MIKE NICOLAI and the SENSATIONS Friday 4/6 @ ND
It has been a strange few weeks around here. Certain events, namely the passing of friends and aquaintances, 3 in one month, have caused me to reflect on the transient nature of all this shit. And to look into the weird silent movie clips of the past that used to have sound and move at a normal speed but keep getting warped and changing color. The buildings and streets, and the smells coming off those northern winds. Basements. Grandpa. People keep moving to Austin TX. It’s been several years since I’ve known someone who went Jesus-crazy. Soon it’ll be 100 degrees every day. I love my friends, and my sweetheart, and my family. Hate’s a lifesucker. Once we all were stunning little kids. I’m sincerely looking forward to the next James Bond movie. Life can really, really…
The Sensations and I have a gig this coming Friday night, it’s at the ND @ 501 Studios in east Austin. 5th and Brushy. Four acts on the bill:
9:30 Jay Satellite
10:30 Wheel
11:30 Mike Nicolai & The Sensations
12:30 Persian Wars
For those of you who don’t know, The Sensations are Rob Gaines-Drums, Marty Hobratschk-Bass, and Geoff Lasch-guitar/vox. These solid and gracious hobgoblins are fun to play with. We’re doing a bunch of new material, a few covers and some stuff off my past records. It feels like we are beginning to get our legs now as a unit. I hope to get this group into a studio soon and get some tunes onto semi-permanent media.
Come on down to the ND this Friday if you can – it’s a big room but with friends there it’ll be kicks. Swell and diverse night of music.
My DVD pick of the month: Martha Marcy May Marlene. Oofta.
Thanks for checking in on my doings and supporting live music
RIP, Orestes, Tom and Shawn
Mike
SKINNY’S BALLROOM Tues 2/21
My new band is playing our first show on Tuesday the 21st, at Skinny’s Ballroom in Austin. We’re on at 10pm, followed by the inimitable Ramsay Midwood at 11. Ramsay’s latest record Larry Buys A Lighter is fantastic and I highly recommend a dose of that. A cut from said record – Maybelline Grease:
The Bremen Riot 1/26
Hey kids, The Bremen Riot is doing a show next week! We’ll be on around 11pm. Kicking things off at 10 will be our friends Leatherbag, an excellent rock and roll trio that is not to be missed. The last few shows of theirs I’ve seen indicate that they are in some kind of zone at the moment. This will be the Riot’s last show for a bit, most likely until April when our record comes out. This is going down in the cozy confines of Club DeVille. Thanks Will Rhodes for setting up this rock show!
Looking Out For Hope
A short film that I did voice-over narration for back in 1994. Phil Harder directed it. The members of Low are the actors and they did the really cool score. What I’m reading is a story by the novelist Bryan Malessa, in memory of Raymond Carver. I remember hearing that there were minor injuries sustained by someone in the band due to falling on the ice while they were shooting this, but I don’t remember the details. It looks cold as shit. And windy. I think the cinematography really captures the stark and desolate beauty of a Minnesota winter at its peak.
Free Week Show @ Mohawk 1/8
The Bremen Riot will be playing a show for Free Week, @ Mohawk next Sunday January 8th. We’re playing with The Gentleman Rogues and Broken Gold. We’re in the middle at 11pm. It’s our first gig in quite some time. Come on out… loads of great bands are playing downtown all week. it’s FREE!!
WRECK OF THE GOOD SHIP LOLLIPOP
A big thank you to everyone who came out to my shows the last couple of nights… good to see you all and both gigs were fun.
All four of my full-length records are available now for download here. All you have to do is strut your heart-shaped butt over to the MUSIC page to listen to or buy stuff. The hard copies of these records are all gone now, and people have been asking me for them from time to time, so here they are, electronically. It feels good to have all my music in one place, in a clean and user-friendly format. It’s a calm feeling. That is good. Thanks Bandcamp. I’m working on a collection of outtakes, live stuff and other odds-and-sods called Wreck of the Good Ship Lollipop that’ll be up sometime in the next few months.
A huge thank you to my pal Jen Ragan Smith @ Steamybowl Design for helping me organize this thing. Do not hesitate to contact her for all your web design needs, she’s great. www.steamybowl.com
My song “Christmas Is For Losers” is available to download free through Christmas day, or you can pick up the full 8-song EP for five bucks. Thanks for stopping by!
Lila Lies rides again
Several years ago, the lovely Amy Mitchell Pooley and I met and bonded over Simon & Garfunkel hits in Lawrence, KS. It was the heyday of the annual North vs. South Hard Pop Rockband Festival, at 4 or 5 in the morning. Later we decided to form a more-or-less proper Simon & Garfunkel tribute act called Lila Lies. It’s been about a year since we played last and the itch has returned, so we’re doing it again this month. This time around it’s Amy, myself and Phil Ajjarapu on standup bass. We’re playing on the front stage at the Hole in the Wall on Thursday, December 15th @ 9:00. We’ll do about a 40 minute set of all your S&G favorites along with some more obscure nuggets from their vast catalog. We’ll be followed by Waldo Wittenmyer and the Naturals, then the Grapes and friends Xmas show. Should be swell, stop on by!