Had I known...

I would have put up a post last week about this to promote the show for Patrick's not-so-side-project band, Aminal. The show for UNC's DTH Diversion show has passed, but here's a pretty neat video of Pat and the Aminal crew doing a promo for the show. Enjoy.

Cold, Wet, & Comforted

Thursday night may have been full of insanely terrible weather, but Chapel Hill once again proved why it is one of the best music and art scenes around. Thanks to every single one of you that braved the elements and took in one of the more entertaining shows that we have been a part of. The show really had a bit of everything and we hope that those of you who came enjoyed it as much as we did.

Over on the DTH's Dive blog you can find a pretty wonderful photo gallery that manages to give an excellent representation of everything that went on. Take it all in here:

http://www.dailytarheel.com/dive/live-outer-space

Holy Crap!

How does the time sneak up on us like this? We've got another show on Thursday night of next week (November 12th) at the Local 506 in Chapel Hill. Here's the lineup once more so that we're all square:

Gift Horse (From South Carolina) 10:00 p.m.
The Honored Guests (from your backyard) 11:00 p.m.
Lake Inferior (Chapel Hill) 12:00 a.m.

We hope that you'll put us on your calendar in pen, not in pencil.

Even more evidence of life...

Here's a post from a blog that quite possibly has the coolest blog name ever: SECRET CARRBORO NINJA PATROL. They chronicle the mysteriousness which has been (unintentionally) surrounding our band's recent history and their account of the show at The Pinhook makes us very happy.

Secret Carrboro Ninja Patrol: Then and Now, The Return of The Honored Guests#links

Evidence of Life

Thanks to all who came out last Thursday night. We had a blast and can't wait to do it again. And this time we've decided not to wait a year and a half before we play again. Come see us on Thursday, November 12th 2009, for another rock and roll extravaganza. This time we'll be opening for the wonderful Lake Inferior at the Local 506 in Chapel Hill, NC. Here's the lineup:

Gift Horse (From South Carolina) 10:00 p.m.
The Honored Guests (from your backyard) 11:00 p.m.
Lake Inferior (Chapel Hill) 12:00 a.m.

Here are some photos from The Pinhook show. Don't adjust your monitors; the photo of Johnny playing guitar and Russell playing keys is not Photoshopped. We're just playing mind games with your head. That's what happens when we play new songs. We hope that you all enjoyed it as much as we did.

















Thanks to the Gooey and The Lady family for all of these photos from their phones and my crappy digital camera. See you all November 12th at the 506!

Tonight!

We hope to see all of you this evening at The Pinhook in Durham. Here's the lineup one more time so that everyone is clear on what's going on:

The Honored Guests 10:00 p.m.
Low Red Land 11:00 p.m.
Aminal 12:00 a.m.

Here's the Indy's write up of the show from this Wednesday's edition:
http://www.indyweek.com/gyrobase/Content?oid=oid%3A402082

Maybe we can get some picture and video action going on later this week. Let us know if you get any good candid moments of us tonight by contacting us at breakfastmascotrecords@gmail.com

Coming up for air

We booked a show at The Pinhook (www.thepinhook.com) in Durham, NC for Thursday, September 24th. Don't pay attention to the times listed on their site, as we will be the first band, starting around 10:00 p.m. (Low Red Land @ 11:00 and Aminal @ 12:00). This will be our first appearance in the general public in a year and a half, so we hope that some of you still remember who we are. Patrick's fabulous other band, Aminal, is the headliner, so this should be a love extravaganza of sorts for our little crew.

Come on out and help us knock the dust off, as we play mostly new songs from our upcoming record, Please Try Again. At this point pretty much anything we play should sound new, considering that it's been so long since we last took the stage.

Back in the Swing

We're starting to make some progress on being a fully functioning band again. Here are some choice photos from one of our most recent get togethers.

Welcome to...um...Twitter...

We joined Twitter last night and hope that you'll follow, if you use such things. To be honest, I can see how the service could be useful and could even facilatate real-time access that could change the world (see Iran). To be more even more candid, I don't really see how it's much different from a facebook status update, but if the kids like it, then we're on board. Given that we don't know anything about twitter etiquette (or any other etiquette, for that matter), please excuse any faux pas when it occurs.

Too add further life to our existence, it should be known that the entire band was present with instruments in hand last night for the first time since April 4th, 2008. That date coincides with The University of North Carolina's tragic loss in the Final Four of 2008 against Kansas. Now that UNC has avenged that loss with a stellar National Championship in 2009, I guess that it means that we can move on with our lives and get back to rocking. We may even book a show or two. But you'll just have to wait until your Twitter feed tweets to know when that will be.

2003, 1995, 1997, 1975, 2009

The last week or so has been a strange one. We have all been at the studio/rehearsal space at one time or another, but it has yet to be all four of us at the same time, in the same room, with our instruments in hand. However, last night Russ, Jeremy and I took it back to about 2003 (Patrick had an unexpected work obligation) and played Iawokeinacityasleep in its entirety. We also decided to play a handful of songs that none of us realized that we all knew how to play. This included half of Radiohead's 1995 album The Bends and some other assorted classics that we are glad only the neighbors heard. Oh, to be back in highschool...

