Leaving Consciousness

Being part of a working class band is a unique experience. Writing and performing our music has taken the five of us in cramped vans up and down the East Coast, cross country, through cities and headfirst into ditches. We’ve met interesting people, partied with welcoming strangers and traded stories with countless other bands pursuing their own goals. For a couple hundred shows we’ve shared the stage as well as our lives off the stage, and had a blast doing it. Unfortunately, for all the killer shows, exciting travels and memorable moments shared, there is another side to the lifestyle of an unsigned band.

We’ve always put pressure on ourselves to function as a finely tuned machine; to handle the business end as much and sometimes more than the creative end. While this work ethic has rewarded us with a respectable resume, some interest from the industry and an incredible fan base, it’s taken a toll behind the scenes. Operating with no label, financial backing or professional management has led to frustration and stress with the amount of work we’ve taken on. That frustration has led to long disputes and frequent finger pointing. A few times we’ve even had members voice their desire to quit the band on little notice. Consequently, we’d assemble gatherings to try and resolve the issues, stop the bleeding, and continue as a whole. Sometimes the tension got so thick you wouldn’t be able to cut it with a chainsaw.

For awhile now we’ve been able to press on for the sake of doing what we love. We regret to say that we’re no longer able to do that. With full-time jobs and increasing personal commitments on top of business and creative differences, the scope of our goals has changed. The climate of the music industry shifts rapidly, and the likelihood of surviving on income from writing and performing our music has become slim and slimmer. At this stage, we no longer have the mental or emotional focus to pursue that goal. While we could possibly continue on a casual basis, we’ve decided that that’s not what this band is about. It never has been. We’ve worked hard to earn a reputation we’re proud of, and intend on leaving that reputation intact.

We are however still excited to release our new EP “Merci”, digitally and at the following CD release shows:

August 19 / Firehouse13 / Providence, RI

August 20 / The Sad Café / Plaistow, NH

August 27 / The Middle East Downstairs / Cambridge, MA

(Full details for these shows TBA.)

 

We hope that you’ll come out to celebrate not only the release of a new EP that we worked hard on (with the help of our Kickstarter supporters, as well as Mike Poorman and Daryl Rabidoux, who were incredible to work with in the studio and we can’t thank enough), but to also celebrate the end of an era that none of us will forget. Thank you sincerely for your support. To share our experiences with you has been an honor and truly our pleasure. We hope that this decision will leave you with memories of loud music, late nights, and the very best of times.

Yours,

Bob, Dan, John, Maty, Rob

Keep Me Conscious

SXSW: As Seen Through Bob’s Eyes

As most of you know we just returned from Austin, Texas where we had the pleasure of playing at the Red Gorilla Music Festival.  In fact, almost immediately after we got off the plane we were on stage at the Thirsty Nickel rocking hard. That was only the beginning.

This festival goes down at the same time the world renowned South By Southwest festival happens. For those who don’t know, SXSW is the largest and most amazing week long showcase for music, film and media.  Once a year in March, thousands upon thousands gather for this festival.  Musicians, actors, labels, managers and spectators travel from all over the world to hear local, unsigned, newly signed and already established bands perform in over 50 different venues that spread out over roughly 3 square miles of area.  Needless to say, we had the next three days to experience some awesome music and meet some great people.

You can’t walk in downtown Austin without hearing music as it fills the streets molding together to form one giant song.  From 10 AM until 2 AM the next morning, there’s not a single moment of silence.  There are musicians at every street corner playing the most unique music and trying to stand out from the monstrous crowd.  Bands run up and down the streets with gear in hand rushing to get to their next gig.  Bars and venues stand side by side, luring in customers, as bouncers yell “Dollar draft!” or “Free shot with every drink.”  It’s one big semi-organized-semi-chaotic-every-man-and-woman-for-his-or-herself party.

