"FREE!" An Ithaca Underground zine

Ithaca Undergound on WICB - tonight 1/31

2012-01-31T13:00:00.000-05:00

Tune into WICB 91.7 FM's "Homebrew" tonight from 8PM-10PM where Ithaca Underground will be the special guests while they spin the best in local music.

No radio? No problem: http://www.wicb.org/listenLive.php

Ithaca Underground applies for 501c3 non-profit status, fundraiser show this Saturday!

2012-01-31T12:56:00.000-05:00

Official Press release:
Ithaca Underground presents an all ages concert with The Gunpoets, Cattle Drums, Rejouissance, BRIAN!, Rye n' Clover, and Hiroshima Vacation

The Haunt, 702 Willow Ave, Ithaca, NY 14850
Saturday, February 4th from 5PM - 10PM
Sliding scale cover of $5-$25 to raise funds for Ithaca Underground's 501c3 non-profit application.
______________

Over the last several years, Ithaca Underground has become one of the cornerstones of Ithaca's music community by booking and promoting creative and ambitious music events, integral work with local and regional bands, DIY ethics, and emphasis on all ages shows.

Now, the next chapter in the IU story is being written as the organization applies to become a 501c3 non-profit in an attempt to create a sustainable, on-going presence in the community.

To usher in this next era, Ithaca Underground, McNeil Music of Ithaca, Angry Mom Records, and The Haunt present a genre-diverse line-up on Saturday, February 4th at 5PM. This first-ever Ithaca Underground Fundraiser will help finance the 501c3 non-profit application process of this important next step.

Headlining are The Gunpoets, one of Ithaca's premier live acts, who have earned their elder status through years of high-energy, new school hip-hop shows. Powerful, positive, peaceful and at times political, The Gunpoets seamlessly fuse hip-hop with pop, rock, soul and funk to bring the world their own unique flavor. Heavy bass, hard hitting drums, silky smooth keys and sexy guitar licks slam with the MC skills of Rising Sun and Jayhigh. Throw in DJ Double A's slick turntable work and you've got an unstoppable, head-nodding force.

Cattle Drums from Oneonta, NY are a melodic and technically proficient blend of post-punk and emotional hardcore, hints of math-rock and Americana, and the surreal lyrics of vocalist (and former Monster Machismo drummer) Sam Judd.

Rejouissance were born in Syracuase, NY, with primary songwriter and guitarist/vocalist Jim Heffernan now residing in Brooklyn. The project has evolved from its members' post-hardcore and acoustic roots into a full fledged three-guitar driven rock-ensemble and riff factory.

Ithaca-based BRIAN! create compositions stemming from the worlds of avant-garde and prog-rock. Founded by Devid Resig on amplified bassoon and Ithaca Underground's own Bubba Crumrine on guitar, bass, electronics and voice; the group will debut its new trio line-up with Willie B (Neko Case, Johnny Dowd) behind the kit.

Banjo-punk troubadour Rye n' Clover and grindcore duo Hiroshima Vacation will kick things off in traditional IU fashion.

Key points:
- Saturday, February 4th
- Ithaca Underground promoted event
- Featuring The Gunpoets, Cattle Drums, Rejouissance, BRIAN!, Rye n' Clover, and Hiroshima Vacation
- The Haunt, 702 Willow Ave, Ithaca, NY 14850
- $5 - $25 sliding scale cover
- To raise funds for 501c3 application

About Ithaca Underground

Ithaca Underground was founded by Jayme Peck in 2007, aimed to foster a sustainable punk scene in Ithaca -- not necessarily "punk" strictly in terms of genre and aesthetic, but in ethic and attitude. The goal was to establish an environment that encourages creativity and uniqueness in a setting where all are safe and equal, and above all, to present an affirming, alternative arena for local bands and musicians whose muse lies a bit left of center from the majority of those in the limelight elsewhere in the Ithaca music community.

The first shows found a home at No Radio Records and other, even less conventional spaces and spanned the gammit of punk, hardcore, metal and experimental genres (The Low Budgets, The Wayward, Fairway, Human Host, Rejouissance) - while encouraging others to start bands and to set up shows as well.

In summer 2008, Bubba Crumrine entered to handle booking for IU, promoting 11 shows in the final 5 months of the year with the likes of Cobra Skulls, Mose Giganticus, Ho-Ag, Static Radio NJ, and even Svarte Greiner from Norway with help from young local acts.

2009 brought IU into the Ithaca public eye with over 50 all ages shows across The Haunt, The Shop, CSMA and elsewhere. Top-quality underground touring acts like Sleepytime Gorilla Museum, Kylesa, The Menzingers, Tera Melos, Intronaut, Lemuria, Such Gold, Zs, Rosetta, Kayo Dot, Junius, and Black Cobra were common. A boom in the diversity of creative, young local talent and blooming relationships with scenes in Binghamton and Syracuse encouraged a co-operative underground music community in Central NY.

In December, IU launched its inaugural BIG DAY IN - a twice annual all-ages, ten-hour festival at The Haunt which combines talent from local, regional, and national underground communities for IU's premier events of the year.

Continuing to encourage unity and an integrated music community in Ithaca, IU partnered with music promotion organizations such as Cornell University's Fan Club Collective, Deep Beatz, Popcorn Youth, and others, while helping young bands and individuals learn the ropes to book and promote their own shows. By summer 2011, IU even had their own stage at Ithaca Festival.

Their reputation as a solid booking option for Ithaca spread nationally and beyond, promoting shows with such underground favorites as The Queers, Marnie Stern, Defiance Ohio, Algernon Cadwallader, Magrudergrind plus Japan's Melt-Banana and a handful of acts from Germany, France, and Canada.

Ithaca Underground continue to set a benchmark for booking from the heart, encourage a youth emphasis, and bringing in fresh, up and coming artists supporting themselves on the road.

In the fall of 2011, Crumrine established the Ithaca Underground Advisory Board with longtime underwriters Eric Laine (McNeil Music of Ithaca owner) and George Johann, (Angry Mom Records owner), and local musician/Silent City Distro founder Ryan Clover with the purpose of officially designating Ithaca Underground as a 501c3 non-profit organization.

Now, Ithaca Underground is calling on the community it so proudly serves to contribute financially to help fund this application process, ensuring that IU will continue to provide superb, all-ages shows that won't be seen anywhere else!

Live Video: Speak Daggers, Sswampzz, Mouth To Mouth To Mouth, Cheerleader Death Squad, The Catskills, Blunt Guts, and more.

2012-01-23T12:33:00.000-05:00

Hey all! Thanks for coming out to the Mouth To Mouth To Mouth shows in Ithaca and Syracuse this past weekend. Footage from various bands on both shows below:

Speak Daggers

Sswampzz (Syracuse)

Blunt Guts (Syracuse)

Cat Names (Syracuse)

Mouth To Mouth To Mouth - That's a lot of Aardvark!

Cheerleader Death Squad

The Catskills (Cortland)
__________
More vids below!

Speak Daggers

Speak Daggers

Sswampzz (Syracuse)

Cheerleader Death Squad

Cheerleader Death Squad

The Catskills (Cortland)

Blunt Guts

Mouth To Mouth To Mouth - Mickey Mouth

Mouth To Mouth To Mouth - Open Hand, Insert Mouth

Hunted Down (Syracuse)

Live Video: Burn Everything, These Machines, Among Dead Men

2012-01-23T12:32:00.001-05:00

Footage from our Friday the 13th show with Burn Everything, These Machines, and Among Dead Men!

Burn Everything - They Don't Advertise Killers"

Burn Everything 'Ambulance Chaser'

These Machines

These Machines

These Machines

Among Dead Men - Before the Devil Knows You're Dead

Among Dead Men

Meet The Band: SSWAMPZZ

2012-01-15T20:35:00.002-05:00

Name: SSWAMPZZ

Location: Syracuse, NY

Formed: From the Earth, like a golem

Members: Garrett (drums), Ricky (bass/noises/vox), Ray (guitar/noises/vox)

Releases: We have a super top secret classified 5 song EP fully recorded. it will be released in good time.

History: We all only really became friends and started playing together in late 2011. First it was Garrett and I, and then Ricky joined in after I had met him through The Clarendon Collective, which is a group in Syracuse that is aimed towards helping musicians and artists get shit done and available to the public. We meshed well right off the bat, it was pretty sweet. We all brought our own influences to what we were shooting for and it just evolved into a dark, high energy noise rock band.

Future: We haven't talked a lot about the future once the EP is released, we've mostly just been going with the flow. And i don't want to get ahead of myself, but there has been some chit chat about releasing a split with this super great band Dumb Talk from Beekman, NY. We'll probably keep playing shows in and around NYS. After the show in Ithaca on the 19th we are playing a couple shows in Syracuse. The one i am most excited for is on the 17th of February at Spark Contemporary Art Space, a bunch of great bands are playing it.

Don't miss SSWAMPZZ live with Mouth To Mouth To Mouth, Speak Daggers, Cheerleader Death Squad and more at Silent City Distro (above Autumn Leaves Books on the commons), 115 MLK Jr / State St, Ithaca, NY 14850 - 8PM $5 ALL AGES

News: Mouth To Mouth To Mouth are recording!

2012-01-15T20:35:00.001-05:00

That's right, MTMTM are laying down the new material this month for their as-yet-untitled follow up EP. Drummer Gabe Millman is running the boards this time around. The EP will feature their two new tracks "That Felt Weird Coming Out of My Mouth" and "Mouth Parade" plus some undisclosed goodies. Keep an ear to the ground for more details (or go here). In the meantime, you'll get the gist from these:

Mouth To Mouth To Mouth will be playing two shows this month: Ithaca at Silent City Distro with Speak Daggers, Sswampzz, and Cheerleader Death Squad on Fri 1/20 and in Syracuse with Sswampzz, Blut Guts, Hunted Down, and Cat Names at Badlands on Sat 1/21. Get your fill!

Upcoming Show: These Machines, Burn Everything, Among Dead Men: Jan 13

2012-01-12T12:35:00.000-05:00

&amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;p&amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;p&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;a href="http://thesemachinesny.bandcamp.com/album/pharmakon"&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;Pharmakon by These Machines&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;/a&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;/p&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;/p&amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;

THESE MACHINES return to Ithaca for their official CD release of "Pharmakon" and to kick of the IU 2012 year! These Binghamton pals have created some seriously menacing tech-metal with influences all over the grind, death, and hardcore spectrum while creating a hell of a lot of noise for just a trio. Dual vocal attack from guitarist Tom Doud (also of Sepsis, Dirty Slits, formerly Cancerface) and bassist Paul Ghilardi who get their shred on without any hint of wankness and rounded out with sick kit work via Mike Emm. Check out footage below from their gig at CSMA with Hiroshima Vacation, et al. from the fall.

Also on the bill are Rochester’s BURN EVERYTHING who, we’ve been itching to play Ithaca as far back as ’09 if memory serves. This band is crafting some eye-opening, relentlessly scathing melding of metal in hardcore that's all twisted and mangled. Recently, BE have been getting some national attention from a variety of online hotspots including Metal Sucks:

" Progressive post-hardcore? Dillinger / Burnt By the Sun-esque mathcore? Some other ultimately meaningless label? Beats me… how about just “good”? Burn Everything even introduce elements like elephants marching riffs, Morbid Angel pick scrapes and relentless double-bass pounding you don’t normally hear from bands that fall on the more hardcore side of the spectrum. A true melding of hardcore and metal that isn’t — gasp — “metalcore.” These guys get my vote for sure."

&amp;lt;a href="http://burneverything.bandcamp.com/album/last-run-through-the-ruins"&amp;gt;Last Run Through The Ruins by Burn Everything&amp;lt;/a&amp;gt;

Local metallic hardcore quintet Among Dead Men will kick things off.

Come by The Space @ GreenStar, 700 W Buffalo, Ithaca, NY 14850 on Friday, Jan 13th at 8PM and check it out. Just $5.

News: Local duo BRIAN! expand to trio with Willie B. on drums!

2011-12-21T22:22:00.004-05:00

What's the good news? The good news is... the return of BRIAN!

Ithaca-based duo BRIAN!, who have been captivating and confusing audiences around Central New York for the last two and a half years with their experimental compositions, have expanded to a trio which now includes the one and only, Willie B!

The line-up now consists of Ithaca Underground captain, Bubba Crumrine on guitar, bass, vocals, and electronics; David Resig on amplified bassoon, and the aforementioned Willie B. (a.k.a. Brian Wilson) on drums and percussion.

Willie B. has performed and recorded with many great artists such as Sally Timms (The Mekons), Warren Zanes (Del Fuegos), NYC punk legend Jayne County, and Neko Case. He has toured Europe and the U.S. extensively with Johnny Dowd and surf rockers the Mofos. From punk to jazz to country, Willie's versatility is his strength – which made him a “must-have” for the experimental duo BRIAN! whose compositions draw from avant-garde, prog, and math-rock while incorporating elements of noise and dark ambient music. Expect Willie to fit in just fine behind the kit, armed with orchestral, experimental, and traditional percussion.

BRIAN! made its live debut in the fall of 2009. Shortly thereafter, the duo recorded with Michael Stark in the winter of 2009 and subsequently released their first EP in the spring of 2010 aptly entitled “EEEEP” to underground acclaim. Their unconventional set-up, complex music, and unique structure drew subtle attention from rock, experimental, and classical communities. 2011 saw David and Bubba take their composition to new directions and volumes with modification of Dave’s bassoon to full amplification-ready. Soon after, the material in the works began to hint that the addition of a percussionist could help take the bands’ ideas to the next level. A search ensued throughout the fall and through a bit of “right place at the right time,” the duo caught wind that Willie was available and interested in the venture. Two solid sessions later, it was clear that BRIAN! could not do without this one man behind the beat.

In their duo incarnation, BRIAN! has performed with the likes of Marnie Stern, Cheer Accident, Faun Fables, Giraffes? Girrafes!, Sleep for the Nightlife, All of Them Witches, Make-A-Rising, and many more.

The trio will make their debut later this spring and from February 24th-26th they'll a quick tour of Ithaca, Binghamton, Syracuse with hardcore acts Dance-A-Tron and Blunt Guts - from Binghamton and Syracuse respectively.

Dates, times, photos, and new music to come so, stay tuned to their Facebook page for all of what's next.

For questions or booking, contact Bubba at contact@ithacaunderground.com

Live Video: BIG DAY IN

2011-12-09T19:27:00.000-05:00

THANKS - to everyone who came out, every band, and everyone involved on the back end of this, especially McNeil Music of Ithaca, Angry Mom Records, and of course, The Haunt - all for making this the biggest and best BIG DAY IN yet! See you in May for another. Tons of IU shows coming your way soon. Lots of vids below with Algernon Cadwallader, Pars & Labor, Summer People, HotChaCha, Megachurch, SIRS, The Sidekicks, Band Name, Shoppers, why+the+wires, and Kaboosh!

Algernon Cadwallader

Algernon Cadwallader

Parts & Labor - Constant Future (Clip)

Parts & Labor - Fractured Skies

Summer People - Baseball Bat

Summer People - Chapin 94

Summer People w/ Jovana from HotChaCha - Hallelujah, I'm A Bum (Clip)

HotChaCha - Suicide Mission

Megachurch - Resurrection w/ Intro

Megachurch - Speaking In Tongues

SIRS

The Sidekicks

The Sidekicks

Band Name

Shoppers - III

why+the+wires - Intro To Canada

Kaboosh! - Everyone's Gone

Kaboosh! - Waterboarding

Interview with SIRS - BIG DAY IN preview

2011-12-01T12:20:00.000-05:00

It's been 11 months since SIRS graced Ithaca with their presence and we're ultra ready for another dose. Since then, they've put some more miles under their belts, made their Topshelf Records debut - another split, this time in collaboration with the UK's run, WALK! and their mates, Holy Roar Records - and have even more new material in the works. They guys are in good spirits and amped for Big Day In. Below, Ithaca Underground's Bubba Crumrine catches up with Justin, Kyle, Mike and Hart - who is no stranger to this day-fest, having performed last December in Zona Mexicana.

IU: How has the band been since we saw you guys back in January?

Justin: Pretty great actually. January was when we really started to figure out how we wanted to sound. When our first guitarist left to form another band, Mike joined pretty much the next day, and as soon as that happened we started to write songs that we really liked and we haven't stopped since. Mike's a team player and an all around swell guy.

IU: Have you been hitting the road a lot?

Justin: We try to tour whenever we get the chance. This past summer we did a 20 something day tour around the eastern half of the U.S. but, our unreliable van (RIP Gladys) made the trip pretty nerve wracking. Before that we did a couple shorter tours last summer and winter. We've got some ideas for this winter and hopefully the summer, but we really have our sights set on next fall when we can hit up some other colleges besides our own.

IU: How did SIRS come to be?

Justin: Our first guitarist Dave and I met at Purchase a couple years ago. Fortunately we both share a love for the song Fuck off and Die by Greenday, so when we decided to learn it one uneventful night in October 2009, we ended up instead writing "Hibernations Sometimes", which is a song off of our first EP. We showed it to Kyle, who turned out to be a great drummer, and he showed it to his brother Hart who is pretty much good at everything. Voila.

IU: Congrats on signing to Topshelf Records! How did that and the split with run, WALK! come together?
Kyle: Thanks! The split was actually the brainchild of Topshelf and Holy Roar Records from the UK. They had met at SXSW and decided to collaborate. Both labels each picked a band they thought would go well together, and about a week after we started working with Topshelf they approached us with the idea. We're super happy about it because run,Walk! is a really great band, their side of the split was "bloody brilliant."

IU: Will you be working with Topshelf for future releases?
Mike: Yes, actually we originally started working with Topshelf in order to release our LP, which we are currently recording.

IU: Oh! Tells us more!
Justin: It's going to be a self title, we're very excited about it. We aim to have it out by spring/early summer.

IU: What's your favorite part about being in SIRS?
Mike: It probably sounds cliche, but honestly the best part for me is getting to be on the road and meeting people I other wise would never get to meet, and getting to go places i've never been too. Like Waffle House.

IU: Lewis Chesebrough says you guys tell jokes - tell us a joke! (Laughs)
Hart: I can't wait to see the look on old Lew's face when we tell him a joke.

IU: What else should people know about SIRS and what else can we look forward to from the band in 2012?

Kyle: We're super happy with the way our new songs are sounding. As far as 2012 goes, you can expect the full length and hopefully a few solid tours. Also, we're all involved in a handful of side projects which will hopefully be releasing material soon. I'm starting a band in syracuse called "D's Licks", Hart's in Zona Mexicana, Mike plays in LVL UP and Justin is playing in a new band with our buddy "Ryan Schnackenberg". He's a real card.

IU: Thanks guys!

Don't miss SIRS live at Big Day In on December 3rd at The Haunt (702 Willow Ave, Ithaca, NY 14850) with the likes of Algernon Cadwallader, Parts & Labor, Summer People, HotChaCha, Megachurch, The Sidekicks, and more! 12 band, 10 hours, $5. Doors open at noon and music starts shortly after. As with all IU shows, this event is ALL AGES!

