Baltimore-A Great Music CIty

Baltimore is one of the best cities in the country when it comes to local music.  I'm not saying this because I happen to play in a local band in Baltimore, but music is so important and the city recognizes that .  The local scene in Baltimore is vast resulting in great local bands coming from a variety of different genres, and they are heavily supported by world recognized clubs and venues.  They include Rams Head Live, the biggest venue in Baltimore, the 8x10, Sonar/Talking Head Club, Bourbon Street, 13th Floor, and the list goes on.   There are hundreds of local bands that have a different style, but some of the most popular local bands are in the jam band scene, lead by the popular band The Bridge.  All of the local bands in Baltimore stick to their roots, giving it a good reputation throughout the country.  We are very lucky to be playing a city that takes music and the arts very seriously.  

STACHE BASH 2009

Last Wednesday night Vespertine Movement played a big show at one of our favorite local venues, The 8x10, but this night was a lot different than our normal shows.  We headlined this event called the Stache Bash,  the touring rock and roll party that celebrates the mustache in its entirety.  The Stache Bash has been hitting clubs all throughout the Northeast and we were signed on to headline the one in Baltimore, sharing the stage with Conshafter, Della Valle, and one of Baltimore's most popular local bands The Grilled Lincolns.  

The night was filled with a bunch of mustaches, both real and fake, and some of our fans went all out and wore hilarious costumes.  Halfway through the night, the sponsors of the event had a mustache contest and our friend Brian won best costume with his impression of Ron Burgundy from "Anchorman", and our friend Casey won best fake mustache.  The club was very crowded and we had a good turnout for a Wednesday night show.  This was the first show that we headlined at the 8x10, so we really had to do our best to bring out a big crowd and play a solid set.  Since three of us could not grow out a mustache for the event we wore crazy costumes as well. Guzzi (rhythm guitar) was Spider Man with a mustache, Owen (bass) wore a crazy, mismatched suit, and I (drums) was a 70's basketball player with a mustache. John (lead guitar) was the only one who had facial hair, and he just rocked out the old fashioned beard. We had over an hour to play, and we rocked the club with one of our best set lists we have ever played.  It was a fun show and a very big success for both Vespertine Movement and the club, and we have a lot of funny stories and pictures from the fun night .

It's Getting to be Festival Season

This is a very important time of year for huge music and jam band fans. Spring and summertime always means Natty Boh's, Oriole games, Ocean City, and music festivals and outdoor concerts.  Summer festivals are a great time because there always great acts ranging from a variety of genres, and there is nothing but music and happiness  in the air for however many days  a festival lasts.  All of the members in the band have each been to several music festivals over the past couple of years, including Bonnaroo, All Good Festival, and Lollapalooza, culminating to some of the best times of our lives. 

   Now that we are in a  serious local jam band, the possibility of someday playing a major music festival would be a major point in all of our lives.  Vespertine Movement has to work our way up to the big dogs, and a great way to start doing that is by playing local festivals wherever we can.  VM has started to do that and we plan on playing a few local festivals this summer in Catonsville, Frederick, and other areas. What is so great about playing local music festivals is the fact that you can get your music out to so many people who have never seen or heard about you before. On top of that, there is not as much stress on selling a lot of pre-sale tickets to fans, friends, and family because a lot of people are there for the festival to see some great live acts. 

 Last fall, VM got a last minute chance to play at Federal Hill's biggest music festival, the Federal Hill Street Beat Festival.  We shared the stage with some of Baltimore's best local bands and also had the chance to meet other bands that are not from the area.  We played a 45 minute set, and when we first hit the stage there were not too many people by our stage, but by the the end of our set there were a couple hundred of people grooving and dancing to our music.  It was the best show and day the band has had to date, because we heard so many compliments about our music, got to see some great bands, and we got to meet so many new people that love music just as much as we do.   

This summer should be a great time and the band is hoping to play some big shows and local festivals so we can spread the word about us and our music.  We will be playing all throughout Maryland, and we hope to get out to Philadelphia, Washington D.C., Delaware, and possibly New York.  We are always looking to get new fans who love our music, and music festivals only help the process, so look out for VM to be doing just that this summer.

The Band's Practice Space-Studio 14

Our practice space is a very important place for the band because that is where we create all of our music and where the band hangs out all of the time.  When we first started  as a band, we would practice in my mom's basement, because that is where we always played music back in high school.  We are a very loud band, and wanted to practice at all hours, so last summer when we started to take things with the band more seriously, we were looking around for a space where we could meet those requirements.  

