Show Cancellation

Unfortunately, the January 18th show at Lost Rhino has been cancelled. Sorry folks!

Solt Olio - Limited Edition CD's

New Year's Download

As a farewell to 2013 and since I'm not quite sure when or if any of these will be finalized I'll be putting the COVERS album up for download. Whole thing FREE of charge.. in it's entirety or per track, your choice. Whether we decide to revisit them and re-mix is unknown but even if we do you can come back and download any future versions as many times as you'd like.



Merry Christmas

-I

Here goes...

Sightings

Solt Olio on tap:

http://sonicmoremusic.wordpress.com

http://realsoundsok.blogspot.co.uk

http://ajournalofmusicalthings.com

HAPPY HOLIDAYS

-I

DC Rock Live - Review

High praise from one of D.C.'s most prolific writers, Mr. David Hintz:

THE VELVET ANTS - "SOLT OLIO"

"This crafty area band continues to put their creative touches on new garage pop music. There are great hooks, jangly guitars, nice harmonies and a whole lot of what you remember from the 1960s. Yet they add electronics and modern touches at key moments to keep everything clearly grounded in the present. I hear reminders of other fine bands like Hush Arbors and even Dead Meadow at times, which works for me. And unlike many albums, the good songs are not front loaded making listening to the entire album more of a chore than a pleasurable exploration. These guys keep bringing on the quality songs with further and further creative flourishes to keep you at rapt attention. I highly recommend spending some time getting to know this album, there are a myriad of pleasures to be had.

Songs to try first:

Cardigan's Fable - I like the subtle menace of the guitar lines, as the song rocks along with great depths of sound.

What If - Invitingly warm vocal line wrapped around a classic 1960s jangly guitar and spirited rhythm.

Digitalis - Incredibly psychedelic and modernly lush with killer vocals. Gorgeous song."

Here's an alternate cover made during the demoing process:

More Press!

From the 50 States of Talent Project:
http://nothaydn.wordpress.com/author/nothaydn

As featured on WithGuitars Magazine:
http://www.withguitars.com/velvet-ants-solt-olio-now-zeptune-records

THANKS PEOPLE

100th Post

Our 100th post and a special one at that. SOLT OLIO is now worldwide.

Next show: Live at Lost Rhino Brewing Co. on Saturday January 18th. RSVP online.

Happy Holidays

-I

PRESS

A few mentions of Solt Olio:

http://www.writeclickcooklisten.com

http://sonicsmashmusic.wordpress.com

http://imveryape.com

THANKS TO ALL

Album funders

To anyone that made a donation to fund the album I sent out downloads recently.
If you did not receive the e-mail please contact me and we'll sort it out.

-Ian

Solt Olio + Adv: Redux

In addition to the new album, I had been flirting with the idea of re-working the last album for some time. I was midway through adding overdubs and thought, maybe this thing just needs a new tone all together... The harshness had been bothering me for a while and I was almost to the point of re-recording it completely. After a few tweaks here and there and a re-mastering the tracks are up. If you like the new versions let me know, I'm even willing to post them free for the time being for anyone who'd like a copy.

-Ian

SOLT OLIO

Stream, pre-order and download the new album tonight (all tracks included)

A little background

During my high school years, my first band went through several names.. Blis, Apples and Oranges - and before landing on Green Canteen we called ourselves Bourgeois Kitten. Why? Because the album we took the name from blew our socks off. Here's a rare glimpse at the man behind the boards (and drums) of 'Solt Olio' - living proof that home recordings can be just as valid as anything made in a "studio" (isn't it all the same shit anyway?) Get with it people. -Ian

http://therevue.ca/2013/10/open-your-eyes-to-blinker-the-star/

Pre-Order SOLT OLIO

You can pre-order the new album at http://velvet-ants.com (http://thevelvetants.bandcamp.com) as well download this pre-release EP including 4 songs off the album right away!

