John.

Stay tuned for more information.

Nice to CMJ You

Webmaster — Tue, 18 Sep 2007 22:12:00 +0000

+ Click to enlarge

Okay, that's probably the worst headline we've ever written here (and there are a few doozies). Regardless, Aloud performs the opening night at the CMJ Music Marathon in NYC this October 16th at Arlene's Grocery.

Aloud is on at 11:00pm. Also performing are Mixtapes & Cellmates (7:00pm), Teenage Prayers (7:45pm), High Class Elite (8:30pm), Neimo (9:15pm), and The Tomatoes (10:00pm)— with one more band still pending confirmation.

The event is open to the general public (translation: you can walk right in and pay your cover like anyone else) or you could register with CMJ here to get a Marathon Badge (translation: take a trip to New York City and head to all the CMJ shows).

This will be the first time Aloud performs in the city since this past May, so don't miss it!

Information:
CMJ Music Marathon
at Arlene's Grocery
95 Stanton Street
New York, NY
11:00pm, 21+

Subway Directions:
F or V Train to 2nd Avenue, Exit 1st Avenue, 1 block below Houston St between Orchard and Ludlow Streets

Related Links
- CMJ Music Marathon: www.cmj.com/marathon
- Arlene's Grocery: www.arlenesgrocery.net

"Traveling just outside of our comfort zone"

Webmaster — Mon, 01 Oct 2007 04:40:00 +0000

This past week Aloud began working on their second album. Want to take a peek at what's been going on?

Read Aloud studio diary: Week 1 on the Aloud blog.
Head to Aloud's Flickr page to view a set of studio photos: Trapped In a Box.

Don't forget, Aloud will be performing at the first night of CMJ in New York!

Related Links
- Aloud blog: blog.myspace.com/aloud
- Aloud on Flickr: www.flickr.com/aloud

Leave Your Light On, available at Newbury Comics

Webmaster — Tue, 23 Oct 2007 13:04:00 +0000

It took long enough, but those in New England can find Aloud's debut album Leave Your Light On at 17 Newbury Comics locations.

If you haven't already done so, you should be a good citizen and pick up a copy!

It should be noted that copies are only available for sale from Newbury at the these locations (in Massachusetts, unless otherwise noted):

Newbury St
Harvard Sq
Natick
Burlington
Government Center
Braintree
Shrewsbury
Warwick, RI
Peabody
Saugus
Amherst
Manchester, NH
Portland, ME
Newton
Avon
Alewife
Providence, RI

If you would like to purchase the CD online or via iTunes, click here to visit the Aloud store.

Related Links
- Newbury Comics: www.newburycomics.com
- Aloud store: www.allthingsaloud.com/retailers
- Aloud on iTunes: ax.phobos.apple.com.edgesuite.net/WebO ... 3D152782616

Leave Your Light On digital booklet for iTunes

Webmaster — Tue, 23 Oct 2007 13:18:00 +0000

You're a forward-thinking kind of person and decided to download Leave Your Light On via iTunes. Or maybe you bought a copy of it somewhere and ripped it onto your computer with the physical CD never to be seen again (if you fall into neither of these categories, you might want to take steps to correct that).

What's one to do in the technological age? Easy.

Leave Your Light On now has a digital booklet available for you to download and enjoy, free of charge. The digital booklet (which is really a fancy euphemism for PDF file) also integrates with iTunes, so there's no fuss. All you have to do is download the file and drag it into iTunes.

Those of you who don't have iTunes can still view it using the free Adobe Acrobat.

Click here to download:
Leave Your Light On - Digital Booklet

Related Links
- Aloud store: www.allthingsaloud.com/retailers
- Aloud on iTunes: ax.phobos.apple.com.edgesuite.net/WebO ... 3D152782616
- Lyrics: www.allthingsaloud.com/lyrics.html

A "CMJ Miracle"

Webmaster — Tue, 23 Oct 2007 13:47:00 +0000

LimeWire Music Blog and Guilt Free Pleasures rave about Aloud's CMJ performance.

Here's where you can read all about it:

The LimeWire Music Blog, CMJ: Band - Aloud, by Mike Frankel (live video included).
Guilt Free Pleasures, Thinking "Aloud".

Video courtesy of LimeWire Music Blog:

Related Links
- LimeWire Music Blog: blog.limewire.com
- Guilt Free Pleasures: guiltfreepleasures.blogspot.com

Chilling out, maxing, relaxing all cool And all shooting some b-ball outside of the school

Henry — Thu, 01 Nov 2007 17:07:00 +0000

Hello, hello.. It's been a few days since I've posted anything of substance (some would say a few years). I don't know if today's going to be any better. Halloween seems like a timely subject, but to be completely honest the magic of Halloween is lost on me.

I've been farting around on the Facebooks lately (yes, that's right, "THE Facebooks"). In the constant evolution of Facebook becoming MySpace and vice versa, Facebook's added these things called applications. Personally, I hate 99% of them and decline invitations all the time. That's just the way it goes, I'm an ass that way. But amidst the sea of Zombie Armies, Superpokes, and Flight of the Conchords quote boxes I found a good one called iLike. I enjoy it because it's one of the few applications on Facebook I've been able to exploit to meet the shamelessness required to be in a band.

So (ahem) if you yourself are on Facebook and you feel the need to add this application, please add Aloud.

That's about it... what can I say, it's been a slow week. We've already got a World Series under our belts, so writing about how kickass the Sox are might be rude. We're still in the mixing process for the record, so there's not a whole lot I can write about that ("I heard X song for the 1,000th time, ate dinner, played Mario Kart 64, and went to bed").

Meh.. this is one of those days the Aloud blog could use another Aloud to write it. Where the hell is Jen? I remember the days when she would beat me to it and I'd have to wait another day to express my vapid thoughts (because posting two blogs in the same day is just bad form).

Cheers,
Henry

Currently listening to:
Tommy
by The Who

New shirt in the Aloud store

Webmaster — Tue, 06 Nov 2007 00:56:00 +0000

Sweet, sweet cotton tees with the Don't Trust the Radio logo.

The shirts were printed by Somerville, MA-based QRST's and are available Small, Medium, and Large for $10; and because I know you're wondering: yes, the $10 cover shipping.

The shirts are 100% cotton and pre-shrunk, but they're in limited supply too, so hurry the hell up! Click here for the Aloud store and buy one up!

Related Links
- QRST's: www.qrsts.com

Do you have a Facebook account? Of course you do.

Webmaster — Thu, 15 Nov 2007 16:35:00 +0000

Got Facebook? Well, now's your chance to add Aloud's new official Facebook profile. No, the band has not co-opted a normal Facebook account for evil purposes. Facebook now allows musicians to have proper profiles which can be added like anyone else. Three cheers to legitimacy!

So while you're left to ponder whether or not MySpace and Facebook will eventually become one amorphous blob of social networking, go ahead and add Aloud by clicking here.

Furthermore, if Facebook applications are your thing, Aloud is also on iLike. The iLike application allows you to do fun stuff like add Aloud songs to your page, dedicate them to friends (or enemies, whatever floats your boat), receive updates on your page, and we hear Billboard is even going to start tracking this stuff.

Click below to add the band on iLike:

Related Links
- Aloud on Facebook: www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=5742678843
- Aloud iLike artist page: www.ilike.com/artist/Aloud
- Aloud on MySpace: www.myspace.com/aloud

I call him Gamblor, and it’s time to snatch your mother from his neon claws!

Henry — Fri, 16 Nov 2007 16:14:00 +0000

Geez, what a week it's been. Hectic and stressed don't even begin to describe the type of week I've had. It's all stuff that I don't particularly want to talk about, so I'll write about something else. Something else like MySpace spam.

I'm convinced that there's an evil Spam Lord out there whose sole purpose is to get me, but I slip through Spamblor's hands every time. Temptations of Macy's giftcards, finding out my karma, and real Gucci bags are conquered every time (the episode where I fought the College Girls Making Out Fake Video was a close one, but I won again).

So I say continue to do your wurst, Spamblor. You'll never captch me.

(Speaking of MySpace + spam, we've got a Facebook page now. If you've got Facebook, you should be our friend. It's very clean.)

We're getting the show train choo-chooing again (I get an F-minus-minus for terrible metaphors). We've been in a strange purgatory-like state since the album's been in the mixing stage. We all showed up to practice this week unsure what it was we were practicing for. (It did amuse me how we all forgot parts to songs we hadn't played in awhile; but I guess that's why they call it practice, yea?) Last week's show was really great for us, and it'll be good to get on that again. There's nothing quite like playing live for me, because knowing us there are 1,000 things that could go very wrong.

For example, Jen's insistence that her bringing a backup guitar is totally unnecessary. I'm waiting for that inevitable day we're in the middle of a song and SHPLARNG! Then I'll be like "Where's your messiah now, Flanders?!" Then she'll attack me by trying to strangle me with the broken string, mass fisticuffs ensue, and via some freak accident an errant cymbal decapitates Ross, which makes Roy laugh because he was sitting at the bar the whole time.

Actually, that sounds like it would be an awesome show. I was wrong. I can see why Jen doesn't want to bring her backup.

Cheers,
Henry

Currently listening to:
The Modern Age EP
by The Strokes

Why did the Baby Jesus have to make processed meats so delicious?

Henry — Tue, 20 Nov 2007 15:14:00 +0000

Ugh. Two days before Turkey Killfest '07 and I think I have The Food Poisoning. This is not fun. Could be worse, I suppose. I came down with something awful this past New Year's, and as such the mere thought of sushi makes me gag.

Home remedies, other suggestions, or cash donations would be welcomed.

Henry

Currently watching:
The Clash - Westway to the World

The Year of the Pig

Henry — Thu, 22 Nov 2007 16:34:00 +0000

Loosen the belts and pass the mashed potatoes, for as sure as retail outlets all over the world are itching to press the Christmas button, Thanksgiving Day is here.

I saw a snippet of the Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade this morning. The Mary Poppins number hypnotized me a bit, so I had to turn away quickly before it sucked away the rest of my day. I've never liked parades (or "rolling rallies", as our mayor Mumbles Menino likes to call them). I'm also amazed that for being 61, Dolly Parton sure looks.... what does she look like? Eh, I'll stop picking on ol' Dolly. I'm sure she's a really nice, sweet lady.

Anyway, before this gets too long (as my blogs tend to be), some of you may have had a rough time of it all this year; maybe you're telling yourself you have little to be thankful for. So to those of you who are feeling down about the state of the world, the state of your mind, or both... if nothing else I submit to you the last thing the late great Joe Strummer utters in The Future Is Unwritten (because other people say things more betterer than I):

"...Don't forget you're alive... You know sometimes when you walk around the city or when you yourself are in a bad mood, you can think hey wait a minute we're alive, you know? We don't know what the next second will bring, and what a fantastic thing this is. And this can get easily forgotten in the routine of life and something I try to bring to my attention at all times.
Don't forget that you're alive... that we're not dead... This is the greatest thing."

Happy Thanksgiving,
Henry, Jen, Roy, and Ross.

The After Effect

Jen — Fri, 23 Nov 2007 14:57:00 +0000

Last night's meal is the type you make a vow afterwards never to eat again. It was the kind where that familiar paunch is filled with meat and wine. I think I might be good for meals all day today what with yesterday's feast.

I hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving. Forget all the history behind this one. The main thing is on the best days we're lucky to be here. Life could be much much worse. Yes, some days it's easy to feel low and sure you're entitled, but that's why we've got days like yesterday.

And hopefully that turkey/ham/duck you ate yesterday will continue remind us all of that today. :)

Oh and of course you get to go shopping. Yay. God help you if you were in line at 5am this morning. I know it must have been cold!

Cheers,

Jen

Currently watching:
King of the Hill - The Complete Third Season

Stolen Blog Transmission

Jen — Mon, 26 Nov 2007 12:59:00 +0000

"I will beat Henry to the blog this morning," said Jen. And so she did.

Buenos dias mis amigos! What is happening with you this Monday morning?

Ouselves? Well we've been pretty busy actually. This week especially. We're rehearsing our set for next Monday's Great Scott show (more on this below), we're making a brief journey to New York to take care of some record stuff, and generally getting into the spirit of the month ahead of us.

We've got a couple cool projects coming up that I'll be able to tell you more about as the month progresses and I'm happy to report we're cracking away at booking again for the new year.

The most nearest piece of important information I can share with you though is that you should absolutely come to our show on Monday, December 3rd at Great Scott in Allston, MA. Yes, I know it's a Monday, but we are sharing the bill with a great band from D.C. called No Second Troy, so we had to take it. Check out what Spin had to say about them. Best part is you can still catch Heroes and then come straight down for our set at 10pm and stick around for No Second Troy who are on right after us! How convenient is that? :)

In other news, Henry and I had a chance to see our boys, Radio America, at Ralph's this weekend. They've got a new guitar player, Gabe, and seeing the band as a four-piece was exciting. Like a small army really. They're back in New York now and playing on Thursday night. Check 'em out!

That's about it for me. I'll have more to share with you soon. And all you Bostonians, I hope to see you out on Dec. 3rd at Great Scott in Allston. More new tunes and as well as the old ones. :)

Cheers,

Jen

The Ice Is Everywhere!

Jen — Tue, 04 Dec 2007 18:56:00 +0000

Many thanks to you kind folk who braved last night's fierce winds and frozen ice to come see us play. It was a fun night and I'm glad to hear you're all digging the new stuff. Oh and the Patriots won too! Woohoo!

December is upon us. Time to try and relax and enjoy what's around you. It's nice when things slow down a bit. We'll be away finishing things for the upcoming record and plotting away. More gigs have and are being booked including an acoustic performance at T.T.'s with Henry and myself plus a very special farewell gig for Scamper in Feb.

Cheers,

Jen

Put On The Parka

Jen — Mon, 10 Dec 2007 20:09:00 +0000

Dropping a little note to say we've posted Aloud's first (and probably only ever, ha!) Christmas song: Put On The Parka. Check it out and enjoy. :)

Happy Holidays!

Jen

Put On The Parka

Webmaster — Mon, 10 Dec 2007 23:31:00 +0000

Photo: Beca Oliveira

Got no money left in your bank accounts after all that shopping? Seasonal affective disorder bringing you down?

Well, buck up, kids! Aloud's got a lil' old holiday song for you to enjoy (recorded and mixed by none other than Roy Blaze himself).

Click below to hear it.

(If you're a generally happy person, we can't do anything for you and recommend you see a doctor. Or hear this song.)

Happy holidays,
Jen, Henry, Roy, and Ross

To download the mp3, click here:
http://www.allthingsaloud.com/extras/aloud_putontheparka.mp3

Postage Paid

Henry — Fri, 14 Dec 2007 14:09:00 +0000

Hey everyone,

Normally I don't like posting blogs n' such about anything remotely related to politics (at least I don't think I do... bitching is what my blog is for.. HA!).

I'd like to pass this along because I think it's something important to at least look at. And if you're a cynic (like I can be), think of this as a chance to do something you don't want to do and beat yourself up about it afterwards haha..

But seriously, it's not about asking for your money or to pick a candidate or endorse anyone. All they'd like is for you to type up a letter they're going to send to the Iowa caucus-goers asking them to take a look at http://www.onevote08.org/otr.

That link provides comparisons of each candidate's positions and plans on solving the AIDS epidemic and ending stupid, extreme poverty.

Hell, even if you're short on time, or just plain lazy, they've got one all pre-typed and ready to go (all you need to do is attach your name).

I'll stop here, cos they say it much better than I. The original email is below.

Here's the link: http://www.onevote08.org/onetoone/index.html?t=2

To see how everyone's individual platforms check out, go to http://www.onevote08.org/otr

Cheers,
Henry

In just three weeks, voting to choose our next president will begin—with the Iowa caucuses on January 3. I look with envy at those citizens in Iowa who have had a chance to meet the candidates up close and will soon cast a vote that will shape the 2008 election.

But just because you and I aren't there doesn't mean we have to be content to simply watch. We've created a new and easy way for each of us to change the race by taking the most powerful form of political action there is—talking directly with another voter. Write a letter to an Iowa caucus voter and make a direct connection "ONE to one." Send the message that their vote can help end extreme poverty and global disease.

http://www.onevote08.org/onetoone?id=168-1687131-4avAKo&t=2

Already in this campaign, your persistence has moved the presidential candidates to go on the record on extreme poverty and global disease in a way never seen before. As a result, we have video and in-depth comparisons of their plans at http://www.onevote08.org/ontherecord.

Now is the time to intensify our efforts and bring our issues and resources directly to the Iowa voters who will have such a huge role in picking the next president. "ONE to one," all of us can ask an Iowa voter to visit the On The Record site, learn about the issues, and then go caucus for the candidate who will do the most to build a better future for the world's most vulnerable people.

http://www.onevote08.org/onetoone?id=168-1687131-4avAKo&t=3

Every four years, about 200,000 Iowans take part in caucus night. Help us to send a letter to each and every one of those voters. We have added some ideas and facts to get you started but, in the end, the most inspirational poverty-fighting message will come from your heart. No one speaks with as much passion about the opportunity that we have to eliminate extreme poverty and global disease than individual ONE members.

To highlight that dedication, the ONE team here will pick ten of the very best letters from across the country and send them to an additional group of 40,000 Iowans whom we know will raise their voices on caucus night. So get writing for the opportunity to send a letter to the voters who will play such an influential role in choosing the candidates for the presidency.

http://www.onevote08.org/onetoone?id=168-1687131-4avAKo&t=4

In the next few weeks, Iowans will be flooded with every kind of slick political advertisement imaginable. Through the simple act of writing a letter, from one person to another, you can cut through the clutter and ask an Iowa voter to consider extreme poverty at the caucuses on January 3.

The stakes are high in the upcoming election and we have the opportunity to aggressively advance the fight against extreme poverty and global disease. A year from now, our next president will be preparing to take office. As we enter the holiday season next year, I want to know that I did everything I could to help elect a president who shares our priorities.

Gratefully,

David Lane, ONE.org
President and CEO

Currently listening to:
Zeitgeist
by The Smashing Pumpkins

Aloud at Mercury Lounge, Jan. 10th

Webmaster — Mon, 07 Jan 2008 04:16:00 +0000

Happy new year New York!

We're ringing in the new year with good news. We've taken on a last minute show at the Mercury Lounge this Thursday, January 10th. We haven't played New York since CMJ, and we're pumped to get back at it. Also on the bill are Flying Machines (formerly the Attorneys), Eldridge Rodriguez of the Beatings, and Cage The Elephant. We will be headlining the show at 10:30PM, with doors opening at 8:00PM. Come by and get an exclusive preview of some songs from our forthcoming album, which is now in its final stages of production.

Hope to see you out there!

Best,
Ross

Related links
- Mercury Lounge: www.mercuryloungenyc.com

With your booksmarts, and my ability to exploit people with booksmarts...

Henry — Thu, 10 Jan 2008 08:27:00 +0000

I'm not going to lie. I'm excited about tonight's show, kiddos. I posted this in a bulletin, but I may as well do it here too. We're on Facebook. Please be our friend on Facebook. If you don't have Facebook, get Facebook. Once you have Facebook and added us as your friend, invite yourself on the event page for tonight's show. This will have no effect other than to boost my ego. Step 3 is to actually go to this show. If you miss this show, you'd better be dead, or in jail.

If you're in jail, break out.

ANYWAY, I've restarted my groove with reading, I'm happy to report. I thought recording the album would provide me with time to kick-start the old book wagon in my brain, but instead it had the opposite effect and I didn't read a damn thing for about three or four months. I just got through Slaughterhouse Five as my first book of the year (finally!!). It was required reading in junior year of high school, but I didn't read it. My second attempt was a colossal failure that ended with me giving up 1/3 of the way through and hating the book. Now: I get it. It's funny. It's great. It's a little bizarre. Vonnegut is aces with me.

I'm also concurrently reading Nick Hornby's Slam. Not quite High Fidelity, but still enjoyable enough. I'd probably enjoy it a little better if I was 15. Or a skater. This one will probably be slow going since I refuse to take it out of my apartment; mostly because A) I borrowed it from a friend, and B) it's a signed copy. Apart from that, I'm tackling Ham on Rye by Bukowski. Jen's just finished reading it and she's been going on about it, so why the hell not? I have a friend who basically thinks he's the poor man's Ginsberg, but I like what I've read so far.

Anyway, if anyone would like to throw some book recommendations my way, please do so (I know I've posted this in other blogs.. sue me). I'm trying to hit 50 books this year in an effort to convince myself that I'm not a total ignoramus.
Moohoohaaahaaahaaaaaa...

See you tonight!

Cheers,
Henry

Currently reading:
Ham on Rye: A Novel
By Charles Bukowski
Release date: 27 February, 2007

It Was Lovely

Jen — Sat, 12 Jan 2008 01:20:00 +0000

A great big thank you to all our New York posse for coming out last night. We had a wonderful time at the Mercury. :)

Check out the Guilt Free Pleasures Blog about last night.

Thanks to Emma!!

Boston, Scamper's Last Waltz approaches at the Middle East Downstairs on Feb. 2. Buy tickets for the extravaganza here.

We'll chat more later.

All my love,

Jen

Currently watching :
Mixed Nuts
Release date: 04 December, 2001

We’re Putting Out A Record?

Jen — Sun, 20 Jan 2008 13:05:00 +0000

Yes. In fact we are. Ah, folks we are truly happy to be in the stages of preparing this record for release. And for getting back on the road that calls us. Sleepless nights and too many drinks; bad food and big mouths. And of course, seeing you all once again. Sit tight and it will come.

In the meantime, we've got a couple of shows in Boston next month to keep you busy. The first is with Aloud's most beloved friends Scamper for their last show. Yes, many a night you heckled us boys and now you're breaking up! No, I'm only kidding. We will miss seeing the boys on stage together, but we're more than thrilled to be a part of their Last Waltz happening on Saturday, February 2nd. We open the show at 9PM and will be joined by our pals in Harris andBaker. Really what more could you ask for?

This show deserves to sell out and is likely to, so you'll want to purchase your tickets here. Also, purchasing tickets in advance will save you some money. You can also buy them at the Middle East Box Office in person. This show is 18+.

For those of you who enjoyed Henry and mine's acoustic set this month at T.T.'s we've got another one coming up for you. Friday, February 8th we'll be playing a benefit for Students For A Free Tibet at the Middle East Corner stage. As you may know the Olympics are happening in China this year and these shows are meant to raise some money and awareness about China's human rights violations in Tibet and indeed to support the Tibetan Olympic Team. This night the whole band will take the stage. This show is 18+ with a suggested donation of $5. We start the show at 10:30PM and are followed by two fantastic act: Ad Frank and Rick Berlin.

Hope to see you guys there. :)

Cheers,

Jen

Currently reading :
The Naked and the Dead: 50th Anniversary Edition, With a New Introduction by the Author
By Norman Mailer
Release date: 05 August, 2000

We’re Putting Out A Record?

Jen — Sun, 20 Jan 2008 13:05:00 +0000

Yes. In fact we are. Ah, folks we are truly happy to be in the stages of preparing this record for release. And for getting back on the road that calls us. Sleepless nights and too many drinks; bad food and big mouths. And of course, seeing you all once again. Sit tight and it will come.

In the meantime, we've got a couple of shows in Boston next month to keep you busy. The first is with Aloud's most beloved friends Scamper for their last show. Yes, many a night you heckled us boys and now you're breaking up! No, I'm only kidding. We will miss seeing the boys on stage together, but we're more than thrilled to be a part of their Last Waltz happening on Saturday, February 2nd. We open the show at 9PM and will be joined by our pals in Harris and Baker. Really what more could you ask for?

This show deserves to sell out and is likely to, so you'll want to purchase your tickets here. Also, purchasing tickets in advance will save you some money. You can also buy them at the Middle East Box Office in person. This show is 18+.

For those of you who enjoyed Henry and mine's acoustic set this month at T.T.'s we've got another one coming up for you. Friday, February 8th we'll be playing a benefit for Students For A Free Tibet at the Middle East Corner stage. As you may know the Olympics are happening in China this year and these shows are meant to raise some money and awareness about China's human rights violations in Tibet and indeed to support the Tibetan Olympic Team. This night the whole band will take the stage. This show is 18+ with a suggested donation of $5. We start the show at 10:30PM and are followed by two fantastic act: Ad Frank and Rick Berlin.

Hope to see you guys there. :)

Cheers,

Jen

Currently reading :
The Naked and the Dead: 50th Anniversary Edition, With a New Introduction by the Author
By Norman Mailer
Release date: 05 August, 2000

RECORDSSSS

Jen — Tue, 29 Jan 2008 04:54:00 +0000

Much is in the works! Our Boston CD Release show for our sophmore album has been booked (I know we're keeping the title hush hush). Mark your calenders.

Great Scott
Allston, MA
1222 Commonwealth Ave.
THURSDAY, MARCH 20, 2008
$8; 18+

You may have noticed we've added more shows. We'll be on tour at the end of March through the beginning of April. Keep checking back for more listings!

In the meantime don't forget to check us out this Saturday, Feb. 2 @ the Middle East Dowstairs for Scamper's Last Waltz also with Baker and Harris. We're on first at 9pm sharp. The next Friday, Feb 8 we'll be at the Middle East again this time for an acoustic show at the Corner stage to benefit Students for a Free Tibet.

Much love!

:)

Jen

Wait wait don’t you go (and so on)

Henry — Wed, 30 Jan 2008 20:48:00 +0000

Crap, I'm dyin' here. Things are inexplicably busier than usual at work, and with the album/tour/crap crap going on I get little reprieve when I get home. Life of a rock star my ass!

Is it worth it? Sure. I mean, things could be worse, right? Like... I could be on the cast of the Real World or something. (ZING!)

Don't listen to me. I've been cranky all week.

Before you check out any Aloud-related linkage I'm about to throw at you, here's something you should check out first:
http://blog.wfmu.org/freeform/2008/01/david-lee-roth.html

David Lee Roth's isolated vocal track from Running With The Devil. Is it wrong to take a singer's vocal track and listen to it out of context? You bet. (Thanks to Mr. Tom Radio America Stuart for that gem.)

Sooooooooo we'll be playing another show this weekend (Saturday, to be precise). This show is actually very special for two reasons: a) It'll be the first time we play the Middle East Downstairs and play for more than 10 people, and b) this, ladies and germs, will be Scamper's final show ever.* Check out The Scene for Nate's multi-part retrospective on Scamper. If sentimental oeuvres aren't your thing, check out Brendan's Journal for oblique references to scatalogical pedo-necrophilia.

We've known Scamper for almost as long as we've been a band, so it'll be sad to see them go. (By "go", I mean they'll be splintering off into the Brendan Boogie Band.) Come on down and have a good cry with us. With Nate. Have a good cry with Nate.

I don't cry.

I'm a robot.

BZZZZZZZRRZRZZRZZZZZZ,
H.E.N.R.Y.

P.S. Be our Facebook friend already, goddamnit! C'maaaaaaaaaaan!
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Aloud/5742678843

_____________________
* Excepting the inevitable "we need to make money reunion". Anyone want to start taking bets on when this will happen?

Currently reading :
Demian (Perennial Classics)
By Hermann Hesse
Release date: 02 June, 1999

Show me that smile again

Henry — Fri, 01 Feb 2008 16:44:00 +0000

It's really starting to hit me that after Saturday night, Scamper will only exist in our memories.

I was just having a conversation with a friend of mine about bands in the Boston scene that have petered out (in particular, about another band whom we felt we had a tight bond with). It's the natural course of things, I suppose, and at least Scamper is not ending with the all-too-common acrimony and gossip (unless one considers erotic German novels "acrimonious"). But still, I'm really bummed about it. We've been friends with those guys for a long time. It's hard enough doing what we all do, this silly music thing.

Let's not kid ourselves, in this line of work there are vampires at every level trying to drain you of anything you've got. Sometimes it's high-level executives, sometimes low-level con artists, sometimes it's even fellow brothers-in-arms. So when you do find people you share a kinship with and a genuine friendship, it's something very special. When they bow out of the race (race for what, I don't know) and choose to live the life of mortals, it's a little sad.

Except for Brendan, who instead of living the life of a mortal will live the life of Rowdy Roddy Piper.

Anyway, whether it was great advice or a simple mention on the radio (or sexually harassing our rhythm section) the Scamper boys have always been around to give us a hand since our tumultuous early days.

So here's to them.. Viva El Scamper.

And since you've had enough free time to read this blog, here's where you can spend the rest of it:

The Brendan Boogie Band (Wings to Scamper's Beatles)
http://www.myspace.com/brendanboogieband

Scamper Podcast, Season 1 (I'm still waiting for Season 2, damnit!)
http://www.scamper.net/podcast/index.php

Brendan's Journal:
http://blog.myspace.com/brendanboogieband

Nate's Journal:
http://www.scamper.net/thescene/index.php

Buy here:
http://www.scamper.net/store/index.php

Vandalize here:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scamper

Go to this:
February 2 (Saturday)
The Middle East Downstairs | Cambridge, MA
9:00 PM, $9 adv/$10 door, 18+
w/ Aloud, Harris, Baker

And be our friend on Facebook...
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Aloud/5742678843

Okay, that's more for me.

Cheers,
Henry

Currently reading :
Demian (Bantam Modern Classics)
Release date: 1969

We’ll be waltzing with Scamper for the last time tonight

Henry — Sat, 02 Feb 2008 19:03:00 +0000

Come down to the Middle East Downstairs. It's going to be special. You'll laugh. You'll cry. You may even want to join in on the man-hugs. Scamper's going on "indefinite hiatus" after tonight, which is probably a clever way of saying "we're breaking up, unless someone throws a lot of money at us to play again".

Like this:

Since we have to wait at least 6 more years for this to happen, your best bet is to come to the show tonight and give the boys a proper sendoff.

We're on at 9pm, followed by Harris (awesome) and Baker (awesome) before the scampy little scamps do their thing. Show up early, cos this is liable to sell out. And we want you there to watch us play, too.

What? I'm just sayin'...

See ya tonight!

Cheers,
Henry

Currently watching :
Family Guy, Vol. 1 (Seasons 1 & 2)
Release date: 15 April, 2003

We’ll be waltzing with Scamper for the last time tonight

Henry — Sat, 02 Feb 2008 19:03:00 +0000

Currently watching :
Family Guy, Vol. 1 (Seasons 1 & 2)
Release date: 15 April, 2003

Such Is Sadness

Jen — Mon, 04 Feb 2008 19:46:00 +0000

Thanks to everyone who came out Saturday night to the Middle East. we are all very sad to see Scamper go, but I'm glad they had the righteous send off they did. We were very proud and honored to be a part of it.

Coming up this Friday though you can catch Aloud doing an acoustic set at the Middle East (this time at the Corner stage) to benefit Student For A Free Tibet.

A very special Aloud acoustic show
02.08.2008; 10:30pm
Cambridge, MA The Middle East Corner
Students for a Free Tibet Benefit (acoustic)
472-480 Massachusetts Ave, Cambridge, MA
Age: 18+
Suggested donation: $5
Performing with: Ad Frank, Rick Berlin

Again, we're very proud to be doing this.

And some rather BIG news. Our new album, Fan The Fury, will be with you soon. Dates have been booked and tracks will hit the airwaves. March 20th marks the Boston CD Release @ Great Scott followed by the NYC CD Release on March 28th @ Crash Mansion which will kick off the Fan The Fury Tour to go down south and back up.

Check out www.allthingsaloud.com for the details (click on TOUR).

Cheers,

Jen

02.13.2008; 9:00pm
Burlington, VT Nectar's
188 Main Street, Burlington, VT
Age: 18+
Price: FREE (21+), $5 (under 21)
Performing with: Ethan Snyder Project

03.07.2008; 10:00pm
Worcester, MA First Fridays at Hotel Vernon
1 Millbury Street, Kelley Square, Worcester, MA
Price: $5
Performing with: The Curtain Society, Drew O'Doherty

03.20.2008; 9:00pm
Allston, MA Great Scott
CD Release Party
1222 Commonwealth Ave. Allston, MA
Price: $8

Aloud debuts in Burlington, VT on 2/13

Webmaster — Tue, 05 Feb 2008 02:44:00 +0000

Nectar’s presents:

Aloud

Live in concert with Brother Through Glass & Ethan Snyder Project

Wednesday, February 13, 2008 at 9:00pm

Nectar’s
188 Main St.
Burlington, VT 05401
802.658.4771

Related Links
- Ethan Snyder Project: www.myspace.com/ethansnyderproject
- Brother Through Glass: www.myspace.com/brotherthroughglass
- Nectar's: http://www.liveatnectars.com/

Benefit for Tibet in Cambridge, MA

Webmaster — Tue, 05 Feb 2008 02:57:00 +0000

Coming up this Friday though you can catch Aloud doing an acoustic set at the Middle East (this time at the Corner stage) to benefit Student For A Free Tibet.

A very special Aloud acoustic show
02.08.2008; 10:30pm
Cambridge, MA The Middle East Corner
Students for a Free Tibet Benefit (acoustic)
472-480 Massachusetts Ave, Cambridge, MA
Age: 18+
Suggested donation: $5
Performing with: Ad Frank, Rick Berlin

Again, we're very proud to be doing this.

Related Links
- Beijing We Are Ready: www.beijingweareready.com
- Students for a Free Tibet: www.studentsforafreetibet.org
- Middle East Club: www.mideastclub.com

The cat's out of the bag: new album this Spring

Webmaster — Tue, 05 Feb 2008 03:03:00 +0000

Our new album, Fan The Fury, will be with you soon. Dates have been booked and tracks will hit the airwaves. March 20th marks the Boston CD Release @ Great Scott followed by the NYC CD Release on March 28th @ Crash Mansion which will kick off the Fan The Fury Tour to go down south and back up.

Check out the tour page for details.

Cheers,
Jen

The Superest Tuesday of them all.

Henry — Tue, 05 Feb 2008 20:21:00 +0000

Super Tuesday is finally upon us, so if you're in one of the 24 states voting today you should do so.

If you're having trouble finding a polling place, try here to find it: http://www.vote411.org/pollingplacebystate.php

FYI, neither myself nor The International Aloud Corp, LLC or its subsidiaries (Aloud Industries, Aloud Chemical Corp., or Penthouse Leather Shop Inc.) is publicly endorsing anyone. I write that not because I think my opinion means anything (I don't), but because people tend to read into things.

Who you decide to vote for is, quite frankly, none of our business.

On that note, if one more person asks me if I'm going to "Ba-rock the vote today, bro", I swear I'm going to pop you.

Vote early, vote often,
Henry

If enough have our backs to the wall

Henry — Wed, 06 Feb 2008 19:04:00 +0000

As Jen mentioned in a previous blog, we'll be playing a special acoustic show this Friday. Why so special? It's a benefit for Students For a Free Tibet.

With this year's Olympics being held in Beijing, the group has organized a campaign to bring awareness to the human rights abuses in China leading up to the Olympic Games.

There's a good article on this show in the Boston Herald that explains the deal much better than I, so check it out: http://news.bostonherald.com/entertainment/music/general/view.bg?articleid=1071542&srvc=home&position=recent

Let's not kid ourselves. It's easy for things like this to turn into a clichéd cause célèbre (look at that, and I don't even know French!), especially when you consider that Tibet has been occupied by the Chinese since 1950. But this is still a pretty big deal when you've got the Chinese government still pulling the kind of crap they do on people. It's unacceptable.

It's easy to understand the feeling of helplessness in something this large, but there are things you can do to help. For a list of things as simple as texting "teamtibet" to 67463 or creating your own video, visit www.beijingweareready.com to see how you can help.

I've gotta run, but the info for the show and some other stuff you should check out are below. Hope you all can make it!

Cheers,
Henry

Friday, February 8, 2008 at 10:30pm
Saturday, February 9, 2008 at 1:30am
Middle East Corner
472-480 Mass Ave
Cambridge, MA
Suggested donation: $5

Links:
- Student for a Free Tibet
- Beijing We Are Ready

Currently listening :
Sandinista!
By The Clash
Release date: 25 January, 2000

More To Come In The Tumult

Jen — Sun, 10 Feb 2008 05:09:00 +0000

Hey, I want to give a great big thanks to Rick Roth for having us on Friday at the Middle East corner for the Students For A Free Tibet benefit. Another thanks should go out to you fabulous people who came out to support this very worthy scene. We had a really fun time squeezing on to that stage and giving a soundtrack to Tibet for 40 minutes. Rick also gave me a Rangzen bracelet which I'm quite happy about. :)

We'll be putting up photos from the gig soon.

This Wednesday we'll be in Burlington, VT @ Nectar's. We've never played in Burlington before, so if you've got friends send them down! We're on at 9pm.

More dates are coming in March/April for the Fan The Fury tour (yes that's the name of the album as well). Check out some of the dates already booked including Boston and New York CD Release Parties.

Cheers,

Jen

Ice to see you: Burlington, VT tonight has been postponed

Henry — Thu, 14 Feb 2008 00:33:00 +0000

Hey everybody,

So the subject line says it all, pretty much. We were ready to go tonight, but the roads were terrible. We would've loved to play tonight, but doing so just may have resulted in us not playing any other shows. We want to live to play more of those as well.

Anyway, we absolutely hate canceling shows (this is only the third time it's ever happened in all 5 or 6 years that we've been out playing shows). We'll definitely be rescheduling at Nectar's at a later date.. we'll keep youse people posted.

Ethan Snyder Project and Brother Through Glass will still be performing tonight.

Seriously, today's weather was/is absolutely horrid and the commute from work today sucked. I don't know how long I was on that bus, but I certainly got a lot of reading done.

Stay warm,
Henry

Currently watching :
The Simpsons - The Complete Fourth Season
Release date: 15 June, 2004

Ice to see you: Burlington, VT tonight has been postponed

Henry — Thu, 14 Feb 2008 00:33:00 +0000

Currently watching :
The Simpsons - The Complete Fourth Season
Release date: 15 June, 2004

Burlington, VT show postponed

Webmaster — Thu, 14 Feb 2008 01:02:00 +0000

Aloud will not be appearing tonight at Nectar's in Burlington, VT due to inclement weather. The show will be rescheduled for a later date.

Ethan Snyder Project and Brother Through Glass are still scheduled to perform.

We apologize for the inconvenience.

Ring Tones?

Jen — Thu, 14 Feb 2008 04:26:00 +0000

Want a Beaches or Can You Hear Me Now? ring tone? Yes, you do. You know you do.

Well Señor Roy Fontaine has made some for you and you can download them for free here.

Enjoy!

Jen

Muddling On A Friday Night

Jen — Sat, 16 Feb 2008 02:27:00 +0000

Lovely weather today. Finally. I'm sitting here burning cds and checking out clubs and bands in different cities that we'll be hitting on the tour. We've been real busy around here getting things together in time for March and we're eagerly anticipating the arrival of these cds.

Oh, on a seperate note I finished Norman Mailer's "The Naked And The Dead" tonight. All seven hundred and twenty-one pages of it! Phew! I feel accomplished. It was pretty good. I got a little bored in some bits, but there were some really moving compassionate scenes in it that made it worth while. Lots of interesting ideas in it as well. I'd recommend it at any rate. He was quite an intelligent dude.

Well, I haven't got much for you. Just wanted to say 'hello'.

Cheers,

Jen

Saturday Night’s All Right For Burning

Jen — Sat, 16 Feb 2008 22:30:00 +0000

Another day of band errands. After forcing myself to do laundry Henry and I dropped by Roy's house to drop off flyers and posters for the CD releae show at Great Scott (on March 20!!). Also, dropped off some blank DVDs for him to burn all the studio footage along with songs filmed during our set at Scamper's Last Waltz.

After hanging out with Roy we went off for a slice and then to Staples to buy some CD-Rs. Annie's going to SXSW and we're burning CDs samplers for her to take, so needless to say I spent the rest of the day doing that in fact I'm still doing that (only 12 more to go!). Henry's been working on some new button and t-shirt designs. March will be fun albeit busy not to mention expensiv-o.

Speaking of, aren't we supposed to be getting $300 checks from the government? When's that happening? I hope they go alphabetically. No offense to the X, Y, Zs out there. :)

Cheers,

Jen

Rip Off

Jen — Mon, 18 Feb 2008 12:39:00 +0000

Never mind those $300 I mentioned in the last blog. It's an advance against your next year's refund. How does this help? What happens next year and what if you owe? Ugh...

In better news, Henry and I saw U23D last night. Every rock show should be this way. Wow, no words really, but with a 65 foot Bono you don't really need any. Truly tremendous. Check it out.

Cheers,

Jen

Dante’s (disco) Inferno

Henry — Thu, 21 Feb 2008 14:00:00 +0000

I'm back on the sauce. Did I say "sauce"? I meant "coffee". I went for two weeks without a cup in the morning, and it's been awful; I felt like the living dead. I still feel like the living dead, except I'm awake now. Sweet lady caffeine, how you tempt me so.

It's crunch time with the album. We're awaiting the shipment of CDs. It's all very exciting, but it's driving me absolutely crazy, to the point of exhaustion. I'll live, though. This happens all the time, and I'm very anxious to get the final product in my hands. Booking for the tour is going fairly well, though. Annie and Jen have been kicking butt. So far we've confirmed dates all the way to Memphis, and Columbia, SC is all set as of Tuesday. We just need to figure the way back home out. Not that I would have a huge problem being stuck in Tennessee, it's just that I keep all my stuff in Boston. Convenience, yea? Should be a fun trip, at any rate. This is our first time out that far, so if you've got anyone you know from these parts spread the word! I'll post a thingie thing with all the dates below. Thingie.

Finished another book yesterday. I don't know if I mentioned it here or not (and I'm too lazy to check if I did), but I'm trying to pull off 50 books this year, preferably ones I haven't read yet. Demain (this is book 7/50) was really good and didn't disappoint. I read Siddhartha when I was 17 and loved it, and Demian didn't fall short. Don't know what I should move onto next.. I'm seriously thinking of reading Harry Potter, finally (I don't wanna hear old sad bastard music, Barry, I just want something I can ignore). You know, now that all the hubbub has died down and I can read it with less shame. At home. In private.

I was going to try and tackle Dante's Inferno, but after Demain I'm overloaded on philosophical conceits for the time being.

Some crazy shit going in the world, eh? It'll be interesting to see how this thing in Kosovo plays out.

Cheers,
Henry "One Kudos" Nerdlinger

Currently listening :
Memory Almost Full
By Paul McCartney
Release date: 05 June, 2007

Dante’s (disco) Inferno

Henry — Thu, 21 Feb 2008 14:00:00 +0000

Currently listening :
Memory Almost Full
By Paul McCartney
Release date: 05 June, 2007

A Bottle Of Wine

Jen — Fri, 22 Feb 2008 02:30:00 +0000

A bottle of wine is good. It feels good. It tastes good. It keeps you company. And it's keeping me company tonight while I stare into this screen wistfully.

I'm thinking about the tour right now. Probably because I'm working on it as I write this. Cities are on my mind... St. Louis, Fairfax, Cleveland etc...

I'm searching for rock n roll in these cities tonight on the space. Simpsons on in the background. I feel like Lisa tonight. Henry plods away at the website in the background.

What keeps you company tonight?

Today, I picked up my amp. It's been fixed. It made this horrible humming noise. And now I feel relieved.

See you all very soon...

Jen

Currently watching :
The Simpsons - The Complete Ninth Season
Release date: 19 December, 2006

"Can’t You Rock? Can’t Any Of You Rock?"

Jen — Sat, 23 Feb 2008 04:14:00 +0000

Got through with the drinking for the day already in the early afternoon with Roy. Ah, Fridays. We went out earlier with Ross to do some clothes shopping for him. After the band outing Roy and I hung out and I'm back on the net surfing for bands to play with on tour.

So here are some of the cities I'm looking for info on. If anyone's got any suggestions on bands/clubs in these places we would TREMENDOUSLY appreciate it.

Columbia, SC (just bands, got the club)
Atlanta/Athens, GA
Nashville, TN
St. Louis/Springfield, MO
Chicago, IL
Cleveland, OH
Philadelphia, PA

I'll go back to my search now. Stay warm if you're traveling out in tonight's snow (or wherever you are tonight)..

Cheers,

Jen

Currently watching :
This Is Spinal Tap (Special Edition)
Release date: 12 September, 2000

Radio Debut of Fan The Fury this SUNDAY!

Jen — Sun, 24 Feb 2008 01:16:00 +0000

Hello my favorite people. Tomorrow, February 24, our gracious supporter and favorite DJ Dave Duncan will be debuting a new track from our upcoming sophomore release, Fan The Fury on WFNX's New England Product.

Tune into 101.7FM or if you're in southern NH tune to 92.1FM.

Happy listening!

Jen

Currently watching :
Withnail & I
Release date: 20 February, 2007

Fan The Fury debut on WFNX on Sunday

Webmaster — Sun, 24 Feb 2008 04:48:00 +0000

Those waiting for a taste of Fan The Fury no longer have to wait. Tune in tomorrow night (Sunday, February 23) at 10pm to New England Product on WFNX, hosted by DJ Dave Duncan.

WFNX can be found at 101.7FM in Boston and 92.1 FM in Southern New Hampshire.

If you're not from around these parts, you can still stream it on the web from their website: www.fnxradio.com.

Fan The Fury will be released this March with a tour to follow.

Related Links
- New England Product: www.fnxradio.com/1/jocksshows/jock.asp?id=25
- N.E.P. on MySpace: www.myspace.com/newenglandproductfnx
- WFNX: www.fnxradio.com
- The cat's out of the bag: new album this Spring (posted 2/4/08)

FNX Tonight; FREE Show This Tuesday, 2-26, w. The French Kicks, Bon Savants, and Harris!

Jen — Sun, 24 Feb 2008 16:40:00 +0000

Tonight on WFNX on New England Product our good friend and talented DJ Dave Duncan will debut a track off our upcoming album, Fan The Fury! Tune in to 101.7FM in MA or 92.1FM in Southern NH at 10PM! We are very excited about this!

And to add to our incredible excitement....

This Tuesday, February 26, join us @ Harper's Ferry for a Going.com sponsored event that will include The French Kicks, The Bon Savants, and Harris. What a tremendous bill. And to make it better it's FREE! Yes, it is a totally free show, but you must RSVP to get in. RSVPing is easy and free. If you think you may want to attend this show, RSVP now at www.going.com/aloud even if you're not sure as it is the only way to get in.

02.26.2008; 8:00pm
Allston, MA
Harper's Ferry
Great Taste Music Series (FREE SHOW)
158 Brighton Ave, Allston, MA
Age: 21+
Price: FREE
RSVP AT www.going.com/aloud REQUIRED!!!
Performing with: The French Kicks, The Bon Savants, Harris

Seriously, I mean two of our favorite locals and The French Kicks (Just listened to them and they are fabulous. Check out So Far We Are).

Tune in tonight, to New England Product and catch us on Tuesday at Harper's. RSVP!

Cheers,

Jen

Currently listening :
Two Thousand
By French Kicks
Release date: 18 July, 2006

You Stars, You!

Jen — Wed, 27 Feb 2008 05:31:00 +0000

A GREAT BIG THANK YOU to all who came out so early to Harper's last night! YOU are the stars! Thanks so much for your support.

It was also awesome to catch up with Harris and Bon Savants again to see what they're up to. Keep an eye on them folks!

Sincerely,

Jen

Fan The Fury On MySpace

Jen — Wed, 05 Mar 2008 04:38:00 +0000

Some of you have already noticed the new songs on the player. Thanks for leaving your warm comments on our page. :)

For those of you just tuning in we've added three songs from our upcoming record, Fan The Fury. Those tunes are The Last Time, When The Ants Attack The Queen, and Fan The Fury. Check 'em out. Tell us what you think. (Unless you don't like them. Mama always said if you got nothing nice to say don't say anything at all..ha!).

But yes, check them out. The CD is out on March 25, but if you're in Boston you can actually pick up a copy the week before at our CD Release Party happening at Great Scott on March 20 where we will be joined by two of NYC's finest The Shapes and Radio America.

Perhaps you've noticed the tour dates as well? Yes, we'll be kicking off the Fan The Fury Tour in NYC on March 28 at Crash Mansion with The Shapes and Buck Brothers (UK). The cities follow: Raleigh, NC; Columbia, SC; Gainesville, FL; Memphis, TN; Chicago, IL. If you can help us in D.C., Nashville, Atlanta, Philly, or Cleveland please go on and shoot me a message. All is in process though, so we'll be adding dates up till we leave.

It feels kind of awesome and scary knowing the record will be out so soon. We've been rehearsing for all these shows and we're VERY excited to bring this to you. We can't wait to hang out and play music for you. We can't wait to hear what you think of record. It's going to be a lot of fun. And why would you go through all the not fun stuff if in the end it wasn't lots of fun? Let's have some fun. Remember that? That's what we have at shows, or when you put on that disc. It's going to be good to be back. Smile big when we see each other. I will.

Cheers,

Jen

I will try to FIX Y... C’MAAAN! FIX YOUUUU!!.... FIX YOUU!

Henry — Wed, 05 Mar 2008 16:25:00 +0000

It's an interesting time to be a musician, eh? Ross texted me a link last night to this site called Sell-A-Band whilst I stumbled on an article about Jill Sobule (you know, "I Kissed A Girl") financing for her next record with the same basic premise. I won't get into the nitty gritty... you can do some readin' here and here. It's a pretty interesting concept, anyway. I'm enjoying that the music industry is looking more and more like the fucking Outback in Mad Max right now. Sweet, sweet chaos.

What do you guys think of all this crazy investing business?

(Disclaimer: This is not me soliciting for investments. However, large donations, CD purchases, thongs, and political favors will be accepted at this time).

If you read the last blog (you did read it, right?), Jen may have mentioned we have three new songs up. Well, she was wrong. We now have four songs up. The latest addition: Sometimes I Feel Like A Vampire.

If you think it's a long title, you're lucky we didn't call it WHEN THE PAWN hits the conflicts he thinks like a king What he knows throws the blows when he goes to the fight And he'll win the whole thing before he enters the ring There's no body to batter when your mind is your might So when you go solo, you hold your own hand And remember that depth is the greatest of heights And if you know where you stand, then you know where to land And if you fall it won't matter, cuz you know that you're right like I wanted to (it was taken... go figure).

So go listen, dudes. And if you're fretting about the stuff from Leave Your Light On getting taken down, that's how the game is played, kids. Out with the old. Accept change. Extend the extreme. Max the envelope; and so on. The Akron Convention for Rock Bands clearly states that the latest record you made is automatically the best thing you've ever done, unless (Paragraph 4, Clause C) you're Phil Collins— in which case the latest record you made is automatically the worst thing you've ever done.

Hmm... that's funny.. Paragraph 48 states that I'm supposed to get a pig every month, as well as "two comely lasses of virtue true". I should really pay attention to these things.

Anyhoo...

...is this or is this not the funniest goddamn thing ever?

Cheers,
Henry

Currently listening :
Red Tree Music
By Stereo Soul Future
Release date: 10 January, 2003

Four songs from Fan The Fury are up

Webmaster — Wed, 05 Mar 2008 23:14:00 +0000

Four new tracks from Fan The Fury have been posted on the band's MySpace page (Fan The Fury, Sometimes I Feel Like A Vampire, The Last Time, and When The Ants Attack The Queen).

Click here to go over to the Aloud MySpace page and take a listen! (For those of the Facebook persuasion, you can click here for the band's page on Facebook).

Fan The Fury is set to be released on March 25.

Related Links
- Aloud on MySpace: www.myspace.com/aloud
- Aloud Facebook page: www.facebook.com/pages/Aloud/5742678843

CD Release party at Great Scott, March 20 [Press Release]

Webmaster — Wed, 05 Mar 2008 23:19:00 +0000

ALOUD
FAN THE FURY
CD Release Party
Thursday, March 20, 2008 @ 9pm
Great Scott
1222 Commonwealth Ave. Allston, MA 02134
$8, 18+

with special guests:
The Shapes (NYC) and Radio America (NYC/Worcester)

“…rockin', melodic songs delivered by two powerhouse singers… magnificent tunes and serious vocal chops… they're damned near flawless.” – The Noise

Fiery rock n’ roll band Aloud is proud to announce their sophomore full-length CD Fan The Fury, official release date March 25, 2008.

The Boston-based foursome Aloud showcases their powerful male/female vocals and exceptionally strong songwriting on their dynamic new release Fan The Fury. Aloud celebrates the new CD with a pre-release party and performance at Great Scott in Allston, MA on March 20, and a national tour this spring, including performances in the Northeast, Southeast, and Midwest.

Fan The Fury is an emotionally charged dichotomy of passionate rebellion and contemplative acceptance. Aloud delivers driving grooves and melodies wrapped up in themes of struggle, perseverance, injustice and love. From the frustrated anger of ‘Sometimes I Feel Like A Vampire’, and the hopeful anthem ‘Backs To The Wall’, to the weary but enlightened affirmation of ‘Justice & Forgiveness’, Fan the Fury is a twenty-somethings’ coming-of-age reflection on a not-so-perfect world. Aloud’s hooky melodies, great rock arrangements, and soaring vocal lines shine on tracks ‘Fan The Fury’, a forceful rallying call to the downtrodden; and ‘The Last Time’, an ode to loved ones separated by circumstance.

Aloud interview on WFNX's New England Product, 3/16

Webmaster — Thu, 06 Mar 2008 02:31:00 +0000

Tune in to WFNX Sunday, March 16 at 10pm to listen to Aloud's first interview of the year. Aloud will be in the studio once again with DJ Dave Duncan, host of the weekly series New England Product, to discuss the new album and the tour this Spring.

This will mark Aloud's third appearance on the show in as many years. The song "When The Ants Attack The Queen", off of the upcoming album Fan The Fury, was debuted on the program last week.

WFNX can be heard on 101.7 FM in Boston, 92.1 FM in Southern New Hampshire, and worldwide on the web at www.fnxradio.com.

Related Links
- WFNX: www.fnxradio.com
- New England Product on MySpace: www.myspace.com/newenglandproductfnx
- Wicked Good Bands Vol 2: Newbury Comics

Elation

Jen — Tue, 11 Mar 2008 21:41:00 +0000

My mom just called me up and said in her own mom way that she saw our tour dates and it made her dizzy. I had to laugh. We've just added Philly to that list. Check out all the dates and if you have friends in that area (or indeed you are yourself there) please spread the word. You are so great ly appreciated here at Aloud HQ.

Still trying to fill some more dates. We're at a mad dash for 3-29 in the DC/VA/MD area. Also working on 4-5 in either St. Louis, MO or Springfield, IL as well as 4-7 in either Cleveland, OH or Columbus, OH. Got any ideas? Send them my way.

Oh and I was interviewed for my job's newsletter today. Crazy, huh? Ah, the perks of being in a rock n roll band. Nice and fun.

Cheers,

Jen

On a side note, saw the Clash docu London Calling last night. Not bad. Also, watching them play live always gives me fever.

Tune In Tonight

Jen — Sun, 16 Mar 2008 12:44:00 +0000

A little note to say we will be on Dave Duncan’s New England Product tonight on WFNX. Mr. Dave will be interviewing us and playing tracks from Fan The Fury in anticipation of it’s release and pre-release show at Great Scott on Thursday, March, 20th. In addition, we’ll be giving away copies of Fan The Fury on air.

If you’re in the Boston/Southern New Hampshire area you can tune into 101.7FM/92.1FM. Not in the area? Fear not. You can listen online at www.fnxradio.com which is what I do anyway.

Cheers,

Jen

It’s CD releasin’ season, and I got a hankerin’ for some... releaserin’...

Henry — Thu, 20 Mar 2008 05:14:00 +0000

It appears that this is it.

Months of songwriting, rehearsing, recording, mixing, re-mixing, mastering, discussions over album art, dealing with CD misprints, more rehearsing, and debt management come to a head tomorrow (well, technically today I suppose).

I don’t know what the hell I’m doing up this late, either. I’m anxious, truth be told (and slightly insomniac).

I feel like I can finally breathe easier. If making Leave Your Light On was like pushing a cart with square wheels up a hill, getting Fan The Fury made can draw parallels to the Apollo 13 mission. In the end, the moments that were supposed to be fun were exceptionally fun, particularly working on these songs. Last summer was absolutely fantastic, and— short of being a kid again and not having to go to work— I’d rank it as one of the best summers of my life.

All in all, I’m pretty goddamn proud with what we’ve got on our hands.

I’d like to do something we probably should do more often and thank Annie, our manager who has the patience of a saint. She’d have to to be busting her ass this hard for us and putting up with our bullshit. A lot of things wouldn’t have happened without her help and (+5,000 points here) her organizational skills. This record is one of many other things that became possible in no small part to her efforts. Annie, you’re the best, and my daily exhortations to the Flying Spaghetti Monster include a wish that you actually start making money off of us soon.

Thanks as well to another unsung hero, Señor Hugh Wyman. He was technically on the sidelines for this album, but he was an enormous help in a lot of ways from the very early stages of the album— before we were even thinking of an album. He recorded and mixed demos for nearly half the songs on the record and a bunch of other shit we didn’t get around to using; he was a voice of reason when it came to listening back to mixes and dissecting a lot of technical aspects; lastly, he has many a time been the provider of BBQ and gallons of vodka. My only regret is that he will leave one kudos for this post, and I’ll feel like that waitress with the bad attitude who acts surprised she got a nickel for a tip.

There are lots of other people deserving of thanks, of course, but I could go on forever and I do need to get some sleep. Gotta be up in a couple of hours, which is unfortunate. Right now, I want nothing more than to sleep in late, then stroll down to Bagel Rising for a bagel and some coffee. But I’ve got work, and I’m fucking broke.

Can’t win ’em all.

We’ll see you all tomorrow, and if we don’t see you then we’ll see you out on the open road.

Cheers,
Henry

I just CD released in my pants

Henry — Sat, 22 Mar 2008 05:34:00 +0000

One cannot express enough thanks for Thursday night... but I’m going to try anyway. The album release show at Great Scott was one of the funnest (if not the funnest) times I’ve ever had at one of our shows. For the public record, but mostly for my own frame of reference, if I’m ever asked what my favorite show so far has been, it was this one.

We’re extremely happy and proud we were able to get things off to such a great start in our own home of Allston, and particularly at Great Scott. There’s something special being amongst your clan. I even saw friends of mine that I hadn’t seen in years. It got to a point where it wasn’t even about us anymore and it turned into one giant party. Thank you all for being a part of it.

Thank you, thank you, thank you.

Partied till 4:30am or so... a bad idea on a school night considering I had to drag my ass to work shortly thereafter— but it was worth it. What’s a little sleep debt between friends?

Further (and probably incomplete) thanx:
- Wendy, for a gorgeous violin part both at the show and on the record.
- The Shapes and Radio America for trekking out to Boston, helping out with the last number of the night, and for being our friends.
- Annie for... well, pretty much everything up to this point.
- Beca for being the ever-vigilant merch volunteer lady. Bonus points for the assist during the guitar cable untangling. That could’ve been a disaster!
- Ale for the second string merch assist.
- Hugh for being fucking METAL.
- Joni, Mr. Photog, and Mick for le photos... can’t wait to see ’em!
- Carl, Brenda, Tim, Tim (the soundguy) and everyone at Great Scott. You guys are awesome, not just for accommodating us and always making us feel welcome, but for supporting live music the way you guys do. I cannot thank you enough for this.
- All the fine writers that were kind enough to plug this show.
- Nate and Mike for not heckling us this time.
- Additionally, I’d like to thank Ross’ friends for putting their shirts back on (though I can appreciate the enthusiasm).

Alright, kids. I’m off to sleep for the next 30 hours. Be well.

Cheers,
Henry

Fan The Fury - OUT NOW!

Webmaster — Tue, 25 Mar 2008 12:26:00 +0000

Aloud's new album Fan The Fury is now available for purchase!

CD Baby (CD and high-quality mp3s):
http://www.cdbaby.com/aloud3

iTunes
(this will automatically open iTunes)

Newbury Comics:
Newbury Street; Harvard Square; Shrewsbury, MA; Nashua, NH; and Providence, RI locations.

The digital booklet for Fan The Fury can be downloaded at www.fanthefury.com.
If you like to try before you buy, you can listen to the album in its entirety there as well.

Surprise! www.allthingsALOUD.com v7.0 launched.

Webmaster — Wed, 26 Mar 2008 02:16:00 +0000

Surprise! To mark the release of Fan The Fury, www.allthingsALOUD.com has been redesigned with the album in mind. To make things easier, v7.0 has no more of those pesky frames, so each page has its own unique linkable URL.

The Aloud Music Player has been redesigned and contains Aloud's entire catalog to date for your listening pleasure.

So have fun. Feel free to snoop around!

Aloud Gets All Kerouac... and goes on the road

Jen — Thu, 27 Mar 2008 15:27:00 +0000

Yes, it was a rather cheap title for a blog. Ham it up while you can.

Indeed we hit the road tomorrow and I am anxious to leave. Weather looks all right. Mostly warm down south and something about flooding in Memphis? Be good to us road gods.

I don’t know how possible this will be, but I’m going to try and post on here during the tour. I will be keep entries in my diary while on tour and I’d like to post those on here, so you can tune in to what we’re up to. Even if I can’t get them up till we get back I’ll get them here.

If you’re a New Yorker, we’ll be in the city tomorrow, Friday March 28 with those lovely folks, The Shapes. This show is FREE if you rsvp now to rsvp@newyorkunderbelly.com. We will be on stage earlier than the 9:30pm announced set time, so get there at 9PM SHARP! During our set there’ll be an open bar.

Then it’s off to Raleigh, Columbia, Gainesville, Murfreesboro, Memphis... and so on.

Cheers,

Jen

Actually, I’m not really a horse. I’m a broom.

Henry — Fri, 28 Mar 2008 04:14:00 +0000

I’m anxious as hell. Still sitting at home, waiting to take off. I haven’t even packed, but that’s mostly because I’m really, really lazy. I don’t know where my clothes are going to fit anyway. It only hit me last night that I’m going to be away from Boston for the next two weeks.

Our iPod FM transmitter is busted, too. Most of the ones I’ve seen really suck, but this one was really fantastic. We’re crashing at Jen’s parents’ place in Raleigh tomorrow, so hopefully we can spend some time trying to salvage it. And if we can’t, well... looks like it’s the Foo Fighters on repeat, at least while Ross is driving.

Since I’ve got the day off from work today, I’m half-watching daytime TV. Maury’s on (is there any other way to watch Maury Povich?). Anyone care to take a guess what the topic du jour is? I’ll give you a hint: it wasn’t "Oversexed Teens" or "Infidelity Lie Decetor". Seriously, though, wasn’t this guy a proper reporter in his past life? Or his wife, at least?

Anyhoo, I’ll let you all go. I need to see if the husband is the baby’s daddy or not (potentially, it’s eight other men). I shit you not.

Our internet access will in all likelyhood be limited, but we’ll try to post here as much as possible while we’re away. We’ll see you tonight in New York (or elsewhere later on). Be well.

Cheers,
Henry

This is an exact replica of my bone structure

Henry — Sat, 29 Mar 2008 05:02:00 +0000

I’m pretty wrecked right now, but that’s only because I’ve still got this damn cold. Last night’s show went really well. The Shapes were awesome last night too, very tight. I think we may have accidentally taken their keyboard stand, though (and they have taken ours). Nyuck nyuck nyuck.

They were playing Spinal Tap at Crash Mansion on all the flat screens. That pretty much made my night. The sound was muted so me and the boys from Radio America were basically filling in the quotes half the time. Awesome.

Talked to a British girl named Becky, which is notable for two reasons: 1) it made me realize that I slip in and out of British accents without reason, and 2) I’m apparently the first American to tell her that I strongly prefer the original BBC version of The Office as opposed to the US version. In her mind, it more than made up for me choosing Oasis over Blur.

I mean, come on... "Woo-hoo".

Stayed over at Annie’s last night as well. I had to sleep on the floor. Me no likey floor.

Ross and Roy slept on a sofa. I hate them.

Off to Raleigh in a bit. Long drive, but we’ve got the night off (already! haha..).

Cheers,
Henry

I know it was you Fredo. You broke my heart. You broke my heart!

Henry — Mon, 31 Mar 2008 05:29:00 +0000

Got to Raleigh around 9:30pm on Saturday. It was a really long drive too, something like 8 hours. We listened to soooo much music too. It was crampy, but kinda fun. We knew we were in the South when we passed by a church sign that said: THE TEMPERATURE IN HELL DOESN’T CHANGE. Then a billboard with a faucet pouring out wine that said "Got faith?".

Shortly thereafter, we passed by a place called "Magic Touch: All Girl Staff".

I usually sleep with the TV on, but it was hard getting to sleep last night as AMC was running a Godfather marathon (Godfather II was on). I must’ve fallen asleep at some point, but the thing is, when I woke up this morning the movie was playing again from the same point I started watching it. It was like AMC just refused to accept I passed out shortly after Vito popped one in that dude during the parade in Little Italy. I can take that hint, so long as I don’t have to be subjected to Godfather III.

Spent most of the day today (yesterday?) either playing with the dogs, driving around Raleigh, or hanging about the house with Jen’s folks watching TV. Wedding Singer was on at some point (I forget how awesome that movie is), and later on Jen and I spent a good two hours watching season 6 of King of the Hill.

The show tonight at the Pour House was interesting. It wasn’t until four songs in that we were told the vocals weren’t going through the PA. It’s all good, though. We plowed right through the set after that. Hey, shit happens sometimes, right? There’s a whole area upstairs with a bar and pool tables that still has a clear view of the stage. Everyone who came was real nice, and Jen’s parents got a real kick out of seeing us play again... I think the last time was maybe three years ago(?).

The four of us and Jen’s folks hit up IHOP after the show. We spotted our first mullet of the tour there. I’m not one to make sport of poking fun at the South, so I’ll offer that there were three songs playing at IHOP that I knew way too much about ("The Circle of Life", Elton John, Lion King soundtrack / "Valotte", Julian Lennon, Valotte / "Silly Love Songs", Wings, Wings at the Speed of Sound).

None of this diminished the tastiness of my burger.

Still nursing that cold, but I’m getting better. Been drinking lots of tea. Coughing up a storm right now, but thankfully we’ve been making it through the shows.

Columbia, SC tomorrow night.

So far so good (knock on wood).

Cheers,
Henry

Just added: St. Louis, MO on 4/5

Webmaster — Mon, 31 Mar 2008 22:24:00 +0000

Aloud will be swinging through St. Louis this Saturday, 4/5!

Check out the Performances page for more information.

I have no clever blog title today

Henry — Tue, 01 Apr 2008 14:08:00 +0000

Very rainy drive yesterday. My throat was a bit sore yesterday, and for whatever reason the soft-serve machine at every place we went to was busted. Still, I settled for a milkshake (which provided the same service to Mr. Throat, and was scrum-diddly-umptious). I noticed two things on the drive through SC: the greens are really green and the reds are really red, and there are lots of places to buy fireworks (culminating with this huge fireworks emporium-type warehouse).

Another thing I noticed about the South is the interesting way some of these clubs are set up. The Pour House in Raleigh has a convertable stage, and 5 Points Pub here in Columbia has a garage door built behind the stage for easy loading in and out. Kinda cool.

When we pulled up to the hotel, I witnessed a heated argument between the hotel staff and some people who really wanted to get a room with their pet (they don’t allow pets here). It was probably terrible on both parties, but I found it hilarious. There are so many hotels around here.

Anyway, 5 Points Pub is a really, really nice club. Stage was great and the sound was awesome. There was enough room on the drum riser to throw the keyboard up on, so for at least a song I got to lord over all of Aloud... in my mind. We made a very enthusiastic new friend named Terrence who called up all his friends to come to the show, and Josh, the security guy, is actually from Providence. Greg the sound guy was awesome too. I have to say last night was one of the better stages I’ve ever played on. They even had a green room downstairs with all the amenities (i.e., TV). Saw half of Lean On Me. Never saw that movie before.

Actually, one thing I’ve noticed about touring so far is the amount of movies and TV you wind up watching. When we got back to the hotel, we saw Dave Chappelle on that Actor’s Studio show. Right now we’re watching the Ninth Gate before we have to check out.

Ross spent half the night talking to these two blonde girls (Ray and Megan, I believe?) who went to go party after the show and invited him. He called them afterwards, but they did not pick up and he was forced to return to the hotel with us. I point this out because I like to poke fun at Mr. Ross at any opportunity.

Ross and Roy hit up the Waffle House next door twice. I was so hungry last night that I broke my personal rule of never eating at Waffle House. But what else can you do when it’s the only thing open at 1am? As long as we don’t go there ever again.

Waffle House three times, you die.

Cheers,
Henry

I’m cheesing my f-ing balls off!

Henry — Wed, 02 Apr 2008 15:30:00 +0000

Rushing around a bit before we have to check out. I’m not even wearing pants right now.

Apparently, not a single ice cream machine in South Carolina works. Had to settle for a milkshake again when we got into Georgia. Oh so good. Lest everyone think I’m a little piggie piggie here, my throat’s been hurting for days and ice cream is the only salve that has really worked so far. Before we hit the Georgia border, Roy bought a crap ton of fireworks and one of those giant fireworks stores. It was hard not to, the damn things were everywhere, even in the gas station mini mart. You’d think that’s the last place they’d sell fireworks, eh?

We also found these giant Zippo lighters for $20. The thing was literally the size of my head.

You could tell we got into Florida when the spate of Gun & Jewelry shops started appearing (as a former citizen of the Sunshine State, I can write about it with impunity... those are the rules). The sex toy stores made up for the decrease in fireworks shops. I think.

Got to the hotel around 5 and met up with my dad and my sister, had dinner/lunch at the Cracker Barrell next door. I was stuffed by the time we got to the show.

New point of reference: this was the first time we were told to show up at a certain time to "load in", and then told to keep our gear in the car till 15 minutes before we were supposed to go on. Despite this snafu, we had a really fun time (and I got the high score on Duck Hunt for the evening, bitches!). A bunch of my family drove up from Miami to see us play, including my mom who had never seen us before. We were kinda rushed to get all our gear on stage, which resulted in a very manic show. Fucking fun as hell, though. I was sweating before we started. Of course, it was kinda hot and I do tend to sweat a lot.

After the show I hung out with my sister and our cousins at one of her friends’ house. Ross pwned at beer pong, Jen pwn3d at pool (I think), Roy was rocking the white Max Headroom/Kanye shades the whole night, and I rocked the projection TV. Finally got to see the South Park episode with the cat pee. Unbelievable. I love that show.

The four of us got back to the hotel around 5 or so and got some food at the gas station (everything else was closed). Clocked out at 6am.

And now here we are.

Gonna go get some grub with my folks before we take off.. shit, we gotta check out in 20 minutes and I’m still not wearing any pants.

Cheers,
Henry

Just an old, sweet song

Henry — Thu, 03 Apr 2008 22:48:00 +0000

Driving through Georgia was striking. When I think of "The South", these are the pictures I think of. I drove through Georgia a lot when I was younger, and it was nice to get a refresher in wet greens and bright red Georgia clay. There was a lot of road, and a lot to see. Seemingly abandoned factories, gun/pawn shops as far as the eye can see, farms, large houses next to run-down shanties... like I said, it was all very striking and there was loads to take in.

Suffice to say, I think the drive through Georgia has been my favorite so far.

We arrived in Columbus with plenty of time to spare. It really is no wonder the devil went down to Georgia, because it was fucking hot. The downtown area reminds me of Salem, Mass actually, sans the ocean. To say The Loft was nice would be the understatement of the year. Everyone there was very accommodating, the green room was HUGE (there was a studio and a couple of showers upstairs!) and the stage was particularly nice. Very pro, and everyone was very sweet. They even got us food.

