Category Archives: GTG Activity

News!

We will be repressing The Break-Ups/ Head and Toe “GTG Sessions” split, The Plurals “Broadside Sessions EP,” and The Break-Ups “Skulls and Stuff” in October, so, fear not, they shall be available again soon. We’re aiming to have them on the streets again for the October 2nd Plurals/ Cartridge Family show at Sun Theater in Grand Ledge, MI. Also… The Plurals “Close Your Eyes and Floor It” live album should be available at this date as well.. keep your fingers crossed!

Plurals: “Whatevers Forever” is getting a nice national push through our friends at Raptor’s Delight PR. Expect some more reviews and stuff showing up soon. In the meantime, The Plurals have just recorded a track for an upcoming Devo tribute album to be released by GTG and The Wind Records this Christmas. Also on this album will be Calliope, The Cartridge Family, Narc Out the Reds, Gates of Steel, Johnny Unicorn, Cavalcade and oh so many other great bands. Yes! Michigan dates are booked through the beginning of November (make sure to catch The Plurals w/ OH MY GOD and Hat Madder at Mac’s Bar on October 25) followed by a brief midwest tour, and then it’s time to bunker down in the studio! With any luck, “Whatevers Forever” will be nicely buzzed, and then we take advantage of it with a new record in mid-10. Eric Merckling is working with the band again (on the Devo track as well as the new record) and we wouldn’t have it any other way.

J. Quentin/ Small Houses: Jeremy Rizik is chipping away at a record with John Krohn at his Deep Pink Studios in Lansing. Lots of cool folks have popped up on this record, including former members of Head and Toe and The Verve Pipe… should be cool! He’s playing in East Lansing at (SCENE) tonight, followed by a show in Philadelphia tomorrow night… fun stuff! His neverending tour picks up in Houghton, MI on September 30, whirling around the midwest for several weeks thereafter.

The Break-Ups: In addition to those new pressings mentioned above, The Break-Ups will soon be recording their smoking cover of KISS’ “Sure Know Something” for a GTG KISS tribute to come in early 2010. Not much to report on the live front, but the band should be hitting the studio in October to track some new material… stay tuned!

Too Much Too Fast Too Soon: The hard partying punky gentleman of our east coast contingent are keepin sprits up in dirty Jersey, with a show with punk legends The Casualities coming up in November. Wish we could all be there.. some of us will, but, read below… Raptor’s Delight PR has also taken on TMTFTS, so get ready for some more buzz on these fellas in addition to their state of mind…

Jessi Spreitzer: Well, we never got a chance to work with our token chanteuse on a record in Michigan, but we’ll be keeping tabs on her as she is soon to base her operations in the land of Too Much Too Fast Too Soon, Trenton, NJ. She’ll be playing a farewell show at State Grounds in Hastings, MI on October 9, and tommypluralsurprise will open the show. It’s free and all ages, so come sing along to “As It Should Be” one last time!

Stargrazer: Stargrazer is working away at a record in Eric Merckling’s CrookedSound studio, and boy are we excited. Stargrazer has deserved a good album of his haunting space pop for far too long, and we are honored to be the ones to help make it happen.

Jason Alarm: After some lineup shakeups the followed the release of their stellar debut EP “Engage!”, these hoodrats are back on the scene to support Cheap Girls‘ album release show on October 10 at the Sun Theater in Grand Ledge. Further GTG connections: Cheap Girls tracked about half of their album in the GTG House studio, so you can bet we’re excited to get that one out there too!

A Paschal Circus: Has anyone heard from these guys?

Really Cinematic: I think they broke up.. at least, Hattie, James, and Loren aren’t involved any more. Whatevs.

Drinking Mercury: With any luck, the long promised, forever-delayed album from these guys should be out for their 10th anniversary next year. Sheesh. But, dude, it’s gonna be so good.

Another post will be made in a few weeks to follow-up on this, but we’re involved with a lot of cool artists for future releases, including Narc Out the Reds, The Hat Madder, Gates of Steel, and Middleman. You can bet we’re excited!

