Quick update – very excited to be heading into the studio this week to do some recording of a batch of Broken Gates tunes. We’ll be visiting Jack in the very cool and retro Watch City Studios to record tracks right to tape like they used to do in the good old days. Should be tons of fun.

Starting in June, there will be another project I’m planning about which I will annoy you all until you want to strangle me with a Muppet arm. Just preparing you – can’t say I didn’t warn you.

Hi all,

There’s all sorts of planning and scheming going on over here at Boogie HQ (as usual) and I’ll have some big announcements to come about some very exciting projects coming up this summer and fall. That’s correct – I broke the cardinal rule of not annoying people on the internet by “announcing there is going to be an announcement.”

So as not to waste your time, I wanted to remind you of my other non-Broken Gates musical endeavor of which I am very proud: Parlour Bells. If you haven’t checked us out live, please do so this coming Thursday 5/9 at TT the Bear’s Place with The Year Million and The Luxury. If you hate music that’s good, you may want to avoid Central Square that night.

In the days and weeks following the marathon bombings, many of us are thinking “What can we do to help?” As it turns out, not that much. Most of us musical types don’t have a skillset that is particularly helpful in an emergency or its aftermath. Very rarely do you hear a first responder yell “Somebody write a catchy pre-chorus over here STAT!” But still – we useless people want to help too.

So I had a thought – I’ve got this backlog of music on my bandcamp site just sitting there. My entire catalog from over the years, right there available for you to celebrate. I’ve already adopted a “Pay if you feel like it” model because I want people to hear the music. But maybe these songs have some value other than to rock your socks off/make you cry like a little lost penguin. Maybe we can do some good with them.

So here’s what I’m going to do: every dollar I make from the entire back catalog will be donated to the One Fund. From here on out. Forever.

This is kind of a crazy idea and I’m still trying to figure out how it will work, but I plan on writing a check every month to the One Fund with whatever profits I make from sales that month. I will continue doing this for as long as the One Fund and I both exist and (of course) there are actual profits to donate. If down the road something unforeseen happens with the One Fund, I’ll let you all know and probably switch the donations to the Red Cross.

I will try to provide documentation of the donations, but you are going to have to trust me on this one, I guess. I mean, I suppose this could be an elaborate scheme to milk you out of your money and trick you into buying my songs. But seriously – do you think I’m that big of a dick? If you’re reading this, chances are you either know me or know someone that knows me so ask around about my ethics.

I am fully aware – this is literally the least I can do. I have no illusions about the size of my star – I doubt this will make any sort of financial dent in anything. I’m really doing it mostly for me. My hope is that when I write that check every month, I will remember not only the victims of the marathon bombing, but the amazing kindness, warmth, and generosity of the community that arose to meet this unprecedented challenge to our city.

Any criticism about me using this tragedy to get my music out there or get attention for myself is probably fair. While I gave up the idea of making money at music a long time ago and have no interest in getting any “bigger” than I actually am, I don’t expect people to understand that. I’m kind of a weirdo that way. Your skepticism is understood and welcomed. So have at it, internet. But hey – at least I didn’t write any poems, right?

So if you would like to donate to the One Fund by downloading some of my music, just go to the MUSIC page and pay what you like. Do it however you want – download as much or as little of the music as you see fit. Or don’t. I’m most definitely not the boss of you.

Due to all the lockdown/manhunt craziness (which was not nearly as fun as the action movies make it seem), Night #2 of the Rock and Roll Rumble semi-finals this past Friday was forced to postpone. They needed to reschedule before the finals date on Friday, so they are going to be having the event this Monday.

Unfortunately, that means our show for this Monday has been postponed. It’s always a bummer to cancel a show, but the Rumble is an integral part of our community that I whole-heartedly support. Giving up our night was a no-brainer. I’m happy to lend anything I can to our incredible music community. Personally, I will be there cheering on the amazing bands playing and enjoying the company of the great people we are lucky enough to have in the music scene. Warning: I will probably be a little huggy.

I will keep you updated right here about when I play TTs (or anywhere else for that matter) again. Love and rock and roll, babies.

PS. I’ll talk more about it later when I have some sleep under me, but… what the fuck? Citywide manhunt? Lockdown? Boats? Jesus.

Thanks so much to you all for the great response to my Patriots Day post. I wrote it as a sort of personal catharsis to get my thoughts out into the world. Truly, I’m overwhelmed by how many of you liked it and passed it around, amplifying my little blog to a much bigger audience than I ever intended. See? Social media is good for something other than just ruining the lives of innocent people by posting “suspicious” images of them! It also helps me promote my shit!

Speaking of promotion, this raises a conundrum. I’m not sure whether I’m ready to get back to “business as usual.” If you’re new to the whole Brendan Boogie thing (if so… hi), “business as usual” for me means “bothering the living jeebus out of people about my shows and whatnot.” I get real shameless about it. I spend most of my energy talking about myself, my dumb opinions, and my various creative endeavors. It’s really unbearable. Hopefully, entertainingly so, but still. I completely understand when people are like “Dude – take it down a notch.” I mean, I’m not going to. But I totally get it when they say that.

Here’s the problem – I’ve got an upcoming show this Monday at TT the Bear’s Place with Randy Black and the Heathcroppers and Tsunami of Sound. It will be the Broken Gates’ last show for a little while as we head to the studio for recording. It should be a fun show and I’d love to get you all out to it.

Am I allowed to be obnoxious about it yet?

Sure, music performances can be a great building block in healing a community. I witnessed this first hand when I opened the amazing, moving FOR BOSTON benefit earlier this week. Hundreds of people I know and love gathered, sang, played, hugged, cried, and raised a ton of money. It was an amazing, heartfelt response to the tragedy and a big step in the healing process for a lot of us. I was honored to lend my voice to it.

