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First, we have confirmation that there will be a Bora plush, based off of his ‘Lemon Tree’ episode of 15 Seconds of Bora:

Watch their tiktok revealing the design: https://www.tiktok.com/t/ZTYneuhUo/

But that’s not all!

A couple days ago youtooz tweeted a teaser confirming Tally Hall vinyl figures of all 5 members!

Youtooz news claim that they will drop on January 17th, so prep your wallets for next week, because Youtooz releases are limited!

EDIT: News! Youtooz have confirmed the release date of January 17th and reveal the figures in full

Check out the full collection on their website: https://youtooz.com/collections/tally-hall
They will be sold for $29.99 each (Not including shipping) and will be available for 4 weeks only

note that the Tally hall plushies are all sold out, and likely won’t be coming back.

The earliest one I can currently find was uploaded to the Miracle Musical account, and was titled ‘Floating On Your Memories‘. It went up on the 17th of July 2020, and remains removed from most accounts, but still marrs the official Miracle Musical account on Tidal.

Tally Hall would then fell victim to a fraudulent upload soon after on the 30th of July 2020, where a low-effort song called ‘Walls‘ was uploaded under the Tally Hall name. It was a very uninspiring instrumental electro song, fraudulently uploaded in an attempt to garner more streams, and in turn, more revenue. It was swiftly removed, but that did not stop the fraudsters.

In 2022 Ross called out Spotify for allowing fraudsters to upload works in their name:

And when it happened again, a year and a half later, he called it out once more:

Around October last year, Joe Hawley’s streaming accounts were inundated with low-effort tracks uploaded in his name. I won’t go into them, because they were done for attention, and to give them attention is giving them what they want. But know that they were incessant, childish, and uninspiring. At the same time other songs would get uploaded as Spotify “Podcast Episodes”, including Rob Cantor’s ‘Going Purple‘. Regardless of the format they are uploaded, it is still fraud.

Joe would go on to delete his DistroKid due to repeated fraudulent uploads in his name. Saying:
“To anyone concerned: I had to cancel DistroKid because the account was too hackable; a more professional “label” may be in the cards at some juncture. Thank you all“.
Note: Joe saying the account was “Hackable” is a misnomer, as there was likely no forced entry into his account. The fraudster most likely employed the classic distribution service loophole by setting their name as ‘Joe Hawley’, and due to there being no Two-Factor Authentication, it was uploaded without approval.

Today, in 2024, it’s still happening.

You might have seen the AI generated slop titled “Lost In The Shadows” that was uploaded to the ミラクルミュージカル account earlier last month, or the version of The Mind Electric that was uploaded as “Un Released” when in reality it was released, as it’s the Cojum Dip instrumental, as featured on Hawaii: Part II Part ii, released in 2014. Both of these instances are cases of fraud.

You may have seen that Joe Hawley’s singles ‘Special’, as well as ‘Yes Please &/Or Weird Bed’ have been “re-uploaded” to streaming services, but why would Joe reupload these songs after denouncing DistroKid so vocally? Well, since we at Hidden In The Sand have seen streaming fraud time and time again, we know the telltale signs, and we will deconstruct them here:

Special

The original Spotify upload for Special:

The Reupload:

Notice how ‘Nabors’ is no longer credited, We have also been keeping track of uploads via the Tally Hallmanac, and as we reported there, the original was released under ‘729374 Records DK’, DK being short for DistroKid. If you don’t put anything in the ‘Record Label’ section of the DistroKid upload, one is generated for you using your account number; this unique number is different in the reupload. The reupload was listed as ‘8024327 Records DK‘, which almost completely proves that this reupload was done by a different user.

Yes Please &/or Weird Bed

The original upload:

The reupload:

(These screenshots were taken in different clients, so bare with me)
Once again, we have the wrong date, with the reupload saying it was released on the 14th of February, instead of the 15th. As we reported on the Hallmanac, the song was a Bandcamp exclusive for the 14th, and was released to streaming on the 15th. And again, copyrights and publishing being 2024 instead of the original 2019.

Yelwah Eoj Yelwah Eoj

The original upload:

The reupload:

First, and biggest slip up: the Y is lowercase on the re-upload! Rookie mistake! Second, the streaming numbers for the backwards songs have disappeared, leading me to think that this is a reupload rather than a renewal of service. The publishing and copyright information has been updated to 2024, instead of it’s original publishing year of 2019. Also, most all of the tracks are, inexplicably, different lengths.

While you may be celebrating that your favourite song is back on your favourite streaming service, remember, fraud could happen to you. In this current climate, someone could take your work, reupload it somewhere else, and make money off of it. And that’s really uncool.

And if you’re the person doing this, I want you to know that just because it’s not on your favourite streaming service, does not give you the right to take it, and upload it wherever you please and potentially make money off of it. Even if you don’t plan on “making money” from it, or “donating the money to charity” IT IS STILL FRAUD, AND IT IS STILL A CRIME.
Spotify has this really cool system called ‘Local Files’ in which you can upload your local files and listen to them on the go.
Most all Tally Hall & related works are on Bandcamp, (As well as really cool demo albums which aren’t on Spotify) just pay for them once and you own them forever! Bonus points: The original artists get a fair share of the money!

It’s worth noting that a similar situation happened with the artist Lemon Demon, who had many of his early albums uploaded to Spotify illegally. This has since made it impossible for Needlejuice Records or Neil Cicierega to upload these albums onto Spotify officially, due to the way Spotify handles repeated uploads of the same content. If unofficial uploads continue, it could lead to a situation where members of Tally Hall can’t upload songs to streaming services because of these unofficial illegal uploads.

Please,
be respectful, and be good.
Thank you

(Co-written by Hailey Carol)

EDIT: The Joe Hawley ‘Fraudsters’ have come forward publicly and have reached out to us.

Reddit users Salty_Principle_109 and OtherGuyWhoDidIt have come forward in a public post, apologising for their misdeeds. The post reads:

Apologies to Joe and to you all

To Joe Hawley and the Tally Hall community,

I want to sincerely apologize for what I’ve done. In trying to bring the music back to Spotify, I crossed a boundary that I now fully realize should never have been crossed. It was wrong, and I take full responsibility for my actions. While a friend helped in this, I want to be the one speaking on behalf of us both.