Interview with Shoppers (Josh and Meredith) - BIG DAY IN preview

2011-11-30T09:55:00.000-05:00

Another trio's first time in Ithaca! This time is the blown out noise-rock of SHOPPERS. It's members are heavily involved in the DIY community in Syracuse - from music to records, shows, and more - and put their punk ethics on the road regularly. Other than that, we'll let their music and words speak for themselves. We've heard fantastic things about their live show from many reliable sources so, come out early and don't miss their 2:30 set at BIG DAY IN this Saturday at The Haunt. Anyone wanna grab Meredith a vegan slice from Pizza Aroma?

&amp;amp;amp;lt;p&amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;p&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;a href="http://shoppers.bandcamp.com/album/silver-year"&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;Silver Year by SHOPPERS&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;/a&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;/p&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;lt;/p&amp;amp;amp;gt;

IU: When and how did the three of you come together as Shoppers?

Meredith: Josh and Kari had been best friends for years when I moved to Syracuse. When Josh and I started dating, Kari and I naturally became friends and decided to start a band together, without Josh. We looked around for a different drummer because Josh was already in bands, but eventually we gave in and started playing as a family.

IU: Tell us about your latest LP, "Silver Year" and the processes you went through:

Meredith: That's kind of like, 'You just had a baby, tell us about the processes you went through'-- I can't possibly know everything that happened, I can't describe the celestial things that went on inside of me, but I can tell you that I got fucked, walked around with it inside me for about nine months, and eventually forced it out.

Josh: We all went down to Miami on tour and recorded a long play record released on Drugged Conscience and Feeble Minds' collective dime. Kari did like four bass track overdubs and I was a one-take dynamo in the studio (our friend Brian's parent's guest room). Then Meredith recorded a half hour of noise to drown out any potential fuck-ups.

IU: Any highlights from your fall tour?

Josh: Seeing TENEMENT in Madison, WI. Everyone that booked a show for us and put us up took really great care of us. Kari made a point to pee in as few toilets as possible.

Meredith: I had my first tour birthday at Bartertown Diner in Grand Rapids. I drank keg beer in a restroom and we ate pecan cake.

IU: When we had the guys from Thou up earlier in the fall and they had some great things to say about you all. How often have Thou and Shoppers connected on the road?

Josh: We've just played with them once in Alabama, but they visited Syracuse this past Fall as well. Powerful band. It's great to see a real-deal metal band made up of punk kids that actively reject the idea of big money package tours and stick to booking their own tours and releasing their own records. Real kindred spirits.

Meredith: I think we should connect more, because Thou is an incredible band made up of profoundly kind people. I am a huge fan. Playing our show with them in Birmingham was a highlight of my life, I have a giant version of the flier hanging above the table in my work room to remind me of that night.

IU: When you and I were first talking about getting Shoppers up this way, I noticed that, at the time, Shoppers had a mimimal online presence with just a Tumbler site. Since then, you've added a Bandcamp site but to my knowledge Shoppers has still skipped on Facebook and other social network sites. Was this an active decision?

Meredith: I think that's silly. Nobody would 'like' us. We only have a Tumblr because I am obsessed with that site and use it every day to talk about fashion and satan and girls with my friends. We give out our mailing address in our zines, I would rather get a letter in the mail.

Josh: We're just pretty lazy about things like that. As long as there's a place for people to hear our music, that's all I think is really needed. The kids that want to see us on the road will find a way. Everything's accessible with a simple Google search now-a-days anyway.

IU: What other projects are you and the other members of Shoppers involved in?

Josh: I front a band called White Guilt and drum in a band called Hunger Pains. I sling vinyl online and in the real world with my label, Feeble Minds. Kari lives in Brooklyn, which is a project unto itself.

Meredith: I do a fanzine and run a vintage clothing shop on Etsy. I'm always doing a hundred things and trying to learn three new skills at any given time, so most of the "projects" I'm excited about right now are things like learning how to make bread, starting a baking club with my friends, giving people haircuts, and sewing costumes.

IU: Tell me more about Badlands and your involvement there:

Josh: Meredith and I are part of a small collective of individuals that help co-operate the space. We also live right upstairs! We both utilize the space for shows and other fundraising events. We're now officially into our second year of operations and things are only going to get better from here. If all goes as planned, we'll be moving into a much larger location and we'll be expanding the in-house distro to have the city's first real punk record store.

IU: In addition to Big Day In, where are you guys heading out on the road this winter?

Josh: Right after Big Day In, we're heading down to DC and back. Then we're traveling to the west coast during our first month-long trip in January. Here's hoping we don't kill each other!

Meredith: We may also be out for a bit around Boston Ladyfest in February, but I'm not sure yet!

IU: What else can we look forward to in the new year from Shoppers?

Meredith: We're putting out a split 7" with Panzram, who are one of my favorite bands ever. We're going to Europe in the fall. I hope to break out of my disabling depression, get out of bed, and write another record.

Josh: I hope we write, too.

IU: Any final thoughts on Big Day In or words to those coming out?

Josh: Just another great reason to go visit Ithaca! It's always been one of my favorite destinations but now that there's a burgeoning scene in addition to all of the beautiful scenery. I'm looking forward to playing the Haunt.

Meredith: Please, someone bring me vegan slices from Pizza Aroma.

Don't miss Shoppers live at Big Day In on December 3rd at The Haunt (702 Willow Ave, Ithaca, NY 14850) with the likes of Algernon Cadwallader, Parts & Labor, Summer People, SIRS, HotChaCha, Megachurch, The Sidekicks, and more! 12 band, 10 hours, $5. Doors open at noon and music starts shortly after. As with all IU shows, this event is ALL AGES!

Interview with Algernon Cadwallader (Peter Helmis and Joe Reinhart)

2011-11-29T17:13:00.000-05:00

We've got a slathering of trio's making their first appearance in Ithaca this Saturday, including our headliners Algernon Cadwallader - a group of pals creating complex, melodic music. Their full-length Some Kind of Cadwallader stole the hearts of punk, math-rock, and hardcore fans alike. With their latest, Parrot Flies - a more polished effort while still retaining the realness that is Algernon Cadwallader - and subsequent intercontinental tour, these three friends aim to keep turning heads around the globe. Don't worry about pronouncing their name, just make sure you don't miss their headlining set at BIG DAY IN. Ithaca Undergound's Bubba Crumrine gets the skinny from Peter and Joe.

&amp;lt;a href="http://algernoncadwallader.bandcamp.com/album/listen-to"&amp;gt;Listen to by Algernon Cadwallader&amp;lt;/a&amp;gt;
IU: For the uninitiated, how did you three meet and start making music together?

Peter: We met in the suburbs of Philadelphia when we were high school-aged. Joe and I had a band that would play with Tank's band. When our original drummer left to go to school, Tank was our first choice and we eventually coaxed him into it. We lived happily ever after.

IU:What are some moments you most enjoyed creating "Parrot Flies"?

Peter: Recording in an empty church for a week was pretty amazing. I still can't believe we pulled that one off. Also, exploring the sounds of different amp and mic combinations - that's fun for us.

IU: The record is quite a bit denser and more layered than its predecessors, was this a concious effort to move in this direction or just a natural progression of having more time and different resources?

Peter: Time and resources certainly had a play in the way the record turned out. We started with the basics as usual and then just had fun trying this and that. The hard part was keeping it tasteful and not over doing it. We wanted it to feel live and natural while having the sound of well crafted studio recording.

IU: You guys barreled through an ambitious 70-show, intercontinental tour over the summer. What are some highs & lows from that venture? How did the Euro shows differ from those state side? Any plans to head back overseas?

Peter: Highs were seeing sights we would never be able to see if not for the band, partying for 3 months straight while people pat us on the back, doing it all with great friends right by our side. Lows are for lowlifes. No one died. We played more clubs overseas. It was astounding to see how organized the DIY scene is over there. We'd like to continue exploring further destinations like Japan and Australia next year.

IU: Joe - we're having the guys in Restorations up this way in the spring. From what I understand, you recorded and produced their self-titled effort. What other acts have you been working with of late? Is that one of your main time-well-spent efforts outside of Algernon?

Joe: I have been friends with the Restorations guys since high school. They are sweat hearts, giant gummy bears, great musicians, and I love working with them. Right now I am currently working on a LP's for Ape Up!, Hop Along, and Conversations With Enemies. Recording music is a hobby that I get paid for. Like Piebald, I got the best job ever. When I'm not doing Algernony stuff, it allows me to still feel creative, wake up at 2:00, and hangout with like-minded individuals. I also enjoy a hearty bowl of gumbo paired with a strong Stout.

IU: Also, tell us more about Hot Green Records!

Peter: Hot Green Records is the label we started with money made from shows and people buying our records so, we could put out more records and play more shows to get more money to put out more records and play more shows. It's a self sustaining eco-system of good times.

IU: Any bands you're stoked to play with/see perform at Big Day In

Peter: I love The Sidekicks! Summer People too, of course. Our buddies Band Name will be in tow - I think they will surprise a lot of people.

IU: We'll keep it brief since it's a holiday weekend here so, any final thoughts for all the Algernon fans coming out on Dec 3?

Peter: Pre-game. Bring your dancing shoes.

Don't miss Algernon Cadwallader live at Big Day In on December 3rd at The Haunt (702 Willow Ave, Ithaca, NY 14850) with the likes of Parts & Labor, Summer People, SIRS, HotChaCha, Megachurch, The Sidekicks, and more! 12 band, 10 hours, $5. Doors open at noon and music starts shortly after. As with all IU shows, this event is ALL AGES!

Interview with Parts & Labor (BJ and Dan) - BIG DAY IN preview

2011-11-28T12:59:00.000-05:00

It's that time of year again! Time for another 10 hours of awesome music down at The Haunt with Ithaca Underground. We're extremely honored to be hosting Parts & Labor on this our fifth Big Day In event (our third winter version). Why are we so smitten to have this band in particular? We'll beyond them being one of the best bands to merge noise, punk, and pop mentalities, after what will be a 10 year run, this Ithaca performance is their final outside of Brooklyn before their pending infinite hiatus. Ithaca Underground's Bubba Crumrine catches up with founding members BJ Warshaw and Dan Friel - both of whom have performed their own solo acts in Ithaca previously - regarding their latest LP "Constant Future", the possible end of Parts & Labor, and what's next.

IU: First off, I must say we're utterly enthralled with the idea of Parts & Labor's long-anticipated debut in Ithaca. Sadly, it sounds as though it may be our last. Could you give us and our readers some insight on the cause for hanging the project up for now and what you'll all be focusing on in the meantime?

BJ: We're very excited to finally be playing Ithaca, at long last!

There's not one, central reason for the impending hiatus. We each have a lot of personal things, families and occupations, that have begun to take up more of our time. That and our geographical separation has made frequent collaboration and touring increasingly tricky (Joe still lives in Milwaukee, Dan lives in Brooklyn, and I
live in New Jersey). But mainly we felt ending strongly with a celebration, after 10 years of touring and making records, made a lot of sense. There's really no discord between us.

We've all got other musical endeavors you'll be hearing from. I'll be working on Shooting Spires. Dan's working on a new solo record. Joe continues to make music for film/TV through his company Noisola.

IU: Glad we'll still have those things to look forward to. As Parts & Labor, you guys have had a great run of LPs, EPs, tours, collaborations, and collaborators making fantastic noise - what are some of your favorite highlights?

BJ: Off the top of my head, some very recent memories top my list: Working with Dave Fridmann on "Constant Future" and touring Japan this past July. Other fond highlights would include getting to play some incredible festivals (ATP, Siren, Primavera, Supersonic). Appearing on NPR and Sound Opinions. Meeting Brian Eno while on tour with Battles in the UK.

IU: Any recorded material that you have that we'll see posthumously?

BJ: As a "going away" gift, we release "No Nostalgia", a song recorded during the "Receivers" sessions but left off of that record: http://jagjaguwar.com/blog/2011/10/parts-labor-announce-10th-anniversary-and-retrospective-shows-followed-by-indefinite-hiatus/

Otherwise, I don't think we have anything in the vaults that we'd collectively deem releasable; just lots of demo versions of songs and half-finished recordings. I'd say probably not, but who knows.

IU: Not to keep stressing the end before it's time, let's focus on Constant Future - how was working with the aforementioned Dave Fridmann? How did the approach to the album differ from Receivers? How was working with Nicholas Chatfield-Taylor on another video? Give us the downlow!

BJ: Fridmann was incredible. It was our first real experience working with a "producer", although we record 98% of the record before starting our mixing sessions with Dave. Most days he'd mix while we'd play video games and watch "The Prisoner" on laser disc; he preferred to have us out of his way during the initial mixing. We'd come in later in the process and make changes, suggestions, and we'd all work together to get to the final mix for each song. Dave had an intuitive sense about how to make our music bigger without sacrificing
definition. In particular, we were looking for his signature bombastic drum sounds, and we got 'em in spades.

There were a few main differences from "Receivers". For one thing, we were WAY more prepared when we entered the studio for tracking. With "Receivers" we were still basically arranging while we were recording
over half of the record, which worked fine in some cases but made the process perhaps more stressful than it needed to be. For another, we went through a ton of songs and ideas leading up to making "Constant
Future", and chose our favorites for the album. In all it was a much more confident writing and recording process for us.

Working with Nick was wonderful. I'll always be in awe of his ability to pull in a large group of people to build something wonderful -- and usually in very little time and with very little resources. Financially we had little to offer him, but he was still been able to pull off elaborate feats of video shooting and editing. In the case of "Echo Chamber", I think we all knew what we were getting into a bit more than with "Gold We're Digging", as far as insane numbers takes and mind-scrambling repetition to achieve the "animated band" effect.
But "Echo Chamber" also was shot during and as a part of a huge group art show called "Sequence of Waves" in an old convent in Brooklyn, so that added an extra element of fun and chaos to the proceedings. Nick also makes a bitching kale and fruit smoothie; kept us healthy in the frigid, February church.

IU: Sounds awesome. You did the artwork and accompanying website for "Constant Future", correct? What other visual projects have you been involved in outside of P&L?

BJ: Yep, I've done the art for all of our full length albums. Outside of P&L, I've done a few other album covers. With my girlfriend Marie, I made the cover to "The Green Corridor I", a split LP between Oneida
and Pterodactyl, part of a four-LP series on Altin Village: http://www.altinvillage.de/releases/avm035.html

I did another one for a UK band called the Defribillators:
http://www.myspace.com/defibrillators/photos/albums/album-art/1438928

I also made a series of Video Flyers for some shows:
http://www.youtube.com/user/shootingspires

I've done some web art projects, too, none of which I think are online anymore. I've been thinking as P&L winds down that I'd like to do more visual art. We shall see what happens.

IU: How was the collaborative tour with Pterodactyl earlier this year? We just had them out at the start of Nov. Any chance someone recorded Joe playing with you guys and Dan with them?

BJ: That was fun, although it must've been exhausting for Dan and Joe doing double duty. Especially at SXSW, where each band played multiple shows. Joe had played with P&L before (and he plays guitar
on "Vision of Repair" off the album "Mapmaker"), and we've been friends for years, so the collaboration just made a lot of intrinsic sense. I know I have footage of at least one show with Joe (the "Constant Future" record release party), but have yet to put it online. We'll have to go through our archive someday.

IU: Dan, I'm a little late on this one but, tell me about Emergencynth... hearing things...

Dan: Nice. The Emergencynth is this rad little synth box designed and hand made by our friend Kayrock. He also used to play with Oneida, and runs Kayrock screenprinting (who have done various flyers, shirts and
artwork for us). He asked me and some folks from Oneida, Trans-Am and a few other bands to write the little demonstration melodies that it comes programmed with (like the demos on a toy keyboard). You can
check it out here: http://emergencynth.com/

IU: Cool! Will scope this out further. Any final words to the good folks of Ithaca, everyone coming to Big Day In, and anyone else who may come across this in the vastness that is the interwebs?

BJ: Let's rock.

Don't miss Parts & Labor live at Big Day In on December 3rd at The Haunt (702 Willow Ave, Ithaca, NY 14850) with the likes of Algernon Cadwallader, Summer People, SIRS, HotChaCha, Megachurch, The Sidekicks, and more! 12 band, 10 hours, $5. Doors open at noon and music starts shortly after.

Interview with Summer People (Brandon Musa) - BIG DAY IN preview

2011-11-28T12:58:00.002-05:00

Summer People this Saturday at Big Day In! Ah, music to my ears. Despite our love for this this high-energy revolving cast of characters, this is the first BDI that has worked out for both parties. We're stoked to have one of central NY's hottest rising stars back on the IU stage. This crew had another busy year with two more lengthy tours, releasing their spilt 12" with tourmates HotChaCha, a successful Kickstarter to convert their tour van to veggie power and press their second LP "Teamwork" to vinyl and more. Ithaca Underground's Bubba Crumrine catches up with Brandon Musa for a bit of Q&A before they head for Buffalo to start a handful of NY tour dates, ending with our event on Saturday.

IU: Congrats on the kickstarter process! How is everything going regarding the pressing and veggie conversion?

Brandon: Thanks! It’s going well. We are working on getting both done within the next month or two.

IU: Glad I was able to catch the SP/HCC set at Culture Shock earlier in the fall. Everyone tore it up as usual. What were some highlights from your tours w/ HotChaCha and Zlam Dunk?

Brandon: Pete did karaoke in his briefs. Jesse set off a firecracker in the middle of Cleveland. Cheddar got a needle stuck in his arm (not what you'd think). Lots of chaos.

IU: How did you all initially hook up with HotChaCha and Zlam Dunk?

Brandon: We met Zlam in San Marcos and hit it off immediately. We met HCC in Cleveland and fell in love.

IU: Any other bands you met on tour that Ithaca folks should put on their radar?

Brandon: The Moaners, Fangs Out, Vamos!, The Catalyst.

IU: Who and where did you record your split tracks for "Do It" out in Columbus, OH and how was that experience?

Brandon: We recorded with a fella named Adam Korbesmeyer at a place called The Tone Shoppe. It was the best recording experience I’ve had in a long time.

IU: Sort of a mundane question typically, but what artists do you all pull inspiration from for this project? I've always found it interested how past and current members come from involvement in hardcore, punk, and math-rock bands and what music comes out as Summer People.

Brandon: We have a bunch of members so the influences are all over the place. All of us love hip hop but, I have no idea how much of that makes its way into our songs. I know that we all love old rock n roll and punk and try to sound as raw as possible. If it’s not fun to play it’s probably not much fun to listen to so, that has a big impact on what stays and what gets dumped. We get a lot of Nick Cave, The Cramps, The Stooges, and Joy Division comparisons so we can’t complain.

IU: So, this question is a bit dated, but even though we've been working with you all for a few years, I don't know the back story of how Summer People came to be, post- Fire When Ready. Care to share with us and other uninformed individuals?

