This week, on a very special League Podcast, Adam Rivera and MC Frontalot join us to talk about their post-PAX shows, the Star Wars “Machete Order,” appearing in an issue of the Walking Dead, and Frontalot’s awesome new merch, because that’s what feeds the babies!
Illustration by Evan Dorkin
Discussed in this Episode:
Adam Rivera Music
MC Frontalot
Music:
Intro: “Gray World” - Adam Rivera
Outtro: “First World Problems” - MC Frontalot
SUN 8/4 HOMEBOY SANDMAN, @Mike_Eagle, @MegaRan @ChurchBoston #mm #hiphop @rockonconcerts
BLOGGERS: Weekend Picks Appreciated! Feel free to ask me any questions/requests. Thanks for your continued support.
THIS SUNDAY 8/4 (post-Boston Comic Con)
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE!
This Sunday at Church LEAGUE PODCAST in association with Rock On! Concerts presents THE DEAR HUNTER TOUR featuring Stone’s Throw artist HOMEBOY SANDMAN, OPEN MIKE EAGLE and RANDOM aka MEGA RAN with local talent Josh H.W., ELEMENTAL ZAZEN (with DRUMMER), newcomers CLINICAL and PRETENSILE.
NOTE: doors changed to 7:30PM
###
NEW: Homeboy Sandman Track EASY DOES IT: http://www.stonesthrow.com/news/2013/07/homeboy-sandman-easy-does-it
Homeboy Sandman’s new record All That I Hold Dear will be released August 6th. The 7-track joint was produced entirely by M Slago, who also produced this track “Easy Does It” featuring YC the Cynic & I Am Many.
Sand will tour the US in August & September on The Dear Hunter Tour, with Open Mike Eagle and Random. Tour dates below.
Sand will tour the US in August & September on The Dear Hunter Tour, with Open Mike Eagle and Random. Tour dates below.
NEW: OPEN MIKE EAGLE
A stand-out in Los Angeles hip-hop collective Project Blowed for almost a decade, Open Mike Eagle has spent the past nine years rapping and grinding hard. It’s paying off an he’s become the “it” indie-rapper of 2013.
“Open Mike Eagle is Suddenly the Hottest Thing in Indie Rap” - LA WEEKLY
OPEN MIKE EAGLE On WTF? WITH MARC MARON: http://www.wtfpod.com/podcast/episodes/episode_406_-_mike_eagle
NEW: RANDOM (aka MEGA RAN) “Doubt Me” video -
##
Sunday, August 4, 2013
The Dear Hunter Tour with
Homeboy Sandman (Stones Throw Records) - http:// www.stonesthrow.com/ homeboysandman/
Open Mike Eagle - http://mikeeagle.net/
Mega Ran (Capcom) - http://megaran.com/
H.W. - http:// longlivehw.bandcamp.com/
Elemental Zazen - https://www.facebook.com/ elementalzazen
Clinical - http://www.soundcloud.com/ clinicalmc
Pretensile
21+ 7:30pm doors
$10 Advance / $12 Day Of Show
[LeaguePodcast & RockOnConcerts Present!]
Tickets at http:// www.RockOnConcerts.com/
ON SALE NOW - http://ticketf.ly/18Wva1a
http://is.gd/sandmanchurch
Open Mike Eagle - http://mikeeagle.net/
Mega Ran (Capcom) - http://megaran.com/
H.W. - http:// longlivehw.bandcamp.com/
Elemental Zazen - https://www.facebook.com/ elementalzazen
Clinical - http://www.soundcloud.com/ clinicalmc
Pretensile
21+ 7:30pm doors
$10 Advance / $12 Day Of Show
[LeaguePodcast & RockOnConcerts Present!]
Tickets at http:// www.RockOnConcerts.com/
ON SALE NOW - http://ticketf.ly/18Wva1a
http://is.gd/sandmanchurch
https://www.facebook.com/events/345904638870304/
Church (Church of Boston)
69 Kilmarnock St.
Boston, MA 02215
617.236.7600
http:// www.churchofboston.com/ index.html
‘THE DEAR HUNTER TOUR’
“Homeboy Sandman’s new record All That I Hold Dear will be released August 6th. The 7-track joint was produced entirely by M Slago, who also produced this track “Easy Does It” featuring YC the Cynic & I Am Many. “
https://soundcloud.com/ stonesthrow/ homeboy-sandman-easy-does-i t
********************
On the heels of the release of his critically acclaimed LP First of a Living Breed (Stones Throw) and in support of two new projects (Kool Herc Fertile Crescent EP and All that I Hold Dear LP, Stones Throw 2013), his national tour with Brother Ali (Rhymesayers Entertainment), and a headlining tour of Europe, Homeboy Sandman will headline a tour of the US this summer. Open Mike Eagle (Hellfyre Club, Fake Four Inc, Mush Records) and Random aka Mega Ran (officially licensed by Capcom) will support.
Sandman says of the tour, “The Dear Hunter Tour is in promotion of my latest Stones Throw release, ‘All That I Hold Dear.’ I’m blessed to join forces with two musicians also searching for substance, magic, brilliance, love, and truth. We’re going to find them too. When we do, we’re going to share them.”
