AristeiA

this is old but sad news

2011-08-08T23:47:00.001-07:00

i'm sitting here listening to music i have created with my extremely close friends adam, ben, and devon (as well as some old tracks with not those guys) and i am sad to say that we have obviously parted ways musically. it's been some time, so i assume everyone already knew what was inevitable. but nonetheless, i still play music with adam in our project GUARDIANS and ben is playing in Y LA BAMBA (which is going extremely well for him) and devon is doing the DIESTO thing. so, everyone is happy and everyone is playing music, but i just wanted to let everyone know, officially, that ARISTEIA is no longer. Thanks for the support, it was an amazing journey

LOVE

Brandon.

STUDIO

2010-08-05T10:17:00.000-07:00

sorry we don't update this very often but I wanted to let those of you who do check in know that we are going into the studio in less than a week to record our new full length album. more news soon.
stay tuned.

love brandon

We do a set and an Interview!

2010-05-18T13:57:00.000-07:00

http://www.sessionsfromthebox.com/sessions/

What do a griffin, polar bear, and a hydra have in common?

i just cannot help myself

2010-04-06T12:00:00.000-07:00

polyphonic distortion/fuzz whatever. kicks ass. i should stop buying pedals ...

adam and i went to our practice space yesterday to jam out on this thing but the power on the whole block was out.
for over two hours we waited in the dark with Hamms (notice Hamms is the only thing i have capitalized thus far? i have priorities) for the power to switch back on but i guess PGE are a bunch of fuck nuts. let's all not pay our power bills in protest!

ps not my actual settings, stock photos kids

newest member to my family

2010-03-20T19:27:00.000-07:00

z-vex super duper 2 in 1.

2 super hard ons in one. how could you go wrong? a master is added on hard on #2 for more edge. basically this was made for me because
a) it makes you louder
b) it makes you even louder.

ah yeah.
love brandon

hangin with mr cooper.

2010-03-01T10:30:00.000-08:00

We went on a hike through Mt. Tabor with our friend Hans Hallgren and he took some photos in exchange for awesome company. Thanks Hans

.
The picture in the middle makes us look like we are in Lord of the Rings, I love it.
If anybody wants to see more, I'd be happy to post some. Let me know.

ps. We are playing with Westfold and Wild Yaks from Brooklyn tonight at the Know!!!!!

AristeiA answers questions

2010-02-14T01:37:00.000-08:00

http://five-questions.com/wordpress/aristeia/

We just did an interview with a website. Check it out.

Cumulus festival Seattle friday

2010-02-10T13:50:00.000-08:00

http://www.fensepost.com/main/2010/02/10/cumulus-festival-2010-begins-tomorrow/

So we are playing this show Friday in Seattle at the Funhouse! Our friend Andy wrote a wonderful article about the festival.

Welcome to his candy store!!

2010-02-06T13:18:00.000-08:00

This is my new favorite video. I loop it and go to sleep. I dream of the greatest candy store!!

WELCOME TO THE JUNGLE

2009-12-12T18:25:00.000-08:00

Ash Street Saloon 12.11.09. Last show of the year!!!!!!

There were some videos too but not surprisingly the audio was totally clipped and you can't hear a thing...oh well. Hopefully we'll get some up here soon.

Keep checking in, we are sure to have some sneak peaks at the upcoming album on the site!

Thanks again to everyone who came out last night, and Westfold for having us, we had a great time.

Live Audio from the Doug Fir in Portland

2009-12-07T17:09:00.000-08:00

Live Bootleg!!

In honor of prohibition day:

AristeiA presents a kind of bootleg:

by a kind gentlemen.

http://www.archive.org/details/aristeia2009-12-01

Stu Stu Studio

2009-10-20T23:39:00.001-07:00

Very soon we will reveal the results of our laboratory!!!!!!!!!!!!!}{}[]:'1=`!@#-

Like a wizard except for he has a different religion.

2009-09-25T19:55:00.000-07:00

This skinny cat jumped in our van the other day when we were loading out to go to the show!
The show went pretty well. We played the Tonic Lounge and there were many friends. Thanks Westfold, I really liked the new song sweat body!

We were going to record next week (at toadhouse recording house of digital and analog waves recoder) but devon (our drummer) got hit by a car (motorized vehicle).

Never fear however!, We rescheduled to lay down some pipe (tape) in October.
We love you and will report in on a better schedule in the future.
-aristeia

Shhh its a secret to everybody!

2009-08-07T02:06:00.000-07:00

This new song makes me thirsty.........in time.

new songs

2009-06-09T12:22:00.000-07:00

hey everybody, we are writing new songs. they sounds sorta like this...

dum da da da dum dee di dum da da da dum dee dee lalalalallalalalalla dee dum

we are complete!

2009-05-18T12:01:00.000-07:00

meet devonchristianshirley. he rules it and he is our new drummer. you will be seeing a lot of this asshole so get used to it!

ps. this is my 100th post. googleblogger, you owe me a beer!

What up Cuz?

2009-05-12T22:28:00.000-07:00

This is my cousin, John Intrator on my grandma Cele Steinfink's side. He is a kick-ass jazz guy and he's French!
I just got his band Sinti Swing's cd 'Brazil'
Its pretty awesome and I am pretty jealous of the skill of those guys.
Listen Here

myspace

2009-05-02T20:34:00.000-07:00

our myspace has a brand new look.

go check it out.

aristeia is having fun. new songs soon.

for serious

2009-04-28T12:50:00.000-07:00

why are bands spending more time on how beautiful their blogs are than writing kick ass songs. what the fuck happened to working hard to write great songs? instead we have to put up with fucking boring shit that people spend 5 minutes on and another 5 minutes posting it on their blog immediately after it's written. what the fuck happened to great rock and roll? i can seriously only think of a handful of awesome bands putting music out right now. it sucks. music can't keep up with the internet and it shouldn't.

this is going to piss people off. sorry. not really.

we are all home from tour

2009-04-17T17:31:00.000-07:00

and we are all dead.

