Blog Archives - Page 10 of 14

STIFF RICHARDS Infamous "Email EP"!

This record from STIFF RICHARDS features 5 original songs with lead vocals from The Rev. Paul Jackson, and some phenomenal drumming from Tuan Titlestad. On the opening track, “Not From Here” (later covered by The UPTONES), you hear the collision of Bennie Wood’s commanding ska bass style and Tuan’s all-out rock drum approach. That sets the tone for the whole EP and it does not let up. “Halibut” is a personal favorite of mine, especially as it finds Paul channeling Sasquatch, explaining, “Don’t call me Bigfoot.” The set closes with “Bonnie and Clyde” (also later covered by The UPTONES) which was composed in the studio. These songs called for me to go hog-wild on guitar, and I love how it all come out.

Available at iTunes.

stiffies-crop-360 — L-R Eric Din, Tuan Titlestad, Paul Jackson, and Bennie Wood. Photo by Victor Hall

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At Last A WordPress.org vs. WordPress.com Definitive Guide

I get these questions often: “Should I use WordPress.com? Or download the software from WordPress.org and host it myself? Which approach is better?! Help me understand!!”

Thankfully wpmudev.org just published a handy guide that answers this question in neat detail. It’s conveniently titled:

WordPress.org vs WordPress.com: A Definitive Guide For 2015

So read up and don’t fret. Go boldly forth into the wonderful WordPress world. Remember, you can always start a free account at WordPress.com to get your toes wet, and then export your juicy content (very easy to do with WordPress) and import it into your new fancy self-hosted install later, if you like. You have freedom. And options. Isn’t life grand? Gutenberg would freak out.

"Check Out The Fashion Slaves" by – you guessed it – The Fashion Slaves!

The Fashion Slaves started as a side project when Emily Jayne was singing and playing guitar with The UPTONES in 2011. We got home from a little tour and she’s rarin’ to go so we decided to make a four-piece rock band. I called Eric Knight whose bass playing I loved in ENGINE 88, and young Pete D’Amato completed the combo on drums. This live album contains one of our earliest performances. Our producer Matthew King Kaufman encouraged us to play the Millard Fillmore High School dance, and sent Michael Rosen out with his mobile recording setup to capture it. The opening cut is our cover of “Psychotic Reaction” which was so damn fun to play as it has two (!!) extended guitar solos, so I went completely nuts right at the beginning of the set. Here’s a video Emily made for the song.

Available at iTunes

The UPTONES – "East Bay Orbits"

This is a compilation featuring each of the six people (so far!) who have performed lead vocal duties in The UPTONES: Erik Rader, Charles Stella, The Rev. Paul Jackson, Moose Lethridge, Emily Jayne, and myself. The most recent recording (“T.V. Guns”) is from 2010, and the earliest (“Out To Sea”) is from 1983! We did a show in 2011 in which we got all these characters onstage to perform their signature Uptones songs. It was an epic bit of cat-herding but definitely worth it, the show was a blast. That probably won’t happen again, but you can still get the record from iTunes, or order a CD from uptones.com – I think we have like 2 left!

Aidin Vaziri profiles Matt Jaffe in SF Chronicle

Here’s a nice little write-up from Aidin Vaziri about Matt Jaffe & The Distractions in the SF Chronicle. It’s a local paper so I picked up a paper copy for my wall of course! I love Matt’s songs, and it was really great fun playing guitar with the his band the Distractions, on their latest recordings. See these guys on tour if you get the chance, they’re phenomenal!

The UPTONES – "Live!! 924 Gilman"

Playing the Gilman Street Project as it was then known, is unlike playing any other venue. It’s all-ages and volunteer-run and there’s no booze inside. All of the energy of the audience pours onto the stage and is amplified by the band and launched back in a way you don’t often find in mainstream clubs. There’s a sign that says “NO STAGE DIVING” and that’s pretty funny. We played two sold-out shows in August of 1989. Beserkley Records got ahold of a recording of the 2nd night, mastered it up and released it! You can pickitup at iTunes.

Bernie Sanders for President!

I decided to start fundraising for Bernie Sanders’ presidential campaign, so I created a page at ActBlue.

It’s called, of course, “Eric’s Virtual Bernie Sanders Fundraising Bus!”

You can donate directly to his campaign through my page, or make your own and spread the word even further.

Goal Thermometer

I set an initial goal of 100 people, and 8 of us came up with over $250 in 3 days! Thanks friends!!

I agree with Bernie Sanders’ policy positions. I also favor him because rather than change course with the political winds, Bernie has been singing the same tune for his entire career.

The number of contributors is important. A thousand $3.00 contributions means more, in some ways, than one $3,000 donation. The whole point is that the Bernie campaign runs on people, not corporations. That’s why Bernie is the ONLY presidential candidate in the 2016 race so far with significant and growing momentum.

I’m on the bus. Hope you’ll join me!

Update, Dec. 3 2016:

We tried, we did good. The campaign was stopped by the Dem Party who clearly thought they knew better than the VERY PROCESS AND IDEA OF DEMOCRACY ITSELF, YOU SELF-ABSORBED MYOPIC TWITS!! Ahem. My little ActBlue page there with the Bernie Bus raised over $3,300 for the Sanders campaign (THANKS, FRIENDS!!) and we would have almost certainly won the general election. Now we’re doomed. Thank you DNC, thank you 3rd party “protest” voters, thank you apathetic lazy stay-homers and, apologies to polar bears and all life on earth. Whoopsiedaisy

The UPTONES – Skankin' Foolz Unite!

The UPTONES recorded “Skankin’ Foolz Unite!” live-in-the-studio with Matthew King Kaufman and Michael Rosen producing, at Fantasy Studios in Berkeley in 2008. We went in with the intention of capturing our live performance energy and not messing around with a lot of overdubs or studio trickery. It turned out to be one of the most exciting and fun recording sessions I’ve ever been involved with. We played some songs from our early years like “Radiation Boy” and “Get Out Of My Way” and some new ones like the title track “Skanking Fool,” and “Bad Men Of Bodie.” Covering The HEPTONES’ “Book Of Rules” was an out-of-body moment, and it just felt great to make a record in the old-school method which I always thought would be best for the band, but somehow we never previously completely achieved. You can hear some songs from it or order a CD direct from us at uptones.com, or pickitup pickitup at iTunes for instant ska satisfaction.

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Hooligans United – RANCID Tribute Album Rocks!!

Very happy to receive a copy of this whopping 3-LP vinyl set and double CD in the mail yesterday from Elvis at Smelvis Records. “The 11th Hour” – a song I wrote with Tim for the “…And Out Come The Wolves” LP, is track 2 on “Hooligans United,” as covered by THE INTERRUPTERS. They did a cool version, faithful to the original but with a very ska twist. The record is a fun listen – it’s great to hear all these different bands interpret their favorite RANCID songs. EL GRAN SILENCIOS’s “Time Bomb” cover en español is epic, and INSPECTOR’s “Ruby Soho,” also en español, is dub ska disco beauty. Available from Smelvis Records!

Nate Seltenrich’s East Bay Express Story on Skanking Fools Dance Contest

The headline says it all:
At the Uptones’ Skanking Fools Dance Contest, Ska Reigns Supreme

When the Uptones finally appear after 11 p.m., the energy in the room seems to peak. “Y’all ready to skank? ‘Cause that’s what we’re here for,” announces guitarist Musashi “Moose” Lethridge. …Again the dance floor is abuzz with energetic young skankers, a flurry of flailing limbs and bobbing bodies.”

Read the whole story at East Bay Express.

Thanks Nate, and thanks everyone who skanked it up at our shows.