Brandon: Summer People started as an excuse for us old dudes to continue being involved in art and music. We got ahold of Graham because we loved his band The Trip Wilsons and wanted to work with him. After our first show we started playing with Alex but he was only popping in for a few songs. When Red Leader put us in the studio we had him sing and play drums on a few songs. He has one of the best voices in the game so, the jump from percussionist to singer was natural. When our old singer Justin told us he wouldn’t be able to tour we got ahold of Peter. I am a huge fan of Crime Pays so, I was stoked for that. Jesse came in once Steve started working as an environmental biologist at Duke. Basically we came together via mutual admiration - a weird little Upstate family.

IU: Thanks! As you alluded, SP have had a bit of a revolving cast of characters on tour. What's the line-up for Big Day In?

Brandon: It’ll be Peter, Jesse, Graham, Alex, Justin, and myself with some vocals from Jovanna (singer of HotChaCha) and our old singer Justin.

IU: What are the plan for 2012?

Brandon: A lot of touring. A lot of writing.

IU: Good to hear! We'll look forward to it. Any final words to those coming out to Big Day In?

Brandon: It’ll be our last upstate show for a couple of months so let’s get really weird.

Summer People - Great Northern Diver from If You Make It on Vimeo.

Hallelujah I'm A Bum & Broken Bones

Don't miss Summer People live at Big Day In on December 3rd at The Haunt (702 Willow Ave, Ithaca, NY 14850) with the likes of Algernon Cadwallader, Parts & Labor, SIRS, HotChaCha, Megachurch, The Sidekicks, and more! 12 band, 10 hours, $5. Doors open at noon and music starts shortly after.

Live Video: Rat Storm, Crown of Oak, Bubba Crumrine, and Plasma 36

2011-11-28T12:55:00.000-05:00

Live footage from our new pals in Rat Storm (killer female fronted powerviolence from IN), new local band called Crown of Oak (solid melodic, concentrated prog rock - watch out for these guys), my first solo performance, and return to Ithaca for Plasma 36.

Rat Storm

Rat Storm

Crown of Oak

Crown of Oak

Crown of Oak

Bubba Crumrine - Six Things

Bubba Crumrine

Plasma 36

Live Video: Dope Body, Child Bite, Like Wolves, Womyn Boiz, Phorke, Year On A Mountain, Tumul

2011-11-25T11:22:00.003-05:00

Hey gang! Time for a visual recap of what's been going on. Footage from the 11/17 IU show with Dope Body, Child Bite, Like Wolves, and Womyn Boiz plus two clips from the Risley show with Phorke and Year on a Mountain. Added bonus - footage from the Tumul return show in Rochester 11/20.

Dope Body

Dope Body

Dope Body

Child Bite

Child Bite

Child Bite

Like Wolves

Like Wolves

Womyn Boiz

Womyn Boiz

Womyn Boiz

Phorke

Year on a Mountain

Tumul

Upcoming show: Like Wolves, Dope Body, Child Bite, and Womyn Boiz

2011-11-15T12:40:00.000-05:00

Last official IU show of the year before BIG DAY IN! (aka the show of the two word band names).

It's time to pull out all the stops, bring the ruckus, make the sweat, do the thing with the stuff, and so on, so forth. If this one doesn't end in a big pile of everything, I'm going home. But, enough with the nonsense.

Let's meet our first out of state guests of honor... There's DOPE BODY, who hail from Baltimore (love that place) and whom we unfortunately missed on their summer tour with Liturgy and Hume. Their latest LP "Nupping" hit a few months back over the summer and their latest beast (pictured above) is a screenprinted split with tourmates CHILD BITE from Detroit. The DB crew wield a solid mix of crunch, math-spazz, and rock holler (who have an apparent affinity for Rage Against The Machine of all things) and CB are a keyboard-happy ball of avant-punk. The CB camp recently performed as Nine Inch Nails for their hometown Halloween show. Guess you could say we've got two killer, high-energy bands on tour together with an affinity for 90s big shots, doing things that present-day fans of those bands would probably hate. I digress. Check these out!

100 MILE /// DOPE BODY from Theo Anthony on Vimeo.

CHILD BITE "ODD INN" from KATIE BARKEL on Vimeo.

Closing out the night will be our good friends from Rochester, Hex Record's own LIKE WOLVES. These guys have been slugging it for over 3 years with a high-energy hardcore punk influenced by angular goodies like Hot Snakes & Drive Like Jehu. First time back in Ithaca since Dec '10. Check out tracks of their latest 12" here and footage from their Big Day In performance below!

Like Wolves - Big Day In at The Haunt - Ithaca, NY - 12/4/10 from Chris Knight on Vimeo.

Last but first, our pals Womyn Boiz will be kicking things off. Gnarly garage punk with plenty of samples from Binghamton/NYC. Check out their tunes here.

So, the order is Womyn Boiz, Child Bite, Dope Body, and Like Wolves. 8PM $5 ALL AGES >>>
The Space @ GreenStar, 700 W Buffalo St, Ithaca, NY 14850
- easy to get to from the corner of N. Fulton & Court St by the railroad tracks but if you want to take Buffalo St - take the alley across from GreenStar Coop between Enterprise and Kalzonies... drive down the alley a bit until Corks & More is on your left - The Space is on your right (the yellow & purple bldg withing the fencing). Makes more sense when you're there I swear. See you then!

Live Video: Pterodactyl, Time/Being, Mothguts, BEES, why+the+wires, DGITW, and The Invisble Hand

2011-11-14T17:35:00.002-05:00

We've had a great month so far with the likes of Pterodactyl, new locals Time/Being, BEES///, why+the+wires, Mothguts, Don't Go Into The Woods, and The Invisible Hand. Look out for this Thursday with Like Wolves, Dope Body, Child Bite and Womyn Boiz. In the meantime, check out some vids below!

Pterodactyl "Esses" - 11.05.11

Pterodactyl "Clouds" - 11.05.11

Pterodactyl - 11.05.11

Time/Being - 11.05.11

Time/Being - 11.05.11

why+the+wires - 11.05.11

BEES/// - 11.05.11

BEES/// - 11.05.11

BEES/// - 11.05.11

Mothguts

Mothguts

Mothguts

Don't Go Into The Woods

Don't Go Into The Woods "You Shall Not be Spared"

Don't Go Into The Woods - "Eight Legs of Death"

The Invisible Hand - 11.12.11

Upcoming Show: Mothguts, DGITW, The Invisible Hand - CD release show!

2011-11-09T14:59:00.000-05:00

MOTHGUTS
Get read for Jersey jazz-metal quartet MOTHGUTS, this Saturday at The Space. More info on them below but first let's check out some video of this goodness...

Awesome. Want more? Well, it just so happens you can download Mothguts entire discography right here (3/4 down the page).

So far, the quartet have released three proper studio albums, a live album, a Christmas album, and an improv album. All of which are fully fueled with blistering, Satanic-fit-inducing metallic riffage, sax shronk and skree, a la Painkiller/Naked City/Last Exit but very much their own beast.

The Invisible Hand
We've got another damn good reason for you to show up - your first shot at picking up the latest album from Ithaca's own jazz-noise-punks, The Invisible Hand entitled "A Zen Philosophy" plus the release of guitarist/bassist Mark's own solo EP "The Rapture". Two spankin' new releases at one show. Need something to do in the meantime? How about this official music video from the TIH camp for the track "Fukushima". Come down to the space for more of Mark's video animation during their live set.

Don't Go Into The Woods
Closing out this three band evening is Ithaca's own black metal three piece. Don't Go Into The Woods. Check out some footage from their last IU gig at The Haunt. Who knew psych/folk singer/songwriter Mike (A)! had the blackmetal pipes!

Saturday, November 12th
The Space @ GreenStar (aka The Annex)

700 West Buffalo St
Ithaca, NY 14850
8PM $5 ALL AGES

Upcoming Show: Melt-Banana/Tera Melos/Cattle Drums

2011-10-21T12:58:00.002-04:00

They day we've all been waiting for this fall is nearly upon us... Melt-Banana's return to Ithaca! Japanese noise-punk-pop-wtf quartet sync up with California math-pop cult-favs Tera Melos (who have been on tour with Boris/Coliseum until today) in Cleveland on Saturday then its time to show the world how Ithaca gets down. Oneonta's own Cattle Drums will kick the show off around 7:30. You may remember them from Big Day In, Dec 2010 or from their summer tour with Dan Drake... you may also recognize their vocalist as non other than Moster Machismo drum wizard Sam Judd. Holla.

Presale tickets are still available if you want to save $4 here: http://ithacaunderground.ticketleap.com/melt-banana-japan-tera-melos-cattle-drums-at-the-haunt/

Tickets will be sold at the door as well. Check out the vids and links below!

Live Video: Cobra Skulls, Nothington, Man Man, Hyrrokkin, and much more!

2011-10-18T21:15:00.000-04:00

Whew! Another crazy week of shows here in Ithaca. All wrapped up with the IU show at The Haunt with Cobra Skulls, Nothington, Bombtree, and The Dirty Slits. Great sets by all as those who were there will tell. But why just listen to me? How about some footage then, starting off with a double song in one clip rendition of The Streets of Cairo (Cobralectric) and Ode to Jefferson with Cobra-friend PHIL on banjo. Definitely didn't expect them to pull out tracks all the way back from Draw Muhammad. Great night! Check the footage for some of my favorite punk acts.

Additional footage from some non-IU sets like Man Man (who we as awesome as hoped after 6 years of trying to see them), Grandchild, why+the+wires (who got to open for MM), Hyrrokkin (members of Matta Gawa and Kuan and blew away any expectations that line-up would herald), Nick Millevoi (of Many Arms and Make-a-Rising who shows you how to play your damn guitar), and a cool, newish band called Alter Koker. Thanks to Dan Smalls Presents and Experiment Without Borders for those shows.

Cobra Skulls - Streets of Cairo/Ode To Jefferson

Cobra Skulls - The Preacher and the Manwhore

Cobra Skulls - Muniphobia

Cobra Skulls - Hasta Los Cobra Skulls Siempre!

Cobra Skulls - Back to the Use

Cobra Skulls - The Mockery

Cobra Skulls - Iron Lung

Nothington - Far to Go

Nothington - The Escapsist

Nothington

The Dirty Slits

The Dirty Slits

Bombtree - Joyride

Man Man - Intro / Einstein On The Beach / Feathers

Grandchild

why+the+wires (opening for Man Man)

Hyrrokkin

Hyrrokkin

Nick Mellevoi

Nick Mellevoi

Alter Koker

Alter Koker

News: new Cattle Drums demos up now!

2011-10-16T17:19:00.000-04:00

FRESH! tracks from our Oneonta boys in Cattle Drums. Check 'em out below:

Interview with Cobra Skulls up on Punknews.org

2011-10-12T08:51:00.001-04:00

Just a few days after naming the new records from Cobra Skulls and Nothington the #3 and #4 fan favorite albums from September, Punk news has posted an interview with the band as well which can be found here.

See you all at The Haunt from 6PM-10PM for our all ages show with Cobra Skulls, Nothington, Bombtree, and The Dirty Slits. $8 at the door but presale tickets are still available via Ticketleap.

Upcoming Show: Cobra Skulls/Nothington (ex-Tsunami Bomb) this Saturday 10/15

2011-10-12T08:51:00.000-04:00

Cobra Skulls, now on Fat Wreck Chords, return to Ithaca for the first time since the '09 Red Scare tour (Menzingers, Sidekicks) and we are STOKED. Once of the nicest bands we've had through and always a blast live. Nice to see the good ones getting the attention. They've been busy since we last saw them signing to Fat and dropping their "Bring The War Home" EP and just released their 3rd LP "Agitations. Never heard of them? Well... check 'em out and learn about your new favorite punk band.

And let's not forget their former Red Scare labelmates Nothington (featuring ex-Tsunami Bomb members Jay Northington and Gabriel Lindeman) on on tour with CS all the way from San Fran. We've got some footage below to wet your pallet. See you this Saturday!

Cobra Skulls, Nothington, Bombtree, The Dirty Slits at The Haunt, 702 Willow Ave, Ithaca, NY 14850. Just $8 at the door (or pre-sale here with no surcharge), this all ages show kicks off at 6PM (doors at 5PM) and runs til ~10PM. Off-street parking is available as are meals via Razorback BBQ, located inside The Haunt.

New video for Rebel Fate off Agitations

Back to '10 for one of my favorites off of American Rubicon 'HDUI'

Another fav of their 7" of the same name.

SOLID full set from July.

- Audio's a bit lacking but, you definitely get why not to miss their set!

News: Sun Spells vocalist search (ßun ßpells)

2011-10-12T08:50:00.000-04:00

Our ritual psych drone friends Sun Spells (aka ßun ßpells) are seeking a vocalist. More info below and here.

News: Greg Graffin reads from "Anarchy Evolution" 10/23

2011-10-12T08:23:00.000-04:00

What could possibly make Sunday, October 23rd better than it already is, given that Ithaca Underground is presenting Melt-Banana, Tera Melos, and Cattle Drums at The Haunt that evening? Well, our friends over at Buffalo Street Books are having Dr. Greg Graffin - of the Bad Religion fame but also a biology professor at UCLA - reads from his new book "Anarchy Evolution" from 3PM-6PM - plenty of time to catch .

More info here.

BSB is located at 215 N Cayuga St, Ithaca, NY 14850-4329

Live Footage: Summer People, Zlam Dunk, HotChaCha, Jealousy Mountain Duo, Brian! & more.

2011-10-11T20:41:00.000-04:00

Here's a ton of footage from some shows that went down aover the last few weeks around town, including Summer People/HotChaCha's 12" split "Do It" release show at Culture Shock on Sunday, which was pretty off the wall. Zlam Dunk picked up a whole bunch of upstate fans that night for sure. Check them out along with the last minute stop for Jealousy Mountain Duo and Brian, plus footage from the DSP show with Deerhoof, Powerdove, and Keir Neuringer back in Sept.

Summer People - Baseball Bat

Zlam Dunk

HotChaCha - Suicide Mission

HotChaCha - German Soldier (things get a lil wild here)

Summer People - Hired Liars

Summer People - Broken Bones

Zlam Dunk - Patrick

Jealousy Mountain Duo - Rock On The Beach

Jealousy Mountain Duo - A Song Without Handclaps

Jealousy Mountain Duo - The Code of JMD

BRIAN! (guitar/bassoon)

BRIAN! (bassoon, bass, voice, keys)

BRIAN! (bassoon, bass, voice)

BRIAN! (bassoon, voice, guitar, bass, electronics, loops)

Deerhoof

Deerhoof

Deerhoof (clip)

Keir Neuringer

Keir Neuringer

Keir Neuringer

Powerdove

More bands announced for BIG DAY IN including Algernon Cadwallader!

2011-10-10T11:55:00.000-04:00

On 10/8 we added 5 more acts to our upcoming Dec 3rd BIG DAY IN including Cleveland's HotChaCha (who gave another insane performance on Sunday), The Sidekicks (Red Scare : Northeastern, OH), Band Name from Philly, local favorites why+the+wires, and last but certainly not least Algernon Cadwallader! They've been on our wishlist for a while now and we couldn't be happier they were able to join this great line-up. If you're unfamiliar with the band, check them out here or here. More info on the full line-up and links below:

BIG DAY IN - Saturday, December 3rd

Algernon Cadwallader (Hot Green : Philadelphia, PA)
Parts & Labor (JagJaguwar : Brooklyn, NY)
Summer People (Low Light : Binghamton/Syracuse/Ithaca, NY)
Sirs (Topshelf / Holy Roar : Purchase, NY)
HotChaCha (Exit Stencil : Cleveland, OH)
Megachurch (Cleveland, OH)
The Sidekicks (Red Scare : Cleveland, OH)
Band Name (Self Aware : Philadelphia, PA)
Shoppers (Syracuse, NY)
why+the+wires (Angry Mom Records : Ithaca, NY)
Kaboosh! (Ithaca, NY)

The Haunt
702 Willow Ave
Ithaca, NY 14850
12PM-10PM | $5 | ALL AGES

Welcome to the fifth Big Day In - Ithaca Underground's twice-a-year, all ages DIY fest sponsored by McNeil Music of Ithaca, Angry Mom Records, and The Haunt in Ithaca, NY.

Saturday, December 3rd will mark Ithaca Underground's fifth Big Day In - their twice-a-year, all ages DIY fest sponsored by McNeil Music of Ithaca, Angry Mom Records, and The Haunt in Ithaca, NY. Each event is purposed to shed a larger light on the DIY music efforts in Ithaca and central NY by presenting great music from national, regional, and young Ithacan acts on one stage. Previous incarnations of the winter version of the event have involved the likes of Lemuria, Soul Control, Bridge Control, I Object, Like Wolves, Aficionado, among dozens more.

In addition to those mentioned above, this year's event boasts an excellent slathering of genres from noise-pop guru's Parts & Labor, the rowdy, folk-flecked indie-rock of central NY darlings, Summer People; high-energy and technically proficient punk from Sirs, the heavy stomp of psudeo-evangelical instrumentalists, Megachurch; blown-out noise-punk from Syracuse underground heroes Shoppers, and local young folk-punk upstarts, Kaboosh!. Details & links below!

ALGERNON CADWALLADER
http://algernoncadwallader.blogspot.com/
http://algernoncadwallader.bandcamp.com/
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Algernon-Cadwallader/39831642987?sk=info
Algernon Cadwallader is Tank Burgman Peter Helmis, and Joe Reinhart, 3 friends from Philadelphia that grew up playing loud, sloppy, fun music. Get ready for raw, mathy, melodic jams with plenty of emotion, that grew up on Cap 'n Jazz and Braid mixtapes, and are issued through three extremely proficient musicians. After a few touring setbacks due to broken body parts and classes, the band blew the doors off this year with a massive headlining US tour with friends Snowing and 1994!, immediately followed by a trek across the pond in August.

While in Europe, the band dropped their latest "Parrot Flies" - a flawless follow-up effort to "Some Kind of Cadwallader" with all the mathy drumming, beautiful guitar work, solid bass-lines you've come to love but, with a few more nods to the Sonic Youth/Dinosaur Jr. end of the spectrum in addition to the influences they've been paralleled to over the years. It's still raw as ever but with a bit more up-tempo and crunch that its predecessors. Good people making good music and good times.

SUMMER PEOPLE
http://www.summerppl.com
http://www.lowlightrecords.com
Wow, this troop is blowing up something fierce this year. They kicked the year off right releasing their stunning follow-up LP "Teamwork" and hit the road immediately. The gang hit the road hard in the summer & fall with their Ohio pals, HotChaCha - both of whom found time to come together a record a killer split aptly named "Do It". They hit SXSW this year, BJ's fest again, and caught the attention of the fine folks at AP and Punknews on a regular basis. Now, we've got them on their first IU show of 2011 (what, they've been busy!) and their first BIG DAY IN appearance.

Never heard them? Better fix that quick. 7 live members swinging guitars, bass, drums, additional percussion, male & female vocals, the occasional cello... all locked in with grooves, hooks, rowdy & dynamic composition, painstakingly intertwined melodies with an intensity that you know these guys used to play hardcore. This group stands tall on their own sound among the scores of copy-cats and even above their own influences.