Here is our Official Leg!!

2009-04-15T11:32:00.000-07:00

We just watched the emo thing on youtube! So funny! Check out our friends clever response 'Emo Economy

so here is a recording of our show from monday!!!!! We played in Santa Cruz at the Blue Lagoon

Download it Here!

Pics and Music!!!!! and a video audio to come

2009-04-14T13:55:00.000-07:00

Cloud Archive in Santa Cruz 4-13-09

Live From Phoenix!

2009-04-11T13:17:00.000-07:00

Here is a live song called "Black Magic Hour" by AristeiA
It was recorded at the Palo Verde in Tempe on 4-7-09

Chillin at Justins

These are the men who let us sleep over and booked us a hell-of awesome show!

JJ and Justin from Tempe
Zombre rocks it featuring Matt from Cloud Archive and Jesse from AristeiA

The show was at the Palo Verde and here is most of who was there!

we are so dumb at blogging

2009-04-10T10:10:00.000-07:00

basically since the 4th we stayed in phoenix and never went to bed. those bitches party hard, it is unreal. to be fair i better say tempe and not phoenix or else when justin and nikki move to portland i'm gonna get my ass handed to me. seriously though, we stayed there for 3 days and everybody was stoked on it and not assholes about us abducting their living room. we have pictures. i'll add them when i get out of bed...maybe.

we played san diego, 'twas a'ight. now we are in LA. i fucking love it here i will never lie about that. someone buy me a house in hollywood. you can live there too...maybe. we play tonight at Mai's cafe, i think it's a vietnamese restaurant. livin' the life.

we have to go back to work in 6 days, lame.

we were on a boat too!!

2009-04-04T21:33:00.000-07:00

plus our buddies from Cloud Archive! They are from the bay area and are joining forces for the rest of our tourawr!!!
Here are pics; one from austin with my oma and the rest from lake havisu!!!!!!!!111122!!!

Some Photos and Austin Blog Love!!!

2009-04-02T20:50:00.001-07:00

What up ya'llZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ!!!!

Here is a blog called Hungry Forest that ranked us #3 best show at SXSW!! There is even a recording of us playing "the surface of a desert", our brand new song!!!
Here are some pics

That is my "simon-a-fied" amp! (a wolf sweater!!)

This is Allen Hrynick from the Decca Sequence. He set us up with our New Mexico show and is a very nice shredder!!!

We also played Murray State College in Tishomingo OK!!

Our Denver and Colorado Springs Adventure

2009-03-28T09:13:00.000-07:00

Check out what Adam Leech of the Colorado Springs Independent wrote about us!!!

We are Now BeardGazers! We are the first band to play Beardgazer music.
We also Recorded the audio: will post soon

Every time we have played Denver we have been booked at Old Curtis St and end up playing at The Bar Bar. We will not object. Bar Bar is an awesome place to play! Thanks Joe Ramirez! Denver was cold and covered in snow but our friends at the Bordelaux through together a last minute show for us. It was an open bar for the musicians so you can infer whatever you want from that. This is the coolest thing in Denver.
Also Brandon and Adam got some new hats. We go all out!

more records that we are listening to.

2009-03-26T13:06:00.001-07:00

15 hour drive from dallas to denver
playlist

ben
31 knots - worried well
velvet underground - andy warhol
titus andronicus - the airing of grievances
the thermals - the body, the blood, the machine

adam
earth - the bees made honey in the lions skull
mogwai - hawk is howling
desert city soundtrack - funeral car

brandon
wolves in the throne room - black cascade
mastodon - crack the skye
mouth of the architect - quietly

jesse
rocky votolato - makers

there was more and we don't remember.

Snowed in!

2009-03-26T12:00:00.000-07:00

This is what the freeway looks like right now on our way to Denver. There were clear skies on our way into town last night but as soon as we woke up this morning there was about 6 inches of snow and the news says up to 12-14 inches by tonight.
We brought chains with us and Jesse and Ben are outside putting them on so we can get to the show safely.

Tonight we are playing at the Old Curtis Street Bar with Snake Mountain! Hopefully I-25 stays open.

Rockin On The Lamar Bridge!

2009-03-23T16:40:00.000-07:00

This is where we played on Saturday Night at 1 in the Morning!! It kinda looked like this picture from the friday show.
It is called "Lamar Pedestrian Bridge"
We were filled with energy and made glorious contacts!!
Tonight We play in DENTon, TX, at JandJ Pizza!!!!! I like cats!!!

SXSW Day 3 AristeiA plays again

2009-03-20T22:57:00.000-07:00

WE PLAYED WITH IPHOTO!
Adam's amp looks fat.
Here i go again on my own. oh wait, there were three others. oh wait, ben was at other shows. Today, I saw a wall of Orange Amps. Lovely. I had a splitting headache because of lack of caffeine so Adam, Jesse and I (Brandon) grabbed some ice cold coffee at Bouldin Creek. We drove around for about an hour looking for parking so we could meet up with Ben at Emo's Annex with no luck so we parked on the other side of river. We saw Matt from the Doug Fir at Emo's then we went to Lovejoy's and saw this kick ass band that is featured on Rock Band 2 and Sims 3. They are called "Bang Camaro." 2 guitars. 1 Bass. 1 Drummer. 6 lead singers! AT THE SAME TIME!

We then headed to " the Parlor" to play our show. There were lots of people and we had a super fun extravaganza. Ben's aunts and uncles were there, <--LEE and John were there. Other awesome people were there.

The party commenced. The Fever Dreams played and were super rad. Phranchyze threw me (brandon) an XL tshirt and i flossed that shit until day break. Or until midnight. Depends on what you consider day break. HOWE. there was a lot of beer.

