Boo!

It's been quiet on the blog front here lately. I'll try to post more soon. In Snowden news, we have a small east coast tour coming up in December with Twin Tigers. I'll post more about that when all the dates are finalized. Check the dates confirmed so far here.

Hope everyone has a Happy Halloween! Here's the sound of a scream that's probably buried deep inside your subconscious mind and you don't even know it.

MP3: Evangelicals - The Halloween Song (via Ohmpark)

A Weekend In NYC

click here to see how she would use that experience

Snowden @ Atlanta Downhill Challenge

We're going to be performing Nov. 15 at the Starlight Drive-In as part of the annual Atlanta Downhill Challenge festivities. What is the Atlanta Downhill Challenge? It's a kick ass soapbox derby!! Yes. We're headlining the BMI stage, where a bunch of other bands will be performing throughout the day also. The whole thing goes from 12-6pm, and we go on around 5pm. Apparently last year drew over 3,000 people. It seems like a pretty cool way to spend a Saturday. For a great set of photos from last year check out this flickr set.

FAQ from the downhill myspace:

1) Are we making our own go karts with lawnmowers and shit/ renting them? going to a place? low-tech and crazy?
yes... you can use anything you want to build your cart but it just has to be built by your team. No Motor Vehicles.
2) Oooh oooh can we have like PIT CREW and stuff?
I want you to have a pit crew...if needed, cheerleaders and more.
3) Can we still race if we are over 250 lbs?
Yes, but the judges will take that to heart.
4) What time do I need to be there?
Please be there at 10:00am every year to check in your cart.

Photo via flickr

Free Album | Long Knives

Long Knives is one of my favorite undiscovered gems in the ocean of Atlanta bands. The man behind the music, Michael Kane, is celebrating his birthday today by giving away their record for free. If you're into stuff like Iron & Wine, Fleet Foxes, Will Oldham, Elliott Smith, etc. you will probably really like this. In my opinion this guy is one of the best songwriters in this genre around Atlanta, and it's a crime that he isn't getting more attention. If you like what you hear spread the word.

DOWNLOAD: Long Knives - Long Knives

Monolith Recap

photo: Laurie Scavo

Our trip/show at the Monolith Festival at Red Rocks last weekend was a lot of fun. In the chaos of packing and moving things from one backpack to another at the last minute I forgot my camera though, which I didn't realize until we were at the airport. I had planned on taking a lot of pics and vids, so I was pretty bummed about that. If you want to see some photos though, the Denver Post's Reverb blog posted some great pics and coverage from both days. Check them out here: Day 1 & Day 2. No picture can really convey how breathtaking the view/scenery is around Red Rocks though. The amount of work that must have went into carving out an amazing open air music venue in the side of those mountains is quite impressive. Of all the outdoor concerts I've ever seen this is by far the best place I've ever been to see an outdoor show.

The festival organizers were really nice and made sure we were taken care of. They provided us with a driver who picked us up at the airport and shuttled us back and forth from our hotel to the festival. Although our show was on Sunday, we arrived on Saturday to enjoy the festival and hang out. When we got there mid afternoon we went to get our credentials and immediately run into some of our buds from Colour Revolt who had just played earlier in the day. It was great to see those guys. They haven't really stopped touring since we came off a tour with them back in May and they did look a bit worn down from the road. Once we got our artist laminents and wristbands we aquianted ourselves with the layout of the festival grounds and found the artists tent where they were providing free food and drinks all day long. It was a nice little tent with tables setup inside and out with some sofas scattered around too.

Throughout the day I just walked around and checked out some bands and took in the scenery. It was a lot of fun. The first band I saw was Cut Copy, who really had the crowd bouncing. They ended their last song abruptly though after being told they were out of time by the stage crew. They seemed pretty pissed, as did the crowd. Ouch. Next up I saw A Place To Bury Strangers, who were playing at one of the underground indoor stages. They were fun, but loud. During the last song an extra wave of feedback was unleashed on the unsuspecting crowd and quickly cleared half the room, myself included. I caught some of Vampire Weekend's set. I can't really hate on them, which seems to be the hip thing to do lately. Their tunes were an ok way to take in the sun setting around the mountains. Watched a bit of Del The Funky Homosapien, who was sitting next to us and Colour Revolt in the artist tent for a while wearing headphones and banging out some beats on his laptop. Seemed like a cool dude. Walked in and out of some sets by other bands that I didn't know. Some good, some not. It started getting cold and rainy that night and of course we didn't pack accordingly. We ended up heading back to the hotel with Colour Revolt who crashed on our floor and watched the ridiculous Bear Grylls eat all sorts of insane things before crashing out.

