Squeaky: A Rock Band

Tonight, Tonight, Tonight

2011-11-02T09:26:00.000-04:00

With Mower out of town, Karlo vomiting, who knows what'll happen tonight.

Photos

2011-10-25T12:53:00.001-04:00

You're probably sick of hearing about this goddam show, and you may have already seen a link to these photos of PhaceBuhk, but here they are. Thanks a ton, Missi. You know we love blurry photos of dudes rocking.

And the PopCanon shots are really good. It was really like that.

Squeaky 10/15/11 Photos by Missi

PopCanon 10/15/11 Photos by Missi

Some Further Thoughts on Saturday's Show

2011-10-20T08:37:00.002-04:00

I've already blurted out a lot of things about this past weekend's show with PopCanon, so what follows is only for folks who actually care a lot about either band or what it feels like to be in a band. So, read on, if you dare.

First of all, did it really happen? Back at work at my desk on Monday, it was like a distant memory already, and that just Blows. That little magical dreamworld where my only responsibilities are moving equipment and rocking disappeared so quickly. Real world, with things like "what am I going to cook for dinner" and "I have a meeting to go to" returned all too quickly. I got an email from Ned first thing Monday morning that said, "Dude, did that really happen? It seems like weeks ago and I'm still tired." Yup.

It was really, remarkably easy to slip into a world where all these friends, rock compatriots still lived in Gainesville, and it seemed totally normal that we played a show together at a club and it was exhilarating and tiring and all of those things, but it still seemed like we could do it again in a couple of weeks. But we can't.

Second of all, the songs. I have to be honest, I have not listened to PopCanon records much in the intervening 10 years, probably because I'd rather see them live, where you really get the whole picture. And probably because it would just make me sad. So, when PC was rocking it out, it was like a wash of familiar, wonderful songs, like transmissions from a former life's radio station. It felt good to not remember every element of every song, because it allowed me to still be surprised by the music. Since becoming a father, my memory banks are increasingly filled with other things, so my annoying inability to remember things was actually helping me enjoy great song after great song.

Third of all, the musicianship. Being a guitar player/musician who operates more like a goofy archaeologist, finding peculiar things in my own playing and dusting them off into riffs and/or songs, I completely admire people who can hear things in their heads and just play them. Or can read music. Or can transpose guitar parts into piano parts on the fly. It was an amazing honor watching the PopCanon folks just completely rule their instruments. Their collective depth of understanding of music is unparalleled in Gainesville bands, that much is sure.

Ned's largesse of guitar and stature was as impressive as ever. Ned plays big and knows how to play to a room.
David's intellectual multitasking and effortless guitar weirdness was wonderful to behold again.
The slightly quizzical and amused look on Murphy's face belied his absolutely All Killer & No Filler bass playing.
Robby's drumset weirdness was apallingly wonderful—he makes making it look easy look even easier, if you know what I mean.
Don—while much can be said of his clothing and antics at PC shows, it cannot be overstated that the guy can fucking play his horn. His neck is doing that Dizzy Gillespie thing where it expands perceptibly when he blows. He's on another plane when he's playing, it's obvious.
I told Alyson that she and Don are collectively like Flavor Flav—the hype men and comic foils for Ned and David (who in this metaphor, would collectively by Chuck D). And I think that's true. Alyson is great to watch, she stalks the stage with, by turns, comedy and drama. She has a quiet confidence when she plays which is awesome.

Fourth of all, time.

I started going to PopCanon shows when they were the Semantics, and through all the changes in their lineup and all the changes in Squeaky's lineup, there was/is a consistent fun in seeing them play. Now, ten years after their last show, so much has changed in their lives, and so much has changed in mine. I wasn't a parent last time I saw them play. My entire understanding of time has changed. My everything has changed. But what hasn't changed is my love of music, and that's why it was a joy to let PC wash over me, reminding me of what is the same in the midst of everything's difference.

Two Photos

2011-10-16T11:13:00.001-04:00

The view from onstage\

Danny and shiny, unbroken cymbals

Squeaky Loves PopCanon

2011-10-16T11:06:00.003-04:00

There is much to say about the awesome weekend of rock that has sadly passed, but one of my favorite things was the dinner party/impromptu concert at the Rockter's house.

Some photos from that night:

Final Prep

2011-10-13T08:22:00.001-04:00

Good times last night. The first time through the set, we kind of sucked, but the second time through, the glory came through. There was a lot of talk about logistics for the show, what time to do what, where to put all the stuff on stage, etc. In the final analysis, we'll get there, put stuff on stage, and generally play it. And then PopCanon will do the same, minus the putting.

Hiccups? Briefly. Heated arguments? Not really, unless you count a brief discussion about who's the better bass player, Chris Squire, or Geddy Lee. Karl summed that one up nicely by saying, "What's better? Green or Blue?" Ged definitely got more than one vote, simply for being so tasteful and multifunctional. Chris Squire's tone is enviable, his only failing noted by the group was his business and showboating nature. And the fact that he looks like a wizard could go either way.

We also learned that none of us are particularly passionate about The Who. Entwhistle is (was) probably the most interesting guy in that band.

Anyway, see you Saturday night, right?

Ridiculous

2011-10-06T09:01:00.001-04:00

At our core, Squeaky is just a bunch of good friends who enjoy playing music together. Which is good, because any sheen of professionalism was gone last night. We at times shambled through songs, not because we didn't know them, but because we were laughing at each other.

You don't know this, but when we play on the 15th, we'll have an expanded lineup, both personnel-wise and equipment-wise. There are songs which feature two drummers (one and a half, actually) and keyboards. This is cool, but when Danny and Steven are both playing drums, the possibility of guffaw-inducing fills is really quite high. The two of them stare at each other, eventually egging the other on to do more and more ridiculous parts. The rest of try to just keep playing, but it's rough.

I'm sure we'll keep it together for the show. But maybe not. Maybe we'll collapse with laughter and the audience will pelt us with liquids, and we'll just slink off the stage, embarrassed at our juvenile behavior.

We also tried hard to irritate each other by forcing others to listen to songs they hate. It began, of course, with Karl, who insisted in singing 'Lookin Out My Back Door,' (CCR) long known to be Harry's least favorite song ever. Steven then played it through his phone into the PA. Fair being fair, he then blasted Boston's "Don't Look Back" (Karl's most hated song) through the PA. This pretty much forced everyone out of the practice space, whereupon we went downstairs to begin the intellectual portion of practice.

Hot discussions included the revelation that Randy Rhoads founded Quiet Riot at the age of 16. Mower was the guy that let that ball drop. Instant smartphoning proved that it was indeed the case. Steven and Harry also pulled out pop gems that they like by Kelly Clarkson and Katy Perry, much to Karl's disgust. Then an inordinate amount of time was discussing the relative merits of Human League. Karl claimed their best song is 'Fascination,' when it is so clearly 'Don't You Want Me.' And he was sure that the video for the song was in black and white, and featured actual guitars. It's no wonder we got home so late.

Kevin Spacey Lives

2011-09-29T08:21:00.000-04:00

Of course, Kevin Spacey's life was never in doubt. I'm referring to one of my favorite Squeaky songs, Kevin Spacey. I don't know what it is about the song that gets me—maybe it's the fact that the lyrics mention Ohio. But anyway, since Mower was out of town lasts night, we felt a little more free to just rock out some oldies. Steven pulled out the C-tuned guitar, and Kevin Spacey came out of retirement. Two times through was all it took, it sounded great.

We also played Free and Leprechaun, both songs that haven't gotten a lot of love lately. No beer was spilled, I didn't get the hiccups, and we sounded good. We have prepared a killer set for you, dear listener. Please come see us October 15 at the Double Down with PopCanon.

Hoarse Head

2011-09-22T08:22:00.001-04:00

Good practice last night, we pushed ourselves through the set twice, with a few last-minute skips. We got a late start, but minimized the bullshit to make up for it.

Hilariously, another beer was spilled in exactly the same place as last week. Happily, it also missed the extension cord which powers almost everything in the practice space. Unhappily, it disappeared into the carpet like so many beers before it.

Yet another destroyed cymbal

Cymbals the world over must collectively shudder when a new cymbal is acquired by Danny Welsh. No one here gets out alive, they must reluctantly admit to themselves. Events took their inevitable turn last night for this 70's-era Zildjian. A crack turned into a gap which then was destroyed during one particular song. Danny then ripped off the whole piece, yielding a cymbal which looks like the USS Enterprise and sounds about like that.

MTM

2011-09-15T10:41:00.003-04:00

Great practice last night, I think we really sounded great. Mower surprised us by having prepared a keyboard part to MTM, and it sounds really full and cool.

There was the usual guffawing and snorting with laughter, but we just can't help it. I entertained myself by watching the equipment rack near Karl teeter and totter every time he jumped up and down. One day, the floor will just collapse and we will find ourselves in the sink downstairs.

Frances was sounding good, too. So we have a great set planned for the show on October 15. I hope you'll join us.

Forgotten your Squeaky history? Here's a history of the band.

Work, Work

2011-09-08T11:06:00.000-04:00

Great practice last night, a lot of hard work, and a lot of good progress towards a set for the Oct. 15 show. We got right down to the nitty gritty, built a set list, ran through everything a few times.

Some old songs, some newer ones, one hopeful debut (Frances).

