News

WHITE ARROWS/THE NAKED & FAMOUS (SUMMER/FALL TOUR)

Some of you might remember seeing White Arrows, one of our favorite new bands from LA, back in October at our CMJ party. White Arrows just announced tons of summer tour dates this week as well as a bunch this fall with one of our other favorite bands, The Naked & Famous.

Visit White Arrow’s Facebook page for details on dates and listen to their debut EP. The band’s debut music video for “8050 (Too Fast Too Slow)” recently premiered on NME.com. If you like that video there’s plenty more where that came from (see below).

Two weeks ago White Arrows released their debut EP in the UK on 3 Syllables Records and will hopefully be following up with an album later this year. In the meantime, make sure to catch one of the upcoming summer/fall shows. You will not be disappointed. Few of us saw them at SXSW in March and the psychedelic light show was worth it alone. BE WARNED: high likelihood of inducing flashbacks. Check out the killer video they also did for Voyeur below, then watch “Young Blood” by The Naked & Famous.

Happy 4th of July,
Team America



1,2,3 Daytrotter Session

123 Daytrotter

Check out the 1,2,3 Daytrotter session: http://www.daytrotter.com/dt/1-2-3-concert/20054753-3738358.html

If you only have time for one be sure to check out the first single, “Work”, off the band’s debut full length New Heaven available on Frenchkiss Records.

Pick up a copy of the limited edition “Confetti” 7 inch (b/w “Can’t Bribe God”) in our fancy new eBoutique.

123 confetti

The Last Royals Crystal Vases Lyrics & Lyric Video

Wondering what the lyrics are to your favorite song by The Last Royals? Check out the lyric video we just posted for “Crystal Vases” on YouTube:





Lyrics to “Crystal Vases” by The Last Royals:

If I die a lonely death, I’m sure its from the cigarettes
I smoked each after you left me, standing all alone
Alone in my Park Avenue apartment that smelled fresh and new
The extra set of keys from you are going to the maid.

The maid has been my only friend,
She’s always there to apprehend,
The dust and grim that settles in around the crystal vase.
The crystal vase, a wedding gift, that through the years has made the shift,
What once held flowers now holds ash, from my two packs a day.

Ooo baby she walks with a thorn in her side
Them big sunglasses on her eyes
All the uptown girls say “hi, old woman”
“I can’t take another day of this”, she says
“All I wanted was a drink and a kiss,
But I guess I’ll just have to call on my bank ‘cause its Swiss.”

She never knew no better than to follow her nose
So I ask for your forgiveness ‘cause I’m part of the show
Now she’s gone and all she’s left with is a house full of clothes
Sometimes Madam it’s ok to cry.

If I die a lonely death, I’m sure its from the cigarettes
I smoked each after you left me, standing all alone
Alone in my Park Avenue apartment that smelled fresh and new
The extra set of keys from you are going to the maid.

Well she’s probably just a chip off the block
You know like coffee from a coffee pot
Well at least she can get away for a while and
Get some sun on that yacht.

If I die a lonely death, I’m sure its from the cigarettes
I smoked each after you left me, standing all alone
Alone in my Park Avenue apartment that smelled fresh and new
The extra set of keys from you are going to the maid.

The maid has been my only friend,
She’s always there to apprehend,
The dust and grim that settles in around the crystal vase.
The crystal vase, a wedding gift, that through the years has made the shift,
What once held flowers now holds ash, from my two packs a day.

Google Honors Les Paul

This morning I woke up and as usual, got my coffee, booted up my MacBook and opened up my Internet browser. To my pleasant surprise, there was an odd, robotic looking guitar on Google’s homepage. Not only was it a cool image, but it was an interactive guitar “doodle”. I soon learned this Google Doodle was honoring what would have been guitar legend, Les Paul’s 96th birthday. Kudos to Google for honoring Les Paul, the songwriter, guitarist, innovator, inventor! I can’t think of anyone who single handedly played such a large role in the development of guitar technology. Check out this article from The Atlantic that explains it all and also shows a video of the doodle for those of you who missed it. Below is a video of the man himself wowing an audience with one of his new inventions, the “Les Pulverizer”:

This comes shortly after the loss of another great guitar slinger. Last month month the music world lost an incredible talent, guitarist Cornell Dupree. Hailing from Fort Worth, TX, known as “Mr. 2500” (referring to the number of dates he had played on) he was known as one of the great session musicians of his generation. Though he played in a band with Jimi Hendrix at one time, he was glad to stay out of the spotlight which made him the ideal session musician. Pleased to simply earn the respect of his peers and fellow musicians/producers alike he worked closely with legends such as Jerry Wexler, Hendrix, Aretha Franklin, and even Mariah Carey. He was known as the man who could play both rhythm and lead guitar at the same time. Check out a few videos below to see rare footage of a young Cornell Dupree playing w/ King Curtis on sax as well as a more recent clip of him playing with legendary drummer Steve Gadd.

-Theo

QR Quality Control

QR codes have been popping up EVERYWHERE over the last 6 months. All kinds of industries are embracing this new form of content delivery, but is it effective? I stumbled upon a great blog entry by Jeremy Welt where is gives 5 Tips for Using QR Codes Effectively. This is a must read for anyone who works with new media.

QR Code Belt

Check out the Wired magazine article about above image.

Rock On, Ancient Queen

Sasha Frere-Jones is one of our favorite music journalists and this week he wrote a great piece for his Pop Music column in the New Yorker about one of our favorite singers, Stevie Nicks. Nicks just released a new solo record. Check out the article “Rock On, Ancient Queen: Stevie Nicks is back.” and also be sure to jump in the time machine for a few minutes and watch the video below of one of our all time favorite jams.