PARTS & LABOR
http://partsandlabor.net
http://myspace.com/partsandlabor
This is a blown-out amalgamation of punk, noise, electronics and indie-pop which has continued to evolve since their debut in 2003. For those uninitiated, Parts & Labor have toured with the likes of Battles, Lightning Bolt, TV on the Radio, Melt-Banana, Deerhoof, Japanther, Matt & Kim, and dozens of others throughout the US, Europe, Japan, and other international expos. They're up to 5 LPs released in addition to three EP's - including their early collaboration with now ex-Battles member Tyondai Braxton. Founding members BJ Warshaw (aka Shooting Spires) and Dan Friel - whom you'll recognize from their previous IU solo performances - also founded Cardboard Records which has released efforts from Pterodactyl, Big Bear, Aa, in addition to their own material. Needless to say, we're ecstatic their formal Ithaca debut.

"Constant Future" is their latest and the career-defining statement from the Brooklyn-based noise-pop trio. The album delivers the essentials that made them sui generis totems of modern art-punk: synthesized keyboard riffs distorted into oblivion, percussion pummeled hypnotically, crackling drones that haunt and soothe, fearless melodies hollered skyward. Their previous LP, 2008's acclaimed "Receivers", saw Parts & Labor blasting off in all directions and creating collage art from hundreds of fan-curated samples. But fifth album Constant Future finds them crashing back to earth, focusing pointedly on what they do best: unique, electronic landscapes melded with buzzing, anthemic hooks. Parts & Labor have distilled the lessons and experiences of nearly 10 years as a band into a catchy, blown-out masterwork.

Maximalist engineer Dave Fridmann (Flaming Lips, Mogwai, Sleater-Kinney, MGMT) co-produced and mixed the album with P&L at his Tarbox Road Studios in Casadega, NY. A band already known for their dense, futuristic sound was ultimately transformed into something massive, beaming, downright nuclear. The album is the product of two years of vigorous writing and demoing which resulted in more than 40 songs. For the actual recording, Parts & Labor settled in a former boxing ring in Milwaukee to track the record themselves, with drummer Joe Wong leading the charge.

Over the album's 39 minutes, vocalists Dan Friel and BJ Warshaw steadfastly chronicle several whirlwind years of growth, taking lyrical cues from the artful work of their musical heroes (Sonic Youth, Lungfish, Fugazi, Wire). The pair weave tales of teeth-baring city-scapes, the anxiety of death, and the horrifying pitfalls of our nascent century. But, as their sunny refrains would imply, there's always a glimmer of hope, acceptance and love buried just beneath Parts & Labor's paranoid surface.

Hello, constant future...

SIRS
http://sirsmusic.bandcamp.com/
http://www.facebook.com/pages/SIRS/282115149130?sk=info
Sirs is a four-piece punk band from upstate New York. Formed in 2009 after meeting at school, original members consisted of Justin Jurgens, Dave Benton, Kyle Seely and Hart Seely (also of Zona Mexicana). They released a six-song EP Vas Deferens in May of 2010. After a summer tour, Dave left the band and was soon succeeded by Mike Caridi. They then released a split 7" in December 2010 with Chalk Talk. Primary musical influences include The Band, Anti-Nowhere League and Electric Light Orchestra.

Since then, things have picked up a bit. They kicked of 2011 with a slick mini-tour with their pals in Cattle Drums and were last seen in Ithaca in January at the show that didn't happen. Their next tour with love friends Weird Korea took shape this past May and the band announced they'd signed with Topshelf Records (Castavet, Into It. Over It., Defeater, etc). Now it's fall and the fruits of their labor are upon us - a spankin' new 7" split with run, WALK! in collaboration with Holy Roar. Stoked to have them back on the upswing!

HOTCHACHA
http://hcc-sp-doit.bandcamp.com/
http://www.hotchachaband.com/
Simply smashing art-rock soaked in effects and a simply out of control live show. They dropped jaws at Ithaca Festival and then proceeded to nearly tear the roof off (or at least pull down the ceiling) at Culture Shock later that same evening. Check out their bio below for more (less?) specifics. The quartet recently released a killer split with the aforementioned Summer People.

HotChaCha was forged in the center of a dying star somewhere in the M87 galaxie during 2007. They were first spotted by the Voyager 2 deep space probe outside the orbit of Uranus in their hot pink girl-powered spacecraft on a collision course with Cleveland, Ohio. Since touchdown on Earth, they have terrorized the Eastern half of the USA with their dark and swirling brand of interstellar indie jingle jangle. After two founding members were forced to return to their respective home planets to take up arms in their native militias, HotChaCha has only grown more formidable with the addition of a new high powered rhythm section, featuring now for the first time ever, a y chromosome. With two EPs and one long player under their skirt so far and a new LP gestating and due out on the business end of their birth canal this fall, HCC is poised for total planetary domination. They are taking their chaotic female-iggy fronted spectacle on a pleasure cruise this summer so hide your kittens and prepare for docking.

MEGACHURCH
http://megachurch.bandcamp.com/
http://www.facebook.com/megachurch
Judgement day is upon us. Huge, hook-filled riffs rain down from the heavens of the dual bass front via brother Mikey Baranick and brother Brian Michael Hill and thundering stomp provided by brother Dan Price. Vocals? Don't need them. The word of the almighty MEGA is conveyed through a library of televangelist samples. Riding a fire-breathing dragon down a fine line of fury, irony, and - wait... are they serious? - this is damn fine progressive/stoner heaviness that anyone can get behind.

We have these three out back in the summer of '10 with our pals Clan of the Cave Bear and I'm pretty sure we got the floor of CSMA to bend under the weight of all the movement. Since exploding out of the gate, MEGA dropped their second LP this past summer and have been kicking it on stage with the likes of Lightning Bolt, Keelhaul, Skeletonwitch, and plenty more.

THE SIDEKICKS
http://www.facebook.com/sidekicksohio
http://shoutoutloudprints.bandcamp.com/album/the-sidekicks-tigers-jaw-split
Back in Ithaca for the first time since the Red Scare Tour of '09 with Cobra Skulls & The Menzingers. This Cleveland quartet caught the ears of Red Scare Industries while they were still teenagers, being heralded as "one of the most promising things to come outta Ohio since Play-Doh". And they did not disappoint, launching their label debut "So Long, Soggy Dog" in '08 and wearing influences like The Lawrence Arms, Against Me!, and Hot Water Music on their sleeve. Just a year later, the band's sophomore effort "Weight of Air" saw a more sophisticated band with broad instrumentation, mature songwriting, youthful energy, and some serious hooks. The album showed a bit more of a Midwest indie/punk vibe to it than its predecessor. An impressive second effort for a young band with truckloads of potential. The band's latest, a split with Tigers Jaw on Shout Out Loud Prints dropped this past summer.

SHOPPERS
http://shoppers.tumblr.com/
http://shoppers.bandcamp.com/
Syracuse's own Girl-Girl-Guy trio are pumping out some seriously blown-out noise rock jams. Like a bunch of DIY basement punks with a guilty pleasure for indie-pop trying to out noise all their Sonic Youth and Dinosaur Jr. records. These three have been steadily making a name for themselves in the underground with several tours, including their latest trek to the mid-west this September. They've also been involved with Lady Fest and featured in Maximum Rock n' Roll. No Facebook or MySpace for these folks so don't even start looking. However, they finally gave in and set up a bandcamp which is good news for all of us so we can check out all their tracks before picking up their cassettes & LP when they come through. The band will release their latest 'Silver Year' LP this September.

why+the+wires
http://www.facebook.com/pages/whythewires/276915155860
http://www.habitformingrecords.com/whythewires/
Back for an unprecedented THIRD Big Day In performance! Only, quite a bit earlier in the day than the last two so make sure you're up an at 'em. Never heard/seen them? Where have you been, my dear?! What we have here is one of the most dynamic bands in the Ithaca underground. Waltzy, stompy beats with angular guitar, powerful sax lines, searing accordion, smooth bass lines, an honest vocals with plenty of melody but all rough around the edges as 'punk' music should be.

KABOOSH!
http://kaboosh.bandcamp.com/
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Kaboosh/135145483164516
Dynamic and diverse mix of folk, punk, with nods of noise, Kaboosh! have been on of Ithaca's promising young acts for well over a year now. There's just two of 'em but there's drums, vocals, acoustic guitar, banjo, distorted keyboard - plenty of instrument switching to keep each track unique but with the songwriting prowess to still sound like Kaboosh! They've performed locally with the likes of Pygmy Lush, Des Ark, Daniel Francis Doyle, Attic Abasement, Underground River, Jailbox, Team Grease, Mike (A)!, and more.

Live Video: Thou & Sun Spells (Lux Carentes coming soon...)

2011-10-07T12:55:00.000-04:00

I hope you didn't miss this one!

THOU

THOU

THOU

Sun Spells

Upcoming Show: THOU 10/3

2011-09-29T12:24:00.000-04:00

In case you haven't heard yet, Ithaca Underground is bringing Baton Rouge's sludge riders THOU on Monday, October 3rd with locals Sun Spells and Lux Carentes at The Space @ GreenStar. Way cool, right? What can you do in the meantime? Well, NPR was awesome enough to snag some live audio from their set at the epic event w/ pg. 99 and Circle Takes The Square. If we hadn't been many, many states away we would have absolutely been there. Need more? Ok, fine. Go download their ENTIRE DISCOGRAPHY. They put it up for free so you don't have to get frustrated with the thousands of results for THOU via your P2P or torrent searches. It's that a nice bunch of ear-annihilating metal heads?

So, go shirk responsibilities and be there at 700 W Buffalo St, Ithaca, NY 14850 (near Corks n' More, down the alley between Joe's Delivery and Enterprise - or just take the entrance off N. Fulton/RT 13... you can easily see it and all the glorious parking from the street that way). 8PM. Just $5

News: Deerhoof, Powerdove, Keir Neuringer tonight! 9.29.11

2011-09-28T12:42:00.000-04:00

Hey, it's not and Ithaca Underground gig but that doesn't mean it's not worth checking out. If you're into the noisier side of pop and haven't heard of Deerhoof, I'll let you go back to your rock.

8PM Doors folks... Details here.

News: SIRS/run, WALK! split on Topshelf Records/Holy Roar Records

2011-09-28T12:36:00.000-04:00

So, you've probably heard SIRS are returning to Ithaca for BIG DAY IN #5 but, have you heard their releasing a tight with run, WALK! from the UK? No joke. It's a collaboration from the very legit Topshelf Records and the equally legit, Holy Roar Records. The 7"/CD drops next month...

http://topshelfrecords.tumblr.com/post/9841679105/sirs-run-walk-split-preorders-are-now-up

Check out some of our friends making some sweet tracks.

News: Summer People TEAMWORK LP/Veggie Van kickstarter

2011-09-28T12:24:00.000-04:00

With latest, a killer 12" Split with HotChaCha is set to drop Oct 8th/9th, CNY favorites, Summer People are looking to issue more wax and put something a bit different in their tank to keep them on the road.

They're aiming to convert their tour van to Waste Vegetable Oil (WVO) Help the troop get their second full length, Teamwork pressed to vinyl. What's in it for you? A slew of awesome, limited (some only to this kickstarter) releases, swag, and knowing you're helping local musicians take their art to the next level.

Check out the official info here: http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/summerpeople/summer-people-teamwork-vinyl-lp-and-veggie-oil-con

How about some NEWS?

2011-09-28T12:13:00.000-04:00

Greetings from the underground! So, as many of you have seen, FREE! evolved out of the interviews/articles we used to issue through the print version of the zine from late '08 to early '10. Since then, we covered relatively the same format, just online instead of print. Within the last few months, we've been posting videos from the IU YouTube Channel here. We're thinking about posting brief passages with news relevant to Ithaca & regional music we support. Sound cool? Feel free to give us your feedback.

IthacaUnderground.com v3.0 launched!

2011-09-27T12:41:00.000-04:00

Drumroll please...

Go check out the latest edition of IU.com - v3.0 right here! Sing up for our eNews, updated forums, calendar, booking request form, and more. Lots more to come too! We wanted to get the basics out of the gate as soon as possible but we're looking to take this above and beyond the last one.

Live Video: Praetura, Hiroshima Vacation, These Machines, Among Dead Men

2011-09-21T12:40:00.000-04:00

Thanks to everyone who came out! Long night with lots of great sets - 3 of which from bands who this was their first show aligned w/ IU (These Machines especially blew our minds) - PLUS new material from Hiroshima Vacation. Check 'em all.

Hiroshima Vacation

Hiroshima Vacation

Hiroshima Vacation

These Machines

These Machines

Praetura

Praetura

Praetura

Among Dead Men

Among Dead Men

Pit during Among Dead Men

Live Video: Daniel Francis Doyle, Kites In Space, Kasboosh!, Sun Spells

2011-09-14T17:36:00.000-04:00

After some slooooooow tube movement and silly, non-functioning router action - here's some footage from Monday night's show! Great sets by all including Daniel Francis Doyle's first Ithaca performance as a trio (featuring a fellow former When Dinosaurs Ruled The Earth member behind the kit), an intimate, semi-acoustic special performance from Kites In Space, new and re-worked material from Kaboosh!, and another solid ultra-drone set from Sun Spells - the whole 20+ min clip this time!

Daniel Francis Doyle (trio) 'There Are Two of You'

Daniel Francis Doyle (trio)

Daniel Francis Doyle (trio)

Daniel Francis Doyle (trio)

Kites In Space

Kites In Space

Kaboosh!

Kaboosh!

Kaboosh!

Sun Spells

Live video: Night Owls, Rejouissance, Nelsonvillains, Mike (A)!

2011-09-12T17:33:00.000-04:00

Live cuts from Friday night at The Space! Last Night Owls show ever in central NY. Hope you were there! Use the "Click here to read the full article!" link for all the vids. Loving the new Rejouissance material btw...

Night Owls

Night Owls

Night Owls

Night Owls

Rejouissance

Rejouissance

Rejouissance

Nelsonvillains

Nelsonvillains

Mike (A)!

Mike (A)!

Meet The Band: Praetura (Morgan Paradis)

2011-09-12T12:58:00.000-04:00

Band name/location: We are Praetura, from Brooklyn NY.

Members: J stallings on drums and M.Paradis on guitar.

Formed: We've been playing together since I (Morgan) moved to Brooklyn in 2008, but we've been gathering a bit of steam since early 2011.

Releases: In January 2011 we recorded 7 songs with Colin Marston at the Caves of Menegroth that we recently self-released as a CD. Expect more to come!

Tell us about yourselves!
I like to think that Praetura is a mix of all the musical things that both of us hold dear: careful songwriting, attention to detail, maybe a nod to subtlety; but still maintains that chaotic feeling, where you think maybe the song is just going to fall apart when you listen to it. What the fuck are these people doing? But you find it strangely compelling...

As far as influences, I can tell you what we have on pretty much constant rotation. We are both old punkers, so, we still like to listen to Subhumans and MDC and relive our glory days. Old school American and Swedish death metal, grind, hardcore, jazz, all kinds of instrumental music.

Looking forward to playing in Ithaca for the first time on the 16th, and we're playing in Brooklyn on October 9th at Acheron with Canadian grinders Wake!

Don't miss Praetura live with Hiroshima Vacation, These Machines, and Among Dead Men at the Community School of Music & Art, 3rd Floor Auditorium, 330 E State / MLK Jr St, Ithaca, NY 14850 - 8PM | $5 | ALL AGES

Live Video: Zorch, Daffodil, Laika + Luddite Machine, Cheerleader Death Squad

2011-09-08T12:15:00.000-04:00

Sorry for the delay on this one folks! Thanks to everyone who pulled themselves out on a Monday night for a really diverse show. Zorch completely blew everyone's minds (and ears and eyes) with that special thing they do. Daffodil turn heads with think, bluesy garage rock that had everyone asking where they were from and why we hadn't had them up before - just took a few years to sync up! Ha. The newish due of Laika + Luddite Machine laid down some killer beats with well-interwoven guitars and young dudes Cheerleader Death Squad made their IU debut. So, look for more from them.

Zorch

Zorch

Daffodil

Daffodil

Laika + Luddite Machine

Cheerleader Death Squad

Cheerleader Death Squad

Cheerleader Death Squad

Interview with Daniel Francis Doyle

2011-09-06T09:53:00.000-04:00

On Monday, Sept 12th, Daniel Francis Doyle will return to Ithaca for his fourth Ithaca Underground show - his first since April '10. Since then, there's been some interesting activity in the DFD camp. We were able to catch up with Daniel while on the road for a very quick bit of Q&A...

IU: How have you been since we last saw you in Ithaca?

DFD: I've been alright. Workin' on new music and such.

IU: How was last fall's tour? I heard you got to experience our friends at Bazooka / Bazooka back in Oct while the core of the IU camp was driving out to Minnesota.

DFD: Yeah, the show in Binghampton was great! Really great bunch of people there.

IU: What's the skinny on your newest single/EP "There Are Two of You"?

DFD: Well, it's actually not really new anymore, it came out last October. But, yeah, my website still has it listed as "new". Sorry for the confusion. It's a 2 song 7", "There Are Two of You" b/w "Sharing Stories". SOUNGS, a label out of Brooklyn, released it. They are just about to release a new comp that I'll be on, too. I actually have a new 10" just about to be released on Monofonus Press. They might mail it to me in Ithaca -- so my upcoming visit with ya'll might be the 1st show I'll play with the new release!

IU: I've also heard you've been collaborating with some pals from Austin and may have a split coming as well?

DFD: Yeah, I'm touring with a full band this time around and playing mostly new songs. The split is that Monofonus release I talked about above. It's with Austin's Dikes of Holland!

IU: What else will 2011 (and 2012 if you can speak to it) hold for DFD?

DFD: Recording an album with the band and hopefully more touring!!!

IU: Stoked to play your third different space in Ithaca in 4 gigs?

DFD: Yes! I love coming to Ithaca, and I am grateful you keep having me back!!

IU: Any words for your fans here in CNY and to those coming out on 9/12?

DFD: Oh....woah. Hhhmmmm. I guess that i hope they have a good time at the show, and to feel free to "cut a rug" at the show! You know, dancin!

Don't miss Daniel, on tour from Austin, TX live on Monday, Sept 12th with Kites In Space, Kaboosh!, Sun Spells at The Space @ GreenStar, 700 W Buffalo St, Ithaca, NY 14850 - 8PM | $5 | ALL AGES

Meet The Band: Nellsonvillains

2011-09-06T09:52:00.006-04:00

Band Name: Nelsonvillains

Location: New Paltz, NY

Formed: 2010

Members:
Cody “Bones” Torlincasi, Jake Harms, Scott Nicholas, Alijah Molinari

Releases: Sounds Of Summer Single – May 21st, 2011

History: Cody and Jake met each other drinking whiskey in a parking lot during the past Spring. The whiskey was cheap, but the laughs weren't. Jake was playing in a trio incarnartion of Nelsonvillains with Alijah, whom he’d met through a Craiglist ad. He and Cody decided to begin working in more elaborate instrumentation to the band after discovering they shared many musical influences.

