Collaboration

The language of music is a collection of tonal rhythms and implicit emotions, and that language becomes very specialized between its speakers.  Eventually it can become a shorthand of non-verbal ideas exchanged among musicians.

When you play music for many years you run across others who share this curiosity and speak the language, eventually realizing kindred souls surround you.

Native in your tongue, they share your passion, vision and ambition.

Tonight is a taste of our collaboration with the kindred souls among us.

March 9th Curtain Club

-One Red Martian-

The Show

What makes rock n roll?

An undefinable energy?   The presence of a statement or its interpretation as art?

It’s often easier to say what it’s not; we know it isn’t the Black Eyed Peas.  Nor does it include unnaturally groomed pop groups, clad in matching leather outfits, frothing auto-tune laced radio pop.

Rock n roll demands authentic musicianship, unbridled emotional expression and a true commitment to one’s sonic vision.   It speaks to all who have suffered and shouts out in defiance against oppression.  Rock n roll exists to be witnessed, its performance instantly speaking to humans on a primordial level.

Our album is a picture of motion inviting you to see the source from which it sprang.   This source is our show, and our show is what we want to share.

-Curtain Club, March 9th-

-One Red Martian-

The smell of freshly cut grass.

Everyone can taste the possibilities.

The faint smell of freshly cut grass hangs  in the air below a shining sun.  Spring is on the horizon, promising something better than the winter before it.  In Dallas we know spring is just a brief respite between the bitterness of winter and the scorching heat of summer, but how pleasant it is..

Lately there have been tumlultous occurences in our camp, but the shakeups have only magnified our commitment towards furthering this vision.  We are eager to break from the past and revel in this moment, so keep your eyes open and ears atuned…

-One Red Martian-

About the other night…

Tiny, immeasurable threads of fate surround us all. Some, we cast out as we move through life, while others have existed long before and will continue long after we are gone. From time to time, we all see them. Often felt as only the lightest touch, the tiniest coincidence, these threads hint at something more than chaos above and below. They whisper to us that perhaps we truly are the masters of our destiny. Though tiny and insignificant still, we are more powerful than we realize.

Something emerged from that unknowable chaos this Saturday. We looked out on the sea of faces that joined us and felt something extraordinary; strength and certainty. A faith flowing from all those assembled, radiating outward as a palpable vibration.

This is a time that chains us not to the past and future, but to a single moment. This is a moment that buzzes fiery life and hums with music. To all that joined us this past weekend we cannot thank you enough. You breathe life into our dream, and the dream grows.

One Red Martian

Ben, Jimi, Joe, and Dan

Pirates!!!

I going to come totally clean with you guys. Sometimes when we’re going to a show, I feel like a pirate. Not a real horribly unclean and disease ridden pirate but a Johnny Depp style pirate. Think Jack Sparrow with good teeth and only a slight manly film of grunge. A pirates who get the chicks.  It’s crazy I know but just listen to me for a second.

I’m going to skip the obvious scurvy connection and move on to our mode of transport. (Everyone knows that we are citrus intolerant; We don’t like it and we will not stand for it.) On the road there are small cars, big cars, suvs, trucks, and then there’s us. Yea that’s right! Dude who thought we bought the biggest fucking truck out there, guess what? Our van, It’s bigger than your truck. We’re looking down on you from our lofty perch as we drive by in our galleon like vehicle. We call it the “Anabelle Lee” and if you put some cannons on that thing you’ve got a pirate ship. Unrelated note: Did you know that even in Texas you’re not aloud to mount artillery on your vehicle? Next up we have ourselves. So we don’t loot or pillage. Actually we don’t rape or murder either come to think of it. We’re fairly well educated and respectful to our older citizens. Ok, this isn’t the strongest point in my argument  but we’re definitely pirates. We just don’t like to be mean or say hurtful things. We’re very inclusive pirates which nicely segues into my next point.

Come be pirates with us!  I’m not asking anyone to dress-up or anything. That would be kind of creepy, unless it was awesome. It’s a hard call either way. I don’t care if you’re a pirate who just enjoys our music or a pirate who want’s to be a real part of the crew. I’m trying to say that when you’re there at a show it’s awesome. When you help us with that show it’s doubly awesome. Our Facebook Page is like our pirate den. We make merry, discuss booty, and promote upcoming shows like the ones we have in Houston the 30th and College Station the 1st. (at this point I’m at a loss to wrap the whole rock band thing into the pirate thing, just work with me here.) Our ORM Street Team is like our actual crew. Basically a bunch of bad-asses who will fuck you up, and advertise for our shows. Admittedly This pirate metaphor was ill conceived but I just wanted to say. Sometimes, I feel like a pirate.

