8/30/07
mongo's aftermath report
well, we had a show lastt night at mongo's for those of you who didn't hear about it. it was really really cool. there were some glitches with the sound system, and it was a bar so naturally people weren't quite as attentive as if it had been a concert, but it was still really fun. we actually had people dancing for the first time, which was a little funny and a little weird. oh, and, the most commonly asked question we got was, of course, "what's your band's name?" to which we could only reply, "we don't have one!" so hurray, the search for a band name is now on in full force, sorry for the delay!
anyway, some people who'd seen me play at frog and peach actually made a point to come to this show to see us, which was really really cool, i didn't expect that at all. a few of my good friends who've been at a lot of my shows came to this one (i'm lookin' at you lisa, lindsey, and rich) as well as of course my family and friends from before i even started playing (thanks guys!) i also met some fun new people like trinity, yet another lindsay, and dj (hope you guys enjoyed it, it was great meeting you!).
overall, for our band's first real-ish show i'd have to say it went pretty darn well. regardless of everything else, i had a ton of fun playing with the full band, i hope matt and dan did too. unfortunately, we've made the decision to not try and book any more shows in the immediate future and focus rather on recording a cd so that we actually have an album to promote and possibly sell and not just our bizarre compilation of demos and covers.
i'm still planning on playing some more low key stuff like open mics and whatnot, but i probably won't be at frog and peach this weekend or anything quite up to that scale for the next few weeks. but the end result (hopefully) will be a really good sounding cd with some amazing songs written by the three of us so, just hold your horses mmkay? sorry, just kidding.
anywho, i think that's about all i've got for you today, thanks again to everybody who came out to mongo's and who continues to check the site and tell your friends about us and all that jazz!
oh yeah, one more thing....join the mailing list, hooray!
8/29/07
now you can subscribe to our tomfoolery!
***UPDATE***if you decide to subscribe to the mailing list, make sure to check your spam mail for the "confirmation e-mail" that we send out, if you don't open the confirmation e-mail and click the link supplied then you won't be added to the list! also, be sure to add fanreach@reverbnation.com to your address book to avoid having future e-mails sent to your spam folder.
***END UPDATE***
i haven't decided where on the site to put this yet, so i decided i'd make a news post about it in the meantime! we recently signed up on this website called reverbnation.com that is so far incredible! it gives you a free show calendar with map (available in the shows section) a free online music player and unlimited song uploads (which may take over the player we currently have implemented) and a mailing list, hooray!
this mailing list is powered by reverbnation.com and is the best way to automatically receive updates from the band on shows, new songs, and any other updates we think you wanna know about! signing up is free and easy, just type in your e-mail address and hit "submit". if you want to joing the "street team" you'll have to create an account with reverbnation.com, but that's entirely up to you. thanks!
8/27/07
show date up date
well, after a rather slow week here, i'm comin back with some new information and some reminders about shows as well as an update on other band-related news.
firstly, our next show is going to be on wednesday, august 29th at mongo's bar and grill in grover beach at 8:30. i hear that the set on wednesday nights generally goes 'till 11:30, so if we stick to tradition, this is going to be a three hour show. ugh! i have a feeling we're a slightly different sound than what they're used to having there, so there probably won't be many people paying attention to us. the more friendly faces we can get in the audience the better (plus it just makes us all warm and squishy on the inside to have you guys there 
). did i mention that this will be our first full show together as a whole band??? well, i meant to, because that's what's going to make this so awesome!
check out this flyer matt made
secondly!
it's still very early to be telling you about this, and it's not really that big a deal, but i'm terribly excited, so i'll tell you anyway. i got my first paying gig! ok, ok, ok, calm down, just calm down! ok, so today i got an e-mail from steve key (local head of the west coast songwriter's showcase and booking agent for linnaea's) which not only asked if i'd like to make a repeat appearance at linnaea's, but ALSO offered seventy five dollars as compensation. hooray!
now, it's not much money, and it's a long ways away still (december was their first opening) but i'm still super psyched about it. they only ask back artists they like, and no one gets more than two or three bookings a year, and they only pay three performers a month. anyway, it was great news for me, and really encouraging so...yay!
thirdly, just wanted to inform y'all that we're planning on taking a break from doing shows (ha, i've had a total of three, and as a band we're about to have our first, and we're already talking about taking a break) to focus more on recording. we've had a really great list picked out for kind of a while now, and not a lot of progress has been made yet. we plan to remedy that situation, and soon. rest assured that we'll have final versions of some of our best songs recorded and available on the web and in disc form before (hopefully) the next quarter starts at poly.
thanks again to everyone who supports us by comin' to shows, checkin the website, and just listening to the music. keep in touch via our e-mail address (mdlmusic@gmail.com) or our website!
thanks
-loren
8/22/07
it's a sad, sad day...
seriously, terrible news today. steve key contacted me to inform me that the songwriter's showcase in morro bay is no more, seems the owner has been forced to close the shop due to difficulties with his alcohol license. the showcase was every tuesday from 7 to 9:30-ish and it featured some of the most amazing local acts i've ever seen, as well as some great out-of-towners from time to time.
i was really distressed to hear this, i was even scheduled to play there on the fourth of september, it would have been my fourth appearance there, and hopefully not the last. it was a great little bar, an awesome venue, and i'll miss it.
so short version=the show on sept. 4th is canceled. sorry.