The band’s first single was released in May shortly after its first bass player quit, and new bassist/producer, Scott, joined.

Future: We’ve spent the past summer working on our first full-length, producing feverishly in our basement/practice space, and have recently been signed by our friend’s brand new label, Salvation Recording Company, which hosts meetings for Route 32 Presents… a community collective that puts on DIY basement shows, and works with some venues to kill the local jam band scene. Following the release of this album, which is as of yet unnamed, we’re going to start relentlessly touring everywhere and anywhere possible – so far there are two tours planned with fellow labelmate, Wind-Up Bird (whom our bassist Scott, heads), that span the east coast, midwest and south. Basically, we just want to play as much as possible in the coming months after the release of our first album, and try to release something else by next summer, and just keep doing this as long as no one becomes too homeless or infirm.

Our upcoming shows are a Route 32 Presents… on Sept. 10th, at Bacchus, with PORCHES, Year On A Mountain, Underground River and a warehouse show in Brooklyn hosted by a city-blog called Dingus On Music, sponsored by the MEME Collective.

We like to make asses move and throats hoarse, and maybe brains work a little bit in retrospect…… it’s thinker music for people who like to yell a lot.

Don't miss Nellsonvillian's Ithaca debut this Friday, September 9th with Night Owls - their last show in Ithaca ever, Rejouissance, Why The Wires, and Mike (A)! and The Exploders at The Space, 700 W Buffalo St, Ithaca, NY 14850 - 8PM | $5 | ALL AGES

Meet The Band: These Machines

2011-09-06T09:52:00.000-04:00

Band Name: These Machines

Location: Binghamton NY

Formed: December 2008

Sound: Heavy and chaotic tech/death metal meets Neurosis and Today is the Day

Members:
Tom Doud::Guitar/Vocals (2010-present)
Paul Ghilardi: Bass/Vocals (2008-present)
Mike Emm Drums/Vocals (2009-present)

Past members: Derek Lindow, Rick Barto, Brandon O'neal, Dustin Schoelier

Releases: Month (Jan 2009), Pharmakon (September 2011)

About The Band: We basicly take the chaos and brutality of technical death metal, combine it with super heavy sludge metal riffs, and then add some Melvins/Today is the Day influenced weirdness to keep it interesting for ourselves.

Mike Emm is an absolute beast of a drummer, an experienced Marijuana Connoisseur and blast machine. I don't even know how he comes up with half the drum parts he does. He keeps the tradition of tough dude Binghamton extreme metal drummers alive and well, with his large biceps and a devestating right hook.

Paul Ghilardi is simply one of the smartest dudes I know. He's super creative and listens to a huge variety of music. He writes a lot of the songs and riffs. Totally inspiring musician to play with. He also has a sexy beard. Something that I can not grow even at the age of 28. So, Paul is also more of a man than I am.

As for me, I rip off Steve Austin of Today is The Day pretty badly.

The New Record: Pharmakon is completely finished and is currently being mastered. It was recorded by Kyle Serlington (Bass player for The Dirty Slits) so it obviously has a huge meaty sound. It's a loose concept record but we won't bore you with explaining it. We're just happy with it as a band and hope that some of you enjoy it as much as we do.

Band Influences: We love all kinds of different genres of music and listen to tons of bands, but as far as our sound I hear a lot of: Ed Gein, Today is The Day, death metal (Malavolent Creation, Nile), Mastodon, Converge, Cephalic Carnage.

Lastly, I want to thank all you excellent people in Ithaca for being beyond awesome as usual. We can't wait to make our Ithaca debut Sept 16th!!!

Meet The Band: Cheerleader Death Squad

2011-08-24T08:46:00.000-04:00

Band Name:
(Leo): I came up with the name Cheerleader Death Squad the day after I watched Kill Bill Vol.2 for the first time. Every other person in that movie is a female assassin with like a gun or samurai sword, so that just evolved into cheerleader assassins, and thus, Cheerleader Death Squad.

Location:
(Tyler) "the Fox Hole", Ithaca, New York

Formed:
(Leo/Aidan) Earlier this year, around March/April

Members:
Leo a.k.a. Antisocial bathroom stall dweller -Vocals
Aidan a.k.a. Jock - guitar
Tyler a.k.a. Anorexic cheerleader - drums
...we're still looking for a bass player

Releases:
We have a sort of EP type thing here: http://cheerleaderdeathsquad.bandcamp.com
We'll probably release a full album or something when our recording setup is a little less..... problematic.

Tell us about yourselves!
At first we were Pandaray where Leo was on drums and Aidan and I would switch off between bass and guitar. At one point Aidan got the idea for a noise rock band, so we sorta switched back and forth between the two. We played a show with DAADs, and KSP on fathers day at Waffle Frolic and afterwords we realized we needed a singer to front the band. Leo was the first one to step up to the plate. Since I knew how to play drums, I just took his place, he became the singer, and that brings us to where we are today.

That project still exists as a math rock/alternative band which we'll probably have off the ground soon and hopefully play some shows as well. Tracks are available here: http://pandaray.bandcamp.com

Catch Cheerleader Death Squad live in their IU debut with Zorch (Austin, TX), Daffodil (Binghamton), and Laika + Luddite Machine on Monday, August 29th at The Space @ GreenStar, 700 W Buffalo, Ithaca, NY 14850 - 8PM, $5, ALL AGES.

Live Video: Zruda (ex-Gaylord)

2011-08-24T08:42:00.000-04:00

Footage from Saturday's show with the mighty ZRUDA! Featuring the drummer & guitarist formerly of Gaylord. We aim to have them back soon. Killer sci-fi, technical psych-synth-metal that is just THE most fun live. Check out some photos of the whole show here.

Live Video: Beach Parade (last show), Mouth To Mouth To Mouth, Crime Pays, Doll Eyes

2011-08-23T16:09:00.000-04:00

Here's footage from Beach Parade's last show ever / Bubba's birthday show. Hope you were here for this one! Check 'em out here or head to the IU YouTube page for HD.

Beach Parade - Two if it Tastes Good

Beach Parade - 67 Inches

Beach Parade

Beach Parade

Mouth To Mouth To Mouth 'Consensus on the Fences'

Mouth To Mouth To Mouth 'That Felt Weird Coming Out Of My Mouth' (New)

Mouth To Mouth To Mouth 'Mouth Parade'

Crime Pays

Crime Pays

Doll Eyes

Doll Eyes

Meet The Band: Doll Eyes

2011-08-08T14:59:00.001-04:00

Band Name: Doll Eyes

Location: You know, around.

Formed: 2010-2011

Members:
Eli Ben-Yaacov- Lead Axe, Backup Vox
Jacob Kotler- Rhythm Axe, Bass Axe
Daniel Stackman- Drum Axe
Dylan Wells- Bass Axe, Rhythm Axe
Maxine Fallon-Goodwin- Lead Vox

Releases:
The Matt Carr EP (as the motivators)- this is the best sounding release as that band, with Chris Marr on lead guitar, and Chris Ploss on production, it's online for free: http://sixteensixteen.org/themotivators

Big Fun (upcoming August 2011)- this is the debut Doll Eyes album, recorded live, and produced by Chris Ploss. You can buy it for 5 dollars physical, or 3 dollars digital from bandcamp soon.

Bio: Four of us used to be in various lineups of this punk band called The Motivators when we were in highschool. Jacob and Eli started writing the songs for our new album last summer, and this summer we finished writing it, added our new singer, and got it all recorded. We like to have Big Fun with our music, and we hope you will too.

Influences: Queens of the Stone Age, Radiohead, Arctic Monkeys, At The Drive In, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, The Stooges, T. Rex, Pixies, Surfer Blood, Santigold, Waka Flocka Flame.

Sounds Like: A groovy, catchy punk band that uses way too many jazz chords.

Website: dolleyesbigfun.tumblr.com

Catch Doll Eyes live, opening this Saturday, August 13th at The Haunt, 702 Willow Ave, Ithaca, NY 14850 with Braveyoung, Beach Parade, Crime Pays, and Mouth To Mouth To Mouth. Doors at 5PM, they're on 6PM. FREE SHOW!

Interview with Braveyoung (Zack Jones)

2011-08-03T10:52:00.001-04:00

Braveyoung (formerly known as Giant) hail from Greensboro, NC and compose beautifully lush and complex instrumental music for your aural pleasure. Their latest, We Are Lonely Animals and their preceding EP Song found release through the mighty The End Records (Sleepytime Gorilla Museum, Ulver, Goes Cube, etc).

They've had a busy 2011 so far with the release of their latest LP and a pending collaboration with The Body. Up next the troop is about to launch on a Northeast US/Canadian tour with our friends in Rosetta. On their way back home, Ithaca Underground is presenting an absolutely FREE show with this fantastic five-piece in celebration of Bubba (IU main-man) Crumrine's birthday and the final performance of local favorites, Beach Parade. BY bassist and co-founding member Zack Jones takes a few minutes before they hit the road for some quick Q&A.

IU: For the uninitiated, could you give our readers a bit of background on how you, your brother, and Kyle (and Derrek at the time) all met and started writing music together as what would become Braveyoung?

Zack: Isaac and I have been playing together since we were children. We grew up in a small farmtown in rural NC, fortunately immersed in a very musical family. Kyle and Derrick were living in greensboro when Isaac and approached them about working with us on some stuff. We had already written what would become the red opus, and some other stuff we later discarded.

IU: When did Ben come into the picture?

Zack: Rodney, who had been working with us during the recording of 'song' and some tours following that, decided to have a family. Ben is a long time friend, and he was over what he was involved in musically at the time, so after continuing for quite some time as a four piece, we asked him to help us flesh out some bigger ideas.

IU: Earlier this spring the band released "We Are Lonely Animals" What are some of your favorite moments of the LP - ether of the process or the composition itself?

Zack: There have always been long drags of time between records with braveyoung, mainly because it is expensive to produce a record the way we feel like a record should be produced. We had been stuck on a collection of recordings that over 2 years of production, had thousands and thousands of dollars invested in it, only to be discarded. It was an intensely confusing time for us, and when Derrick decided to leave the band after 5 weeks in Europe, it gave us the opportunity to just completely move on from that material. The writing was, personally, one of the most intimate and favorable experiences of my life. We also got to record live, which is something we always felt would benefit us. We were very excited to finally be able to put to record what we had been doing live for the past few years. Trying to compose some pieces that had a severe amount of weight to them without being "heavy", in a common sense of the word. I really like how quiet the record is.

IU: Also earlier in the year, you all collaborated with The Body on a studio project - any updates on when the world might get to hear what came of the sessions?

Zack: This fall if all goes as planned. We are doing a full US tour with them in September.

IU: How does the collaboration compare with each bands recent works?

Zack: It is different, but those familiar with each band will be able to pick up on the things we do. I am really excited to get that out.

IU: How did the dates with The Body and the Assembly of Light Choir go?

Zack: Those are the kinds of shows we aspire to do.

IU: Any particular aspect or dates of the upcoming Canadian tour with Rosetta you're particularly stoked on?

Zack: We have never been to Canada. We've consistently denied at the border. If we get in, every show can be complete shit and it will be better than ever before.

IU: Back in '08, the band connected up with The End Records, which have issued both of your subsequent releases. How did you guys get hooked up with those folks?

Zack: They approached us in the midst of a few other labels trying to get us to sign ridiculous contracts. They appealed to us because of the diversity of bands on the label, and they were the only ones genuinely interested in what we were wanting to do creatively.

IU: Shortly afterwards came the name change from Giant to Braveyoung - probably a dated question, but still one I'm curious about - why the change?

Zack: To be perfectly honest, we didnt much care for the name Giant. people took it too literally, and it just eventually seemed silly. We were contacted by a representative of Dan Huff of the 80's rock ballad jammers, and we used it as an opportunity to move on from that moniker.

IU: At times, there seems to be a plethora of instrumental bands playing with ambient and rock elements - what do you feel sets Braveyoung apart?

Zack: We are all fairly terrible at keeping up with whats currently happening in the musical world. Im not sure anything sets us apart from anyone. We are just doing what we want to do.

IU: Online, you list Braveyoung as "a punk band" in part of your biography. What does being a punk band mean to you in this era?

Zack: I think I can only explain this to someone that already gets it. There are no sets of rules or guidelines to being whatever you want to be. We just do our thing and try to be real, and i feel like we have a tendency to backlash on the constant attempts at categorizing and adding labels to musical projects.

IU: In addition to the release of the effort w/ The Body, what's coming next for Braveyoung? Tours, new material, etc?

Zack: We have a film score that we are working on for Chris Bernsten, and a few things after that - I don't want to get ahead of myself though.

IU: Any final words to those coming out on 8/13?

Zack: Make sure to show your appreciation for the folks that are doing IU, and anyone else involved in keeping DIY culture alive in your community. Its not easy.

Don't miss Braveyoung performing live at The Haunt, 702 Willow Ave, Ithaca, NY 14850 with Beach Parade, Crime Pays, Mouth To Mouth To Mouth, and Doll Eyes - 5PM doors, 6PM start, all ages and 100% FREE! BY will perform around 8:30.

Live Video: Meek Is Murder, Tiger Flowers, Crime Pays, Paralysis at Dawn

2011-08-02T18:09:00.000-04:00

Another great IU show at The Space! Thanks to everyone who came out to this one. Solid footage from NYC's Meek is Murder and Tiger Flowers, more clips of Crime Pays including a new song, and one of CNY's newest metal acts, the uniquely ambient instrumental metal Paralysis at Dawn. Get on... Q&A with three of the four posted elsewhere on FREE!.

Meek Is Murder - (null)

Meek is Murder

Meek is Murder - foo/Garbage Collector

Tiger Flowers

Tiger Flowers

Crime Pays (incl new song)

Crime Pays

Paralysis at Dawn

Paralysis at Dawn

Meet The Band: meek is murder

2011-07-23T10:14:00.001-04:00

Band Name:
Hi, how are you? We're meek is murder.

Location:
We're from Brooklyn, NY. Right now we're in a gross van tarnishing the picturesque quality of Burlington, VT. Someone tagged "El Barto" backwards on the rear doors of our van the day before we left. I think it was Sean. Fuck you, Sean.

Formed:
Meek was my (Keller's) solo project which I started in late 2005. We didn't become a band with real life human members until early 2008 or so. Our first show was in 2009 and our first record came out this year in 2011. I guess we're kinda slow.

Members:
Keller- vocals and guitar
Sam- bass
Frank- drums

Andrea- my girlfriend and our unofficial manager/caffeine level monitor.

Releases:
We just release an album called "Algorithms" which was recorded by Kurt Ballou (Converge). It's about Computer Science.

I also put out an EP in 2007 called "Mosquito Eater" when meek was still a solo project. I recorded it in my bedroom with one microphone. Some people say it sounds kind of cool. I think it sounds like it was recorded in my bedroom with one microphone.

Tell us about yourselves!
I used to be in a band called The Red Chord and before that I was in a band called NAME, neither of which which sound like really. Sam has a band called Sunwoman who we don't sound like at all. Frank is in a band called Empyreon which we REALLY don't sound anything like.

The purpose of this band is to have lots of "vantime" which we're doing pretty well at this year. We went to Texas for SXSW. Right now we're on tour with Fuck The Facts. Next week we're going out with Tiger Flowers. In case you were wondering "vantime" is in fact one word because the van no longer exists as a separate or tangible entity but a seamless extension of the collective dude consciousness. Also, the laws governing the space-time continuum cease to apply within this complex bouquet of aromas. Additionally we are quite fond of Waffle House. There aren't any WH in Brooklyn so in order to quell an insatiable hunger we obviously had to start a punk band.

Check out meek is murder's new video "Recursions" over at Metal Sucks and don't miss them live at The Space @ GreenStar, 700 W Buffalo St, Ithaca, NY 14850 with pals Tiger Army and locals Crime Pays and Paralysis at Dawn. 8PM $5 ALL AGES.

Meet The Band: Paralysis at Dawn

2011-07-23T10:14:00.000-04:00

Band Name: Paralysis At Dawn

Location: Groton, Cortland, Moravia

Formed:
Current line up was around the fall of 2010.

Members:
Dana Twigg- Drum kit
Ritchie K- Brutal Guitar
David H- Destroyed Guitar and some percussion

Releases: There are no current releases from PAD. We have a 3 song demo that's waiting to be mastered. Mid-August we should have it to throw at people. We're hoping to press it on a 7" or a split LP with other artists eventually.

Tell us about yourselves!
Paralysis at Dawn is music and sounds that are distinct, and represent our energy and vision. We don't really have any anchors when it comes to songwriting or styles of music. Though Ritchie and Dana have established an unique technical, trash like metal over these past ten years that serves as the basis for most of our work, the addition of David and the direction of our jams have us not knowing what material will end up being arranged. "Technically sound ambient metal" is probably the easiest way to describe what we do (thanks Bubba). Our band takes influences from a variety of sounds and we try to incorporate those various influences into every song we write. I think we're striving for a sound all our own and so far we're doing a pretty good job with it. Matched Cut, War Dove, and 30 Watts Short are bands that we've previously played in. Dana also is an acoustic folk style songwriter.

Our first show at the haunt with our friends Baylor's Eye had us pumped due the the great response we received. We have the writing process on hold over the summer, but we are very much stoked to put some new material together. We're anticipating performing IU shows, as well as at the 77 Club in Cortland.
We are looking to expand our sound through different instrumentation, and having friends supplement our sound with vocals, noise, live energy or anything else really... but we'll see what happens. Definite plans are Playing for the love of playing and coming up with more "_______ @ Dawn" t shirt ideas.

Catch Paralysis at Dawn live, opening for Meek Is Murder, Tiger Flowers, and Crime Pays on Thursday, July 28th at The Space @ GreenStar, 700 W Buffalo St, Ithaca, NY 14850 - 8PM | $5 | ALL AGES

Meet The Band: Tiger Flowers

2011-07-21T20:56:00.000-04:00

Band Name: TIGER FLOWERS. We named the band after the first black Middleweight Champion of the world. We're also known as The Tiger Lillies. Will wanted to name the band Cement Condom. We kicked the everloving shit out of him for even uttering those words.

Location: Harlem, Bronx, Upstate New York and Long Island. True story.

Formed: 2008ish. Jesse came from My Bitter End and Will and Dean came from Johnny Cage is a Fake, They formed TF and Dan who was in a band with Jesse came on to play drums and to fellate and massage Jesse when he's feeling tense.

Members: William Gomez, Daniel Miccio, Jesse James Madre And Dean Chooch Landry. Will Gomez is actually a superhero named "DOC Gomez" He saves lives.. lot's of em with his own two magic hands. Jesse is a writer and a Master piercer, Dan is part owner of A sick T-shirt company called Bile Hendenson and Dean is an artist/photographer.

Releases: coming very soon. (it's complicated)

Tell us about yourselves! Our sound is a bit of a mix of mathy, passionate, desperate and destructive emotive hot mess. We play music together because we love traveling, sharing music with other people and making friends. And most of all we like going to Waffle House together.