My show on Monday isn’t that. It’s just a show.

Don’t get me wrong – it should be a really fun show. It’s important to me in the sense that it’s our last show for a while before recording. But it’s not Important. Not Important with a capital I, anyway. Definitely not all caps IMPORTANT. It’s a rock and roll show. We’re going to play songs and people are going to have fun listening to our music. It was planned way before the marathon bombings and is completely unrelated. It’s just your run of the mill kickass Monday night rock and roll show.

There’s always a strange moment after something like this – the first moment you’re NOT thinking about it. Sure, we won’t ever forget the marathon bombing, but we can’t realistically go on like we are (or at least I am) now – constantly thinking about the pain and anger every spare second I’m not actively distracted by some task or news story or shiny object. There comes a moment when you are just being yourself, living your life. Unfortunately for me, that self is all “WOOO! Come to my show! Listen to my music! Read my blog! Aren’t I hilarious and talented and brilliant? Validate me! WOOOO!” The “back to normal” me is kind of a needy prick. Am I ready to return to that? More importantly, are you guys?

I don’t really have an answer, but I guess I’ll just leave it at this: I mean no disrespect by reverting to my pre-bombing persona of shameless self-promotion. It’s just my way of trying to share myself and what I love with as many people as possible. And I’m not going to stop for any reason. Ever.

So come to TT’s on Monday! WOOOO! Show your tits! USA! USA!

I am from Boston but this is not a Boston thing.

I appreciate that civic pride is a natural way to feel powerful again after something like this and I don’t begrudge my neighbors getting through however they can. Some of us cry, some of us (specifically me) make horrible tasteless jokes, some of us puff up our chests and say “Don’t fuck with Boston, ked.” But to me, this is not a Boston thing. This is a New York thing. And a Oklahoma City thing. And a Columbine thing. And a Newtown thing. And a Belfast thing and an Israel thing and an Iraq thing and an Afghanistan thing. This is a human thing.

We live in these fragile bodies made of soft tissue that can be destroyed at the whim of a stranger with a crude explosive device or a (legally or illegally purchased) weapon or a big rock and a stick for that matter. We are constantly counting on our neighbor to NOT lose his/her shit and run us over with a car. We are completely and utterly dependent on the kindness, sanity, and good intentions of others. Most of the time, this system works. Yesterday, it failed.

After 9/11, Bill Maher said something on TV that struck me: “The world didn’t change – we just joined it.” He was right, of course. Destruction on that scale and for those kinds of reasons was new to us in America, but the rest of the world had become sadly used to it. My father is from Ireland, a country that has lived through decades of terrorism to the point where it was just a regular part of daily life. My cousin who lives and works in Belfast once told a story of continuing a Christmas party because someone said, “Don’t worry – the bomb was in the front of the building and we’re in the back.” They all just shrugged and kept celebrating.

So is that what we do? Do we shrug and keep celebrating? Do we beat our chests and say “Not in my town!”? Do we go to war? Do we cry in the shower? Do we run another 26.2 miles? Do we cheer extra hard for the Red Sox because they represent us somehow? I really don’t know. But I can tell you what I’m going to do.

I’m going to keep making music. I’m going to play my show on Monday and the next one after that and the one after that. I’m going record with my band this summer. I’m going to make a movie in the fall. I’m going to go on many wonderful dates with my girlfriend. I’m going to attend the Rumble shows this month and hug my amazing, talented friends extra hard. I’m going to play spaceship with my niece and blow raspberries on my nephew’s belly until he laughs so much he can’t stop. I’m going to spend my days trying to make other people’s burdens a little lighter by listening. I’m going to take my dad out to lunch. I’m going to tell my mom I love her. I’m going to watch my friends get married and have babies and live and live and fucking live. And I’m going to blog more.

This is a human thing. Fear and anger are natural, but I intend to fight them. I will fight them by holding life in my hand like the fragile egg that it is. I will fight them by continuing to live the life I am lucky enough to wake up to every day. I wish the same for all of you.

And I do hope the Red Sox win. After the walk-off win yesterday, I’ve decided to forgive them. Don’t worry if you don’t understand the need to “forgive” a baseball team. You wouldn’t get it – it’s a Boston thing.

Hello good friends and lovers,

Once again, we have compiled a tremendous lineup for you for our monthly residency at Radio. Check this bullhonky out:

This will be the Broken Gates’ last residency show for a little bit as we recharge, reload, and get ready to record over the summer. So come on by for another awesome Thursday! Send us off to the studio in style.

Really great lineup for this month’s Rock and Roll Radio Revue. Check it out:

Garvy J and the Secret Pockets of Hope & Resistance
Shoney Lamar and the Equal Rights
Brendan Boogie and the Broken Gates

There will be no show this year with longer band names! (The music will also be pretty fantastic.) We’re on first around 8:30 or so. Come by early and stay late! Celebrate spring!

Hi snow bunnies,

Hope you’re all staying warm and toasty and drinking hot chocolate in your snuggies and whatnot. Despite the cold weather, the Broken Gates are keeping the hot rock and roll a’comin’. Check out the lineup for this month’s Radio Revue:

Should be another fun night. In other news, we are putting the finishing touches on our new single and it should be available to you soon soon soon! In the meantime, feel free to click the MUSIC button overhead – I’ve decided to change everything to a “pay what you want” model, so you can snag a bunch of tunes for whatever is in your meager coffers.

Spring is coming soon! Let’s do this!

Looking forward to kicking off 2013 with a great lineup at Radio! Here’s da poster:

Also, if you didn’t get a chance to to catch the print version, here is a great article about the new band from the Somerville Scout, finally available online. It’s the finest thing that’s ever been written about me. Read up and then come down to Radio to see the real thing this Thursday. Fun!