Monday, October 31, 2011

10/31/11

Happy Halloween!

I'm already feeling Halloween-ed-out from celebrating it for almost a week...

First, apologies for having to reschedule the show that was supposed to happen last Monday at Nate's House. I'll let you know when we get a new date on that.

Drew & I stopped in at Lafayette Live on Wednesday night to jam a few tunes. Here's the set:

"Settling"
"Before it Gets to Me"
"Pocket and Soul"

We were excited to be sandwiched between Little Boxes, Hillary Tribbett, and Evan Ryan (where are you online?) for the night. Great sets, dudes!

Friday night I helped run sound at the 2nd annual ZombAid show; benefiting Food Finders / Feeding America. The stage was set up in the middle of Main St. between 2nd & 3rd in front of Black Sparrow and IT WAS ROCKING! Despite the cold temps, Why I like Robins, Dino DNA, & Broken Light had peeps (dressed as zombies, of course) dancing all night. Kudos to the dude in the Wilfred costume. That gave me a good chuckle!!

Saturday turned into a rock n' roll endurance run...

While warming up early in the day for (what was supposed to be) our first club show that night, we got a call to fill in at HomeGrownBikerTV's Monster Halloween Party at Eagle Harley-Davidson. Hybrid Glitch got things warmed up nicely (pun intended: this was an outdoor show & it was chilly).

Here's the set:

"Stuck" - Adrenaline cover
"Feed Me a Lie"
"A Veil Lifted"
"The Shadow I Will Leave"
"Settling"
"Dear Reason"
"Guilt that Keeps on Giving"
"Pocket and Soul"
"Out of Our Hands"

Big thanks to Doug & Scott for taking care of us. I'm down for helping out whenever I can!

Apologies to the lady in the port-a-potty that I exposed to the crowd prior to playing. I'm guessing she'll either never use one again or never forget to lock the door. :-)

After powering down, we hurried up & packed/loaded to head to LafayetteMetal's shindig at Jerilee's. The great tune-age of Our Albatross and Colasi's Omen (along with costume and scream queen contests) made for an awesome time as we got ready for round 2.

Here's the set:

"Stuck" - Adrenaline cover
"Feed Me a Lie"
"A Veil Lifted"
"The Shadow I Will Leave"
"Settling"
"Dear Reason"
"Before it Gets to Me"
"Guilt that Keeps on Giving"
"Pocket and Soul"
"Out of Our Hands"

Thanks to all that came out for 'Opening Night,' especially Chris & Drew. It couldn't have happened without those dudes! I don't think any of us expected to close two shows on our first night out... or for things to go as well as they did.

We're switching gears to prep for the Veteran's Day show at the Knickerbocker with Jason Wells and 9LB Gun. To show our support for the troops, anyone with a military ID gets in free. Also, since this show is on November 11th, my birthday antics will start at midnight. LOOK OUT!!

Before I go, I'll let you know that all of the masters for the Whistle When We Break Down EP got back over the weekend & it should go live on iTunes this week. I'll give the heads up on the Fan Page or @ChrisJuneIND when it's up.

Now, don't eat too much candy! I'll catch you back here next week.

Over and out

Monday, October 24, 2011

10/24/11

Hey, the blog surpassed 1,000 views last week! Wait, there's no award for that? Oh well...

Remember, if there's content that you're not seeing on the blog that you'd like covered, let me know.

Ready for last week's breakdown? Here we go...

On Tuesday I helped run sound at Black Sparrow for the Psychic Twin, Love of Everything, and Common Loon show. Not one of these bands had more than 2 people and all sounded huge! I was especially digging on the electronic elements of Psychic Twin & Common Loon. Overall, it was an awesome show!

I made my regular stop at Lafayette Live on Wednesday night. There wasn't anything crazy to report, but it was fun and, if you're reading this, you should start checking it out. :-)

I got a nice treat on Thursday; getting to listen to a mix of "Out of Our Hands." The acoustic guitars I tracked last week really beefed (and pop-ed) up the choruses. I hope the guitar solo for this song kills people.

