Rock the Vote

Summer is over and we're gearing up for my favorite time of year, when the days are short, the sky is dark, the weather is miserably cold, and I can disappear into my hobbit hole to be angsty. Yeah...I know I'm not right in the head.

In other news, we're in the running to be the New York Press best new emerging artist. This is maybe my least favorite kind of competition... because although we were chosen to be in the finals based on talent, it's now just a popularity contest to get your friends and family to vote on you.

And having a lot of friends has never been a strong point for me (see paragraph 1).

So when you get a chance, hop on over to the site and just scroll down to vote for Clinical Trials as your favorite friend's band...I mean "new emerging artist..."

http://nypress.com/flex-126-new-music-competition.html

If we win, this is how we'll celebrate:



In other news...this week's show:

Don Pedro's
Saturday, Sept 12th at 9pm
90 Manhattan Avenue
Bushwick NY

with Cinema, Cinema

More Boat

Thought you might enjoy a few more photos from the night...courtesy of Donna Rizzo.

A sip of Vindaloo.



Every party needs a good...blood ocean.



UN:ART:IG put together this video with part of our performance and an introduction from Richard Vindaloo:



...and another of Miho Hatori's set:



The best part is at around 2:30 when some clueless creepster tries to grind on her and she punches him.

Boat Party

So Saturday morning I got a few messages about this cool boat party that takes place in Bushwick. I guess someone bought and converted an old Staten Island ferry which has quickly become a hot party spot for hipsters, dance freaks, and the occasional musical act, including Miho Hatori (of Cibo Matto and Gorillaz).

As I'm filling out the RSVP form, I get a text from Dan (our drummer):

"You around tonight? Nate is trying to book us for this boat party in Bushwick."

So... the afternoon was a bit chaotic. Victor, our synth player, was in Boston. We waited a while to hear whether it was confirmed. I tried to figure out what I would need to bring for backline and who was coming with us. But the stress was so worth it.

This place is hidden on a canal in Bushwick. Partygoers RSVP to the site, get a secret location where the shuttle bus gets them, and then travel behind a junk yard and through a narrow, shoddily constructed walkway, where they are greeted with fake snow, fog, and splash off water from the above ground pool that now rests atop the ferry deck.

Rain threatened to keep the audience thin, but eventually it subsided while the band got a little tipsy and gave Dirty Santa our toy list...



Later, Donna and I flanked Julie, aka The Party Goddess:



To be honest, I thought our set was pretty sloppy and I'm pretty I forgot to say our name, but we did have a stellar time...

Flight Playlist

I was in a weird mood coming back from Chicago Monday night...epic, heavy songs were on heavy rotation:

School of Seven Bells - "Iamundernodisguise"
Depeche Mode - "I Feel You"
The Arcade Fire - "My Body is a Cave"
Xiu Xiu - "I Luv the Valley OH!"
CAN - "Vitamin C"
PJ Harvey - "Plants & Rags"
Yoko Ono & Jason Pierce - "Walking on Thin Ice"

We have a huge show Friday at Shea Stadium (not THAT Shea Stadium). This new, confusingly named venue provides from multitrack recording for all who play there, so we'll be releasing the live recordings after the show. If you come by, let me know so I make sure you get a free copy...

Heat Wave

Man, it is really freakin' hot in my apartment. The dog has been hiding in some secret less hot corner of the closet all day and I've been sitting in front of the fan with one of those spritzing water bottles in my underwear.

Too much sharing?

We rocked it at Staten Island this weekend. Exhibit A:



For me the highlight is the very end, thanks to AJ. You'll have to watch it to see what I mean.

We also played the Antifolk Fest last night at Sidewalk Cafe, which was a bit of a disappointing homecoming for me.... the energy just wasn't there in the beginning of the set. However, at some point you just have to say f*#% it and start your own mosh pit.

If you're interested in joining my ongoing mosh pit, come out tomorrow at 9:30ish - we're playing The Charleston on Bedford Avenue in Williamsburg.

Oh, and I've been uploading videos from our shows to our new youtube channel:

www.youtube.com/user/clinicaltrialsmusic

I've been having a little trouble with the quality and streaming (especially when I use Safari as my browser...go figure) and a little tip I heard was that if the videos are jumpy add one of these strings to the end of the URL -

&fmt=8
&fmt=18
&mft=22

I don't know what it does, from a technical standpoint, but usually it works if your videos are jumpy or skipping. I'm here to help, people.

In the news...

As we gear up for Staten Island and my glorious return to the Antifolk scene this weekend, we'd like to link to some awesome press we recently got from one super cool music blogger and the Deli Magazine's front page.

Check out Billy Suede's kind words about Clinical Trials and subscribe to his blog because it's a great way to find great new music.

We were also mentioned on The Deli Magazine's main page blog, but they move pretty fast at Deli, so by the time you read this you'll have to scroll down quite a bit to find us.

Battle Scars & Boston Fun

My girlfriend says I shouldn't throw my guitar.



Glasses courtesy of Creepy Guy, who later engaged in some inappropriate back touching.



Victor loves to stand next to air conditioners.



Boston, or whatever.



That pizza was ordered around 3pm the previous evening. It slept on my air mattress...we might have spooned.



It's unclear what would cause a large circular patch of bush to turn that particular shade of reddish brown, but my guess is that there are a lot of pyros in Boston.