Highly Personal Trash

October 22 @ Radio w/The Grown Up Noise, Slow Runner, St. Helena

Sophie — Mon, 17 Oct 2011 20:14:17 +0000

I am extremely excited about this show, for a few reasons. First, it’s the first time we’ve played in a while. Second, the whole band will be around (unless Mike decides to travel overseas at the last minute). Third, Radio is a brand new venue in beautiful Union Square that is literally right beside my house. And I mean literally literally. I’m also thrilled to finally be on a bill with my beloved St. Helena, and so excited to hear Slow Runner for the first time, and The Grown Up Noise for the fourth time (I think). And check out that gorgeous poster made by Tyler from Thick as Thieves! Could my Saturday look any better?

21+, $5. Venue is currently cash only, so plan ahead! 379-381 Somerville Ave, Somerville, MA 02143

The Winter Rock Formal

Sophie — Mon, 14 Feb 2011 18:21:57 +0000

I love a good snowstorm, but this winter has broken me. I know the warmer air hanging over Boston today is just a tease, and that our bones will be frozen again before spring actually shows up sometime in mid-April. Luckily, we have this event to look forward to: the Winter Rock Formal, in which a bunch of Boston musicians recreate a high school dance the way it should have been—at a bar. Come erase your memories of a more awkward you as we dance the night away. Creative (or painfully uncreative yet lovely) formal dress and good music have the power to warm us all, if only for one night.

See you there!

Gene Dante & the Future Starlets

Parlour Bells

Highly Personal Trash

DJ Dave Duncan

@ Church

New Videos + New Lineup

Sophie — Tue, 04 Jan 2011 03:33:04 +0000

So, the December 3rd show was as amazing as I’d hoped. Luckily, the lovely and talented Sophia Cacciola captured most of it on video, which you can find here. Here’s my favorite song of the night, “Big Machine”:

The Positronic Rays set was fantastic, besides my being slightly too drunk to remember how to play the keyboard riff in “The Final Countdown.”

You may have noticed from the video above that I’m sharing the stage with a dashing new rhythm section: Mike DeLisle, of Logan 5 and the Runners and various solo projects; and Benny Grotto, drummer in Motherboar and producer extraordinaire at Mad Oak in Allston. So far plying them with alcohol and pizza seems to keep them in line. Time will tell.

Also, my number one New Year’s resolution is to record an album. Updates to follow as plans solidify.

December 3rd at the Rosebud: A Space Odyssey

Sophie — Wed, 01 Dec 2010 21:37:43 +0000

The aforementioned Positronic Rays will reunite to be part of a pretty awesome lineup at the Rosebud in Davis Square on Friday, December 3rd. I’m not sure how much the show costs, but I am guessing some amount between $5 and $10.

I will be playing with a full rhythm section for the first time EVER, which is pretty exciting.

Check out the other great bands on the bill:

The Blizzard of 78

Muy Cansado

The amazing blog Boston Band Crush (up for a Boston Music Award this year) gave the show a much more thorough plug than I did, and you can check that out here.

The Positronic Rays

Sophie — Tue, 21 Sep 2010 02:55:18 +0000

I was lucky enough to participate in One Night Band this year. For those of you who aren’t familiar with ONB, 40 Boston musician are split into 8 random bands of 5 members each, locked into a room together without food or deodorant for about 9 hours, and then expected to perform 3 original songs and 1 cover for an adoring audience.

I’m kidding. There was food.

I arrived at the Middle East Downstairs absolutely terrified that a) I’d be in a band that couldn’t get along or b) that I’d be the weak link in the band and embarrass myself. Luckily, after all was said and done, my band was fucking stacked: Michael Epstein (guitar/vox), of The Motion Sick, The Michael J. Epstein Memorial Library, and Do Not Forsake Me Oh My Darling; Nate Leavitt (guitar/vox), of Blizzard of 78 and his own solo project; Jim Collins (bass), of lots of bands, notably MEandJOANCOLLINS and Eddie Japan; and Benny Grotto (drums), of Motherboar.

I’m friends with Mike, and knew I’d enjoy working with him, and have had the great pleasure of joining MEandJOANCOLLINS on stage, so I knew Jim was amazing. Magen Tracy (of St. Helena and most recently Low Static Romance) raved about working with Nate, so I was super excited to get started. I’d never met Benny before but assumed he was going to be like most drummers: necessary but not all that participatory. Mike, naturally, immediately made us choose a theme. We chose space, because space is awesome.

The rest of the day was a blur. We wrote and rehearsed for 7 hours straight with one twenty minute break. It didn’t feel like anything at all, just five people on the same page, wanting to have fun and sound good. All of us participated in writing and arranging, and we were all pleasantly surprised to find out that our drummer is actually a well-known engineer and producer at Mad Oak in Allston. I’ll never judge a drummer by his or her cover again.

The final product, presented here in its entirety for your viewing and listening pleasure: a rock opera about Spaceman Max, intrepid explorer.