One thing that’s been so great about the tour is meeting all sorts of awesome people. Samantha, Charlie, Diane, Brad, Chris, Cecil, Katrine, and people I’m probably forgetting-- you’re the best.

Met up with a buddy from high school, Robert, who I hadn;t seen since we graduated. Him and his friend Dan run an awesome studio in Atlanta, and you can check it out here: http://www.wizkidsound.com.

Anyway, they were telling me about this one time they were playing a show and were heckled and commanded by an unruly crowd to play Dave Matthews covers-- lest physical violence be inflicted upon them. Which is funny, cos you think it’d be the other way around.

Stayed in Fayettesville with Jen’s family friend. Sorta got lost along the way, which was upsetting. But it’s bound to happen on a trip this long. Got to bed around 4:30am. (Thanks to Iliana, Anabella, and Vaughn for letting us crash at their house).

In Murfreesboro right now, which according to Ross’ dad will mark the halfway point in terms of mileage on this tour.

Okay kids, till tomorrow...

Cheers,
Henry

Long distance information, give me Memphis Tennessee

Henry — Fri, 04 Apr 2008 15:41:00 +0000

Gotta check out in five minutes, so this one’s gonna be a little short. Many thanks to Ben Sturgell and Element 7 for bringing us out here, and Allison for showing us a good time at Club 527.

I finally broke a string last night, but it was at the very end of the set. Count it!

I’ll write about our adventure with the state lines and time zones later. It really wasn’t so much of an adventure as much as a "what the fuck just happened?"

Okay kids... see you tonight in Memphis!

Henry

There’s a lot more to being a model than I realized

Henry — Sun, 06 Apr 2008 14:22:00 +0000

Sitting in a hotel in St. Louis typing on a phone right now.

St. Louis is a very cool city. I like it a lot. Reminds me of Boston quite a bit. The Arch was impressive.

Celebrated Ross’ birthday at a Denny’s at midnight. Send him some birthday love when you can... It’s not every day a boy celebrates his 12th birthday.

It’s like beating a dead horse at this point, but when you’re subjected to as much tv as I am on tour this must be said: MTV has completely gone down the shitter. Just play some goddamn videos.

So much more to write about but typing on this phone is very tedious.

Cheers,
Henry

St. Louis & Chi-town

Zuul — Mon, 07 Apr 2008 16:29:00 +0000

Last couple of days have been really cool. St. Louis and Chicago have been two of my favorite cities on the tour thus far. St. Louis reminds me of Boston a hell of a lot and Chicago is all sorts of New York.

We played a place on Olive St. in St. Louis called Two Cents Plain. The guys running it were dead cool and dead nice! We hung out and watched South Park with them. Turns out they know the dude from the "What, What In The Butt" video. No lie. That happened to be the South Park episode on at the moment. The place is also 16+ which scores big points with a band that still remembers being underage and wanting to desperately to see live music.

Chicago... the minute we drove in I felt good about the show. Ross and I spent a while talking to the guys in Overhang. Great, nice fellows and their bass player even lived in Boston for a while. After that, Ross, Roy and I went exploring the area. The Note is in a place called Wicker Park. Right across from us was another club called the Double Door and further down the way was the Subterrenean. Very cool, hip area including a tequila bar called Salud which we all that quite appropriate. Also, might I say how cool the sound guy at the Note was. Excellent sound all night.

Both shows were a lot of fun and I can’t believe checking out of hotels, driving 5 hours, checking into new hotels and playing gigs will end in a couple of days. I won’t know what to do with myself when I get back. But I know when I see that Citgo sign in the distance it’ll be all right.

But now... a message from Ross...

-- Jen

============================
Wow. My first blog ever!! And they won’t even give me a full one, I have to split it. This is bogus.

Actually, I don’t think I’m quite ready to be the exclusive writer of a blog. I spend all my energy writing the mailing list, anyway.

In any case, I just wanted to send some love to all the great people helping us along the way on tour. I’m having a great time. Every night is a new adventure (after the five hours of driving...), and we’ve met a lot of great people along the way.

I’m exhausted, I’m filthy (I brought 4 t-shirts for the whole trip), and I’m loving every second of it. The best part about playing in cities that are so far apart every night is that you get to wear the same clothes at every show and no one will ever know. I’m sticking by that.

Here’s to not looking forward to coming home (except to play with Harris on the 24th at O’Briens!!).

Off to Phili!!

Ross

======

Actually, this is Ross’ second blog. What a loser.

-- Henry

Cheese Steaks

Jen — Fri, 11 Apr 2008 04:56:00 +0000

I know it's been a while since the Philly gig. But we've been adjusting to life back home and really just sleeping. I had an amazing time in Philadelphia though, so I have to write about it. By the way Philly truly is the City of Brotherly Love. I have never been helped out or warmly recepted by so many strangers!

On the 8th we awoke from our hotel room in Somewhere, PA. We had to wake up an hour earlier than usual to make it to our radio interview that day. No showers this morning for Aloud. The interview was at Camden College in Camden, NJ (a suburb of Philly really). We arrive around 2:30pm and meet Greg, the station manager, and Jamie our DJ interviewer.We get along with Jamie right away and she's up to date on the latest Aloud news. After the interview we make plans to meet up in Philly.

We drop off the gear at the Fire and decide to explore the city. Obama and Hillary signs hang in all the windows. (The club is covered with Barack's face). Down on South St. we check out shoe shops and clothes and dig in the brick roads of the city. Betsy Ross' house is somewhere nearby. People are friendly. We sit down for a meal at Jon's. The building Jon's is at is where Larry from the Three Stooges was born. Philly Cheese Steaks called "3rd St" fill our mouths. Delicious.

Back at the club we chill in the green room till manager extraordinaire, Annie Burns, and Jamie arrive. We chat, walk around the area, and at 10:30 it's show time. We play, rush into each on stage, dance, talk to the audience, and at the end pull Annie on stage to thank her for everything she does. Perfect send off for the last date on this leg of the tour.

After the show we take off into the Philadelphia night, through New Jersey, New York, CT, and finally back to Boston. Home around 5:30am. It's very odd being back. It's odd not being in the van or a hotel room or a club right now. I guess right now about this time of day we'd be driving.

Thanks so much to all the friends we made in NYC, Raleigh, Columbia, Gainesville, Columbus, Murfreesboro, Memphis, St. Louis, Chicago, and Philadelphia. You guys made things so much easier for us. Thanks for buying cds and t-shirts. Thanks for the clubs and bands for having us. And big thanks to the folks and family who put us up in their houses for the night.

Next show is a hometown return. April 24th for the last night of the Harris residency @ O'Brien's in Allston. Just a stone's throw from our rehearsal space.

See you then,

Jen

Send us your photos!!!

Jen — Wed, 16 Apr 2008 00:06:00 +0000

We've put up pics from our recent tour! Check 'em out and drop us love!

Mainly though, if YOU have photos caught of us on tour (and I know you do. I remember those lights flashing!) send them to us here: aloud@allthingsaloud.com.

We wanna put them up!

Cheers,

Jen

Aloud performs final night of Harris Ape-ril residency

Webmaster — Sat, 19 Apr 2008 17:17:00 +0000

Aloud joins fellow Boston band Harris as they close out the final night of their month-long Ape-ril Residency this Thursday. Joining them are local songstress Jen Murdza, and the Brendan Boogie Band (who you may recall were borne from the late, great Scamper).

Apart from the residency, the guys in Harris have put together a cool podcast for each week of the residency on their website which you should check out.

The last three weeks sold out, so be sure to get to O'Brien's early!

April 24 - 9pm
O'Briens Pub
3 Harvard Ave, Allston, MA
21+, $7
w. Harris, Aloud (11pm), Brendan Boogie Band (10pm), Jen Murdza (9pm)
www.obrienspubboston.com

Related links
- Harris: www.harriscore.com
- Brendan Boogie Band: www.myspace.com/brendanboogieband
- Jen Murdza: www.jenmurdza.com
- O'Brien's Pub: www.obrienspubboston.com

A sort of homecoming

Henry — Sat, 26 Apr 2008 00:11:00 +0000

You wake up sore as the alarm rings, and you cringe. Because it's 6:15 AM. Because you have to go to work on less than 4 hours of sleep. Because you've sworn off coffee— or trying to, at any rate.

It's been awhile since that old, familiar feeling has crept up on me, but that's exactly what happened this morning.

Being back home since the tour has been strange, like being in both a familiar and unfamiliar world at the same time. I'm restless, incredibly antsy, and (for today at least) have broken my morning-coffee sabbatical. Which isn't to suggest things are static, either. They're not. There's actually a lot going on, many things we've been talking about to keeping moving forward, creatively and professionally (does that word make anyone else gag?), and I even felt the need to record a couple of quick little demos, something I have not done since we started working on Fan The Fury last year. Things are still good and things are still fun. It's just been a little difficult slowing down, having gone from practically playing every single day to waiting a month between shows while we regroup and work on booking some more dates.

So it was no small feat that last night made me forget about all that sad-sackery. Brendan (surname: Boogie Band) kept mentioning last night that between them, us, Harris, and all our friends in attendance it was a lot like a family reunion (we can call Jen Murdza a distant cousin... she was quite awesome too). I can get behind that. Even the staff was great. It was a good homecoming, anyway. Everyone played ridiculously well.

All it needed at the end was a side order at Denny's to top me off and about 7-8 hours of sleep in a hotel room. But we can't get everything, I suppose.

Cheers,
Henry

P.S. Some other business to tend to while I've got your attention:

- Updated our Flickr page. We stopped being cheap bastards and started paying for a pro account, so we can update without the fear of our photo sets being lost now. We're still organizing things there, but we've got a bunch of photos up from the tour. Check them out, and if you have any send them our way... www.flickr.com/aloud

- Don't be the only kid on your block without this. And tell us what you think, too. Leave reviews! You can leave bad ones too, but I can't promise I won't sue you for hurting my feelings like these women did.

Aloud has a smashing life at TT's (May 16)

Webmaster — Tue, 29 Apr 2008 12:10:00 +0000

Click to enlarge

We're hitting up TT the Bear's in Cambridge in the middle of next month (circa the Ides of... May?). Our friend Ryan (from the music blog Ryan's Smashing Life) put the evening together, and the dude seems to know a thing or two about good music (*cough cough*).

Full info is listed below.

If you're on Facebook, be a sport and say you're coming!
http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=12654273269

Cheers,
Henry

May 16, 9pm
T.T. the Bear's Place
10 Brookline Street, Cambridge, MA

w. Aloud, Murder Mystery (11pm), Miss Fairchild (10pm), and Scuba (9pm)
Presented by Ryan's Smashing Life
Age: 18+
Cover: $8

Related Links
- Ryan's Smashing Life: ryanssmashinglife.blogspot.com
- T.T. the Bear's Place: www.ttthebearsplace.com
- Murder Mystery: www.myspace.com/murdermysterymusic
- Miss Fairchild: www.myspace.com/missfairchild
- Scuba: www.myspace.com/scubaix

When the future’s architectured by a carnival of idiots on show you’d better lie low

Henry — Wed, 30 Apr 2008 14:10:00 +0000

Can anyone else believe this crap about Miley Cyrus?

I mean, if you're Hannah Montana my list of embarrassments would probably top off with "My dad had a hit with Achy Breaky Heart" and "Did you see the fucking mullet on that guy?!" as opposed to "Photographed by Annie Leibovitz". Honestly, is there anyone who's really upset by this? Was the news day that slow that a preemptive apology from the Cyrus camp dominated the news? For a second, I thought the whole terrible economy/Iraq/Z0MG Obama doesn't wear a flag lapel! thing was fixed. But won't someone think of the children? Ha. Well, if we're to assume just for a second that she did something terrible and ruined your child's precious psyche (...forever!), then you got what you deserved. Please let this be the last time you're suckered in by Disney or anyone that tells you a fictitious persona and/or actress is someone to look up to. If you're looking for role models for your kids, you should start at home.

Now that I've gotten my diatribe du jour out of the way, anyone else hear the new Coldplay song? (If you haven't you can download it for free here or listen below). I've only listened to it a handful of times, but I'm still not entirely sure how I feel. I certainly don't hate it, and it sounds fairly interesting. It's currently in the stuck-in-my-head phase, and is the only thing that was able to flush Achy Breaky Heart out of my system.

Brian Eno produced the album, so I'm really curious to hear the rest.

Cheers,
Henry

Aloud breaks top 10 in Boston

Webmaster — Fri, 02 May 2008 02:14:00 +0000

Fan The Fury has made it into the top 10 of The Noise Radio Chart for this month!

To view the full list, click here.

The Noise Top 30 Radio Chart is based on the amount of radio airplay given to locally released CDs. It's compiled by RadioTony using playlists from WAAF, WBCN, WFNX, WMBR, WMFO, WTCC, and WZBC.

Skip, skip, skip, skip, wild card, draw four, blue, draw two, uno, I win

Henry — Sat, 03 May 2008 17:04:00 +0000

The lot of us went to grab a bite to eat yesterday to celebrate Jen's birthday, then proceeded to dig into a case of beer at home and play a hell of a lot of Uno.

Yes, that's right. Uno. We only really played maybe two games, but it took for-fucking-ever to finish.

We took a look at some of the tour video as well... I can't believe some of the stuff we caught on film haha... We'll get all that up for you guys in some form soon.

Until then, here's a little video about how our new t-shirts are made. And send Jen some birthday wishes, eh?

Cheers,
Henry

Aloud radio interview this Saturday

Webmaster — Wed, 07 May 2008 15:58:00 +0000

Aloud makes an appearance on The Dweezil Show this Saturday evening on WMFO in Medford. Tune in as the band talks about their upcoming show at TT the Bear's, road stories from their spring tour, Fan The Fury, and may even perform a song or two.

The Dweezil Show is broadcast on WMFO 91.5 FM (Medford, MA) between 7pm and 9pm, and can be heard online at www.wmfo.org.

Related Links
- Aloud has a smashing life at TT's (May 16)
- WMFO: www.wmfo.org
- The Dweezil Show: www.myspace.com/thedweezilshow
- Buy Fan The Fury here

"Release" featured in award winning docu "The Mixtress"

Webmaster — Sat, 10 May 2008 04:05:00 +0000

Music by Aloud has been featured in a short documentary on audiophile and The Mixtress founder Jules Bennett.

The film was made by Wideshot Studios, and placed 16th (out of 122) in the 2008 International Documentary Challenge.

"Release" is the opening track from Aloud's 2006 album Leave Your Light On, and also opens the film and soundtrack.

The soundtrack to the film won Best Soundtrack in the 2008 International Documentary Challenge. Aloud was featured alongside acts such as The Walkmen, The Cardigans, and fellow Bostonians The Cyanide Valentine.

The Mixtress is a mix CD exchange/found art project based out of Portland, OR with the aim of exposing "the listener to a variety of music and create a tangible and visceral connection in this digital age".

Check out the documentary below!

6/20/2008 Update: The Mixtress Online was asked by the International Documentary Challenge to remove the short film from YouTube. The film is currently being considered for distribution and an e-mail from a producer at the IDC states they are "not crazy about the idea of putting the films on the web for free for the general public."

We will post any new information on The Mixtress documentary when we get it.

Related Links
- The Mixtress Online: www.themixtressonline.com
- 2008 International Documentary Challenge: www.docchallenge.org
- Wideshot Studios: www.wideshotstudios.com
- Buy Leave Your Light On

Listen to The Dweezil Show interview here

Webmaster — Sun, 11 May 2008 06:28:00 +0000

Perhaps you weren't able to listen in to Aloud's interview on The Dweezil Show this past weekend, or maybe you'd love to relive the experience. Fear not! Streaming mp3s of the show are available below.

This is the band's most extensive interview so far... Fan The Fury, the tour, the songwriting process, the upcoming Ryan's Smashing Life show, and an acoustic performance of The Last Time... it's all there.

We've split the whole thing up into two separate files for your convenience. (Update: The issue with Internet Explorer has been resolved!)

(And be sure to tune in to WMFO every Saturday from 7-9pm for The Dweezil Show!)

Aloud on The Dweezil Show - Part 1

DOWNLOAD MP3 (PART 1)

Aloud on The Dweezil Show - Part 2

DOWNLOAD MP3 (PART 2)

Related Links
- The Dweezil Show: www.myspace.com/thedweezilshow
- WMFO: www.wmfo.org
- Ryan's Smashing Life: ryanssmashinglife.blogspot.com

Don’t put it in your pocket, sir. It’s your lucky quarter.

Henry — Tue, 13 May 2008 18:03:00 +0000

I spent most of last night digging through 3 or 4 hours of tour footage. Tedious, but worth it. Particularly when you wind up with cinematic gems like this:

Case in point, we're working on making this whole tour thing happen again (and again and again). We're hitting some cities up this summer up here in the Northeast (including this Friday at TT's in Cambridge). And while I can't make any definite statements on the matter (though, I could certainly lie about it!), we'll hopefully do some more serious traveling come the Fall.

In the meantime there's plenty for you to do to keep yourself busy. Pleeeeeeeentyyyy...

For starters, if you missed our interview with Phil on The Dweezil Show (on WMFO), you can listen to it as a streaming mp3 over here. We go quite a bit into working on the songs for the album and we share a few tour stories. And, whenever we get a chance, take Ross down a peg or two. That's what he gets for being nice to me; sometimes. If talking's not your thing (lord knows it ain't mine), there's a nice acoustic version of The Last Time that Jen did. It's at the beginning of Part 2, if you must know.

Nächstes, a cool docu featuring an equally cool chick who calls herself The Mixtress features Release at the beginning. Release is that song off Leave Your Light On we don't play at shows merely to let you know who is the boss of you (Us). Anyhoo, the short documentary placed high at the 2008 International Documentary Challenge and took the Best Soundtrack prize, too. Like everything on the planet (including Iron Man, which I saw last week) it's on YouTube. I've posted it below, so.. watch it!

Gah... I've had a headache on the left side of my face, just above my eye, for the last three days. I'm guessing it's a sinus infection of some sort (yum). I'm not a doctor though. So I think I'll do the next best thing and open the floor to comments so that You, the readers, may accurately determine my diagnosis. Who knows, if this works out we could probably solve this whole health care issue in one fell swoop.

Cheers,
Henry

YO!

Zuul — Tue, 27 May 2008 13:04:00 +0000

I wanted to mention photos from last week's T.T.'s gig are up on our flickr page. These wonderful shots were taken by the even more wonderful Mick Murray who also did our album shoot.

Henry's working on a little road movie about the tour. It's coming along nicely and we'll promise to get those up on YouTube as soon as we can.

More is in the works. Coming up are two hometown gigs. The first is Rock The Runway, a fashion and rock show at the Middle East Down on June 12 followed by our first gig at Church on June 27 with our great pals Johnny Nobody from Buffalo, NY! This night also happens to be the CD release for The Lights Out too!

Check out the details for our mini-tour in July for Philly, NYC, and Worcester as well!

Cheers,

Jen

--

P.S. Hello, it's Henry jumping on this thang.. Also worth mentioning:

Tonight: While there are many good shows going on tonight, I have to go with this one. After months and months of rehearsal, preparation, and presumably a lot of beer Hayburner is ready to hit the town. Hugh Wyman, who produced Leave Your Light On and the upcoming Mesmerines record, is in the band.

How this show will help save the puppies: Hugh is currently holding a collie puppy hostage, and if you come to the show he will not feed it to his much larger dog.

(21+, $7 / O'Brien's Pub, 3 Harvard Ave, Allston.. w. The Bludlows, Dark Martini And The Dirty Olives)

Perhaps the Silver Lining could stay together... if only they spoke Hovitos!

Henry — Wed, 28 May 2008 15:53:00 +0000

If last night's Hayburner show wasn't enough, here's some more action this week in the Boston environs:

Thursday: Some more good buddies of ours are calling it a day. Our dear friends The Silver Lining are performing what will probably be their last show ("probably" because they're going on indefinite hiatus and may play again here and there). Thankfully, it's nothing acrimonious (like these things tend to be)... Anna and Matt have an adorable 7-month old to tend to, and judging by their music collection he's going to be the coolest little tot ever. They've got some new songs that are available for download on their MySpace page, and their just-finished second record will be available at this show for free. Anyhoo... Matt, Anna, Greg, Doug, and Ted, we love you guys and wish you the best.

How this show will help save the puppies: This show is a fundraiser for the MSPCA Natural Disaster Relief Fund.

(18+, $10 / The Middle East Upstairs, 472-480 Mass Ave, Cambridge.. w. The Rudds, The Gobshites, Andrea Gillis)

Friday: The Rationales release their CD The Going and the Gone at TT's. I've had the CD for a couple of weeks, actually, and while I haven't listened to it yet (like the true lazy-ass that I am), I have seen them in action live and they're quite excellent. You can buy tickets for it here on Ticketweb.

How this show will help save the puppies: Hugh may not go to this show.

(18+, $10 / TT the Bear's Place, 10 Brookline Street, Cambridge.. w. AM Stereo, Eric Salt & the Electric City, The Gentlemen)

It'll be nice to get out again at any rate, it's been dog's ears since I've had a week of going to shows (and not playing them). I was dealing with a pretty bad ear infection last week (by "pretty bad" I mean "paaaaaaaaaaaaaainful") and was out of commission for a few days. To pass the time between ibuprofen induced comas I saw a ton of movies and episodes of The Alfred Hitchcock Hour, and played copious amounts of Mario Kart 64 (had my ass handed to me by Jen more times than I care to mention). Let it be known that Alfred Hitchcock is The Man, even if he has been dead for the last 28 years (or has he?). Can't remember if I mentioned this before and I'm too lazy to check, but Jen got this 4-DVD set with a shit ton of the older Hitchcock movies. The guy was so good.

Oh, and the new Indiana Jones movie is fucking awesome. I don't care what anybody says because honestly, anyone who chooses to debate the finer points of how realistic or not this movie is misses the point completely. I'd say it's better than Temple of Doom, even. I'll go no further, as to avoid spoilers. Just don't go in expecting Citizen Kane or The Unbearable Lightness of Being and you'll be fine. Promise. You don't even have to like George Lucas to like it (personally, I think the man's a hack... a rich hack, yes, but a hack nonetheless).

Anyway, I'm feeling much better now thankyouverymuch, and I've continued to plow through our tour footage. We'll have a little movie for ya'll to watch in no time... and finally the world will witness our wacky antics (like that time I woke Ross up when he was sound asleep... how wacky). I know I sound like a broken record by now, but I really miss touring. In order to placate me, we're doing a little romp around the Northeast corridor in July and are working on a trip through I-90 in September. Might have something delicious happening in November, but it's too early to tell. I hope this all happens. My job's starting to kill me.

Cheers,
Henry

Currently listening :
All Things Must Pass
By George Harrison
Release date: 1990-10-25

Mini M&M donut declares war on America

Henry — Thu, 29 May 2008 22:50:00 +0000

Every now and then (read: every day), things pop up in life that defy rationality. Today, it's this crap with Dunkin' Donuts and Rachael Ray.

I mean, really?

Really?

Are you fucking kidding me?

My leg has to be getting pulled. This is a ploy to get me to read an article about how the U.S. dollar is tanking; or how the reason gas is so expensive is because Dick Cheney is a collector of rare vintage oil; or the goddamn War; or even, even, that Ashlee Simpson married that bass player from that terrible band and whose offspring will be responsible for the End Of All Music Forever.

Sadly, it's none of those things. Because in this country of ours it's not enough to threaten a boycott of Dunkin' Donuts for their nearly adequate breakfast sandwiches and godawful coffee. No, one must make specious connections between a black on white paisley scarf and Yassir Arafat's choice of headgear.

To say nothing of the unapologetic spinelessness of Dunkin' Donuts that would make a jellyfish blush. But I don't expect much out of my multi-national conglomerates, so I can live with that.

To put a finer point on it, Michelle Malkin is a moron. While Dunkin' Donuts deserves the Cowardly Lion's share of blame for capitulating to this sheer nonsense, I must say that anyone who— for example— defends the internment of Japanese-Americans during World War II has to be a outright asshat (apologies to FDR, but that's the way it goes down). She strikes me as the type of person who never outgrew high school (and/or a similar social construct) and is in constant need of some sort of drama to have her existence validated. Or perhaps I'm giving her too much credit. Maybe she just wants to cash in with the big boys: Rush Limbaugh, Ann Coulter, Ann Coulter-wannabe Debbie Schlussel...?

Honestly, lady, sophistry is not something to be merely dabbled in. You can't just say Rachael Ray made a poor fashion statement by possibly unwittingly showing support for terrorists. You could do so much more. I mean, why stop there? Why not bring in some questionable evidence to support the conspiracy between the Vast Left Wing Media Conspiracy and fucking Al Qaeda? It's fairly common knowledge that Osama bin Laden loves her Middle Eastern Chicken Pot and Butter-Nut Couscous (the secret's in the extra virgin olive oil).

Why don't you go work on that for a few days and get back to me, eh Michelle? I can wait. I've got as much time as you do (which is a lot, clearly).

Bleh... It's not worth getting angry over cartoon characters.

I'll be nice.

Cheers,
Henry

P.S. ...

Middle Eastern Chicken Pot and Butter-Nut Couscous

Ingredients

* 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil (EVOO), eyeball it
* 1 1/2 pounds boneless skinless chicken thighs, chopped into bite-sized pieces
* 1 onion, thinly sliced
* 3 cloves garlic, grated or chopped
* 1 cup shredded carrots
* 1 fresh bay leaf
* 1 teaspoon smoked paprika
* 1 teaspoon ground cumin
* 1 teaspoon coriander
* Pinch ground cinnamon
* Salt and freshly ground black pepper
* 3/4 cup chopped dried fruits - pick 1 or combine: figs, pitted dates, apricots, sultanas
* 1 lemon, zested and juiced
* 3/4 cup pitted mixed olives, chopped
* 4 cups chicken stock, divided
* 2 tablespoons butter
* 3 tablespoons pine nuts
* 1/4 cup slivered or sliced almonds
* 1 1/2 cups couscous
* Handful flat-leaf parsley, chopped

Preparation
Heat the EVOO in a deep skillet over medium-high heat. When the oil ripples add the chicken and brown 3-4 minutes on each side. Add the onions, garlic, carrots, bay leaf and season with spices, salt and pepper, cook 5-6 minutes. Stir the fruits into the chicken and vegetables, add the zest of the lemon, olives and 2 1/2 cups of stock. Reduce heat to low and simmer 10 minutes more. Sprinkle with lemon juice and turn off heat. Remove bay leaf.

While chicken simmers, melt butter in a sauce pot over medium heat. Add nuts and lightly toast for a couple of minutes. Add 1 1/2 cups stock and bring up to a boil then stir in couscous. Cover and let stand 5 minutes.

Serve chicken over couscous, or vice versa, and garnish with parsley.

Currently listening :
Pinkerton
By Weezer
Release date: 1996-09-24

Revolution with a chorus

Webmaster — Fri, 30 May 2008 04:44:00 +0000

Three reviews for Fan The Fury are out this month. You can check them out here.

Claremont Eagle Times/Algorhythms

Beguiristain told an interviewer recently that with "Fan the Fury," Aloud was aiming for something that people would either love or hate. They succeeded. There's not much middle ground, and that's a good thing. "Fan the Fury" is an election year record.... Inventive tempo changes and quirky word play keep "Fan The Fury" from simply becoming another power pop record. The band plays with more purpose than it did on "Leave Your Light On," their 2006 debut.

Read more: http://localrhythms.wordpress.com/2008/05/28/aloud-fan-the-fury/

The Noise (June)

Everything here is big: big choruses, big vocals, big guitars. The band's supporters generally focus on Jen de la Osa and Henry Beguiristain's vocals, but it's their shimmering guitar work that gives their voices a platform from which to explode.

Read more: http://www.thenoise-boston.com/content/blogcategory/3/17/

Revolt Media

Aloud brings a strong formula of smart, powerful indie-rock that ranges from slow ballad "Hard Up In The 2000s" all the way to the pulsing garage-rock tune "When The Ants Attack The Queen."

The vocals and lyrics are what make this album enjoyable. Whether it's the tongue-in-cheek lyricism strewn about the tracks or just the wail of vocalists Jennifer de la Osa and Henry Beguiristain, Aloud makes sure the vocals are loud and clear for all to ingest.

Read more: http://www.revolt-media.com/reviews/?p=36

Aloud hits Top 2 in Boston

Webmaster — Fri, 30 May 2008 05:05:00 +0000

After debuting at #9, Fan The Fury has climbed up to the #2 spot in this month's Noise Radio Chart.

The Noise Top 30 Radio Chart is based on the amount of radio airplay given to locally released CDs. It's compiled by RadioTony using playlists from WAAF, WBCN, WFNX, WMBR, WMFO, WTCC, and WZBC.

Click here to view the full chart for June.

Fan The Fury can also be heard on nearly 100 stations nationwide. For the full list of stations, click here to visit the radio page.

New t-shirts now available online

Webmaster — Sun, 01 Jun 2008 22:33:00 +0000

Previously available exclusively at Aloud's live shows, the new shirts are now here! They're available in the Merch & Misc section of the Aloud Store.

As the shirts are made by the band members themselves, quantities, styles may be limited. However, if there's a particular style/color/size you'd like to see, feel free to drop the band an e-mail with suggestions: aloud@allthingsaloud.com.

The lone exception to the DIY shirts would be the original "Busted Radio" tees manufactured by QRST's. The last run is of these shirts is currently being sold, so get your hands on them. Because once they're gone, they're gone for good!

See the video below to get a peek into the shirt-making process at Aloud HQ.

Related Links
- Aloud store: http://www.allthingsaloud.com/store.html
- QRST's: http://www.qrsts.com/

Trailer for tour documentary now available

Webmaster — Mon, 02 Jun 2008 23:08:00 +0000

Most shows don't last more than an hour, so with two weeks out on the road what the hell else did Aloud do between shows?

Here's a little teaser for the documentary filmed during Aloud's tour of the South and Midwest, designed to whet your appetites (and buy more time to finish editing it!).

YouTube now offers "high quality video" so if viewing it within this page is too pedestrian for your tastes, you may view the higher quality version by clicking here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AQ_ww2w3A98&fmt=6

It ain't hi-def, but it'll do, yes?

Related Links
- Aloud YouTube Channel: www.youtube.com/aloudvideos
- Fan The Fury Tour photos on Flickr: www.flickr.com/photos/aloud/sets/72157604820054333/

Hard Up In The 2000s (Trailer)

Jen — Tue, 03 Jun 2008 13:05:00 +0000

For your eyes only: The new teaser for the tour documentary, Hard Up In The 2000s. Henry's been working hard on this thing for the last couple weeks, so he thought he's put together a little trailer for it. Check it out on our website. There's also a hi-quality version here.

You dig clothes... and music? Who doesn't! We're going to Rock The Runway next Thursday, June 12, a baller event. Models and bands. You'll love it.

Cheers,

Jen

PS. Many reviews came in for Fan The Fury over the last couple of days. Thanks to the Claremont Eagle Times, Revolt Media, and the Noise!! Check those out here.

Aloud on WBCN this Sunday

Webmaster — Mon, 09 Jun 2008 12:56:00 +0000

The gang will be chatting it up with Boston Emissions host Mark Hamilton this Sunday, June 15th, at 10pm.

Tune in to WBCN at 104.1FM in the Boston area, or listen online at wbcn.com. Aloud may be spinning a few tracks as well as performing on-air.

Related Links
- WBCN: www.wbcn.com
- Boston Emissions: www.myspace.com/bostonemissions

On we sweep with threshing oar, Our only goal will be the western shore

Henry — Wed, 11 Jun 2008 07:49:00 +0000

One of our favorite breakfast places in Allston caught fire yesterday. Sucks. I hadn't been there in a few months, but their breakfast there was amazing (particularly their pancakes).

After months and months of being told how awesome it is, I've been using Pandora for a good week now and I'm really enjoying it. The downside of it is after a while you just start hearing the same music over and over again (and really, my whole intent was to get some random new music into the mix), but you can always create a new station and start over. Anyway, it's pretty cool and I think everyone should try it out as I figure out how to get our music on there. Say what you will about royalties, all I need is a few of those pennies to go dunk in a wishing well and have a genie grant me three wishes... or something.. that's how it works, right?

Aside from the shows this summer, our land-grab of the United States continues this Fall with a tour through the Northeast and Midwest. We've already confirmed Buffalo (9/20) and Ewing, NJ (10/1). Now we've just got to fill in the blanks. We're working on hitting a bunch of new places this time (like Iowa, Cleveland, Detriot, Wisconsin, Indiana) and revisting a couple of other places (Chicago, your mom's house... OH! BUUURN!).

Too soon to tell, but afterwards we're going to see if we can squeeze another trip through the South before the year is up. Stranger things have happened. The great thing about blogging is that I haven't promised anything to anyone, so if anything falls through I will not be held accountable.

We're moving out of our "new" space after a year. 'Twas a great little space and most of our neighbors are awesome. However, as cheaper alternatives present themselves, we've gotta take them. Gas ain't getting any cheaper, kids, and viable alternatives haven't been invented yet (oh wait, yes they have!). Still, bookends are nice. We moved in there during the bunker-insano-songwriting phase of Fan The Fury last June/July. Most of the work was done at Ross' basement in June, but we did manage to squeeze out Hard Up In The 2000s and Nero, and July through mid-September was spent tightening the songs. That was a great summer. I didn't even give a shit about the heat.

And now, here's a picture of our website getting crashed.

Cheers,
Henry

Performing at The Lights Out CD release

Webmaster — Mon, 16 Jun 2008 12:29:00 +0000

Aloud performs at The Lights Out CD release at Church in Boston, with friends Johnny Nobody (Buffalo, NY) and Brian McGee & the Hollow Speed (Asheville, NC).

This will be Aloud's last Boston show for a while... don't miss out!

June 27, 2008 - 9pm
Church
69 Kilmarnock Street, Boston, MA
$8 - 21+

performing with:
The Lights Out (11pm)
Brian McGee & the Hollow Speed (10pm)
Johnny Nobody (9pm)

Related Links
- Church: www.churchofboston.com
- The Lights Out: www.myspace.com/thelightsoutband
- Brian McGee & the Hollow Speed: www.myspace.com/mcgeehollowspeed
- Johnny Nobody: www.myspace.com/johnnynobody

Thank you very much, whatever that was. I hope it was positive; if not, well blow me.

Henry — Mon, 23 Jun 2008 14:07:00 +0000

It is with sadness that I write what so many bloggers who got up earlier than me have already written: the great George Carlin is fuckin' dead.

I had the opportunity to see him in March on his last stand-up tour, and even at 70 (or "69, with a finger up my ass!") the man was so sharp and prescient. The show was certainly thrown onto the great big list of moments that had an impact on me, and for that I gotta thank the guy. His obvious love of the nuances of language and his abhorrence to bullshit was amazing and something to look up to. Who would've thought the guy I knew as "Rufus" as a child turned out to be The George Carlin? (For that matter, who would've thought Keanu Reeves' career would survive beyond that?)

Anyway, I won't go on too long.. Anyone who's seen George in action knows how much the man hated posthumous sentimentality.

Of course there's nothing he can do about it now. The old fuck's expired.

So George, as your spirit travels to the gaseous ball of fire we call The Sun, which you so worshiped in life, please know that I forgive you for Jersey Girl.

Rest in pieces,
Henry

Currently reading :
When Will Jesus Bring the Pork Chops?
By George Carlin
Release date: 2005-10-19

Thank you very much, whatever that was. I hope it was positive; if not, well blow me.

Henry — Mon, 23 Jun 2008 14:07:00 +0000

Currently reading :
When Will Jesus Bring the Pork Chops?
By George Carlin
Release date: 2005-10-19

Spam boner pill ad

Henry — Fri, 27 Jun 2008 04:47:00 +0000

Last night the four of us bade farewell to our home for the last year. In some ways, I'm going to miss the place— not least of all the fact that it had a window and a rarely used refrigerator. We spent last Saturday working on a couple of new lumps of clay that resemble songs. Nothing urgent, nothing remotely finished, and they may never even see the light of day. It was great, though. We have zero obligation to work on any new music at the moment, but to have that pressure off and just dick around was very fun.

Finally started reading Eats, Shoots, & Leaves. Before we go on, yes, it's a book about punctuation and how people just don't know how to use it. For example, CD's, BOOK's, and DVD's and BOB,S PET'S = WRONG. The book's been kicking around for a while and now that I've finally starting tearing through it I find I'm not digging it as much as I thought it would. I find it's more about the author passive-aggressively complaining that while her friends were off having fun, she wasn't— specifically, "Around this same time, when other girls of my age were attending the Isle of Wight Festival and having abortions, I..." blah blah blah bling bling bling blah.

Seriously, what is she on about? Sounds like abortions were passed out like candy back in the 70s or something (Were they? I wasn't around, I could be wrong). No wonder she didn't have a life, she sounds like she was a right drag to be around, probably pointing out usage of double-negatives in conversation.

I don't know about you, but I would've rather been at the Isle of Wight festival than, I don't know, obsessing over semicolons or something. And I like semicolons; they're grossly underused and underappreciated. Anyway, I've put the book down. If I wanted to read about misspent youth while turning a nose up at everyone I'd read The Rise And Fall of Harry & Leona Helmsley.

Before I go, I just saw this and it made me laugh before it made me cry. If this offends you then don't watch it and pretend like our governmental operations are running smoothly. Me? I think I may have figured out a way to get out of doing most things.

xoxo,
Henry

P.S. I'm obligated to mention that we have a lot of shows coming up, including tomorrow's Boston show (our last for a while... how long? I don't know, geez, back off!).

P.P.S. I can't stress enough how much I hate doing anything on MySpace... the interface is terrible (maybe I should write a self-serving book about it?)

Currently listening :
Sunday Morning Call
By Oasis
Release date: 2000-11-21

Spam boner pill ad

Henry — Fri, 27 Jun 2008 04:47:00 +0000

Currently listening :
Sunday Morning Call
By Oasis
Release date: 2000-11-21

Dreaming of the Osaka sun

Henry — Sun, 29 Jun 2008 09:43:00 +0000

First, I want to thank everyone who came out to the show last night! I was having a great time, we all were, and I hope you were too. And congratulations to The Lights Out for their CD release. If you weren't there last night to pick up a free copy of their EP ¡Heist!, then you can download it for free directly from their website: http://www.thelightsoutband.com. Thanks again goes to Brian McGee & the Hollow Speed from North Carolina and our buddies from Buffalo Johnny Nobody (who are currently on tour... East End Cafe in Newark, Delaware tonight, kids... be there).

Spent today moving out of our rehearsal space. There's nothing that will remind you how heavy a Rhodes keyboard is like trying to lug that down two sets of stairs. I swear, by the time I'm 35 I'll probably be popping the ibuprofen like nobody's business.

We got all that done with Hugh "1 kudos" Wyman's assistance, who we later went with to get some Mexican food (we were in the mood for burgers, but you know how that goes... "How about Mexican?" "Yea, okay, that sounds like a better idea!"). There's this place out in Somerville/Medford called Rudy's Cafe, which was brilliant— Jen observed that all the patrons and staff were full-fledged Irish (Irish who knew how to make excellent Mexican food). Half the drink menu is dedicated to tequila, too, which isn't my thing, but it might be yours. Tequila makes me cry. Mostly from my mouth.

By the time we got back home, I was knackered and decided to take a nap. It's 1:15am right now, so you can assume it was an awesome nap. I'll probably be up for a few hours now... crap.

I've been listening to the new Coldplay album awhile, and now that the initial period of listening is over, I have to say this is a really good album (sorry Shemp!). They should have put this out in '05 instead of X&Y. It's just better. They pretty much throw all the Verse-Chorus-Verse-Wave Flag in Arena Here-Chorus and any and all sons of Clocks out the window. Yes is a particularly good song (posted below, excuse the mono sound and AWESOME video effects... it's YouTube). In fact, I think what I like about this is that the casual Coldplay fan will hate it.

Okay, off to Movie Editing Land... that is, if my PC doesn't explode. I should probably delete some shit off the computer.

Cheers,
Henry

P.S. Still hate MySpace. Seriously, how can a site this big and used by so many be fraught with so many dumb errors? (Fucking News Corp, that's why.)

Currently listening :
Viva La Vida
By Coldplay
Release date: 2008-06-17

Dreaming of the Osaka sun

Henry — Sun, 29 Jun 2008 09:43:00 +0000

Currently listening :
Viva La Vida
By Coldplay
Release date: 2008-06-17

I don't fly you know. I take the subway like everybody else. Oh and people don't stare.

Henry — Wed, 02 Jul 2008 13:48:00 +0000

Here are a couple of things you can do for me that will win you my love (for now):

* Boston: tonight, some friends of mine are playing a show. It's at O'Brien's. I myself have not heard the offerings of said bands (Stars And Sons, and Ladies And Gentlemen), but they have a track record of being involved in things that were good to my ears.

* Philly, NYC, and Worcester: Come see us this weekend, in that order! Check out our shows page for details, because why should I have to type out redundant information? I will say we're very happy to be hitting all three towns again. Our friends in Televandals (who we've never played with before, but Nico's gotten us drunk before) and Radio America (who we've played with, at Ralph's in particular, countless times) will be joining us in Worcester. In fact, I think the first time we even met Radio America was at a July 4th weekend show they set up at Ralph's (me-mo-rieeeeeeeeees).

* Build up some good karma: A friend of ours, Jules (aka The Mixtress), was recently diagnosed with leukemia (specifically: Acute Myelogenous Leukemia). While she's doing her best to kick this awful disease's ass and the prognosis is looking good, she'll be out of action through the whole of July and will be doing treatments through the rest of the year. Her medical bills have ballooned to $30,000 after all's said and done and after all the help she's given to the indie music community at large she could use some help in her direction. There's a website set up to take donations from PayPal. Whatever you can give will be appreciated. (Tell your friends, too.)

http://www.dropcash.com/campaign/julesyb/help_with_my_medical_bills/

This is a video my sister sent me that had me laughing my ass off. It's amazing what a few well-placed bleeps will do.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B-Wd-Q3F8KM

Now that you all have your instructions for the week, I'm going to go grab some breakfast. And possibly work on the Metro's terrible-yet-charming crossword.

Cheers,
Henry

Currently listening:
Madison Avenue Reality
By Televandals
Release date: 2008-03-18

A good motto to live by: "Always try to not get killed."

Henry — Fri, 04 Jul 2008 20:08:00 +0000

Well it had to happen again at some point I'm sure. We had to cancel tonight's show. Colds here and there can be handled gracefully most of the time (unless you count that show at few years ago in Southborough... never mix meds, kids). However, one must admit bandmember(s) regurgitating food out of a moving vehicle is kind of hard to get around.

Still, even as we race back to Mass with the proverbial tail between our legs, three good things have come out of this:

- Just about finished the Carlin book. As one can expect, it's awesome. And twisted.
- Saw a cop yell at a cab driver for being a douchebag. It was beautiful.
- We got to see our friends in Philly last night, which is always worth the trip.

Anyway, many apologies once again New York. We'll make it up to you soon.

Worcester, get ready for puketown tomorrow. Population... You.

Cheers,
Henry

Currently reading:
When Will Jesus Bring the Pork Chops?
By George Carlin
Release date: 2005-10-19

NYC performance postponed

Webmaster — Fri, 04 Jul 2008 23:58:00 +0000

Tonight's NYC show has been postponed.

A make-up date will be announced at a later time. The band wishes to apologize for any inconvenience this may have caused.

Opening for Coldplay?

Webmaster — Mon, 07 Jul 2008 23:35:00 +0000

Aloud is one of 15 finalists in WFNX's Open For Coldplay contest, and they need your help to make it happen! Voting for the contest is open this week at www.coldplayontour.com/wfnx.

Three winners will be selected from these 15, with the final winner to be decided by Coldplay themselves. The opener will perform on August 4, 2008 at the TD Banknorth Garden.

Vote early, vote often, and tell your friends!

Aloud's video for Beaches is at the top of the list of videos.

Related Links
- Open For Coldplay contest: www.coldplayontour.com/wfnx
- WFNX: www.fnxradio.com

[clever blog title with oblique reference to Coldplay contest]

Henry — Wed, 09 Jul 2008 18:08:00 +0000

First off, I want to thank everyone who's been supporting us in this Coldplay concert thingie. There's been a huge show of support, even from friends of friends of people I haven't seen since like... middle school (let alone people I haven't talked to in a couple of years). Thank you guys so much. It sounds facetious, but it's really tugging at whatever heart strings I have left here. It does mean a lot, guys. (Special thanks to Shemp for giving us ten stars, despite his hatred of Coldplay knowing no bounds. This man gets an A+.)

The contest isn't over yet, kids, so if you haven't voted yet head to www.coldplayontour.com/wfnx/. If you have voted, then figure out a way to vote again! 10 stars is recommended and appreciated, because we are overachievers. Then tell all your friends, and tell them to tell their friends.

The site may look a little less than stellar on Internet Explorer, but the star all the way to the right would be 10 (and the one furthest to the left is 1... but you only have to know that to avoid it like poison ivy). We're the ones on the very top of the list. Long story short, if we make it to the top 3 Coldplay would have to choose between us and two other bands to open their August show and we may possibly have to bring out the lawyers to fight a poorly-written record contract from EMI. But I'm getting way ahead of myself. The point is I can't see why Coldplay wouldn't pick us, I actually bought X&Y and kind of enjoyed it. As far as I'm concerned they owe me!

Asides the contest, we're taking a commercial break for most of this month. Ross is taking another trip to Africa to save the world yet again (much like his trip there in 2006) till the end of July. The rest of us will be biding our time, possibly working on a couple of new songs or something. I don't know.

Actually, if we lose this Coldplay thing I'll probably just spend the month editing our faces into Coldplay concert footage.

Cheers,
Henry

Ray, when someone asks you if you're a god, you say "YES"!

Henry — Mon, 14 Jul 2008 23:32:00 +0000

1. Saw Ghostbusters on Friday. It's still awesome. It's good to check these things from time to time (considering I wasn't even 2 years old when it came out, I have to reinforce the old memory). I'll tell you what I do remember, though: with all the Ghostbusters toys I wound up getting over the years, somewhere in Miami there's still a closet with a crap ton of G.I. Joes and a Stay Puft-shaped hole.

Actually, I also remember taking my Ray Stantz action figure to the beach one day and burying him in the sand. Of course I never found him again, but I know somewhere a discolored miniature Dan Ackroyd is crawling around Miami Beach somewhere, endlessly searching for his career.

2. Jen and I saw The Shills at this new (or new-ish) venue called Café 939 (the tables in the photo are taken out for shows), over by the Prudential. They've got a very nice setup, clear sound, nice staff, and the shows are always all ages (something Boston needs more of, quite frankly). I'd like to start seeing more shows out over there, but if you get the chance and you're in Boston you should check it out.

3. (There is no 3)

4. I'm going to see The Dark Knight this weekend, and no one is going to stop me. After the Amazing Let Down that was Spider-Man 3, I'm glad I have Batman as the backup go-to guy. While on that subject, I bought the Batman: Gotham Knights DVD that just came out (think the Animatrix, except it's Batman). It's not the greatest thing ever made, but it's enjoyable. The best part of it for me was Kevin Conroy doing Batman again. As far as I'm concerned, he will forever be the voice of Batman. The bonus disc also came with a few episodes of the Batman Animated Series. I love that show. It was one of those shining examples you could always point to when people bitched about how cartoons were so much better in the 80s. I would go as far as saying that— without counting Batman Begins and by all accounts The Dark Knight— Mask of the Phantasm has to be the second best Batman movie. (I know what everyone's going to say, so I'll beat you to it: I loved Batman Returns as a youngin', but upon seeing as an adult: it's crap.)

5. (Still no 3)

Cheers,
Henry

Currently listening:
Lust for Life
By Iggy Pop
Release date: 1990-03-12

There's no listing for "Bruce Batman", sir.

Henry — Fri, 18 Jul 2008 11:00:00 +0000

As you can probably tell, I'm very, very, very excited about The Dark Knight. After the enormous disappointment that was Spider-Man 3: A Franchise Derailed, this flick is all I really have to look forward to. Got tickets for it tonight. That shit is going to be off the hook.

So to mark this occasion, check this out:
http://www.spike.com/video/crank-yankers-season/2796195

(I'd embed it if I could, but I can't, so bugger off.)

Oh fine, here are 12 clips I found whilst scouring the tubes of teh internets for spare warp drive parts.

No spoilers. Probably.

Cheers,
Henry

Currently reading:
The Importance of Being Idle: A Little Book of Lazy Inspiration
By Stephen Robins

Crap, it's been a while since the last blog, eh?

Henry — Thu, 31 Jul 2008 20:28:00 +0000

Rest assured we've been enjoying our little July furlough. Ross, as you know, has been away in Africa for most of the month saving the world one country at a time. In the meantime, we've been plotting away some new tour dates (which are multiplying like rabbits over here).

Roy celebrated his birthday last week, and I was forced to celebrate mine yesterday— don't get me wrong, I'm grateful my friends made me have fun. No party, but a few friends did appear at my doorstep with a Batman cake (no lie) and some good times. I caught the new X-Files movie. (Verdict: one long episode, worth watching, proceed with low to no expectations.)

Been spending the last week playing Myst. I got this game years ago and was as enthralled by it as I was baffled. Giving it another go 14 years later has yielded slightly greater success. Slightly. My mom would be proud.

I'm probably forgetting a million things.

Cheers,
Henry

Currently listening:
Vampire Weekend
By Vampire Weekend
Release date: 2008-01-29

You Will Pay For This

Henry — Mon, 04 Aug 2008 17:07:00 +0000

I thought I'd give a shout to our good friends in Radio America. They've just released a digital-only EP called You Will Pay For This. It's excellent. It's tops.

It's up on iTunes, eMusic....... and so on. I don't have a link for it on me at the moment, but I can't hold your hand all the time. Just type You Will Pay For This or Radio America into iTunes search. You kids know how to use The Google, you don't need me telling you how to do it.

Cheers,
Henry

How I spent my summer vacation

Henry — Wed, 06 Aug 2008 18:15:00 +0000

I read When Will Jesus Bring the Pork Chops? It was funny and I recommend it. Especially if it will offend you, because that's the kinda guy I am.

Scrambling to look for a place to live in September. It's a weird feeling. We've been packing everything up for the last couple of weeks, stripping the place of everything but the walls and the floor. I've lived at this particular apartment for the last four years, more than any other place. Probably the first place that felt like home up here in Boston, to be perfectly honest. But it's costing the old wallet too much to stay these days, and wholly not compatible with this whole Operation: "I don't want to work anymore". C'est la vie. I had a lot of good times there, but in the end it's just a place to keep my stuff and sleep (when I do sleep).

Spent buckets of time editing this tour movie. It's 99% done. It'll be out very soon. I promise. The four of us and Annie viewed it last night (it was the first time I'd seen it as a whole). It was fun reliving the whole thing again. I can't wait to do it again next month. However, after putting this together, my computer practically has smoke coming out of it. Methinks I need a new one.

(Oh, and we added a bunch more dates in the Midwest. You should czech that out.)

After seven years, I finally learned how to make a cappuccino with our espresso machine. Mostly.

Read a lot of news and tried not to pull my hair out. Since we have friends from outside of the country reading this blog who may not be familiar with US electoral politics, here's a 30-second video explaining how things work in our fair democracy:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PYCMxD4pylM

Our friend Jules was recently diagnosed with leukemia. Even with insurance, her medical bills are ridiculous. Earn some good karma and throw her a few bucks here. Then tell your friends!

Entered a Coldplay contest, did really well, then lost anyway (had we won, we would've opened for them this past Monday). I'm still eternally grateful that everyone we know and everyone they know and everyone they know pulled the stops out for us and voted like hell. I write the loss off to the Aloud Curse (don't know if I've written about this before and I'm too lazy to look, but the short version is we've never won anything, ever— including the first gig Jen and I played together. It's actually pretty funny.) Onward to the next loss, I say!

Checked out a new venue in Boston called Café 939. It's pretty bitchin'. It's up on Boylston Street, right by the Cactus Club and across the street from the Hynes Convention Center.

I had the place completely to myself for a few days last week, and since I had sweet fuckall to do, I resurrected this story I've been working on since I was 13. I think I might actually finish it this time!

Saw Dark Knight and it was the greatest movie ever. Twice. I was exhasuted after watching it. After seeing Heath Ledger in both this and I'm Not There, it's a goddamn shame the dude's gone. Could've been a great actor. Lost potential is never fun. Morbid celebrity shit aside, my friend Martin loaned me The Dark Knight Returns comic book. I should've read it years ago, quite honestly. It was fantastic, and now I can see the various elements they used in the movies, and how it was the basis for the 1989 Tim Burton Batman. I didn't even mind Superman showing up (I enjoyed the flicks, but I find Supes to be insufferable). I'd like to hit up Year One and Long Dark Halloween next.

I also saw Hancock (good), Get Smart (pretty funny, show's still better), and... hmm.. I know I'm forgetting something.

Saw Salman Rushdie at a reading/book signing in Cambridge with Jen. I haven't read his new book, but Jen did, and she thought it was wonderful. Fatwa that, bitches!

I think that's about it. We're practicing tonight for the first time in almost a month. It should be interesting to see if we even remember these songs.

Cheers,
Henry

Currently listening:
Lust for Life
By Iggy Pop
Release date: 1990-03-12

Garth! That was a haiku!

Henry — Fri, 08 Aug 2008 16:00:00 +0000

Show was fun last night
Not as sloppy as I thought
Best part was fried dough

Woke up so tired
All I wanted was coffee
Damn power went out

Playing show tonight
Dover Brickhouse, be there or
I will eat a pup

Cheers,
Henry

Currently listening:
Raise High
By Radio America
Release date: 2007-01-16

No Broken Bones

Jen — Sun, 10 Aug 2008 15:17:00 +0000

Thanks to everyone who came out to Uncle Eddie's, Dover Brick House, and Radio Bean this weekend. We got to see the beach, enjoy the Olympics ceremonies in Dover, and make our debut in Burlington. Thanks for the stories. For you Vermonters check out what the Deli had to say about Fan The Fury. Feel free to post a comment if you were at the show!

Coming up on August 16 is our Framingham show at Bru-Burgers. Yes, they do have burgers. Here's what the Daily News Tribune had to say.

If you're in the midwest we are coming to your town in September! Check out www.allthingsaloud.com for the latest dates. More dates are being added!

Cheers,

Jen

No Broken Bones

Jen — Sun, 10 Aug 2008 15:17:00 +0000

Will do moose stuff for money

Henry — Thu, 14 Aug 2008 15:25:00 +0000

While waiting the 1,000 years for parts of the tour movie ("When?" Very soon.) to render on my computer last night I was farting around on Google Maps. Most of our tour stops can be seen on Street View. Probably not the best thing to do, since I spent upwards of two hours "wandering the streets" of these places (the good news is my long-term memory isn't as shot as I thought) and now I'm all antsy again about getting out of the house.

...which is something I have no choice in anyway, since I'm moving in September and as of yet do not have a place to live. It's quite exhilirating, eh? If I can't find an apartment in 2½ weeks, I am F'ed. Actually, it's kind of stressful, but there are a few promising leads to follow up on today. Rent around these parts is much too ridiculous.

As readers of our little bloggy blog know, our friend Jules (aka The Mixtress) was very recently diagnosed with leukemia. She's made it through treatments alright so far, but the rub is that even with health insurance she currently owes something in the neighborhood of $30,000. There are two ways you can help Julesy out.

The first is easy (ye gods bless teh interwebs): Head over to http://www.dropcash.com/campaign/julesyb/help_with_my_medical_bills/ and donate what you can via PayPal.

The next: A benefit show has been set up right here in Boston (Boston, Cambridge, whatever) to help her out as well. We were unable to play due to the usual scheduling malarkey, but we'll be attending the show and have donated to the prize pool (oh yah... there will be a raffle). Click on the flyer for all the details.

Cheers,
Henry

Currently listening:
Madison Avenue Reality
By Televandals
Release date: 2008-03-18

The largest town in America

Henry — Mon, 18 Aug 2008 18:23:00 +0000

As of this weekend, we've only played Framingham twice, but man-oh-man is it always an adventure. As we showed up, Tracy (from Alen of Dale) informed us there was a PA situation (read: there is no PA at Bruburgers). There was some madness involved in sorting out the situation, but eventually after much deliberation (and lots of beer) we all settled on using a couple of spare amps. Actually playing the show was tons of fun, and the members of Tara White and Alen of Dale were super cool.

And let this be a lesson to all doubters: when Henry says "Hey, maybe we should bring mics and mic stands just in case", Henry is always correct.

Waiting to hear back about an apartment. I'm getting a little nervous, since my credit is awful and I have to move out on 9/1. Keeping my fingers crossed. Definitely moving out of Allston, though. After living here for the last six years, I'm a little sad to go, but I do need a change anyway (and cheaper rent, FFS).

Lots of crazy stuff going on in the world (as usual), but I'll spare you since Mondays are depressing enough.

Instead, I leave you with 2008 Olympic gymnast Alicia Sacramone punching some dude in the face (I could tell she was the one on the team who likes to party).

Cheers,
Henry

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2QA6s7p-zU8

Currently listening:
Dig Out Your Soul
By Oasis
Release date: 2008-10-07

The "No Old Women Left Behind" Act

Henry — Wed, 20 Aug 2008 16:57:00 +0000

When most people hear the words "The Chinese Government", they think of two things: 1) The "In Soviet China, party finds you!" joke, and 2) I wonder how much interest they're charging us.

But you have to hand it to them. Most people would have given up on these two elderly women, both of whom are pushing 80. But not the Chinese Government. They're so invested in their people that by sending these two seniors to re-education camp, they're proving that you can teach an old dog new tricks. Besides, they should be so lucky after applying for a permit to protest in a designated protest zone! What the fuck do they have to protest about, anyway?

Labour camp for elderly protesters
Two elderly Chinese women who applied during the Olympic Games to protest the loss of their homes have been ordered to spend a year in a labour camp, a relative said.

The women were still at home three days after being officially notified they would have to serve a year-long term of re-education through labour, but were under surveillance by a neighbourhood watch group, said Li Xuehui, the son of one of the women.

A rights group said the threat of prison appeared to be an intimidation tactic.

Li said no cause was given for the order to imprison his 79-year-old mother, Wu Dianyuan, and her neighbour Wang Xiuying, 77.

"Wang Xiuying is almost blind and disabled. What sort of re-education through labour can she serve?" Li said. "But they can also be taken away at any time."

The Public Security Bureau had no immediate comment. A spokeswoman for the Beijing re-education through labour bureau said: "We have no records of these two names in our system."

The elderly women, Wu and Wang, have repeatedly tried to apply for permission to hold a protest at one of three areas designated by the government as available for demonstrations during the games, which end Sunday.

Beijing has used the existence of the protest areas as a way to defend its promise to improve human rights in China that was crucial to its bid to win the games.

Some 77 applications were lodged to hold protests, none went ahead.

The New York-based Human Rights Watch said the cases of Wu and Wang "show that while China has now proven it is able to host international events to perfection, it still has a long way to go before it respects even minimal international human rights standards".

Cheers,
Henry

Currently listening:
Combat Rock
By The Clash
Release date:2000-01-25

Love is a litany

Henry — Fri, 29 Aug 2008 16:09:00 +0000

The time has come, friends, for the long-awaited Benefit For Julesy B. This is tonight. Be there! Middle East Downstairs. Loads of bands, raffles, and plenty of beer to fill your little indie rock bellies. Need more info? Check out the flyer below. Michael Marotta wrote up a nice article about tonight's show in today's Boston Herald, which you can read here.

We started moving stuff out of the apartment yesterday. We don't have to be out of there till Sunday afternoon; it's a nice feeling knowing we won't have to traverse the constantly-under-construction-yet-somehow-poorly-maintained streets of Allston on International Moving Day, especially when said day also happens to be Labor Day. What a right clusterfuck that would be. The last time I moved (which was four years ago), I only had to move down the street, about two or three blocks, and it made me want to smash my face off my face.

A couple of friends of ours are crashing on our couch for a week or two while their housing situation gets sorted, and they brought Jake the cat with them. I'm sure I've mentioned this before (and again, too lazy to look), but I am a dog person. Not to say I hate cats, just that I'm practically clueless when it comes to them. Anyway, I've learned something in the time Jake has been hanging out. Cats and laser pointers do not a Laser Cat make, but it does provide for hours upon hours of endless fun. (Let's hope he doesn't have to fight any snipers anytime soon.)

After entertaining myself (and presumably, the cat), we all sat down to watch the last night of the DNC. Obama's speech was impressive. I know he's just a politician, but I hope he gets the job. Otherwise, all I'll have left is a dimmer view of the people I share a country with. Seriously, have you even seen the Republican party platform? It's "Thank you, sir, may I have another?" copied and pasted over and over again; it's also ten pages long.

Blech.

Anyway, has anyone checked out the new Oasis yet? I'm digging it, and this is probably my favorite video of their's already.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=87IQhui_Yy8&fmt=18

Hope you all have a good Labor Day weekend. If you're moving, I pray to the Spirit of Mumbles Menino that you don't get stuck behind a garbage truck on a narrow street.

Cheers,
Henry

Currently listening:
Dig Out Your Soul
By Oasis
Release date: 2008-10-07

When Bands Go Wrong

Henry — Tue, 02 Sep 2008 18:42:00 +0000

Still running short on internet access (living in a virtual cave has been spiritually rewarding). Anyway, like a true bum, I'm just going to copy and paste our mailing list onto this post. I had to move heavy shit all weekend. Sue me!

Cheers,
Henry

Hello Aloudians!

For those of you in the Boston area, I'm hoping you are avoiding the moving-ridiculousness that is Labor Day Weekend. Or, perhaps you lugged a bunch of great stuff from the sidewalk into your apartment. Either way, be safe out there!

I am writing to alert you to a few things. First off, we're playing two shows in MA this upcoming week. On Thursday 9/4, we'll be rockin' the Middle East Upstairs with Harris, Thick As Thieves, and The Crushing Low. It's a great bill, and we're on at 10:00 PM sharp. Tickets are 9 Bucks and this is an 18+ show.

On Friday 9/5, we'll be hitting up Lowell, MA at The Brewery Exchange. We're playing with The Motion Sick, who are great. This show is 21+.

In other news, a ringtone of 'Fan The Fury' is now available for free download from Myxer. To get Jen singing 'Fan The Fury' on your phone, text "512820" to 69937. Check your phone's compatibility, and see all of Aloud's free ringtones here. COOL!

Finally, we're hitting the road again at the end of September to tour much of the northeast and Midwest. Best of all, we're playing in Dubuque, Iowa. Who knew? If you want to see a full rundown of the tour, see the bottom of this email.

As a preview for what lies ahead for Aloud, we have an awesome tour movie coming out. Henry made it. It's called "When Bands Go Wrong," or something like that... Click here to watch the trailer.

Also, we'll be doing an unbelievably cool projection show in Boston in November, so keep checking back for updates on that.

See ya'll out there!!!

Ross

Currently reading:
Down and Out in Paris and London
By George Orwell

It's my lucky cowboy underwear

Henry — Tue, 09 Sep 2008 18:25:00 +0000

We were prepping last night for the next jaunt of our tour (begins next week, kiddos...) by screening some new t-shirts... and Aloud underwear. That's right, ladies, soon you will be able to avoid baring all by baring Aloud near your lady business.

We tried to get Ross to model them, but he outright refused. So while we wait for him to fall asleep— so we can write rude things on his face with a Sharpie— this will have to do.

Cheers,
Henry

PS... Why the hell not:

Currently listening :
Free As A Bird
By The Beatles
Release date: 1995-12-1

The blind endorsing the bland, to a chorus of 9/11

Henry — Thu, 11 Sep 2008 18:38:00 +0000

Seven years. It's sort of hard to believe, isn't it? How much time has passed?

It's times like these I wish I believed in Hell. I've got a list of people I'd save a spot or two for, beginning with, but not limited to, George W. Bush and Dick Cheney, and ending with people like Osama bin Laden. Satan, pleased to meet them, could force them to marry each other in the Ironic Punishment Division at Hell Labs, not because there's anything wrong with a bunch of old dudes marrying each other (what do I care?), but because the truth is they all belong together. Right next to Homer Simpson eating the world's supply of doughnuts. Fucking despicable human beings, the whole lot of them.

Except for Homer. He's more of a jerkass. Why else would he tempt the fates by eating his soul crumb in the middle of the night?

But seriously, folks... this isn't getting ridiculous; this has been ridiculous ever since that goddamn son of a bitch was elected (allegedly).

The September 11, 2001 attacks.

The anthrax mailings that took seven years to solve, and unconvincingly so.

The waste of time and money and blood in Iraq.

The absolutely disgraceful non-response to Katrina.

Habeus corpus and the right to privacy, the very bedrocks of democracy, being treated like mere inconveniences to those who would do anything they can to cling to power.

The blatant hypocrisy and doublespeak, as flagrant as a lynch mob willingly posing for a photo after a hanging— because the executioners were also the cops, the judges, and the jury.

The vitriolic polarization of the U.S.

The economy tanking.

Unemployment rising.

People losing their homes.

All of these things happened within the last eight years, eight years of Bush and Cheney and Rove (pay no attention to the man behind the curtain) and Rumsfeld and Rice and Chertoff and Ashcroft and Gonzalez and so-called Homeland Security and Fox News and god knows what else. Each of them, if not directly responsible then at least complicit, in allowing this live action Hieronymus Bosch painting to continue.

These clowns, McCain— "War hero"? I care not.— and Palin, are doing everything they can to whitewash history to hold onto power a little longer. The fact is all of those things I listed happened on the Republicans' watch; they're saying to you, to us, in front of a backdrop of two burning buildings:

"REWARD US FOR OUR INCOMPETENCE."

... Like cats bringing home a dead bird to its master as a present; only instead of a dead bird we've got thousands of dead— whether wrought by airplane, nature, economics, or war.

Question is, will we tell them to kiss our collective ass this time, or will we reply with "Thank you, sir, may I have another?"

We'll see soon enough, I guess. It's hard enough figuring out why in the hell McCain is within even 30 points of Barack Obama, let alone one or two. One has to admit, between all these disasters, it'd be stupid to decide this next election on criteria like moose hunting and lipstick and pitbulls and POW camps and who I could barbecue with. A "culture war", they call it; it's much easier to fight one of those because you can stir up whatever you want on a slow news day (see Bill O'Reilly: "Christmas, the War on").

Clearly, with every passing year, my entries on the subject— whether on this blog or in other media— get angrier, more dyspeptic. At this point, I've said everything I could possibly say, so I'll let someone else who can say things a whole lot better than I can take the lead.

Text version:
http://thenewshole.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2008/09/10/1376450.aspx

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1PERKBFgg_I&fmt=18

Watch the parking meters,
Henry

Currently listening:
The Rising
By: Bruce Springsteen
Release date: 2002-07-30

Fan The Fury in the Midwest

Webmaster — Fri, 12 Sep 2008 23:57:00 +0000

Aloud kicks off the mext leg of the Fan The Fury tour on Friday, September 19 at King's Tavern in Saratoga Springs, NY. The band will travel to new areas including Cleveland, Detroit, Dubuque, Highland, IN, and Ewing, NJ as well as returning to Chicago, Philadelphia, and Brooklyn.

All tour dates are listed on the Performances page. Keep checking back as more dates are being added. For more info on these shows click here.

Not in any of these places? While you're waiting for Aloud to show up at your doorstep, watch Hard Up In The 2000s, Aloud's new road documentary from their jaunt through the East this last Spring.

Hard Up In The 2000s - the tour documentary

Webmaster — Sat, 13 Sep 2008 00:03:00 +0000

Aloud's first road movie, Hard Up In The 2000s, is now available for viewing.

Narrated by the band with audio culled from various radio interviews and interspersed with live performances, the accompanying footage for the film was compiled during their Spring tour, including their Boston homecoming show.

The whole movie may be viewed on the band's YouTube channel www.youtube.com/aloudvideos (the high quality setting is recommended!).

You may also watch the whole thing below or at www.allthingsaloud.com/hardup.html.

Also, don't forget to see if Aloud is headed to your town this month during the next leg of the Fan The Fury tour.

Related Links
- Aloud YouTube Channel: www.youtube.com/aloudvideos
- Hard Up In The 2000s direct link: www.allthingsaloud.com/hardup.html

Hard Up In The 2000s tour movie now up

Henry — Sat, 13 Sep 2008 18:12:00 +0000

Happy weekend, everyone.. I'm happy to announce after months of non-announcements that our road movie Hard Up In The 2000s is now up and ready for viewing.

Watch it in YouTube high quality by clicking here:
www.allthingsaloud.com/hardup.html

Or you can watch it directly from our YouTube page here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=09G40So9mwk&feature=PlayList&p=DAF41E9BEAC36CD9&index=0&playnext=1

The whole movie runs at about 45 minutes (get the popcorn, kids!). If you've got ADHD, don't worry... it's split into ten parts.

If you are going to watch it off YouTube (and why not? You can get fullscreen on there..) I would recommend registering a free account with YouTube and adjusting it to always default to high quality video. Trust me, it'll look a hell of a lot better... but that's up to you.

In important news, if you haven't been watching, Hurricane Ike's been stirring up trouble. Everyone here hopes you folks that have been hit by Ike are alright.

Everyone else, please don't wait to donate to the Red Cross to help out with the relief effort.

Cheers,
Henry

Second verse I: That’s not Wayne’s basement

Henry — Fri, 19 Sep 2008 18:12:00 +0000

In the years since I got the hell out of Florida (and even before that), I've managed to be a very bad Floridian. However, there are two things that, being born in the Sunshine State, have been hard-wired into my brain. The first is obliviousness to and complete disregard for the rule of law. The second is a knee-jerk reaction to weather that dips below 60ºF: HOLY SHIT, IT'S CHRISTMAS! The first time this temporal confusion occurred was August 2001. I happened to have the window open, and I expected that nice, cool breeze that came blowing in to carry with it presents and Christmas trees and sugar plum fairies. Instead, I wound up purchasing Weezer's green album at the late CD Spins on Newbury Street, which was a terrible investment. I was young and stupid, and was not aware of the rule cardinal rule of Weezer: anything past Pinkerton sucks ass.

Mistakes were made.

But anyway, to get to my point, now that the temperature is dropping, I've been feeling a bit peppier of late since I'm expecting presents to magically appear under a tree I don't own. I checked the weather for the route we're going to be taking, and for the most part it's going to be between 50º and 65º fairly consistently.

Henceforth: I am excited about this tour.

Dr. Pavlov would be proud.

Tonight, it all starts in Saratoga Springs. It's been well over a year and a half since we've been to Saratoga Springs (and King's Tavern). For a recap of what happened last time, see below.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tveDh53uoHk

I've also decided I'm going to try and write a haiku every day we're on tour, because I can only do so many crosswords. I'm actually still at work right now, so technically I'm not "on tour" this very second. Due to financial constraints, I'm working a full day today and walking right into the van as soon as I'm done (inversely, I'll be walking right out of the van and straight into work when we drive back to Boston at the end of the tour). So in honor of, I give you...

Work can be so hard

Exhausted and under-slept

Prostituting's rough

Cheers,
Henry

Currently listening:
Post Rock Defends the Nation
By: Bon Savants
Release date: 2006-11-07

Second verse II: What it feels like broke

Henry — Sat, 20 Sep 2008 17:20:00 +0000

The drive to Saratoga Springs was a little longer than I remember it. Still hasn't really felt like we're "on tour" yet, but I'm sure after a few awkward hotel situations we'll be right as rain.