GTG G2G

tommygtg

The softball game commences in a half hour. Who will win? Who will walk home in shame afraid to show their face in Lansing or at punk rock shows ever again? We wait with baited breath.

tommyplural

I was sitting around the other day. Just strumming my acoustic on the backporch of my house. I was thinking of the upcoming GTG vs. BMP softball game. Then I thought to myself, how to we establish the GTG? I get the question “What is GTG?” I always smile because a lot of people know that there is a “GTG” but no one knows what it stands for. GTG stands for “Good Time Gang”. But thats just letters. GTG to me means more than just three letters. Its a group of people or musicians that are brought together out of one thing in their lives they love the most. Which is music. I know that is my number 1 passion. It surpasses anything else. Nothing makes me feel more connected to my soul than playing music. But how does one explain that to someone who asks what the GTG is? It’s a record label. It’s a community. It’s got its own super band. It’s a friendship. 

So this is where I differ from a lot of other people except for maybe Tommy when I start to think. I was thinking about The History of the GTG. And I was thinking of it in a novel context. I started thinking of certain chapters. Because if you think of it, the GTG’s history is divided up into chapters. Well at least it is in my eyes. This may seem odd to you, but to me, as someone who likes to have the vast GTG musical catalogue archived on my computer, this is totally normal. So I give you my outline of the The History of The GTG.

1. The Beginning

2. Rock Cherry Pie – The Plurals are formed

3. One Hand Inside – My Apology, The First Release and Apologized and Pluralized 2005.

4. Feelin’ So High – Magdalina’s Teahouse, The Stopgap EP and the formation of The Break-Ups

5. I Promise I Will Call – Head and Toe’s I-80, Professer Nanners and Blush Noisette

6. Cuz I Hate Metallica – GTG Meets BMP, The Plurals join up with Crooked Sound, Situations at Hand Vol. 1

7. IIIayyeee Don’t Believe in Love – The Rise and Fall of The Knights Without, Let The Air In EP

8. What Do You Feel Right Now? – Skulls and Stuff, City of Leaves and Whatevers Forever

9. GTG Fest

10. Take You Home With Me – Too Much Too Fast Too Soon, Jessi Spreitzer, Really Cinematic, Ori

11. GTG Fest II

Mr. Unicorn himself.

We will miss you Johnny.

Timmygtg

I just realized that my first tour blog post isn’t up on the site. It didnt really say much, but it was called “God Bless America Tour #1.” Our new T-Shirts are red white and blue. That’s pretty much it. Man oh man… lost blog posts. What sort of gems have been taken away from us?!?!?!?!?!?!

Good to hear the Monday show went well. GTG started as a lunch room conversation between me, Nich, Hattie, and Stefan, and it’s super awesome that GTG events can happen across the continental US, without any of the founders present at a show in Lansing. Amazing. Bring on the fest!

tp

This tour has been a rollercoaster. Toledo was okay, although the night as very memorable, spent hanging out with the band Gregarious. Fine updstanding gentleman those guys are, even if white trash guys slashed their tires in the morning because they talked to one of their girlfriends (sidenote: I’m glad we didn’t park next to them in that hotel parking lot). Sunday was spent, first, helping Gregarious get their tires fixed, then swimming in Lake Erie (the last time any of us “bathed” until Thursday night), then driving to North Canton, OH to find out our show had been cancelled because the local band forgot about the show and did zero promotion in addition to cancelling the day of. We briefly hung out with the Detroit band Death or Glory (the other casualities of the cancelled show), then slept in the van in a hotel parking lot in Erie, PA (a hotel that we made liberal use of the lobby bathroom and continental breakfast in the morning). The Monday show in Syracuse was pretty awesome. The Castle Rockmoore crew knows how to put on a good show, and our tour intersected with the tour by the great acoustic punk artists Ghost Mice from Indiana/ Gainseville, FL, and Heathers from Ireland. And Hattie got her bass drum pedal back, at long last.

