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It’s been too long, and I’m sorry! Things are as crazy as ever around here! And I’ve been wanting to write you all and update you because we have been working like crazy and we have so much exciting stuff to tell you about, but the thing I’m realizing about the music industry is that nothing is ever confirmed until the very last minute. Please don’t interpret that as a jab at the industry, I love the industry, and in many ways I love how on the fly it is because that’s pretty much how I live my life too. It’s exciting! But the downfall is that I don’t want to make promises that I can’t keep when I’m announcing the latest news, and when things are always so up in the air, the risk is very much present. So, in my typical fashion, I’m going to stick to the hard facts. Here goes!

In August, we’re planning to be on the road. The good people of Team SGS have been working feverishly to make this a reality. The plan? Team us up with an amazing solo performer headliner extraordinaire and stuff us all in a van. Then, send us to the East coast and make us play our way back to Windsor. How cool is that! Pretty cool right? Well, it will be even cooler when you know just who this headliner is! And even cooler than that when you see what cities we’re hitting! As soon as I get the go ahead to spill the beans on this thing, I will let you all know immediately! I promise. I expect the news to come down the wire pretty soon, so keep those retinas lubricated and focused for more!

Backtracking to June and July, we’ve been working non-stop in both Windsor and Toronto. We’ve been teamed up with a great producer, and we’ve been just writing, and writing, and re-writing, and writing some more. It’s so much fun and so frustrating simultaneously. It’s fun because we’re creating of course. And I can’t speak for the entire band, but I think they’d back me up when I confidently say that you are going to love our new material. We’re very proud of it! It’s frustrating though because we just won’t settle. When a part of a song, regardless of how infinitesimal it may seem, isn’t perfect, we just won’t let it go. Maybe a cymbal isn’t splashy enough, maybe a piano blinks, maybe a bass doesn’t walk far enough, maybe a guitar doesn’t melt your face to a significant enough degree, or maybe a lyric is borderline racist. Whatever it is, if it isn’t exactly what we want, we duke it out. We form alliances and turn on each other. Or, most appropriately we just don’t stop talking it out, even if we’re in the van with our instruments packed up, or in Shane’s basement at four in the morning while Erik is trying to sleep and Iain is watching Pengu reruns. We are living with these songs! And the thing about working with a producer is that we’re basically just adding one more member to the band who is more talented and knowledgeable in the songwriting department than we are, so it’s one more opinion that has to be satisfied. A producer is a lot like a personal trainer really. To achieve the results you want, you have to do all the work. The trainer is just there to motivate you and keep you focused on your goal. So I guess what I’m saying is that we’re working really hard to make sure that our next record surpasses all preconceived expectations. And we’re scheduled to begin recording this month, so it won’t be too long until you can hear what we’ve been working so hard on!

But let’s get back to the facts! We have a show this Friday! With the very cool Andrew Austin. I was watching Ferguson the other night and a Ritz cracker commercial came on. “That sounds just like Andrew!” I said to myself, and I looked it up and it is! So, you know that commercial for crackers with the adorable song in it that you love so much? Well we’re playing with that guy Friday night at Maxwell’s Music House! Maxwell’s Music House is one of my favorite venues in Southern Ontario, and just an excellent place to see a band or a songwriter. If you come out this Friday, you can see a band and a songwriter! Wicked cool.

And more good news, we’re playing The Erie Shores Wine Festival in September! We’ll be playing September 11th at 5:45PM, and this show will be all ages. Of course, if you’re of age, you know, it’s a wine festival. So, bring your drinking hat. Even if you’re not into our music though, The Erie Shores Wine Festival showcases amazing Canadian talent ever year. In past years they’ve had my favorites like Bedouin Soundclash and Serena Ryder. This year they’ve got Steven Page, Sloan, the devilishly handsome Pat Robataille and even the handsomely devilish Michou! S’gonna be good. Real good.

Alright gang, well I’m going to leave it there. I’ll drop another note soon with some more good news. Definitive news! News that you can take home to your mama.

Love,

// JerBear

So, guess what? It’s decided and it’s happening. We’re making a new record. Oh yes, oh yes. Now, we still have a lot of decisions to make and so as I blog my way through the next couple months, I’m going to drop hints and details as I go, because we haven’t conclusively conceptualized the entire thing yet and I don’t want to make promises that I can’t keep. So here are the facts.