Last night's show was interesting. It was sort of a last minute booking, so there weren't that many people about to watch the show. Still, everyone was real nice and accomodating; we counted our blessings and just considered this a dry run for the rest of the tour. Community Gun were excellent, and hopefully we can get together again under different circumstances.

Tonight, we're back for our yearly trip to Buffalo. We always mean to go there more frequently, but there you have it.. we always wind up showing up around August/September. Our good friends in Johnny Nobody hooked us up with this show, and it's always a good time when they're around (Boston, if you recall, we played with them at Church this past June).

Ugh, I just had to swat a fly away from my coffee. Gross. At least we didn't walk in on a large man gratifying himself in our hotel room (like the last time we stayed in a hotel in the Albany area... ick). Certainly less pleasant than the fly taking a sip of my java.

I'm gonna get off this thing and take a shower. Buffalo, we'll see you tonight!

Cheers,
Henry

Henry's daily haiku:

II
The hotel breakfast
Can often be adequate
My stomach wretches

Currently listening:
What It Feels Like Broke
By: Johnny Nobody
Release date: 2008-03-18

Second verse III: No touching

Henry — Sun, 21 Sep 2008 23:24:00 +0000

Spent most of yesterday hanging out with Johnny Nobody and their friend Rob (who's also in a sweet band called Bearhunter that just put out an album). Saw a good 20 minutes of some movie called Summer Lover with Peter Gallagher and Darryl Hannah, way back from Year Zero of my existence (aka 1982). We watched it with the sound down and amused ourselves by saying rude things. That's never not funny.

Shows out here in Buffalo start late, so we didn't arrive at the club till 9:30pm or so. We hung out in the van for a little bit-- it was both empty and stationary-- and shot the shit. It's nice to be reminded that your bandmates aren't complete douchebags and may even be pretty cool people.

Chylde, the first band, was wild. They had a total Sabbath thing going for them and they pulled it off so well. And they were loud as fuck. I found out from John (I think he's the drummer... I wasn't wearing my glasses) that they're playing with fellow Bostonians Township pretty soon. Small world.

We had a few technical delays to deal with before our set started, but after much sweat we were able to sort them out (mostly). There was some confusion over whether my guitar was too loud or not loud enough (didn't matter to me, I couldn't hear shit anyway). At some point early in the set, the sound guy walked to the stage mid-song and turned (or tried to) my amp down, which I didn't appreciate; it took me a couple of songs to adjust accordingly. I've got three separate volume knobs on that, you see, and while my setup is far from complicated by most standards, it's not as easy as just turn a knob. I have no problems turning down, and as a group we encourage sound guys to tell us if we're too loud on stage. Just ask me next time and keep your hands off my baby.

Asides that, the set wasn't bad.

Johnny Nobody finished up the night and fucking wailed. There were a bunch of songs I hadn't heard before (and therefore must be new) that sounded so great. They're definitely one of my favorite bands. They rock it out. It's also fun to watch Jay play drums-- he's a lefty who plays with a righty setup.

Post-show was fun. We got to talking to an interesting dude named Greg, whose dad is apparently the mayor of St. Petersburg, FL. We must've talked to him for an entire hour about Family Guy, Howard Stern, The Jungle Book (and he sounded like Baloo, too), the "artwork" on the wall (thanks to that wall, we now know the location of the G-spot), and what a douchebag Scott Stapp is. Definitely in the list of cool random people you meet on tour. Back at the JN house, circa 3am, an impromptu party of sorts happened, which included Colin's (JN bassist) girlfriend bringing in bags of McDonald's. I had a moment of weakness and indulged. It was late, I hadn't eaten all day, and I paid for it in the morning.

Egads.

Off to Cleveland today. Let's see how Day 3 shapes up.

Cheers,
Henry

III
Rite Aid for some snacks
What the hell's the commotion?
Crook in a cruiser.

Currently reading:
God Is Not Great: How Religion Poisons Everything
By: Christopher Hitchens

Second verse IV: Livin’ in sin with a safety pin

Henry — Mon, 22 Sep 2008 16:48:00 +0000

Pulling in to Cleveland, I was more impressed with it than I thought I'd be. It's got a nice skyline and everything, but what got me was Lake Erie. You think lake, you think canoes and catfish and sedentary life. I now get why it (and other fine lakes) are known as the Great Lakes: they're fucking huge. Driving in through Lakewood, where we're staying, there was an area that looks exactly like a beach; there were some houses whose backyard was this lake. Nutso. (I've subsequently been warned not to venture into the water; it's freezing and a sewage pipe was once spotted there. Sorta like Revere Beach!)

Ross went out to dinner with a friend of his from the area, and Jen and I got stuck watching some dumb Mandy Moore movie... imdb.com tells me the movie's called Because I Said So. Something about being a cook and dating two guys and Diane Keaton's all like "blah blah blah marry the architect" and Mandy Moore's totally "mom, butt out of my life yadda yadda," and Ross finally gets back to the hotel and starts singing "Oh Mandy". We had to leave before the movie finished, and I didn't get closure on it. However, a five minute trip to wikipedia solved that problem.

This wasn't exactly confirmed, but I think the Beachland Ballroom actually has two stages: the main stage, and the tavern stage (where we played). Even the tavern was really nice and the sound was excellent. We avoided all of the problems from last night and were able to hear everything. I'd have to jot down Cleveland as the best show of the tour so far. We had a lot of fun, and finally hit that moment of not being so self-conscious.

Redwater Rojo went on first. I like them. They were loud, and they were awesome. They're working on a second album that should be out soon, I believe. I'm looking forward to playing with those guys again. The Suede Brothers are very young and very impressive. Those kids can really jam, and I'm told they're working on another album as well. It was great to watch them both while kicking back and enjoying a few beers. One thing I've noticed about this area is the great beers they've got up here. Last night I tried this one called Two Hearted Ale that was amazing, and tasted a lot like a home brew a friend of mine makes.

Let it also be noted how awesome the people that run the Beachland are. John, the sound guy, was amazingly helpful and nice (and reverent whilst discussing the tragedy of Tom Brady). Good sound on stage is rare and always appreciated, and we had that last night. Also, the dude who let us into the club (I'm a complete asshole because I forgot his name) and his wife left us with a ton of nachos, salsa, and fruit. The dude tours quite a bit with his own band and knows that sometimes it's real tough to get food out on the road, so they wanted to leave us the food to snack on (it certainly beat the PB&Js I've been feasting on all week).

The highlight of the evening was meeting Dan, Cathy, and all their friends. Dan and Cathy are friends of ours via Beca (she's the gal who takes great pics of us and on occasion is Super Merch Girl at our Boston shows). They also know Jason, the lead singer of Redwater Rojo, which is how we got hooked up with them in the first place. Anyway, back in '04 I must've gotten at least two calls a week at some obscene hour from Dan extolling the virtues of the Red Sox (something along the lines of "WOOOO FUCK YEA, RED SOXXXXXX@!!!"... how could anyone argue with that?). They were a blast and we finally had those beers we'd been talking about having for a few years.

After the show, us, Dan, and Cathy ventured back to Lakewood to some late night diner called My Friends restaurant. I had the Westside burger with fries. Fucking awesome. It was like IHOP, except good.

Around 2am, we parted company with The Dan and Cathy and made our way back to the hotel, where we promptly passed the fuck out.

Cleveland does indeed rock.

Going to try and hit up the Rock n' Roll Musuem today. I heard a rumor that touring bands get in free if you give them a CD (and we've got plenty of those).

Next stop: Detroit Rock City.

Cheers,
Henry

IV
What are you having?
Whatever you're drinking, dude
Jaeger melts insides

PS: I just have to post this... when am I going to be in Cleveland again?

Currently listening:
The Suede Brothers
By: The Suede Brothers
Release date: 2008-01-08

Keep up with Aloud on tour

Webmaster — Wed, 24 Sep 2008 06:41:00 +0000

Whether talking about the Rock n' Roll Hall of Fame owning a copy of Fan The Fury or mulling over the conditions in Detroit, the Aloud blog is the place you want to be to find out how the band is keeping busy on their tour of the Midwest.

blog.myspace.com/aloud

Second verse V: All this energy calling me/Motor City Madness

Henry — Wed, 24 Sep 2008 08:47:00 +0000

A little late with the update, yes, but internet's hard to come by these days.

The day after our Cleveland show, we had a bit of time to kill and decided to hit up the Rock n' Roll Hall of Fame. The sound guy at the Beachland tipped us off that if you're a touring band and offer them a CD, they'll let you tour the museum for free. This tip turned out to be true, and immediately alleviated my suspicion that the musuem would be lame. So now we all know that when Aloud is eligible for induction into the Rock n' Roll Hall of Fame in 2027, they'll already have a copy of Fan The Fury handy in... wherever it is they keep that shit.

A lot of the memorabilia they had there was overwhelming, particularly the Beatles section. They had John's Sgt. Pepper outfit sitting in a case that was amazing to look at, as well as the old collarless Beatles outfits from the earlier part of the 60s. It's strange growing up looking at pictures of these iconic things, and there you are, separated by a glass case, looking at what amounts to someone's clothes. Of particular interest to me were the handwritten lyrics to songs like Hey Jude, and the Clash's Clampdown (which had a ton of little extra notes and drawings scrawled in different colors). The bass Paul Simonon smashed for the cover of London Calling was there, as well as Joe Strummer's guitar. U2's "Lemon Uniforms" from the Zoo TV tour were there, with one of Edge's Strats from the 80s alongside the manequins. There was an entire wing dedicated to Les Paul and a few of his earlier guitars were there. Another section was dedicated to music from Ohio.

Yea, it's just a bunch of stuff, but it's a strange comfort to be around the possessions of your musical heroes; it brings them back down to earth in a strange way. I'm glad we went (and particularly for the mere cost of one Aloud CD). The smiles on our face were difficult to erase for a few hours.

Once we got into Detriot, it was a different feeling. It's difficult to pass judgement on a place after everyone's told you it's better on the weekends and you show up on a Monday, but Corktown (the area where we were playing) was a virtual ghost town. The shadow of Tiger Stadium, half of which is torn down and hasn't been in use for 9 years, loomed large over the area. It seems the loss of the stadium had a huge dent in the economy of the area.

The show itself didn't go too bad-- attendance wasn't terribly encouraging, and again, probably due to the diffculty of playing a show in Detroit on a Monday night (exemplified by the last band, INterior Project, not even bothering to show up). Still, we had some fun and hung out with the kids from Pewter Cub. The guys from Superdot, musically speaking, were not my cup of tea (hey, I'm not fond of ska, what do you want from me?), but to say they suck would do them a disservice: they're an incredibly tight band and their musicianship is something I can really appreciate (and they're really nice, to boot).

One thing I can say about INterior Project being AWOL is that it afforded us the opportunity to head back to Ann Arbor (where we're staying) to get some much needed sleep.

We took the long way back, driving through Detroit before catching the highway at the Deerborn city limits; it was a sad sight. Detroit's a major American city, and for its urban center to be so.. I dunno.. destitute is beyond me. It's the same visceral reaction I had to the Katrina disaster in New Orleans, except this was surrounding me. I'd like to think that maybe we just headed into the wrong part of town on the wrong day of the week, but the graffitti Jen spotted on a house that said "HELP" in big, red letters is a little hard to shake. Even thinking about it now, it's depressing. This is in our own backyard, folks.

When we got back, we did what any good American does to forget the plight of others: watched TV (specifically, two episodes of Entourage... Jeremy Piven and Kevin Dillon make that show awesome, as far as I'm concerend).

We had a day off today that we spent in Ann Arbor, which I will write about tomorrow (which is our second day off).

Right now, I'm off to bed and getting me some sleep.

Cheers,
Henry

V
Driving back, to sleep
Google Maps is for suckers.
Where the fuck are we?

Currently listening:
The Doors
By: The Doors
Release date: 2007-03-27

Second verse VI: MySpace is the place where I can go to be free

Henry — Thu, 25 Sep 2008 00:49:00 +0000

I just wrote a blog, and because MySpace is a piece of shit, I lost the entire thing.

Today is our day off, and as such it is YOUR day off as well.

Cheers,
Henry

VI
Myspace fucking sucks
I lost every fucking thing
The place for assholes

Currently watching:
Three Kings
By:
Release date: 2000-04-11

Second verse VI: MySpace is the place where I can go to be free

Henry — Thu, 25 Sep 2008 00:49:00 +0000

I just wrote a blog, and because MySpace is a piece of shit, I lost the entire thing.

Today is our day off, and as such it is YOUR day off as well.

Cheers,
Henry

VI
Myspace fucking sucks
I lost every fucking thing
The place for assholes

Currently watching:
Three Kings
By:
Release date: 2000-04-11

Second verse VII: Return of the blog

Henry — Sat, 27 Sep 2008 01:06:00 +0000

Now that I've overcome the forces of MySpace and No Internet...

We had days off on Tuesday and Wednesday, which we spent in Ann Arbor, MI. There was a huge contrast between Ann Arbor and Detroit, probably because at least half the population of Ann Arbor is the same as the college population.

Tuesday, we slept in pretty late-- which we really needed-- and spent a couple of hours walking around town. There's a venue there called the Blind Pig that we failed to find, but Owe keep hearing it's a cool place to play at; hopefully next time we're in Michigan we can hit it up. The town was like one giant college campus, very clean, but oddly enough there were many (and very nice) homeless people asking for change. We got hit up for change a good three times within the span of 10 minutes (we told them we were musicians, which is when they started laughing at us).

Exhausted from all the walking/crying about our financial status, we spent a couple of hours at a coffee shop to replenish and siphon some free internet. We got to talking to one of the baristas, and it turns out he was just in Boston for a week or two recently; we shot the shit about the old Beantown, and for a few minutes I was a little homesick. Just a little. The better part of the next two hours we had ourselves a little band meeting talking about what the hell to do when we got back (namely, not working day jobs). Hopefully, lots of this cool stuff we've been talking about will come to fruition. I love being in a band.

Wednesday, we mostly spent hanging about the house we were staying at. We may have set the record for most TV ever watched in a single day: Live Free or Die Hard; Knocked Up (twice); Mrs. Doubtfire; a few episodes of Entourage; ... I can't remember the rest, it all pretty much blends in after that.

We did manage to get out for the evening, though. The folks we were staying with treated us to dinner at a place called Zingerman's Roadhouse. It's something of a steakhouse, so the burgers there are excellent (meat is murder... tasty, tasty murder). Tried a new beer called Oatmeal Poet Stout that was amazing. I've been on a low-key beer tasting expedition out here in the Midwest, and I haven't been disappointed yet. My favorite so far is the Two Hearted Ale from Cleveland. Nom nom nom.

Our hosts also had another house guest, an older gent from London, who was great to talk to. He lives in a prime location in London and has rubbed elbows with some pretty prominent people. It was great hearing stories from him and shooting the shit (as I'm sure he was enjoying his "50% discount" on everything in the States). His daughter is in a band as well, so if you get a chance, check out Liza Finn.

Afterward, we headed back into town to meet up with some of Ross' friends who either live in Ann Arbor or were in town. We all had a good time with some beer and the jukebox, and a short, but awesome, conversation with our server about Oasis and Champagne Supernova.

We parted company around 2am, grateful for the couple of days off. After that, off to Chicago (which I will write about in the next blog).

Cheers,
Henry

VII
I've been standing here
For over 20 minutes.
I just want to sit.

Currently listening:
Sea Change
By: Beck
Release date: 2002-09-24

Second verse VIII: Once upon a time, you dressed so fine

Henry — Sat, 27 Sep 2008 01:07:00 +0000

It was tough waking up before 12:30, as we'd gotten used to the last two days, but it had to be done if we wanted to make it to Chicago in time. We got our shit in the car and took off (after spotting some deer running around the street).

Nothing really special happened on the drive there. We did stop at a Starbucks somewhere in Indiana, and we crossed over into Central Time (time traveling, bitches!). We stayed at a Red Roof Inn, which charges you for Wi-fi (hence, no blogs yesterday), and since the ole income stream ain't what it used to be, we decided to take our chance without internet at the hotel.

Today was the day where we'd forget to eat for most of the day, and didn't notice this until we got to the club. Thankfully, part of our deal was a free meal and we took advantage. The fish and chips at the Abbey hit the spot.

Sometimes, while you're on tour in different cities and different venues, you have no idea what you're going to get. When we were in NYC during the last tour, there was some early show going on (if you've seen the tour movie, this is where that cover band was playing). This time, it was the 2nd Annual Rock/Paper/Scissors competition. Grand Prize winner got $1000 in Amex gift certificates, 2nd place got a Wii. The games went on for a little over an hour, and a woman we were talking to for a while wound up winning the whole thing (what are the odds?). The whole thing was fairly entertaining, and eventually we got into it, including doing inappropriate things with the giant foam "scissor" hands. You've gotta keep yourself entertained, guys.

All the bands on this bill were great (check out Genius School, The Purrs, and Camera). There were also a couple of people from the Boston area, which was odd in a funny sort of way. The guitarist from Genius School used to live in Brockton, and Bob from the Purrs lived in Somerville for a spell. Anyway, they were all really cool people in great bands. I'd play with them again at the drop of a hat. Hopefully, we can set something up with each of them in the future.

We met some girls, Sarah and Kelly, who were dancing up a storm the entire show. I'd thought they were riding along with The Purrs, but I guess they just came along to the show randomly. They were cool as hell, and kept trying to get Ross to dance; eventually, he did, and it was as hilarious as it sounds. Towards the end of the evening, some little shit who was Kelly's ex-boyfriend came up to Ross and said some dumb crap to both Ross and Kelly. You've gotta wonder about some people. Pettiness knows no bounds, I guess. It nearly put the kibosh on the fun vibe, but everyone let it go eventually. A bar fight would've been fun, but detrimental to our tour continuing (or WOULD it?).

I'd gotten a message on Facebook earlier from Rod (from Bang Camaro and Noble Rot). Apparently, BC were also in Chicago playing at the Double Door. We would've loved to go, but by the time the show was over we were so fucking tired and desperately needed sleep.

And sleep we did.

Tonight: Dubuque, Iowa. I wonder if Iowa's anything like The Music Man?

Cheers,
Henry

VIII
Right, one-two-three-SHOOT!
Good old rock. Nothing beats that!
More Jameson, please?

Currently listening:
Sea Change
By: Beck
Release date: 2002-09-24

Second verse IX: Chazz Michael Michaels IS figure skating

Henry — Sat, 27 Sep 2008 17:44:00 +0000

There's a funny and interesting thing that happens when you hit a certain spot in the middle of the US (at least to me), and that's the strange blend of North, South, and West. Obviously, Henry, that's why it's called "Middle America", but to actually witness it before your eyes is awesome. Illinois, for example, is home to Chicago, one of our biggest, one of our biggest metropolitan centers. But travel a little west, and you'll see farmland as far as the eye can see. For two hours, we were witness to some breathtaking views of farms, silos, and corn. It sounds boring-- and if I lived here, I might go insane after a few weeks-- but it was gorgeous to look at.

It's also easier to see how commonplace things to us, like Starbucks and large buildings, can be labled as "elitist" (or what have you) out here. There are long stretches out here, hours and hours, without anything except corn, car wash lots, and a McDonald's here and there. I'm not writing that to shit on anyone, it just puts things in perspective. I'd actually like to spend a little time out here if I ever get a chance.

Dubuque is just across the Mississippi (which, as it happens, is also the Illinois/Iowa border). "The Masterpiece on the Mississippi", it's called; it's a nice looking town, and a lot more developed than I'd anticipated. We were greeted at the club, the Silver Dollar Cantina, by Brandon of the band Black Bloom. The Silver Dollar is a neat little Tex-Mex restaurant with a pretty good stage in the back of the room. We unloaded our crap and shortly thereafter made our way to Black Bloom HQ just a few blocks away for some grub (awesome BBQ, cooked wonderfully by Micheala). We all talked a bit about politics, appropo because Iowa was where Obama won his first primary, and the presidential debates would be happening later on.

Back at the club, everyone there was very accomodating and friendly to us. Michelle, the woman who booked us and is the general manager there also teaches at a college part-time. She reminded me a lot of Kerri Kenney (in appearance only, I mean... not in that crazy "I'm in love with Office Dangle" way). To coincide with the debates they were having a voter registration drive at the venue-- which was very cool.

Since we've been operating on Central Time, the debates started at 8pm for us, which gave us a chance to try and watch some of it. We gave up pretty quickly, though, the closed captioning was painfully slow-- there was no sound-- and it was getting creepy when some of Obama's text was superimposed briefly over John McCain's face. We'll probably catch the rest on C-Span later on or something. I'm sure McCain was full of shit.

The show didn't go off as planned for us. We had a few sound issues that were difficult to deal with, but we made it through okay.

Afterward, we hung out with the Black Bloom kids at their place, made a few pizzas, and played with their pug Carter (that dog loves chasing things... and humping them). I can say we had a really good time hanging out with them, and I suspect this won't be the last time we cross paths.

Next: Highland, Indiana.

Cheers,
Henry

IX
How many more times?
Blades of Glory on again.
Can't change the channel.

Currently watching:
Blades of Glory (Widescreen Edition)
By:
Release date: 2007-08-28

Second verse IX: Chazz Michael Michaels IS figure skating

Henry — Sat, 27 Sep 2008 17:44:00 +0000

IX
How many more times?
Blades of Glory on again.
Can't change the channel.

Currently watching:
Blades of Glory (Widescreen Edition)
By:
Release date: 2007-08-28

Second verse X: The crossroads of America

Henry — Mon, 29 Sep 2008 01:47:00 +0000

I woke up in Dubuque, grateful that Carter (Black Bloom's pug/house mascot) did not wake me up. I don't think I could've handled that ball of pure energy that early in the morning. We said our goodbyes to Brandon, and started making our way back east. I hear it's been raining like a bastard back in Boston. We've had some amazing weather on this tour. Haw-haw.

We mozied on through Illinois through the farmlands again, on the way to Indiana. We were all recovering from the sound issues the night before-- they were that unpleasant, at least to us. The crowd there didn't seem to notice, though, so at least there was that. We were talking to a couple of girls that came from KLCR, which has been playing Fan The Fury, who liked what they heard and were grateful that we'd made it all the way out to Iowa. I think they may have even said we were the first band they've played to head out their way. At least there's that. I'd love to come back to Dubuque and put on a better show. Plus, it's kind of a nice town, to boot.

Gas out in Iowa was strangely cheap (in relative terms, anyway.. We're still getting fleeced at $3.59 a gallon). Oddly enough, the Plus grade was cheaper than Regular.

We crashed at a Super 8 motel just by the Illinois/Indiana border. During the trip, there was some debate over whether the club would be in Eastern Time while the hotel was in Central. This wasn't the case, though. Whoever drew the lines decided to include the northwest chunk of Indiana in Central Time. Who the fuck drew those lines, anyway? They don't make any sense.

Bummed around the hotel for a little while, but that got old and we decided to check out what Highland, Indiana has to offer. We went crusing around. There's something oddly comforting about strip malls and oak trees. After traveling as much as I have, it's become clear that most of the US' suburbs look just like this (even Florida, kids.. even Florida). We can talk about the evils of gentrification some other time. Right now, I'm just making an observation.

Bean Counters is a large coffee shop with a bar attached to the back and a decently sized stage up front. Once we loaded up, the other band, The Greys, showed up and they were very friendly. I've got to say, one thing we've been fortunate with on this tour are the amount of bands we've crossed paths with who have been very cool. The show went off without a hitch for us, vindication for our sound troubles the night before. Even without any stage monitors, we were able to pull through. The sound guy, Roye, was great and did an excellent job. We found out the guys in The Greys were Oasis fans, so we pulled out our cover of Don't Look Back In Anger. Once they hit the stage, they reciprocated our gesture with a cover of The Importance of Being Idle (awesome). They have a cool thing going with their band. They all write songs, and every so often switch instruments. They played for about an hour and were even cool enough to mention during their set that we had stuff for sale.

The crowd in Highland was so great, too. We sold more CDs than we did on the rest of the tour, and everyone was really digging what we were doing. Between last night and Iowa, I got the feeling that there's an appreciation that we were even out there; I don't think many bands, particularly from our neck of the woods, pass through these parts and they were really appreciative. Sometimes clubs out East can be a little cold just because there are way too many bands in the area; it's nice to get a little love. We've met some really cool people out on the road.

After the show, the Greys invited us out to a bar around the corner called Growlers. Some cover band (The Unit?) was going full on with all sorts of covers. Living on a Prayer, Billie Jean, Thriller, Jenny (867-5309)... I stopped paying attention after a while. It's not a mark on their competence as players-- they were actually quite good-- I just have zero patience for 80s music. With few exceptions, I fucking hate the 80s. I'll tell you what I did love, though: Three Floyd's beer. Apparently, the brewery is near Highland (I forget the exact city), but they brew a mean Pale Ale. I had the Alpha King (if I recall correctly). The guy who runs Bean Counters (his name escapes me at thoment) was talking to me about this beer, and some of the brews they've got will really knock you on your ass. Overall, I've got to say I have not been disappointed by the beers they've got out here in the Midwest.

Anyway, we hung out at Growlers for a couple of hours with the Greys. They're getting ready to record their first album, and were exchanging touring advice with them (whatever advice we had to give, anyway... we don't know what the fuck we're doing). It got me thinking about our tour, and the last tour we went on. For lack of a better phrase, I feel so lucky to be able to do this. I've gotten to see so many places just this year that I'd never been to before. We've been to something like 20 states or something, and there's so much more waiting for us. There's so much to see out here.

(Once you get past the strip malls, Wal-Marts, and Hooters, of course.)

Driving day today... Pittsburgh on Monday.

Cheers,
Henry

X
What's with the lighter?
This place has no smoking ban
Eyes are on fire.

Currently listening:
Walls
By: Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers
Release date: 1996-09-10

Second verse XI: The salad dressing is outgrossing my films

Henry — Mon, 29 Sep 2008 08:44:00 +0000

(Quick note: I'm a little behind on these, so... there.)

There wasn't much going on Sunday. Our plan to get an early start was mostly shot, at least by the time I woke up. Jen and Ross got up in time for whatever continental breakfast the Super 8 has going on, but I chose to stay in bed another hour (they said I shouldn't have bothered anyway, and I was happy I made the right choice). There weren't any shows to get to, so we took our time with checkout. Blades of Glory was on TV again, the fifth time on our trip. I like the movie enough, but it makes me glad I don't spend money on HBO-- particularly since they canned the Preacher series which was already in pre-production.

Today's plan was to get a buttload of driving done, since Pittsburgh is a long drive. We bade farewell to the Central Time Zone as we headed back towards Clevenland. It began, brilliantly enough, with an event 6+ years in the making; we'd each assumed someone else closed the rear hatch to the van. As we started pulling out of the parking lot, we heard a loud tumbling behind us...

The drive through Ohio was particularly boring this time. It may just be a Pavlovian response to the last tour-- when we drove from Chicago to Pittsburgh (only as a stopover on the way to Philly). Or it could be that driving through Ohio really is that boring. I don't know. It's probably both.

Dan and Cathy, our friends from Cleveland, were kind enough to let us crash at their house on such short notice; they even cooked us dinner, which was beyond awesome (I forget that the two are also good friends with Nico from Televandals, which you must all check out). After dinner we went to a place caled Malley's for ice cream. Aside from the Disney music on a loop-- yes, including the It's a Small World theme-- the place is insane. The ice cream menu was brilliant, and they had so many specialty chocolates, just thinking about it makes my stomach hurt. Some really good stuff at that place.

Back at the house, we stayed up getting some laughs out of failblog.org. Seriously, if you've never been there, go now. Might want to watch your back if you're at work, though having a laugh at work never killed anyone (just got them fired). We also had a bit of fun with a laser pointer and Luther, their cat-- who also happens to be a Kitler. Our bellies full of burritos, ice cream, and some laughs, we all turned in around midnight.

Many, many, many thanks again to Dan and Cathy. You guys rock (and the Lord said: Go Sox).

Next: Pittsburgh.

Cheers,
Henry

XI
"Fair to say when pressed
you become adorable?"
Sarah Palin sucks.

Currently listening:
1234
By: Feist
Release date: 2007-07-30

Second verse XII: Cleveland’s Third Act/Let’s go Steelers

Henry — Tue, 30 Sep 2008 18:31:00 +0000

It was one of those mornings where I inexplicably woke up earlier than anyone else, and would remain the only one for hours. I checked email and some other bullshit, mostly. I'm sure you know how the infinite loop of cycling through websites. I did read an interesting article about Nebraska's Safe Haven law neglecting to include an age limit. Someone dropped off nine kids, ages ranging from 1 to 17. I wonder what goes through someone's mind when they do shit like that. They were smart enough to figure out a loophole like that, but too dumb to avoid having nine kids they couldn't take care of. Let that be a lesson, kids: CONTRACEPTION IS A GOOD THING. Wrap it up. Know what I'm sayin'?

Dan was up pretty early as well, getting some work done. We bullshit for a while over some Cuban coffee (it's espresso with sugar added in before). Sweet, sweet cafecito. Eventually, the rest of the Aloud brood rose from the dead and Dan offered to give us a tour of Cleveland.

Our first stop was Market Square, in Ohio City. Fresh vegetables, meat, fish, and homemade candy as far as the eye can see. It was late in the day for them (around noon), so they were trying to sell off the last of their goods. Haymarket back in Boston has nothing on this. We took a short walk to a small shop called Lelolai, where they have some excellent guava and cream cheese pastries (one of the very few things I miss from Miami that is difficult to find in Boston). Afterward, we drove through downtown near the Key Tower. There's been a lot of construction going on here lately. Money's been pumped into Cleveland to revitalize the area, and it seems to be working. The area we were in reminded me of Boston theater district, only bigger and a lot cleaner. You can tell they're really trying to get this area jumping again (or perhaps for the first time?).

Next was driving through Coventry. This area is where there's a lot of old money, and it has a reputation of being artsy— even the street signs forewent the traditional green or "Service Plaza Blue", and going with a tie-die effect instead. We ate at a restaurant called Tommy's. The food there was amazingly good; I ordered the Steph. We had a few laughs over the repeated misspelling of hommous on the menu (spelled "homos"), which then led to us laughing about a sandwich called the "Uncle Gay", and another called the "Chick-free sandwich". The epitome of maturity, we are.

There's a store called "Big Fun" that we headed over to briefly, and the sad part is that if given the opportunity, I could've spent all day in there. Old school comic books everywhere, GI Joes including their aircraft carrier, a shitload of Nintendo games and Nintendos, a shitload of Atari games and Ataris, Karate Kid toys, Pee Wee's Playhouse toys.. I probably owned half this shit when I was a kid (and now the kids say "Wow, you're old!"). We talked to the dude running the store (I want to say his name is Justin, but I can't be sure... I've been so terrible with names on this trip). He told us that each of the things in the store were collected by the employees and the owners, and they just bring them in to sell. If I had more time to spend there, I'd probably go broke.

It was beginning to get late, since we had to drive to Pittsburgh later on and we made our way back to Dan's place. We had to wait for some laundry to come out of the dryer. To pass the time, we watched most of Da Ali G Movie. I kept hearing it wasn't funny for a few years, but it actually was. Borat even makes a cameo. Cathy got back just as we were getting ready to leave, and in a final act of kindness gave us some homemade chocolate & peanut butter brownies and some strawberries. I don't know where we'd be without the IT kindness of the people we met on tour (yes I do: at another Super 8, broke, and sharing Cheerios for dinner).

It was a relatively short ride to Pittsburgh— about 2½ hours. We were a little concerned with how the evening would turn out. We'd be competing with Monday Night Football again, except this time the Pittsburgh Steelers were playing. We pulled up to Howler's Coyote Cafe practicing our best "Tom Brady? Fuck that pretty boy!" Fortunately, we were greeted warmly by Susan, the owner (who also has high scores on all the Megatouch games at the bar). We worked it out with the other band, Central Plains, that we'd try to share halftime, when no one would really be paying attention to the TV. While we were waiting around and exchanging some tasteless jokes with CP's drummer, Ross made good friends with three ladies: Rene, Bree, and another they called "Bubbles" because she could make her eyes bulge out of her head. They're also huge Steelers fans, and were totally decked out.

There's a strange law of inverse proportions in music, whereby the nights you expect to be the worst turn out to be really great; it's sort of like Murphy's Law's evil twin. Pittsburgh was no exception. We didn't fuck up once (at least not noticably), and everyone in the room was excited to see us play (including Rene, Bubbles, and Bree, whom we drew away from the Steelers game for 30 minutes).

We hung out with everyone at the bar to watch the end of the game, which went into overtime and Pittsburgh won by a field goal. The room erupted in such a way you'd think the Steelers won the Super Bowl. After a short celebration, which included someone playing We Are The Champions on the jukebox, we said our goodbyes, promising we'd be back to Pittsburgh. We had a ridiculously fun night.

The Aloud mobile drove ten miles to some Days Inn in the middle of nowhere. Half-watched some of American Gangster before passing out.

Sucks we've only got three more shows before returning to earth.

Aloud will return in: Philadelphia.

Cheers,
Henry

XII
Can't find a driveway
This wheelchair ramp works nicely
Yea, booyashacka!

Currently listening:
Raise High
By: Radio America
Release date: 2007-01-16

Second verse XIII: Think outside the bun

Henry — Wed, 01 Oct 2008 08:31:00 +0000

The rain finally caught up with us in the morning. Again, our attempts to get an early start were thwarted and we woke up 20 minutes before checkout. The drive to Philly is one of the longer ones of the trip, a little over five hours. Five hours of looking at Pennsylvania mountains. When it comes to food, this last part of the tour has been a complete disaster. I cracked again and succumbed to Roy Rogers. It was as gross as it was satisfying (very), but at least it's one notch higher than McDonald's due to the Fixin's Bar.

Once we got into Philly we had the strange compulsion to turn off the music and listen to NPR. Figured we should keep up with the news and such. We didn't miss a hell of a lot; economy's still shit, Bush still doesn't know his ass from his elbow, and wackos are still getting airtime. There was an interview with Bill Maher later in the evening about his new movie Religilous, which coincides nicely with the Christopher Hitchens book I'm reading God Is Not Great. Some people might balk at the thought of reading it, but I'm a history buff and that book is chock full of it. If you think the book may offend you, I'd recommend you challenge yourself.

Anyway...

We're staying with our friend Jaime (who interviewed us for WDBK... but you'd know that if you saw our tour movie). She had pizza and everything waiting for us (take THAT Roy Rogers!). Had an interesting conversation with her mom and stepdad about the unfortunate decline of MTV. Yes, they do play music videos; no, I don't want to have to stay up till 5:00am to watch 20 minutes of videos— and shitty ones, at that.

Once again, the club was subject to the reverse Murphy's Law theory. Dr. Watson's has three levels, with the top two dedicated to bands. We didn't get a soundcheck and the line check was pretty quick. The soundguy totally knew what he was doing, though. None of us could really hear ourselves onstage, save for Ross' drums and bass; normally, that sort of thing makes for a bad show, but for some reason it felt really good. There was a pretty good crowd out there that was really digging us. I really like Philly.

We spent the rest of the evening having a good time at the club with Jaime and her friend Brian. We got out of there around 1am and headed back to Jersey to crash. A few of us were pretty hungry, so we decided on Taco Hell (ah, the food choices get worse and worse). When we pulled up to the window after Jaime's car, the dude handed us the food and just said "She paid for you ass. Something about love." We were laughing about that one for a few hours. Days. We bullshit for a couple of hours back at Casa de Jaime before crashing. I was hoping to play some Wii, but I was too tired.

Yea, we had fun.

Next: A day in the studio at WTSR.

Cheers,
Henry

XIII
Chicken burrito
Make a run for the border
Run for the bathroom.

Currently listening:
Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers - Greatest Hits
By: Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers
Release date: 1993-11-16

Second verse XIV: Ground control to Major Tom

Henry — Thu, 02 Oct 2008 08:20:00 +0000

I woke up around 10:30, refreshed in the knowledge you've woken up past double-digits. Jaime, ever the sweetest of hostesses, made us breakfast. I hardly ever realize this, but most people think eating your cereal without milk, as I do, is gross. I don't know what else to say, except I think plain milk is gross. I've given it a shot many a time, and it just doesn't work for me. Bring on the Hershey's syrup, I say. Ain't no snap, crackle, nor pop in my Rice Krispies.

Per usual, we bummed around all morning. We watched another episode of Entourage, which would make me regret my earlier HBO comment were it not for the wonders of the internet. Seriously, I do not need to see Knocked Up or Blades Of Glory a sixth and seventh time this week— least of all sober. There was a Wii set up downstairs, which I took full advantage of. Didn't get around to playing Mario Kart like I'd hoped, but you can never go wrong with Wii Sports. I didn't bother with Tennis— my performance with Golf and Baseball were embarrassing enough. I fared better with Bowling.

Around 4pm, we took off to our next destination. The trip itself was only about an hour. We were going to do a performance for WTSR, the College of NJ's TV station, which was also open to students for a live show. The whole thing was really cool, actually. It sort of reminds me the way studios worked back in the day. It was one large room, with a bunch of panels laying around that were made for on-the-spot construction of sets, depending on what needed to be filmed. They made a stage and a backstage area in no time. Even had some tasty turkey & cheese croissant sandwiches waiting to be devoured.

Once we got all our equipment set up, we were shuffled downstairs to the radio station for an interview (it was a quick ten minute deal). Afterward, it was back upstairs for a TV interview. Our interviewer, Sally, was filling in for someone else who couldn't make it, but she did a fine job. It reminded me of The Who being interviewed on Russell Harty Plus show, except Ross didn't tear the sleeves off my jacket. Speaking of, I have no idea why I was even wearing a jacket. The lights were hot enough to make Lucifer himself sweat his ass off.

Another quick trip to the radio station was made to record a few bumpers before we were shuffled back upstairs to get ready for the show. We waited backstage for the wrod to go on. I was in that No Man's Land of nervousness and relaxation. (None of this was being broadcast live, by the way.)

Anyway, there was nothing to worry about. This far into the tour, we've totally hit our stride. Jen even popped a string halfway through the second song, and managed to switch guitars in mid-song without a fuss. I doubt anyone really noticed. Our good show streak continues. After the show, we briefly spoke to Liz, a girl who was writing the show up for the paper (I believe it's called the Signal).

So there you have it: Aloud conquered The College of New Jersey's media.

Back at Jaime's house, we caught the Sox/Angels game at the top of the 5th while waiting for her to get back from work. Rick was kind enough to tune in to the game when we got back. We talked to him about the show a little, which led to a conversation about the pitfalls of being a band in a wicked industry such as this. That topic can eb stretched out for weeks, but Rick had to get up early so we left it to be continued some other time. The Sox were wrapping up the game by the time Jaime got back. Not only did she bring back donuts for us, she also grilled us some veggie patties— we were starving, and they actually tasted pretty damn good.

After the game, the lot of us stayed up late to watch Fargo. Jaime passed out on the couch, which we took as a cue to get to sleep ourselves. I nearly fell asleep on the floor myself.

Last day of the tour tomorrow. Bummed about it.

NYC up next.

Cheers,

Henry

XIV

No more sharp turns, please.

Piano keeps falling over.

Face already dinged.

Currently watching:
Fargo
Release date: 2000-08-15

Second verse XV: Get off your high horse, lady

Henry — Tue, 07 Oct 2008 03:14:00 +0000

Waking up at the Griffiths house has been really fun for the last couple of days. Their coffee maker was pretty fascinating. It's one of those coffee machines where you load a small packet of coffee and it makes just enough for one mug. We live in the future, people!

We rolled out at 2pm; Brooklyn's not far, but we wanted to get there early. Ross was meeting some friends for dinner, and Jen and I were meeting the kids from Radio America.

Jen accidentally threw out the directions to NYC, but we more than managed with the Atlas we keep handy in the van for such occasions. Every now and then I wonder how the hell this was done before the internet, and there you have it. We were like little fuckin' Magellans, cruising around the globe.

We got to Trash Bar a little after 5pm and unloaded our things. I talked to the bartender a little, who turns out is my age and was also born in Miami (though she grew up in Hollywood, up in Broward). Small world. Jen and I spoke to Tom from Radio America and made plans to meet up with him and Gabe (the other guitar slinger in the group) later on to watch the VP debates. We were starving, though, so Jen and I went for some Thai food— I think the place was called Tai Thai. At any rate, it was really good and really cheap.

The mood was very somnambulant. New York does that to me, not really sure why. Maybe it's just too fucking crowded for me. Or maybe it's the last night of the tour, and then it'd be right back to the grindstone. I had an epiphany that I'm really, really good at being in a band and not much else. It's one of the very few things in my life that can hold my undivided interest. It's a lot of hard work, but most of the time it doesn't feel like it (and when it does, you just go through it without even thinking about it). I had a pretty tough time readjusting to life back home the last time around, and I suspect this time will be no different.

We met up with Tom and Gabe, who were also accompanied by a few other friends (which included the one and only Mr. Photog) to watch the VP debates at Hope Lounge down the street. In some ways it reminded me of watching the 2000 debates between Bush and Gore at Gracie's Grill, only less serious (which was super, super cereal). That was something. At the time, some woman got really drunk and started yelling at Jen that Bush would destroy us all (which was odd, because Jen certainly didn't support Gov. Bush, but I guess proximity is nine tenths of the law... or something). The VP debates were entertaining compared to the presidential one. Joe Biden did well I thought. The guy was probably as clear and forthright as any politician will allow themselves to be. Sarah Palin is a joke; you want to talk about descending into self-parody, she's your poster child (wink). Which isn't to say I think she's a stupid woman— she's just in over her head. Way over her head. I'd be surprised if a Sarah Palin Bingo Card didn't show up on the internet within the week.

We headed back to Trash Bar afterward. We were supposed to go on at midnight (they call this "headlining" to make bands feel better... and we went on closer to 1am anyway). The show went alright (I'd give it a B+), but by this point we were extremely tired and ready to head back home (ideally for a couple of days, then back on the road, but 'tis not to be). I slept through most of the trip back home, so there's not much to report on that front. What I will say is that the entire day I was looking forward to that 2am Wendy's off exit 40, and when I get there, no burgers. Just "chicken product". Goddamnit.

A hungry stomach knows no loyalty, though, so I settled for a chicken sandwich before passing out in the car again. The rest is a blur. It was cold and the sky was a navy blue. Tuned in to FNX for a bit of familiarity. Unloaded our gear at the space. Got back to our apartment around 6am. Talked to Beca and Martin, who were crashing at our place, and compressed 2 weeks into 10 minutes of conversation. Where does the time go...

Bed.

Zzzzz.

Somewhere between consciousness and the dreamworld, it occurred to me that I'm pretty goddamned lucky to be able to do this at all. Much like the last time, I can't wait to start this all over again.

Cheers,
Henry

Farewell to haiku

I've had much fun writing these

Out of ideas

Currently listening:
Dig Out Your Soul
By Oasis
Release date: 2008-10-07

Who the hell listens to Blur?

Henry — Fri, 10 Oct 2008 12:37:00 +0000

Well, it's been a week since we've been back in Boston. Still not adjusting well, but at least I can't say I'm not keeping busy, that's for sure. To start, we've got that show tonight in Vermont. We're supposed to play for something like three hours (the joke: we're not really prepared for a three hour set). We're going to have a bit of fun with it, though. Bringing along an acoustic, just going to wing it for the first set and have a good time with it.

(The Sox are on the tube tonight as well, I wonder if the game will be on all the way up in Montpelier..?)

Anyway, the next big thing we're working on is our Boston show at Café 939. The place has a nice setup with a projection screen, and initially we wanted to play a show and perhaps use the projection screen for a few songs. It's now looking more and more like a full-blown multimedia production. The whole thing is a little daunting and has progressed from a typical Aloud show with a few extra bells and whistles to a whole project in itself, but we're all insanely excited about this. At any rate, it's a chance to get a little artsy fartsy and do something outside your standard club show. This sort of projection show is something we've always wanted to do, anyway (and between traveling the country and adding a piano to the stage setup this year, we're really ticking these off the old wish list here...).

The show's called "I Just Want To Witness..." (as opposed to Ross' idea of calling it The Witness Projection Program). We're working on it with filmmaker Johnathan Carr on this (who's also working with other filmmakers like Erin Bowser, Timothy Scholl, maybe a few other people..). Good times, good times.

I've been listening to the new Oasis album like mad. It's fantastic, and it's a mostly unrecognizable Oasis (save for Shock of the Lightning, but you need to throw a classic sounding tune in there). Bag It Up, Waiting For The Rapture, and To Be Where There's Life are probably my favorite tunes so far. This list will keep changing until I've ultimately rattled off every single song on the album. But yes, it's worth purchasing (even for the "Oasis has been shit since Be Here Now" crowd.. this album is for you).

That's all I got for now (things seem so much more interesting when you're on the road, even if you're just looking out a window for five hours). Off to get a coffee...

Cheers,
Henry

"Aloud: I Just Want To Witness..." stage show in Boston

Webmaster — Wed, 22 Oct 2008 13:39:00 +0000

Berklee College of Music presents:
Aloud: I Just Want To Witness...
Tuesday, November 18, 2008 at 8:00pm

Café 939
939 Boylston Street, Boston, MA
(with openers Media Made)

All Ages.
Tickets: $12 general admission
(Student tickets: $7)

Advance tickets available at
Berklee's box office and Ticketmaster.

Aloud is proud to announce their multimedia stage show debut: I Just Want To Witness..., premiering at Berklee College of Music's Café 939 on Tuesday, November 18, 2008, 8:00pm. Focusing on themes of voyeurism, social rebellion, and modes of modern (mis)communication, I Just Want To Witness... is a live concert production that re-imagines Aloud's CD Fan The Fury. The show is currently being developed by Aloud and young filmmaker Johnathan Carr, and will be performed by Aloud with special guest bassist Tim Hare.

I Just Want To Witness... is Aloud's first exploration in the world of live video as performance art. Aloud vocalist/guitarist Henry Beguiristain explains the band's inspiration, "Some of our favorite music has come from the synthesis of different mediums and ideas from left field, things like U2's Zoo TV tour or the approach the Beatles took with Sgt. Pepper. This is a way to exercise another part of our rock n' roll brains."

The show's title I Just Want To Witness... is taken from the lyrics "I just want to witness," and "I just want to witness justice and forgiveness." These words bookend the recorded album and the live performance. The creators of I Just Want To Witness... are designing the stage show to embellish on the CD's songs of struggle, perseverance, injustice and love, by pairing live performance of the music with video projections and theatrical lighting.

"The world has become a very voyeuristic place. If you need convincing evidence you need just turn on your television. Reality shows are the order of the day. We have round the clock news detailing and retelling the same stories every hour on the hour... YouTube, camera phones, etc. It's all in how you use it. Are you spying, are you a bit sick, or are you maybe taping something that could help bring some justice to light?"

Johnathan Carr, a recent Emerson graduate, is designing and overseeing the creation of projected video for the piece, and is excited to have Boston animator Timothy Scholl, Boston filmmaker Mike Pecci, and NYC filmmaker Erin Bowser on his team. Johnathan is exploiting the dynamic nature of this seemingly simple rock album with his teams' dramatic visualizations. He explains how the collaboration is working: "I've always wanted to do this kind of performance-media for a concert, and I just happen to love Aloud's music, which makes this really fun... I went with my gut on most of the imagery, whatever the music brought to mind. The other artists involved started with some of my ideas, but were allowed to embellish and go where they wanted. It's very exciting building a conceptual image system together."

I Just Want To Witness... is Aloud's first-ever live show collaboration, with hopes to tour the work to black-box theatres, and performance art venues around the US in 2009.

Related Links
- I Just Want To Witness... page: www.allthingsaloud.com/witness
- Tickets: Ticketmaster
- Johnathan Carr: www.themfish.com
- Erin Bowser: www.erinbowser.com
- Mike Pecci: www.mikepecci.com
- Timothy Scholl: www.octopusengine.com
- Café 939: www.cafe939.com
- Buy Fan The Fury

This is the dawning of the Age of Aquarius

Henry — Mon, 27 Oct 2008 02:04:00 +0000

It was sort of an action-packed weekend. Friday night, we headed back to The Draft in Allston (ah, our old hood) for the second benefit show for Jules. She was able to make it to this one, and it was awesome to finally get to meet her in person. She's awesome. And I'm not just saying that because she complimented my double-fisting abilities.^*† It was pretty wild. There was a Judas Priest tribute band playing the thing.^‡ She's still got a mountain of medical bills, but y'know... when it comes to "owing $30K vs. dying", I think I'll take my chances doing the waltz with the healthcare industry. At the very least, it's great to hear that she's feeling great at least, and the leukemia's in remission. She's got one more bone marrow transplant to undergo to hopefully knock this thing on its ass— if not permanently, then for a long, long time.

Saturday night we spent in Worcester. We took a very last minute acoustic-type gig (big thanks to David H. of Little Big Wheel). It's one of those things you say "fuck it" to and just fly off the seat of your pants. Spontaneity is good, yea? We had two hours to fill and just made the setlist up a few minutes before we played (or on the spot, depending on when you caught us). Definitely a very good time. I think I needed it.

Just got back from practice not too long ago. We've been rehearsing like bastards with Tim for this projection show thing we've got coming up (I hate calling it "projection show".. what the hell else can I call it?). We're getting a look at some rough cuts by Johnathan next weekend. Me likey.

This show's going to be insane.

It's already insane.

Cheers,
Henry

^*Why does that sound so dirty?
^†But really, I was just holding Jen's beer while she went to the bathroom.
^‡I was waiting for them to play Breaking The Law the whole time. And then they did.

The Spirit of Halloween II

Henry — Fri, 31 Oct 2008 14:10:00 +0000

Of all the holidays, Halloween is one of the ones I care about the least (but not less than Columbus Day). It honestly does nothing for me. It could be that at I'm growing increasingly mature (unlikely). It could be a defense mechanism against my innermost desire to dress up as Batman and hurl poorly-constructed cardboard Batarangs at unsuspecting children (highly probable). It could be that in middle school the girl I had an enormous crush on dressed up as a pumpkin, therefore rendering her less attractive (it was a terrible costume). Whatever the case may be, the Great Pumpkin means sweet fuckall to me.

Therefore, in this spirit, I will not only leave this entry as it is, I'll post the exact same video I posted last year. How's that for phoning it in?

Cheers,
Henry

PS Go check out Castle of the Damned in Gloucester this weekend. I haven't gone yet, but I hear you won't regret it. I also heard it scared the piss out of some drunk teenagers (which, if anything, serves to amuse me out of my ambivalence towards Halloween).

Let's not forget the general erection

Henry — Tue, 04 Nov 2008 13:49:00 +0000

You knew this was coming. It's election year, and I know all your friends on the Facebooks, the MySpaces, adultfriendfinders.. they're all reminding us citizens of the US to GO AND VOTE TODAY.

So here's a little to-do list for you:

1) Figure out what the hell you're voting on! There's more going on at the local level than just the Republican vs. Democrat Celebrity Deathmatch Spectacular. Google "What's on my ballot" or something. Learn to love the Google. Love it..... This is an important election (aren't they all?)... so don't fuck it up!.

2) Figure out where you're supposed to vote! Google has a handy little thing here: http://maps.google.com/vote. (Keep loving it...).

3) DON'T FORGET TO VOTE TODAY. And once you're there, don't get tricked into not voting. It's rare, but it happens. Make a scene if you gotta. Once you're in line, they can't prevent you from voting, even if the polls technically close.

3b) Obviously, we'd all love it if you voted for Obama today. If you're still supporting McCain, all I ask is that you read this short column A Letter for McCain Supporters' Eyes Only, and I'll leave you alone after that.

In the end, it's your decision. All I can do is try to talk you out of it.

Okay kids. Good luck today. Bring your iPod and some Chewys.

Vote early, vote often!

Cheers,
Henry

Let's not forget the general erection

Henry — Tue, 04 Nov 2008 13:49:00 +0000

3b) Obviously, we'd all love it if you voted for Obama today. If you're still supporting McCain, all I ask is that you read this short column A Letter for McCain Supporters' Eyes Only, and I'll leave you alone after that.

In the end, it's your decision. All I can do is try to talk you out of it.

Okay kids. Good luck today. Bring your iPod and some Chewys.

Vote early, vote often!

Cheers,
Henry

Just this once..

Henry — Wed, 05 Nov 2008 13:09:00 +0000

Bart: Wow, my father an astronaut. I feel so full of...what's the opposite of shame?

Marge: Pride?

Bart: No, not that far from shame.

Homer: [quavering] Less shame?

Bart: [happy] Yeah...

All I have to say is thank you, USA.

Last night was a great moment for everyone. You couldn't wipe the smile off my face, and it was more than just "the guy I was voting for won" (hmm.. a new feeling). It's something so special that you can't ignore what a big deal this is for a lot of reasons. Thank you, thank you, thank you. This is a golden opportunity for all of us. For the world. Look, Bush just about totaled the country over the last eight years. All I know is that this politician has made a damn good case for me to give him a chance.

McCain folks, I'm very proud of most of you, too. You've been incredibly gracious about the loss, and it served to remind me that somewhere beyond the noise of his campaign, there was still a guy somewhere who, not too long ago, the Democrats were hoping to make John Kerry's running mate.

To the few of you who sent rude messages, I'll give you a few more days to mourn. After that, I suggest you start removing the braces from your brains, wash your mouths out with a bar of soap, and get out a little more. A lot more.

Anyway, I think we can all agree that with the way things have been going, there's a hell of a lot of work to be done.. no time to act like a bunch of crybabies now.

Our friend Carlos deserves congratulations. Not only does he have impeccable taste in music, but he should be commended for his prescience. he's been working his ass off on the Obama campaign from the very beginning. Kudos to you, guy.

Sen. McCain, good speech last night. You're a good man. You lost the plot, yes, but with your speech last night you reminded me that when you go back to the Senate you may do some good yet. The "Reverse Maverick" doesn't suit you.

And Barack... congratulations. This is great news, and I can't wait till you're sworn in. If there's anything else I can say to you, here are some words of wisdom Hugh "The Body" Wyman imparted to me during the recording of Leave Your Light On that have helped me in life:

DON'T FUCK THIS UP OR I'LL BAZOOKA FUCKKILL YOUR PUPPIES. TWICE.

(Something like that.)

Cheers,
Henry

Currently listening:
City of Blinding Lights
By U2
Release date: 2005-06-20

Drive-by, Miami style

Henry — Fri, 07 Nov 2008 13:08:00 +0000

We had something of a loose and bare-bones, yet productive, rehearsal yesterday for Witness....

It was mainly to work out timing between songs and stuff like that. Johnathan showed us a version of the video he'd been working on for You Got Me Wrong, and it looks so awesome (I may have gone into epileptic seizure at times though... haha...). And just this morning, Mike Pecci (referred to henceforth as "Mike") sent a few stills of the videos he's working on and it looks great.

It's been months of planning and work, but despite the inevitable obstacles that get in the way of this sort of thing, it's really coming together better than I expected. I think this is going to be a really good show. And a really fun show.

Something else that's fun is plugging friends. Like anyone else who listened to the Scamper podcast, I'm still waiting around for a Season 2 to show up. However, while we're waiting around for that to happen, Brendan's given us the first episode of The Boogie Cast, a Frasier to Scamper's Cheers. I gave it a listen yesterday. It's teh funneh.

Listen to the first episode here: boogiecast.blogspot.com

I know this is a couple years old, but it's never not funny. I was watching these last night and laughing my ass off (I was wearing headphones, though... so Jen and Ross may have thought I was a bit.. touched in the head).

YEEEEEEEAAAAAAAH!!!,
Henry

Currently listening:
Who's Next
By The Who
Release date: 1995-11-07

Drive-by, Miami style

Henry — Fri, 07 Nov 2008 13:08:00 +0000

Currently listening:
Who's Next
By The Who
Release date: 1995-11-07

This paperback is very interesting, but I find it will never replace a hardcover book - it makes a very poor doorstop.

Henry — Mon, 10 Nov 2008 14:37:00 +0000

I spent half of yesterday doing the tango with my internet, which for the last few months has been turning on and off sporadically. Seriously, if anyone out there is looking for internet, Comcast is anything but Comcastic. DON'T DO IT.

Spent the rest of the morning watching some concert DVDs (U2 at Slane Castle, and McCartney's 2002 US tour) while I was getting all arts & crafts on some stuff for Witness.

Afternoon was spent fighting the forces of the B line (thank ye gods I'm not required to ride it on a daily basis) and practicing some more for the show. Mike sent over a couple of rough cuts he's been working on (and really, like look more "final" than "rough".. damn good stuff!).

As for the rest of the weekend, Friday we hung out with Annie and Chris around Kendall (though I retired early because I'd been up since the asscrack of dawn and was tired... and I'm lame). Saturday, Jen and I went with Beca and Martin to a BBQ at our friend Dave's house. I went into a total food coma, and may still be digesting this meal right now.

Just finished reading some really interesting work from Newsweek on the presidential campaigns (thanks to Jersey Todd for sending that my way). Newsweek had some reporters embedded in the campaigns early on, with the promise they wouldn't report it till after the election. It's a bit long (I used this mostly as "commute reading"), but it's fascinating as hell if you're into the inner workings of political campaigns (which I am). If you've got a good amount of time to put into it, check it out: http://www.newsweek.com/id/167581 (It's split into 7 chapters.)

On that note, I'd like to state that my grandma gets 5,000 post-election cool points. Talked to my sister yesterday, too. She was at the Coldplay concert in Ft. Lauderdale.

(We still didn't open for them.)

Cheers,
Henry

Currently listening:
Viva La Vida
By Coldplay
Release date: 2008-06-17

"He must have read my mind." "The way you speak English, he'd have to."

Henry — Fri, 14 Nov 2008 01:42:00 +0000

Had to head to rehearsal for Witness last night straight from work. Traversing Boston's public transportation carrying gear can wear on a man's soul, as well as his back. Rest assured I am rocking the Advil right now.

Now that I've moved out of the city, I've really grown to appreciate the T. But not the B line. The Green Line is bad enough as it is. The B line is The Worst. In a world where scientists can map the human genome and send robots to Mars, why can't we run one line on one transit system efficiently?

This should be posited during the next Harvard commencement speech. "Graduates, be the change you wish to see in the world: FIX THE GODDAMN B LINE."

Anyway, did a dry run through the entire show tonight. It was tighter than I had expected, but this can only mean good things (give that the show is less that a week away). It really hit me yesterday that we've been working on this thing for months and planning it for even longer. It's almost been like working on an album, except there are more people involved and I haven't wanted to pull my hair out (yet). Really snuck up on us, that did.

I need a night off. We're probably going to see JCVD tonight. I only found out about it yesterday after Jen told me about it. After all the drugs, marriages, re-marriages, and terrible two-word movies (Hard Target, Time Cop, Double Team, Street Fighter, Sudden Death, The Quest, Knock Off, Universal Soldier 1 & 2), it's nice to see the man getting work. It even looks pretty good. Who knows, maybe this could be the start of a new thing where Van Damme is in movies that may actually be pretty good.

Hmm.. Looks like Universal Soldier III is in pre-production for 2009...

Hmm...

Cheers,
Henry

Currently listening:
The Reminder
By Feist
Release date: 2007-05-01

I eat Green Berets for breakfast.

Henry — Tue, 18 Nov 2008 04:52:00 +0000

Yea yea, the big show is tomorrow.

But this blog isn't about that.

It's about your friend and mine:

Sully.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RMkXY6MN96E

Cheers,
Henry

Hey! Thanks!

Jen — Thu, 20 Nov 2008 20:08:00 +0000

A quick word of thanks to everyone who attended Tuesday's premiere of "I Just Want To Witness..." at Cafe 939. We appreciate you coming out on a weekday, shelling out $12 and filling the room. :)

Thanks to Tim Hare for stepping in on bass duties. Note perfect all night. We are incredibly grateful.

A appreciative thanks also to all the film makers and animators, Erin Bowser, Mike Pecci, Kristen Osiecki, Chris March and Timothy Scholl for all their contributions.

Huge THANKS! to Johnathan Carr for doing the bulk of the films, working out the concepts, losing countless hours of sleep and basically directing this behemoth!

And as always a heartfelt smile and knowing nod to our ever amazing manager, Annie Burns.

What's next? You say you missed out? Well, we will be back with another one of these shows in the next year. Not sure when, but if we have it our way, you'll get another chance. For those of you that did, we'll have new moments to keep you entertained and guessing.

We'll be doing our best to take Witness... outside of Boston as well and we'd love to see as many of you there as possible.

More to come in the following months from us. We like keeping busy. :)

Much love,

Jen

Hey! Thanks!

Jen — Thu, 20 Nov 2008 20:08:00 +0000

Let Me Give You A Visual

Jen — Sun, 23 Nov 2008 18:55:00 +0000

Here's a still taken from the recording of "I Just Want To Witness..." shot by Chris March.

You check out a couple more on flickr. We'll be putting more up there as they come along.

Jen

Currently listening:
Dig Out Your Soul
By Oasis
Release date: 2008-10-07

Let Me Give You A Visual

Jen — Sun, 23 Nov 2008 18:55:00 +0000

Here's a still taken from the recording of "I Just Want To Witness..." shot by Chris March.

You check out a couple more on flickr. We'll be putting more up there as they come along.

Jen

Currently listening:
Dig Out Your Soul
By Oasis
Release date: 2008-10-07

Hey guys, I've written this song...

Henry — Tue, 25 Nov 2008 14:14:00 +0000

Jen, myself, Annie, and Chris met up last night to go the kick-off event for Ross' organization last night— "kick-off" a loose term, since it's been around for the last two years. (What organization, you ask? Well, you know how Ross keeps disappearing to Africa every so often? It's all for this organization he started a few years ago, the Newton-Tanzania Collaborative.) It was a pretty impressive deal at the Newton library.

Ross has done a lot of work on this over the years all while submitting himself to the punishing Aloud schedule. I guess when your role in the band historically has more jokes that begin with "What do you call a drummer with no girlfriend?", it's pretty amazing to see someone as un-lazy as Ross. We're proud of you, guy.

If you're interested in helping out or are just curious to see some videos on what life in Kwala is like, head over to www.newtontanzania.org. It's a simple concept that's surprisingly effective.

Last thing, to fans of Radio America and/or Aloud: if you're into Thanksgiving surprises make it out to Ralph's Diner in Worcester tomorrow.

Cheers,
Henry

PS: This is still in the very early planning stages, but we're probably hitting the road again in February. Miami, you are on notice.

Currently listening:
Raise High
By Radio America
Release date: 2007-01-16

From Baby Strange to just plain Babies

Henry — Wed, 26 Nov 2008 19:40:00 +0000

With people who make terrible, terrible music continuing to breed without regard for their offspring bringing us closer to the End Of All Music Forever (see Stefani/Rossdale, and Wentz/Simpson), the only tool we have to legally combat this unfortunate tampering of the genepool is to make sure awesome people are brought about to cancel them out.

So, with that being said, congratulations are in order to our very good friend, audio guru, negative kudos-giver, and zombie hunter Hugh Wyman on the birth of his first kiddo last night. With Wyman's hot guitar lixxxxx and the missus being somewhat (allegedly) related to the (a?) drummer of AxCx, we think Music may have a fighting chance in the next 20-30 years. Plus, I'm confident he will teach her how to beat the living crap out of people with a giant leg of lamb (a useful skill for when the undead will inevitably rise).

However, this will not stop us from praying that anyone from the Killers refrains from reproducing. I mean, seriously... "Are we human, or are we dancer?" What is that? Are you fucking kidding me? How does saying it was taken from a Hunter S. Thompson quote (which used the plural to begin with) even justify this plain-sight murder of the English language?

Honestly, guys, put down the Meatloaf and Pet Shop Boys for a sec and pick this up.

Anyhooo.....

Everyone here at the Aloud camp hopes you have an excellent Thanksgiving tomorrow. Unless you're not in the US, in which case we hope you have a great, lazy, and festive Thursday.

Be well,
Henry

PS: If you're in the Worcester area tonight, pop by Ralph's. Ross and I will be there, enjoying the burgers, beer, and...

Currently listening:
Raise High
By Radio America
Release date: 2007-01-16

From Baby Strange to just plain Babies

Henry — Wed, 26 Nov 2008 19:40:00 +0000

Currently listening:
Raise High
By Radio America
Release date: 2007-01-16

Steve's 40th Birthday Extravaganza

Webmaster — Tue, 02 Dec 2008 15:46:00 +0000

Boston rock connoisseur Steve Gisselbrecht celebrates his 40th birthday in style. He's put together not one, but three nights of music at Great Scott, with Aloud performing on the second night (12/21) with Hallelujah The Hills, Nassy, and Ad Frank & Sarah Rabdau. Aloud takes the stage at 11pm, and will once again be joined by guest bassist Tim Hare.

This show is 18+, with a low $5 cover charge.

For years, Steve has been an ardent supporter of the local rock scene in Boston and was the first person to write a live review for some young upstarts named Aloud back in 2004.

For more information, please visit the Great Scott website: www.greatscottboston.com.

Related Links
- Great Scott: www.greatscottboston.com
- Hallelujah The Hills: www.hallelujahthehills.com
- Ad Frank: myspace.com/adfrank
- Sarah Rabdau: myspace.com/sarahrabdau
- Nassy: myspace.com/nassymusic

Aloud to take part in The Laramie Project

Webmaster — Tue, 02 Dec 2008 16:51:00 +0000

Music from Fan The Fury is featured in Bad Habit Productions' presentation of The Laramie Project at the Boston Center for the Arts. The performance will be playing at the Boston Center for the Arts Plaza Black Box Theatre from December 5-13, 2008. This cast of The Laramie Project also features the star of Aloud's music video for Can You Hear Me Now?, Crystal Lisbon.

When asked to take part, Aloud jumped at the chance and is proud to be a part of the production. The play by Moisés Kaufman and members of the Tectonic Theater Project centers around reactions in Laramie, Wyoming to the murder of Matthew Shepard. The Tectonic Theater Project conducted over 200 interviews to chronicle Laramie the year after the murder. The HBO film of The Laramie Project went on to win 4 Emmys in 2002.

For more information on the play or purchasing tickets, visit Bad Habit Productions at www.badhabitproductions.org.

Related Links
- Boston Center for the Arts: www.bcaonline.org
- Bad Habit Productions: www.badhabitproductions.org
- Can You Hear Me Now? music video: www.youtube.com/watch?v=cpB5wj4IA_k

Visit the new Aloud Store

Webmaster — Tue, 09 Dec 2008 13:09:00 +0000

The new Aloud Store opens just in time for the holidays! CDs are now being sold directly via this website, and if you order by 12/22 we'll giftwrap your purchases!

Also on sale is Aloud swag in the form of T-shirts and tank tops screened by Aloud (with more to follow in the coming weeks).

Click here to head to the Aloud Store.

Related Links
- Aloud Store: www.allthingsaloud.com/store
- How our shirts are made: www.youtube.com/watch?v=EVjPkWccXkQ

Volver

Jen — Fri, 19 Dec 2008 21:17:00 +0000

Hello boys and girls and inanimate objects,

Volver! Sunday, Aloud returns to the stage; one of our favorites in fact. We'll be in our former home of Allston at Great Scott to celebrate Steve G's bday with Hallelujah the Hills, Nassy, Ad Frank and Sarah Rabdau. Steve is a strong supporter of local music and even gave Aloud it's first live review back in 2004. This is night 2 of a 3 night special. Come celebrate and buy the birthday man a drink!

If we don't get to say it in person this Sunday, have a happy holiday this season. The New Year bodes well. :)

Cheers,
Jen

Currently listening:
The Reminder
By Feist
Release date: 2007-05-01

Volver

Jen — Fri, 19 Dec 2008 21:17:00 +0000

Currently listening:
The Reminder
By Feist
Release date: 2007-05-01

Happy Holidays! Check these out.

Jen — Fri, 26 Dec 2008 00:39:00 +0000

Happy Holidays everyone! Hope you're with those who you like and enjoy. Hope you're warm. We had a fine time at Aloud HQ with some good food and xmas cartoons last night. Same plan for today.

While you surf away today, check out some new photos we've just uploaded to our Flickr page:

I Just Want To Witness...

"Julie" Music Video shoot

Cheers,
Jen

Currently reading:
The Jungle : The Uncensored Original Edition
By Upton Sinclair
Release date: 2008-10-28

A New Epidemic

Webmaster — Sat, 27 Dec 2008 22:16:00 +0000

Click to enlarge

Aloud kicks off Influenza at Great Scott on January 29th with Thick As Thieves and The Motion Sick.

Influenza is a new music series presented by Aloud, Powderfinger Promotions, and Performer Magazine. Bands playing the event will be performing their own original material alongside cover songs of music they feel was influential to the band and their music.

January 29th @ 9:00pm
Influenza, at Great Scott
1222 Comm. Ave, Allston, MA
Age: 18+
Price: $10
Performing with: Thick As Thieves, The Motion Sick

Related Links
- Powderfinger Promotions
- Performer Magazine
- Great Scott
- The Motion Sick
- Thick As Thieves
- Playing Covers And Proud Of It (Boston Globe, 1/23/2009)

Money can't buy you back the love that you had then

Henry — Thu, 01 Jan 2009 07:34:00 +0000

They say the way you spend New Year's is a portend for the rest of the year. Bearing this in mind, I stayed in and will hopefully enjoy a snow and vomit-free 2009. Instead, I shared a pizza with Jen, housed a bottle of wine, and watched some movies. (No lie, with the wind chill it's -13ºF out there. Ain't no way I'm walking outside that door.) Anyone else catch Dick Clark making out with his wife at midnight?

Anyway, I'm glad that 2008 is over and done with. I'd be a liar if I didn't say 2008 ran me ragged till the bitter, bitter end. I shouldn't complain, though; a hell of a lot of good came our way as well.

Hope you all had (or are having) a great time tonight. Here's to 2009. Happy new year, kids.

Henry

Currently listening:
The Reminder
By Feist
Release date: 2007-05-01

Aloud - "Tour Cuisine" (video)

Webmaster — Thu, 01 Jan 2009 17:36:00 +0000

Henry demonstrates the art of making a PB&J in the car on the way to Cleveland (during the Fall 2008 leg of the Fan The Fury tour).

Related Links
- Aloud YouTube channel

For All My Fellow Musician, Writers & Other Creative Folk

Jen — Thu, 01 Jan 2009 18:04:00 +0000

Why do we do it? I think Orwell's written the final word on it...

"Putting aside the need to earn a living, I think there are four great motives for writing, at any rate for writing prose. They exist in different degrees in every writer, and in any one writer the proportions will vary from time to time, according to the atmosphere in which he is living. They are:

(i) Sheer egoism. Desire to seem clever, to be talked about, to be remembered after death, to get your own back on the grown-ups who snubbed you in childhood, etc., etc. It is humbug to pretend this is not a motive, and a strong one. Writers share this characteristic with scientists, artists, politicians, lawyers, soldiers, successful businessmen — in short, with the whole top crust of humanity. The great mass of human beings are not acutely selfish. After the age of about thirty they almost abandon the sense of being individuals at all — and live chiefly for others, or are simply smothered under drudgery. But there is also the minority of gifted, willful people who are determined to live their own lives to the end, and writers belong in this class. Serious writers, I should say, are on the whole more vain and self-centered than journalists, though less interested in money.