Kool Herc Fertile Crescent EP (Stones Throw) vinyl/digital relase available now. 8-track release produced entirely by El RTNC (aka Rthentic). The record is an unapologetic homage to old school hip-hop in its bare-bones production, lyrical themes, cover art and even the title. With the blessing of DJ Kool Herc, one of the originators of hip-hop, Sandman pays respect to the pioneering DJ by proudly naming the release in his honor.
HOMEBOY SANDMAN
Homeboy Sandman is a musician. His genre is hip-hop. An emcee that prides himself on musical growth and evolution, he has adopted as his motto and creative mission statement, “Boy Sand like you’ve never seen him before. As usual.”
Before signing to Stones Throw he’d already been chosen as a coach on MTV’s MADE, featured in preeminent print hip-hop rags XXL and The Source, and perpetually championed on foremost online hubs. And since the signing, his accolades have extended beyond the realm of the hip hop specific. Rolling Stone has noted his “skill for wordplay that keeps you hooked.” NPR has highlighted his “artful, hysterical, disobedient hip-hop that you can dance to.” Pitchfork has straightforwardly dubbed him “one of the best pure lyricists around.”
OPEN MIKE EAGLE
“One of LA’s smartest young voices” says the LA Times…which the artist suspects, may just be a covert way of saying LA is dumb. “Open” Mike Eagle wouldn’t terribly mind, being born and raised in Chicago where the painful winters and his uppity grandparents kept him inside as a youth. He spent his formative years watching alternative music happen on MTV and hoping to one day be able to audition for the Native Tongues. As a young adult after graduating with a degree in Psychology, he did the next best thing and moved to Los Angeles,
joining the Project Blowed collective where he made music and toured with Busdriver, Aceyalone, Abstract Rude, Nocando and more. He’s also gained notoriety in the world of comedy by being invited by professional funny people (Paul F. Tompkins, Hannibal Buress, Matt Besser/UCB) to rap at their shows. He’d like to be rap’s Kurt Vonnegut
but recognizes that he’d first have to create something as iconic as the four-stroke illustration of an anus. He practices by releasing rap albums that delight, entertain, and confuse.
RANDOM aka MEGA RAN
If you put video games, the 80’s, hip-hop, soul music, jazz and standup comedy into a blender and hit “puree,” you’d have something close to The Random Experience.
The self-proclaimed “TeacherRapperHero” made waves by going way left of his backpack roots by combining 8-bit video game sounds and hard hitting hip-hop tracks, and has become a trailblazer in the budding genres of chiptune and nerd-rap. A Capcom cosign and admiration from the genre’s toughest critics has led to placements in TV, movies, university coursework, and of course, games.
Today, Random is no longer a teacher by title, but travels the world to entertain and educate through the gift of facemelting raps.
********************
H.W.
Boston rapper H.W. dumps his demons - By Martín Caballero | BOSTON GLOBE
Last July, H.W. (short for “Hazardous Wastes”) released one of Boston hip-hop’s most literate, emotionally complex albums of the year in “Wall Papered Exit Wounds.” Delivered in the lyrically dense and raw personal style that has become his signature, the record quietly distinguished itself from the crowded local marketplace by vividly exposing its author’s titular emotional wounds for all to see, allowing listeners to eavesdrop on his internal struggle for peace of mind. It’s occasionally jarring and hardly uplifting stuff, but his gift for articulating pain is a rare one.
Yet there’s an important piece of context to note with “Exit Wounds”: The material was recorded six years ago, and the H.W. whose emotional turmoil fueled that record is not the same one who’ll be performing on June 5 at The Sinclair in Harvard Square.
“I hated that record,” H.W., born Josh DeCosta, says bluntly over a midday beer at a bar in Central Square. “The only reason I released it is because people told me it was good and I should put it out.”
Naturally, an intensely introspective album in which he struggles to find scraps of optimism within darkness would understandably be difficult to embrace in the same way that a detached listener might. But this isn’t his first release in that vein: “Exit Wounds” built on the foundation of 2009’s “A Year’s Worth of Worry,” where songs like “The End of the Line” established his reputation as a sensitive, emotional lyricist fueled by tumultuous romantic relationships that often ended in heartbreak. In 2013, that’s the reputation he’s working to change.
“It’s unbearable in a way,” says the Fall River native. “I was the guy who did songs about ex-girlfriends, and that’s all it was. And it got sickening being that person. It bothers me in the sense that there are so many more aspects of my personal life. If people talk to me they know that I’m not that person, I’m not that guy who goes home and cries every night and hates myself. I needed something to write about other than that.
‘In the studio I’m hyperly critical and constantly tweaking stuff, while on stage I don’t have enough time to think about it like that.
For someone whose creative output was so closely linked to his state of mind, shifting directions musically first necessitated a change in mentality.
“I based my worth on who I dated, and because of that every relationship was the end-all, be-all. So when those ended, it was devastating to the point that it destroyed by self-esteem. I eventually slowly realized that life doesn’t revolve around relationships. These girls, or these moments in time, as important as they may feel at the moment, are just that. It took a long time for me to understand what I cared about and how to write about what I cared about.”
“I’ve seen him grow and mature as a rapper and a performer drastically,” says longtime friend and DJ Emoh Bettah. “Most, if not all, of his earlier songs were about relationships gone sour or about friendships with ex-girlfriends, and I’d often joke with him about it but since then he’s been writing songs about other topics. His music may be too personal for some, but he does what he does well. All of his songs tell a story and he is just being himself, which is what I think people love about him.”
