| Anecdotes Of Dissatisfaction |
[Oct. 27th, 2006|04:33 pm] |
Last night myself, my girlfriend, Justin, Chachi, and our friend Blake went to see Ted Leo & Death Cab For Cutie. I blame things like the O.C. for co-opting indie music and ruining it for me, causing me to have to strain to hear Ted Leo over a bunch of people who have no idea who he is or could care less. I blame things like the O.C. for causing me to have my retinas burnt out by girls taking pictures of themselves "at the death cab show, omg!" to put on their Myspace profiles. But I'll be goddamned if I won't be the first in line to put one of our songs on the next season.
Less than a week now untill the midterm elections and where is all the hoopla, the hype, and the voters registration drives of two years ago? Seems to me that without the bandwagon dissent for our esteemed President things remain relatively quiet amongst a nation of people who were driven to the polls in record numbers two years ago. Fuck, we're just as guilty... not so much as mentioning a word about it. Well, there's still time, so dust off your voter registration card and head to the polls next week. Need something more solid to rally against? Hey, Pennsylvanians, try: Rick Santorum.
But I digress. How the hell are you all doing? It's been awhile, as always, and I just wanted to stop bye and say hi - not go on a tirade. So, I stopped short with just a little rant. As we've said many times before, we've locked ourselves in a small, dirty room in the middle of the woods & are finishing up the writing of our new record. If you have yet to check out our new song "Confessions of a Dangerous Mouth" on our Myspace page, please do so.
Have I told you how stoked I am to be playing two shows with Lifetime? It's few & far between that I become genuinely excited to be playing with a certain band, but this is the real deal. Look for me to be circle pitting just as if it were 1996 all over again.
I'm going to try and start making more frequent posts, so expect to hear from me much more often. In the meantime, go show your support for these very awesome things:
http://www.myspace.com/jamiekilstein
http://www.thinkprogress.com
http://www.myspace.com/lifetimenj
Take care, be safe, & happy halloween,
Chris. |
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| Everybody's working for the weekend. |
[Sep. 12th, 2006|09:46 pm] |
On Friday, September 8th The A.K.A.s played our first show in 146 days. The last being Saturday, April 15th at The 9:30 club in Washington D.C. with Anti-Flag. 146 days. That's the absolute longest we have ever gone without playing a show. Fortunately, we were in good company Friday night as we took the stage, playing with our old friends in Sadaharu, and new friends in The Pink Spiders.
Later that night we hung in the basement lounge of The Chameleon Club - aptly named The Lizard Lounge - where we chatted it up with friends, celebrated C.I. Records 11th Anniversary with the birthday song and cake, watched as two annoying girls got thrown out only to re-enter and get thrown own 4 more times, and slept on a floor for the first time in a long time.
From the mid 90's on, I always loved a band called Sensefield, of which the singer John Bunch went on to sing for Further Seems Forever. Having released various music on C.I. records, he flew in from Long Beach, CA to help celebrate. It's good to know that people in bands you looked up to as a teenager are really rad & down to earth people, and are still going strong with music 11 years later. He & I spent a good portion of the night talking about the state of music and the current "underground" & "punk" scene and how we hope someone comes along to save us all from it ala Janes Addiction & Nirvana Vs. 80's hair metal.
Saturday took us through rural PA as we made our way to the Big Apple for that nights show at The Knitting Factory. New York is always hit or miss, but I love the Knitting Factory, I enjoy New York, I was looking foward to eating Red Bamboo, and couldn't wait to hang with my friend Shane. Mission accomplished.
After the show, Chachi & Justin decided to go hang with some friends, while the rest of us headed back to our friend Davids' place in Battery Park. If you think parking in NYC is hard, try it with an extended van with a trailer. We drove around for 1.5 hours cracking jokes, and becomming cracked, as our malnourished bellies grumbled. With all the bands who have been having gear stolen from them lately - and being the voice of reason - I have great difficulty parking our van just anywhere. Luckily we found a spot where we could back our trailer up in a way where it couldn't be opened, and there were 3 survelliance cameras pointed directly at our van. It made me feel a little better anyway. I knew the Patriot Act was good for something.
Before heading to North Jersey the following day we hopped the ABC train to the 4th street station and did lunch at Red Bamboo. Buffalo Wings & The Mottolini; & Soul Chicken to go. Yum.
