Rememberies: 2014

Huh, I guess I forgot to do a Rememberies post last year for 2013. (update: I faked it.) Oh well, a new year is here, and with that, my recollections of the year that just went. Word on the internet is that 2014 was a “bummer”, but that’s just because the internet doesn’t know about Slushy yet. Here’s what happened, as best as I can recall.

January

Had the most miserable Megabus ride from Des Moines to Chicago on New Years Day. Ten hours through a blizzard, after having spent a week with a broken down car in Mason City, Iowa. That’s a rough start to a year. Then I got dumped the next day. Oh well. We recorded with Matt Riley in December, and started mixing with Shimby McCreery at his house in January. That was cool!

February

Finished mixing and mastering the album with Shimby, which I christened Pastime Gardens after the diner that kept me alive in Mason City. (If you’re driving from Minneapolis to Des Moines or points south, stop in and tell them Slushy sent you.) At one point during mixing the record, I said it sounds like Brian Eno producing the Ramones. I still stand by that.

March

Bric-A-Brac Records needed a new PA, so I played a benefit show for them. Adam Pezen and Kriss Stress finished up the artwork for Pastime. “Looks great!” I said at the time, and I still say that all the time.

April

Played some more solo shows wearing a red shirt, and quit my job so that I could tour all summer with the Lemons and with Slushy. Possibly the smartest thing I ever did?

May

Pastime Gardens was released by Grabbing Clouds Records & Tapes on May 10, 2014. Hey that’s pretty sweet! Big love to Matt and Billy for making that happen. Played the record in order at the Saki release show after Kenny made bleep bloop sounds, plus a couple of other shows around town, then got in the van to see America.

June

The Lemons got to tour with the Memories and Street Gnar! Plus a Slushy show in Omaha with the Memories and Lunch. In the words of Uncle Funkle, “You play a lot of covers.” Then Max, Dee, James and I drove to California and made every single one of our dreams come true!

July

Made it up to Seattle, scooped up Brent, and gave the Pacific Northwest a taste of Slushy. Stayed with Matt Riley at the new home base of Grabbing Clouds in San Francisco, and played a house party there on the 4th of July. Had a smart idea for a new album while spending a day off in Austin. Made it back to Chicago, had a couple practices with Justin and Kenny, then got right back in the van for Slushy tour. Minneapolis, Omaha, Springfield, Memphis, Nashville, we love you all.

August

Finished up that tour with a few more great shows, then sweet talked James into joining on bass. Didn’t take much sweet talking. Recorded Nuggish over a few days while hanging out at home.

September

Junkers and Yotafest weekender kicked it off, at which point we realized we should just be a jam band. So we did.

October

Nuggish came out, played a couple solo shows at the Owl, and learned some new songs with the gang. Went out of town for a long weekend, overplayed Chicago, and started a Modern Lovers cover band, complete with historically accurate banter.

November

Brent came back in town for a couple more two-piece shows, and we did a bit of recording too. Have I told you about that? It’s weird, and I think I like it.

December

Spent two weeks in Nebraska, and gave Omaha a taste of Nuggish. They dug it. At least Dave did. I think that was the first good Slushy show in Omaha of 2014. Snuck in a great set at the Whistler, too. Got dumped the day after Christmas. What is it with the holidays??

A gaze into the crystal ball of 2015

Okay, that was a weird year. And one that left me wondering, “what the hell is Slushy?” I don’t know if I have an answer to that yet, but here’s what I plan on doing to find out.

1. Recording a bunch

2. Maybe putting those recordings out online

3. Maybe putting those recordings out on cassette and/or vinyl

4. Touring a bunch

5. Connecting with people around me

6. Quitting at least one more job

7. Stand up comedy

Rememberies 2013

Welcome to a very special edition of Rememberies for the year 2013. Why is this one so special, you ask? Because unlike most Rememberies installments, which are written shortly after the year in question has reached its end, I completely forgot to do one for 2013 in 2014 or 2015 or 2016 so I am now attempting to relieve 2013 in 2017. Is it even possible? Let’s find out.

January

We started off the year in full two-piece mode and would stay in that mode for … most of the year. I think we were recording at this point, just at the house and nothing any good and now that computer is a kaputzer. Hey, looks like we played a couple of shows with the band Twin Peaks! They were really starting to build a buzz back then, I hope we keep hearing more from them.

February

A couple of more shows, with the Bingers and Today’s Hits! I sure do like those bands. It was a short month.

