Beatnik Turtle: Horn-Powered Geek Rock Goodness

Inbox Infinity. Used up 61% of my Gmail Allotment

noreply@blogger.com (Jason Feehan) — Tue, 27 Jul 2010 06:28:33 PDT

"You are currently using 4565 MB (61%) of your 7479 MB."

I'm not one of these Inbox Zero guys. I have no problem receiving tons of emails, reading them, and letting them just sit there in my inbox. I rarely tag or organize them into folders (unlike what I have to do at my job in order to make Outlook work right). I've used Gmail's search function way too much to know I can rely on it. Plus, I don't delete because I've learned from experience I have no idea which email is important in the future.

I receive a ton of email thanks to the two books I co-wrote, the Electronic Musician column (we told you we're writing for Electronic Musician Magazine right? Er...), the IndieGuide.com site, and Beatnik Turtle alone. That doesn't count all all the bacn -- notifications I subscribe to -- from Facebook, LinkedIn, YouTube, and various indie musician services, financial services, and newsletters. And then there's all the family, friend, and general correspondence stuff. It's all adding up. 61% so far.

Anyone out there who uses Gmail close to 100%? Maybe you've gone past it? I'm curious as to whether you sat down one weekend and deleted all the needless stuff to bring it back down a bit or just said, screw it, my time's valuable and reached for your wallet to pay the great Goog? If you've got any suggestions, please email me -- er, just comment at this blog.

Redesigned the Site!

noreply@blogger.com (Jason Feehan) — Sat, 17 Jul 2010 10:52:14 PDT

We've been silent for awhile, but that's because we've been working hard behind the scenes re-designing our site here and also working on our forthcoming albums (When I Was Your Age and The Best Of TheSongOfTheDay.com). It also didn't help that two of us moved to Ireland in the meantime!

We still have a bit to go on the website (we're currently fixing the plumbing of beatnikturtle.com so it points here), but until that time, please enjoy our Beatnik Turtle Radio. Since we've got hundreds of songs, we designed it so each hour the playlist changes. It's been updated with even more songs. And, like a real radio station, the DJ is powerless and the computer figures out what to play!

Launch BT radio now.

BT on the Geek Pop Podcast!

noreply@blogger.com (Jason Feehan) — Mon, 26 Jul 2010 01:52:46 PDT

This week the Geek Pop podcast played our song Bunsen Burner on their July episode. This online music festival features artists who are inspired by science! After Bunsen Burner you can hear all about their upcoming geeky science song contest! Click here to listen to the episode.

You can get your own copy of Bunsen Burner and support us by purchasing it from iTunes, Amazon, or CDBaby.

To any podcasters looking for music to play, all of our songs are podsafe and free to use on your show. Please contact us if you’d like any songs or info.

BT on the Rock And Roll Geek Show!

noreply@blogger.com (Beatnik Turtle) — Sun, 27 Jun 2010 04:13:47 PDT

Last month our song Mason Rocket (Spy Extraordinaire) was played on the Rock and Roll Geek Show! The host, Michael Butler, played the song as part of his "Listening With Butler" segment and said some very kind words. You can hear Mason Rocket on Episode 398: Laughlin River Run 2010 Recap. We are really glad to be part of a long-running 'cast that showcases indie artists.

As always, you can grab your own copies of Mason Rocket (Spy Extraordinaire) on iTunes, Amazon, or CDBaby and support the band!

And for all of the podcasters out there, our songs are podsafe and can be played on your show or used as theme songs. If you are a podcaster looking for music, contact us for songs and info.

BT on Insomnia Radio Chicago!

noreply@blogger.com (Beatnik Turtle) — Sun, 27 Jun 2010 04:42:53 PDT

This past weekend our song Mason Rocket (Spy Extraordinaire) was played on Insomnia Radio Chicago. Episode 3: A Country Mile features rock bands from all over the Chicago area. Insomnia Radio has seven podcasts, each one playing music from specific cities or regions. We are very excited to be representing Chicago on one of the show's first episodes. Click here to listen to the 'cast!

