Life at Home and the New Dredg Record

It’s been a while since I’ve done a blog entry. I’m sorry I never did a big post about the new tour about dredg. We were just having so much fun that I didn’t have time to write much. I think dredg might have some of the best fans out there. Every night was great for us and all three of us, Jon, Lewis ad I came off of the tour with a new found sense of excitement about the future of Judgement Day.

We have mostly been taking June off. Jon has been working and playing with his other band VS Them. Lewis has been practicing cello, working around the house and will be playing some concerts with Berkeley Opera soon. I have just been hanging out in San Francisco, doing a few recording gigs and playing with my new band Devotionals. I had a great birthday party  a couple of nights ago. A bunch of cool bands played at it.

In July Judgement Day will be back in business! We’ll be appearing on the Chasing the Moon podcast on July 7th, which is going to be really sweet. It’s basically going to be a really high-quality video of a live set. Shortly following that we’ll be releasing our very first vinyl record titled “Out of the Abyss: Live on Tape” on Third Culture Records. To celebrate the release we’ll be doing a one week California tour. We’ll do a whole blog post about that release very soon.

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There is a very exciting new record that was released last week and that is the new dredg record The Pariah, the Parrot, the Delusion. If you are a fan of dredg’s previous records you’re definitely going to like it. If you’ve never heard dredg before I’d say this new record might be just the place to start. In addition to the healthy handful of polished, catchy prog-pop songs, it also has some of the craziest interludes that I have ever heard. We’re talking backwords children’s choir through vintage ring modulator type of shit. Actually, I honestly have no idea how they came up with most of these crazy sounds but I’m definitely feeling it.

The other added bonus for on The Pariah, the Parrot, the Delusion is…. us! Judgement Day is featured on 4 tracks:

Track 5: Lightswitch – We don’t do much on this one but we’re on it and it’s one of the better songs on the record.

Track  12: Mouring This Morning - We put some sweet disco string hooks on this uber-catchy prog-soul number.

Track 14: Long Days and Vague Clues - A crazy evil circus song on which we get to totally shred (see video below).

Track 18: Stamp of Origins (Horizon) – The sorrowful album closer.

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Although we only worked on that record for a few days it was truely a great experience. The members of dredg as well as the record’s producer, our friend and colleague Matt Radosevich are all great artists and collaborators, continually excited by prospects of musical exploration. Whether it was late-night percussion jam sessions or ultra-precise string overdubs the process was always fun and fulfilling.  That spirit is present throughout the record.

Check it out on itunes.

-Anton

music reflects art

“the object is no longer to propel the course of music forward. the path to progress is through. quality over originality. music is its own universe, and all sides have been stretched to their overlapping edges. we must fill in the tears adequately. quality is originality”

Published in: on June 1, 2009 at 7:58 am Leave a Comment

Another Sweet SF Instrumental Band

What’s up friends,

Tour with dredg and Torche has been so awesome that we really haven’t had time to blog. We’re really excited for the grand finale – Chico, San Francisco, Santa Cruz and LA! What a way to go out. Here’s something really awesome for you to check out if you are into instrumental rock music. It’s our fellow San Francisco musicians Silian Rail playing on this really sweet local podcast Chasing the Moon. Enjoy:

more about “Silian Rail – Chasing the Moon Podcast“, posted with vodpod

Published in: on May 17, 2009 at 6:37 pm Leave a Comment

Damn, That was Fun

Lewis and I are currently waiting in the lobby of a hotel in Houston, TX for Jon to show up from his 20-hour drive and pick us up. We had our last show with Mates of State last night. I have to admit that I can’t help feeling a little bit emotional leaving those guys. Over the course of the last month I feel like we got really close. It felt like family. On our day off in San Francisco the whole bus (+ girlfriends) came over to our family’s house for a barbeque and it was amazing. I was so excited for everyone to meet our parents and everyone got along really well. It was really special. I think, and I hope that our relationship with the Hammels is one which will last for a very long time.

Alright. Enough of that sentimental dribble. Here are some of the highs (and lows) from the west coast tour:

  • Lewis watching all of Battlestar Galactica (see photo above)
  • Free shoes with fluorescent-green laces that glow on the dance floor
  • The Progressive Auto Insurance girl buying a shirt at our Hollywood show!
  • Great food everywhere!
  • 4/20 in San Francisco ;-)
  • Getting the van searched for drugs on the way to Canada…
  • Depeche Mode playing for free on Hollywood Blvd, right outside our venue!
  • Depeche Mode playing for free on Hollywood Blvd, right outside our venue… during our set….
  • Amazing shows every night! Thank you!

Dredg tour starts tonight! We can’t wait.

-Anton

Published in: on April 30, 2009 at 7:38 pm Comments (1)

Thoughts on Music- by Lewis Patzner

I felt like writing something in anticipation of our show (with DESA and 187 Calm at Bottom of the Hill at 10PM for $10 all ages!) tomorrow night, so i thought i might share my thoughts on a topic everyone can get behind: classical concertos!!!


Anne Akiko playing Barber Concerto First Movement. (sorry. couldn’t find a video of Kyoko).

Right now i’m listening to Kyoko Takezawa play the Barber violin concerto, and i think i should just share that i think this is some fantastic music. its full of great meldoies, beautiful harmonies and some fiery violin work. it’s huge and intimate at the same time, which can be a powerful feature that the concerto form is particularly goot at.


Brahms Violin 3rd movt. played by Kremer Berstein (this guy is funny) 

Another great concerto on my mind lately is Brahms‘ violin concerto (the 3rd movement of which was in “there will be blood”). it has all those same qualities that i love about the barber concerto. there are moments where the soloist reachs out to the audience and plays to each person individually, and then, before you know what’s happening, he is soaring above an orchestra and he’s taking you with him. these concertos are good showcases for violin playing, but more importantly, they are great music. sometimes i get jealous of violinists because they get the best music. that being said, the barber cello concerto is also very good. the music is some of his wierdest, so it takes some attentive listening to really get into it, but i think it’s worth it. i don’t think its too bold to say that these two barber concertos are among America’s greatest achievements in music.


Li-Wei Qin plays Barber Cello Concerto 1st movt. (hand held camera. sorry).

So come to our show tomorrow night! it makes sense. we’ll try to be huge, but we’ll also try to reach out to you personally. we’re leaving for tour soon so this the last time we get to play for people that have heard of us for a while.

also let me just say that i think DESA was brilliant to spell their name in all caps. it really pops

lp
jd
stringmetal.com

Published in: on September 13, 2008 at 6:10 pm Leave a Comment