Previous to playing there Sunday, I had only ever seen the name 'School Of Rock' here and there. Little did I know that it's not just a venue for shows, but an actual school of rock ala Jack Blacks' School Of Rock movie. Unfortunately, we didn't have the chance to see any of the kids perform, but judging by the posters that adorned the walls of the classrooms, these pre-teens have much better taste than almost any kid posting on AbsolutePunk.net or Punknews.org. Pink Floyd, Frank Zappa, Black Sabbath & Ozzy, Stevie Ray, AC/DC...
And here we are back in South Jersey where, after next weekends shows, we will continue work on our new record. Yes, it's been a long time, but goddamn will it be worth it. Thanks for everyone who came out to the shows, danced, sang, clapped, said hi, or othewise had a good time. Love you guys.
Chris & The A.K.A.s |
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[Aug. 27th, 2006|07:08 pm] |
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| post-recording |
[Aug. 2nd, 2006|10:11 am] |
I guess it's that time for me to type out a quick recap of our recording sessions last week. Let me start by clearing up any confusion that our previous posts may have caused. We were not recording a new record, nor will we be in the next couple of months. We were demoing a few songs so we could see where in the writing process we are, as well as to distribute copies to a couple of close friends. We will, however, be posting one of the demo versions of a new song on our Myspace page very soon.
Now that we have that cleared up, I have decided to post a few pictures taken during our recording sessions. Because, as they say, pictures speak louder than words [or is that actions speak louder than words?]. Unfortunately, after the fact, we remembered that we didn't get a single picture of Chachi rocking the drums, or Mike in the vocal booth. Then again, considering the vocal booth was a closet, I'm not sure we COULD have taken any. Here's what we WERE able to document:
Justin recording bass tracks
Me, recording guitar tracks.
Joise rocking the keys.
Josh, our very hard-working, tree loving, all-around great guy, lack of sleep suffering, engineer.
What an AKAs song looks like in digital format.
Just in case you were wondering how we get our amazing guitar tones. Heh Heh.
Zeus doing his part in lending a helping hand during the recording process.
Well, movers & shakers, there you have it. Keep your ear to the ground for that new song to be posted very soon. Till next time...
Chris. |
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| Bamboozled |
[May. 10th, 2006|09:51 am] |
It's been awhile since the last update so I wanted to take some time to thank each and every one of you who checked us out and helped to make Bamboozle an amazing experience for all of us! With no one in The A.K.A.s being the type to hang outside in the sun in the parking lot of a sports stadium, we were actually stoked to be there in the end.
Memorable moments:
* Passing out fliers and having a girl refuse to take one because of, "Justin... ughhhhh".
* Passing out fliers and having a girl "trick me" into thinking she was going to take one but instead pulling her hand away. To which I responded, "It's cool, I saw you naked on Myspace," and got the death stare.
* Minus The Bear
* Seeing Chachi slathered in sun block.
* Becoming the information booth for kids Bamboozle wide. "Do you know what time [enter band name here] is playing?" "Do you know where [enter band name here] tent is?"
And here is a couple of pictures from the day...
Billy Silverstein & I comparing rat tails. I think I won.
If anyone can tell me who this guy standing with me & Mike is, I will give you a present.
Here's another self-imposed contest: the first person to correctly tell me the song, album, & band this lyric comes from will win whatever I have lying around. And, yes, they played Bamboozle.
"Start a band, throw a brick, you laziness just make me sick..."
Sometime in the near future I will be posting a rather large photo blog from our tour with Anti-Flag. I have over 1,000 photos to go through, so it's taking me awhile, but it will happen.
Until next time...
Chris. |
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[Mar. 28th, 2006|03:21 pm] |
Hello, once again, this time from New Mexico, where we have the day off before making the long trek to Austin, Texas, former home of our bass player Justin Perry aka JP, aka TD, aka Tiny Dancer, aka Marty Jenetty.
I'm not sure where we last let off, but in the meantime, some of us were witness to quite possibly the most... how shall I say this... interesting event all tour.