The food in Austin is incredible and we definitely tried a little bit of everything. Stubbs Barbecue was one of those stops and despite Dan ordering chili con queso with no chili (just a cup of cheese) we ended up with some pretty amazing pulled pork sandwiches covered in their secret recipe sauce.  We also took a mallet to a bucket of crawfish at a seafood place which proved to be more difficult than expected.  I stumbled into a hot sauce store, which isn’t really food, but makes it taste so much better.  I attempted a toothpick full of habanero seed extract which is a black, thick syrup exceeding a million scoville units.  Put it this way, my mouth, lips and face burned as if I had been chewing on a hot coal directly out of a fire pit.  Restaurants weren’t the only culprit of mouthwatering cuisine.  Food carts selling sausages, tacos, pizza and pulled pork are an arm’s length away and fill the streets with a delicious aroma of gluttony.  We definitely made a few trips to the sausage cart at 1 AM for loaded jalapeño and cheddar kielbasa.  I highly recommend the food in Austin and if you can’t find something you like to eat at SXSW you probably don’t have any taste buds.

The nightlife is where is got a little out of control.  After bars have been open since sunrise, the alcohol starts showing it’s ugly face around 6-7pm.  Sure there are the stragglers that hang their head low as they sit on the sidewalk at 2 in the afternoon, but it multiplies as the sun goes down.  People start losing that skip in their step and that glimmer in their eye.  Friends lend a shoulder to those who’ve forgotten the “One Foot In Front Of The Other” song.  The one thing I will say is the drunkenness rarely brought on violence.  In fact, the only thing I saw that was violent was John repaying Maty for a punch to the face that had occurred at SXSW the year before.  Don’t worry it’s all on film.

There are also rumors of huge acts performing in secret locations that spread like whispers in the night.  The big one this year was Kanye West and Jay-Z, among other great performers, who played in an abandon warehouse off location until 6am.  Apparently you had to text a certain number 12 times and on the 13th attempt you were given directions to the venue.  we watched Atomic Tom perform two amazing sets with one at Ryan’s Smashing Life’s Smoke & Sand party, Herra Terra slay the crowd at Valhalla for the Mylene Sheath showcase, and Girls Guns & Glory with the Wandas steal the night at The Ginger Man.

I must say, SXSW is one of my favorite festivals all year.  I know it was only my second time, but I see myself returning over and over again every year.  There’s so much unity and bonding between such amazing and unique people.  There are endless conversations and stories shared among artists.  Musicians and spectators come and support all different walks of music.  This is my type of place with my type of people and I highly encourage everyone to make the trip to Austin at least once in your life.  I’ll see you next year.

- Bob

Back In Boston!

Saturday (3/12) we’ll be playing our first Boston show of 2011 at Church. This excites me for a few reasons.

1. It’s our…first…Boston show of 2011…

2. It’s a stacked lineup. We’re buddies with and fans of both Herra Terra and Halfway To Avalon, and are excited to see Sun In Flight for the first time. Worth your $10? Yes. Yes it is.

3. It’s sort of a “see you in the spring” show from us and Herra Terra, as we’ll both be heading out to Texas next week.

4. Church proudly serves ‘Gansett.

5. We proudly drink ‘Gansett.

6. We’ll continue to try out new material live.

7. We plan on getting some footage from this show. Make some noise.

8. A lot of our friends and family will be coming out.

9. Upon our return from Texas we have the 32nd Annual Rock n’ Roll Rumble most of April. If we’re lucky.

10. We’ve never played Church.

I grew up so to speak in the music scene by playing and hanging out at the legendary Drifters in Nashua, NH. Back then I looked up to bands that were known in the Boston area, such as Absolve, At Will, and Cherry S/T. At the time I couldn’t even get into their 18+ shows, but knew of their Boston-buzz and dug their jams. As it turns out I’m now close friends with Eric (formerly of At Will and also the gentleman that filled my spot on stage for that 30 Seconds To Mars show I missed), living with Adam (coolest dude ever and formerly of Absolve), and joined Cherry S/T when I was 19. Small world.