Then we got lost and then got back to Nick's place. Nick is the Bomb.

AristeiA: How To Kill A King

2009-03-19T10:17:00.000-07:00

Our Album 'How To Kill A King' is number two editor's pick in the Post Rock/Experimental section on CD Baby! Also the album was reviewed over here at Sound as Language. Thanks to Will.

"Get it all over ya'"

2009-03-18T20:34:00.001-07:00

All in all it was a great day. There was free Dos Equis XX so we drank too much. The show was unorganized so we played late. Adam's Parents and Grandparents were there. Ben's dad and step-mom were there. Casiotone for the Painfully Alone was there. Jimbo of course was there. Brandon got a sunburn, and Jesse got high with the first band. Adam and Brandon walked 20 blocks so Brandon could buy sneakers because Jesse took them out of the van before we left cause he was high. NO DOUBT! We had an interview with Radio Phoenix and all those people were super cool. Aston Kucher's new tv channel on the internet filmed our show. We got a fucking standing ovation. Watch out Lil' Wayne. Who's bringin' in the Cash Money now? NO DOUBT!

Adam's dad took us all out to Texas style BBQ at the County Line and Jesse ate the best pecan pie of HIS ENTIRE LIFE. Imagine that. The BEST EVER. We also found out that Adam's grandma made Jacob Dylan (Bob Dylan's son) the best chocolate cake of his life. NO DOUBT! He was 8 years old. He wasn't making music yet. Or so I assume.

The Road to SXSW is long, and hard?

2009-03-17T22:53:00.000-07:00

It has begun. At 6:44 am on Monday morning we pulled out of Portland on our trip to Austin for SXSW. We figured a 48 hour drive would be a good way to start our 2009 Spring Tour. Last time we toured we devised a method of driving where one (of four) band member drives 3 hours, then breaks for 9 hours. Very do-able. I mean you feel kinda funny after 24 hours of this method, but it works.

We are stocked with all kinds of snacks. from veggie to reeses pieces. We got a ton of water and a few flats of Red Bull and Red Bull Cola. We will not starve. But I guess we will not eat "healthy" food either. Whatevs.

We also have stocked our van with video games with those who like that sort of thing. We have one Playstation 2 and two Nintendo DS's for a little multi-player action.

Until we have actual things to report, we thought it would be fun to let you know what we are listening to during our 3 hour driving shifts!

Ben's Playlist:
Billie Holiday - Beautiful Ballads and Love Songs
Bonnie Prince Billy - Beware
Blue Skies for Black Hearts - Serenades and Hand Grenades
Kyte - Kyte
The Old Believers - Eight Golden Greats
Q and not U - Different Damage
T.K.Y.K. - Single
Tripping Daisy - Tripping Daisy

Adam's Playlist:
Slobberbone - Barrel Chested
Mouth of the Architect - The Tie That Binds
Radiohead - The Bends
Fiona Apple - Tidal

Brandon's Playlist:
Kanye West - 808 and Heartbreaks
Neurosis - The Eye of Every Storm
Mars Volta - Amputechture

Jesse's Playlist:
Brand New - The Devil and God are Raging Inside Me
Paul SImon - Graceland
Murder By Death - Like The Exorcist but With More Breakdancing
Cursive - Mama, I'm Swollen
Rocky Votalato - Makers
Hockey - Mind Chaos

Ben's Playlist 2:
Copy - Hair Guitar
Yann Tiersen - Good Bye Lennen Soundtrack Score
Talkdemonic - Eyes at Half Mast
Ratatat - LP3
Animal Collective - Merriweather Post Pavilion

Adam's Playlist 2:
Magyar Posse - Random Avenger
Mono - Hymn to the Immortal Wind
Hans Zimmer - The Dark Knight Score

Brandon's Playlist 2:
Ryan Adams- Cold Roses
Westfold- The Morning Commute
Desert City Soundtrack-Funeral car

Jesse's Playlist 2:
The Drift - Travels in Constants EP
The Arcade Fire - Neon Bible
Atmosphere - You Can't Imagine How Much Fun We're Having
Girl Talk - Feed the Animals
Jay Z - Black Album
Kanye West - College Drop Out
Tom Petty - Wildflowers
Plus a bunch of random songs that Jesses has called his Stoner Shuffle

Ben's Playlist 3:
Bind Pilot - 3 Rounds
Birthmark - The Layer
Django Reinhart - Les'Essentials disc 1
DOOM - Born Like This
Dr. Dog - Easy Beat

Adam's Playlist 3:
Caspian - For the Conductor
Centro-Matic - Navigational
Nine Inch Nails - The Downward Spiral
OP8 - Slush

Brandon's Playlist 3:
Wolves In The Throne Room - Malevolent Grain
Grails - Doomsdayer's Holiday
Deerhunter - Microcastle
Boris - Akum No Uta
Wilderness - (k)no(w)here

Jesse playlist 3
deftones- around the fir
refused- shape of punk to come
ryan adams- heart breaker
the calm blue sea- we happy few

Also somewhere along the way Ben found out that Butterfingers have developed a caffine infused candy bar. Butterfinger Buzz!

Farewell Portland, Hello SXSW (and rest of tour)!

2009-03-15T09:54:00.000-07:00

So in less than 24 hours we will start our tour. We have a new van, some limited edition merch, new shirts, a tour ep, a cool silkscreen tour poster, our old new cd How to Kill a King, and a batch of new songs to play for you guys. Plus most of the dates are with are friends from the bay Cloud Archive. We are stoked.

If you are in Austin for SXSW, you should come see us. We are playing some FREE shows on Wednesday and Friday. The schedule looks like this:

Wednesday we are playing the Static Management stage @ The Belmont (305 W 6th St) we play from 3:40-4:10 PM.

Friday we play the Meow Poww Media stage @ The Parlour (707 East Sixth St) sometime between 4 PM and 5 PM (a guess)

So check our myspace page for updates of where and when we are playing. We will update it as we go.