Gastronomics: Karl's garlic breath was absolutely stunning.

Hiccups: Harry did not laugh himself into a fit of hiccuping.

Strings: One bass string (E) and one .24 gauge from the Musicmaster II.

Practice, Moser

2011-08-18T08:23:00.000-04:00

We practiced as a 5-piece last night, we were struggling to find our sound, for some unknown reason. Things got better when we realized that half of the PA speakers were off. We did some ridiculous jams in the two-drummer configuration, just for fun. And a great version of "Beer Me Up." Unfortunately, our actual 'songs' did not sound so hot.

Here are some thoughts about a song of ours called Moser, from our first CD. Sugarblimp is, of course, one of the foremost thinkers in the arena of popular culture, so his insight into Squeaky's music is sine qua non for any Squeaky fan.

Sugarblimp: I've listened to Moser many times. There is a lot going on in that song. How did that song come about? The drums sound different than a lot of your other songs. There's that angular tonal noodling that you guys do a lot, but then it goes into a classic Sonic Youth precursor to greatness set up that builds tension that partially resolves with this 1980's ascending rhythm chord thing. But it stops doing that -leaving you wanting more. The vocals sound like they are coming at you from different directions giving the song a spacious, 3-D feel. Overall the song has really good balance, blending more traditional pop structures to hook the listener in, but mixing it up with a couple of tonal interludes which provide a crucial change up to keep it from getting boring and overly familiar. Plus it has a pretty dope guitar solo.

Anyway I don't know what I'm talking about I just like the song.

Yup.

Practice Last Night

2011-08-04T08:44:00.000-04:00

Practice last night was old school, Mower was in S.C. For some reason, we strolled down memory lane and dusted off a bunch of old songs. I'm talking old songs. Like Trophy Shoppe, King Me, Dual Mono, Sparrow, Quiero, Free, House Music—a ton of songs from An Elaborate System... We also dug into Do Both, we worked up Kevin Spacey and Fireflies and the Arsonist.

As usual, Danny made me laugh so hard, I really was afraid that I would vomit. And watching/listening to some of Karl's basslines just made me grateful to be in a band with that guy. He and Danny are total assholes, they remember everything about old songs, pull them out of their memory fully intact. For Steven and I, it's a little more...complicated. We get there, usually, but it takes a little work.

Steven got a guitar tuned up for his C tuning, which enabled us to play many of the old songs that we couldn't. But he's using one of my guitars, which means we can't play certain songs like Rocky Records or Constellation #9. We listened to our eponymous album as we were packing up, and we marveled at how complicated the songs are and how we have totally been avoiding playing almost all of the songs on that record since we recorded it. They took a lot of work to write, and it would be only slightly easier to remember them. We got Centrifuge going, but that was always the easy one on that record.

Onwards. H/SQ

The View Prior to Rocking

2011-07-28T08:11:00.000-04:00

When you're in a band in which four of the five guys are parents in their forties, you might spend a lot of time waiting for each other to arrive. But that's ok. Because we usually show up.

This is what it looked like waiting at the practice space last night.

At the Bottom of a Lake

2011-07-19T08:30:00.001-04:00

In my personal mythology, October 15 is the day at which the weather in Gainesville flips into Fall mode. It's an average, but it seems to be true. This was my dad's idea, and history has borne it out.

Well, this October 15, Squeaky reunites with a band with which, for some strange reason, we share a destiny. PopCanon. How many shows have we played with them? A lot more than you'd think, considering the totally divergent genres/styles etc. What we have always shared with PopCanon is an almost insane enthusiasm for rock—rock as we see it. PopCanon broke up a long time ago, and its members live in Alabama, New York, California, Chicago, Rochester (I think I have that right). But they are committed to playing a show in Gainesville, and we couldn't let them play it without us. As I am famously quoted as saying, I would play a show with PopCanon if it were at the bottom of a lake and I had to pay a fish for the honor. Now that's commitment.

So there. October 15, at the newly christened Double Down Live (former home of Common Grounds).

This is how it happened.

More Photos from June 18 Show

2011-06-29T09:21:00.001-04:00

I don't know who took these photos, they showed up on Facebook, but they are awesome.

Thank you.

Photos from Show

2011-06-23T15:34:00.003-04:00

Rosalind took some great shots of Squeaky and Blacksnake, you can see them here. I can assure you, that was exactly what the show was like.

Staples! I thought we broke up two years ago!

2011-06-17T15:56:00.000-04:00

I like for Squeaky to get mentioned in Gainesville's "newspaper," but I sure wish this guy knew that Squeaky was reuniting for the show, too! It would have been a better article.

Squeaky on Saturday

2011-06-14T10:35:00.003-04:00

Preparations, H

2011-06-09T08:12:00.000-04:00

Well, June 18 is coming closer every day. Duh. Did I mention that Squeaky is playing its first show in 2 years at Common Grounds, mere days before they close their doors? It will be another bittersweet experience on that particular stage, having played the Covered Dish's last show on the same stage years ago.

Anyway, we thank Common Grounds immensely for the support that they have shown us over the years. Nigel, Jay, Jason, Derron, Magarelli, and many more have been ultrakind to Squeaky through the years. Both Squeaky and CGs had multiple lineup changes, but their core has always been the same, and we thank them for that.

At this point, we're practicing as much as we can for the show, trying to dust off old songs and just remember what the fuck is going on. Muscle memory is going a long way for us, many of these songs have been in our minds for greater than ten years, and we often realize that sometimes the less we try to remember, the easier it is to remember. Right?

Danny is a badass, currently playing in a ton of bands and practicing with all of them in preparation for Common Grounds-related activities. The guy is a monster. And you should see Karl. Still able to jump around like a crazy person while flawlessly executing totally difficult parts. Asshole.

This is Embarrassing, Isn't It?

2011-05-25T14:49:00.000-04:00

So, it's good to be enthusiastic about practice, but there's really no excuse for this.

Six on the Wall

2011-05-12T08:09:00.000-04:00

Well, thanks to Mower, we got some guitar hangers for our multitude of guitars. Getting them up on the wall gets them off the floor, freeing up much-needed floor space. Bottom got them installed, they look awesome and they actually work. Thanks, Steves.

We were Mower-less last night, he's out of town working. We played some old Squeaky songs and talked a lot about Common Grounds closing. Which sucks, by the way. We spent some time marveling at the weird album that we did in 2007, the self-titled one. We just can't remember how to play most of those songs. Why?

2011-04-28T08:47:00.000-04:00

Practice last night was good, it was loud, and it was crowded. Karl brought his keyboard in, we sort of replaced the Casio. I got over my initial sadness (I have always loved the CK-1) as soon as I actually played the thing. I put together a keys part for 'Speedo,' and it was so much easier to play on full-size keys.

We're making progress, worked some more on what I am calling 'The Great Regurgitator." So far, we're working with 3 Yemana songs, 4 or 5 old Squeaky songs, and the new one. Already two of us have mentioned playing shows, so that's a good thing.

Changes

2011-03-18T11:13:00.000-04:00

Well, on July 19th 2009, Squeaky played our last show ever. At the time, we bade farewell to Danny as he moved to Memphis, and we saw no reason to continue without him.

Days later, we formed another band, Yemana, with the three remaining members of Squeaky and our good friend Mower Steve.

Weeks later, Danny was back in Gainesville (long story), and Yemana continued on, living in the post-Squeaky era.

After nearly two years and two shows, Yemana was yearning for a new way, and the idea came to ask Danny to play with us. He agreed. So, the obvious question became, "Who are we? Squeaky or Yemana?

We decided that we're Squeaky, so there you have it.

Bye Bye

2009-07-27T13:13:00.004-04:00

Well, our final show was really good. I mean it. I'm not being bitter, sarcastic, or any of that jazz. We played together, we let our love show, and those that were there were digging it, I do believe.

We played twenty songs, ended with Horsehead (as usual), and that was it.

I didn't cry, and I thought I would.

Steve did manage to shatter the headstock of his DanElectro guitar, something which he predicted would happen. As a side note, when Ned Davis attempted to board an airplane with the headstock (he swiped it from the show), the security people were instantly suspicious. It took quite some explaining (apparently, the security folks do not often attend rock shows in which guitars are destroyed), but Ned was able to board the plane, albeit without the guitar strings. I guess you could use guitar strings as a weapon. I know I do.

It should be mentioned that Ned is a lunatic, he flew down from Rochester, NY to see the show.

Anyway, the final Squeaky show is well documented; Jason Sadler filmed the show with three cameras, and he's posting songs on Facebook. Option8 took some amazing photos, you can see them on his flickr profile.

Cutman and Sam Snead Trio were awesome, and so are you.

Thanks for Rocking

H/SQ

We're Done.

2009-07-13T13:25:00.004-04:00

After a lot of shows, a lot of drummers, and a lot of broken strings, cymbals, and guitars, Squeaky is done.

The End Is Near

2009-06-11T08:27:00.004-04:00

Well, it looks like our 14-year reign of terror might be over. Danny Welsh, the drummer that took us to newfound heights of musicianship and ridiculousness, has decided to move to Memphis, and the band will not continue without him. At this point, having switched drummers so many times, we just can't do it again.

We wish Danny and his fiance', Carola, all the best, and we secretly hope that they'll move back to Gainesville eventually, so that we can hurt your ears again. But we're not holding our collective breath.