I live with schizophrenia, and sometimes it makes me feel an intense connection to things I care deeply about, like Joe’s work. That connection became unhealthy and led to a decision I deeply regret. This doesn’t excuse what I did in any way, but I wanted to share the context behind my actions, even if it’s hard to admit.

I’ll be taking down the songs we uploaded because it wasn’t our place to share them. If it wasn’t Joe’s choice, it shouldn’t have been ours either.

To Joe and the Tally Hall community, I’m truly sorry for the harm I’ve caused. My actions came from a place of admiration, but I see now that I went about things in the worst way. I’ve learned from this, and I’ll work to make sure I never let my emotions lead me down this path again.

Thank you for taking the time to read this. I hope, in time, you can forgive me. <3

the songs will take some time too be taken down so enjoy them while they are up.
also we are not related to the murder drone thing or previous hacks.

Night 2 was relatively close to home for me, so it was just a 3 hour drive down to the nation’s capital for another night of excellence from the green tie himself. I had VIP access once again, and got to have a lovely rooftop meetup with Jukebox the Ghost, who had complimented my Edu Shirt, claiming that they haven’t seen one in a while, and that they were impressed. Tommy Siegel had actually asked the other’s if they had listened to Sketches 3D before, which I thought was nice. They seem to be very fond of Andrew’s work. After that meetup, and another Q&A with Jukebox, I made my way down to the front of the stage with a new group of concert friends. I was again joined by my friend Melody, as well as some new faces both local, and from the HITS Discord server, among that group being my friends Miles and Harmony.

It was a relatively long wait for Andrew to come on, and I only saw him once before showtime on his way to get ready for the night’s events. After some more waiting, the lights dimmed and Andrew walked on stage, once again joined by the amazing Illicit Ghost as well as a guest guitarist Marcio Philomena. The three of them played a very similar set to that of Chicago, with fan favorites like Miss Melody, HEY YOU!, Taken for a Ride, and of course, The Whole World and You. In lieu of Fate of the Stars Part 3, Andrew played “You” for the first time in a few years. It was an absolutely beautiful performance of an often overlooked song (And yes, I am guilty of overlooking You).

Andrew and Illicit Ghost performed a few of their new tracks: Good Morning, Mr. Butterfly, Monsters, Fishes, Worlds in my Head, and Someone WIll Be There. Those last two in particular are my favorites of the new lineup. The development of Worlds in my Head from its debut in New York City until now has been one of my favorite parts of the Edu live show journey, and I cannot wait to hear a finished studio version. I also must note that Someone Will Be There continues to be an emotionally moving piece, especially when performed live by Andrew and Illicit Ghost. Their chemistry together as performers as well as artists really brought out the emotion in the piece, and brought tears to my eyes.

The last note I have on the performance is my disappointment with the crowd during The Whole World and You. During the segment of the song where people typically clap along, it was only my group as well as a couple others who joined in. Going from the whole venue in Chicago clapping along to just the few of us left me feeling rather saddened by the crowd’s enthusiasm, so I hope that the performance in Boston will make up for that.

All in all, I’d consider the show a complete success. Andrew and Illicit Ghost prove time and time again that they can give a damn good stage performance. Andrew always brings that little but of charm that makes him a good performer. To match the “glasses falling off incident” of Chicago, this time he forgot some of the words to HEY YOU! And that’s okay! He said that “There’s just so many words to this one, so many changing verses, it’s hard to remember!”. Thankfully the crowd didn’t give him a hard time.
Illicit Ghost once again showed that she is a perfect performing partner to Andrew, her harmonies striking all the right spots in each and every piece. I was very impressed at Marcio’s captivating guitar work for this set, it really brought a new vibe to the songs that were played, and I welcome it! My final note for the performance is that the lack of percussion for HEY YOU! And Taken for a Ride was a stark contrast to what I was used to, and yet the songs didn’t feel hollow, they just felt like Andrew bringing his somber energy to admittedly energetic tracks, and I think the change up as quite nice to see.

After the show was done, there was a short intermission between sets in which I talked to quite a few fans. It’s always super lovely to be able to talk face to face to other fellow Tally Hall/Edu fans, and this was no exception. I had moved away from my front row spot to allow for some Jukebox The Ghost fans to have their turn in the front. I accompanied my friend Miles in the corner of the venue to get a view from the side stage. Despite having the speakers nearly blowing my eardrums out, Jukebox the Ghost put on yet another stellar performance of their debut album, “Let Live & Let Ghosts”. I can’t stress enough how good of a stage presence these 3 put on, I highly recommend catching any of their shows if they come to your area.

After one of the songs they performed during their second set, they told a story about seeing Tally Hall together while they were still just a fledgling band, and that one of them had given their demo CD to Andrew, and that to this day, Andrew has gone to every Jukebox the Ghost performance. It’s touching to hear that Jukebox and Andrew have such a solid relationship with one another, and it’s a true testament to the power that music can have on people.

Right before we all left, we reconvened with Andrew on the upper level, where a large group of us formed a line to have our chance to talk to Andrew. I must commend Andrew once again for really taking each fan into consideration, giving us each ample time to talk, ask our questions, and take our pictures. Eventually it was my turn to talk with Andrew, and he remembered me from last time. After exchanging a few words, Andrew noted that he had brought me something and went to retrieve it. After emerging from a back hallway with a manila envelope, he apologized to everyone else for not bringing enough, and while yes I was worried that the crowd would be upset, they were quite encouraging of the upcoming exchange. It was particularly nice to know that they felt I had earned whatever was about to enter my possession.

After a solid few moments of anticipation, Andrew pulled out 2 very special discs from the envelope. A copy of Party Boobytrap, as well as a Tally Hall Internet Show Sneak Preview DVD with the Natural Ketchup skit on it. Needless to say, I was floored. He had not only remembered that I asked about PBT in Chicago, but also that he fulfilled my request and brought it for me AND That he thought about me along the way. It was a truly touching gesture by him, and a moment I will never forget.
He signed my setlist and WTTH Photo, we got a picture, and I moved to the back of the line. The remainder of my time was spent engaging with other fans and generally having a good time.