-AristeiA

p.s. How to Kill a King is now available on itunes. Feel free to purchase and rate the album (say 4 stars?)

Evidence that we play live.

2009-03-11T10:56:00.000-07:00

It is crazy in this day in age. It seems like most bands have people perform their performance all the time. Why is it then that AristeiA doesn't have but a hand full of Footage of us playing? I don't know. It is our guess that there is more footage of out there somewhere but that its owner is being very selfish.

One very unselfish person however, is Portland resident and local music lover/comedian Notorious Kelly. He is one of the people who has taken some footage and shared. He is at a ton of shows, and he documents them. He even writes little reviews of them in his Myspace blog thing. You can read about our Kelly's Olympian show that happened on March 6th with We're From Japan!, and Krist Krueger right here (scroll down a bit). I had a lot of fun at this show and glad that there were people to see it. It think about $600 was raised for Oregon Food Bank. Not bad for a Thursday night.

-AristeiA

P.S. Texas, we are coming for you. SXSW!

Dual Showman Reverb, My new Buddy and Me

2009-03-05T12:52:00.000-08:00

I met my new buddy this morning! He came to the door very early; I had to sleep on the couch to hear his knock ;)

Then I assembled him:

Now me and my 100 watts can be best friends!!

Evy Metal asks the Questions.

2009-03-03T12:57:00.000-08:00

Hey there AristeiA fan,

Have you ever wanted to know, just a little bit more about the boys of AristeiA? Have you spent late nights just racking your brains as to what might inspire the members that comprise AristeiA. Well no more! A couple weeks ago We sat down and had us a audio interview. It is part to the Evy Metal podcasts. You can listen to it here. Evy, the host of said program has interview many Portland bands since she started including our friends Westfold (you may recall that we have a split 7" with them). Cool stuff. I also want to thank Goldie over at Crappy Indie Music: The Blog! for beating us to the punch as far as posting about the interview.

-AristeiA

It went kinda like this.

How to Kill a King available on CD Baby!

2009-02-27T14:20:00.000-08:00

So we level with you. We have been selfish with our last album. Up until recently, we have allowed only those who have seen us play purchase How To Kill a King at our shows. But now we have officially released it on CD Baby. You can order it here.

It will be on itunes very soon. When it does we will be sure to let you know.

-AristeiA

The new art work.

p.s. please come to The Coop for the show with Quixotic, AristeiA, and Elitist. This is a wildly diverse show. Quixotic is a hip hop group. AristeiA is the really sweet instrumental post-rock group that I play bass in. We have some new songs to share. Elitist is a grindcore? band. When it comes to heavier music, I am not too good with all the different "core's". The show will be ALL AGES and only $2. It starts at 8 PM.

You want some new music? From us?

2009-02-26T14:54:00.000-08:00

I forgot to mention that we posted a song on our myspace the other day. It is tentatively titled "McVeigh" and will be available on our Spring Tour 2009 EP. We recorded it in Berkley at Expression College on our last tour. We are going to re-record later this year for our next full length album. We are about four songs deep in the writing process. You guys are going to loose it when you hear the new songs.

-AristeiA

AristeiA goes to College

2009-02-25T15:47:00.000-08:00

We are about to go on a college tour of some of the SW states. Don't worry you don't to go to college to attend (not all us graduated from college , either). Most of the college shows will be in the afternoon, so we are trying to book night shows all of the cities we hit. We are getting pretty stoked. We are excited about seeing people we have met before and the ones we will meet. We have new songs to play for everyone. We will have new merch to sell. We will have a tour ep (which we recorded on our last tour, it's fitting). We will have our last release "How to Kill A King" to sell. We will have fancy silk screened tour posters. We will be playing several dates with our friends Cloud Archive. Plus the best part of all is that we will start the whole thing by doing a few SXSW dates. Check our myspace for our tour dates.

In the mean time, if you live in Portland you should come check us out on Saturday. Elitist and Quixotic a grindcore and hip hop group, respectively are playing a house show with us at The Coop. It is ALL AGES and starts at 8 PM.

- AristeiA

Cloud Archive sells out. JK I love Red Bull and would proudly play a Red Bull sponsored event

What's Big and White and Drives Alright?

2009-02-06T16:03:00.000-08:00

Our New Van!!!*

Thanks go to Ron at Oregon's Van Store, On Point Credit Union, and my Mom for co-signing the loan. We have already done one show with it. So convenient to have a spacious van in working order.

Keep tuned as we will have some exciting information soon!

Peace,

Ben

* the van is actually used but new to us.

Radio, Radio!

2009-01-27T12:22:00.000-08:00

We will be playing on the Portland Community Radio station KBOO this coming Monday at 9 PM. I believe it is in someway related to Drinking From Puddles, a program which normally airs on Wendesdays between 8 and 11 in the PM. It will be sweet. We will be playing some new material including possibly one that we have never played for outside of our practice space (oh we have a new practice space too, I will see what I can do about posting some pics of it). This performance will not cost you a darn thing (but you don;t get to see our gorgeous mugs). All you have to do is sit at home and click this link at 9 PM (West side!)and take it in.

ps if you really want to see our gorgeous mugs, I suggest you go to East End on February 5th.

The Locals give us some Love

2009-01-13T12:35:00.000-08:00

So we are playing a show tomorrow night in our hometown of Portland, OR. It would seem that we are starting to get some love from the the local Press.

The show, which will features friends and both amazing bands Westfold and Carcrashlander, is going to be at Rotture and as I mention got some press. I could just cut and paste from The Oregonian or The Mercury, but this is a blog. I link these things.

If you are too lazy to click on the link, let me summarizing and combinig what they had to say about us: AristeiA "makes beautifully textured music that turns on atmosphere and mood"*, "they open a window onto a broad vista of instrumental flight through mountains and valleys."**

Nice.