We searched for band warehouses for a few months, and the search wasn't going well until we stumbled upon Studio 14 in the city. There were three separate locations for the warehouses and two of them were full, but there was one room left in the one right by M&T Bank Stadium, so we decided to take up on the offer. Since last June, Studio 14 has ben the home for Vespertine Movement and we have had many good times and jams in that space.  It is a average looking warehouse that is not in the best area in the city, but we have really added a lot of character to the space and it feels like a second home to us because that is where we all go to relieve stress and do what we love, and we spend more time there every month and we hope to continue.  That has been one of the best decisions that the band has made, and any of our friends that have been in the space know how important it is to us and to our music.  

If anybody is in a local band or knows someone that is in a local band that is looking for a practice space, here is the link for our practice space: http://bandrehearsal.net.

Creating a Song/Jam

Creating and writing a new song and/or jam is a very tedious and timely process, but once it is finished and all four of us know our parts well, it is one of the most rewarding things especially when you see people dancing and bobbing their heads to music and art that you created. 

 John, lead guitar, Owen, bass, and Mike aka Guzzi, rhythm guitar are the ones who write our songs.  They all play guitar and they usually get an idea while strumming around with an acoustic guitar, and that is the origin of a new song. After that when we are at practice, we work on the song and all of the changes that go on throughout the tune.  When it comes to the drums with me, I  hear the guitar and bass lines and that is where I am able to come up with a solid beat for the whole song.  After we have the basic idea and beat, we all use constructive criticism with each other to either add more elements to the song, take something out, or change it any way we can to make it sound as good as possible in all aspects (guitars, bass, drums, and vocals).  After we have all of the ideas for the song, either John or Guzzi writes lyrics and that determines who will sing that particular song. Practicing a new song or jam can get very repetitive and we usually find ourselves working on it for hours at a time, because we want to get it to the best of our abilities so we are confident when we play it live.  

We try to write new songs as much as possible so our fans don't get bored always hearing the same songs and the same set lists, especially since we haven't been playing as long and don't have too much original material.  It is really fun getting new songs down, and it makes the band and our friendships that much closer because we are working together on music that we love influenced by bands and musicians we have been listening to for years. We, as a band, hope that one day we can be the influences on young local bands trying to make a name for themselves.

VM in the Studio-Recording Process

Vespertine Movement is currently in the studio, working on a 8-10 song EP (extended playlist). We have been recording for a month or two now, and will continue for the next few months. We are hoping to release the EP, that is untitled right now, sometime in the summertime. We have been recording this EP at UMBC, and our friend Kyle Johnson has been the audio engineer who is both recording and mastering the tracks.  

Recording is a very long process because you want the quality of the CD to be great, because that is what represents our original material and our band as a whole.  Every band has a different approach to recording their material, and you can go in different orders, but the way our band has been doing it is based off examples of other bands and tends to be the traditional way to record.  The recording process consists of recording the drums to a click track (this makes the drums on beat with the pace of the song, whether it be a slower or faster song).  After getting a solid take of the drums, we have been recording the bass, rhythm and lead guitars, and then vocals.  It could take several attempts for each instrument because you want it to sound perfect, because that is what will be on the final cut which will be on the EP. After the recordings are finished, the audio engineer then edits and makes all of the tracks sound to the best potential by adding effects. 

 We are very excited about this and are always learning new and interesting things in the studio about the recording processes. w]We are looking forward to getting our our first legitimate CD out to our family, friends, and fans.

Booking Shows

Being in a band has a lot of perks and high points, but at the same time there is a lot of leg work involved so you are able to play shows and get your music out there to people.  I deal with a lot of the leg work of the band because I find the business interesting and I want our band to get out there as much as possible.  When we first started out last year, we did a few "Open Mic" nights at clubs like the 8x10 and the World Cafe Live in Philadelphia and that helped us out in a big way to get in good with the club, and now we play at the 8x10 on a monthly basis.  But a lot of the booking has to deal with pushing people, because club/bar owners are getting many e-mails a day inquiring for bands to play; so instead of just sending e-mails, I also call a lot of people as well to be a little more personable and tell people what our band is about and why it would be a successful night if we did.  And that usually does the trick, because if you remain nice and personable through the whole process of booking and then playing the show, that stands out to a club owner, and that has worked out in our band's advantage very well in the past year.  Another way we network and talk to other local bands is Myspace.  Myspace is CRUCIAL if you are in a local band because it gives information about the band, you can get a chance to listen to music and watch videos, and you get their contact numbers and e-mail address.  Right now all we have is Myspace, and it has done us very well but we are looking to advance and get a legitimate website, because it is more professional, and that's what people like to see. Because until you actually meet the people at the club, the only thing that represents you is a Myspace or a website.  Another way that we try to get shows is by checking other bands Myspace, and see what shows they are playing and see what clubs they are playing, so the we can contact a club we've never heard about, or we can try to share the stage with that band for that night.  Booking shows can be complicated at times, especially if you are struggling to get shows, but it has its high points as well, because you get to meet new people and see how the music business works.