Lunatic Frame REMASTERED

We've got some pretty fantastic news today. Our first self-release has been remastered at French Kiss Recording and is now up at bandcamp! This issue also has the original tracklisting (from the first few hundred copies we made). Enjoy!



http://thevelvetants.bandcamp.com/album/lunatic-frame-remastered

As for the third album: we are well on our way to having this thing wrapped up very soon.

-I

Auditions

Drummer auditions have begun. Anyone interested in trying out should contact us as soon as possible via facebook. Thanks!

-BAND

UPDATE

Production is going well. Hard to judge where we're at exactly as we went back and tracked a bit more. Some guitar was re-done and we added some keyboard and string elements as well.

If anyone who contributed at album download levels did not get a chance to download albums that have already been released PLEASE LET ME KNOW and I'll reset the links. Otherwise I'll keep everyone posted directly when the new album will be ready.

I'm also thinking about starting a new campaign to raise funds in order to get this pressed to vinyl. If you think you'd be interested in helping promote and raise momentum let your voice be heard! Contact me directly either on here, at facebook or any page for that matter and SHARE AWAY. The best way to help out is to let people know where to go and what's happening.

Thanks again,

Ian

Studio Update

The video blog has been updated! Parts of the album are being re-recorded but mixing has begun.



A more recent link is here if you'd like to share the entire playlist:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VLUx-PsesHI&list=PL-mzOmXj2FuuDlNsjZfDz7WiuAONbH5E6

-Ian

TVA3 Sessions

Got together with my old friend Tom Murphy today to work on album three. We were in our first band together around '97/'98. We haven't played music together in 15 years. -Ian

$6

Digital albums are available again through www.Velvet-Ants.com starting at $6 a pop. Feel free to order actual discs if you'd like, I'll throw a few extra goodies in there. I had to hoped to have some of these re-mastered (and some even re-mixed for that matter) but it's just not in the budget right now.

Third album is going well, still drafting away here.

-IAN

Free Limited Edition Stickers & Pins

The first 10 people to pick up copies of our album at Record & Tape Exchange in Fairfax VA
can get a free limited edition sticker and a couple of pins at no additional charge. These were the ones used for the fundraising campaign, are brand new, vinyl and come in black or red.

Come getcha some.

Record & Tape Exchange
2448 Main St.
Fairfax VA 22031

SUPPORT LOCAL MUSIC. BUY MORE RECORDS.

July 2013

I'd have to say, if Lunatic Frame was the birth of the band.. and Advantage the death, this next record exemplifies a sort of afterlife. I have to admit I get bored fairly quickly with both the writing and recording process, but I can't wait for everyone to hear it. Can't wait for it to be done!

-I

4TH OF JULY

Here it is folks, our cover of Bobby Freeman's "Do You Wanna Dance?" (also covered by The Beach Boys and Ramones.. no pressure there). We never actually got the final mix from the session (which happened over two days in February) but were able to make due with an earlier version ..would also be the band's last in-studio performance together.



HAPPY 4TH GUYS AND DOLLS! Track is free to download

Fundraising is complete!

I'm happy to say the indiegogo campaign was a great success! We were able to meet goal after a little help from funds I had been raising offsite and are now knee deep in demoing the first batch of songs. I'll be collaborating with new musicians as well as old friends from the early days and hope to have the record finished before the end of the year. Most of the backers have already been sent downloads of the particular albums they had requested and I've started sending out a few in-hand packages that should arrive before the weekend. Thanks again to everyone who participated, we're looking forward to this.

I'm thinking about releasing a special track for July 4th (tomorrow) so check back soon - it will be free to download via http://Velvet-Ants.com *There's also a new demo of of Ben Deily's "Postcard" up. Ben co-founded the Lemonheads with Evan Dando and is currently in Varsity Drag. I think this might even be in time for the 25th anniversary of it's original release!? ..some of the other tracks are free to download as well.

Off to work on these, I'll try to update the campaign page every so often as those who contributed will still receive updates as production continues. If for whatever reason you want more updates check back here.

HAVE A GREAT SUMMER EVERYONE!