(ii) Aesthetic enthusiasm. Perception of beauty in the external world, or, on the other hand, in words and their right arrangement. Pleasure in the impact of one sound on another, in the firmness of good prose or the rhythm of a good story. Desire to share an experience which one feels is valuable and ought not to be missed. The aesthetic motive is very feeble in a lot of writers, but even a pamphleteer or writer of textbooks will have pet words and phrases which appeal to him for non-utilitarian reasons; or he may feel strongly about typography, width of margins, etc. Above the level of a railway guide, no book is quite free from aesthetic considerations.

(iii) Historical impulse. Desire to see things as they are, to find out true facts and store them up for the use of posterity.

(iv) Political purpose. — Using the word 'political' in the widest possible sense. Desire to push the world in a certain direction, to alter other peoples' idea of the kind of society that they should strive after. Once again, no book is genuinely free from political bias. The opinion that art should have nothing to do with politics is itself a political attitude."

Happy new year!

Jen

Currently reading:
Why I Write (Penguin Great Ideas)
By George Orwell

For All My Fellow Musician, Writers & Other Creative Folk

Jen — Thu, 01 Jan 2009 18:04:00 +0000

(iii) Historical impulse. Desire to see things as they are, to find out true facts and store them up for the use of posterity.

Happy new year!

Jen

Currently reading:
Why I Write (Penguin Great Ideas)
By George Orwell

Ow, my face is on fire!

Henry — Sun, 04 Jan 2009 08:28:00 +0000

Haven't been able to get to sleep, either because I'm hungry or this nagging feeling that clowns may, in fact, eat me. My eyes are burning. Burning! Been staring at a computer most of the day.

When I wasn't destroying what's left of my retinas, Jen and I were working on a new tune yesterday afternoon. We've got about 6 more song ideas kicking around. Not totally sure what to do with them, but we'll figure that all out down the road. We're keeping it fun. There's been so much going on that it's tough not to get stressed out.

I got a message from Jen S. today that Plus1TV.com redesigned their site for the new year. I like what they're doing over there. Sort of reminds me of MTV. You know, when it was actually good.

More later. Right now, time for a sandwich.

Or sleep.

Henry

Currently watching:
King of the Hill - The Complete Fourth Season

Where's Randy Quaid when you need him?

Henry — Tue, 06 Jan 2009 02:06:00 +0000

Anyone else reading the news about this Hamas/Israel business? Bunch of fucking idiots. Both sides, just idiots with guns and rocket launchers. No one's really doing anything about anything, just a lot of shooting and a lot of sanctimonious posturing. It's like the UN with guns.

So the question is: what's it going to take to get these two sides to kiss and make up? I swear to god, they're worse than a 3rd grader pulling the hair of the girl sitting in front of him because he likes her. You know it's true. Olmert and Mashaal should get it over and done with and tongue kiss in public. Do we need a three-day war against alien invasion to make this happen?

It's like dad always said: "Nothing brings humanity together like eradicating a malevolent alien race bent on killing Bill Pullman."

Henry

Currently listening to:
Strawberry Fields Forever/Penny Lane

It wasn't really the pronunciation that bothered me.

Henry — Wed, 07 Jan 2009 19:51:00 +0000

Finished up season 3 of Arrested Development last night. That show was so absolutely brilliant, and I thought they ended it well, too. I'd talk about it, but I'd rather not spoil it for anyone who's never seen it before. If you've never seen it before, you should probably get on that. I'd call it the most successful execution in the States of something in the vein of The Office (the original UK version, not the one on NBC). Let's hope the movie doesn't suck.

Our first rehearsal for Influenza is tonight. No spoilers here, but I'm excited about the covers we chose. With one exception, we've never played any of them before. I hope we can pull them off, but I guess we'll find out tonight, eh?

The weather is atrocious. "Wintery mix", they call it. Been inside all day, trying not to go mad by talking to my imaginary friend Col. Schvatz.

Henry

Currently watching:
Arrested Development - Season Three

Sitting On A Cornflake...

Jen — Sun, 11 Jan 2009 03:45:00 +0000

It's snowing outside my window as I write. A storm every three days it feels like. No bother. We had a great afternoon at rehearsal. We've been learning these six covers will be playing for the Influenza show. For those of you who don't know, Influenza is a new monthly night happening in Boston. Three bands play half original, half covers of songs they deem most influential. Ever wondered who made Jen and Henry pick up a guitar? You'll find out on the 29th.

Like I said, it was a great rehearsal. It's been so much fun learning these songs I love so much. It's something Henry and I used to do back in high school all the time (besides writing songs), so I suppose it's a bit nostalgic as well. Mainly though it's just a lot of fun.

Cheers,

Jen

Currently listening to:
Magical Mystery Tour
by The Beatles

We got the wheels, petrol is cheap

Henry — Mon, 12 Jan 2009 16:21:00 +0000

I found out a few days ago a gig in Miami is looking like a very real possibility next month. Jen and I haven't played there since 2000 (or 2001, if you count our friend Nick's backyard), so there's a mix of excitement and dread. Miami can be an unkind mistress when it comes to our music (ah, memories). It'll be good to catch up with some old friends.

However, if it all does go horribly awry, at least I know my grandma will insist on making kickass food. I'm convinced the woman is a wizard. How else would she have survived three heart attacks, a bypass operation, a car accident, no less than three falls, and working at the Post Office for some 30 years? The fucking dark arts, that's how.

The toggle switch on my Les Paul is screwy, which I'm not too happy about. I should love guitar maintenance, but really I don't (or perhaps it's something I love hating?). I'll tell you what I actually hate, though: the prospect of dropping another $80 to fix the damn thing.

Bah.. more coffee.

Henry

Currently listening to:
Pop
by U2

Download the "Julie" ringtone

Webmaster — Mon, 12 Jan 2009 17:18:00 +0000

The ringtone for "Julie", from Fan The Fury, is now available.

You can purchase it for $0.49 from Myxer by visiting the Aloud Store, or by texting ALOUDTONES 4 to 69937 (MYXER) from your phone (standard carrier charges may apply).

Related Links
- Aloud Store
- Aloud ringtones at Myxer.com
- Download "Julie" on iTunes

Where does he get those wonderful toys?

Henry — Wed, 14 Jan 2009 18:34:00 +0000

I had to head down to the RMV this morning (aka the DMV everywhere else in the country). Today's experience was vastly improved from yesterday's. About the only major complaint for today is the discrepancy with their projected wait time (8 minutes) versus "actual" wait time (25 min.), but what can ya do. The teller woman was actually very nice today, and joked that next time I should smile for my picture. I'll consider it.

Apparently this has been floating around for months, but I just found this today. Someone decided to create a title screen and cut scenes for what an NES (but really, SNES) version of The Dark Knight would look like. I can only imagine how horrible the gameplay could've been (as horrible as the PlayStation 2 version of Batman Begins?.. probably not).

Take a look, it'll take you back.

Henry

Currently watching:
The Dark Knight

Music video for "Julie" available today

Webmaster — Wed, 14 Jan 2009 20:49:00 +0000

The music video for "Julie" is now available for viewing.

"Julie" was directed by Chris March. Prior to filming this video, Chris provided technical assistance on Aloud's multimedia show I Just Want To Witness..., as well as co-directed the film backdrop for Nero with Johnathan Carr.

If you want more, head on over to Aloud's YouTube Channel (www.youtube.com/aloudvideos) to watch recently added live video from the Fan The Fury tour and I Just Want To Witness....

To celebrate the release of the video, a "Julie" ringtone is now available for download. You may visit the Aloud Store to purchase it for $0.49, or simply text "ALOUDTONES 4" to 69937.

Dig Out Your Soul in the Streets

Henry — Fri, 16 Jan 2009 16:57:00 +0000

Had breakfast with Jen: coffee, bacon, and buttered toast (is there anything better than bacon?... NO).

Lord Don't Slow Me Down is on the tube, not really watching it so much as having it play in the background. I just saw this short documentary Oasis posted on their MySpace. It was pretty interesting. Before the release of Dig Out Your Soul, they gave out sheet music to NYC street/subway musicians and they would premiere the new tunes by having these folks play their interpretations out in public. Check it out below.

Before I go, I want to give our good friend Liz Acle a big HAPPY BIRTHDAY. Liz was the girl on the cover of Leave Your Light On (and briefly reprised her role as That Chick Banging On The Door in the Can You Hear Me Now? video). Liz is actually a producer and in between her globe-trotting, she runs a human rights non-profit called One Global Pulse. Czech that out, willya?

Alright, back to the coffee. Nom nom nom.

Henry

Currently watching:
Lord Don't Slow Me Down

Thank god that's over...

Henry — Tue, 20 Jan 2009 16:20:00 +0000

I hope we've learned our lesson.

Let's hope the next eight years are a little better, eh?

Henry

Currently watching:
The Presidential Inauguration

Heading for the 90s, living in the 80s

Henry — Wed, 21 Jan 2009 18:24:00 +0000

Let's talk about music, kids.

I've been listening to this band Ex Norwegian a hell of a lot. Miami isn't exactly known for its burgeoning indie rock scene, but I'm very impressed by them (though I suppose technically they're from Miami Beach). We may be playing with them in Miami next month, and they're heading out on their own tour in March. Check them out at www.exnorwegian.com, and pre-order their album Standby. A+

After careful consideration, I have to vote in the "No" column for the new U2 single Get On Your Boots. I was listening to WBCN last night, and the DJ said the new U2 song has caused a spike in requests for old U2 (make of that what you will). If you haven't heard it yet, you can take a listen here: goyb.u2.com. It's certainly different enough from the last few records they've put out, which I can appreciate, but it sounds more like a bad U2 b-side than an album track, let alone a single. Lyrics are pretty lazy, too. Let's hope for their sake this was just an oversight and the rest of the album won't suck come March. C-

But if you think that's bad...

I've made no secret that despite it being the decade of my birth, I hate the 80s. I know it's a hell of a blanket statement to make, because it's not 100% true, but the whole romanticized version of the 80s people cling to drives me nuts. Synths generally make me gag. VH1 I Love The 80s (etc) makes fire shoot from my eye sockets. Thank goodness bands like The Clash and U2 (before they started ripping off The Escape Club) were around then. Bands that want to bring the 80s back sadden and confuse me.

I bring this up because Keane, whose first record I enjoyed and second record I ignored, but assume it's good, has gone so far into the Land of the Flock of Seagulls that it'd make the Killers blush. It's not even just the music. Even their logo is... ugh... What's next, pastels and blazers with enormous shoulder pads?

I mean, seriously, look at this: http://www.myspace.com/keane

Does it not look like 1984 just vomit all over their MySpace page? Take a listen to Spiraling, if you dare. F-

Ah well... Here's "Something Unreal" by Ex Norwegian.

Henry

You Are All Weirdos

Henry — Sat, 24 Jan 2009 04:16:00 +0000

Another long day yesterday, though admittedly not as long as Wednesday. Between rehearsing for the Influenza show and the tour (not to mention other band-related poppycock one has to deal with), I've been running on fumes of late. Looking to update the old Aloud-mobile in the next couple of weeks to something a little more spacious. We've had the old gal for nearly 5 years, and after 100,000 miles and countless leg cramps it's time to put her out to pasture. We took a trip to Providence with Annie to take a look at a van, but as nice as it was, it was not to be. Goddamn thing looked like a space ship.

I'm falling asleep at the keyboard here.. so.. I will leave you with another YouTube treasure.

Henry

Currently watching:
Family Guy, Volume 3

Don't give him the stick

Henry — Thu, 29 Jan 2009 18:42:00 +0000

There's been a lot of press coverage for Influenza tonight, which is awesome, but now I'm even more nervous about forgetting the words to songs. Hopefully by the time we play, everyone will be properly soused and singing along anyway. SCORE.

I cannot describe how horrendous last night's weather was. It was mostly rain, but the rain melted a good portion of the snow and ice that had built up over the last several weeks (meaning traversing through ankle-high ice cold water for yours truly), or trying to make it through slippery half-melted ice without falling on my ass (which means I'm linking to this for the umpteenth time in the history of the Aloud blog).

Needless to say, I'm very happy we're heading southbound on next month's tour.

Henry

Currently watching:
The Simpsons - The Complete Ninth Season

Here in my mold

Henry — Sat, 31 Jan 2009 14:09:00 +0000

Didn't screw up too badly Thursday night (I may or may not have forgotten a line or two in Clampdown, but other than that it went pretty well). Surprisingly, there were no cover overlaps.

For those who were wondering, the covers we chose were:

Strawberry Fields Forever (The Beatles)
New Year's Day (U2)
Morning Glory (Oasis)
Bittersweet Symphony (The Verve)
Intervention (Arcade Fire)
Clampdown (The Clash)

We had a fun time doing Intervention and Bittersweet Symphony. Nico from Televandals and Wendy (who did strings on all our records and is currently in Common Thrill) joined us onstage and did a fantastic job. Motion Sick and Thick As Thieves were amazing, too. Motion Sick covered Tom Petty's "Listen To Her Heart" (a staple of Aloud's late-night driving marathons), and Thick As Thieves did Oasis' "Go Let It Out" (yet another late-night driving staple). I like those guys. I'd really like to play more shows with them in the future.

Off to Great Barrington, Massachusetts today. Let's see what adventure Bard College at Simon's Rock has in store for Aloud...

Henry

The reason is treason

Henry — Fri, 06 Feb 2009 19:35:00 +0000

Today's more or less the last free day we have before we take off on Tuesday. Watching Lord Don't Slow Me Down again (it always gets me pumped before we go on the road). Just taking care of a few odds n' ends today, like restringing guitars, doing laundry and such, last minute listings. Also figured out how to update Facebook through my phone, which I imagine will get pretty handy. Ah, the internets.

(Ick... I forgot Jet shows up in this movie for a few seconds.)

But yea, I'm excited. We did a show out in Great Barrington, MA last Saturday, which we used as a live rehearsal, so to speak, and it was probably the tighest we've sounded in months. For reading material, I'm going to try and dig into There's a Riot Going On by Peter Dogget. I doubt I'll even be able to finish it in two weeks, the thing's a beast, but stranger things have happened.

Been watching a crapton of movies as of late. There was this program Jen and I caught by chance on PBS last night called The Human Face that was incredibly interesting (and made all the more awesome by John Cleese, who hosted it).

Alright, back to work. Hope you're all well.

Henry

Currently watching:
Lord Down Slow Me Down

The Phoenix's Best of '09

Webmaster — Fri, 06 Feb 2009 22:38:00 +0000

Vote for Aloud in the Phoenix's Best of '09 poll.

To vote, simply head to www.thephoenix.com/thebest/Boston/vote, click on Arts + Entertainment, and under Rock Band type in Aloud.

The voting will continue through the end of February, so vote today and tell all your friends!

Mr. Simpson's opinions do not reflect those of the producers, who don't consider the Grammy an award at all.

Henry — Mon, 09 Feb 2009 04:34:00 +0000

A little over one more day before we hit the road again. Incredibly anxious right now (the espresso I had about an hour ago did not help). Tires are kicked, checklists (the nice way of saying "paper that says DON'T FORGET PHONE CHARGER, BUCKO") are being checked, guitars restrung, Grammy Awards ignored.... Even figured out how to reach yonder internets with text messages. Yup. Good to go. The last major trek in September was, admittedly, a bit rough on the soul, but I've got a good feeling about this one. I want to live again, Clarence!

We had our penultimate tour rehearsal tonight, working on our Stones covers for the NYC show, whose theme is Brian Jones' Birthday. Tight like a tiger.

Actually, I'm lying about the Grammys. I did tune in just in time to catch McCartney jamming on I Saw Her Standing There with Dave Grohl. It was fun to see Dave back there with an ear-to-ear grin, singing along to every word, probably pissing himself. And this man was in Nirvana (a presumably more frightening situation). Even if you hate Paul, Dave Grohl, or both, you have to admit this is better on the senses than John Mayer winning a Grammy.

I'm not even arguing that the dude can play a guitar like a mofo or that his 2girls1cup parody wasn't funny as hell. But will no one stand up and say "That's enough, John Mayer"?

I'd probably be pissed about this if the Grammy was a real award.

Henry

100K and Counting: You and me are done, professionally!

Henry — Tue, 10 Feb 2009 16:00:00 +0000

No shows today, but considering the first one is in DC had to get a head start. Staying over at Ryan's house today which is awesome. All in all, the ride here was enjoyable. Rigged up a laptop in the car to watch a ton of DVDs on the way.

My friend Martin loaned me his copy of Watchmen, which I've been reading like a bastard. It's so goddamn good, and it's shameful that I'm 26 years old and have only just read it. Kudos to Alan Moore for being so weird and awesome. Let's hope the movie doesn't disappoint.

Already had to cancel one show, the one in Columbia, SC. Not too happy about it, and it's not exactly how I pictured spending the first day out on the road. I hate cancellations in general (updating and emailing people/sites is not fun), but this was extra annoying because it was completely the club's fault. Not going to get into it, cos it's a moot point (but I could probably put Christian Bale to shame right now).

All things considered, things are going very well. Playing DC tomorrow, first time we've done so.

Going to play some pool and hit the hay.

Be well.

Henry

Columbia, SC show at 5 Points Pub canceled

Webmaster — Wed, 11 Feb 2009 04:09:00 +0000

Due to an error on the part of the venue, the show at 5 Points Pub on February 15th has been canceled.

We wish to apologize for any inconvenience to fans who were planning on attending the show. While rare, show cancellations unfortunately happen from time to time.

A make-up date is uncertain, but we would like to invite everyone to attend the nearby show at Mount Pleasant, SC on February 14. For more details, visit the Performances page.

Once again, apologies!!!

100K and Counting: What's the opposite of Progress?

Henry — Thu, 12 Feb 2009 16:30:00 +0000

Hell of a start to the tour last night. It was great driving through DC and seeing things like the Pentagon and the Capitol building and all that jazz. The drive to DC from New Jersey wasn't too bad.

Jon's starting a quote log. So far, it's all been Jen spitting out gold:

"I'm going to turn on the TV and hope to god there's cartoons on."
"Zipper in, motherfuckers!" (ah, dealing with merging into traffic)
"Dave Matthews band is absolutely putrid."

And so on. I'll keep you all posted. It's keeping us all entertained.

Checked into a hotel in Cheverly, MD. They were doing renovations, so it was a little... unclean? Weird? All I know is the dollar reader on the vending machines was upside-down. But at least the room was big and had a microwave what for reheating food.

Velvet Lounge reminded me a little of the Delancey out in NYC, it's a cool little club and I'd like to head back there sooner rather than later. DC's a cool town, though... I think the last time I was here may have been something like 7 years ago? I dunno. This being our debut in DC, I wasn't expecting much but we actually had a fairly sizable crowd there. Between friends of ours who moved there and bringing their friends n' such, we had a sizable crowd there. 'Twas electric, and I sweat my ass off. Literally (what?).

Alright, I'm off for now. Dealing with traffic on I-95 at the moment (is there anywhere in the country where 95 doesn't suck??). Have the day off today, and playing in Raleigh tomorrow night.

Henry

Currently listening to:
Some Cities
by Doves

100K and Counting: Again with the Klingons

Henry — Fri, 13 Feb 2009 18:20:00 +0000

Waking up yesterday was a pain in the ass. I hate 11am checkout times (which, incidentally, is the standard). I'm glad I did, though, as the continental breakfast was closing soon. They had a waffle-making machine so I suppose it wasn't all bad.

Hit traffic on the way to Raleigh which set us back an hour (the trip was already about 5 hours without it). We stopped along the way to give ol' Bessie a car wash. I hadn't been to an automatic car wash in years. It's still fun. We also gave the van a much needed vacuuming. There was so much crap in that car.

Beca and Hugh (respectively) sent me two awesome-yet-terrible websites that kept us occupied, though: www.thisiswhyyourefat.com and www.fmylife.com. They will rock your world the way only a bacon donut could (or getting caught in the nude with an unconscious post-coital girlfriend by said girlfriend's parents in their garage).

Rolled in to Raleigh at around 5:30. Jen's parents made us a ton of food, and afterwards we all played an endless game of Uno. At the end of the day, Ryan took the cake, but we were happy because this meant that Jen's sister did not win this time. We stayed up to have a few drinks and playing dominoes (I won 2/3 games... yea, suckah!) before finally crashing.

Oh, and Jen's dogs are still awesome. Jake's sitting on top of my feet right now.

Gig tonight, will report later.

Henry

Yesterday's quote-
Jon (in a deep, lispy voice): "I love your apartment, it's like Cuba meets modern-day renaissance."

Currently listening to:
White Blood Cells
by The White Stripes

100K and Counting: Country Fried Steak

Henry — Sat, 14 Feb 2009 18:24:00 +0000

Woke up a little too early yesterday. Back was in pain, the mattress I was sleeping on wasn't too hot. Spent the day with everyone lounging about, eventually catching Tenacious D and the Pick of Destiny (awesome).

Slim's reminded me of a slightly larger version of O'Brien's. We were originally supposed to play with Strange Faces, but their singer was having some health issues and couldn't make it (I'm told he was saving children from a burning building which collapsed on him, but he should be back at 100% in two days). Instead, we were treated to another permutation of the band known as Five Alpha Beatdown, who have awesome song names like "Ninja of the Nasty".

The show went really well for us. Feels like we've tapped into some old energy again, very fresh and sweaty. Afterward, we cavorted with the folks at the bar. Met some dudes named John and Whit, who were in bands here in Raleigh and love Averi. Also happens the dudes from Strange Faces actually hail from Albany, and knew quite a bit about The Pills (Corin Ashley's band).

After a few shots of tequila and Yuenglings, everyone was hungry and we were trying to figure the food situation out. A girl (who was noticeably drunk) overheard our conversation and recommended against Denny's ("that's highway shit"). Instead, she said we should hit up the IHOP on Morgan St. and Hillssngjkrwdwd. We eventually deciphered (or guessed) the address, found the IHOP, and immediately headed for the Denny's anyway. I'll take highway shit over sketchball shit any day.

Denny's was packed to the gills at 3:00am, and there were so many people wearing cowboy hats. So much craziness going on around us, too.. people getting back from the clubs and people just looking for some breakfast at 3am. Jon ordered a Country Fried Steak and couldn't remember he had ordered it when he arrived. Ryan knocked "shave and a haircut" into the smoking/non-smoking divider and got a "two bits" reply.

By the time we got back to Jen's folk's house, we were defeated by utter tiredness and the impending food coma.

Next at bat: Mt. Pleasant, SC

Henry

Yesterday's Choice Quotes:
"I need something dead and fried in front of me." Jen
Waitress: "How do you want your eggs?" Jon: "Medium."
"Are you really not going to eat those fries?" Henry

100K and Counting: The Strangest Place on Earth

Henry — Sun, 15 Feb 2009 20:52:00 +0000

Late start to the morning yesterday. Partied a little too hard, and now we we're paying for it. A little rushed, cos we wanted to make it to Charleston with enough time to relax. The trip itself was only supposed to be 4½ hours, by we made a few (much needed) stops. Drinking gallons of water does that.

Along the way we stopped at South of the Border. It is truly the strangest place on Earth; nothing about it makes any sense. We dicked around for half an hour taking photos. Jon was that close to buying a giant novelty Mexican hat, but sadly did not. The place is total WTF.

One gas station we stopped at was like entering some sort of black hole. Upon entering, I was immediately approached by some guy who looked methed out, asking me if we were headed to Charleston. I said no, but he pressed on... something about being stuck there. I ignored him and went on my way. I felt a little bad— I wouldn't want to get stuck there myself— but I didn't feel like getting stabbed, either. Not more than two minutes later, someone else (equally sketchy looking) asked me if I was headed north. Again, feeling zero inclination to have my midsection penetrated by a dull instrument of some sort, said no. This was also not a conversation I'd like to have in a public bathroom.

Another place we stopped at: walked in on a guy taking a shit. I didn't need to see that. Why don't people lock the door? Regardless, knocking will be standard operating procedure from here on out.

The hotel we arrived at was much nicer than we'd anticipated— the type of place with an indoor pool. Didn't have time to do much, since we were running behind.

Venue is in a strip mall, which instantly reminded me of some of the places in Miami that Jen and I used to try and play at. Village Tavern was an alright place. Great sound and they treated us well. Stage backdrop was a giant painting of the Kool-Aid man busting through the wall. Anyway, they took care of our meal and a few drinks. We didn't play for many people, which sucks. But the ones that were there bought us drinks (Ryan's aunt Ruth was in town and also bought us drinks). This is where all the trouble started. Two days of drinking in a row— not good. Seemed like a good idea at the time.

Next: Driving day and Orlando.

Henry

(Click thumbnails to enlarge pictures)

100K and Counting: The Happiest Place on Earth I

Henry — Mon, 16 Feb 2009 15:25:00 +0000

To say that waking up was a pain in the ass in Charleston is redundant. We made the mistake of getting wrecked two days in a row. It was not going to happen again. Checked out of the hotel at 11am on the nose and started on the long drive to Orlando. We weren't playing or anything, but the next show's in Miami and there was no way in hell we were driving 11 hours.

We crashed with my aunt Maria, who has a place there. A really nice place, I might add, with a jacuzzi. I got to see some of my cousins that I hadn't gotten to see in a while, so that was nice (though, there was intense foreboding of the familial assault that awaited in Miami). 'Twas a nice change from hotels, and no one had to sleep on the floor. We stayed up pretty late hanging out with Maria... mostly reading the Fail Blog.

Hmm.. yea, not much to report for this day. We basically spent the entire day in the car without catching someone with their pants down in a public toilet.

Henry

100K and Counting: The Happiest Place on Earth II

Henry — Tue, 17 Feb 2009 18:27:00 +0000

Staying at my aunt Maria's afforded us the opportunity to sleep in (given the two straight nights of copious partying, we sorely needed it). I stayed in bed for a little bit, watching an episode of Frasier and imagining Sideshow Bob was actually speaking instead of Frasier Crane. Everyone mozied on downstairs for breakfast at their own pace. The jacuzzi happened, and severely delayed our departure. We stayed so long that we wound up having lunch there, too. I don't think anyone wanted to leave. The weather was absolutely gorgeous. God, I freaking hate snow.

Eventually, we did leave and made our way to the southernmost point on our tour. The thrill of being on tour for me is seeing new places and traveling down new roads. This was the complete opposite. The Florida Turnpike from Orlando to Miami is one I've done hundreds of times, usually on the summer pilgrimage to Disney World as a kid. It's a weird feeling, not sure I quite understand it. I also never realized how goddamned expensive the tolls are on the Turnpike. They put the Mass Pike to shame, and I never thought I'd say that in my life. We probably spent $25 by the time we got to Miami on tolls alone. Looks like it's I-95 on the way back up.

Made it all the way down to Port St. Lucie. Jon needed to buy something from Best Buy real quick-like, Jen used the opportunity to buy that Glassvegas CD, and Ryan and I used to opportunity to stretch our legs. Gassed up somewhere nearby and learned the hilarious fact that the name of Florida's Commissioner of Agriculture is Charles Bronson.

We arrived pretty close to 10pm, everyone was still up. After unloading our gear, we went down the street to my grandparents' house, which is when it seems like my entire family descended upon us. My grandma (the previously mentioned Wizard of the Kitchen) had food ready, which was scarfed down until stomachs were ready to burst. We went out later to the Alehouse in Doral, but didn't stay out too long. We were tired as hell. Headed back to grandma's, crashed.

Next: visiting the Grove, Coral Gables, and the Miami show.

Henry

100K and Counting: Welcome to Miami

Henry — Wed, 18 Feb 2009 23:36:00 +0000

The familiarity of everything is the weird part. Waking up at my grandparents' house, having breakfast there, hanging out. The only difference is that, technically speaking, I'm working. It's very strange. Very, very strange. I was up before anyone (I usually am for some reason.. don't know why) and caught up on emails n' such. My uncle Oscar came by and I hung out at his house for a few. The air conditioner repair guy was there. Turns out a lizard was chilling in the outside unit and shorted the whole thing out. Going to cost him a mint to repair it. Fucking lizards.

Around 1:30, we reached escape velocity and left the house. Went down to Coral Gables, where Jen grew up; drove down Miracle Mile and cursed at the awful, awful drivers that this part of the country has to offer. Afterwards, we headed to Coconut Grove to see the water (beautiful). Jen had been jonesing for a Johnny Rocket's burger and shake for days, and her wish was granted. Still weird, I felt like I was in high school again. Neither good, nor bad. The burger, however, was good. We ate on the outside patio. This information is relevant, because Ryan didn't finish his burger, and as we were leaving a homeless guy, very slick-like, passed by and yoinked his leftovers after saying "Man, I got the munchies." We thought this was well-played, so we didn't say anything. We made a stopover to see Jen's grandparents and her bro, OJ. Their dog, Lucky, befits his name. He's ancient and is still kicking.

After that we had to rush to get to the club. Before we moved to Boston 8 years ago, Jen and I hung out here quite a bit,. We saw some amazing poetry readings there. Talked to Flash, the proprietor, for a bit and were surprised to find out that he actually remembered the old group Jen and I were in, Rain, back in the day. I was also surprised to learn that he's originally from Massachusetts and moved down to Miami because of the weather. Talk about ships crossing in the night.

The Miami scene, at least as far as indie rock, is still kind of dead, and I have to give it to Flash and the crew at the Wallflower for staying in business and still doing their thing for as long as they have. It ain't easy. People starting coming in at around 7:30, which included friends I hadn't seen in ages and my family who, excepting my immediate family, have not seen us play before.

The show went very well and, as expected, the place was packed. It was a little weird for me at first because if I looked at the first few rows it was like playing in my living room. Got over it quickly, at any rate. We even got to do a couple of encores. The setup was interesting, but worked really well. Flash had us point the amps at ourselves, like monitors, mic'ed them up and had everything going through the PA. It was nice to be able to hear the guitars onstage so loudly.

Ex Norwegian went on after us, and they were absolutely brilliant. They've got some great tunes and they sound awesome. They're coming up to Boston next month on their own tour (I believe they're playing O'Brien's), and we may be joining them on a bill in Worcester around that time.

My cousin Max bought some enormous pizzas and we all headed back to my parents' house to watch Conan's last night on Late Night and have a few beers. This only went on for a couple of hours, and by 2am we pretty much passed the hell out from exhaustion. Miami was effing exhausting. Still can't explain it. Without question, Aloud is a Boston band, but then this was also some sort of long-awaited "hometown show" only not really.

Bah, enough trying to figure this out. I don't know how soon we'll be back, but I'm just glad Miami was finally able to see us in action.

Next at bat: Leaving Miami, and Gainesville.

Henry

100K and Counting: Escape Velocity

Henry — Thu, 19 Feb 2009 17:19:00 +0000

My habit of waking up ridiculously early continued. Grandma made breakfast again, and my sister popped by with her Wii so I could school her. After spending a good half hour saying goodbye to everyone, we blasted out of there and began the upward portion of our journey.

The entire time growing up in Florida, I never realized how expensive the Turnpike is. No lie, it's enough to put the Mass Pike to shame.

Gainesville was one of my favorite stops on the first leg of the tour last year, and this time was no different. I would have to say that, excepting their slightly odd load-in procedure, 1982 is one of my favorite places to play. The people there are exceptionally nice and they've got all sorts of Nintendo systems at the bar. Me and some dude named Eli did a round of Mario Kart 64. I lost the race, but only because I was forced to choose Toad. Fucking Toad. Who the hell picks toad? Anyway, this particular show was fun. Very, very, very energetic and the crowd was dancing. Jen and Ryan even jumped in during Nero.

Also got to see all the friends we made the last time around, including my cousin Elena. After 1982 closed for the evening, we all went around the corner to some bar... the name escapes me... but they had a really great selection of beers. I remember getting a porter ale and talking to one of Elena's friends (Leilani?) about dogs. We were all pretty wrecked at that point, so who knows. Well, everyone except for Ryan. He's been under the weather lately, throat's been hurting like a bastard, so we parted ways and made plans with Elena to meet up for breakfast.

On the way back, we made a stop at a CVS to buy a bag of Cool Ranch Doritos, a bottle of wine, and a bag of mini Snickers. Seemed like a good idea at the time. The dude at the counter said something to the effect of wanting to be in our shoes. We piled back into the hotel, watched a few episodes of the Simpsons, and wolfed down some of the Cuban sandwiches my grandma gave us before we left. Jon pretty much housed a good third of the bottle by himself.

I fell asleep at some point and was cognizant enough to change into bedclothes. This part's a little hazy.

This was a good night. G'ville's an alright town.

Next: paying for all this fun.

Henry

100K and Counting: Blood on the Tracks

Henry — Sat, 21 Feb 2009 04:46:00 +0000

Day 1,242 of not wanting to wake up. Jen woke up, nervously asking what we did with the gig money, searching frantically before remembering we had deposited it the night before. Had to get up anyway, check out time was at 11am anyway.

Ryan hasn't been feeling too hot, so we made a trip to an urgent care center in Gainesville (ha... second time out of three tours we've had to go see a doctor). We dropped Ryan off to get checked out while the rest of us went to get breakfast with Elena. (Lest it seem like we were abandoning Ryan, rest assured he said we should get brekkie without him). Had a bite at the 43rd Street Diner with Elena and her friend (I can't remember his name right now... this makes me a douche). Jon's search for eggs benedict was foiled, since they only serve this on the weekends. Jen and I opted for lunch, because French fries are hard to resist. Also, it was 2pm.

We parted company with Elena and went to go grab Ryan, whom we were certain was dead (he was not). While Ryan was getting his Rx filled, I spent some time catching up on emails and exactly 8,245,687 Facebook application requests that have been piling up.

On the way to Tallahassee, we listened to NPR. Tally's NPR was entertaining, but not so great. There was one story about two 8th grade girls from Maine who fell asleep on some train tracks while skipping school. They were hit by a freight train, lost a leg and a foot (respectively). Not to make light of their situation, but who the fuck thinks sleeping on train tracks is a good idea? This question was completely avoided, which both amused me and frustrated me.

Checked into a Days Inn. Guy at the counter was incredibly nice and we joked around with him for a bit. He thought we were European for some reason. We had a chance to relax in the hotel for a bit before casting off to Big Daddy's.

Big Daddy's was a strange place. The entrance was actually in the rear (we didn't know this). The signage also goes over the door of the other bar next door, further adding to the confusion. We found Yo Soybean there, who we were opening for. Talked to Nick, form the band, for a bit and he explained to me their drummer broke his hand; so they were performing acoustic as a two-piece for the time being. It was an ironic contrast to the non-existent opening band who had a similar situation and pulled out last minute. I guess I shouldn't cast judgments about it, but it's hard to be over 2,000 miles into the trip and not be a little annoyed by things like that.

ANYWAY...

We pushed the start time to 8:30, from 8pm. Compared to other nights on the tour, this was probably the second-worst night in terms of crowd attendance (the other being South Carolina). Couldn't be helped, I guess. The whole thing was a little rushed, too, since Booty Night began at 10pm. I'm not kidding, either. By the time we finished loading out, there was a line of scantily clad girls complaining about how cold it was at 10pm. In a weird way, it's sort of like the 8th graders who were hit by that freight train: didn't you see it coming?

Yo Soybean was great, though. Awesome harmonies and a mandolin was even brought out. In the parking lot we talked to Nick again for a little while, and hopefully our paths will cross again. They were pretty great.

Ended our party streak tonight. Picked up some food on the way back to the hotel and watched TV (I was busy catching up on some work). Jon finally finished up that bottle of wine he was working on the other day. I mistakenly believed Tuesday night was Conan's last show, but clearly I was wrong, since we were watching his penultimate show. Last one's on Friday. Not really looking forward to Jimmy Fallon taking over Late Night.

Clocked out at 1am.

Driving day tomorrow.

Henry

100K and Counting: You crazy, Jesus... you CRAY-ZAY!

Henry — Sat, 21 Feb 2009 18:42:00 +0000

Benefited greatly from getting to bed early. We didn't have a show booked, and the next one was about an hour east of Raleigh (aka 10 hours from Tallahassee). I spent the better part of two hours trying to find a cheap hotel somewhere between Tally and Raleigh, finally settling on someplace in Manning, SC.

After about five hours in the car, we decided to cancel the reservation and make it all the way to Raleigh. Because... we are four clearly insane people.

Since we were in the car for 10-11 hours, nothing eventful really occurred (aside from driving past South of the Border again, this time at night).

So I'll just post this South Park clip.

Henry

100K and Counting: You love the Plane*arium

Henry — Sun, 22 Feb 2009 16:37:00 +0000

Jen went with her sister to go get a haircut while Jon, Ryan and myself took a field trip to Circuit City, to take advantage of their huge mega Z0MG WE'RE GOING THE FUCK OUT OF BUSINESS sale. There wasn't much to look at. Most of the shelves were empty, ones that weren't were either huge TVs that were still too expensive and boxes of random cables that just said "$25 each". Still, Jon managed to walk away with that memory card he was looking for, and Ryan walked away with Season Two of South Park for cheap.

Trip to Greenville, NC was about an hour and a half away from Raleigh, so not too bad. I slept most of the trip there. Once we got to the address the GPS gave us, we were a little confused because it led us to a house. We checked and double checked, and it turned out that we were playing a house party. Nothing wrong with this, mind you, but we were absolutely not prepared for this eventuality. After some digging around, it turns out that the people running these shows used to have a venue and are doing fundraisers at these house shows to be able to afford a new space. While folks were busy setting the place up, the four of us hung out in the (warm) car, watching some South Park.

After some confusion/haggling over the set times, we finally performed. It was incredibly fun and weird (good weird) and sweaty and rocking; the kind of performance you'd expect playing in a 12x12 room to a bunch of kids crowded in a house. The kids there were super nice, and I even shotgunned a beer with them (Busch Lite, though... gross).

When we got back, Ryan went straight for the bed. Jen, Jon and I stayed up a little longer watching some Simpsons before passing out from exhaustion.

Henry

100K and Counting: Thanks for the free parking

Henry — Mon, 23 Feb 2009 21:30:00 +0000

Day off yesterday. Spent it sleeping in late and lounging about the house. Didn't do shit all day. Jon felt he might be catching a cold (which I believe I am now catching), so he drank some Thera-Flu that promptly knocked him out for most of the day. Jen spent time with her mom and sister.

After dinner, Ryan, myself, and Ale (Jen's sis) played a long game of Scrabble. I took the game with "zing". Triple word score, bitches. Not satisfied, I played a game of Monopoly with Ale and had my ass royally kicked. Fucking hotel on fucking Marvin Gardens does that, I guess.

Wasn't really paying much attention to the Oscars, but I did catch the tail end of it when Kate Winslet won for The Reader. Hugh Jackman hosting was odd. I was pretty happy to see Slumdog Millionaire take Best Picture. Here you have a cast with absolutely no Western stars, a plot centering around never-spoken-of Hindu on Indian Muslim violence, and somehow it's still a feel-good movie.

Stayed up a little longer watching a few episodes of The Simpsons with Jen and Jon, bracing for a 7 hour drive to Philly. Only have two shows left. End of tour blues is starting to kick in for everyone, I think.

Henry

Currently listening to:
Greatest Hits
by Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers

100K and Counting: What's the opposite of Progress? II

Henry — Tue, 24 Feb 2009 17:29:00 +0000

Late start to the day. We were hoping to get out of Raleigh earlier than 1pm, but there we were, scarfing down some tea and toast. I'm definitely catching a cold and I've been scarfing down zinc lozenges like nobody's business.

Compared to the drive from Tally to Raleigh, this one to Philadelphia (really, Sewell, NJ) was a cakewalk. Only 7 hours. Our original plan was to stay the night in DC, but the tour budget's getting a bit of a beating, know-what-I-mean?

Either way, we made a quick stop in DC to check out the Lincoln Memorial. Jon took some great pics on his camera I'm hoping to upload to the Flickr account soon (for now, you'll just have to settle for the camera on my phone). DC's a really interesting town. I like it a lot. You definitely need a solid two days to explore it, though; 'twas a luxury we didn't have, unfortunately.

We arrived at our good friend Jamie Leigh's house around 9 and went out for dinner. The place we went to had $2 margaritas. Ryan and I, being the sick ones, enjoyed free H20 on the rocks. The food there was amazing, too. We all went into food comas before even finishing our food. Except for Jamie. She finished it all and was as bubbly as ever. She's a pro.

After dinner was over, someone had the bright idea to make "potion"... ketchup, something called "awesome sauce", pepper, lemon, more ketchup, mustard, a bit of margarita, and god-knows-what-else mixed together upon an empty plate. If that sounds gross, you can't imagine how bad that smelled.

We returned to her home to watch some Futurama and Aqua Teen before passing out from exhaustion.

Now: to figure out when to eat the rest of last night's Philly cheese steak.

Henry

100K and Counting: Yo homes, to Bel-Air

Henry — Wed, 25 Feb 2009 17:56:00 +0000

Woke up around noon, before everyone else and caught up on the usual bullshit (emails, blogging, and the battery of other things I now feel compelled to update). Jamie made everyone her wonderful, wonderful scrambled eggs and toast. Seriously, it's epic. They're so good. I think we took video of all this. She made 17 eggs.

Midway through breakfast, Ryan got some crappy news that his gramps died. Luckily (relatively, anyway), we're in Jersey and he'll be able to make it to the wake and the funeral. He told us his grandpa wasn't doing so well for a while now, particularly for the last week, so at least he's at peace now. Still can't make any of it easy for everyone else, though.

Lounged around Jamie's for most of the day before having dinner with her folks and her boyfriend Brian. We talked to her stepdad, Rick, about his vinyl collection for a little bit. Dude's got loads of records. We also wound up catching the last episode of That 70s Show and the first one, in that order. The first one was better.

Pulled into the club around 7:30 and loaded in fairly quickly. Scored an awesome parking spot outside Dr. Watson's. I've been feeling sick the last day or so
(being sick on tour is as fun as it sounds), so Jen and I headed over to Starbucks to get tea. At least this time I'm sick on the tail end of the tour.

We also met up with an old friend of ours, Zack, who's now living in Philly and spent a good amount of time catching up. He's actually a stand-up comedian, you should check his stuff out at showyourwits.com.

Jon and Ryan played a game of pool that Jon mostly captured with his badass camera's time lapse feature. Afterward, we ventured downstairs to the restaurant to catch some of Obama's speech. Couldn't get beyond watching Nancy Pelosi hopping up to clap every two seconds. Could've probably made a drinking game out of it. Also wound up meeting Mitch, from Ryan's band A Life of Riley (they happen to be ahead in a contest for a record deal and some cash.. help 'em out by voting for them here).

Got onstage at 11:30 or so. Had huge sound issues for the first three or four songs that we eventually overcame. Apparently, nothing but drum and bass were heard in the club, and onstage it was difficult to hear much of anything. Didn't even get a line check before the set, which is pretty standard. I will say that the sound guy knew he screwed up, eventually corrected this, and apologized to us. I guess every tour needs one of these. Also totally forgot it was Mardi Gras. No breasts were bared, but there were plenty of beads and giant hats to go around.

The Mikey Potato Show was on after us. They're a band that's all about the party. We'd played with them last time we were at Dr. Watson's, but for some reason I wasn't having it this time around and hid away a bit. My cold's slowly catching up with me and to be honest I was just really tired and hungry. Being crowded is not helpful. Also, they opened up with a Van Halen tune and my threshold for VH is extremely low. Very low.

Jamie squeezed into the van with us and we headed back towards NJ, in search of a Wendy's or something that was open. Along the way, someone spontaneously began singing the theme song to Fresh Prince and everyone joined in. Just one of those things you can't not sing along to. Nothing was open by the time we got to Sewell, except for the Wawa. Never been to one before, but it's pretty amazing. Probably terrible for the arteries, but hey...

Got back to Jamie's around 2:00 and ate whatever we gathered at Wawa. 2am is the silly hour, and we were laughing at pretty much anything. Mostly Jon's impersonations (e.g., Marilyn Manson performing You Got Me Wrong). I'm sure there's video of this somewhere.

Stayed up till 3:30 watching Family Guy. Jon was completely exhausted and dozed off on the floor (and who could blame him, the carpet's pretty nice). Finally passed out downstairs shortly thereafter. Nose getting all stuffed up. One more show to go. Let's see if I make it. Still need to learn the lyrics to those Stones tunes we're playing...

Henry

100K and Counting: Remember that you are dust, and to dust you shall return

Henry — Thu, 26 Feb 2009 13:17:00 +0000

Last day (without counting Thursday, driving day back to Boston). Had to get up earlier than we wanted, but we had to get to Bridgewater so Ryan could make it to his gramps' wake. While he was off, Jen, Jon and I spent some time at his house watching TV, playing pool, and general catching up on things that has become custom most mornings. We saw the latest episode of the Daily Show, mostly talking about Gov. Jindal's response speech from the night before. I read the transcript and the whole thing was pretty pedestrian. I love how the governor of Louisiana thinks it's funny there's a provision in the stimulus bill to monitor a potential natural disaster.

Once Ryan got back, we went through a quick run-through of the Stones tunes in his basement. The whole setup was neat and very garage band: one microphone, plugged into a tiny Fender Frontman amp; two guitars plugged into one amp; rudimentary drum kit; and (of course) bass. My cold was in full swing and I was worried about how we were going to be able to pull this one off. At least my throat wasn't hurting too bad. I don't know what it is about this band and people getting sick on tours. It's as if we should start mainlining vitamin C or something.

Drove north about an hour to Emerson, NJ, where we were crashing (Jen's cuz Ana was letting us stay at her place). Ana was awesome and had pizza waiting for us, and even bought donuts for the morning. Headed out to NYC at 9 (didn't have to be there till 10). I was a complete mess, falling asleep in the car.

We immediately started loading in as soon as we got onstage. Otto's is pretty small, so we really had to pack everything in there as best we could. Had to cut the piano tunes, because there was no room to put the piano anywhere. I was having some problems with my pedals and freaking the fuck out until, after 10 minutes, Jon noticed one of them wasn't plugged in, and a crisis was averted. I somehow got my second wind and was able to get through the show without a problem. Finally broke a string on the tour, three songs in.

The show was really fun to play, as was the last time we played Otto's back in 2005. The whole evening was part of something called Copycat, something our friend Evan has been running. Bands play a set comprised of half covers and the nights always have a particular theme. This night's theme was the celebration of the late former Rolling Stone Brian Jones. For the curious, the songs we played were: "Jumping Jack Flash", "Get Off Of My Cloud", "Gimme Shelter", and "Doo Doo Doo Doo Doo (Heartbreaker)"— yes, Brian Jones isn't on that last one... we cheated. Things were fun and loose, exactly the kind of show we needed to end the tour.

Ryan stuck around for a bit, but had to take off after about an hour or two. It was the first noticeable thing that occurred that signaled this tour was just about done-zo. The obligatory group hung occurred and our friend Michael (formerly of the awesome NYC band Motion Picture) bought us a round of celebratory tequila shots.

The rest of the evening was spent watching the other groups (Radio Silent and Doug Grey) and talking to Michael. When we've played NYC in the past, nine times out of ten we've opted to just drive back home that same night. Since we didn't do that, we were really living it up. Jon was catching up with some old friends of his from out West that moved to NYC. The longer we stayed at Otto's, the longer we could stave off the end of the tour. Despite whatever lows occurred on the tour, we did have a really good time.

Of course, disaster had to strike. Someone pickpocketed Jon around 4am, as if we needed a palpable signal that the fun was over. Spent a good 30 to 40 minutes with the door guy and a flashlight, searching the club high and low in case it was discarded by the perp or Jon had simply misplaced it. No luck. Not long after Jen tripped walking to the car and screwed up her right ankle.

Headed back to Emerson after that, deflated.

Next: the trip back home (aka THE DREADED EPILOGUE).

Henry

100K and Counting: THE DREADED EPILOGUE

Henry — Fri, 27 Feb 2009 17:37:00 +0000

I woke up at 9, going on less than four hours of sleep. I can't remember what dreams I had, just that they really stressed me out to the point of headache. We were supposed to take off by 8am, so we weren't off to a very good start. I had a few of the donuts Ana left out for us, which made me feel loads better. Sometime around 5am (when we got back), we made a stopover at Burger King which, in hindsight, was a terrible idea. It wasn't a daily thing, but we've certainly eaten more fast food on this tour than any of the others. Last time that happens.

We adjusted our departure to 10am, but that didn't happen. Jon spent some time calling his credit card companies to cancel his cards and order new ones. Turns out whoever stole his wallet tried to pull out a ton of cash at Penn Station (failed), and then ordered an $800 computer (Jon managed to call the company and cancel the order). Shitty thing to happen to someone. Jen's ankle was still screwy after she fell the night before (and of course, it was her right foot, which made driving oh-so-fun).

We missed having Ryan in the car, but Jon did take advantage of the extra space in the back to sprawl out and take a nap (at which point he accidentally called 411 while he was sleeping... the operator was so confused). It didn't quite hit us that the tour was over till we actually exited the van in Boston to drop off Jon's drums. Also the first time we made it back into town in the late afternoon, as opposed to early morning. Coming back home after these things gets stranger and stranger every time, as if I've been simultaneously gone for too long and not long enough.

But what can ya do. I'm grateful we were even able to do this at all. The end of 2008 was pretty rough on us for a lot of reasons and there were serious doubts that this tour would even happen.

Then again, at 100,000+ miles our van should be dead.

Henry

Wish You Were Here

Webmaster — Sat, 28 Feb 2009 22:51:00 +0000

Aloud just wrapped up the third leg of the Fan The Fury tour and added plenty to the scrapbook along the way. Whether you were there and want to relive it all or just wish you were there, here's how you can make it happen:

Tour Diary:
Read all about Aloud's Fan The Fury tour, stretching as far back as last April.
http://www.allthingsaloud.com/blog/labels/tourdiary.html

Photos:
Plenty of photos from Henry's cellphone have been uploaded to Aloud's Flickr account (with many more to follow in the coming days).
flickr.com/photos/aloud/sets/72157613950451382/

Feature in SPIN Earth

Webmaster — Mon, 02 Mar 2009 22:43:00 +0000

Aloud's music video for "Julie" has been featured in SPIN Earth.

To read the short article and watch the Chris March directed video (complete with a short intro by Henry and Jen), click here: http://spinearth.tv/articles/782.

St. Patty's Day Bash

Webmaster — Sun, 08 Mar 2009 17:04:00 +0000

Aloud makes it back to Ralph's Diner, their home-away-from-home, to celebrate St. Patrick's Day!

Sharing the evening are locals Hey Now, Morris Fader and Ex Norwegian, who are on tour from Miami, FL in support of their album Standby. Ex Norwegian performed with Aloud on the Miami date of the latest leg of the Fan The Fury tour.

The show is on St. Patrick's Day, 3/17/09, and begins at 9pm. This show is 21+.

Aloud performance in NH reviewed in The Wire

Webmaster — Fri, 13 Mar 2009 18:24:00 +0000

Aloud's show at The Muddy River in Portsmouth, NH has been reviewed by The Wire. Click the link below to read the full review:

http://www.wirenh.com/Music/Field_Recordings/
Aloud_at_the_Muddy_River,_March_5,_2009_200903123467.html

Related Links
- The Wire

Jack Bauer walks into a bar, asks the bartender for a Jack Bauer...

Henry — Sat, 14 Mar 2009 14:59:00 +0000

I've been fussing around with Garageband for the first time and I'm really impressed. Don't think I'd ever made a full-on proper recording with it, but as far as some easy demos go, it's pretty righteous. Jen and I have already laid down two quick demos for tunes, plenty more to follow. It's been writing season at the ol' HQ lately. We've been coming up with some interesting ideas for the next... whatever it is we put out. Also had two ridiculously productive meetings with John Carr and Chris March (respectively) for a couple of music videos we'd like to film. We met with Annie about possibly getting another two done (well, I guess it would be fourth, counting Julie). We'll see how this all plays out.

If I had it my way I'd just do videos for every song.

Had rehearsal later in the evening, went really well. We finally got around to playing Release. Been wanting to play that song for a while now, and it was always one of those things that just slipped through the cracks somehow. We're pretty pumped about the St. Patty's show next week, plus we get to play with our pals Ex Norwegian again. I think they're heading out on the road tomorrow. Jaime Leigh's actually taking a trip out here to come hang out on St. Patty's as well. I approve of this, and can only hope that she make some more of her fabulous eggs. Seriously, they're that good.

After practice, the four of us slipped out to John Harvard's in Harvard Square (duh?). Place was packed, but we managed to get a table relatively quickly because we're so important.* I forgot that I hadn't had anything all day save for a cup of coffee (same with Jen). Three Smoke House Burgers were served, plus one giant steak for Jon. I love going to this place. Can get a bit pricey depending on what you order, but you get what you pay for, as they say.

Ryan continues to make a mockery of the Ketchup Rationing Act of 1988, further stating (quote), "Should've learned how to swim, french fry."

After the meal, we parted ways. Jen and I headed to the Middle East to catch our friends the Televandals before they head out to SXSW. They're also nominated in the Phoenix's Best Band in Boston (along with our friends The Motion Sick and Hallelujah The Hills.. Instead of choosing between them, I just write in Aloud and cry in the bathtub for 20 minutes). Got there just in time to catch Televandals. This is a band I'm really proud of. I remember seeing them just a couple of years ago at Harpers Ferry trying to get it all together, and now they're tighter than hell with an enviable rhythm section.

Bumped into a few friends there as well. The Motion Sick were there in full force. Talked to them for a bit (with a substantial conversation held between Michael and I about Watchmen... I could go on about this for hours). They're headed to SXSW next week as well, and are in this year's Rumble. Phil from WMFO (host of The Dweezil Show) was there. Hadn't seen him months. Couldn't catch up for long, unfortunately, because Jen and I had to catch the last train back home. Nearly didn't make it, either.

Speaking of which, there is absolutely no reason why the MBTA can't run those trains 24 hours a day. New York does it with nary a problem, and that city is enormous. I don't buy this bullshit that they need those 4 hours or however long to "maintain the tracks". Bogus. I think one of the reasons I like Jon is because he shares my belief that there's some sort of Cab Cabal (you like that?) that has some under the table deal with the MBTA to shut the T down for a few hours a night.

Anyway, made it back home around 2am. Felt the need to watch another episode of 24 before passing out. We missed a ton of this and 30 Rock (which I'm now fully caught up on) while we were on tour.

Just remember, kids... Jack Bauer keeps a pillow under his gun. But he could kill you with the pillow.

Henry

___________________
* Or we sat at one of the high tables in the Every-Man-For-Himself area of the place.. you decide.

Currently listening to:
The Bends
by Radiohead

New York show this Friday

Webmaster — Mon, 16 Mar 2009 01:18:00 +0000

Aloud will be performing in NYC this Friday, March 20. Joining the band will be Johnny Bennett (10pm), who are releasing a CD, and Puppetbox (12am), who are releasing a video.

The band is happy to be returning to Between a Rock and a Hard Place at Crash Mansion, where they kicked off the Fan The Fury tour a year ago.

Admission to the show is free before 11pm if you RSVP by emailing rsvp@newyorkunderbelly.com, or $5 after 11pm. Without RSVP, cover charge is $10.. so RSVP!

Additionally, between 9pm and 10pm there is an open bar. So get there early!

Between a Rock and a Hard Place is presented by New York Underbelly.

Aloud in NYC
Friday, March 20
Crash Mansion
199 Bowery (at Spring St.)
w. Puppetbox (12am), Aloud (11pm), and Johnny Bennet (10pm)

Related Links
- Event page on Facebook
- New York Underbelly
- Crash Mansion
- Puppetbox
- Johnny Bennett

Aloud at the Regent Theater

Webmaster — Sun, 22 Mar 2009 20:49:00 +0000

On April 18th, for the first time, Aloud will be performing an all ages show at The Regent Theater in Arlington, MA, as part of No Contracts Needed.

From the Slyrox Music web site, No Contracts Needed "is a theatre-sized local concert that amplifies a new perception of seeing local bands. NCN promotes independent talent within Massachusetts to the high school students, college students as well as music scenes enthusiasts that are looking for the most visually enhanced way to see local, independent bands play their hearts out."

In addition to Aloud, other performing groups are Dave Crespo and the After Party, Rudeboy Riot, The School of Groove Band, and NCN Competition winners Traces David.

You can also win Red Sox tickets simply by purchasing tickets for this event directly from Slyrox. After your purchase, you will receive a free NCN t-shirt. If you wear this shirt at the show, you will automatically be entered into a drawing that night for tickets to see the Red Sox this season. It's that simple!

Tickets are $14 in advance, $15 the day of the show.

To purchase tickets, head over to shop.slyrox.ihoststudio.com/productinfo.aspx?productid=SM041809.

SLYROX MUSIC PRESENTS:
No Contracts Needed - Live n' Local
April, 18 2008 / 6:30pm
The Regent Theatre
7 Medford Street
Arlington, Massachusetts
Cost: $14 /($15 Day of)
General Admission / All Ages

Chopping down the Joshua Tree

Henry — Thu, 26 Mar 2009 13:36:00 +0000

This is the reason I sometimes don't return calls. With each passing day, the embarrassment over how long it's taking me to return a call grows and grows until it's just easier to pull an ostrich power move. But there is no such luck running away from this blog, my lover and tormentor. So let's just recap the last week, all quick-like.

Last Tuesday-Thursday: Played Ralph's with Ex Norwegian (crashing with us while they're on tour) on St. Patrick's Day. They sound fantastic on a big stage. Jen and I enjoyed a Ralph's burger, and exposed Ryan to the awesomeness that is a black and tan. Met up with the kids from Pilgrims of Sound. I was surprised to learn that they'd been following us since seeing us at Fitchburg State College in 2005 and remembered our "uniform phase". Wednesday, Jamie popped in from Philly to hang with us and catch E.N. at O'Brien's that night (along with Dave, Beca, and Martin). Sometimes I miss Allston. Jamie bought a couple of post-show pizzas for everyone from Redneck's, always a good idea after a few drinks and a late night. Spent Thursday morning chilling out and jamming with E.N and bullshitting about the Beatles quite a bit. They're good kids, I honest-to-god dig them. I wish we knew each other while Jen and I still lived in Miami. Might've made the stay a little more fun. Hopefully, they'll be trekking around the country again.

Anyhoo, back to the present day, Marty...

As previously stated, Jen and I have been on a writing kick the likes of which have not been seen since 2004 (i.e., the writing is near-daily). We finished up a few this week, and (for the love of all that is holy, do not hold me to this) I wouldn't be surprised if we released something this year. That's the hope, anyway. The writing's taken a decidedly different turn, too. I get the feeling some fans may be pissed, but things like this actually amuse me. Stay tuned.

Later on, we met up with Jon to check out the Regent Theatre in Arlington, where we're playing this No Contracts Needed thing. Goddamn place really is like a baby Orpheum, and I'm really psyched we're going to be able to do our thing on that big a stage. Spoke with Dave Crespo for a little while, who showed us around. We bumped into Full Tilt, who's playing there tonight (by "tonight", I mean before midnight, which is when I'm writing this).

In some ways, I've gladly abandoned any responsibility to actively push shows on the blog, since it's hosted on the main site now and you can just click the little News button and absorb whatever information your little blog-reading heart desires.

However, since the potential for free Sox tickets is involved, you should click here for more info. That's all I'll say on that.

Been digging through some of the footage that was shot on this last tour. Loads more amusing, and less of "Aloud in a car in __________". Hopefully, I'll have something cut together soon (though not as involved as Hard Up In The 2000s... I've made arrangements to be shot in the face twice before taking on something like that again).

That's all that's fit to print for the day. Off to bed.

Henry

P.S. Snagged U2 tickets for September. I am pleased.

Currently watching:
Vertigo 2005: Live from Chicago
by U2

"Julie" at #2 on OurStage

Webmaster — Tue, 31 Mar 2009 14:38:00 +0000

Aloud's video for Julie (directed by Chris March) has made it to #2 in the Pop Videos category for March on OurStage.com.

Thank you to everyone who voted! To watch Julie on OurStage, click below:
http://www.ourstage.com/video/archive/entry/TVDUYUIQDCQX-julie

Related Links
- Aloud on OurStage
- Music video for "Julie" available today

Not quite an iPhone, but it'll do.

Henry — Thu, 02 Apr 2009 23:11:00 +0000

Just figuring out how to blog from my phone, so this could be a total disaster. Not sure if I (and the general populace) should brace for the worst.

Picked up the new U2 record at Newbury Comics on Tuesday. Neither disappointing, nor their best. The beginning and the end are pretty solid. Problem is, like most of us, the middle's a little flabby and could use the exercise. Use of Apple terminology in Unknown Caller made me cringe. Breathe is probably the best tune on there, and along with Cedars of Lebanon would rank it with the best U2 songs. Going to give the new Metric album my ears next. We got compared to them when we released The Sooner It Comes, but it took Jon to finally turn us onto Metric while on tour. So far, good shit.

Heading out to John Harvard's to meet up with Jen and Liz for food. Might hit up the KID:NAP:KIN show at TT's later tonight. Their bass player Jamilla's last show with them.

Been spending a lot of time out in Cambridge, actually. Tuesday Jen and I met up with Annie, Chris March, Jon, and Ryan Lee at River Gods. It was a good time, and we may or may not have discussed a video for Fan The Fury...

Alright, you win, phone. Writing on this thing is giving me a headache, even with T9. Let's hit send and see what happens, shall we?

Henry

PS Saw three other people ferociously typing on their phones. I'm not one of those people am I? Figure I'm safe until I spring for a smartphone...

Currently listening to:
Fantasies
by Metric

Regent Theatre: Get half-price tickets via Goldstar

Webmaster — Tue, 07 Apr 2009 15:25:00 +0000

You may now purchase tickets to Aloud's show for $7 via Goldstar.com.

Goldstar tickets may be purchased at this link:
http://www.goldstar.com/events/arlington-ma/no-contracts-needed.html

Regular price for admission is $14 ($15 on day of show), so everyone should jump on this deal!

No Contracts Needed is a theatre-sized concert that brings local, unsigned talent into the bright lights and big stage of Regent Theatre.

Aloud, the evening's headliners, will be performing with Dave Crespo and the After Party, Rudeboy Riot, The School of Groove Band, and NCN Competition winners Traces David.

SLYROX MUSIC PRESENTS:
No Contracts Needed - Live n' Local
April, 18 2008 / 6:30pm
The Regent Theatre
7 Medford Street
Arlington, Massachusetts
Cost: $14 /($15 Day of)
General Admission / All Ages

No freedom ever was so sweet

Henry — Tue, 07 Apr 2009 22:17:00 +0000

Went to the first Rumble show on Sunday. It's much nicer when you're not actually playing it, if only the stress factor is pretty much gone. Our friends over at Boston Band Crush have been pretty awesome about the post-show videos and such.

(For those outside of the New England area and have no idea what the hell I'm talking about, check out the Wikipedia page on it here.)

I have to say, as much as I'm loathe to participate in contests and battles of the bands, etc. etc., I realize every year how neat the Rumble actually is— and considering this is the 31st year WBCN's been doing this, they must be doing something right. Seriously, just in the one night I got to see a bunch of people I hadn't talked to in months or years, and everyone is in a good mood. Anyway, it's a nice little reminder that Boston really does have such a great fucking music scene. I'm supremely glad I moved here years ago.

Took a pass on yesterday's show because I needed to recover. I went a little overboard on Sunday and needed a night in to recover. Heading out tonight to support The Motion Sick. Will probably be updating the evening's events on my latest obsession, Twitter (www.twitter.com/aloudonline, for those keeping track). Speaking of, Jen's finally gotten a Twitter account too over at www.twitter.com/Jen_delaOsa. Please bother her.

Spent a lot of time in Harvard Square last week doing this and that. Hung out with Jen and Dave last Saturday, went to a book sale over at the Harvard Bookstore and picked up a few things. I got a book called Madame Bovary's Ovaries that supposed to be about applying the theory of evolution to literature. (Of course, we must also respect the opposing theory that concludes a bearded man in the sky created books out of tree bark and elf sex.) The other two were Obamanomics and The Latino Threat. I decided to start heavy with The Latino Threat. It's written like a college paper, like Lies My Teacher Told Me, which
I like because it makes me feel smug and smart. Madame Bovary's gonads will simply have to wait.

Also reading V For Vendetta. Alan Moore is amazing, and if you have neither read that nor Watchmen you probably should. It will blow your mind. Also plowed through League of Extraordinary Gentlemen which isn't quite as philosophically challenging, but is a real fun read. I hear I'm to avoid the corresponding film at all costs, and I will oblige. (Martin, thanks a ton for lending these to me, btw.)

Still writing and demoing a few times a week. May go into the studio this month to record a couple of tunes, very toe-in-the-water. We've yet to reach the all important quality control "Kill Your Darlings" stage in which we summarily line up 70% of whatever we've written in front of a firing squad and kill kill kill.

Should start getting ready to head out to the Middle East for the show tonight. If you're there, come say hi. Chances are I will not bring my glasses and will miss you completely. But Jen's pretty good about wearing her contacts so... y'know, as I've said before, please bother her.

Henry

(Oh yea, and Sox opening day is today.. blah blah blah blah blah.)

The good, the bad, and the ugly

Henry — Sun, 12 Apr 2009 17:29:00 +0000

Hell of a week. Very tired. Went to a few Rumble shows (including last Sunday's). Wish I could've gone to last night's show, but I was on Twitter/Facebook trolling for updates like no one's business. The Lights Out really tore the place down and won their night. Prelims are over. Semi-finals next weekend. Wildcards announced tonight on 'BCN. They deserve props for this year's Rumble, a lot of good bands. After all's said, done, and bitched about, the music scene in Boston is pretty damn awesome.

I'd also like to acknowledge my friends in The Luxury, The Motion Sick, The Lights Out, and Thick As Thieves for a bang-up job and kicking ass. (I'm sure, in usual Henry fashion, I've forgotten someone. If I have, I owe you a beer.)

Wildcard bands are announced tonight on Boston Emissions.

I'd write about it all in more detail, but again, Boston Band Crush has more info on it than I could possibly be arsed to remember and put into writing. I've been doing our taxes for the last few days and I'm fried, okay?! (Seriously, Massachusetts, between this bullshit with the MBTA and making filing my state taxes more complicated than filing my federal, you can eat my poo. You're lucky I like living here so much. LUUUUH-KEEEEEEY.)

Next year I'm going to H&R-fucking-Block.

Apart from going to Le Rumble on Friday and general tax malarky, Jen and I bought a new keyboard. A few keys on the one we've been using for the last year are busted, and we were looking to replace it anyway. Picked up a Nord Electro 2 for a good price. The thing is half the size and sounds so good. I think I'm in love. Goodbye, Casio.

Off to do some writing, maybe make some lunch.

Henry

Diesel

Henry — Mon, 20 Apr 2009 04:22:00 +0000

Day was off to a poor start. Jen (particularly) and I had been sick all week, and Saturday was no different. En route, we hit major traffic on 93 due to a traffic accident. A stretch that normally takes us 10 minutes took us 45. Next on the list of fail: forgot our keyboard stand at the rehearsal space, which meant we had to add yet another stop.

Still, we only managed to be about 20 minutes late and got to check fairly quickly. I think this is the biggest place we've played so far. Probably mentioned this before, but the theatre really is like a baby Orpheum Theatre. A bit intimidating, to say the least. The kids from the School of Groove bands, who were opening the night, were hanging around while we were setting up/checking. When I say kids, I really mean kids— like age 12-14. Talked to one of the dads after our set about what a trip it was to see these kids onstage. Took me back. I didn't get any names, but there was a girl playing guitar, couldn't have been older than 12, who could fucking SHRED. No exaggeration, no euphemism. She put people thrice her age to shame.

(Got to use the new keyboard at this show, and it did marvelously. Half the size as the other one, and it sounds twice as good. Me likey.)

Since soundcheck was so early in the day, the four of us had nothing to eat and were in search of grub. We had to settle for IHOP (Boston, you know the one I'm talking about.. the one in Brighton, off Soldier's Field Road.. late enough that it's the only thing open in the area, early enough that the State Police weren't on premises to bust drunk teens).

Anyway, great, great thanks to all the bands. And to Dave Crespo for having us on board for this. We all had such a blast doing this thing. Video of the show was taken, and I'm sure it'll be up soon. Probably.

As fun as the Regent show was, I am bummed (we all are, really) that we had to miss Harris' last show (with the attached Scamper reunion) which happened to be on the same night.

What this means is that I have no choice but to declare this last show/reunion invalid.

A do-over will be arranged for a later date.

I have spoken.

Henry

Aloud opens for Von Iva at TT the Bear's

Webmaster — Mon, 20 Apr 2009 17:16:00 +0000

Aloud opens for San Francisco's electro soul-punk group Von Iva, on tour with special guests Sick Of Sarah on May 12.

Doors are at 8:30pm, and Aloud takes the stage at 9pm, so get there early!

Tickets for the show, at TT the Bear's, are available for purchase online via TicketWeb:
www.ticketweb.com/t3/sale/SaleEventDetail?dispatch=loadSelectionData&eventId=1063834

Von Iva, currently on their own national tour in support of their EP Girls on File, were the support act for Glasvegas on their North American tour, and appeared in the Jim Carrey film Yes Man.

SPIN magazine says of Sick Of Sarah "this Minnesota quartet bow at the altar of riot grrls' days gone by while simultaneously thumbing their noses at scowling chick-rock cliches."

Get your tickets today!

MAY 12, 2009 / Doors at 8:30pm
TT the Bear's Place
10 Brookline Street, Cambridge, MA 02139
w/ Von Iva (11pm), Sick Of Sarah (10pm), and Aloud (9pm)
18+ / $9
Tickets at TT the Bear's Box Office or Ticketweb

Related Links
- Purchase Tickets
- TT the Bear's Place
- Von Iva
- Sick Of Sarah

More From the Road

Webmaster — Tue, 28 Apr 2009 12:50:00 +0000

Ever wonder what sorts of shenanigans Aloud got up to on the road?

Short videos from the road have been making their way onto Aloud's video blog on YouTube every few days. Click here to check them out:
http://www.youtube.com/view_play_list?p=6BB9A0651F1FFD73

New photos from the same tour have also been added to the set on Flickr:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/aloud/sets/72157613950451382/

Related Links
- Aloud YouTube Channel
- Aloud on Flickr
- Wish You Were Here

On a mf train

Henry — Tue, 28 Apr 2009 15:46:00 +0000

It is hotter than hell right now, but it beats the cold so I'm off to enjoy the day. On the nice air-conditioned train right now, once again trying to update from my phone.

After rehearsal on Fri, we headed out to the Middle East to catch the last night of the Rumble. Again, saw a bunch of people there. Everyone, really. The whole experience has been so much fun. The kids from Boston Band Crush were on Boston Emissions for the post-mortem on the Rumble, and they touched on the fact that this is the most— I don't know... Happy? United? Huggy?— the Boston music scene has been in years. Let's hope this lasts beyond the Rumble. We've got a good pond over here.

Saturday, Jen and I got up bright and early (aka 10am) to record a few tracks with Dan Daskivich in Somerville. We got a lot done and even took time to head outside and enjoy the nice weather for a bit. Anyway, we were really happy with the session. Hope to post tracks soon. Again, too soon to say one way or the other, but I think Aloud may have something out soon... ish. Probably.

Maybe.

Had a very productive band meeting yesterday followed by a productive video meeting for Fan The Fury. Annie (Chris helped with the steaks) made an awesome steak salad, which surprisingly proves that you can win friends with salad; as long as your salad has beef.

Heading into a tunnel, losing reception.

Talk soon.

