Stiff Necked and Sore in St. Louis

We have been touring for quite a bit in our van. The van has grown to be a great crash pad and has saved us thousands of dollars in hotel rooms with the amount of touring we have been doing. A lot of people think we are crazy for doing it but it is a safe place for us to rest.


Most recently we upgraded to a futon mattress in the back and lined it with a couple nice blankets/sleeping bags. It is pretty comfortable in any kind of weather but when you’re sick.. The van is the last place you want to sleep.

The van gets cold in the Winter. It’s especially cold when you are sweaty and lock yourself inside to have a nap following a show. I went to lay down following our set on Saturday and thought I’d be environmentally friendly by not warming it up. I woke up an hour later and my hand hadn’t stayed inside the sleeping bag.. It was numb and I had to use the restroom. I went back into the bar and used the bathroom. Round 2 nap. I started the van and warmed it up. The next time I woke up I thought we were being robbed but it turned out that Kevin and Vincent were just loading up the trailer. I wasn’t well.

We had made the trip down to St. Louis to perform with local acts – Descending New Angels and Stilline. This was only our 3rd time through St. Louis and we were looking forward to playing for a good crowd this time around. I had been sick since Thursday and was having problems even turning my head since my neck was so sore.

The Crack Fox - St. Louis Picture courtesy of Greg Smith

Following a night locked up in the studio last Wednesday I woke up with a wicked sore throat. At first I thought perhaps I had sung too much but it wasn’t that kind of sore throat and by Saturday morning I had begun developing a stiff neck. As a singer, being sick is super stressful. Thankfully all the tea and honey I consumed in the previous 72 hours had paid off and I was able to perform for a very enthusiastic St. Louis crowd. Stillline’s and Decsending New Angels fans were great to us and we finished our touring season of 2011 with a nice energetic and tight set despite my ailment.

Sometimes touring sick can be a complete drag but the important thing is getting on with the show, which I was glad I was able to do. I have been resting up and getting better but still not fully there. I’m super anxious to get better to start recording. It’s been a long year. We’ve made so many new friends touring and this year was especially rewarding but honestly... we need to get these new songs complete.

See you later!

Thanks for Reading



Stephen Francis



The Road, My Birthday and an Impressive Photo Bomb

Things have been going great. Life is great. The road is as wonderful as ever. We have amazing fans (yes, YOU!). We got to spend some of the final days of our final dates of touring in 2011 in a few of our favorite cities.


Speaking on behalf of all of us, Burlington, IA has developed into a home away from home. The fans, atmosphere and city itself is awesome! We couldn't have done this year in Burlington without the support of Mike Savage and KQ92. The station has consistently spun tracks off of Dreams & Bones and every show we see more fans dancing and singing along. It’s been a great ride for us so far!


If you're ever traveling through I highly suggest you stop in Burlington and at the very least visit Mr. Moto's and Weird Harold's. You'll thank me later. Look at this pic of some Strangeloves... sexy staches!

Loving the photo bomb

What can I say about Macomb, IL?  Well, it's a college town, it rocks and it’s crawling with Strangeloves. That's certainly one reason we keep returning.  We have amazing fans there and Guy, manager of The Cafe, is like the Father we never had. He heavily influences us to drink Jameson and calls us derogatory names if we don't consume enough, ha!  But really, we actually played at The Cafe 7 times this year and every show was something different.  Acoustic sets, bringing friends on stage to sing along, diving into drums...it has been a wonderful year for us there and we look forward to what Macomb has to offer in 2012.

Another Macomb Strangelove shows off her I <3 Moustache nails.

And finally this past weekend we celebrated my birthday just as I would've liked, by playing music with two of my best friends.  We rocked with our good friends’ bands, Red City and Blue Eyed Jesus.  City Limits has always been a great place for us to play and we look forward to seeing you at a show there in the future.

"Operator" - 11/24/2011

Finally after 70 odd shows and a whole lot of traveling we are devoting the Winter to completing some new tracks. It’s been too long since we released anything. This year the road became a vacuum, this Winter the studio will become our home.