-loren
8/19/07
last night at frog and peach
i think last night's show was passable. at the time i felt better about it than last week, but now i feel a little silly. a lot of people showed up to support me again, which is always awesome, and a few people recognized me from last week, which was also encouaging. this time it really seemed like a lot of people came outside and came to the frog specifically to hear me. there was still conversation going on outside, and i mean, most people were still there 'cuz it was a bar, not to see me, but the majority of people on the back patio were actually turned towards and watching me rather than talking or whatever else. it was really pretty incredible. i sold a handful of cd's and made pretty good tips, but mostly i just had a really great time, probably my favorite so far in a lot of ways.thanks so much to everyone who came, i can't say it enough! i'm gonna be taking it a little slower with shows i think, we're talking about recording more now, and it's really a huge drain on time to be playing places (not that i don't absolutely love it and plan to keep playing, just not as often). we are however scheduled to appear at mongo's bar and grill in grover beach on august 29th at 8:30-10:30, as well as the september 2nd songwriter's competition at linnaea's cafe, and the september 4th songwriter's showcase in morro bay at monteleone's rock at 8:15.
that's about all i've got for now, thanks again for everything, and keep in touch, it's great to hear from you, thanks so much for listening to our music :)
-loren
8/16/07
upcoming gig
hey everybody, not sure if it's pity or coincidence or some other random chance type thing, but i managed to get a show this weekend again at frog and peach. same deal as last week, nine thirty to ten thirty, saturday night, on the back patio. if you're over 21 and you don't have anything to do and are in the downtown slo area go ahead and stop by, it should be pretty good. thanks
-loren
8/14/07
new multimedia presence, hehe
hey everyone, some exciting news today (actually from yesterday, but i didn't have time to do a news post until just now).
first off, we've got four more videos up on youtube (which are easiest to find by doing a search for "mdl" or "loren radis" or just going here, www.youtube.com/user/deadplant155. I'm currently in the process of editing down the hour and forty minutes of video from the linnaea's show into single song sections and uploading them to youtube. it's going a little slow but i'm getting there! keep checking back, and if you like what you see then go ahead and rate them and leave comments and all that jazz.
anyway, that's only the first half of the exciting news, the second half is that shelby miller of the "shifted sound" podcast deemed one of my songs worthy of including in his most recent release! The 73rd edition of the shifted sound podcast features the song "butterflies" as a 'bonus track' just before the last artist. this is really exciting to me. for those of you who haven't heard of it before, shifted sound is a great podcast put on by shelby miller that is used specifically to showcase indie artists, to help generate interest, increase sales, and get them more exposure. it's an amazing service that he's doing for musician's all over, and the quality on the podcast is always very high, so it's a real honor to be included. head to the website to download the .mp3 of this week's podcast, or subscribe in itunes so you get all future releases too!
that's about all i've got, remember, keep checking the youtube account for new videos, and tell your friends!
thanks everyone!
-loren
8/13/07
site changes and another show review!
so! i had my second "real" show last saturday, the eleventh, at frog and peach, from 9:30 to 10:30. this show was just as great as the one at linnaea's, but in a different way. playing a bar is obviously a different experience than a coffee shop, and this time only about half the people were there specifically to see me (less than half actually towards the end of the night) as opposed to the 80 percent or so at linneae's who were all there simply because they knew me. people were a little more boisterous, but not to an annoying or distracting extent. people were singing along, i heard reports afterwards about people calling friends to come down and hear, pulling people to the back patio to listen, and even a few people who heard me while they were out at a different place and coming over to listen. that kind of thing is super encouraging, because they have no reason to listen to me other than the fact that they enjoy the music.
a lot of my friends came, as well as a lot of my pals from work, it was cool to see them and get to hang out outside of work and all. i did a few songs i didn't do at linnaea's, but it was mostly the same set. anyway, it seemed like i got a really positive reaction from the crowd, and i'm hoping that might lead to some more gigs there because it was quite fun :)
thanks again to everyone who's helped out, been encouraging and supportive, and to all of you who've come to the shows. i'll let you know as soon as i have more dates lined up. thanks so much!
-loren
8/11/07
news and reviews, amazing show last night!
first off!the show last night went so great. i couldn't believe how many people showed up! thanks so much to everybody who came out, honestly, every time another person i knew walked in the door I felt all warm and mushy inside, it was incredible. it was really encouraging how many people i didn't know stopped to listen too (though usually not for the whole set).
plus it was just amazingly fun and i'm so glad i played. gary was great in his set and i couldn't have done it without that break in the middle. matt practiced with me once and still pulled some amazing stuff out of his butt on a ton of songs. it's too bad that we didn't have enough lead time to rehearse as a trio, but it was still awesome. i messed up on just about every song, but everyone was really understanding and i didn't buckle and pass out or vomit or anything!
all 20 cd's that i made for that night sold, which surprised me a lot. i thought ten maybe, but twenty? no way! ugh! so cool!