Henry
via phone

...And You Will Know Us by the Trail of Social Networking

Henry — Wed, 29 Apr 2009 12:03:00 +0000

Everyone's on about the swine flu, but I read an even more disturbing piece of news yesterday. Creed is getting back together. Goddamn, do I hate Creed. No, not nearly as much as my special hate, Journey— if I was forced to choose between having to listen to either Creed or Journey... bah, I'd probably jam a few Q-tips into my ears and welcome the lifetime of silence.

Anyway, Scott Stapp didn't get the memo that nobody likes Creed. In fact, this is the best thing Scott Stapp will ever be involved with: http://www.encyclopediadramatica.com/index.php/Scott_Stapp_punked. Living in Florida for quite some time does have its benefits, and one of those is the ability to say I have a friend who went to UF that can vouch for this story's authenticity.

But fuck Creed and fuck Florida, I really want to talk about Boston here. Went to TT's last night, because it seemed that's where everyone was gravitating to post-Rumble. Jen and I got there early enough to catch most of Goldcure's set. They were actually really, really good. They're currently on tour from Austin. Please check them out if they're hitting your city. I spoke to Adam and Craig a little, and they mentioned they're working on a Boston date for mid-late July. Pleasant surprises aside, The New Collisions were the band I was there to see. I'd seen the name bandied about everywhere (and it turns out our friends Alex Stern and Zak Khan are playing in the band). It's really great, energetic, and dancy stuff. I really enjoyed it a lot and hope to see more of them. Jen grabbed a CD of theirs, which I will yoink from her.

I think the only negative thing I can say about my evening was that the rum and Coke I ordered was awful enough to keep me on water the rest of the night. Guess I should've gotten a beer.

Before leaving, Jen and I must've said good-bye to everyone at least four or five times— and then stayed an additional 30 minutes talking to everyone.

Between the pretty good day I had enjoying the nice weather and the evening at TT's, I gotta say yesterday gets an A- from me. Not a bad deal.

Except for the Creed shit, of course. In fact, to counteract this unfortunate news, I'm just going to post links below for things the people I saw yesterday are involved in. Please visit and support these guys. (And because I'm a softie, if I missed someone who was there, let me know and I'll post it.)

Enough of my blather for today. Got a list of things to do a mile long.

Henry

PS: FYI, I've been posting vids from tour every few days on our video blog. I can never not laugh at that drive-thru one. Ridiculous.

The New Collisions
Goldcure
Muy Cansado
Anngelle Wood
Boston Emissions
Shawn "Sixx"
Melody Matters
The Luxury
The Lights Out
The Motion Sick
Boston Band Crush
Ryan's Smashing Life
Joe Harrington
The Sterns
Boston Rock n' Roll Social
TT the Bear's Place
Gunpowder Gelatine
The Ultrasonic Rock Orchestra
Rachael Wilcox
The Middle East
Illus Rock

I'm with Philistine

Henry — Mon, 04 May 2009 15:11:00 +0000

I am having some major writers block today. I'm bustling with all this creative energy (aka two cups of coffee). I pick up a pen and paper... nothing. I pick up a guitar... wind up strumming D major for half an hour. Head to the keyboard... I play my piano bit for Hard Up In The 2000s and Chopsticks. Frustrating. But I suppose this too shall pass.

Celebrated Jen's birthday all weekend. Friday: went into town and had lunch with Liz and her (now our) friend Erin at The Other side. Liz brought her dog with her, a cute pug mix who goes by the name Chloe, so we had to eat outside, even as it was pouring. Bumped into Tim on the street, and later Jon (with whom we had a couple of drinks at the Globe Café). Later that eve, we hung out with Dave and cracked open the Batman animated series DVDs that just came in the mail. Seriously, best cartoon evah. As of today, we're up to the second disc of Vol. 2 and haven't hit an episode I haven't seen yet. They don't make cartoons like they used to. (I watch a lot of cartoons. Sue me.) Saturday, a bunch of us went out to Tasca, in Brighton, for tapas. Tasca is one of the things I miss most about living in Allston. You could feast, polish off a few bottles of wine, then roll down the hill to the apartment. Ah well. A party at Crystal's place was already in progress, and we hopped on that before retiring for the evening... morning... whatever.

Can't remember much of what happened yesterday. I think we just did nothing, really. I did, however, manage to make The second best plate of scrambled eggs in the history of scrambled eggs (first place goes to my grandma). Oh, and rehearsal in the afternoon, of course. Also got some mixes back from our session with Dan from a week ago. Sound really good so far.

Random: last Thursday, I was in Kenmore with Jen and we were in the mood to grab a few books and get some coffee, so we settled for the Starbucks at Barnes & Noble. Dude behind the counter treated me like I kicked his sick grandmother in the shins or something. Total douchebag. I find myself a proponent for mild corporal punishment in these instances. An unexpected punch to the gut will do, really. That way I don't waste time complaining to a manager for something too trivial to get him in trouble for at his crummy job, he learns a lesson, and I feel better.

Jen's very audible "WOW" would have to suffice. I think he felt bad. I hope he did, anyway. I just wanted a fucking coffee.

Fuck, I still want to get a tune out today.. I think it's time for espresso. Surely, it will soothe my jangled nerves.

Henry

Sometimes I Feel Like A Vampire - live from the Regent Theatre

Webmaster — Sat, 09 May 2009 03:22:00 +0000

Video from Aloud's performance at the Regent Theatre last month!

Related Links
- Aloud at the Regent Theatre
- Aloud YouTube Channel

Shut Up Robin

Jen — Sat, 09 May 2009 04:18:00 +0000

This week has been relatively good. It was on the up swing which I hope will continue. Wrote a new song today for a new EP Aloud is working on. Was very pleased to write one as we hadn't been able to sit down and write since end of March. Not sure when this EP will be out, but we're hoping by the end of the year.

Later went out with Henry and Dave P. for dinner at Christopher's in Porter Sq. Had never been there before, but we were pretty taken with the place. Food was amazing and so was our waitress. It's right up at the top of my list now for favorite retaurants and has indeed surpassed John Harvard's. Afterwards we hit up Porter Sq. books where I got myself a copy of the Metamorphosis. I've read this, but had a bootlegged copy and figured this proper $2 copy would be worth it. I've actually been dropping quite a bit of cash on books lately. At a rate this is much to fast for me to catch up reading them all. I've got 8 books sitting on my windowsill waiting for me.

I've been all superhero obsessed lately. Currently reading the Watchmen. BRILLIANT! Can't put the thing down. Also read the Batman one off, The Killing Joke, and to top it we just got the entire season of the Batman animated series which we have been watching almost uninterrupted every night. The cartoon was quite well written. I've never read comics till weeks ago when I picked up V For Vendetta. Always loved the stories and the movies, but I was scared of basically relearning how to read. You've got to sort of approach them differently. But the magic of what happens between speech bubbles, caption blocks and panals is quite awe inspiring.

In other news... happy to say we've just added a show for July 11. We are opening the Luxury's cd release at the Paradise Rock Club. That's right kiddies, the Dise. Beautiful. One of my favorite venues. I'm also incredibly psyched for this coming Tuesday's show at T.T.'s with Von Iva. They're on tour from San Fran and we're happy to be opening for them.

Oh and some awesome news for all those wanting to see more Boston shows and chill with cool people. Our manager, Annie Burns, along with photographer extraodinaire, Sooz, have started the Rock Out Boston club. They'll all meet up before shows for drinks and then head over to these shows they pick to watch bands and hang out. It's a pretty awesome idea and it supports local bands, so of course I love it. Their first outing will actually be at our TT's show I mentioned. If you RSVP (http://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Rock-Out-Boston-Club/93874059601) with them, then you'll get an exclusive Aloud disc with unreleased and live tracks. Pretty sweet.

Talk soon,

Jen

Live and unreleased Aloud tracks - free!

Webmaster — Sat, 09 May 2009 05:26:00 +0000

Sign up for the Rock Out Boston Club and receive a free CD with live and unreleased Aloud tracks!

Annie Burns and Boston rock photog and blogger Sooz have formed a new group, open to "anyone and everyone who wants to go out and discover ... rock bands in Boston." For their first outing, they've chosen Aloud's show at TT the Bear's on May 12th (opening for Von Iva and Sick Of Sarah).

Those who join Rock Out Boston Club's Facebook page (http://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Rock-Out-Boston-Club/93874059601) and head out with the group on May 12th for Aloud's TT's show will receive an exclusive CD with live and unreleased music from Aloud!

For more details, visit the Rock Out Boston Club.

Related Links
- Rock Out Boston Club
- Sooz
- annie*rock
- Aloud opens for Von Iva at TT the Bear's

Fan The Fury featured in Days of Thunder video

Webmaster — Tue, 12 May 2009 16:13:00 +0000

No, we're not talking about the middling Tom Cruise movie, but the mountain bike competition in Europe, now in its second year.

Both Aloud and Days of Thunder were featured on the Urban Outfitters blog.

Related Links
- Days Of Thunder
- Aloud on Urban Outfitters blog

Pics and video from TT's

Webmaster — Wed, 13 May 2009 17:17:00 +0000

Our friends at Boston Band Crush were there at TT's to see Aloud open for Von Iva and Sick Of Sarah.

They've posted photo and video from the evening to their site. Just click the link below!

http://www.bostonbandcrush.net/2009/2009-05-12-Aloud/

Related Links
- Boston Band Crush
- TT the Bear's Place
- Von Iva
- Sick Of Sarah

So What Now?

Jen — Wed, 13 May 2009 17:34:00 +0000

It's been a lovely week thus far. How's yours been?

First off, a great BIG thank you to everyone who came out last night to TT's. We had an awesome time, too much fun! It was great to meet so many new people and hang out with the regulars. Much thanks to the Rock Out Boston club (http://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Rock-Out-Boston-Club/93874059601) for making this their first outing!

If you joined the club yesterday, you probably picked up the Aloud sampler. You'll notice the live track is labeled "Bleeding Heart", but that's actually "Sometimes I Feel Like A Vampire". Sorry! Wrong labels. There's also a demo from the Fan the Fury writing sessions that never got used called "Gone With The Rising Sun" and an acoustic version of "The Last Time". Dan Daskivich (http://www.danielnicholasdaskivich.com/) produced Last Time track. That's the recording we were doing weeks ago. We went back in with Dan last Saturday to throw an overdub on another track. We were lucky enough to have him at the show last night.

On Saturday, we also got to make it to the Taxpayer (http://www.taxpayermusic.com/) show. They were amazing. I hadn't seen those guys in sooooooooooo long. Their set was electric. We were also lucky enough to discover Tiny Animals (http://www.tinyanimals.net/) from Brooklyn. Check them out! They're super tight and have some catchy tunes.

Caught two great movies this weekend; Once (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Once_(film)) which is the saddest movie I've ever seen and the new Star Trek, most excellent. Oh and I finished Watchmen... Spent the rest of the night pacing my apartment not knowing what to do now that it was all over... But I'm slowly moving on... slowly.

Cheers,

Jen

PS. Urban Outfitters thought we were cool enough to mention on their blog: http://blog.urbanoutfitters.com/blog/aloud/. Here's the video they're refering to: http://blog.urbanoutfitters.com/blog/days_of_thunder/

Performing at the Paradise this summer

Webmaster — Wed, 13 May 2009 18:14:00 +0000

Presented by WFNX, Aloud will be performing at the legendary Paradise Rock Club on July 11 with Rock n' Roll Rumble champs The Luxury. They will be joined by MidAtlantic and The Click Five. The evening is part of The Luxury's CD release party for their forthcoming second album.

Tickets are available via Live Nation and at the Paradise box office. Admission is $12 for advance tickets, and $15 the day of the show. Doors are at 8pm, and Aloud is on at 9pm sharp!

For tickets, click here: http://www.livenation.com/edp/eventId/407799

July 11, 2009 / Doors at 8pm
Aloud at The Paradise Rock Club
967 Commonwealth Ave, Boston, MA
$12 adv/$15 day of show
18+
w/ The Luxury, The Click Five, and Midatlantic

Nothing much to say I guess, just the same as all the rest.

Jen — Sun, 17 May 2009 13:00:00 +0000

Nothing much to report this week. Been kind of quiet on the home front. Did you catch all that coverage on last week's TT's show on Boston Band Crush? http://www.bostonbandcrush.net/2009/2009-05-12-Aloud/index.html. Much thanks to them as always!

Got a chance to see some of the Boston Band Crushers at Church last night (that's a rock club for all you non Bostonians). Henry and I went to catch the Motion Sick (http://www.themotionsick.com/) opening for Richard Lloyd of Television. Brett Rosenberg was also back in town playing with them. Was a great end to a long day. Something about the dark rock club that feels so right.

Other than that spent Friday morning writing with Henry. We're trying to keep this going on a weekly basis. I'm happy with what we're churning out thus far. Kind of different these tunes, so it's almost like relearning how to write, but we're getting there.

In future news, we're looking forward to NYC on the 29th. Sucks that we'll be missing the New Collisions EP release that same night, but NYC isn't a bad consolation prize. :) We're pleased to be playing with Motion Picture who are reuniting for the one night only! Check it, if you RSVP to rsvp@annierock.com it'll only cost you $7. Otherwise it'll be $10. This will be Annie's farewell NYC show. Annie has always been a New Yorker, but she's moving to Boston in June. We're happy to have our manager closer in proximity, but why not go without one big bang of a show before leaving right?

Goodnight,

Jen

To be fair I'd probably still watch it over the Spawn movie

Henry — Thu, 21 May 2009 01:58:00 +0000

I know who wins American Idol tonight. Won't totally spoil it for you, but let's just say the name rhymes with COX TV.

Seriously, I'm just not feeling this or any sort of sports this year, and this includes the Sox. Not that I ever felt American Idol, or was that into pro sports (though considerably more than American Idle). Maybe something's wrong with me, but it's more likely that something is wrong with all of you.

(You have all just been burned.)

Okay, yea, yea, everyone's entitled to their own brand of escapism, etc. But this is my post. I do what I want. I'm just saying it's pure pablum. You think Hulu would turn your brain to mush...

Insulting a portion of my loyal readers aside...

Just sitting at home right now, windows open, listening to LPs, and reading (in between chapters using Twitter as my own personal instant messaging service). Just one of those days I guess. Already downed my glass of wine, followed by some espresso. Jen and I were going to get out and grab some coffee tonight and work on some lyrics, but we were pretty exhausted and called it a day before we even got started. We've got a few more tunes on the burner that need to be finished up. I'd say we're about halfway through writing the amount of songs we want to write; then we can start paring down what we want on this EP... that I'm neither confirming nor denying that we're working on... at another session this Friday.

Beyond this mystery recording, things are happening at camp Aloud. Had a meeting the other day, laying down plans and stuff. Things are feeling pretty good right now.

Don't know when they're actually going to air this, but our boy Jon's actually drumming for Morningwood tonight at the MTV NewNextNow Awards in NYC. I think it airs sometime in June. Go Jon go!

Eh.. I'ma get off this infernal machine. My eyeballs are about to fall out.

Henry

Currently listening to:
Blood On The Tracks
by Bob Dylan

But it resembles the real thing as hypocrisy resembles holiness.

Henry — Thu, 28 May 2009 13:20:00 +0000

So very tired right now. I'm unfortunately back to my insomniac ways. Will probably take a nap later today.

Went back into the studio last night to have Jon dub some drums and percussion. Coming out fantastic so far. This is the first time we've really gone into a studio with only half a plan, creatively speaking. Jen and I are still on a tear with the writing, but once the song's finished we'll only play it a handful of times before going into the studio and do most of the figuring out there. Our usual method of recording has been turned on its ass and I like eeeet. Something really special is starting to take shape. It's nice recording in the Boston area, too. I get to sleep in my own bed!

Last Friday after a session with Dan we all caught Bon Savants and Hallelujah the Hills at the Middle East. Hadn't seen either of those guys in a long time. Bon Savants played a bunch of new tunes (new to me, anyway) that sounded great. I hadn't seen them since they added Tia on keys. We're both playing the same day at this Provincetown Rocks thing (along with just about every other band in Boston).. there may have been a conversation with Kevin about getting everyone to rent a campground or sommat. Hallelujah the Hills fucking killed it too. They were amazing. There must've been at least 10 people on stage— or perhaps I was seeing double by then.

This week, I managed to cut off all distraction and read Before Night Falls. It was everything a good book should be.. traumatic, enlightening, and even through the depressing parts (believe me, there were plenty) you come out the other end wanting to do nothing more than enjoy life. Hard to not let the week's news affect me, though. Between the marriage situation in California, the Aung San Suu Kyi trial (and, duh, her over a decade long house arrest), and an article Jen sent me about Tiananmen Square (Chinese youth neither know much nor care about it), it's been tough retaining faith in the goodness of humanity. Thank ye gods the session went as well as it did. Day a time I guess (followed by a few glasses of wine).

Eh, while we're on about marriage equality, I'd like to throw out there that I've yet to hear one single logical argument against it. Not one.

Anyway..

Pretty pumped about our NYC show tomorrow night. Don't go there nearly as often as we used to or want to—even for pleasure— but hopefully this will change. Anything to make it up to NYC for kidnapping Annie back to Boston.

Off to take care some work. Be well, world; and please behave better next week, wine can get expensive.

Henry

In sleepy London town

Henry — Sat, 06 Jun 2009 11:52:00 +0000

With all the writing Jen and I have been doing lately, we didn't get out a whole lot this week. However, we did manage to get out on Wednesday to see Ryan Lee at the Middle East Up. First time in I can't remember how long that we've seen him perform with a band (Elio DeLuca, from Hallelujah the Hills was on guitar, keys, and a fucking harmonium! — Dan Daskivich on drums).

The NYC show (aka Annie's Last Blast) was insanely awesome. Got to chat with a lot of friends we hadn't seen in a while, or enough of. Something very frenetic about our set that I really enjoyed. One of my pedals even stopped working— usually a source of immense consternation— and it didn't even matter. I think that's the fun part for me about playing shows... the potential of a monumental fuck up derailing the entire show (this is also a recurring nightmare I have, no lie... I have problems). Opening up the show was a girl named Margaret, performing under the name Pezzettino. She normally has a backing band, but while she's on tour it's just her, her dad's accordion, and a hell of a lot of stomping. A little odd only at first, as accordions are, but her style was interesting and she had her act down pat. Super nice as well. Oddly enough, she would be playing in Boston the very next day.

Motion Picture reunion was fantastic, and it was great seeing our buddies up onstage again (he pointed out that our first show together was at Arlene's, which I'd forgotten). After the show, we went over to crash at Michael's place. Loading everything into the freight elevator, some biker started revving his engine as loudly as possible (keep in mind, it's nearly 3am), and apparently he's been doing this every other night during the week. Michael goes to confront the guy, who keeps saying saying his bike stalled. More residents from his building show up, also yelling. Biker's ace in the hole was to say we "must be from Long Island", which I took to be some kind of insult in New York or something. Who knows. I may have egged the biker on. In any case, one of the building residents finally had enough and kicked this guy's ass. Managed to give Mr. Biker a bloody nose even though he was wearing a helmet.

I don't condone violence, but when an entire building is sick of your obnoxious shit, you probably deserve it. Just sayin'.

Don't know why I woke up so early on a Saturday. It's not like I went to bed early or anything. Will probably do more writing and/or demoing today. It's funny how the Beatles Anthology starts making its way on our TV again when we get this way. Not even out of "oh-em-gee, we have to write the next Revolver" or some other misplaced musical enthusiasm; really, their work ethic just gets us going. Except for Let It Be, of course— who the hell thought that was a great idea? At least Phil Spector is finally going to jail for it. That is what his trial was about, wasn't it?

Bummer about David Carradine. What a way to go, eh? Rest in peace, grasshopper.

S'all I got for today. Should think about getting some breakfast in my belly.

Be well.

Henry

Shuffle Is On

Jen — Sun, 07 Jun 2009 13:16:00 +0000

Good morning. A rather rugged morning today, but I hear it's to be warm out... Hope it's nice where you are.

It was a writing and demoing race for Henry and I this week. Got the chance to demo two new songs on Monday and Tuesday. Friday we sat down for to write another tune and put the demo down before speeding off to practice. We're working out the sets for our upcoming Portland and Boston shows. The Portland one is free and Boston you should buy your tickets now: http://www.livenation.com/edp/eventId/407799. It really will be an honor to be playing the Paradise in July and joining our friends in the process.

With all that writing and rehearsing we worked up quite an appetite. Had dinner at Charley's on Newbury St with Aloud t-shirt printer helper and dear friend Dave Palmer. Joined up with recent Boston transplant and manager Annie Burns and her fella Chris (who directed the Julie video) last night for some fine dining. We went to John Harvard's and were happy to see our usual table vacant.

Going to see Doves tonight to get our live music fix and then to River Gods tomorrow for Annie's new night SEEN(un)SEEN. Drinking and music videos by your favorite local and not so local bands. I miss that MTV when they actually played videos too. Here's the inf: http://www.annierock.com/.

More writing to occur this week. Looking forward to it. We started working on another tune yesterday and did a quick live demo. Might end up working on that Tuesday.

Cheers,

Jen

PS. Saw the Metric video for Sick Muse and it is sick!

A message from Jen: last Spring, this Summer, and beyond

Webmaster — Wed, 10 Jun 2009 07:25:00 +0000

Hello Rock n Roll Advocates!

Lots to share with you this month. Most importantly, though, is this amazing show just around the corner. We are pleased to announce we will be opening up for WBCN Rumble winners The Luxury at the Paradise Rock Club on Saturday, July 11. The show marks the release of their second full length album, In The Wake Of What Won’t Change. If you have never seen a show at the Paradise, now is the time to check it out. This legendary stage has seen the likes of U2, The Police, Blondie, Elvis Costello and many more!

We’ll be on at 9PM sharp followed by Boston-n-Dublin rockers Midatlantic and The Click Five. This will be a must see event. This show is 18+. You can get your tickets now at the Paradise box office Mon-Sat from 12-6pm or online from Live Nation at www.LiveNation.com/edp/eventId/407799.

Portland, Aloud is headed back to your beautiful city! Friday, June 26 we will be at Slainte with Portland rockers Gully. This is a free show (21+) and we are thrilled to be back in a city we’ve missed over the last year.

Slainte is located right off of Monument Square on Preble St. This is our first time there, so please come by and say hello. The night promises to be fun and we finally get to bring Fan The Fury to Portland! Looking forward to seeing you all there.

Albany, we will be performing at Albany Riverfront Park as part of the Alive at Five Festival on July 23. This event is all ages and completely 100% free. Could it get any better? Yes! This is an outdoor show. Ah, I can just feel the sunshine on my face as I type. We take the stage at 5pm. Please mark your calendars and join us for a rocking evening.

Aside from this Henry and I are writing and plans are in the works for a Fall tour!

Below’s a wrap up of everything else we’ve been up to…

Cheers,
Jen

SPIN Earth features Julie
"While too many bands take themselves too seriously in their visual compliments, Aloud mixes it up with a little tongue-in-cheek creativity, face-painting frontman Henry Beguiristain and rocking out among a playful set of stars.

Click here to read more and watch the video.

Fan The Fury in Days Of Thunder
No we're not talking about the middling Tom Cruise movie, but the mountain bike competition in Europe, now in its second year. Both Aloud and Days of Thunder were featured on the Urban Outfitters blog.

Click here to watch the video.

Boston Band Crush hearts Aloud
Our friends at Boston Band Crush came by TT the Bears in Cambridge last week to see Aloud open for Von Iva and Sick Of Sarah.

Check out the video and photos here.

Vinyl District: First Date w Aloud
"You know how it is with first dates--very often they rely completely on happenstance and timing. There's simply no way around it. Fortunate we be then, to have Boston, Mass's Aloud right here--in DC..."

Click here to read all about Henry's love affair with LPs.

Pilgrims of Sound on Aloud
Aloud is... "a statement that through all the bells and whistles at work on music, the heart of American youth remains in the 4 piece, verse-chorus-verse, kids in their mom’s basement and under furbished practice space, rock and roll ideology."

Click here to read more.

The Wire praises Aloud in NH
"The four band members demonstrate striking chemistry onstage... The music is raw rock with a hard punk edge to certain tunes, all rooted around a classic Americana core."

Click here to read more.

Post & Courier features South Carolina show
"The brainchild of lead guitarist Henry Beguiristain and Jen de La Osa, the band combines two voices for triumphant harmonies. Individually, each singer brings something different to the table. De La Osa's deep, almost Joplin-like voice adds thickness to the songs, while Beguiristain's vocals steadies the John Lennon-inspired tracks."

Click here to read more.

Buy Fan The Fury
"...the hooks are bigger, the lyrics smarter, and the arrangements tighter." —Boston Phoenix

"Rock enthusiasts rejoice. An emerging new sound from Boston is helping make their mark in the scene." —Ryan's Smashing Life

Get the album:
www.allthingsaloud.com/store

Follow Aloud on Twitter
Follow Aloud in the studio, on the road, or just fooling around @aloudonline.

www.twitter.com/aloudonline

More like No Daddy

Henry — Sun, 21 Jun 2009 06:22:00 +0000

I really should blog more often than the once a week business. Maybe.

Wednesday we ventured out to TT's to catch The Motion Sick and Fatal Flaw. They were opening for Pansy Division, which I had to miss most of (unfortunately). It was a great show, as usual, and once again The Motion Sick goaded me into doing a little dance. Damn Konami code gets me every time. Got word that Pandora rejected MS's material for inclusion on their site, which— considering I've had to hit the skip button on Pandora more times than I'd like to— is absolutely ridiculous.

Thursday night we did some rehearsing for the Portland show (which will be followed by the— gasp!— Paradise show on the 11th). Sounding real good. You will get your money's worth.

Bit of a crisis on Friday. Website had to get taken down for a day. Thanks to Go Daddy's subpar security, someone hacked into the site last week. Because of this, we got indexed by Google as a malware site, which meant most browsers wouldn't let you see the site. Had to take the whole thing down then upload it again. Still having residual effect of Jen and I getting our Twitter accounts suspended because we have allthingsaloud.com listed as our site. Hope to get that fixed soon so I can get back to updating every five minutes about mundane things that annoy me. On that point, if you're considering getting web hosting, do not go with Go Daddy. They suck ass and we'll be taking our business elsewhere very shortly. Yes, they're cheap, but— to paraphrase Dana Carvey— you can't piss into Mr. Coffee and get Taster's Choice.

However, we managed to escape the madness Friday night and enter... more madness. Hit up the Pill to catch the New Collisions. They played a tight set, and watching Scott play the crap out of that guitar makes me miss my SG. I know I've said this at least 15 times in the last couple of months, but when I say "I saw people there I haven't seen in years," I really mean it. It was fun. Hell, the whole night was fucking fun; we were there till last call (which in Boston is 5pm.. har har har). Good things are happening in Boston these days, kids. Let's hope it sticks.

Spent most of today in Gloucester with Jen, Dave, and Martin. Had a monster breakfast at Aloud HQ before stepping out. Our friend Beca is participating in the yearly Pirate Faire they've got going on, and it was pretty fun. The shops they had were mostly of the medieval fare, but a few things stood out.

This is a hurdy gurdy.

This is a hurdy gurdy man.

For example, in the weapons shop, they sold fucking batarangs like the ones in the Chris Nolan flicks. Like real throwing knives. Considered buying one, if only to chop vegetables; or 500 to begin my crimefighting career (which would be tragically cut short, of course). The other thing was a tent with a bunch of odd musical instruments, including a hurdy gurdy. John, one of the dudes there, let me play the mandola he was carrying around. Thrilling. It's played exactly like a mandolin, except my fingers don't cramp up like bastards. (On that note, he's in a group called Ice Cream Social, playing All Asia on the 28th.)

Oh, and I totally saw Goth Pirates.

Got back, had some espresso, and watched a few episodes of Arrested Development. Show was so good. If you haven't seen it, you should see it (twice). It is the anti-reality TV.

Also just finished my mom's book a couple hours ago (my mom wrote a book). It's still in an unedited form (let's call it the chrysalis phase), even though it's mostly complete. Anyway, my mom's been working on this thing for four or five years now, and I'm pretty proud of her she's managed to get a book under her belt. She's pretty good at it, and it's something she's been wanting to do for a long, long time (I'm sure having me and my sister out of the house for a fair amount of years now made this process easier). Anyway, if you head over to Amazon and search Beguiristain (you know how to copy and paste, you lazy bastards!) it's the first two books there, called The Fly On The Wall. It's available in hardcover and paperback. She's donating a portion of the proceeds to the War On Autism™ till mid-August. Will post more info/name of actual charity when I have it.

Can't blog about the week without getting into Iran, eh? To say it's crazy shit would be the understatement of the year. Hopefully they can sort it out without any (more) bloodshed. It's a fucking travesty what that government's been doing to those people. Between media blackouts, repression of free speech, and a clearly rigged election, how can the government expect to be in the right on this one? And then they not only rig an election, but do it so poorly. ("A-plus?! You know a D turns into a B so easily. You just got greedy.") Anyway, I say bully for the Iranians. To not only take on their political system so vehemently, but to do it so peacefully (at least as far as I know right now) is pretty goddamn inspiring. We may be at odds politically, but I'll raise my glass to you folks. Stay safe out there, and good luck turning the tide.

Okie dokie, kids.. should probably get to bed. Busy day tomorrow, including some studio time. Happy Father's Day. Be good to yer pa's.

Henry

Currently watching:
Batman: The Animated Series (Vol. 3)

No one's gonna save you from the beast about strike

Henry — Fri, 26 Jun 2009 17:42:00 +0000

Solely because everyone seems to be talking about it, I wanted to avoid talking about it. However, as a fan of music in general and Motown, I'd be remiss not to dedicate a few lines to the late Michael Jackson.

I'm not a Jacko fan, per se. I don't own any of his albums (okay, I do have Thriller on vinyl). I could recite the lyrics to "Eat It" and "Fat" a thousand times before I could ever do the same to the originals. His megalomania creeped me out— in particular, that HIStory trailer with the Sovietesque motif and giant MJ statue was a WTF moment for me. And that Moonwalker video game for the Sega Genesis was terrible.

But my caveats aside, it can't be denied that this guy was a musical and entertainment capital-F Force for decades; it's my hope that his overall legacy overshadows the bizarre tabloid circus that became the final portion of his life. I remember growing up when his music videos were debuted on prime time network TV and, whether it was loved or hated, everyone would be talking about it the next day. The summer that HIStory was coming out, MTV was had some sort of 24/7 Jackson Marathon (you know, back when MTV and "music" weren't mutually exclusive). The documentary on the making of Thriller completely blew my mind. and in spite of it being easy to poke fun at his public persona, I could never say the man wasn't good at his craft. And let's not forget the Jackson 5 had some fucking awesome tunes, too.

I've been watching a few videos of him performing and it struck me that in every sense of the word, Michael was a performer. He could sing on key, dance unbelievably well, and— the kicker— he could do both at the same time. In the current world of Britney Spears, et al, lip synching their way through concerts so they can do some uninspired dance routines and cash a paycheck, I wonder if we'll ever see an entertainer of this caliber ever again.

God, I hope so.

Henry

(PS... about 8 minutes in = Money)

C.D. on Songs reviews "Hard Up In The 2000s"

Webmaster — Tue, 30 Jun 2009 18:48:00 +0000

C.D. Di Guardia reviews "Hard Up In The 2000s" (from Fan The Fury) on C.D. on Songs, over at Boston Band Crush.

If Neil Young had Mother Nature on the run in the 1970s, Jen de la Osa and Henry Beguiristain of Aloud provide an update of maybe not her status but their own in “Hard Up In The 2000s.” The drums and the chord progression plod ahead like a heart monitor as Doctor de la Osa gives her own prognosis on life in the current century.

Click here to read the rest:
http://www.bostonbandcrush.com/2009/06/feature-crush-cd-on-songs-63009.html

In the past, C.D. reviewed Leave Your Light On in 2006 and interviewed Aloud in 2007 for Performer Magazine.

Related Links
- Peformer Magazine spotlight: Aloud

It's been too long since I left the shed

Henry — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 15:35:00 +0000

Woke up late today, and I'm bummed about it. Didn't hear my alarm go off, and now I'm too close to lunch to in all good conscience have breakfast, but not close enough where I should have it now. Woe is me. Weather's been a total shitstorm, too. June was more like April/May. I mean, I enjoy thunderstorms, but this is ridiculous.

Took stock yesterday of where we're at with the writing and we've got nine tunes written so far. Still have a ways to go, but good to know we're making progress on that front. Finished up a track with Dan last week, too. This is the most exciting thing going on in my life right now. That, and having people over tomorrow for a big fuckoff Mario Kart/Goldeneye disastrothon. And the Paradise show, of course. That's huge.

On that note, The Luxury's got some new tracks up on their site. You should go check it out. I'm also not going to tell you to buy tickets to the Paradise show, because I know you already did this the first time I asked you. I trust you, Internet.

Gotta say, I'm still not feeling Kings of Leon. Need Somebody and Sex On Fire get stuck in my head regularly, but I don't like the songs very much. Doesn't really go anywhere, it's just the same thing repeated several times (granted, it's nothing but a goddamn hook that sinks in deep). Eh, I guess I've yet to be that compelled to buy their stuff. I liked The Bucket, even though it suffers from the same problem. Someone should teach those guys to write a middle eight.

Henry

Date & time change for Provincetown Rocks festival

Webmaster — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 21:38:00 +0000

Due to circustances beyond our control, Aloud's appearance at the Provincetown Rocks Festival has been moved ahead to July 22 at 10:30pm at Good Times.

For more information on the event and ticket packages, please visit the Underground Control ticket page.

Related Links
- Underground Control ticket page

I guess it looks as if you're reorganizing your records. What is this though? Chronological? Not alphabetical...

Henry — Mon, 06 Jul 2009 12:46:00 +0000

I was re-organizing my CD collection (which has become pitiful after years of moving and losing things), and found a ton of old cassettes buried in the mess. I spent the last two days giving some of them a cursory listen, and I was trapped in a time warp. I also forgot just how much Jen and I wrote for Fan The Fury. Don't particularly dig going backwards for songs on future recordings, but some of them might be worth bringing back from the grave. Totally forgot about this one unfinished tune with the working title "Take It Back" that survived as far as a handful of rehearsals and was that close to making on the album, but... I have no clue what happened, actually. There was another demo of an extra middle section in Hard Up In The 2000s that we thankfully scrapped. I think one of my favorite sequences on the tape is my first demo of You Got Me Wrong being immediately followed by Jen's demo of You Got Me Wrong with some verses.

This also begs the question "What the hell were you guys doing using a tape recorder after 2001?"

That's just Fan The Fury, though. There were loads of songs from as far back as 1998 recording in her parents' converted garage in Coral Gables. Nutso. I can't believe we're still doing this. But then again, I can. Because we're either monumentally awesome or monumentally stupid. Or fucking mental. (Probably a little from columns A, B, & C.) There was one from 2001 called Dance Real Slow which we did rehearse for a few months, possibly played life a few times, but stopped playing when we realized it was basically Late Last Nite. (In all fairness, Dance Real Slow was there first.)

Had rehearsal yesterday for the Paradise show on Saturday (HINT) and it's sounding great. Highlight of my day was getting two bags of chips from a vending machine after paying for one.

Good things happen to those who bang their fist on vending machines while yelling "You've got to be fucking kidding me!"

Henry

PS... Jen just emailed me an article that says coffee helps fight Alzheimer's. I'ma go fight my already fast-progressing mental deterioration.

Currently listening to:
The Sandbox
on WFNX

Date & time change for Provincetown Rocks festival (UPDATE #2)

Webmaster — Mon, 06 Jul 2009 18:55:00 +0000

Due to circustances beyond our control, Aloud's appearance at the Provincetown Rocks Festival has been moved again to July 24 as originally scheduled, headlining at 11:30pm. The new venue is The Governor Bradford. (This replaces the original venue, Good Times.)

Apologies for the inconvenience!

Aloud is also performing with Sounder, Shanghi Thrills, Scrapes, The Unfamiliars, The Killer Abs, Jay Allen, The Bad Lieutenants, The New Frustrations, and The New Albiis.

For more information on the event and ticket packages, please visit the Underground Control ticket page.

Related Links
- Underground Control ticket page

When The Ants Attack The Queen - live from The Paradise Rock Club

Webmaster — Mon, 13 Jul 2009 14:58:00 +0000

Courtesy of Sooz, here's video from Aloud's performance at The Paradise Rock Club for The Luxury's CD release show.

For more videos and photos from Sooz, visit her website at www.sooz.com.

Thank you, video, and a sandwich (in that order)

Henry — Mon, 13 Jul 2009 17:31:00 +0000

Just wanted to drop a quick thank you note to everyone that came out to see us at the Paradise this weekend. We had such a great time.. it was great to be among all of our friends, and we made many new ones as well. This show meant a lot to us personally, and from the bottom of our hearts: thanks for sharing it with us.

Our friend Sooz took some video for her site of us playing "When The Ants Attack The Queen". You can see that over here. There will probably be a flood of pics and video as well in the coming days, I'm sure.

I'd also like to extend congrats and a big hug to The Luxury for their CD release. They put a lot of work into getting this thing together. Salud! I saw the folks from Boston Band Crush taking some video of their set, so go check it out in a bit.

Alright, kids, gonna make some lunch. My stomach's making noises.

See you soon.

Henry

Members of Aloud participating in One Night Band

Webmaster — Tue, 14 Jul 2009 14:40:00 +0000

Jen and Henry will be performing at One Night Band on August 29th at the Middle East Downstairs.

The event is being presented by Boston music champions Boston Band Crush. According to the One Night Band website:

Inspired by the Rock Lottery, One Night Band is a creative experiment in which a selection of Boston musicians will be teamed up randomly in bands of five and given exactly one day to come up with a set to play that night. Each band must prepare three original songs and one cover for their set. The results could be anything: Unlikely musical matches made in heaven? Exquisite disasters? Come see what happens. Support local music!

Other participants in the event include members of The Luxury, The Lights Out, Brendan Boogie & the Best Intentions, The Diamond Mines, Muy Cansado, The New Alibis, Harry & the Potters, Static of the Gods, Tristan da Cunha, Apple Betty, The New Collisions, Sidewalk Driver, and many more!

Tickets are $10 in advance ($12 day of show) and may be purchased in person at the Middle East box office seven days a week from 1pm to 7pm (no service charges!). Tickets may also be purchased online at the One Night Band website (also without service charge!).

The show's proceeds will go to benefit Zumix, a youth music organization in East Boston.

For more information, visit www.onenightbandboston.com.

Boston Band Crush presents
One Night Band
Saturday, August 29th, 2009 / 9pm
The Middle East Downstairs
472-480 Massachusetts Ave, Cambridge, MA 02139
Tickets: $10 adv./$12 d.o.s.

Rock n' Roll Boston reviews the Paradise show

Webmaster — Wed, 15 Jul 2009 12:41:00 +0000

Liv Hauck of the blog Rock n' Roll Boston reviews Aloud's performance at the Paradise.

To read the review, click here:
See this band live: Aloud

Related Links
- Performing at the Paradise this summer
- Rock n' Roll Boston

It increases my paranoia

Henry — Mon, 20 Jul 2009 14:48:00 +0000

Finished the Geoff Emerick book last week and I'm well into my yearly Beatles kick. I found the mono mixes of Sgt. Pepper on YouTube (including Strawberry Fields and Penny Lane) and they sound incredible. Having been deprived of the mono versions of these Beatles records most of my life leads me to the conclusion that I've been cheated. At a bit of a loss over what to read next because I could easily devour 15 more books on the Beatles, but I don't want to do that. Instead, I've moved onto Christopher Hitchens' short-ish bio on Thomas Jefferson before I plan my next move. I still have a stack of books on my desk that I really need to get through by the end of the year. Or else I'll have to finish them next year.

Finally got a haircut on Friday. It's been a wild year and a half. It's just too goddamn hot for long hair.

Jen and I finished up an interview yesterday with the folks at Serve The Song. I enjoyed it, because from the questions they were asking you could tell they did their homework on us. I like answering interesting questions. They'll probably post it on their site sometime in the next week or two.

In the meantime, we're gearing up for the two festival shows this week (Albany and Provincetown). Albany's going to be an outdoor thing— we haven't done many of those and it's exciting because it'll give me an excuse to wear sunglasses without feeling like a douchebag. Let's hope it doesn't rain, eh?

Anyone else getting into the 40th anniversary of the moon landing? As a kid, I used to watch a lot of shit about space and I love it. I've been looking up videos and things all weekend on the moon. Most notably, the Mythbusters episode debunking the conspiracy theories is money (it's all up on YouTube if you search for it). Just makes me wonder why the hell we stopped going after six successful attempts.

Anyhow, it's simultaneously made me realize how kickass the Earth is and that most of our leaders these days are jellyfish. Honestly, it's kinda hard to believe that taking care of our own and keeping the planet clean is so hard to pull off when 40 years ago we sent three guys in a tin can to the fucking moon using computers that had 0.1% of the processing power and 0.00005% of the memory of what I'm using to write this.

Maybe that's why we need to dive into the space game again... perspective.

Henry

Currently listening to:
Déjà Vu
by Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young

Time change for Provincetown Rocks festival (UPDATE #3)

Webmaster — Tue, 21 Jul 2009 16:38:00 +0000

Hello folks, many apologies for the constant changes on this. We've just heard from the festival organizers that Aloud's set time is now 10:45pm, and is no longer at the original 11:45pm.

The performance is still scheduled for July 24 at The Governor Bradford. This has not changed.

Aloud is also performing with Sounder, Shanghi Thrills, Scrapes, The Unfamiliars, The Killer Abs, Jay Allen, The Bad Lieutenants, The New Frustrations, and The New Albiis (lineup subject to change).

For more information on the event and ticket packages, please visit the Underground Control ticket page.

Related Links
- Underground Control ticket page

And you call them steamed hams despite the fact that they are obviously grilled

Henry — Fri, 24 Jul 2009 14:57:00 +0000

Sweet show yesterday, definitely one of the stranger locales we've played. We were originally supposed to play at the Riverfront Park, but it got moved to their rain site under the 787 overpass (it didn't rain). Sounds weird, but it was kind of awesome. Big stage, and there were at least a thousand people there (probably more). Even had catering backstage! The only downer was the acoustics of the overpass... there was lots of slapback echo that made it a little difficult at times, but we managed to get through it. The whole thing was pretty wild. The whole staff was supremely nice. Even found out the dude doing the monitor mixes, Adam, lived near our hood in Mass for a whole year and even went to school in Orlando. It's a small world after all.

Also bumped into our friend Pat, who'd recognized the tunes and popped by. Really good chatting to him. Hadn't seen him since we played Saratoga Springs back in 2007 and he let us crash at this house.

It was fun playing with Ryan again (hadn't played with him since Arlene's back in May). His band, Keeping Riley, just got signed recently and they've been writing a new record, and Travis (on loan from The Motion Sick) was terrific. We were opening for an Eagles cover band who, despite my slight distaste for the Eagles, were actually really good. I think they actually do this for a living, so they have to be that tight.

Have to run out the door in a bit, so gotta cut it short. Playing Provincetown Rocks Festival today. We'll see how that goes. Haven't seen any terrible rumors swirling around since it started on Wednesday, so perhaps it's a good sign that all's going well on the Cape.

Henry

PS: Here are some phone pics from Albany. Annie took a bunch of the show itself, so we'll probably have those up soon.

Cape Cod National Seahorse

Henry — Mon, 27 Jul 2009 10:39:00 +0000

On Rob's recommendation I've been watching Californication and it's one of the best goddamn shows I've seen in a while. If you've got Netflix, check it out (it's under the Watch Instantly section). Hilarious and well-written. Also (finally) saw Wet Hot American Summer on Tim's suggestion and it's every bit as milk-out-your-nose funny as he said it would be.

Heading on vacation at the end of this week and I'm looking forward to it so hard. Can't remember the last time I've been on vacation, really. Heading down south to the beach (New England, you know I love you, but a beach where I can't wade in the water without fearing hypothermia is not a beach).

Speaking of beach, we were in Provincetown this past Friday to play at the Provincetown Rocks festival. It was... interesting. Definitely memorable. The foot and bike traffic on Commercial St. was obnoxious. The earlier part of the day was probably best. We got to the venue and apparently six bands were no longer performing (it turned out to be five, only). It looked like, once again, our set time was in question. The staff was terribly nice, but I'm not sure if they knew what was going on any more than we did. It was still early, though, and we had time to kill before the scheduled meet & greet, so we wandered around Provincetown for a bit. I'd never been before, and it's a nice place. Reminds me a lot of Key West, actually (I talked to Daanen from The Luxury, and he said it reminded him of Door County in Wisconsin). Had some grub at Twisted Sisters. The folks from Sidewalk Driver were playing in the streets, and we said hi. We also bumped into Matty King from The Lights Out; he informed us that the scheduled meet & greet was no longer happening, which explains why the people at The Surf had no idea what the hell we were talking about. We headed to The Surf anyway to grab a few beers.

Once we returned to the venue things got a little weird. Whole thing felt disorganized, and the backline that was supposed to minimize the changeover between sets did no such thing. One of the amps was constantly on the fritz (a problem that dogged us when we were trying to get through our set). The sound guy, nice as he was, was having issues with volume the entire night. I wasn't sure what the point of micing up anything other than the bass drum and vocals was... they had a huge board, but only two speakers that were very much on the small side, and the room isn't all that big anyway. Sound guy spent half the set trying to get a handle on sound. To add insult to injury, some drunk woman spilled beer all over my pants and twice nearly knocked over gear (thankfully, I was there to catch it both times). Oh, and my favorite pair of sunglasses were stepped on; and the tap tempo for my delay pedal was mysteriously busted (both cheap enough to replace, but still...). Worse yet, the first band's cymbals mysteriously took a walk. Not sure if they were able to find them, but people swiping shit that doesn't belong to them makes my blood boil. I hope they found them. On the bright side, we seem to thrive on chaos and played a particularly frenetic set, like something out of 2004. The guys from The Lights Out and The Luxury showed up and I felt that really turned things around for us and made it all really fun again. The New Alibis played a terrific set afterward. Definitely slayed the bad vibe that began to pervade the evening. Plus, Travis bought me a whiskey that soothed my frayed nerves.

All said and done, my take is that despite good intentions Provincetown Rocks was neither the colossal failure nor the epic success that had been forecast. It was a bunch of shows at a bunch of venues in Provincetown with varying degrees of success. Some of the venues weren't even collecting cover— which, coupled with the constant schedule changes, is pretty galling considering there were people who paid anywhere between $30 - $100 to go to these shows.

These last two shows were definitely an adventure, though. Big thanks to Travis from The Motion Sick for stepping in on drums (we had an everlovin' ball playing with you, dude); and Ryan, a pleasure as always, broheeeeem. Having a fluid lineup sucks in many, many, many ways— enough to swear by Lothar's Hammer that this is strictly a temporary situation— but both Jen and I are eternally grateful that we have such utterly amazing friends helping us out through it all (to say nothing of the immense support we've been receiving from everyone else, including, of course, our manager Annie the Wonder Woman). The experience has been simultaneously humbling and heartening, and in one of the universe's strange paradoxes we've actually been able to accomplish more than we have in a long time. It's been years since I've had this much fun.

Jen and I met up with Jon and Ryan for dinner yesterday. It was sort of a sweet "get the band back together" moment. Hadn't played together since Arlene's in May (and before that was the February tour, of course), and it might be a while before we seem them again. Jon's moving to NYC soon for his full time gig drumming for Morningwood, and Ryan's band Keeping Riley just got signed (as I mentioned in the last blog).

They grow up so fast.

Henry

PS.. Here's some vid from the earlier part of our day in Provincetown.

Performance at T.T. the Bear's, August 6

Webmaster — Tue, 28 Jul 2009 03:29:00 +0000

Hot off the heels of performing at The Paradise Rock Club, Aloud adds another show to the Boston area.

The band performs at T.T. the Bear's Place in Cambridge on August 6, with friends The Divorced, The Lights Out, and This Blue Heaven. Aloud is on at 9pm, so be sure to get there early!

Tickets may be purchased in advance at T.T. the Bear's Sunday - Monday between 7pm - 11pm, and Tuesday - Saturday from 6pm to midnight.

August 6, 9pm
T.T. the Bear's Place
10 Brookline Street, Cambridge, MA
18+ $8
performing with:
The Divorced (12am)
The Lights Out (11pm)
This Blue Heaven (10pm)

Aloud performing The Battle Of Love at T.T. The Bear's
May 12, 2009
Video courtesy of Boston Band Crush

Related Links
- T.T. the Bear's Place
- The Divorced
- The Lights Out
- This Blue Heaven
- Boston Band Crush

Never thought I'd be on a plane

Henry — Fri, 31 Jul 2009 02:18:00 +0000

Okay, I know I was going off the grid, but since I bitch about so much stuff I feel I should call people out when they're awesome.

Waitress at Boston Beerworks at the airport, literally four days older than me, was super cool. Yay Leos.

Flight attendant gave me extra drink, free of charge, because it's my birthday. Someone gave her the wrong drink—not a big deal at all—so she got me another free one cos she felt bad.

Moments like these, I forget how much humanity tends to tick me off sometimes. Maybe I should be more patient (can't rule it out, yea?).

Okay, vacation time. Will be incognito for next few days. Be well, friends. Love ya.

Henry's phone
(on a motherfuckin' plane)

Center Stage with Aloud - Part I (interview)

Webmaster — Mon, 03 Aug 2009 13:58:00 +0000

Serve The Song, a songwriting blog, recently interviewed Jen and Henry.

Jen and Henry discuss their songwriting process and their influences in the first part.

Click here to read it:
http://www.servethesong.net/center-stage-aloud-part-1/

Related Links
- Serve The Song

2009's CMJ Music Marathon to feature Aloud

Webmaster — Mon, 03 Aug 2009 18:51:00 +0000

Aloud has been selected to perform at the 2009 CMJ Music Marathon & Film Festival in New York this October.

The festival, now in its 29th year, will take place over five nights from October 20-24 in New York City. Aloud previously performed in the 2007 festival. To register to attend and for more information, visit CMJ's site for the festival at http://www.cmj.com/marathon.

More information on Aloud's performance will be posted when we get it!

Related Links
- A "CMJ Miracle" (Aloud news: 10/23/2007)
- CMJ Music Marathon & Film Festival 2009

Center Stage with Aloud - Part II (interview)

Webmaster — Wed, 05 Aug 2009 13:57:00 +0000

Serve The Song has just posted the second part of their interview with Henry & Jen.

In this part of the interview, the two discuss their recording process, the making of the Julie video, social networking, and balancing the business side with the creative.

To read it, click here:
http://www.servethesong.net/center-stage-aloud-part-2/

If you missed part 1, click here to read it:
http://www.servethesong.net/center-stage-aloud-part-1/

Related Posts
- Center Stage with Aloud - Part I (interview)

Grandma gets a pardon cos she's awesome

Henry — Wed, 05 Aug 2009 21:11:00 +0000

Picture uploaded after the fact from
Henry's shitty phone camera.

Hanging out in Fenway with Jen, killing time before the McCartney show. Crossword puzzle giving me trouble, and now that I know I can post from my phone you cannot escape me. I've also ingested way too much coffee for one day, unless you believe all the medical studies that state I'm actually fighting Alzheimer's.

Probably mentioned this before (or not, I have no way of checking), but with this ticket I correct a grave error committed circa 20 years ago. McCartney was on that bigass world tour and my mom, being the responsible adult she is, bought tickets. Concert happened to land on Easter Sunday, which did not please grandma (or so the legend goes), and she convinced me to not go. This part gets murky, because if I were in my mom's shoes I'd go all unilateral action on this bullshit and take me anyway. So it goes.

Anyway, my parents went without me—I think they took my godmother in my stead—and I was rewarded with no memories of that Easter.

Maybe this is why I no longer celebrate it. Either way, one wrong will be righted today.

Now all that's left to do is murder the Easter Bunny.

Seriously, I'm coming for you and your box of Trix, asshole.

Henry's phone

Pics posted from session for Zumix single

Webmaster — Sun, 09 Aug 2009 13:53:00 +0000

Aloud stepped into the studio yesterday to record a single for Zumix, a youth music organization (pics below). The session was set up at the Center for Digital Imaging Arts in connection with the upcoming One Night Band event, whose proceeds will go to benefit Zumix.

Zumix's mission is to empower youth, who use music to make strong positive change in their lives, their communities, and the world.

Don't forget that Jen and Henry will be participating in One Night Band on August 29th at the Middle East Downstairs! If you haven't gotten your tickets, head over to www.onenightbandboston.com to get them now!

Related Links
- Aloud on Flickr: In The Studio 2009
- Members of Aloud participating in One Night Band (Aloud news: 7/14/09)
- One Night Band
- Zumix

And then there was silence

Henry — Wed, 12 Aug 2009 04:08:00 +0000

You know that page that says "You have reached the end of the internet"? Well, we have reached the end of WBCN. Listened to Bradley Jay, Juanita, and Oedipus spin the records they wanted to spin. Juanita even played a Sinatra tune that was incredibly appropriate. It was sad. It's also maddening. If anyone wants more proof that corporate culture kills art, then there you have it. It's this same idiot mentality that allows the evisceration of funding for music and the arts in schools.

So here lies WBCN, another institution sacrificed at the altar of a few more bucks. Boston needs another sports talk station like McG needs to direct another... anything.

Anyway, I'll end with this.

Boston: you've allowed a part of the city's soul to be taken away. Leslie Moonves: I hope Dan Rather wins his lawsuit, you dick.

Vaya con dios.

Henry

Currently listening to:
Shine On You Crazy Diamond
by Pink Floyd

Skawesomest Skaloud show skever

Henry — Sat, 15 Aug 2009 04:36:00 +0000

Driving back from Burlington right now. Got hit with monster traffic on the way and unfortunately skarrived over an hour late. Frank, the guy at 242 Main was totally cool skabout it though. It was an all ages show, and there were a ton of high school kids there, including the bands. I wish there were more all ages shows skavailable to us in general. I was 16 once, too.

Rob's camping up here for the weekend, so he just met us at the venue. No doubt he's got a great view of the stars out in the Vermont wilderness.

Don't know how we got through the set without monitors on stage, but we hardly noticed. Strange skafter the fact. It was also humid enough in there to make the devil himself sweat. My guitar's fretboard was essentially a Slip n' Slide. Everyone was hanging skaround outside between sets just to cool off. Everyone skalways came back inside to watch us and the other bands, which is skalways greatly skappreciated miles from home.

I was manning the merch table after our set and some weird old guy kept coming skaround—at least three times—and took a look at the skAloud panties. First I thought he was just giving the merch table the courtesy pass ("I didn't see you play, nor do I have any intention of buying anything, but I will look at your wares, gypsies, because I feel bad.") But he kept returning to leer at the panties. I'm suprised he didn't steal them and make a break for it.

Had dinner skafterward a few blocks down at a place called Ali Baba, recommended by Matt. It was messy, but well worth it (I had the Chicken Curry Pita). We ate in the van, parked outside. There was a homeless guy strumming a guitar. Someone skapproached him and said they'd give him $20 if he could borrow his guitar. Didn't witness the end of that transaction, but I did see Old Panties McGee pass by skagain.

All in all, good times were had. Thanks for coming out everyone.

Henry's phone

I want taste buds

Henry — Mon, 24 Aug 2009 13:40:00 +0000

Friday we did a marathon session at Dan's to record a new tune. Slow going for the first couple of hours, but once we broke for lunch we got our bearings and were able to churn out something pretty special. We're going back in tomorrow to add a few finishing touches, maybe some drums, but we got a lot done on Friday. Was even able to add a slide guitar part to it, which I've been dying to do since we recorded Wouldn't It Be Sweet years ago (bafflingly enough, WIBS is still the song on iTunes that has sold the most for us). It was hotter than hell, though. No AC, and we had to keep the fans off while recording. We were soaked. After a while, the isolation booth reminded me more of a solar oven.

(You're probably wondering what we're doing with all this recording. So are we.)

Patriot Place on Saturday was supremely hot, but I enjoyed doing an outdoor thing. Like I've said before, we don't get very many legitimate excuses to wear sunglasses on stage. Have also been fortunate enough to be meeting so many awesome people. Robyn, who asked us to play, was great and had an excellent knowledge of local music. We were treated very, very well. Funny enough, the way the place is set up, the music bounces off a building in the mall and directly hits some woman's house miles away. We had to turn the amps around to diffuse the sound and not bother this poor woman.

Am simultaneously frightened by and looking forward to One Night Band this Saturday. Should be fun and/or horrible.

Henry

Teaparty Boston interview and today's press roundup

Webmaster — Fri, 28 Aug 2009 17:13:00 +0000

After soundcheck at TT's earlier in the month, Henry and Jen sat down with the ladies of Teaparty Boston for an interview. The in-depth and spirited interview included a brief history of the band, some hometown trash talk, new music, and tattoos.

Click here to read:
The Search for White Jeans and Other Adventures with Aloud

Today's press round-up also includes mentions in The Metro for One Night Band as well as a review for Sometimes I Feel Like A Vampire on Boston Band Crush.

Related Links
- Performance at T.T. the Bear's, August 6 (Aloud news: 07/27/09)
- Members of Aloud participating in One Night Band (Aloud news: 7/14/09)
- C.D. on Songs reviews "Hard Up In The 2000s" (Aloud news: 06/30/09)
- Teaparty Boston
- Boston Band Crush
- One Night Band

It's a movie

Henry — Sat, 29 Aug 2009 11:29:00 +0000

It's a day I've been both excitedly anticipating and dreading: One Night Band. I was up late last night thinking of song ideas and then quashing them quickly (sue me for trying to be prepared). Actually, I was up late last night wathching The Holy Mountain with Hugh, Jen, Dave, and a bottle of Don Julio. But that is neither here nor there. The point is I'll probably just bring a mandolin to this thing and hope for the best.

Saw bits of the Ted Kennedy memorial last night. It was sad. You could tell everyone who spoke had such a large degree of genuine respect for the guy. I don't think there was much posturing. You don't see that a lot these days. Dude clearly made mistakes in his past, but regardless Teddy deserves the praise he's receiving. Ronald Reagan didn't even do a quarter of the good that Teddy did and old Ronnie's practically a political saint these days; least we could do is honor Ted's service and life.

Word is Oasis may be splitting up for good. Bummer. We'll see how long that lasts.

Henry and Jen on WTSR's Capital Garage tonight

Webmaster — Wed, 02 Sep 2009 11:15:00 +0000

Tune in tonight to 91.3 FM WTSR's Capital Garage. Host Randy Now will interview Henry and Jen at 8pm tonight to talk about their upcoming return to Philadelphia.

If you're in the area, you can tune in at 91.3FM, or listen live by going to www.wtsr.org.

Related Links
- WTSR

Back to School

Webmaster — Fri, 11 Sep 2009 18:24:00 +0000

Boston Band Crush is at it again with What's Your Major?, two nights of music and comedy beginning on September 18.

Both nights feature the comedy of Tim McIntire, Sean Sullivan, Ken Reid, Nate Johnson, and Maria Ciampa.

Tuition is $10 per night or $15 for a two-night pass. Purchasing a two-night pass is recommended—the bands are fantastic, and you'll save money (and avoid ticket fees!).

Aloud headlines September 19.

Church
69 Kilmarnock Street, Boston, MA 02215
$10 per night/$15 two-night pass

Full schedule and lineup:

Friday September 18:
The Great Bandini
The Motion Sick
One Happy Island
The Future Everybody
Sarianna and the Swell (CT)

Saturday September 19:
Aloud
Brendan Boogie & The Best Intentions
The Blizzard of '78
VulGarrity (RI)
The Grownup Noise

Related Links
- Boston Band Crush
- Church
- What's Your Major? Facebook event page

Joe Wilson made me late for Glasvegas

Henry — Mon, 14 Sep 2009 04:20:00 +0000

Action packed weekend. Friday (after a day spent watching Spinal Tap once again), Jen and I went to the Glasvegas/Kings of Leon concert, accompanied by our friends Beca and Martin. Got there in time to catch the last 2½ songs (bummer). Concert was out at the Comcast Tweeter Great Woods whatever the fuck it's called now amphitheater. We were two rows behind the covered section of the place and got royally pissed on by the gods (leading me to ponder why it's so difficult to cover up the rest of the seats). Anyway, Kings of Leon was fun enough, put on a good show, and I don't hate them, but I can say—after much deliberation—they just don't do it for me. I dug a few of their tunes, and there were some really great moments; but most of their songs get tiresome and don't really go anywhere. Sorry, guys. I tried. I really did. (Maybe if you let us open for you on your next tour or something I'll reconsider my stance.) Don't mean to sound sour or anything, the evening was fun. A personal highlight for me was the high school kids to my left singing every word. They were so into it. Stuff like that makes me smile. Things that don't make me smile: waiting an hour and a half in the parking lot before we can even move the fucking car.

Saturday, we had another session at Dan's to finish up the tune we started on Labor Day (drums and vocals). We did a whole rewrite of the lyrics on Thursday and it worked out splendidly. A lot of work on Friday, it was a good eight hour session, but it was fun work. We tried out a lot of harmonies and things at the end of the day, but we were still in a giggle over Spinal Tap (notably, that scene where they're at Elvis' grave and trying to harmonize on Heartbreak Hotel). After dinner, we headed out with Annie and Chris to Charles' house (enter Charles Murphy: onetime bassist for Pyotr/Verre who is accompanying us for our tour in a few months). He was having a "milkshake party", which is exactly what it sounds like: people come and hang out while he makes milkshakes. It was fun, and I had a Dr. Pepper for the first time (...with whiskey). His roommate, Joe (and member of Finisher) was awesome and we shot the shit for a while about the new Beatles remasters.

Case in point, listened to the White Album in remastered mono today... I will never be able to listen to the stereo version again. It's not even (necessarily) an audiophile fetish thing, the mixes are just better. Looking forward to the mono box set arriving at Aloud HQ in the mail...

Chilled out today for the most part. Saw the final episode for King of the Hill. It's a shame, but better to burn out.. etc. etc. Guess Fox just had to make room for a third Seth MacFarlane vehicle [this is where I roll my eyes].

With that, friends, I bid you good evening as I saliently pat myself on the back for having ignored the VMAs another year.

Henry

Zinc lozenges died for my sins

Henry — Sat, 19 Sep 2009 15:40:00 +0000

I have a mustache. It's made of bacon.

There are few things as tormenting as having a cold on the day of a show, but here I am, in my own hell at the snotty end of a cold on the day of a show.

At least (I think) I'll be able to sing tonight. As always, these zinc lozenges have been a source of fortune. Things could be much worse.

Thursday night we headed out to the Factory Theatre down by Copley to catch a our friend Crystal in a performance of Neil Simon's The Gingerbread Lady and she was absolutely brilliant. (I believe this was Happy Medium Theatre's first full production.) We'd seen Crystal several times before, but this was the first time we'd seen her in a central role—or starring, if you will—and it was one of those moments you realize that you have really, really talented friends. Our buddy Michael Fisher also had a role in the play (pivotal, but shorter than we would have liked), and he pulled it off magically. Hell, the entire cast was great. I'm still shaken by the show. If you haven't had a chance to see it, there's a showing tonight at 8pm (eww, awkward scheduling conflict) and another tomorrow at 3pm. After that, you're shit out of luck, son.

Anyway, I've got some more tea to mainline before the show tonight. I'll see you there. Or else I will find you. And then I will sneeze on you.

Henry

Aloud CMJ performance venue, date, and time

Webmaster — Tue, 22 Sep 2009 22:05:00 +0000

Aloud will be performing at Glasslands Gallery in Brooklyn (Williamsburg) on October 21, 2009 at 8pm SHARP as part of the 2009 CMJ Music Marathon & Film Festival.

Cover charge, line-up, and additional details will be released when they're available.

For more information on the festival, visit www.cmj.com/marathon and

Aloud @ CMJ 09
October 21, 2009 // 8pm SHARP
Glasslands Gallery
289 Kent Street, Brooklyn, NY 11211
http://www.glasslands.com/

Related Links
- 2009's CMJ Music Marathon to feature Aloud (Aloud news: 08/03/2009)
- A "CMJ Miracle" (Aloud news: 10/23/2007)
- CMJ 2009 Music Marathon & Film Festival
- Glasslands Gallery

Aloud's Rock Tour of Boston #1 on SPIN Earth

Webmaster — Sat, 26 Sep 2009 21:40:00 +0000

Aloud front-people Jen de la Osa and Henry Beguiristain take a venue-by-venue tour of Boston, checking out local bands and interviewing musicians, promoters, and scenesters about what makes the Boston music scene unique.

This episode features rock ambassadors Henry & Jen visiting TT The Bear's, in Central Square, Cambridge, MA. Local artists The Motion Sick and Fatal Flaw perform. Jen and Henry interview members of both bands and blogger Ryan Spaulding (of ryanssmashinglife.com).

See full report...

Related Links
- The Motion Sick
- The Fatal Flaw
- Ryan's Smashing Life
- Feature in SPIN Earth (Aloud news: 03/02/2009)
- SPIN Earth

Now I am up in arms again

Henry — Sun, 04 Oct 2009 06:34:00 +0000

On the way back from TT's right now. Show was fucking awesome. Our first show with Charles and Tommy backing us, and they performed admirably. Debuted a new song, Exile in the Night. Hopefully I didn't fuck it up too much.

Really enjoyed The Motion Sick's new stuff a lot, and Sidewalk Driver is fucking amazing. Can't wait to give their new album a listen. Played pool later with some dudes named James and Brendan along with Travis and... well Matt wasn't actually playing pool, but he was yelling when shots were made, so I'll allow it. (Travis won.)

Had a great convo with Jim from Mercy James Gang as well about Beatles mono mixes (and other such awesomery). It was a good conversation I really enjoyed.

Will leave you all now. Typing on not-a-smartphone does not get less annoying with time.

In a bit.

Henry's phone

Listening to:
The Colour and the Shape
by The Foo Fighters

Live blogging DJ set for You Got Me Wrong video release

Henry — Mon, 05 Oct 2009 04:10:00 +0000

(Times are totally approximate)

12:05am
End of night. Thanks to everyone for coming by!

11:15pm - 12:05am
DJ set 5 (Henry):

(Henry and Jen throw caution to the wind and play four new Aloud songs.)
Rain — The Beatles (by request)
Helter Skelter (mono) — The Beatles
Ultra Violet (Light My Way) — U2
Kids — MGMT
Honey Pie (by request) — The Beatles
1234 — Feist
In the Backseat — The Arcade Fire

11:10pm
Rock Tour Episode #2 f. The Pill, The New Collisions

10:47pm - 11:10pm
DJ set 4 (Jen):
Parklife — Blur
Son of Sam — Elliot Smith
Twist and Shout — The Beatles
Success — Iggy Pop
Lola — The Kinks
Club Foot — Kasabian
The Heinrich Maneuver — Interpol

10:45pm
Encore showing of "You Got Me Wrong" video.

10:30pm-10:45pm
DJ set 3 (cont'd)
I Feel it All — Feist
You Don't Really Love Me — Cyanide Valentine
The Bridge I Burned — Elvis Costello
Tonight I'll Be Staying Here With You — Bob Dylan

10:30pm
Raffle fail x2!

10:20pm
Rock Tour Episode #4 show, f. The Luxury and Aloud

10:00pm
DJ set 3 (Henry):

No Matter What — Badfinger
Walls (Circus) — Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers
(Henry surreptitiously plays an early mix of a new Aloud song. Nobody notices, and he laughs.)

9:45pm
Rock Tour Episode #1 shown, f. The Motion Sick, Fatal Flaw, Ryan's Smashing Life

9:05pm-9:40pm
DJ set 2 (Jen):

Taxman — The Beatles
Pump It Up — Elvis Costello
Suffragette City — David Bowie
Layla — Derek & the Dominoes
Bang Bang, You're Dead — Dirty Pretty Things
Once in a Lifetime — Talking Heads
The World Has Turned and Left Me Here — Weezer
Spanish Bombs — The Clash
Maps — Yeah Yeah Yeahs
Reptilia — The Strokes
Geraldine — Glasvegas
Herculean — The Good, The Bad, and The Queen

9:00pm
"You Got Me Wrong" video premiere

8:00pm - 9:00pm
DJ set 1 (Henry):

This is Radio Clash — The Clash
Break Me Gently — Doves
I Believe (When I Fall in Love It Will Be Forever) — Stevie Wonder
Fake Tales of San Francisco — Arctic Monkeys
Underdog — Kasabian
Aquaman's Lament — The Motion Sick
Kill To Know — Amy Miles
The Rat — Walkmen
Strange Apparition — Beck
Jukebox Queen — Baby Strange
Monkey Wrench — Foo Fighters
Keep the Car Running — Arcade Fire
Room Starts Spinning — Classic Ruins
Whole Wide World — Wreckless Eric
I Am The Atom Bomb (Atomic Age) — Bon Savants

You Got Me Wrong music video

Webmaster — Mon, 05 Oct 2009 13:23:00 +0000

The awaited music video for You Got Me Wrong has arrived! The video premiered last night at River Gods in Cambridge, MA (check out the Aloud blog for the live blog of the event!). Many thanks to Ryan Lee Crosby and the folks at River Gods for making this happen. Directed by Annie Burns, You Got Me Wrong also features Joe Abbott. Joe and his wife Renee were crucial for the sign language portion of the video and we want to extend our deepest appreciation and gratitude for their help! Just as crucial is the assistance of Chris March on this video. Thanks Chris! Without further ado...

Related Links - Aloud YouTube channel - Aloud - "You Got Me Wrong" live in Boston 11/18/2008 - Live blogging DJ set for You Got Me Wrong video release (Aloud blog: 10/5/09) - Music video for "Julie" available today (Aloud news: 1/14/09) - River Gods

The Improper: Rock Stars Rising

Webmaster — Wed, 07 Oct 2009 13:31:00 +0000

New York's The Improper has just posted a write-up and short interview with Aloud in advance of their appearance at the CMJ Marathon on October 21st. Click here to read the whole thing!

Related Links - Aloud CMJ performance venue, date, and time (Aloud news: 9/22/09) - 2009's CMJ Music Marathon to feature Aloud (Aloud news: 8/3/09) - The Improper - CMJ Music Marathon & Film Festival 2009

CMJ performance to include "Witness..." films

Webmaster — Tue, 13 Oct 2009 15:04:00 +0000

Aloud is happy to announce the films from last year's multimedia show I Just Want To Witness... will be appearing once again, during Aloud's CMJ performance next week. As with Witness..., the production will be directed by filmmaker Johnathan Carr. The films include contributions from Carr himself, as well as (Brooklyn's own) Erin Bowser, Kristin Osiecki, Chris March, and Timothy Scholl. (The Mike Pecci contribution, Capture Device, will unfortunately not be shown due to time constraints, but you may view the short film here. Intended for mature audiences.)

Henry and Jen will also be performing a rare acoustic set the next afternoon (10/22) at 3pm at the Rockwood Music Hall. This will be a free show!

Full information is below. (If you're on Facebook, please RSVP on the linked event pages and tell your friends to do the same!)

Wednesday, October 21st – 8PM SHARP
Aloud CMJ 2009 showcase
Glasslands Gallery
289 Kent Ave, Brooklyn, NY 11211 (map)
(L train to Bedford)
performing with: Darlings, Gold Streets, Hot Lava, Ribbons, Boogie Boarder
Facebook event page: http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=139453794050&ref=mf

Thursday, October 22nd – 3pm
Henry and Jen acoustic performance
Rockwood Music Hall
196 Allen Street, New York, NY 10002 (map)
21+ (FREE!)
Facebook event page: http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=152351299070

Related Links
- Aloud CMJ performance venue, date, and time (Aloud news: 9/22/2009)
- 2009's CMJ Music Marathon to feature Aloud (Aloud news: 8/3/2009)
- Aloud: "I Just Want To Witness..." stage show in Boston (Aloud news: 10/22/2008)
- Aloud: I Just Want To Witness... microsite
- Aloud on Facebook
- Glasslands Gallery
- Rockwood Music Hall
- Johnathan Carr
- Erin Bowser
- Mike Pecci
- Timothy Scholl

Why am I up right now?