:{) -Kevin James

Losing Time, Making Friends and Fighting the Wind

We lost time one way this past weekend when we headed over to Indianapolis to play another Lazy Hawk Promotions show. We had the fine opportunity of playing the grand re-opening of Indy’s Jukebox.


Every time we visit Indy I forget that you can still smoke in the bars there. This is kind of like walking into a time warp for me. The bill was very diverse featuring locals Dell Zell, SynAestesia, Chemical Envy and Kansas rockers The Midnight Ghost Train.

This was our second time playing with The Midnight Ghost Train in Indianapolis. These guys bring it and have a hell of a hot sauce on their merch table, which we made sure to tap into on Sunday when we got home. On Saturday we opted for some eats at a local Jimmy Johns while scowering the streets for bars.. more on that another time.




Photo courtesy of Lazy Hawk Promotion


Friday’s show was pretty standard for Indianapolis. The fans of Indianapolis are amazing and therefore the shows are always a fun and rewarding trip for us. Being only our second time through we were happy to see how many of our new fans made the trip back out.

In addition the local bands on the bill were supportive and generous as you could be. There is quite a solid scene cooking up over there and we are glad to be guests of theirs.

photo courtesy of Lazy Hawk Promotions

On Saturday, reeking of cigarettes and sweat, we made our way over to Muncie, IN to perform at Be Here Now. This was our first time through Indy. From the second we walked into the room we could tell we were going to have a hell of a night. The venue was colorful and had a great vibe. Shortly after the show began the room was full.

We had some of Lazy Hawk Promotion’s staff over from Indianapolis to help us get through the night.

This was a rowdy performance for us. The energy was high and we had a blast. We opted out of playing some of our new down tempo numbers and pulled out an impromptu audible to play a cover of “Seven Nation Army” by the White Stripes. There is video of all of this somewhere but the camera was misplaced. When it is returned to our possession we will be sure to post some footage.

The Mouth of A Tiger leading to the stage at Be Here Now

We opted to drive home following the show despite having our video shoot postponed and not really needing to get home. Vincent navigated his way through one of our windiest commutes of our time on the road, at times frightening. Thankfully we are professionals.

Thanks for Reading!
 
Stephen Francis

We took a short trip away from Chicago a few weekends back down to Kentucky and back up through Terre Haute before returning home to be Nirvana for Halloween. It was our first time in Kentucky, we visited both in Covington and Louisville.

Wednesday night we ended up back at our sound guys house discussing records and listening to music. This was followed by a 3:30 am collaboration of cooking Pork Chops, Spanish Rice and Sautéed Vegetables.

Thursday afternoon we drove over to Louisville and did some shopping for our improvised Halloween costumes.

Terrible Cell Phone Pic of KFC's "Yum Center"

We stopped at Caulfield’s, a local costume shop and decided we needed to get to the Thrift Store to make this happen. In one fell swoop we put together our costumes that later became this glorious interpretation of “The Little Red Riding Hood”. Knowing I’d have to shave off my moustache the following day and much to the request of others around.. I left it on.

 



Ghoul in the window

 

Louisville's own Costume and Novelty Shop



 

Thursday night performed at “The Hideaway Saloon” for a decent Thursday night crowd but decided to leave our costumes for Friday. This was our first time through Louisville. In addition to being quite awesome people they were also an excellent crowd. This set was a mixture of originals and covers.. with a few new songs thrown in. Everyone was very kind and the night was highlighted when we were gifted a key to a house so we could crash and have a shower. There was also a microwave so Vinny zapped us some grilled cheese.Here is a picture of our digs here:

Accomodations at the "Band House"

After a few hours of sleep we went back to the Highlands neighborhood and shopped for vinyl, spent some time in the Guitar Emporium and stopped into Leathernecks so Vince could shop for some Snakeskin boots. I managed to get fit for a custom guitar strap and Vince and I both landed some sweet records. Kevin was sleeping in the van.

Vincent tries on some hot snakeskin boots.

On Friday we headed over to Terre Haute to meet up with our friends in Polar Island. We were connected with these guys through a mutual friend in Chicago. From the get go these guys have been super sweet to us and they know their shit too, which never hurts. We had a chance to play their first show ever with them and it was nice to see what they have been doing. I’m really looking forward to their record.