I'm driving down Sunset Blvd. in Hollywood as a result of a misguidance of directions given to us by our former bass player Chad Bowser [what's up with bass players?], when we come to a red light and pull up behind an SUV which is stopped to the left of another car at the intersection. The driver of the SUV proceeds to get out of the car - two beer bottles in hand - and walks behind his car and up to the driver side of the car. Giving a friend a much needed beer while driving, eh? Hardly. The guy grabs the bottle by the neck and hits the driver of the car with one bottle, and the back passenger window with the other. In the meantime, the passenger in the SUV jumped into the drivers seat and took off through the intersection, leaving his friend behind. Said friend starts running after his SUV, but not before the car whom he just hit with the beer bottles makes a u-turn in the middle of the insection and runs the guys down, pinning the guy under the front of the car. The car then backs off the guy, who gets up and starts running again, and - at the urging of some people in our van - I take off.
Till next time...
xo,
Chris |
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[Mar. 18th, 2006|11:27 am] |
Greetings all you movers and shakers...
I communicate to you via the couch of Nick from Kane Hodder in beautiful Seattle where we are just about to head to Portland, OR for the fifth show on our tour with Anti-Flag. Seattle having been the best show by far, we look forward to what has yet to come.
Currently we have no idea where Tiny Dancer is, we're all getting over various degree's of sickness brought on by too cold of temperatures in Tony Lastowskis' house, we finally played a show on this tour that we all felt really good about, we're getting our show chops back, we're finding out that everyone on this tour are super awesome people, we're playing a bunch of new songs which we're stoked about... did i mention that we're having a blast?
And I'm finally going to be able to get some sleep. These late night drives through the western mountains - rain, snow, or not - freak me out and render me completely unable to receive any amounts of actual sleep.
Go check out the video section at www.anti-flag.com and check out the video blogs that #2 will be posting frequently. The AKA's will be featured in one coming up very soon...
If you plan on coming to any of the shows on this tour, come up and say hi, we REALLY want to meet all of you. This internet thing is so impersonal, no?
Till next time...
Chris |
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| Guilty Pleasures |
[Jan. 31st, 2006|12:11 am] |
Previous to now I have had many musical guilty pleasures. Amongst them have been Marilyn Manson "Holy Wood"; Mae "Destination:Beautiful"; Boyz 2 Men "Cooleyhighharmony"; Brand New "Deja Entendu"; The All American Rejects "All American Rejects"; and Matchbox 20 "Yourself Or Someone Like You".
My current guilty pleasure is Panic! At The Disco "A Fever You Can't Sweat Out".
What's YOUR guilty pleasure?
Chris |
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| Happy New Year from The A.k.A.s! |
[Dec. 31st, 2005|07:56 pm] |
Greetings everyone, a collective happy New Year's wish from each of us to you!
From Mike Ski on the M.I.C:
In just a few short hours, we’ll be bringing in 2006! After a long year of hard work and crazy times, it’s nice to be sit back, relax… and be thankful! On behalf of myself and the band, I’d like to thank everyone out there who supported us, and passed along that support to someone new and helped spread the word about our mission! Thanks to all our hardworking street teamers, those who came out to see us and danced the night away! Also, thanks to everyone who really listened and took the time to consider what it is about this music and this place in time that really makes us all family!
Take care or yourselves and be safe! 2006 holds a new record from our hearts, heads, and hands… so we are privileged for the chance to share that with you. We hope to cheer in 2007 with you and a million of your closest friends (who obviously share your stellar taste in tunes.)
Best of 2006:
Kaiser Chiefs
Law and Order SVU
10 Gs
Vitamins and Spiru-teen
Law and Order CI
New Year’s Resolutions:
Get Organiz-ized
Write A Book
Have an Art Show
New Websites
Make your new favorite record
Make my new favorite record
From Chachi Darin on the motherfuckin' Drums:
Seasons Greeting & Happy New Year! I'm happy to have
joined The AKAS/FBR family in 05 and am proud to be a
member of this righteous rock and roll machine.
Thanks to everyone for your ongoing positivity and
support. The new year promises to be great and to
express my deepest emotions, I've written a Haiku
that's dedicated to you... the FBR Year-end Blog
reader.
Two Thousand and Six
Rock out with The AKAS
In your city soon!
Cheers!