• We’ve been writing our faces off for a long time now, and we’ve got a metric ton of material that we’re stoked about.
• We’re still writing because that’s how we roll.
• We’ve been recording and demoing material for awhile now, and we’re hitting Blackbox Sound the first week in May to demo more… Demo Moore… Demi Moore.
• We’ve been talking to a very nice young man in the big city who may be interested in helping us with our recording by putting a producer hat on. A producer hat, by and by, looks pretty much like an old soup pot that Keith hot glued a letter “p” on. This could be a deal breaker should the nice young man from the big city elect not to sport the producer hat.

So those are the facts and we’re voting yes. (Death Cab reference, anyone? Anyone? Bueller? Oh, there was a Ferris Bueller’s Day Off reference! Anyone? Bueller?) I can’t promise any release dates, how many songs are going to be on the record, or anything like that, which is pretty bush league, I know. I just want to let the cat out of the bag a little bit so that you folks can get as excited about this summer as the five of us (plus our manager Dom and sound magician Kevin and everyone else on the StereoGoesStellar dream team) are. Also, by dropping little hints and details like I intend to do over the next couple months in these blogs, it will force you to struggle through my poor blogmanship. Bahaha… I’ve got you “write” where I want you. Get it? Because you “write” blogs, not “right” them. So yeah, you can expect several more months of that kind of rubbish.

But it’s summertime, so you should be excited anyways! To celebrate the summer, Kevin threw a barbeque at his cottage and the whole band minus Keith was in attendance plus many of StereoGoesStellar’s best friends. Keith was scaling a mountain to save a busload of orphans. He would have made it to the barbeque, but there was a bear he had to fight. It’s a whole thing, don’t worry about it. Erik recently bought a beautiful SLR camera with the intention of capturing some tour memories and other related band happenings, but he made this awesome video of Kevin’s barbeque which I’m completely head-over-heels in love with. It doesn’t really have anything to do with the band, granted, but I thought I’d post it for two reasons. First reason (I was going to say “firstly”, but that’s just unacceptable), this should put you in the mood for summer because it encapsulates everything that’s right about the summer; friends and not being stuck inside because of snow and cold. Second reason, I’m hoping this will encourage Erik to make more stop-frame videos like this one. Peep this!

And speaking of stop-frame animation, Mick informs me that our stop-frame animation video of Far Too Gone is nearly complete and we’ll be heading up to Toronto early in May for a number of reasons, but particularly of interest, to watch the finished product! And then we’ll pass that bad boy onto you! I’m very excited for this video I have to tell you. Christina and Danielle in Toronto have worked so hard on it, we can’t thank them enough!

And we actually have another video in the works right now too, but I shall save the details for another blog, on another day my friends. Mainly because I want to call Mick and get all the details before I go running my mouth.

I’ll see you good people soon, and hey, welcome to summer! Yes, I know it’s not “technically” summer, but Spring is rainy and far too inconsistent in temperature for my acknowledgement, so let’s just bypass it and go “write” to summer. Ahh! See that, I did it again! Such a clever Trevor.

Love,

// JerBear

Well it has been quite a month already, and it’s not even close to over! Things are really moving fast around here lately and I love it!

We were in Toronto last Wednesday and Thursday working on a stop-frame animation music video and it was nuts. This video is going to be insane, but it is so much work! It’s worth every second, don’t get me wrong, but man! Like, you have to stay perfectly still for very extended periods of time for it to work properly, and it’s not nearly the picnic that it sounds like. I think I’m going to make some workout DVD’s like P90X or Ten Minute Trainer, but it’s going to be Jeremy Coulter’s Completely Stationary Workout: bend yourself into an uncomfortable position and don’t move for an hour and you’re on your way to rock hard abs! EXTREME! I’m being a total baby though, and it was the video’s creators Christina and Danielle that were really doing all the work. Not only that, they let us completely dismantle their apartment to really set the mood for the video, so we owe them a substantial debt of gratitude. We’re going back to Toronto next week to work more on the video and also to play a show at the Bovine Sex Club on March 25th! I’ve never been to the Bovine Sex Club, but I’m sure the name doesn’t completely accurately describe it… does it? Only one way to find out! Come to our show on the 25th Toronto!

After day two of the video shoot on Thursday, we rushed home from Toronto to play with the amazingly talented LIGHTS. And I think we played very well and I’m very proud of the boys in SGS, but I’m even more proud of Windsor for absolutely packing the Blind Dog. You may not realize it, but by being such a positive and welcoming crowd and making LIGHTS feel right at home, you’ve sent a message to the higher ups that book for bigger acts like LIGHTS a message saying that Windsor loves music and we want more of it! Furthermore, the Windsor music scene is bursting with talent right now and your helping to draw attention to local acts like us that are working so hard to advance ourselves in the industry. So thanks guys, you’ve made the boys in SGS and I, as well as Jay and Dave at Sinnistarr very proud. And to all the amazing folks that took the time to introduce themselves to us, grab a record or a poster or a shirt, or even a hug, thanks so much! Connecting with our fans is so important to us and it really made me want to get some more music to you as soon as possible, and please trust me when I say we’re working on it!