At first it seemed like we were the only ones dressed up but soon enough the crowd filled in and there were a lot of costumes. It was kind of odd performing with a hood on but I kind of liked it. However.. it did look ridiculous. The set was fun and we got to play some new songs that we have only played in "acoustic" sets. This was our first time adding these numbers to our regular set.

Our Little Red Riding Hood tribute.

Saturday we were a little late getting started but got back to Chicago in time to take a good shower and change into our costumes. The Elbo Room was packed and we had a lot of fun doing our tribute to Nirvana. We had filmed the show but the video guy lost his camera later that night in a cab. Here is a picture of me as Kurt Cobain upstairs at the Elbo Room. Also pretty ridiculous but FUN!

Stephen Francis as Kurt Cobain. Halloween 2011.

All in all it was a nice short run and a much needed fall playcation. Definitely looking forward to heading back to Kentucky in 2012.



Thanks for Reading!

Stephen Francis

Last night we completed our tee shirts for this weeks Halloween show. Only silkscreened 12! This was quite a daunting task as we are still relatively new to silk-screening but with a few Google searches we were able to knock off some of the rust since we hadn’t done anything since this time last year. These tees will never be printed again! As we will be Nirvana for this years Halloween performance we only saw it fit to ditch our Model Stranger font and use the classic Nirvana font. DIG IT!

Thanks for reading!



Model Stranger

Our Weekend in Seven Pictures

This past weekend we traveled to Burlington and Macomb. The highlight of the weekend for us had to be the acoustic set we played on Saturday night. The debut of two new songs and the opportunity to show a different side of ourselves was rewarding and the crowd was digging on it. Every trip out to these town seems more and more worth it because every time keeps getting better and better! Every time we leave, we leave humbled. Thank you so much to for the continued support!

Here are some pictures from random times throughout the weekend.



Model Stranger debuting their first two tracks that showcase keys instead of guitars.



Macomb fan comes excited to the show with "Strangelove" painted on her nails.

KQ92 Has been playing Model Stranger so much on the radio we gifted them!

 

Capitol Music added us to the Local Bands rack. 




Vincent fell asleep on 67 with his leg out the window.




In case of emergency.. Always shoot Pepto




In the morning we found this on our windshield... a Thank You card from a fan.


Hitting the road this week for a couple shows in Kentucky and Terre Haute. Heading back to Chicago on Saturday to perform as Nirvana for a Halloween show at the Elbo Room.

The Power of Collaboration and Community

This past weekend Kevin and I hit up PJ20 at Alpine Valley. The festival was fantastic. It was so great to see a band that has accomplished so much celebrate their 20th Birthday with dedicated fans and close friends. If you listened and watched closely you could tell that the backstage was a scene.

Taken from Eddie's Ukulele Tour -

There wasn’t one set I caught that didn’t involve some other band member getting on stage and sharing music of another bands catalogue. Members of Pearl Jam make appearances throughout the day in other bands sets and throughout both nights Pearl Jam had guests up and down all night. Witnessing Eddie sing with Glen Hansard again was amazing. My favorite part was seeing dozens of performers join Pearl Jam for “Rockin In the Free World” at the end of the night. The energy was so positive and it is a night I will never forget.

The experience was a very pleasant reminder about the power of collaboration and community within different scenes. It was great to feel it on such a big level and witness some bands I had already been a fan of get to experience such a special night with a much bigger and more accomplished band like Pearl Jam. If seeing Pearl Jam play for 3 hours two nights consecutively wasn’t enough, they sure made it a special occasion! As much as it was about them, it was about sharing music and doing what they love and being grateful for that.


Naturally it got me thinking about all of the friends we have made over the years since we started performing. Some of the best friends I have made in my life have been from the sharing music and putting on shows together.