Chachi Darin/ The AKAs
From Josie Outlaw:
As I sit here writing and looking back to all that has happened this year, I realize that there is only seven hours left before we ring in the new Year. So much has happened this year that I am thankful for. We added two awesome new people to our little A.K.A.s family. Justin Perry and Chachi Darin are great band mates and roomies! I’ve also met so many cool bands and people on the road. Playing the warped tour and touring with bands like MSI, TSOL, Gym Class Heros, Fall Out Boy…. it was an awesome experience. I also want to thank all the cool kids who wrote in and commented on my Craft time blog. I love all the awesome pictures that you sent me!! I love seeing stuff that you created! Thanks to all the kids who bought homemade A.K.A.s gear. You can expect more the next time we roll through. Thank you for everyone who has come out to see us, anyone who brought us treats on the road, and written us! I love getting messages from all of you. I hope everyone has a great new year and I hope to see you all on tour soon!
Best of:
Touring and seeing places I thought I’d never see before
Erie kids
Dane cook
Street team kids
Xoxo,
Josie
From Justin, aka Tiny Dancer:
Justin was unavailable for comment at this time. He is probably drunk, so we assume he wishes everyone a safe and happy holiday season! Brrrrrpht!
And last but not least, the uncanny and enigmatic Chris Bazan! We saved the best for last!
And so with the days of December flying by faster then I ever realize until they are gone, so is another year. Rarely do I ever take a look back at the year that’s gone by and reflect on what I’ve done, what I’ve accomplished, what I’ve failed at… but, rather, I look at the year to come and make note of what I want to make of it. Call it denial of the year past. Call it optimism for the year ahead. Call it what you may.
For the purpose of this post, however, not only will I look back upon the year, but I will review the resolutions that I made for 2005, as well as make some for the year upcoming.
So, friends, join me as we first take a look at resolutions for the year previous… and whether we accomplished them or not.
RESOLUTIONS Ver1.0
* Tour twice as much as we did last year so everyone that wants to see us will get to see us. And multiple times.
We toured more. We toured longer. We still get messages from people who want to see us again. We’ll see you again soon, I promise.
* Write a new record.
Well, considering we were so busy working on resolution number one, it really didn’t leave much time to work on resolution number two. We did, however, write a few new songs, and the year isn’t completely over yet.
* Keep 'White Doves' available for only $5 at all of our shows.
This, we did. Yah!
* Keep below 50 unanswered Myspace messages at a time.
Hahahaha. Yeah. Right.
Much like I did last year, I bring you the…
BEST:
* Warped Tour
* Justin Perry
* Chachi Darren
* Homemade A.K.A.s gear
* MSI tour
…and the…
WORST:
* The Kinison breaking up
* The A.K.A.s with sun tans
* George Bush
* Breaking equipment
* Pouring endless amounts of money into our van. Again.
…of 2005.
And with that I bring you to my resolutions for 2006. [disclaimer: the words expressed in the following resolutions are the opinion of the writer and the writer only. If these resolutions are not met, he shall be held personally responsible so as not to tarnish the upstanding reputation of everyone else involved in The A.K.A.’s].
RESOLUTIONS ver2.0
* We’ll put out a new record, godamnit.
* White Doves will still be only $5 at our shows.
* We’ll keep our Myspace inbox below 200 messages at any given time.
* We’ll make journal posts more often, more interesting, and with more photos.
* We’ll play more local-ish & regional shows.
Or something like that.
Thank you, everyone, for an amazing year. You’re beautiful. You’re wonderful. Here’s to another…
xo,
Chris Bazan
If you've made it this far, you are a trooper! THANK YOU! Hope to see you on tour with Anti-Flag soon!
XO, The A.K.A.s |
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| NJ Church Offers To "Convert" Homosexuals... WTF? |
[Dec. 11th, 2005|10:27 pm] |
| [ | mood |
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| [ | music |
| | Ash- Cosmic Debris | ] |
I'd like to share with you a letter that was recently published in an issue of The Sandpaper, a free weekly paper distributed in the shore area of New Jersey. It's a testament to backwards thinking both in the church and on the street. I've heard that they also have billboards in the area proclaiming their ability to "convert". Unbelievable! It's nearly present day Nazi mentality. Personally, I have nothing against people who choose to pursue the religion of their choice and commit to beliefs in an effort to be positive, but it's troubling to me when those beliefs involve hatred.
Read the article below and comment away, don't be afraid to have an opinion!
Thank you,
Chachi Darin- The AKAs
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(from The Sandpaper, NJ)
Letter To the Editor:
I am writing to express my appreciation for the Ocean County board of freeholders decision to deny pension benefits to a county employee's same sex partner. In a day when traditional family values are under siege, it is refreshing to live in a county whose leadership upholds the sanctity of traditional marriage.