Henry — Mon, 19 Oct 2009 10:44:00 +0000

Had a wonderful, busy weekend. Spent most of the day recording another new song with Dan on Friday. It's another tune that was floating around in some form since the writing session for Fan The Fury, but Jen and I never finished it for whatever reason. We gave it a new coat of paint and some new lyrics, and it's coming out very well. Hell, all the songs are coming out very well. We're even looking forward to whatever's going to come out after this.

We've got one (two?) more songs to go on this, hoping to wrap that up before we leave for tour. Have to find some time to work on some string arrangements before then. That's probably not going to happen.

Saturday, two really good friends of ours (finally!) tied the knot. I can be a heartless cynic when it comes to certain traditions, but the ceremony was very sweet and genuine (enough for me to keep inappropriate comments to a bare minimum). But yea, the whole thing was just fantastic. There was coffee, tea, and pastries. There were kilts. There was a Wall-E and Eva bride and groom on display. There were kilts. There were crying relatives. We were up partying at their place till five in the morning. Still gladly paying for it now, of course. Nothing but good wishes to Beca and Martin from Camp Aloud.

Could use a few days to rest up, but with CMJ and then the tour around the corner it doesn't look like that's happening. My body hurts.

Henry

TeaParty Boston reports from CMJ

Webmaster — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 17:45:00 +0000

The reports from CMJ are already beginning to trickle in! The ladies from TeaParty Boston were on hand yesterday for Henry and Jen's acoustic performance at the Rockwood Music Hall. Check out the links below to see pictures and a small write-up (as well as their reporting of other CMJ events and Boston bands they're covering). 3 Girls, 3 days, 75 venues, 4786823746283 bands: TeaParty Boston’s CMJ ‘09 TeaParty Boston on Flickr

Related Links - CMJ performance to include "Witness..." films (Aloud news: 10/13/09) - TeaParty Boston - CMJ Music Marathon - Rockwood Music Hall

Winter 2009 Tour begins in November

Webmaster — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 14:23:00 +0000

Photo: Johnathan Carr Enlarge

Aloud heads out again in November with a tour kickoff at The Enormous Room in Cambridge, MA on November 3rd at 9pm. Big Little Dance Party, presented by annie*rock, will also feature a set from Muy Cansado. Aloud and Muy Cansado will also be splitting DJ duties between sets. The latest leg of the Fan The Fury tour has the band revisiting some cities and debuting in others (Athens, New Orleans, and Little Rock, to name a few). Full information for Big Little Dance Party is listed below, as well as the list of tour dates. For more details on the tour dates, click here to see the Performances page. If you're on Facebook, be sure to check out Aloud's Facebook event pages for the tour and follow the band on Twitter at @aloudonline! November 3, 2009 / 9pm annie*rock presents: Big Little Dance Party at Enormous Room 569 Massachusetts Ave (above Central Kitchen), Cambridge, MA w. Aloud and Muy Cansado Fan The Fury Tour, Winter 2009 leg: Sun, 11/8 - Fayetteville, NC: Hot Topic at Cross Creek Mall – 3pm free acoustic in-store performance Sun, 11/8 - Fayetteville, NC: The Rock Shop (free, all ages) – 10pm Mon, 11/9 - Athens, GA: Caledonia Lounge – 9pm performing with The Great Society, B-Side Revolution Tue, 11/10 - Columbus, GA: SoHo Bar (free) – 10:30pm Thur, 11/12 - New Orleans, LA: Café Prytania – 9pm Fri, 11/13 - Baton Rouge, LA: Clicks performing with Barisal Guns Sat, 11/14 - Little Rock, AR: Sticky Fingerz – 9:30pm performing with The See, Magic Hassle Tue, 11/17 - Columbus, OH: Bernie's Distillery performing with Help Is On The Way, Keith Jenkins & The Moving Parts Wed, 11/18 - Pittsburgh, PA: Howler's Coyote Cafe Thur, 11/19 - Wilmington, DE: Mojo 13 Fri, 11/20 - Brooklyn, NY: Spike Hill (free) – 8pm performing with El Jezel

Final Fury: THE DREADED PROLOGUE

Henry — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 18:12:00 +0000

Photo in front of a brick wall? (Check)

T-minus one day before we hit the road. The tour kickoff kicked our ass, but in a way it was a good test run and further added to a check list of things to do (and not do).

Notably:

- Fix amp (or get new cables) to make sure amp doesn't stop working in the middle of Nero. (Check)
- Fix polarity on sustain pedal to make sure keyboard doesn't switch instruments in the middle of Backs To The Wall... or any other song. (Check)
- Don't step on cables in a fashion that will pull them out of their sockets mid-song (Check check)
- Don't slam your guitar two days before tour.

Been running around a lot this week and last to make sure everything's on the up and up before we depart. We spent this past weekend finishing up one track and recording another for our yet-to-be-named-yet-to-be-released-yet-to-be-announced record.

Only running on three hours worth of sleep yesterday (making the grand total for two days: six hours). Headed out for an interview for Performer Magazine with C.D. Di Guardia (who did our interview back in 2007). C.D.'s fun to talk to, and I appreciate it whenever the The Unholy Trinity is avoided: How did the band get together? What are your influences? Can you describe your sound? Talked a lot about the new recordings. Interviews are generally weird, but this was actually a lot of fun.

Following das interview we headed out to TT's to catch Dinosaur Feathers. We saw them a couple of weeks in Brooklyn at CMJ, total happenstance, but I thought they were great. Insane harmonies. They were a member short at this show, but still sounded great. It was also weird being out at TT's and not knowing anybody in the audience haha. It's been a while since that's happened.

Home at 12, checked email, then sleeeep. The end.

Soldering-Henry's-amp party tonight. Tomorrow we start driving to DC. Woooooooo.

Still haven't packed.

Please recommend music to listen to.

Henry

Final Fury: The thing is, bro, I'm driving right now

Henry — Sat, 07 Nov 2009 15:11:00 +0000

Breakfast?

Yesterday was a driving day, did the trip from Boston to DC. Would've been an eight hour trip if we didn't hit traffic twice. Charles brought up a series of topics that led to lengthy discussion:

- What's your favorite number?
- Billed or bill-less hats?
- Scuba diving or sky diving?

We crashed with Charles' bro and his wife, who are incredibly awesome and bought us dinner from this Turkish place called Rumi (the veggie mousakka was amazing). Charles' bro happens to work on the Hill and we had a really awesome, spirited discussion (particularly with regards to the whole health care thing, which will hopefully pass the House today).

Relatively short drive to Raleigh today to Casa de la Osa. Having Faux-Thanksgiving tonight. First couple of shows tomorrow in Fayetteville (in-store at a Hot Topic, then playing The Rock Shop).

Ugh... have to repack the van now.

Henry

Final Fury: Henry is BOTHERED

Henry — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 13:35:00 +0000

Had to do an in-store acoustic thing at a Hot Topic yesterday around 3pm. We literally had to perform in front of a fucking Twilight/New Moon display and when we had to play Sometimes I Feel Like A Vampire I very nearly threw up in my mouth. I have a big mouth and I make some crack about this. Don't think the 14 year old girl trying to buy a Robert Pattinson shirt appreciated it. Lest I seem like an ungrateful cur, the staff at Hot Topic was super helpful and incredibly nice to have us play there at all.

Karma has her way with me later.

Jen's folks have friends in Fayetteville who cooked us dinner. We decompressed a bit and they made us dinner. Gotta say, I think we may have a bit of luck on this tour in the home-cooked meal dept. Anyway, we arrived at The Rock Shop around 6:30, set up our gear. Start the sound check and—surprise—my amp isn't making any noise at all. After the Enormous Room show last week, we spent a whole evening check the amp out and it sounded fine. Now: nothing. A total FML moment. Once we exhausted most possibilities I gave the amp a good kick. Hope I didn't break my big toe. It's still pretty sore. I'm an idiot. Luckily, the sound guy had a Mesa Boogie cab lying around that got the job done. Don't know what I would've done.

The show itself was tremendous and not a bad way to properly start the tour. There weren't many people there, on account of it being a Sunday in Fayetteville, but the folks who were there were dancing up a storm. We had to extend the middle of Backs to do shots with them. It was that kinda night. The folks at The Rock Shop were awesome and I'd love to come back again some time. It's nice to be appreciated. (Also, everyone we talked to was a DJ, oddly enough.)

Hitting up Athens today. Going to search for a few repair shops to get the fucking amp fixed. We took another look and we think some of the tubes may have been damaged (a simple enough fix, I'm told).

Henry

Final Fury: Leg four is now The Adventure Tour

Henry — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 15:59:00 +0000

Two days behind on blogging already (booo) so I'll get to it.

Athens, GA
The drive from Fayetteville, NC (not to be confused with Fayetteville, GA—where we're currently staying with one of Jen's family friends) isn't terribly long, but we were probably in the van for two hours more than we needed to be. My amp was still dead and we needed to hit up a repair shop, stat. We found one in Lawrenceville, about an hour west of Athens. Along the way we saw a placed named "European Sports Bar & Grill", but their signage was on a US flag (there's no story there, we just thought it was really funny). We arrived around 3:30 at Gwinnett Music Store to see what the deal was. The circumstance sucked, but it's always pretty awesome whenever you get to stop by a music store on tour (Guitar Center, while useful at times, doesn't count). The folks there were awesome and were able to fix the problem fairly quickly. I expected the worst and was already eyeballing amps, but thankfully my amp just had a couple of burnt out tubes that needed to be replaced.

Arrived at Caledonia Lounge around 5:00pm and loaded in. The place reminded me of 2¢ Plain in St. Louis (which is sadly no longer there). Happy to find out from a few posters that Hallelujah the Hills will be playing there on Friday. We were still incredibly early so we took the time to wander around Athens a bit and grab some coffee. There was an early happy hour set by a band called Nutria. They had some pretty good songs. B-Side Revolution opened up at 10:15. They played a cover of Redhouse (Jimi is always okay in my book). Great Society closed up the night and were pretty brilliant. Some of the stuff was reminiscent of early U2 (in a very subtle way I can't explain), but it put a smile on my face. We met some people—Adrian and Ryan—who were great to talk to. Adrian and I talked about Halloween for a bit—my least favorite Hallmark Holiday, but the conversation was pleasant enough—and she thought about going as Nancy Spungen to a party. Ryan proved to me what a small world this is; he played with the guys from Violet Nine, and we talked about them for a while (all good things, I assure you).

Around 1:30 or so we moseyed down the street to a 24 hour diner simply named The Grill. I didn't have any of their milkshakes (tempted, but not necessary at one in the morning). While keeping a periodic eye on the van—and primarily the treasures within it—we riffed on Michael Stipe's motivations for wanting to break into our van. For whatever reason we all thought the trip to Fayetteville would be about an hour tops. Our dreams were shattered when we exited the establishment at 2:00am. We activated Jane (aka our GPS) and she told us we'd actually be arriving at 4:30. Needless to say, it was a long, rainy drive back and we all failed at staying awake to keep Tommy company.

Clocked out at 5:00am.

Columbus, GA (aka Adventure Day)
Jen and I had to wake up before noon for an interview with OffBeat Magazine in New Orleans. We spoke with Kyle for about twenty minutes and it went really well. Very pleasant and we had a good rapport going. As I've stated in the past, it's always a victory when you avoid the occasional necessary evil of the Unholy Trinity of interview questions: influences, band formation story, and describing your sound. I think the story should be up sometime today or tomorrow.

Columbus, GA (not to be confused with Columbus, OH, where we'll be next week) is only an hour and a half away. We basically ate shit most of the day. Jen's friend has a music room set up downstairs (guitars, bass, drums, and an organ with a leslie attached) so we messed around with stuff there for a bit. Would've liked to record a song or something, but it never came about. We were pretty tired anyway, and anything more involved than dicking around on an instrument would've been too much work. Actually, that's not entirely true. In a fit of extreme boredom, Charles and I started recording 30-second songs (which may or may not be thirty seconds) and were completely made up on the spot. Played Guitar Hero for a bit. Tommy and Charles kept trying to get through Slayer's Raining Blood.

We rolled out at 6. It was pissing down (remnants of the late Hurricane Ida). Thirty minutes into the hour and a half drive, we heard a funny noise. The passenger side wiper was clacking against the window. Nobody thought anything of this... until the wipers just cold stopped. We pulled over to the shoulder and we went outside to inspect what the fuck was going on with the wipers. Being on the side of a highway—cars and massive trucks zipping by at 70+ miles per hour less than two feet away from my person—was probably one of the most frightening moments of my life. Tommy and Charles managed to get the driver's side wiper to work at least, which was enough to get us to a Loves truck stop nearby. We got new wipers and replaced them. The bolt on the right wiper had come loose and just needed to be tightened. Still unexplained: the wipers now only work on High.

Surprisingly enough, we were still on time.

I never know what to expect exactly when a venue's name is suffixed by "Bar & Grill". People give a lot of latitude to the definition. For one thing, I don't think they served food there. The door guy, Donnie, was very nice and let us in through the back way. The store room was host to a variety of things, most notably a mountable plaque with a pair of rubber breasts. The room was smoky and the stage large. There was a quick and terse war of words between Jen and the sound guy. Without provocation he started teasing her in a pretty mean-spirited way—literally, two seconds after introducing himself. This was amicably resolved within fifteen minutes; the dude's been going through stuff in his personal life not worth getting into and he apologized.

After the show we talked to a few people. Our last time in Columbus—when we played at The Loft—was a markedly different experience. This time there was a shroud of sadness over the city that was impossible to escape. Everyone we spoke to wanted to be somewhere other than Columbus. One guy was at the tail end of his marriage, waiting for the big old divorce train to hit him. One other guy we spoke to, Will, was buying us shots in honor of his friend who just got shot at Fort Hood. Still alive, thankfully, but she got popped twice in the chest. It wasn't all sad, though. Some dude named Sed was talking to us for a while and offered his services as our road dog (and if we could fit ourselves in the van, we may have taken him up on his offer). I talked to a guy named Billy. He was recently up in Massachusetts and we were talking about music for a good long while. It was good.

Heard some interesting songs on the jukebox (terrible, yes; but interesting). One was about crashing your girl's car because she just dumped you. I looked that one up today, but I can't be bothered to remember. The other had lines that would make Edward Blake and Dylan Thomas blush ("I'm a vegetarian/I'm not fucking scared of you" and "Shush, girl, don't move your lips/Do the Helen Keller and talk with your hips"). I think this group is called 3Oh!3. 303 is the area code for Denver, and they're apparently from Boulder. Boo.

On the way back to Fayetteville, we stopped off the highway for some food (but not before exploring the most massive Burger King any of us had ever seen... will post vid later). There was a choice before us: Dunkin Donuts (not ideal, but acceptable) and Waffle House (DANGER WILL ROBINSON DANGER). Everyone wanted to do Waffle House; Jen had never been and agreed—if only for the life experience.

It was a regretful decision.

Driving day. Passing through Alabama for the first time in my life. Crashing in Pass Christian, Mississippi before hitting New Orleans tomorrow.

Henry

Final Fury: Long before the Superdome, where the Saints of football play

Henry — Sat, 14 Nov 2009 02:18:00 +0000

Wednesday was a driving day. Traveled from Fayetteville, GA to Pass Christian, MS (where Charles' aunt was kind enough to allow us to stay). It was my first time passing through Alabama and Mississippi and it was actually quite nice. I'm not exactly sure what I was expecting. Ate cheese sandwiches pretty much the whole day, and when we arrived we were then able to make grilled cheese sandwiches. Eatin' like kings now. Also crossed into Central Standard Time. Always fun. We stayed up into the night bullshitting before heading to bed.

Slept in yesterday and spent most of the day hanging about the house, eating more cheese sandwiches. We took a trip through town. We got stuck behind two tractors on a weird looking road. There was a weird bar that looked like a large outhouse and whose logo was the stars & bars (Confederate flags irk me). The Delisle Forest is home to a DuPont chemical factory. This was all in stark contrast to the house's backyard. That was gorgeous, actually.

The show was a little loose and funny. I think this was the best show of the tour so far. There's some video of the show; we'll probably put something up as soon as we get a steady internet connection. The folks at Cafe Prytania were great to us. This dude Alex was selling some food there; he not only fed us for free, but made us some to-go packages as well. Made his own bread, too; tasted amazing. We also met Robin, Annie's friend who helped book a few shows for us down here. Some good people out in New Orleans.

Other choice moments:

- Tommy turning onto the wrong end of a one way street, Charles instructionally yelling "No", and Tommy nonchalantly changing lanes. The street wasn't marked very well.

- The really drunk woman who kept falling over, and also kept beckoning everyone with a (quote) "sexy" (unquote) come-hither look. This really isn't that funny writing about it. I wish one of us took a picture.

- Charles riding on the back of the van for 800 yards upon returning to Pass Christian.

In Baton Rouge right now, waiting to load in at Clicks. Will talk about it tomorrow, as well as further adventures in New Orleans.

Henry

Final Fury: The French Quarter and Baton Rouge

Henry — Sat, 14 Nov 2009 21:47:00 +0000

The nice thing about not having stayed in any hotels (so far) is there is no checkout time, which means we can sleep in and take our time getting out—which is exactly what we did yesterday. Since we were in the area, and who the hell knows when we're going to be around again, we spent some time wandering through the French Quarter in New Orleans for an hour and a half (Charles has been here before and was awesome enough to stay in the car to watch the gear). There were street musicians on a few corners within close proximity of each other. The architecture was pretty fantastic. Lots of signs for the Saints. I thought it was funny that the New Orleans Police Department acronym is NOPD; they were actually selling t-shirts and things to raise funds for the policeman's fraternity or some such thing.

Charles told us about this sign—a plaque, actually—by a Knight of Columbus headquarters in memoriam of the "children killed by abortion". Maybe if these clowns had enough money to spend on sanctimonious plaques to affix onto their building they could spare a few bucks to, I don't know, help people out after they're born as well. Just a thought.

Anyway, we ventured all the way out to Jackson Square and had lunch. Tommy and I had a po boy (mine: ham & swiss; Tommy's: fish) and Jen had a jambalayah platter (a-m-a-z-i-n-g... I don't even like shrimp and I thought it tasted amazing). Couldn't do much else beyond that. Would love to come back here to do some less touristy things, but the clock's ticking... Would liked to have seen the 9th Ward, too, but we were running late as it was. It's pretty fucked up an entire section of New Orleans is still a wreck four years after Hurricane Katrina. No goddamn excuse for it.

Around 7:30 or so, we dropped off our stuff at the Barisal Guns' HQ (dubbed The Yellow House). Clicks is a billiards place with a sweet stage. I learned that we were up against some LSU homecoming parties and things, but I think we still managed to get asses through the door. There was also a Golden Tee 2010 there—FYI, Fan The Fury is included in that game's Hit List option along with some other bands—and I played a few holes to check it out. (Lest I seem like some empty corporate shill, I actually do love playing Golden Tee.) I only had enough cash for a couple of holes, though, and didn't get around to actually hearing it.

The set went well. It was probably the best show of the tour so far. I had a bit of a bad night onstage. My tuning pedal is apparently now on the fritz, and my guitar would cut in and out if I hit it the wrong way. This tour is many things, and one of them is the Henry's Stuff is Breaking Tour. Barisal Guns was pretty awesome (and thank goodness they were... they have a gong and it would have been disappointing if they sucked). I was impressed. They put on a really good fucking show. Robin and Mark (from the night before) came by and caught the show.

Some funny stuff: 1) some drunk person kept trying to talk us into giving her free stuff. She was hilariously thwarted. If it were financially viable to give this all away I'd do it; but gas ain't cheap, and this isn't a charity. She happily settled for us signing a drumstick and a guitar pick. 2) When we were on our way back to the Yellow House, we saw some guy in a pickup truck chugging a tall can of beer at the stop light. That can't be legal, can it?

After the show, the BG kids had an after party. They were awesome enough to cook us a pizza (we were starving). We shot the shit all night and generally had a good time. They've got a place to crash if they're ever in Massachusetts.

At a gas stop in Louisiana en route to Little Rock right now. Lady Jane tells us it's an eight hour drive. Google Maps and the citizens of Baton Rouge tell us it's about five or six hours. We shall see who prevails.

Henry

Final Fury: A night in Little Rock

Henry — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 04:30:00 +0000

In Nashville right now, having a bite. Played Little Rock last night and it was absolutely amazing. Easily the best show of the tour. Crowd was there, able to sell a bunch of merch. Looks like there's a very vibrant scene there. Would've never guessed that Arkansas would be a hotbed of awesome. Magic Hassle and The See were fantastic and really fun guys, to boot. The sound guy at Sticky Fingerz, Maestro, did a superb job. Later found out he did sound on tour for The Ojays and George Clinton. Definitely want to come back around.

The show was a sort of homecoming for Charles. We made plans to meet up with some of his friends for an after-party, but for whatever reason that didn't last too long. Everyone headed back to Charles' dad's to continue the party. I thought it would be a good idea to lie down and close my eyes for a few minutes. Five minutes turned into five hours. After eight hours in the van then playing the show I was tired as hell and could stands no mores.

Off today and tomorrow. Will probably be in Nashville till Tuesday, then we're off to Ohio. Could use the rest anyway. Throat feels ripped.

Henry's phone

Final Fury: Nashville Skyline Rag

Henry — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 21:30:00 +0000

Day off/driving day yesterday. Charles' dad and stepmom were great enough to treat us to lunch at La Hacienda for some Tex-Mex (it was delicious). If you're ever in Little Rock, I highly recommend checking it out.

Drove through Memphis along the way. Would like to give the city another chance at some point (it is the birthplace of Rock n' Roll), but kind of hard to shake off the experience the last time I was there.

Have noticed there are a lot of combination gas stations/convenience stores/restaurants out in the middle of nowhere. Also saw an interesting church sign bemoaning us to not "put a question mark where god put a period." I can only assume there is an exemption for the interrobang. Questions are funnier when you well them anyway.

Crashed with a friend of Tommy's, Michael, who took us into town to get some food. Apparently, it's tough to get eats in Nashville at somewhere other than a Friday's, Taco Bell, or Church's chicken. That's probably not true... may have just been looking in the wrong part of town. Anyway, settled on eating at Five Guys, which was actually really good.

Laundry day today. Still in my pajamas. Secured a place to stay at for Columbus, OH tomorrow, which means this tour will be 100% hotel-free.
That's the dryer. Time to fold.

Henry's phone

Final Fury: Until morale improves, the beatings will continue

Henry — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 19:14:00 +0000

Days off are bad news. After doing laundry yesterday, Mike told us about the games of basement baseball he and his roommates play. The setup was fairly organized, but we settled for a scoreless homerun derby. After an unsuccessful at-bat, Charles came out of nowhere and tackled me. Don't think I broke a rib or anything, but it does hurt to laugh now.

In the evening, we ventured into town once again (fed this time). We walked down the Broadway strip. Boot and hat stores as far as the eye can see, and live music was coming out of every bar. There were a lot of homeless folks about as well—there were official-looking pamphlets and signs out asking people not to give money to panhandlers. There was one guy selling some newspapers for a buck, not dissimilar to the Spare Change papers they sell up in Boston. Some group of people behind us started making fun of him for doing so. Assholes have probably never gone hungry a day in their lives.

Anyway, we first settled on hitting up a place called Legends. There were record sleeves checkering the walls (not exclusively country, either; there were village people records and even a Spider-Man & His Amazing Friends record). Had a Dos Perros ale, which was very tasty. Had a round of whiskeys thereafter (good old Tennessee JD). Someone named Matt Mason was playing. Not particularly into country music, but he was really good. None of this pop pap in disguise.

Ventured to The Wheel next. Don't know who was playing and it's been tough to find this info online (if someone has it, please let me know), but after finding out we were from Boston the dude asked Jen to come up and play guitar on a song. Another highlight: in mid-song, they were soliciting requests for TV theme songs. Neither could the Simpsons nor Full House stump them. Also, I have to say this is the first time some promo people approached us with free chewing tobacco. Gross.

Tommy's been going on about Jack in the Box for some time on the tour, so we hit that up. It was just as tasty as he was saying, even if it caused some immediate self-loathing. Back at HQ, Jen and Charles engaged in a jalapeño eating contest. Not sure who won, if anyone wins in that situation. This may have been where it all went downhill.

For starters, Jen lost her contact lens somewhere in her eye and spent a good dramatic twenty minutes trying to fish it out. We're still not sure if it's still there or not (we're guessing not). Her eye was stinging pretty bad. As for the rest of us, we thought a round of midnight basement baseball was in order. Charles was at-bat first, and Tommy got a pitch in. That's when the magic question came out of Charles' mouth: "Am I really bleeding all over the carpet?" The tell-tale trail of red from the strike zone to his foot answered with a yes. He cut his foot pretty deep and nobody's really sure how. The rest of the evening was a mixture of hysterical laughter, cleaning up the stains on the carpet with some Shout, and trying to get the wound cleaned up. Most of this magic was actually caught on video.

Passing through Kentucky now, on the way to Columbus, OH. Everyone's a marvelous wreck at the moment. And it still hurts to laugh.

Henry

Final Fury: Sex, Drugs, and Rock n' Roll Jon Lovitz

Henry — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 16:34:00 +0000

Woke up yesterday with rib hurting more than it did the day before. Jen concluded her contact lens must've fallen out of her eye, if it was even there. Charles still had a deep cut on his foot.

Trip to Columbus was only about six hours, seven accounting for going back into EST. Keith from The Moving Parts and his wife Wendy were kind enough to let us crash at his place. Stopped there first to leave our bags n' things. Their dogs were hilarious. Lot of dogs on this tour.

Bernie's Distillery reminded me of the Abbey Lounge and O'Brien's circa 2003. Charles kept threatening to make out with everyone in the room. Awesome as that would have been to watch, it never happened. The place was a bit dead—early in the week again, so it was expected—but somehow we walked away with a bit of cash and sold last copy of Leave Your Light On that we brought with us. Help Is On The Way's drummer had a Moonie thing going. Keith's band The Moving Parts was great. Everyone was really cool.

Keith and his bandmate Tony took us to a hot dog place called Dirty Frank's. Nothing but hot dogs on the menu. One of the items was The Glenn Beck ("Just a plain old wiener", very accurate). I had the Sriracha(sp?) Slaw Dog. That and the tater tots were amazing. Worth coming to Columbus again just to eat there.

Big thanks again to Keith and Wendy for letting us crash at the last minute. It was a big help.

Sitting at a Panera at the moment, eating a bagel and chugging down less than adequate coffee while Charles is at the urgent care. Might catch up on some reading. Nine Stories is great.

Henry's phone

Final Fury: Uncle Wiggily in Pittsburgh

Henry — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 17:47:00 +0000

Sleep was cut off abruptly. Had to take showers and such, then drop Charles off at the urgent care to take care of his foot. Hit two places that were closed before successfully finding one that wasn't. After breakfast, started drive to Pittsburgh--fortunately it was only three hours. Passed through West Virginia for five seconds, first time in that state.

Met up with Ben, the guy we crashed with and the Howler's soundman. Also happened to grow up in Mass, worked with Charles, and we played with his old band Zipper back in 2004. (It's a small world after all.) We had a really good, long chat with Ben about touring, band stories, the Pittsburgh scene, and his current band Action Camp over some Thai food. Got to meet his bandmate Maura. Almost wish we waited to eat, though. Jo at Howler's made dinner for the bands. She's the coolest.

Saw our autographed t-shirt hanging on the ceiling from the last time we were there. That put a smile on our faces.

Will Knox and his band were incredible. Some beautiful folk stuff going on. They're on tour too, playing Chicago today. Mercy Rules had some great harmonies. Family Lumber from LI are on tour too; hitting Cleveland today. Real interesting guitar interplay. They make the three guitar thing actually work.

Ben did fantastic sound last night and recorded a multitrack of the set. Hope to put those out in some form at some point. Set was really tight last night.
Rain's been pounding down on us since last night. Rib feeling a little better, plan to get that checked out in Boston to be safe. Crashing in South NJ with Jamie for Delaware show tonight; then one more show in NYC tomorrow before we put this puppy to bed.

Henry's phone

Final Fury: Enlightenment in the middle of nowhere

Henry — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 23:59:00 +0000

I've been doing this long enough to learn one important rule: you never say never. Maybe—just maybe—shows at this place have been amazing and fairly smooth and our traveling circus arrived on an off night. So I'll leave it at this: in all likelihood I will never perform at Mojo 13 ever again. Ever.

We arrived on time to load our things. We worked it out with the booker weeks ago that we'd be going on at 10:30 and the press we received in Wilmington indicated as much.

So you can imagine I had a conniption when the sound guy starts off by determining his own set times based on whose gear is closest to the stage. (I'm not going to poke too much fun at the sound guy either. He was nice, just incredibly aloof and blasé about... well, everything.) Despite the signage, he said there would be only three bands (more on this below). Equally mind-boggling is that show posters we sent weren't put up—not a rare occurrence—but posters from the "band that was added to the bill today" were all over the place and were probably up for at least a week or two.

We tried sorting this out with soundguy. Could we have the local acts go first to draw in people? Negative. No locals on the bill, and "people here hate local bands anyway."

This is when soundguy drops some knowledge on us: "You ever see Wayne's World?"—yes, folks, he quoted the line about Delaware—"It's just like that. Nobody comes to shows. It's a fancy rehearsal, bro."

The solution we came up with was to set our stuff up on stage and have the acoustic act (the one that didn't exist) play first. Then we'd get to play close to 10:30. Everyone's satisfied. However, once our gear was set up, the scheduled fourth band did, indeed, appear as they were supposed to. Set times were immediately cut and we were expected to play at 9:45 now (since our gear was onstage).

One aneurysm later, I had a few terse words with the soundguy (who went from being lovable stoner to uptight taskmaster) and worked it out with the other bands to backline, share gear, and help tear down gear between sets. Final Aloud set time: 10:40pm. I walked out the door to get some air, and the last I heard was "Hey, braugh, now your friends can get in for free tonight!" Galling, but one battle had already been fought that evening, and it looked like Wayne Campbell may have been right after all.

Marked it as the worst night on tour and we hadn't even played yet. Thankfully this was all the drama we had to deal with and the night began to turn around. Stereo Deluxe turned out to be a good band. They're touring from Indianapolis (on their third week already). Had a good chat with the singer Jay for a bit, and the whole band was really nice. They've been to Boston a few times.

Also got to finally meet our publicist Randy in person. We had a great conversation. He's the coolest.

The biggest surprise was this band Uzuhi from Japan by way of New York. I was outside talking with Jay when I got a text from Jen that just said "You can't miss this". She was right. That band had so much heart, so much energy, and they were really good. I'm glad they closed out the night, too. They're an impossible act to follow. We were smiling the entire time they were playing, and at the end of the set they had their photog take a picture with everyone. Super nice folks, too. Shit, it may have made the entire night worthwhile.

Stick in NYC traffic at the moment (yay). Getting into the city only took two hours; been in city traffic for over an hour. Last night of the tour tonight. Bittersweet as ever.

Henry

Final Fury: With Love and Squalor

Henry — Sun, 22 Nov 2009 05:48:00 +0000

The last one is always the toughest to write. I'm already at home, showered, in my bedclothes, unable to sleep, and in a completely different world. The van is parked comfortably outside and I probably won't set foot in my cramped metal and former home it for at least a week. Everyone else is in repose on their own beds, sleeping in some comfort for the first time in weeks. But comfort be damned, we've gotta finish this bad boy; so here goes.

Once we woke up yesterday morning, Jamie, being the amazing hostess she always is, made an excellent breakfast (she's got an Etsy store you should check out, btw: http://www.etsy.com/shop/theejamieleigh). Coffee, scrambled eggs, and french toast. We didn't have to make it to Brooklyn till later on, and it wasn't too far—two hours (three with traffic, according to Google)—so we took advantage and lounged around the house. The drive itself wasn't that bad, either. It was once we got into the City the trouble started. And by trouble, I really mean stress. With the traffic that hit us, it took us two hours to travel less than ten miles to our destination. We were moving so slow I was able to briefly get WiFi signal in the car (most notably, someone who named their network Old Gregg's Mangina).

Once we were able to get off the highway, everything was a blur. We got to our friend Michael Morgan's place with just enough time to run upstairs, change clothes, drop off our bags, and head over to the club. Spike Hill is located on a pretty busy one-way street with nowhere to really pull over and load out. We found a temporary spot next to a fire department standpipe that gave us enough room to unload gear. Avoided running into people. Ran back to the car and spent twenty minutes looking for parking. By the time we raced back to the club, Heavybirds already started their set.

(After last night and the experience at CMJ I can safely say any fantasies I may have harbored about moving to New York have been quashed. I love the city. I love visiting. The L.E.S. in particular is my jam. But if I moved there I'd probably die of a stroke within ten minutes.)

Anyway, it was our first time seeing Heavybirds. As previously mentioned, we've known Ryan for quite some time since our days playing in the Worcester scene regularly. Heavybirds is a stark contrast to what he was doing with The Ferns. I loved it. They were doing some really cool things with just a guitar, a cello, and a few effects pedals. We were on immediately after them and the mental RPMs were still high. The stage was a bit cramped while we were getting everything on there. Dinged my head against a speaker I didn't see while fussing with my amp (this is on top of my rib still hurting with certain movements). The set was tight as ever, and Tom from Radio America even came up to do some backing vocals on Backs To The Wall. I was really impressed with El Jezel. Their drummer's awesome, and they played a badass cover of Maps.

Radio America had a bunch of new material they've been working on and I loved it. Hilariously enough, Tom borrowed my Les Paul after popping a string. Shortly thereafter, he managed to cut a finger. He must've hit a vein or something, because he bled all over the guitar. I think everyone else was more horrified than I was about it; this week's has been all about injuries. I have to change the strings on it anyway.

We saw a lot of people we hadn't seen in a while. Strangely enough, I bumped into my buddy Shane who now lives in New York (I went to middle school with the guy in Miami and haven't seen him in years; check out his photography at http://www.shaneperez.com/). Kelly McRae was there—she played with us in Boston in January of '08 when we debuted a bunch of songs off of Fan The Fury. Mark from Fugitive Souls (ex-Shapes) was there and we had a long chat about touring. Delighted to see recent New York transplant Jon Schmidt there! (Jon, if you recall, was drumming for us through May of this past year and played on the third leg of the tour). It was awesome to see him, and we all played catch-up. I dunno, there were a lot of people there and I was happy to see them all.

Back at Michael's place we grabbed a few late-night microwavable snacks. Like an idiot I tried to eat it before it cooled and totally burned my left hand. This brings the total tally of injuries to the left side of my body on this tour to three. We stayed up for a bit talking about some tour stories and stuff. A lot of funny shit has gone down.

The ride back home today didn't even feel like we were going home. We were just driving off to another gig. We stopped off in Norwalk, CT to fill our empty bellies with some food. Watching The Big Lebowski off the laptop anesthetized us to the unbearable drive through Connecticut. It was weird dropping everyone off at their house. It always is, though. I wouldn't be surprised if we meet up on Monday to drive around the block for six hours.

So what now? This is the first time in years we're without any shows booked or planned. Everyone's going to take a few weeks off at the very least to be human. Jen and I have a record to finish with Dan before all this madness starts up again.

There are a lot of people that need to be thanked for helping us make all of this happen (and continue to happen); people I'd rather specifically thank when I'm not sleep deprived and have full use of my mental faculties.

For the moment, I'll keep my sentimentality brief. To everyone that's come out to a show, bought a CD, helped us out of the many jams we seem to find ourselves in, given us advice, fixed our gear, played shows with us, given us new gadgets to play with, encouraged us, and generally taken a chance on us: please know we think the world of you.

Thank you for listening.

Thank you for singing along.

Thank you for enabling us.

Cheers,
Henry

Interview on The Dweezil Show this weekend

Webmaster — Mon, 23 Nov 2009 12:27:00 +0000

Nearly two years and 76 six shows in 47 cities later, Henry and Jen return to The Dweezil Show this Saturday, November 28th, for another radio interview. Up for discussion is a wrap-up of the Fan The Fury tour, the next Aloud record, and everything in between. The Dweezil Show airs Saturdays on WMFO from 7pm - 9pm. You can tune in at 91.5FM in the Medford/Boston area, or listen online at www.wmfo.org.

Related Links - Listen to The Dweezil Show interview here (Aloud news: 5/11/08) - Aloud radio interview this Saturday (Aloud news: 5/7/08) - The Dweezil Show - WMFO

The exciting life of a man off the road

Henry — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 13:45:00 +0000

Just got a new phone. Testing it out right now to see how well this works with updating the blog and all. Kinda strange. Used to typing with that T9 text predictor crap. Don't know what to do with myself with a full keyboard now. Buttons are so tiny.

Heading down to the urgent care today to get this rib checked out. Was feeling much better till last night. This sucks, actually. Impossible to sleep. I have nothing to say. I just wanted to use this phone.

Henry's phone

On the cover of Performer Magazine

Webmaster — Wed, 02 Dec 2009 19:11:00 +0000

Aloud is on the cover of this month's Performer Magazine! Henry and Jen recently sat down again with Performer's C.D. Di Guardia for an in-depth interview about 2009 and the next record they're working on with producer Daniel Daskivich. The article includes new photos by Mick Murray. Some selections from the article:

"“It’s pretty liberating, but it’s scary and frightening,” admits de la Osa. While the group wouldn’t mind having full-time, committed band members, they realize their current pattern really isn’t so bad. “The shitty thing is that you don’t have permanent guys and the stability isn’t there,” says Beguiristain, ever the optimist. “But at the same time, you get to meet people who really enjoy playing music, and just some really cool people.”" "“The perspective changed on the songs and how to approach them,” says the vocalist and multi-instrumentalist. “Instead of a band in a room creating a song, it’s more like using the studio to create the song – it’s a piece of art, so you’re going to throw a brushstroke here and what’s it going to sound like?”" "Aloud’s current brushstrokes are creating stunning, multi-layered works. They look at each new song (and in the larger sense, each new record) as a continuation and alteration of the previous one."

PDF of Performer Magazine December 2009 (will take you directly to article): http://www.performermag.com/pdf/NortheastPerformerDec09.pdf#page=10

Related Links - Peformer Magazine spotlight: Aloud (July 2007) - Performer Magazine - In Your Face Photo

Aloud's latest interview on The Dweezil Show

Webmaster — Thu, 10 Dec 2009 12:22:00 +0000

Photo: Mick Murray

If you missed Henry and Jen a couple of weeks ago on The Dweezil Show, we'll forgive you. You were probably busy stuffing your faces with Thanksgiving Day leftovers. But fear not, good public; through the power of the interwebs, an mp3 copy has been archived by the wonderful folks at WMFO. In the in-depth interview, they pick up where they left off the last time they met up with Phil in May 2008 after the first leg of the tour. Topics discussed include the next three legs of the tour, losing two original members, and the new record they've been tediously working on for the past year. You may listen to the interview streaming here (in two parts), download them for listening on your mp3 player for that long commute on the train you're dreading, or—for the full unedited two hours—you may download the mp3 directly from WMFO here. (And you may even get to hear a small piece of a new Aloud song...) Part 1 (28:23) DOWNLOAD MP3 (PART 1) Part 2 (37:18) DOWNLOAD MP3 (PART 2)

Related Links - Listen to The Dweezil Show interview here (Aloud news: 5/11/08) - Aloud radio interview this Saturday (Aloud news: 5/7/08) - The Dweezil Show - Buy Fan The Fury! - Ice Cream Social

Henry B vs. Henry Spencer

Henry — Thu, 10 Dec 2009 18:00:00 +0000

Hey all, Henry with the odd update here. We're still alive, working hard on our next album with Dan. Been making a lot of headway with it. Laid down seven songs so far. Hopefully we can get this mamajama in the can by the end of the year so we can get it out to you all as soon as possible. We've been tinkering away a song at a time for half the year already, and are still really excited about it. This is either a sure sign that it's something really special, or we've traveled so far up our own asses we're waving hello to Axl Rose along the way (and one hopes—nay, prays—the former is true).

Otherwise, we're taking it fairly easy at Aloud HQ as we ride out the rest of the year adjusting to life after tour. Hanging out at the homestead more and watching movies. Just saw Eraserhead last night for the first time. What the hell was that all about? If you haven't seen it, you should. Or shouldn't. I'm not entirely sure. Anyway, I'm lucky that I didn't have any residual nightmares from watching that thing. David Lynch, you are a brilliant weirdo, sir.

Anything else? We landed the Performer cover this month (as I'm sure you've all seen) which you should read, as well as listen to its spiritual companion, our post-tour interview on The Dweezil Show. Myself and the Jen hit up the Rock n' Roll Social this past week too, and it was really good to see everyone after what feels like ages. Will probably hit up the Paradise for Festival Holidad on Friday. Looks to be a good time; that is, unless Brendan Boogie gives us all mono.

Well see you around town, kids. Be well.

Henry

PS: Check out our new holiday tune, Happy Effing Xmas. It's streaming up on our MySpace page. You could get a free download if you'd just buy our shit. BUY IT.

Free music from Aloud: "Live 2009"

Webmaster — Mon, 21 Dec 2009 21:42:00 +0000

You read correctly, folks. As a gift to you, we will be giving away a free live EP, succinctly titled "Live 2009". The live tracks are from the show in Pittsburgh (November 18, 2009) at Howler's Coyote Café. The Live EP will also include a digital booklet with photos from the Fan The Fury tour. How can you get your hands on this EP?

It's easy. Download links will be sent out via the next Aloud newsletter. All you need to do is make sure you're signed up on our mailing list (if you're already signed up, all you need to do is wait). Download links will be sent out on December 31, 2009. You can sign up by clicking this link or filling in your email address over on the left.

The EP was recorded and mixed by Bengt Alexander (who also happens to perform in Action Camp).

The tracklist:

1. The Last Time
2. Sometimes I Feel Like A Vampire
3. Fan The Fury
4. You Got Me Wrong
5. When The Ants Attack The Queen

Related Links
- Aloud mailing list
- Buy Fan The Fury
- Final Fury: Uncle Wiggily in Pittsburgh (Aloud blog: 11/19/2009)
- Howler's Coyote Café
- Action Camp

Lots of budget conversations. A lot fun I assure you.

Jen — Fri, 08 Jan 2010 03:09:00 +0000

Happy new year gals and gents. Yes, we're a few days in, but better late than never.

Things have been a slow climb back into the routine, but we're quite happy to get back into it. Feels like the holidays left me immobile. I suppose that's what they do best. We had a little party at Aloud HQ over the past weekend to celebrate the beginning of 2010. Lots of dancing and merriment, some cops.

Henry and I have been spending the week working on our wedding (that's right folks, we're getting married in May of this year). It's been more fun than we'd anticipated as we sort of loathe this kind of thing, but we're making it our own and having a Mod/Swinging London theme to it.

Otherwise we've been getting facts and figures in order for this latest record. Lots of budget conversations. A lot fun I assure you. Very happy to be heading back to the studio this weekend. The plan is to write what may be the final track for the record on Friday and then spend Saturday and Sunday doing some more tracking. We're getting there. We're getting there. It's been such a pleasure recording with our producer Dan Daskivich. The stuff is sounding a bit surreal, slightly trippy. Layered is the word I'd use. And just did.

More on this later or this weekend presumably. Oh and what's this about Jay Leno bumping Conan up to midnight? Lame. Is it me or is he disgracefully awful?

Cheers,

Jen

This is looking to be the missing piece to the album puzzle.

Jen — Sat, 09 Jan 2010 05:03:00 +0000

Had a mostly musical day today. Run in with the dentist this afternoon, but said dentist is located on Newbury St. right next to Newbury Comics. Picked up Feist's Let It Die.

Headed back home where Henry and I started work on a new tune. This is looking to be the missing piece to the album puzzle. It's a sort of up-tempo almost Motown number. Took a while to get to it though since we were starting from absolute scratch. Usually when we have a writing sessions Henry or I will have some sort of idea/melody/lyrics thought up beforehand, but this was all plucked out of the air.

Once we'd gotten something we took a break and remembered "Shit. We've got to write those four missing lines for _______ ________" (the track we're working on tomorrow in the studio). This was late in the PM, but we managed to get four lines we were quite happy with. Tomorrow, studio at 11am. Am thrilled! :)

Cheers,

Jen

That's what the Beatles put John Lennon's voice through at the end of Tomorrow Never Knows

Jen — Sat, 09 Jan 2010 23:13:00 +0000

Today was in a word... EXHAUSTING.

We woke up at 8:30am. Far too early. After breakfast we listened back to the last mix of the song we'd be working on that day. It's a favorite of mine, this track. Henry sings it. Wish I could share the title. We put some acoustic, electric, piano and organ on it. Most of everything is being played through a Leslie speaker. For those of you that don't know, that's what the Beatles put John Lennon's voice through at the end of Tomorrow Never Knows. It's usually attached to a B3 Hammond which is on this track.

Anyway, we spent the day getting the drums right. We got a bit frustrated as we were all a bit tired and this one transition was making our heads ache. Best remedy for that of course is the lunch break. We decided to head down to the Independent bar and ran into good friend Hilary Hughes of the Weekly Dig. The Independent has some pretty exceptional food if you're ever in Union Sq, Somerville.

Break provided some new ideas to try out and try them out we did. After a couple of hours we fixed what was bothering us and decided to call it a day. Home and happy. Awaiting el grande buns and a movie with our room mate and friend Dave. Lots of amazing shows happening tonight in Boston, but we're just knackered and like many of you with day jobs I've got mine bright and early tomorrow morning.

Cheers,

Jen

ps. Below is a little vid Henry and I made while waiting for the van to warm up this morning.

It's good, but I can't say like some folks do, that it's better than the Reminder.

Jen — Tue, 12 Jan 2010 14:10:00 +0000

On Monday night we had the first Aloud meeting of the year. The topic of conversation was of course the new album and touring plans for said album. We'd had a much more involved meeting before the end of 2009, so this was a bit more casual. Looks like we'll be releasing this a bit later in the year than anticipated, but that is because we're very keen on having everything ready to go at release time. There's a lot you learn about the promotion/touring machine after releasing two records and we'd like to apply all those lessons in this go around.

Tomorrow Henry and I are rehearsing with the Soozapaloola Allstars. We'll be doing a couple numbers with them at the Precint in Somerville on the 16th. Thursday is another recording session (bass this time) followed by a weekend of writing/demoing. Working out the final bits of the writing stage!! All weekend, all music. I dig, ya hear?

In other news, I picked up Let it Die by Feist. It's good, but I can't say like some folks do, that it's better than the Reminder. No way. Not for me it isn't. Do yourself a favor though and get some Feist in your life. She's a direct contributor to inspiring us to write this new record.

Also, picked up TC Boyle's new novel, The Women. If you don't know him and are looking for a new book/author check him out.

Cheers,

Jen

Feels like everything's insane right now.

Jen — Thu, 14 Jan 2010 13:28:00 +0000

Feels like everything's insane right now. Natural disasters really do bring out the best.. and worst in people. I was reading a friend's post about this. People interpret things so differently. That Pat Robertson schmuck. A curse for making a pact with the devil? Are you serious dude? It's like all those folks who said god was angry, so he sent Katrina. It's makes you so mad to think this is what the world sees.

I'm sure you've all seen the photos and footage coming in from Haiti. I don't even really want to talk about it as there's nothing I can say you don't already know. I will be making a contribution today. Wyclef and Pras are I'm following in this matter which seems natural as they're both musicians and natives. Here's his tweet in case you wanted that info:

::::HAITI NEEDS HELP!!! STATE OF EMERGENCY!!! Please donate to Yele Hati Earthquake Fund:::: Text YELE to 501 501 ($5) or visit www.yele.org

Hope all is cool on your side of the world. Stay warm.

Cheers,

Jen

Pierre Jejune will have his revenge on Somerville

Henry — Fri, 15 Jan 2010 18:30:00 +0000

Our bass player for the session, my evil twin Pierre Jejune.

Lotta crazy news this week and my near-eternal hegemony over this blog has been challenged. So let's do this by the numbers.

#1: As mentioned by Jen in the last post, media outlets, the internets (all of the internets), there was an earthquake in Haiti. I will say no more than necessary to guilt you into continuing to do the right thing. It's very easy. Go to www.redcross.org, or if you're lazy like I am text HAITI to 90999. You will get a confirmation message and $10 will be charged on your next phone bill. Easy peazy, lemon squeazey.

#2: If there is anyone out there who is on team Leno, you should probably read up on how he stole away the Tonight Show the first time from Letterman back in 1992. Maybe if he were actually funny it would make it tolerable, but he's not. We're with you, Coco.

#2b: The 700 Club's charlatan-in-chief Pat Robertson is the answer to the question, "Is there a bigger asshole in this country than Jay Leno?"

#3: Spent a couple hours in the studio last night getting some vocals down for this new tune we've been working on for a couple of weeks. We did some double-tracking, and I'm told that I'm a human flange machine. Gotta be good at something, I suppose. Laid down some percussion and some bass as well. Yea, session last night was the right mix of laid back and productive. There were a surprising number of references to the Ninja Turtles, and now all I want to do is spend all day playing Turtles in Time. (I still say "The Ninja Turtles fucking rule" is an acceptable song lyric, and it's a travesty that I was vetoed.)

#4: Gonna do some writing today (or at least try to... I am so goddamn tired). But I'm told I'll get a pizza and get to play Donkey Kong Country later, so I suppose I can make a sacrifice.

Be well. And text some bucks to Haiti, willya?

Henry

It's infectious. The riff and the Motown beat sell it for me.

Jen — Sun, 17 Jan 2010 18:12:00 +0000

So. The new album. It's written. We're past the writing and demoing stage. Henry and I spent all of Friday and Saturday working out the final two tunes. Friday was a bit exhausting. We were reworking a song to fit the sound of the new record, so we had to re-imagine it. But we prevailed and rewarded ourselves with pizza and 30 Rock. Saturday was easy peasy. The easiest and quickest writing session we've ever had. Song just wrote itself. It's infectious. The riff and the Motown beat sell it for me. Demoing it was just as easy. So we sent those off to Dan (our producer) and decided we'd join some friends of ours for a movie. Can I say how awesome Robert Downy, Jr is? Yes, we took in Sherlock Holmes. A tremendous amount of fun was had. So much so that at this very moment I'd like to see it again. I'm recommending it to you!

So yes, that's the record written. I think we're maybe half way or a little more than half way there with the recording. We start up sessions again on Thursday.

We've also picked a Swinging London/Mod theme to our wedding. Looking forward to seeing the wedding party in their outfits. Henry's suggested walking down the aisle in shades. I'm considering it.

In other news, Jay Leno still sucks, Haiti needs your help and folks, if you're in Mass there's that big state Senate election happening Tuesday. I'm sure you couldn't tell what with no advertising being done for it.

Cheers,

Jen

I may or may not be singing some Gladys Knight.

Jen — Wed, 20 Jan 2010 04:30:00 +0000

Life as we know it in Massachusetts may change...slightly. Or at least we'll see what we're in for. Serves them right though. A campaign is for campaigning. Damaging and stupid. Yes, we're a little upset at the results here in Camp Aloud regarding our home state's special election, but not much can be done about it at this particular moment and there's music to be made... So...

Really, really looking forward to starting studio sessions again this Thursday. We'll be doing some backing vocals and percussion. Perhaps some piano. Then we should be able to move on to a whole new track on Friday/Saturday. ELATED! After the studio on Saturday we'll be joining the Soozapalooza All Stars for a couple of numbers at the Precinct in Somerville, MA. I may or may not be singing some Gladys Knight.

Things are really all about recording now though we're also thinking about a few shows in March including the just announced show on March 25 at Great Scott in Allston, MA. We're working out some special things for the set list and on stage attire. Planning on heading down to the shops tomorrow to look for a few new clothing items for that and the mod wedding. Speaking of, am relieved to say I have purchased dress and shoes for said ceremony. Grand relief and excitement. :)

Henry's been working on a website face lift, so that may change in the next month or so. I'm very much liking the new design! A bit more user friendly with quick access to links for Aloud on Twitter, Facebook, Blog and the like.

Oh, must also recommend the new Pedro Almodovar movie entitled Los Abrazos Rotos or Broken Embraces. Check out the trailer. Penelope Cruz is in it and if you've ever seen her in one of his films you know what I'm talking about! Oh and if you're familiar with the McGruber sketch on SNL, they've actually filmed a movie of it with Val Kilmer as the villain. For realz! Check it.

Cheers,

Jen

Burritos and Pink Floyd

Jen — Fri, 22 Jan 2010 21:27:00 +0000

Listening to Pet Sounds. Me oh my what a great record. (Really though this whole about is about Wouldn't It Be Nice and God Only Knows.) Phenomenal.

As Henry and I listen, Dan the man producing this new record of ours is sleeping. He's taking a break from working out drums for this song we're going to be recording today. It's chugging along quite well. We're hoping to have drums and maybe acoustic recorded by the time we leave today.

Earlier Henry tracked lead vocals on a different song. Then we broke for lunch. Burritos & Pink Floyd.

Later tonight? Conan's last Tonight Show. Any of you watching?

Cheers,

Jen

PS. Here's some vid from today's session.

Yes, that Mama Said Knock You Out

Jen — Sun, 24 Jan 2010 13:11:00 +0000

Much dancing. Much prancing. It's way too early to be up this morning. Henry and I had a late night. Spent most of yesterday finishing drums, acoustic guitar and bass on the track from Friday. Exhausting, non-stop work.

We ambled down after to the Independent (a fine pub dining experience) to meet with Aloud manager Annie Burns for some band chat; just a little informal thing about a couple prospective upcoming gigs.

We were appearing at Soozapalooza just a few doors down at Precinct. This place reminds me a bit of couple of room on the Lower East Side. Dimly lit, red walls, black counters, red curtains on the stage. It was a small room and it was well packed. I don't think I was able to move from the one spot for at least an hour or so. Round about midnight we were on. Henry played some guitar and boot stomping on Mama Said Knock You Out (yes, that Mama Said Knock You Out) and I sang on Midnight Train to Georgia with fellow Pips in tow. There was also some fun had with a Sundays tune called Where the Story Ends and the grand finale, Honky Tonk Women. Sensational night. Well worth being up past January's bed time. Thanks to Sooz for asking us to participate and putting it all together. A happy birthday to you!

In other news, we've just spent the weekend thinking about everyone's favorite red-headed comedian, Conando. His last show was in a word... brilliant. What a fine exit. Very sad though to have to go through two emotional Conan exits in less than a year. His last night on the Late Show we were on tour in Raleigh, NC. It's such a vivid memory I have of watching Conan every night after gigs in hotel rooms that week. This guy is a such a part of our generation. All those Simpson episodes we grew up on, his time on SNL and of course the Late Show. I'll be anticipating September when he can host another show. Again, Jay Leno sucks. Conan, we love you!

Cheers,

Jen

Nothing to see here

Henry — Mon, 25 Jan 2010 14:22:00 +0000

Suffering from sleep madness. I made the mistake of going to bed really early, but all this resulted in was a glorified nap. I've been up since 10:30pm last night. I even made another attempt at sleeping, only to stare at the ceiling for the better part of two hours. I saw the latest episode of David Letterman and realized I'd never seen a full episode of the Late Show. I also saw Conan's bizarre interview with Hunter S. Thompson (in which they drank whiskey and shot guns).

Dicked around on the internet for a few hours and found a guitar I didn't think existed. Rather, the guitar obviously existed, but not in the finish I saw in my head. Well, it looks like someone else with say-so saw this in their head too, which makes it easier for me: http://www.heybrookmusic.co.uk/uploaded/products_1243_1131.jpg. The unfortunate thing is that this is the Jim Adkins model (Jimmy Eat World doesn't offend me as bad as other bands, but... y'know... emo), but I figure I can just sand off his signature on the headstock. Or it's probably some cheap sticker I can heat off or something.

I'm in the kitchen right now trying to decide if I should make a cup of coffee and scrap together breakfast from whatever's in the pantry, or... Jesus Christ, is it really 9:15?

I'd better get on that coffee.

Henry

Aloud pokes its head out of the studio this March

Webmaster — Tue, 26 Jan 2010 04:45:00 +0000

Since they've been busy in the studio, it's been months since Aloud has set foot on stage and even longer since they did so in the Boston area. Fear not, friends. Aloud will be back in March to visit their old stomping grounds in Allston, MA. (It's also been alleged some Aloud oldies-but-goodies not heard in years may be showing up on the set list. Do I lie?) Aloud will be joined by Hello Ninja (9pm) and ex-pats/current Pittsburghers Action Camp (10pm). This show is 18+ and cover is $9.00. Don't miss it, and don't be late. Be sure to tell your friends! Retweet to your followers by clicking on this link.

Related Links - Facebook event page - Great Scott - Action Camp - Hello Ninja - Aloud on Twitter

Beyond the mountains are mountains.

Jen — Wed, 27 Jan 2010 17:40:00 +0000

Came across a Haitian saying today: Beyond the mountains are mountains. This refers to problems or opportunities. There's no time to rest or at least not forever.

I'm proud to announce we're taking part in a Benefit for Haiti in Cambridge, MA next Wed, Feb 3 to be held at the Middle East Downstairs. :)

This is going to be a stellar bill with The Lights Out, You Can Be A Wesley and DJs Michael V, Damien Paul and Casey Rankin.

Oh, and this guy, Paul Shirley, is a great big schmuck. Surprise, another athlete as idiot. Check it:

Before the reader reaches for his or her blood pressure medication, he should allow me to explain. I don’t mean in any way that the Haitians deserved their collective fate. And I understand that it is difficult to plan for the aftermath of an earthquake. However, it is not outside the realm of imagination to think that the citizens of a country might be able to: A) avoid putting themselves into a situation that might result in such catastrophic loss of life. And B) provide for their own aid, in the event of such a catastrophe.

Get it right. The people had nothing to do with how a corrupt government spends the money. The government should be held accountable, not the citizens blamed. Did we blame the folks in New Orleans for the disaster caused by Katrina? No. Those in charge should be held accountable.

In other things that get my goat... Seems to me there's been little coverage on this stuff happening in Venezuela. 5 Cable new stations shut down by the government b/c they wouldn't air Chavez's speech or campaign ads. Sure, it's against their law. But I think the reason for the protests (not all of them) is why is there this law to begin with. I've got a distant cousin out there. My dad's family moved over there after they left Cuba. My cousin, she wants to be a journalist. I kept thinking, how in the hell can you do your job? Anyway, just seemed to me I only heard it mentioned once and you've got all these protests and two students shot.

If you're in the Cambridge area next Wednesday we hope to see you at the Middle East. Next on the horizon? Back to the studio this weekend.

Cheers,

Jen

With equal parts amusement and anger

Henry — Thu, 28 Jan 2010 16:04:00 +0000

Anyone else read Paul Shirley's idiotic blog post advocating withholding aid to Haiti? I sure did.

Because I'm not going to write it twice, go here to read me tear Mr. Pee Shirley a new one in less than 1,100 words:
http://venuist.wordpress.com ... paul-shirley-you-cant-be-serious/

Seriously, this guy is the winner who brought you the "Oasis is better than the Beatles" column:
http://sports.espn.go.com ... /news/story?id=4474313

Anyone who knows Jen and I also knows Oasis is in our list of top three all-time favorite bands ever, but come the fuck on. Here's another good Shirleyism: Dean Koontz is better than Bram Stoker.

"Oooh, look at me! I'm Paul Shirley! All I know how to do is write (poorly) about how awesome I am because I don't like the things most people do!"

Douche.

(A fine afternoon to you all!)

Henry

Haiti Beneift at the Middle East Down; Feb. 3

Webmaster — Thu, 28 Jan 2010 17:43:00 +0000

Hey all! We've just been asked to participate in a benefit for Haiti next week at the Middle East Downstairs. It'll be a star-studded affair with The Lights Out, and You Can Be A Wesley along for the ride. DJs Michael V (of The Pill), Damien Paul (So Dope), and Casey Rankin (FTW) will be spinning. The show is 18+. I'll post info on the cover charge the second I get it. I don't have more details right this second, but we do know the door money will go to a charity. We've asked for more info and will post it up as soon as we get it. We do trust the people that are putting this together. :) This benefit aside, we encourage you to donate to the Red Cross to continue helping the relief effort. Visit http://www.redcross.org to make a donation or text HAITI to 90999. These folks are still in bad shape and need our help. Cheers, Henry Weds, February 3, 2010 Benefit for Haiti at the Middle East Downstairs 472-480 Massachusetts Ave, Cambridge, MA 02139 w. Aloud, You Can Be A Wesley, The Lights Out and DJs Michael V (The Pill), Damien Paul (So Dope), and Casey Rankin (FTW) CLICK HERE TO TWEET THIS:

A bouquet of parentheses: (((( ))))

Henry — Fri, 29 Jan 2010 20:09:00 +0000

Jen's been tracking guitar today. Using her old Sheraton, which she hasn't used since the Leave Your Light On days (unless you count that one time a string broke in Ewing, NJ... I don't). A little behind right now, some weird noise started creeping into the mics. Dan's trying to fix it right now. Deeply saddened to hear J.D. Salinger died. His writing has deeply affected me and he's one of the few writers whose work I re-read often and with little effort. I'm not even talking about The Catcher in the Rye, either (which I've only read twice; strange now that I think about it). His stories on the Glass family are goddam brilliant. I was 18 and faking my way through that one year I tried college, and I skipped class one day to hang out at the bookstore. (The class was some international relations course with some dickhead right-wing professor.) Anyway, at the store I saw a copy of Raise High the Roof Beam (etc.) and picked it up. I'd been apprehensive about reading anything beyond Catcher, fearing disappointment, but the fear was unfounded. I read the entire thing in one sitting on a park bench and—to my surprise—loved it leagues more than Catcher. I finally got around to reading Nine Stories on this last tour and while I may be chided for taking so long to get my hands on it, I take comfort in knowing I saved the best for last. What I love most is the way he wrote about the nuances of person-to-person interaction without being tedious; the subtle ways someone reacts to little things, a nervous tick, anxiously talking too much for fear of silence... (Other personal favorites: italicizing syllables and extensive use of the em dash, but that's because I'm a geek.) It's a bummer, that's for sure. Looks like Dan's solved the noise problem. We may proceed with our aural conquests. With love and squalor, Henry's phone

Live rust

Henry — Fri, 05 Feb 2010 14:44:00 +0000

Crazy week. Had our first rehearsal in months this past Monday, and somehow I wind up burning out a fuse on my amp—twice—before we even got to start playing on a borrowed amp. Practice was really loose and fun. The four of us got into a good groove very quickly before it evolved into a version of You Got Me Wrong with everyone singing like Dylan. We only made it halfway through before surrendering to the giggles and starting over again. It's funny how that happens. The second the four of us were in a room, we didn't miss a beat.

For the show, we borrowed my old amp from Hugh. This amp, too, began having problems during soundcheck. Probably an issue with a tube, but I was too busy choking on my own rage to check. One of the dudes from You Can Be A Wesley was awesome enough to loan me his amp.

I don't know how it came across, but all the nonsense with my gear plus breaking strings on both my guitars was enough to ensure I had a bad show. That's how it goes down sometimes. Some days are diamonds, some days are rocks (or so the song allegedly says). Still, it's difficult to put any teeth to my complaints. We were glad to be able to raise money to send to the folks in Haiti. This is where I continue harassing you to donate to the Red Cross, either via www.redcross.org or texting HAITI to 90999. This stuff helps and it's easy. You don't need to buy that extra beer.

Anyhow, it was great playing with everyone. The folks in Pretty & Nice, You Can Be A Wesley, and (as always) The Lights Out were super nice and real awesome to play with. Big hugs from all of us to Jillian for putting this show together.

Gotta say, as much as I've been enjoying the time off from gigging (not to mention lugging gear in the goddamn cold and snow) I do miss playing, even if I didn't do as well as I wanted to. I want to be on tour again. It will probably be a while till we do again, but I'm heartened by the fact we're talking seriously about doing something bigger this year.

Me likey music.

Speaking of shows, found out late yesterday The Beatings are going to be on the Great Scott bill on 3/25. That's exciting. We haven't played with them since waaaay back in 2004. Eldrigdge was also with me during One Night Band, so part of me is hoping we'll spontaneously break out that cover of Everlong.

I'm just sayin', the mandolin's going to be there.

We're also talking about bringing out some older songs we haven't played in years. Gotta love that between-albums limbo, eh?

Should probably get started on something that resembles breakfast. Have to head into the studio today. Dan's gotten the piano tuned up so we're going to try and get all the piano tracking done today. Getting close to finishing up. As always, don't know what I'll do with myself once we're done. (Probably sleep more.)

Be well,
Henry

What I'm trying to say is, we all have bad days.

Jen — Mon, 08 Feb 2010 12:42:00 +0000

All right, so as you can tell from previous blogs we're in the midst of recording. Turning the corner in fact. I guess we're about about halfway there really. We've got five songs that we've completed tracking on, four songs that have been started and need a few overdubs (strings, sound effects, vocals) and one track still yet to be processed into numbers and code in Pro Tools.

A lot of sleep has been lost. After recording we return home for rest and the next day's session, so I'm missing out on shows and friends. That would be OK, of course, if these last couple of sessions had felt more productive. Really, they have been, but I'm inpatient. Don't get me wrong. Mostly, this has been pretty easy. Much too easy, but these last couple of songs have been harder to bring out the best in (which will no doubt lead to greater results!). More time has been spent rehearsing these trickier tunes than recording them which is slowing the process. All this plus a bit of physical pain (courtesy of a sneaky cavity) did not help me out this weekend.

Friday arrived. I was scheduled to have said cavity filled in. The dentist was a great guy who played some piano jazz while he clamped and drilled at my teeth. An hour later I was on my way home from Back Bay to grab Henry and drive to Dan's. Despite the swollen mouth and the all soup diet, we did manage to continue working on the track we'd started the previous weekend recording piano, percussion and cymbals. This would leave just vocals. Blam! Another song would be completed. Naturally, I wanted to get to that right away the following morning. Naturally, by the tone of this blog you can infer this did not happen.

Saturday morning. I struggled in that booth. Struggled for it to sound more than ordinary. Struggled with suggestions by Henry and Dan on how to pronounce my words. I can be a bit sensitive about that. I was also doing battle with a runny nose. The cold weather does a number on it and it was particularly frigid on Saturday. Everything I sang sounded too nasally. Each take got worse and it was obvious to all of us it wasn't going to get any better at that moment. The mood was tense. I get irritable if my vocals don't sound right; overconfident when they sound good. I went to go blow my nose, Dan cracked a few jokes lightening up the mood, but the situation remained the same.

We called it a day. This will mean more sessions; our time in the studio already limited. I should keep it in perspective though. It's the first time that's happened. What I'm trying to say is we all have bad days. Saturday was one of them. All that being said I will be happy when tracking is finished and I can get back out on the road to play these songs for many of you in person.

On the plus side, things are good on the wedding front. Invitations have been designed by our talented friend Ashley, my outfit is complete, the wedding license has been applied for and Henry's tie came in (it matches my dress exactly). We'll also be getting fitted for our rings this week and looking for the rest of Henry's outfit (boots, shirt and pants).

We've got the upcoming weekend off from recording and are planning on checking out some new amps (smaller ones for the benefit of Henry's back and the Aloud minivan) as well as working out a piano part and harmony vocal for the tune that is as of now yet to be committed to code. I wish I could refer to it by name, but I can tell you its that Motown-ish type track I mentioned on Twitter.

Cheers,
Jen

Collateral damage from misfiring neurons

Henry — Wed, 10 Feb 2010 08:40:00 +0000

Where I spent a large chunk of my childhood.
Missing: a thirty foot pine tree, an enormous palm tree,
a turtle named "Lucky", and an old Audi that never worked.

Anyone else ever get these random flashes of long-buried inconsequential memory?

For a good portion of my childhood, me and my family lived with my grandparents (if not technically, then practically) in the Alapattah neighborhood of downtown Miami. Here's a Google Map of the area. Take a trip through my old hood with street view. It was even more depressing in 1989. Hell, looking at the place I spent part of my childhood in makes me sad; road and sidewalk's all paved now, but there were two huge, beautiful trees in the front yard that grew there for decades, with an Audi parked underneath that my gramps was convinced would run again. It never did.

Anyway...

My little trip down memory lane doesn't have much to do with the house. Whenever my dad (or whomever) would pick me up from school, it would involve a short sojourn along the Dolphin Expressway, past the Orange Bowl (which I'm told is no longer there), and then off the exit for 12th Ave. For years, there were always two things I would see without fail. The first is the Columbia Cedars building, whose since-replaced snakelike logo used to bug me the fuck out. The other were 8 x 10 photocopied flyers of a bearded man wearing a turban posted on all the large palm trees that used to line the once smaller street. After years of seeing this, an eight year old version of myself finally asked my dad who the hell this guy was:

"That's Yahweh Ben Yahweh, man," he said, "he's the leader of some cult." Implicit in his laughter was the message that this dude was batshit insane.

We eventually moved to the suburbs in 1991 (back then it was at the edge of civilization) and my grandparents followed suit a few months later, so I only ever returned maybe three more times after that. Mr. YBY was snuffed out of memory.

Until tonight. I can't even explain why. First, the name entered into my brain (Yahweh Ben Yahweh? What?). Then, the doubt (Did my parents make that shit up? Did I?). Finally, there was the realization that we live in the future; a place where I can look up station bumpers and commercials for the syndicated run of A Different World from a 1994 pre-UPN Channel 33 in less than three seconds. (This bumper from 1988 for their Creature Feature is fun, too. Anyone else miss independent TV like I do?).

Anyway...

This Yahweh Ben Yahweh guy was, in fact, real. He had his own cult based in Miami. He was of the mind that whitey and the Jews (aka the fake Jews) were evil oppressors. And, oh yeah, like most cults worth their salt, the central belief was that this guy was Jesus. He's also got a freaky-deaky website that looks like it was designed by a nine year old with a busted caps lock button and access to Ritalin and Photoshop.

The best part is that shortly after I got the hell out of Dodge, he was arrested via the RICO law for fourteen murders and went to prison for eleven years. His website refers to this as "THE CRUCIFIXION". The denied appeal is under the heading "EROSION OF THE CONSTITUTION". Then on May 2007, Mr. YBY completed his first journey on Earth an ascended to heaven. Or—more accurately—he got prostate cancer and then ate it.

I'm way past the point of no return on the whole god/religion thing, but somewhere in the pit of my rotten aged-27-years-in-an-oak-Catholic-barrel soul this shit still freaks me out. Perhaps it has more to do with the late hour and anticipation of strange nightmares that will never actually come to fruition.

Speaking of which, it's 3:40. I need to get my ass to bed.

Henry

PS: Here are some aliens.

White elephants and recursive acronyms

Henry — Thu, 11 Feb 2010 23:53:00 +0000

Had a good chat with Jen this morning at the train platform. For years I've been lazily lobbying for an Aloud podcast, but the big mystery is this: what the hell would it be about? We concluded it would be great/appropriate to do a series on the next tour.