-Ian

REFERRAL CONTEST

Now that the campaign is underway we'd like to offer even more perks (Indiegogo.com allows 12 to a page) so here's what we can do:

As a backer of TVA3 each referral can be tracked (more specifically if you have an account with Indiegogo.com - which is pretty easy if you already have a facebook account). After you make a contribution each time you share the page through social media, whether it be twitter, facebook or other sites your referral rate will rise.

Additionally, if you are able to get the campaign noticed by having an article published through any major news or online sites you will get double the points.

Haven't determined any prizes for this yet but stay tuned. There are all sorts of goodies laying around.

What are you waiting for? Log in and share away!

http://www.indiegogo.com/projects/the-velvet-ants-3rd-album/

Stickers and Buttons are in!

Order at: http://www.indiegogo.com/projects/the-velvet-ants-3rd-album

An Open Letter

An open letter to Indiegogo.com:

About two years ago my band started pre-production on our second LP. We had no overhead to pay for professional services but still wanted to do things the best way possible. Our first LP was done all on our own. We recorded, mixed, mastered, copied and distributed it all by hand so we know what goes into every aspect of making a good product. We had secured a fairly well known musician to help produce the album and had already tracked a majority of the songs. That being said we decided to contact a funding site to help pay for post-production and manufacturing costs. PledgeMusic were the first to come to our attention. We set our page up with rewards and budgeted out a reasonable goal applied for the ‘go ahead’ and got turned down. We got responses along the lines of: “(your music) sounds great!” but “your social networks are a little low…” “Solid support on your Facebook Band Page is really a must” as well as telling us we didn’t have enough Twitter followers to even be considered by the site. The e-mail was riddled with links of sites to help “address (our) fan base growth and gain momentum”. It was all kind of a downer really because we heard about the site in a fairly grassroots manner and were looking forward to all the possibilities. Now we’ve never been in-your-face, shameless self-promoters by nature. In fact, we’re not impressed by artists who pummel there fanbase (or anyone else for that matter) into visiting, liking, or paying for something they aren’t interested in. This includes the “pay to play” mentality where an artist pays for opportunities, hits, streams and thousands of pawned fans. Regardless, we went ahead and funded the rest of the project out of our own pocket and were able to double our fanbase by the end of the next year. What did all of this prove? Well, 1) That we didn’t need anything to prove ourselves and that we were passionate enough to still get things done and 2) That some sites like these are a bit hypocritical when it comes to what they set out to do. If you’re trying to help independent artists, musicians and the likes reach their goals then why would you shut them out for not having enough of something to begin with? Isn’t that the point, to get there? So what we saw were a lot of musicians who had numbers attached to them that got the green light because ‘they had something to show for it’. As most musicians know, bands fall apart, careers change and you’re not always in the same band you started in so you start over. But when you’re excluded from a company who’s idea is based on the “help your favourite artists make and release their records” route then what’s that say about the company? Some of my favorite bands don’t even have social networking sites.

We’re kicking off the last 30 days of our campaign tomorrow and whether we reach goal or not I’ll at least know our project has worth, potential and that no one should give up confidence when their numbers are “a little low”. I’d like to say thanks to Indiegogo.com for giving us the opportunity to fund our third album without all the grief that is irrelevant anyway.

All the best,

Ian
Musician at The Velvet Ants and
Founder of Zeptune Records

Chi Cheng

Just wanted to take a moment to send out my heartfelt condolences to the friends and family of Deftones bassist Chi Cheng. Gina was kind enough to send a note shortly before they were able to bring Chi back home. I heard about his passing after releasing the last album so I'd like to dedicate the 'Extras' album in memory of him. I can only hope they find peace during this time.

-Ian

TVA3: Introductions

Hard to believe it's been over a year since releasing the last full-length and I'm glad to say 'A/U' and 'Extras' are out now too! For those of you who don't know I started a page at Indiegogo.com this month in hopes of funding a new album. It's harder and harder for some musicians to make things happen without the backing and exposure most celebrated acts already have. What's this mean? Well, artists on bigger labels and who've had these luxuries will continue to sell sell sell. Doesn't leave much room for new talent but hey, I'm happy with our little niche.

