the rungs – Page 6

House of Thoughts and Trees Live!

House of Thoughts is a new clothing company influenced by art, culture and music, recently launched in Wales. True to its name, the fall launch party featured underground musicians, artists and poets who presented interpretations of the theme of the night, ‘unorthodox’.

In the midst of launching a new company, our friend and founder of H.O.T was kind enough to also mail us two matching screen printed shirts! They fit perfectly and the unique design was just right for our look at the show.

In our matching House of Thoughts shirts

Fashion seems to be on the brain and in the air this season, at least for me, as I’ve been brainstorming merchandise ideas for our band, working on t-shirt designs and screen print experiments with friends. Then there was the 2013 Victoria’s Secret Fashion show that aired this week, with models decking the runway in elaborate barely-there outfits that folks have been describing as ‘sexy Halloween costumes’. Oh fashion what a bizarre industry you are!

I will stick to clothes that are wearable, comfortable, and available for everyone. Not like the high fashion Victoria’s Secret designs that seem to be exclusive to the tall and thin! Hmm but then again it is fun to fantasize about playing a show in something that could also be compared to a Halloween costume 🙂 hehe

Here is a live video of us performing in our super cool House of Thoughts t-shirts. Friends have already asked me where we got the shirts and it is inspiring to see a motivated young individual launch an artist driven clothing company. And to top it off, the abbreviation, H.O.T, reads ‘hot’!

Music

Powder The Moon & The Rungs at Felicia’s

And now for a little recap of our show at Felicia’s, opening up for Gabriel Tavares and Powder the Moon.

Every Sunday night, Felicia’s hosts free music from 7pm to 9pm. The popular local acts and small touring bands that are drawn to this delicious cocktail bar always ensure good quality, consistent Sunday night entertainment.

It is one of those cozy small venues that has a nice warm vibe no matter how many people are in the audience. A good turnout really packs the place and it is quite the squeeze to make it to the bar or a comfy lounge seat across the room. We were lucky to have a moderately squeezy kind of night 🙂 and intimate type of show, (the first set of seats are only a couple of feet from the mic stands!)

Recently having left my day job due to a repetitive motion injury, (I haven’t written much about that because it is no fun 😦 music is way better and has been the most therapeutic activity, hence our catch phrase, ‘music is the best medicine’ !!! 🙂 ) I was just tickled to see friends from work in the audience. How nice of them to come out and support the band!

We also wore matching shirts that night, from our friends at House of Thoughts clothing company in the United Kingdom. Great shirts and we felt so pro with the matched look.

What made this particular show even more special was that it was the release of a live CD that Gabe had recorded in 2005 when he was invited down to New York city to share a gig with the band Faith at CBGB’s 313 Gallery. The show was one of a series of farewell shows that were scheduled when the legendary Bowery club lost their lease. Aptly named, ‘Live at CBGBs 313 Gallery’, the cd has a great raw roomy feel to it and you can almost make out Gabe hitting the strings of the guitar, just like at the live show. Powder The Moon is a male female duo with Gabe on guitar and Laura Penman on the upright bass. At the show Sunday night, they performed songs off the album and new originals. I love the addition of the upright bass and female vocal touch to Gabe’s solo sound! (Hopefully Powder the Moon will release a live cd someday tooo 🙂 )

Speaking of CD releases, we’re working on that one! It’ll happen soon, but for now, help share our music on soundcloud and youtube

We greatly appreciate the support!

Music

Photoreal / The Rungs / DJ Diwas at The Gates

So many overdue updates!!

We’ll have to begin where I left off, the Photoreal show at The Gates in Ithaca’s college town, all the way back on the weekend before Thanksgiving. It was definitely a cold night, something in-between rain and snow was coming down and icing the ground. Still, despite the unpleasant weather, a great group of friends came out to support the bands. Photoreal is Diwas’s main musical project with his good friend Dan. These guys have been playing music for years together, touring and recording with the former psychedelic rock band Ayurveda. Since the band split ways, they’ve been redeveloping their sound and live show as Photoreal! It is electronic, poppy, and straight rockin’, something like Chromeo meets Skrillex with intricate live guitar throughout.

It was our first time opening for them, so of course I was super excited! Photoreal uses these bright floor lights that change colors throughout the set, and since we were right before them, the lights were set up for our set too. This was my first time playing in front of such bright floor lights, and boy I was just like a little kid staring into the sun. Every time I looked down, my eyes locked right into the lights in a weird trance. I completely forget where we were at mid song a couple of times! Oh stage lights and your trickery!

Following The Rungs, Photoreal put on a great show, and Diwas, after already pulling a double by playing in two bands in a row, made it a triple and performed a DJ set for the last hour of the night!

Lyrics

Ride Lyrics

Ride, by The Rungs

Seems I’m in no hurry yet to get where I’m going so I might as well enjoy the ride

A scene sandwiched in between the same framed window and the always looking over me sky

Even though you’ve been through hell, you can’t quit now you’ve gotta go pick yourself up and get a move on

Tell me what you’re waiting for, a day a week another year another year another year gone

I’ve seen waste arise from haste and so I’m taking my time

Buildings and trees stationary streamed along the way I’m going rolling wheels radio on

(lyrics written by Mandy)

Music

The Gates

The Gates is a new-ish, (okay I still consider it new even though it has been over a year!) bar and venue located in Cornell University’s college town. They’ve got a cool upscale interior design, a nice decent sized stage, and a great sound system. My favorite thing about the place is that they serve kombucha on tap! This Friday we will be opening for Diwas’s other band, Photoreal at The Gates!

http://photoreal.co/

http://www.thegatesithaca.com/

Music

A Halloween Haunting

This will be my most memorable Halloween yet!