After everyone had their turn and had left. I spoke to Andrew just one last time to get my Good Day single signed, and to give him the developed photo we took together in Chicago. I got to share a few words with him in an interaction that I also will never forget. I thanked him for everything that he had done that night, and for being so patient with and interacting with all the fans equally.
I shared my excitement for the finished version of Worlds in my Head, as well as some other positive words. It was at the end that I confided in him some words about Someone will be There. The week before the show was not an easy one for me, and the night before was exceptionally a bummer, so I shared with him that his song really touched me in a way I had not expected it to, being the light at the end of a strain of bad days. I told him that Tally Hall had always been there for me during my darkest moments, and I think that resonated with him. It was amazing to know that he shared the same sentiment, and that he was happy his work had struck such an accord with me. We hugged and I departed the venue, but not before double checking that Andrew was still keeping his big promise for Boston.

After rushing to the Metro, and finally getting to my car. I immediately listened to Party Boobytrap in all its glory. I then made the long drive home with my bounty and had quite the story to share the next day. I will admit that I had an absolute hay day with Hailey while ripping and scanning the discs, as well as making entries on Discogs. Just some of the many amazing aspects about my “Job” with HITS. It’s always been a labor of love for Coz, Joshface, and everyone who dedicates their time, me included. I highly anticipate the final show in Boston, and am once again reminded that there is Nowhere Else I’d rather be. 

Until next time, stay green and don’t grow daisies for fingers. 

–Ruby Red

I flew out to Chicago all the way from Philadelphia to catch this show, and I am super glad that I did. Upon making my way into the venue, I heard Andrew, Ross, Bora, and Illicit Ghost sound checking, working on tunes like ‘Taken for a Ride‘ and ‘HEY YOU!‘ I was fortunate enough during this time to meet 3 amazing and lovely people who would become my concert buddies for the evening: Bella and her brother Frank, as well as another girl, Elise. I was also accompanied by my good friend Melody and her best friend Maddie. The 7 of us stuck together for the entirety of the night’s events, and I like to believe we form long lasting bonds with one another.

After meeting the talented Jukebox the Ghost, we were given access to the mainstage, where I was lucky enough to catch Ross Federman at an upper booth (Carter Altruda, too) and I was able to speak with them briefly. Ross was super cool about everything despite my rather shaky tone of voice due to the sheer amount of excitement I was feeling. We had a brief chat about the night’s events and how he was nervous about his first stage performance in 13 years, and after some positive conversation, and the promise of a setlist, I made my way downstairs.

Before the big performance, Andrew had come on stage to fetch something, which is where me and my group of friends had congregated, and we got to wave and cheer him on. After more waiting, and an improvised karaoke of “Welcome to Tally Hall” performed by the ultimate concert group, the lights dimmed down and the show started.

The show began when the magnificent Illicit Ghost walked onto stage and began singing the first number, a new song called “Good Morning, Mr. Butterfly”. Illicit Ghost accompanied Andrew, Ross, and Bora for the duration of the show, for songs both new and old. I feel that her contribution to the performance may have been undervalued by other fans/listeners, however I personally feel she meshed perfectly with the songs from ‘Sketches‘ and Tally Hall, and brought forth new and positive vibes to the existing songs. I very much look forward to hearing her vocals on new tracks with Andrew, and she was a delightful addition to a stellar cast.

Other songs continued as normal, with the members absolutely living it up on stage. New songs like ‘Monsters‘, ‘Fishes‘, ‘Worlds in my Head‘, and ‘Someone Will Be There‘ were a joy to hear for the first time, and were living proof that Andrew + Illicit Ghost were equally as good writers as they were performers (However, I’m certain we already knew this). Returning classics like ‘Taken for a Ride‘, ‘The Whole World and You‘, ‘Miss Melody‘ and ‘HEY YOU!‘ were crowd favorites and had everyone with a smile on their face. For seemingly the first time, a finished part of Fate of the Stars was also played, specifically part 3 featuring Andrew’s vocals. I won’t ever forget hearing that one live, it felt like a moment in history. Interestingly, Ben Thornewill of Jukebox the Ghost joined for some vocals on TFAR, and Ross provided an amazing drum breakdown in one of the new songs. During one of the songs, Andrew lost his glasses and the whole crowd had a laugh, another instance of the joy these artists bring to their performances. Lastly, Andrew announced that his new album would be released this year, and it was made in conjunction with Illicit Ghost, and I am beyond stoked to see what direction this goes in. If their songs from the performance were any indication, I’d say they knocked it outta the park.

The show ended to raving applause and as they left the stage, Ross had not forgotten his promise, and provided me with the setlist from the stage. Something I must note is that when everyone was packing up, Elise and I had called over to Bora, in order to get her fanart to him. It was then I flashed my CD copy of the Anthropomorphic Bible Assault EP to see what Bora would say. I think the reaction he had was absolutely priceless and on par with how I would’ve expected him to react. His eyes widened, he stuck his tongue out with a disgusted expression, then walked away, a hilarious way to react and something I will always remember.  The show was over, but that was only half the fun. I got to talk to the 4 of them over the course of the night, as well as to some other amazing individuals, but that means I did miss the Jukebox set, so Jukebox the Ghost if you are reading this, I apologize heavily.

I think it would be best to break down the rest of the events based on who they occurred with, since everything was all sprawled out. 

First, I’ll start with Bora Karaca. Bora seemed slightly apprehensive/introverted at first, but he warmed up to the fan reception pretty quickly. I got to speak with him on a variety of topics, including Cojum Dip, Miracle Musical, as well as him personally. I talked to him about ABA a little and he said that he burnt them for a live show in 2005, which answered a lot of my questions. In regards to Cojum Dip he told me quite a lot, and for his own privacy I will not share certain details unless he gives me permission to do so, but he told me he still has his Bodur Mask, and that he cooks great ethnic food. He is still actively working on tunes and has told me some about his writing process. Whatever he chooses to release, and whatever name he releases it under, I am very much looking forward to what he’s put together. 