Seeing 30 musicians jumping around on stage together reminded me so much of the Chicago Noise Machine and how much fun we used to have making appearances on stage with each other. Looking back at that now I am very happy we all took the time to work together and invite each other on stage. Thankfully a lot of those friendships and collaborations/guest appearances have extended past that organization and even after most of those bands dissolved and even more than that.. the I AM Fest continues as a staple for Chicago Independent music as well and so it goes...

I AM Fest 2009 - Chicago Noise Machine and Friends

I guess what I am trying to say is that I am very grateful today that I have been able to play music and meet so many great people in the process. I just wanted to take a minute and honour that.

This weekend Vincent and I will be performing acoustic (sans Kevin) at the Double Door with one of those great people from our friends in a Bullet Called Life. Last week when I was asked if we would like to do an acoustic show and knew Kevin couldn't perform I thought I should ask Aaron if he wanted to join us. Aaron will be playing some guitar and singing with us. He is just a lovely human and he is a hell of a musician... one of those many great people.



Thanks for reading.

Stephen Francis

New Music?!? Live at the Double Door EP.

It has been quite a long time. Over two months since our last blog! There is new music! Just not ready for release yet. In the  meantime we have a live bootleg of some select tracks from our May Double Door performance in Chicago.

Our recent efforts have been focused internally as we experiment with new material and continue touring around the Midwest, selling records and meeting so many lovely people.  The most exciting things along the way have made their way to this blog or to our webpage but everything else is just silly stories and videos that will end up on You Tube sooner than later.

In the last year, over 125 shows, we ended up with a good collection of solid recordings of some of these many live performances. Some live videos have made their way to our You Tube Page while the rest of them have been collecting digital dust in a desolate file folder.


Our initial effort to share some of these recordings with you was sidetracked by a remixing of Dreams & Bones for some TV licensing opportunities so it wasn’t until very recently that we had an opportunity to rummage through these videos/audio files.  


Using our Twitter page we asked Strangeloves what songs of live performances they would love to get their hands. Thankfully we were able to fill all of the requests and were able to put together a short live EP. 


We printed 100 custom and limited copies of this record and released them to our Strangeloves in Chicago this past Saturday’s show at Martyr’s. Today anyone can download them in a pay what you want format by visiting our Bandcamp page. That package includes different audio options as well as 4 Hi Resolution Photos from the actual show, and the album artwork. If you don’t want to donate, or even enter 0 (it's pay what you want.. you can pay 0..) but if you are just lazy and don't want to leave this page and just want the audio files you can click here but this one doesn't include all of the fancy stuff mentioned above. Just sayin!

Preview of the Artwork - Ooh la la! I guess you could technically get the artwork here too.. Hmmm.

For a limited time you can grab a remaining hard copy at any Live Model Stranger show.

Discussions of a new record are still in the process as we decide exactly what it is and how it is that we want to record this next group of songs. A lack of new material is actually not an issue; in fact it is the opposite as we are sitting on over a dozen potential song choices and even more song snippets.  Discussions with numerous producers, studios and discussions amongst us have ended with a big hmmmm and altered our usual concise decision making process. What to do… Should we do an acoustic record? How about we release all of those ambient dancey numbers we have been working on? Should we release another Rock and Roll record? 

It is more than likely we will be releasing an EP of some sort over a full length. We will have more news to come regarding our next effort over the next few months.  In the meantime we will be trying some of this new material live and seeing what sticks.


What would you like to see Model Stranger do next?


Thanks for reading.


Stephen Francis - Aka Stevie Frankie.

Unofficial She Don't Music Video... from Germany?

It isn't everyday you wake up and a music video is completed for your band.


This becomes especially true if it were to happen without your knowing. A month ago a fan posted a music video for "She Don't" on our Facebook wall.

I saw it and I said.. “We didn’t make a music video for this song? Suhweet!”

Curious by the image of the girl on the thumbnail, I pressed play, sat back and tried to deduct how this came to be. The quote under the video says "Ooooh Miri don't care everything! D". "You and her both Miri!," I blurted aggressively towards my computer monitor. Then I asked myself, who is this girl? Where is she from? Do I know a Miri? So... there I sat with my confusion quickly being outweighed by this flattery. Sure.. WE didn't do this video.. WE didn’t approve this… BUT… Who gives a shit?