Tuesday was a last minute show in Cortland, NY that was pretty fucking awesome. It was their jam night, so the house jam band of 50-something dudes was splitting the night with us, and everybody was into it. Hippie ladies were dancing to the harsh riffing of “New Age,” the local 20-30 something punk rockers were out in force, we decided to debut the live electric version of new song “Squagel,” and we got what may be our first official, completely sincere encore call. We’ll be coming back there. Wednesday was supposed to be Boston, but the promoter stopped calling me before we even had a venue confirmed, so we just drove down to Philadelphia where Cheap Girls and Lemuria were playing. They got us into the show and we hung out with all of our friends, did some networking in Philly, and spent the night with the band The Menzingers. Philly was pretty cool, it still felt like we were on tour, just doing a promotional trip or something, and it was great to rock out with Cheap Girls and Lemuria. Looking forward to actually playing next time!

Thursday was supposed to be Brooklyn, but there were venue issues, and then the local band cancelled, so we just drove to Baltimore to hang with my brothers, which was really nice since their both going to move away from Baltimore in the next few weeks. Baltimore is a really cool town and I’m glad we’ve gotten to spend a couple days here. We also were in desperate need of showers and a decent night’s rest, which we got. Sadly, right when we were parking outside of my brothers’ apartment, the radio came on reporting that Michael Jackson had just died. 50 years old. What a drag. We got inside and watched CNN coverage for awhile with my brother Robbie, as the confirmations came in and random yahoos that saw MJ once in their lives got a chance to milk some 15 minutes of fame. Despite the man’s eccentricities and deplorable behavior, I loved his music very much and truly hoped that he would redeem himself – after all, he was still quite young. That night at the bar, The Plurals and Robbie and Paul McCord toasted Michael Jackson, and all night long you could hear his music popping up out of car speakers and other bars. He was the king.

Yesterday (Friday) afternoon we went to a library south of Baltimore where our friends The High Strung were playing a set for their Rock and Roll Library Tour – a really cool way to tour and try to get kids involved in music. We ended up writing a song with The High Strung and the 6 or 7 pre-teen kids hanging out call “The Rules of Life” which was strangely reminiscent of the Velvet Underground. The High Strung are a great band, so it was really nice to meet up with them nowhere near where any of us live. We printed up some handbills for our show that night while we were at the library, and then met up with my parents, who were coincidentally in town as well, and they took all of us out to a Thai place. We drove up to our venue for the night, a cool art gallery/ bar called Metro Gallery that we played at last time, where our buddies The Rivals were already waiting, set up, ready to rock. Super nice guys, we’ve played with them every time we’ve played in Baltimore and it’s always a pleasure. We went out to hand out some handbills, but I’m really fucking bad at promoting, so eventually Nich just took it over, and he was able to get a a good handful of random people to come check out the show. Our set went very well. We spent a decent amount of time the night before and the day of getting down an arrangement of “I Want You Back” by the Jackson 5 to play in tribute to the deceased king, and it went down great. A few people walking by the club ran in off the street to dance around while we played it – they left right after, but, hey, good times. After the show we went back to my brothers’ district of Baltimore, college-town-esque Federal Hill, and Nich and I walked around as the bars let out, marveling in the drunken stupor of our clean-cut peers. We stuck out like sore thumbs – some girls were excited to see guys with long hair, which is always kind of funny, but by and large people gave us wary looks in the rare case that they acknowledged us. I’m going to miss walking around the Federal Hill bars at 2 AM…. we’ll have to come back and do it for old times’ sake.

Tonight we play in Trenton, NJ for the last night of the tour. We’ve never had a bad time in Trenton, and it’ll be great to see some friends. There’s a rumor that the new Too Much Too Fast Too Soon record may be finished and ready to be heard by us… Excellent….

tommyplural

Last night I performed my third ever solo acoustic act. It was one that I prepared for about two weeks for. I put together my own set list. And practiced the songs a lot. I was very pleased with myself last night. Two years ago, I wouldn’t have been able to do that. 