Next, I talked to Ross Federman. Ross was very happy to talk with me, and was exactly how kind and respectful you would expect him to be. We talked about HITS, to which he thanked me for my contributions (which truly meant a lot to me). We talked about Miracle Musical also, and the prospect for a future interview to be conducted (which will be happening, hopefully soon!) as well as just a boatload of other things. Ross was absolutely a delight to talk with, I think if he didn’t have other people to see, then we would have talked for hours on end. I very much look forward to seeing him again the next time I have the chance to do so. Also Ross, if you’re reading this, thank you for the drumstick!!

After that, I spoke with Andrew Horowitz and Illicit Ghost. Illicit Ghost by far was one of the sweetest people I have ever spoken with. We had talked about the show, and about the traveling I had done to make it there. She was super interested in hearing about my journey, and offered uplifting moral support on my dreams in regards to HITS and my own record store. I raved to her about her contributions to the performance as well as expressed great interest in hearing all of what’s to come. I cannot wait to talk to her again, which will hopefully be soon! Andrew was super polite and sweet, and really let me yap my ear off to him about everything. He too was appreciative of my HITS work and was happy to know that he inspired my musical journey. We too talked about the show as well as Tally Hall, among other things. He was super lenient about telling me stuff about PartyBoobytrap and 1-1, as well as other tally hall related questions I had. Both he and Illicit Ghost agreed to let me conduct an interview for the new album, that will be released leading up to the new album. All in all, both were extremely pleasant to talk to, I look forward to talking to them again. Andrew, if you’re reading this, don’t forget our promise!! And Illicit Ghost if you are reading this, Keep on slaying up there, you’re doing great :)!!! 

I also got the pleasure of meeting Frankie Cordero, the director of The Whole World and You Music Video. Frankie was also a delight to talk to, alongside his wife Marea. He expressed great joy in hearing TWWAY live and we discussed the behind the scenes process of the video. It was a pleasure to meet him, and he too agreed to an interview on the process of that video. Stay Tuned! Frankie, if you’re reading this, I extend my sincerest gratitude to you and your wife, It was a pleasure to meet you both!

I spent the other bits and pieces of the evening talking with friends, nerding out, buying all the sketches CDs…oops. The night was absolutely unforgettable and was like a living dream to me. I formed new friendships, as well as promising relationships with both members of my favorite band, as well as other amazing and talented individuals. I hope those relationships continue to blossom and pave the way for more new opportunities just like this one. 

One thing I wanted to note separately is that both Andrew and Ross expressed missing Coz when I brought him up, and I was thinking about Coz nearly the whole time. It is with his website, HiddenInTheSand.com, that eventually led me to that night, and it was his hard work that paved the way for all of my experiences with Tally Hall. I would like to extend my greatest thanks and my sincerest gratitude towards Coz. His life’s work has given my life meaning, and I will continue to serve HITS until the end of time. Coz, this one’s for you my friend, may you continue to rest in peace.  

To wrap things up, I did catch Ben Thornewill at the bar before I left, and got a couple signatures and good words in with him. I additionally bumped into Bora outside before making my way to the train station. I spent the next 14 hours wide awake at the airport just thinking about the night’s events and all the positivity I was feeling.

I made it home safe and I carefully displayed some of the many things I had the members sign for me (and trust me, it was a lot, and I am super thankful for that)  

I would consider the 4/27/24 Edu + Friends performance a blowout hit, and I eagerly await the subsequent 2 performances. 

Until next time, stay green, and keep your hummingbirds close. 

-Ruby Red

I had ordered tickets to see Jukebox the Ghost perform the entirety of their Everything Under the Sun album, and just a week before the show, it was announced that Andrew Horowitz (as well as a surprise guest) would be the opening act!

As I arrived in New York City for the big event, a whopping 4 hours away from my home, I shook in excitement as just before the doors opened for us, I watched Andrew, as well as our favorite honorary member Bora Karaca, walk into the building, his first live performance in ~12 years. I entered the venue and I got to witness JTG do a short Q&A and I got to meet them as well.

After I made myself comfortable standing directly behind the sound mixing box, I had a bird’s eye view of all of the impending excitement. The lights dimmed and out walked Jukebox, with Andrew in tow. They did a 20 minute interview for their podcast and before I knew it, it was time to watch Andrew and Bora work their magic.

Time seemed to freeze as I heard the opening chords for Taken For a Ride, and it felt like it was 2006. I was absolutely mesmerized hearing these songs I’ve grown to love be performed for me by the man that wrote them. The high energy of Taken For a Ride, the somberness of Miss Melody, and of course, the absolute bundle of joy that is The Whole World and You.

Hearing The Whole World and You live is something I will never forget, and I was absolutely entranced by every second of it. Andrew even performed some unreleased content that was unnamed. Bora did a fantastic job providing the guitar work that excellently complimented Andrew’s bedazzling keyboard work. The two of them put on an absolute stellar performance that I would watch a thousand more times. The two of them did appear rather nervous, Bora especially, as not a lot of people there knew of Tally Hall, much less of edu. Regardless of this fact, the whole crowd was clapping along to TWWAY and was having the time of their lives. After their set they were met to roaring applause (and my rather boisterous cheering), but the best part of the evening was yet to come.

Towards the back end of the Jukebox the Ghost set, around the last song, it was revealed that Andrew had been watching the performance a mere 10 feet from where I was standing, and in a frenzy to meet my idol I shuffled over to near his seat and waited for my chance to see him. I eventually caught him and his lady friend as they were making their way to leave and I got to have a short talk with him. I was shaking from head to toe and fumbling my words, but my musical inspiration and idol was right in front of me. I made him aware of how much of a fan I was of both Tally Hall and of his solo work (to which he thanked me) and I told him of the work I do with Hidden In The Sand (which he also thanked me for). I presented him with my Pingry EP and a sharpie, and he was very excited to sign it (He showed it to his lady friend, to which he claimed “I haven’t seen one of these in years!”) It was a very happy moment for me.