I decided that I should reach out to her and thank her for making this video. So I did just that. Miri replied the next day and explained that she found Model Stranger on the Steam Engine Blog. She shared her excitement for our record and told me how her and her friends listen to it all the time. It took me a second to comprehend that a teenager from Germany and her friends were listening to something we recorded in Chicago.

I mean sure, we have fans but they are fans that we have made mostly from touring.. and we have never toured Germany. This video installment made by a sweet German teenager made my day.. and then I forgot about it... and then I remembered it.. forgot about it again and now I am blogging about it... because its awesome how the internet continues connecting us to new fans. It is awesome to live in a world where people can interpret your music on their You Tube Pages. A simple mention from Reverbnation on Twitter and a feature on The Steam Engine Blog... and suddenly we have fans from around the world.

Very special thanks to Miri for sharing our music on her You Tube page and a million thanks to the Steam Engine Blogspot for continuing to support us and spread the word. Also to Reverbnation for showcasing our FB page last week. So appreciative!

Without people sharing content on the internet this would be a completely different story now wouldn't it?

Radiohead Conceals DIY Fan Funding Approach With King of Limbs Release

As Radiohead fans around the world rejoice in the sudden announcement that "The King of Limbs", the much anticipated follow up to In Rainbows, will be dropping in digital format on Saturday I am joining in on the celebration and personally applauding them for pushing the envelope once again.


Whether you are a larger national act with a million plus fans or an independent band with a whopping 314 likes on your Facebook page you should be taking notes at just what Radiohead is really doing and why it works.


Radiohead is adopting techniques and retail options from the independent music community and further closing the gap between independent acts and Nationals. The only difference I see here is the perception in the way they pitch the sale.


During my first glances on the King of Limbs homepage the thing that caught me off guard was the fact that physical copies of the record will not ship until May, almost four months from the date of the initial digital release.

This presale will give Radiohead funding and a good idea of just how many packages and physical items they will have to print. This isn't very different from a 'fan funding' approach that in the independent music community has started to become popular over the last 2 years. In fact any pre-sales of records are fun funding, it just doesn't feel that way when it is coming from a band with the success or stature of Radiohead and when the music is available right away.


Independent bands around the world use sites such as Kickstarter, PledgeMusic and Artistshare to commonly raise money to print their records, go on tour, or go into the studio. I have even seen bands ask for money to fix their van.


Radiohead can afford to fund their recording cost and aren't taking a desperate 'FUND OUR RECORD' approach in the pitch to their fans, obviously because they don't need to. However before they put up any money to print physical copies, they are going to raise some money towards the cause and get a good idea of how many packages they need to print at a first go round.


The perception doesn't seem desperate as it does for Indie bands though. Is that because every single person that purchases this record this week knows that they will get a great product? Does this display how important a rapport with a fan base is? Or is it because they don't really consider that they are actually funding Radiohead to print their record? I think the answer to all of those is yes. Indie bands far and wide can learn just why this works for Radiohead. Offering the free download up front is instant gratification and makes the exchange feel fair.

Its all about perception.

In fact this model reflects the way that the very popular Bandcamp processes orders for artists that sign up to sell music on their site, which is the first place I witnessed this download now ship later process. When you visit an artists Bandcamp page and purchase a record not only do you receive an immediate digital download at the time of purchase but you also have many different file formats in which you download the record, much like the options on www.kingoflimbs.com., and a physical copy will ship at a later date. Although other nationals such as Trent Reznor of NIN have offered multiple file formats in free download format, Radiohead widdled down the many options available in the modern age to two user friendly file types, .wav and .mp3.


They also created a price point between the two by giving them two different prices. Wav files take up more server space and therefore sound better so Radiohead is charging more for those files. I agree that .wav files should be more expensive and this is a great move.


In addition by giving their fans only two package options, digital or physical/digital, Radiohead is going to significantly increase their revenue for anyone that desires to own this record in physical format. Commonly bands sell posters and artwork, vinyls and CDs as separate items online. It is common for bands to sell only one item for presale. Radiohead has only the entire lot available.