Yet for a rapper with a highly technical lyrical style and no shortage of things to say (“I think I’m way too personal in general, I’m just an over-sharer,” he admits), it’s surprising H.W.’s output isn’t more prodigious: case in point being the long gap between the recording and release of “Exit Wounds.” Rather than adhering to the modern rap marketing scheme of flooding the Internet with new material via social media in search of approval, he takes his work direct to live audiences.
“On stage, there’s something that clicks within me and I am the person who I am with my closest friends,” he says of his shows, which often find him performing unreleased or incomplete songs and interacting with the audience. “I love that feeling, maybe because it’s the sense of self-gratification that I’ve always sought from everything in life. In the studio I’m hyperly critical and constantly tweaking stuff, while on stage I don’t have enough time to think about it like that.”
That said, you’re more likely to hear H.W.’s musical evolution at an upcoming show before you can get it on iTunes. His next release will be the conceptual album “I Only Exist on the Internet,” targeted for late June release, which should show glimpses of the broader material he’s seeking to explore: topics like politics, environmental issues, and yes, maybe even a party jam. It’s not so much a rejection of the melancholic raps of the past, but an appreciation for their role in getting him to this new, more optimistic place in life and music.
“I’m not the best rapper ever,” he says. “I just would like to be able to display all aspects of myself. There are way more important things to talk about than my feelings on this one person I care about. The world is crumbling around me; there should be something else I’m able to share. A lot of this new album is about liking life, because I actually like life right now. ”
http:// longlivehw.bandcamp.com/
—
http://ticketf.ly/18Wva1a
TWITTER STUFF
http://www.twitter.com/ ChurchBoston
http://www.twitter.com/ RockOnConcerts
http://www.twitter.com/ LeaguePodcast
http://www.twitter.com/ HomeboySandman
http://www.twitter.com/MegaRan
http://www.twitter.com/Mike_Eagle
http://www.twitter.com/joshhw
http://www.megaran.com/
http://www.twitter.com/megaran
http://www.teacherrapperhero.com/
http://www.facebook.com/megaranmusic
http://randomhiphop.proboards.com/
http://www.twitter.com/megaran
http://www.teacherrapperhero.com/
http://www.facebook.com/megaranmusic
http://randomhiphop.proboards.com/
FACEBOOK EVENT: https://www.facebook.com/events/345904638870304/?ref=br_tf
—
Clay Fernald / Clay N. Ferno
M: +1 (617) 30-COMIC (google voice)
Check out our comic book podcast, LeaguePodcast.com
Check out my comic book culture column at DigBoston.com - EARTH PRIME TIME: DigBoston
Pop culture & comics at Forces of Geek
SUNDAY, AUGUST 4 - HOMEBOY SANDMAN, OPEN MIKE EAGLE, MEGA RAN at CHURCH (of Boston)
SUNDAY, AUGUST 4 - HOMEBOY SANDMAN, OPEN MIKE EAGLE, MEGA RAN at CHURCH (of Boston)
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
Stones Throw Records’ Homeboy Sandman embarks on the Dear Hunter Tour
On the heels of the release of his critically acclaimed LP First of a Living Breed (Stones Throw) and in support of two new projects (Kool Herc Fertile Crescent EP and All that I Hold Dear LP, Stones Throw 2013), his national tour with Brother Ali (Rhymesayers Entertainment), and a headlining tour of Europe, Homeboy Sandman will headline a tour of the US this summer. Open Mike Eagle (Hellfyre Club, Fake Four Inc, Mush Records) and Random aka Mega Ran (officially licensed by Capcom) will support.
Sandman says of the tour “The Dear Hunter Tour is in promotion of my latest Stones Throw release, ‘All That I Hold Dear.’ I’m blessed to join forces with two musicians also searching for substance, magic, brilliance, love, and truth. We’re going to find them too. When we do, we’re going to share them.”
Kool Herc Fertile Crescent EP (Stones Throw) vinyl/digital relase available now. 8-track release produced entirely by El RTNC (aka Rthentic). The record is an unapologetic homage to old school hip-hop in its bare-bones production, lyrical themes, cover art and even the title. With the blessing of DJ Kool Herc, one of the originators of hip-hop, Sandman pays respect to the pioneering DJ by proudly naming the release in his honor.
Homeboy Sandman
Homeboy Sandman is a musician. His genre is hip-hop. An emcee that prides himself on musical growth and evolution, he has adopted as his motto and creative mission statement, “Boy Sand like you’ve never seen him before. As usual.”
Before signing to Stones Throw he’d already been chosen as a coach on MTV’s MADE, featured in preeminent print hip-hop rags XXL and The Source, and perpetually championed on foremost online hubs. And since the signing, his accolades have extended beyond the realm of the hip hop specific. Rolling Stone has noted his “skill for wordplay that keeps you hooked.” NPR has highlighted his “artful, hysterical, disobedient hip-hop that you can dance to.” Pitchfork has straightforwardly dubbed him “one of the best pure lyricists around.
