Hi kids,

Just wanted to drop a line and let you know what’s been going on in Boogieland. First off, the songwriting is going better than ever. By your general habit of yelling at me in public, I know some of you are disappointed that we won’t be doing any of the old songs (although feel free as always to download from the MUSIC page). But not to toot my own proboscis, but I’m pretty happy with how the songwriting process is going with all the new material. I hope you are as excited about hearing it as I am writing it. That’s not very likely, though. No one’s more excited about me than me.

Rebuilding the Best Intentions from scratch is a daunting process, but I’ve been talking to a lot of talented and enthusiastic musicians. The plans are in place to get together in the lab and see if we can get some alchemy going. I can’t give you an exact date on when we will debut, but I have the feeling it will still be cold outside.

In the meantime, the Cover-Up will return to First Night Boston with a little help from our friends in Oranjuly, Spirit Kid, and the New Million Box covering The Beatles. For those of you that don’t know, “The Beatles” were a band from Liverpool, England in the 1960′s.

That’s all from over here. What’s going on with you?

Well, it’s time for this little “6 EPs in 6 months” bonanza to come to its inevitable conclusion. It’s been an amazing experience making all this music I’m proud of with all these amazing talented people. Since collaboration seems to be the theme running through this project, it seems fitting that we end the project where we started it – at the Armory.

“Songs From The Armory Volume 3″ is a bit of a misnomer as only one of the songs (my duet with the amazing Leesa Coyne of Naked On Rollerskates) was written for a show we did together at the Somerville Armory. But I have decided to continue the Songs from the Armory idea with any future songwriting collaborations/duets I do. Because I’m lazy like that.

This time around, Brian King from Oranjuly is taking the reins as producer. Brian and I have been a mutual admiration society for years now and we finally decided that we needed to write a song together. Lo and behold, we ended up with not one but two very different little ditties for your listening pleasure. Brian is an obscenely talented songwriter, musician, and producer as well as a hell of a nice guy, so it has been a pure labor of love.

Speaking of love, “Love Is For Losers” was co-written with Abbie Barrett. We first performed it at an anti-Valentine’s comedy and music variety show at ImprovBoston in Cambridge. Spending any significant amount of time with Abbie is usually nothing short of downright torture, but giving birth to this shiny pop gem was worth every awful second being in her presence (I kid).

It’s hard to believe that this is the last EP of the series. When I first came up with this nutso idea, I wasn’t sure I’d actually see it through, as I am at nature a weakbabyquitterpants. At the very least, I thought I would be so creatively drained that I would never want to record another note again. The complete opposite has happened. I feel so charged up. I can’t wait to make more music. I’m going to take a break for the sake of my sanity and my pocketbook, but rest assured – there is more to come. Songs From The Armory Vol 4, anyone? Vol 5? Eh?

Come celebrate my final EP with me on July 9 at the Rosebud in Davis Square, Somerville. The Rosebud has been my home for half the year and all the shows have not failed to deliver great lineups. Saturday the 9th is no exception – Naked On Rollerskates, Abbie Barrett & The Last Date, and Rock Primary alum/coffee pitchman Leo Blais.

Since Andrea and I started this successful juggernaut known as The Cover-Up, there honestly has not been a non-awesome moment in the whole thing.  But this past weekend’s Cover-Up was probably the mostest awesomest so far.

I must admit – I have done a lot of ridiculous shit in this series (my Freddie Mercury outfit comes to mind), but nothing was as intimidating as trying to embody the spirit of Jack Black without resorting to imitation.  Luckily, I had the best Rage Kage that I could imagine by my side – Nate Leavitt of The Blizzard of ’78.  A pure pleasure and joy to work with as well as an absolute shredder on guitar.  What a fun memory.

And don’t even get me started on the other talented performers from that night.  Golden Bloom absolutely brought it as a one-man Weird Al on some sort of hallucinogen.  I had the pleasure of singing (or really slurring my way through) “Sweet Young Thing” with Oranjuly as the Monkees.  Always fun to play with those guys.  And Sidewalk Driver as Spinal Tap brought things to a whole new level – including a to-scale replica of the mini-Stonehenge. 