March

We did a session of Pure Hype on WHPK in south Chicago. It was fantastic and Max filmed it all, I bet you can find some videos on the tube if you’re interested. I was wearing a The Who t-shirt.

April

Hahahahahahahaha. Brent booked the Beets at Animal Kingdom and he made sure he got the Lemons to open. It was the first ever Lemons show, with JL, JJ and CT. Even Slushy had a couple of shows.

May

Hey, my birthday is in May! Happy birthday, me! The day after we played a sandwich shop and I remember not having very much fun but who would blame me for preferring my birthday? The Lemons also played a show featuring Brent Z sitting under a shawl playing an omnichord. A recording exists of that somewhere around here….

June

Holy smokes, 5 shows in one month? We must have been nuts. This included a great street festival appearance with not only Slushy, but 2 other bands that we were not expecting to be in but were in for the day — The Sueves and Max Clarke (pre-cut worms). What a nice day. Then we went up on Jason’s rooftop and hung out for a while and then?

July

Slushy played one show. The Lemons played two. What was I doing? Probably being the perfect boyfriend or some garbage.

August

Hey we went on tour! Second and so far last Brent and Chris Slushy tour. Brent, what are you doing this summer? We went to Detroit, and Cleveland (now that’s class) and Mishawaka and that’s it. Yes, at this point I was still an office boy and belonged in an office and could only get a weekend off of work because they are obliged to do that every weekend (thanks, labor unions!). Oh and then later in August we played 2 shows on the same night, a birthday party at Space Club (Hi Bart!) and an unbirthday party at FeelTrip (RIP). Almost as if people liked us!

September

Remember that subtle foreshadowing about keeping the 2 piece for most of the year? Brent moved to Seattle in this month and things just weren’t the same ever since. But before he could do that we had to release our debut single because that’s how timing always works out. Candy b/w Pocket came out on Randy Records including with some limited artwork by Goon$. I think Five Little Leaves would up getting released around this time too on Tripp Tapes. We had a nice going away show at the Owl and I finally figured out who Justin Vittori was! What a long time it’s been since then. Hi JV!

October

Must have been hanging with Max and Raff at this point. What did I dress up as for Halloween?

November

Oh yeah, the Lemons were pretty busy at about this time. We released the first ever tape called “Hello, We’re the Lemons” on Tripp Tapes in November and celebrated with a show at Bric-A-Brac with Guantanamo Baywatch and a show at the Subterranean with Nobunny featuring Pookie all in one day. What a nice day!

December

Brent came back halfway into the month to visit from his new home in Seattle. We went over to Matt Riley’s and experimented with eating and recording. Everything worked out great, and we left for a little two-show tour to Omaha and Minneapolis. We played Omaha and it went overall pretty great. We played the Middle House and a lot of nice people were there including my Uncle Bill (peace) and then the next day our vehicle broke down in a snow storm. Friday evening, about 5:30, about 20 miles from Mason City, IA, and by the time you get a tow into town everywhere is shut down, so you have to wait 3 whole days til the mechanic opens on Monday, and he’ll take all day to tell you to take it to the dealership in town, who will take all day to tell you to sell it to the salvage yard. Luckily, Mason City has more going for it than a lousy way to make $350, namely the Pastime Gardens and all its denizens. Wayne Z picked up his boy early on the first morning so I had a few days on my own and boy was that a cold and nice place, the kind of place that makes you as nice as it is. On the morning of the 31st I took a bus from the Clear Lake Airport (where Buddy, Richie, et al made their final boarding) and spent the evening in Des Moines because I missed my connection for the megabus. Hi Brad, Hi Julie, Hi drummer for the Silver Jews!

Unless I’m thinking of a different year, which is entirely likely. Goes to show you never can tell!

Introducing The Lemons!

The Lemons, a new Chicago pop super group featuring one or sometimes two members of Slushy, plus the brains behind Today’s Hits, SkyMaul, Hollow Mountain and Boshus, just dropped their debut full-length, “Hello, We’re The Lemons”. If you like the sunny pop sensibilities of Slushy, the stripped down songwriting of Today’s Hits, and hooks in general, you’re gonna love this tape.

Here’s what now-defunct blogger Why Pick on Me had to say about it:

Hello, We’re The Lemons is in the running for Most Charming Chicago Release of 2013. Not only are the songs cute, funny, weird and quirky…they’re also expertly recorded (and I mean that in the most DIY/lo-fi way possible) and instantly memorable.

See The Lemons this Saturday (Nov 9) at Bric-A-Brac Records with Guantanamo Baywatch, and later the same day at Subterranean with Nobunny!