You can get your own copy of Mason Rocket (Spy Extraordinaire) and can support our music by purchasing it from iTunes, Amazon, or CDBaby.

All of our songs are podsafe and can be played on shows, used as theme songs, and more. If you are a podcaster looking for music, feel free to contact us for songs and info.

BT Featured on The Stone Zone Show!

noreply@blogger.com (Beatnik Turtle) — Sun, 27 Jun 2010 04:13:47 PDT

Our music was featured on the finale of the tenth season of The Stone Zone Show! The hosts Big D and Dr. Dubious played three of our songs: Well Fuck, Speaking of Beer, and The Bong Song. If you couldn't tell by their song choices, this show is about hilarious happenings while under the influence. Click here to check out the episode.

You can support the band and purchase these songs here:

Well Fuck (iTunes, Amazon)
Speaking of Beer (iTunes, Amazon)
The Bong Song (iTunes, Amazon)

Also, for all the podcasters out there, remember that all of our songs are podsafe and free to use on your show. Feel free to contact us if you’d like any songs or information.

BT on The Justin Wayne Show

noreply@blogger.com (Beatnik Turtle) — Sun, 27 Jun 2010 04:13:47 PDT

Last week the podcast The Justin Wayne Show played the BT song Coffee on Episode 90: Bingo!. Justin dedicated the song to a member of the show who is a huge coffee fan (then again, who isn't?). Each episode of this show is jam packed with great tracks all by independent artists. We are glad to be a part of it! Click here to listen to the episode.

You can get your own copy of Coffee and can support our music by purchasing it from iTunes, Amazon, or CDBaby.

Also, if you are a podcaster looking for some music to play, remember that all of our songs are podsafe and free to use on your show. Feel free to contact us if you'd like any songs or info.

Jason's Psychedelic Breakfast

noreply@blogger.com (Beatnik Turtle) — Sun, 27 Jun 2010 04:13:47 PDT

Jason made a full Irish breakfast this morning. Yum.

Exploring Ireland: Guys, Where Are We?

noreply@blogger.com (Beatnik Turtle) — Sun, 27 Jun 2010 04:13:47 PDT

So, two of us --Tom and me -- are over here in Ireland and over the weekend we visited the town of Bray which is just south of Dublin. When we got there we quickly discovered one of the island town's secrets...

Ventless Condenser Dryers Are Useless

noreply@blogger.com (Beatnik Turtle) — Sun, 27 Jun 2010 04:13:47 PDT

We have this combination washer-dryer in our Dublin apartment. It sounded like a great idea, but the damn thing wouldn't be able to dry out an overcooked thanksgiving turkey. Here's what they look like - like a regular front load washer but it has a "dryer" cycle on it:

Now, after about 10 hours on the so-called dryer cycle, this is what you end up with in your living room:

Freaks, Geeks, Cry Babies, and Whiskey

noreply@blogger.com (Beatnik Turtle) — Sun, 27 Jun 2010 04:13:47 PDT

Recently, the folks behind the video blog Geeks Money used our remake of the Irish drinking song Whiskey Yer The Devil in a really fun video about all of our favorite people from grade school. Awesome! Check out their post and the video is below:

Beatnik Turtle is Splitting Up

noreply@blogger.com (Beatnik Turtle) — Sun, 27 Jun 2010 04:13:47 PDT

Yep, you heard right. Beatnik Turtle is officially splitting up.

But, not in the way you might think. That is, we're not breaking up as a band. There's no Yoko Ono, hotel room trashing, band member back-stabbing going on.

But, we are splitting up. About 3600 miles apart, actually.

What, you say?

Well, come Saturday, me (um, Jason, who uh, founded the band) and Tom (who plays all the complicated guitar parts) are moving overseas to Dublin, Ireland. It's a very long story involving our dayjobs, but we'll be over there for a few years while the rest of the band stays here in Chicago. (Hey, someone's gotta watch the place.)

So, after 13 years, Beatnik Turtle will now enter a new chapter and it'll be interesting to see where it leads.