Been mostly avoiding any in-depth reading of news lately—particularly about our wonderfully productive political process. It's depressing the piss out of me. Trying to stave off the rot of cynicism as I age, as well as the urge to move to Canada, so tuning out for a spell seems necessary. (I doubt the planet will miss yours truly anyway.)

Halfway through this book by the late John Jerome called The Writing Trade. It's mainly his journal entries for the whole of 1989. He talks a lot about the weather and walking his dogs, but there are interesting nuggets in there about writing. Primarily, I'm enjoying the time capsule element of this book. Computers weren't ubiquitous and were almost novelty then. A writer had the option of using other methods of getting his work done. He dedicates a couple paragraphs to describe what I can only assume is Lotus Notes. It's interesting, and it makes me want to head on over to the typewriter shop, though—like the aforementioned podcast—I'd have little idea what to actually do with it.

Also started reading some Dostoyevsky. I may actually finish it.

Off running errands (Jesus H, do I *hate* malls), but here are three things that did pop up on my radar that I want to comment on (and you can't stop me):

- Further proof that it's possible to be both spineless and a bully: Google's 2010 Blogocide. Speaking of, after decades of their dickery, the RIAA may want to consider going the MTV route of becoming a recursive acronym (lest the public be confused they have anything to do with music).

- Further proof that Sarah Palin is a phony: her vacuous speech at the Teabagger's convention.

- Further proof that John Mayer is a douchebag: his recent spate of classy interviews. (I've been saying this guy's a douche for years. Nice of ya'll to finally catch up. :)

No studio this weekend. Would like to catch up on years of lost sleep, but I know this shan't happen. Tomorrow: crepes, window shopping for new amps, and a movie.

Henry's phone

"We think there should be an organ on it." "WRONG."

Henry — Wed, 17 Feb 2010 15:03:00 +0000

Last night showed Jen some ideas I had for rearranging a couple of old songs we've been thinking of bringing back into the set. The between-albums limbo has a flavor all its own, and do enjoy it. You're not actively pushing any particular record, so you feel free to play whatever you damn well please. (Not that you can't do that anyway, but when there are time constraints guess which songs are getting cut from the set? I don't think there's anything on LYLO under 12 minutes.)

Speaking of that album (and this jogged memory theme running rampant lately), remembered something from those sessions. We were adding overdubs to Release and we kept telling Hugh about this untested idea we had for an organ during the verses just holding out a B♭. He was skeptical, but in the spirit of the whole album we tried it out anyway. It sounded hilarious, we bust out laughing, and never spoke of it again. In our heads we were going for a Hammond B3 sound. What we got was obnoxious Casio church organ.

Meeting up with Charles tonight. I forget why (murder?), but I suppose I'll find out.

Been watching a lot of the old Jeremy Brett/Sherlock Holmes series lately. More badass than I remember it. Holmes is kind of a fucked up dude who dabbles in cocaine. Dunno how I missed that in school. Bretty went a little insane over the role as well. He played Holmes for ten years.

Picked up a couple CDs this past weekend. Pablo Honey, which I surprisingly didn't have, and that first Macy Gray album. Laugh if you will, but I Try was one of the best songs of the 90s. Better than some of the shit coming out then, that's ferdamnsure.

Back in the studio this weekend, finally laying down strings. Should be exciting. Getting better at this string arranging shit with each record. If all goes as planned, should be a gorgeous result.

One would hope, anyway.

Henry's phone

Two shows: Quincy and Allston, Massachusetts

Webmaster — Thu, 18 Feb 2010 12:44:00 +0000

With work in the studio edging to an end, Henry and Jen will be performing a rare acoustic show at the Beachcomber in Quincy, MA. The Beachcomber was one of the venues Aloud cut their teeth at in the early days, and the gang is happy to be back. They will also be debuting a few new songs at this show. This show is 21+, $10 cover (info is below). Aloud hits the stage first at 9pm.

Then next month is the show at another of Aloud's favorite haunts: Great Scott in Allston. The Beatings have recently been added to headline this bill, along Action Camp (from Pittsburgh) and Hello Ninja. This show is $9, 18+. The band will be pulling out a few Aloud classics, so please don't miss it! The show starts at 9pm. Aloud hits the stage at 11pm.

February 25, 2010 – 9pm
The Beachcomber
797 Quincy Shore Drive, Quincy, MA 02170
Performing with: It's From the Sky, Noel Vickery
www.beachcomberquincy.com
Cover: $10
Age: 21+

March 25, 2010 – 11pm
Great Scott
1222 Commonwealth Ave, Allston, MA
Performing with: Hello Ninja (9pm), Action Camp (10pm), The Beatings (12am)
www.greatscottboston.com
Cover: $9
Age: 18+

I don't play by anyone's rules. Not even my own.

Henry — Fri, 19 Feb 2010 15:11:00 +0000

As has been mentioned before, the entire recording process has been strange compared to the other records we've made. Yesterday, we laid down all drums and percussion (plus a guide vocal at the very end) and nothing else. We get into these things where something's really weird and we laugh about it, but we keep going with it. Most art (or music or what-have-you) that I enjoy has an arc of "really, I don't give a fuck right now what other people are going to think of this, I'm having too much fun". More than at any other time, we've really hit our stride with this record. It's been strange. It's been fun. (Even when it's been frustrating.) There's still a bit of mixing to get through afterward, but it'll be interesting to hear everything as one solid, cogent piece.

Fuck, my back is killing me right now. Don't remember doing any heavy lifting yesterday.

Bit of an active day yesterday in the Boston music scene (which doesn't actually exist, I'm told). It all stemmed from an article in the Phoenix on our compatriots in Township. It was a perfect storm of toe-steppin'. The angle of the article is pretty lame to begin with, and I'm not sure when/where this alleged inter-scene quibbling is actually happening. Maybe I'm just assuming most people in their [shudder at the hypenated word] "micro-scene" don't actually care enough to get into real fights with anyone else. Entirely possible I'm so ensconced in my own thing that I don't actually care about the politics and am missing something.

I guess I just find the whole thing a dumb 700-word look in the rearview. Yes, there has been sniping and bullshit in the past and will continue into the future, but even at its bleakest Boston's always had a bedrock of support for local music (trust me, I've been to lots and lots of places; we've got it so goddamn good here). However, in the last year something really wonderful's happened—due in no small part to the increasing prevalence of social media—and a lot of us are actually out there supporting each other regardless of flavor. (How else could you explain Brendan Boogie, Tad McKitterick, and Duncan Wilder Johnson in the same band?)

All I'm saying is there are people—a lot of people—that give a passionate fuck about music in this town (not going to call it a scene, not going to call it a scene, not going to...) working harder than they need to to get it out there, and this article was pretty insulting. If you want to be that hipster caricature about it, then... I don't know... have fun crying to Justin Timberlake at night.

Bleah. I have to get out of here soon. Studio and whatnot.

Be good, and please quitcherbitchin.
Henry

Performances

Webmaster — Mon, 22 Feb 2010 02:11:23 +0000

[gigpress_shows]

Notes From Underground » archive

Webmaster — Mon, 22 Feb 2010 02:11:41 +0000

Performances » Past shows

Webmaster — Mon, 22 Feb 2010 02:53:56 +0000

[gigpress_shows scope=past sort=desc show_menu=yearly menu_title="Select a year"]

Notes From Underground

Webmaster — Mon, 22 Feb 2010 04:16:57 +0000

Music

Webmaster — Mon, 22 Feb 2010 04:18:04 +0000

All of Aloud's albums are available for listening here. To purchase music, please visit our store.

Studio albums

<a href="http://music.allthingsaloud.com/album/exile-2">Exile by Aloud</a>

EXILE Release: October 12, 2010 10 songs Produced and mixed by Daniel Nicholas Daskivich Five preview tracks Album credits and lyrics

<a href="http://music.allthingsaloud.com/album/fan-the-fury">Fan The Fury by Aloud</a>

FAN THE FURY Released: March 25, 2008 13 songs Produced and mixed by Chuck Brody Album credits and lyrics

<a href="http://music.allthingsaloud.com/album/leave-your-light-on">Leave Your Light On by Aloud</a>

LEAVE YOUR LIGHT ON Released: May 2, 2006 11 songs Produced by Hugh Wyman Mixed and mastered by Tom Polce Album credits and lyrics

EPs

<a href="http://music.allthingsaloud.com/album/live-2009">Live 2009 by Aloud</a>

LIVE 2009 Released: December 31, 2009 5 songs Recorded and mixed by Bengt Alexander Album credits and lyrics

<a href="http://music.allthingsaloud.com/album/the-sooner-it-comes">The Sooner It Comes by Aloud</a>

THE SOONER IT COMES Released: June 12, 2004 6 songs Produced and mixed by Ian Hughes Album credits and lyrics

Video

Webmaster — Mon, 22 Feb 2010 04:18:29 +0000

Here are a few selected videos from Aloud. Watch more from the road and in the studio here on Aloud's YouTube Channel. [tubepress]

Bio

Webmaster — Mon, 22 Feb 2010 04:19:31 +0000

Aloud Henry Beguiristain: lead vocals, guitar, keys Jen de la Osa: lead vocals, guitar, keys on tour with Charles Murphy: bass, backing vocals James Willetts: drums (Photo: Mick Murray, for In Your Face Photo)

Fiery rock n’ roll band Aloud is known for their tight male/female vocals, exceptionally strong songwriting, and energy-filled live performances. Lead vocalists/guitarists and songwriters Jen de la Osa and Henry Beguiristain have been collaborating as songwriters since their early teens. Exile represents a sea change for Aloud. Bandleaders Henry Beguiristain and Jen de la Osa spent over a year in the studio creating the album following the departure of their original rhythm section. The result is a beautiful and strange collection of songs featuring often-unfulfilled, complex characters coming to terms with bleak circumstances while searching for hope and relief in unlikely places. Overall, Exile is Aloud’s most sophisticated and experimental album to date, showcasing their new-found love of orchestration, Sgt. Pepper-like production, and rich, lyrical imagery. Exile is Aloud’s third full-length album and is the debut album from talented producer/engineer Daniel Nicholas Daskivich. The album was fan-funded via Kickstarter.com. Aloud will be touring as in support of Exile this fall, returning to CMJ this October before heading off on a coast-to-coast tour, encompassing the entire United States in over 50 performances. Discography Exile (2010) Live 2009 [live EP] (2009) Fan The Fury (2008) Leave Your Light On (2006) The Sooner It Comes [EP] (2004)

Press

Webmaster — Mon, 22 Feb 2010 04:19:47 +0000

September 22, 2010: The Deli Aloud's "Exile" CD Release Tomorrow at Church Album review "Exile, the band's new LP, is dark and densely orchestrated. Acoustic piano and horns cast deep overtones over the traditional rock instruments and lend the songs a weight altogether new to the band.... If this much of a departure in the studio produced such a rich and interesting result, their always-electric live performance will be all the more memorable given the new material." Read more
September 22, 2010: Weekly Dig Aloud: Exile Album review "Jen de la Osa and Henry Beguiristain have made a name for themselves with the searing vocals and straight-forward rock efforts of 2008′s Fan The Fury. With Exile… Aloud has delivered a stunning, multifaceted opus, proving that Beguiristain can do more than bust guitar strings and de la Osa is hardly just another girl screaming into a microphone." Read more
September 17, 2010: The Boston Globe Two for the road Feature "Exile is a slow but powerful burn.... Layers of piano, euphonium, trumpet, and even a string section ... create a multitextured template for songs that roam and veer from ruminative (“Burning Bright’’) to strident (“Counterfeit Star’’) to quietly harrowing and haunted (“To Die at Sea’’)." Read more
September 14, 2010: The Boston Phoenix Fall Local Pop Preview: Changing scene Show preview "Keeping with the times, Boston riff-raging quartet Aloud enlisted the help of Kickstarter to fund their third studio album, Exile. With the charitable help of 98 backers, Aloud ringleaders Jen de la Osa and Henry Beguiristain achieved their $5000 donation goal in early August, giving birth to Exile and providing us with the kind of sharp, literary-minded rock passion we've come to expect from scene veterans who have little time for trends." Read more
August 8, 2010: Ryan's Smashing Life Final hrs to help Aloud rock America Album preview "The New Aloud - One of New England's best contemporary bands has somehow managed to get much better over the last year. Songwriting, honest emotional surrender and compelling strong structure are keys to the new songs on Exile" Read more
June 29, 2010: New Haven Advocate (New Haven, CT) Aloud Coming To The Space In New Haven Show preview "String quartets and trumpets and euphoniums … oh, my! Boston’s Aloud is experimenting with all different types of instruments — and doing so with a high regard for songwriting. Aloud is currently working on a new album that is unlike anything the indie rock duo has done before... Even more refreshing, distinctive qualities of Aloud’s musical approach can be found in its live show. You won’t be confined to habitual show etiquette, uncomfortably standing in the same spot of a packed venue or club for a couple hours, only socializing with your friends. Aloud gets its audience involved." Read more
April 9, 2010: Playground Boston (Boston, MA) Aloud and The Beatings @ Great Scott Show review "Everything gets harder, louder, and more intense when Aloud plays live – you think they’re studio stuff is good, you NEED to get your ass down to one of their shows. Lights flashing, guitars blasting, drums crashing – Aloud is easily one of the best live acts in the city. Highlights of Aloud’s set included a stripped-down mandolin version of “The Last Time,” guest-clappers, the poppy love song “You Got Me Wrong” taking on power-balladesque tendencies when played live, and an amazing performance of “When The Ants Attack the Queen” (with all levels jacked up to 11) that absolutely tore the place down to close out their set. The band makes excellent use of back-and-forth vocals and harmonies between singers Henry Beguiristain and Jen De La Osa – a complementary style that is reflected in their guitar technique as well." Read more
December 1, 2009: Performer Magazine Aloud Cover story "Aloud's cycle has been buoyed from the beginning by their superb songwriting and performing skills. Jen de la Osa is a dynamo on stage and on record. She's a petite woman with a larger-than-life voice and her guitar playing seemingly has its own personality with all its side notes and pick-slides. Her vocals are one of the hallmarks of Aloud's sound; powerful enough to blow the doors down, yet accurate enough to blow just the right doors down. Partner Beguiristain's work has its own personality, one that counterpoints de la Osa's bombast and raw power. Whereas de la Osa rides a chariot of blood and thunder, Beguiristain simply sidles up to your ear with an almost conversational style of lyric and melody."
Read more \| PDF
November 17, 2009: Columbus Alive (Columbus, OH) What to do Tuesday Show preview "Aloud is a Boston band with boy-girl vocals and big hooks, but they're more unpredictable than the paint-by-numbers pop band that comes to mind. Jen de la Osa sings like Heartless Bastards' Erika Wennerstrom and is nearly as sassy. Henry Beguiristain isn't as endearing, but he sounds great when the pair interlocks in harmonic bliss. The overall feel comes off much like a slightly bluesy take on the New Pornographers' sugar rush pop — a worthy reason to venture to Bernie's, 1896 N. High St., to see them play tonight with Help Is On The Way and Keith Jenkins & the Moving Parts." PDF November 12, 2009: Offbeat Magazine (New Orleans, LA) Preview: Aloud at Cafe Prytania Tonight Article "Boston’s Aloud is appropriately enigmatic for a male/female-fronted rock band with a white, red, and black color scheme. Co-lead vocalists/guitarists Jen de la Osa and Henry Beguiristain have played together for the last 13 years... and though their rock is not so feedback blues-driven, Aloud’s musical energy does recall the White Stripes, if only there were two Jacks, no Meg." Read more \| PDF November 11, 2009: UWeekly (Columbus, OH) Aloud Show preview "Henry Beguiristain could make elegantly sad young music - so could Jen de la Osa - but when he contemplates being "fatalistic," she rhymes it with "sadistic." Aloud's "Fan The Fury" updates X's Exene Cervenka and John Doe's dynamically domestic civil war, now spilling into the streets and vice versa, as hyper-aware, media-bombarded harmonies and discord fall into place and fly by, between the sheets and screens. The personal and the political trust and bust, while Aloud's co-leaders' voices and guitars insist, “The end will be our beginning,” once again." Read more \| PDF November 4, 2009: Flagpole Magazine (Athens, GA) Weekly Picks Show preview "Everything I've read about this band's live show suggests a "fiery" "chaotic" and "high-energy" performance. The tunes seem to be all of the above, with a driving rhythm section and bluesy, distorted guitars. Singer Jen de la Osa has some really exceptional pipes, at times forlorn and dreamy like Fiona Apple and at other times roaring like Grace Slick or maybe even a slightly more lilting Janis Joplin. She trades off vocal duties with longtime collaborator Henry Beguirstain who has a more modern rock sound." Read more \| PDF August 30, 2009: The Philadelphia Inquierer (Philadelphia, PA) 7 Days Show preview "Pure pop for now people. Powered by the twin vocal/guitar attack of Jen de la Osa and Henry Beguiristain, the Boston-based combo Aloud somehow succeeds in uniting chamber pop with rock anthems." Read more \| PDF August 28, 2009: Teaparty Boston The Search for White Jeans and Other Adventures with Aloud Interview "Aloud played The Luxury’s CD release at the Paradise back in July, which continues to be one of the most talked about Boston events of 2009, and Jessie and I recently caught up with them after their sound check at TT the Bear’s Place before their high-impact show on August 6th with The Lights Out. Henry Beguiristain and Jen de la Osa, the pair behind all things Aloud, left Miami for Boston nearly ten years ago in order to capitalize on their artistic enthusiasm and mutual appreciation for meticulously crafted lyrics and songwriting. They haven’t looked back since." Read more August 28, 2009: Boston Band Crush Feature Crush: C.D. on Songs, 8/28/09, One Night Band edition Song Review Aloud is one of those groups that has the luxury of having two exquisitely talented vocalists in Henry Beguiristain and Jen de la Osa. This embarrassment of vocal riches means Aloud has to choose who's going to sing lead, but the two work together so well in this particular track that you barely notice the differentiation. Read more August 05, 2009: Serve The Song Center Stage with Aloud - Part 2 Interview "In part two of my interview with Aloud, Jen and Henry talk about the recording studio, videos and online promotion, and balancing the business end of their music with creative stuff." [Part 2 of 2] Read more August 03, 2009: Serve The Song Center Stage with Aloud - Part 1 Interview "Jen de la Osa and Henry Beguiristain have been writing, singing, and playing guitar together since they were young. Today they are the core of Boston-based Aloud. The songs on their sophomore album Fan the Fury are an engaging collection of observations, each expressed with urgency and true emotion." [Part 1 of 2] Read more June 30, 2009: Boston Band Crush Feature Crush: C.D. on Songs, 6/30/09 Song Review "If Neil Young had Mother Nature on the run in the 1970s, Jen de la Osa and Henry Beguiristain of Aloud provide an update of maybe not her status but their own in ‘Hard Up In The 2000s.’ The drums and the chord progression plod ahead like a heart monitor as Doctor de la Osa gives her own prognosis on life in the current century. The once-per-measure piano chords sound out a dirge akin to John Lennon's “Mother,” minus Lennon's atonal primal screaming but plus singer de la Osa's powerful vocal delivery." Read more April 1, 2009: Pilgrims of Sound All Things Aloud Article "Aloud is, through all the experiment, mood swings, and live shows, a rock band by the Webster’s definition. Their trick is that they’re aware of where and when they are and embrace the warts as well as the gold of the times. They are a statement that through all the bells and whistles at work on music, the heart of American youth remains in the 4 piece, verse-chorus-verse, kids in their mom’s basement and under furbished practice space, rock and roll ideology." Read more March 13, 2009: The Wire Aloud at the Muddy River, March 5, 2009 Live Review "The four band members demonstrate striking chemistry onstage. Beguiristain occasionally sidles up to Osa to sing into the same microphone, and the pair often meet center-stage to play guitar face to face.… The music is raw rock with a hard punk edge to certain tunes, all rooted around a classic Americana core." Read more February 12, 2009: The Post and Courier: Preview Preview & Interview "The brainchild of lead guitarist Henry Beguiristain and Jen de La Osa, the band combines two voices for triumphant harmonies. Individually, each singer brings something different to the table. De La Osa's deep, almost Joplin-like voice adds thickness to the songs, while Beguiristain's vocals steadies the John Lennon-inspired tracks." Read more November 17, 2008: Boston Herald Aloud and clear: It’ll be rockin’ time 'I Just Want To Witness...' Preview & Interview "Aloud knows you like to watch... the local rock band is augmenting its live show with interactive visuals... Carr and the band work to create an Orwellian drama using today’s culture of 24-hour news channels, YouTube awareness, camera phones and prime-time reality shows." PDF October 8, 2008: The Signal (Ewing, NJ) Aloud vocal on social, political issues Live Review "Aloud creates music for a reason, intending to end poverty and encourage people to stand up for political change. They are not pushovers, asserting, "No is not an option, not where we come from." PDF June 1, 2008: The Noise Aloud: Fan The Fury Album review "The band’s supporters generally focus on Jen de la Osa and Henry Beguiristain’s vocals, but it’s their shimmering guitar work that gives their voices a platform from which to explode." Read more May 29, 2008: Revolt Media Aloud: Fan The Fury Album review "Aloud brings a strong formula of smart, powerful indie-rock that ranges from slow ballad 'Hard Up In The 2000s' all the way to the pulsing garage-rock tune 'When The Ants Attack The Queen.'" Read more May 28 , 2008: Claremont Eagle Times/Algorhythms Aloud - You'll Either Love It Or Hate It Album review "The second album from Boston quartet Aloud [is] packed with twentysomething rage, but it also brims with flourishes and crescendos...There’s not much middle ground, and that’s a good thing." Read more April 29, 2008: Adam Salsman - Dancing in the Moonlight Aloud: Fan The Fury Album review "[Aloud's] got a solid sound, amazing skill, and enough staying power to keep us enthralled for years to come." Read more March 21, 2008: Ryan's Smashing Life Aloud - Fan The Fury Album review "The joy of rock, the celebration of noise and explosion of spirit and wrap it up into a 2008 package." Read more March 12, 2008: The Boston Phoenix MP3 of the Week: Aloud Song review "...The hooks are bigger, the lyrics smarter, and the arrangements tighter." Read more October 17, 2007: Lime Wire CMJ: Band - Aloud Live Review "Last night, I had my first CMJ miracle..." Read more & watch video July 2007: Performer Magazine Aloud Featured Interview "Exuding a light-hearted demeanor, it’s clear the four members of Aloud don’t take themselves too seriously, even in light of their successful 2006 full-length album debut, Leave Your Light On..." Read more April 2007: INsite Magazine Living Life Aloud Featured Interview "The strength of Aloud’s album is that hard-rocking sounds don’t take away from quality songwriting..." Read more February 21, 2007: Claremont Eagle Times/Algorhythms Live Review "Aloud combined the Pretenders’ sass with U2’s sonic fury..." Read more

Store

Webmaster — Mon, 22 Feb 2010 04:20:31 +0000

Music

Shipping will be calculated during checkout. For digital downloads in multiple formats, click here. CD orders shipping outside of the United States, click here.

Studio Albums

Exile studio album Available on Oct. 12, 2010

Fan The Fury studio album March 25, 2008 $10 Product detail

Leave Your Light On studio album May 2, 2006 $10 Product detail

EPs

Live 2009 live EP December 31, 2009 FREE Product detail

The Sooner It Comes studio EP June 12, 2004 $5 Product detail

Contact

Webmaster — Mon, 22 Feb 2010 04:20:47 +0000

Management/Booking/Promotions annie*rock Annie Burns 5 Fort Washington Place, Cambridge, MA 02139 Phone: +1 (917) 582-0594 Fax: +1 (817) 582-0592 E-mail: annie@annierock.com

Publicity Representative Randex Communications Randy Alexander 906 Jonathan Lane, Marlton, NJ 08053 Phone: +1 (856) 596-1410 Fax: +1 (856) 596-3229 E-mail: randex@randexpr.com

Aloud E-mail: aloud@allthingsaloud.com

Label Lemon Merchant Records Phone: +1 (617) 942-0587 E-mail: info@lemonmerchantrecords.com

Site issues E-mail: webmaster@allthingsaloud.com

News

Webmaster — Mon, 22 Feb 2010 04:25:40 +0000

News » Archive

Webmaster — Mon, 22 Feb 2010 04:25:58 +0000

Music » Live 2009

Webmaster — Mon, 22 Feb 2010 04:40:38 +0000

Digital: $0.00

OTHER ALBUMS • Fan The Fury (2008) • Leave Your Light On (2006) • The Sooner It Comes (2004)

Live 2009

Release date: December 31, 2009 Label: Lemon Merchant Records Format: Digital

[xspf]_start(false, 'order=31');[/xspf]	1.	The Last Time	Lyrics	Free download
[xspf]_start(false, 'order=32');[/xspf]	2.	Sometimes I Feel Like A Vampire	Lyrics	Free download
[xspf]_start(false, 'order=33');[/xspf]	3.	Fan The Fury	Lyrics	Free download
[xspf]_start(false, 'order=34');[/xspf]	4.	You Got Me Wrong	Lyrics	Free download
[xspf]_start(false, 'order=35');[/xspf]	5.	When The Ants Attack The Queen	Lyrics	Free download

Lyrics: Jen de la Osa/Henry Beguiristain Music: Beguiristain/de la Osa/Fontaine/Lohr

Personnel

Henry Beguiristain: lead vocal, guitars Jen de la Osa: lead vocal, guitars with Tommy Mazalewski: drums Charles Murphy: bass, backing vocals Recorded and mixed by: Bengt Alexsander Recorded at: Howler's Coyote Cafe in Pittsburgh, PA

Music » Fan The Fury

Webmaster — Mon, 22 Feb 2010 04:42:42 +0000

CD: $9.99 Digital: $9.99

OTHER ALBUMS • Live 2009 (2009) • Leave Your Light On (2006) • The Sooner It Comes (2004)

Fan The Fury

Release date: March 25, 2008 Label: Lemon Merchant Records (DTTR002) Format: CD, Digital

[xspf]_start(FALSE, 'order=1');[/xspf]	1.	Witness	Lyrics	Buy this song
[xspf]_start(FALSE, 'order=2');[/xspf]	2.	Sometimes I Feel Like A Vampire	Lyrics	Buy this song
[xspf]_start(FALSE, 'order=3');[/xspf]	3.	The Last Time	Lyrics	Buy this song
[xspf]_start(false, 'order=4');[/xspf]	4.	Julie	Lyrics	Buy this song
[xspf]_start(false, 'order=5');[/xspf]	5.	Fan The Fury	Lyrics	Buy this song
[xspf]_start(false, 'order=6');[/xspf]	6.	Murder Will Out	Lyrics	Buy this song
[xspf]_start(false, 'order=7');[/xspf]	7.	You Got Me Wrong	Lyrics	Buy this song
[xspf]_start(false, 'order=8');[/xspf]	8.	Nero	Lyrics	Buy this song
[xspf]_start(false, 'order=9');[/xspf]	9.	Hard Up In The 2000s	Lyrics	Buy this song
[xspf]_start(false, 'order=10');[/xspf]	10.	The Battle Of Love	Lyrics	Buy this song
[xspf]_start(false, 'order=11');[/xspf]	11.	When The Ants Attack The Queen	Lyrics	Buy this song
[xspf]_start(false, 'order=12');[/xspf]	12.	Backs To The Wall	Lyrics	Buy this song
[xspf]_start(false, 'order=13');[/xspf]	13.	Justice & Forgiveness	Lyrics	Buy this song

Lyrics: Jen de la Osa/Henry Beguiristain Music: Beguiristain/de la Osa/Fontaine/Lohr

Personnel

Henry Beguiristain: lead vocal, guitars, piano, synth Jen de la Osa: lead vocal, guitars, piano, keys, glockenspiel Roy Fontaine: bass, backing vocal Ross Lohr: drums, percussion Additional musicians: Wendy Mittelstadt (violins, viola) Produced and mixed by: Chuck Brody Recorded at: The Fireplace NYC, September–October 2007 in New York, NY Mastering: Jeff Lipton (Peerless Mastering) Assistant engineer: Maria Rice (Peerless Mastering)

Music » Leave Your Light On

Webmaster — Mon, 22 Feb 2010 04:43:02 +0000

CD: $9.99 Digital: $9.99

OTHER ALBUMS • Live 2009 (2009) • Fan The Fury (2008) • The Sooner It Comes (2004)

Leave Your Light On

Release date: May 2, 2006 Label: Lemon Merchant Records (DTTR001) Format: CD, Digital

[xspf]_start(false, 'order=14');[/xspf]	1.	Release	Lyrics	Buy this song
[xspf]_start(false, 'order=15');[/xspf]	2.	Palm of Your Hand	Lyrics	Buy this song
[xspf]_start(false, 'order=16');[/xspf]	3.	Beaches	Lyrics	Buy this song
[xspf]_start(false, 'order=17');[/xspf]	4.	Can You Hear Me Now?	Lyrics	Buy this song
[xspf]_start(false, 'order=18');[/xspf]	5.	All I Can Do	Lyrics	Buy this song
[xspf]_start(false, 'order=19');[/xspf]	6.	Slipped In Your Dream	Lyrics	Buy this song
[xspf]_start(false, 'order=20');[/xspf]	7.	Bleeding Heart	Lyrics	Buy this song
[xspf]_start(false, 'order=21');[/xspf]	8.	Love is a Beast	Lyrics	Buy this song
[xspf]_start(false, 'order=22');[/xspf]	9.	Wouldn't It Be Sweet	Lyrics	Buy this song
[xspf]_start(false, 'order=23');[/xspf]	10.	Late Last Nite	Lyrics	Buy this song
[xspf]_start(false, 'order=24');[/xspf]	11.	Godspeed	Lyrics	Buy this song

Songs written by: Jen de la Osa/Henry Beguiristain

Personnel

Henry Beguiristain: lead vocal, guitars, piano Jen de la Osa: lead vocal, guitars, organ Roy Fontaine: bass, backing vocal Ross Lohr: drums, percussion Additional musicians: Wendy Mittelstadt (viola) Produced by: Hugh Wyman Mixed and mastered by: Tom Polce Engineers: Chris Phillips, Scott Brown Additional engineering: Hugh Wyman, Aloud Recorded at: Chris' house in Dayville, CT (May–August 2005) and Hugh's apartment in Brighton, MA (August–September 2005) Mystery cover woman: Elizabeth Acle

Music » The Sooner It Comes

Webmaster — Mon, 22 Feb 2010 04:43:18 +0000

CD: $4.99 Digital: $5.94

OTHER ALBUMS • Live 2009 (2009) • Fan The Fury (2008) • Leave Your Light On (2006)

The Sooner It Comes

Release date: June 12, 2004 Label: Emaginary Records (ER79138) Format: CD, Digital

[xspf]_start(false, 'order=25');[/xspf]	1.	A Cup of Tea	Lyrics	Buy this song
[xspf]_start(false, 'order=26');[/xspf]	2.	(Hey Now) What's It To You	Lyrics	Buy this song
[xspf]_start(false, 'order=27');[/xspf]	3.	Help Me Help You	Lyrics	Buy this song
[xspf]_start(false, 'order=28');[/xspf]	4.	Down	Lyrics	Buy this song
[xspf]_start(false, 'order=29');[/xspf]	5.	Mind Relaxer	Lyrics	Buy this song
[xspf]_start(false, 'order=30');[/xspf]	6.	Don't Trust the Radio	Lyrics	Buy this song

Songs written by: Jen de la Osa/Henry Beguiristain

Personnel

Henry Beguiristain: lead vocal, guitars Jen de la Osa: lead vocal, guitars Roy Fontaine: bass Ross Lohr: drums Produced and mixed by: Ian Hughes Recorded at: Emaginary Studios in Scituate, MA (January–February 2004) and Courtlen Recording Studios in Hanson, MA (February–March 2004) Mastering: Dana J. White (Specialized Mastering)

Aloud home page

Webmaster — Mon, 22 Feb 2010 05:15:54 +0000

Aloud on the web:

Bandcamp Twitter Facebook YouTube MySpace

PAY NO ATTENTION TO THAT MAN BEHIND THE CURTAIN We thought we'd be sneaky and do some site maintenance when we thought you weren't looking, but you caught us. We'll be back at 100% in a couple of hours with a shiny new website. Until then, check out the links listed to the left. — The Management

Photo: Mick Murray (for In Your Face Photo)

Webmaster — Mon, 22 Feb 2010 16:37:52 +0000

Witness

Webmaster — Tue, 23 Feb 2010 02:09:15 +0000

I'm not much the kind for traditional anythings

Jen — Wed, 24 Feb 2010 00:52:00 +0000

Oh my friends it looks as though we are closer than we thought to finishing this record. I suspect that aside from a possible, leisurely sax/trumpet overdub session we should be able to complete tracking in the four day stint we have scheduled this week. Our progress is due in no small part to our fabulous strings players. Big thanks to Beth, Josh and Veronica. They came in on Saturday and tracked their bits thus completing two more songs. Hallelujah!

We've spent this week working out songs for this Thursday's acoustic show in Quincy, MA at the Beachcomber. We've rearranged some tunes from Leave Your Light On and Fan the Fury. There may even be a new track in there. It's actually been a lot of fun working within the acoustic bounds. We may have to do more of these shows. It's kind of a nice way to really showcase the songs.

So that's all been very good news and one of my greater solaces in a time when this wedding business is becoming increasingly irritating. I'm not much the kind for traditional anythings and now that the fun of picking out our outfits has waned and the phones calls from home have increased, I'm trying to set my mind on the cruise that will directly follow the reception. I really would have been extremely happy exchanging rings at Boston City Hall with a great big dinner with friends and family, but I'm sure after all this dust settles all the chaos will be overshadowed by our immense joy... and this awesome cruise! Until then we'll continue trying on those rings.

I'm also in the middle of a reading frenzy. I'm on three books and must recommend them all to you. The first is a classic: The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes. I'm sure Henry's mentioned that we've been on this Holmes kick ever since we saw the Downey movie (thanks Brendo for the recommendation). The Granada series is pretty fantastic too. It's a very easy world to get lost in. Also on my shelf is Revolution in the Head given to Henry and I by our friend Ben. This book recounts the details on all the Beatle recording sessions. Need I say more on why I'm so in love with it? Now I know how those crazy tape loops on Tomorrow Never Knows were made. The third is a book by rock n roll poetess Patti Smith called Just Kids. Thanks to James for the heads up on that one! It chronicles her friendship with artistic soul mate Robert Mapplethorpe, a true artist in his own right. A glorious story set to a New York 60s/70s backdrop. I can't put it down.

One more thing I'd like to mention was a documentary on an event Henry and I participated in called One Night Band. If you're not familiar, the basic idea is they took all these Boston musicians and broke them up into bands with people they'd never played with before and some they'd never even met. These groups went back to designated rehearsal spaces to write three songs and learn one cover which they would perform later that night before an audience that didn't know what to expect. We were very happy that Boston Band Crush asked us to take part and even better was the proceeds when to Zumix, an organization that introduces kids in East Boston to awesomeness of playing an instrument. Really, everyone should play something. We'd be much happier human beings. You can check out Henry and I in that docu below.

One Night Band: The Movie from Band Crush on Vimeo.

Cheers,

Jen

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It's bobsled time!

Henry — Tue, 02 Mar 2010 18:16:00 +0000

Magic 8 Ball hasn't lied to me yet...

Still generally avoiding news and—according to my Magic 8 Ball—my outlook is good.

That said, things do filter through and I've been very loosely keeping up. The latest to make the bile rise to my throat is seeing "Jay Leno" and "The Tonight Show" without seeing ", the former host of" sandwiched in between. I was finally able to read the long out of print The Late Shift in three large gulps last week, and even then someone as high up as the president of NBC thought he sucked. It's not even that I think he's evil or anything, just middling. He does nothing interesting with the show. Taking the history of the Tonight Show into account, the man is an anomaly. Completely unimaginative and uninventive. Coco should raise an army led by the undead Johnny Carson, Jack Paar, and Steve Allen. Then they can tie up some tea bags to Leno and repeatedly dunk him in hot water until he comes to his senses.

All major combat missions vis-a-vis this album are complete. We finished up tracking on the record this past weekend. Friday, we had Charles come in to track some bass on this last song. Ate burritos afterward and talked about Cool Runnings quite a bit. (He was in Arkansas last week and this movie kept coming up.) All that's left is some future session to track some brass on a song, but for now, this shit is pretty much done, son. (When will this awesome sauce be released? No clue yet.) But I'm terribly excited to get this mixed, mastered, and out for you to—literally—eat with your ears.

Also been working very, very hard on a new version of the website. Google is ending FTP support for Blogger which, as it happens, is exactly what we use to run part of this site. So, because Google sucks, we will be soon using the vastly superior Wordpress and the site will look as pretty as ever. It'll be awesome.

I can't believe I almost forgot about the Beachcomber show last week. We hadn't played there since 2005, but seeing as how it's about 10 minutes away from our current abode Jen and I played an acoustic set. Reworked a couple of older numbers and messed around with arrangements to accommodate the kind of set we'd be playing. To further compliment the blast from the past: Joni and Mark (aka Ross' parents) were there, and Joni even took a couple of pics like old times (which will be posted soon to our Flickr page). It was really great catching up with them, actually.

With recording all but wrapped up, the weekends are opening up some and I'm looking forward to spending this coming Friday heading into town for coffee and pretending I can afford stuff.

And beginning rehearsals again...

Henry

Currently reading:
Man in the Dark
by Paul Auster

When mother nature wants to yawn and stretch, she's gonna do it.

Jen — Thu, 04 Mar 2010 23:13:00 +0000

I'm donating some money today to the Red Cross on behalf of the Chilean relief effort. Chile's always been this sort of magical place to me. I'm a big fan of Chilean author Isabel Allende who's work a lot of takes place in her homeland. It's a bit helpless seeing the earth devastate itself and the people living on it like it has recently. Earthquakes, tsunamis. Whole towns ripped up. Cracked. Not much you can do to stop one of these things. When mother nature wants to yawn and stretch, she's gonna do it. It can all make you just sit there dumbstruck, you know? If you'd like to send something their way you can do so via the Red Cross. Big news to report on the upcoming album. Aside from a trumpet overdub, we have wrapped it all up as of last weekend. That's huge! Matt Girard who you may have seen playing bass for us last summer will be coming in to lay down that final bit of brass that will complete the record. But for all intents and purposes we're in mixing stage. Rehearsing tonight for our Great Scott show on the 25th in Allston, MA. Info here if you're looking for it. Oh and as I was walking to the train today I noticed Patti Smith on the cover of the Phoenix (our alt weekley for those outside of Boston). They're running an excerpt from her book (the one I mentioned in my previous blog). Pick up a copy of check it out here. I finished the book last week and was sad when it was over. An excellent memoir. Oh and I might I add that Conan is now on Twitter? Brilliant. Cheers, Jen

aloud_09_murray02

Webmaster — Mon, 08 Mar 2010 18:50:03 +0000

aloud_mick_murray

Webmaster — Mon, 08 Mar 2010 18:54:17 +0000

aloud_09_murray03

Webmaster — Mon, 08 Mar 2010 18:58:09 +0000

Lyrics » Fan The Fury

Webmaster — Tue, 09 Mar 2010 04:18:59 +0000

Fan The Fury

Sometimes I Feel Like A Vampire Let's go on the offensive We'll take down all the fences Wipe the sweat from your dark brow There's no holding us back now I can't smile with a straight face As my mind becomes unlaced So uptight with perfect grace We'll go on the offensive Life is so fucking senseless All this silence grows too loud There's no holding us back now Sometimes I feel like a vampire Living off of this empire What to do, what to do now? It's what's holding me back now It's what's holding us back now back to top

The Last Time You say goodbye, my baby With a heavy heart I’ll let you go Some things you never count on Other things are better left unknown The end will be like the beginning for us I promise Hold me close Tonight may be the last time Your eyes meet mine Will be the last time Greedy men and human nature Walk the streets and cruise our grocery stores In the name of pride and justice They would dare to strip away both You say goodbye my baby My heavy heart it grows and grows Those devils who’d erase you They don’t know the lengths to which I’d go back to top

Julie You step outside And smoke your cigarette You’re so mature You never seem to fret Those eyes Abandon all contact Your painted lips Add color to the facts But oh, Julie then you’ll see When you run back to me So demure With what you would reveal We all know The pain is very real And I Know what makes you tick You repeat Until it makes you sick back to top

Fan The Fury There’s a burning in my belly in my wallet, and my head I read the papers, watch the news I raise a fist and go to bed It’ll only get worse in the coming days I might as well say what I been meaning to say Oh won’t you fan the fury of an outraged jury? Been with the program up to now and it’s become a little much To make believe you and reality have been keeping in touch Desperate times call for desperate measures Brother you look pretty desperate to me Was it all part of your plan To frame a guilty man? You had me holding my breath Truth was you had nothing left Brother, I want to believe Brother, I need to believe… you I want to believe I will not believe you There’s a meeting Monday morning with the suits out in the hall They tapped the wires and the telephones in case you tried to call Blessed be this monarchy I never thought we’d have a dynasty back to top

Murder Will Out What’d you expect? How long you think you’d get away with it? You tried pushing your luck Now you might have to give up the basic things Back of the line back of the line back of the... You’ll do your time You’ll do your time You’ll do your… No mercy here For you to throw yourself on This blank check won’t clear Your lies have finally caught up caught up caught up With all the facts Sincerity is the new cliché Rehab politeness It’s just an apology away Well, look who’s lucky now? Money won’t help, won’t let you walk Murder will out the slyest fox Nothing will help you outta this jam You’re acting pretty cool, but you’ll soon give a damn back to top

You Got Me Wrong We can make it if we get it together We want the same things, but not how to get there It’s a waste of our time all of this arguing I’m trying to understand, but you’re not listening. Don’t you know you got me wrong? It’s awful tempting to be so fatalistic It’s overrated and a bit sadistic I’d like to figure it out I’m in agreement with that I’d like to know what you think Well, I ain’t holding back We can get it together Only those who’d like to see us fail Would never want it to better Curiosity’s a coffin nail. Don’t you know you they got us wrong? We knew it all along. back to top

Nero Rinse, repeat, water it down These boring beats are all around Play it on the radio until you play it out some more Advertise out on the air Sanitize the public square Squeak it till it’s squeaky clean and make it kinda sore inside Rock n’ roll prophets going down with the ship Taken from us like the warmth of the sun Swiveling their truths like they’ve been swiveling their hips An honest life’s work is never truly done. Never truly done Never truly A programmed television personality revision Will tell me facts and figures that will contradict the last thing said A witchhunt or inquisition can be disguised as patriotism to undermine the audience and shear the fleece of men We need a leader or a superhero Not a zero acting like he’s Nero But we can never get high if we ain’t ever been low And like the passing of time, this too shall go. Goodbye, Nero. Tantalize from head to toe at the crib of Nero They play the lyre while the city burns. back to top

Hard Up In The 2000s No change between us for the parking meter I hope Rita will keep her distance I can’t afford another ticket, oh no. You say it’s times like these You want to squeeze my hand I say with days like these, What chance do other days stand? (No chance at all) Though it feels like we’re going down There’s something in your eyes that keeps me coming around When it feels like we’re getting nowhere I sit with you in silence to converse in deep stares You say you don’t, don’t, don’t Want to get married in the church It’s alright I’ll take the rap, I’ll take the rap Let them call me the Antichrist Oh, Christ When it feels like it can’t be done “No” is not an option, not where we’re from And I put no stock in no ever-after If it’s the last thing we do We’ll squash the monster back to top

The Battle Of Love It never pays, never pays, never pays to be nice to a villain Compromise, compromise, compromise and they do right on stealing On the streets, on the streets, on the streets it’s World War III And the truth is the only thing I’m owed I keep working for what I’ll never know This is the battle of love Love and faith It’s hard to find, hard to find, hard to find find a genuine resistance That generates, generates, generates something other than indifference In my heart, in my heart, in me heart is what’s right and wrong And the truth is the only thing I’m owed I keep on working for devils I don’t know When you’re helpless and hopeless it causes a certain reaction To be here in the now at the heart and the center of action You gotta give, gotta give, gotta give like it’s the latest trend And your reasons, your reasons are the seed Don’t you know you’re part of a new breed? back to top

When The Ants Attack The Queen I - there is no “I” in “team” But Jack did believe that’s someone else’s wet dream He built up these tracks with the sweat of his back Gone along for the ride It was still suicide It’s sad Went from riches to rags When the ants attack the queen It’s the greatest thing I’ve seen There they were, face to face She was such a disgrace Feeding off of his trust, his contempt, and his lust Jack smiled The smile of a madman is that of a child When the ants attack the queen It’s the greatest thing I’ve seen It’s the greatest thing I’ve seen back to top

Backs To The Wall So many of us underground You could swim, though you’d probably drown But your mind is already made up And you do things to hate to protect all the people you love I know we can make it fall If enough have our backs to the wall Yeah, I know it won’t change a damn thing Politicians will steal all our youth As they squander our dreams My heart, it beats so slow Yeah, when I realize that I may be wrong But regardless, rebellion’s my answer when they offer none You and I sing an urban hymn The richest of men can’t deny That a song lifts hope to a thousand feet Our last defense in life I know we can make it fall If enough have our backs to the wall Yeah I know we can make it fall back to top

Justice & Forgiveness Maybe I put too much in fairy tales of life and sin Beginner’s dogma in my hands I defy the magic tomes Mistaking steel for flesh and bone I found my own ground to stand Getting hard to make the case Defending honor to save face Ignoring all the hell it brings I just want to witness Justice and forgiveness All lyrics written by Jen de la Osa & Henry Beguiristain ©2008 DTTR Music Publishing/Pedro Pan Publishing

Lyrics » Leave Your Light On

Webmaster — Tue, 09 Mar 2010 04:58:22 +0000

Leave Your Light On

Release I'm gonna die if I don't get this off my chest I'm running down the street to your new apartment My heart is beating fast It's beating out of my breast I need to find a way to cut through this emptiness Can't you hear me knocking? I've been here for a day or two Can't you hear me dying? I got something I need to tell you I'm gonna burst if I don't get to set things right Or maybe try to kill a guilty conscience I won't resist and I won't put up a fight If you would open up and let me have this chance And I don't mean to demure But I've nothing I'm assured of Yeah, I'm feeling insecure But I know that it's a pure love It's a pure love A pure love back to top

Palm of Your Hand You know these questions got me running around In circles And all these answers got me searching around For owners It's never part of the plan What you don't understand, it's in the palm of your hand And if I traveled to the ends of the earth for something You know I'd never find a single cause for searching Everything you are You always know You always show Everything you are You always know back to top

Beaches I was born on the beaches I am longing to be free I have lived by the stations of the cross that hang over me I will die in a hospital Encased in a sterile home My beliefs are my actions Ain't no conflict in this soul You are the water washing me You are the water washing me Gimme strength and the courage t o bring justice to my rage Gimme grace, gimme patience to accept what I can't change I condemn all the faithless moments in my life As I reach out for something that I feel is barely out of sight on the beaches I was baptized in the sea Oh, it's the cleansing The cleansing I've looked upon all the shores And know the score, but never heard its sound I'd give you my kingdom for a crown back to top

Can You Hear Me Now? My heart went out to you when you lost her It was on the evening news the day after Taping the stars on my VCR Can you hear me now? 'Cause I've been waiting We could be the best of friends You'll be fulfilled There's an empty seat tonight at my table Waiting for you, it gets me through back to top

All I Can Do Watch out how you've been acting Soon now, they'll be reacting You drop the bomb She wonders what's going on Careful choosing your words now They're what they will judge you by Composure's key For once, won't you listen to me? Your poetry sounds so lovely but has no use It's all I can do. I wash my hands of all, son I'll watch, but not be involved, son Mind your heart And never lose your star It's too late to turn back as much as I want to I think you're better off alone and by yourself back to top

Slipped In Your Dream I can make it right Make it good for you tonight I must tell you how I feel Now you know my love is real You could shelter me Take me home and make me tea You may find me insecure Now I always will be sure I'd never dream of leaving you I got a feeling you would too I could stick around Even let my guard down Have a laugh at my expense Now my life makes perfect sense You could wear that shirt You know, the one you wore that made me flirt With you all night long The one that made me write this song And though we part our ways tonight I'll be with you when I'm out of sight Slipped in your dream last night Only to hold you tighter Slipped in your dream last night Baby you're quite a fighter Time to make new plans I want you to be my man Take this love, it ricochets Like a bullet gone astray back to top

Bleeding Heart You don't have to be such a joker And follow through with what you say Everything don't have to be a struggle 'Cause one day you're gonna have to pay Yeah, you get pushed around like a shopping cart And you fold easily like paper art Yeah, you make me feel like a bleeding heart Yes it's true what they say about you How can someone who lies so much Not convince all the world it's true? And in spite of the excuses you gave me I could never fully trust in you Step into the spotlight Read us your lines You're not quite what we wanted back to top

Love is a Beast My love is a beast Gets off on all this jealousy My love is a beast Gets off on all this misery Dares not admit defeat Sees what it wants to see My love is a wreath Hang it up on your Christmas tree My love is a wreath Hang me above your Christmas tree For all the world to see Lusts for intensity My love is a thief Takes life from everything it sees My love is a thief Takes all the breath of air you'd need Eats all the love you feed Denies you true relief back to top

Wouldn't It Be Sweet Taking a walk on Albany Street I started to wonder why if my job's got me feeling lifeless why am I afraid to die? There is no reason why. I can see it now. How the birds and bees and the flowers and trees don't give a damn about no pension or no tax 'Cause their IRA is the brand new day Shouldn't have to set aside time to relax Wouldn't it be sweet for you and me? Waking up early in the morning after a night in town The sun is shining through my blinds Tell the boss I won't be around There is no reason why I can't see it now. Here we are at it again There's nothing left here to defend Everyone's a little enemy and a little friend Everyone's got rules they're willing to bend Come on, come on get out of your head back to top

Late Last Nite I been thinking 'bout you late last nite And you know I shouldn't 'cause it just ain't right and Even though I am entrusted to another I still think of you as my right-hand lover Oh, baby child Won't you stay awhile? There's nothing that I'd rather do than give my endless love to you I don't wanna run this thing into the ground Don't wanna lose the love that I just found My man, he doesn't know that I ain't been true Don't care about him no more All I care about is you back to top

Godspeed Beware of darkness, yeah In a second it could take us all away Be strong and celebrate All the moments that you never let escape Don't complain don't complain Hang on Godspeed, and fare thee well May your weariness resign itself This land is of no worth My love for you is stronger than the earth Our days will live in me I was everywhere I needed to be Losing out on you Breaks my heart in two Beware of darkness, yeah In a moment it could take us all away Be strong Leave your light on Keep it burning till my footsteps lead me home Every river runs to sea All songs written by Jen de la Osa & Henry Beguiristain ©2006 DTTR Music Publishing/Pedro Pan Publishing

Lyrics » The Sooner It Comes

Webmaster — Tue, 09 Mar 2010 05:22:30 +0000

The Sooner It Comes

A Cup of Tea Eloquence was shakin' where the swingers once were swayin' Everybody's movin' to the rhythm that you're brewin' I cannot see what is happening to me Call up all the neighbors; I intend to make a scene Yeah yeah yeah So brother please Sing to me A cup of tea For my sympathy (sympathy) A cup of tea Will sing for me And my company Like a symphony (symphony) Another episode cannot seem to take hold Of what it is I'm doing. Man it seems like I am viewing I don't mean to offend, Doctor please take me to bed Can't wait for the weekend when we do it all again Yeah yeah yeah Five more cups of tea They're tryin' to sober me back to top

(Hey Now) What's It To You Keep the lobby clean While feeding the machine I think it's kind of funny Making all this money Slight adjusted margin High-priced low-fat margerine Movie hype and buttons Fatten up the glutton Hey now! What's it to you? Setting up an order Got away with murder It's up versus down So we'll screw you to the ground Nighttime, pass out in bed Daytime, wish I was dead Pay you with a smile Now baby, open wide Sunday morning feels the same Just like any other day Sunday morning feels the same Small suggestion boxes Big on income taxes White out all the blotches Just to climb the notches back to top

Help Me Help You You came in asking favors And said there's nothing new to learn You claimed you were unbreakable Now you allow yourself to burn You've got time to justify those things that you should If you don't you'll just deny That you ever could You say you have your doubts to tend And you want to turn around You'd like to get back home again But there's no one left in town I bet you just need a friend Maybe you think this won't end There's an answer here that I don't quite know But you must show what you're here to do And just let go Help me help you It seems there's always consequence Another challenge you must face When nothing is making sense you can't afford to get second place back to top

Down She built a monument, but he didn't care She kept on rehearsing what she wouldn't share It's love and it's war and it's all fair Glad to see you're in good health He didn't even know The sooner it comes the better off they'll be Feelings, they turn around As soon as it comes It's already gone Yeah man, it brings me down He let her problems all get to his head 'Cause she told her friends the things he had never said It's love, and it's war, but one leaves you dead The other forsakes you instead Yeah man, it brings me down It brings me down Brings me down back to top

Mind Relaxer I don't want to feel like this no more Don't want to wake up on the floor You socialize with all the bores But me, you constantly ignore You don't really care about me You need someone to say it's okay to do the things you're doing I won't be your mind relaxer anymore Sometimes, me holding out, it will not work In fact, sometimes it kind of hurts It's all performed, but not rehearsed All these ordeals are getting worse I won't acquiesce to all your needs Can't be the one to praise your deeds I've no intention to mislead From your dependency, I'm freed No, I won't be your mind relaxer anymore back to top

Don't Trust the Radio To everything I am And everything I do Everything I could be I still don't owe to you To all the words I made up In the songs I wrote: Everytime I spoke up, it wasn't some kind of joke Oh, it's all coming out just fine And I pay for having a good time Is anybody listening to me out there? I'm alone and I don't care Tripping over lies I've said before When I'm by myself or I'm with you I still don't know what I should do I should've listened to my mama When she told me not to trust the radio To all the shrines I've bled for In all the beds I've lain To all the ghosts who claim life, I've got something to say To all the times I messed up I'll make it up somehow And all the gods I prayed to, Where the hell are you now? All I once embraced Blows up in my face All songs written by Jen de la Osa & Henry Beguiristain ©2004 DTTR Music Publishing/Pedro Pan Publishing

Video » Music Videos

Webmaster — Tue, 09 Mar 2010 16:35:15 +0000

Music Videos powered by YouTube

Promotional music videos. Remember when MTV used to show stuff like this? So do we.

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Video » Live Performances

Webmaster — Tue, 09 Mar 2010 16:35:39 +0000

Video from the band and fans of Aloud performing live.

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Photos

Webmaster — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 00:20:19 +0000

Photostream

The latest photos from Aloud's Flickr photostream. Click here to see more photos from the road, the stage, and the studio. [flickr-gallery mode="recent"]

Press photos

Click to download high resolution photos. Contact Annie Burns (annie@annierock.com) for additional photo choices. PLEASE CREDIT PHOTOGRAPHERS. These folks work hard and deserve to be acknowledged!

[caption id="attachment_397" align="alignleft" width="199" caption="Photo: Mick Murray, In Your Face Photo"] [/caption]	[caption id="attachment_400" align="alignleft" width="199" caption="Photo: Mick Murray, In Your Face Photo"][/caption]
[caption id="attachment_398" align="alignleft" width="300" caption="Photo: Mick Murray, In Your Face Photo"][/caption]	[caption id="attachment_2699" align="alignnone" width="200" caption="“Exile” album cover (no credit required)"][/caption]

vid-music

Webmaster — Thu, 11 Mar 2010 02:27:10 +0000

Aloud Video Blog

Webmaster — Thu, 11 Mar 2010 02:37:17 +0000

vid-live

Webmaster — Thu, 11 Mar 2010 03:07:14 +0000

Video » Aloud Video Blog

Webmaster — Thu, 11 Mar 2010 03:21:58 +0000

Short videos from the road, in the studio, wherever. Sometimes uploaded from a decent camera, sometimes from a cell phone. Updated often!

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Hard Up In The 2000s

Webmaster — Thu, 11 Mar 2010 03:25:00 +0000

Video » Hard Up In The 2000s

Webmaster — Thu, 11 Mar 2010 04:12:05 +0000

Released on September 12, 2008, Hard Up In The 2000s is narrated by the band via audio culled from various radio interviews and interspersed with live performances. The accompanying footage for the film was compiled during the inaugural leg of the Fan The Fury tour (March – April 2008). The 45 minute film is split into ten parts for convenient viewing.

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Webmaster — Wed, 17 Mar 2010 05:51:07 +0000

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E-mail List Signup

Webmaster — Sun, 21 Mar 2010 17:05:29 +0000

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Webmaster — Sat, 27 Mar 2010 18:37:58 +0000

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Webmaster — Sun, 28 Mar 2010 22:02:05 +0000

Aloud on The Dweezil Show 11/28/09 - Part 1

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Webmaster — Sun, 28 Mar 2010 22:36:26 +0000

E-mail List Signup » Thank you!

Webmaster — Mon, 29 Mar 2010 23:08:40 +0000

Thanks for signing up on the Aloud E-mail List! Your support is appreciated. You should be receiving a confirmation e-mail shortly. In the event that you don't receive a confirmation e-mail - Check your Spam folder. Sometimes these things wind up there. - If it's still nowhere to be found, shoot a message over to mailinglist@allthingsaloud.com and we'll sort that out for ya. Thanks again!

International Orders

Webmaster — Tue, 30 Mar 2010 05:19:09 +0000

If you're ordering from outside the United States

We apologize for the inconvenience, but our online store is not equipped to automatically process international orders at this time. Please fill out the web form below or e-mail the information to orders@allthingsaloud.com with the subject International Order. To save time please include your full name, full address, and your order and we'll get back to you as soon as possible! (All fields are required unless otherwise noted.)

New online digs: allthingsAloud.com redux!

Webmaster — Tue, 30 Mar 2010 07:11:59 +0000

Every so often, we come upon a very special time—usually every year or two—where the Aloud site is revamped and improved upon. And, well, here we find ourselves again. And yes, Aloud does have an album coming out at some point this year which would merit the obligatory tweaking of the site, but frankly our hand was forced: Google recently decided to end FTP support for Blogger (which, to the lay people out there, is what we've been using for the last four years). Wordpress is a much better system anyway. But enough of that. What's different? Notes From Underground The Aloud Blog (now titled Notes From Underground, because Dostoevsky requested we call it that... from beyond the grave) is bigger and badder than ever! No euphemisms here: bigger because the text has more space and is easier to read; badder because Henry's writing ability is surely decaying exponentially. We've also made it easier to comment and share on Facebook/Twitter/etc. You should take advantage of that. Sharing is caring. Performances The performances page has been formatted for easier reading, and (drumroll please) now has its own RSS feed! There's also an option to easily add shows to your Google Calendar or iCalendar with a couple of clicks, a feature that will no doubt come in handy when Aloud hits the road again, hmmm? As time allows, we'll be adding more detail to the Past Shows section; this is geared to those of you interested in how many times Brendan Boogie has heckled Aloud. Check it out. Music We've streamlined a few areas of the site—namely the Recording/Music Player/Store. Now there's only one Music section you need to go to listen to and buy Aloud music. Oh, and you can still listen to all of Aloud's studio releases online, too. Speaking of music, you can still get your digital copy of Live 2009 for free here. Just saying. Video The Video section has been integrated with Aloud's YouTube Channel and given a hell of a lot of muscle (read: it's worth checking out the video section regularly). Be sure to check out Aloud's video blog, as well (which is updated regularly). The Aloud Store The store has been vastly improved, so buying stuff is a cinch. (Unless you're an international customer... we're working on accommodating you; trust me, we want your tasty, tasty Euros.) I've probably left out some features, but I'm sure your capable hands will find them soon enough. The new site is still in beta, so expect a bug or two to pop up. There will be broken links. We're still in the process of cleaning up some of the older blog posts, so there may be missing pics n' stuff. There are some other features we're thinking of rolling out in the near future. We'll get to all of it in due time. Promise. In the meantime feel free to put on some sweatpants, pour yourself a glass of Cabernet, have the dog fetch your slippers, and spend some time here. We like hanging out with you. If you see anything odd, shoot an e-mail over to webmaster@allthingsaloud.com. Enjoy!

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Henry — Thu, 01 Apr 2010 04:14:20 +0000

Music » Other releases

Henry — Thu, 01 Apr 2010 14:38:47 +0000

Official canon and potential for blushing aside, here's a select list of other Aloud one-off releases floating out in the ether. (Strictly for informational purposes, of course.)


HAPPY EFFING XMAS (2009) Non-album single	ROCK OUT BOSTON CLUB SAMPLER #1 (2009) Exclusive release / 3 songs	PUT ON THE PARKA (2007) Non-album single	(HEY NOW) WHAT'S IT TO YOU b/w MIND RELAXER (2004) Album single


PRETTY LITTLE PICTURE (2003) Studio demo / 4 songs	DON'T TRUST THE RADIO (2002) Home-recorded demo / 4 songs

greatscott_aloud_bengt

Henry — Fri, 02 Apr 2010 02:42:26 +0000

G-g-g-g-g-GHOST!

Henry — Fri, 02 Apr 2010 02:44:37 +0000

Jimminy jumpin' Jesus, it's been nearly a month since the last blog. Last week we had our Great Scott show. Pulled out a few old tunes from Sooner and Leave Your Light On. This between-albums stage is pretty liberating. Don't really have an implied obligation to prioritize anything in the set, so we felt a bit freer playing around with the set. The crowd was fantastic, singing along to most everything, and it's the most fun I've had on stage in a while. Definitely one of those rip-it-up sets. We did a completely revamped version of All I Can Do and the version of The Last Time with the mandolin. We'd heard a bit about Hello Ninja. It was fun watching them. The energy reminded me of those days in the early aughts at the Abbey Lounge. They did a sweet cover of MIA's Paper Planes while slipping in The Clash's Straight To Hell. Good stuff. Talked to their drummer Anthony a bit, which was fun because he's been following us for a while. It's not every day you're able to talk about our black and tan uniform days. Our friends from Pittsburgh Action Camp were on the bill (Bengt is the sound man at Howler's and is the guy responsible for the content of our Live 2009 EP). It was great seeing Bengt and Maura again since our Pittsburgh show. I didn't know what to expect with their setup (only two members and a wall of speakers playing some prerecorded backing tracks), but I thought it sounded good. Definitely never seen anything like it, that's for sure. Then, of course, came The Beatings. Been way too long since we played with those guys (2004 methinks) and they rocked it. Can't quite put my finger on it, but I feel they're the best representation of this certain vibe I can't quite place. I thought it was funny that half our set included songs we were playing the last time we shared a bill. Sorta like when you meet someone twice within the span of a month and you happen to be wearing the exact same clothes, or how you always catch the exact same episode of Friends the three times a year you accidentally have the TV on when its showing (you know the one I'm talking about... the one where they're watching that home video of Monica and Rachel getting ready for prom... don't lie). Ryan Majoris ('member him from our Feb '09 tour?) made it down to the gig too. Hadn't seen him since the mess in Provincetown last summer. His band Keeping Riley got signed last year, is about done with a new record, and is working on a tour soon. Would also like to submit a slight correction in our chronology: Thursday was the two year anniversary of the release of Fan The Fury, not the actual CD release party at Great Scott. That distinction falls on 3/20/2008. I could have figured this out if I'd taken a glance at our easily accessed gigography, but I don't care that much. We were off by five days. Sue me. (So, Jen L. and Mike: your anniversary actually falls on the 20th. Please don't sue me.) For those of you that missed out on the action, here was the full set list:

Sometimes I Feel Like A Vampire
Fan The Fury
All I Can Do
Wouldn't It Be Sweet
The Battle Of Love
The Last Time
Don't Trust The Radio
A Cup Of Tea
You Got Me Wrong
When The Ants Attack The Queen

Last night: played a low-key gig at Ryles in Cambridge for an event on branding and social media. Tim Hare helped put the whole thing together and was the man who asked if we'd play the thing. If we were handing out jerseys for dudes that have filled in on our rhythm section in the last year and a half, Timbo would get #1. He was the first guy to step in when we had... er... "issues". (#0 would probably go to my iPod; it's only polite.) Oddly enough, Tim recently played with Ross' new band, which created a wormhole somewhere in Fayetteville, Georgia affecting the Earth's magnetosphere which—in turn—caused Pres. Obama to open up offshore drilling. It's crazy, but it's totally true. Anyway, was good seeing Tim again and chatting. Dude's been mega busy. Would love to play with him again, but then again I also enjoy the danger of not knowing when Charles is going to try and shiv me in my sleep. I'd have never learned to sleep with one eye open otherwise. Jesse, from The Lights Out, was kind enough to play drums for us at both of these shows. He is the man and you should buy their record. I'm sure he'll appreciate having some free time back now, but it's a shame we won't be playing shows with him in the near future. Anyway, mega thanks to Jesse and The Lights Out for letting us borrow him. Hopefully he was unharmed when we returned him. Physically, anyway. Psychologically may be a different story. Dan sent us rough mixes of the record last week. Still need to sit down and give them proper, crtical listens. The mixes are still rudimentary and need reverb n' things. It's a process, but at least we're firmly out of the tracking stage. (Asterisk: Matt Girard will be overdubbing some last minute trumpets on a last minute song this Saturday... then that's it, I swear.) So far so good. We haven't really played any of these songs for anyone outside our bubble yet, so my mood while listening to them shifts between the arrogant hubris of "this will blow people away" to the hyperbolic anxiousness of "I hope to god some people like this at least a little". Been through this album-related moodiness enough times to know this will pass, the dust will settle, and there's nothing I can do about how people are going to receive it. Except beat them up till they do. Am I leaving stuff out? Probably. It's been a month of zero bloggage. I've barely had time to read my book until recently (reading The Final Days, about the Nixon White House and Watergate... I wonder how it ends!). It'll all come back to me. Henry PS: New Spoon and She & Him records just came in the mail. Listening to She & Him at the moment. This shit is so good. I'm floored... easily the best record of the year so far. Seriously, listen to this:

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Henry — Sat, 10 Apr 2010 03:47:26 +0000

Review: Lights flashing, guitars blasting

Webmaster — Sat, 10 Apr 2010 03:48:32 +0000

Bryan Donoghue, from the blog Playground Boston, was kind enough to review Aloud's recent show at Great Scott in Allston from "the sweet 'whoa-oh' singalong intro" to the "performance of 'When The Ants Attack the Queen' ... that absolutely tore the place down to close out their set." Click here to read the full review at Playground Boston. Photo: JustBill

"Never thought I'd be on a boat..."

Jen — Sat, 10 Apr 2010 18:28:55 +0000

If You Miss One You're Really Missing Out

Jen — Sun, 11 Apr 2010 22:02:48 +0000

Hello Aloudinians, Aloudinites? Aloudininers? Jen here to fill you in. I know I've neglected this for a little bit, but it's been topsy turvy, all right? Managed to track that trumpet part on the new record courtesy one more time of Matt Girard. The tune's a bit of a Motown/early Beatles track. It really sounds nothing like the rest of the record, but sometimes that happens. It's an upbeat sort of number with piano and guitar riffs and a lot of harmonies and of course blasting trumpet. After Matt left, Dan and ourselves took lunch at the Independent and discussed the mixes. Dan got them to us earlier in the week and Henry and I spent some time listening and taking notes. Mixing is the tougher part for us or at least it's proven to be in the past. It's hard for us to articulate some of the sounds in our heads. Dan's patient though and we met up with him this past Friday to do some hands on work. I think we're certainly understanding what the record should sound like. We're going back and deconstructing the songs trying to understand what needs to stay and what needs to get cut from them. I think we're on the right track. The other thing we've been working on is our live show. Annie and ourselves have been throwing ideas around about how to up the ante and get the crowd more involved; create a bit more of a production. We went through a thorough song selection for the Great Scott show a couple weeks ago including the order of the songs and rearranging the way some of them are played. We had a meeting to discuss some more ideas for the shows in Cambridge, MA and Portland, ME at the end of the month. We definitely came up with some cool new things to try out. I think the shows will only start to get more special from here on out and the idea is to make each one different and it's own experience, so if you miss one, you're really missing out. It'll keep all of us more entertained, eh? To get a bit of inspiration on this sort of thing, we all took in a viewing of the Talking Heads' Stop Making Sense. I highly recommend it. The show starts super bare on a stripped down stage with only David Byrne and slowly adds members, set pieces and lighting. It's crazy to think Henry and I will be married soon. May 15th kids. All the forms and documents are on their way, the bachelor and bachelorette parties are planned and the cake ordered. N V T S, nuts! So, this thing is happening on a boat.... There's all this information we have to provide to Homeland Security as a result. ID's must be shown and all that sort of jazz. It's the like the Obama's going to be at the ceremony or something. I'm really excited to hang with some family I haven't seen since we left Miami in 2001. After the ceremony we're taking off on said boat for a 7 day cruise in the Caribbean. It's sort of a combination honeymoon/family vacation in a way. We did it this way because quite frankly we don't get to see much of our families and we figured it's a large boat, so when we want privacy it'll be pretty easy to get and when we're ready to party our friends and family will be there. I think we'll have some fun and act like a couple of members from Salinger's Glass Family or something. Those kind of people hang out on large vessels, right? Cheers, Jen P.S. Henry, our friend Dave and I saw this movie Abre los ojos (Open Your Eyes) this week. It's the Spanish movie that Vanilla Sky is based on. This one is much better. I kind of hate Tom Cruise, but love Penelope. She's such an amazing actress. I know her accent is pretty thick and it's hard to get passed, but check her out in a Spanish speaking role. Brilliant! I'd post the trailer for it, but the English narration ones are pretty cheesy.

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Henry — Tue, 13 Apr 2010 14:40:27 +0000

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Henry — Tue, 13 Apr 2010 14:54:04 +0000

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Henry — Tue, 13 Apr 2010 17:29:08 +0000

Show updates: Cambridge and Portland

Henry — Tue, 13 Apr 2010 17:34:07 +0000

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While ever so close to wrapping up a third album, Aloud has added two more shows in New England to the schedule. Joining Aloud on drums for each of these shows is The Motion Sick's own Travis Richter.

Aloud performs at 9pm in Cambridge at T.T. the Bear's Place on Friday, April 30th. Headlining the evening is The Everyday Visuals at midnight, preceded by The Lights Out at 11pm (whose kick-ass drummer Jesse James recently sat in with Aloud), and NYC's Flying Machines.

Tickets for this show may be purchased here through TicketWeb. Aloud starts off at 9pm sharp, so get there early! You won't want to miss this show.

The next day (Saturday, May 1st, Aloud returns to Portland, Maine for a show with headliners Metal Feathers (currently on tour in support of their debut eponymous record) and Alex Keaton at Geno's. Aloud hits the stage at 11pm.

Be sure to RSVP on the official Facebook Event Page for this show: www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=118559051491121

Click to enlarge

Information on each show can be found below.

See you there!

