New West Motels > Red Sky > Facts About Funerals?

I was surfing myspace this morning and I saw that the band formerly known as New West Motels appears to now also be the band formerly known as Red Sky, because they're now calling themselves Facts About Funerals. Of course, they just became Red Sky ealier this year, so perhaps that name was already taken? In any case, they've launched a new myspace page for the new band name.

I think the guys are off recording with Tim Mooney (American Music Club, Red House Painters). But, I'll see what I can find out.

For the record, I do like the name Facts About Funerals more than Red Sky.

Red Sky lands a serious punch

Okay, so maybe a boxing analogy isn't really called for when discussing a band as lush and romantic as Red Sky. But, it was the first that came to my head.

The band has been working on a record for a while, and they just reported that they've connected with some folks who are really perfect for helping them get it done. Here's the 411 directly from them:

For those who don't know, we recently left our producer over a difference of styles/approaches and set about finding someone new to mix the record. We wanted someone who would "get" the pretty yet sad nature of our style, and also the sparceness and airyness we cherish, in all its hauntingness and tears-in-the-eyes (both happy and sad) ways.

We're very happy to say (tears in our eyes) that we NAILED IT!!! Enter Tim Mooney, whose credits include American Music Club (his band), Mark Kozelek and Red House Painters, a BEAUTIFUL recent record by Portastatic, and the Bobby Frank/John Murray recording that David Fricke from Rolling Stones just picked as one of 3 classic records to not miss this year, including a specific reference to Tim's production. (You can check out a track from that record at: www.myspace.com/closerrecording )

He's excited, we're excited-- and the first week of July we'll head down to San Francisco to start mixing the record with him. So we're back on track, and should have a record for you all to hear sometime this summer.

Finally!

More haiku on The Comet

Last night was a pretty rockin' show at The Comet. The crowd was larger than I thought it might be for a night that had so much going on (Dino Jr., Slender Means, Mirah, and several other shows were all happening at various clubs). I'd probably guess 150 through the door, which is not bad, all told.

You might recall that Ari Spoon posted an "ode to the Comet" over at the Stranger's Line Out blog back in April and I responded with some Comet-inspired haiku. I figured I could continue that tradition (if something you've done exactly once can be called a tradition...) in this post about the show last night.

I'll start with a few complaints.

I think I've simply logged too many hours in clubs over the past 20 years, because I'm really impatient at rock shows. I just want to get things started at 9pm and have the change-overs between bands be smooth and quick. That never happens at the Comet.

You book four-band bills
But won't start them 'til 10:10
Makes for a long night

The sound system at The Comet cracks me up. They have a three foot tall rack of power amps, equalizers, enhancers, compressors, limiters and various other gadgets. Yet it still sounds like my garage. In fact, I think last night might've actually sounded better if the bands had been in my garage, because by the end of the night, I couldn't hear a word the Young Sportsmen were saying. Now, given, my boys are loud. But, still.

Mighty sound system
You are a paper tiger
The mics shock my lips

So, with those complaints out of the way, it was a generally fun night. Red Sky started the evening off. I really love their songs and I'm a big fan of Max's guitar playing and Rob's unapologetic lyrical sensitivity. But, I'm not sure they are the best band to have start out the night. Because while their slow, dreamy pop is appealing to me, I think I needed an energy boost to start my Friday night of rock. Maybe if they had a few more uptempo numbers in their set.

Fans of Scottish pop
So in love and dreamy
90 bpm

The Capillaries came out next, after a lengthy delay with the sound system. Apparently the monitors were not working. So, the sound person worked to get them going. I believe this was also the beginning of the "get shocked by the mic" part of the evening. This show was the debut of the new Capillaries line up that includes Eric Corson (The Long Winters) on guitar and Aaron Huffman (Harvey Danger) on bass. They've got a new recording coming out quite soon, and I'm digging a lot of their new material.

Catchy falsetto
Riffs that get stuck in my head
New record drops soon

We of Shake Some Action were on third. We focused our set on more of the rockin' stuff and a little less of the poppy stuff, and given the PA system situation, I'm glad that we did, since rock transcends being able to actually hear the vocals. Other than taking a low-grade shock to the lips about a dozen times throughout the set, I thought it went well. Kudos to our guitarist David Bos who agreed to play this show even though he had a 10a.m. flight this morning to France for a two week vacation with his wife, Imaginary Dana.

Such a rocky start
But new songs go over well
Glad I'm in this band

Closing out the show was the Young Sportsmen. They gave us exactly what we've come to expect -- both the energy knob and volume knob rolled all the way off to the right. As I mentioned before, you could barely hear their vocals through the PA system, which is a shame because Wesley has a great voice and a big, rock-and-roll delivery. But, at least you could still see the delivery, even if you couldn't hear the voice. Even though the whole night was running late and I don't think they even started until nearly 12:30am or so, there were still plenty of folks in the room to hear them lay it down.

Big sound yet still pop
Cracking snare drum and big bass
Foam smells like toilet

That last line was just for Wesley and those paying attention to his in-between song banter.

Nada Mucho presents...

Nada Mucho presents.... A show that I would've presented, as well. :) In fact, I did the flyer for the show. Cute, huh?