Anyway, all this got me to thinking about our little band's career and I thought that it might be appropriate to have a little blast from the past. As we work toward the completion of Please Try Again I thought that it might be nice to include a little piece of what got us here on these periodic posts. Today's little snippet is the third track on Iawoke, "Flashlight". Russ will probably kill me for putting this up, but I figure it's worth it. It's in the new sidebar player that we got from the nice folks over at ReverbNation. (Little known fact: Our former band, Milo, was in the video presentation to investors for a beta version of what would become ReverbNation.)

Here's Radiohead's "Airbag" from OK Computer, from when Phil Selway still used to hunch over his kit. Just for fun.

Compulation III

Although not technically a release by us, the nice people over at Pox World Empire finally put out Compulation III, which includes our track "Talk Talk Talk". There's a nice review of the compilation over here: blogs.dailytarheel.com/index.php?s=compulation I had no idea that "Talk Talk Talk" was so deep. Crazy college kids. Anyway, there looks to be quite a few standouts on the track listing, including one by friends and former label mates Tennis and the Mennonites. Should be worth whatever they're charging. I mean, we're on it, right?

Knights in Shining Armor

I've spent the last two days mixing and mastering two songs for our new record (to be released in 2072). The tracks, "Please Try Again" and "Knights in Shining Armor" (formerly "The Orchards") are about as far away from each other as you can get in terms of style, but I think that they will both fit nicely together on the record.

Since we're still a bit away from releasing this thing, why don't you check out some other locals who are putting out some great music:



First, Aminal (http://www.myspace.com/theaminalmusic), Patrick O'Neill's other band is having their CD release party TONIGHT at the Local 506 in Chapel Hill, NC. Patrick is OUR guitarist/keyboardist/lover/hater/friendly bartender/moustache and his new band is obviously the bee's knees. So come on out and show him and the band some love and maybe even buy a CD or two. I'll be there! So should you. After that, you can go here: www.vrprsnts.blogspot.com and listen to the other EP that they are releasing online only. Cool beans, eh?

Second, Minor Stars (http://www.myspace.com/deathofthesun), the newest incarnation of Death of the Sun (an Eric Wallen spearheaded group) is playing at the Pinhook in Durham, NC on Saturday, May 9th. Death of the Sun played with us in Austin, TX a couple of years ago at the Breakfast Mascot Records Showcase at SXSW. They were great and I expect that Minor Stars will be the same.

Working...

The Profit finished the title track to our record, "Please Try Again", around 8:30 last night. Things are moving right along. Slowly, but surely. We're all obsessed with Doves' new record, Kingdom of Rust. Here's the video for the single to hold you over until it comes out next week:



That's all for now. More soon.

Rain Days=Mix Days

We're moving right along here in the studio. Today I finished a master of the song "You Can Lead A Horse To Slaughter". This is good news for anyone out there who still is interested in what we're doing. It means that we are one step closer to finishing this thing.

While I'm here, I might as well make a plug for a couple of lesser known records from bands that we are friends with that have taken me deep into a festival of love. The first is Transportation's Daydreams. It's a very solid rocker with moments that sound like the Beatles meeting up with Pink Floyd at a Truckstop in Chicago. Here's the cover:






Another record that I just received is The Archibalds' new jam, Easy Living. This record is becoming a new obsession for me, as I loved their first one. Sounds like the best part of Beck with the best parts of Alabama, Lousiana and Texas mixed in. Here's the cover:



I highly suggest either of these records for those who are looking for under-the-radar bands who are putting out incredible music.

That's all for now. Be back in a jiff.

A tentative peek above the surface...

There has been quite a bit of talk amongst The Guests' ranks about popping our little heads above the surface again. Before anyone gets too excited (ourselves included), let's talk about the current state of things:

We've obviously been M.I.A. for too long, and most people probably believe that we're not a band any more. The reality of things is that we have done more work on our forthcoming release, Please Try Again, in the last 6 months than we did in the previous 2 years. We have finished all tracking for the record with the exception of vocals. Russ is currently spending between 5 and 15 hours a week to finish recording what's left. We have been toying with different track listings as we go along, but nothing is finalized yet. We have managed to narrow down our list of potential tracks. Here's where we stand:

"The Orchards"
"You Can Lead A Horse To Slaughter"
"Paper Trails"
"Talk Talk Talk"
"Don't Bite"
"Please Try Again"
"Calculators"
"I Sit In The Emergency"
"Remove The Lens"
"The Parking Lot"
"All My Friends Have Lost Their Minds"
"The Opportunity"

"Indian Row"
"Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche"
"It's Not Me You're After"
"For Good"
"¡Joder! ¿Que Me Ha Pasado?"

So, that brings us to 17 working tracks. If you'll notice the break, that is supposed to represent the possibility of a second, shorter release. Also known as an EP. Honestly, we still don't know what's going to happen with all of this and everything could change. But this is what the future holds for the moment.

You'll also notice the new website setup. This is going to change as we go along, but is infinitely more functional for us for the moment. Hopefully, updates will be a more common occurence as we near the completion of our new record. Given that a few of the songs are actually finished, we might be able to preview some new material in the very near future.