When All Hallows’ Eve rolls around, the local rock shows get spooky.

While the Rungs did not have a Halloween show, I did get a chance to be a part of one with The Sutras! They are the only band in town that rocks out with a theremin, the instrument behind the creepy flesh tingling whistling sound featured in countless sci-fi and horror movie soundtracks.

The instrument was invented by Leon Theremin in Russia in the 1920s, after he worked as a radio engineer for the Red Army and developed a specialized antenna to serve as a motion detector. He noticed that when he moved his hand around, the pitch produced by the ‘Radio Watchman’ changed, and it could be used to play songs!

For The Sutras, the theremin’s quivering notes are the perfect addition to their complex, psychedelic arrangements, adding a haunting touch to the high energy jams that the audience gets lost in.

On this particular night, creepy and unexplainable things began to happen when the theremin’s blood chilling sound filled the air. Diwas was in the audience and managed to capture a photo of the madness that ensued…

We also managed to sneak my ipod in for a video, before the creatures came out of the woodwork!

Lyrics

Writing Lyrics: Play a character

With Halloween just around the corner, it is a fun time to think about characters!

Sometimes lyrics can reflect our deepest most personal thoughts and experiences. While I love to draw from my own memories to construct a song, it is equally rewarding, and sometimes even more fun, to put myself in the mind of someone else! Whether a dear friend, an acquaintance, a certain stereotype, or a made up character, playing a role can make for a great song!

Actors go to great lengths to get into a character. Tom Cruise apparently dressed up as a Fed Ex delivery man to sneak through a crowd without getting noticed, just as an assassin would, in preparation for his role villain role in Collateral. Actors might completely change their lifestyles and take on new hobbies for a short period of time while preparing for a difficult role.

For songwriting though, I say sitting quietly and thinking about the character you want to represent is more than enough. Perhaps with a glass of alcohol or some nice warm tea. Decide what and who your story is about.

Who: Depending on if they are strong or frail or troubled or content, etc, completely changes the perception of the experience. Think of someone, anyone, and channel the little nuances that make them so unique. Do they have a short temper? Unreasonable expectations? Unyielding patience?

What: Sit quietly and try to imagine something that you might not have exactly experienced before; a place, certain gains or losses, heartbreaks, historical events like the great depression or the infamous potato famine, a struggle with sexuality, a good day, a bad day, whatever you want to dive into.

Explore yourself! Then let the music and lyrics evolve 🙂

Right now I am imagining being on a beautiful island in Thailand, the song is very sunny!

Music

Great Vibes at The Nines!

Saturday night we played at one of our favorite venues, The Nines, in Ithaca NY. It is actually the very place where we met, about 5 years ago. (I think it was 5…maybe 6? this is too much math already 🙂 )

Anywhoo, a band called Schooner from Durham NC had contacted us about playing a show together on their ‘Neighborhood Veins’ album release tour. After checking out their music and digging it, we were psyched to share a bill with them.

at the nines sept 2013

We hadn’t been making it up to The Nines very much over the past year, so we thought, ‘Lets play there! Don’t you miss that place?’

It turned out to be the perfect location for Schooner and us to tear it up! I’ve never been to a show there that didn’t have a great vibe. Not sure what it is. The people? The Pizza? (You must try the deep dish if you are ever in Ithaca!) It’s funny how some spaces and locations just don’t work. No matter how much people try to doctor a place up and re-brand, there is just something about it that is off. Then there are places that for no explainable reason just work. Something is special about them. The Nines is like that, it just feels good to be in that place. We will definitely be playing there again!

Here is a clip of our Feist cover from the show, My Moon My Man.

Music

Making Time for Music

Hello Blog! I am sorry to have left you unattended for so long!

Since my last post, we’ve recorded two songs that we’ve been slowly but surely taking our time on. I didn’t expect us to take this much time, but I’m afraid I’ve spread myself so thin over too many other projects. Most of these are extra assignments at work, home improvements, a few family gatherings, and then those little ongoing obligatory chores.

And now, here I am. Almost an entire month later, with a couple of incomplete songs and a neglected blog! Which brings me to the point of this post.

I often meet musicians and artists who struggle to make time for their craft. (guilty here!) Months can turn into years that go by as creative endeavors sit on the side, waiting for attention. As the ideas keep collecting in our heads, our desire to see them develop into visible or audible form grows. It grows!

I’ve found that making time for music and art is easy if you define to yourself what it is that you really want to achieve. I must remember to ask myself, ‘Okay, what projects do you want to see through?!?!’

Then, before signing up for everything from here to the moon, and saying yes to every invitation and favor that is asked, I must remember to ask myself ‘Do you really have time for this? What does your creative idea, the one that is burning a hole in your brain and crying for attention, have to say about this?!?!’

Here is what my little idea guy has been like for the past month:

“Seriously? What about me? I’m not asking for much here. You’ve gotta at least give me something.”

“Ten minutes a day? You can’t spare at least ten minutes a day? C’mon.”

“If you had to feed and walk me, like a real pet, I’d be dead dude. Lets get going on this.”

Soooooo, It’s time to give that patient little guy ( or girl 🙂 ) some love!

Gear

Vox Pathfinder

Who says you can’t have two of the same thing? A few years ago, one of our friends let us borrow their Vox Pathfinder 15r, a solid state amp with 15W of power, an 8″ bulldog speaker, gain, gain boost, tremolo speed & depth, spring reverb, and 2 band EQ bass & treble. At only 18 lbs and a little over a foot tall, we were very impressed with the sound that came out of this little guy! After we returned the amp to its owner, we just had to get one of our own.

Now, about 3o shows and a year later, we realized that just one Vox Pathfinder is not enough. Its just too sweet of an amp. Hence, our recent addition to the family 🙂