We have an awesome summer tour coming up with our NYC buds Meek Is Murder! Check our Facebook band page for all tour dates.

Don't miss Tiger Flowers live with meek is murder, Crime Pays, and Paralysis at Dawn at The Space @ GreenStar, 700 W Buffalo St, Ithaca, NY 14850 - 8PM | $5 | ALL AGES

Live Footage: Mill Bastards, Waffle Stompers, The Dirty Slits, King Sized Pegasus

2011-07-21T20:55:00.000-04:00

Thanks to everyone who came out to our Sunday night punk/ska show!
Click on the name of the article for all the footage.

Mill Bastards

The Waffle Stompers 'Serious'

The Dirty Slits

King Sized Pegasus

Mill Bastards

Mill Bastards

The Waffle Stompers 'Sex Appeal'

The Waffle Stompers

The Dirty Slits

The Dirty Slits

King Sized Pegasus

King Sized Pegasus

Live Video: The Emotron/Andy the doorbum + Elsa & the awesomeAWESOMES (last show)

2011-07-21T18:40:00.000-04:00

Footage from our 7/13 show - sadly Elsa & the awesomeAWESOMES' last gig ever. Plus side, he had some pretty great antics for the farewell and The Emotron and Andy the doorbum did a combined set which was dark and fantastic. Lots of footage after the break! Plenty more at the IU YouTube channel.

The Emotron

Elsa & the awesomeAWESOMES - slight intermission, encore, and battle!

Elsa & the awesomeAWESOMES 'Who Put The Bomp'

The Emotron with Andy the doorbum 'People My Age'

Andy the doorbum with The Emotron

Andy the doorbum with The Emotron

Elsa and the awesomeAWESOMES - 'Bears'

The Emotron with Andy the doorbum

Andy the doorbum with The Emotron

The Emotron tonight + farewell to Elsa & the awesomeAWESOMES

2011-07-13T14:47:00.001-04:00

Ithaca says "Good-bye!" to Elsa & The awesomeAWESOMES tonight at The Space. Get ready for an extra special performance with more costumes, gags, interactivity, and more. He's on second. Headlining is the return of The Emotron with the first appearance of Andy The doorbum in I-town. Paper Armies to support. Read more for details and more video!

- Last year's set courtesy of Kyle Rothman

Ithaca Underground presents:
THE EMOTRON
ANDY THE DOORBUM
ELSA & THE awesomeAWESOMES
PAPER ARMIES

Wednesday, July 13th

The Space @ GreenStar (aka The Annex)
700 West Buffalo St
Ithaca, NY 14850
8PM $5 ALL AGES

Tour preview links: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uYBDCdE5Vyc http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k9FVeZsGabU

THE EMOTRON
http://theemotron.bandcamp.com/
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ro84kWEWUNw
The one-man, music/performance art project known as The Emotron returns to Ithaca! Constantly shifting and continuing to evolve from the outfit changes, fires, and shock show he became known for and last year's polarizingly dark sci-fi TV/nest performance. Starting off as high-energy 90s era sequencer powered synth-punk with a serious dose of very warped pop music, The Emotron continues to venture into darker electronic territory, debuting his latest, '1998' to the video world by combining two living room performances of the song and melding the footage and audio into one piece. He continues to be a successful stab at doing something different in this day and age and doing it right.

ANDY THE DOORBUM
http://andythedoorbum.tumblr.com/
I'm not as familiar with Andy as I'd like to admit, but each day since being introduced gets me more and more excited for this performance. Unconventional, dead-on songwriting and mostly acoustic yet massively intense live shows, with a character that's usually reserved for the likes of early Beck and rowdier moments of Tom Waits - I know, I hate summaries which liken DIY acts to high-profile stars as much as the next person, but hear me out. Check out the immensely stacked tracks on 'Art is Dead' and ' Thought is Digestion' and come see him live and let's have that argument. I'm not ready and that makes me pretty pumped. Here's a few works from the Doorbum himself:

" My name is Andy the Doorbum. I have been making music for over 10 years as well as making visual art, writing zines, working at the World Famous Milestone Club for six years, touring extensively, making my own merchandise, and preparing for the apocalypse. I’ve recorded four EPs and four full-lengths that have never seen the light of day and have released three splits, one EP, a cassette tape, and three full length albums. I’ve also contributed to several compilations including Another Merrie Kinnikinnik, the Shuffle Magazine Valentine’s Comp, and Piedmont Hellstompers. I’ve taken part in some art showings, the release of and contribution to numerous written publications (poetry and prose), and a handful of video projects along the way, as well. I’ve been touring consistently for five years with this project throughout the East Coast and Midwest regions of the U.S. and did a small European tour in May of 2008. My show history has consisted of playing anywhere possible, from dance recitals to library openings, barns, baby showers, basements, skate parks, and Italian Heritage Festivals. From events as small as house shows, to a World Music Festival attended by 3000+ people (performing as a member of Etran Finatwa from Nigeria). I’ve toured with and also been a member of Cryptorchid Chipmunk, The Emotron, PPR, 2013 Wolves, Morbid Toothbrush, FleshHouse, IYF PoRK, Pangolin Wasser, and Appalucia (and I recently collaborated on a recording with Mack Johansson (from Sweden) of the group Hyacinth House). Alongside these endeavors I’ve been actively recording my own projects, as well as several other bands, and I’ve done it all with the help of a few good friends and very little money. I can also start a fire using nothing but sticks and some string" - Andy The Doorbum

Elsa & the awesomeAWESOMES
http://samuelsveen.com/
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Elsa-and-the-awesomeAWESOMES
Tennis, skiing, uke, drums, laptop. All are words which could me things but this time they only mean one thing - Elsa & the awesomeAWESOMES are psyched to bring you more dancy synth goodness with wholesome doses of live drums and maybe some uke if you eat your vegetables.

PAPER ARMIES:
http://paperarmies.bandcamp.com/
More darkly beautiful live guitar/electronics bliss from Ithaca's Paper Armies. Melding elements of ambient & shoegaze with a gift for composition and sound engineering, this is some seriously superb and moving music. He also regularly runs sound at many an IU event! Check out footage from his last IU gig in support of The American Dollar: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=am8kHJKb1fE&feature=player_embedded

Live Video: Batillus, Mutilation Rites, Sorrow of Batavia, Don't Go Into The Woods

2011-07-12T22:10:00.002-04:00

Footage from July 9th big heavy show at The Haunt. I love me some Batilus... also check out the new Don't Go Into The Woods line up, yes!!

Batillus

Mutilation Rites

Don't Go Into The Woods - 'Rite of the Nazgol'

Don't Go Into The Woods

Sorrow of Batavia

Sorrow of Batavia

Lots more video over at the IU YouTube channel: http://www.youtube.com/user/IthacaUnderground

Live Video: Cloud Becomes Your Hand, Dan Drake/Cattle Drums, All of Them Witches, Mouth To Mouth To Mouth

2011-07-12T22:08:00.002-04:00

A few clips from some recent out of town gigs!

Cloud Becomes Your Hand @ Bazooka/Bazooka

Cloud Becomes Your Hand @ Bazooka/Bazooka

Dan Drake/Cattle Drums @ The Flying Squirrel

All of Them Witches @ The Flying Squirrel

Mouth To Mouth To Mouth @ The Flying Squirrel

Lots more video over at the IU YouTube channel: http://www.youtube.com/user/IthacaUnderground

Live Video: Defiance Ohio, Nana Grizol, Toby Foster, Your Heart Breaks

2011-06-27T20:35:00.000-04:00

Footage from one of the best shows we've ever done! Thanks for the huge turnout, support, and patients getting started a bit late. Hope you were there!

Defiance, Ohio - 'The List'

Nana Grizol - "Voices Echo Down Thee Halls"

Nana Grizol - "Cynicism"

Toby Foster

Toby Foster

Defiance, Ohio - "Oh, Susquehanna!"

Nana Grizol

Your Heart Breaks

Your Heart Breaks

Live Video: Tinsel Teeth, DAADs, Hiroshima Vacation, The Invisible Hand

2011-06-09T14:46:00.000-04:00

WOW - I hope you made it out to this one!

TINSEL TEETH

TINSEL TEETH - footage get's a little less chaotic around 2:14

DAADs

DAADs

DAADs

Hiroshima Vacation

Hiroshima Vacation

The Invisible Hand

Live Video: IU at Ithaca Festival (Hotchacha, Thirteen South, Painted Rust, Bridge Under Fire, FASD, Why The Wires, Mike (A)!, Bombtree

2011-06-08T16:31:00.000-04:00

Check out some footage from the Ithaca Underground stage at Ithaca Festival this past Saturday! Couldn't get clips from all the bands but here's what we got! If you have any footage, send it our way!

Hotchacha

Hotchacha

Painted Rust

Thirteen South

Thirteen South

Bridge Under Fire

Fight A Scary Dog

Why The Wires

Mike (A)!

Mike (A)!

Bombtree

Bombtree

Interview with Tinsel Teeth (Will)

2011-06-01T12:41:00.000-04:00

Providence, Rhode Island's Tinsel Teeth are one of the few bands whose live performance has been tuned to match the intensity of their music - bludgeoning you with thick noise-rock and bizarre female vocals while throwing themselves into the crowd, soaking themselves in fake blood, props, skin, mayhem... all in the hope of entertaining YOU the fuck out. Bubba Crumrine catches up with Will for the story. Their new official video for 'Stock Footage of Stuntmen' is at the bottom!

IU: Hey Will, you and Brandon were the founding members of the band, correct? How did Dave come into the picture and where the hell did you find such an amazing front woman like Stephanie?

W: Brandon and I met at work and started playing music together. He and Dave had been in a band together called "Spheres" that broke up. Dave was also Brandon's roommate at the time, so when he heard us playing in the basement and was into it, he just came down the stairs. That part was pretty easy. As for Steph... the first time we met her she was easily and instantly drawn into our web of spells and magic. She has never been the same since.

IU: Did any of the blood, props, and nudity come first or did your live shows start out of the gate at the extreme level they're known and loved for now?

W: We did talk a lot at an early point in the band about what we wanted to see in a live show. We were all bored with going to shows and not being entertained. Not seeing the package of killer music and rocking the fuck out. So it definitely became a focus for a Tinsel Teeth show to be a party. Once we started playing out, the actual progression show to show to what you see now came pretty naturally. I can say that one of the first 2-3 shows we ever played was at "summercamp" in Providence. After we set up our gear we ran downstairs, took off all our clothes and covered each other in shaving cream. That was a shocked crowd when we came back up and one hell of a show. It's what I believe set the tone for Tinsel Teeth.

IU: How much fake blood do you go through in an average year?

W: Too much, someone sponsor us. I dare you.

IU: Have members of the band (or gear) ever been subject to injury at the hand of the live show?

W: Oh yea, where do I start. I guess the worst injury so far is when Steph got a million stitches in the bottom of her foot from stepping on a broken pint glass during a set. There's been a shit load of bumps, bruises, black eyes, mainly to Steph. Dave pulled his back out loading gear once, HA! I saw Brandon fly straight back into his brand new amp and cab and knock the whole thing over, luckily nothing too bad happened there. I've been run into a bunch of times, seal dived into once, I've broken countless cymbal stands from crowd surges. Once I fell flat on my face from standing on my throne during a set. It's on YouTube and hilarious.

IU: Has the band faced any criticism from any organizations or groups? Seems like the provocative (tho seemingly empowering) nature of of the performance could come under fire.

W: Unfortunately no. That would be pretty awesome press though if some sort of group felt like the needed to criticize or protest us. We were asked to leave the campus of Worcester State College after our set at a show there and I believe we are banned from playing at O'Breins Pub in Allston.

IU: How did Horrible Fest go earlier in the month?

W: Wild. Cookout with "Mr. California", Hot tub on wheels in the back, vaporized whiskey, beat the shit out of a car that eventually got flipped over. We love Now that's Class and Paul the owner. Cleveland doesn't give a shit about anything and that's the way we like it.

IU: Any best/worst show/tour stories since we first started talking about bringing TT to Ithaca last fall?

W: It's seem like there is always something wild happening in one way or another. I'll give you a little story. On our last tour we played "Cropped Out Fest" in Louisville. We had played outside, so after our set we headed inside to the bar where another band was getting ready to play. It was some cheesy indie rock band or something, I don't even know what you would call them. Anyway, near the end of their set the guitar player, this lanky oof dude, starts smashing his guitar into his head and got a big lash above his eyebrow. Got taken to the ER and everything. Came back with a bunch of stitches and tells us "I had to do something to try and one up you guys." We all had the same thought later, are you mental? One up us? All we did is our thing we do without thinking all the time, and you had to the fuckin' go to the hospital trying to impress somebody/band!?!?!? What a goddamn idiot.

IU: 'Trash as the Trophy' has been out for a bit over a year now - how does the album sit in your minds with a year under belt to reflect on it?

W: I think 'Trash as the Trophy' is a great record and was a great step for Tinsel Teeth. Now we are on to the next step. Our band mentality, intentional or not, has always been to move forward. We are always writing more songs, better songs.

IU: How did the band get hooking up with the fine folks at Load Records, outside of just being from Providence?

W: Ben is a wild and a weird one, we love him and Lauren. Seemed like a natural fit for us. Ben is a somewhat accessible guy, we would see him around at shows in Providence. He had seen us live a bunch of times, heard a couple demos and liked the newest at the time. So, he just offered to put out our record. We accepted. Kind of happened as simple as that. I guess we kind of bugged the shit out of him, now that I think about it. So maybe, in our case, being from Providence was a big part of it.

IU: You'd mentioned new material in the works?

W: Yes, a lot. The best Tinsel Teeth stuff yet. We will be playing some new stuff every night on tour. Come check it out.

IU: Any final words for those coming out to the show?

W: If you wanna party and have a good time, come on down. We bring it every night. Prepare to have a wild time.

Don't miss Tinsel Teeth live with DAADs, BEES///, and Hiroshima Vacation at the Community School of Music & Arts, 330 E State St / MLK Jr St, Ithaca, NY 14850 8PM $5

Ithaca Festival - Meet The Band: Hotchacha

2011-06-01T11:29:00.001-04:00

Band Name: HotChaCha....Not Hot Cha Cha, or Hot ChaCha

Location: Cleveland, Ohio

Formed: On a sunny Tuesday afternoon in April, 4 years ago. Just about the time Jovana came back from Bosnia all depressed.

Members: Mandy Aramouni (guitar), Jovana Batkovic (spazz and vocals), Greg Gebhard (bass and booty), Roseanna Safos (drummmmzzzz)

Releases:
Rifle, I knew you when you were just a pistol EP
The Worlds Hardest Working Telescope and The Violent Birth of Stars LP
Fantastic Static EP

Tell us about yourselves!
HotChaCha was formed 4 years ago by Mandy and Jovana who remain the only original members of Hotchacha because they ate the other two. Than they got a new drummer and a new bass player who actually have time and desire to give up everything else and be in a band and make no money. HotChaCha sounds like this: AWESOME. Every release so far has been quite different. 'Rifle' was a reverbed grrl riot number, while 'telescope' is dancy. 'Fantastic Static' is definitely heavier and was getting closer to what could be referred to as the final HCC sound. HotChaCha is recording another full length in July, and will be performing these songs for the upcoming tours. We have 3 shorter tours coming up, one of which is with Summer People. Than we have a really long one coming up end of august till beginning of October. We will either kill each other by the end of this year, OR all carry Gregs babies. The purpose of this band is to make you laugh and cry and mastrubate at the same time.

Catch Hotchacha live with at Ithaca Underground's Ithaca Festival stage at the CSMA

THIRTEEN SOUTH
PAINTED RUST
BOMBTREE
BEACH PARADE
HOTCHACHA
MOUTH TO MOUTH TO MOUTH
WHY THE WIRES
BRIDGE UNDER FIRE
FIGHT A SCARY DOG
MIKE (A)!

Saturday, June 4th

Community School of Music & Arts
3rd Floor Auditorium
330 E State St / MLK Jr St
Ithaca, NY 14850
5PM-12PM | $5 | ALL AGES

Ithaca Festival - Meet The Band: Thirteen South

2011-05-31T12:34:00.001-04:00

Band Name: Thirteen South

Location: Ithaca area

Formed: 2008

Members:
Jesse Scott-guitar
Matty Woo-bass
Jon Freund drums
Doogie-vocals
Bryan Wood-guitar

Releases: Remnants of You EP, released june 2010

Tell us about yourselves!
Thirteen south formed in 2008 by three mutual friends (Doogie vocals,Matt Kelly guitar, Teja Buczuski bass) just looking to start a heavy band and have some fun. After some line-up changes, the current line up (with the exception of Bryan who's been filling in on guitar for a few shows - HUGE thank you to him), has been rocking out the last two and a half years all over the New York and PA, quickly gaining momentum as a solid band with a awesome stage presence with explosive riffs mixed up with neck jarring breakdowns.Thirteen South's whole purpose is just 5 guys doing what we do - making awesome music, drinking some beer and having a great time doing it. In 2010, the band spent a month recording with sound engineer, Mike Caporizzo to produce what would be so far, our only release "Remnants of You", which of the first 100 CDs sold within a four month span, but is available on iTunes, Napster, Rhapsody, Amazonmp3 and more. With Ithaca Festival possibly being Thirteen Souths last show, expect nothing less then the best performance possible from us. If were going out, were going to do it proudly and with a big bang. Were all excited to play IFest, being possibly the first metal band doing so. We've all being looking very much forward to it and are proud to be among the many performers that grace Ithaca every year for it. After IFest, we're not really sure whats going to happen. The members who are leaving (or already have left) are irreplaceable as musicians and friends. Although a permanant second guitarist has been found, were still looking for a bassist and a vocalist after this performance. Hopefully we can get things back on track and be moshing out before to long. If anyone is interested in trying out, we'd be more then happy to hear from them.

Catch Thirteen South live with at Ithaca Underground's Ithaca Festival stage at the CSMA

THIRTEEN SOUTH
PAINTED RUST
BOMBTREE
BEACH PARADE
HOTCHACHA
MOUTH TO MOUTH TO MOUTH
WHY THE WIRES
BRIDGE UNDER FIRE
FIGHT A SCARY DOG
MIKE (A)!

Saturday, June 4th

Community School of Music & Arts
3rd Floor Auditorium
330 E State St / MLK Jr St
Ithaca, NY 14850
5PM-12PM | $5 | ALL AGES

For Thirteen South booking, info, shows and contacts:
http://www.facebook.com/pages/THIRTEEN-SOUTH/216543788451
http://www.myspace.com/thirteensouth
http://www.reverbnation.com/thirteensouth
aim: thirteensouth13
email: hardcoredrum13@yahoo.com

Ithaca Festival - Meet The Band: Bridge Under Fire

2011-05-31T12:34:00.000-04:00

In preparation for the upcoming Ithaca Underground/CSMA stage at Ithaca Festival on June 4th, we're bringing you the skinny on a few of the bands. First up - Bridge Under Fire!

