THE WiiTALA BROTHERS

2011-11-10T01:00:00.000-06:00

Hello Everyone!

We wanted to let you know we're playing at the Abbey Pub this Saturday, November 12th.

It's our first time playing there and we hope you can join us!

Here are the details:

11.12.11 Abbey Pub - Chicago
w/ Luster, Bravefellow and Not A Planet
Saturday, 8:30 p.m., 21+, 8 dollars
3420 W. Grace 60618, 773.478.4408

Also, in case you missed our interview in last month's Chicago Tribune, you can read it here.

And the wonderful people at Fearless Radio posted our in-studio performance and interview on their website.

As always, thanks for reading and for your support!

Best,
Christopher+Trevor

2011-10-02T20:47:00.000-05:00

On Friday, October 7 at the Chelsea Hotel we'll be hosting a benefit show for the family of John Durkin (our uncle) who recently passed away from lung cancer.

If you can be there, please help us raise money for his family to pay off funeral costs and medical bills.

Our friend Max Simmons is also performing.

For more information, go here.

The next day we're headed back to Dekalb, IL to play the Independent Rock Barn.

Here are details on both shows:

10.07.11 Chicago - Chelsea Hotel w/ Max Simmons
Benefit show for the John Durkin Family
Friday | 7 p.m. | 5 dollar donation | All Ages | 920 W. Wilson Ave.

10.08.11 Dekalb - Independent Rock Barn
Saturday | 21+ | 8:30 p.m. | Contact chrisbiers@gmail.com for details.

As always, thanks for reading and for your support! We hope you can make it to one of the shows next week.

Best,
Christopher+Trevor

2011-09-05T13:05:00.004-05:00

Happy Labor Day! We hope you're enjoying this fine September day.

We've got a little tour this week and are really looking forward to getting back out on the road and hope you can make it to a show. If you can't, please pass the word along if you know anyone where we're headed!

We're really excited about the last minute additions of Middlewest Fest and our favorite place in Rockford, Kryptonite.

09.06.11 Chicago, IL - Fearless Radio - Listen live at 3 p.m.!
09.06.11 Chicago, IL - Fireside Bowl
09.07.11 Kansas CIty, MO - Record Bar
09.08.11 Iowa CIty, IA - The Mil
09.09.11 Dekalb, IL - Middlewest Fest at SMLTWN Skateshop
09.10.11 Rockford, IL - Kryptonite Bar

For complete details, go to EVENT INFORMATION.

We hope all is well with you and yours!

Christopher+Trevor

2011-07-27T19:13:00.002-05:00

Wow. It's been forever. How's your summer been?

We've got some exciting news!

Our friend Logan Futej made us a fantastic video for Past Present Future Told and it's going to air (hopefully) next Wednesday, August 3rd at 11 p.m. CST on JBTV in Chicago on channel 62. We've been watching JBTV forever so it's quite an honor to have our music on the show! Check out more about the show at jbtvonline.com.

We're also in the middle of putting together a short tour September tour with a great band from Minneapolis called Tarlton. When we have more details we'll be sure to fill you in.

I hope all is well with you and yours!

Christopher

2011-03-05T11:31:00.003-06:00

Sad news.

We had some April shows planned with our friends from Germany Sea + Air and at the last minute their Visas were denied.

Such a shame considering they had over 40 shows booked, including SXSW appearances.

2011-03-02T23:27:00.010-06:00

Thanks Knoxville! Here we come Atlanta!

2011-03-02T09:59:00.007-06:00

It feels good to be back on the road again.

We stopped at our friend's house in Cincinnati last night and are heading to Knoxville for our show tonight.

Maybe we'll see you there?

2010-11-16T20:40:00.001-06:00

Hello ___________,

How are you? Tour has been going quite well, thanks for asking.

Unfortunately we've been forced to cancel our Philadelphia show due to a calendar mix-up. Hopefully we can make it up to you soon.

We're in Pittsburgh at the moment getting things ready for tonight with our friends Hand Drawn Mountains - if you live in the area or know someone who does, what are you waiting for? The show is FREE!

Christopher

2010-11-05T13:48:00.000-05:00

It feels good to be back on the road. Things started off with a small bang in Chicago at Beat Kitchen and picked up last night in Minneapolis at Fine Line so I'd say we're off to a really good start.

At the moment we're on the road to North Dakota and Grand Forks. Definitely looking forward to spending some time with family.

2010-05-06T10:36:00.001-05:00

Hello Everyone!

We hope this finds you well.

First of all we want to thank everyone for their support on our April tour. We had a great time at all of the shows and are really looking forward to coming back through your towns!

We're in the midst of planning a September tour, as well as trying to find other bands that might be interested in taking us on the road. We'll be sure to let you know how things develop.

The next show we have coming up is this Tuesday at Martyrs' in Chicago. Here are the details:

Martyrs'
Tuesday 11 May
w/ Love Shots and The Dyes
8 p.m., 7 dollars, 21+
3855 N. Lincoln
Chicago, IL 60613
773.404.9494

We'd love to see you there, so please stop by if you can. And please come early because we play first at 8 p.m.

Thanks for your support!

Sincerely,
Christopher+Trevor

2010-04-11T12:08:00.005-05:00

Hello Everyone!

It's been forever, I hope this finds you well!

We're on our way to Minneapolis for our first show tonight at Sauce and we thought we should write and let you know about our upcoming shows.

