Fall Foam Residency week 1

From October 27, 2011

Tonight, after the Cardinals and Rangers duke out World Series Game 6 at Busch Stadium, a wonderful gathering of good natured, intelligent, socially conscious St Louis-ans are going to rally!!! No, I'm not talking about Occupy Stl. I'm talking about fans of Black Spade, and So Many Dynamos. Anyone who's had a conversation with a member of SMD in the past year has probably had to listen to us gush about the absurd talent of Veto Money. Hold on a second, Veto Money? Yup, Black Spade's legal birth name is Veto Money! And that's not even why we love him! Mostly, we love his music, and his good company. But we're also addicted to performing with him. He has the rare gift of ALWAYS making a musical situation better. It's not uncommon to see us giddy as school children when it's time for Veto's verse, or when he delivers a melody in a way none of us could ever have ever expected. Every time we play together we learn something, and this of course co-insides with the entire idea of playing a residency in St Louis. We are hungry to learn, to get better, to take some chances, and most importantly to have fun! Tonight also marks the first of a series of shows with guest Dynamo performer Joe Winters on Percussion.

We're Not Above It

Oh Hey Internet,

I know it has been pretty silent in the So Many Dynamos department over the last few months. We have not been touring, or releasing records, or even managing our blogs very well. Lame, and boring...we know, we know. Well, what have we been doing you ask? The short story is: We've been growing. A lot. Musically, and as people. Or is there a difference? Either way, seasons are changing for So Many Dynamos. Here in St Louis, we have beautiful leaves, a new guitar player named Travis, and lots of new songs!!!

This one is called "We're Not Above It".

Turn and Face the Strain

Hello friends, it’s been a while. I know we moved to Tumblr but I thought this entry warranted double posting.

A lot has been going on ‘behind the scenes’ as they say. Aaron & Norm and the rest of the Secret Sound Society along with a slew of other like minded people have been working hard on organizing the SLAP conference, taking place Thursday June 16th through Sunday June 19th. The first two days are free. For the price of a few beers at the bar you could instead get tickets for Saturday and Sunday. Save yourself the hangover and click here.

Some of you may recall I spent last summer in Alaska with my girlfriend. While there she became my fiancé. This weekend we are tying the knot in a small ceremony here in St. Louis and I couldn’t be happier about it.Somehow amongst all the wedding planning I was able to nerd out with Jon Scorfina who writes the column "Last Collector Standing" for the RFT. He said his interviews normally last about 25 minutes, but we ended up talking for nearly 3 hours. When it comes to vinyl I tend to get excited and ramble on (and on and on and on...).

Where was I? Oh yes, marriage.Whenever people get married things are bound to change and my situation is no different. In August my wife-to-be will begin working towards her PhD at University of Colorado Boulder. Before we head west Dynamos are playing a show on July30th. This is going to be my last night as a member of So Many Dynamos. I’ve got a mountain of thank you’s and sentimental shout outs, but that’s a different blog entry for another day.

For now I’ll just stick with the facts. We’ll be sharing the stage with Ra Cailum and King Arthur. In an attempt to send me off in style, the fine folks in King Arthur will entertain my dreams and play a few songs from their previous band, The Lake. This is not to detract from how incredible King Arthur is. If you were at their show at the Old Rock house last month then you understand what I’m talking about. It’s more about entertaining my fan boy fantasy because I think The Lake is one of the best bands I’ve heard in the last couple of years ( I may have mentioned this somewhere before). It’s going to be a special evening to be sure. Cicero’s isn’t the biggest venue, so there’s a chance it might sell out. I would suggest getting tickets in advance. I would hate for anyone who really wants to come to be left out because they didn’t get a proper heads up. Once tickets are available we’ll be sure to let you know. Until then, be sure to get your SLAP tickets and wish me luck!

Movin' On Up

Listen blogspot, we've had some great times together. You should've known we were growing apart when I didn't tell you about the tour that started today. Now, this isn't the last time we're gonna talk, but for now I need a little space form you. If you need me I'll be over on Tumblr.

