Darker My Love

vote for us, etc.

2008-07-11T11:24:00.000-07:00

So! We’re up for this Yahoo Music thing. It’s either called Users’ Choice or Who’s Next? or both or something like that. We normally don't endorse competition between bands and contests and Contest Bands and all that, but hey, if we beat Dr. Dog and The Duke Spirit and The Airborne Toxic Event, it makes us look really good, which means there is a better chance we will come to your town and rip the jams and hang out with y'all. So please kindly click this huge Yahoo link below and vote vote vote for Das Dudes!

Also! Our friend and mentor John Webster Johns has really really really sadly had to bail on the Troubadour show on August 7. It was sure gonna be something else, but now you'll never get to see it. BUT, the silver lining is that we done got our also-friends Tweak Bird to fill the void. And remember, for $9.99 you get to see not only us dudes and Eulogies and Amnion and Tweak Bird, but you also get a copy of our new CD 2!!!

Finally, Nylon Magazine has one of the more interesting blurbs on us thus far. This comes on the heels of the fashion spread we did for them last year.

some things, Tuesday edition

2008-07-08T12:13:00.000-07:00

Good morning. I'm assuming it's morning when you're reading this. If it's not, come back when it is.

Just a couple updates:

Just noticed that we somehow never got around to mentioning this... We recorded a cover of Lee Hazelwood’s (via the voice of Sanford Clark) “The Fool” back in February for this neat lil promotion by shoe-people PF Flyers. The concept was a buncha Dangerbird artists record songs from 1956 to commemorate the reissue of those sweet-ass ’56 Bob Cousy kicks. So we did this song, knocked it out in a day, and got one Bob Mustachio (of The Warlocks) to pitch in too, since it was a Sunday and, y’know, it was an excuse to get out of the house. Also, FYI, BTW, CMYK: “The Fool” is the first song Lee Hazelwood ever wrote, or something like that. And, of course, the last song was “Claws & Paws.” Alright alright, go get it here.

Here’s Rob at Tim’s birthday soiree, reflecting the too-prevalent misconception that Rob is Tim. This outta confuse things even more.

photo by W.P. Canzoneri

You may have noticed our ¡¡¡NEW VIDEO!!! over there on the right in our patent-pending Blogspot Video Bar™. Assuming it hasn't been removed. It's called "This Song's History, Dude."

Finally... go pre-order our new record from Insound!
Get the CD here... or...
Get the vinyl here!
AND either way, if ya pre-order it, you’re ALSO gon’ get a free limited-edition mystery 7”! Don't delay! Supplies are limited! Act now!

Two Ways Out Video

2008-06-23T12:31:00.000-07:00

DANDY WARHOLS TOUR!

2008-06-17T10:29:00.000-07:00

Great news. This band called The Dandy Warhols has bestowed upon us the distinct honor of hitting the road with them this fall. This rules. And it means there will be way more seats in the venues we're playing than we're accustomed to, so, y'know, chill, alla yez'll be gettin' in. The Upsidedown play first on all these dates, then us, then Those Dandys (or is it Dandies?). So, the dates:

Sept. 9 . Minneapolis . First Avenue . 9 pm
Sept. 10 . Madison, WI . Barrymore Theatre . 8 pm
Sept. 12 . Chicago . Vic Theatre . 8 pm
Sept. 13 . Toronto . Kool Haus . 9 pm
Sept. 14 . Montreal . Club Soda . 8 pm
Sept. 16 . Boston . Wilbur Theatre . 7:30 pm
Sept. 17 . NYC . Terminal 5 . 8 pm
Sept. 20 . Philadelphia . Theater of Living Arts . 9 pm
Sept. 22 . Washington, DC . 9:30 Club . 8 pm
Sept. 23 . Atlanta . Center Stage Atlanta . 8 pm
Sept. 26 . Lawrence, KS . Liberty Hall . 8 pm
Sept. 27 . Denver . Gothic Theatre . 9 pm
Sept. 28 . Aspen, CO . Belly Up Aspen . 9 pm

Tickets go on sale June 21!

The bad news is that all this means we have to scuttle our big Red Rocks plans, where we were supposed to play the Monolith Festival on Sept. 13. But, as you can probably see, we'll be in Toronto then. But the good news is we're gonna doubly make up for it 2 weeks later. So, no whining, Denver area.

