Category Archives: GTG Activity

GTG Fest 2013 is this weekend! Whoa!

Friday October 11, 2013
The Avenue Cafe
Doors at 7 PM / $5

The Hat Madder
Calliope
Frank and Earnest
Narc Out the Reds
The Jackpine Snag
Terror Terror Oh My
The Chirps
Drinking Mercury
Noxon Wenzel
Hit Society

Help!

Honah Lee, our fine party rocking songsmiths and New Jersey chapter leaders, are trying to win a spot on the Weezer Cruise, which is a cruise and music festival of sorts curated and headlined by Weezer. Honah Lee are participants in a contest where if they can get the most “likes” on a youtube video they will get to play on the cruise. There’s no way something like this won’t be fun, and, don’t worry, Weezer mostly plays early stuff at their shows anyway.

So here’s the link! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2rcn_CCaH_A
You have to “like” the video itself for the vote to count. Just takes a second!

When the wee Plurals started this whole GTG Records thing years ago we had no idea it would grow into such a fantastic community of great bands and good people. We actually had no idea what we were doing or why we were doing it. Still don’t! So it’s a great feeling that it’s grown into a cross-country endeavor and this weekend we get to celebrate  all of this everything with the first ever GTG Fest East in Trenton, NJ at the Mill Hill Saloon on Saturday September 14th. The guys in Honah Lee put this shindig together and they are just one of the many people we’ll be stoked to see. There’s two stages of non-stop awesome, sure to blow the doors off the place…. so, anyone who’s anyone should come. Here’s a facebook event thing for it, and here’s the lineup:

DOORS 8PM

THEM DEMO MOUNTAIN BOYS – Downstairs, 8:15 – 8:35

THE TIMID ROOSEVELTS – Upstairs, 8:40 – 9:10

NOT THE BEES – Downstairs, 9:15 – 9:45

RAY STRIFE – Upstairs, 9:50 – 10:20

THE HUNKY NEWCOMERS – Downstairs, 10:25 – 10:55

THE HAT MADDER – Upstairs, 11:00 – 11:30

THE PLURALS – Downstairs, 11:35 – 12:05

MOLLY RHYTHM – Upstairs, 12:10 – 12:40

HONAH LEE – Downstairs, 12:45 – 1:15

Leading up to this madness The Plurals and Hunky Newcomers will be doing a tour from Michigan to the east coast and back, and The Hat Madder will be doing a similar jaunt of their own. Here’s the dates for that:

The Plurals & Hunky Newcomers Dates:

9/11 – Columbus, OH @ Cafe Bourbon St
9/12 – Brooklyn, NY @ The Place Bar and Lounge
9/13 – North Plainfield, NJ @ The Bees Nest (GTG East pre-party w/ Honah Lee and Not the Bees)
9/14 – GTG Fest East
9/15 – Allston, MA @ O’Brien’s
9/16 – Plattsburgh, NY @ ROTA Gallery
9/17 – Buffalo, NY @ Broadway Joe’s
9/18 – Canton, OH @ Buzzbin Music and Art Shop

The Hat Madder Dates:

9/12 – Columbus, OH @ The Tree Bar
9/13 – Philadelphia, PA @ Kung Fu Necktie
9/14 – GTG Fest East
9/15 – Pittsburgh, PA @ Garfield Artworks

It’s good to be out east this week folks!

tommyplural

In late June we held a release party for the self-titled debut EP by Cat Midway. Well it’s finally up in the GTG webstore! To make up for our, er, “punk” tardiness, from now until October 1st if you order the Cat Midway LP we’ll toss in any in-print GTG CD for free! Leave a note in the order (or just let it be random). If you really want an out-of-print CD we’ll see what we can do! Now for the spiel: This record is the debut LP by Cat Midway, the Lansing-based self-described “one-woman band with pots and pans, a guitar, some pills, and a tambourine!” Cat Midway cites influences ranging from the Ramones to Lucinda Williams, and the resulting music is a quietly intense spin on folk music conventions with a punk attitude throughout. Expertly recorded by Corey Derushia at Troubadour Recording in Lansing, MI, 12-inch LP manufactured at Archer Records in Detroit; it’s great. Get it for $10!

Digital download available here.