We'd love to see you, so if you can make it please stop by and say hello!

04.11.10 Minneapolis, MN - Sauce
04.14.10 Chicago, IL - Schubas
04.15.10 Iowa City, IA - Gabe's
04.16.10 Dubuque, IA - 180 Main
04.17.10 Rockford, IL - Kryptonite Bar
04.18.10 Covington, KY - Molly Malone's
04.20.10 Nashville, TN - Dino's
04.21.10 Memphis, TN - The Abbey
04.22.10 Kansas City, MO - The Riot Room
04.23.10 Champaign, IL - Bentley's Pub
04.24.10 Macomb, IL - Cafe Aroma

For details, go to EVENT iNFORMATiON.

Sincerely,
Christopher & Trevor

2010-01-28T20:32:00.003-06:00

February 25th is our friend Stephen's birthday.

It's also the same day he chose to organize a benefit concert for Haiti.

Come see his band Quieting Syrup, Transmontane and yours truly and support a good cause all at the same time!

Here are the details

Thursday, February 25th
Quenchers Saloon
2401 North Western Avenue
Chicago, IL 60647
9 p.m., 5 dollars, 21+
quenchers.com
773.276.9730

We hope to see you there!

Christopher+Trevor

2010-01-20T14:18:00.005-06:00

Hello Everyone,

I hope this finds you & yours well!

Our friend Claire works with an organization called Invisible Children. She called Trevor and I yesterday and asked if we'd be willing to write on our blog about a contest they're in run by Chase Community Giving.

Out of 100 charities in the running, Chase Bank is going to award the charity with the most votes $1 Million. Voting ends this Friday and Invisible Children has pledged to give $100,000 to their relief efforts in Haiti if they're voted the winner.

For their detailed explanation and for more information on Invisible Children, go to

http://blog.invisiblechildren.com/?p=3980
http://www.invisiblechildren.com/

To vote for Invisible Children, go to

http://apps.facebook.com/chasecommunitygiving/charities/598099

Remember, voting ends this Friday!

To see what Invisible Children will do with the money if they win, go to

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6gIGRaG3zpI&feature=sub

For more information on Chase Community Giving, go to

http://apps.facebook.com/chasecommunitygiving/

And remember, voting ends this Friday!

Thanks!
Christopher & Trevor

2009-12-25T10:29:00.005-06:00

Merry Christmas everyone!

As our Christmas gift to you, please listen to and download our
version of Silent Night here

thewiitalabrothers.com/Silent%20Night.mp3

We hope you and yours have a wonderful holiday season!

Sincerely,
Christopher & Trevor

Tour is over.

2009-10-09T12:29:00.005-05:00

Our last two shows went really well. Molly Malone's KY has a third floor room (and thankfully an elevator) that is perfect with a high ceiling, nice wood floor and large picture windows. Not to mention the promoters Jimmy and Dustin are two great fellows. We also ran into an old friend Joshua Chambers, who has seemingly forever been trying to get us to play in his neck of the woods.

After Kentucky we made the five hour drive back home to give ourselves plenty of time before our Schubas show that night. We rolled in close to 4:00 and managed to get some much needed rest.

Schubas is definitely one of our favorite places to play for the typical reasons: good room, great sound, friendly staff, etc. so it was really great to be able to have our record release show there. The band Youth Group were quite nice too. Hopefully one day we'll manage to make our way down under and we can play some more shows together.

Over the next seven weeks Trevor is going to be a button (and fader) pusher and I'll be home working on new record ideas, the next tour and so on and so forth.

Oh and before I forget, check out the interview I did with the Quinnipac Chronicle.

Thanks to everyone for your support!

panda bear hq

2009-10-05T00:52:00.001-05:00

Our show last night at Comet Ping Pong went well considering our set time wasn't until after 12:30 a.m. We had a great time there and can't wait to play there again. They have a wonderful restaurant in the front of the building that serves amazing pizza. So amazing in fact, we went back there for lunch today.

When we went back to Comet Ping Pong they were hosting a record fair with loads of different vendors selling all sorts of records. The place was packed and no doubt many of DC's music royalty were there - I only recognized Ian MacKaye rolling in at one point.

After the record fair we headed to the National Zoo and saw all sorts of animals (obviously) and made it a point to see the Giant Panda bears. Most of the animals were taking it easy for the afternoon and having a nap, including the pandas. Once we finally saw the lone sleeping bear (the others were in private rooms apparently) we drove over to the National Mall to see the Lincoln Memorial and afterwards we thankfully managed to connect with an old friend we hadn't seen in seven years.

And tonight we're spending the night with some good friends in West Virginia before hitting the road tomorrow to make it to our second to last show in Covington, KY.

It's hard to believe that these two weeks have flown by so quickly. The end of tour is always depressing to me, but it's good to know we can make this work.

new york to hamden.

2009-10-03T13:12:00.014-05:00

Arlene's Grocery went quite well considering we played so early. Thankfully a few of Azuree's friends showed up and gave us a bit of a crowd.

Yesterday morning we ended our search for fall jackets at H&M. Azuree found a nice blue wool hooded coat and I found a simple black jacket for half off (which was the only reason I ended up purchasing it). Unfortunately our search for jackets came too late as I awoke yesterday morning feeling very under the weather. At least we've only got a few shows left.