Band Name: Bridge Under Fire

Location: Syracuse, NY

Formed: Bridge Under Fire was formed by myself (Mark) and Matt from The Andrea Doria and Brendan from Vapor Aevum. We got together in the fall of 2010 after our previous bands broke up. We began writing songs and auditioning drummers. Through the magic of craigslist we got in touch with Clayton from the band Purple Grip, and he joined the band in November 2010.

Members:
Mark Turley- Vocals/guitar
Brndan Hilyard- Guitar/Backup Vocals
Matt Proietta- Bass
Clayton Stetz- Drums

Releases: The Night Court Sessions (self-released Feb. 2010)

Tell us about yourselves!
Once we got Clayton, and all the members were in place, we hit the ground running. We played our first show in December 2010, recorded our first EP The Night Court Sessions at The Hollow Recording Studio in Syracuse with Jim Goldsworthy (Fierce Little Records) and Josh Coy (Long Since Forgotten, Red and Black, Stay Six) in January, released it and had our first tour in February 2011. Since being released, we have toured through NY, PA, CT, and NJ and played with thrash/hardcore bands to pop-punk bands.

The easiest way to describe Bridge Under Fire’s sound is that it is most similar to Hot Water Music. The melodies are catchy, the vocals are aggressive, but the lyrics are very sing along-able. Currently we are planning some shows, as well as writing new tunes for a possible full length for the end of the year or early next year. Bridge Under Fire is still a very young band and things are moving at a very fast pace. Currently the next stop on our traveling circus is Ithaca Festival and we are insanely excited to play.

http://www.facebook.com/bridgeunderfire
http://bridgeunderfire.bandcamp.com/
_____________________________________

Catch Bridge Under Fire live with at Ithaca Underground's Ithaca Festival stage at the CSMA

THIRTEEN SOUTH
PAINTED RUST
BOMBTREE
BEACH PARADE
HOTCHACHA
MOUTH TO MOUTH TO MOUTH
WHY THE WIRES
BRIDGE UNDER FIRE
FIGHT A SCARY DOG
MIKE (A)!

Saturday, June 4th

Community School of Music & Arts
3rd Floor Auditorium
330 E State St / MLK Jr St
Ithaca, NY 14850
5PM-12PM | $5 | ALL AGES

Live Video: Ga'an, Sun Spells, Underground River, Brian!

2011-05-31T12:33:00.000-04:00

Here's video from the latest IU show including new, as yet unreleased material from Ga'an! To check the clips out in HD along with hundreds of other videos, check out our IU YouTube channel.

Ga'an

Ga'an

Sun Spells

Underground River

Underground River

Brian!

Brian!

Brian!

Brian!

Live Video: The Queers, The Front, Beach Parade, Figth A Scary Dog

2011-05-26T08:46:00.000-04:00

Hope you made it out to this one! Tuesday night punk shows! The Queers tore through an absurd amount of songs in very brief periods of time so most of their clips have multiple tacks in them. If you'd rather watch these in HD, just hop on over to http://www.youtube.com/user/IthacaUnderground for all of these clips and about 300 other.

THE QUEERS

THE QUEERS

THE QUEERS

WTF is this insect/bug/thing found during The Front's set?

THE FRONT

THE FRONT

FIGHT A SCARY DOG

FIGHT A SCARY DOG

FIGHT A SCARY DOG

BEACH PARADE

BEACH PARADE

Live Video: World/Inferno Friendship Society, 4 Point 0, Elsa & the awesomeAWESOMES

2011-05-18T12:32:00.000-04:00

Live footage from World/Inferno Friendship Society's return to Ithaca and their first time at The Haunt plus, 4 Point 0 and Elsa & the awesomeAWESOMES!

Live Video: Why The Wires 'Telegraph Flats' Release show with MTMTM, Blow!, and Kites In Space

2011-05-18T09:00:00.000-04:00

Thanks to everyone who came out to this event and made it such a success! Big props to Angry Mom Records and McNeil Music of Ithaca for supporting local music by releasing the LP and to CSMA for the on-going use of their space. Here's some footage!

Footage by Bubba Crumrine (except Mouth To Mouth To Mouth footage by Mel Casano)

Big Day In: May 7th Video - Tombs, Sulaco, Sun Spells, Sepsis, Oak & Bone, Night Owls, Lux Carentes, Inerds, Hiroshima Vacation, & Ehnahre

2011-05-18T08:59:00.001-04:00

Here's a few video clips from the latest BIG DAY IN! These are different from the ones we're aiming for the next DVD so more to come. Thanks to McNeil Music of Ithaca, Angry Mom Records, and The Haunt for making another BDI possible.

TOMBS

TOMBS

SULACO

SUN SPELLS

SEPSIS

SEPSIS

OAK & BONE

NIGHT OWLS

LUX CARENTES

INERDS

HIROSHIMA VACATION

EHNAHRE

EHNAHRE

BIG DAY IN: Live DVD

2011-05-03T09:56:00.000-04:00

The DVD of last December's BIG DAY IN is here! Featuring life footage from Soul Control, Bridge & Tunnel, Beach Parade, Why The Wires, Oak & Bone, Like Wolves, Ghost Robot Ninja Bear, Speak Daggers, Zona Mexicana, Cattle Drums, Ailments, and Bright Shiny Objects.

We're talking multi-track board & room audio and multi-angle video from all the bands involved plus bonus mp3s and photo gallery - for just $10.

The release will be available first this Saturday, May 7th at BIG DAY IN with Tombs, Woe, Ehnahre, Sulaco, Night Owls, Oak & Bone, Lux Carentes, Sepsis, Inerds, Mouth To Mouth To Mouth, Hiroshima Vacation, and Sun Spells - we aim to record this one as well so don't miss out!

The disc will be available at all Ithaca Underground shows after BIG DAY IN, at Angry Mom Records in Ithaca, and via Hex Records. Keep in touch as we add additional ways of obtaining this momentous disc.

BIG DAY IN Interview: INERDS (Moezes)

2011-05-03T08:57:00.011-04:00

After their first appearance back in early April, the Buffalo powerviolence/grind quartet INERDS are back in Ithaca. Armed with dual female vocals, crushing bass, and utter destruction behind the kit, the band is becoming a serious force to be reckoned with, even garnering the attention of J. Randall for his Grindcore Karaoke release. Vii Caso gets the lowdown on where they started and what's next.

IU: Can you give us a brief (of not so brief) history of how Inerds came to be?

Moezes: I was in a pop punk band when I first met Matt, and at one point we were both homeless, so we became friends pretty quickly. We were at a party and Matt isn't much a drinker, but I got him fucking whiskey drunk that night. At some point, I dragged him to the practice space, and we (drunkenly) wrote "She Beast". Later that week I knew we need female vocals for the shit we were writing. I'm a huge fan of lady vocals, so bands like Robot has Werewolf Hand, Despise you, Hatred Surge, Salome, Punch, etc...were a huge influence on what we were going for. Corey came first on vocals and then we later asked Jessika if she would join the force up front.

IU: Bass and drum grindcore/powerviolence bands don't come around that often, where did the idea to have no guitar come from?

Moezes: When we first started, we had talked about just keeping it a duo. Just to keep things easier, But i really thought the girls would bring some serious energy live that a 2 piece just couldn't. But in regards to not having any guitar, Matt and I just both thought it sounded plenty thick with just bass. It kind of just gives us this down tune effect, but every INERDS song is written in E standard. Also add to the fact Matt and I are both bassists (him much more than I), with a fierce love for bass and drum PV. Bands like Lana Dagales, Vennt, MITB, and the Agoraphobic Nosebleed "Domestic Power Violence" split with Apartment 213 were HUGE influences on the musical portion.

IU: How did you guys get connected with Grindcore Karaoke?

Moezes: J. Randall sent INERDS a message through myspace saying he was doing GK and wanted the demo on it. I informed him about Mutant League, which is a label I had started doing with John from Bestower, and he wanted everything Matt and I have done. To those who don't know, Mutant League is: Inerds, Hoglust, Bestower, Human Touch, Canadian Tuxedo and Water Torture with demos coming soon for two last two.

IU: You guys played Ithaca a few weeks ago along Coworkers, Womyn Boyz and Pharaohs. Was that your first time playing Ithaca?

Moezes: Yeah, first time for me in Ithaca in a long time and it was radical. The space we played was righteous, the locals were great, and Bubba is a solid homie. It seems like he's doing a lot of work for that area, which is fucking awesome.

IU: Are there any future Inerds releases planned?

Moezes: Yeah, actually were doing a split 7" with this band from over seas called Terror of the Dynamite Attack. That will be out on Mutant League by the fall. We're really excited to get that piece out.

IU: Any final words?

Moezes: Go download everything from www.grindcorekaraoke.com, J Randall is making shit happen for a lot of bands who never would get any notice. And smoke weed till you die from it. Word me dude.

BIG DAY IN Interview: Woe (Chris Grigg)

2011-04-29T17:26:00.000-04:00

Woe began in 2007 as little more than a casual experiment of multi-instrumentalist Chris Grigg. Inspired by both the classics and contemporary raw, underground black metal, the first demo, Absinthe Invocation: Five Spells Against God, was widely received as a worthy addition to the American scene. Fast forward to 2010-2011 and you'll find Woe breaking best-off year-end lists with their latest, Quietly; Undramatically, destroying stages across the states (including sharing the Scion Rock Fest bill with the likes of Morbid Angel, Fuck The Facts, and Bastard Noise), and generally taking the US blackmetal community by storm. Bubba Crumrine takes a moment with Grigg to learn more about Woe and what's coming next. Oh, and they just so happen to be one of the top acts for this May's BIG DAY IN.

IU: When you first started Woe as a one-man project, did you aim to bring it into a live setting with multiple members?

Not at all. The goal was to keep it simple and low-key. My nature is to always push for more so the live experience was the natural next step.

IU: What first brought your interests into the realm interest of black metal and extreme music?

Kind of like playing live, I guess, it was just the natural progression of things. I was always looking for something faster and more intense, more powerful, and I just ended up with black metal and grindcore. I've spent some time trying to write other music and get into other things but I always come right back.

IU: On your debut, you performed all of the instruments - an impressive feat to say the least. What is your musical background and how did you come to be so well versed?

I started playing guitar when I was about 12 or 13, maybe younger. Having to rely on other people really frustrated me because I was writing songs but couldn't get anyone to drum so the idea of getting a kit always appealed to me. I grew up living in apartments, basically, so I never had space for one but when I was a freshman in high school, I convinced my parents to let me get a kit and leave it in our living room. Neighbors were pissed but whatever. I started drumming for a band with some friends and eventually gave up guitar; when I started Woe, I had just started playing guitar again. My playing on the first demo is really, really rough -- I could barely pull it off. Necessity forced me to get better, though, and here I am.

IU: Woe's latest, 'Quietly, Undramatically' still holds to a very raw bm sound, was this your goal going in? Will Woe's sound continue in this direction for future recordings?

I'm not sure if you're talking about the production or the songs themselves so I'll answer both. The production, as far as I'm concerned, is pretty clean. A little too natural, if you ask me. The next one will either sound very big and professional or really raw and nasty. In terms of our stylistic sound, I can't really say what will happen. I know what I want but I don't know if it will still be there when it actually comes to recording. The other band members also have a lot of say in things so what I want might not be what wins.

IU: 'Quietly, Undramatically' boasts a wide array of artists from other projects, how did that line-up coalesce?

Just sort of happened. We all try to keep busy and don't like being limited to one project. I had known everyone for years, they're all local.

IU: Woe recently toured west, highlighted by the Scion Rock Fest - how did the tour and the fest go? Highlights?

It was great. Couldn't have asked for more. The best parts were probably the time spent between shows, van rides and just hanging out. I was in a bit of a mood for a lot of the trip but that's kind of normal with me, I did my best to still be at least kind of cool and looking back, I think more about the good times than the bad. I consumed a lot of basically-legal weed. California is amazing.

IU: Earlier in the year, Evan and Shane left Woe, whom did you recruit as their replacements and what are their backgrounds?

The new members are Shawn Riley on bass and Grzesiek Czapla on drums. Both Shawn and G were Woe alumni. Shawn played guitar for a show and G also played guitar at a number of shows, he's also on a few tracks on the most recent album. When everything went down, there was no question of how things would go. I was not interested in bringing people in to "replace" Evan and Shane cause people can't be replaced. Roles shifted but it was important to not bring fresh blood into the mix. Shawn is best known as the bassist and vocalist of Rumpelstiltskin Grinder; G drums for Philadelphia black metal band Infernal Stronghold.

IU: You've alluded to new material since the material on 'Quietly, Undramatically' to you is over a year old. What can you tell us about the new tracks and any in process releases?

I can't tell you much. We have a fair amount of new material and I think it will come together quickly since I am not the only one writing anymore. I have one complete song and about two in the works and I know of about three others that are in various states of assembly. I am confident that the next album will be Woe's best work and I do not think that anyone who liked either of the past two albums will be disappointed.

IU: What else does the rest of 2011 hold for Woe?

Writing, smoking, thrashing, try to not break down.

IU: Have you ever been to Ithaca before (in a band or otherwise)?

No, I haven't! This will be a first and I am looking forward to it.

IU: Any final words for those coming out to see you at this May's BIG DAY IN?

Abandon hope.

BIG DAY IN Interview: Ehnahre

2011-04-26T13:27:00.003-04:00

Ehnahre’s avant take on extreme metal has been a source of intrigue and amazement here at the IU/FREE! camp since their founding members initial defection from Kayo Dot. For the uninitiated, the band melds a blur of doom, death, and black metal with avant and 20th century components and theory to create some of the most extreme, chaotic, atonal and relentlessly unpredictable compositions in the metal or experimental world. This is so far beyond any ‘thinking-man’s metal’ it holds its own mind-altering level of complexity and drastically creative application of technical and theoretical musicianship.

Ithaca Underground aimed to bring the band out back last spring and have been holding our collective breath since. May 7th we'll take a sigh of relief and huge huff of extreme composition at its finest. Bubba Crumrine gets the latest on the band's activities, their latest release on Crucial Blast, and in-process material.

IU: How have you all been since we last spoke back in last February?

Ryan: Doing well! Trying to stay out of jail and the hospital as best we can.

IU: I heard you ran into some troubles on the road last fall... what happened and what keeps you and the guys going and continued to be involved in DIY touring?

Ryan: We did a tour in the fall, and it was a little rough. Pretty poor turnouts, no money, the usual story. We booked it with this band Wolvserpent, from Boise, and we had a great time with them, but two relatively unknown touring bands made for some pretty dismal financial prospects. And not like we give a shit about making money, but we at least need to come close to breaking even. We're not 20 anymore, we're too old to run around touring with $1.86 in our pockets, stealing gas and food. That shit was awesome 10 years ago, but we unfortunately can't really afford to do it anymore. So for now, in the states, we're going to stick a little closer to home, and just play the northeast, until we get a little more exposure and can procure a minimal guarantee. We are however, planning a return trip to Europe as soon as possible. They seem to be more receptive to what we're doing over there, and treat touring bands much, much better.

IU: On a more positive note, give us the low-down on the new album, 'Taming The Cannibals'!

Ryan: "Taming the Cannibals" is our most recent release, it came out on Crucial Blast in November. It's a little bit of a departure from our first two records, as we went from 3 guitarists down to 1. But I think we actually prefer it this way, as the dissonant harmony is much more audible without 3 guitars muddying things up. It's a concept record of sorts, as we always do, centered around dual themes- self destruction/self loathing, and the pitfalls of modern life, or our disassociation from our more primal selves. We culled our text material from Robinson Jeffers, Georg Trakl, Walt Whitman, and F.R. Higgins.

IU: How did you get hooked up with the fine folks at Crucial Blast?

Ryan: We had a little contact with Adam from Crucial prior to recording "The Man Closing Up", but at the time he didn't have the time or resources to do that record. When we decided to start pitching "Taming the Cannibals" to labels, he was at the top of the list, and all the pieces kind of fell into place.

IU: Did Ricardo's noise influence have an impact on the direction you took for this album?

Ryan: Ricardo's noise stuff up until now has played a relatively minor role. More for coloring and adding little bits here and there, and not to degrade it, but it was more of an afterthought, kind of the final touches we put on our records. So for "Taming" I would say it didn't really play a huge role in the direction, but I'm sure that will change in the future.

IU: When we last spoke, improv was starting to take more of a hold in your live set where one member steers the ship, so to speak. Has this carried over to 'Taiming...'?

Ryan: Yes and no. On "Taming" there is actually no improv whatsoever. However, we do utilize techniques where there might be sort of open-ended phrasing, and one person might cue the rest of the band into the next phrase, or the meter will be completely flexible, or we'll use sliding tempos and such. I think these things all give a feel of improvisation, but it really isn't. So in one sense, nothing is truly improvised, but at the same time, none of our songs have ever been played the same way twice.

IU: What other techniques, theory, etc were used in the composition of the new album?

Ryan: Well the composition was approached a little differently than on "The Man Closing Up". Our first record was more through composed, a sort of stream-of-consciousness style of writing. There were repeated themes, but they were obscured, and utilized across the entire record. With "Taming", we wanted to economize our material a little bit, make recurring themes a little more present, or apparent, and give a little more cohesion to the record. And it's a technique we are using increasingly as we go into the future- starting with as little thematic material as possible, and working more within a theme and variation approach. As for other techniques, I don't think there was anything too out of the ordinary, or atleast anything we didn't use on "The Man Closing Up" or "Alpha/Omega"- oh, wait, actually we did use the Penis Prepared Guitar. John prepared his guitar with his penis for some sections of "Foehn" and "Animals". He also prepared his guitar with all the empty beer cans from all the beer he drank before deciding to prepare his guitar with his johnson.

IU: There was some talk of future Ehnahre splits - any more promise to that?

Ryan: We have sort of struck out on that front. We'd love to do some splits, but they seem to be a tough sell these days.

IU: Any artists on BIG DAY IN that you're excited to catch?

Ryan: Definitely looking forward to checking out Woe and Sulaco.

IU: What else can we look forward to from Ehnare in 2011?

Ryan: We will be going back in the studio in early June to begin tracking our next full length. It's called "Old Earth", and it is one song, approximately 45 minutes long. Hopefully more shows in the fall, and back to Europe in 2011.

IU: What can you share about 'Old Earth' at this point?

Ryan: Well, I can tell you that it will be recorded at Amps Vs. Ohms with Glenn Smith and we'll have a lot of the usual suspects turning up- Greg Kelley, Jonah Jenkins, Forbes Graham, and Noell Dorsey. The concept and text are derived from a prose piece by Samuel Beckett entitled "Old Earth". It's going to be bleak as shit. The poem is really an internal discourse- at first feeling alone and disconnected in the world, but then questioning whether there might be some sort of meaning and universal connection amongst beings. But finally coming to the realization, and acceptance, the real deep understanding, that there is nothing, there is no meaning, you are born, live, and die alone, soon to be forgotten. I can also tell you that the bird is the word.

