whiskey, WWI fighter pilots, the great depression, moonshine, absinthe, opium, the Charleston, our street team - the speakeasy, all the hardcore kids keeping the pit dangerous, beautiful flapper girls.
Sounds Like
Hardcore
All of their songs are available to DOWNLOAD FOR FREE. So take advantage and make sure you download them before you leave. And don't forget, an awesome way to support them is to add one of their songs to your profile and show your pals what The United is all about.
For many it was known as The Great War, The First World War, or The War to End All Wars. Forty million died. Whole nations were gutted, torn asunder and rebuilt from scratch.
For the members of The United – Sebastian, Black Thumb Jack, Ericksen, Bateman, and The Duke – it was the singular event that defined them and brought them together. They were “Air Aces,” Knights of the Sky who piloted their battered British Sopwith Camel fighter planes – each one emblazoned with the five star insignia that would become their trademark – into dogfight after bloody dogfight over the scorched European soil. There are no reliable records out there to tell us how many German Fokkers these boys took down, but even celebrated Ace Eddie Rickenbacker was rumored to have said of them “(they are) … five of the hardest shooting sonsaguns up there. I’m glad I’ve got them on my side.”
Americans all, The United entered the war by volunteering for the badly outgunned British Royal Air Corps. By the time the United States entered the conflict in 1917, the fighting five were renowned throughout Europe for their aerial prowess, their unflinching courage in the face of unspeakable danger, their blistering firepower … and, of course, for the carousing, hard-drinking lives they lead when on the ground. Musicians as well as Air Aces, they formed a five-piece ragtime jazz band that rocked PAs on Air Corps bases throughout the south of France. Times were hard, but they made the best of what they had. Other men wanted to be them, as the saying goes, and the ladies wanted to be with them.
The end of the war saw the dissolution The United. Each man went his separate way. A few of them worked farms throughout the Midwest, flying crop dusters during the day and playing dirty jazz in smoke-filled bars through the night. Others headed East and joined the burgeoning Harlem Renaissance. They drank hard, lived hard and loved hard, but none of them forgot the bond they had shared and each of them yearned to once again come together, make music, and take to the skies.
Their opportunity came with Prohibition. Bathtub whiskey and bootlegging became the norm, and demand was high for skilled and stealthy pilots to run rum from the Caribbean back to the States. The five men found themselves back together again in 1920, making midnight booze runs from Cuba to Miami, from the Bahamas to the Carolinas. Blood was in the streets but business was booming in the blind pigs and speakeasies around the country and cheap whiskey ran from wooden kegs like water.
The work was dangerous but rewarding, both in money and in thrills, and The United decided to pool their resources together to open their own speakeasy in New Orleans in the mid-1920s. The place was renowned for the quality of the liquor, the looseness of the women … and of course, for the music. The United took to the stage night after night, knocking back tumblers of their own home-distilled liquor as they banged out rowdy bluegrass and ragtime and worked their crowd into a Charleston fever.
The coming of the Great Depression in 1929 hit the country hard, but business was still good for the boys of The United. To keep up with demand they found themselves making more and more dangerous midnight runs throughout the Caribbean.
Then, one night while flying across the Bermuda Triangle from Nassau Island with their good friend and “business partner” John O’Malley, The United vanished without a trace.
That should have been the end of the story, and was for more than 70 years. Their New Orleans speakeasy was boarded up, then demolished and paved over to make room for a Walgreens parking lot. Their names and accomplishments … and, of course, their music … were lost to the mists of time.
But a new chapter began when their plane suddenly emerged over the skies of Albuquerque, New Mexico, in the early 2000s. No one – perhaps not even the bootleggers themselves – knows exactly how they got there. But there are rumors. Some say the portal to Hell outside of Lordsburg opened up and coughed them out into the sky. Others say they flew through a micro black hole between Nassau and Miami and subverted the space-time continuum. Others, of course, blame it on the aliens. Whatever the case, The United were back and ready to raise hell.
Upon landing in the desert outside Albuquerque and making their way into the dusty city, The United were pleased to learn that Prohibition had been lifted, even if it did mean the end of their livelihood. After a few failed attempts to make it back to where (and when)_ they came from, they decided to devote their lives to what they love best: flying, drinking, and making music. But they realized that music had changed drastically over the years. They would need to update their sound to remain relevant. So they threw themselves into Albuquerque’s underground punk scene and discovered the missing piece of the equation: hardcore.
