Keeping it Real: Brooklyn Edition

For those of you who have had the pleasure of coming into contact with either of the Martinez children, you will know that we keep it really, really, real. My brother brought this revolutionary idea into the family when he decided to stop showering daily in the 10th grade. Since then it has evolved into a mantra and occasional excuse. Trust me, this is going somewhere.

Last week we played our first outside-Albany show at Trash Bar in Brooklyn - particularly Williamsburg which, according to Wikipedia is a hub for indie music and a hipster haven. Who knew.


You can hear the tight-jean chafing all the way up here.

In the interest of keeping it real and full blog disclosure, let me say that I'm not a very hip person. In my hometown Michigan suburb, we didn't really use the term "hipster," we used the term "scene-kid." And I was neither. I had a livejournal (and now I have this blog. It seems things never really change). I listened to east-coast emo-rock and unashamedly loved The O.C. So, needless to say that even though I was wearing flats, I was not prepared for the 6-block radius around bedford and metropolitan.

I think Mitch put it best when he told Ian, "just remember, every person here is better than you." And I think I put it second best when I said "I've never seen so many walking, breathing stereotypes in my life." I think I also put it third best when I said "I'm having a hard time not laughing in people's faces." We took the scenic route while getting some pre-show pizza (which was much better than the post-show Thruway Roy Rogers) and I do mean scenic route in every punny connotation.

That's not to say that people weren't cool. The show went really well, and everyone who came out was awesome. We have another show in that area July 17 at Zebulon that I'm really looking forward to.

I promised that this was leading somewhere, and it is. So far I've been talking about Brooklyn and keeping it real. Well, to combine those two topics, I would like to say that at our show we met The Realest People in Brooklyn, aka, The Nuck Fuggets. They're an electro-comedy-esque duo that put on a show with so much energy even though everyone was sitting down (but laughing, to be fair.) Mitch and I decided to tell them that we had designated them with this title, and I hope that they received it sincerely.

so I realize that this is the first post back in a while, and while it was a little lackluster and didn't have all the biting wit that my posts usually have, I hope it was at least partially satisfactory.

p.s. Keeping it real only works if your reality doesn't completely suck.

5 Local Bands I am super psyched/would love to share a bill with (Part 1)

Part 1: Two Local Bands I Am Super Psyched to Share a Bill With

Ashley Pond



www.myspace.com/ashleypond

Ashley Pond is one of the immediately-intimidating Saint Rose music industry-bred musicians I came into contact with my freshman year of college. I first saw Ashley perform in a pre-Starbucks Commuter Lounge on the Saint Rose campus. The female songwriter population in my hometown was severely limited, with most of them just awkwardly strumming G,C, and A minor chords coupled with rhyming lyrics. (Myself included. There are some pretty embarrassing recordings tucked away in a folder on my computer.). I don't know if it just never occurred to me, but for the first time there was a ridiculously talented musician just hanging out, like any other college student. I battled between jealousy and admiration, but quickly settled on the latter.

Almost 3 years later, she's still as impressive as ever. Her first full-length album, the ten-track Dala, was released in September of 2007. I got my copy earlier this year at a show at Valentine's - the first time I had seen Ashley perform live in well over a year. A tiny person with a big guitar and an even bigger voice, I was more impressed than ever (and maybe still a little jealous).

Catch her and us:
May 31st, 2008
Valentines (downstairs) in Albany, NY
8:30 PM, $5
along with Elias Orling

Saint Ukraine



www.myspace.com/saintukraine

As a band, we must have some pretty boring day jobs, because the members of Sea of Trees spend a lot of time e-mailing. It started out with booking info or recording ideas, and has gradually progressed to inside jokes (justin spice), shit-talking, and general useless conversation. There was a short time period where Dylan kept e-mail fowarding us various YouTube videos, but luckily he grew out of that phase. One time Mitch and I even talked on Gmail messenger, and much hilarity (and OMG LOL-ing) ensued.

I found out about Saint Ukraine from one of these e-mails. Ian introduced us to the band, suggesting we check them out to see if we wanted to book them for the Muddy Cup show. I did just that. Sirens and Packages was the first song I heard and I was instantly hooked. Great melodies, achingly subtle lyrics, simple structure with some cool instrumentation to keep it interesting.

I've always been a sucker for music you can listen to by lamplight, smoking a cigarette and just absorbing the songs. For me, along with acts like Sparklehorse, Elliot Smith, and Josh Ritter, Saint Ukraine is a band like that. They're #2 on my Last.fm Top Artists this week, right behind Death Cab for Cutie (who had a new album come out recently, mind you.) The best part is, all their songs are downloadable from their myspace.

P.S. I got to meet Matt and Joe last night at our Savannah's show, and I totally fangirled to Matt. Hopefully he isn't creeped out to play with us in June.

Catch them and us:
June 13th, 2008
The Muddy Cup in Albany, NY
8:00 PM, Free
along with Greg Pier

Listen:

Saint Ukraine - Sirens and Packages

and of course get the rest at the myspace.

Check back for Part II of this series: Three Local Bands I Would Love to Share a Bill With

Website

Mitch, our bassist, best known as the more macho member of our rhythm section, also knows his way around the old computer. He has been diligently wasting time at work making our new band website: www.seaoftrees.com. I'm still trying to pay off my $0.12 a week share of the cost of the website domain, but after all, I am just a lowly college student/amateur indie-folk star.

Anyway, the website, (which, if you're reading this, you probably already know about. Also, who is actually reading this?) is semi-live, with music, lyrics, and a sweet slidey-picture-thing that is only going to get more kick-ass because Mitch has a polaroid camera and I fully intend to use it at our next practice.

My favorite part, though, is the plethora of inside jokes. All the quotes that show up above the menu on the right side of the page have indeed been said at one point. You totally got the scoop here. So now you can impress your friends with your insider Sea of Trees knowledge. Here's some more for bonus points: Ian loves rocks. Like, has a deep, passionate, love for rocks. So I think people should start bringing him rocks. Seriously. It'll be the new thing. Just try not to throw them on stage because, well, that may cause some damage and Dylan hates getting his hair messed up by flying limestone.

So, SeaofTrees.com. Live it, love it. or something.