It's bittersweet, of course. As the remaining members lurch into their forties, playing in a band, and a good one, is a rare form of pleasure/escape in our increasingly "adult" lives. I will miss the comradeship, the "band-ness" that happens when the four of us are together. It's one of those special things that happens and goes unnoticed until it's gone. I'm a sap, of course, but that's how I am.

Danny is a great drummer, too. That's important to say. He still knocks my socks off at practice on a regular basis. I love the little gleam he gets in his eye when he's just inserted some unexpectedly awesome fill into a song, and he's thinking, "Hell yeah... that was cool." And then there's "the lean." There are times when we're playing a song when the collective energy level surges forward. We all respond to the surge differently. Steven bends over and begins to punish his guitar. Karl jumps around, veins in his neck begin to stick out. I pound my foot into the ground and scream for joy. Danny sort of rises in his seat a little, and just leans into whatever he's playing a little more. Suddenly, the shit just takes off. Hard to explain.

Anyway, we've got two shows left before he leaves. To wit:

• Saturday, June 13, at 1982 with 8 Track Automatic and a nameless band featuring former members of Beat Buttons and current members of Grabass Charlestons.
• Friday, July 10, at Common Grounds with the same unnamed band.

Please come and see us, and bring cameras. We'd love for you all to document these shows as much as possible.
Thanks for Rocking.

Things That Must Be Said

2009-04-07T14:19:00.007-04:00

It is not always easy being in a band. There are the usual difficulties: personality conflicts, creative frustrations, technical problems, etc. Carrying heavy equipment up a flight of stairs at 2 in the morning. That's a fucking problem. Usually, the problems are totally outweighed by the glories of playing music, either at practice or at a show. On the night of our last show, March 31st, the frustrations almost got the better of us.

We were going to open for Matt and Kim, an actual band that people like - they've been mentioned in Spin, have a video on MTV2 (what's the point of that? Is anyone watching?), etc. Whereas many of our shows are, shall we say, audience-challenged, this show was going to be a good chance to (hopefully) play in front of some people who don't know us. The day before the show, on my birthday, the promoter calls me to say that Matt and Kim have had to cancel, since Matt fucked his back up.
My first thought was "AAAARRGH! The curse continues!" For some reason, the big shows are usually disasters, while the little shows where we play to seventeen people are totally great. Then, we find out that not only is the headliner a no-go, the entire show is now canceled. Maybe you don't have kids, maybe you don't have a silly job, but for many of us in Squeaky, that show was sorely needed in our lives. And the thought of not playing a show was just... terrible.
We had practice that night, during which Danny hatched a plan to play a free show on the floor of Common Grounds, the site of the canceled show. Being old farts that we are, most of us had never heard of such a thing. A show on the floor? What? Uh, ok! Danny called the promoter, then he called his buddies in Laserhead (sorry... he texted them), and suddenly the show was on! Soon Facebook was positively aflutter with the news—Squeaky was playing anyway, for free. The next day, the day of the show, Steve and I made fliers and dutifully put them up all over downtown. How else would anyone know? We felt pretty good.

Until, that is, we rode home from work only to discover that all of ouf fliers were now covered over with new fliers from, you guessed it, Common Grounds (see my rant about flier ettiquette here). We were pissed. Our cell phones were hot with the expletives that were flying across the microwaves.
When I left my house for the show later that night, I was positively surly. I had had it with shitty clubs and shitty shows and I was already plotting the demise of the band. So was Steve. Until we got to the club, and it was set up really cool, everyone was nice, and... and... there were people there! We had a civilized dinner, got our attitudes right, and guess what? We had a great great show. There were a lot of people there, we played great, and I was really proud.
The lesson? Well, it might be that people don't really like our band, and that the only way to get them to come to a show is to not advertise or charge admission, but that's not the lesson that I took away from the whole thing. It was an affirmation of what I think is our band's demeanor and the fact that it really is fun to be a band and to play our version of the rock.
Smell you later,
H/SQ

What I Learned at Practice Last Night

2009-02-17T15:24:00.008-05:00

Here's a complete run-down on how the members of Squeaky keep their armpits smelling fresh (or not):

Harry: Tom's of Maine, "Woodspice"
Karl: "old english? i think? i dunno."
Steve: Secret (Strong Enough for a Man, but Made for a Woman)
Danny: Has recently given up on wearing anything, as there's no point. He stinks no matter what he does.

Danny may have a point.

Please come see us sweat collectively, at Club 1982, Midtown Gainesville, FL, with Towers of Hanoi and Giuseppe, on Saturday February 21.

We Got So Welshed Last Night...

2009-01-29T10:37:00.005-05:00

The band reconvened last night, after what seems like months, preparing for our upcoming show at 1982. Spirits were good, I think everyone was glad to be playing. Several times, we had to stop mid-song due to incessant giggling. Danny's Tama kit was back in action, it was awesome to hear his regular kit again.

Catchphrase of the night: Get Welshed (as in Danny Welsh, of course). Bizarre happening of the night: Karl suggested covering a Tears for Fears song and promptly began playing what we recognized as the bridge to "Head Over Heels." I was a little flabbergasted, it's usually Steve and I who are suggesting covering songs from that era, and I had no idea that Karl even liked Tears for Fears.

Also notable was Karl and Danny's pitch perfect rendition of the B-52s song, "Dance This Mess Around." They did it a cappella.

Anyway, we're getting ready to finally play a show, after 6 months off (!) from performing. It will be our first show comprised of three fathers and a Welsh. Saturday, February 21 at 1982, we'll be playing with Guiseppe and Towers of Hanoi. Come get Welshed.

Barack Me Obamadeus

2008-10-10T10:47:00.002-04:00

Squeaky played our first show since June last night. It was a fundraiser for Barack Obama, complete with food from the Top and Satchel's Pizza. Personal highlights? The fact that mine and one of Steve's daughters were there, running around like crazy and generally being wonderful and cute. I showed Clovis my guitars, and she walked all around Common Grounds' stage, examining stuff.

Another highlight: the dude who approached the stage and asked, "Do you still play King Me? You guys were my first show when I moved to gainesville, like 10 years ago. You guys were awesome."

Of course we still play King Me, and even though it was not supposed to be in the set, we rocked the pants off of that song just for that guy. I can't remember his name, unfortunately.

Anyway, it was good to see Scott Beckey play, it's been many years since he rocked that stage. Two Finger Suicide were really good, we played our previous show with them, and I hope we play more with them in the future. Funkiller were pretty hard to describe, but let it be said that they rocked an accordian con mucho gusto. Holopaw really swooped and swirled their way through some intense emotional territory, and I enjoyed the shit out of them.

What else? I made some McCain jokes, Karl spoke more than he ever does at a squeaky show, reminding people to get their lame friends who wouldn't ordinarily vote to get their asses to the polls, and I got an Obama tshirt from my wife. Pretty awesome.

Do Both.

2008-08-13T09:23:00.002-04:00

Although it's still not clear just what we're going to do with these songs, the five latest Squeaky recordings are finished and available online.

Via our Pownce page: Pownce is a social networking site that allows audio streaming to the world, and downloading of files once you have signed up for an account. It's a nice clearinghouse for all things Squeaky.

Via our MySpace page: Downloading is enabled, if you have an account. If not, you can just listen and enjoy the pretty pictures.

We'll have cds at shows, if you are not the downloading/streaming sort.

What can I say? These are the best songs we've ever done, in my opinion, and we want you to hear them.

Birth and Rebirth

2008-07-09T10:18:00.005-04:00

Be warned: The world best make room for Harper Blue Bullock, Karl and Kris' beautiful baby girl. The future shredder was born early in the morning on the 5th of July. Everyone is well and tearful. Squeaky is now composed of three fathers and a drummer.

We'll be finishing up mixing our new "record," while we patiently wait for Karl to return to the fold, a changed man. The stuff we recorded just a few weeks ago is our best yet, and we will prove that to you.

I saw beautiful Harper last night, and I swear she was getting ready to play some guitar with those long fingers.

Do Both! or SlayBacon

2008-07-02T16:01:00.003-04:00

Work continues on the as-yet-untitled Squeaky recording. Karl calls it SlayBacon and I call it Do Both. We have no idea what we're doing with this recording, we know from experience that not many people will hear it, let alone care. But we think it's great, and we're gonna keep going nuts with it until somebody stops us.

Karl finished most of his vocals last night, we may have a little touch-up work to do on one song, but he was the priority, since he will soon be out of pocket when Baby Blue arrives. Everybody sang their asses off, vocal parts were written where none existed previously, rough mixes were mixed, and generally, it was great to hang with my best friends and work on music together. It struck Steve and I this morning that these are great songs, some of our finest ever. And that we really have been a band for a long time. We know exactly what we want out of a recording, including some sloppiness and imprecision, and we know how to communicate what we want. At this point, a "producer" would just get in the way. Sure, it would be "better," but who wants that?