The music they make today could be described as hardcore, but that’s not the way they see it. They don’t really care about the label. “Maybe someday someone will say we are this or that and we’ll say yep that's it. Until then we just do what we do.”
To The United, hardcore and punk best evoke the bygone outlaw days of the speakeasies and bootleg whiskey that they loved so much. They’ve managed to combine the urgency of hardcore with the ragtime and jazz they were founded on.
The United is currently featured in the latest issue of Muz-Ink Magazine!
Heres a little something that J. Ink, the publisher, wrote about The United in this issue: "The United is a theatrical invocation that is undeniably transformed traditional musical innovation and complex lyrical genius into an aesthetic unveiled in Albuquerque and soon, the entire nation."
Please help! The united has had four guitars and three amps stolen from our old space. If you see any of the stuff let us know! Here is a list of missing stuff.
Red Gibson Les Paul studio, this guitar is unique in that it is a deep red wood stain Les Paul with no pic guard so it is strikingly simple, no fler at all and is super uncommon. It also brand new! Batman fell in love with this thing at first sight and spent a pretty penny on it.
Red Epiphone Las Paul Custom, This was Johns #2 so it’s in great condition!
Green Epiphone Las Paul Custom, This was Johns #1 this guitar is the oldest member of the united. It has incredible sentimental value to everyone in the band.
Black 5string Ibanez bass guitar, its I little warn in from touring and the lower sting adjustments are stiff but it feels good to play. It was missing a knob last time we saw it. Vince Marshal Dave and Rich all rocked out it.
Ampeg bass head. It’s the shelf mount style without the shelf. It has a gray cover with the initials EVL painted on it.
B-52 guitar head, it cuts out after you play it for a wile, it was batmans backup. You would know it if you saw it!
Peavey Pre amp it’s the old kind with the fuzzy finish, its black with a little teal and it has the up and down style frequency settings. It was my first amp.
Hey guys!!! It's bob and amanda from Pale Dog in Delaware. We were just thinking bout you guys and were wondering how yall were making out??? Let us know what's new and when you are coming to the east coast again?
Friday, March 20th....8pm-Midnight $10 at the Door Santa Fe Brewing Company-35 Fire Place Rd, Santa Fe, New Mexico Join The GROOVE CREW!!!! thefuseboxlive@gmail.com
see you there! Listen to Hardgroove every Saturday Morning on KBAC -Radio Free Santa Fe- 98.1 FM- The Fuse Box hosted by Hardgroove. Enjoy and be enlightened by the talent that comes to speak to Hardgroove on topics of days gone by as well as the here and now. Log onto Hardgroove. com to listen to past shows and keep up to date on all things Hardgroove.
Come rock out with us on Saturday at the Bleeding Eardrum! We'll keep the blood flowing with 7 of 9 and Supergiant at 9201 Indian School right next to moon. 5$ Doors at 6.
This is only a pre notice…………………………THANKS FOR THE AD In cider information for all local bands listed on the W.V. profile. Booking week is near. The W.V. will have 25 Wednesday to fill with local bands for our 10th TV series season for January 7th– June 24th. Also we will be book an additional 25 unplugged acts as back up performers. This booking season will be filled with talented new bands. No repeat bands will be booked for the first half of “2009” If you have never played the W.V. now is your time to be seen. Booking week starts in the 2nd week of December. Send us your contact info now. Call us for additional information at (505) 553-1565 HAPPY THANKSGIVING FROM THE W.V. FAMILY
WOW you really need to start playing shows again when your myspace page becomes just a place for bands to flyer for shows in a city where we dont even live anymore. But still love the ABQ music scene.
Special invite Thanks for the ad *****HALLOWEEN SPECIAL***** If you dare to experience the W.V. Halloween special in person at the studio. You soul may never be the same again. Come to our HEAD BANGER BALL with live performances of ***CRUCES CULT*** and ***BURNING SUNDAY*** (Halloween costumes are most welcome) Hosted By: K.C. Guest the W.V. producer When: Wednesday Oct 29, 2008 at 7:00 PM Where QUOTE UNQUOTE STUDIO'S (Studio A) 415 Tijeras N.W. Albuquerque, NM 87108 ....