Speaking of which, did you know there's an arrow hidden in the FedEx logo? See if you can find it!

it's catchin' on

2008-06-16T16:20:00.000-07:00

yes/no, Tim does/does not sing "Five Dollar Foot Long."

SHOWS!!!

2008-05-28T14:53:00.000-07:00

After what seems like years of being bound by a non-disclosure agreement, the veil has been lifted, and boy, we do we have some shows for yez!

We're calling it a West Coast Residency, which means we're doing simultaneous weekly LA-and-SF shows. All this leading up to/surrounding the release of 2 on August 5. It's a fine record, and this'll be your first chance (assuming you haven't seen us in, like, the last 2 years) to hear these (to borrow some adjectives from our label) swirling, polychromatic, reverb-drenched, pounding, stratosphere-scraping new jams. Huzzah!

The best part, as far as you're concerned, is this: Each fan/companion/rote concertgoer will receive a limited edition 7-inch - different one each week! collect em all! - as well as the opportunity to pre-order the LP for a rad discounted price. The dual-city onslaught will culminate with back-to-back album release shows at SF's The Independent on August 5th and LA's Troubadour on the 7th, where said attendees will receive a copy of the album just for buying a cheap-ass $9.99 ticket!

So we're real excited bout all this. In fact, the wait is killing us. Literally. I think they call this lead-in time or something in the biz, but to us it's more like detention. House arrest. Anyway. First, Andy, then the shows...

photo by Tim Presley

Thursday June 5. LA. Troubadour.
with the Black Angels.
Thursday July 17. SF. Popscene
Friday July 18. LA. The Echo.
with Crystal Antlers. FREE!
Thursday July 24. SF. Rickshaw Stop. FREE!
with Mammatus, Assemble Head in Sunburst Sound. FREE!
Friday July 25. LA. The Echo.
with Fool's Gold. FREE!
Saturday July 26. Seattle. Capitol Hill Block Party, at Neumo’s
Tuesday August 5. SF. The Independent.
with The Lumerians, Eulogies
Thursday August 7. LA. Troubadour.
with Eulogies, Amnion, John Webster Johns
Saturday September 13. Red Rocks. Monolith Festival

The MP3 Challenge

2008-05-14T14:27:00.000-07:00

So It's killing me waiting for this record to come out, so I've decided to challenge myself to writing and recording a song each day. The rules are I must write and record said song in one hour. I've been thinking too much when writing songs lately so this is a way to shut down the brain and work. The songs might not be that good or catchy, but that's not the point. So check back to see what's new.

kind regards,
Rob Barbato

P.S. this has nothing to do with the new record

Song: Hey Paul

Eyes feel so comfortable

2008-05-05T12:16:00.001-07:00

Well. Everything’s kinda kicking into high gear now - or at least the non-musical part of releasing an album is. You’ll be thrilled to know that yes, Virginia, we will have stickers, we will have buttons, we will have window clings for your local record-store-that-you’re-not-gonna-go-to-anyway, and yes, we will have assorted DML-themed tchotchkes, all for your stockings. More practically, the album itself will be a wonder to behold. There will be a compact disc pressing, complete with artwork and songs, that you can buy, and/or if you’re so inclined, there will also be a really really nice 18,546-gram vinyl pressing, double-LP-style, with a sick-ass bonus track. And then there are also some 7”’s in the works. So there.

We know we should really write on here more often, and put up the occasional non-business post, y’know, like where we make political endorsements and publish a weekend what’s-up-in-LA-and/or-SF calendar and talk about baseball and girls and recount tales of promoters fucking us over. We know. But that’s gonna have to wait:

Our “official” website is now darkermylovemusic.com. You can look at it if you want, but for now, it’ll only take you our glorious MySpace page. I guess the assclown that’s parked at darkermylove.com wants an actual treasure chest in exchange for his booty, and don’t even ask about our old official website, which evidently was snatched up after we stopped paying for it (and whose URL we will not provide here, but which you’re welcome to seek out at your own peril. totally NSFW).