More Recording

2008-06-18T09:51:00.003-04:00

Well, we did some more recording last night. Just vocals. It was a very productive, if exhausting, night. Pictured is the hard drive on which all the rock lives. It's a 34 gig ultrawide scsi drive, for the nerds out there. I did a lot of my vocals, except for the Springsteen cover and the one song that doesn't have lyrics yet. Steve sang his ass off, really blew the doors off of Kevin Spacey, which is fast becoming my favorite song. Danny did some singing, too, and it sounds effing great. We were without Karl last night, which is something we're going to have to get used to for a while, as he approaches fatherhood. But he is there in spirit even if he's not present, keeping our standards as high as possible. What can I say? I was so excited last night, I couldn't stop listening to the songs. I just kept hitting the spacebar and turning knobs. When I got home, I couldn't relax, so instead I finished watching Evil Dead. Then I could sleep.

Recording!

2008-06-11T13:26:00.001-04:00

Squeaky@MirrorImage 013
Originally uploaded by squeakyrock

We are gluttons for punishment, that much is clear. In a frantic attempt to get a lot accomplished before Karl becomes a dad, Squeaky trundled over to the remnants of Mirror Image studios to record some new songs. It seems to be our fate to work there - Elaborate Systems was (partly) recorded there, NinjaSpiderHorse was recorded there, and the last 2 songs we recorded before we broke up were recorded there.
The songs we're recording, heretofore unheard, are titled thusly:
Fireflies
Kevin Spacey
Airstream Trailer
The Arsonist
We Are the Radio
We're having fun, not taking it too seriously, and we have no idea what we're doing with these tracks, but we're recording them nontheless.
H/SQ

Happenings

2008-06-05T16:53:00.003-04:00

It's going to be a busy time for Squeaky. We have this show coming up at 1982 (you're coming, aren't you?) with Nervous Systems and Two Finger Suicide, where we hope to debut 2 new songs (Airstream Trailer and a Springsteen cover). We're also going to attempt to record five or six songs at an undisclosed location. Why all the hubbub, bub, you might ask. Well, Karl and his wife Kris are fixin' to have a baby (it's true! I attended the baby shower myself!), and we're trying to get a lot of work out of Karl before he disappears off the face of the planet.

Other than that, if you click this thingamajiggy, you should be able to see video of Harry and Steve playing Horsehead Nebula at Indigo Green Store's 1 year anniversary party. There were a lot of kids, it was awesome despite the fact that Danny and Karl couldn't be there. While you're in the area, you can watch us play Kramer.

Stay tuned for details of the recording.

The Atlantic

2008-05-12T09:31:00.003-04:00

This past Friday night, we played at the Atlantic, downtown. Dirty Money, The Takers, and Ninja Gun all played - it was a night of really diverse and fun music. A lot of beards in the room. We've played in that room before, but not since it was the Atlantic. Tony made us feel really welcome, and we hope to be playing there again soon. Steve Ware and Nicole came out, as usual, and we thank them for that. Jay and Naomi of Common Grounds fame were there as well, we hadn't seen them in a long time.

We had the distinct impression that most everyone at the club had never heard of us, or heard us for that matter, which was cool.

Anyway, thanks for listening, if you were there.

In the meantime, Harry and Steve will be performing "solo" at the anniversary party for Indigo Green Store. Danny and Karl couldn't make it, and we love the Indigo folks, so we decided to do it alone. Should be funny, if not a little awkward. More details on that as they become available.

Who We Are.

2008-02-26T16:03:00.003-05:00

I think it's safe to say that not everyone in Gainesville (or otherwise) understands where our music is coming from. Here's someone who does: Aaron, currently in MD.
He said:

I don't think I ever put my finger on why I always liked you guys. Live, you're a wall and you don't sound like anyone else. But on record, at a quieter volume, I finally figured it out. You guys steal some of your aesthetic from Archers of Loaf and Sonic Youth, but you're a pop band. Squeaky plays pop music. You have choruses that lift with big hooks, you like ooh's and aah's, you have call and response vocals and your songs are short. Squeaky is a pop band. I hope you understand that I am paying you the highest compliment I can give. I don't like bands, I like songs. And to me, the definition of a pop band is a band focuses on songs. The Velvet Underground at their least meandering, Sonic Youth when they put down the goddam screwdrivers, Bob Dylan when he keeps it brief and Nirvana are all pop bands. They dabbled and experimented and annoyed the casual listener, but at their core, they understood how to write a song. You guys have songs in spades. And that is why I will always be a fan.
On a side note, "it's just noise but it's our noise" is the best self-referential band description ever. It's way better that "We were just another band out of Boston."

Thank you, Aaron.

New Digs, Old Digs

2008-02-20T22:22:00.004-05:00

In the beginning, Squeaky started practicing in the living room of Harry's house. When we became a real band, then began renting a small room in Everyman Sound Company. We later moved into another room in the same building, across the hall, mostly because of the functional air conditioning. When the band broke up in 2003, we left years of detritus in the space which then became inhabited by various bands of Kristen's, Harry's wife and kick-ass drummer.
When Squeaky re-formed in 2005, we began practicing in the cushy digs of guitar player Steve's house, with a ceiling fan, full-sized fridge, a real P.A. system, and plenty of room for rocking.
Steve recently moved out of that house, and so it was time for Squeaky to move back into our old space, which we now share with one of Kristen's current bands, Three Legged Dawg. It was weird at first, to be back in such a tiny room with hardly any room to move while we play. But it's a blessing, too, to have a room that is away from all of our houses, a room where the band is the band. When we're all there, we are Squeaky. And that matters.
We have gone back through some of the detritus (we seriously had a pair of blue coveralls which Steve wore during a show back in the nineties! It was still in the closet!), laughed our asses off, and have continued the business of being Squeaky.
H

The State of Flyering in Gainesville

2007-11-16T10:08:00.000-05:00

When Squeaky was young, in our twenties and relatively free of responsibilities, we put a lot of effort into flyering for our shows. In the nineties, before myspace, before gainesvillebands.com, fliers were the main method of advertising for shows. Telephone poles were the main venue for these fliers. As you drove or biked around town, we'd check the poles to see which bands were coming to town, which friends of ours were playing shows. If the flier was cool, I'd rip one off and take it home, or put it up on the wall at the practice space. The Covered Dish and the Hardback, the 2 main venues of the time, printed hundreds of flyers and handbills for every show, and they were all over town, as well as top of pizza boxes. You could tell when it was holiday-time because there were hardly any fliers up. The number of fliers up at any given time was a good measure of what was going on.
It looked chaotic as hell, but there was a system, a "code", if you will. One never posted a flier over another flier unless the show had already happened. Or unless there were already a lot of fliers for the show already up. There was a general feeling that you had to be cool about how you put up your fliers, or else other bands wouldn't treat your fliers with the same respect.
The world of flyering changed around 2000, due to a lot of legal machinations. The Gainesville Iguana has a couple of good articles about the history here and here. I don't remember all the details, but the end result was the placement of several wooden "kiosks", strategically placed around downtown, attempting to create a clean, organized area for flier placement. And now, for better or worse, in 2007, bands and clubs generally put fliers up on the kiosks if they do it at all.
I don't want to get into the politics of this (although, I personally liked the way it was much better), I want to talk about flier etiquette here in 2007. People are fucking dicks about fliers these days! I went out to put up fliers for our show on Saturday, and I found a fucking sad state of affairs in flyeringworld. Kiosks were either totally empty or completely covered by ads for one show. I'm talking 40 or 50 fliers for the same show on one kiosk! I felt justified in covering over 5 or so of those fliers in order to put up some Squeaky fliers. I did find myself wondering where all the fliers were. Anyway, less than 24 hours later, all the fliers on all the kiosks were covered over by Common Grounds fliers. Fliers for the same show! And if they weren't covered by CG fliers, they were covered by fliers which were advertisements for a t-shirt company. I'm not against small businesses using the kiosks for fliers, but leave some room for other fliers, for fuck's sake!
Gainesville, know your history! Fliers are a time-honored system of informal communication, and they're important. Fliers are made by bands directly - they're a unique way to see how a band presents itself to the rest of the world. You can hold them in your hands, not like a mass email. Don't mess it up by being inconsiderate and ignorant.
Maybe I sound like a "it was better in the old days" crotchity old fart, but I really just think that some common consideration is in order. Maybe I should just be IM'ing and Myspacing everyone about Squeaky shows, but I still believe in fliers.
If you're covering over other people's fliers, fuck you.
H/Sq

Upcoming Show

2007-11-12T09:35:00.001-05:00

You're coming to the show, right?

What Not To Do

2007-10-19T13:20:00.000-04:00

I believe this picture speaks for itself. However, I would like to add that this picture embodies everything that Squeaky does not do.
H

Pox Rocks! (well, ok, not really)

2007-09-28T15:17:00.000-04:00

After the CD release show i got chicken pox, the show was great, but the pox were not.
As you can see from the picture i have not been able to shave in three weeks. Luckily beards
are in fashion at the moment.
After sleeping for nearly three weeks I am back at work and after one day at work I'm exhausted. It wasn't all bad, i mean having bulging pustules all over your body is pretty cool, and then they pop and become really nice scabs.(no i didn't take any pictures)
So in case anyone cares i am on the mend and will ROCK again.
Steven,
Squeaky.

This is what my face looks like.

Thanks for Coming

2007-09-17T09:38:00.001-04:00

We finally released our 5th official CD to the world, and somehow, despite our best-laid plans, the world remains relatively unscathed. Thank you to our fans, old and new, for coming to the show at Common Grounds. We appreciate it. We hope that you have a copy of the eponymous Squeaky CD in your car, in your iPod, in your stereo or what have you, we just hope you have it. We'll of course continue selling the thing at our future shows, so you can get yours.
Thanks to Mike, the nicest sound guy ever, and thanks to Rockhill for logistical support.
Come see us again, we'll be loud.
H/SQ

It is Done.