BIG DAY IN: Meet The Band: Sun Spells

2011-04-26T11:44:00.001-04:00

Band Name:
Sun Spells

Location: Ithaca, NY

Formed: Fall 2010

Members:
Akyurtlu, A.,
Anderman, J.
Marshall, O.
Valla, J.

Releases: N/A

Tell us about yourselves!
Sun Spells are a reenactment society interested in the preservation of primitivist North American charismatic drone rites. Traditional electroacoustic drone performance finds its roots in the late 18th century, where naturally occurring voltaic piles and hand-cranked oscillators produced low frequency bio-acoustic waves, catalyzing the transcendent experiences of the camp followers. This colonial elaboration on the just intonation organ drone of the medieval catholic mass found further elaboration in various esoteric utopian communities. The cloister at New Harmony, the Log Tabernacle of the Beaver Island Kingdom of the Strangite Mormons, and the underground labyrinth of the pietist Amana Colonies are all known or suspected resonant structures, vibrating sympathetically with lunar, choral, and paleo-industrial fundamentals. We're also greatly influenced by
post-war movements such as Krautrock, Japanoise, and British psychedelia. We use (for the most part) guitars, drums and a modular synthesizer, though our ensemble will eventually include a large choir. The band started when the first three members (Jeff, Judd and Owen) met at a séance in an abandoned lighthouse. We've played two shows thus far. The first was at an art gallery, where we managed to shake two paintings off the wall over the course of the set. The second was in a basement, where we managed to evacuate all but three audience members. Big Day In will be our third show, and our first as a four-piece following the addition of Aydin, our bassist and color guard.

Sun Spells - "He Came From the North" by owenmartial

BIG DAY IN Interview with Sepsis (Dennis Michael Lamp)

2011-04-25T10:43:00.001-04:00

The upcoming Big Day In will see the Ithaca return of the Binghamton grind crew Sepsis! Last seen totally demolishing the CSMA alongside Fuck the Facts, Lux Carentes, and Genital Holograms, Sepsis are stoked to be back and once again bring the grind to Ithaca. Vii Caso caught up with vocalist Dennis Michael Lamp via email to find out what's been going on in the world of Sepsis.

IU: It's been a while since since Sepsis has played Ithaca, are you guys stoked to be back as a part of Big Day In?

Dennis Michael Lamp: We are always very psyched to be playing Ithaca. The scene up there is so diverse and always so positive. You all have shown us a lot of love from the get-go and we are very appreciative. As always, Bubba has a stacked line-up. Very honored to play amongst such heavyweights as Tombs, Woe, Sulaco and our pals in Inerds and Hiroshima Vacation.

IU: What's been going on in the Sepsis camp these days? I heard you guys recruited the drummer for Circle of Dead Children for a while?

Dennis: We have had a bit of a turbulent year, there was some inner band b33f which caused our founding drummer Dom to leave us for awhile. We picked up Mike Emm (from Binghamton grind band These Machines) to fill in for us for some time. He did a great job and is a really good dude. As of late all bullshit was cleared and Dom returned harder, faster and more ready to play then ever. We are very psyched to have the original line-up back. As far as our long time friend Matt Francis (current drummer of CODC/Hank Williams III) , he was going to be our hired gun to fill in for us if any touring/recording possibilities arose.

IU: I also heard that Grindcore Karaoke was going to release something from Sepsis. Truth? Or is there another lucky band called Sepsis out there?

Dennis: Haha that's actually a funny story. One day I saw that J.Randall twittered (or tweeted I don't know what the fuck it is) that he would be releasing Holglust, Inerds, Sepsis and a few other bands on his internet label Grindcore Karaoke. I was taken back for a moment, because we had never spoke to him whatsoever so, to clarify I emailed him. He told me he was in fact talking about another group of the same name, but was very into what he was hearing by our band and he was very interested in doing a release with us. Long story short after several emails between him and I, we concluded that a name change was in order. So as it stands we are in the process of changing our name, which I feel is necessary anyway at this point being one of many bands sharing a name. So be on the lookout, ideally our next release under a new name will be on Grindcore Karaoke.

IU: Does Sepsis have any new releases planned?

Dennis: We have a slew of new songs that were written before Doms hiatus. We have jumped right back into practicing them and it feels so good. Hopefully there will be a new name/record out this summer. We've been throwing around a few ideas for a split with local band/great dudes/providers of a practice spot Your Hero. Be on the lookout for them, think The Locust/Charles Bronson/Punx.

IU: Will you be performing any new material at Big Day In?

Dennis: We will absolutely be playing some new songs. I think roughly 2-3 from a year ago that were put on the back burner, and one totally brand new one that doesn't even have lyrics at the moment. Jason Kruger is a fucking riff machine.

IU: Any final words?

Dennis: Thanks so much Sev and everyone in Ithaca who has ever watched my band or given a shit. Bubba and everyone who make Ithaca Underground the powerhouse that it is. It's really great to see such a diverse and flourishing scene in upstate New York. Also just off the top of my head everyone should support Inerds, Revoked, Colony, Crime Pays and Hiroshima Vacation!

Photo by Kyle Edwards Balles

Sepsis will perform at BIG DAY IN on May 7th, 2011 at The Haunt with Tombs, Woe, Ehnahre, Sulaco, Oak & Bone, Night Owls, Lux Carentes, INERDS, Mouth To Mouth To Mouth, Hiroshima Vacation, and Sun Spells.

BIG DAY IN Interview with Oak & Bone (Weston Czerkies )

2011-04-22T21:30:00.001-04:00

This May will see the return of the Syracuse sludge-hardcore powerhouse Oak & Bone, back for their 2nd Big Day In show in a row. Vii Caso caught up with vocalist Weston Czerkies via email to hear his thoughts on returning to Ithaca.

IU: Two Big Day In shows in a row! Are you guys stoked to be back?

Weston: WAY stoked. Ithaca rules.

IU: Was last December's Big Day In your first time playing Ithaca?

Weston: The last BDI was a blast and considering we were a last minute addition, we felt really lucky to be a part of it. It was our first time playing Ithaca and we’re glad we left a good enough impression to be asked back.

IU: What did you guys think of the Ithaca music community?

Weston: From what I can tell the Ithaca scene seems great, really supportive of diverse independent music. It’s hard to get people on the same page when you’ve got all sorts of different genres of punk, indie, metal, etc. blending into the same shows, but from what I can tell people here seem to really be into it. It’s refreshing to see more than one type of band on a show and to see that there are enough open minds to appreciate that.

IU: Oak & Bone has a pretty interesting sound. It's hardcore, but I pick up a definite sludge metal influence.

Weston: Yeah, I might actually be the only one in the band who still thinks of us as a hardcore band at this point. At first there was definitely more of a sludge influence but I think now we’ve begun to blend more drugged-out rock riffs with a quickened hardcore pace. We all take cues from different music and the results are just a focused version of our individual influences. More of that genre-blending, yanno?

IU: Do Oak & Bone have any future releases coming out?

Weston: This June should see the release of our first full-length LP out on HEX Records! We’re thrilled to finally have this completed and to get it out to open ears. Hopefully some touring to support it will follow.

IU: Any final words?

Weston: Follow the smoke to the riff-filled land.

Photo by Maciej Wojtkowiak (who btw, does amazing work and you should check him out)

Oak & Bone will perform at BIG DAY IN on May 7th, 2011 at The Haunt with Tombs, Woe, Ehnahre, Sulaco, Night Owls, Lux Carentes, Sepsis, INERDS, Mouth To Mouth To Mouth, Hiroshima Vacation, and Sun Spells.

Live Video: The American Dollar, Crime Pays, Kites In Space, Paper Armies, and The Atomic Forces

2011-04-22T16:02:00.001-04:00

Thanks to everyone who came out for Ithaca Underground's five-band night on Wednesday. If you missed it (or just want to relive it) check out the videos below - including the surprise reunion of Crime Pays! No word on whether more shows are in the works but we'll keep you posted. A pleasure seeing you all as always and thanks for your continued support! Special thanks to McNeil music who have been a huge help this spring with PA equipment, especially with the sub for this one.

The American Dollar - Fade In Out

The American Dollar

Crime Pays

Crime Pays

Paper Armies

Paper Armies

The Atomic Forces

Kites In Space

Kites In Space

BIG DAY IN: May 7th, 2011

2011-04-16T14:17:00.014-04:00

Welcome to another BIG DAY IN - Ithaca Underground's DIY day-fest of 12 bands for only $5. Click for details.

TOMBS (Relapse Records : Brooklyn, NY)
WOE (Candlelight Records : Philadelphia, PA)
EHNAHRE (Ex-Kayo Dot : Crucial Blast : Boston, MA)
SULACO (Willowtip Records : Rochester, NY)
NIGHT OWLS (Hex Records : Syracuse)
OAK & BONE (Hex Records : Syracuse)
LUX CARENTES (Ithaca)
SEPSIS (Binghamton)
INERDS (Feral Kid/Wrong Foot Records : Buffalo)
MOUTH TO MOUTH TO MOUTH (Pirate House Records : Ithaca)
HIROSHIMA VACATION (Pirate House Records : Ithaca)
SUN SPELLS (Ithaca)

Saturday, May 7th
The Haunt
702 Willow Ave
Ithaca, NY 14850
12PM-10PM $5 All Ages

*Sponsored by McNeil Music of Ithaca, Angry Mom Records, and The Haunt

Welcome to the 4th Big Day In - 10 hours of some of the best & brightest from around NYS and the east coast. Once again we give you an entire day's worth of fantastic music for just $5 as a big ol' 'THANK YOU' to everyone who comes out and supports IU shows throughout the year. If you've never been to one of our shows, better make it one of these. All ages as always! Time to meet the bands...

TOMBS:
http://www.tombs666.info/
http://www.facebook.com/TombsBklyn
Back by popular demand, these juggernauts of heavy music return to Ithaca as the world eagerly awaits "Path Of Totality", the follow up to 2009's acclaimed "Winter Hours".

For the uninitiated, Tombs tap into the infinite well of emotion and expression seamlessly welding an astounding array of heavy genres into one dynamic, ever evolving sound. Sludgy, doom riffs are immediately apparent but so are aspects of hardcore, rock, and metal. Even UK post-punk influences shine through - an aspect that has developed further in the bands newest material, which in itself is a massive step forward in songwriting and scope for the trio.

"Path of Totality" finds TOMBS achieving what their previous recordings had always hinted at - an ultimately heavy and nuanced fusion of their disparate influences. "Bloodletters" and "Constellations" see the band flex its prodigious muscle; "Vermillion" and "Cold Dark Eyes" wrap arms of blackened misery around the listener, while the profound sadness of "Silent World" and "Passageways". With this latest LP, TOMBS has come into their own as one of the finest heavy bands in the world.

WOE:
http://quietly.woeunholy.com/
Philadelphia black metal legion Woe were founded by band mastermind Chris Grigg in 2007, initially as a solo, raw black metal project releasing a split 7" and full length between '07 and '08 with Chris performing all instruments on the recording.

Last year, Woe emerge as a blackmetal powerhouse, issuing "Quietly, Undramatically" on Candlelight Records - their first with a full ensemble which boasted members of Absu, Woods Of Ypres, The Green Evening Requiem, Infernal Stronghold and Rumpelstiltskin Grinder within its ranks. The album found quick critical acclaim and topped many year-end lists in the metal community across the US and Europe, praising the group's artistic vision and sonic variation (in a sometimes stagnant genre), while still retaining its roots of intensity and bleakness:

"Woe's artistry cuts so deep as the band understands the depths of desperation. Their music at times wallows in its own hatred while at others displays optimism that life will improve. It is a satisfying bait and switch because the band knows when to sacrifice betterment at the altar of the bleak." - Washington Times

"Woe's punk spirit goes beyond bouts with d-beats and energy to spare. They don't give a fuck about convention, just about stretching what they love to the point where it may not be what it originally was anymore. Undramatic my ass. This is the sound of black metal to come." - MetalSucks

"The album has a huge amount of variation, and tacks on enough unforeseen twists to keep even the most jaded metal fan listening for the whole run time. Fans of U.S. black metal need to make a point of keeping up with Woe," - Metal Underground

The band recently returned from a west-coast stint highlighted by performing with the likes of Morbid Angel, Agalloch, Fuck the Facts, Bastard Noise.

EHNAHRE:
http://ehnahre.net/
http://www.crucialblast.net/ehnahre_taming.html (mp3 samples)
http://www.facebook.com/ehnahre?v=info
Ex-Kayo Dot members seamlessly blend black/death/doom metal with 20th century composition, free-jazz and noise for an uncompromising assault on the senses. You may remember the band was supposed to play The Shop back in Feb of '10 before there was an injury in the band which prevented them from touring. Here are some kind words from the fine folks at Crucial Blast:

"I've been itching to hear more from these warped death abstractionists; their debut instantly dazed me with its jarring, alien approach to bestial slow-motion death metal, drawing heavily from the twelve-tone surrealism of composer Arnold Schoenberg and the outer fringes of free-jazz and free improvisation as much as they do from the foul black pit of early 90's death metal and doom. Even after years of devouring the most dissonant strains of death metal that I could get my mitts on (Gorguts, Demilich, Immolation, Portal, etc.), these guys stunned me with their extreme chaotic dissonance and pitch-black chthonic textures, a combination of atonal 20th century classical music and vicious blackened death laced with squalls of free-jazz horns, stretches of intense choral ambience, and blasts of calcifying glacial doom. Featuring former members of the prog/gothic art-rock band Kayo Dot and avant-death metallers Biolich, Ehnahre are creating some of the most difficult death metal I've heard since Obscura, but also manage to balance the extreme atonality and relentlessly unpredictable nature of their arrangements with seething aggression and crushing riffage."

SULACO:
http://sulaco.us/
http://www.myspace.com/sulaco
Sulaco can be seen as an evolution from guitarist Erik Burke's previous band, Lethargy, who played a seminal role in shaping the musical climate of Rochester's underground metal scene, crafting an style of ridiculously intricate carnival-esque metal that showcased cross-eyed guitar antics and blistering jazz-fusion rhythms over 10 years before it became popular in the underground. After three demos, an album, 1999 marked the demise of Lethargy with drummer Brann Dailor and guitarist Bill Kelliher moving on to enlist in Today Is The Day and later form Mastodon.

Wasting no time to regroup, the multi-talented Erik Burke assumed drumming duties in Kalibas until 2002, when he parted ways with Kalibas and recruited Golding and Hackett to form Sulaco. Like Lethargy, Sulaco improves upon Lethargy's haphazard sense of structure and instead integrates the mesmerizing quirkiness into a devious songwriting regimen that is as spasmodically progressive as it is abrasively visceral. Sulaco's ability to seamlessly employ an explosively direct approach to such technical material is rare when most bands of this nature would rather noodle indiscriminately, consequently sacrificing memorable songwriting for aimless masturbation. Such intrinsic fluidity defines Sulaco as a shining example of world-class forward thinking metal.

NIGHT OWLS
http://nightowls.bandcamp.com/
Night Owls emerge on the Syracuse scene with a sound quite different than one might expect from the members of this band. All parties have logged serious time in numerous area bands, in crappy vans, playing in random towns across the country. Their collective experience spews forth with punchy punk rock/post-hardcore jams that have all the quick wit of a Hot Snakes set mixing with the loud cacophony of early 90's NY post-hardcore. We missed out on their incredible set for the Angry Mom Records show they did back in the fall of '10 and we've been aiming to have them back since! The band has released a CD demo, 7" and a 7" split with Syracuse brethren Oak & Bone.

UPDATE: Night Owls have released a brand new EP and it's available on their bandcamp now! Great stuff!

OAK & BONE:
http://www.myspace.com/oakandbone
Syracuse sludge metalers return for their second BDI! These tunes are hazy and doomy but with a backbone that won't let go of hardcore. These guys jumped on December's fest after a certain headliner had to bow out b/c of van issues. In addition to their aforementioned split with Night Owls, they also split wax with Like Wolves and have their Hex Records debut long player heading our way soon.

LUX CARENTES:
http://www.facebook.com/Lux.Carentes?sk=app_178091127385
Ithaca black-metalers return to the big stage for the big day! These guys have torn it up on IU shows with the likes of Fuck The Facts, Today Is The Day, Keelhaul, Iwo Jima Medkit, Painted Rust, Fire When Ready and others in addition to setting up their own damn shows and keeping metal alive in I-town. Featuring ex-members of Chapel Perilous, galloping black metal riffage and vocals collide with thundering basslines and a distinct rock vibe underlying the whole thing for a unique take on the genre. Check out tracks from their latest, recorded with Phil Abbott at Pyramid Sound Studios right here in Ithaca.

SEPSIS:
http://www.myspace.com/sepsisgrind
http://www.reverbnation.com/sepsisgrind
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Sepsis/131357223576813?sk=wall
Raw, violent and unrelenting grindcore from our friends in Binghamton! It's been far too long since we last had these guys up here. They last tore our faces off at the Fuck The Facts show at CSMA. They've been tearing it up across NYS with the likes of Fuck The Facts, Ken Mode, Avulsion, Inders, so if haven't check them out yet, do yourself a favor and click above.

INERDS:
http://www.myspace.com/inerds716
Back for another shot at Ithaca! Scathing DUAL femaile vocals collide with brutal powerviolence, grind, and noise for an unrelenting assault on the senses.

MOUTH TO MOUTH TO MOUTH
http://mouthtomouthtomouth.bandcamp.com/
Still relatively fresh on the scene, this four piece is spreading the mouth love of melodic, complex math-punk jams across the CNY. Dynamic passages careen with the utmost control through spastic time-shifting aggression, hushed introspective melody, sheer wall of sound and occasional bursts of vocals. Rolling bass lines, meticulously interwoven guitars, and the some of the tightest drum work in town. The quartet includes Makeshift's Peter Pillardy and Gabe Millman on guitar and drums respectively, Corey Fox Mahaney (Speak Daggers, Genital Holograms, etc) on guitars & vocals, and rounded out by Ithaca Underground's own Bubba Crumrine on bass. The band released their 4-song EP debut this fall, recorded at Pyramid Sound with Phil Abbott.

HIROSHIMA VACATION
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dRl_en6Z2RQ - new track!
http://www.myspace.com/hiroshimavacation
Back for their second BIG DAY IN! Since their Pirate House Records debut, the brothers Caso have been busy harnessing their maddening blast of grindcore for their upcoming three-way with thousandswilldie and Standing on a Floor of Bodies. Get ready for neck-snapping grind, stripped down to guitar & drums w/ dual vocals.

SUN SPELLS
http://soundcloud.com/owenmartial/sun-spells-he-came-from-the
Kicking off the day will be one of Ithaca's newest acts - the improv heavy drone trio of Cornell grad students known as Sun Spells. Armed with standard, prepared, and baritone guitars, assorted percussion, modular synth, and a myriad of pedals, effects, and gagets (including a Roland Space echo); these three floored it at their gallery debut at Tjaden Hall. Check out the link to their 35 min improv from that performance above and come early to check them out live!

Big thanks to our three sponsors who continue to make these BIG DAY IN events a reality.