We have a great God who has blessed America, and he is powerful to heal people who are suffering in the sin of homosexuality. Our church doors and many church doors in the south jersey area are always open to set people free from the pain of homosexuality. This sin is no different from other sexual sins. The Lord Jesus Chirst has healed so many and has the power to heal anyone who has such struggles.
Again, thank you, Ocean County Board of Freeholders, for such a courageous stance!
- Rev. Patrick j. Sharkey, Senior Pastor, King of Kings Community Church, Manahawkin”
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This is no joke. Weird, huh? |
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| The A.K.A.s "holiday" mix. |
[Dec. 4th, 2005|10:25 am] |
Hello all, and Happy Holiday's. In light of being in the midst of the holiday season and having to listen to the typical, traditional, and rather dull holiday music that we normally hear in the mall, at church, on the radio, and in our homes, I have come up with a kick ass "holiday" mix for you to [soul]seek out and put together. Enjoy.
xo,
Chris
Blue Christmas - Bright Eyes
Homeless for Christmas - The Black Halos
Winter Wonderland - Phantom Planet
(Ho Ho Ho) A Way For Santa's Sleigh – Emery
Happy Xmas (War is Over) - Polyphonic Spree
White Christmas - Stiff Little Fingers
Grandma Got Run Over by a Reindeer - Less Than Jake
Santa Doesn't Cop Out on Dope - Sonic Youth
Christmas Time Is Here - Gatsby's American Dream
The Christmas Song - The Raveonettes
Christmas (Baby Please Come Home) - Death Cab For Cutie
Christmas in Hollis -The A.K.A.'s
Merry Christmas (I Don't Want To Fight) - The Ramones
I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day - Pedro the Lion
*uck Christmas – Fear
Homo Christmas - Pansy Division
Spotlight On Christmas - Rufus Wainwright
The Little Drum Machine Boy – Beck
Yule Shoot Your Eye Out - Fall Out Boy
Oi to the World! – The Vandals
Silent Night - Damien Rice & Lisa Hannigan
White Christmas - The Flaming Lips
Rudolph, The Red Nosed Reindeer - The Smithereens
Christmas with the Devil - Spinal Tap
Last Christmas - Jimmy Eat World
There Ain't No Sanity Claus - The Damned
Silent Night - The Dickies
Father Christmas - The Kinks
Carol Of The Bells - Phantom Planet
Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas – Coldplay |
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| What To Expect When You're Expecting. |
[Nov. 4th, 2005|03:12 pm] |
And so we've wrapped up yet another tour and are currently home, where we will remain for the rest of the year, as well as on into the new year to write, record, and release a new record. We are all very excited and have been anxiously awaiting getting home so we can start churning out what will be our sophomore masterpiece... or slump?
Thanks to everyone who came out and supported us on this previous tour. It was a tour unlike any we had ever done before, which is exactly why we accepted it - as well as any of the previous tours where we seemed oddly out of place. I guess you can say that we thrive on uphill battles. If not for the adventure, what else fun is there?
And with the dust that settles around this tour we have multiple guitars & basses that need fixed, got to hang with Billy Biohazard everyday, have a legion of convenience store clerk fans who are at home googling 'The Wizard Sleeves' in hopes of finding out more about the mysterious rock band who stopped in their store, were denied pay after wrecking havoc on a PA system, had a cake given to us by MSI, have some of us questioning our sexuality, know 10 Misfits songs and half an Anthrax song, sold more CD's in McDonald's parking lots than at some shows this year, care less and less about personal hygiene and cleanliness, and made out with various amounts of humans in various amounts of cities.
And people ask us why we do this? Need I answer that question?
More to be said later.
In the meantime, go check out the band 'Thunderbirds Are Now' and the book 'No More Prisons' by William Wimsatt.
xo,
Chris Bazan
The AKA's |
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[Oct. 20th, 2005|01:44 pm] |
Hello, ladies and gentlemen, and welcome to another sporadic update by your loving dance hall fighters otherwise known as, The AKA's. I sit here communicating to you live from the living room of my mothers house [how punk rock is [i] that [/i] ] in wonderful Carlisle, PA as we await our departure time for Lemoyne, PA - where we will undoubtedly lay down the rock tonight at club Champion Ship.