Open Mike Eagle
“One of LA’s smartest young voices” says the LA Times…which the artist suspects, may just be a covert way of saying LA is dumb. “Open” Mike Eagle wouldn’t terribly mind, being born and raised in Chicago where the painful winters and his uppity grandparents kept him inside as a youth. He spent his formative years watching alternative music happen on MTV and hoping to one day be able to audition for the Native Tongues. As a young adult after graduating with a degree in Psychology, he did the next best thing and moved to Los Angeles,
joining the Project Blowed collective where he made music and toured with Busdriver, Aceyalone, Abstract Rude, Nocando and more. He’s also gained notoriety in the world of comedy by being invited by professional funny people (Paul F. Tompkins, Hannibal Buress, Matt Besser/UCB) to rap at their shows. He’d like to be rap’s Kurt Vonnegut
but recognizes that he’d first have to create something as iconic as the four-stroke illustration of an anus. He practices by releasing rap albums that delight, entertain, and confuse.
Random aka Mega Ran
If you put video games, the 80’s, hip-hop, soul music, jazz and standup comedy into a blender and hit “puree,” you’d have something close to The Random Experience.
The self-proclaimed “TeacherRapperHero” made waves by going way left of his backpack roots by combining 8-bit video game sounds and hard hitting hip-hop tracks, and has become a trailblazer in the budding genres of chiptune and nerd-rap. A Capcom cosign and admiration from the genre’s toughest critics has led to placements in TV, movies, university coursework, and of course, games.
Today, Random is no longer a teacher by title, but travels the world to entertain and educate through the gift of facemelting raps.
H.W.
Boston rapper H.W. dumps his demons - By Martín Caballero | BOSTON GLOBE
Last July, H.W. (short for “Hazardous Wastes”) released one of Boston hip-hop’s most literate, emotionally complex albums of the year in “Wall Papered Exit Wounds.” Delivered in the lyrically dense and raw personal style that has become his signature, the record quietly distinguished itself from the crowded local marketplace by vividly exposing its author’s titular emotional wounds for all to see, allowing listeners to eavesdrop on his internal struggle for peace of mind. It’s occasionally jarring and hardly uplifting stuff, but his gift for articulating pain is a rare one.
Yet there’s an important piece of context to note with “Exit Wounds”: The material was recorded six years ago, and the H.W. whose emotional turmoil fueled that record is not the same one who’ll be performing on June 5 at The Sinclair in Harvard Square.
“I hated that record,” H.W., born Josh DeCosta, says bluntly over a midday beer at a bar in Central Square. “The only reason I released it is because people told me it was good and I should put it out.”
Naturally, an intensely introspective album in which he struggles to find scraps of optimism within darkness would understandably be difficult to embrace in the same way that a detached listener might. But this isn’t his first release in that vein: “Exit Wounds” built on the foundation of 2009’s “A Year’s Worth of Worry,” where songs like “The End of the Line” established his reputation as a sensitive, emotional lyricist fueled by tumultuous romantic relationships that often ended in heartbreak. In 2013, that’s the reputation he’s working to change.
“It’s unbearable in a way,” says the Fall River native. “I was the guy who did songs about ex-girlfriends, and that’s all it was. And it got sickening being that person. It bothers me in the sense that there are so many more aspects of my personal life. If people talk to me they know that I’m not that person, I’m not that guy who goes home and cries every night and hates myself. I needed something to write about other than that.
‘In the studio I’m hyperly critical and constantly tweaking stuff, while on stage I don’t have enough time to think about it like that.
For someone whose creative output was so closely linked to his state of mind, shifting directions musically first necessitated a change in mentality.
“I based my worth on who I dated, and because of that every relationship was the end-all, be-all. So when those ended, it was devastating to the point that it destroyed by self-esteem. I eventually slowly realized that life doesn’t revolve around relationships. These girls, or these moments in time, as important as they may feel at the moment, are just that. It took a long time for me to understand what I cared about and how to write about what I cared about.”
“I’ve seen him grow and mature as a rapper and a performer drastically,” says longtime friend and DJ Emoh Bettah. “Most, if not all, of his earlier songs were about relationships gone sour or about friendships with ex-girlfriends, and I’d often joke with him about it but since then he’s been writing songs about other topics. His music may be too personal for some, but he does what he does well. All of his songs tell a story and he is just being himself, which is what I think people love about him.”
Yet for a rapper with a highly technical lyrical style and no shortage of things to say (“I think I’m way too personal in general, I’m just an over-sharer,” he admits), it’s surprising H.W.’s output isn’t more prodigious: case in point being the long gap between the recording and release of “Exit Wounds.” Rather than adhering to the modern rap marketing scheme of flooding the Internet with new material via social media in search of approval, he takes his work direct to live audiences.
“On stage, there’s something that clicks within me and I am the person who I am with my closest friends,” he says of his shows, which often find him performing unreleased or incomplete songs and interacting with the audience. “I love that feeling, maybe because it’s the sense of self-gratification that I’ve always sought from everything in life. In the studio I’m hyperly critical and constantly tweaking stuff, while on stage I don’t have enough time to think about it like that.”
That said, you’re more likely to hear H.W.’s musical evolution at an upcoming show before you can get it on iTunes. His next release will be the conceptual album “I Only Exist on the Internet,” targeted for late June release, which should show glimpses of the broader material he’s seeking to explore: topics like politics, environmental issues, and yes, maybe even a party jam. It’s not so much a rejection of the melancholic raps of the past, but an appreciation for their role in getting him to this new, more optimistic place in life and music.