As far as the comics, Ken Reid, Tim McIntire, and Lamont Price turned a potentially difficult gig (lots of drunken assholes that were all riled up by me) into a roomful of people losing their shit from laughing.  Three of the best, which is why I booked them.

Actually, fuck all these accolades for other people.  The success of the Cover-Up is all about me, baby, me!  (Sorry, still in character as JB for a second there.)

We shift gears on May 15 as the Cover-Up presents…. Fleetwood Mac!  Hooray!

This week’s installment of Dear Boogie over at Boston Band Crush is up and running.  In this episode, I address the ideas of artistic integrity and some other stuff no one really cares about that much.

Also!  The Cover-Up presents April Fools is happening THIS Saturday!  We’ve got a killer lineup for you, which is as follows:

Sidewalk Driver as Spinal Tap

Oranjuly as The Monkees

Myself and Nate Leavitt as Tenacious D

Golden Bloom as Weird Al

Plus, comedy by Ken Reid, Tim McIntire, and Lamont Price

You’ll want to get your tickets in advance, as these things do sell out every time.  The direct ticket link is here.  See you all on Saturday!  Links aplenty!

Another successful show despite the universe conspiring against us.  Here’s how it all went down…

-  Around 10am, I get a call from Tim “The Chef” Delaney informing me of the unfortunate fact that vomit was leaving his body with the speed and frequency of an Epcot Center supertram.  (Remember?  Because he was at Disney?  No?)  Although he was going to try to muscle through, the Chef was a very strong “probably not” for the show.  Add this develepmont to the fact that KenDo was in Vegas this weekend and you’ve got yourself a bit of a crisis.

-  Luckily, the multi-talented Jason Dunn of The Luxury and Will Dailey were on board to be special guests, so they were about to pull more duty than for which they had bargained.  Will handled the news with his characteristic laid back aplomb while Jason freaked out for a few hours and then decided to kick all kinds of ass and perhaps take a few names.   Like Irving.  He might, for instance, take that name.

-  With all this adversity in front of us, we had two choices – throw in the towel or continue to rock.  I picked the third option:  drink heavily on the Lizard Lounge’s tab!  During soundcheck, I took advantage of the kindness of the bartender and gulped my problems away!  Who says alcohol doesn’t magically solve everything?  Liars, that’s who.

-  Right before show time, The Chef informed us that not only was he not any better, but he had successfully infected his wife as well.  That’s good strong work there, Chefsie.  We made a few last minute adjustments to the set and (more importantly) had a few more bottles of liquid courage and prepared to bring the noise all “unprepared”-style.

-  The evening began with the great Paul Melancon from Atlanta with his all-star Boston-based band.  They absolutely blew the doors off the place.  Many of the (by then almost sold-out) audience hadn’t seen them before, so I was getting a lot of “Who are these guys?  They’re amazing!  Why haven’t I’ve seen them before?”  I of course informed these people that my restraining order against Paul was only recently lifted by the courts.  Because fuck that guy for being so good.

-  Around 10pm, it was our turn to rock the house in whatever way we could muster.  We started out a little bit soft and sweet with an acoustic duet with Will and myself.  I swear, when you look into that man’s eyes… it’s like a Bing Crosby Christmas in your mother’s womb.  His talent simultaneously thrilling and soothing.  Viola player extraordinaire Beth Holub then joined us for ”February” and a cover of Dire Straits’ “So Far Away” with some impromptu bass and guitar from Will and Jason.

Then, it was time to bring Jason up for some loud rock and some say fucking roll.  Knowing KenDo was going to be out of town, we had rehearsed with the foursome of me, Justin, Tim, and Jason for a few weeks.  I’m not going to lie to you – we were sounding goooooood.  Jason wasn’t sure if he was going to be able to handle both guitar parts on all the songs because he’s, you know, not in the band.  But he’s an annoyingly talented motherfucker and hit it out of the park.  Everyone was coming up to me afterward and talking about what great musical chemistry we had.  They should have seen our smoldering gaga eyes in the green room.  HeyOH!