Church used to be a place called The Linwood, which had killer shows I could never attend. A decade later it’s under a different name, but we’re taking the stage Saturday for the first time. The point is that I’m always excited and a little bit proud to take a stage in the city of Boston. Saturday is sure to be a killer party for all, but will also be just a little check mark for me.

See you there.

-John

Click here for tickets to this show and more info on Church Of Boston.

An Update From Rob: New Music, March Shows And Life

Hey beautiful people,

As you know, we have been writing music and meeting with producers lately. If you didn’t know, A) where have you been? and B) how are the wife and kids? We’ve been receiving great feedback about our new material and couldn’t be more excited to finally record and share our evolving sound.

One of the points always brought up is that everyone in the band is a songwriter. We can all play guitar, some of us play piano, some of us play bass. Since we were taking some time off from shows to write, I found myself inspired to write as much as possible. Neglecting sleep and exploring multiple genres, I’ve decided to put together a solo project called “Secrets of Tigers”.

I’ve been listening to a lot of different genres lately and the creative juices are flowing wildly. I’ve recorded folk songs, ambient songs and even hip-hop beats. No, you will not hear me rap…. yet. With a rekindled love for folk and electronic music, I’ve decided to mix the two. Write songs from a folk/pop standpoint and replace the traditional instruments with all electronics.

If you’re curious and want to hear it, here’s a sample: www.flightofthebusybee.com/solo/song1sample.mp3

If you want to stay up to date on the project, visit:

www.flightofthebusybee.com

I post updates frequently and it will be the home of my eventual solo EP/CD. Right now, I’m working on my second and third song and have a cover planned. I also rant and rave about some other personal stuff so if you want a closer look into my brain/life, that’s the place to get a glimpse.

On the ‘Conscious tip, we re-wrote Artificial Light, Antartica and have worked on 2 new songs in the last month so expect more new songs at our next few shows. We are unearthing a very cool sound and aesthetic that we are all pretty crazy about. Here’s where we will be -

March 2 – Webster Underground (Hartford, CT) with Atomic Tom

March 3 – Emerson College Radio (Boston, MA) interview/performance

March 4 – UMass (Dartmouth, MA) with Just Surrender

March 5 – Veterans Club (Wyndham, ME) with Too Late The Hero

March 12  – Church (Boston, MA) with Herra Terra, Halfway to Avalon

Stay tuned,

Rob

Antarctica

As you all know, we are preparing for the release of our new record. For the last few months, we have pretty much isolated ourselves at 50 terminal street in Charlestown, playing very few shows, fine tuning what is some of the best material this band has come up with to date. We have spent days writing alternate verses and chorus’ for every song, always challenging ourselves to “come up with something better”. The last thing we wanted was to write another record that sounded like our first EP, “Sounds of Rescue”, so anytime we wrote a tune that would fit on that disc, we tossed it. A few months ago, we wrote a song called “Antarctica”. I personally fell in love with this song mainly because it was like nothing we have ever done before. From the dark lyrics, to the jazzy drum beat, there’s just something about it that gives me the chills. A week ago, we got together, set up a few mics, and recorded the first demo. We were all pleased with the way it came out, so we are going to share it with you all today. We hope you all enjoy it!

-Dan

Click here to listen to Antartica and download it for free!

Why Kickstarter Means So Much To KMC

Keep Me Conscious recently launched a Kickstarter campaign and most people are probably scratching their heads saying, “What are they trying to kick start? The van?” No not the van, it’s our new record. You may or may not know that we have some great new songs that we’ve been recently playing live and anxious to record. In fact several of you have posted on Facebook asking when we’ll have them available. Well with any DIY band, the biggest set back is finance. Not to mention the biggest of our expenses comes from recording. Which makes sense because that’s the best form of music distribution to the public.

Before recording was developed, the only way to hear music was to attend concerts which were mainly for that of the upper class such as during the Elizabethan era. Or there was of course Church. Which as I learned from Music History I at New Bedford High with Mr. Cabral this was all thanks to the improvement of written music. Which started with modern symbolic music notation that originated in the Roman Catholic Church, as monks developed methods to put plainchant (sacred songs) to parchment.* This of course was improved upon to what we know today as Music Theory. But more on history in another blog.