Powerpop Night photos

Although it wasn't a particularly large crowd (given that we were up against Sloan and the 88, that's not a surprise!), a good time was had at the Powerpop Night held over in West Seattle at the Skylark Cafe. If you've never been to the Skylark, I recommend you check it out. It's super easy to find, and it's just across the bridge (literally at the bottom of the offramp at Delridge). It's a cool hang out with a nice vibe.

Anyway, as per usual, I snapped some photos during the sets.

Red Sky did another good job, as is the norm with them. The addition of the keyboard player was perfect for really giving them a lush, swirly sound to match the nature of the their songs. That said, I always have to hold myself back from jumping on stage with them and singing harmonies, because while their recordings feature backing vocals, Rob does all the singing in a live setting.

This first one was a so-so photo, so I did a bit of photoshopping to making it more interesting.


The next is a pretty straight forward shot of Rob, rocking out.


Doll Test closed the night out, and I really like their sound with Nick Riffbroker joining them on second guitar and backing vocals. They were already a great band, and this addition kicked them up a notch. They brought the rock. Unfortunately, I only got one usable photo.

Central Services, Red Sky & Young Sportsmen photos

I was playing around with my camera settings again last night. I've had this "new" digital camera for almost 8 months, and I'm still trying to get it to do what I want it to do. MY KINGDOM FOR AN AFFORDABLE DIGITAL SLR!!!

Sorry to shout there. I just wish I had a better camera, but can't stomach paying so much for a digital SLR when I know the day after I buy it they'll come out with a better model at half the price.

Anyway, as I mentioned a few times leading up to it, down at the Crocodile last night there was a mighty fine pop show. Here are some photos:

Starting the night was Central Services. I was disappointed to find that the fellas are losing a member. Ethan, who is also in Math and Physics Club, is leaving the group to pursue his own recordings. He was playing an awfully pretty Rickenbacker guitar through a Vox amp, and they said from the stage that his recordings sound "straight out of 1967." So, color me interest to hear what he's going to be doing.

I was exploring the zoom during their set and snapped this image of Jeff:


Second on the bill was the Young Sportsmen. As always, they brought the rock and the volume. They're just so darn reliable and solid, it makes you wonder if they ever have a bad show. I was trying to capture the arena-sized rock by getting a wider shot. Sadly, the output with this camera resulted in two distinct camps: blurry photo and overly washed out flash photo.

I'll choose the blurry photo with character every time.


Once again I was unable to take pictures of Shake Some Action, due to being occupied on stage playing all the low notes, and being totally distracted by having to change a broken string during the first freaking song. Without exaggeration, I've been playing bass for 20 years and that's only the third time I've ever broken a string live. Thankfully I was able to change it out without a super long delay.

Blogger update: I had a photo of the Shake Some Action set sent in by Sarah (who is also a militant Virb enthusiast... she's trying to ween folks off of myspce and onto Virb -- how's that going, Sarah? I still can't make myself do it.). She snapped this photo with her cell phone. I think it really shows off my shiny dome. :)



So, after SSA left the stage, the now-officially-renamed Red Sky (formerly known as New West Motels) took over. They've expanded to a five piece, having snagged a keyboard player who is so new to town that I overheard Rob giving him directions to the Crocodile before the show.

These guys churn out tunes that are swirly and dreamy, and I was able to catch a picture of bassist Doran that represents that vibe pretty well -- although this shot looks a little more menacing than the band actually sounds.

New West Motels (aka Red Sky) studio documentary

I just came across this footage of New West Motels recording at APE Studios in England.

New West Motels photos

Okay, first and foremost, New West Motels have changed their name to Red Sky. According to Rob, the name New West Motels had people thinking they were an alt.country band (presumably because it's a Walkabout's album title...??). I think it's a pretty great band name. But, either way, they unveiled themselves as Red Sky at the Global Cooling benefit last night.

I arrived just as a hip hop duo was finishing their set. I had time to say hello to Rob and Charis and then New West Mo... er... Red Sky took the stage. I snapped these photos. Given their name change, it's quite appropriate that all my photos turned out with a heavy red tint.


Red Sky - Rob Sharp


Red Sky - Rob & Max

After they finished, Optimus Rhyme took the stage. I said to my friend David as they geared up, "these guys definitely started this band after getting high in their dorm room." I mean, they took their name from the Transformers, for goodness sake. They were totally high. :)

Anyway, although it's probably not fair to them, it just sounded like warmed over 311 to me. I didn't realize college kids still dug that stuff. Shows ya how out of touch I am with the youth of today, because the whole thing felt very 1993 to me... said while recognizing that I didn't even make it through one full song.

I had hoped to stay to hear Conservative Dad, a poppy band with a horrible name but a good sound (at least on their myspace page). "Bent Out" is a cool tune, and I look forward to hearing more from these guys.

New West Motels live snapshot

I caught the New West Motels set at the Crocodile last night (It was a great set by the fellas, even with a new drummer and a substitute lead guitarist!) and snapped a few photos. I can't say that I've got my new digital camera dialed in yet, because most of the shots sucked. But, I did like this ghostly image of main guy Rob.