2007-08-31T09:06:00.001-04:00

The first new squeaky album since like 2002 is done, finished, and ready for you. It arrived on the brown truck yesterday, exactly five months after we started working on it. It sounds really good, much better now that it is done. Nine new songs, carefully crafted over the last 2 years. Our finest material to date, if i may say so, and I think I may.
The album will be available for purchase at our September 8 show at Common Grounds, for a measly $5. We'll probably put the album up on the Snocap site, which is part of our myspace. But you'll really want to have the real thing, to hold it in your hand, to drink in the pure squeakyness of the whole thing.
So, join us at Common Grounds, Saturday September 8, we're playing with Hospitals on the Moon and Averkiou. It's going to be a great show.
thanks.
H

Meeslepend

2007-07-23T07:38:00.000-04:00

Well, the first review of Squeaky's new album is in, and it's written by my mother, a classically trained vocalist and pianist. She is Dutch, having lived in the Netherlands until emigrating to the U.S. in her thirties. Here is what she says:

Hi Harry, Finally, with Ron's help I found your CD and listened to all the songs. They are very intriguing to me . I listened with text exposed so that I could follow all the lyrics! Thank you so much for bringing it over! My favorite one by far is of course Constellation but also Sparrow, Rocky Records and believe it or not Urban Sherpa. Sherpa was a word I never knew until now. The music itself is grabbing, innovative and often to me very surprising with it's beat and shifting beat only to stop in mid-beat or to underscore cynical meanings? Do I have that right?. I felt that the words were well pronounced and that they tended to be close to how they are pronounced in the black culture. I hear never any other bands like this so I am a total novice to it. There is a heartbeat in all the songs that I find grabbing--"meeslepend" would be the Dutch word for it. The audience gets absorbed- even somebody who is not at all familiar with the genre. The instruments all sound good and well-controlled. I think that they are more harmonious than songs in the past. The singing I would describe as passionate recitative. I also like the visual presentation of the page. It is too bad that grandma has not been here to hear you Harry- she would have enjoyed it very much. The musical genes keep on creeping. Thanks for sharing all this. Love, Mom

A lot of people have written reviews of Squeaky records, most of them have been ill-informed and have missed the point. Sometimes it takes a Dutch lady with no experience with rock music whatsoever to really get to the heart of the matter. Thanks Mom!
Incidentally, my mom was reading the lyrics on a website that I set up: the lyrics are here.

H/SQ

Mission Accomplished.

2007-07-18T09:14:00.001-04:00

Major combat operations in the new Squeaky album are complete. In our personal war on rock, we declare: "Mission Accomplished". The new album, to be entitled Squeaky, is finally mixed and ready to be mastered. Karl, our tireless (literally! He never gets tired... it's freaky) bass player and engineer, resisted the urge to kill all of us (how many times did he hear, "well.. i want to make just one more change"), did a great job mixing the thing, using nTrack, a peculiar but effective program. The album awaits mastering at Harry's house, and then we get to figure out how the hell we're going to print the damn thing. But any way you slice it, the record is great, it's our finest effort to date, it is our "return to form" disc, heavy on the guitars, light on the instrumental switching.

Notable on the new album: Karl's string-breaking solo on Our Noise, Danny playing 2 independent drum tracks on Rocky Records, everyone but Harry playing piano at some point, and Danny singing.

You'll just have to wait to hear it, though.

H/Sq

1982 Show

2007-07-05T08:22:00.001-04:00

It was great to play at 1982, the former location of Common Grounds, the other night. We hadn't played on that stage since June 8, 2003. Of course, the stage was bigger, monitors were less fried, but it felt really familiar. Hospitals on the Moon and Sir Prize Fighter were both great, in my estimation -their enthusiasm was infectious.

Can I just state the obvious? It was hot as shit in that club. I could see sweat dripping off of my arm in droves by the third song.

Amy's phone took this picture of us at the show.

Hopefully, this photo looks like we sound.

If you came to the show, thank you very much.

H/SQ

Constellation #9, etc.

2007-05-16T08:18:00.000-04:00

Writing lyrics to a song is not easy. At least not for me. But the process has some unexpected benefits, at least in my life.
The main riff for Constellation #9 was conceived by Steve. The band (mostly me) struggled with the arrangement, I found it hard to count to 9 and sing at the same time, so I had to dumb down my guitar part. But as I started to write the lyrics, the song really came together in my mind. I wanted the song to be about fatherhood. I thought it was ridiculous that I had been a dad for more than a year and hadn't managed to write a song about it. Granted, it's a huge, bewildering, totally amazing happening, becoming a parent, so it's not easy to encapsulate with words. But I gave it my best shot. The lyrics came to me over the course of many nights, getting Clovis to go to sleep on my shoulder. She has glow-in-the-dark stars on the wall in her room, and as I would rock Clovis to sleep, I would sort of zone out on these stars. In total darkness, they're hard to focus on.
Anyway, that was the genesis for the lyrics. The rest of the words sort of came elliptically from there. As I was writing the lyrics in my head, I would often sing them to Clovis, really slow and gentle, as a way of trying out different lines and remembering changes to the lyrics. I never knew, but I think she liked the way the words sounded, and many a night ended with her having been put to sleep by Constellation.
Now that the new album is almost done, I listen to the rough mixes at home a lot, and I generally listen with Clovis. She knows what Squeaky sounds like, as soon as she hears us, she says, "Daddy's band.. skeeeky". When a song ends, she looks at me very quickly and says, "daddy.. more coming?", to which I reply, "Yup." I've told her about the Constellation song, that it's about her. She actually recognizes the guitar riff that starts the song, every time she hears it, she says her name and points to her chest, as if to say, "this is my song". I always tell her that it's her song. But she really recognizes that song - she doesn't ever point to herself when other songs start. This is amazing to me, very gratifying that she hears music like that. She can pick out drums when they play by themselves, knows what guitars sound like. Amazing.
Night before last, she and I were waiting for the macaroni and cheese to be finished ("Daddy... roni ready???"), so were listening to Squeaky. Constellation #9 came on, and she again amazed me by recognizing the song. She said, "daddy singing". She's learning to differentiate between my voice and Karl's, at least I think she is. But then she started saying words back to me from the song. The word "shimmer" appears in the song a lot, and she has always liked to say that word over and over again, but on this occasion, she basically was saying the end of every line to me, almost in a sing-song voice. "Tonight.. shimmer... look back..." she just went on and on. It was amazing. It was like she was singing my song back to me, looking at me with those big, earnest eyes... I don't want to get too sappy, but suffice it to say that it brought a father-sized lump to my throat.
That's it.
H

Almost Done.

2007-05-03T09:32:00.002-04:00

The album is almost done. It will be called Squeaky. It will have nine songs. They will be in a bitchin' order.
We did a flurry of remixing on Tuesday, the shit is sounding really good. A few more little things to do, and then it's off to be mastered. Graphics are in the work, they look good, they'll be black-ish. It's our best album yet, and that's saying something (in my mind).
Soon it will be time to books some CD release shows, and you know know what that means - Rocking.
H/SQ

Recording is Fun.

2007-03-28T08:32:00.000-04:00

So, rather than practice for shows and such, Squeaky is valiantly working on an album. Last night, our normal practice night, was spent re-recording some of Harry's guitar parts (Harry, ex-recordist, boneheadedly set the microphone backwards on his own guitar amp), adding piano (yes, dammit, and it sounds effing great!), and doing some more vocals. Highlights from the last couple of nights: Danny's recording debut as a piano player, Danny's first vocals on a recording in any band, Steve's debut as a toy piano player, and Squeaky's first ebow track.

All in all, it's going well, all hands are on the pump, and we're making good progress.
More later,
H/SQ

Thanks and Recording

2007-03-23T22:55:00.000-04:00

My wife Kristen and I got this in the mail the other day, it was great to get a card from the Robbins Family. According to Cal's blog, things are going well for them, their friends' efforts are making some really concrete changes in Cal's life.
In other news, Squeaky moves towards recording this weekend at Karl's house, should be exciting. We intend to record 9 songs, including one that we've played for years and one that no one has ever heard. Except for Steve's cats, and maybe his neighbors. We'll keep you posted, Steve Ware.

Pony Show

2007-03-19T08:49:00.000-04:00

What is this song about anyway?
That's right, we have a song called Pony Show. We had the instrumental version all finished, and we were at that stage where we were referring to the song with annoyingly vague titles like "new song" or "Yeah!", and somehow the idea got floated to call it "Pony Show". I can't remember if Karl drew the cartoon before or after that fateful decision, but it's hilarious.
Anyway, since the song was called pony show, I decided the lyrics should be about a pony show. Easier said than done - I wrote them, only to realize that I hate them. And the rest of the band didn't really like certain parts, either. This is especially a problem - usually, we don't comment too much on other people's lyrics in the band, so if Karl and Steve are wrinkling their noses and saying, "I don't know about that one line...", you know you've got problems.
Anyway, I've rewritten the lyrics, their not about horses anymore, we'll see if they work.
H

Names.