*The Oregonian

**The Mercury

Carcrashlander Live in Concert. Just a taste.

For Your Hannukah Listening Pleasure...

2008-12-22T19:55:00.000-08:00

We are snowed out of our minds here in Portland! I wanted to share with you a song we recorded on tour last September! It is about the Oklahoma City Bombing. Please Have a happy holiday! Also there is another new song from the same session that I might post if you like this one.

Love, AristeiA

or download

Snow and Ice

2008-12-14T16:19:00.000-08:00

We are very sorry to say that we are snowed in here in portland and Cannot make it to seattle tonight. :( We know we are dissapointing people and we are bummed. We will make up this show soon; later today I will post a new secret exclusive song to help make up for it.

our NIN cover

2008-12-06T16:40:00.000-08:00

Hi! Here is a treat for everyone who likes covers! The original is from the Nine Inch Nails album 'the fragile''; it is titled 'the frail'.

And the reason I post this is because they are one of our favorites and they are playing portland tommorrow! We are also giving away sampler cds after the show.

enjoy!

AristeiA to open up for the Sea and Cake?!??

2008-11-24T15:02:00.000-08:00

Yes, it's true. On Friday November 28th at Doug Fir we are going to open for a band that some of us have liked for a looooong time (The Sea and Cake, fools!). We are excited to play with then and perhaps even more excited to have AristeiA be one degree of seperation from Tortoise (depending on how you play that game). Sad Horse, another Portland band sharing the honor of opening for The Sea and Cake are also playing that night. Good times. The show is $15 and we go on first at 9 PM sharp.

playing up with the bombing

2008-11-11T15:47:00.000-08:00

this is the best review i have read. it compares us to Mono and talk about our waves of guitars you know, "playing up with the bombing"...i'm speechless

"AristeiA album can be said to be very good, between the flu and played the melody was not saying that the first 2 "Feedback King" is full of Mono's Style, a strong sense of the destruction of the song, while violent and beautiful details are found everywhere In wave upon wave of guitar playing up with the bombing, a Fangruo the emergence of the end of the world."

Another review. aka Fensepost knows music

2008-11-10T12:10:00.000-08:00

The reviews continue to pour in. Just this morning I found that Fensepost has a review of How To Kill A King. You can read it here. But if you cannot be bothered with reading the entire review, I have edited it down for you. "its genius."

Thanks Andy.

hawthorne is where the hippies live.

2008-10-30T13:12:00.000-07:00

if you like me, which i know you do, you will be at this show tonight. we just got back from tour which means we now know how to play our songs which allow us to bring the rock to you just a little bit more.

also, in case you were wondering, there will be a fog machine tonight.

also, in case you were wondering. i will be there as well.

also, i'm addicted to these...

Willamete Week's Local Cut gives some Love

2008-10-29T13:12:00.000-07:00

Michael Mannheimer (AristeiA fan)
photo courtesey of Local Cut's Flikr page

Hey, guess what. We are today's "cut of the day" on Willamette Week's Local Cut. I have always thought that Cut of the Day was a cool feature. You know a little info and a free mp3. See. Pretty cool. Anyway, I just want to give a shout out to Michael Mannheimer for writing the thing. What Up Mikey?!??

-Ben

Love from lazy town on the road

2008-10-03T11:46:00.000-07:00

As every one knows lazy town lies on the road. Here are pics of our adventure so far. And we will explain each photo

Entrance to the Ghost Town Gallery, Oakland, California
We camped on this beach in Santa Cruz, California
Our favorite little cafe in Santa Cruz. Cafe Brazil, home of Acai!
Adam is clearly a baby panther. The Black Cat, Penngrove, CA

Recording some guitar tracks at Expression College Emeryville, CA

Adam and Jesse pretending like they know what they are doing
Broke the fuck down in the middle of the desert
$700 and 24 hours later

We are a folk/country band from Austin, TX. Right?

AristeiA Music Video

2008-09-21T10:26:00.000-07:00

Aristea - Feedback King

Please leave a comment!
Here is mine. It reminds me of all those retro people playing their music nowadays. Except we don't play with silly.

In Berkeley.

2008-09-21T10:12:00.000-07:00

Right now we are at Peets Coffee in Berkeley waking the fuck up. The tour is going well and we've met some super great people. So far we've stayed at a complete strangers house in Chico (thanks Erin) and our friend Gabe's house in Berkeley.

Today we drive off to Sacramento to play R5 Records and then coming back down to Penngrove to play The Black Cat. It's going to be a busy day.

We have some pictures but of course I left the cord for my camera in the car. Pictures will be posted soon.

We love and miss everybody. See you soon.
AristeiA

Split Seven Inch with Westfold

2008-09-12T16:48:00.000-07:00

Check it out!

The Face of The Earth

2008-09-06T16:19:00.000-07:00

I want to remind everyone that we are here. Tonight we rock in seattle at The Skylark Cafe.

The official AristeiA position is that Sarah Palin is a joke. I also cut my hair a bit. It is way shorter than in the picture below.

Also we shot a music video! We will post it here first and send a bulletin.

Take care of ourselves!!

sample art

2008-08-12T22:27:00.001-07:00

stickers, etc.

2008-08-06T15:24:00.000-07:00

like we said before. we've been extremely busy, trying to stock up on merch, trying to book this tour coming up and not to mention getting our new record finished up as i mentioned earlier on the blog.

now we've got some brand new stickers from sticker guy! they just came in the mail about 20 minutes ago and if we see you at our show on Saturday at the chaos cafe, then you will not only get to see them too but you will be the proud owner of such stickers if you desire. and i know you do desire.

new press photos

2008-08-06T14:21:00.000-07:00

our friend kimba (unfortunately i can't find her website) recently took a bunch of photos for us. vote for your favorite one by leaving comments on our myspaceadoodle.

i like this one the most...this one is cute too.

