Raw Nite @ the Stork, Oakland, 9/13/2011

If you like what you download here, please buy records
Raw Nite live

As if life wanted to send me a message it knew I would ignore, I’m sad to report that my recording equipment has blown up.

My 16-track set up bit the dust during the Friday night of Budget Rock 10, so not only am I temporarily unable to use it, the last bands I attempted to record with it were Personal & the Pizzas, the re-united Statics, and the almighty Rip Offs, who played one of the most amazing sets I’ve ever witnessed. Yet none of what I captured will ever see the light of day because it all sounds like complete shit, and not the good kind (AKA “lo-fi”), but digital garbage.

It looks my equipment is repairable but it’s going to take awhile and require money I don’t have, now that I have a baby on the way as well as two new releases out Lemon Session (Von Zippers and Zulus). So, if you’ve been holding out on buying records from me but come to this site for the free downloads, please consider buying some records. You won’t be sorry if you do since they’re all rad.

Now onto what this post was supposed to be about: my recent recordings (pre-blow up) of Raw Nite.

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Popular Shapes, Owners… Basically A Post About Me

Don’t call it a come back! I’m just starting up again…

Kevin drumming

I can honestly say that the last two years of my life were the hardest I have ever experienced. I finished my master’s degree, got married, lived through a fatal car accident where my passenger died, spent months in court fighting a nine-month jail sentence… Usually I would end such a long, intense run down with a “Good times!” but I really can’t joke about experiences like that.

Now my life has calmed down and I can finally concentrate on doing what makes me happy — obsessing over music. So, for my first blog post since my hiatus, I am going to share some unreleased live tracks of my old band the Popular Shapes.

The shapes started in 2000, when the guitarist/singer Phi (real name Nick,) bassist/singer Lee and I started hanging out at shows. I used to love Phi and Lee’s old band The River Rats; they gave Screeching Weasel and the Angry Samoans a run for their money. But back then, whenever we talked about music, it was typically about our mutual love for the Pixies, Devo and the Hot Snakes. It just made sense to start a band with those influences in mind.
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