On our way from New York we ran into massive traffic both out of the city and pretty much the entire time we were on 95 to Connecticut. So we missed our interview with the The Quinnipiac Chronicle, but thankfully we can still make it happen through wonders of technology.

The Space in Hamden was definitely one of the most interesting venues we've played. Not only is it a music venue, but it's also a cafe, vintage clothing shop and arcade. After the show we made our way back to Philadelphia and have been spending the day with good friends.

We're heading to DC in a few hours for our show at Comet Ping Pong which has the potential of being or favorite venue this tour due to their pizza made in a wood burning oven. We're also looking forward to hitting some museums on our day off tomorrow.

NY to MA to PA to NY

2009-10-02T02:02:00.003-05:00

After our show in Butler, PA we drove through the night to NYC. We rolled in around 7 a.m. and drove down desolate streets over to Rockefeller Center and parked in their garage. Our reason for arriving so early was to get standby tickets for the Saturday Night Live season premiere. We managed to get tickets without any trouble due to the fact that we were the last in line - actually there wasn't really any line at all by the time we arrived. We heard people had been queuing since midnight or possibly even earlier so we knew our shot of getting into the show was definitely much longer than we had hoped.

When my brother and I went to get some things from our van, Azuree tried unsuccessfully to get filmed so her mother could see her on Good Morning America. After her disappointment we started our quest to find food but being that is was only 10:30 a.m. most of the shops were closed. After driving through the night I felt a bit like a zombie stumbling down the street. When we were driving in we noticed that the streets by the Waldorf Astoria were barricaded off by the police (apparently a dignitary from Cameroon (I believe) was staying there) and thought we should head over there to see what the fuss was about and if we could afford a bit of breakfast. After a stroll through the lobby and the feeling of being out of place we found our way in Times Square.

Walking through Times Square an up and coming rapper tried to give me a free CD, which he "signed" (the CD cover looked like he'd done this many times over). Once he handed me the CD he asked for a donation and when I told him I didn't have anything and almost instantly he grabbed the CD from my hands. I wonder if anyone's actually heard his record yet.

After Times Square we headed over to Brooklyn to our friends' 4th floor walk-up and moved our gear inside and took it easy before heading back to Rockefeller Center to stand in SNL lines for a few hours only to be turned away.

The next day we headed over to Union Square to meet up with friends and spent the afternoon looking at records, jackets and sweaters since the weather has managed to get much cooler than we expected. Our show at Pete's that night went really well and was attended by quite a few good friends. Pete's Candy Store is a small bar with an even smaller music room inside, but thankfully Trevor managed to pull back enough while playing to keep things under control.

After a late night with friends we headed back to our friends' place and got ready for the drive to Boston the next day.

At the show that night in Boston we were joined by a band from PA called The Shackletons. Thanks to an old friend's hospitality, we had the luxury of parking in a garage so we didn't have to worry about unloading our van.

The next day we tried to head to MOTU to get another power supply for our Traveler, but unfortunately they only ship their products from their warehouse. The show in Quincy that night was on a small college campus and the response from everyone there was definitely quite favorable.

After the show we drove through the night to Philadelphia and managed to get in early enough to see the friends we stayed with before they left for work. After hitting Lorenzo's we headed over to The M Room to get ready for the night. Our friends in Geology opened the show and definitely set the tone for a great night filled with many friends.

We left for New York this afternoon and on our way my brother pointed out that Kermit was on his way into the city as well. We managed to get to Arlene's Grocery with plenty of time to get things in order for our set. Things went quite smoothly from our end of the night and at this point in time it seems like working our way through our set is more natural than breathing if that makes any sense.

Tomorrow will hopefully conclude our jacket/sweater/coat shopping and perhaps a visit to Central Park and then it's off to Hamden, CT for an interview with the The Quinnipiac Chronicle.

Speaking of press and such, check out what the Illinois Entertainer has to say about our upcoming release show and be sure to call and request "Secrets In Your Heart" on 88.1 WSDP (Canton, MI) 734.416.7745, Monday-Thursday, 2:30 to 5:30 PM.

New York City

2009-09-27T12:13:00.001-05:00

New York City.

MI to PA

2009-09-25T14:09:00.002-05:00

We're on our way from Hamtramck to Butler somwhere on 80/90 E.

Our show at The Belmont went really well last night. It was great to see so many old friends and especially our uncle who made a two and a half hour drive (each way) to come see us.

We're looking forward to our first headlining show of the tour tonight - here's hoping the songs we haven't gotten to yet will fall into place properly.

2009-09-23T14:26:00.011-05:00

Last night in Southgate went quite well. So well in fact, that we managed to push one unit. All in all, both shows so far have been good preparation for our sets that will have to be shorter in length and also given us time to re-evaluate just exactly where certain songs should be in the set.

We have a day off today which has so far consisted of (in no particular order and from no particular member of the tour): toast, homework, orange juice, the New York Times, a hammer and a flight case, the Motown Museum, this journal entry.

I've said enough so I'll leave you with some kind words I stumbled
upon from The Onion's A.V. Club Chicago (Chicago.Decider.com):

The Wiitalas' new Bad Blood could be qualified as minimalist indie pop-rock, but it's something much more effective than that might suggest. The duo's stark guitars and lingering vocals tend to waft around, electrifying the air with their simplicity.