We woke up early and enjoyed a La Quinta breakfast with Colour Revolt, who had to drive out early for a show that night in Witchita. Around noon our driver picked us up and we got to the festival to load in the little gear that we brought with us. Luckily they had a great backline with nice amps and stuff. It was weird being there that early. People were just starting to show up. Our show wasn't until a little later that day, so we just enjoyed some food and drinks in the artists tent until we played. The show went great. We just had a 30 minute set, so we banged out all the hits and a new song too. The crowd was great and we ended up selling a bunch of Snowden merch and signing autographs and stuff. Saw a bunch of bands throughout the rest of the day. Tilly And The Wall were a lot of fun. The Whigs had a huge crowd going nuts at one of the indoor stages. The Kills bad mouthed the stage crew and generally came across like they were pissed off about having to be there. Handsome Furs were supposed to play after us, but apparently couldn't get across the Canadian border. There was talk thoughout the day that TV On The Radio's bus broke down in Salt Lake City, but they rented cars and made it just in time for their set that night. It was great seeing them at Red Rocks. Last time I saw them was years ago at the old Lenny's on a Thanksgiving night after their first EP came out. There was maybe 30 people tops at that show. This show had a slightly larger crowd. :)

Even though they were plauged with some technical problems, the one act that seemed to sound the biggest at the whole festival was Justice. They closed out the festival Sunday night and were the only act that seemed to make full use of the mammoth soundsystem on the main stage. Throughout the festival when I was towards the back of the amphitheater watching bands on the main stage the sound would tend to get muffled and muddy, as is the case with many large outdoor concerts, but towards the back when Justice was on the sound was crystal clear. They seem to have mastered the art of making those huge soundsytems work to their advantage.

We actually got to share a van ride back to the airport with Justice the next morning, as our flights were both leaving around the same time. They are by far the nicest people we met all weekend. Xavier in particular was very chatty and talked to us about differences in NYC and Paris, diffrent recording software he uses, a big name artist they produced but later backed out on and other random bits of small talk. Throughout the festival in the artists tent we hung out in there were many bands hanging out that I didn't even know who they were but were acting like they were the coolest thing on the planet, and then there's Justice, the actual biggest act of the whole festival, and they turn out to be the most down to earth people we meet all weekend. After we got out of the van at the airport I thought they had already walked off as I was unloading our stuff from the back, but then I turn around and Xavier was just standing there waiting for me to finish so he could shake my hand and say bye before going off to catch their plane. What a cool dude, and how refreshing to see a band at their level who haven't let it all go to their heads. It was a nice ending to a great weekend at Red Rocks.

Snowden In The Studio Vid

Here's another little clip I made. I'm getting quite proficient in iMovie now. This is by no means footage of us recording our next album. We've just been trying out some stuff in different studios around town to see if anything clicks. This clip is from a couple different studios. We cut the same track at both places to see what the differences would be, but have since tweaked the song beyond recognition of the original. Perhaps it will end up as a b-side one day or something. Anyway, this is mostly just footage of us goofing off as usual. Enjoy.

Thanks + Cao Fang | In Summer

Thanks to everyone who came out to The Earl Sunday for the breast cancer benefit, and to all the bands and everyone involved. It was a great turn out for a rainy Sunday night and we raised a bunch of money for a good cause. Thanks again.

Completely unrelated... I never thought a GE commercial would cause me to become obsessed with a song, but after seeing the ad a couple times during the Olympics I am now completely hooked by this tune. It's called "In Summer" by Cao Fang, a Chinese singer/songwriter. The whole song is only one minute and ten seconds long, but the melody has permanently lodged itself into my head and will not let go. It's like Cat Power, Iron & Wine, Kings of Convenience, Nick Drake and Feist all rolled into one and re-interperted by this Chinese girl. I don't know much about her, but apparently her nickname is Icy. Um, ok. Here's the rough English translation and mp3.

MP3: Cao Fang - In Summer

Listen to the children playing
Listen to the children playing
Listen to the children play in the summer
I've got something I should say,
but it won't come out my way
Summer's slipping away,
let me stay in your heart today

Snowden @ Titty-Titty Bang Bang

We've added a last minute show this weekend to help out some friends raising money to help fight breast cancer. I think this is a cause we can all get behind. If you're in ATL come out and help support the cause. We know this is sorta last minute, so if you could repost to help get the word out that'd be nice of you. Here's the info...

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UPDATE: A secret 5th band was just added. If you know Atlanta bands, you will know this one. We also have over 50 items in the raffle!!!

Please come out and support Team "Give 'em Hell, Maxwell" raise money for the Atlanta 2 Day Breast Cancer Walk at the Earl on August 24, 2008.

Doors are at 7:00.

$10 Cover. Raffle Tickets $5/each or 5 tickets for $20.

4 BANDS: The Danny Family, Valentina, The Preakness and the Bandettes (and now Snowden too)

HUGE RAFFLE including gift certificates from Loca Luna, Quattro, Clothing Warehouse, Front Page News, Apres Diem, Criminal Records, Aurora Coffee, EAYC, Trinity Gym, Urban Body Fitness, Five Roses Tattoo, Salon and Spa packages and MUCH MUCH MORE!
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Snowden Tour Randomness (Summer '08)

I finally got around to editing down some of the video clips I shot on our last tour. I didn't have as much footage to work with as last time, but still managed to throw together a decent little vid. For the music I used some snippets of unreleased Snowden demos that may or may not see the light of day at some point. Enjoy.