The next thing for us (or me) anyway is to keep on truckin' and work on more tunes. We haven't even kicked off the campaign yet and have nearly 25% of the projected funds to reach our goal. Even at 2k it won't be an easy task to get album 3 underway... We still have to write, track, mix, and master this thing. With the help of friends, family and most importantly fans of the band we should see this thing out by the end of the year.

Aside from that we are offering great perks to go along with backing the project. These include:

Full-album downloads
Hard copies of both previous albums and the soon to be
Handwritten lyrics
Your name in the credits and
Even a custom painting by yours truly

At 2k we hope to get most of pre and post-production completed and even help pay for some manufacturing and distribution down the road. Those at certain levels of backing will get to hear the new album before anyone else and even get a copy before anyone else can. I'm also in talks with a local company about having some limited edition vinyl stickers and buttons made for the campaign. So what are you waiting for? Let's make this the best album yet!

Let me introduce the players I plan to have on the album:

Me (on guitar and vocals, and maybe some keys/synth)
Pete deGraff (Bassist, formerly of CLEARTHEWAY, Villain, and Cast Iron Hike)
Eric Sakmar (Bassist, from Run Silent Run Deep)
Youlee Park (Pianist, formerly of Shebore, teacher at Levine School of Music)
Tom Murphy (Guitarist, formerly of Veritoss)
Jordon Zadorozny (Multi-instrumentalist/Producer, of Blinker the Star and Digital Noise Academy)*

Jordon is also going to be my wing man on this project. He recently mastered the 'Extras' b-sides and I'm looking forward to working with him. I'm also looking forward to working with Pete who was an engineer for my previous band Lost in Stereo and has been in a few notable bands himself. An old bandmate of mine Tom Murphy said he could help out too. I don't think we've played together in almost 15 years now. We started our first band together called Blis. I've only recently been introduced to Eric after putting out an ad but I'm confident he'll bring his very best to the table. So there it is, let's get this thing off the ground. We have 5 weeks to go to reach goal. I've even sorted out that I'll have to raise some funds outside of the campaign to keep things running but that's minutia.

Where can you contribute? Visit http://www.indiegogo.com/projects/the-velvet-ants-3rd-album. I'll be posting updates whether it be a lyric, sketch or video for each new contributor. Even if sharing the page is the least you can do it will help us out, and many many thanks to those who plan to or have already contributed!

-Ian

Extras: The Long and Short of a Weird Little Album

*To stream the album while reading listen here:



THE LONG OF IT: (To skip to the short of it, scroll down)

The first few b-sides Advantage left behind: 'Idle Tears', 'Celestial Shell', 'Over Harbors' and even 'Let's Go with Alice' were far from completion. 'Celestial Shell' had no drums but sounded pretty much okay without, so it became the hidden track on Advantage's first edition. 'Let's Go with Alice' ended up on Advantage but was accidentally a drum-friendly mix I had made Trevor to critique his performance before moving on. 'Idle Tears' just never sat well and 'Over Harbors' was never mixed properly. So we had a few extras there off the bat to either come back to or tidy up some for release down the road. The songs deserved it anyway. I just wish we had taken a little more time with it all, but that's sort of what you sign up for when you bring in outside help or even try to re-ignite what was left of an abandoned idea in the first place. 'Let's Go with Alice' is seen here with new texture and a fresh mix with waaaaay less thunk to the ear-ducts.

Onto the original takes (or Nu Wave versions as we called them) of 'Shapeless and Round' and 'Anyone'. These were basically part of the last rough mixes before working with Ken on the album. A bit more synthesizer on both with quirks that never made it to the final; but the performance is there and I like these versions just as much if not more. The "demo" versions are fairly similar in that they were pre-post-production if that makes sense. Basically skeletal forms of some of the more epic tracks on Advantage. These and a few other demos not found on 'Extras' were part of a disc I had made for Trevor in 2011 called 'Solar Bear and Other Tales'.