Nitetrotter TV

Earlier this spring, Nathan from Nitetrotter came over to our practice space/living room and filmed us playing every song we could think of. Then he whittled the whole thing down into an 8-minute sonic boom. Enjoy.

NitetrotterTV Sessions///Slushy from NitetrotterTV on Vimeo.

The Original Craigslist Ad

When I first moved to Chicago in 2009, I was eager to start playing music. I didn’t know more than 4 people here, and they were all already in a band together. So I did what any desperate, semi-deranged juicer would do. I turned to CraigsList.

It didn’t pan out. Although I got a few interesting emails back, I never met up with anyone. Then one day my buddy Jason was in town, and he gave me some advice that he had applied to his band Talking Mountain – just start playing shows on your own, and you’ll meet people who dig what you’re doing and with whom you’ll want to be in a band.

So I did, and it quickly went from me playing solo with a sampler and a lot of delay pedals to a real four-person rock and roll band. Then, as the clock hands whirled round and round and life did what it does best and made fools of us all, it became a weird stripped down two-piece with a lot of delay pedals. Which, it turns out, is exactly the type of band I was hoping to start.

Here’s the ad in all its glory.

Looking to start garage/trash/weird duo or trio (Logan Sq)

Looking for one or two people who want to make weird/fun/interesting music that sounds like garage or proto-punk or surf or whatever.

Ideally, everyone would sing, and we would play instruments. Guitar, bass, organ/synth, small drum kit, drum machine, sampler, whatever. Maybe have all of them and play what sounds best/worst.

Where would we play? Maybe in basements, and maybe while wearing sunglasses.

I have a few song ideas I can share with you, but would like to write songs collectively.

Influences: ? and the Mysterians, Suicide, Voidoids, Modern Lovers, JAMC, Beat Happening, etc.

And yes, trash is a music genre. I just made it up and it is awesome.

Rememberies: 2012

2012 saw 40 public appearances by Slushy, our first tape, lots of recording, our first tours and plenty of good times. Let’s see how the months flew by:

January

Right after the New Year, we started working on a super cool project with Doug from the Sleepovers and Shimby from Empty Bottle Presents. Most of what we recorded remains unheard, but interested parties are welcome to contact us for more info.

February

More recording, plus we played with Woollen Kits from Melbourne, Aus. They’re nice. Their new record out on Trouble in Mind is definitely worth picking up.

March

Chris moved into a new apartment that became our rehearsal/recording space, then the very next day we hit the road for SXSW!!! Perfect rock and roll vacation. So many awesome shows, so many cool bands. Plus hanging with Nathan J. and Jenn R. Then we came back and played some shows around town that were great (Sonic Angels, TRMRS, etc).

April

We played with Organs, from Brooklyn, at Subterranean and completely had a great time. We got pretty much the entire audience up on the stage. If you weren’t at that show, you missed one of the best Slushy shows of the year. If you were at that show, thanks for jumping on the stage and helping us sing and play guitar solos. We also played a show with Twin Peaks in a garage, featuring Doug on drums.

May

Chris turned 30 and we played a record store the next day and a restaurant a few days after which was the wildest string of days in a row possible. Lots of blood.

June

Two of the coolest shows imaginable two days in a row. Like a little Chicago tour. Bassdrum of Death / DZ DeathRays and Crocodiles / Devin. (actually all of those bands are lousy and the shows were just so-so.) Plus we were doing lots of leg work trying to get our August tour together. The Manic Static Mix Tape came out featuring Slushy and lots of our best buds.

July

At this point we were in full SLUSHY mode. Over the fourth of July weekend, we wrote, recorded, mixed and set up a release for our 8 song debut cassette tape release, ALL THE RAD DUDES, on Manic Static. We played several fantastic shows, appeared on Chic-A-Go-Go singing “Candy” with our buddy Max, got tattooed at Cobra Lounge with King Tuff, got some write-em-ups from RAD DUDES, recorded a couple of songs with Nathan from Thee Yolks, and basically had the summer every 14 year old dreams about.

August

Still hustling, still balling. Played the legendary Fireside Bowl, then had our tour kick-off at the Burlington and didn’t look back. The tour was a breeze (although I never had time to write a daily recap) and we played with so many cool bands and met so many cool people. Jasona Beach! Pickle Backs! BATMAN! Sideways Rain! Eeries! Special thanks to Jerome and the Psychics for setting up our final show of tour at their house that they didn’t even get to play.

September

Played a show at the Whip and then were like “Fuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuudge” and took a big nap.