Ben

-One Red Martian-

Other Futures

Sometimes I wonder how we arrive in the places we do. Is it the total sum of every moment up until that point or, are there singular defining instances that we can trace entire courses of events back to? It seems like it must be a little bit of both; small choices everyday and the occasional large defining ones committing you to your chosen path.

When I look back it’s easy to feel like we’re here simply because there could be no other way. We’ve been playing music for a long time and yes, I’m including the time before anyone knew or cared that we were in a band. It’s just more impressive that way:), and it’s the accepted state of being for us.  If you are part of a daily routine long enough it becomes background noise, like the hum of the city that most of us perceive as silence.  Ask us how we feel about our lives and situations and we would probably tell you they seem pretty normal.  The truth is a little more complicated than that though. Yes, small everyday routines made us better at what we do, but there were also singular moments of craziness in which we truly made the choice to do this, to try and make music for a living.

We grew up in a small place and to some degree I think the idea formed out of boredom. You have an advantage in the beginning of not knowing how hard you’ll have to work to get to where you imagine yourself being. We started, I think, just because it was fun. We were just friends making very loud music and being so sure it was better than it really was:) That became what we did with our time.

I remember the first show we played. It was in the gymnasium of our high-school and I can’t quite remember if I wanted to play or if I had simply put myself in a situation where I couldn’t back out. The safety bar was engaged and the ride was in motion whether or not I was ready for where it would bring me. Something changed that night. The idea, previously only whispered in the backs of our minds, that we could maybe just maybe make this work sprang fully formed into our consciousness. To this day I admit it’s a crazy thought but I’m glad we made it. I know in that moment something changed. We forked away from whatever future might have been and began the path towards totally embracing who we are, and what we do.

Retrospect is easy.  Looking back can sometimes be the only way to most truly see a situation, but I feel the same way now that I did then. When I remember this time, these shows we have coming up in Austin September 14th and Dallas October 22nd I think I’ll see that it was another turning point; A time when our efforts became more than what they were before. I want everyone listening out there, everyone who has shared in these moments of  sublime of musical creation with us, to be there when whatever comes next is revealed. I don’t know what exactly that will be but I know it’s the most exciting fucking thing I’ve ever done.

Ben

-One Red Martian-

We’re coming to Austin are you ready?

Hello world, You guys have probably heard already but we are playing in Austin at the Red Eyed in September.   We want to see you guys there and not just because you’re awesome.  In order for us to play a truly crazy show we need some people out there to whip us up into a frenzy.   I mean blood in the water if we were sharks, oranges if we were 1600^th century pirates (really citrus of any kind I guess), or clothing with elaborate gothic imagery if we were douchbags.  I want us to be so unwisely excited about playing the show that it’s making the children in the audience cry!  Think about it, do you want to miss the show where Joe is playing so hard that mid drum-solo he spontaneously bursts into flame only to miraculously complete said solo and be extinguished unharmed; all the while twirling his sticks while he nods at the ladies in the front row? Let me answer that question for you. No. No you don’t want to miss that show. While this particular scenario probably won’t happen (given the inherent flammability of drummers we follow strict safety procedures when transporting and handling Joe) whatever does happen I would like to illustrate my point with the following model conversation.

Righteous Dude/Sexy Lady A:  “Hey did you see that One Red Martian show the other night?”

Righteous Dude/Sexy Lady B: “Yea, I was so glad I did. Were you there when ________ happened?”

Righteous Dude/Sexy Lady A:   “Hell yea front row, I was like I can’t believe ________ is happening, but I looked again and ________ was happening!!!”

Righteous Dude/Sexy Lady B: “Me to!!! I couldn’t believe ________ happened! If I’d missed that I couldn’t live with myself.”