We closed out the short-lived rendezvous with a picture of the two of us, and a nice hug. Not one of those forced awkward hugs, a genuine hug of appreciation, and it meant the world to me. I honestly had to wait 20 minutes before moving downstairs because I was so anxious. I made my way out (But not before buying edu CDs for all of my friends) and I left.

During my time there I did end up running into my friends Nicky and Jupiter, as well as making a new friend, Melody. I spoke to them about their experiences at this show:
Jupiter said “Andrew was really sweet and really accommodating. He treated me like a regular person. He knew I was a fan but talked to me like a friend. He didn’t make me feel uncomfortable at all even though I was awkward. It was nerve wracking to talk to one of your idols, but he was very sweet.”

It seemed that other people got as lucky as I did to meet Andrew, and I am very grateful for that, it’s not everyday you get to meet someone as kind hearted and genuine as the green tie himself. It also warms my heart that fellow tally hall fans had a blast at the show.

To quote Melody: “It was 10/10. Amazing experience. That was the first and only concert I attended in 2023 and I wouldn’t have it any other way. It was great! It was very surreal getting to see not one but 2 Tally Hall members in person, and I had been dreaming of that day forever. It was so crazy to see him walk out on that stage, it was such a magical moment for me.”

Overall, in my experience, the performance they did was truly stellar, and I will never ever stop telling people about it. If you ever get the chance to see Andrew or any Tally Hall member play live, do it. You will not regret it. I look forward to hearing about any and all of Andrew (and Bora’s) next performances, should there be any. If I had to summarize my experience in one sentence, I would say that Andrew and Bora’s stage presence really makes you feel like No One’s Better Than You.

–Ruby “Daisy Fingers” Red

Since our founder Coz Baldwin’s passing in 2022, I’ve been doing my best to chronicle and archive his achievements with Hidden In The Sand, and in doing so, I found a piece of lost history. A video of Coz announcing a Music Video contest for Hidden In The Sand, on September 1st, 2008:

This piqued my interest, so I went on a deep dive to research the history of the contest. Who entered? Who won? Where are the winnings now? What happened next?!

Well, after the contest was announced at the beginning of September, entries were slow to come in. On September 20th Coz mentioned that he had only received 2 entries:

On October 1st a pleading Tally Hall fan wrote to Coz asking him to “PLEASE extend the deadline” and so it was that the deadline was extended to October 10th.
The final number of entries amounted to 4. One entry was by “BiggestTallyHallFan”, but the video has since been lost to time, unfortunately. But the others remain!

To start us off, we have “gogotrapmap” with their music video for Spring & A Storm:

I find this entry wonderfully charming! I’m not sure if either of these guys are playing the right notes at any point during the video but care and attention has been made to instrumentation, and it’s very clear that these guys are just having fun!! It’s dripping in the 00’s era aesthetic of YouTube, where if you have a camera, a will to create, and an internet connection then by gosh lets do it! In all it’s 4:3 glory, I think these guys capture the fun filled essence, humour, and creativity of Marvin’s-era Tally Hall. Bravo, lads, bravo.

Next up is Natty Snaps / “Number3Pencils” with their music video for ‘Banana Man’:

A fantastically creative approach, snapping their fingers along to the beats, lyrics, whatever sounds are happening. It’s impressive! I’m a good-to-decent finger-snapper, but Natty here is on another level. This rendition is actually reworked from January earlier that year, but this version is an improvement. It’s the hand flourishes are what do it for me. Amazing work; real fun.

And finally, Skye / “HomeStarRunnerTron” with their music video for their cover of ‘Hidden In The Sand’:

If you’re in the Tally Hall fandom and don’t know Skye, then I envy the glorious position you’re in, dear reader. Because Skye is so prolific within the fandom, and their content is an absolute treasure trove that is so fun and charming to consume. Starting with the above, this cover pays such care and attention to the emotive imagery conveyed by the original: imitating the analogue distortion of the audio, as well as imitating retro videos by utilising sepia tones, not to mention the seamless transition to colour partway through. Even going so far as recreating Zubin’s walk during the funeral scene in Good Day at the very end. The contest only needed to be a video incorporating Tally Hall’s music, but Skye put in the extra effort and made their own rendition.

Skye also made a what-might-as-well-be-official music video for “&”, as well as an absolutely transcendent rendition and music video for “Taken For A Ride”.

But back to the story of the 2008 contest: with the 4 videos entered, voting began on October 14th; Held on the HITS forums, the stakes were high:

And to heighten the drama, there was a case of voter fraud!!

Voting ended the night of the October 25th, and with 52% of the votes, Skye was announced the winner!

Coz sent Skye the prizes, and as Skye does, he made a video about receiving their winnings:

I contacted Skye about their entry, and we chatted about the history of the contest.
A lot of the history surrounding the contest can be viewed on the Hidden In The Sand forums. But Skye shared some fun facts from their side of it. The first being that Coz contacted Skye to ask them to enter, and that he still had the original email congratulating him for winning!

He also shared a little bit of behind the scenes content to show how the multi layer effect of having 5 of him in the video was done:

As mentioned in the email above, Skye was working on a lip-syncing video of ‘Ruler of Everything’ at the time, but unfortunately their hard drive crashed before they were able to finish it, so their ‘Hidden In The Sand’ cover video had to make-do.
He still has the broken hard drive in the hopes of eventual recovery, but alas, no luck yet

However, in sharing his ideas, he does have snippets of the lost ROE video, but not enough for a video of the full song. That project unfortunately remains lost to time…

But what is the fate of the winnings? Well, Skye mentioned that they never found a good place for any of his Tally Hall stuff, so most all of it was sent to Zoë / PlayfulPunch, who, alongside Skye, contributed to the We Think We’re Playing In A Band fan album.

And it is with great joy that I reveal that the Comedians of Comedy T shirt is still in Skye’s posession!!

Congratulations, Skye You earned it!

Thus concludes the tale of the Hidden In The Sand 2008 Music Video Contest. A wonderful slice of history that showcases the creativity and inginuity of the fans, as well as the care and generosity of Coz. The Tally Hall fan community still continues to come together to create impressive art pieces, and I am so glad to be here to not only see it, but showcase it.