“I’m not the best rapper ever,” he says. “I just would like to be able to display all aspects of myself. There are way more important things to talk about than my feelings on this one person I care about. The world is crumbling around me; there should be something else I’m able to share. A lot of this new album is about liking life, because I actually like life right now. ”
http://longlivehw.bandcamp.com
—
FACEBOOK EVENT: https://www.facebook.com/events/345904638870304/
TWITTER STUFF
http://www.twitter.com/ChurchBoston
http://www.twitter.com/RockOnConcerts
http://www.twitter.com/LeaguePodcast
http://www.twitter.com/HomeboySandman
http://www.twitter.com/MegaRan
http://www.twitter.com/Mike_Eagle
http://www.twitter.com/megaran
http://www.teacherrapperhero.com
3/23 + 3/24 POST-PAX PARTIES from @LeaguePodcast & @RockOnConcerts. TWO NIGHT PASS DETAILS. #nerdcore #mideastclubftw
TWO NIGHT PASS for $20! Here or at MIDDLE EAST BOX OFFICE (no fees!)! http://bit.ly/XRZC6b.
JUST NIGHT 2 (Protomen/Frontalot):http://tktwb.tw/Zf69EZ — at MIDDLE EAST DOWNSTAIRS.
SUN 3/24 Twitter stuff:
—
Clay Fernald / Clay N. Ferno
M: +1 (617) 30-COMIC (google voice)
Check out our comic book podcast, LeaguePodcast.com
Check out my comic book culture column at DigBoston.com - EARTH PRIME TIME: DigBoston
M: +1 (617) 30-COMIC (google voice)
Check out our comic book podcast, LeaguePodcast.com
Check out my comic book culture column at DigBoston.com - EARTH PRIME TIME: DigBoston
EARTH PRIME TIME: NICOLE J. GEORGES, CASSIE J. SNEIDER & LIZ PRINCE READ AT HUB
A group of comic book creators will be at Hub Comics on Saturday: some of the best queer and feminist indie zine and spoken word artists will be joined by Somerville’s own Liz Prince for a book signing, slideshow, and reading. The funny ladies of funny books promise an exciting time. Luckily for us, Cassie, Nicole, and Liz had a few moments to spare on the road to give us an idea of what to expect on Saturday at 7 p.m. Nicole also gives a ‘friend’ some valuable cuddling advice.
DIGBOSTON: Nicole, thanks for taking the time, how is your book tour so far?
NICOLE J. GEORGES: It’s great. I’ve met three hypo-allergenic dogs, drawn dogs in lots of books, and had the pleasure of [having] Cassie J. Sneider as my guest “Dr. Laura” every night at the readings.
Your new book, Calling Dr. Laura, is a mystery of sorts about a daughter and her thought-to-be-dead father. You also delightfully explore the pangs of growing up and your search for a committed girlfriend.
Do you find it difficult to expose intimate details of your life through your art, or does this come naturally for you?
I have been doing autobiographical comics for 15 years, so I’ve gotten accustomed to writing about personal details of my life.
I know that in order to connect with readers, one has to be vulnerable, so I try my best.
Besides being an award-winning Zinester (is that a word?) you’ve appeared with Sister Spit: The Next Generation, and give a live version of your advice column. What can we expect at HUB, will there be performances?
At HUB Comics, I’ll be doing a slide-show presentation of some portions of my book, talk a little bit about its creation, and then do live rapid-fire advice with Cassie J. Sneider.
[READ MORE at DIGBOSTON.COM]
NICOLE J. GEORGES, CASSIE J. SNEIDER, AND LIZ PRINCE
READ AT HUB COMICS
SAT 3.2.13
7PM/ ALL AGES/FREE
19 BOW ST.
SOMERVILLE
617.718.0987
FACEBOOK EVENT
We all know Liz is not only a professional comic book artist with Boom’s Marceline and the Scream Queens, but some don’t know of her love of cats and pop punk. I asked her about the poster you see below used to promote the Queers, Teenage Bottlerocket, Masked Intruder, and Acro-Brats show on Sunday at Church. She put her drawing pencil and kneaded eraser away to get me just a few words about that!
LIZ PRINCE: I’m a huge fan of all three bands that are on this mega tour, so using my Masked Intruder connections to muscle my way into making a poster was a dream come true!
Queers March 3rd - Church. By Liz Prince!
THE QUEERS
SUN. MARCH 3
CHURCH OF BOSTON
69 KILMARNOCK ST.
BOSTON MA
$15 // 12+ // 8PM DOORS
WWW.ROCKONCONCERTS.COM
617.661.1515
@ROCKONCONCERTS
4/9 The Protomen + MC Frontalot @MidEastClub with The World is Square
Mon 4/9/12 - Middle East Downstairs
Rock On! Concerts & LeaguePodcast Present:
The Protomen + MC Frontalot
The World is Square (Square-Enix Tribute Band)
18+ $15
TIX - Facebook Event
#NERDCORE
DigBoston and LeaguePodcast Comic Book Picks of the Week for November 16, 2011
COMICS
An old enemy of the Waynes in Gotham City resurfaces as crime spikes, busying the Dark Knight with bat-famliy domestic disturbances in Batman #3. … British creator Paul Grist delights audiences with his adept cartooning and clever callbacks to comic book history. Welcome Grist’s teenage Mudman #1 from Image Comics into your home, but insist on leaving those boots at the door! … Superior and Kick Ass fans, get the Kapow Guinness World Record Special penned by over 50 creators in just 12 hours to benefit sick kids. … LeaguePodcast.com have reached a comic book milestone today - download or stream episode #100 today! Special shout-out from our nerd MC Frontalot here!