Shows are awe some.

2008-08-02T01:46:00.000-07:00

I met this promoter whom I shall name "Andy Warhol Junior". This is because he was a biter of a style which doesn't make sense to bite. Extra LONG red leather trench?>>?? NOOOOO, you are so GAYYYY!! You're 'art' space is a karate studio by day, and a practice space by night! I wouldn't even care that we had a bad show, but a good band on tour played tonight and they had to suffer to.

Thank god that the lord made sparks brand malt liqour instead.

-adam

Seattle Loves AristeiA (and AristeiA loves Seattle)

2008-07-31T10:08:00.000-07:00

One week ago today we played The Comet, one of Seattle's staples in the indie music scene, with our friends Hockey and had a great time. The people seemed really into what we were doing. We felt good. The audience felt good. It was good times all around. Plus we actually sold some merch. Nice. The guys from the first band, Division of Mars, were super nice (going as far as letting us borrow some equipment when ours was being "difficult"). Then later Hockey blew the power for part of the club (the power that allows people to play music). But after a while, it was fixed and the dance party that is a Hockey show continued.

And, as it turns out, we got a little write up in Sound on the Sound, a popular local Seattle music blog. You can read it here.

Album Art almost done!

2008-07-29T10:40:00.000-07:00

Our good friend Anthony has been kind enough to take on the challenge of creating the artwork for our forthcoming record. he has sent a few through email and i must say they are quite impressive. i'm really excited about the way these turned out and can't wait to see the originals!

once again, the album will be called "How to Kill A King" running at 6 songs and 25 minutes. It will be available sometime in early September if all goes accordingly.

there will be more posted about this soon.

that image is my favorite so far.

We got ourselves a nice trailer for tour

2008-07-20T17:09:00.000-07:00

CHECK IT OUT!!!!!!!!! on friday ben, jesse and myself drove out to bend to pick up this sweet trailer.

while we bought the trailer, adam was busy finishing up gathering information for the 7" we've been working on with Westfold to send it out for printing.

yes, yes, my friends we have been busy. we are almost ready for tour and couldn't be more thrilled for the trip!

we are making a 7"

2008-07-16T13:55:00.000-07:00

So, I thought it might interest the people to know that a split 7" will be released in the not so distant future. It will be between Westfold and yours truly. The pictures are the center label now just imagine splattered colored vinyl around those labels. Sweet, right? You can hear Westfold's song on their myspace page right here (I know that I linked to them earlier in the post, but seriously you should check Westfold out).

ps. did you notice that the songs are the exact same length? weird huh?

CRAzy pedal with CRazy labeled knobs!!!!

2008-07-15T22:19:00.000-07:00

You know how summer movies are just getting crazier every year? This phenomenon started with Jaws, then Independence Day, Transformers, etc. Now we have

HELLBOY II: The Golden Army

It sounds like it looks like it want to be CRAZY!!!!!!!

New Shirts

2008-07-09T18:49:00.000-07:00

We have new shirts. They are rad. They were printed at St. Valentine just like before.
buy them for $10 including shipping or $8 at our shows.

Don't forget, our next show is on Friday at The Crown Room.

album album album

2008-07-06T16:59:00.000-07:00

sorry it's been so long since we've posted. we've been super busy booking our upcoming west coast tour. we are also getting ready to put artwork together for our new record! today jesse adam, and i are going to listen to the master copy. tracklisting below...

How to Kill a King:
1. The Might of the Sword
2. Feedback King
3. Stairway to Heaven pt. 2: The Stampede into Heaven
4. I'll Take Mine Black
5. Panda vs. Satan
6. The Might of the Dragon

MASTER BLASTER!

2008-06-25T21:39:00.001-07:00

adam and i will both be master blasting...

bad news about friday's show

2008-06-25T21:28:00.000-07:00

Nanda Devi had to cancel but that doesn't mean we won't be playing shows with them in the future. We are still planning on playing August 15th with them somewhere in town but it's just not confirmed yet.

Sometimes Ben thinks it's funny to alter fliers when there is a lineup change and this is the outcome. Don't be offended Nanda Devi, we still love you.

so yeah, that's the new band playing, The Hand that Bleeds. I've heard good things about them and look forward to seeing them and all of you on Friday night at Kelly's Olympian. Don't forget, this Friday night will not be enjoyable for you unless you attend this show. Also, don't for get Los Moustachios are doing a video show during our set!

where is the most comforatable place you have ever slept?

2008-06-24T10:46:00.000-07:00

for me it would for sure have to be on the night of saturday june 21st, after playing a show on our way home from seattle.

i was in the van, on top of my amp and the fog machine while wedging my head between various guitar cases and jesse's kick drum to supplement for the lack of pillows.

maybe i'll publish pictures later. my camera is away from me right now.

oh, and big shout out to andy fenstermaker for taking photos. see them here.

seattle show TONIGHT!!!!!

2008-06-21T08:34:00.000-07:00

we are playing second at a place called waldos. i think its in bellvue... you should come if you live in the seattle area. unfortunately i can't find a flyer for the show ANYWHERE!!!!

bring your cameras.

Finger Update.

2008-06-18T19:01:00.000-07:00

my finger* is healing wonderfully, thanks for asking. liquid bandages, aka new skin has saved my life. you may remember from the previous post that i sliced my finger open. i should be healed in time for our show in seattle on saturday! yeah!

*DO NOT click this link unless you have a good stomach that doesn't get too unsettled.
ps that picture is not my finger, nor anyone's finger. it is prosthetic, but it looks real.

Custom Shop

2008-06-16T22:24:00.000-07:00

Today has been a grand day; With the exception of going to work and slicing my finger to the bone. I got a brand new 4x12 speaker cab from avatar speakers! Adam and I then did a little custom work to it. Let us know what you think. - brandon

adam too

p.s. its velvet

New Record Almost Complete!!!!!!!