Thanks to Skye, Coz, Natty Snapps, and gogotrapmap

If you are ‘BiggestTallyHallFan’, or know them / have a copy of the original video submitted for this contest.
Please email me at: webmaster@hiddeninthesand.com

After the band’s hiatus, Remy continued posting their original music to YouTube and Bandcamp – their most recent album, recreation, released in March of 2021 – and remains an avid fan of Tally Hall to this day. Almost 12 years later, on the 2nd of August, 2022, I sat down with Remy to discuss their experiences recording the Remylogues, what being a Tally Hall fan looked like pre-hiatus, and what they’ve been up to since!

***

NYMN: How and when exactly did you find Tally Hall?

REMY: It was probably around the spring of 2005 I first found them – I remember someone I knew at school shared that dancing banana GIF, you know, this one:

And I loved it so much I tried to find out more information about it. After some web searches for things like “dancing banana man,” I ended up finding the Banana Man music video, thought it was funny, and listened to a few of Tally Hall’s other songs, probably on MySpace. I thought it was cool but didn’t get deep into them right away.

That summer, I noticed I had a song stuck in my head and I didn’t know what it was, but then I realized it was the “we think we’re playing in a band” part of Welcome to Tally Hall. At that point, I decided to give their music another listen, and then I couldn’t stop! That October is when the Tally Hall forums opened up and I joined probably that first week or two of them being online.

I kept my eyes out for remotely close concerts and saw them for the first time on December 15, 2005, when they played with Casey Shea in Bound Brook, NJ

NYMN: Out of all the members, you seemed to have the closest friendship with Casey in the Remylogues. How did that come about?

REMY: Haha, that’s an interesting observation! Some of that might just be Casey being the most forthcoming person of that group in general, but he and I did have a nice history. Before that first show of his I saw (when he opened for Tally Hall in 2005), he and I had already connected and communicated on MySpace. I was already a big Casey Shea fan at that point, so a show with him opening for Tally Hall was as much a draw for him as it was for the band to me. In part, that is how I managed to convince my dad to drive me down all the way from New Hampshire to the concert in New Jersey. Two of my favorite artists were playing a show together, what were the odds? At the show, I sang along to his songs, and I even made a joke using one of his song lyrics at one point when his camera battery was low. There weren’t a lot of other people there (if memory serves, the weather was kind of rough that night?).

And then, Casey had actually taken the train out to Bound Brook, and after the show my dad offered to drive him back into NYC since it was on our way back home, and he accepted that offer! It was a nice drive back to the city and I think all that history made it easy for us to have a good rapport.

NYMN: Aw, that’s really sweet! In the Remylogues, I remember you hung around during a Tally Hall soundcheck. How was that arranged? Was it common for them to let you and/or other fans watch the soundchecks?

REMY: That was somewhat common, though it didn’t happen all the time. That would end up happening if you just showed up super early and saw the band well before their sets, if they were in the right mood, and if the venue [allowed] it. Typically if you showed up at the right time and waited outside the venue (’cause where else would you be once you’re ready to wait for the show, anyway?), you’d see them unloading or coming and going and they might have invited you in.

We had dinner or desserts together with the band a couple of times too, including the night of that first Westport CT show that’s in Remylogue I. 

NYMN: That sounds lovely!

REMY: It really was! I never knew if they genuinely liked hanging out with me, or if they were just giving charity by spending some time with me, or both. Especially given our age differences at the time, it was a little unclear. I always felt insecure about whether or not they actually wanted me to be around. I felt like a weirdo travelling so far to see them sometimes, and I probably crossed some boundaries with Internet communication with them sometimes (but then, that’s just what teens do, I think).

NYMN: Some things never change when you’re a teenager! When was your first time meeting all five guys? (and/or Bora?)

REMY: That was the Bound Brook show in 2005. I don’t think Bora was there though. I believe I met him for the first time at the second TH concert I went to, which was at The Blind Pig in April 2006.

Remy and Joe on the 15th of December, 2005 at the Hamilton St. Café in Bound Brook, NJ

NYMN: Oh my God, the famous hat!

REMY: Oh yeah, the hat was mine! And it still is; I still have that hat. Haha, the hat made me memorable on MySpace. My [profile] photo was of me in the hat and it helped people remember me.

NYMN: What were your first impressions of them?

REMY: It was so funny to meet them in person the first time, just because I already had a vague sense of what they were like from watching all their short videos and whatnot. Mostly I was flabbergasted that they were real and alive. They were really much nicer than I expected! To me, at that point, they were the most famous people in the world, but in reality, they were just nice, humble college students just playing in a little band.

NYMN: How old were you at the time?

REMY: I was only 14!

NYMN: Wow! That’s just about as old as I was when I found Tally Hall!

REMY: Amazing.

NYMN: I was 14 in 2018 though. Very different.

REMY: Youngins. 

Here’s a picture of me meeting Bora for the first time, actually!

Remy and Bora on the 8th of April, 2006 at The Blind Pig in Ann Arbor, MI.

NYMN: When did you first get into the online side of things, in terms of communicating with other fans?

REMY: That probably happened when I joined the Tally Hall forums, which I recall I joined in October 2005. I wasn’t involved in the LiveJournal community before that, though I know quite a few other folks were.

NYMN: What was it like?

REMY: It was amazing to find an online community of friends! I have always struggled to make and maintain friendships throughout my life, to communicate with people and find people I felt “got” me and had similar interests to me. Joining the Tally Hall forums was the first time that really changed. I discovered it was so much easier for me to communicate with people in text form instead of in person, and all the Tally Hall fans felt like they were so much more my people than anyone I knew from school or other activities.

We were all so excited about the band and just happy to follow their updates, support them, and talk about them. I was probably one of the louder, sillier participants of the online community. Some people were about very serious analysis and keeping their composure. I was more of a goofball.

It was also just an opportunity to share my life with other people. People on the Tally Hall forums were excited about the music I made, and the little movies I made, and I was excited about the music and creative projects that other folks on the forums made, too. I’m still in touch with a lot of people I knew from back then.