Last night was also a very intimate night. The Good Time Gang was alive and well last night. Crooked Sound, Stargrazer, Jessi Spreitzer and myself all performed on the bill last night. I forgot the name of the person, but the girl who opened the show was awesome and did a sweet rendition of “What’s Up?” by the 4 Non Blondes. I hadn’t listened to that song in forever so it was great to hear it. Strong voice too. I wish I could remember her name. I’d like to see if she has a music page.

Anyways, Stargrazer performed after her. I’ve listened to a lot of Peter’s tracks online. They are quarky and weird and different and I think that’s why I am so attracted to them. Peter is somewhat I have slowly started to get to know through the scene and I really look forward to this next album. I am really looking forward to the show next thursday at the GTG house with Narc Out The Reds. Anyways, I find Peter a great addition to the Good Time Gang and to the scene. More shows Peter!

Jessi played next. Now, I love Jessi Spreitzers music. I think she has a wonderful voice and a good feel for melody. Since the first time I heard her music sitting in my apartment I was instantly a fan. “He Says Dont Worry” will always be my favorite song. She played a great set last night with the help of Loren Pudvay on guitar for two songs. They finally pulled off the Beatles cover. Not bad ay? I love that Loren Pudvay. Jessi is also a great addition to the Good Time Gang, she was actually the only person that passed the “GTG Initiation”. She was actually the only person ever to receive it. Poor girl. Jessi has brought a lot of life into my life with her music.

Next was Crooked Sound. Now first, I want to say that his child Amico, was probably one of my favorite things about the show last night. While Eric was playing, he was dangling upside down in his moms arms watching his dad play. I was laughing a lot during his set. Anyways, its always good to see Eric play. He played a nice intimate set. I firmly believe Eric needs to play a lot more shows. I will start the rally. I really wish he was playing GTG Fest. But as long as I start seeing him play more around, I’ll be pleased. 

I played last and it was a good set that I felt went alright. I played “To Wendy”, which was an old song I wrote for my girlfriend that the Break-ups performed a few times, once going straight into our KISS cover of “Black Diamond”. Then I played two new Break-ups songs “The Sea Song” and “One Night”. I also played a song called “Loving Sappy” that was written by Zach Burger and me in our project called Abbey Divine. After that I played a KISS cover “See You Tonite”, which was one of Gene Simmons best songs ever. After that I played a toned down version of “The Bodyguard”, which I stole from a performance that Loren and I did at Jeremys goodbye party. During my set though, Amico was making noises and it added a lot of cool ambience to my set. He was making me smile. Eric said he was a fan of me. Well, I’m a fan of Amico. My mom took a liking to him because he said it reminded her of me as a baby. I overheard a conversation my parents had with Eric where my mom told him that and then Eric, in his usual deadpan humor goes “Yeah, and look at him now.” 

After the show, after most everyone left. Eric, Peter, Loren, Jessi and I stood around in a circle just chatting about music and a thought came into my head. Good Time Gang is more than just an independent record label, we are friends, we are a family.

Hey everyone. I’m playing a solo set tonight representing The Break-Ups with fellow GTG comrades Stargrazer, Jessi Spreitzer, and Crooked Sound at the Record Lounge. Its free. Starts at 7. You should all come out. 

This is like my third ever solo acoustic set. Im pretty excited. 

The Plurals are on tour right now. So I expect Tommy to post a tour journal sometime soon, as he always does. 

Trying to think of other GTG related news?

Stargrazer is recording an album with Crooked Sound currently. 

The Break-Ups are almost done with their half of the GTG Sessions split with Head and Toe. They soon have plans to record an EP this summer with all new material. 

The Plurals are recording/going to record/recorded. They always are at work.

GTG Fest plans are coming along. We are looking to make it a little more organized this year, much more official. Its gonna be a great time with a lot of great music. July 11! Be there.

I bit my lip. It hurts.