well, i just wanted to give you guys an update, and say thanks again to everyone who helped out. and those of you who missed it, i missed you! i hope you can come see me another time, 'cuz it's really really cool for me when my friends enjoy my music. there's not really any better feeling. well, one or two better, but it's darn good :)
anyway, videos and pics should be up soon, check back on here and the site for updates!
thanks everyone, you're so great and i had an incredible time playing music for you, i hope you enjoyed listening :)
and secondly!
hey everyone, just wanted to give you all a quick update/reminder that tonight in santa maria, at the great coffee shop called moody brews i'll be co-appearing with the group "through the eyes of a cynic", a great local group who's making their first public appearance as a duo tonight! the show starts at 7, i'll be taking roughly the first half hour, and they'll be playing until 8:00.
should be a lot of fun, and it's a shorter drive for a lot of you folks who live down south. i'll be there, you should too! haha
then, i (kind of stupidly, kind of amazingly) managed to get a pre-gig gig tonight at frog and peach pub! From 9:30 to 10:30 pm on the back patio i'll be playing and singing to my heart's content (and that of a dozen or so buzzed locals who couldn't really care less). if you're in slo, over 21, and have nothing better to do, come on out to hear me there too! the headlining band that's going on after me (on the inside of course) should be pretty amazing too, since the frog's always got good live music. so yeah, come on out and see me from 9:30 to 10:30, then go inside and see the headlining band from 10:30 to whatever time you usually leave the bars :)
thanks everyone for reading, hope to see you tonight!
-loren
8/10/07
new songs, and show reminder
just thought i'd let you guys know that some new versions of older songs are up (the show, butterflies, and note to self) as well as some brand new songs that i had the pleasure of recording with my friend kyla! falling slowly (the "once" soundtrack), if you want me (the "once" soundtrack), and 9 crimes (damien rice).
these'll be added to the player and the downloads page soon, but for now you can listen to them in your browser or download them by right clicking the link and saving it to your desktop!
the second half of this news post is to remind everyone that my first real show is tonight! yup, linnaea's cafe, eight o'clock i'll be starting. another local guitarist (and genius) named gary is going to be doing a small set in kind of the early middle of the evening, he's really really good, so i'd recommend getting there on time so you don't miss him :)
thanks to everyone planning on coming, and thanks to everybody who isn't coming too, because if you're reading this then you must at least care about our music, and i thank you for that! haha, k, b-bye now.
-loren
8/9/07
youtube debut!
hey everybody, just a quick bit of fun news. we had someone shoot video of our performance at the open mic night at mongo's last monday and the video is now up on youtube, hooray!
click the link above to see all four, or watch this little preview!
enjoy :)
-loren
8/7/07
news and reviews!
so the show last night went really well!
thanks again so very much to everybody who came out to hear us, it was a surprising number of people and i was glad to see each and every one of you :) let's see, hank, ryan, sarah, paulo, jason, john, ruth, serena, shelby, lindsay, matt, summer, dan, the schmitz parents, my dad, two friends of jason's and sarah's who's names i didn't catch, and me! i hope i didn't forget anyone...if i did it's just because i'm forgetful like that, not because i wasn't glad you came.well, so we played "frail" by jars of clay, "you" by switchfoot, "a praise chorus" by jimmy eat world, and an original called "the show". the sound system was a little off, i couldn't hear myself at all and matt couldn't hear anything but me, but i think we still did pretty good. dan even sang backup on praise chorus, hooray! well i think that's about all i got, i just wanted to say thanks again and let everybody know it went well.
oh right, that was the review, now onto the news. just a reminder, i'm playing in morro bay tonight at monteleone's rock, 280 harbor street at 9:15. the linnaea's gig is this friday, the tenth. you all ought to come, linnaea's cafe is on garden street in downtown slo just across from downtown brew. the show starts at eight, and i'm currently the only person booked to play. i think they might get someone else to go on before me, but it could just be me from eight to ten. so come on out, if they book someone before my set i'm sure they'll be great too, so come on out anytime after eight and catch some music.
thanks for readin' everybody, have a good one!
-loren
8/3/07
upcoming gig at mongo's
Hey everyone, here's our first ever news post! This'll be in regards to the date of Monday, August 6th, 2007. On this historic day, Matt, Dan, and Loren will be joining together (cohesing, if you will) to form a whole that is greater than the sum of it's parts (not unlike voltron in that manner) in the form of a band. and this band shall produce music, sweet music. this music will fall upon the ears of the earth, and lo, the earth will hear, and in hearing, will be healed.
so yeah, basically, we're playing at mongo's next monday. we being the whole band. this'll be our first real gig in front of people. although it's not a gig, just the open mic night. should still be fun. i'm thinking sometime around nine thirty we'll probably be going up, so come on out, tell your friends, all that jazz. mongo's of course is on the corner of 4th and grand in grover beach, big blue building across from 7-11. we've rehearsed and it went great, and our set list is (if i may say so) phenomenal. i'm really excited for this show, so i hope you all show up!
ok, that's all, thanks for reading!
-loren