Just as we have for the past 12 days. And will continue to do so for the next 12 days. We're out rocking with the infamous Mindless Self Indulgence, who can only be explained as quite the spectacle... a unique live experience... an aggro-electro-nu-punk-freak-out-extravaganza. And then, of course, there's Suicide City - which features former Kittie member, Jenna, as well as former Biohazard [yes, Biohazrd] member, Billy. Enough said. And we thought the "emo" scene had a lot of guys who look like girls and girls who look like guys. The last time I saw so many guys wearing skirts shorter than the short skirts girls wear was at Drag Queen Bingo Night.
Anyhow, if we're coming to your area on this tour, I highly recommend you come and check out the show. Regardless of whether it's with MSI & Suicide City or not, we're still playing with some other kick ass bands - such as The Code & Hank Jones - as well. And of course there is Erie, where we have a super sweet ultra halloween surprise. We're bummed we can't go trick or treating since we're on tour so we're trying to make up for it in any way we can. Feel free to bring us candy to any of the upcoming shows since we'll be missing out.
Check out our myspace page [www.myspace.com/theakas] for all dates, locations, and times.
Only 13 more days untill we begin work on our new record.
xo
chris |
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[Sep. 21st, 2005|12:25 pm] |
There becomes a point where when I haven't updated any of our journals in so long that it seems to become more of a chore than anything because there is so much to talk about at that point. I feel as though every one of our entries this year has started with "sorry it's taken so long", or something of that nature. No apologies this time.
Back in 1988 a couple of wisemen who went by the moniker "Cinderella" taught me a very important anecdote that I have carried with me all through my years and up untill now. "Don't know what you got 'till it's gone." Ain't that the truth. I do believe that it wasn't untill we played a club show the day after we got off Warped Tour that I fully realized how amazing it was. Despite the insane constant heat, sleeping in our van every night for three weeks, waking up at 7:30am everyday after driving all night, sunburns, rain, lightning, flooding, mud, dirt, infighting, irate soundguys, carrying equipment 1/2 mile over rocks, hand-writing 2000 flyers a day, our tent flying away... there were The Kinison, Mark @ catering, The Briefs, the Truth Booth, the Myspace tent, The Briefs, Valiant Thorr, River City Gamblers, the food, Metal Mike @ FBR, Michelle @ Fearless, Chad @ Hopeless, Rob @ Vagrant, AP, Skelteon Crew, Hooligan Skateboards, The Starting Line, Shannon, Fall Out Boy, Gym Glass Heros, The Firebird Band, Bofunk, etc, which all helped make it a tour to remember.
Which brings us to now, on tour with Zeke & Nashville Pussy. Which is awesome in it's own respect though completely different than the crowd we encountered on Warped Tour. But there's something to be said about going from 16 year olds Alternative Pressers to 35 year old truckers and coal mine workers.
In the meantime, we've been working on a new record - which will be interrupted once again in October by a short tour with Mindless Self Indulgance. After which, we have made a commitment to ourselves to not tour again untill we have the record finished. All I can say about that is: expect more .
xo
Chris |
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| CASTING CALL!!! Be in the New AKAs video this weekend!!!! |
[Aug. 23rd, 2005|12:24 am] |
Hello Dear Friend! We're back from tour, for only a few days... and what we wanna know is... "WHO WANTS TO BE IN A KICK ASS ROCK VIDEO!?" We're filming an awesome video for "Always On" THIS WEEKEND in upstate New York, so what do you have better than to do than bring all your friend out for a super awesome time to be remembered forever with The A.K.A.s! All the info is below, we sincerely hope to see you all there!
XO, Mike Ski and The A.K.A.s
We are casting featured extras for a 35mm music video for the song "Always On" to be shot August 27th and August 28th on the campus of Bard College in the Kingston/Rhinebeck area of upstate New York. The director of the video won a "Viewers Choice Award" for his last video, which aired on MTV2 and FUSE. Experience is not necessary.
We will be asking the cast to use their own transportation to get to and from set on both days of the shoot. We also ask since the concept of the video involves a traffic jam on a quiet country road, that as many cars as possible be driven to the set to be used as part of the traffic jam. There will be a set stipend for gas. We hope to see you there. For times and more information, e-mail musicvideo88@hotmail.com. |
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[Jul. 10th, 2005|10:44 pm] |
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We've been on tour just 7 days and due to a promoter cancelling our Winter Park, Fl show we are hanging out at Adam from Fueled By Ramen's house in lovely Gainesville, Fl. It's a great time to bunker down and hole up in regards to hurricance Dennis, except for the fact that other than a few heavy rain showers we have felt no effects whatsoever as of yet. Ask me again in a few days after we've gone into the pan handle of Florida as well as Alabama.