2008-06-15T10:09:00.000-07:00

almost done with the record! we mixed yesterday.
get a preview on June 27th @ Kelly's Olympian with Westfold and Nanda Devi

drum staxxxxxxxs

2008-06-13T21:34:00.000-07:00

today i played drums with Westfold. then their real drummer, Dustin, came, then we did dual drums. then i accidentally punched myself in the balls. somehow i feel like it was worth it. i love that band.
ps. we are playing with Westfold and Nanda Devi on Friday, June 27th @ Kelly's Olympian. it is a guaranteed positive experience. that is to say, great times are to be had.

Secret Practice Video!

2008-06-12T13:23:00.000-07:00

Would you like to meet the Feedback King? We took some footage of him in his natural habitat; the video turned out a little FUZZY and DISTORTED. Will that scare you away?

Video by: Goldie

AristeiA featured band on Fense Post

2008-06-06T18:17:00.000-07:00

Our little mutual admiration with Fensepost continues today. Check out this post. Thanks Andy! Don't forget we will be kinda in your area (Bellvue, WA) on June 21st at Waldo's.

'Aight,

Ben of AristeiA

Move Over Hans!!!

2008-06-05T18:10:00.000-07:00

You know him from such film scores as The Thin Red Line, Pirates of the Caribbean, and The Lion King.

Now he has to SUCK ON THIS HANS!

AristeiA has made you SUCK ON THIS HANS!

Listen to our new sound clips to the right.

Love ARISTEIA

more studio exclusivity!

2008-06-04T18:20:00.000-07:00

Adam recording the end of Feedback King. Listen to that sweet tube overdrive mixed with big muff pi and that sweet sweet super hard on. mmmmmm.....

pretty rippin' for camera audio, don't ya think?

More details on upcoming AristeiA release!

2008-06-04T16:05:00.000-07:00

So we are over at Nate's house recording up a storm. It occurred to me that we should share some of our information about the upcoming release with you guys. Basically it is going to be a maximum-album in mini-album form. (i.e. six tracks). It is about swords and dragons, politcally speaking of course.

Brandon wasn't flipping you off.

i bought a camera

2008-05-29T20:47:00.000-07:00

so, i finally bought a digital camera so i can put awesome photos and short videos up. which is what i intended on doing tonight but alas, the camera is in the van and ben is at work with the van. now you all have to wait at least another day. trust me, it will be worth the wait cause adam recorded some guitars today and i got some really exciting videos to show all of you!

in due time.

This direction is the most metal.

2008-05-28T22:34:00.000-07:00

This is what we did tonight in my room. Brain Wilson never sounded too good...

Things we got for our van, Eternity, on our baby tour:

2008-05-26T08:33:00.000-07:00

A new motor for our windshield wipers. For the longest time we thought it was a fuse issue. Nope Jessi's (Awesome) Dad, Chuck, helped us figure this one out. So we made a trip to Napa Auto Parts and got a new motor. Next thing you know, chuck is going to town under the hood of our van. Our wipers now work. Nice.

We also picked up some other items while at Napa. For instance, a temporary rear view mirror for our passenger side door. We have been driving very dangerously without one for several months now using the buddy system of having the passenger give us the go ahead before making any movers that require changing lanes of turning right. The mirror is not the classiest but it totally works.

Check out this air freshener we got at Napa. Our van since the beginning has had a "wet dog" smell that creeps up from time to time. We figured we may as well fix it. This particular scent was picked by Brandon for two reasons. a) It is called eternity, and Brandon has always wanted to know what eternity smells like (I will admit I was curious too). b) Though you can't tell from the photo, the air freshener is gray and black which led Brandon to say that it was the most "metal" air freshener in the store and that we had to have it. As it turns out Eternity is the Calvin Cline fragrance. It also turns out that we have now named the van Eternity.

The last thing we got was this amazing blown out tire. This went down just 10 miles west of Spokane. Luckily we are AAA members. So we only had to wait an hour before someone could get a spare tire on Eternity. Unluckily it was Sunday and no tire shops are open on Sunday. More unlucky was that it was Memorial Day weekend so the tire shops that were all closed we really closed. But after calling around a bit we found out that Walmart could help us out. So five hours and two new tires later (Walmart has a policy of only changing an even amount of tires) we were back on the road.

But over all I think we had a lot of fun on this trip. Jessi's Family was/is super nice in welcoming us into their home. Coeur d'Alene is a very beautiful place. I am glad that we got to visit.

-Ben of AristeiA

This is what Adam and Brandon look like when they wait for AAA.

There is always one headbanger

2008-05-24T19:43:00.000-07:00

So that live video we tried to shoot of us performing last night at the White Rabbits show ended up not working. Apparently , if you try to record like half an hour on photo booth it takes up all of your memory. Anyway, the headbanger didn't show until the second band, Oil of Angels. I did get some video of him though. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did.

-Ben of AristeiA

Not an actual member of the band

We are about to play a show in Spokane. Wish you were here.

2008-05-23T18:02:00.000-07:00

We are about to play to play The Caterina Winery, one of Spokane's finest. It has really high celings so its gonna be a loud one. We are super stoked to be playing with NY's White Rabbits and local act Oil of Angels. Brandon just pointed out to me that we once opened up for Tokyo Police Club. Later he went to see them again when they were a bit bigger and White Rabbit opened up. Now we are opening up for them. It is only a matter of time before we are the big band. Anyway, we are going to try to record some video of the show and post it a little bit later.

Stay tuned,

-Ben of AristeiA

Making crazy sounds in the studio

2008-05-22T11:30:00.000-07:00

The new AristeiA record is coming along really quickly. Spent 9 hours yesterday tracking guitar and adding effects and multiple layers. it is sounding really full/beautiful/epic.

also, i finally got a Moog Moogerfooger Ring Modulator. This thing makes the most fucked up crazy sounds i have ever heard. There are some sound samples on the Moog website via the above link. check them out.

we will be posting some sound clips when they start to come together a little more. keep checking back.

