Showing posts with label pop punk. Show all posts
Showing posts with label pop punk. Show all posts

Priority Male by Dildozer

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In 2014, Dildozer made a full-length with some new songs and some old songs, and a new bass player/backup vocalist. Our album cover wasn't loved by all, and that's okay. I always thought punk music was supposed to annoy everyone who doesn't 'get it'. We were before the phase when punk bands were instead trying to write songs in display of their niceness and general caring about pretty much anything. Who has time for that? I suspect Dildozer might have been kicked out of Punk if we'd stuck around. But what do you call this music if it's not punk? It's opinionated. It's catchy. It's mean. It was recorded in the non-climate controlled storage unit where we practiced all year round, in hot hot saint augustine. Dawson played my squier J-Bass, which wasn't set-up for standard tuning, so I autotuned it. On Youtube, you'll hear my newer mix of these tracks, but on the tape and on bandcamp you'll hear the nasty nasty original mix. These tapes were professionally duplicated, imprinted, j-carded, and cased. I would highly recommend buying a box to fill your closet instead of mine.

The Titular Tape by Dildozer

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In 2013 I was still setting up punk shows, and needed a punk band to play those shows. So I started Dildozer with Westley and Treymon. The idea was to, while acknowledging the rules of political correctness, proceed to make the meanest, nastiest, snottiest pop punk music. I wanted to make music like Carcass, but pop punk. The thing about political correctness is that, the rules of being correct are always changing. So I doubt all of these songs are very p.c. anymore. By the time you read this, it might in fact be very wrong to shame people for breaking their phones or using good hygene. Oh well. These tapes were duplicated and imprinted professionally, and packaged in sleeves I printed at home.

Endless Fervor by Super Famicom

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With the sadness of Punishing the Faithful behind me, I moved back to Saint Augustine and played the most prestigious show of my career, 2012's plan-it-x fest. In my own life, for the first time, I was able to make the money I needed to buy better gear. I was feeling very positive about the world, and my life in it. With my first drum kit in tow, I recorded this tape, meant to save the world with radical punk idealism. Written and recorded in 2012, this tape was released in 2013 on my friend Chris Eugene's tape label, Ghost Friend Records. I don't know if it's still a thing or not.

Punishing the Faithful by Super Famicom

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After a while, living on the bottom didn't just make me angry. It made me sad. So Punishing the Faithful is more sad and serious, at odds with the society who I felt rejected me. Was it too much to want a room with a complete floor and an air conditioner? In desperation, I moved back into my parents' house and recorded this album. I used a lot of midi drums, since I wasn't allowed to have real drums at my parents' house. Living in Illinois, I had hopes of reconnecting with my old 'fans' by further exploring my emo roots. So if you like Emo, this is the tape for you.

Whatever by The GAZE

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In 2010, the Winslows stopped playing together, and I pondered the idea of starting another pop punk band. I had song ideas that were riff-oriented, and wouldn't work with other groups I was playing in. Jaclyn moved to town from chicago and came by, at the advice of her boyfriend Josh. She'd heard I was the guy to talk to if she wanted to play in a local band. So we jammed, and she played really fast, and it was awesome. We got Garrett to play bass. I wanted to write songs that were really dark, while also being poppy. For months, I wore gym shorts, and the Gaze practiced like every day. I thought we were going to get huge, but eventually Jaclyn moved back to Chicago and I got busy with other stuff. These songs were recorded and mixed on Wilson's laptop, with cubase. I always wanted to try to do a better mix, with more familiar software, or at least get it less 'loud'. We also always played the songs more fast than good. I guess there's something admirable about that.

The Winslows 2009 Tour Demo

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The Winslows went on tour for a whole month, in two thousand nine. Before this tour, the only band tour I'd been on was with Lori Ann. We had a band fund, and a budget for eating meals on the road. We didn't have that with the Winslows, and I don't know what I expected. For those of you who don't know, being on tour with no money can be really bad for your self-respect. And for the sake of the team, and being fair, I kept going on band tours with no money. In fact, I owed it to the bands who were constantly helping me out a little bit with food, and what not. I owed more than my life was (fiscally) worth. On solo tours, I could at least sell a few cds and feed myself. With a band tour, it's often frowned upon to push your solo music onto people, making money for yourself instead of on behalf of your band of best friends. So I learned a few things on the Winslows tour.

As a band, we'd been finding our sound. The tour cd isn't 100% sick, but I think it's a definite step up from our tape. And I started to get an idea of what flavor of pop punk I wanted to make in the future.

The Winslows - Didn't Do That

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You probably wondering how, with no money, I was able to escape my hometown and move to Saint Augustine, a place I'd never been to before. Well, I was invited by my friend Evan who wanted to start a pop punk band with me. It seemed like a fine thing to do, especially since a lot of the solo shows people booked for me were not actually shows. They were just parties, and I was expected to beg people to watch me play and buy my cds. And I was duped into being the meme of the guy at the party with a guitar. With a band, you might expect the show to have a p.a. system, assuring you that you are indeed playing a show, and if not, your band will be loud enough to force people to pay attention. It all sounded good. So we got Matt Pius, the coolest guy in town, and taught him to play bass. At the time, I wasn't listening to much music that was punk or pop punk. I thought most of it was too bland, or bro-ish. Also, I didn't know what to write songs about that might represent the band as a group. None of these things mattered. We were the new band in town, and we were having fun, and everyone was having fun. The exported mix of this album doesn't sound like it did when I was mixing it in Sonor. The vocals came out way too loud, and it's too late to fix it. It was probably for the best, because after all, the vocals are usually really loud in popular music.

There was also a new label in town, The People's Republic of Rock and Roll, which our friend Jacob was running. Even though it was a tape and not a record, we were tapelabelmates with bands like The Fleshies, Underground Railroad to Candyland, Alligator, Tubers, Brainworms, and Future Virgins. So it was all pretty exciting for us and the kids who raged at our shows.

China Buffet Dollar Tree by Super Famicom

Stream it - YouTube Download it - Nextcloud Here is yet another album from Super Famicom, my solo project since the year 2002. As ...