Literally...

Imagine spending your entire weekend designing & assembling a merch display.

That's what I did.

Although it should be very useful, this is one of those thankless, time-consuming efforts that you have to do to make 'playing rock 'n roll every night' work.

There's not really anything there that's not on the site, but it's in-your-face & QR crazy.

I'm still trying to figure out how to pipe in subliminal messages to get nearby folks to get out their wallets. :-)

Looking ahead...

Tonight's show at Nate's House on the West-Side is canceled. We're trying to reschedule it for a later date. Apologies to those of you that were ready for an early-week hellraiser!

On Wednesday night Drew & I'll be throwing it down unplugged-style for Lafayette Live at the Lafayette Theater (6th & Main St, downtown). The show runs from 7-11ish pm and I think we'll be in the middle somewhere. Lafayette Live at the Theater is a free all-ages event with a bar area for 21+.

The show on Saturday at Jerilee's has had a bit of a line-up shift. While Our Albatross and the IND crew are still good to go, Draekon has been swapped out with Colasi's Omen from up North. Josh (their bassist) and I did several shows together back in the Chemcoma/Driven period. I'm looking forward to catching up & rocking out!

Outside of shows, this is my heavy week for guitar lessons and I need to book some more shows for the group. Also, if things pan out, I should get to proof the mix of the final track for the Whistle When We Break Down EP tonight! WOOT!!


I'm SOOOO ready to get this puppy done & out.


Thanks for stopping by! It's busy-time.

I'll see you at the shows & back here next week!!

Over and out

Monday, October 17, 2011

10/17/11

Hey all!

I was a tad reclusive last week since I had to finish up a new song with the quickness. Though I'm digging on it, it totally didn't turn out how I expected. My tunes usually take their own path, no matter what direction I steer them in...

Despite keeping myself mostly locked up, I was treated to a few awesome distractions throughout the week.

The Arch Drive Goodbye crew stopped over at IND HQ midweek for some hanging/scheming. They're still hip to letting me cover one of their tunes for the live set. I'm a bit behind schedule on making that a reality, but I should be able to knock it out quickly once the production phase of the new EP is completed. I really cannot wait to get all of that done & get it out there.

I was ecstatic to participate in Operation Freedom Foam on Friday. To summarize, my little brother is serving in Afghanistan with the USMC. After asking what it would take to get some sweet Dog N Suds root beer shipped over to him via their Facebook Page, the company started a campaign to raise funds to pull it off. So, an event was held on Friday at their location on SR 52 to load up palettes of root beer to be shipped off. The best part was getting to see my little bro's face & chat with him on Skype. While the day was an over-all success, I am semi-bummed that I didn't realize the Purdue Basketball team was helping load the van up, so I missed an opportunity to wish some good mojo on Robbie Hummel's knee. :-)

Saturday I got an offer to help out with sound for the People's Brewing Fall Bash 2011. Since I was a bit indecisive on how to spend my day, it was a no-brainer to go get some great beer & food while watching sick pickin' from Woodstove Flapjacks & Root Hog. To all involved: great job!

Switching gears...

Much appreciation to those of you that contributed to my Facebook Fan Page surpassing the 100 'likes' mark! I hope I see you cats out at the shows coming up!!

The first club date is coming up next Saturday (8/29) at the Jerilee's in Lafayette with Our Albatross & Draekon. This will be a very diverse show. Plus, it's a Halloween shindig! To get more details & RSVP, check out the Facebook Event. Please share!

That's gonna do it for this week's update. I have a long list of duties to complete before the next blog entry.

Thanks for stopping by! Have a great week!!

Over and out

Monday, October 10, 2011

10/10/11

Wow, last week was great for getting the word out. The Fan Page & Blog activity picked up a lot. Thanks!