It's a bit sad in that we had big plans to return to the stage and play live. In fact, we did a super double-secret show to an audience of friends a while back to test out some of the (tons) of new material we created during TheSongOfTheDay.com. The show went over well for something thrown together very, very quickly and got us excited about playing live again. But, then well, the Ireland thing soon became a reality and so we had to scrap our any touring plans.

But it's not all sad. It's actually a pretty cool opportunity in that if there's one thing our band has down pat, it's writing music and recording virtually. Just check out TheSongOfTheDay.com and you'll know what we mean. We couldn't have pulled all that off it it wasn't for technology helping a bit.

And now technology will just have to help a bit more.

As a band, we've already worked out how we'll continue forward -- how we'll continue to work together while two of us are across the ocean (email, Skype, Google Docs, etc.), how we'll record overseas in Dublin (Tom and I will be rebuilding our studios over there), and how we'll continue to record the rest of the band here in Chicago (thanks to our good friend, John who's got a state-of-the-art studio just blocks away from our TurtleShell Studios...which is now all boxed up.

So, Beatnik Turtle will be even more virtual than ever before. It's yet another challenge for us, but then it's totally up our alley. We're the "Indie Band Survival Guide" and IndieGuide.com guys as you know. The stuff we learn in collaborating and working remotely across two continents and 6 time zones will definitely find it's way in our writing and the tons of How To's over at IndieGuide.com.

And just so you know what we have planned, we're busy putting the final touches on 3 new albums, all of which should be coming out over the next year:

(1) a reissue and second printing (!) of "Sham Rock";
(2) "When I Was Your Age" (our album from last year's RPMChallenge); and
(3) "The Best Of TheSongOfTheDay.com" (which looks to be a double disc).

And then there's the latest album -- "So Much To Rock About" -- which we just completed in February**. Our plans are to use this album as a test to see how we work together virtually using the interweb. We have plans to record additional songs and material for that album so it's ready for release sometime in 2011.

So, there it is. We're splitting up. But not breaking up!

And so, if you're in Dublin or know people in Dublin, please give Tom and me a shout! We'll be looking for some open mic nights to play...!

**By the way, starting this Monday we'll be posting the songs from "So Much To Rock About" at TheSongOfTheDay.com. So, get ready for 11 weeks of fresh, new music!

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

noreply@blogger.com (Beatnik Turtle) — Sun, 27 Jun 2010 04:13:47 PDT

We Did It! 4th RPM Album Done in 28 Days!

noreply@blogger.com (Beatnik Turtle) — Sun, 27 Jun 2010 04:13:47 PDT

We did it!

Despite two of the band members uprooting their lives to move to Dublin, Ireland in a week (me and Tom), we managed to write and record 11 new songs and mail it to "RPM Headquarters". Over 2000 indie musicians participated this year. Not sure how many managed to finish, but then it's really not a contest (and it doesn't matter: it's an exercise in creativity and motivation).

The album we mailed in is entitled "So Much To Rock About" based on a line in the song, "Hello Guitar (We've Got So Much To Rock About"). It seemed fitting, especially since this will become our 21st album when it officially gets released next year.

As with RPM albums we've done in years past, we'll be posting all the songs up at TheSongOfTheDay.com in the next week or so. Also, while we finished the album for RPM purposes, we'll do our usual and write some more songs and work on the album over the year. We still need to get last year's album out -- "When I Was Your Age" -- and the ever-forthcoming "The Best Of TheSongOfTheDay.com" (which is a double album, so, you know, it's twice the work).

So, there's a lot more music coming from Beatnik Turtle...even if two of us guys are relocating to Dublin for the time-being.

Beatnik Turtle's Music Video Played On SpikeTV

noreply@blogger.com (Beatnik Turtle) — Sun, 27 Jun 2010 04:13:47 PDT

Last May our video for "Star Wars (A Film Like No Other)" was played on SpikeTV. For months the videotape we had of its airing sat on my shelf above the TV. My brother thankfully recorded it, handed me the videotape, and said something about seeing the video and how it was actually "pretty good" which was the biggest compliment he's ever given us. Anyway, I went to watch it, but then realized I didn't have a VCR anymore and so there it sat, on the shelf.