But there’s no rest for the traveling band, and so Friday morning we packed the van back up and headed to St. Catherine’s. Things got a little dicey here though. We were passing through Chatham when Talledega (our van) started making a terrible, metallic, flapping and grinding sound. To diagnose the sound, our friend Shane O’Neill got out of the van and chased it around a parking lot in a circle to try to hear where the sound was coming from. This yielded no conclusion. Then we all got out, kicked some tires, poked at stuff, and hypothesized about a goblin related issue. Ultimately, this only led us to the conclusion that none of us know anything about cars. We called my dad, tried to replicate the noise and he also suggested a thorough goblin check was in order. After a thorough goblin check, we went to Canadian Tire and a nice mechanic named Chris used an industrial sized pair of scissors to remove what I suspect must be the appendix of a van. It’s there, but it doesn’t do anything, kinda like an appendix in a human. And then the only time you even notice it is when it ruptures and so you just get rid of it. So, effectively, Talledega’s appendix ruptured in Chatham, but she was back on the road in no time and we made it to St. Catherine’s just in time, despite some terrible weather in the Niagara region.

So let’s get to some exciting news, shall we? We wrote a song called “Twenty Two” back in the summer and this weekend it really came out of its shell. We filmed a special acoustic performance of the song for CBC Television’s Easter Seals Telethon which aired on Sunday. It sounded great and we are very thankful to Gord and Kristen at Diversity Productions for their hard work. They’re going to get us a copy of the performance and we’ll post it up here soon in case you missed it. But don’t even worry about it, because last Monday we were on Master Track’s on AUX Television! If you missed it, you can watch the episode in its entirety at http://www.aux.tv/mastertracks. The show details a day we spent at MetalWorks Studios in Toronto with producer’s Moe Berg and Laurence Currie recording “Twenty Two” and even lets you download the track for free. Completely righteous. Definitely a show worth watching, especially if you’re into recording gear and expensive microphones like Kevin Couvillon. It’s like catnip to that guy, seriously.

We were supposed to be playing in Chatham, Ontario tonight, and I’m not sure why the show was cancelled, but Chatham I’m terribly sorry. Whatever reason caused the kibosh, it was beyond our control and we are going to work to get a new show your way soon! Tomorrow night we’ll be in London, Ontario though at Moon Over Marin! Peep the Facebook Event here! It’s going to be a blast, I’m sure of it!

Anyways, I know March and April are a rough time for all of my fellow students out there and know that I’m pulling for you. A good man named Adam Lucier once gave me a very sound piece or advice that I’d like to impart to you if you feel overwhelmed with assignments, midterms, projects, finals, lab exams, etc… He said, “Jer, they don’t put marks on diplomas.” To which I toast, breadsticks is breadsticks.

Love,

// JerBear

Holy moly, is this week ever busy! Listen to what we’re up to!

Tonight, after a quick band practice we’re headed to Toronto to crash at our good friend Shane, Eric, Kristie and Tara’s house. You might think, “that’s a lot of people in one house for a band to go crash at…”, and you’d be right! Fortunately for us, the residents of what we like to call The ‘Deen are the most kind, generous and hospitable people on earth (as well as unbelievably good looking) and they let us occupy their couches, floors, and dryers. Mick sleeps in the dryer. Like, with it  on and everything. He loves it! It’s great because you know you’re not going to have to fight him for the last couch, but it whomps because he eats socks. I put this in brackets a couple lines up, but it needs to be stated explicitly. Shane, Eric, Kristie and Tara are all unreasonably good looking. Like, you know when you watch TV shows like the Bachelor or the Bachelorette and you think to yourself, “that many good looking people would never all stay in one house together, it’s just so improbable!” Well, guess what… it’s more than probable, it happened. And tonight, we get to go ugly it up by occupying their beautiful home.

Wow, I really got sidetracked up there. Anyways, tomorrow we’re spending the day in Toronto shooting a music video with a delightful young lady named Christina Taco. Christina is also very good looking, but she doesn’t live at The ‘Deen. Having never been a in a music video before, I really don’t know what to expect. And this video is being shot stop-motion as well, so I really have no idea what to expect. A couple years ago though, myself and my friends Mitch, Bogdan and Joey shot a stop-motion film of a Transformers dance party. The music in it was great. It was all old school rap like Run DMC and stuff, and the break dancing was epic, but as I recall the plot was completely nonsensical. I’m pretty sure at one point they were dancing in George Clooney’s house or something.