To add to the clever aspects of this release, actually purchasing the record in digital format instead of downloading it for free is just as worthy as purchasing a lottery ticket. As the website states on both packages –


"1 Lucky owner of the digital version of the King of Limbs will receive an autographed 2 Track 12" vinyl".


So imagine if that was you. Out of the millions of Radiohead fans in the world YOU could be the one to end up with the “Golden Ticket”. This prize would truly a priceless item of merchandise. Any music listener knows that they can wait until Sunday and find a free download of King of Limbs somewhere online but the possibility of being the winner of that record, despite the odds, will have overzealous Radiohead fans and Ebay juggernauts around the world pulling their credit cards out once again. Anyone who plays the lottery should purchase this record. The winner will be famous and any Radiohead fan knows that they will be getting their moneys worth.


Lastly I think this is one of the rare times I can recall any band releasing a record with little or no heads up. A major label would probably view this as a PR nightmare. Who would release a record without press releases and reviews? There is really no time here to create a buzz right? Considering that 25% of content online is user generated content this isn't that strange. It has been 2 days since the band announced the release of the record and it is being mentioned dozens of times in every one of my feeds by the hour. Who needs the press when you have millions of fans around updating their status with your name and link to new record in it? The general population has become the press!


A lot of the reason while this works for a band like Radiohead is simple.


They are one of the biggest bands in the world. Not every band can get away with a stunt like this but at the very least every band can learn from this.


Radiohead continues revolutionizing their releases with the changing technological and consumer trends of the music business while increasingly closing the gap in the ways nationals and independents release music. We should be grateful for their business/social media savvy and road maps as much as their brilliant and often unparalleled music.


If you were Radiohead what would you have done different for this release and why?

I would love to hear your thoughts on this.




Thanks for reading.

Stephen Francis

Although physical copies of both the CD and Vinyl come out in retailer stores on March 28^th Radiohead has chose their presale portion of this release, which is where Fan Funding is rooted, to only show two options. As this post is about the subject of Fan Funding and perception of how to do it in a clever and concealed way I left this information off. If you visit www.kingoflimbs.com there is no mention of this release date which is why it was not included in the original post. I believe Radiohead left that off on purpose. Do you think that Radiohead would leave that detail off on accident? - Ammendment in Re: to @ThisJustin's comment

Not So Blue Thursday

3 days after Blue Monday and I have a reason to smile. For the most part it
seems the winter has granted the band that balance we had been trying to

wrestle down in the late fall. Before we knew it we woke up and were in the

thick of another long winter. The Chicago air had begun bleeding its agents

of lethargy into our enthusiastic spirits and we were left disoriented with

not a clue on what to do next. It seems that if no one had anywhere to be

our world would come to a complete halt and everything else would continue

moving. A collective drag, the hangover of the holiday season was in our

bones.  Then suddenly it all made sense.

With such a shady despositon of the last month why would I have a reason to

smile?  I am comforted that there is a mutual relief amongst the band as of

late. Last years plans for us have seemingly completed their cycles and

soon enough we can get back to doing the things we intended. “The plate”

has cleared itself and now we are left to start creating again, get back on

the road and continue selling records.

What is next? We ask ourselves… Where are we going? Who is expecting us?

We don’t know much of anything in certainty at this point but we know that

we are anxious to work on some new music and hit the road more than any

previous year. Suggestions of 100 shows hardly made us flinch and the first

few batches of new music we have been working on hardly resemble our former

efforts. This is exciting and terrifying, yet intriguing and motivating;

the seed of imagination. Who knows though we could just pop out a rock baby

overnight and hone this stuff out.  Either way when it is ready you will

get a taste.

Plans for a short spring tour are in full swing and we will begin testing

out our new material live before we head into the studio in the coming

months. From the depths of my deepest hibernations I wish anyone reading

this the brightest day.

For those of you who want to chime in: What would you like to see Model

Stranger do in 2011? Where would you like to see them play? What can Model

Stranger do for you?

Go away? Nah.. We have been gone for long enough. It’s party time.

In the meantime here are a couple shows we do have booked.