Snowden @ Monolith Festival

We just added a show at the Monolith Festival at Red Rocks in Colorado. It's a cool festival with a really impressive lineup. If you happen to be going we'll be playing the New Belgium Stage at 2:45pm on Sunday Sept. 14. That day alone has an impressive lineup with TV On The Radio, Justice and many others. View the lineup here.

Believe The Hype

I was lucky enough to see it on IMAX this weekend. Luckier than these folks.

AudioSurfing With Snowden

I just stumbled across this on YouTube. Funny.



AudioSurf is a music-adapting puzzle racer where you use your own music to create your own experience. The shape, the speed, and the mood of each ride is determined by the song you choose.

The Walkmen | You & Me

For the past week or so I've been listening to the new Walkmen album that recently leaked on repeat. It's one of the best records to come out this year, in my opinion. They seem to have taken all the elements I love about the band and magnified them with brilliant studio production and great songwriting. I've always loved the reverb drenched guitar tones they get and on this record the guitars really stand out. Hamilton Leithauser's vocal delivery is top notch as well and gives the songs an emotional urgency that most vocalists lack. All around this record is just a breath of fresh air in the current indie music landscape.

Speaking of which, this current trend of people playing late 80's early 90's hardcore/noise rock and somehow being considered 'fresh' or 'relevant' is really starting to wear thin. Loud distorted guitar riffs and screaming unintelligible lyrics into a microphone while flailing about onstage just isn't cutting it for me. I will admit that I like the No Age record and what they're doing, but some of the other bands clumped into that scene just seem like a joke, or some sort of passing fad. There's only so far you can grow musically in that vein. The Walkmen, on the other hand, are writing timeless songs that seem to be imprinted with a stamp of authenticity that will last far past the short shelf life of whatever trend or fad is considered cool or hip at the moment. Ok, sorry for ranting. Bottom line, this new Walkmen record is a much welcomed return to form and definitely worth checking out.

MP3: The Walkmen - In The New Year

MP3: The Walkmen - On The Water

Something To Do

Thanks Jeff Bridges

Corndogs + SwitchBurn Videos

I'm pretty sure all of Atlanta knows the annual Corndogorama festival is this weekend at Lenny's. If for some reason you're local and have never been, you're missing out on quite a spectacle. We're scheduled to play around 9:45pm on Saturday and close out the outdoor stage. Hopefully the rain will hold off. Check out the full schedule HERE.

In other Snowden news, the wonderful folks at switchburn.com have posted some videos of us performing at Stubb's BBQ in Austin last month. If you've never checked out this website you really should. They film bands performing at various venues around Austin and archive them on their site. What's cool is that they post all the videos in a multi-camera angle format and the quality is great. They already have quite an extensive archive of great bands including Black Lips, Dark Meat, Dead Confederate, Someone Still Loves You Boris Yeltsin, The Black Angels and many many more. Definitely worth checking out. I was sorta hoping they would feature a couple of our newer songs so people could get a taste of the new stuff, but they went with the better known cuts from Anti-Anti. No complaints here though. The vids are cool and we're happy they took the time to film us and post it. Click on the song names to watch the videos.

BLACK EYES | BETWEEN THE RENT AND ME | LIKE BULLETS | ANTI-ANTI

Snowden @ AthFest This Friday (40 Watt)

Images From The Tour

We've been back for a little over a week now. After bouncing all over the country for a few weeks everything just seems like a big blurry fading memory once you get back home and settle back into your daily routine. Here are a bunch of random photos I took throughout the tour. I have some video footage too. I'll get around to editing some of that stuff one day soon. I've mentioned it before but I'll say it again... Colour Revolt are an amazing band. Watching them play every night never got old. If you're in Atlanta they're playing a show here this Thursday (6/12) at Vinyl with Gringo Star. I highly recommend checking them out. Here's a mp3 of what became my favorite song to watch them play each night. There's a lyric towards the end that floors me every time I hear it...

"cause brother you are my weakness

i'll listen and learn from your kindness
your wisdom is very thoughtless
but your window is worth looking out from"

MP3: Colour Revolt - Moses of the South

Varsity Theater. Minneapolis, MN.

A reflection of our van.

My daily view from the van.

Jordan and I enjoy sushi in Toronto.

Chandler & Jordan wait for a storm after a show in Oklahoma City.

It's close, according to Advantage Doppler 3D.

Still waiting.

Chandler controls the Global Positioning System.

In Dallas we stop at the appropriately named Dallas Lake.

Surprisingly, it wasn't until Austin that Jordan suffered a real sunburn.

Corinne reads a book recommended by Jimmy from Colour Revolt.

Chandler learns Sammy Davis Jr. was a member of the Church of Satan.

Jordan is quite strange.

Sean Kirkpatrick. This kind man let me use his amplifier after mine decided to die.

Our favorite place to play in Austin. They make sure we eat well.

A late night (veggie) dog in Austin.

Shane MacGowan napping backstage.

Represent.

Loading out/in

Len & Patrick soundchecking in Houston.

Andrew (aka Petey). Merch guy (aka drinking buddy).

Elvis.

Backstage in New Orleans. Final show of the tour.