Well, I finally borrowed a VCR and digitized it.

How'd it get on SpikeTV?

Well, it's a long story but basically Tom and I made a video mashup for the song using the great tools at StarWars.com the year before. It got something like 15,000 views and was one of the top videos at the time. That led to Atom.com asking to post it at their site where we became a Fan Movie Challenge Finalist. Then, a few months later, SpikeTV called and asked to play it to help celebrate the 32nd anniversary and promote the Fan Movie Challenge.

It's how things happen nowadays.

Enjoy the video and I'll pass on my thanks to my brother for you.

Working Hard on Our Next Album (RPM 2010!)

noreply@blogger.com (Beatnik Turtle) — Sun, 27 Jun 2010 04:13:47 PDT

In a whirlwind recording session not seen since we did TheSongOfTheDay.com, we managed to record the basic tracks to 11 songs. While that may seem impressive, it's really just drums, bass, and scratch guitars/vocals (which get recorded over). ***

All 11 the songs revolve around music, being in a band, and of course making an album (RPM!).

Working titles to the songs are:

"Earworm" -- about that song you can't get out of your head.

"Dude From Indiana" -- about a guy who's "Rockin' Real Hard To Carlos Santana"

"Hello Guitar" -- about getting back into songwriting and playing after a long time away.

"All The Pretty Girls" -- about girls of course -- the best type of groupies!

"Yesterday's New Today (Get Me Movin')" -- we wrote this song kind of as an anthem for musicians. It's all about how you don't want to work, you'd rather play all day.

"Never Be The Front Man" -- this one's pretty obvious, it's about being second to the front man (think: Oates of Hall & Oates, the poor guy).

"We're Getting The Band Back Together" -- since our album's about music, there was no way in hell we weren't going to write a song based on the classic Blues Brothers line!

"11" -- and speaking of famous movie lines, we realized pretty quickly we needed to have a nod to Spinal Tap.

"Jump The Shark" -- we decided to tempt fate and write about you know, jumping the shark -- the exact moment when you were really good, but now you went downhill.

"Don't Quit Your Day Job" -- now, how could we NOT write this one given what the album's all about?!?

The eleventh song is a different rendition of "Don't Quit Your Day Job". So, that's all we have so far, but we've been known to come up with something at the spur of the moment, so we'll see what develops and what doesn't...

Oh and we're still trying to come up with a name for the album since it's about music. We were thinking "Don't Quit Your Day Job" but that's been done to death.

Other ideas so far include:

"So Much To Rock About"

"Rock and/or Roll"

But, um...that's all we got. If you have any ideas for an album title that fits the theme, we're all ears! Leave a comment, tweet us, email us, whatever...it'll get to us!

***Our record recording session as a band is 14 songs tracked out in one day -- one of which was Pizza: The Rock Opera, so it's actually more than 14, since that song is our 10 minute opus to ordering, waiting, and receiving a pizza. (BTW, you can download Pizza: The Rock Opera here or stream it here at TheSongOfTheDay.com.)

Um, and the record for our drummer -- just recording drums to tracks -- is 36. Yep. John's pretty amazing!

Gearing up to Make a New Album this February - RPMChallenge 2010!

noreply@blogger.com (Beatnik Turtle) — Sun, 27 Jun 2010 04:13:47 PDT

It's that time of the year again.

Our band is gearing up for our 4th RPMChallenge. That's where we make up and record an entire new album of original material in 28 days.

This is our 4th one, so we're excited as ever. But the pre-challenge to the challenge for us is coming up with a theme for the album. Something that can guide all the individual songwriters in the band and help us focus on a coherent whole.

As many of you know, our 3 prior RPM albums have been based on:

- Writing an album looking back to when we were kids which produced songs like My Cereal (which features friends, fans, and many other RPMers on the "Coco Chorus" )!