Pass the Daily Dig along! Your friends can sign up here!
11/9 MC FRONTALOT, Math The Band, Brandon Patton, Nabo Rawk, Weird Die Young #NERDCORE
Wednesday, November 9, 2011
Middle East Upstairs
LeaguePodcast.com, Rock On! and Leedz Edutainment Present:
MC Frontalot
Math The Band
Brandon Patton
Nabo Rawk
Weird Die Young
Hosted By Sly Young
18+ $10 Advance / $12 Day Of Show
TIX - Facebook Event
Math The Band
Brandon Patton
Nabo Rawk
Weird Die Young
Hosted By Sly Young
18+ $10 Advance / $12 Day Of Show
TIX - Facebook Event
8pm Doors
********************
MC FRONTALOT
CREDIT: Deborah Lopez
Bio
The original mastermind of Nerdcore Hip-Hop and still its Final Boss, MC Frontalot (nee Damian Hess) takes great pleasure in identifying himself as a professional rapper in polite conversation.
Front was born in San Francisco and grew up in Berkeley. He was tall and gangling, scrawny, had trouble breathing, and could not see well. A special teacher was called in to help him attain basic competence on the monkey bars, another to privately administer standardized tests (his were three grade levels advanced from his classmates). Thusly, he was the most popular kid in his elementary school. Just kidding! He got pushed down a lot and called “nerd.” Did he maybe even deserve it? I mean, really – who strikes out at kickball?
He spent the next twenty years or so trying to get over it. And kind of succeeded! Flash forward to 1999: the dotcom bubble is maximally inflated; nerds everywhere imagine themselves to be popular and/or hip. Damian is getting overpaid to code web pages, which leaves him free in the evenings to play with audio software. A longtime idolizer of rappers, he has been committing his own esoteric hip-hop compositions to four-track tape since high school, revealing them to nobody. Suddenly! Multi-track desktop studios, cheap pro-grade recording hardware, skyrocketing bandwidth, semi-anonymous web publishing – these factors converge on Damian’s rap hobby like a flock of winged monkeys. He posts an MC Frontalot web page, dubbing his output “Nerdcore Hip-Hop” since his audience is composed of several Star Wars figurines who live on his desk (and also random internet people who click on his MP3s by mistake).
Now it is 2010. Nerdcore has metastasized into an internet phenomenon and underground touring powerhouse, with dozens of live acts and more than a hundred home-studio rhymers self-identifying within the subgenre. MC Frontalot, called alternately the movement’s godfather or grandfather (thanks, kids), leads the charge, performing for thousands around the country and at prominent geek gatherings such as the Penny Arcade Expo and BlizzCon. He’s been featured in Newsweek, CNN, The New York Times, Spin, Wired, Blender, XXL, XLR8R, The London Daily Telegraph, NPR, G4TV, Esquire, The Guardian (UK), The Wall Street Journal, and scores of city papers nationally and internationally. He has released four studio albums, Nerdcore Rising (Sept 2005), Secrets From The Future (Apr 2007), Final Boss (Nov 2008), and Zero Day (Apr 2010). The documentary feature, Nerdcore Rising: The Movie, which focuses on Front’s live band and the Nerdcore phenomenon general, debuted at the South By Southwest Film Festival, March 2008, and is currently distributed by Virgil films / B-Side.
Artist Website: http://frontalot.com/
FREE MUSIC: http://frontalot.com/index.php/?page=mp3
NERDCORE RISING Documentary:
*Nerdcore Rising* follows MC Frontalot — the “Godfather of Nerdcore” — on his first national tour to reveal both the roots of Nerdcore Hip Hop and the dorky complexities of its artists.
Official Nerdcore Rising website:
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BRANDON PATTON
About the album
Brandon Patton’s newest album, “How I Allegedly Bit a Man in Gloucestershire,” features 13 mostly comical songs that capture hilarity of his live shows opening for MC Frontalot. On the album, he exposes dark family secrets (Mixed-Up Modern Family,) sings anthems about sex acts (Munching the Coch and Kethcup and Mayo,) recalls his time temping and looking for love on an alien planet (My Girlfriend Was Kidnapped by Aliens,) contemplates the limits of friendship (Would You Take a Bullet For Me?) and relates stories about traveling the world and getting into mischief (Big in Japan, Private Jet, How I Allegedly Bit a Man in Gloucestershire.)
Patton posts stories once a month on his webpage, along with a free download of each accompanying song.
About the artist
Brandon Patton, songwriter and instrumentalist, currently resides in New Haven, CT.
Patton also plays bass under the pseudonym BL4k Lotus for MC Frontalot, progenitor of “nerdcore hiphop.” MC Frontalot’s band and its first national tour was the subject of the documentary Nerdcore Rising. The Wikipedia entry on MC Frontalot can be found here.
Patton also performs with playwright Prince Gomolvilas in the underground theater duo Jukebox Stories, called one of the 10 best plays of 2008 by the East Bay Express.
He composed the songs for Love Sucks: the Musical, a Shakespearean take on the punk rock of the 1970s, which won honorable mention at the 2007 New York Musical Theatre Festival.