-  After we managed to put together a good set with only chutzpah and metaphorical duct tape, it was time for The Motion Sick.  They absolutely ripped through a chaotic, high energy set featuring Patrick taking a header into the drum kit and Travis ripping his thumb open and spraying gore everywhere.  You think I’m exaggerating?  Take a look at the aftermath:

 

 

Rock and roll, goddamnit.

-  The night was closed out by Oranjuly.  They’re a relatively new band in town, but they’re quickly making a name for themselves with excellent songwriting and killer musicianship in their performances.  At the end of their set, they were kind enough to invite Paul and myself on stage for a version of the Wonders’ “That Thing You Do.”  At that point, I was drunk enough to tell the entire audience that Mike Viola was a douchebag for not paying me when I opened for him several months ago.  And now, I’m apparently drunk enough to post it on my website for all the world to see!  I’m terrific!

You know, creating great nights of rock music isn’t rocket science.  You just get a bunch of great bands who are also really nice people and you throw a party.  Saturday night was one of the more fun parties I’ve thrown in a while.  So thanks to the sold-out audience for making  yet another magical night at the Lizard Lounge.

Time for another interview, my friends.  This time, I gchatted (yes, that’s a real word) with Brian King from the band Oranjuly:

 

Brendan Boogie: Oh, you’re going to start the interview?

BK: Ladies first.

BB: Ok, you are by far my most aggressive interview to date. I like it.

BK: That’s how we roll. We’re aggressive in Oranjuly. Aggresive dudes who love Steely Dan and yacht rock.

BB: Surprises for Saturday? Well, we’ve got some guests joining in. Jason Dunn of The Luxury will be playing with us, as will a guest I’m contractually not allowed to mention. Want a clue?

BK: Is it Bobby McFerrin?

BB: It’s Will Dailey. Fuck it – CBS Records can sue me if they want.

BK: I have yet to see Will play out. This bums me out. And Dunn, he’s everywhere. He should wear the Duran Duran outfit he wore for Halloween. Everyone should.

BB. So what about you guys – anything special planned for this Saturday?

BK: Of course. We’re changing our arrangements up completely for this set. We’re usually more guitar-focused, but I’m playing that lovely upright at the Lizard and we have some very random semi-covers. And our keyboardist Greg is playing trumpet and melodica – it’s much different than our normal set. This is our first show at the Lizard – so it’s an honor. You lucky bastards get to play there ALL the time. I’m jealous.

BB: It is a really great room. So for people who haven’t seen you guys, why don’t you give the folks a brief history of the band? Or don’t. You know, no pressure.

BK: We’re actually robots. No, really – we all met in normal circumstances – friends, college, ex-girlfriends. I write all the material so these gents bring my songs to life essentially. I can’t speak for them but I will anyway – it’s a dictatorship we all love.

BB: I certainly love my dictatorship.

Brian: It’s great. I’m very focused. Usually, though, if someone says something might be off-putting or odd well still take chances on that type of stuff. How about you? You write everything, right?

BB: I do all the writing, but for me that means more just the chords, melody and lyrics. I’ll tell the rest of the band about how I want it to feel, but I don’t really tell them what to play. They’re too good.

BK: That’s pretty cool. I’m more of an arrangements kinda guy than anything else so I’m a perfectionist over sounds and mood. We’re not Sigur Ros by any means but sophisticated pop is hard to do well.

BB: So you get pretty specific with your instructions to the band?

BK: Very. To almost a fault but it serves us well. I tend to like bands who are like that. Beach Boys, ELO (yes, im serious), McCartney, Steely Dan – we have nothing in common with them really but it’s that sound perfection-vibe.  I’ll usually record an entire demo with all the parts and bring that in to get my idea across.  I’m horrible at music terminology because I’m not schooled. The rest of my band knows their theory. Not me. Your recent album, was this your first since Scamper?

BB: No, my second. We came out with the Disposable Pop EP in 2008 and the new one last month.