Visit Amazon to buy Stevie Nick’s new solo record, “In Your Dreams”.

My Leather, My Fur, My Nails



Check out our friends, STEPDAD from Grand Rapids, MI. We can’t stop listening to their 8-bit Nintendo fueled pop song “My Leather, My Fur, My Nails”. See video below for the full effect and tell us what you think!






Satellite Party!

No, we’re not talking about Perry Farrell’s short lived side project with Nuno Bettencourt. We’re talking about SiriusXM satellite radio and The Last Royals. The Last Royals were recently added to SiriusXM’s Alt Nation radio station a few weeks ago and have made it into the Top 18!!!!! This is a HUGE deal! We need everyone’s help to try and make “Crystal Vases” #1. Here is how you can help:

“Each weekend Alt Nation delivers The Alt-18 Countdown. We need your help in selecting the week’s most requested new alternative rock! Request your favorite song right now at AltNation@siriusxm.com and listen as we count down the best new alternative as selected by you!”

STEP 1. COMPOSE NEW E-MAIL TO ALTNATION@SIRIUSXM.COM

STEP 2. SEND REQUEST FOR: THE LAST ROYALS – “CRYSTAL VASES”

STEP 3. VISIT THE ALT NATION FACEBOOK PAGE AND POST YOUR REQUEST ON THEIR WALL!

STEP 4. DANCE AROUND TO VIDEO BELOW KNOWING YOU JUST HELPED YOUR FAVORITE BAND!!!

Thanks in advance from everyone at Ooh La La and The Last Royals, xoxo



MONDO STUDIO UPDATE

Things have been crazy since I got back from Austin last month. The day after getting back to NYC I started work on the new Cymbals Eat Guitars (CEG) record, which the amazing John Agnello produced, engineered, and mixed. John and I have known each other for a few years now and have lots of mutual friends, but this was the first time I had the pleasure of being part of one of his records. The guy is an inspiration. He did 10 songs in 15 days! Recorded and mixed! Over a three weeks and dozens of lunch specials from John’s favorite Thai restaurant (blanking on the name?) I helped out with additional engineering and anything else that helped make things rock harder and run smoother. The first week we tracked basics and a started overdubs in the A room at Headgear. The band tracked all the drums, bass, and most guitars live. Here are a couple photos of the guitar selection for the guitar geeks out there (yup, 5 Jazzmasters and even my ’64 SG made it on the record):

CEG spent a lot of time working on pre-production in the weeks leading up to the session and it showed. They were ready to go the day they walked in. We’d track a take or two of a song and then move on. That’s all they needed. We finished basics sooner then expected so started Then we moved to my studio (the B Room) to finish overdubs and track vocals. By the end of the second week everything was tracked and it was time to move back to the A Room at Headgear to mix the record. Mix master John pulled up the faders the first day, rolled up his sleeves and went on to mix and put the final touches on what turned out to be an amazing record.

During the third week while John was mixing, things got really busy because I got a call to do another version of a Nokia commercial I worked on before SXSW. The music for the commercial is a cover of the Cole Porter song “Don’t Fence Me In”. I had originally created an entirely new version of the song with the existing lyrics that had a very Americana/folk vibe to it, but the client ended up changing directions. This time around I teamed up with a few other composers/producers to put together a different version. I even got my main man Damon Daunno to sing the vocal on the track. Here is what we ended up with that is going to be on air:

The following week I got a call to do some post-production sound design and composing for a video artist Steve Powers is working on. It’s a promo video for Style Wars The Musical. Steve teamed up with fellow artist Todd James to work on this hilarious project, which you can read more about on his blog. Both Steve and Todd came by the studio to hang for the session. We all immediately bonded based on our mutual geekdom and it turned out to be a super fun and productive session. A lot of laughs. Keep an eye out for Style Wars The Musical and be sure to sign up for their e-mail list on the website www.stylewarsthemusical.com/

Style Wars The Musical

Last, but not least were The Toothaches who came into the studio with my good friend David Pollock. David and I go way back and he had been telling me about this band The Toothaches he was in love with for a few months. An opportunity recently came up for David to move back to his hometown of Portland, OR and be the chief engineer/studio manager at Super Natural Sound and he called me and said before he leaves he MUST make a record with The Toothaches who are based in Brooklyn, NY. David booked 5 days in the B Room. He tracked an entire record in 3 days and then mixed it in 2! Huh? The craziest part is how awesome it sounds for how little time they spent on it!!!!!

It was a busy month over at Headgear. Lots of exciting stuff happening and lots more on deck. I almost forgot, yesterday was my birthday! Happy birthday to me. Thanks to everyone for making April 2011 such a fun month! Until we meet again…

-Theo

SXSW Wrap Up

Twin Shadow

It was a long, fun week in Austin, TX this year for SXSW 2011. Mother nature came through with some amazing weather, which made it especially fun to run around, see music, drink Lonestar and stuff ourselves w/ Tex Mex and BBQ. Plagued with some Facebook mobile app issues a few meals didn’t get documented, but for the play by play report check out the Ooh La La Records Facebook page and you’ll get the important stuff.

Highlight of the week is a serious toss up between Twin Shadow (above photo) at Maggie Mae’s and Phantogram (photo below)at Luster Pearl. Both bands put on a great show and had amazing songs for us to get lost in.

1,2,3 got a great mention in the Arts section of the NYTimes: http://nyti.ms/is93qH

They also made Paste magazine’s list of  13 intriguing band names at SXSW: http://bit.ly/erOtWr

Upon our return on Sunday to NYC we were greeted with 34 degree weather, which made it even more apparent how awesome Austin truly is…New York, I love you, but you’re bringing me down. All in all an awesome week of music, friends, food, and drink. Now if we can just catch up on some sleep…ya right!

Phantogram