Despite not having the required credentials our roadie, Caitlin, batted her eyes & flirted with the Blockbuster counter-guy well enough to score a rental card. Unfortunately, upon bringing our loot back to Adams' house, we were dismayed to find that he doesn't have a DVD player. What kind of person doesn't own a DVD player? Yeah, we don't know either. Most unfortunate is the fact that Caitlins' flirtatious ways were all in vain.
We'll see you all very soon.
xo
chris |
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| Craft Time with Josie Outlaw Part 1 |
[Jun. 29th, 2005|01:43 pm] |
Hello Everyone!
I thought that since everyone is out of school, and everyone has a bunch of free time on their hands, that it might be cool to have a little D.I.Y. arts and crafts time! I know that when i am bored out of my mind, I like to make things...so, here is a fun little project that we can do together!
I am going to show you how to make a super sweet custom tote bag!
First off, here is a list of supplies that you will need:
1 Tote bag
1 spray bottle filled with bleach
Stencils cut out of poster board of your design
Lace trim
Ribbon for the handles
Fabric( any pattern you want)
Fabri-tac (fabric glue)
Step 1: Pick out a super sweet tote bag to work with. I bought this denim one at Michael's Arts and Crafts.
Step 2: Think of a cool image that you want to put on your bag. I chose to use The A.K.A.s doves because, duh, The A.K.A.s RULE! Use poster board as stencils for your image. Cut out the posterboard stencils and use them as a guide for cutting your fabric.
Step 3: Is everyone having fun yet? This is my favorite part!! Use one of the stencils as your cool bleach art part of the tote bag. I put my stencil in the center of the bag, and secured it with tape. Like so...
Step 4: Ok, Ok, I lied this is my favorite part. Are you guys ready? Once you have the image where you want it, stand a couple inches away from the bag and SPRAY YOUR LITTLE HEART OUT!!!
STEP 5: After you have sprayed the bag, you can remove the stencil and hang it outside to dry. You can rinse it out if you like, but you don't have to. Once the bleach dries it won't run.
Step 6: now that your tote bag has ha time to dry, you can start adding the pieces that you cut out of fabric. Place them where ever you would like on the bag and Secure them with Fabri-Tac. I love this stuff! You can use it for everything and anything you want to stick on and it will stay stuck! Got it! Ok, moving on...
Step 7: Now it is time to add the finishing touches! I used black lace around the opening of the bag. You can just stick it on with Fabri-Tac. Make sure you don't glue your fingers together!!!
Step 8: I used pink ribbon to trim the handles. You can attach this the same way. Just add my magic buddy ( Fabri-tac) to the back of the ribbon and place it where you want it! Fun Fun Fun!
Step 9:Ok your super sweet tote bag is complete!! Make sure all the glue is dry and sling that thing over your shoulder and show it off!
I hope that i saved at least one person from a boring summer afternoon. If i inspired anyone at all to work their magic, please send me photos to: theakas@whoever.com (Craft time as the subject). Also if you have any other fun craft ideas, send them my way! Also keep a look out for more craft time fun and a chance to win this super sweet totebag. I hope you had fun!!!
xoxo,
Josie Outlaw |
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| Craft Time with Josie Outlaw Part 2 |
[Jun. 29th, 2005|01:38 pm] |
Hey everyone!
Thanks to everyone who wrote and left comments on the Tote Bag. I am gald you liked it. Since there was such a good response, i decided to do another little quick one today.. This is a real quickie and will take you no time at all. Is everyone ready?
Today I am going to show you how to make a pillow out of your favorite band t-shirt.
This is what you will need:
One awesome band shirt...A.K.A.S' shirts work best!
Cool fabric (optional)
Pillow stuffing ( can be purchased at any crafts store)
Sewing machine or a needle and thread
The first step is to pick a super cool band band t-shirt..The larger sizes work best. I chose to work with the best band T-shirt that i own!