Let’s see, what else. We burrowed ourselves in a studio for a whole week and got better at playing our own songs, and threw a Charlie O’s gig in the middle. You should check out videothing.com for a recap of said gig (just ignore the part where we’re actually playing, thanks). This guy’s managed somehow to document pretty much our entire year so far. I don’t think we’ve played a single show without Crystal Antlers this year. But hey, the odds are pretty good that’ll happen when they play 5 shows a night. And here’s to many more with those sweethearts.

So then we made a music video. Like, a real one. It's for our first single "Two Ways Out." This boy wonder Toben Seymour did it. As you can see, the video will be a 3-1/2-minute paraphrasing of Eraserhead.

Which leaves only shows and such:

Thursday June 5. Troubadour. West Hollywood. with the Black Angels.
Saturday July 26. Capitol Hill Block Party, at Neumo’s. Seattle.
and then...
Saturday September 13. Monolith Festival. Red Rocks. That’s in Colorado.

Look out for a flurry of shows preceding and surrounding the release. In other words, keep your Julys and Augusts open.

INTO THE FUTURE WITH THE BOYS OF SUMMER

2008-04-02T15:37:00.000-07:00

Pictured (L-R, Standing) are Will Canzoneri, keyboards; Rob Barbato, vocals, bass; Tim Presley, vocals, guitar; Jared Everett, guitar; Dave Cooley, producer. Foreground (L-R) ~~Wesley Seidman, assistant engineer~~ Andy Granelli, drummer; Tony Hoffer, engineer/mixer. (image ©2008 Mr. Bonzai)

It's April now, and the record is deep in can. Art work is being de-pixelated, websites are getting coded, and interns are working (for free). So since those who read this blog really like our band, or are interested in what we do... we are letting you know that the record is called 2 and it will be in stores in the U.S.A. on August 5, 2008.

It's going to be a while till this sucker comes out, but... When it does, it does.....

more info on websites, shows and other stuff coming soon.

stay cool,
the dudes

SXSW shows, set times, dreams and the golden road to unlimited devotion

2008-03-08T13:52:00.000-08:00

Hello it's me,

It's about that time to ship off to austin for SXSW, or South By, or SX, or S. Anyway you want to look at it you're going to end up hungover, but we have a few shows to help you get through the pain of a million "bands" trying to make a dent in the fabic of our lives. No, we're not talking about cotton.

So the first show were are playing, we go on around noon. It's at the Scoot Inn and it's the Bust Magazine/Musebox "How's Your Boozeday?" Party. This should be good being that we'll be hungover, but maybe a little more on-it cause it's early. Other acts apearing... Drug Rug, Moonrats and more.

The next show will be at BD Rileys at 1 am. This should be fun, or funny. I suggest come down and catch a set fueled by free beverages. This is our Official Showcase!

Then we play MESS WITH TEXAS 2

THIS SHOULD BE THE BOMB

March 13 12.00 pm @ The Scoot Inn Bust Magazine/Musebox Party, Free

March 13 1:00 am @ BD Rileys Official SXSW Showcase, Badge or Money

March 15 4:10 pm @ Waterloo Park Mess With Texas 2, Free

So come party with the dudes!

don't be afraid, the clown's afraid too

2008-02-12T15:19:00.000-08:00

Much excitement afoot here. To recap:

As promised, A-lister Tony Hoffer adroitly mixed our record over a couple of weeks last month. We were fortunate enough to conclude our year-long tour of LA's most historically significant studios at Ocean Way (formerly United), where Mr. Hoffer did his thing. The results of said thing were/are, y'know, transformational. Which is what tends to happen when a record gets mixed. Look for our picture in an upcoming issue of Mix magazine.

Then the golden platter was tossed down the hall to Ocean Way's in-house mastering guru Dr. Alan Yoshida, who masterfully (ahem) did his thing last week. Loose ends get tied up this week.

And of course, the record will be out this summer, more or less.

Then there's upcoming shows, promotional appearances, etc.:

(this) Saturday, Feb. 16 : 6th Street Warehouse, Downtown LA
w/ Crystal Antlers and some kinda "SPECJIAL GUEST"

Thursday, Feb. 21 : The Echo
A benefit for Manny Neito’s studio and Matt Crunk
w/ Helmet, Burning Brides, The Icarus Line, and Crystal Antlers !!!!!!!!!

