Two weeks ago, Megan & I moved into a new house. You could call it an upgrade (I think our old place could fit into the kitchen of the new one). This weekend is the first time that Good Night, States will be rehearsing at “The Mansion.” Good Night, States is old enough now that it gets to have its own room, like the other big kids.

To celebrate the first rehearsal, Steve brought some new stage setups to test out for our live show (we named them alpha thru epsilon). They ranged from semi-traditional to really odd. After an hour and a half of trying each of the five setups, we decided that only two of the five would actually work for real. Here’s a picture of the five stage layout prototypes that are now hanging on the practice room wall.

I wrote a letter to Google several months ago, hoping it would meet this criteria. Didn’t hear back, but you Gmail users out there might get a kick out of it.

—

Greetings, Google!

We are a band called Good Night, States, and we would be remiss if we failed to credit your products for their assistance in our current and future musical successes.

Steadily flowing waves of interwebstuff have carried Good Night, States demos, songs yet unsung, cradling them gently from a Sent Mail folder in New Jersey to three Inboxes in Pittsburgh and a fourth in Philadelphia, via countless Gmails, neatly strung together as pearls of conversation between friends. Golden stars hang in the heavens of my Inbox each time I remind myself to take action on one of the 7305.100824 emails I have received relating to Good Night, States. I label, I archive, I am at peace with my email.

My publicity spreadsheets are nestled snugly in Google’s Documents, available for perusal anywhere in the WORLD (!) that there is internet, cohabiting with a family of press releases for, not one, but EVERY city in which we perform. AND, Google, let me tell you, The Every Show Checklist is a joy to behold and to share with all five members of Good Night, States, as we attempt to check off the forty-seven tasks that must be performed before, during, and after Every Show.

What can I say about the Calendar, glorious Calendar! At a glance, it brings joy to my misty eyes, sometimes in the form of our lead guitarist’s forthcoming dentist appointment, sometimes the gentle reminder that I missed yet another newspaper’s print deadline and forgot to schedule someone to work for me during our next songwriting session.

I will not omit, however, that there have been dark days. I have, at times, waited not fifteen, nor thirty, but at least forty-five seconds for Gmail to load before finally wandering off in search of some chocolaty snack that would assuage my impatience and despair. However, the care with which you decorate your logo on various holidays and the joy brought to my soul when I recall our drummer falling for your Gprint April Fool’s Day joke mitigate the occasional utter failure to load my precious cargo onto my screen.

And your newest creation: the BARS, the UPLOADING BARS! The ecstasy of watching a file slowly creep its way into my email is second only to the bliss when our van, loaded to the gills with instruments and careening through some unknown crowded megalopolis, screeches to a halt outside the club within MINUTES of Google Maps’ estimated driving time.

Well, what say you, Google? Are you ready to listen? Are your ears saying, “I’m Feeling Lucky”? Get ready for the glorious sounds of Good Night, States, the melodies that have melted the hearts of SPIN online magazine, dozens of bloggers, and show attendees throughout the Northeast. Google us, Google. You’ll see. We’re attempting to take over the internet, thanks, in part, to your glittering portfolio of products.

Your Google Friends Forever (GFFE),
Good Night, States
www.goodnightstates.com

Megan here, reporting live from the Franktuary kitchen.

This weekend, 2/3 of Team Pittsburgh will head out to New Jersey to learn some new songs and program the newest addition to our gear family, a Roland SH-201 synthesizer, which will replace the Roland Jupiter 6 for live performance. (The other third of Team Pittsburgh will remain in town chillin’ with Baby Jack, the newest addition to our people family, who is just hitting double digits of days old.) The new synth weighs something like 6 pounds - the same as Jack! - and can actually be lifted by my own small self. It also has motion control capacity in a gadget called The D Beam. Wave your hand over The D Beam, and you are manipulating volume and frequency. Or at least space and time. Actually, I’m not really sure how it works. Such modern day wizardry!

Mostly I am excited to no longer travel with the Jupe, a piece of analog synth history that has long desired retirement to the safe haven of a recording studio. Now I will be able to load my own gear, and add even more spastic arm and hand movements to our live show. And soon, Steve will build me a giant keyboard that I play with both feet, sort of like Tom Hanks in that movie I wasn’t allowed to watch as a child.