Home from Plurals tour! It was an amazing time and we can’t thank everyone involved enough! It’s pretty cool to come home from tour and be able to say that we had no bad shows, no real problems (actually after years of never having any problems on tour we had two flat tires, a parking ticket, and a speeding ticket – that was total bullshit, of course – which is way less than most bands have to deal with, so, can’t be too bitter!) and had the chance to play with so many amazing bands! Can’t wait to do it again. We’re going out for a week on the east coast with the Hunky Newcomers in September, stay tuned!

tommyplural

No time to write, but write I shall! I’m typing on a laptop at the show in Portland while the first band is playing, which makes me lame. But anyway, The Plurals are on a summer tour! It’s been kickass! Thanks to Nato and co in Minneapolis, Austin and friends in Billings, the Salamanders and family in Bozeman, the jokers and hookers in Helena, Marty and the gang in Missoula, and those lovable drunks in Seattle for a great first week! We’re in Portland tonight at the Habesha Lounge, and no one will see that before they can come to the show, but here’s the rest of the dates:::

7/17 – Chico, CA @ the Down Lo w/ Minsky Blackouts
7/18 – Crockett, CA @ Toot’s Tavern
7/19 – Oakland, CA @ Eli’s Mile High Club w/ The Blast
7/20 – San Luis Obispo, CA @ Z Club
7/22 – Tempe, AZ @ Tempe Tavern w/ Floor Notes
7/23 – Tucson, AZ @ TLMS w/ City Mouse
7/24 – San Diego, CA @ the Void w/ City Mouse
7/25 – Pomona, CA @ VLHS
7/26 – San Pedro, CA @ The Nest w/ Black Sparrow Press
7/27 – Long Beach, CA @ Alex’s Bar w/ Good For You
7/28 – Fresno, CA @ Audie’s Punk Rock Pajama Party
7/29 – San Jose, CA @ Arrows to Eden
7/30 – Crockett, CA @ Toot’s Tavern
7/31 – San Francisco, CA @ Hemlock Tavern
8/1 – Portland, OR @ House Show
8/2 – Tacoma, WA @ O’Malley’s
8/4 – Seattle, WA @ Kraken
8/5 – Missoula, MT @ ZACC Below
8/7 – Rapid City, SD @ Johnny’s Billiards
8/8 – Omaha, NE @ Waiting Room w/ Congruency
8/9 – Moline, IA @ Bier Stube Black Hawk Room w/ Banquets, Lover’s Speed
8/10 – Normal, IL @ Firehouse Pub
8/11 – Toledo, OH @ Frankie’s

Here’s an event thing for the whole tour if you’re on that stupid Facebook thing:https://www.facebook.com/events/682078061817774/

I’m gonna go watch this band now! Bye!

tommyplural

artwork by Peter Richards.

New GTG Records compilation It’s Fine. just released! This comp features 14 new songs by bands with upcoming releases on GTG Records, and also serves as the GTG debut for Cat Midway, Molly Rhythm, and Black Sparrow Press, all old friends and colleagues of the GTG that we are very excited to be working with in an “official” capacity. A lot of these songs are early and alternate versions of songs that are exclusively available on this comp, and they’re pretty neat.  You can download the comp for a pay-what-you-want optional fee, with all proceeds going to help get these damn records out sooner! We’ve got a Cat Midway LP, a Molly Rhthym CD, a Plurals/ Black Sparrow Press split 7-inch, and a Hunky Newcomers LP all pretty much ready to go! Hopefully this comp tides you over… and convinces you to, y’know, get ‘em.

Like a flower!

The Plurals / Black Sparrow Press split 7-inch has been mastered and will be in production soon for an early July release! This will coincide with the next Plurals tour, which is shaping up to be something like:

7/9 Chicago, IL
7/10 Minneapolis, MN
7/11 Billings, MT
7/12 Bozeman, MT
7/13 Helena, MT
7/14 Missoula, MT
7/15 Seattle, WA
7/16 Portland, OR
7/17 Redding, CA
7/18 San Jose/ Berkley, CA HELP
7/19 San Francisco, CA HELP
7/20 San Luis Obispo, CA
7/21 Pomona, CA
7/22 Tempe, AZ
7/23 Tucson, AZ
7/24 San Diego, CA
7/25 – Los Angeles, CA
7/26 – San Pedro, CA
7/27 – Riverside, CA
7/28 – Fresno, CA
7/30 – Sacramento, CA
7/31 – Reno, NV HELP
8/1 – Bend, OR HELP
8/2 – Tacoma, WA
8/4 – Seattle, WA
8/5 – Missoula, MT
8/7- Rapid City/ Spearfish, SD
8/8 – Omaha, NE
Fri 8/9 – IA
Sat 8/10 – Normal, IL

Get stoked!