NYMN: I can definitely relate despite the time gap! Especially being the sillier one…

REMY: hehe

NYMN: I know about the forums over on hiddeninthesand, but there were also “official” forums on the tally hall website. Which were you on the most often?

REMY: The officially Tally Hall ones. The HITS forums I think were set up only after the TH site forums were taken down. HITS didn’t even exist when the TH forums were created! Coz fostered the idea for HITS in conversations [on the forums].

NYMN: Oh wow! Why were the official forums taken down?

REMY: I honestly don’t know. I would assume they just kind of fizzled out or something, I’m not sure. By that time Facebook became more popular — some helpful historical context, Facebook didn’t really get a lot of widespread use until probably 2007 or so. I remember joining in 2005 just because my sibling was in college and they could invite me, a high school student, (it was invite-only for a while, and also high school kids couldn’t join for a while either). I also paid less attention to what was going on in the TH community when I was in college because I was going through a lot of stuff.

NYMN: How did TallyCon 2011 come to be? Were you involved in the planning of it at all?

REMY: TallyCon came to be under the understanding that it would probably be the last Tally Hall show, and so a lot of us forum members made an effort to make it to the last show. There wasn’t a lot of planning, just everyone individually trying to make it if they could. On the day of, we tried to figure out how to get a bunch of pizza, though I can’t remember who paid for it. I really can’t remember if we planned anything ahead of time, but I think we all knew to show up early to hang out.

NYMN: Coz credited you with naming HITS. Do you remember the process/reaction to its creation and the part you played?

REMY: It was either on the forums, or in the chat room that we used somewhere, I can’t remember, but probably the forums. Coz was talking about wanting to create a Tally Hall fan site, and we were thinking about what it should be called. I just remember I suggested hidden in the sand, because it’s a cute little name about something kind of off to the side, something a little hidden, like an unofficial fansite, and I also liked that it could be abbreviated as HITS. There were a handful of other names suggested, but HITS seemed to stick the best.

NYMN: It definitely did considering it’s been around for this long! Speaking of the forums, how would you personally describe the forum/online experience for Tally Hall fans in the 2000s-2010s?

REMY: It was fun! It was a nice little community, where you could be silly, where you could be serious about Tally Hall, and where you could meet new people with different lives outside of your own circle. All this was really still before Facebook, before Instagram. These special interest forums were the easiest way to meet people with shared interests in that time, in my experience.

We would speculate about band news, band happenings, talk about favorite songs, rarities and demos, etc. We were also just talking about things unrelated to the Tally Hall, like things going on in our lives, and just silliness. One time the spam bot came and posted something super dramatic, with a bunch of gibberish characters, and a really silly epic stage performance battle photo. I remember someone made a sort of musical trailer based on that spambot post, I still have it.

NYMN: History likes to repeat itself, considering that is exactly how the HITS Discord server is now. Coz even talked about how all the jokes and speculations are the same, even with new fans!

REMY: That makes sense! I don’t know if Coz talked about the profanity filter on the forums, but that became a thing, an inside joke. If you said some bad words it would replace it with “mammals” and other bad words would become “beautiful flowers.” So the joke was you’d get “mammal’d.”

A Tally Hall placemat that came with the Marvin’s Marvelous Mechanical Museum Vinyl “Special Issue” Packet (sent by Remy).

NYMN: What have you been up to since Tally Hall went on hiatus?

REMY: I graduated from college, started work as a software engineer, and moved across the country several times! Lots of life changes!

NYMN: Your original music has a style all your own, but did you take any inspiration from Tally Hall throughout your music career?

REMY: My main musical influences were Elliott Smith and Jeff Buckley; Tally Hall wasn’t a major influence on the songs I released, though they did influence my early music that didn’t really get shared widely.

NYMN: If someone were to listen to any one of your songs, which would it be?

REMY: “still alive” on was never • will never be.

NYMN: End the great debate…Marvin’s Marvellous Mechanical Museum, or Good & Evil?

REMY: Good & Evil all the way!

***

As I sat down to transcribe this interview, I found myself re-watching “TallyCon 2011.” Near the end of the video, after the concert has ended, Coz records a fan named Joy, who says:

“Once upon a time, there was a show. And in the show was a band. And in the band was a soul. And in the soul was us, at Eat’n Park, eating and drinking at one o’clock in the morning.”

The Remylogues are far more than a compilation of silly interactions between Remy and the members of Tally Hall. Each episode shows how strong the connection between fans and an artist’s music can be, and how that connection extends to the other people. The Remylogues are Tally Hall history, that much is certain, but they are also a visual representation of the band’s soul. In fact, I’d argue that the Remylogues are Tally Hall, as they represent everything the band does: local community, friendship, and unapologetic weirdness.

Over 12 years separate me and the last Remylogue, so my experience as a fan should therefore be drastically different. However, I look at the people I’ve met, the places I’ve been, and the person I’ve become, and realize that nothing has really changed. Sure, Tally Hall is no longer touring, and the community is much, much different than it was in 2011, but the soul of Tally Hall is alive and well, untouched and unchanged; it lives on in the Remylogues and hiddeninthesand.com; it lives on through us as fans; it lives in you. 

Coz said in our interview that history likes to repeat itself when it comes to the Tally Hall fandom, and I’ll admit that I didn’t believe him whatsoever. I think it’s safe to say he’s convinced me.

So, whether you’re making art for Tallytober, drafting complex storylines and original characters for Hawaii: Part II, re-enacting “Death Request” word-for-word on Twitter, or simply listening to Marvin’s on your way to work or school, remember that you are the soul of Tally Hall.

You can watch the Remylogues on YouTube and listen to Remy’s original music on Bandcamp.

Thanks again, Remy!

Art by Franch

Author’s note: “Apologies for the lateness of this post! I spent a long ol’ time trying to watch the darn movie, as I didn’t want to report on it without having seen it first, but after a long time trying to get hold of it, it just simply isn’t available in the UK, so if you can, please watch it in my stead, and report back in the comments telling me what you thought!”