Friday, Feb. 29 : Great American Music Hall, SF
as part of Noise Pop
w/ Cursive

Saturday, March 1 : Ghost Town Gallery, Oakland
w/ Fauna Valetta

March 13-16 : SXSW
details forthcoming!

Tumescently Yours,
Das Dudes

Happy Holidays!

2007-12-22T23:48:00.001-08:00

photo: world famous author, austin collings

So most of us are at home (sorry Will) enjoying the free time we have before the new year. When we get back Mr. Tony Hoffer will mix our record. It has taken a very long time to record, but the end result is worth it. The big wigs at the label say it will be out in may, but at the rate things are going I'd say june. We're playing a couple shows in san francisco, one being at the noise pop festival. We also have confirmed our return to a week of brain cell destruction. That's right, we're goig back to SXSW, though we vowed never to play that festival again. So hopefully we'll be playing some shows on the way out there and the way out of there.

we hope you have a great holiday and a wonderful new year....

see you soon,

love,
the dudes

shows:

Jan. 12 @ 12 Galaxies , San Francisco, Ca w/ Hot Lunch, Brian Glaze and The Night Shift

Feb. 29 @ The Great American Music Hall , San Francisco, Ca NOISE POP FEST w/ Cursive

Tour is over, if you want it.

2007-11-27T23:50:00.000-08:00

And thank you, Lower 48. It ruled, and the worst part of the whole thing was the part where it ended. The funny part was the part where we didn't update the blog regularly throughout as planned. Part of this was slothfulness, part of it was the unexpected absence of a cloud of free WiFi covering the entire nation, and part of it was leaving Rob's MacBook at the Red Roof Inn in Toledo (picture below) and not realizing it until we were 2 hours away. This MacBook contained about 47,000 words of titillating, unposted blogalia - words you'll never see.

To recap, however, the gist of the great lost blog entry/entries were shout-outs to: Nan P and DJ Bilto; Sean P.P. and Dana for driving our van to Denver; The Bronx for trusting us with their van; Aaron in Denver of Hi-Dive fame, who is either totally awake or totally asleep right now; everyone else in Denver who likes to stay up late; Chuckie of San Antonio (aka Chaos Town), who, via MySpace, got us that BIG JIGGERS SHOW, which was absolutely the best show of the tour, as part of, in spite of technically not qualifying, Local Gorefest '07; Jered (correct spelling) of C-Town's All Your Fault (see below); and yet another Aaron, this one in Austin, and this one of Lot 6 fame, who also quartered us.

And that was where all the typing ended and where the slothfulness began. The next 7 days went undocumented, and then the laptop disappeared. Coincidentally, that's where Miz Malia James joined us, and it was not long after her misty-eyed departure in NYC that everything, hyperbolically speaking, fell apart. Fortunately, Sweet Becky at said Red Roof Inn FedEx'ed said laptop to Seattle, for a (ahem) nominal fee. And, turns out, she did not erase the contents of the hard drive. Not that it mattered. But anyway.

Maybe there'll be another blog entry (although it won't be this week or next or the week after that or anything resembling any of those weeks) chronicling the rest of the tour, but for now, the important thing is to thank The Warlocks for taking us with them. They turned out to kinda rule, both musically and personally, and now they're in Europe, melting even more zombified faces. Thanks dudes (and Jenny).

And now, presented in chronological order, the pictures:

[click to enlarge]

The Jesus and Mary Chain, The Fillmore, SF.

This is what happens when you've graduated from Clown College.

Big Jiggers Show Confirmed!!!

Chaostown's own All Your Fault, in their debut at Local Gorefest '07, Jiggers, San Antonio

Chuckie. He's the man.

this here photo by Will's dad

Brand New Rob gets caricaturized, Atlanta.

NYC

Red Roof Inn, Toledo (referenced above). Not thinking about his Macbook.

400 Bar, Minneapolis. With 2/5 of The Warlocks.

We went out of our way to dine at Bismarck's own Space Aliens Grill & Bar. Terrible food, but totally worth it.