October

Even more taking a break! Did you know that Brent plays bass in Party Bat? And that Chris plays in The Lemons? And they both had relatively busy Octobers? Check them out when you get around to it!

November

We made our triumphant return to the Burlington. But it was not a typical Slushy show! Somewhere along the line, Chris acquired a Farfisa Mini-Compact, so we did a show with a special line up built around that. And built around mostly new songs. People described it as “interesting” and “too much mid-tro”. It stunk.

December

We’re done dicking around. Our 40th show of the year, and 81st as a band, saw us back in Indianapolis with four bands so sick they’re contagious. Vacation Club! Burnt Ones! Apache Droupout! The Gizmos! This was the real deal, the most fun I’ve had at a show in ages, and the perfect way to send off 2012. Thanks, Jimmy!

Predictions for 2013

Well, it seems like the same predictions I made last year are on deck for this year. We did record music as I’d hoped, and some of it did see the light of day (RAD DUDES!). We did experiment with augmented line ups, but the two-piece was the move. The subject came up again the other day. We’re much more comfortable as a two-piece now than we were this time last year, so who knows how it’ll play out. We’ll hopefully continue to be allowed to play shows in and out of Chicago, but I’d like to see out-of-town shows more scattered throughout the calendar. As I say every year, “Your Guess Is As Good As Mine.”

Farfisa Mini Compact

I cam across an ad for this Farfisa Mini Compact organ in one of Chicago’s west side practice warehouses. After emailing the seller (a noted local rock critic!) on the spot, I came back a week later, gave it a brief spin and picked it up.

It was producing a pretty loud dissonant drone (like every key was being pressed down at once), and the configuration of the power input and sound output jacks were pretty weird. I took it to DelTronics, and for $300 they completely recapped everything, upgraded the power plug and made it nearly good as new! Fine by me!

The thing that’s cool about the Mini Compact is its knee-operated tone/volume lever. This is a little paddle that hides in the body of the organ, under the keys, that’s designed to be played with the knee while sitting. Nudge it to the right and it really blows out the signal. This takes it from churchy to super garage fudged up spectacular.

So far, we’ve featured the Farfisa at one show, and it’s going to start popping up on all of our records in 2013 – starting with our first release on Randy Records. More info on that coming soon! (it didn’t)

Update: I sold the Farfisa to Nathan Johnson of The Yolks/Uh Bones/Randy Records. He’s putting it to great use, give him a high five next time you see him.

Manic Static Mix Tape

Yes!!!!!!!!!

Our buddies at Manic Static creamed the crop of Chicago rock music and created the greatest cassette tape ever. Featuring Slushy’s hit banger “Baby With the Big Tape Head” and tracks from our buddies Uh Bones, Magic Milk, Heavy Times, The Sueves and tons more. Pro dubbed and limited to 250 copies. It’s way sold out.

Thank you Phil and Jess!

Video: Live at the Empty Bottle

On March 22, 2012, Slushy shared the stage with TRMRS and The Bingers at the Empty Bottle. Bryan from Sweet Stuff Chicago shot this video of us playing “Little Hearts” and “Wrong Words”. There are more videos from that night (and others) over on the Sweet Stuff YouTube page.

Also, Sam from Sweet Stuff took this photo:

Fender Coronado XII

I’ve been obsessively watching Fender Coronado guitars on eBay for years, dreaming of the day that I might own one of the hollow body beasts. I’ve always been a fan of Fender guitars (strats, not teles), but there’s something even more magical about the Coronado. Even the original single pickup model is a marvel, and the Coronado II and Coronado Bass. But when I came across a Coronado XII on the auction block – and at an unfathomably affordable price – I put in a bid. Just a test bid. A joke bid. I figured the current price was so low that there was no way my humble bid would the higher than the current max. But it was. Then I figured that there was so much time left on the auction that I would surely be outbid before the time was up. But I wasn’t.

When I finally got the guitar, I played a few chords and it sounded lovely. Then I played some bar chords higher up the neck and it sounded lousy. And I plugged it in and some of the strings were much louder than the others. So I took it to the best guitar repair shop in Chicago, the Shake Shop. Tom took some time to get the neck properly set, and took good care of it. And now it sounds fantastic. Way better. Nearly new.

The Coronado XII has a full, chimey sound that will be featured all over Slushy’s singles in 2012. Get ready!

So that’s my new guitar. You can hear it on “All The Rad Dudes,” “Five Little Leaves” and “Hello, We’re the Lemons”.