Speaking of our live show, don’t forget that Good Night, States is playing at the Thunderbird with two great bands, Middle Distance Runner and Eulogies, next weekend: Friday, March 27, 9 pm. The Thunderbird has consistently provided us with a great sound experience, the stage is just the right amount of small without being cramped, and the beer selection is pretty great. Arrive early and you can sit in the balcony and throw things at us!

dear reader,

before i delve into the real content of this post, a big shout out to the bloodsugars, an INCREDIBLE (note the use of caps) nyc band that we simply can’t get enough of, and to everyone who turned up at all asia last weekend and supported us in a way i have never before experienced.

a few posts ago i did promise some talk on recording and amp building (problems). as is often the case, i’ve had my hands full enough with the actual recording and amp building that blogging about them has been at best a line item on my list of things i wish i could get a minute for (but know i won’t). in the meantime, something has happened that cannot go uncovered in this humble blog.

as of friday, november 21, good night, states had never before played in boston, and we were not overly optimistic about a midnight set in an unknown venue in a (ridiculously cold) city far north of our usual show circuit. to make matters slightly worse, when we walked into the club, all asia, we were treated to a band of what i can only assume were highschool kids or perhaps college freshman playing a mix of original material and jack johnson covers, which was difficult to survive. following that were multiple trips to a parking garage around the block, some travails finding food (we ate at this place–good!), and a “real feel” of 0 degrees.

the night started looking up as the bloodsugars knocked their set out of the park (would that be fenway?), and even got some of the good-natured crowd moving a little. they seemed to really connect with the audience. one cannot help but enjoy the bloodsugars, although i admit that i started to feel our often-intense textures were going to be quite a letdown after their unstoppable infectiousness.

little did i know. how could i be prepared for the sweater vest?

after a strong, noisy medley of “long coats, no energy” and “there is a treasure,” we launched into “only thing.” near the very end of the song three guys excitedly ran to the front of the stage, which had been empty, and began dancing. REALLY dancing. it looked like they might have been doing serious moves. before they could really get into it, the song ended, and i was fairly sure that the dancing was going to end with it; but as we laid into “i am the loser”’s decidedly mid-tempo groove, the rest of the crowd began joining them. by the middle of the song the scene in all asia could only be described as an outtake from the “thriller” video. i am not making this up. the point man of the three original dancers–a guy in a swingin’ sweater vest–was actually leading the entire audience in some kind of improvised step dancing that they were somehow following quite impressively. despite my warnings that most of the rest of our set would not be so dance-friendly, sweater vest & co. cheered at everything i said and persisted in their synchronized ambulations through every song we played.

i really thought it must be some kind of a flash mob. there was simply no other explanation.

as the set progressed to “far side of the boulevard,” the five of us looked quizzically at each other. ‘we should skip this one,’ seemed to be the general sentiment on stage, but i figured, what the heck? i’ll ask the dancers.

“we were going to play a quiet one here… ” i began.

“WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!” shouted The Sweater Vest Dance Company. “TAKE US ON YOUR JOURNEY!” added one effusive participant.

needless to say, good night, states is coming back to boston. we are going to be working on our moonwalk, and our cover of “i wanna dance with somebody.” we are coming with warmer clothes, with definitely either red coats or socks, one if by land and two if by sea, and we are probably going to play “i am the loser” twice. mostly, sweater vest & co., we are going to go on YOUR journey.

dear reader,

hopefully you have heard or will soon hear our new single, “the odd and the even.” we’re pretty happy with it. i’ve been mixing it on and off for a couple weeks, and as always the last few days have been a non-stop push.

but far from resting in the traditional sense, good night states is going to spend this weekend songwriting. dan, trevor and megan are going to work half days today and drive out to nj, where we’ll spend halloween playing music together.

i hope the weekend will be refreshing, if not physically relaxing, and we may even take some time out saturday night to support my father in a concert of no small notoriety (at least locally). i’m pretty excited about this, for many reasons: my parents are so, so supportive of us, and of course my dad has played a large role in my life-long love for and involvement in music; the album that maranatha made in 1971, soon, is something i just couldn’t be more fascinated by, though i think i’ve only listened to it four or five times. it’s just so… real. check it out:

anyway. i’ve got, as usual, a lot to say, about life, music, the truth, and of course politics, but i’ve also got a lot to do today and blogging is only one item on my list regardless of how many or how few topics i tackle in this post.

for now, be not so fearful of this tumultuous time; the panic of 2008 will surely pass (as did the panics of 1857, 1873, 1893, 1907, and 1929–am i forgetting any?), but our ability and obligation as people to choose the right and good never will.

enjoy some candy corn, some “the odd and the even,” and, if you find yourselves in north jersey tomorrow, perhaps some maranatha.