2009-09-22T17:02:00.003-05:00

on our way to southgate.

last night's show in kalamazoo went well from our perspective considering the fact that the only people in attendance were the sound guy and the other two bands.

thankfully this type of thing has never bothered us, but here's hoping the rest of the shows start to pick up.

2009-09-21T17:37:00.001-05:00

tour manager.

2009-09-21T15:07:00.003-05:00

still haven't left yet.

2009-09-11T11:36:00.006-05:00

hello. it's been a while and a lot has happened since we last wrote!

we finished our debut record which, by the way, is available at iTunes and other fine digital retailers. we hope to have compact discs available for sale soon, but until then we'll have copies available at our shows.

we're heading out on the road in about a week for our first national tour. for a list of dates and details go to EVENT iNFORMATiON.

needless to say, we're very excited about hitting the road and especially our record release show is at schubas on october 6th, with youth group and other girls.

if you can make it out to one of the shows on our tour, please come say hello!

best,
christopher+trevor

2009-04-12T15:32:00.006-05:00

2009-01-29T19:29:00.005-06:00

we've been featured in the online pages of newcity!

please have a look!

and don't forget about our up coming shows, we'd love to see you:

01.31.09 Chicago - The Empty Bottle
02.02.09 Chicago - Subterranean
02.18.09 Chicago - Tonic Room

best,
christopher+trevor

2008-12-21T21:16:00.003-06:00

it's been a while since i've written from the studio; in part because we haven't been working much and in part because we've been so busy working while we're here.

things are moving forward thankfully, albeit slowly. today we've been putting the finishing touches on the vocals for the songs "bad blood" and "secrets in your heart".

it's hard to say when we'll be done, but thankfully we hope to have the next two weeks to keep working every day. as it looks now, we should be on schedule for mixing around mid-january, that is, if we can get studio time.

hopefully when all is said and done these songs won't bore you to tears.

2008-12-18T11:41:00.005-06:00

hello,

so we're playing at schubas on sunday 11 january 2009 with a wonderful band from minnesota called now, now every children.

please pass the word along to your friends, family, lovers, co-workers, acquaintances, enemies and so on and so forth.

details are in EVENT iNFORMATiON.

hope to see you there!

also, you might be interested in my new blog my phone is a four track. let me know what you think!

love,
christopher

2008-11-23T15:52:00.003-06:00

room vocals.

scratch vocals.

2008-09-18T22:59:00.013-05:00

things in the studio are going well.

we've been adding additional guitars for the last few days and at this point it seems like we're over half way done. of course we're still plagued by the fact that these songs are old and while not many people have heard them, we wonder if working on some of our newer songs is in order.

we'll see.

other than that, we're looking into mastering and manufacturing options. if anyone has opinions on either, please let us know.

best,
christopher+trevor

PS - if you can, please take the time to vote for a friend of a friend (he's an architect student) who is in the running to receive a $4000 prize.

"Greetings from Vilnius Lithuania. I have a friend who is an architect student and he needs you to vote for his project. Just go to this site and vote for #8. He's in the running to split a $4,000 prize which would mean a lot to an under employed Lithuanian architect student. He's only down 100 votes and knowing our history with internet voting, we can make that up in an hour. Don't do it for me, do it for Lithuania. You can vote for project #8 once a day, here's the site: projektai.vu.lt/mokslolaikrodis/."

- Joe S.

2008-09-06T17:55:00.007-05:00

so our time in the studio has been a long and tedious process. at this point we have drums, bass guitar and rhythm guitar done on all of the songs except one, which may or may not even see the light of day.

not to mention, we may end up recording another song or two once we're done making the rest of them complete.

we're working on additional guitar lines today and tomorrow so hopefully by the end of the weekend all that will be left is vocals and various other odds and ends.

2008-03-17T21:46:00.004-05:00

don't forget, we've got some shows coming up.

march 24th at schubas in chicago with oppenheimer and rademacher

and

march 31st with anberlin in east lansing, michigan at the jack breslin student events center (msu).

go to EVENT iNFORMATiON for details.

2008-02-17T20:33:00.005-06:00

hey! are you still there? hello?

in case you're reading this, i thought you might like to know that we have some shows coming up in the next few months. coming up first is our show at kryptonite bar with eastern blok (goran ivanovic group) on 29 february.

details:

February, 29 2008 at Kryptonite Bar
308 W. State St., Rockford, Illinois 61103
Cost : 5 dollars

w/ Eastern Blok (Goran Ivanovic Group) | Friday | 10 p.m. (i think) | 5 dollars | 21+ | 308 W. State St.

please feel free to come by and say hello to.

also, we've been working on some new song ideas over the last couple of weeks and it looks like there may be one or two ideas that will see the light of day.

when and if they do, we'll be sure to let you know.

best,
christopher+trevor

2008-01-13T03:42:00.000-06:00

so things have been quiet over here for some time now, mostly because trevor was gone from middle october to middle december running front of house for a band from florida.

it's now middle january and things have pretty much come to a grinding halt. i have no idea when things will fall back into place, or if this will ever become what we hoped it would.

i don't even know what that means, or what we are doing here. sometimes i think there's already too much music being made, sometimes i think people might like us.