Righteous Dude/Sexy Lady A:  “I know right? ________ showed me I can move into the world truly knowing what it means to be human.”*

Righteous Dude/Sexy Lady B: “Absolutely!!! I finally see the dignity of all people.”*

*(Actual transcendental effects of show may be exaggerated for advertising purposes)

I rest my case; closing with the sentiment that I don’t know what will happen at the show.  I hope everyone does have a single cathartic moment of togetherness where all boundaries disappear and we can absolutely feel the loving pulse of the universe; The singular rhythm that moves us all inexorably forward both from the void and ultimately, in the end, back into its fold…. Anyway  I think that’s about the appropriate level of grandiose quasi philosophical pretty speak to inject, This isn’t a blue jean commercial after all. But honestly, truthfully… I’m only halfway joking;)

P.S. Now I know I’ve just harped on you about coming to this show in Austin but if for some intractable reason you find you can’t make it I have a back-up plan for you. We are playing in Dallas in October at Tree’s and I promise that as crazy as we plan on being in Austin, and it will get crazy, it’s going to be a million times wilder in Dallas. Home-field advantage and all that. Put it in your day-planners, I-phones, sumerian clay tablets whatever;  just be there! More info on this to come!

Ben -One Red Martian-

Yes we’re playing at 6 Flags but this time we brought a drummer.

The phrase “stranger than fiction” can cross your mind pretty often when you’re in a band. Trying to get your music heard as widely and often as possible you invariably put yourself in some weird situations. Whether it’s out on the road or right in town the surreal nature of the places you play and the people you meet never fails to amaze. Along those lines we will be rocking the fuck out at Six Flags this Friday. Well not “the fuck out” because it’s a family establishment but you know. It’s not going to be as weird as last time when we played with out a drummer due to injury sustain in an equally weird way but I anticipate some strange moments. We will be playing around 4 and hopefully beating the heat but due to clandestine security procedures at Six Flags we still have to get there at like 10 in the morning. So here’s the deal. If you want chill at Six Flags just let us know you’re coming out on our Facebook page. We’ll ride some rides, see some sites, and blow chunks on the roller coaster after we eat some the food we knew we shouldn’t have but did anyway. Look forward to see some people out there… otherwise this will get very weird… seriously, have you guys been to Six Flags Recently?

Ben -One Red Martian-

Return of the Martian!

I realized the other day that it has been almost a couple months since we have played in Dallas. Sure we played elsewhere and it makes you forget how long it has been but still it’s a long time to be absent from your home base. Part of it was our mini-tour through New York which was awesome but also sort of grueling; 6 shows in 8 days I think and still trying to relax takes it’s toll. We did thoroughly enjoyed ourselves though and looking forward to the next time we can make it back. Part of it’s just getting back into Texas and re-acclimating to the crazy temperature here. Personally I like it but it is a rather extreme change from New York. Whatever the reason we are back tomorrow night at The Curtain Club. We will be playing with our good friends Night Gallery, Redefine, and Truffala Tree. The show is going to be, in the words of one Beau Frye, “Epic.” So that is tomorrow night but what you need to do in preparation for this is go see Jeremy Megert & The Megalomaniacs CD release party tonight at the Prophet Bar. Think of it like pre-gaming it. Only instead of chugging a couple shitty beers you get see an awesome rock band play some awesome new music. Don’t think about it just do it.  You will have fun.

Ben -One Red Martian-

Fuck it dude, let’s go bowling.

The dude abides. Here at Martian HQ we take these words to heart. If you know what’s up you know these words are from “The Big Lebowski” and as much as we love all the Cohen brothers movies this film holds a special place in our hearts. If you have no idea what we’re talking about go rent “The Big Lebowski,” make yourself a White Russian and expand your consciousness. I could go on about the nuance of this film and why it is so fucking awesome but many already have; probably doing a better job than I would. Suffice to say it’s an epic tale of a man, and I don’t want to say hero because what’s a hero anyway, but sometimes there’s a man and I’m talking about the dude here; well sometimes there’s a man. He’s the man of his time. We’re on kind of a tangent here but what I’m trying to say is everyone could afford to have more dude in them. So, with that in mind we’re have a Martian Bowling Night not because we’re great bowlers but because… well because, fuck it dude let’s go bowling. Meet us at AMF Richardson Lanes this Saturday and kick back for a while. We’ll all be throwing rocks that night:)

P.S. bring $5 for shoes plus $6 a game.

-Ben-

One Red Martian