Now that we are ready with some great music, it time to make a new record. For the past few months, we’ve been researching some great studios and producers. In order to move further we are going to have to raise some funds. Which is where Kickstarter came in. It’s an online fund-raising source in which artists and bands use to help fund new projects. Fans aren’t just donating money to the project, but they are becoming a part of the process. It’s more of a pledge campaign. Everyone who helps gets something in return. A “quid pro quo” if you will. In our case everyone isn’t just receiving an advanced copy of our new music, but we are offering some great packages in return. We have signed gear from us, limited edition apparel (Like the SaySomething shirt), rare music from us that no one has heard, private concerts for just those who pledge a certain amount, passes to shows and more. I could go on, but hope you got the point.

So why Kickstarter really? We are an independent band without financial backing from a record label or investor. This will open up opportunities that we or any band before us never had. I personally see this as a way to give back to all of our fans who have supported us. Since we formed in 2009, we have evolved as songwriters and musicians and grown stronger as friends. Because our band as a whole really developed into what Keep Me Conscious is today, we are able to write some of the greatest music that we all love. For us, this Kickstarter is the way to make this the best record possible. We calculated our cost of studio time be approxiamtely $7,500. So that’s what we set our goal to be. Unfortunately if the goal is not met 60 days after we launched, then we have to give it all back and the project goes unfunded.

More importantly, please take a moment to watch the video above and don’t worry if you can’t make a monetary contribution. There are so many ways you can help. Post this link (http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/42973663/keep-me-conscious-wants-to-record-a-new-record) around your Facebook and this one (http://kck.st/fmBpeh) to your twitter. Re-blog this post and the video. Show the video to your friends and family. Email it, text it or just tell everyone you know. Every little bit is huge in helping us make this happen. This band means the world to all of us. It has become more than just passion, but has become our life. With this next record we want you to be a part of what we love so much. In under two years we have accomplished so much and we sincerely thank everyone for everything they have done to help us. This is going to take us even further. I can’t wait to make this next record so everyone can truly experience what I am talking about.

<3 Maty Vamp!

*The earliest form of written music comes from the 8th century and did not originally utilize a
staff. They used a neum, which is a system of dots and strokes that were placed above the
text. – In case you were asked on Jeopardy.

Poem: I Hope, I Know

By Bob Bowser

I hope that you guide her as she leaves us this morning.
As you stand there beside her, she leaves us rejoicing.
A celebration of life, over eighty nine years.
She’s shared all her thoughts, all her love, and her tears.

I hope you embrace her as she enters your arms.
As you reunite, reignite both your hearts.
In a place with no pain, no blame, and no harm.
A life on earth ends, and a spiritual one starts.

I hope that you cherish her smile and her laugh.
The same one that is stored, forever in our past.
The same one that will echo and always out last.
Her time here on earth, that went by so fast.

I know you’ll remind her of the great life she’s lived.
As you watched her from Heaven, a queen, be her king.
As we watched her on earth, sons and daughters still sing.
Sing of all that she’s done, and all she shall give.

I know you’ll take care of her, fragile and shy.
Still so strong, as she’s conquered the world with one eye.
Now she’ll conquer the Heavens with you by her side.
As you dance in the clouds, and we all say goodbye.

I know she’s found peace, she’s already found truth.
That’s she’s passed on to old, middle aged, and to youth.
And she’s handed the torch, now it’s ours for to keep.
So grandmother, grandfather, together you’ll sleep.

Ginuine Conversation

Last night the whole band got together at Rob and my house to wrap up some video work for an upcoming promo. A very important one that you will hear all about…soon. While we were chatting around the table, I sipped on a gin & tonic or two. My alcoholic beverage of choice. I take after my father.