'Untitled' (also known as 'Mission Impossible'), 'Thumper', 'Please, Save Room For the Water' and 'Digitalis' were finished, or barely finished I should say before the band's last little hiatus when Roscoe and then Trevor would end up leaving the band. They were the last few songs we worked on together and would be the saving grace to what 'Extras' really needed: a fresh breath of air. 'Untitled' features Roscoe on main vocals and the rest we just had fun with. You can hear all of us on there at some point or another. 'Thumper' like 'Idle Tears' and 'Over Harbors' was intended for Advantage but fell off the radar as well. 'SRFTW' and 'Digitalis' are my favorites though, they brought us back to the spontaneous side of things, back where Lunatic Frame and Pixie Junk left off.

Two other fairly important tracks here are 'Interference 2' and an alternate of 'Shebore'. The first song I remember debuting of (any of this new material) was a quiet version of 'Shebore' with just vocals, bass, and guitars. It sounded clean and fresh and like us, but not like us, all at the same time. Like a slightly more-mature us. Later, I had the benefit of collaborating with my childhood friend Youlee Park (who works at the Levine School of Music in D.C.). She is an outstanding and classically trained pianist and came up with the accompaniment almost immediately. It's a bare bones mix but it sounds so natural with her on there. 'Interference 2' was the dark horse of the b-sides. Again, looking back it had the performance qualities of something that could've ended up on the main album but never did. The pace might have even been better for the song too! It's more calm and collected sounding, even with the tagalong overdubs added later on to fill things out. There's even a guitar-and-vocal only version of this floating around that holds it's weight just as well.

THE SHORT OF IT:

So that was the beginning of the end, members left and everything sat once again. Luckily, and through a chance encounter with Jordon Zadorozny best known for his band Blinker the Star (among other various projects and production work) it looked as though the tracks might spark bright again. For the most part the songs were already mixed and just needed a real boost (or mastering that is); and that's what they got. 'Extras' turned out to be more fulfilling than the album from which they were unintentionally rejected. And that would be the long and short of this weird little album. I won't be too hard on myself this time around. I know some people thoroughly enjoyed/enjoy 'Advantage' and I don't want to take that away from them. Although it exposes some stretch of what 'Advantage' might have been, I think 'Extras' holds a more positive light over what could've been a big messy disgrace and gives some insight to the band underneath, that could've been.

-Ian

ps. All of our albums are now offered in CD form via Velvet-Ants.com and here's the non-deluxe artwork for 'Extras'

'Extras' PRESS

Thought I'd share a review of 'Extras' from David Hintz of DC ROCK LIVE: Read it here. The album will release May 17th via Velvet-Ants.com and a few other sites for now. Wider distribution to follow. Also thinking about re-releasing 'Advantage' in the near future (with minute differences from it's 1st release).

Pre-Order 'Extras' for $5 and help support the next album!

More info soon

-Ian

Festival recap

Enjoyed meeting people yesterday more than actually playing. It all happened pretty fast. DJ down stairs thumped away during my acoustic set, tried to cling to his beat for the second song 'Digitalis' to no avail. Guy was loud (distracting? yea just a bit). Good thing I brought some of the new lyrics else I'd have totally lost concentration. Sound guy at Ghion had a hard time taming the feedback as well. Note to self, when playing in the same location as DJ's ditch the acoustic and play fuckin' LOUD.

All in all I got to meet a bunch of cool people (thanks for sticking around for my set by the way). Only got through a fraction of what I wanted to play but when the venue person gave me the signal I was perfectly fine relinquishing the rest of the hour left to the next band. Actually got things back on schedule.

I played right after a band called Those Manic Seas a noise rock group from Richmond with a television headed mannequin as a lead singer (pretty cool visuals). I met Andrew from Caustic Casanova who shared a lot of similar influences. He just happened to be at the show, we talked for a bit. Seems like a cool guy and I'll definitely be checking out his band. Also met Shep Shapard from Cake and Calculus whose set i unfortunately missed, but I'll be checking them out too.