- Updating traditional Irish pub songs and cranking them to "11" which produced songs like Tell Me Ma which was featured on NPR's All Songs Considered Second Stage.

- Writing an album about work and technology which produced songs like Mason Rocket (Spy Extraordinaire).

Now the question becomes, what will we end up creating this year?

We're working on it!

Now, if you're a musician that follows us because of IndieGuide.com and our books The Indie Band Survival Guide, and/or The DIY Music Manual, then we strongly encourage you to sign up at RPMChallenge and give it a shot.

RPM is not a contest. There's no prizes. It's completely a motivational thing. 1000s of musicians worldwide signup. Many make it to the end. But the community is amazing throughout the process as everyone works to complete their album. It's a great reason to get the creative juices flowing, make an album of new material, and get some helpful feedback along the way by other musicians.

And honestly, what would you be doing in February anyways? It's a crappy month. The weather blows...at least it does here in Chicago.

Happy New Year from BT

noreply@blogger.com (Beatnik Turtle) — Sun, 27 Jun 2010 04:13:47 PDT

From all us Turtles, wishing you a healthy and happy 2010. Party on.

What Exactly is Geek Rock, Anyway?

noreply@blogger.com (Beatnik Turtle) — Sun, 27 Jun 2010 04:13:47 PDT

Given the type and style of music we write, our band Beatnik Turtle is often categorized with the label "Geek Rock". Depending on what song of ours they're listening to, we're often compared to "other Geek Rock bands" like They Might Be Giants, Fountains of Wayne, XTC, Weezer, Ben Folds Five, and Barenaked Ladies or solo artists like our contemporary, Jonathan Coulton.*

But just grouping us with other "geeky bands" that we may sound-like, while extremely helpful in setting potential new fan expectations, doesn't make a good definition of Geek Rock.

To me, Geek Rock is not so much about the music or even the personalities of the artists themselves (though yes, that does spill over into the music), rather it's about the subject matter that's tackled. It's the fascination with focusing on "geeky" things -- placing that interest unapologetically front and center to the music.

So, while I can't come up with a good definition, the way I've been describing Geek Rock in person when asked by people is: if Rock equals "Maybe I'm Amazed" (Paul McCartney) then, Geek Rock equals Maybe "I'm Downright Amazed at What I Can Destroy With Just a Hammer" (a very cool tune by Atom and His Package).

ROCK = MAYBE I'M AMAZED

Vs.

GEEK ROCK = (MAYBE) I'M AMAZED AT WHAT I CAN DESTROY WITH JUST A HAMMER

In other words, it's not so much about the music wrapping, Geek Rock bands can cross all types of music styles -- rock, country, folk, jazz, alternative, grunge, etc. -- so much as the topic that's being sung about.

And that's where our band comes in. We're obsessed with writing songs about things that haven't been put to song. We write songs about Google, IT departments, cereal, pizza, warp gates sucking in kids, blogging, secret agents, Star Wars, interns, obsessive compulsive children, and porn on your computer.

And while we sometimes take the subject matter with tongue-firmly-in-cheek, we always take the music part of the songs extremely seriously -- from melody, to harmony, to recording, to mastering (just download and listen to Pizza: The Rock Opera if you've never heard us before).

Of course, music genres are slippery, amorphous things. Just when you think Beatnik Turtle is completely Geek Rock, we go and record SHAM ROCK, an album of rocked up traditional Irish songs (i.e. Tell Me Ma). Now how does this fit in with Geek Rock?

Uh, I don't know. We just do what we do. Guess we'll have to leave it up to others as to how to categorize that one!

*The interesting thing here however is I remember when most of these bands came out, they weren't labeled "Geek Rock". This is a retroactive term that's been applied to try and capture this hard-to-pin-down genre. This is true for our band well. We started over 12 years ago and the word geek and rock were rarely uttered in the same breath when we took the stage. We were labeled "alternative" (or better yet, "weird") since we had no hope or interest in being mainstream.