I'm guessing it's partly due to the new track leak. Since you had to like the Fan Page for a listen, feel free to leave feedback on the wall. For those who didn't create a fake Facebook page to 'like,' listen to the track, and immediately 'unlike,' I'm working on an extra incentive for you.

Since we're well into October now, that means shows are just around the corner. Although I have them posted on the Shows Page, I added them to the Fan Page for convenience. Please RSVP!

PS: if anyone has a solution for posting Facebook events to a Google Calendar or vice versa (without manual entry), please enlighten me!

I've been putting a lot of hours in finishing up a new tune to blast at the shows. I think if I ever have a masterpiece, this will be it: monster riffs, key changes, guitar & vocal harmonies, booty shakin' beats, and words inspired by my distorted interpretation of The Fountainhead. Look out, man!

Speaking of show prep, the crew & I really tried to get a teaser video at practice last week in time for Blog Day, but the tunes were way too loud & kept peaking the camera's mic. We'll have a couple more opportunities to try this week, so hang in there! :-)

Last week's Shaking Hands & Kissing Babies Campaign had me out a lot. Wednesday night was spent at Lafayette Live, the Harley Poe show at LBC, and at the Knickerbocker doing some extra celebration for my buddy Brad's b-day. Friday night I campfire-d-it with my bud Seth and Saturday night I helped run sound for the Eastern Standard Time/Mr. T-Bone show hosted by my pals in Green Room Rockers.

If you're out & about this week, I'll probably see you...

Before I wrap up, Thanks to all that voted for Artisan Electric, ISPhotographic, People's Brew, Sacred Apple, and Willow Stained Glass in JConline.com's Reader's Choice Poll. Yeah, I'm partial, but outside of those businesses being IND Sponsors, they're great at what they do & run by super cool people. I hope they win!

Now, without further delay, it's time for me to get down to other biz.

Thanks for stopping by!

Over and out

Monday, October 3, 2011

10/03/11

Hey all!

Last week was filled with a lot of (what I'd like to call) 'administrative work.'

I booked some new shows for the group, did some studio work, and we practiced.

Basically, it turned out to be a week of lots of work that would be hard to talk about...

So, I'm doing something a bit uncharacteristic and leaking a track from the new EP as a thanks to those of you that stop by the blog every week.

But, hang on a sec...

This is a great time to thank my local sponsors Artisan Electric, DropYa Fightwear, ISPhotographic, Lafayette Speaker Repair, People's Brewing Company, Rhodes Amplification, Sacred Apple, Sound Logic Recording, and Willow Stained Glass.

I'm very honored to have these great *Indiana* small businesses in my corner. Please check them out!

Alright, commercial over.

If you head over to my Fan Page on Facebook, you'll notice the new track: "Guilt that Keeps on Giving."

The catch is: you will have to 'like' the page to be able to listen to it.

But... if you've been checking the blog every week, I'm guessing you've already done that. If not, perhaps this will serve as a reminder. :-)

Enjoy!

If you dig on the track, please share the link/catch with your friends. It would be pretty sweet if you told five people! The IND experiment relies on Facebook 'likes' and digital sales (on iTunes & Amazon) to stay afloat.

Plus, I really appreciate those $.99 votes of confidence! :-)

Also, if there's something you're not seeing on the blog that you think would be great for future entries, shoot me a message and let me know what you'd like to see more/less of.

Alrighty, it's time to get back to work. I have to make sure the new EP is finished & ready in time for the shows at the end of the month.

Have a good week!

Over and out

Monday, September 26, 2011

09/26/11

Another whirlwind week is under my belt. Apologies for not getting this up earlier. Free sushi for lunch is extremely hard for this guy to turn down!

The 2012 Taste of Tippecanoe cycle has started & we had our first two meetings last Monday night. I'm pretty psyched about what the line-up is going to be. I'll give more info when everything is finalized...