Band that really caught my eye last night were a Brooklyn based band called Band of Young Saints. They had it all, and seemed to have everyone hook line and sinker. Great drummer, incredibly involved and talented guitarists (who sang back-up on practically every tune) and the best female vocalist I've heard in some time! Give these guys a listen at: http://band-of-young-saints.bandcamp.com

There it is, thanks for hanging out. Was nice meeting the rest of you and thanks to Gavin Murray-Miller of The Absent Center and Dave Mann at Connect the Dots for putting this thing together.

I'll post some pics shortly.

-Ian

Pre-Order 'Extras' @ Velvet-Ants.com

Boston

Two days prior to the events on Monday I was at a museum in the city looking at remnants from the attacks on 9/11. I have to admit, even now, more than ten years on it's hard to believe it all happened. I began replaying that day in my head and it was still pretty clear. Walking through the exhibits made it even that much more difficult to comprehend. I thought of how cruel we are to each other and wondered why we go to such lengths in the first place.

The events this week struck pretty close to home to say the least. I grew up right there in Mass and remember attending local events and parades throughout my youth. I always felt safe, always felt protected. We all knew each other and there was always an enormous sense of community. I think I might have seen an old classmate of mine running with one of the stretchers and helping the wounded. That's what kind of people live there.

I'm not sure why as humans we do this to each other or if we'll ever graduate from this stage in our existence, but isn't it time yet? We continue seeing these thoughtless, barbaric acts on what no longer seems to be a day to day basis.

If there's anything I know about the people of Boston it's that they will rise above this, I guess my question is when will the ones responsible? We are not forever. So what are they achieving from this? Is it too much to live and let live? Where's the peace? And when do we get past this stage???

'If you have photos or video from the scene that you think might be helpful to investigators, call 1-800-494-TIPS. Authorities are still investigating who set the bombs and why, but there are several things you can do right now to help in the immediate aftermath of this tragedy.' -TakePart.com

If you would like to make a donation to help the victims and families visit: One Fund Boston set up by Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick and Boston Mayor Tom Menino to support those most affected.

-Ian

Covers Project

Hello again,

It looks like this will likely be an on-going project so I'm going to start posting bits and pieces of this 'Covers' album. Since the band is in sort of a limbo state I'll be sorting through what we had left as well as filling in missing areas as time goes on. So far it's mostly skeletal. I have no idea how long this might take so I thought I'd share some of the progress for whoever might like to listen in.

At the end of March I recorded "Forever" (a song my wife had been requesting for some time) and now there's a third mix for it. I also posted 3 new tracks last night including the last song the band recorded together, a cover of Bobby Freeman's "Do You Wanna Dance" - the original is at normal speed but I sort of like it slower. The rest, which I'll be posting sometime today are tracks dating back to 2011 and newer mixes of songs we worked on through the following year.

"You Might Think" features Scott Freeman on drums (who stepped in for Trevor) but I don't know whether he'll be stepping in permanently or not. Scott was helping with programming and we were planning on working on some new tunes (only 2 of which we started). As for other instrumentation, I don't know if I'll be playing drums on the rest of these (some of them might be fine without).

I'm looking to collaborate with other musicians on either these or new material so stay tuned. I had hoped to have these covers wrapped eventually but due to recent events it will certainly take longer... I could be out of commission here shortly so I thought I'd share some of what we had already.

Here's where you can find the latest mixes: Covers [In Progress]



It's Springtime people, get outside!