Friday, April 30, 2010 T.T. the Bear’s Place 10 Brookline Street, Cambridge, MA (map) Cover: $10 / Age: 18+ Lineup: The Everyday Visuals (midnight), The Lights Out (11pm), Flying Machines (10pm), Aloud (9pm)

Saturday, May 1, 2010 Geno’s 625 Congress St., Portland, ME (map) Cover: $5 / Age: 21+ Lineup: Alex Keaton (12am), Aloud (11pm), Metal Feathers (10pm)

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Henry — Tue, 13 Apr 2010 17:50:46 +0000

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Henry — Tue, 13 Apr 2010 17:59:47 +0000

All over the place, and I make no apologies for it

Henry — Sun, 18 Apr 2010 14:41:44 +0000

Spent yesterday out in Jamaica Plain for Record Store Day. We hit up a place called Rhythm & Muse (which, oddly enough, is in the process of adding a restaurant). Jen picked up a few records: Velvet Underground live and Up The Bracket. I grabbed a Whiskeytown 45. Might've grabbed a couple of other things myself, particularly the new MGMT record, but $30 was a bit rich for my taste. I don't need the limited edition; I can wait. Almost grabbed Arcade Fire's Neon Bible, but—much as I'd love to have it on vinyl—would make better fiscal sense looking for stuff I don't already have on digital. At least for the moment. The green stuff is still in short supply. Had a good conversation with my friend Martin yesterday about spending some time checking out the van to see how we can juice it up for touring this year. Pretty excited about this prospect. It looks like us Alouds may be living in that van for much longer stretches this time around. I've been listening to the new Dr. Dog record. Got the one in orange vinyl. I'd seen the name bandied about for years, but this week was the first time I'd actually heard them. Really liking it. The harmonies have a quality to it that reminds me of The Band. Good stuff.

New Spoon record's really growing on me, too. Love how sparse it is, but it still manages to propel (those drums are killer). Will probably listen to it a couple of times before the day's up. The Teabaggers descended on Boston last week. Keep going back and forth between anger and enjoying the schadenfreude of their whole deal. It's not even necessarily because my beliefs run counter to what they're presenting, it's that what they're presenting isn't based on anything approaching a rational perspective. Kinda hard not to get angry and depressed when the physical manifestation of society's collective amnesia is knocking on your doorstep. I read the Teabag rally was poorly attended anyway, and half the people there were joke protesters. I love my liberal enclave sometimes. Just wish the damned trains worked. But whatever, fuck that. Fuck the news. Back to music. Maybe I've mentioned this before or not (it's hard to keep track . . . I probably have mentioned this, but I'm not about to check), but Third Eye Blind is one of those captured insects I like to keep in a glass jar and study every now and then. I call it a case study for a band that put out a solid debut record and has progressively gone down the tubes with every passing year. Anyway, I bring that up because I've finally gotten around to listening to their latest, Ursa Major, a poor choice for a title when you consider Shark Sandwich would have been more accurate. It's been on while I'm writing this, and I keep inadvertently ignoring it. The part of my brain that's still fifteen years old wanted to like this, but the stuff currently coming out of my speakers is making that impossible. Their last album was pretty poor, and I can't believe it took them six years to make something even worse. It's no wonder Stephan Jenkins keeps frightening band members away. Oh oh . . . speaking of Shark Sandwich, I was alerted this week that Scott Stapp (aka Creed) recorded a theme song for the Marlins called Marlins Will Soar (because, as we all know, Marlins have been evolutionary adapted for flight). I won't give you the pleasure of posting the video, I leave that up to you good folks. What I did do was drop it on Jen the second she walked through the door on Thursday and filmed her reaction. With any luck it will touch off a spate of Marlins Will Soar reaction vids akin to 2girls1cup. Except with less vomitus. Finished re-reading Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, and it's more brilliant than I remember. The good doctor is missed. Picked up a few books at the library on Friday, Generation of Swine (also by Hunter . . . a collection of essays he wrote in the 80s) and State of Denial by Bob Woodward. Been meaning to read State of Denial for a couple years now. Also need to get through Neil Gaiman's Sandman, which has already been on loan to me for a couple weeks. I'm slackin'. Got word that Boston Band Crush is making local rock karaoke happen on May 30. Start practicing your Aloud tunes, folks. Alright, that's all for now. Gonna make a sandwich. Be well, Henry

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Henry — Sun, 18 Apr 2010 15:23:20 +0000

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Henry — Fri, 23 Apr 2010 15:23:10 +0000

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Henry — Fri, 23 Apr 2010 15:27:33 +0000

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Henry — Tue, 27 Apr 2010 12:06:31 +0000

Show preview in The Deli Magazine

Henry — Tue, 27 Apr 2010 14:15:16 +0000

The New England edition of The Deli Magazine has posted a nice write-up on Aloud's upcoming shows this weekend at T.T. the Bear's in Cambridge and Geno's in Portland, ME. Click here to read it! The band has some special group-participation antics planned for the shows, further explained in the video after the jump. Don't forget: tickets for the T.T.'s show can be purchased via TicketWeb by clicking here.

Friday, April 30, 2010 T.T. the Bear’s Place 10 Brookline Street, Cambridge, MA (map) Cover: $10 / Age: 18+ Lineup: The Everyday Visuals (midnight), The Lights Out (11pm), Flying Machines(10pm), Aloud (9pm) RSVP: Facebook | Riotvine

Saturday, May 1, 2010 Geno’s 625 Congress St., Portland, ME (map) Cover: $5 / Age: 21+ Lineup: Alex Keaton (12am), Aloud (11pm), Metal Feathers (10pm) RSVP: Facebook

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Henry — Wed, 28 Apr 2010 04:50:01 +0000

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Henry — Fri, 30 Apr 2010 21:10:58 +0000

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Henry — Sat, 01 May 2010 16:18:41 +0000

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Henry — Sat, 01 May 2010 18:35:45 +0000

She started dancing to that fine, fine music

Henry — Sat, 01 May 2010 19:01:56 +0000

T.T.'s show last night was great. Awesome bill. Used my Strat at a show for the first time in something like . . . I don't know, ten years? Nine? Love that thing. 'Twas my first electric guitar. Still holds up. (Well, after Hugh replaced the floating bridge and the pickups a few years ago.) Been playing around with the set a lot, seeing what fun stuff we can do, and further dusting off some older material. We handed out egg shakers to the crowd (that actually worked well!) and everyone sang along to every word, proving two things: Boston has good rhythm and remembers more lyrics to my own songs than I do. But seriously, these hometown shows are always the best for me. Necessary to be reminded that there are a lot of good people in your life. Ross (remember him?) popped by and caught the gig. Always nice to know the good people are still around. We had laughs and shot the shit about the old days, and we told him about some of the funnier adventures we had on this last tour. Etc. etc. Was good to see that fucker. Been nearly a year since the last time we met up. Him and Tim are playing in another band now, The Painted Lights. Gotta keep this short, I'm afraid. Heading out to Portland tonight. I should probably get ready, got to leave in a bit. More later. Between show tonight, Jen's birthday tomorrow, and the Ford/Church thing we're doing on Monday there'll be a lot to report on the next couple of days. There's some video floating around too, I think. Anyway, I'll get to it when I'm not in a rush, I swear. Be well, Henry

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Video » Live!

Henry — Mon, 03 May 2010 15:40:55 +0000

There are no live streams at this time.

Please visit Aloud's video page!

Beach + lasagna + birthday + aqueduct pwnage

Henry — Mon, 03 May 2010 20:20:06 +0000

The show in Portland was good. It was one of those manic sets I can't really explain that just works, despite the small fuckups that happen during the set. Once we started playing there were some sound issues we couldn't quite figure out, and I couldn't hear my guitar, but it was a fun set. We were in a daze afterward, but the bartender bought us a round of shots. After playing shows as long as we have, it's a strange comfort knowing you've pleased the bartender enough to have him buy you drinks. Guy's probably sick of hearing music night after night after night, y'know? Tried out playing The Last Time out in the crowd again. Nerve-wracking, but ultimately fun every single time. Throws people off in the right way, methinks. Plus . . . egg shakers. Portland's got good rhythm, too. Great to play with Metal Feathers, finally. We saw them here in Boston not too long ago at O'Brien's and picked up their record. Their set ended kinda funny. Everyone kept asking for one more song (save for Charles, who asked for sixteen more), and all they had left was one verse of The Supremes' You Keep Me Hangin' On. I kept nudging Jen to just go up there and sing the damn song, but she refused. With the stroke of midnight, it was Jen's birthday and we headed back to HQ to wind down with a few beers. Leesa (from Naked On Roller Skates) was awesome enough to let us crash at her family's beach house slightly south of Portland, right on the beach. Chrissy, Leesa's sister, was also there, and we all shot the shit until 4am or so. I think we mostly talked about ghosts. Yesterday, had a small thing back at the apartment for Jen's b-day. Our roommate Dave made a fantastic lasagna, and our friend Beca popped by for ice cream cake. Annie and Chris March came by later as well. It was sweet and low key. Plus, there are leftovers. Gotta figure out how to make tonight's show work. The impending rain and that busted aqueduct are the least of our worries: there's a goddamned Sox game, which means parking will be impossible and inordinately pricey. We may wind up walking. For now, the sun's out. I've got the windows open and there's a fantastic breeze blowing through the window as well as two cases of bottled water. I'ma hit up some leftover lasagna from last night. Henry

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My hydration attempts were futile

Jen — Tue, 04 May 2010 22:44:31 +0000

Ouch. That's my response to speaking this morning. Last night was a ridiculous ride. It was our big show for Ford Fiesta and Ideo Productions. They were kind enough to have us play their free admission open bar party and we were glad to be there. So many things though or enough big things kind of fell in the way of me doing my job on that stage. So the show went down at Church of Boston right in the Fenway neighborhood. A Red Sox game was happening that night, so we knew parking was going to be troublesome not to say anything of the traffic. Luckily, Travis who was behind the drum kit again for the night remembered his girlfriend, the wonderful and generous Leesa had a parking garage in the building she worked at that we could use. It was about a 15 minute walk from the venue which is not bad a bad alternative to $40 parking. Henry and I met Charles at the space, loaded up, sat in crazy traffic till we got to Fenway, unloaded, met up with Travis and parked the van. Leesa, Travis and I walked back to Church running into Magen from St. Helena on the way. I'd already woken up with my throat feeling the worse for wear, but somehow on the walk back it began to hurt to speak and my mouth and throat were dried up no matter how much water I drank on the way. My hydration attempts were futile, but I figured I'd be fine in time for the set. When we got back the place didn't look too bad. It was early still, but the crowd looked good and I saw some peeps I hadn't in a while. Free show, free booze on Monday after work. It's a good thing. At this point I made a mental note to keep the chatting to a minimum to reserve my voice, but from that first note in Hard Up I knew I was in trouble. It was worse than I thought and in my head it sounded pretty frog-like. Did I mention this was being streamed on the internet? We made up for it by playing more Henry sung tunes and through the kindness of the crowd who bought my whiskey shots to numb the throat pain. It actually worked quite well. I felt immediately relieved and almost sounded like my old self if only for a few minutes, but of course it got me really drunk really fast and that's not particularly helpful to me at least on the stage. At least it was at the end of the set. I gotta say though my favorite moment at this show and the last two in Cambridge and Portland is still when Henry and I walk into the crowd, hand out egg shakers and sing The Last Time. We'll have to get footage of that up soon. All in all, I think we overcame the odds last night and we really did have a magnificent time. If you were there THANK YOU for coming. THANK YOU to everyone who watched online and THANK YOU to everyone who RSVP'd in an effort to get us to Bonnaroo. We'll let you know if it happens. :) I'm happy to say I'm feeling much better today. What I thought was a cold (I'd been battling off some sort of throat tickling since last Thursday) must have been allergy related because I took a Claritin today and feel so much better. Life presses on... In a little over week Henry and I are saying our I do's and we'll be on that cruise checking out the Bahamas, St. Thomas, Puerto Rico and Grand Turk. We're pulling together some vids that Annie will post on Twitter and Facebook while we're away, so watch out for that. Also, have been reading Hunter S. Thompson's Hell's Angels and have decided I'd really like to take a ride on a motorcycle. Anyone offering? Cheers, Jen

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Henry — Mon, 10 May 2010 20:29:07 +0000

Show update: Henry performs in Somerville, Mass. on 5/27

Webmaster — Mon, 10 May 2010 20:53:29 +0000

Photo: Eduardo Gutierrez

Henry is performing a solo acoustic show as part of Brendan Boogie's songwriters residency at The Armory in Somerville, Massachusetts on May 27th (8pm). Expect to hear some rare Aloud tunes as well as a song co-written with Brendan Boogie himself. Township and Brendan Boogie will also be performing on the 27th. Mike Mirabella and Sarah RabDAU performed for the first night on May 6th. On deck for the rest of the residency are Jason Dunn of the Luxury and Magen Tracy of St. Helena (5/13), Sidewalk Driver and Dan Nicklin of Old Jack (5/20). This show is all ages! For more information, visit www.brendanboogie.com. Thursday, May 27, 8:00pm The Armory 191 Highland Ave, Somerville, MA (map) Doors: 7:30pm Cover: $7 All ages w. Township, Brendan Boogie www.artsatthearmory.org RSVP: Facebook

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Jen — Wed, 12 May 2010 00:10:24 +0000

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Jen — Wed, 12 May 2010 00:10:25 +0000

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Jen — Wed, 12 May 2010 00:10:28 +0000

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Jen — Wed, 12 May 2010 00:10:36 +0000

He decided we should all go shoot some guns.

Jen — Wed, 12 May 2010 04:38:41 +0000

Whoa and hello. How is everyone this week? I'm pretty much, mostly fantastic. It has been quite a good week and it only gets better. Don't mean to gloat, but you gotta take advantage when it's good, right? Friday, Henry and I went out for wedding haircuts. We went back to see Dominique at Miss Laura's in JP. She's a blessing. I had her do the Twiggy cut on me back in March to make sure it would work out for the wedding. I loved it and now she's done it again and given Henry a damn good hair cut to boot! Seriously, check them out. This past Saturday we had a studio session. We had to polish up a couple of things and we'll probably continue to do so as we keep mixing. The big piece of recording is all set, but you know you hear new things along the way or decide maybe something should have been done differently and as long as you don't go overboard with this sort of stuff it's fine to go back and correct. In any case it was an awesome session and we're looking forward to diving back into mixing when we return. Mother's Day. Called me mum and grandmum to let them know how great they are. Mom was already down in Miami helping Grandma and my brother, OJ, find a dress and tie respectively for the wedding. Yeah man... Only a few days away. Really now that most of the planning is behind us, I'm quite excited. After the Mother's Day calls we went out with our bassman, Charles, to Manchester, NH. His birthday was the day before and he decided we should all go shoot some guns. And so we did...

Henry and I had never shot before. Gotta say, it was kind of a lot of fun. I had to get over that initial "Shit. I am going to injure myself or someone else" thing. Charles was a real help guiding us along the way. We shot a .22 Revolver and a 9 millimeter sig. Also, Henry? Wow. What a shot that kid was.

He is a natural. Watch out! This week sees errands to be run. We need to do some packing for the wedding and cruise. We should probably get those garment bags to transport our nice wedding clothes safely by plane. Our flight takes off Friday morning and we're in Miami by noon. We'll get to hang with our families for the day and then Saturday BOOM! marriage time. And then just as soon BOOM! cruise time. Our favorite manager, Annie, will be posting a few never before seen vids on our Twitter page while we're away. Watch out for those next week. Shows are also being booked while we're away. We've got some help from Wes at Precedent Entertainment for the summer before really hitting the road hard when this new album is out. I've been doing a bit of casual lyric writing as well. If you know us, it's no surprise that with all this stuff going on and a record still to mix we're already thinking about the next one. ;) We'll see you when we get back! Jen P.S. Henry and I saw Dr. Dog last night. If you don't know them, they're an exceptional band from Philly you ought to know. They may be playing a sold out show near you. P.P.S. Here's some footage taken by Bernie a.k.a Melody Matters from our show at TT's last week. Look out for those egg shakers. Sometimes I Feel Like A Vampire + The Last Time (mandolin version)

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Jen — Thu, 27 May 2010 01:34:31 +0000

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Jen — Thu, 27 May 2010 01:36:11 +0000

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Jen — Thu, 27 May 2010 01:37:56 +0000

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Jen — Thu, 27 May 2010 01:38:30 +0000

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Jen — Thu, 27 May 2010 01:39:01 +0000

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Jen — Thu, 27 May 2010 01:39:37 +0000

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Jen — Thu, 27 May 2010 01:49:42 +0000

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Jen — Thu, 27 May 2010 01:51:19 +0000

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Jen — Thu, 27 May 2010 01:53:19 +0000

The Wedding

Jen — Thu, 27 May 2010 02:00:55 +0000

We traveled on American with a bridesmaid, Beca, two groomsmen, Martin and Dave and one guest/bass player Charles. The plane touched down in Miami at noon on the 14th. My parents picked up Henry and myself at the airport. To get you up to speed in case you don't know Henry and I are both originally from Miami and while my parents moved to Raleigh, NC a few years back most of our family resides in our hometown. The ceremony was set to be performed on the Carnival Liberty the next day after which ourselves and a small group of friends and family would set sail to the eastern Caribbean. Got it? All right. So we drove to my grandparents where Henry's parents picked him up. We'd be meeting later that night. It had been a long while since I'd seen my grandparents let alone the flock of cousins, aunts, uncles and godparents showing up the next day. Mom, grandma and I made a short stop at the cemetery to pay our respects to my great grandmother, Clara. She died just before I left Miami in 2001. I used to sit her the few times my grandparents went out for dinner. The music line sort of starts with her or at least the part I know about. Clara played piano by ear as did my grandmother Gladys. It skipped my mom, Cary, though that didn't affect her tasteful record collection. The main event of the night was a party being held at the Beguiristain family home in Hialeah. Henry's grandma and mom had been planning this for months and it did not disappoint. The oppressive sun had gone down and the breeze was blowing in. The food, chicken imperial, was tasty and the company plentiful and full of goodwill. I met a lot of Henry's family I hadn't before and they got to meet mine. And then there was cake... smashed in each other's face. We made a mess. Henry may have gotten cake up my nose. We may have had an impromptu Aloud set with the guitars laying around the house. But it was getting late and we had to be up early. My brother, OJ, drove us downtown where we were staying with my sister's friend Danny. Here's the view from his apartment: [caption id="attachment_2387" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="Aw yeah"][/caption] The boat was just over that bridge. It seemed a natural choice to stay here for the night. I could have used a bit more sleep, but I was up and running at 8am to prepare. Two of Danny's friends were coming by to do make up and hair for myself and my sister, Alessandra. They did a pretty good job, eh? [caption id="attachment_2381" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="The Twiggy Pose"][/caption] If you're in Miami and are in need of their services check out Alore. Ok, so off in the cab for the short ride over. We get there and we're the last to arrive, but we check in and get ushered into the reception area where all these aforementioned cousins, aunts, uncles, great aunts and uncles and godparents are all waiting. They look great in their formals. It's amazing and heartening to see them. I feel warm and happy. Needless to say I've been a bit gushy, but that's fine. I'm allowed. Our wedding coordinator and officiant need to go over a couple things with us, so we sit down and run through the ceremony while our guests board the ship. After Henry and I board we realize our wedding garments have disappeared. Yikes! My mom had them and then gave them to Henry's mom and then got passed around, but we found them and went up to our cabin to change into our mod duds. We didn't look too bad... [caption id="attachment_2389" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="Minutes before"][/caption] We also find a couple swans waiting for us... It was a looooooong wait. I mean a LONG wait. At this point, it's about noon. Henry's supposed to show up at 12:45 for a short rehearsal with the wedding party. Every time I ask him what time it is I'm lucky if ten minutes have elapsed. FINALLY, it's 12:45. Henry heads off. In another 10 minutes the coordinator, Beca and Ale (we call my sister Ale) and the photographer show up. We take some cheesy photos and start making our way to the Tapestry Lounge. Show time! OJ and Henry's sister, Jenny, walk in first, then Dave and Beca followed by our maid of honor and best man Ale and Martin respectively. We're up. What tune are we walking down to? In My Life by the Beatles. The crowd whoops. Yes, hoots and clapping and we're walking down the aisle. You know that gushy thing I mentioned? It's turned up to eleven about now. Our officiant Barbara is awesome. She leads us in and asks the parents to come up and bless the union and such. More almost tears. Next it's Hugh. Yep the same Hugh who produced and made possible our first album, Leave Your Light On. He launches into a reading of Bob Dylan's "Wedding Song". This is Dylan of course, so in the interest of time we picked only a few verses. Really had to hold back as that Bobby is a real poet and Hugh read it perfectly. Check it: I love you more than ever, more than time and more than love I love you more than money and more than the stars above Love you more than madness, more than waves upon the sea Love you more than life itself, you mean that much to me Ever since you walked right in, the circle’s been complete I’ve said goodbye to haunted rooms and faces in the street To the courtyard of the jester which is hidden from the sun I love you more than ever and I haven’t yet begun You breathed on me and made my life a richer one to live When I was deep in poverty you taught me how to give Dried the tears up from my dreams and pulled me from the hole Quenched my thirst and satisfied the burning in my soul It’s never been my duty to remake the world at large Nor is it my intention to sound a battle charge ’Cause I love you more than all of that with a love that doesn’t bend And if there is eternity I’d love you there again Nice, eh? Next the vows. Jeez. Talk about mushy. ;) The vows were maybe my favorite part. And no, I'm not publishing them here, but rest assured they were heart felt and thoughtful and dare I say it a little beautiful. All right, all right. So, rings exchanged and then bam! Kissing time! And we're off down the aisle after Henry's quick high five to his old man. All to the sounds of the Beach Boys "Wouldn't it be Nice". [caption id="attachment_2388" align="aligncenter" width="214" caption="The High Five"][/caption] This is getting a bit long, so I'll be brief with the reception. Yes, it was fabulous. Great speeches from Martin and Ale, fantastic food and general amazing atmosphere from all these fantastic people we're so lucky to have on our side. Here's some visuals: [caption id="attachment_2383" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="The walk down the aisle"][/caption] [caption id="attachment_2385" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="Whoa that's a lot of family."][/caption] It was perfect. For realz. Thanks to everyone who helped especially me mum. Cheers, Jen

henjen-chu-eg

Henry — Thu, 03 Jun 2010 12:24:40 +0000

2010 Summer Tour on the Way

Webmaster — Thu, 03 Jun 2010 12:28:21 +0000

The Frisbees are coming out, the smell of sunscreen is in the air, and the ACs are being cranked. Yes, kids, summer is just about here and after much time away Aloud is itching to get back out to you. The band will be out and about in their mobile command unit (also known as Jane, their van) and coming to your fair cities and towns again, busting out old favorites from Fan The Fury and Leave Your Light On, as well as polishing up live versions of new material. [caption id="attachment_2404" align="alignright" width="210" caption="Photo: Eduardo Gutierrez"][/caption] Dates are popping up on the band's calendar as they approach the end of working on their third full length album with producer Daniel Nicholas Daskivich, starting with a return to Arlene's Grocery in New York. Further events are currently being confirmed and will be added to the schedule as they come in throughout the summer. For more information and the most current list of dates, keep checking the Performances page, or better still add the Performances feed to your RSS reader. Then tell all your friends!

aloud2010-arlenes

Henry — Sat, 05 Jun 2010 23:30:47 +0000

05-18-10_1455

Henry — Sun, 06 Jun 2010 15:52:34 +0000

You have a duty to buy a new car, but you have to choose immediately between a Ford and a Chevy

Henry — Sun, 06 Jun 2010 15:55:16 +0000

Hello, all. I don't particularly feel like blogging at the moment. It's been a while since we last talked, though, so I should at least try, yea? I've been having a hell of a time readjusting to life after floating around in the Caribbean for a week. That was about two weeks ago, and I still don't feel like doing a damned thing. There's a glut of things I want to write about that I'd just as soon stay quiet about it all and move on. [caption id="attachment_2420" align="alignright" width="210" caption="Local advice in St. Thomas, USVI sez: go to a bar called Betsy's."][/caption] I will say we drank some fantastic local beers in St. Thomas (Blackbeard Ale) and Puerto Rico (Old Harbor, and Kofresí). Strangely enough, we also ran into some Boston folks. Dude who runs this shop called The Pirate's Chest in the Virgin Islands is originally from Quincy, and—pure happenstance—this band that was playing at the other end of the boardwalk, Charlie Christos, is from here as well. Amongst the Sox haters that populate the island, it was nice to be surrounded by people with a little taste (baZING!). That Brendan Boogie residency show I played last week (-ish) was as weird as it was fun as hell. I've been playing music on a stage for a long time, but it didn't occur to me until after I said I'd do it that it would be the first time I'd ever be playing on my own (let alone without Jen there). Had a lot of trouble arranging a set list, too. The last thing I wanted to do was have this become an excuse to play stuff we already play, right? In the end, the set list was primarily stuff written from 2002-2005, with a couple covers thrown in here and there:

From Somebody Like You
Pretty Little Picture
All I Can Do
Julie
(Hey Now) What's It To You
Remember The Way (song we wrote in '03, never played before)
Don't Look Back in Anger
From A Northern Sky
Don't Trust the Radio
Younger Man's Game (song Brendo and I wrote for this shindig)
I've Just Seen A Face (also with Brendo)

Which is unfortunate, because Nate Rogers wasn't present, and he may be the only human being alive on the planet who remembers half those songs. Brendan played a set in the middle and it was great. His songs are pretty damned clever, and it was easier to appreciate the subtleties in an acoustic setting. Same with Township, who played afterward. Somehow they pulled off this badass three guitar attack with nothing but acoustics. We all headed out to the Highland Kitchen for beers and food. Felt like half the Boston scene was there. (I do love this town.) Finished up Fear and Loathing on the Campaign Trail '72. Spoiler alert: Nixon wins. A lot of it hilarious and most of it eerily reminiscent of Bush v. Kerry '04. In fact, a lot of the history I've been diving into lately shows me something: it's all happened before, and most people either don't know or remember, willfully or otherwise. It's hard not to get depressed and wonder what the point in anything is. That's why I've got the windows cracked open, my shoes are off, and I'm listening to Rumors on vinyl. Tomorrow's another day for writing violent hyperbole with regards to the oil spill in the Gulf. (For example: "BP CEO Tony Hayward deserves to have his toes smashed one by one with an iron mallet while watching repeats of Two and a Half Men.") Some people have no souls. Anyway . . . After reading three of his books this year, Hunter has firmly entrenched himself in my brain as my literary hero. Next up is On The Road. I feel guilty for never having finished this book. I got through Part I years ago (damned if I remember any of it), put it down, and never picked it up again. I've even read Dharma Bums, for god's sake. Twice. (This blog is going nowhere, as usual.) Ohmygodwe'rethisclose to finishing up with mixing the record. Everything's mostly in place. We're just obsessing over the details and finessing a few things. I think a solo somewhere may need to be re-recorded in one of the tunes. But it's coming along, and it's sounding great. We may even release it! Okay, muchachos. Must return to motivating myself out of total lethargy. Henry

aloud2010-summer-vert

Henry — Tue, 08 Jun 2010 16:18:37 +0000

PICT6069

Henry — Tue, 08 Jun 2010 16:35:57 +0000

Aloud - Danbury, CT 6/19/2010

Henry — Wed, 09 Jun 2010 01:33:55 +0000

hen_train_62010

Henry — Mon, 14 Jun 2010 15:22:31 +0000

Mixing up the medicine

Henry — Mon, 14 Jun 2010 15:25:16 +0000

Here's something kinda new: I've been semi-actively watching sports—specifically, the Finals and a couple World Cup matches. World Cup, I've been paying less attention to, but I'm intrigued by it. My knowledge of soccer falls well below my knowledge of other sports (and we're already scraping the bottom of the barrel with that). Anything beyond the axioms "kick goddamn the ball into the net" and "David Beckham is a douche" is fairly new to me. Jen, Dan and myself saw parts of the England v. U.S. match when we had a bit of downtime at this Saturday's mix session. Soccer gets a lot of (mostly hilarious) flack here in the States, but it looks extremely exhausting. Might catch a Revs match at some point this summer. I believe there's a game going on the day we're playing at Gillette, may try and grab tickets for those. There was also an interesting docu on PBS (American Masters, methinks) on Joan Baez that we caught a little bit of. [caption id="attachment_2443" align="alignright" width="300" caption="On the way back from the Rosebud on Friday. I was le tired."][/caption] Eh. Could be worse. We've evolved to the point where there are much, much, much, much worse things on TV, amiright? Watching the news is no good. Oil spill's getting worse, I heard there was another one in SLC, more stupid assholes are running for office and pushing dumbass laws because there's nothing better to do—par for the course, really—and there were some flood-related deaths in Arkansas. I care, I really do, but it's all been too much to handle lately. Overwhelming, really. Best I can do right now is repeat the usual reminders: donate to the Red Cross, read more books, and cross your fingers. Caught a couple of shows at the Rosebud in Somerville this weekend, starting with Muy Cansado and Sun Lee Sunbeam on Friday (great, great show). Saturday, I saw many of the same folks at the same place for Mixtape 1993, which had St. Helena, Exile in Somerville, The Rationales, and The Luxury playing songs from (you guessed it) 1993. So much flannel. It was my first time at the Rosebud, too. Really dug the place. As mentioned, there was a mix session this past Saturday. We have yet to tweak a few minor things on a couple of songs, but we're at the point where we've cleared a majority of the tracks. Could probably get that done in one session. Mastering session is nearly booked (I think?), and we're already putting the feelers out for packaging, getting prices for pressing on vinyl (I hope) . . . Extremely anxious to get this goddamned thing out already. Been at it with this record for a little over a year now, and that's if you don't count the time we were just demoing and writing half the songs. I'm already thinking about what the record after that is going to be like, and Jen and I are already putting down a couple rough demos here and there. Dates are beginning to line up for the fall tour, too, including a couple in the west coast (FINALLY). No turning back now . . . Things Are Happening. Ahh . . . It's all very daunting and we're tempting the fates more than we probably should, but nonetheless it's a good time to be alive in this band. Henry PS: Charles makes a mean burrito, but I think he's trying to kill me with bird's eye chili. I'm onto that crafty bastard's game.

July 1, 2010: Church

Henry — Wed, 23 Jun 2010 12:38:22 +0000

Agent Bishop's "...Beach Party", plus two acoustic outings

Henry — Wed, 23 Jun 2010 15:16:23 +0000

Aloud performs at Church of Boston as part of Agent Bishop's "Girls in the Summer Beach Party" on Thursday, July 1st. This bill is stacked with some of the best acts in New England: St. Helena, Lady Lamb the Beekeeper, and Naked on Roller Skates (which, as it happens, also features Aloud's current drummer Travis Richter on guitar). [caption id="attachment_2448" align="alignright" width="194" caption="Click to enlarge"][/caption] RSVP on the official Facebook page here: http://www.facebook.com/#!/event.php?eid=105002852879600 Doors open at 7pm, and the show starts at 9pm. (21+, $10). Jen and Henry will also be performing two acoustic shows this week in Salem and Boston. Details below! 06/24/10 - Salem, MA In A Pig’s Eye 148 Derby Street, Salem, MA Time: 9:00pm Price: Free JEN & HENRY ACOUSTIC 06/26/10 - Boston, MA Kennedy’s Midtown Address: 42 Province Street, Boston, MA Time: 9:00pm Price: Free Age restrictions: 21+ JEN & HENRY ACOUSTIC 07/01/10 - Boston, MA Church 69 Kilmarnock Street, Boston, MA Doors at 7pm Age restrictions: 21+ Cover: $10 ~~Lineup: Naked On Roller Skates (12am), Aloud (11pm), Lady Lamb the Beekeeper (10pm), St. Helena (9pm)~~ Lineup: Naked On Roller Skates (11pm), Aloud (10pm), Lady Lamb the Beekeeper (9pm), St. Helena (8pm)

Make It A Little More Surreal

Jen — Sun, 27 Jun 2010 16:45:02 +0000

Hola lovelies. It's been a hot minute since I've written to you, but we really had a fantastic studio session last Friday and I wanted to let you in on it. Friday started off a little off schedule. The night before while we were driving to our acoustic show in Salem the 'Service Engine Soon' light lit up. The van's been a little finicky lately. It has been 122,000 miles after all. Our session was to start at 1pm, but the mechanic was a bit backed up, so we didn't make it to the studio till 4:30. Van's still being temperamental, but that's a story for another day. There was a lot of mixing that got done that day and a sorting out of ideas to be worked on throughout the week. Our two pages of notes came down to 3/4 a page. Mainly there's some level balancing and sound effects to be mixed in. Speaking of sound effects that's what we did a bit of later that day. We started out with this monologue I'd written to be performed over one of the tracks.

I won't tell you who read it or what's on it, but I will say that we put the reading through a tape machine and slowed it down to disguise the voice and make it a little more surreal. Next up we recorded pulling out a piano bench and the creaking sound it makes when you sit on it.

Very exciting. ;) The big project though was dialing up some radio effects. We put one of the tracks through an iPod radio transmitter and hooked it through this old dial up radio; the kind your grandparents had in the house. So, we put the track through that for a bit and recorded a bit of radio static and dialing to use as well. Perhaps one of my favorite moments of recording was all this fun sound effect stuff. I love that sort of thing on records. Doesn't hurt I was reading a lot about it in Many Years From Now. Here's a bit of us messing around with all that in the studio: Cheers, Jen

Set time corrections for July 1st (unless you're running on CST)

Henry — Wed, 30 Jun 2010 20:52:52 +0000

Sometimes it happens, but a few wires were crossed and there's been a (very) slight miscommunication regarding set times for tomorrow's show. Below are the correct set times for Agent Bishop's "Girls in the Summer Beach Party"): [caption id="attachment_2448" align="alignright" width="116" caption="Click to enlarge"][/caption] St. Helena: 8pm Lady Lamb the Beekeeper: 9pm Aloud: 10pm Naked on Roller Skates: 11pm Doors still open at 7pm. Apologies for any confusion this may have created! We're currently in the process of figuring out how we can blame Congress for extending Daylight Savings Time.

jen-hen-pplac

Henry — Thu, 01 Jul 2010 18:23:28 +0000

Aloud's 3rd album "Exile" arrives this Fall

Webmaster — Fri, 02 Jul 2010 13:30:27 +0000

After over a year of working away in the studio with producer Daniel Nicholas Daskivich, Aloud is happy to announce the arrival of their third full length album: Exile. Aloud's follow-up to the critically acclaimed Fan The Fury is set to drop this Fall, followed by a coast-to-coast national tour that begins with at the 2010 CMJ Music Marathon. Venues as far as Colorado, Washington, and California have already been booked with more to follow. Like their previous efforts, Exile will be self-released under the Lemon Merchant Records imprint. [caption id="attachment_2486" align="alignright" width="210" caption="Aloud's new album, Exile, is coming this Fall!"][/caption] You don't have to wait till the Fall to get dibs on the album! Pre-orders for Exile are now being accepted exclusively on Kickstarter.com, but only until August 9th. For $15, you'll receive a copy of the album on CD and MP3 as well as previously unreleased bonus tracks. (And you'll get your copy of the record before the general public does!) Pre-ordering is just one way to help Aloud reach their $5,000 fundraising goal. Pledging higher amounts entitles you to a variety of rewards like Aloud's entire back catalog, your name in the liner notes, a private performance from the band, or even one of Henry and Jen's guitars! All the details can be found on Aloud's Kickstarter page: http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/778420194/aloud-presents-exile-the-new-album-and-national-to All pledges over $15 will receive a copy of Exile. Money received through the Kickstarter campaign will help pay for album production and tour costs. As always, your generosity and support of Aloud is greatly appreciated.

aloud_exile_vidmsg

Henry — Fri, 02 Jul 2010 22:39:41 +0000

BBC's Pre-order Crush

Webmaster — Tue, 06 Jul 2010 22:55:42 +0000

Richard Bouchard of Boston Band Crush posted a nice piece on Aloud today and laid out a case for why you should pre-order Aloud's upcoming album Exile.

: Photo: Mick Murray (for In Your Face Photo)

Here's an excerpt:

. . . Anyone who's seen them perform can tell you that their shows are among the most fun in the city. Right now, with so many great acts playing in Boston every week, they stand out.

Read the rest at Boston Band Crush: http://www.bostonbandcrush.com/2010/07/pre-order-crush-alouds-exile-on.html

Click here to pre-order Exile.

Already pre-ordered it? Please tell your friends! Click here to tweet this, or here to share it on Facebook!

blackimage

Henry — Fri, 09 Jul 2010 15:23:21 +0000

And there's no time for fussing and fighting

Henry — Fri, 09 Jul 2010 15:28:17 +0000

Very sad day over here. Many of you know C.D. DiGuardia from the pieces he's written on us for Performer, C.D. on Songs over at Boston Band Crush, and as keyboardist for Spirit Kid. About a month ago he and his wife had a baby, little Emilia Marie. She was premature and was in the NICU for about a month. Sadly, she didn't make it and passed away late last week. Emilia's obituary is here. They're laying her to rest today. I can't fathom the amount of suffering they must be going through, and words seem woefully inadequate; that said, our hearts and thoughts go out to our friends C.D. and Danyelle. C.D. and Danyelle have asked in lieu of flowers that you send a donation in memory of Emilia Marie DiGuardia to the NICU at Beth Israel Deaconess. Here's the link: https://secure3.convio.net/bidmc/site/Donation2?df_id=1240&1240.donation=form1 (Make sure to select the NICU program and tick the "Tribute" box.) . . . Then take a few minutes to stop whatever you're doing right now and let the people you love know that you love them. Smell the flowers while you can. Henry

The_Space_ship_portal

Jen — Sat, 10 Jul 2010 17:05:31 +0000

The_Space_Charles

Jen — Sat, 10 Jul 2010 17:06:33 +0000

Blow_Up_Screening

Jen — Sat, 10 Jul 2010 17:08:08 +0000

Swirl_LP_Sleeve

Jen — Sat, 10 Jul 2010 17:08:40 +0000

Gingsbird_Squawk

Jen — Sat, 10 Jul 2010 17:08:59 +0000

About Six Bottles of Wine Later

Jen — Sat, 10 Jul 2010 17:10:45 +0000

Bongiorno blog readers! This week has been filled with new album goodness for us. We launched our Kickstarter campaign to begin taking pre-orders for Exile. We're ever nearer to the final mixes. We've met with Matt Jatkola who will be producing the artwork for the album. We're very excited to have some outside help on this. It's a first for us and I'm sure we'll be pleased with the results. I'd love to tell you some of the ideas, but... you know... just hang on a minute! This past Wednesday we had a show at the Space in Hamden, CT. It's an all ages music and arts venue. It's decked out pretty cool with lots of different pieces and props throughout the room. This was my favorite... does anyone know what this piece of a ship is called? It was a bit of a different gig for us. You don't get a chance to play the non-club show too often. There were about 6 other bands on the bill and we were somewhere in the middle. The kids were absolutely great, getting up with us to dance and joining on egg shakers for our campfire moment with The Last Time. If you're unfamiliar with the egg shaker campfire bit you can click to the middle of this video and see what I mean. We've been playing three of the new tunes and since we've already announced their names from the stage I can tell you they're called Exile In The Night, Darkest Days (some of you at the shows might know it as the love, love, love song) and Broken Hearts. They went down very well and my fear that they might be too out of place in our set was unfounded. I am looking forward to playing more new songs. Oh here's when I snuck up on Charles at the gig while he was sitting on one of their comfy arm chairs. The following day we had a little movie screening. Charles, Annie and Chris (who's shot some of our previous music videos) came over to watch Michaelangelo Antonioni's Blow Up. It's a crazy movie from '66 about a photographer who shoots this couple in the park, but when he blows up the photos realizes he's witnessed a murder. Of course, that has nothing to do with the movie which is just trying to capture that time in London really. There's a cool scene with the Yardbirds where you can see a ridiculously young Jimmy Paige and Jeff Beck. It was also Antonioni's first English speaking film. That man could use a camera. There are some interesting shots in there. About six bottles of wine later... hilarity ensued. [caption id="attachment_2534" align="aligncenter" width="225" caption="Hilarity... ensuing."][/caption] Ah, what a life. After our meetings yesterday, I started painting and drawing. I had a blank record sleeve lying around and decided I'd pretty it up. Henry and I had been joking back and forth about a cartoon we'd love to make called the Animal Beats. You've got Jack Keroucat, William Burrows etc. I came up with Allen Gingsbird. [caption id="attachment_2536" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="Allen Gingsbird wrote his most famous poem \'Squawk\' while binging on pistachios."][/caption] Well, I'll bring this to a close. In a few hours we may or may not be heading to Patriot Place for another show. It's an outdoors thing this one and it looks like it might rain. We'll have to wait and see. Cheers, Jen

Today's Patriot Place show postponed - inclement weather

Webmaster — Sat, 10 Jul 2010 18:15:37 +0000

Hello friends. We're sad to report that today's show at Patriot Place has been postponed due to inclement weather. We were all looking forward to this show, but Mother Nature has other designs. Human bodies and electricity do not mix well. But fear not: a make up date will be scheduled. We'll let you know when that's set.

exile-no-art

Webmaster — Mon, 12 Jul 2010 04:48:30 +0000

andrew_palmacci_aloud_review

Webmaster — Fri, 16 Jul 2010 23:05:11 +0000

globe_012609

Webmaster — Fri, 16 Jul 2010 23:05:14 +0000

herald_111708

Webmaster — Fri, 16 Jul 2010 23:05:17 +0000

nj_signal_100808

Webmaster — Fri, 16 Jul 2010 23:05:24 +0000

That Weight on the Shoulders

Jen — Mon, 19 Jul 2010 18:26:15 +0000

At last. That's all I can say. Mixing for Exile ended yesterday just days away from mastering. We've been working on this record on and off since April/May of '09. Writing it started in January '09 and we kept writing right on through recording. First it was a Double A side single. Then it was an EP. Then after a meeting it became a full-length. It's come a long way and a huge weight will be lifted off our shoulders on Wednesday. You see on the 21st Dan, Henry and I will be visiting Jeff Lipton at Peerless to master this thing. It's the last process for the sound/music part of this adventure. Jeff is a wizard and we couldn't be happier about having him reprise the role he played on Fan the Fury. But getting back to that weight on the shoulders... Finalizing the music means we can concentrate our efforts on the other huge projects we're working on namely the 10,000 mile national tour and the Kickstarter campaign. These projects need our attention. The record will be out on October 5 and we'll be heading to CMJ a few weeks later. After a week in New York we head out for Ohio, Michigan, Illinois, Iowa, Nebraska, Kansas, Colorado, Washington and California. We'll spend some time in San Fran, LA and San Diego and then we'll start making our way back playing shows in New Mexico, Texas, Louisiana and who knows where else. This is something we've been thinking about doing for a while and can't wait to embark on. Mind you of course it is going to be a lot of work putting it together. Annie's been working on dates, Henry's been working on colleges and I've been emailing bands and now venues in Seattle, San Fran, Denver, etc. This will all be a lot easier when we don't have to worry about finishing the record! Many of you know about the Kickstarter campaign we've started. Many of you have already donated. THANK YOU! Really it means so much to us. For those that don't know, basically it's a way to pre-order Exile and the money helps us promote this record and make this tour a reality. We'll be buying a new van, launching a national press campaign and traveling all around this country to get Exile out to music lovers, but of course that will all take money. In an age where the record label is kind of non-existant, Kickstarter is an amazing way to bring music appreciators and music makers together. There's also a bunch of fun rewards we've attached to the different levels of pre-orders ranging from bonus material to to half price tour tickets to songwriting sessions to private performances. Our goal is to raise $5000 and the way Kickstarter works we've got to raise the whole $5000 by August 9th in order to receive any pledges at all. If you're able to, we encourage you to pre-order. :) We'll also be making Kickstarter updates throughout the course of the campaign. In the last update you'll notice we've released details for the Boston CD release. Mark your calendars: Thursday, September 23, 2010 @ Church of Boston. Relax, it's the one day that week there's no Sox game, so enjoy the free parking in back. St. Claire will be joining us along with another group TBA. Of course, we're planning lots of special goodies for this show. There'll be more video updates to come and more importantly Henry and I will be recording some acoustic performances for songs off of Exile to be shown exclusively to Kickstarter backers. It's a little thank you to everyone who's donated, so if you'd like to see those be sure to check out the page. Well I'm off to do more booking. Cheers, Jen

Jam Party

Webmaster — Sun, 25 Jul 2010 01:18:18 +0000

[caption id="attachment_397" align="alignright" width="286" caption="Photo: Mick Murray (for In Your Face Photo)"][/caption]

Hello, fine folks from Zivix! Thank you for your consideration. Below is a sampling of tracks from Aloud's upcoming album Exile as well as their previous album Fan The Fury. Darkest Days Counterfeit Star Fan The Fury Nero Julie Want more? Click here for more music.

Contact for licensing: Annie Burns Cell phone: 917-582-0594 E-mail: annie@annierock.com

jplogo

Webmaster — Sun, 25 Jul 2010 04:34:03 +0000

oldsoldier-sample

Webmaster — Mon, 26 Jul 2010 14:09:53 +0000

New song: "Old Soldier"

Webmaster — Mon, 26 Jul 2010 14:12:41 +0000

Aloud has just posted "Old Solider", off of their upcoming release Exile. To listen to the whole thing, click here. More songs and exclusive acoustic performances will be posted soon, exclusively to those who help back Exile!

Ron Livingston Keyboard Cat

Webmaster — Wed, 28 Jul 2010 11:32:42 +0000

Site maintenance

Webmaster — Wed, 28 Jul 2010 11:38:32 +0000

The site will be going through a minor upgrade today. We don't expect anything to get affected, but... hey, who knows. Strange things happen sometimes. [caption id="attachment_2613" align="alignright" width="300" caption="Play 'em off, Ron..."][/caption]In the meantime, here's a picture of Office Space star Ron Livingston as Keyboard Cat.

TDAS

Webmaster — Thu, 29 Jul 2010 11:59:27 +0000

New song: “To Die at Sea”

Webmaster — Thu, 29 Jul 2010 12:59:47 +0000

Another new song off of Exile, "To Die at Sea", has been posted today on Aloud's Kickstarter page. However, this track is exclusive only to backers! If you want to listen, all you have to do is contribute to the record and tour on Kickstarter. Backers will also be receiving other exclusive updates in the coming days. Be awesome and pledge. Cool? Cool. Thank you for all for your pledges thus far and for spreading the word. Because of you, Aloud has managed to reach about 60% of their $5,000 goal. The money you've pledged toward this will greatly help make the album release and tour possible. Haven't pledged yet? You should! For $15, you get a copy of Exile on high quality mp3 and CD, as well as exclusive bonus tracks. Higher pledges will get you more fun stuff... check out the Kickstarter page for details. You should hurry, though—the pledge drive ends at midnight on August 9th!

aloud-darkestdays

Webmaster — Mon, 02 Aug 2010 19:51:47 +0000

New song: "Darkest Days" (acoustic performance)

Webmaster — Mon, 02 Aug 2010 19:52:57 +0000

Aloud is inching up on their $5,000 goal on Kickstarter! Thank you all for your support. The following is a short(ish) note from Henry on the latest song to be posted, Darkest Days:

Here’s a clip of the first of three acoustic performances we’re posting this week: “Darkest Days”. This song has been around for a couple of years in one form or another, and I’m glad it’s finally found a home on Exile (which means I can stop bugging Jen about it). We’re pretty stoked about this whole thing. We’re close to hitting our $5,000 goal. If you want to listen to the whole thing, head over here - http://bit.ly/exile06 - and back the project. You’ll be glad you did. And please please please, keep telling everyone. Reblog/retweet/re… uh… whatever people do on Facebook these days (I dunno, “force your friends to Like this”?). Intense thanks to everyone who’s helped us out thus far. This whole fan-funding dealie is a new step for us, and it’s been incredibly heartening to see everyone reach out and help us. I don’t use the word “hero” very often, but you are the greatest heroes in American history.

aloud-bh

Webmaster — Wed, 04 Aug 2010 17:22:58 +0000

New song: "Broken Hearts" (acoustic performance)

Webmaster — Wed, 04 Aug 2010 17:24:38 +0000

Another song exclusively for backers of Exile has been posted: "Broken Hearts". Below is a clip of the performance. Aloud is getting very close to raising their goal. There are only five days left, so if you've been waiting to pre-order the record, now's the time to do it!

bb-acoustic

Webmaster — Fri, 06 Aug 2010 16:16:33 +0000

New song: "Burning Bright" (acoustic performance)

Webmaster — Fri, 06 Aug 2010 16:16:49 +0000

Here's another treat for those of you who have pledged. Thank you so much for your generosity and for spreading the word. There are only three days left to back Exile, so if you haven't pledged, now's the time to do it! Grabbing the record now via Kickstarter will get you a ton of cool extras you wouldn't otherwise get. Go go go! Shortlink: http://kck.st/905bL7 There's only 9% left to raise, folks. Let's make it happen!

Exile is funded + write-up on RSL

Webmaster — Tue, 10 Aug 2010 12:39:18 +0000

The Kickstarter campaign is over, and Aloud has reached 103% of their goal! Thank you all so much for the support, for pledging, and for spreading the word over the last 40 days. Those of you who pre-ordered will be receiving your goodies very soon. In the meantime, Exile continues on its merry way. The record release show in Boston happens September 23rd at Church. Joining Aloud for the celebration is St. Claire and author/poet James Caroline. Exile drops nationally on October 12, 2010. Also, check out the nice write-up on Ryan's Smashing Life about the aforementioned Kickstarter campaign! Good work, everyone. Onward we go...

henry_bklabel

Henry — Thu, 12 Aug 2010 18:03:24 +0000

jen_bklabel

Henry — Thu, 12 Aug 2010 18:03:30 +0000

I work for gas money! That's why I'm always on rollerskates.

Henry — Thu, 12 Aug 2010 18:11:21 +0000

[caption id="attachment_2674" align="alignright" width="300" caption="I are bloggings."][/caption] [caption id="attachment_2675" align="alignright" width="300" caption="Eating brunch at Brooklyn Label."][/caption]

Hey gang, Been a bit since we've blogged. Been incredibly busy, as you can imagine. Re: Kickstarter and funding for Exile, here's a very quick thank-you to pile upon the pile of thank-yous that have already been thrust upon you: thank you. In Brooklyn at the moment having brunch. Debuted some of the new tunes at Lit Lounge last night, and I think they're coming along very well. We were initially pretty nervous about working out live arrangements for these; for all our other records, we spent months working out live arrangements before recording, and we did no such thing for Exile. But yea, it's coming along nicely. Was also our first gig with James Willetts drumming. It was a blast. Our buds, Radio America, played some new songs as well. They've been working on this double album for a while, and we're excited to hear it already. Tim O'Brien (of the late great Ferns) is drumming for the boys now, which totally makes sense. Pretty sure there are pics floating around from last night, which we will dutifully post soon. Huge highlight: Steve Koogan was hanging out outside of the club. Our desire to chat and take some pics with him wasn't as strong as our urge to—collectively—not be that guy. Still, it was pretty awesome seeing him in person. I do love this town. When I'm not in a car, that is. Henry

Performer Magazine on Exile

Webmaster — Wed, 25 Aug 2010 16:08:57 +0000

Performer Magazine has posted a write-up on the upcoming release of Exile. Click here to read it! Don't forget: the Boston record release show for Exile is on September 23 at Church of Boston. St. Claire is on the bill, and poet/author James Caroline will be performing and hosting the evening. Exile drops nationally on October 12, 2010.

Exile cover

Webmaster — Sat, 28 Aug 2010 16:59:52 +0000

E-mail List Signup » Confirmed

Webmaster — Wed, 01 Sep 2010 17:55:40 +0000

WOOHOO! You're all set. Thanks again for your support. Aloud is also on these social networking sites, feel free to add us! Aloud on Facebook Aloud on Twitter Aloud on YouTube Aloud on MySpace

exileposters

Henry — Tue, 07 Sep 2010 16:22:49 +0000

Aloud at Patriot Place / Sept 5, 2010

Henry — Tue, 07 Sep 2010 16:44:54 +0000

You know, Aunt Tuney loved a good barbecue.

Henry — Tue, 07 Sep 2010 17:48:49 +0000

Yowza. So much is happening, I feel grossly unprepared, and I feel bad for being a neglectful blogger lately. Par for the course, really. Can't believe the CD release is already in a couple of weeks. A lot of dates are starting to roll in for the tour. Conversations regarding whether or not we should replace Jane with a new van are still ongoing. A new site's in the works (can I get a Fuck IE 6!?). Chris March started filming a music video yesterday for one of the tracks off Exile, and by all reports it went very well. I saw some of the dailies and it's looking really, really good. Busy as ever, it seems. Been tackling a lot of work to the point that going on tour will feel like a break from the madness. But that's how it goes. When I spend more than a second thinking about it, there's not much else I'd rather be doing. Buy the ticket, take the ride (and so forth). Played that make-up show at Patriot Place this past Saturday. What with the (puny!) hurricane that swung by on Friday, we were worried that the show would have to get postponed a second time. Instead, we got a very lovely day with a ton of wind. Some pics from the event can be found here and here. Meantime, I'm still on the hunt for a 3G iPhone that won't break the bank. My current phone sucks and I made the foolish decision of renewing my contract too soon—hence making myself ineligible for those fantastically cheap prices that are current listed with the tiny asterisk. Seriously, my phone is terrible. Just the other day it stopped the music I was listening and called up my credit card company. Twice. Labor Day came and went. Every time the holiday rolls around, I always think back to that Married With Children episode with the Labor Day barbecue. You know the one I'm talking about. Al declares it to be Al Bun-day and accidentally winds up cooking burgers with Marcy's dead aunt's ashes. Steve smiles because he hates her. Etc. Wound up catching our Miami kin Ex Norwegian at Great Scott (along with our Boston kin Hello Ninja and RIBS). Ex Norwegian's great as a three piece, and their harmonies last night were spot on (or "fuckin' sick", as the kids say these days). Because our friend Beca is awesome, she scored us tickets to Cabaret at the A.R.T. I have neither seen Cabaret nor Amanda Palmer before, so it's all new to me. How was everyone else's weekend? Jen's off e-mail today, meaning I have no one to pester and/or be pestered by. ENTERTAIN ME, YE INTERNETS. Henry

Aloud Exile CD release - Boston

Webmaster — Thu, 09 Sep 2010 15:51:40 +0000

“EXILE” ALBUM RELEASE SHOW

Webmaster — Mon, 13 Sep 2010 02:56:41 +0000

Facebook event page. (Please share with your friends!)

Thursday, September 23, 2010 Doors at 8:00pm Church of Boston 69 Kilmarnock Street, Boston, Mass. 02115 (map) Aloud celebrates the release of their third full-length album Exile. Tickets are $10 (21+ show). No Red Sox game either, which means plenty of parking! With special guests St. Claire (9:50pm) and Old Jack (9:00pm). Poet/author James Caroline hosts and performs. Not in Boston? Click here for a full list of dates on the Exile tour.

"Old Soldier" video shoot [photos]

Webmaster — Mon, 13 Sep 2010 04:59:32 +0000

Aloud met up with director Chris March this past weekend to resume filming the video for "Old Soldier", the first single off of the upcoming album "Exile". This part of the video was shot at Franklin Park Zoo in Jamaica Plain, Mass. The video's lead, Chuck Schwager, was joined by Henry and Jen as well as Travis and Leesa of Naked on Roller Skates, Stu and MacKenzie of This Blue Heaven, Mike Bishop, Beca Oliveira, Erica Tuncale, Becky Tryon, and Justin Tryon (whom the most observant of viewers will notice makes his second appearance in an Aloud video). Here are some pics from the shoot! [flickr-gallery photoset="72157624935618122" mode="photoset" per_page="30"]

aloud_prettylittlepicture

Webmaster — Mon, 13 Sep 2010 15:38:32 +0000

www.allthingsAloud.com redux! Pt. 2

Webmaster — Mon, 13 Sep 2010 20:05:00 +0000

Remember that time we said that a new site redesign was a little ridiculous because we'd just have to redesign it again for a new album? Far be it from us to lie to you. I won't go into detail over what's new and what's not—you're the adventurous type and I know you don't want me ruining the surprise of looking around yourself—however, I will ask if you see anything funky to shoot an e-mail over to webmaster@allthingsaloud.com. Otherwise, I'll never learn. We're also in the process of moving the site to a new server, so if the site is down... well, if the site's down, you probably can't read this anyway. Enjoy!

aloud_shareicoex

Webmaster — Tue, 14 Sep 2010 12:48:55 +0000

listening

Webmaster — Tue, 14 Sep 2010 13:13:30 +0000

Tuesday Morning Round-Up: New tunes posted + weekend radio

Webmaster — Tue, 14 Sep 2010 13:15:42 +0000

Music from "Exile" has been posted to the site. Just head click on Music, and it'll be the first thing you see. Easy? Easy. Four tracks from the album ("Darkest Days", "Exile in the Night", "Old Soldier", and "To Die at Sea") are available for your listening pleasure. And on the note of listening pleasure, Aloud will be making the rounds on radio this weekend. This Saturday, Sept. 18, at 7pm, Henry and Jen head over to WMFO's The Dweezil Show (91.5FM Medford, Mass). Sunday, Sept. 19, at 10pm they return to 100.7FM WZLX's Boston Emissions—their first appearance on the show since 2008, and the first since superwoman Anngelle Wood took the reins. ("To Die at Sea" has been getting airplay on Boston Emissions and has made it on the Fave Local Song Poll. Go vote for "To Die at Sea"!) If you're not in the area, both stations can be heard online at www.wmfo.org and www.wzlx.com, respectively. Alternately, if you operate outside of the fourth dimension, the shows are archived at the WMFO site and the Boston Emissions site (www.bostonemissions.com) for listening at your convenience. But it's always so much better when you tune in with everyone, eh?

This bass is mad at you

Henry — Wed, 15 Sep 2010 04:57:18 +0000

[caption id="" align="alignright" width="307" caption="Jen and James, going over the set list."][/caption] Hello again, world. Just got back from another late night. Rehearsals have been running long, but it's been well worth it and have been an everlovin' ball. Ran through the set for next week's album release show a few times. The live show has become a horse of a slightly different color than what's on the album, but much like Exile I think we've got something really special on our hands. I feel like we're in a good place now and after the rough and tumble of the last year have finally found some solid footing. I can't wait to tour this mamma jamma. We've begun the process of moving everything out before we head out for tour. Place is starting to look bare and weird. I have a hard time moving, let alone poring through all the things I've accumulated over the last nine years and keeping only the essential. It's got to be done, though. I just wish we didn't sell the damned toaster oven first. Jen and I met up with Jonathan Perry at Charlie's this past Saturday for an interview, and it went really well. Hadn't had a chance to speak to Jonathan since he did a piece on us for Leave Your Light On back in 2006, so it was really fun catching up with him. He asks great questions, too. The photog, Aram, took us out to JFK park for some shots by the river. Not sure when it's all going to make it to the paper, but I'm looking forward to it. Press and all that... that part of the album releasing process normally stresses me out, but I've been having fun with it all this time. A few photos snapped at practice tonight are below. And yes... Charles' bass is very mad at you. It's best to look the other way when it gets like this. Henry [flickr-gallery mode="photoset" photoset="72157624959686828"]

Boston Phoenix: "Fall Local Pop Preview"

Webmaster — Wed, 15 Sep 2010 13:08:06 +0000

The Boston Phoenix gave Aloud's album release show and Exile a little love yesterday as part of their Fall preview:

Keeping with the times, Boston riff-raging quartet Aloud enlisted the help of Kickstarter to fund their third studio album, Exile. With the charitable help of 98 backers, Aloud ringleaders Jen de la Osa and Henry Beguiristain achieved their $5000 donation goal in early August, giving birth to Exile and providing us with the kind of sharp, literary-minded rock passion we've come to expect from scene veterans who have little time for trends.

Thanks to the kind folks at the Phoenix! Click here to read it at the Phoenix site and to find out what else is going on in Boston this Fall. (Our friends New Collisions get a sweet mention as well!).

Boston Phoenix

Webmaster — Wed, 15 Sep 2010 13:09:07 +0000

Aloud - Boston Globe

Webmaster — Fri, 17 Sep 2010 15:41:47 +0000

Boston Globe: Two For the Road

Webmaster — Fri, 17 Sep 2010 15:58:53 +0000

[caption id="attachment_2866" align="alignright" width="240" caption="Photo courtesy: Aram Boghosian for The Boston Globe"][/caption] Aloud was featured in today's Boston Globe. Reporter Jonathan Perry sat down with Henry and Jen last week in Harvard Square to talk about the new album, the upcoming US tour, and the years leading up to Exile.

The Boston rock outfit Aloud is proof positive that, sometimes, less really can be more. And despite their moniker, not to mention a reputation around these parts as a band of big hooks and even bigger harmonies, they’ve gotten quieter to prove that point.

Read the whole article here on the Boston Globe website!

The Dweezil Show

Webmaster — Sat, 18 Sep 2010 04:25:37 +0000

Tonight on the air: The Dweezil Show

Webmaster — Sat, 18 Sep 2010 14:25:07 +0000

[caption id="attachment_2878" align="alignright" width="216" caption="The Dweezil Show airs on WMFO, Saturday from 7pm to 9pm"][/caption] Aloud starts off a weekend on the airwaves tonight with a return appearance on The Dweezil Show. Tune in to WMFO 91.5FM tonight at 7pm! If you're not in the Boston area, you can also listen online at www.wmfo.org. Tomorrow night, Henry and Jen head over to WZLX's Boston Emissions.

Boston Emissions

Webmaster — Sun, 19 Sep 2010 07:54:16 +0000

Tonight on WZLX: Boston Emissions

Webmaster — Sun, 19 Sep 2010 14:00:31 +0000

Tune in tonight to WZLX 100.7FM at 10pm to catch Aloud on Boston Emissions. Jen and Henry will be chatting it up with hostess Anngelle Wood about the new album, the upcoming tour, and the CD release show. And don't forget: To Die at Sea is on Boston Emissions' Fave New Local Song Poll. Go vote for it now! If you're not in the area, you can still listen live at www.wzlx.com.

Tuesday Morning Round-Up: CD release on Thurs + your radio mulligan [video]

Webmaster — Tue, 21 Sep 2010 12:48:45 +0000

With as long as Aloud has been working away at Exile, it's almost unreal that the CD release show is upon us. But it's going down, and it's happening this Thursday at Church of Boston. Click here for the Facebook RSVP page and please share it with your friends! The band has been working incredibly hard on making this a very special and entertaining show and would love for you to be a part of it. Want the sneakiest of sneak peeks? Below is a short vid of a first pass at A Line of Lights. And remember, there is no Sox game that night, so there will be plenty of free parking in the lot. Last weekend, the band had two radio interviews in the area. Missed them? No problem. An archive of the interview on The Dweezil Show can be listened to here on the WMFO site (but only for the next two weeks!). As in the past, the interview on The Dweezil Show was extensive and worth listening to if you can spare the time (hey, it beats that soft rock station someone's got blasting at the office... how many times can you really stand to listen to "Don't Stop Believin' anyway?). Boston Emissions has also posted a podcast of the show this Sunday. Click here to listen to a live acoustic performance of "Old Soldier" and "Exile in the Night" as well as their chat with host Anngelle Wood. Boston, we'll see you on Thursday. Everyone else, keep checking the Performances page. Just added to the growing queue of dates: the Fitchburg Music Festival on October 7, Las Vegas on November 20, and Bryan, TX on December 2nd.

Exile Crush: Interview with Boston Band Crush

Webmaster — Tue, 21 Sep 2010 18:52:46 +0000

Boston Band Crush has gotten their hands on Exile and had this to say:

... their new CD, Exile, shows a certain maturity and refined sound. The band shows no sign of slowing, with the release of their third full-length record this Thursday, September 23 at Church, and a full U.S. tour to follow.

Click here to read the whole piece and an interview with Henry and Jen on the Boston Band Crush site!

Expelling Exclamation

Webmaster — Wed, 22 Sep 2010 17:17:51 +0000

...or "Tuesday Morning Round-Up, Pt. 2: Wednesday" In advance of tomorrow's album release show at Church for Exile (*cough cough link to Facebook event page here*), Aloud has been getting some love from Boston today. This week's issue of the Weekly Dig features a glowing review of Exile that's left everyone blushing. Here's an excerpt:

Jen de la Osa and Henry Beguiristain have made a name for themselves with the searing vocals and straight-forward rock efforts of 2008's Fan The Fury. With Exile... Aloud has delivered a stunning, multifaceted opus, proving that Beguiristain can do more than bust guitar strings and de la Osa is hardly just another girl screaming into a microphone.

Go pick up a free copy of the to read the rest. It's worth it for the Dig's kickass feature on pies alone. This Blue Heaven's singer MacKenzie Outlund's weekly Wednesday Duologues features a chat (as in G-Chat) with Jen. Click here to read it and quite possibly find out about German strippers who may or may not be at the show tomorrow. (SPOILER ALERT: there will be no German strippers at the album release show. All strippers will strictly be of Québécois descent.) Anything else? Why, yes! C. D. on Songs over at Boston Band Crush has posted a song review of Old Soldier. Reviewer C. D. Di Guardia was among the first to hear a very rough mix of Old Soldier back in November of last year during an interview for the Performer cover story featuring Aloud. Click here to read what he thinks of the finished product close to one year later!

Tonight's the night, kiddies + Exile reviewed in The Deli

Webmaster — Thu, 23 Sep 2010 15:48:54 +0000

The big album release show for Exile is happening. This will be your only chance to purchase Exile before it officially drops on October 12, 2010. As has been mentioned several times, there is no Sox game. Not only is this a welcome repreive from pulling your hair out because they're 6½ games behind Tampa Bay in the wild card race, this also means there is plenty of parking in the rear at Church. Thursday, September 23rd (that's today) Church of Boston Doors at 8pm 69 Kilmarnock Street, Boston, Mass. 02115 (map) Lineup: Aloud (10:40pm), St. Claire (9:50pm), Old Jack (9:00pm) Poet and author James Caroline will be hosting and performing throughout the evening, starting at 8:30pm. While you're perusing this internet and that internet, The Deli had some nice things to say about Exile last night that's worth a read.

Exile, the band’s new LP, is dark and densely orchestrated. Acoustic piano and horns cast deep overtones over the traditional rock instruments and lend the songs a weight altogether new to the band…. If this much of a departure in the studio produced such a rich and interesting result, their always-electric live performance will be all the more memorable given the new material.

Read the rest here on The Deli's website. See you all tonight at Church!

Set times backstage

Henry — Fri, 24 Sep 2010 14:15:00 +0000

Exile CD release: Back... to the Future!

Webmaster — Fri, 24 Sep 2010 14:28:16 +0000

With all the goings-on and such, we missed two bits of press Aloud received for the show and the album yesterday. The first was from our friends over at Playground Boston...

Tonight – one of the most highly anticipated shows of 2010! After months and months in the studio, Aloud have reinvented themselves with their new album, truly showing off their overwhelming songwriting prowess. Front-to-back, this new album is downrigh

...and the next was over at our buds at Cheap Thrills, who had this to say:

The new album expands their arrangements with horns and strings, so Aloud has assembled the 'Exile Orchestra' to add the instrumentation and choir for the inaugural performance. Be prepared to be blown away.

Thank you all for attending the album release last night at Church! Hope you all had a marvelous time.

The Urgent Letter, live [video]

Webmaster — Sat, 25 Sep 2010 16:56:02 +0000

The Boston Phoenix's On The Download was on hand at the album release show to watch Aloud deliver "their powerful brand of harmonious psych-pop in grand fashion last night in the Fens." You can (and should) read the full blurb here on The Boston Phoenix's site. Below is a video of the first-ever live performance of The Urgent Letter.

Video courtesy of The Boston Phoenix

"EXILE" LISTENING PARTY & "OLD SOLIDER" VIDEO RELEASE

Webmaster — Sun, 26 Sep 2010 17:23:16 +0000

Click here to RSVP on the Facebook Event Page

Aloud will be hosting a listening party for Exile in a couple of weeks, as well as premiering the video for the first single "Old Soldier". Aloud and Exile producer Daniel Nicholas Daskivich will be DJing. Cover is only $3 to get in. (Kickstarter backers get in free!) Full details are below. Tuesday, October 5th at 9pm Enormous Room 569 Massachusetts Ave, Cambridge, MA 02139 (map) www.enormous.tv 21+ $3 Cover/Kickstarter Backers: FREE

Max the envelope, and so forth

Henry — Tue, 28 Sep 2010 15:32:55 +0000

There are special nights, and then there are Special Nights... I'm still trying to figure the album release out. Like a lot of things we've attempted over the last few years, we weren't sure if we were going to be able to pull it off. I can't say for sure if we did or didn't, but it really doesn't matter. It was without a doubt a Special Night. Thank you all, not just for your attendance, but for being a part of it. There are plenty of people to heap a mountain of praise upon that made the evening possible: our superwoman manager Annie Burns; Church of Boston, James Caroline, St. Claire, Old Jack, Travis Richter of Naked on Rollerskates; Matthew Girard of The Future Everybody, Chris Barrett (aka Dr. Vorhees); our string players Beth Holub, Meghan Cheng, Josh Penslar, and Kara Kulpa; and Daniel Nicholas Daskivich & Peerless Mastering for helping us to make Exile happen. I command you to click on these links and shower these fine folks with love, money, tactical support, and weapons-grade plutonium. Our apartment is disappearing faster than Marty McFly as we've been clearing everything out before the tour. Most of the guitars are in storage, old demo tapes (I'm talking old) are in the process of finally being digitized, notebooks are packed away. Books have been donated to the library or given to friends. Things I permanently borrowed from my parents ten years ago are being semi-permanently returned. The TV is gone (meh). The couch is gone (nowhere to sit). There are short bursts of panic when the enormity of this endeavor hits me. For the most part it's exciting. I don't know what the next few months will bring, but I do know this: we'll be sleeping on a lot of floors. We're still hanging around town for a couple weeks before tour, though. If you're around, Jen and I will be at Enormous Room on Oct. 5th for a listening party and the premiere of the Old Soldier music video. I think I'll be DJing. Or drinking. (Probably both.) Henry PS: Here are some pics from the show by ~~Dwayne McGee~~ Chris Brown. [flickr-gallery mode="photoset" photoset="72157624906736821" per_page="30"]

Webmaster — Tue, 28 Sep 2010 22:56:42 +0000

David Wax Museum (12:45), Son of the Sun (1:30), Kingsley Flood (2:15), Aloud (3:00), Bridges & Powerlines (3:45), Mean Creek (4:30), Bodega Girls (5:15)

video_release_flyer

Webmaster — Wed, 29 Sep 2010 12:43:03 +0000

Aloud - "Exile" album release show

Webmaster — Thu, 30 Sep 2010 15:16:48 +0000

(Photo: Christopher Brown)

A festive union: Exile album release show reviewed

Webmaster — Thu, 30 Sep 2010 15:20:28 +0000

[caption id="attachment_3016" align="alignright" width="210" caption="Photo: Christopher Brown"][/caption] A review of last week's album release show for Exile is featured in this week's edition of the Boston Phoenix. Michael Marotta caught up with Henry and Jen immediately after their "harmonious-yet-boisterous" set at Church to talk about the recent successful Kickstarter campaign, the upcoming national tour, and the months of couch surfing that await the band.

The performance had a spirited, carnival-like atmosphere, with Beguiristain at one point jumping on a pool table across the room to shout lyrics back at the stage through a megaphone. Aloud's harmonious-yet-boisterous psychedelic pop-rock sound was often augmented by the ambient strings of the Exile Orchestra. And an unplugged, off-stage, Beatles-medley jamboree-like sing-along with the band surrounded by the crowd closed out their set as the lights came up.

Read the rest on the Boston Phoenix site: http://thephoenix.com/Boston/music/109019-aloud-er-than-bombs/ Don't forget, next week (Tuesday, October 5th) is Aloud's listening party for Exile at Enormous Room in Cambridge, which is also doubling as the video release for the first single "Old Soldier". Henry will be DJing throughout the night with Exile producer Daniel Nicholas Daskivich. Cover is a low $3. Kickstarter backers and their guests get in free!

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