Grails

2008-05-13T12:24:00.000-07:00

this band really trips me out. yesterday i was at jackpot records and saw that Grails have a new record out called 'Take Refuge in Clean Living.' i can't remember the last time i COULD NOT PREVENT MYSELF from taking a record home. i got into this band around the Black Tar Prophecies era because they make me feel like my brain is melting down (in the best way imaginable). i don't intend to give a record review, that's what these people are for. but just go listen to Grails, doesn't matter which record, and just space/trip/vibe out. they have a sort of crazy middle eastern feel/sound but they are based out of Portland, OR. you don't even need drugs to do it. i promise. although they could help.

highly recommended track (ie my personal favorite): 'Belgian Wake-Up Drill' off of BTP: Vol 2 on Aurora Borealis

Fensepost Review of the last EP

2008-05-05T11:59:00.000-07:00

Dear Fense,

We have missed you too. We received your letter (review) and wanted to take the time to reply with a few words of our own. Most of them will verify that we have feelings for you too.

We regret that we haven't made it up to your town to throw down our newest tunes that are sure to destroy your preconceptions of our band (we are trying to tell you that we are better). We will be correcting this problem very soon. A couple times actually. Please feel free to come an celebrate our beautiful noise. Bring that girlfriend you mentioned. Bring your friends.

This summer we will be recording our new songs, so look forward to reviewing some more AristeiA by years end. Perhaps then you will hold some vinyl in your hands? Have I said too much? Probably.

So we will meet again sooner than you might have expecting. Did you mention a year? Way too long. Then, if you must, you may embrace us as old friends and buys us brew.

-AristeiA

Woolly Mammoth Bass Fuzz

2008-05-01T13:08:00.000-07:00

this petal handmade by zvex effects

+ Ben Meyercord = BASS FACE!!!!!!!!!!

*unfortunately he is still working on achieving bass face

New: Press Kit on the Web

2008-04-17T15:31:00.000-07:00

Hi Homies! On the Right Side of the page is a link to our electronic press kit! Now you can find out all about us and hear our music too! Check it out and leave us comments! Do you like it? Is there something we can improve upon? Give us a critique.

-Love AristeiA
Adam
Jesse
Brandon
Ben

My New Favorite Band

2008-04-12T00:49:00.000-07:00

Hi everyone! This Band I love is Named "Envy." You must check out the new mini-album 'Abyssal.'
Envy is a rock band in Tokyo, Japan. They can be so awesome because the heart is willing to have passion with a willingness to be triumphant! Also, the heart is willing to buy their record NEW, not used (the two Bs) because the heart is unwilling to relinquish beauty.

I must admit to envy quite scare me even though I have the lights on. But Must Enjoy so I have!

-Adam
-AristeiA loves you

What happens when a Super Hard on gets plugged into a Big Muff Pi?

2008-04-03T14:38:00.000-07:00

Come find out next Wednesday at the Holocene!

Super Secret Show in Old Town

2008-03-11T10:34:00.000-07:00

Stephen Malkmus and The Jicks aren't the only Portland band who can put on a secret show in Old Town. To prove this point we, AristeiA, have decided to put on a little secret show of our own. It goes down at 9 PM this Thursday at a certain club in Old Town. We will be test driving a new drummer. We will also be playing some new material. Even though it is not myspace sponsored like Stephen Malkmus' show, you can contact us through myspace to get the name and location of the club and get on the guest list (FREE SHOW for you).

-AristeiA

Thelma Houston enlists AristeiA as her backing band!

2008-03-10T18:35:00.000-07:00

Hey you disco nuts! The Idol Thelma Houston herself has come out of retirement to perform her hit "Don't leave me this way" for you. We agreed to be her backing band. I think the results speak for themselves.

PDX POP NOW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

2008-02-26T14:41:00.000-08:00

image by: emek

We just sent in a song to be submitted to the PDX POP NOW compilation. Should be in the bag...just in case, don't forget to vote for us at the PDX POP NOW website here.

photo by: atduckgreg

Remember seeing us perform at last years festival?

New shows

2008-02-25T12:03:00.000-08:00

if you haven't heard We're From Japan! this show is the perfect time to start. they have just finished working on a new record and without a doubt will be playing new stuff as well as the classics!

also, Silian Rail from San Fransisco will be coming through town, and really, this show is for them.

All POST ROCK, All NIGHT!

Check out the tunes.

2008-02-20T22:39:00.000-08:00

There is music. Check out our brand spankin' new media player. Right now we have a demo that Adam did at his house. We want to know what you want to hear though. Remixes? Old demos? Mash-ups (we will not do Mash-ups). Live demos. Just name it.

Photo: Courtesy of Vintage Texas

We have a tshirt model!

2008-02-17T10:31:00.000-08:00

Thanks to Melanie and her sister for these great pictures. Basically i think this means she likes us!

(all photos by t. edwards)
(all photoshopping by mb)

Amp Fever Prescription Filled!

2008-02-13T21:49:00.001-08:00

Today we visited both state capitals of the Northwest! As we write this we are in Seattle, chillin' with Andrew Meyercord.

First off we stopped by Rock N' Rogers in Salem, Oregon and got milkshakes. After that we went to Joel from the Buttfrenchers garage and bought a 1967 Fender Bandmaster.

After some sweet vintage Fender jammin', we decided to drive to Ol' Olympia, Washington. Guess what!! They have no gas stations!

Off to Seattle. There is one less Mesa/Boogie Bass 400+ in Seattle, courtesy of Brian of Hollywood Lightweights and a fistful of cash.

After a couple of Corsendonk's, Ben will start the drive back to Portland, because he has only had a couple of Root Beers.

Peace out,

AristeiA