-Ian

DC420 Fest info

Hi folks,

I was contacted to take part in DC420 Festival at a new club called Ghion in DC this month. I'll be playing about a forty minute solo set there @ around 7pm. The show is 18+ and here's the schedule:

2 pm - These Future Saints (DC)
3 pm - Red States (RVA)
4 pm - Pet Clinic (Pittsburgh)
5 pm - Cake and Calculus (DC)
6 pm - Those Manic Seas (RVA)
7 pm - Velvet Ants (Ian solo)
8 pm - Band of Young Saints (NYC)
9 pm - Black Hills (DC)
10pm - Absent Center (RVA)
11pm - Emily Danger (NYC)
12am - Barren Girls (Merge Records)
1 am - Banned Books (Philadelphia)

DJ sets downstairs will include: DUBIOUS (RVa), DANNvHOUSE (DC), DJ MARK IAN (NYC), ROMETTI (RVa), DJ EPOCH (DC), AGENT (RVa), PHIL DICE (RVa)

The show is from 2PM - 2AM on Saturday (which also happens to be Record Store Day so there will be plenty of merch around!) Pre-sale tickets will be sold online at $10 BUY TICKETS IN ADVANCE HERE

If you're planning on purchasing tickets at the door the cost will be $15.

You can also listen to some of the bands via http://soundcloud.com/dc420fest before the show.

Make sure to RSVP TO THIS EVENT AND SHARE IT WITH FRIENDS, hope to see you there

-Ian

Pre-Order 'EXTRAS' on 4/10!

Pre-order EXTRAS: A collection of b-sides and outtakes from the Advantage sessions starting April 10th at http://Velvet-Ants.com. Download 'Digitalis' free for a limited time and stream the full album in it's entirety right now! Many thanks to Jordon Zadorozny at French Kiss Recording for his post-production assistance. These might not have seen the light of day otherwise.

You can also see a short film featuring a track off the new album right here:

Preview EXTRAS

I'm happy to announce that EXTRAS can now be previewed right HERE. Many thanks to Jordon Zadorozny (of Blinker the Star) for assisting in post-production.

All tracks were mastered at French Kiss Recording in Pembroke, Ontario except for 'Idle Tears' and 'Celestial Shell.'

To be officially released in April.

-Ian

The Next Chapter

Trevor has left the group. Things have been uncertain lately and middle ground could not be met.

Year of the Snake

Hello!

Thanks for sticking with us folks, 2013 has been bittersweet for us so far. We saw Roscoe off recently at what will probably be the last time the 3 of us play on stage together. Roscoe was kind enough to fill in while we went through line-up changes earlier last year and stuck it out as long as he could. He's got a child on the way and commitments at home - that of course trumps anything the band would have in plan and we completely understand.

A/U:
We just released an EP that had been previously unreleased until now called "A/U" - it was started right after Lunatic Frame and left unfinished for a few years... Luckily the mixes remained intact. We were able to re-discover them and complete them a few weeks back for everyone's listening pleasure. You can stream or download it at Bandcamp or our old website (both free to members or subscribers)

Extras and Covers albums:
The Extras album still sits in limbo at the moment. The engineer who had agreed to master them backed out due to scheduling problems. We'll be getting that sorted out as soon as possible. We just want the the tracks to be a little more put together than Pixie Junk which was literally thrown together.

The Covers album is still on the burner, and we'll be filling in the gaps on that as well.

Last show:
Our last show at Lucy's ARL went great. We were thrilled once again to hit the stage with two of our favorite fellow stage-mates Thaylobleu (from D.C.) and Red Letter Life (out of Philly).

Thanks to all who attended, we have a recording of Paranoid for FREE right here:
http://thevelvetants.bandcamp.com/track/paranoid-black-sabbath-live

Solo shows/here on out:
Ian recently hit the stage once more (for a last minute gig) opening at the IOTA Club in Arlington, VA last week. The band had yet to play there and it was a great experience. We hope to either find the needed rhythm section to pull off more shows in the future or continue one-off shows like this because it keeps the music alive for sure.

The band is obviously in a bit of a hiatus at the moment, but we hope the music we have yet to release will keep us and fans busy for a little while at least - while we renew ourselves and get back on track.

We'd would like to thank all the listeners, our friends, family and fans for all the love and support over the past few years. If it wasn't for you all we wouldn't be here.

