Suppose you're a little kid on the island of Guam – that's right, Guam. And suppose you're in your room with a beat up old acoustic guitar and some bongos your parents gave you, practicing cha-cha and jitterbug music with your cousins because that's all anybody ever showed you how to do. And suppose you glance up at your Ramones poster and have a vision of yourself on stage with long hair and sunglasses, blasting a Les Paul through a rumbling Marshall stack, gaping at the seething audience in front you – elbows spinning in circles, fists punching the air, and kids flopping around like crash test dummies, all to the beat of three beautiful power chords. And suppose at that moment you decide that you want to someday, somehow, realize that rock n' roll vision -- even though you're just a kid playing cha-cha and jitterbug music and living on the tiny tourist-driven island of Guam which rarely sees mainstream touring acts, probably only has a couple rock clubs on the whole chunk of land, has an entire population smaller than that of an urban city, and which most Americans probably couldn't even find on a map.
You'd probably think, Okay, there's no way I'll ever realize my rock n' roll vision.
But you're not any of the five members of Mud. If you were, you'd have figured out a way to migrate thousands of miles across the ocean to San Francisco, build up a large enough fan base to pack venues like Slim's and Bottom of the Hill, perform with noted local acts like The Matches, the Lovemakers and The Dodos, land spots at SXSW, the CMJ Music Marathon and the Vans Warped Tour, and join forces with the Bay Area's most promising young label, Talking House Records.
Flash forward to 2008, and Mud has released their first full-length, Yearbook. It's an album that fuses the accessibility of punk with the acumen of progressive and indie, and does it all with an I-just-wanna-rock attitude.
The pages turn rapidly on Yearbook, some of them in full color, others in eerie black and white. On tracks like "Should've Known" and "Tomorrow," vocalist Nikki Aclaro sings clever pop musings on love and loss. At the opposite end of the spectrum are tracks like "Psycho," a clash of Alan Kao's heavy guitar against a full-on brass-and-string arrangement -- an explosive cinematic mixture of film noir and spy movie. Meanwhile, bassist Ralph Blas, keyboardist Aris Nicholas and drummer Jared Cruz crash and rumble in a tight rhythm section.
Last year, Mud returned to Guam to do a small tour and inspire a new generation of island kids who just wanna rock. Blas says the cha-cha and jitterbug music he played on the island as a kid continues to influence Mud. "I still feed off of that stuff – rhythmic, groove-oriented music," he says.
COME KICK OFF 2009 WITH US@THE BLANK CLUB!
UPDATE:MUD OPENING LINKIN PARK:PROJEKT REVOLUTION TOUR AUG.9TH
UPDATE:NO USE FOR A NAME w/ MUD.PLEASE CLICK ON FLYER TO BUY YOUR TIX BEFORE THEY SELL OUT! SPECIAL HALLOWEEN SHOW ;-)
MUD CARELESS MUSIC VIDEO! Please watch "Careless" and let us know what you think. It was directed by Matthew Abaya with help from Angelo Ibanez. If you like the video and want to embed it on your myspace,click the menu button on the video player and look for the embed code.Thank you.
WATCH MUD'S NEW VIDEO FOR "FALLEN" BY OUR GOOD FRIEND ANGELO IBANEZ.
WATCH MUD'S MUSIC VIDEO FOR "SHOULD'VE KNOWN" BY ALEX MUNOZ.
CASSIDA (by Michael Quester) has officially launched his new "Shiva Line" in Los Angeles with the star studded (All4One, BlackEyedPeas, "Heroes" star Justin Baldoni, Fanny Pak, MTV USA..) CASSIDA show "Rock & Romance" @ Siren Studios, Hollywood. Get his new line online at: www.cassidashop.com
Buy these songs and make out with one of us for free! (Coupon required, offer excludes those 55 +, offer expires 12.1.09). iTunes link: http://miniurl.com/21328
Come out and show your support for the release of Dave Smallen's newest album titled 'Everything Changes and Nothing Changes' on November 27th!
Click on the flyer to learn more & buy tickets:
On November 13th, PinUp Productions will be hosting the Battle of the Bands Finals at The Avalon, THE premiere live music venue in the San Jose area. The final 6 bands (started with 54) will compete for the $10,000 grand prize in what will surely be a night to remember. All ages with a full bar. Come out and support your favorite band. This event WILL sellout, so get your presales now at www.letswoosh.com or by clicking on the flier below. This will be a show talked about for years to come, hope to see you out. BTW If you have just a couple of minutes, we encourage everyone to default the Battle flier as their myspace pic. If you care about your local music scene, or any of the bands playing please show your love. If you do default the flier, please send us a message letting us know so that we can add you to our top friends! Thanks so much guys.
ALSO HELP SAVE YOUR LOCAL MUSIC SCENE AND SUPPORT THESE SHOWS:
Hey whats new on your end? Hows everything going for you? Gotten a chance to check out our page lately? If you like the songs you can always look us up on iTunes. ;) So Deep. And if you ever get bored, you can text me (Tony V) at 619-961-8492. I will always reply. Anyways i just wanted to come through and show some love. Comment us, or the pics. We always reply, and return it. Also check out our upcoming shows if you are in San Diego. Thanx for the support. So. Deep SD
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