The Hunky Newcomers album is getting mastered now, at long last, so that’ll be around to get drunkenly tossed on your turntable later this summer!

More things are happening all the time, but watch this video of the Hat Madder playing recently:

Whoo!

Everyone’s in the studio in some capacity. I think the next thing to come out will be an LP (well, 13-14 pretty short songs, so an “album” on vinyl if not a “long player”) by the moronic dude-punk band Hunky Newcomers, to be released in conjunction with our best friend label Bermuda Mohawk Productions. Last I knew this album is going to be called “The Secret of the Booze” but don’t get mad at me if they change their minds. This record is recorded and mixed, it still needs to be mastered and I don’t think they’ve thought about the artwork or track order yet, but it should be coming together soon.

Next up on the docket will most likely be either an EP by the Hat Madder that is essentially finished, or maybe an EP thing by Narc Out the Reds. I say “EP thing” because NOTR has a lot of songs that break the 5 minute mark so it might only be 5 really cool demented pop songs and still be longer than 3 full spins of the Hunky Newcomers album.

The Plurals are chipping away at a lot of recordings, but have finished tracks for a split 7-inch with San Pedro awesome punk dudes Black Sparrow Press. This 7-inch will be released by GTG and a couple other labels and will feature 2 songs each by The Plurals and BSP and will be out in the mid-summer to coincide with The Plurals summer tour.

Honah Lee, the New Jersey based harbingers of sincerely boozey party punk rock, have demoed 12 songs for their next full-length album. They’ll be playing a lot locally this spring and summer while they record this album – if the demos are a remote indication this album is going to totally rule. The boys will tour some more this fall to promote the record.

Frank and Earnest are planning on hitting the studio this summer to finally follow up their great Old Francis EP from awhile back. Results from these recordings will, I think, be a “twangier” take on the melodic punk that these goofballs specialize in.

On the other end of the spectrum, the full-length album by the experimental indie-folk project Stargrazer is creeping closer to completion. While there is still no scheduled release, reports from the studio are making it sound like this one will be a very nuanced headphone listen equal parts warm and sinister.

Drinking Mercury is demoing new songs. No real release plan has been discussed, but it’s likely that this will be very much an “in-the-studio” affair with a collaborative songwriting approach. Not that previous songs weren’t collaborative, but early results are sounding “group”-ier than the Orcades album. That you can listen to here. Ahem.

In closing, Not the Bees are good. Check ’em out. Furthermore, if you want to pick up previous releases by GTG, we’s gotsa store.

Just as the midwest winter is starting to mild out, it’s already time to get our faces melted.

HONAH LEE TOUR DATES

3/15 @ Clancy’s – Keyser WV
w/ the Meeps, Yellow Dog Union, & Keller Diesel Company

3/16 @ Blind Bob’s – Dayton OH
w/ the Involuntarys, Dead Set Ready, Adventure, & Frank Grimes

3/18 – the Wolfhaus- Chicago IL
w/ Truman & His Trophy,the Morons

3/19 @ the Courthouse – Kalamazoo MI
w/ the Plurals

3/20 GTG NIGHT@ the Avenue – Lansing MI
w/ the Plurals and To Fear the Wolf

3/21 @ the P.A.N. Shop – Detroit MI
w/ Fires In Japan, Hunky Newcomers, Aggro or Die, D-Day

3/22 @ Aldo’s – Altoona PA
w/ Revenge Memorial, X’s For Eyes

3/23 TIM’S BIRTHDAY PARTY @ Mill Hill Basement – Trenton NJ
w/ Molly Rhythm, TV Tramps, Stillborn Identity

That there show on March 20th at the Avenue (formerly Gone Wired Cafe) in Lansing, MI is the first GTG-promoted event happening there, so anyone in the area should go check it out. $5 cover, 3 bands, Michigan craft beers a’plenty (reasonably priced too), and you’re supporting a truly local and independent business. End of pitch.

Honah Lee have a lot of new material that is sounding great. They’ll be hitting the studio later this spring for a new album, so set the stokeage meter at a reasonable level cuz we’re gonna be blowing it up later this year.