TURNING vIOLET VIOLET
Philly based indie band with jokes and sparkly tambourines.
Farewell our Eco Friend…
It is with great regret that our dear friend and bass player (fondly known as “hippie steve”) has decided to leave TvV to more fully pursue his career as an ecologist. This is very sad for us since Steve was one of the founding members of TvV (during the days of the “SG trio”) and there are so many things we will miss about him! To name a few:
-Steve’s bass face (you all know what I’m talking about)
-Steve’s uncanny ability to say the latin name of any plant you point to.. even knowing different types of grass [hint: this only works with pennsylvania vegetation apparently]
-Steve’s more risky on-stage clothing choices (like his tank top scarf combo)
-the way Steve loses his voice on video blogs when he’s been roming around New York city all night after a show..
-Steve’s Italian cooking
-The way Steve inserts his funk roots into all things TvV (let’s hear it for Chameleon!)
-when steve comes to rehearsal in his biking gear.. classic.
Don’t worry, for those of you who feel a little heartbroken over the fact that you won’t get to see steve unbutton his shirt onstage again, know that he won’t be a stranger! We will definitely be calling on him for some guest blogging and will keep you updated on hippie steve :).
In other news, our good friend Eric Daelhousen will be joining us for our May and June shows and adding his bass skills to the TvV roster. The boys are excited to welcome another heavily bearded man into the group. Make sure you check our live dates schedule so you don’t miss the new lineup!!!
(feel free to post your hippie steve love on our facebook wall!)
[Flash 10 is required to watch video]
The time has finally come for TvV to record some more tunes and we are beyond excited about this new music! This weekend we will enter the studio to lay down tracks for “Pink Sky” (our never before heard new single) and “Blue Beside Me” (show favorite)! Pink sky and Blue Beside me will be released on 7” vinyl and as a digital download in the next couple of months. This will be the first of many song pairings we hope to release this year. Check out this video that documents the feel of Pink sky with clips of demos and rehearsals in our creepy rehearsal room (Yes, this is where we have been hibernating for the winter).
And, If you just can’t WAIT for the record to be released to hear all of Pink Sky (and other new tunes), come to our show on February 25th at Eastern University!
I forgot about this. It is a silent film (Bolex, edited in camera) made with my good friend Jon Barr. The lead character is my good friend Nate Weaver. He lives in China now. I miss him greatly. This video is worth the 2 minutes just to see Nate’s awkward face at the end.
I think I will convince Jon to let me use some of our raw film to mak a music video. It is long over due.
Your friend,
Brandon
(p.s. If that empty lot and parking lot look familiar, it connects to the North Star. This is a clue that relates to my last TWO TRUTHS AND A LIE post).
TWO TRUTHS AND A LIE (Brandon’s addictions)
1. I would pay twenty dollars to arm wrestle Billy Mitchell. When he’d go to sit on the stool and grab my hand, I’d kick out the stool.
I realize The King of Kong has been out for over 3 years. It has just made its way through my office, and I am addicted to talking trash on Billy Mitchell. TEAM WIEBE!
2. I would pay twenty dollars to eat one of the dead birds that fell from the sky down south.
People are freaking out over all the dead animals showing up around the world. I’m addicted to reading about it. I think that they contain the cure for laziness.
3. I’d would pay twenty dollars to relive the weird/secret/lights out show we played unplugged at the North Star Bar in Philly last week.
My first two years living in Philadelphia, I was in a tiny run down apartment with two of my best friends. It was right behind the North Star, and I have some of my fondest Philly memories from that place. I saw a lot of shows there, and fantasized about playing in front of the tapestry back drop. We’ve played there a bunch now, and I’m pretty addicted to showing up. We never know what to expect, but its always a warm welcome. Last week we did a stripped down acoustic set in the dining room. The power went out on the whole block, and we ended up playing for a nice crowd in the candle light. A new north star memory.
One week from today…. we storm Fishtown for one last show before going into hibernation and writing some sweet new tunes for your listening ears!
Come support TvV and Weathervane music (check our facebook page for info on that…)
[Flash 10 is required to watch video]
TvV and the Red Balloon: PART II
So that was that.
We planned to release a balloon… little did we know (most of us) that Brandon had a SINISTER plan. And yes, this plan included using his crocheted violet pin for evil.
Kyle got his wish. The birds were spared, the band had a laugh, and all in all it was a beautiful day.
And yes, Kyle is still waiting for our triumphant return to Rumba 1480.
[Flash 10 is required to watch video]
TvV and the Red Balloon: Part I
We were blessed to have the chance to perform live @ 5 on radio 104.5 last Friday (if you missed it, check out the links on our facebook page http://www.facebook.com/pages/Turning-Violet-Violet/262448315257?ref=ts.) It was a lot of fun. But, the best part may have been what happened after the show…
The last line of the Nena song we did was “And here is a red balloon..I think of you and I let it go..” Now, what kind of dishonest people would we be if we didn’t let go of a red balloon (and we had a lot, trust me!). We wanted to release one in the studio, but seeing that the ceiling was not so high, we realized it would be anti-climatic to let our helium filled red friend travel only two feet high. So, with our team mentality, we decided to let go of a balloon together outside. Some of us were excited about this, and others were upset about the birds that may have been sacrificed through this homage to german new wave 80’s pop music. This video documents our anticipation as we waited for jeff to release our red balloon.
Little did we know that Brandon and Rachel had cooked up another plan….
Animals.
Let’s just get this out there…
We love animals (please refer back to the “Brandon births a cow” post in case you have any doubts about that statement). And, it seems we can’t get away from them. Dr. Miller frequents all of our band rehearsals and the Scott’s cats (they still don’t have names) always seem to be lurking around us… or destroying things.. but that’s a different story. Steve gives himself “pet names” when speaking to pets (like ‘Uncle Steverino’) and quite frankly we don’t think it’s weird.
So, of course, when we go on tour, animals are a big part of what we do. This past weekend didn’t disappoint. After a full day at the Dewey Beach Music Conference this past weekend, we wanted nothing more than to cuddle up with some furry friends. We were lucky to be able to stay at Jeff’s uncle’s house close to DBMC. We were greeted by a large, adorable dog by the name of ‘Brownie’. Brownie was so adorable, Jeff couldn’t help but pick him up for an uncomfortable period of time:
(These incredible camera phone quality pictures courtesy of Sarah G).
There were also a lot of cats in this particular house. Brandon was lucky enough to get to sleep on a spot on the floor and the animals were lucky enough to cozy up next to him. We woke up to find Brandon and ‘snowball’ in the following position:
So all in all, you could say it was a great weekend. No, it wasn’t only due to the fact that we played a killer show at the bottle & cork, met tons of great people, and learned a lot about the music industry. It was a great weekend because at the end of the day, we cuddled animals.
