The Aquabear (painted here by Athens artist Emily Beveridge) will release a double LP, 24 song vinyl comp in Spring 2015.
The Aquabear (painted here by Athens artist Emily Beveridge) will release a double LP, 24 song vinyl comp in Spring 2015.
Since 2004, Aquabear has worked with over 200 bands and dozens of visual artists and filmmakers. And in that time produced 10 releases including compilations of Ohio music both physical and for free on aquabearlegion.com. But we REALLY want to put out some vinyl. And since we just celebrated our 10th birthday it seemed like a double LP is the way to go. 24 songs from 24 of Ohio’s best bands on 2 LPs. Printed, pressed, designed, and played in Ohio. You can support this project and pre-order your copy at our Indiegogo page here. Please help us spread the word folks!
To help raise money and make some more things in the process we are partnering we a couple local artists for some really cool special items. Charlie Touvell will be making some limited edition prints based on his artwork for the record’s liner notes and even some custom drawings too. We will be making some brand new hoodies and of course have t-shirts, colored vinyl, and countless random Aquabear items we might send along. We sincerely appreciate your support of this project.
Aquabear 2015 will include music from 24 Ohio bands on 2 LPs:
The 1984 Draft, Black Owls, Connections, Dead Hand of Man, Dead Winds of Summer, The D-Rays, The Guitars, Herzog, Hookers Made Out of Cocaine, Hyrrokkin, Joseph Airport, Kid Tested, The Kyle Sowashes, The Motel Beds, Murderedman, Nick Tolford & Company, She Bears, Speaking Suns, Sport Fishing USA, Supernobody, Unmonumental, Weedghost, Weird Science, and WV White.
We have always wanted to make a record, and these are some really amazing songs to do it with. The plan is that if this works we will keep doing it with more and more bands in the future. Here’s a video!
Swearing at Motorists is some of the finest rock and roll to come out of The Buckeye State. It is the project of Dave Doughman, and they have a brand new album called While Laughing, The Joker Tells The Truth ready to come out this March and they need your support to make it happen. Donate to the Kickstarter here and have the chance to support good people and music and win some cool stuff too including the record, a phone call from Dave, and even a badass Football-inspired SaM scarf. Aquabear caught up with Dave to discuss the album, Germany, Ohio rock and roll, and being a parent and trying to record music. Here’s a video for “Wasting Your Time”.
Tell me about the new record? While Laughing, The Joker Tells The Truth is the first new full length album since Last Night Becomes This Morning in 2006.
What the gap between releases?
In 2007 my son was born and I decided that for me personally, it was better to change my focus from full time musician, to full time father, until he was old enough to understand my need to leave home for weeks on end to tour. He just started 1st grade, so it felt like the time was right to resume my music career…
What was the process for making this album?
Unlike previous albums, this time around i didn’t have the luxury of time and solitude. Songs were written and demos recorded while my son was asleep or at his mothers, at one time I joked about calling the album “Don’t Wake The Baby”. It was much more difficult, because I would have to turn my back on the muse at a moment’s notice, just because i was “in the zone” didn’t excuse me from my duties as a father. Also, IÂ actually didn’t feel like being creative very often for a few years, as raising a child is an overwhelming and rewarding experience.
Why did you decide on Kickstarter as a platform? Why crowd sourcing?
I love Secretly Canadian, the label that has been releasing my records since 2000. We did 4 albums, 2 eps, and a singles compilation together, and i consider the owners as dear friends. But now that my son is my 1st priority, i need to record and tour around my family schedule, and not that of a label’s promotional cycle. Kickstarter seemed the logical solution. if a percentage of the folks who bought our previous albums are willing to pre-order this one, with special rewards as incentives, then i can release the album myself, and tour when it doesn’t interfere too much with my family life. I was fortunate enough that everyone involved in the making of the album agreed to let me pay them after the album was released. So the album is 100% finished, it only needs to manufactured. The Kickstarter goal of $15,000 will cover all the money i owe for recording studios, engineers, artwork, and to manufacture the first pressing of vinyl and cds.
What took you to Germany?
Swearing At Motorists have always been appreciated a bit more in Europe, so moving here made sense. I am able to play more shows without having to actually tour. I do quite a lot of weekend and one off shows. airfare and train tickets are fairly inexpensive, making it possible to just fly to London, or take a train to Utrecht for one night and actually make a profit.
You are a proud Ohioan, what are some of your favorite Ohio bands past and present?
Brainiac, Guided By Voices, and Breeders are the reason i moved back to Ohio in ’94 after living in California for several years. I wanted to live in Dayton, because it was a town that nurtured creativity. Currently i am digging the Motel Beds (band member Darryl Robbins made the video for our new song, Wasting Your Time), Oh Condor, and the Smug Brothers (former Swearing At Motorists drummer Don Thrasher’s new band)
What’s the plan for the next few months? Album? Tour? Coming to the states?
If the Kickstarter is successful , we will be self-releasing the new album in March. and regardless of the outcome of that campaign, we have a 2 week tour here in Europe January 31 to February 15 and will be flying to the US in March for a quick tour to SXSW and back. the Ohio shows will be March 7 at the Tree Bar in Columbus and March 8 at Rockstar Pro Wrestling Arena in Dayton.
As many of you may have heard, Aquabear Legion is getting ready to release our eighth compilation, Aquabear Legion Volume 4 later this Spring and to help pay for it we started a Kickstarter project. Well, we have been blown away by the support we have received! In 25 days we have raised 124% of our original $750 goal, receiving a total of $945 from 34 awesome backers. You can click on the link above or over to the right on our sidebar.
Even though we have reached our goal, we can keep going over! The more we raise: the more comps that we can make, the nicer stuff we can use, and most importantly the more compilations we can send out to media, radio stations, and of course the bands.
The compilation features over 30 bands from around Ohio and we are producing and distributing the whole thing on our own, even screenprinting it ourselves. Help Aquabear fund this amazing project, and get some cool stuff in return! Any donation helps… and please spread the word to your friends and family too.
The Aquabear Legion is excited to announce our 8th release of Ohio music, Aquabear Legion Volume 4! The 2-cd compilation (which will feature over 30 Ohio bands) will be released this coming Spring as a handmade screenprinted package with original artwork from NYC via Athens artist Jed Collins.
Full list of bands announced next week, and a Kickstarter to help raise money for its production and distribution. The Kickstarter will also serve as pre-order for the new compilation and offer some very limited edition Aquabear items for those who offer their support.
Columbus folk-rockers the Black Swans recently put the finishing touches on their long-gestating record Don’t Blame the Stars, which will be released on CD in late April by Misra Records. The album is tribute of sorts to the band’s late violinist Noel Sayre, whose final recordings are housed on the release. The band describes the record as “a batch of songs about placing faith in friendships, music, and yourself.”
In an effort to have the album released on vinyl, the group has turned to the increasingly popular funding platform Kickstarter to raise the funds needed for vinyl mastering and manufacturing. Any pledge of $20 or more garners the contributor a copy of the record on their format of choice, while higher pledge levels offer up perks such as limited edition 45’s, private house shows or the band writing and recording a song about a topic of your choosing. The group is looking to reach their $3,000 goal by March 21.
In the meantime, the Black Swans are on tour on the West Coast before making their way back East in February. A full list of tour dates is included after the break.
