The 5th
The cold weather is subsiding slowly and that means that it is just a matter of
time before we get to go back to Williamstown and play the 5 year reunion for the
third year in a row! There are a lot of reasons the 5th reunion party is the best,
none of which has to do with the band, because the truth is that all those 400 crazy
Ephs just make it impossible not to have a great time. An endless supply of alcohol
doesn't hurt the situation either. In any case, we'll be playing outside under a
tent in the Greylock quad and I've been told that Carlos has a surprise for the
band which he doesn't even know about!
Socialist
Quality not Quantity
Life has been crazy on the road, the van broke down and our sound technician walked
on us right before a gig in Nova Scotia, but do not fear, we're still playing homecoming
at Williams College on November 6th. The big question is whether we play at the
Purple Pub or at the Herring. It's been years since the Pub burned down, and now
there are rumors that it's back (we won't believe it until we see it). Nevertheless,
it's going to be a rowdy night for all the Ephs that make their way back to the
purple valley for a day of drinking, football, reconnecting, and of course dancing.
Maybe this year will be the year we break the floor at the Herring - lord knows
it's gonna give at some point.
No pre-sale tickets for this one, and I expect beer to blanket our equipment.
Holler,
Socialist
Big News
Two more original songs were written in the last 24 hours as a result of nothing
other than being hit with some spur of the moment inspiration. I think half the
songs in the world were largely written in under five minutes while the other half
probably took months of agonizing work – either way I think musicians work with
both styles and live performances of any song provide all the feedback that is required
to mold a song into a satisfying and entertaining form.
More importantly, Dave, our fearless lead singer/keyboard player, just had an audition
as a vocalist at Berklee College of Music in Boston and is quickly approaching a
more full time musical career. Second, Carlos, our fearless guitar player, has been
granted permission to work from home, which translates into more flexibility to
travel on Fridays and now we can line up more shows in a farther radius from NYC
and Boston - look out Zanesville Ohio, we’re road tripping.
Lastly, we recently received a request to play at Amherst College which is thrilling
and also terrifying as our entire band graduated from Amherst’s rival school Williams
College. I’m sure the gig will go off without a hitch but we’re going to charge
double either way just to make sure we follow up the gig with a large donation to
Williams’ alumni fund, or maybe we’ll just buy a new mixer but either way some spicy
stage announcement will be in order.
Holler,
Socialist
Sugarloaf...
This past weekend Socialist traveled up to Sugarloaf Mountain in Maine to play a
total of eight 50-minute sets at the Widowmaker Lounge on the same stage that Rusted
Root, Grace Potter, and a handful of diesel bands will soon visit. Accommodations
were world class – free lift tickets, half price food, a free “band” condo...the
only things that weren’t free were the delicious “Vegas Baby” shots which were some
mix of Crown Royal, Peach Schnapps, and copious amounts of red bull.
In addition, two-time gold medalist Seth Wescott, who grew up skiing at Sugarloaf,
received a wonderful toast on Saturday afternoon in the bar. Although I didn’t get
to shake his hand, he seemed like a great dude, and we were thrilled to have shared
the weekend and this coveted space at the Widowmaker with him.
Check out the media section to see photos of the event,
compliments of Whitney Ryan, who has solidified herself as a welcomed groupie and
has learned the valuable phrase “I’m with the band” which seemed to go over pretty
well at the Sugarloaf Spa.
Special thanks to Brian Bunnell and Charles Christianson for hiring us and making
this tasty weekend happen; also to Tim, our sound/lighting technician who put plenty
of vocals in the monitors for Dave.
67...68...69...
Socialist
Spring Heat...
Lots to talk about, but I’m going to get right down to it. Every fall we get exhausted
from playing a lot and then things die down a bit right after the holidays and the
question is always, "what shows do we have coming up?" There’s nothing that looks
and feels more miserable than an empty calendar, but each winter when things couldn’t
turn much worse we start getting phone calls and emails for gigs and all of a sudden
we’re double or even triple booked if you include Darlingside (Samwise the brave,
our drummer, splits time with this other wonderful group). For example, everyone
needs to cool their jets with regard to April 17th, or else I’ll set my hair on
fire.
Long story made short, we’re quickly filling up the spring with weekend gigs and
I know it’s going to feel oh so sweet when we start loading up the cars again.
Strap on your whiskey boots,
Socialist
Reboot...
Creativity is not a product of repetition, in fact we think most people would argue
that it has to do with irregularity, an awe-inspiring moment, or the rebirth of
something classic and wonderful. Thus, a break from the regular routine of leaving
the amps in the car during the week in preparation for the next show is a welcome
change of pace, one which we hope will give birth to new inspirations as our instruments
sit readily available for us in our living rooms and bedrooms. As always though,
if the highs and lows of life do not give birth to groundbreaking and creative juices,
the musician can always go and purchase new gear as an ever-so-clever way of procrastinating
the unavoidable act of coming up with something that requires nothing other than
a memorable melody, a few uttered words, and a painfully simple chord progression.
As Peter Mulvey said, every poet is a cannibal and every artist is a thief. We don't
need more gear, we need log cabins, fire places, maybe even a little doubt or desperation
that will light a fire somewhere deep in our brain that hasn't been active for a
while. Then comes the pen and paper, and if it resembles something that has already
been played, so be it.
Regardless of all the esoteric musician-friendly excuses, a break from the cold
loading ramps to obscure venues is a welcome change and whether it leads to anything
as wonderful as Paul Simon's Graceland album is doubtful but being well rested never
hurt a soul.
Happy new year, we look forward to avoiding the mundane as we hope you do too!
Socialist
Thank you...
If you were able to read the last post about 8 Bond Street in NYC, you would already
have gathered than a magical event took place and now we would like to thank everyone
who made it possible.
