We are getting all geared up for another fun trip to Austin, Texas for SXSW. Our loving hosts THE BLACK ANGELS will put us up again and there will be many songs sung around the campfire after our shows for the day are played and I am sure we will visit a train or two. We have a blast every year. The food, the music, the people, the food, the music. So good. We will probably make our daily pilgrimage to TORCHY’s! where we will eat Republicans, (you would never believe how good they are – I encourage you to eat one today) Mr. Pinks (seared tuna!) and White Trashes. YUM!
We usually get confirmation on new shows on the trip down so this list is likely to GROW as it usually does. I think we had 5 shows on the books last year but ended up playing 12 including an “official” show so keep your eyes and ears open. We may have some pyrotechnics if we play outdoors (safety first) so be watching for giant mushroom clouds.
We are honored and excited to be playing LA’s Little Radio show. This is going to be a good one for sure. That “TBA” that appears last right after us WILL BE A SURPRISE I promise you!!
We will be playing a few shows with our friends on the way back including a show in LA with SPINDRIFT and THE GREAT AMERICAN MUSIC HALL in San Francisco with DEAD MEADOW! Plucky says it is his favorite place to play ever and that is saying alot because he has played some of the best halls around the world. Can’t wait!
We hope to see you somewhere. We should have HUMAN DESTINATION copies on VINYAL buy then so come get yourself one or two. Robert Hardgrave’s art is going to be stunning at that scale.
Stay tuned for the latest info. I will get WordPress for the iPhone dialed in so we can update this page on the road.
The Austin Psych Fest 2 was so fun to play last year in Austin. It was our second year to perform there and we got to hear so many great bands right in the birthplace of psychedelic rock and roll. It was dreamy. You can imagine our excitement when we just found out that it is now available on DVD. It features performances by us (The Upsidedown), Dead Meadow, Wooden Ships, A Place to Bury Strangers, The Shine Brothers, Sky Saxton of the Seeds, and a bunch of other really interesting bands. The DVD is available here.
We have been getting some airplay on network television lately and we just received word we are going to be coming up on new episodes of THE VAMPIRE DIARIES,- song “Pepper Spray” (Thursday, January 21st on CW) and DAMAGES, -Starring Glenn Close – song “Halo” (Monday, January 25th on FX).
A couple of weeks ago our song “If You Are Hell Girl” made it on an episode of “Sons of Anarchy” on FX which is very cool. Past episodes have included a lot of bands that we like and or respect like The Black Keys, Big George Jackson, Fu Manchu, Katey Sagal, Warlocks, Monster Magnet, Black Mountain, The Toadies, Hill Stomp and Andy Williams. The episode we are on is called “Small Tears,” which is the second show of the second season. Watch it.
NBC has a new series called “Trauma” and our song “Hey Man I’m Kissing the Angel’s Shoes” is featured on the second episode called “All’s Fair.” It was the first time any of us had seen the show. I personally got pretty caught up in it and at the end there was this really sad scene and our music started fading in and I might have cried a little bit. Gosh I hope that lady is OK. Will we find out what happens to her next week? Will Trauma use any more heart wrenching songs from The Upsidedown? Stay tuned! Watch it here.
Some of the songs from “Human Destination” have been included in the recent indy film “Water Wings.”
“Water Wings” is an improvised drama about a young man who is given the boot by his fiance after an unsuccessful stint in drug rehab. Miserable, he travels to San Diego to see his childhood girlfriend to hopefully get his life back on track. When he arrives and sees her for the first time in years, the rainstorm begins to clear. As they traverse the landscape of sunny San Diego and rediscover their friendship, the young man begins to heal from the wreckage of his past. Continue reading ‘Soundtrack for “WATER WINGS”’
Even though they don’t make Macs the people at Dell do have some good taste. They just introduced a new line of studio ready laptops that feature the same artist we used on our newest release “Human Destination.” Robert Hardgrave and a handfull of other artists were selected by Dell to be featured on the skins of their new Studio Series Laptops. If I wasn’t a Mac guy I would by one because they really look amazing.
Here is a video the people at Dell just released showing Robert at work.
Our song “Ernestine” from “Human Destination” was chosen for the “Strung Out Psychedelic Compilation” in the UK and we are in pretty good company (see the list below).
“The launch of the most talked-about long-anticipated, world-class psychedelic double disc CD featuring the very best acts.”
Brian Jonestown Massacre
A Place To Bury Strangers
Dead Meadow
Floorian
Darker My Love
Caribou
Findlay Brown
Calexico
Working For A Nuclear Free City
Spectrum
Sad Day For Puppets
The Deer Tracks
Mint Ive
Exit Calm
The Upsidedown
Belles Will Ring
Sweet Jane
The Keys
Featuring the best of The Prids’ music performed by:
The Upsidedown, A Place To Bury Strangers,
The Green Circles, Charmparticles, Hearts Fail,
and many more great bands.
All who love and have been influenced by their music.
Sales of the record will help with medical expenses
incurred after their 2008 van accident while on tour.
Much love to The Prids!
Click the record to get it now!
Ok so we had a blast at SXSW. We played lots of shows, got a bunch of new fans that said we were the coolest show at SXSW which makes all of the trouble seem totally worth it. Speaking of trouble… We are now snowbound in Wyoming and SteveVan is sick. Hopefully just a little altitude sickness. Waiting for the mechanic so we should know soon. We are not going to be able to make our show at Salt Lake at the Urban Lounge and we are sad about that but we just got news that we were mentioned on wired.com so that is warming our hearts some.
The last show Matt was finally able to unleash the pyrotechnics he has had up his sleeve and the crowd loved it. He can’t wait to play another outdoor show now. Umm that is all for now… The mechanic is ready up see Steve. Bye.
This is our favorite place to play/stay.. This historic hotel is such a treat because the sound is good the people are friendly and you can just go upstairs to your room when the show is over which probably won’t happen but it is nice to know there is a cozy bed just up the steps.
Hey the Wordpress for iPhone just worked great so hopefully we can write and post pictures from the road now.
Below are some pictures I took durring our soundcheck.
Not sure of all the bands playing tonight but the first one has like 14 some odd people in it. I bet they are good but not as odd as us.
We are a band from Portland Oregon. We travel around in our van Steve and play music for people. We think it is fun and it feels like we are doing something important. Especially when you say it is. We are honored to make music for you. Here is the newest! >
LITTLE RADIO SHOWCASE -FRIDAY MARCH 19th at RED EYE FLY.