Next: Use a chalk pencil ( only if you need to) to draw a square around the image. Make sure to leave alot of room around the edges so you can sew it together. Once you have the size of the square right, you can start to cut it out....Like sooo...
Once you have your square cut out, you need to cut another square the same size as the first one for the back of your pillow. You can do this two ways, you can use the back side of the t-shirt or any other fabric you have lying around. I had some really cool black and pink fabric that i used for the back panel of the pillow..
Now, you have all of your pieces! All you have to do now is pin them together with the back sides up.. You do this so when you sew the pillow the rough edges are inside...Pinning the pillow will just help as a guide when you are sewing it. If you are an expert you don't have to do this.
The next step can be done two ways. You can do it the ghetto way which means, you can hand sew the edges ( I have done this for years before i could afford a sewing machine) OR: you can do it the easy way.. I chose the easy way out. Use your sewing machine to sew around the edges of your pillow. When you get to the last panel make sure to leave a two inch opening so you can stuff it!
When you are finished sewing it, you can turn it inside out and stuff it!! Yeah that's right i said stuff it! You can buy pillow stuffing at any arts and crafts store. When you have stuffed your pillow to the max, sew the little two inch opening shut and get ready to rest your pretty little head on your brand new pillow!!
Now that was easy wasn't it?! If you have more time you can add some fluffy trim or a little bow to personalize it. Let me know if you guys have any other cool ideas...Oh and don't worry i will have a project for all the boys up very soon!
xoxo,
Josie Outlaw |
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[Jun. 6th, 2005|09:39 pm] |
Can you believe it? It's been a month... an entire MONTH since this was last updated. Don't blame me, there are 80 other fingers in this band that are perfectly capable of typing as well. But rather then point blame here, or there, or elsewhere, let's make amends and make up for lost time. Shall we?
* Throughout the mid to late 90's Braid was one of my top ten favorite bands. Hell, they still may be if I actually had enough time to come up with top tens. Braid split before I ever got the chance to see them play, and went on to form two other bands which I liked as well - Hey Mercedes & The Firebird Band - the latter of which we had the opportunity to play with a few weeks ago. As far as giddy high school girls go, I'm pretty far removed from them, but there's something to be said about meeting someone who was in a band that meant so much to you as you were growing up. Equally so after I got off the phone with said band member Chris Broach after he agreed to remix one of our songs. Imagine that, some guy from a band I admired remixing one of MY bands songs. Stoked? You bet.
* Who hates summer? I do. Especially when your car and house have no A/C. Speaking of summer, though I usally find myself scoffing at these types, I often find myself a victim of fashion over function. That said, I havent worn shorts in probably 7 years. All bets are off this summer - Khaki cargo shorts, here I come.
* I have failed to mention our mini-tour with Gym Class Hero's and what great gentlemen they are. We love them, and you should to. They love us, and you should to. We made out with... eh, nevermind. Write them and remind them of how they told us they want to do a US tour with us later this year.
* Speaking of Gym Class Hero's, Disashi is added to my list of favorite "indie" guitar players. Right up there with Ted Leo & Omar Rodriguez Lopez.
* We are on 10 dates of Warped Tour this summer and I am more than stoked to watch Gym Class Heros, The Kinison, Strike Anywhere, & Throw Rag every night.
It's 10pm and I have to awake at 4:45am. Completely unstoked. So, I bid you goodnite...
xo
Chris |
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[May. 2nd, 2005|08:18 pm] |
Ok, so we had a day off from tour today and I have finally gotten around to posting a selection of pictures from our tour with TSOL. I just know that I'm missing a few prized possesions but I can't seem to locate them anywhere. Boo. But, alas, I have done what I can and have come up with a fair portrayal of most everything that went down on said tour.
But before we get to that, I must comment on our day off today. We drove to Mike & Josies' beach house - my first time here - and it rules. They don't know it yet, but I may move into their laundry room. Not only did we have a sweet BBQ , but we threw bread into the air from their back porch and watched seagulls swoop down and eat it right out of the air. God, were we ever giggling like a gaggle of school girls.
Well, lets get on with it.
( I've been at work on this for much longer than I would have liked to have been and I'm not loger stoked. I apologize in advance for the few huge photo's, but I'm over going through and resizing them. Besides, dial-up is so 1999... )
A few hours later and I realized how tedious it is to post all these goddamn pictures. Enjoy.
xo
Chris |
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