2007-10-10T15:40:00.000-05:00

please don't forget, on friday, october 12, we're playing at Blend (1725 W. Division St.) as a part of the 2007 Around The Coyote Fall Arts Festival.

we play at 10 p.m., cover is 10 dollars, and it's all ages.

if you RSVPed, you can pick up your passes starting tomorrow, thursday at noon at

Around the Coyote Gallery
1935 ½ W. North Ave.
Chicago, IL 60622

hope to see you there

2007-10-03T01:15:00.000-05:00

if you're anywhere near chicago, tune in to WLUW FM 88.7 today, wednesday, october 3!

we'll be interviewed and play live on air between 12-2 p.m. CST so tune in to 88.7, or listen live here!

and don't forget, on friday, october 12, we're playing at Blend (1725 W. Division St.) as a part of Around The Coyote Festival.

we play at 10 p.m., cover is 10 dollars, and it's all ages.

but... if you RSVP here for a FREE day pass by friday, october 5, you can get in FREE!

hope to see you soon!

2007-04-26T14:02:00.000-05:00

dear _________________,

how are you? i am doing well. things have been busy lately.

i'm rather excited about the metromix rock 'n' vote show at double door tonight. hopefully you can make it! we play second at 9 p.m.

kado over at transmission had some nice words to say about our music in a write-up for tonight's show.

the summer is gaining on us...

xoxo,
christopher

2007-02-22T13:27:00.001-06:00

there's a feature on us at goanddomichigan.com today!

check it out here!

2007-02-05T15:11:00.000-06:00

while chicago was holding it's breath last night, 93XRT's richard milne was spinning "Hold Tight" on Local Anesthetic!

this is exciting news for us and while we hope you heard it over the airwaves, we'll let you slide this once since it was Super Bowl Sunday.

don't forget to make it to the red line tap on saturday! it will be a great night of wonderful melodies and brilliant tunes. details below.

Red Line Tap
7006 N. Glenwood
Chicago, IL 60626

we're playing with Bicycle Tricycle, Rue Royale, Sam Saunders

Saturday, February 10th

9 p.m.

5 dollars

21+

http://www.heartlandcafe.com/rl_index.htm

773.274.5463

and of course: to show our appreciation to you the loyal friend/fan/person who's bored and has nothing better to do: if you print out this blog entry and give it to us at a show we'll sell you a t-shirt, cd and button for only 6 dollars...click print and save yourself 4...

2007-01-17T18:04:00.001-06:00

we're playing at Lilly's on the 19th and we'd love to see you there!

also on the bill: Dubious Moniker, The Backroom, and Dirty Little Something.

we play first.

Friday

7:30 p.m.

21+

6 dollars

2513 N. Lincoln Ave.

and of course: to show our appreciation to you the loyal friend/fan/person who's bored and has nothing better to do: if you print this out and give it to us at the show we'll sell you a t-shirt, cd and button for only 6 dollars...click print and save yourself 4...

2007-01-04T17:05:00.000-06:00

we got a nice write-up in today's Metromix Planner!

click on the thumbnail to read it!!!

2006-12-22T13:21:00.000-06:00

click, print! save, save, save!

with Dubious Moniker, John Wasem and Sleeper Car

doubledoor.com / 773.489.3160

and of course: to show our appreciation to you the loyal friend/fan/person who's bored and has nothing better to do: if you print this out and give it to us at the show we'll sell you a t-shirt, cd and button for only 6 dollars...click print and save yourself 4...

2006-11-29T13:13:00.000-06:00

i got a phone message this morning from our friend matthew. he called to let us know "bad blood" had just finished spinning on WLUW.

this was exciting news to us and i thought you'd like to know.

you can listen live online, so call and request us! 773.508.WLUW

please and thankyou.

2006-11-17T12:31:00.000-06:00

we finally made it in print, and it happens to be in america's finest news source, the ONION!

read it here!

2006-11-08T16:08:00.000-06:00

things have been busy lately.

we're taking this week to kick around some new ideas. hopefully by week's end we'll have added a couple more songs to the list.

we have some shows coming up next week and we'd love to see you there:

11.17.06 Kouts, IN - Cronies
11.19.06 Chicago, IL - Subterranean

please go to EVENT iNFORMATiON for details.

and of course: to show our appreciation to you the loyal friend/fan/person who's bored and has nothing better to do: if you print out this blog entry and give it to us at a show we'll sell you a t-shirt, cd and button for only 6 dollars.

2006-11-07T19:51:00.000-06:00

i made a couple videos for this youtube contest.

please take a look and a minute vote:

say your prayers
long way from home

the voting deadline is 17 november so tell everyone you know to rock the vote!!!

2006-10-19T11:34:00.000-05:00

we leave for iowa in a couple hours to begin our three-day run with rock island's own the lion in rome.

please say hello:

10.19.06 Iowa City, IA - The House
10.20.06 Rock Island, IL - Theo's Java Club
10.21.06 Burbank, IL - Champs Rock Room

go to EVENT iNFORMATiON for details on the shows.

and to show our appreciation to you the loyal friend/fan/person who's bored and has nothing better to do: if you print out this blog entry and give it to us at a show we'll sell you a t-shirt, cd and button for only 6 dollars.

2006-10-05T17:11:00.000-05:00

in case you don't already know our show tonight at the big horse has been cancelled. they lost their license just yesterday for some reason.

we are, however, still playing at memories (4358 n. cicero ave.) on sunday, so please feel free to stop by and say hello.

2006-10-03T18:54:00.000-05:00

we've got some chicago shows coming up!

this thursday, october 5th at big horse lounge and this sunday, october 8th at memories - 4358 N. Cicero.

go to EVENT iNFORMATiON for details.