Interestingly enough, and also completely unrelated to the actual take-home message of this post, our very good looking manager lives very near to The ‘Deen, prompting the question, are all the residents of the neighborhood in which The ‘Deen is located exceptionally good looking? My hypothesis is yes, but I will get back to you on this with empirical results.

Wow, sorry. Sidetracked again. Okay, so Thursday morning, we’re going to get up bright and early for a little more filming I think, but then we have to head home because we’re opening for Lights! Whoop! I can’t wait for this show. There aren’t a lot of tickets left, but let us know if you need some and we’ll make sure you get one somehow. Don’t quote me on this, but I’ve heard rumors that there will not be any tickets at the door for sale. Yikes, right? So if you’re into this show, get hooked up with a ticket ahead of time!

And then Friday morning, it’s time for another quick band practice and then off to St. Catherine’s to rock the L3! This show is going to be insane, but if you’re elsewhere in Ontario and can’t make it to the St. Catherine’s show, peep the shows at the top of the page! We’ve added even more shows for March, so we may be coming to YOUR town!

So that’s this week! What’s next week? I don’t even know!

Oh, but hey! This Sunday, we’re going to be on Cogeco TV and CBC TV in Windsor and London and surrounding areas playing an acoustic version of our song Twenty-Two! Erik was in Korea when we had to film it so we had to make due sans percussion, but I think it went well! I don’t know officially what time it will be at, but it’s during the Easter Seals Telethon this Sunday! Check us out!

Alright, well the entire band is waiting for me to finish this blog so we can hit the road. See you soon!

// JerBear

Our Dead of Winter Mini-Tour was amazing. Thank you to every single person that hung out with us, bought our record, or even just shot us a dirty look! We really felt  like we connected with every single audience and left every city completely in love with it. The generosity of others never ceases to amaze me either. Shane, Eric, Tara, Kristie, Jayden and Laura, we can’t thank you enough for letting us sleep at your respective and wonderful homes! Not only that, we can’t thank you enough for hanging out with us and making us feel so at home!

Oh, and our good friend John Diemer came with us the entire tour helping us lug stuff around, set stuff up, fix stuff, sell stuff, and in general just making sure that all conversations never approached any semblance of normality. By the time we got home Sunday, all of our faces hurt from laughing for a week straight, our hands were frozen from Michou sized snowball fights, and our brains were mush from staying up too late and only eating peanut butter sandwiches, but man do we have some stories. So, thanks everyone for hanging out and we absolutely can’t wait to hop back in the van and come back to all of your cities. They were all wonderful!

The best part about coming home though was realizing that we have so much to look forward to! We’re beginning to demo our new material which is of course the first concrete step towards making a new record! In fact, Erik and Keith are driving up to London on Saturday to lay down some tracks with John Diemer at OIART. Next week is of course the LIGHTS show, as well as a show in St. Catherine’s which we’re stoked about, but we’re also hooking up with a very talented young artist in Toronto that is undertaking the arduous process of creating a stop-frame animation music video for us! Her name is Christina Taco and we are pumped to have her on board with the StereoGoesStellar team.

And that’s not even everything that we’re working on! But listen up Windsor, St. Catherine’s, Kitchener, London, and Toronto… we’re comin’ for ya. And we intend to put on some more great shows this month. Peep the dates!

Windsor, Ontario - Thursday, March 11th @ The Blind Dog w/ LIGHTS
St. Catherine’s, Ontario – Friday, March 12th @ L3
London, Ontario - Tuesday, March 16th @ Moon Over Main
Kitchener, Ontario - Wednesday, March 24th @ The Boathouse
Toronto, Ontario - Thursday, March 25th @ Bovine Sex Club

Slightly on the downward side, we do have some bad news to report. Our show that was scheduled for March 10th at the Supermarket in Toronto was cancelled. There was a mixup in the booking, but we were able to add a makeup Toronto date on the 25th of March at the Bovine Sex Club in Toronto, and the booking agent is nothing short of a gentleman and a scholar and has assured us that we will be privileged to take part in another Wednesday night at the Supermarket in the very near future. This is of particular delight because there’s this restaurant in Kensington Market where the Supermarket is that is called the Big Fat Burrito, and I absolutely have to get back there soon. It’s amazing. Sinceriously, the best burrito I’ve ever had. I’d climb a mountain for one. I’d climb two mountains! Whatever it takes!

Please, please, please keep checking back for more shows, videos, and best of all more music soon! Thank you so much for your continued support and have a great week! Hope to see you soon!

Love,

// JerBear