On July 27th a new song from Rob Cantor was uncovered, like a nugget of gold from a wild river:

“I Stand By Your Side” is featured in the new Netflix film “River Wild”. It is a soulful tune with a stellar chorus, It’s also available to stream on Spotify and Apple Music. I’ve had it on repeat for a little while, myself.

You can hear a character singing the song in the trailer:

Rob gave us some more information through his instagram stories:

River Wild hit US Netflix on the 1st of August and is available to stream (get it?!) now!
It’s also available in Region 1/ Region A on physical formats, too.

But this isn’t all! Rob has been busy with his regular Disney work, having written for Disney Jr.’s ‘Pupstruction’, alongside regular collaborator Greg Nicolett. Pupstruction is available to stream on Disney+ now.
And Rob continues to compose songs for the still airing Disney show: The Ghost & Molly McGee.

Finally, Hidden In The Sand would like to wish Rob a very belated Happy 40th Birthday for the 26th August. Keep up the good work!

Art by goopy_art

The Tally Hall plushies are 9 inches in height, are made of polycotton, and come sporting the original Marvin’s era outfits and matching ties.

Plushies are available to pre-order now at $29.99 USD each, not including shipping. Before you order, be sure to check out their shipping policy, as Youtooz cannot ship to certain countries and regions.
They’re expecting to ship them by January 15th 2024.

Act fast if you want one though, because they will only be available to purchase for 1 week!

And if you’re feeling lucky, head on over to our Twitter where you could win one of these plushies! All you have to do follow @Youtooz and @HiddenInTheSand on Twitter and repost this tweet:

5 lucky winners get 1 plushie each, winners will be announced on the 12th of September at 12PM PST.
GOOD LUCK!

If you are having any problems with your order, contact support@youtooz.com with your order info. We don’t handle any of their stuff, we just report on it!

But all of us at Hidden In The Sand are very excited to see new Tally Hall merch come to fruition, and are also celebrating the fact that Tally Hall just passed 4 MILLION MONTHLY LISTENERS ON SPOTIFY! WOOO!

Great to see the boys finally getting the recognition they deserve: millions of listeners and cute cuddly merchandise! What more could a band want?

Update: September 12th 2023
Winners have been announced!

Set your alarms and bookmark https://miraclemusicalstore.com

The second CD will include instrumentals from the album, and Variations On A Cloud.

This is not the first time that CDs have been released of Hawaii: Part II, however. The first round of CDs were not available for public sale, instead they were given away as pre-order bonuses, or to those who donated over a certain amount towards the ミラクルミュージカル project, via their website.

Joe explains in the 2018 Reddit AMA:
“There were at one point Hawaii: Part II CDs as bonuses for people who donated to the project, but they technically weren’t for sale, so we limited the run to 100.”

These 100 CDs were printed and sent out in brown paper cases, with personalised messages written in invisible ink on the reverse:

These new CDs will bring official Miracle Musical merchandise into the hands of the fans once more. Because the special double CD is limited edition, will we see a single disc version go up for cheaper? Will the vinyl get restocked? Will we see Hawaii Part II get released onto other physical media, like cassette tape?

Whatever’s the case, these CDs will definitely sell out, just like the vinyl did, so be sure to get in early if you want to get your hands on one!

Update: as of 29th August 2023, these CDs have indeed SOLD OUT!

Cover photo by Miracle Musical

Yours truely speculated on this announcement as being a way to gauge the interest of the product, but the idea has proven very popular in the modern Tally Hall fanbase. Can’t say I don’t want a set of them myself!

The designs come in a cutesy style, with youtooz’ signature closed-eyes-happy-face expression. All the members are sporting their Marvin’s era attire and signature colour co-ordinated ties.

Confirmation that “the plushies are coming” was made true on June 22nd:

The Youtooz account would continue to tease the fanbase with regular tweets (I’m not calling them x-posts, suck it, Elon)

This would continue into July:

And then into August:

The plushie designs proved themselves to be so popular with the fanbase that people started making fan art of them!

The teases were not limited to twitter, either. Youtooz would continue to post about the Tally Hall plushies over on TikTok, including a video which was teased as “20k likes and ill [sic] drop them”. The tiktok post has 31k likes at the time of this post.

And on the 22nd of August they captioned a video of the plushies: “september 8th mark ur calendar”

Marking your calendar sounds like a good idea, as youtooz are traditionally launched with a limited pre-order window. Start saving now, and be sure to follow both the Youtooz Twitter and the Hidden In The Sand Twitter to stay up to date with all news regarding Tally Hall merchandise!

Cover Photo: Youtooz

We at Hidden In The Sand would like to emphasise that Joe is entitled to decency and privacy at this time.
We do not condone his actions or opinions, but please do not dehumanise, or otherwise attempt to erase him from published Tally Hall media.
Furthermore, to echo Andrew’s advice: Don’t engage.
Don’t engage with Joe, and don’t engage with or spread insensitive posts surrounding the topic.
We wish Joe the best, and encourage him to get the help he needs.

The situation is sensitive, ongoing, and information is still incoming; we will report on any changes going forward.

Feel free to continue to enjoy Tally Hall and related media! The art is made for your benefit, and your enjoyment is not for theirs!
& Finally: Take care of yourself.

Having the opportunity to honor Coz in a space where he spent over a decade performing, volunteering and acting as Webmaster of the VPH website, seems only fitting. Coz wished for his memorial to be a time for his friends near and far to gather. All are welcome. There’s no need for formal clothing and flowers. He asked only for you to bring what you’d be comfortable sharing: fond memories, heartwarming tales, special moments and love

Because Coz touched the lives of so many all over the world, those who cannot attend in person are welcome to connect with us via the live stream. (This link will be shared on the day of the event.)
Refreshments will be provided. It is our hope that through this celebration, we will all leave with smiles on our faces from warm memories and Coz’s wonderful spirit in our hearts.

We are accepting tributes, artwork, gifts, and other submissions both physically and digitally. If you would like to submit, please do so through this google form: https://forms.gle/zf2GFb6pWoaoKc9v6

Much Love