2006-09-29T11:06:00.000-05:00

check out an interview i did with northwest indiana times:

nwitimes.com

for the record: trevor is older than me, we like cat stevens ok, but he's not necessarily an influence per se.

hope you are well.
christopher

2006-09-22T13:50:00.000-05:00

see you soon!

09.29.06 Highland, IN
10.08.06 Chicago, IL
10.19.06 Iowa City, IA
10.20.06 Rock Island, IL
10.21.06 Burbank, IL

go to EVENT iNFORMATiON for details.

2006-08-31T13:33:00.000-05:00

please take a moment and have a look at our friend's design work: benjamin design studio.

thankyou.

oh, and before i forget, we have a show on 29 september in highland, indiana at the blue room cafe'.

go to EVENT iNFORMATiON for details.

2006-08-21T15:48:00.000-05:00

the code of silence is now broken.

we've had a whirlwind summer and finally it's coming to an end.

many thanks to those who've taken the time to come see us play, talked to us, bought something from us, etcetera.

your support is greatly appreciated.

things are looking forward as they say, but as you and i both know, that doesn't mean much.

if i had a time machine i would go forward in time about six months and then come back with answers for questions like:

where did we make our record?
and with whom?
and who released it?
which state is next for suf?

2006-04-29T19:23:00.000-05:00

i've been having trouble finding the right words lately. i've found that someone else could have said it better, but bob dylan always says it best:

I ain't lookin' to compete with you,
Beat or cheat or mistreat you,
Simplify you, classify you,
Deny, defy or crucify you.
All I really want to do
Is, baby, be friends with you.

No, and I ain't lookin' to fight with you,
Frighten you or uptighten you,
Drag you down or drain you down,
Chain you down or bring you down.
All I really want to do
Is, baby, be friends with you.

I ain't lookin' to block you up
Shock or knock or lock you up,
Analyze you, categorize you,
Finalize you or advertise you.
All I really want to do
Is, baby, be friends with you.

I don't want to straight-face you,
Race or chase you, track or trace you,
Or disgrace you or displace you,
Or define you or confine you.
All I really want to do
Is, baby, be friends with you.

I don't want to meet your kin,
Make you spin or do you in,
Or select you or dissect you,
Or inspect you or reject you.
All I really want to do
Is, baby, be friends with you.

I don't want to fake you out,
Take or shake or forsake you out,
I ain't lookin' for you to feel like me,
See like me or be like me.
All I really want to do
Is, baby, be friends with you

- bob dylan, 1964

2006-04-12T22:30:00.000-05:00

things have been busy lately, which is a good thing.

we are planning for the summer at the moment, working on some t-shirt designs and such. in case you are interested, there are some summer festivals we are playing. when we have the details i will let you know.

there is much to be thankful for these days, even in the smallest sense, such as good weather.

i hope everything is well with you and yours.

peace be with you.

2006-03-19T17:37:00.000-06:00

so we didn't get our song played on q101 (thanks to everyone who voted!), but we did get to hear three seconds of it, maybe four and our name mispronounced, which isn't anything out of the ordinary, but still it was exciting none-the-less.

thankfully the first day of spring is upon us which should mean great kite weather and no more snow.

of course i never pay attention to the forecast so chicago may be preparing for a blizzard for all i know.

2006-03-13T15:11:00.000-06:00

VOTE! VOTE! VOTE!

so...

we've been chosen to be one of four bands to possibly get played on Q101's LOCAL MUSIC MAILROOM.

the band with the most votes gets played on Q101 this friday night.

here's the link:

q101.com/airstaff/sherman_mailroom.aspx.

if you would take a minute to register and vote we would really, really appreciate it!

things have been busy lately. we had a show last night at the fireside and are working on getting a few in april.

recording has pretty much taken a hiatus due to the shows we've been playing lately, but also because trevor is potentially going on tour as part of a production crew the last couple weeks of march.

hopefully while he's gone i'll get some more of the song ideas we have finished and ready to be recorded when he gets back.

as always, thankyou for your support, it means the world to us.

peace be with you.

2006-03-06T19:40:00.000-06:00

we are playing at the fireside bowl on sunday 12 march with demilos and them, roaringtwenties.

go to: EVENT iNFORMATiON for details.

2006-02-16T10:08:00.000-06:00

we've been invited by our dear friends ester drang to play with them in our hometown at shelter on tuesday 7 march.

go to: EVENT iNFORMATiON for details.

2006-02-03T13:27:00.000-06:00

and another show on february 10th at beat kitchen.

go to: EVENT iNFORMATiON for details.

2006-02-01T22:46:00.000-06:00

so we are staying busy with the record, minus a short detour for me to new york and this weeks preparation for a friend's wedding in which we are playing a couple songs, one from a movie soundtrack that might win some oscars and the other from a band that has sold a lot of records.

we have a show on 17 february in highland, indiana at the blueroom cafe'.

go to EVENT iNFORMATiON for details.

fire will test the realness of each man's work.

2005-12-12T18:00:00.000-06:00

progress on the record is going well, albeit very slow.

we're not quite sure if we're happy with the way things are sounding yet, both sonically and tempo-wise, so we are considering the idea of re-recording and trying different perspectives on things.

since we are not recording in a proper studio and don't have access to space that we can keep things set in a semi-permanent state it's easy for us to become distracted and discouraged by the amount of work put into this thing called a record.

for now we've given up on the concept of time. no label interest, no producer costs, no studio costs: no reason to rush.