2007-03-02T15:22:00.000-05:00

One of the funnest, and most maddening things about being in a band is the naming of things. Once the initial glorious agony of choosing the band's name is over, you gotta start naming albums. As the previous post states, we're starting a new album. Here are some ideas for names so far.

Squeaky (eponymous)
Squeaky Fromme (or just Fromme) (pictured left)
Clean Machine
Chins of Distinction
Sorry About the Guitars
Deal with the Squeak
Your Fantastic Gorgeous Favorite
Rocky Records

What do you think?
H/Sq

It's that time again

2007-02-27T13:07:00.000-05:00

That's right kids, it's time to record. We have been writing songs for the last year and now that we have 9 or so it's time to put them down on tape.(well,disc really)
What does that mean to you? nothing, but to us, it's time to horde up in a small room for a couple of days, eat bad food(mostly beans and other gas causing food items) drink some beer(for some of us) smoke lots (also for some of us) and try to play very precisely (which is difficult, for some of us)
It's the time when all of our anal tendencies will come out, and you will find us saying stuff like "yeah that vocal track was good, but it kinda sounded like you had a bunch of cheese in the back of your throat" It's the time when stuff like that matters, when your playing a show it's not neccessarily a bad thing to have a little cheese in the back of your throat, but when recording, it's no good.
Anyway all of that to say we are going to record in a few weeks and I for one am fucking excited about it!

We will keep you updated on how it is going,

Squeakysteven.

Humans are Visual

2007-01-24T08:26:00.000-05:00

It's good to be in band, especially when people take pictures of you playing. These pictures are invariably blurry and make you look much cooler than you actually are.
A Nice Young Man named Moishe sent us some photos of the show on the 12th, and they're really good. He has graciously consented to let us tell you of their existence.
The pictures are here: Photos
Thanks, Moishe!
H/Sq

Thank You.

2007-01-22T07:19:00.000-05:00

What else can I say besides thank you? Thanks to Common Grounds, Oriflamme, Laserhead, Squeaky and Towers of Hanoi, and to all the people who came to the show on the 12th. We surpassed our wildest hopes about how much money we could raise for Cal.
Ok. Enough said.
H/Sq

Chicago Piano

2007-01-11T09:08:00.000-05:00

Squeaky has never been big on cover songs, partly because I'm kind of a one trick pony when it comes to playing the guitar, but also because we just never wanted to do it much. We did play a halloween show one year when we played songs by Bauhaus, Siouxsie and the Banshees, Sonic Youth, and some other bands. That was a lot of fun. We also learned side 3 of London Calling, which I fear almost broke the band up.
Anyway, we're learning a Jawbox cover for the upcoming benefit show for J Robbins (holy shit! It's tomorrow night!), and it's not easy. People always use the word "angular" or "choppy" to describe Jawbox's guitar parts, and boy is that true... I literally cannot sing and play the guitar part at the same time. It hurts my head. Steven can do it, but basically only by playing the guitar sloppily. So we decided that I'm not going to play guitar during the verses, and Steven will cover the guitar fully. My only problem will be figuring out what to do with my hands.
The lyrics are a challenge, there's a lot of them, and they come fast. Lyrics that I write are a lot easier to remember because there's an inner logic to it all, at least to me, but these lyrics are a little "angular", too.
This morning, I got up to pee (well, I woke up because my 2-year old decided it was a good time to wake up and demand 1) water 2) juice and 3) breast milk. Then I decided to pee.) and I'm sitting there at 3 in the morning and I'm not thinking at all, and all of a sudden, my brain starts spitting out the lyrics to Chicago Piano. Doesn't guarantee that I won't forget them at the show, but it's a start.
Which brings me to the photo: it's a Thompson submachine gun. Nicknamed the Chicago Piano, as well as the Chicago Typewriter.
H/Sq

Come On, Gerald!

2007-01-03T11:00:00.000-05:00

Gerald Ford is dead.
I won't use curse words or wish ill of the dead, but I will point out that Gerald Ford sat on the Warren Commission, the numbskulls who said that JFK was assasinated by one "discontented" guy, namely Lee Harvey Oswald. I call bullshit on that, as do many many Americans.
According to the Associated Press, Gerald Ford was instrumental in manipulating evidence to support the so-called magic bullet theory. This hare-brained scheme posited that one bullet, fired from the book depository, was supposedly able to enter JFK's body from the rear, in his neck, come out of his throat (deflected by the knot on his tie(!)), change direction, then cause three wounds in Gov. Connally.
It's sheer fiction, simply put.
Here's the article (it really does exist):
A song I wrote a long time ago, called Gerald Ford, is finally topical!! I'll post it here somehow, if you care to hear it.
Squeaky Fromme attempted to assasinate Gerald Ford, as seen in the photo above. We didn't get our name from her, but maybe we should have.

H/Sq

ABBA?

2006-12-29T13:32:00.000-05:00

According to this article by Brian Krashpad, Squeaky played "S.O.S" by Abba at PopCanon's final show. Is this even possible?
How could I not remember this?

Jesus, just stare at this picture for a while.

Oh Man.

H/SQ

A Benefit Show

2006-12-29T12:47:00.000-05:00

Friday, January 12 at Common Grounds, we're going to be part of a benefit show for the family of J Robbins. The show is going to feature Oriflamme, Laserhead, Towers of Hanoi, as well as us.
Please come. The proceeds of the show will go directly to J's family, no lie, and we should have a way that you can donate more money at the show, if you wish. Or you could do so on your own time - details here. Or you could just come to a show featuring some kickass bands.
I'm not going to say more, it's been said.
Thanks,
H/SQ

Please Read This

2006-12-18T08:41:00.000-05:00

This is J Robbins, formerly of the bands Jawbox and Burning Airlines, currently of the band Channels. That is his son, Cal. Cal was born with an extremely serious disease which will make it extremely likely that, if he lives long enough, he will never walk. J is like many Americans, self-employed (as an extremely talented recording engineer), and lacking health insurance for this type of situation. J and his wife Janet are pursuing "alternative" assistance for their situation, and it's expensive. They need financial assistance. Links below will explain better than I can.
DeSoto's Site. J's Site.
Why is this on Squeaky's blog? because without J's influence in my life, musical and otherwise, Squeaky likely wouldn't exist. One night, after getting off work as a dishwasher at a Vietnamese restaurant, I rode my bike to the hardback to see some bands. All I knew about Jawbox was that they were on Dischord Records and they were touring with Helmet. That single show changed the entire musical trajectory of my life.
I immediately started drawing cartoons and sending them to Jawbox, and to my surprise, they wrote me back. I became penpals with Jawbox, attented every show in Florida that I could, and eventually saw them in Chicago and maybe Champaign, IL (I can't remember). What strikes me about seeing them and talking to them before and after shows is how cool it was to just talk to a band that I idolized, and how obvious it was that they cared about themselves, their fans, and remaining true to both. They were businesslike, serious, goofy, and having fun. Whether consciously or not, they were my personal model for how a band should operate. And I'm not talking music, although their music was of course an inspiration to me personally.
I happened upon DeSoto's website recently, while at work, and had to go into the bathroom to keep from crying out loud when I read about Cal. As a parent, and as a person, this story slayed me.
Anyway, when Steven heard about J's situation, he immediately had the idea to organize a benefit show, which hopefully we will be able to put together for next month. We don't have a lot of money, but we can play music and hopefully get some people and bands together. Keep an ear out.
thanks,
H/Sq

What We Learned at Practice Last Night

2006-12-15T08:42:00.000-05:00

1. We still sound really bad when Karl doesn't make it to practice. I was pretty sure last time it happened, but yes, indeed, it's true. We sound like shit when there's no low end and no Karl vocals.

2. After we decided that playing actual songs was sounding so bad that there was no point in continuing, we figured that we'd write some new jams. We came up with some stuff, finally settled on a couple of parts which reminded Steve of the Replacements, circa Tim. It was cool, until I started singing "Yes you wanna fuggit" over and over again during the riff. Which then caused me to suspect that it sounded a lot like a Foo Fighters song, as well as a Local H song. Then we realized all together that we actually were playing a Foo Fighters song.

What did we learn at practice? Beware of songs that are so easy to write that they remind you of another song.

3. When Steve brings a nice big tupperware package of cookies, out of the goodness of his heart, don't do what I did: eat like 6 of them (those fuckers were good!!!) and then (with your mouth full) ask, "Hey, were you guys saving these for anyone else?" That's just rude.

4. www.bigbros.com is not a porn site! In fact it doesn't appear to be anything! What is up with the pornographers in this world?!! Imagine naked fat dudes, lolling around being sexy... it's at least a comedy goldmine, if not a fat fetishist's wet dream. Enough of the same viagra spam every day, gimme bigbros.com spam any day.