In IND news:

The crew & I had another couple days of practice last week starting at 9am.  Nothing wakes me up like gallons of coffee and rock 'n roll!


Funny-ish story:

We were grilling steaks, chicken, & potatoes on the back porch after Thursday's practice when a call came in from Grant Mohrman (Mix Engineer for the 'Whistle When We Break Down' EP) wanting some guitar feedback for the track he was working on.

Luckily, the boys know their way around a grill & finished up lunch while I got everything in order to record.

Here's a clip featuring the sweet camera & space-bar work of Chris Parker & the killer feedback work of my Rhodes Amplification Dishaster 4790 guitar amp.



After editing the track a bit, I promptly emailed it to Method House Studios in Detroit.

Technology rules.


Outside of practice, I got a couple of opportunities to get out of the house to jam this week too.

Wednesday night I went down to Lafayette Live Open Mic at the Lafayette Theater to bust out some songs.

Here's the set:

"Pocket and Soul"
"Before it Gets to Me"
"Settling"
"Out of Our Hands"


Kudos to my buds in Arch Drive Goodbye and The Mound Builders for hanging out!

On Sunday I got to share the stage with DJ Powder, Snorb!, and The Clutter for the Home with Hope's benefit show at the Tippecanoe Co. Amphitheater. I had a blast hanging out with everyone and getting to play for a great cause!

Here's the set:

"Pocket and Soul"
"Before it Gets to Me"
"Settling"
"Out of Our Hands"
"Faithfully" - Journey cover
"Dear Reason"



Before last week, it had been a bit since I'd been out to play my tunes. So, I got busy adding some more shows to the calendar to keep the fun rolling. Though I'll chat about them more when the dates approach, I've added info to the Shows Page if you'd like to plan ahead.

That does it for it for the weekly update. As always, thanks again for stopping by!

Over and out

Monday, September 19, 2011

09/19/11

Well, there's only so much a guy can do while waiting for the mixes & masters for his new EP to get back. I kept busy doing the normal routine; giving guitar lessons, finishing artwork, band practice, hanging out with my dogs, etc. One morning I was even lucky enough to go grab some breakfast with my old buddy Emmett Hall from the Malcontents.

But... as I'm typing this week's blog, I'm wondering if I was unconsciously trying to win an award for seeing the most live local bands/shows last week.

I'm thinking I was at least 'top 3' on that one. :-)

Like most Wednesday nights, I was down at Lafayette Live Open Mic at the Lafayette Theater last week. Though my intentions were to hang out with some music buddies & sign up for this week's show, I was talked into playing.

Here's the set:

"Hand of the Almighty" - John R. Butler cover
"3.14" - Bloodhound Gang cover
"Bed Intruder" - Auto-Tune the News cover

It was fun to have some folks singing along & to hear people laughing at the words. After I got done, my pals in Little Boxes churned out a great impromptu set. They're an earworm factory.

I headed back to the theater Thursday night to catch sets from Sleeping in Stereo, Future Lovers, and Traveling, Broke, and Out of Gas too.

Saturday night I split my time between helping with sound for the Why I Like Robins show at the Black Sparrow and hanging out at The Mound Builders CD release show with The Enders and Our Albatross at Jerilee's.

The coolest part about catching this all within a few days was the realization that:
A) Not one of these bands sounded like any of the others
B) They all killed it
and
C) Those 8 groups are only a small sample of the town's musical pie.

Kudos Lafayette!

Though I had a blast being a spectator, I'm ready to get out & play my own tunes this week! Hopefully, I'll see you at Lafayette Live or on Sunday at the Family Fun Day to Support the Home with Hope.

I promise to have the new IND shirts with me!

Thanks for stopping by again! Extra thanks to those of you who continue to share the Chris June IND word with your friends!! Referrals = awesome.

I'll either catch you at the shows or here next Monday. Have a great week!

Over and out.