2005-12-01T17:10:00.000-06:00

2005-11-18T22:30:00.000-06:00

the time has finally arrived.

tomorrow we're going to give a go at recording. the drums will go first and then we fill in the blanks from there.

it will be an interesting time listening for the concrete floors and walls tell us what to do.

of course all of this is so trivial when there's this to think about.

may our actions speak louder than our words.

2005-10-29T21:12:00.000-05:00

not that planning can do much, but we're making plans to record a record in november anyways.

and while everything is still in the planning stages, the plans are looking good.

we are excited and we are anxious to really take the time to give the songs we have the life they are waiting so patiently to live.

there will be time for large concrete floors to soak up bass guitar lines and for the walls to echo cries of the snare drum.

and the stairwells will whisper guitar melodies.

2005-09-23T20:57:00.000-05:00

and yet another show!

3rd october at subterranean.

go to EVENT iNFORMATiON for details.

2005-09-20T10:43:00.000-05:00

new show just confirmed!!!

september 28th, at the bottom lounge.

go to EVENT iNFORMATiON for details.

2005-08-28T14:03:00.000-05:00

we have a show at rocket cinema on 25 september.

go to EVENT iNFORMATiON for details.

2005-08-06T23:33:00.000-05:00

a picture is worth one thousand words.

2005-07-28T10:57:00.000-05:00

2005-07-27T15:35:00.000-05:00

two days in a row now i've woken up with a jolt, somewhere between 2 and 3 in the morning. both times i saw a large spider looking creature right above my face.

the first night it happened i saw the phantom spider crawl up on it's web towards the ceiling and from the time i woke up yelling and switched on the light the phantom spider was gone.

this morning i saw the phantom spider crawling up my curtains, and of course from the time i woke up yelling and switched on the light the phantom spider was gone.

of course i hesitated on opening the curtains while looking for something to immobilize the phantom intruder with, but when i opened the curtains there was no one there.

i'm not sure if i'm missing something here, but if this is some sort of recurring dream/nightmare then i'd like to find the meaning.

if anyone knows of an online, form-based dream interpeter, please let me know.

2005-07-24T18:52:00.000-05:00

there is so much to say, but i cannot find the right words.

we live in troubled times.

i want to offer a helping hand, but i don't know what to do.

i want to offer my desperate prayer and hope it doesn't fall on deaf ears.

2005-07-16T13:49:00.000-05:00

la venta, the womb of a fat jelly fish. wrote:

i have never in my life have ever seen such 2 nerdy twins live up there blamed
"hype" to be such failures of music, and that is in my hole life. you guys have no
talent. get over it. you have had such a great chance to be in so many bands.
popular bands. "i say what"..

you sound like a high school band trying to sound like cold play and u2.

no vocals, and boring music. i just saw you fellas at cornerstone and i was so bored.

love victor.

oh and speaking of singing, trying to sound like a cross of hootie and the blowfish,
and bono....it sounds like s**t.

your vocals are very boring.

your lyrics sound like a terrible c.c.m. music artist taking out god and putting in

bull s**t. bad blood is postal service and s**t shaken' together.

2005-06-21T11:29:00.000-05:00

the dust has settled after moving to a new server.

2005-06-09T12:21:00.000-05:00

so our summer has gotten off to a good start. we're in pryor, oklahoma working with some friends of ours at a country festival.

so far things have been quite easy compared to other festivals we've worked with them.

first, there's a permanent stage built out of concrete and i-beams (along with folding doors that enclose it when it's not being used) with loading docks on the sides which has made the first load-ins of the festival a breeze.

second, our living accommodations are 50 yards away from the stage which allows for an easy commute in the morning and when we're done with work.

third, and most importantly, is the unexpected and most coveted surprise of mobile phone service and wifi access.

definitely not something we were expecting, it's kept us in touch with our lives back home.

time to go.

2005-05-16T13:41:00.000-05:00

the curse of technology.

our apologies to those who came to see us play on saturday. unfortunately the audio program we use to run the tracks on our computer would not open.

every so often certain audio programs will ask you to put the installer cd in your laptop and enter the key code as proof of ownership before you can open the program. this had not happened to us before and we never thought to bring the installer cd with us wherever we went, but from now on we will never leave home without it.

we are probably going to make a stereo set of our tracks as well so we can play them through iTunes or a cd player, and eliminate the need for a high-maintenance setup. this will only be for a backup though, as we prefer the control that audiodesk gives us.

quite the learning experience, and as you can imagine it definitely made us want to be completely prepared at all times.

2005-05-09T00:56:00.000-05:00

U2 played their first of four chicago shows last night.

brilliant.

of great importance was finally meeting an old friend of our father's as well.

we leave for florida tomorrow morning, well actually we leave in four and a half hours. trevor and i are busy getting things together last minute, which always seems to happen before we leave for somewhere.

if you're going to be at cornerstone florida, do say hello.

please visit one.org and add your signature to the ONE Declaration.

i'm sure i'll be writing from florida, so stay tuned.

2005-04-18T15:56:00.000-05:00

we are playing at cornerstone florida on saturday, 14 may.

go to EVENT iNFORMATiON for details.