BK: Ah. I’m always weird about releasing EPs. I don’t know why. It’s practical. We haven’t put out anything yet. We’re HOPING to release our album in April.

BB: Are you in process at all?

BK: Yes, have been for a year. The mixing is taking forever and I’m very picky and indecisive, but I want to release something I’m happy with I guess. Where did you record?

BB: With Jason at Madscience in Allston. It’s funny that you talk about perfectionism. It’s one of the things I vowed to get rid of when I started my own project. I’d rather have a lot of good records than one great record, you know?

BK: That’s a great point. Actually, I want to release an EP after this record of just up-tempo, high-energy (but still quirky and sophisticated) not so meticulous songs. This is also my first band. So it’s all interesting to me.

BB: What have you been doing before this band? What’s your background?

BK: I graduated from college in 2006. Started playing music (guitar/piano) around 2003/04 somewhere. Moved to Boston in 2006 and started this band around 2007. It’s been a very revolving line-up but we’ve finally found the right guys to play these tunes.

BB: I like a man who takes his time.

BK: Yeah, it’s good and bad. I’m a writer too and I love reading histories about bands and so I’m a little more calculated in what we do. We’re more aware of our potential failures.

BB: To me, the best thing to realize about local rock is that no one really cares what you’re doing except you. Some people find that depressing. I find it completely freeing.

BK: I totally agree with that. It’s only depressing if you make it that way. If you’re putting out good quality stuff and people dig it – then there’s not much to bitch about.

BB: I like the fact that I can do whatever I want whenever I want.

BK: Oh totally. I like that too. Like this show, I’m totally glad we’re getting to play it because it gives us a chance to do something different.

BB: Whenever I meet bands with major label deals, they envy me, not the other way around. It’s really a whole new world. They’re always sick and pale. They’re calling their wives and girlfriends and trying to muster up another night of rock and roll for hipsters. It’s not a life I want.

BK: You’re totally right.

BB: I usually am.

BK: I like the whole Mike Viola thing. Playing wacky shows doing whatever but having that respect and dedication that his fans have.

BB: It helps that you don’t pay your opening acts.

BK: Ripping people off is truly the key to success.

BB: Viola seems to think so.

BK: I think a lot of Boston bands are aware of this.

BB: Really? I’ve only really been fucked over by a headliner once and it was Viola. Who else is an asshole? Don’t be afraid to name names.

BK: Some bands are just notorious on not getting back on offers to play great shows. Or maybe they just hate us. I dont know. I love Boston but it’s hard has hell to get people out. What do you think?

BB: Yeah, it’s a challenge at times. It seems to be getting better, though. I think the key is putting a lot of effort into promotion, being creative, etc. You and I are both giant facebook whores.

BK: Oh, there’re far worse than us. But even with the other bands who are obnoxiously promotional – they are the ones getting people out. But I still feel like songs are the most important thing to a band. As dumb and obvious as that sounds.

BB: My favorite bands are always song-based bands vs. sound-based bands, you know what I mean? A cool sound is like a cool look to me. Helpful, but not ultimately lasting,

BK: Ahem, Passion Pit. Even though those guys are great live. So much energy.

BB: Man, I didn’t think Brian King, nicest guy in rock, would be such a trash talker. This is tremendous.

BK: I write for the Weekly Dig. The snarkiest paper in the city!

BB: So I must ask, and this is very important – where do you stand on the Conan vs. Leno debate?

BK: I’m gonna get a lot of shit for this. But I like both. Leno’s monologue’s can be hilarious but Conan shaped my bizarre humor. So I’m bummed for Conan.

BB: I’m glad you feel that way about Leno, because you know how I said you were headlining the Saturday night show at the Lizard? I’ve actually changed my mind and now I’m headlining. Sorry, pal.

BK: 

I believe it was Walter Cronkite who said “It’s always good to end an interview on a saddy face.”  Check out Oranjuly with Brendan Boogie & The Best Intentions, The Motion Sick, and Paul Melancon.  Advance tickets available here.