The Bollox had the vinyl release party for their debut self titled album last week at the Marquee Theater. They played with the Keltic Cowboys to celebrate the event and everyone had a super good time. The limited edition vinyl was released in the three colors of the Irish flag: Orange, White and Green. The vinyl release was a joint effort between Operation Records and May Cause Dizziness Records and you may click the link for either to get info on how to get your copy…but don’t sleep because I know this was a super limited run like maybe 250 total of all 3 colors? Click here for more info/show dates for The Bollox.

All photos courtesy of Josh Bassett

Blue October was in town last week on tour in support of their latest record “Approaching Normal.” They swung by the studio before the show to record acoustic versions of 3 songs from both new and old albums. We did their latest single “Say It” as well as a couple of favorites from the past including “Hate Me.” I got to meet these guys years ago while I was working at the Edge 103.9 before their first single broke big. They came by the station and actually played a showcase in the board room for a handful of employees late one friday afternoon. I remember being thoroughly impressed because these guys gave an impassioned performance despite the meager disposition of the board room and the lack of a full audience. Shit like that goes a long way with me. You would have thought that there was 10,000 in the audience by the effort they put in that day. Their single “Hate Me” ended up being huge and I’m always curious to see bands again after they’ve enjoyed some success to see how they’ve changed. The guys came in, remembered playing the show in the board room years ago, and were super cool this time around as well. We got set up and they knocked everything out in one take. It was especially fun to record their fantastic violin/mandolin player…..the tracks came out great for a live performance. I will post audio soon. Blue October’s latest record “Approaching Normal” is currently out on Universal Records and is available everywhere. It’s worth checking out if you have the chance. Find out more about the band here.

The Action Design (from SF, CA) came by the studio to record acoustic versions of couple tracks from their new album while they were here in Phoenix on tour. We did a quick interview as well and all of it aired on the Edge 103.9 FM during the SkaPunk Show back on May 20th. Super nice folks and their playing is superb. Their attitudes were superb as well. Definitely a pleasure. If you haven’t done so, please check out their debut album “Never Say” which is available here and on iTunes. It is a departure from their former sound as Tsunami Bomb (of which Emily the singer and Matt the bass player were members) but in a good way. The band has successfully found a new sound and a way to move forward. The record is really, really good. Find out more about the band here.

E. Ryan Goodman is a good friend of mine who has been residing in Brooklyn, NY for the last 6 years. More importantly, he is a fantastic and versatile guitar player. He currently indulges in the world of improvisational guitar and has recently been playing around with the sounds of the 12 string as well as classical nylon and steel string guitars. We worked together last year on his debut solo record ‘Under The Lamp’ that was released on Lone Lamp Records. E. Ryan dropped into Phoenix a few weeks back to do some recording for his next record. We burned up a bunch of tape and got some really, really great stuff in the process. It was inspiring for me as an engineer to record an inprovisational mind at the height of the creative process. We recorded a bit of stuff that he has been working on, but I was really blown away by the one-take improvs. It is this type of recording where you actually capture a ‘moment.’ And a lot of those moments were truly great. It was good to spend time in the studio with Ryan and I’m looking forward to the next few months as we work on putting his next record together. I will update here when it comes out, but until then you can find out more about Ryan here.

Derek Seidensticker and I recorded the debut record for these guys at Stickersound a while back and it is now available on Operation Records. They have also now made it available on iTunes and CDbaby. The Bollox is Jason from Authority Zero’s new band and he has joined forces with some really talented and passionate guys to form one of the most energetic new bands out right now. We made this record super fast, but it ended up being a great way to capture the energy of this band. They’re all great guys and it was a blast to be with them in the studio. Find out more about the band and check to see when they’re playing live next, here.