H/Sq

New Video

2006-12-03T14:26:00.000-05:00

I've made a little video, combining some improvised music from practice the other night with some [i guess] improvised video footage that Danny took - I asked him to video some stuff while we were driving to practice, aim at bright lights and such, and he did some really cool stuff.
It's on our Myspace site. Click here.
H/Sq

Meow Meow Meow

2006-11-29T08:12:00.000-05:00

In Squeaky, the way lyrics are written can be a little strange. Generally, the song is already written and arranged, musically speaking, and the lyrics are the last thing to get finalized. If I am in charge of singing/lyrics, I generally settle on a melody and a syllabic pattern and write the lyrics on my own time (sometimes scribbled in The Book while we're getting ready to play). But at practice, it's generally just nonsense words so that I can memorize how the patterns work. Who cares, right? Well, I was driving to work this morning, reviewing the recording from last night's practice (too much of my guitar, as usual), and during the newly named "Pony Show" (named by Danny, probably will be about what it's like to be judged on the basis of looks), I was heard to say:

Everyone's staring
Why don't they go away
You piece of shit
Suck my Meow Meow Meow

Not sure what that means, but I'm proud.
Off to grow my beard,
H/Sq

That's right, KarlO is in the House

2006-11-21T16:45:00.000-05:00

And he is very very pissed off!!! So pissed off that he is writing in the third person. KarlO takes great offense at HairO's extremely misguided and naive statement regarding CCR. If KarlO wore panties, they would indeed be in a wad. Yes, John Fogerty was actually born in California (at least that's what HairLess says) and wrote many a song about how he really is from the Bayou, born there even, but the point is that the band recorded many many fine ditties that are quite catchy and memorable and even rock, yes, they do. "Lookin out my back door" aside, they did rock. OK, "Have you ever seen the rain" doesn't really rock either, but "Run to/from (KarlO can't remember) the Jungle" - now that one rocks. And "Green River"? Rock. Suzie Q pretty much sucksit, but even that is better than Boston!!!! WAY BETTER!!!! Shit, the sound of KarlO's farts is better than Boston, even the silent but deadly ones.

Noise Noise Noise

2006-11-20T09:47:00.000-05:00

A good time was had by all Saturday night, and really the evening's winner was Hospitals on the Moon, who not only pulled off a great set but brought half the crowd with them. We really appreciate their enthusiasm and the their brand of rock. Miles is going to be Gainesville's newest guitar hero, mark my words.
Crush Your Cupcake did just what we hoped, they brought the noise and they brought the cupcakes. Best moment of their set? It was a tie, between a) seeing Terry's pink panties and b) seeing the mannequin (Brent) get nailed in the face with a cupcake. Vonne's slippers were ruling as well.
If you were at the show, thank you. If you weren't, we understand. Times are tough.
I feel like we haven't settled a few issues. Just how much does CCR suck? What is the status of the Boston vs. Styx battle? Did anyone take pictures of the show?
Next on the Squeaky agenda is some recording, early next year. maybe a show at 1982. Some tofurkey is in the future as well. Happy thanksgiving and thanks for rocking.
H/Sq

Fogerty vs. Sonic | Axl vs. Perry

2006-11-15T08:52:00.000-05:00

The last practice before a show is usually a fun one - set list is done, decisions made, nothing left to do but pack up the equipment and change strings on the guitars. And, apparently, argue about the relative merits of classic (and not so classic) rock bands. Hot topics last night included such epic mindblowers as:

Who sucks worse: Guns n Roses or Jane's Addiction?
.38 Special or Molly Hatchet?
Which Police album is the best (not Synchronicity)?
Who is a better drummer - John Bonham or Keith Moon?
Who is a better drummer - Neil Peart or Stewart Copeland?
Who is the better bass player - Chris Squire or Geddy Lee?
There was some heated arguing between Karl and me about Creedence Clearwater Revival, but I can't remember what the beef was. Also, Foghat was mentioned, maybe in conjunction with Foreigner.
The weirdest thing was Karl playing "Bad Moon Rising", and all of us playing along, even though I hate that band and that song. Wait a minute, there's a Sonic Youth album called Bad Moon Rising. That's pretty cool...
It was no surprise that me and Karl argued passionately about this type of stuff, we're both wildly opinionated, and I know I am really hardheaded about music. Even though Karl threatened to quit over my John Fogerty position, we were finally all united in our love for Van Halen (pre- Diver Down). And Iron Maiden was unanimously preferred over Judas Priest (shit... I think Steve actually liked Priest.. maybe we're in trouble after all).
Anyway, the fun of being in a band is that we sound like us, regardless of our "influences". In Squeaky , my biggest influence is Karl, who is just a great all-around musician. He makes me want to play better. I never do, but I want to.
H/SQ

addendum: what really got us laughing at practice is when Karl created the following beautiful lyrics (we had been talking about "Godzilla" by B.O.C. and sushi... it sort of made sense...):

I ate a godzilla roll, then ordered a mothra roll and they battled in my bunghole.

He's the lyrical genius in the band.

Squeaky Crushes Moon

2006-11-10T12:55:00.001-05:00

I believe this says it all...

Green Hair

2006-11-02T10:53:00.000-05:00

What else can be said about this? Squeaky Steven at work on Halloween day. He looks like Billy Idol. With green hair.
H/Sq

It was a good show.

2006-10-26T13:09:00.000-04:00

We certainly had a good time playing the show last night, it was nice to see some old-school fans come out - Steve Ware, Nicole Ancell, Chris Ross, and Ned Davis... If you squinted just right, you could imagine that you were at the Covered Dish. Thanks for coming, you guys.
There were a lot of good things about last night, so I will make a list.

Playing with Danny again was a blast, his enthusiasm and skills are great to be around, the old songs were tight, the new songs worked well.
We could hear stuff on stage, Derron did a great job, as usual.
Dinner all together was the real story, just sitting around at the Top with the Band. We've been talking for months, maybe even years, hey let's get together and just hang out, not talk about band stuff... but it never happens. Incredible mashed potatos, sweet potato fries, it was awesome. I'm sorry if I offended you when I stabbed my collard greens and shouted, "Holy shit!! Awwwwghhhh! Fuck!! This is so good!!". I'm enthusiastic about my food, ok? And I don't get out much.
Tapesntapes were at the Top, too. Say that 10 times fast.
Annuals were really interesting - at one point, the singer was singing (duh), playing a sampler with one hand and playing triplets on a floor tom with the other hand. That cannot be easy.

Anyway, thanks for rocking.

Practice, Practice

2006-10-07T15:46:00.000-04:00

Being in a band is like a lot of things; it's like being married (without the sex, usually), it's like having an immensely fun job (you still punch in and out for work, sometimes you get paid, you have to get along with your coworkers, there is a lot of email involved...), it's like being in a gang (without the switchblades). But practice is where the rubber hits the road. Gotta work hard, but you gotta have fun. You have to push your ideas, but not too hard. You need to play hard, but it's crucial to listen. If you're bleeding at the end of practice, you know you're doing it right.
All this to say that practice has been great lately, complete with sore necks and ears at the end. I'm having a hard time getting to sleep on practice nights now, which sucks, but it's awesome as well.
H/SQ

tapesntapes and tapes.

2006-09-21T21:08:00.000-04:00

Well, we have another show, yet again at Common Grounds. This will of course be our first show with Danny Welsh as our drummer (since like 2002 or something, when he was our drummer, too).
We are opening for a band called Tapesntapes (I'm not sure if I should write it as one word or three...), and their support act, the Annuals (I'm not sure if it's Annuals, or The Annuals. I guess you'll have to come to the show to find out). Tapesntapes is one of Karl's fave bands, he's been freaking out about them for a while. It's a Wednesday night show, October 25.
Please join us, and watch youthful enthusiasm triumph over back pain and free-floating anxiety.
All of this got me thinking about tapes, cassette tapes, and the days when Squeaky began. Steve and I worked at a recording studio which did cassette duplication, so we had unnatural access to old, useless casettes. We would cull tapes of the right lengths and put Squeaky albums on them, so that we could give them away at shows. It was a really satisfying sight to see tens of people grab our music out of a box at the end of a show... what happened after the tapes arrived home with the folks one never knows, but we got the tapes in the hands of actual people, and that was something. A few times we sent tapes to everyone that was on our mailing list. Talk about old school...using the postal service to deliver music! wow! A few people told us over the years that it was cool to get music in the mail unexpectedly, and that makes us happy, but for the most part, you just send the stuff up and hope that something good happens. Which is basically what being in a band is all about.
H/Sq

The Hospitals on the Moon

2006-09-12T09:01:00.000-04:00

Last night, Steven and I went out to see some bands at Durty Nelly's. This may not seem like a momentous occasion, but for 2 new dads with very hectic and exhausting lives, it's a big freaking deal to be out after midnight. Our main reason for going was to see Danny play with his other band, Blacksnake. They totally ruled in every way, and it was great to see Mike H. let his hair down and spin his hair around like Rudy Sarzo. The riffs were heavy and played in earnest, which is all we can really ever ask of each other, ain't it?
The opening band was The Hospitals on the Moon. They were young (compared to us old farts..) and really pretty good. The guitar player would just surprise you, all of a sudden some bizarre Steven Malkmus "solo" would appear out of nowhere, and we'd freak out. He played some good noise, too. Watching this band together got me and Steven talking about the old days, when we didn't have good tuners and we were paralyzed with stage fright (maybe that was just me). They reminded me of some important lessons:
1. if the kick drum head breaks, and you are faced with a) stopping the show and finishing on a "down note" or b) Just effing play the show, dammit!! , the correct answer is b. Who needs a kick drum? Just hit the floor tom more. This was one of the most awesome things about watching this band. Faced with equipment mutiny, they soldiered on.
2. If you're writing a song, and you get to the last 3rd of the song, and you're unsure of what should happen, just grab some frets and squeeze until it sounds like you're strangling a cat. That should pretty much take care of the last bit.
3. Tuners are a must.
4. Youthful enthusiasm will always trump technical precision. At least if I have something to say about it.
5. How many times have i said this... nobody wants to hear talking during a song. If it's free-flowing words, not rhyming or what have you, talk/sing it, or for f's sake, scream it. People hear talking all day long, and frankly, they've had enough. What people really want to hear on a daily basis is hearing somebody else's vocal chords shred themselves. That way, the next day when they're at work, they can feel better about their mundane existence: sure, they didn't actually scream at their neighbor for how shitty their lawn looks, but at least they got to feel it when somebody else screams.
Anyway, Danny played the shit out of his drums, I've never really seen him bang his head before last night, and I love rock enthusiasm. It felt good to witness.
H

Hey, Squeaky!