Event Organizers: Matt Neuber, Brian Smerkers, Ana Sani, Charlotte VanWagonwheel,
& Katherine Krieg
Photographers: Michael Green & Sarah Ramirez
MVP:
Gary Simonette (the kid grew a mustache, took the CFA that afternoon, then
dominated the evening with a red christmas sweater and a bottle of champagne in
his hand – you earned it pal)
Pocket Aces:* Matthew Slovitt
*You might be wondering what pocket aces means. It has nothing to do the Masonic
lounge, but rather it describes a man who’s already won at the game of life. On
this night, my friends, Matthew Slovit had the pocket aces – front center the whole
night and he would have set his hair on fire for us during “Where the streets have
no name” – for this reason it is only fair he gets a little shout out. Cheers Matt.
Other news: We’re in the process of adding a Flickr account and linking it to the
website, I was going to add something about how all of our friends could send us
photos and now I’m realizing we should probably add instructions on how to remove
yourself from the photo gallary. More on that later, maybe.
We would like to give you once last bit of advice before we sign off for the holidays:
Buy two cigars for no reason, grab a friend, bundle up, go for a stroll, and enjoy-
It’s the holidays! If you take our advice and send us a photo, we will send you
a copy of our first EP for free. Email the photo to
as well as your address and who we should address the envelope to.
Socialist
The Loft at 8 Bond Street...
It was cold when we moved our gear into this empty, white-walled, loft on 8 Bond
Street and it was hard to imagine what the place was going to look like later that
night, but 40 cases of wine stored carefully in the corner assured me that there
was, in fact, nothing to worry about.
We set up and played almost 3 hours of music prior to a rare band-dinner where we
splurged on steak au poivre hamburgers– Adam had some trouble with the concept but
he walked away satisfied.
The show was better than homecoming in New York. There was something special about
this one, and I mean beyond the free drinks and no bouncer to deal with– just good
clean American fun. There’s not much to say other than we crushed and smashed in
the best way possible. We have to thank everyone that came because we can’t do what
we do best without our friends doing what they do best – screaming lyrics back in
our face, pouring beers all over our equipment, falling on top of girls, etc...
I can’t say dancing because what we saw was not dancing, it was more like jumping
with style, but it looked like a lot of fun.
One more show before we break for the holidays. There won’t be any bonuses this
year for the band, but the very welcome downtime will give us time to make some
necessary updates to the websites, as well as get the originals ready for the studio.
Stay Classy and happy holidays!
Socialist
No place like home...
And by that we’re talking about the second floor of the Herring on Spring Street
during homecoming. Rumor has it that two people (Charlotte and KK?) paid $6,000
each to get in for the beginning of the show because our set list got leaked to
the masses. That or maybe they just really wanted to get into the bar... Either
way, as soon as they got in they came upstairs and the show was allowed to continue
with “Ms. Williams”.
In all seriousness though, we forgot how fun it is to play for a large group of
all of our friends- strangers in Boston in NYC enjoy the music but this show just
felt like old times in the best way possible -lots of sweaty jumping around, shirts
off, and big smiles.
Lastly, all fears of our playing originals amidst a mass of cover songs were dismissed
as “Revelry” and “CA” went over like Martin Sexton on a cool summer night.
Go Ephs,
Socialist
Ear Candy...
The success of the band has thus far relied on word of mouth, but thanks to Sam,
who rigged the stage with roughly 16 microphones at last Friday's gig, the band
walked away with an entire show recorded with professional sound quality. We still
prefer people passing our name along by word of mouth, but we’re not going to fight
it if someone wants to pass along an mp3 too. The audio is available in the
Media section of the website, and we sincerely hope you enjoy it. We also
have to thank Torrey for turning 21 and giving us the opportunity to play. So enjoy
the ear candy, and come watch us this Saturday when we release four original songs
to the public at the Red Herring up in Williamstown.
Crushing and smashing,
Socialist
Good times...
There are no better weekends than this past one with a show on Friday night in Goodrich
Hall at Williams College and then a show in Boston at Vinalia for GOTO’s Halloween
fundraiser. We added “Use Somebody” by Kings of Leon to the set list which made
more than a few people happy, but nothing could compete with Hey Jude and The Weight
on Saturday night – three girls and our friend Jake dressed as Elvis out-sang Dave
despite the best efforts of the PA and the speakers. That’s a great part of a show
without a stage; the audience is just as much a part of it as you when you’re seeing
eye to eye. Not to mention they keep you sober by pouring out plenty of drinks and
broken glass on the equipment but it’s hard to get too angry at the more “passionate”
members of the crowd.
More footage and recordings from the weekend are on the way, and the band now has
13 originals in the queue for the recording studio so everyone is feeling pretty
good. Two weeks until the next back to back shows up in Williamstown and then we
head to NYC. Some new songs will be in the mix without a doubt.
Keep on, keepin’ on,
Socialist
Welcome!
After nearly six years of enjoying a very loyal college crowd, Socialist is expanding
its audience to both Boston and New York as well as frequently returning to its
humble origins at Williams College in western Massachusetts. After a quiet summer
for the band, the desire to play more gigs has been answered by a large number of
requests to perform at charity events, colleges, and a variety of other private
parties and fundraisers. While the band has continued to increase its large list
of cover tunes, the focus is very quickly turning towards integrating more original
music into the set list with a plan on releasing an EP by the spring of 2010.
What's the original stuff like? Right now our originals are a mix of Zeppelin, Kings
of Leon, and the occasional Jamie Cullum piano chords. If that doesn't paint a clear
picture for you, the explanation requires a bottle of cheap wine, a bucket of sand,
and an interpretive dance.
You keep up the good work,
Socialist