Keep an eye out for more tracks & albums out there in distro land. We recently hooked up with a Universal affiliate to release the back catalog as well as the newer releases. Zeptune is also compiling a ton of tracks dating back to the early days at ZeptuneRecords.com

take care everyone - see you down the road!

The Velvet Ants

Thank You

It was nice to be following police home instead of being followed for once. We had a swell evening. There happened to be a full house (due to pool tournaments) so a bunch of those people got to hear us whether they liked it or not. I wanna thank Lucy's and staff for having us out again. They're a diamond in the rough over there and do an outstanding job at what they do - making you feel good about you do in return. I also couldn't have asked for a better bunch of people to share the stage with last night. Red Letter Life annihilated their set before heading back to Philly. Thaylobleu did the same (with DJ Ayce International in tow) and rather blew my mind. It was nice seeing a few new faces out too and I hope everyone walked away with some of the giveaways we had out.

Thanks again to everyone involved, that's all for now folks.

-The Velvet Ants

Lucy's UPDATE

As of this week it's been confirmed that Lucy's will be Roscoe's last show with us. Among other things he's got a son on the way and has commitments at home. That being said, he'll always be a part of this band and we wish him the best.

-Ian

AU: The Lost EP

AU: The Lost Acoustic EP is now available at: http://thevelvetants.bandcamp.com/album/au

Spread the love

I had the chance to meet Chi and the guys years ago as a kid when they came through town. They've been an inspiration to us as musicians and for some time. I was lucky enough to get a copy of Chi's album "The Bamboo Parachute" that day - which I still have. It's easy to take things for granted when you aren't faced with things like this on a personal level or on a daily basis, so I'm just here to remind you to check out the site and spread the love: oneloveforchi.com

-Ian

SPECIAL UPDATE

SPECIAL UPDATE: "Advantage" the new album, is now available for $7 at:

Record & Tape Exchange
2448 Main St.
Fairfax VA 22031

CMC
14155 Sullyfield Circle
Chantilly VA 20151

Chantilly Music
14511 Lee Jackson Memorial Hwy
Chantilly VA 20151

LIVE at Lucy's ARL - Show Info

A few updates to the Lucy's show:
Cover charge has been waived!
18+ | FREE PARKING | Giveaways | Other merch for sale
Bands are: Velvet Ants (Fairfax), Thaylobleu (DC), Red Letter Life (Philly), Red on Red (Fairfax)

RSVP or Share this event: http://www.facebook.com/events/451501514906509/
Looking forward to seeing all of your faces front and center. This will likely be our last show.

-z' band

Live @ Axum [AUDIO]

Recorded live from what sounds like the inside of a coffee can... (mic levels anyone?) ...we present:
THE VELVET ANTS LIVE @ AXUM Mp3 Download. A relaxed set with plenty of dialog from the band! Only the truest Velvet Ants fans need continue.

Click HERE to download: The Velvet Ants LIVE @ Axum Lounge [01.12.13]

Thanks to Axum and staff for another splendid evening. Hope to see you all in Arlington in about a month's time.

Live @ Axum [VIDEO]

Got some clips from the Axum Show. We didn't know anyone was filming until later. Good thing we behaved ourselves. Thanks to the other acts (Edalene Veins, Alex Young, and Radio Feedbak) and everyone else who made it out. Played a whole set of new material, from the new album to b-sides. Some had never been played live before. Here are some highlights:







See you at Lucy's in Arlington - February 23rd @ 9pm! RSVP @:
http://www.facebook.com/events/451501514906509/

Interview

Tom Lohrmann's New Year's interview with the band:

PART 1: http://www.tomlohrmannmusic.com/blog/2012/12/31/interview-the-velvet-ants-part-i/

and

PART 2: http://www.tomlohrmannmusic.com/blog/2013/01/01/interview-the-velvet-ants-part-ii/

Many many thanks to Tom for taking the time and a-Happy New Year To Everyone, looking forward to seeing you soon.

-V. ANTS