2006-08-30T08:24:00.000-04:00

I was at the grand opening of the 2nd Street Bakery and some guy came up to me and goes, "Hey! Squeaky!". This is always a good greeting, as far as I'm concerned, so I stopped and talked to the guy. Turned out he was one of the architects involved in redoing the 2nd St. building. But he also used to live behind Everyman Sound Company, where Squeaky practiced for like 8 years. He said he got to know our songs pretty well from hearing them every week (they must have sounded like shit... all muffled and bass-heavy), and even liked us! I wish I had known this guy when GPD came and gave us a ticket for playing too loudly (those guys were jackasses).
Anyway, it was gratifying to talk to this dude. He had every reason to hate Squeaky (who would want to hear low-frequency thuds and drony guitars late Tuesday nights...) , and instead he thought we were a good band.
Other than that, you should know the history of the rock sign.
h/sq

Seven is Four.

2006-08-28T09:17:00.000-04:00

todd campisi. glenn barovich. david sherman. danny welsh. david sherman. breakup. david sherman. danny welsh. This is how I chart the course of the band - who is/was the drummer.
Squeaky reunited at the baby shower of David Sherman, drummer #3 and #5 and #6. He has again become our ex-drummer (and our always friend). He announced his exit from the band on 7.31.06. We are saddened, but we understand. We managed to get a set of recordings of all of our new songs prior to David's exit. They will serve as demos for our next real recording, which will happen soon.
Which leads me to this - Danny Welsh, drummer #4, is now drummer #7. He's rejoined us, older and more muscular. He's done a lot of living since we played with him, and it's cool to get reacquainted with him. His future in Gainesville is unknown, but while he's here, we're going to hopefully a lot of shows and do some real recording at Karl's house.
That's what I know right now. h/sq

New KickAss Photos

2006-08-16T10:22:00.000-04:00

Thanks to Virginia Williams, we have some really great recent photos of Squeaky in action. I stumbled across her flickr site, and was shocked to see some of the best rock photos of our career. See the photos here. These are from our show at CommonGrounds on July 21 with Averkiou and Beat Buttons. Virginia posted photos of Averkiou, too - they are here.
Thanks, Virginia, for making us look blurry and rocking.
H/SQ

Family Friendly

2006-08-01T08:17:00.000-04:00

Squeaky is not a band that does well outside. There's something about trapping all those vibrating air molecules trapped inside a building that really works for our brand of music. Put a band outside, it's an instant frisbee festival - nobody paying attention to the music, just "hanging out". So we've hardly ever done it. A couple of Alachua Music Harvests, that's it. But I'll tell you, we had a blast playing at a pool party this past weekend.
Chicken Luv threw a huge pool/barbq party to celebrate Chicken's retirement from Midas, and they invited Squeaky to play. The Ones to Blame played too, and it was just a perfect mix. The best was seeing kids running around and playing air guitar to the bands.
So there was the unlikely scene of Squeaky playing in swimsuits and flipflops. Pictures must exist. I'll post them later.
Rob McGregor commented that it was cool to see Squeaky play quietly, without curse words, but still sound like Squeaky. It was certainly fun.
H/Sq

Herniated Disc Be Damned

2006-07-24T15:51:00.000-04:00

Well, despite worries that we wouldn't be able to play the show, or have to play it Steven-less (God forbid!), a good time was had by all at the big show this past Friday. An MRI revealed a herniated disc in Steven's neck, which would explain the lack of feeling in his right hand. This caused a slight change in our planned setlist for Friday, we nixed a song where Steven plays drums, and then we nixed another new one that was making us nervous. But we did debut Rocky Records, a song whose lyrics were partly written by Steven's daughter, Garnet. She says some amazing things, some examples of which are here.
It was a fantastic show, we enjoyed Averkiou and Beat Buttons tremendously. It was a great confluence of great booking, great sound, great playing, and of course, Rock.
Steven's neck and hand are doing better, we think rocking actually helped.
In other news, we may be playing at a house party this weekend, the 29th, in honor of Harry's wife's best friend Uncle Chicken. Their band Chicken Luv as well as The Ones to Blame should be there, and I hope that we will be there. We haven't played a party in like 8 years.
Thanks for coming to the show, Steve Ware. I know that you're the only one that reads this.
Thanks for Rocking.
H/Sq

Flyer

2006-06-30T08:53:00.000-04:00

Come to the show, dammit!

Myspace, Pieface

2006-06-26T16:33:00.000-04:00

I may be the only person on the planet who feels this way, but myspace.com is weird and creepy.
That being said, Squeaky has a myspace site, with songs and pictures and stuff.
enjoy it here:
http://www.myspace.com/squeakyrock

H/Sq

A Show!!!

2006-06-21T10:10:00.000-04:00

We officially have a show, and we even know with whom we are playing. On July 21st, at Common Grounds in Gainesville, we'll be playing with Beat Buttons and Averkiou. Averkiou goes first, then Squeaky, then Beat Buttons.
If you're at the show, and you squint your eyes just right, you'll be able to make out the scars on Harry's arms and hands, leftovers from a colossal bike wreck. A word to the wise: if you're riding with no hands, and your cell phone rings while you're approaching a turn, don't answer it. I repeat, do not answer it, even if it's the bass player.
I hope that's clear enough.
Thanks for rocking
H/Sq

Upcoming Show 7/21/06

2006-06-19T10:39:00.000-04:00

Squ eaky: A Rock Band

We will be playing at Common Grounds on 7/21/06 with The Beat Buttons and Matt Brink's new band (i don't know the name yet)
Hopefully we will be debuting several new songs.
I can't wait to ROCK!

SqueakySteven.

What are the new songs about?

2006-05-25T08:14:00.000-04:00

The Squeaky train rumbles forward. Songs are carefully shaped and crafted, and sometimes completely forgotten. But what are they about? Usually a hard question. Not so hard for these.

Rocky Records: Ruminations on failed relationships as viewed through the lense of Archaelogy/Paleontology.
Difference Engine: Ruminations on mathematics and accounting, as viewed through the lense of a historic precursor to the computer. See this link for more: Difference Engine.

Transplant: Ruminations on the JFK assasination, as viewed through the lense of personal failure.
Constellation: Ruminations on fatherhood, as viewed through the lense of astronomy.
Centrifuge: Ruminations on the breakup of a band, as viewed through the lense of air travel.

Stay tuned.

Wow that's alot of Ruminations!
Squeakysteven

New Songs

2006-04-03T08:48:00.000-04:00

New songs are on the way... slowly but surely (don't call me Shirley), they emerge from the primordial goo, crawling on all fours out of the murky songwriting ocean.
The titles are, so far as follows:
Rocky Records (a song about archaeology and how it relates to love; Karl sings it)
Transplant (a song about living in a foreign place, or missing an organ - I'm not sure)
Difference Engine (we played this one at the last show).

Two more, as yet untitled, emerged lately, more on them if they actually exist.
Stay tuned; we may be able to post working demos, if anyone wants to hear them.
Kick It,
H/Squeaky

3/11/05 Rock Show

2006-03-17T08:28:00.000-05:00

I told myself that the first show after our "return" show was bound to be a letdown.. the November show was so unbelievably kickass, almost anything was bound to be lame in comparison. That was sort of the case. Our show March 11 at Common Grounds on March 11 was good, we played another new song, Difference Engine, and we were pleased as hell at how that turned out. We had been agonizing over the vocals for a long time (more than we've ever agonized over vocals), and I think it turned out better than we thought it would. That's on the plus side. On the minus side, I managed to break a string on the first song, couldn't hear for shit for quite a while, and the easy songs were not so easy. But we did rock, noise was made, sweat was poured, songs were sung.
Two new songs are on the way, tentatively titled "Transplant" and "Rocky Records". They weren't quite ready for the show, but they will be in the next set.
So, thanks to everyone who came to the show. We really appreciate it.
Thanks for Rocking,
H/Squeaky

Recent Show at Common Grounds

2006-03-16T15:49:00.000-05:00

Back in action, after a two-year hiatus (or breakup, depending on your perspective), it's been really great to play again. Our first show back was 11/11/2005, at Common Grounds Coffeehouse . It was fantastic, a real rush to be in front of so many people again, new and old. We even managed to play a new song, Centrifuge, which went well. It sounded great on stage, we were excited as hell (nervous, in my case), and despite Steve's raging fever, we pulled off the show of our lives. Thanks to everyone who was there.

This Is Us.

2006-03-16T15:46:00.000-05:00