What We've Been Up to

So here's something from left field. "Artifacts of Sound" is featured in the new video game "Power Gig : Rise of the SixString."

Check it out:

(It's like Guitar Hero, but the controller is an actual guitar)


So let's ketchup real quick...

We had a blast playing and hanging out at LOUfest. Our set was early in the day but we had a sizable and excited crowd. We got to play a few new songs, one of which included an appearance by members of The Funky Butt Brass Band. One of the brighter highlights of the day came while watching Built to Spill form the side of the stage. At one point in their set Doug Martsch dedicated a song to his mom, who was sitting right behind us.

The week following LOUfest saw our luck take a turn for the worse. While riding his bike home one evening Nathan "dynamo'd" his knee cap into a few different pieces. The doctor and his contemporaries describe these types of wounds as "B.T.S." or "Beat to S***." It was really really bad. Three months and lots of physical therapy later Nathan is back on his feet and back and we've been getting into the full swing of things. He's been a real trooper.

The building Norm & Aaron live in also houses a studio and our current practice space. We've spent a few long days demoing a few new songs with Will, the owner of the building and Aaron & Norm's landlord. It's been lots of work but has really helped us become a better group as we continue to write for a new full length.

Last month we played the inaugural Secret Sound Festival on Cherokee Street. Our show was on the first night with Jukaboz and Ad Astra Arkestra. By the time we took the stage my mind was completely blown. The downside to playing with amazing bands is sometimes they, well I wouldn't say they made us look bad, but they set the bar pretty high and prove to be a tough act to follow.

We've got some tour dates coming up next month and a show unlike any we've ever played before coming up on black Friday. We'll post more details on all that soon.

Glad we could talk and catch up.

STL - This Saturday + Sunday!

Design by Katie Foppiano

We'll see ya'll there. 

This Day in Dynamo History

Hey friends, I know it's been a while. I had one of those reflective moments thinking about where I was a year ago today . I thought I'd share before we catch up...

We first met Harvey Danger on their "reunion tour" in 2006, an endeavor inspired by their sizable and die hard fans. We weren't quite sure what to expect, but HD fans proved themselves to be, as Stan Lee would say, true believers. They are album buyers, obscure songs requesters, completists - the kind of people who really support the artists they love. Every band should be so lucky to have even a few fans like theirs. Luckily we managed to convert a few. In fact we met one of our most ardent supporters that night at Schuba's. The tour was only 2 weeks long but it produced a lot of good times, great (fuzzy) memories, inside jokes, and embarrassing anecdotes.


After a few years of playing a scattered shows here and there they announced they were calling it a day, along with a short string of final shows. We were asked to play the only Midwest date. One of the more memorable things about the evening was Thax Douglas wrote and read poems about each group. If you've been to a well attended show in Chicago there's a good chance you've seen him before. His poem went like this

I felt it was very fitting.

This show was also Ryan's last night as a member of So Many Dynamos and/or our last show without Nathan in the band, making the evening all the more bittersweet.

So what have we been up to?

After our European tour we decided to take a little time out to catch our breath, catch up on our bills, and just take it easy. I spent the summer in Alaska and came back engaged to my girlfriend. Aaron moved in with his girlfriend and got an adorable kitty named Miso. He's been hustlin' at Mississippi Mud House. Norm moved in with his girlfriend and they took care of my cat while I was away. Soon they will have a few little furballs of joy to call their own. He did a medical study and is teaching kids to be awesome drummers at Mojo's Music in Edwardsville. Nathan made and delivered a lot of sandwiches and spent some quality time with his puppy, Tiny Lee.

We've all had time to decompress and process what's gone down over the last year and appreciated not having our lives being completely centered around the band. But now we are back in the saddle with our eyes on making another record. We've got a few new songs, one featuring my debut on keyboards. We'll be performing them at the end of this month at LouFest. We're playing the same day as Broken Social Scene and Built to Spill!

Things are looking up for us.

We'll be in touch.