2005-04-01T17:17:00.000-06:00

we are playing at cornerstone festival on friday, 1 july.

go to EVENT iNFORMATiON for details.

2005-03-31T15:08:00.000-06:00

R.I.P. mitch hedberg.

you will be missed.

in other news, we are working on getting a couple shows for the summer.

as soon as we have details, we will let you know.

2005-03-29T20:27:00.000-06:00

trevor has entered us in an online d'addario contest.

vote for us here.

2005-02-23T18:37:00.000-06:00

to sign up on our mailing list go to CONTACT iNFORMATiON.

2005-02-22T11:11:00.000-06:00

thanks to everyone that came out to our show on saturday. your support is greatly appreciated.

both trevor and i were quite happy with how things turned out and we are very excited now that things are finally rolling.

we will keep you posted on the future.

peace be with you.

2005-02-02T17:08:00.000-06:00

we have a show at martyrs' on 19 february.

go to EVENT iNFORMATiON for details.

2005-01-16T01:43:00.000-06:00

it's been a long eleven days.

our norwegian friends leave tomorrow afternoon and after spending time with them at electrical makes me want to record there again.

hopefully soon.

in the meantime we've sent some cds out to clubs around the city in hopes of getting some shows, but we're not holding our breath.

we are, however, crossing our fingers.

2005-01-07T16:13:00.000-06:00

hello from the land of the ice and snow.

things are well today i guess. our friends from norway are here working on rhythm tracks over at electrical.

trevor and i spent the day with bryan and them buying groceries, getting them situated in the studio, guitar store stops and gathering small bits and pieces of gear for them to use.

when we left them this afternoon they were having computer trouble due to the voltage difference here, but hopefully everything will be sussed out soon enough.

and as of now, it looks like hopefully by february we will have a show or two around chicago. if anything develops we will let you know.

2005-01-05T16:52:00.000-06:00

we have finally succumbed to what all the kids are doing:

myspace.com/thewiitalabrothers

2004-12-31T15:45:00.000-06:00

i posted two new songs on our purevolume page. listen here.

they aren't anything special, but i thought they might at least be good for a laugh.

happy new year to you and yours.

2004-12-15T19:31:00.000-06:00

ho, ho, ho, and a hey, hey, hey it's santa's super sleigh!

2004-12-10T17:19:00.000-06:00

today marks seven years to the day since i found out i had hepatitis C. and while it looks like i am no longer plagued by the virus, it still makes me think about how long the road has been and how blessed i am to have such great love and support from dear family and dear friends throughout this time.

but most of all i am thankful for the miracle of medicine, and the miracle that has been given to me through needles and pills. my body should not have responded, but it did thank the Lord.

needless to say, i have a completely different outlook on life now and when i find myself planning things or dreaming about my future i feel selfish and guilty because i don't deserve a second chance for the second time.

2004-11-27T20:22:00.000-06:00

on our way to hamtramck the other night trevor decided to have a go at some 360s in a van on the interstate. thankfully, the semi that was to the left of us pulled past us just as we were changing lanes from the right to the left, which incidentally, was when we started our spins.

amazingly enough, we ended up front end out on the road. and with the cars behind us at a very safe distance away we were able to get back on the road with no troubles.

the thing about this that bothered me the most though is the fact that right before we spun out i was thinking about a friend's story of a band hitting black ice somewhere in the california mountains, with a van and trailer. and then i was thinking about our dear friends who just bought an old greyhound style bus and transformed it into their touring home. it was at this exact moment we started spinning.

thankfully we came out all right, see above, unlike so many others driving that night.

2004-11-06T21:59:00.000-06:00

i just added a new song to our purevolume page.

check it out.

2004-11-04T10:22:00.000-06:00

as promised, i've posted a song for you to hear. it's a rough mix of a song tentatively called "face the wind."

to hear it, go to: purevolume.com/thewiitalabrothers.

if you like what you hear, please let us know.

2004-10-16T13:37:00.003-05:00

so things are picking up i guess.

we are working on getting a five song e.p. completed. most everything is finished except for a guitar chord, a bass fill, a drum line or a vocal chord here or there.

after recording we will then have to mix the songs to get the right combination of highs and lows, volumes, and not too much 400mhz, just a bit of 500k and a touch 150mhz.

after mixing i suppose the next step would be to master the recording, which we will not actually do ourselves as we would much rather send it to certain professionals we have worked with in the past.

in the meantime, i will have to post some audio clips of the rough demos for you to hear, just to prove that i am not lying.

expect those soon, but not too soon mind you.

2004-10-05T15:50:00.000-05:00

the last few weeks have been a blur.

between painting and moving and work and waiting rooms things have felt like they've been on the verge of spinning out of control for some time now.

but then, maybe things are so together they seem so apart.

at least now i think we're finally starting to get a foothold on things, a direction i guess, and hopefully in the next few months we'll be ready to start playing shows.

but nothing is certain and at most times the idea of going anywhere else but our bedrooms and our ears with these songs is completely ridiculous.

2004-09-01T17:28:00.000-05:00

2004-08-31T10:30:00.000-05:00

like a wind in the sails is an unexpected visit from dear friends.

2004-08-16T18:24:00.000-05:00

1. october 26, 2004
2. kilz 2 latex
3. won't get fooled again
4. six feet under season two

2004-07-31T13:37:00.000-05:00

i don't have anything to say.