Patton’s previous album, “Should Confusion,” was nominated for Album of the Year by the 2004 Independent Music Awards.
He also sometimes plays bass for Futureboy and Jonathan Coulton.
About his past
He was born in Grand Forks, N.D., grew up in St. Paul, Minn., and also lived in Trinidad and Tobago for two years when he was young.
Patton has been writing music since he was pre-pubescent. When he was 11 years old, the composer/ethnomusicologist Miriam Gerberg rented a spare room in his mother’s house in St. Paul, MN, and Patton enlisted her help to write his first song, entitled “I’m Not Your Slave,” a protest about household chores. In junior high, when he started listening to punk rock, he and his friends set out to be offensive and brash, penning the songs “Fuck the Nun,” and “Fetus Burger.” With slim pickings in the record collections of his parents (Neil Diamond, Judy Collins) Patton found inspiration in a vibrant DIY counter-culture of zine writers and indie bands who would brandish the word “sellout” and discuss politics in independent coffeehouses and alternative art galleries. Minneapolis was exporting some incredible music at the time, not just the ultra famous Prince, but acts such as the Replacements, Hüsker Dü, the Jayhawks, and Walt Mink.
He attended Wesleyan University in Connecticut, where the music department was ruled by experimental composers and ethnomusicologists. “It was incredible what I was exposed to there,” says Patton, “but there was also this Midwestern voice in my head whispering ‘College is not the real world.’ I didn’t want to become a disciple. And I couldn’t play any of this amazing world music I loved and still have any authenticity.” So in his own writing, he ended up turning toward the rock and pop of his youth. “I got obsessed with trying to figure out who I was in the midst of all of these new influences,” says Patton. “I was searching for an authentic expression of myself.”
After college, his first experience playing music professionally rammed this point home. He spent a summer playing Caribbean music (which he loves) for drunken tourists (not so much) next to a beach volleyball court inside a giant country western bar on Cape Cod (hated it).
His first solo album, “Nocturnal,” was recorded after hours (because there was no soundproofing) in the basement of an office building in Easthampton, Mass. Patton frequently let a homeless friend sleep in the studio, and one night said friend locked himself out of the room wearing nothing but underwear and had to hide under the staircase for an entire work day until Patton happened by.
Patton used to play in the band three against four with Jay Skowronek (Maxeen) and fellow schoolmate Anand Nayak (Rani Arbo and Daisy Mayhem). Nayak and Patton were wandering down a dirt road one day and stumbled upon a decrepit slaughterhouse that turned out to be a recording studio. Inside was audio engineer Mark Alan Miller, who had worked with nearly every rock group in Western Massachusetts, including area royalty J.Mascis. Miller would later mix many of the tracks for their albums, as well as many of the tracks on Patton’s later solo work.
Patton signed a deal with music publisher ACMRecords which has lead to music getting placed onto the soundtracks of several TV shows, including Monster Garage, That 70s Show, and The Real World.
Patton was one of five songwriters to win an internet contest earning an invitation to perform at the Newport Folk Festival in 2004.
The Temecula Film and Music Festival named Brandon Patton Top Music Artist in 2005, but failed to make good on a promise of a free hot air balloon ride.
Artist Website: http://brandonpatton.com/about.html
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MATH THE BAND
Math the Band is a electro-punk spazz duo from Providence, RI. They use a combination of old video game systems, analog synthesizers and energy drinks to make the fastest, loudest, most party-est music they can imagine. They’ve only cracked their head open on stage ONCE
Artist Website: http://www.facebook.com/maththeband
VIDEO: Why Didn’t You Get A Haircut?
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NABO RAWK (of Wasted Talent / Porn Theater Ushers)
International Heavyweight Champion Movie Star MC drops knowledge from the top rope.
RICKY STEAMBOAT:
BIZARRO WORLD promo:
APE- SWIPE THE FUNK with MR. LIF and NABO RAWK:
Artist Website: http://www.facebook.com/pages/NABO-RAWK/60439959310
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WEIRD DIE YOUNG
Dr. Dank and 50 Dead.
UNCOMFORTABLE AND AWKWARD:
Artist Website: http://www.facebook.com/weirddieyoung
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HOSTED BY SLY YOUNG
Artist Website: http://leedzedutainment.com/?tag=sly-young
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10/16 Clay N. Ferno's Bday w/ THE BOMBPOPS (San Diego), CONTINENTAL, CHIP and XTOWN XPRESS & more #punk
PRESS RELEASE
Sunday, October 16, 2011
Middle East Upstairs
LeaguePodcast.com and Rock On! Concerts present
The Bombpops (Red Scare Records, San Diego, CA)
Continental (featuring Rick Barton of The Outlets / DKM)
Hands Like Bricks (LA, CA)
SEXCoffee
Chip and The Crosstown Express
Clay N. Ferno’s Birthday Party
18+ $9 Advance / $10 Day Of Show
TIX - Facebook Event
8pm Doors
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THE BOMBPOPS
The Bombpops have proven to be one of Southern California’s hardest working bands, drawing influences from ’90s skate punk and Fat Wreck Chords bands like NOFX, Lagwagon, Descendents, and No Use For A Name.
Fronted by two girls ripping on guitars and vocals, and backed by dudes holding down a strong rhythm section, The Bombpops offer a fresh, honest, in your face, delivery of catchy melodic pop punk songs.