Nowhere, Montana

Not the LA River. Also Nowhere, Montana (aka Custer, Montana)
photo by Miss Jenny P. Fraser

Jared escaped.

Photos courtesy W.P. Canzoneri, except where noted.

Shows added with JAMC/Download DML debut for free!!!

2007-10-09T14:48:00.000-07:00

So we are very excited to tell you that we've added two shows with The Jesus and Mary Chain. We would also like to let you know that you can download our debut album for free at Dangerbird. The new record is almost done and will be out sometime next year......

w/ The Jesus and Mary Chain

Oct 26 2007 8:00p Fillmore, San Francisco, California
Oct 27 2007 8:00p Fillmore, San Francisco, California
Oct 28 2007 8:00p Fillmore Auditorium, Denver, Colorado

w/ The Warlocks

Oct 30 2007 8:00p Ray’s Bar, Marfa, Texas
Oct 31 2007 8:00p The Mohawk, Austin, Texas
Nov 2 2007 8:00p The Nick, Birmingham, Alabama
Nov 3 2007 8:00p Drunken Unicorn, Atlanta, Georgia
Nov 4 2007 8:00p Local 506, Chapel Hill, North Carolina
Nov 5 2007 8:00p Rock and Roll Hotel, Washington, DC
Nov 6 2007 8:00p The Knitting Factory, New York, New York
Nov 7 2007 8:00p Johnny Brenda’s, Philladelphia, Pennsylvania
Nov 9 2007 8:00p Logan Square, Chicago, Illinois
Nov 10 2007 8:00p 400 Bar, Minneapolis, Minnesota
Nov 13 2007 8:00p Chop suey, Seattle, Washington
Nov 14 2007 8:00p Doug Fir, Portland, Oregon
Nov 16 2007 8:00p Bottom of the Hill, San Francisco, California
Nov 17 2007 8:00p Troubadour, Los Angeles, California

fall, uh, I mean autumn tour dates

2007-09-21T14:53:00.000-07:00

So The Warlocks are heading out on tour in suport of their new record "Heavy Deavy Skull Lover" on tee pee records, and were nice enough to ask us to come along. So here are the dates.

All Tour Dates w/ The Warlocks

Oct 30 2007 8:00p Ray’s Bar, Marfa, Texas
Oct 31 2007 8:00p The Mohawk, Austin, Texas
Nov 2 2007 8:00p The Nick, Birmingham, Alabama
Nov 3 2007 8:00p Drunken Unicorn, Atlanta, Georgia
Nov 4 2007 8:00p Local 506, Chapel Hill, North Carolina
Nov 5 2007 8:00p Rock and Roll Hotel, Washington, DC
Nov 6 2007 8:00p The Knitting Factory, New York, New York
Nov 7 2007 8:00p Johnny Brenda’s, Philladelphia, Pennsylvania
Nov 9 2007 8:00p Logan Square, Chicago, Illinois
Nov 10 2007 8:00p 400 Bar, Minneapolis, Minnesota
Nov 13 2007 8:00p Chop suey, Seattle, Washington
Nov 14 2007 8:00p Doug Fir, Portland, Oregon
Nov 16 2007 8:00p Bottom of the Hill, San Francisco, California
Nov 17 2007 8:00p Troubadour, Los Angeles, California

In other news, we're almost done with the record, which will be out next year on Dangerbird.......

and if you have not bought the split 12", you should at i hate rock n roll.

2007-08-28T11:23:00.000-07:00

So, if you missed it, we had a kinda-show Sunday at the aforementioned Fuck Yeah Fest. "Kinda" because our main Darker-My-Dude Tim Presley (last seen plowing his junkyard convertible into the Old Old Spaghetti Factory) was gettin' all IV'd up - that is, in the hospital - and missed the show. Pretty rock n roll, right? As the story goes, Jared thought it would be really funny if he put a fucking rattlesnake in Tim's bathtub (where/why/how did he get a rattlesnake in the first place?). Well, turns out, it was really funny, because Tim's brushing his teeth in the morning (of the show) and next thing you know, said rattlesnake's sunk its cruel fangs into Tim's foot. Tony hears some pained yelp-cursing from the next room, finds Tim slumped on the floor, bleeding out of three new orifices on his foot (or, pedifices), and the snake coiled above the bathroom mirror. Rest-of-long-story short, Tim's in the hospital all day getting de-venomized, and we're getting periodic updates from Tony, who seemed to be at Wendy's through most of this. After trying in vain to move our 8:00 set time, we erected what turned out to be our little Tim Presley Memorial gear-pile and bullshat our way through 3 prolonged song-jams, hoping that Tim would make a dramatic wheelchair-bound mid-set James Brown-style entrance. But he didn't.