Merry Christmas Even Though Santa Doesn't Like You

noreply@blogger.com (Beatnik Turtle) — Sun, 27 Jun 2010 04:13:47 PDT

Every year around this time our "Un-Holiday" album, SANTA DOESN'T LIKE YOU, respawns, er, gets reborn. (Jesus was the world's first respawner, no?). And it's that album as well as all the Un-Holiday songs freely available at TheSongOfTheDay.com that put our entire band in the awkward position of passing on Season's Greetings.

"How can you say Merry Christmas to me when you have a song called Christmas is a Vulture?" they say.

Um, it's satire?

"And what's this about Santa not speaking Spanish? Do you play that to kids?"

Oh, that one. We just thought it would be funny if Santa couldn't speak Spanish. You know, "Santa" is a Spanish word anyway and --.

"Whatever, jerk."

So, just in case you're not that person and won't hold it against us, "Happy Holidays" anyway -- no matter what you celebrate (or don't).

George Hrab on TV Playing "When I Was Your Age"

noreply@blogger.com (Beatnik Turtle) — Sun, 27 Jun 2010 04:13:47 PDT

We were a little late in seeing this, but that doesn't make it any less awesome!

George Hrab -- our mega-multi-talented friend, podcaster, author, and musician -- was recently interviewed on TV - Channel 69, WFMZ (yep, Channel 69, baby!). The interview can be streamed here and is worth watching.

But the even cooler part for us is George played "When I Was Your Age" live. The link to that performance is in part 2 (they link to it here as well). See if you can spot George's cool, new lyric changes from the studio version we recorded back in February.

Way to go George. Great interview, great song. Thanks for the shout-out by the way!

Housing Bubble

noreply@blogger.com (Beatnik Turtle) — Sun, 27 Jun 2010 04:13:47 PDT

Looks like we're not the only band that has a housing bubble song. Dave from Blimp sent us a link to their video. Damn funny.

Command Line, Back Again

noreply@blogger.com (Beatnik Turtle) — Sun, 27 Jun 2010 04:13:47 PDT

Last weekend at Dragon*Con, BT, represented by our own Randy Chertkow, had its third TCLP Interview with the Command Line himself, Thomas Gideon. To give it a listen, just click here.

By the way, as Randy clearly states, some members of the band are not wimps for not making it to Dragon*Con. However some might be Bedwetters.

Drunk Man's Junk

noreply@blogger.com (Beatnik Turtle) — Sun, 27 Jun 2010 04:13:47 PDT

This week's song at TheSongOfTheDay.com tells the tale of the "Drunk Man's Junk," based on actual events. It goes back to Dragon*Con 2008 when it was told to us at a party by Dave Slusher, one of the world's first podcasters and the mastermind behind The Evil Genius Chronicles Podcast. Apparently an individual in a kilt drank one too many beverages and passed out in a public spot displaying his, er...um..."junk" until a fellow party-goer took the initiative to, uh..."fix" the problem.

Dave wondered if he wrote the lyrics, could we write the music? We of course agreed and so Dave penned the lyrics to the tune and handed it off to us to record as soon as we had the time. We recently grabbed our guitars, cranked our amps, and did a few lyrical touch-ups (adding the moral of the story). So, here it is, one year later, our collaboration in "all its glory." Enjoy!*

*Remember to drink responsibly (that is, don't wear a kilt and decide to go commando when you decide to party all day, okay?)

DragonCon, Just Plain Folks, and Best of TSOTD

noreply@blogger.com (Beatnik Turtle) — Sun, 27 Jun 2010 04:13:47 PDT

Lots going on lately. If you've been following our Twitter Tweets, you know our away team hit the JPF Awards last weekend where Sham Rock was a finalist in the Celtic music category. This week-end, Randy Chertkow is going commando into the very heart of Atlanta at Dragon-con. We hope to hear many Tweets and see lots of twitter pics.

Also this weekend, Jason and Tom are making a big push to get Best of TheSongOfTheDay.com albums ready for this fall. Which of the 365 songs made the cut? Stay tuned to find out.