Eric and I have begun working on the long awaited Stargrazer full-length, “My Dreams Are Running Late,” at the CrookedSound home studio.

It’s an educational experience for me, recording mostly acoustic tracks for now. We also spent about an hour and a half capturing windchime sounds and various string noises on my bass to use as atmospheres and background elements in the songs. The idea is to make as many sounds on the bass as possible — acoustic or electric — and then embellish with some unexpected sounds to fill it out and make it flow. Like a radio broadcast from the future being played on an antique radio. I’ve got a little electric violin plucking and droning (by Dave Hammond) planned for “Dream Domain” (which we recorded the basic track for last week), Nich providing a second electric bass on “You & Me Are Cities,” and some fuzz tones and field recordings here and there. There will be everything from robotic pure digital tones to dirty, distorted passages. It’s pretty exciting to work with Eric, who has a similar mindset.

We’re taking it slow so it comes out organically, discussing a lot of the arranging ideas as we go. I’ve been listening to a lot of Sparklehorse, Jose Gonzalez, Benoit Pioulard (who is from East Lansing – check him out!) and Jason Lytle — that’s the kind of vibe I want: homespun and honestly recorded yet spacey and unexpected. I might need some acoustic guitar players if any of y’all are so inclined. There’s one track in particular, “Shutter Speed,” that we’d like to re-cut (I faked the guitar parts with samples and keyboards for the demo) as a more “real” rendition. You can find the demo on both my myspace and facebook pages if you might be that person (Tommy?).

In my “spare” time, I’ve been getting settled into our new house with Randi, planning our delayed wedding reception for June 14 (next weekend!), and designing a series of posters for Narc Out The Reds. These two feature GTG bands at some upcoming gigs:

OK, I miss everybody. Working full time and moving and freelance designing and recording an album does not leave a person enough social time. Pretty excited to play with Timmy and Jessi at The Record Lounge in East Lansing on June 22nd.

FIRST! I was trying to be funny by playing that Fallout Boy cover. I also though it was hilarious when Jacki Ward sat in the front mouthing along with the words. That’s how I found out that people might not be finding this humorous. Since then, i have left to the jokes to the professionals, like Nick’s face.

Magdalena’s is closed?
Darn. In a recession, the first thing to give up is leisurly activity, and although we call music our life, Magdalena’s was a leisure, one that should have left us long ago. That was a birthing spot, and a money drain.  I noticed the Tea House outside of the bus window. At the time, I was really into drinking tea, instead of coffee. I went inside and to grab a cup. Without saying much of anything, Nancy, the co-owner, handed me a vacuum, and asked if I could help her clean up the place. When I got done, she asked me to take on a new project. I never got my tea that day, but I did find a job to work at for the following year or so, for the tremendous salary of a sandwich with every shift, and a 24 oz. of beer.
We learned about booking shows, hosting events, jamming, performance, and attitude. And although it had it’s flaws, the Tea House served it’s purpose to us, as being a center for the absolute most developmental time in my life.  To Tommy, Hattie, Nick, Timmy, and anyone else I have been overjoyed to have met at the Tea House, I’m glad we had it when we did, but honestly, I never want to go in there again.

Oh yeah, and that guy, Shannon, was one of the biggest assholes I have ever encountered.

Right now, I’m on a bus (with wifi) towards NYC. A quick meeting with the producer of my upcoming E.P. at 5 0′ clock, and then an early morning bus towards Philly for 2 shows in town, one festival just outside of town, and a gig back in Cambridge on Monday. After that, I’ve got up to 7 bands crashing at my house this week at random points. These bands include; Annie Palmer, Patrick Elkin, Goodnight and Good Morning, Brittan Ashford, Frontier Ruckus, and a few more. Two days after that, I’ll be jumping on a plane back to Michigan to officially start packaging and promoting the big tour. A press release of over 200 discs, but the problem is, I DON’T HAVE ANY MONEY! Although, something will work out, even if I need to sell my soul.