So we rose to the occasion and it was alright and everybody got to overplay to fill the void and Rob got to sing ballsy leads and Will got to make up harmonious non-lyrics and Tim never showed up and then we stopped.

But in all seriousness, it wasn't a snake. It was a spider, and that's much less exciting. But it's close enough. Then again, maybe the story should just be that he was poisoned. Because it's true.

hey, whaddaya gonna do?

2007-08-22T10:07:00.001-07:00

snapped by my cool Helio!

Everybody, everywhere.....if you (if you) really care.....

2007-08-19T22:39:00.000-07:00

The Rutles All We Need Is Cash is maybe the most amazing film ever; well at least it makes me laugh. Watch it and take note of such hits as "Cheese and Onions," "Get Up and Go," and "Let's Be Natural."

do you want to go golfing with me.....

2007-08-15T16:02:00.000-07:00

So we play fuck yeah fest on the 26th, should be a blast....
for tickets and other info: www.fyeahfest.net

split open and melt

2007-08-11T16:31:00.000-07:00

so our dear friend Matzah is putting out a split 12 inch with us and denver's mocassin (who recently signed with buddyhead) on his i hate rock n roll imprint. we recorded it last october up in san francisco at the soon to be decommissioned hyde street studios . john webster johns produced it, and and played some trumpet and bass, as well as backing vocals. the song is called "hair decisions" and is our most experimental to date. It was created with a tape collage that was done over two 18 hour sessions. you can pre-order the record or listen to "hair desicions" by clicking on the i hate rock n roll link.

here is the information you requested, round two

2007-08-09T10:28:00.001-07:00

We went back to Sunset Sound last week to re-record all our parts (just kidding! hahahaha!!!).
Actually, we recorded a second batch of songs, which gives us puhhh-lenty, which means get ready for some killer B-sides. Whatever comes out of this, you'll be surprised.

I love you, Mr. Jones.

Andy had no idea.

Next time you book time at Sunset, make sure it coincides with one of the staff's birthdays.

Another Joe Cocker re-enactment.

Photos courtesy of W.P. Canzoneri, whom nobody took any photos of, and may not be reproduced without the express written consent of Major League Baseball. That's right - Will may not be reproduced (the photos are like, whatever).

Stage Fright...

2007-07-23T13:06:00.000-07:00

So...

You people are pissed that we don't do one of these everyday... well what can I say? We're busy. We just finished a week of recording at Sage and Sound Studios in Hollywood, CA....... now "the dudes" are going to work on some even newer songs and go into Sunset Sound the first week of august... time to kill, what a thrill, june and july....... so anyway... come to the show on Sunday, it's going to be great.............

Love,
Darker My Dudes

Talking Words

2007-07-11T18:50:00.000-07:00

So, as you can see below... we're recording a new record. We'll hopefully be done by the end of summer... we're playing a show with Dead Meadow, Entrance and Moonrats... on July 29th at the Ex Plex (below the Echo) for LA Record. So, other than that keep an eye out for upcoming shit.

here is the information you requested, round one

2007-07-10T01:08:00.000-07:00

In this series of photos, we are recording:

Yes, Buffy St. Marie also recorded here. Guess she didn't want the tapes.

There was that time Jared got his ass chewed the fuck out.

Still recording.

A facsimile of Jim Morrison's voice was once routed through a speaker on the other end of the room into these very microphones. Also, Michael McDonald.

In this series of photos, we are at a Dodger game. The Dodgers hit back-to-back-to-back home runs on as many pitches, and we spent a lotta money drinking and not publicly kissing Richard Lewis in the parking lot:

Finally, in this series of photos, we are at a recording studio, but are not recording:

* Will doesn't appear in any of these photos because he was probably untangling some cables or some shit.