Formed in early 2008, with members fresh out of (and others still in) High School, The Bombpops quickly established a name for themselves in the So-Cal punk scene opening up for punk rock giants such as Bad Religion, GBH, TSOL, The Adolescents, Strung Out and The Queers.
With their first official EP “Like I Care” released on Red Scare Industries in November 2010, their second EP “Stole the TV” on the way and relentless touring under their belts, The Bombpops have no plans of slowing down.
“Perfect for blasting through some pool corners or for keeping the good attitude going” - EuropeSkate.com
“The Bombpops are a female fronted quartet and a force to be reckoned with… Like I Care delivers some of the quickest and most melodic punk tracks of the year! “- Scene Point Blank
Artist Website: http://www.facebook.com/TheBombpops
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CONTINENTAL
Hailing from the Hallowed grounds of the garage at 123 Centre Street (former home of the “Dropkick Murphy’s” and “Everybody Out”) comes Rick Barton’s latest and greatest incarnation “Continental.”
Continental will never be defined by a particular genre. They blend a unique style of rock, folk,country and blues to as closely follow Gram Parsons mission of “Cosmic American Music.” Some of the initial comparisons have been to Jonathan Richman and the Modern Lovers, The Rolling Stones, Bob Dylan, and The Velvet Underground. Continental will be a touring, starving, and hard working band coming to your town.
Artist Website: http://www.facebook.com/ContinentalBand
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HANDS LIKE BRICKS
Remember when punk rock bands played in basements? Tall boys, best friends, bad lighting, and bands without make-up or hair that impaired their depth perception? This is Hands Like Bricks.
A Los Angeles foursome with an idea that punk rock is about best friends having awesome times together, Hands Like Bricks write unpretentious, sing-along anthems that speak to your soul, and voice things we can all relate to. With an impressive punk rock pedigree that stretches from New Jersey to Los Angeles, Hands Like Bricks is bringing punk rock back to the kids that couldn’t find a family anywhere else, whether they are 13 or 37.
Artist Website: http://www.facebook.com/handslikebricks
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SEXCOFFEE
Craving a high energy musical fix full of soulful melodies, innate harmonies, and carefully crafted songwriting? SEXCoffee is an alternative rock quintet best served live, loud, or recorded. Sean McCarthy from Standard Times praises SEXCoffee as “a high-energy rock band with a solid reputation”, while The Noise Magazine says “They sound like a band that knows how to carve their own musical path and does so with aplomb.”
Through the in-your-face vocal presence of front-woman Ruth Charbonneau, the dueling guitar riffs of Joey Magnanti (guitar/vocals) & Josh Baptista (guitar), and the thunderous low end rhythm section of Sharlene DeNardo (bass/vocals) and Paul Campbell (drums/vocals), SEXCoffee’s eclectic musical brew is a genre-breaking force in both their recorded and live sound.
Sharing the stage with such high profile acts as Candlebox, Halestorm, Siobhan Magnus (from American Idol) Company of Thieves and Me Talk Pretty, this multi-award winning band maintains and values a competent work ethic along with attention to melodious detail. Once you’ve had a taste of SEXCoffee’s infectious blend, you’ll be feeling satisfied to the last drop!
Artist Website: http://www.sexcoffeeband.com/
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CHIP AND THE CROSSTOWN EXPRESS - (first of 5)
Come early - Chip’s set opens the night at 8:30! Chip is saddled with the burden of being one of Clay’s closest friends. This Middle East Upstairs debut of the CHIP AND THE CROSSTOWN EXPRESS is going to be epic.
“Just in case you weren’t aware: Jimmy Fallon is my best friend. We opened an old phone museum. Fell in love with a Korean. Soup friends for life. Oh yes, soup friends for life.”- Soup Pals
Boston / New York singer songwriter. Tributes to old phone museums (Old Phone), The Turkey’s Nest in Brooklyn (Soup Pals), Jacket Magazine (Jimmy I Lost My Jacket), Jimmy Fallon , Brooklyn’s G-Train (G Train), Soon Lee from M*A*S*H (Soon Lee), and many more. The Chip and The Crosstown Express EP was produced by Randy Miller and Iyad Kheirbek (Wild Zero, C.O.N.D.O.R.).
Here’s Chip and the Crosstown Express at the Miss G-Train Pageant, 2009.
DOWNLOAD his EP for FREE at bandcamp -
Artist Website: http://chipandthecrosstownexpress.bandcamp.com/
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Chip-and-the-Crosstown-Express/132053693481903
NEW ART - 10/16 THE BOMBPOPS @MidEastClub Up - My Birthday Show
w00t.
Finally putting this one in the ‘done’ pile.
Pencils & inks from my hand. Typeset and colors on the computer. My first coloring with a Wacom. Almost getting the hang of it, but I ised the mouse and trackpad for a lot of it.
The Bompops Oct. 16, 2011 at The Middle East
Looking forward to all the great bands:
Sunday (post NYCC) - October 16, 2011!
LeaguePodcast.com and Rock On! Concerts present
The Bombpops (Red Scare Records, San Diego, CA)
Continental (featuring Rick Barton of The Outlets / DKM)
Hands Like Bricks (LA, CA)
SEXCoffee
Chip and The Crosstown Express
Clay N. Ferno’s Birthday Party
18+ $9 Advance / $10 Day Of Show
TIX - Facebook Event