Gin often seems to get a bad rap from the twenty-something crowd. “It tastes like pine needles,” “It smells like rubbing alcohol,” and my favorite- “gin is what old men drink!” If Tanqueray is good enough for the men that helped build and shape the world we live in today, it’s damn sure good enough for me. But if you don’t dig Tanqueray, Beefeater, or Bombay Sapphire, chances are you wouldn’t know much about a new favorite of mine- Hendrick’s Gin. Hendrick’s is, as their unique ad / marketing campaign declares, “A Most Unusual Gin”. In addition to juniper (The traditional key ingredient in gin. There’s that pine-needle taste.) Hendrick’s is infused with rose petal and cucumber, and is distilled in small, craft-style batches. Unlike it’s more widely known peers, Hendrick’s doesn’t pack as much of a rubbing alcohol / pine needle punch. Try mixing it with tonic over ice, then forget about the lime. Rub a slice of fresh cucumber on the rim and drop it in the glass for a much fresher, most unusual, gin & tonic.

www.hendricksgin.com – I’m a design and ad nerd. Check out their impeccable brand identity.

Two Thousand Eleven – Two Thousand Elated

2011 started off right. On December 31st, I stepped out for drinks with my girl, John and his girl at Champion’s in Boston. Not a normal drinker, one Long Island Iced Tea and a few sips and samples from everyone else’s glass kept me feeling pretty buzzed. Yeah I know, cheap date. Either way, just the kick off I needed to set the tone for the new year.

After a few days of work, I boarded a flight to Las Vegas. First off, if you’ve never been to Vegas (or Montreal or New York or LA for that matter), you need to. There’s something so charming and reviving about a city that truly never sleeps. I spent a week out there reflecting (and making some money on blackjack tables), coming back completely refreshed.

A new year brings new beginnings, challenges, adventures, experiences and goals. Being said, I have made my resolution – let go and follow my heart. Cliched? Sure, but honest and something I really want to make an effort to improve upon. I want to lead my life without letting the consequences deter me from making decisions. I want to be a bigger risktaker and let myself “go with the flow” on a day-to-day basis. That being said, I’m already looking into flights to Tokyo/Vegas and looking to experiment with other musicians to explore my creativity.

What is YOUR resolution?

Robbie

12 Days Of Conscious: Comfort And Joy!

Last Sunday we started posting links on our Facebook page under the title “12 Days Of Conscious.” Those links were for free downloads of all our music with artwork; Sounds Of Rescue EP, Pieces demo and even our cover of Kanye West’s Love Lockdown. The downloads are good for 12 days and last until midnight on Christmas Eve. That time just marks a special place in our hearts for all of us. Bringing good tidings of comfort and joy to the world. Well that’s exactly why we did this. It’s not just another marketing campaign. We could have posted links to iTunes or Amazon to buy our stuff for gifts for 12 days. Instead we wanted this as our gift to everyone for the Holidays. All of our music for free. For all to spread with family and friends to enjoy at Christmas time. A time where we all need to remember now more than ever what Christmas is all about. Give a little a back, spend time with loved ones, cherish every moment with them and remember why we’re here. Last week Dan wrote about John Lennon and his message of love. At Christmas time we remember Jesus Christ and his message of, “Love one another.” Not all that different after 2,000 years. With the malls packed and commercial ads everywhere, some will say we’ve lost our way. Well if you take a moment to really think about those you love and show them you love them, then we haven’t. The main reason why I play music is because it is my expression of love and passion and definitely makes me very merry. I hope the music I write will bring comfort and joy to everyone who listens even if it’s just for 30 minutes a day. Maybe it’s the drive to work or to unwind with after a long day, I truly hope you take these songs and give them to those you love. Because that’s what Christmas is all about. I could brag about number of downloads, but that doesn’t matter to us. Instead here are the links again. Please share the joy of our music this Holiday season and remember to love one another.

Love Lockdown: http://bit.ly/ezAFT0
Pieces / Smile: http://bit.ly/eCQwHG
Sounds Of Rescue: http://bit.ly/ffy7PX

And I leave you with this awesome music video our friend Alex Gringeri made for a school project. Came out pretty great.

Merry Christmas to all and Happy New Year!
Maty Vamp