Kevin James on SXSW 2012

So SXSW is this big glamorous festival with a ton of people from all over the world and every genre of music you can imagine...which includes a lot of shows that require a LOT of walking. I bought some insoles for my boots but they didn't seem to work and I do not suggest hiking around Austin in boots for days in a row. They do have pedicabs and some Chevy free rides for advertisement but we really didn't take advantage of any of those.

We had early mornings and late nights, all filled with experiences I would never give up. I met people from all over the world and saw a countless number of shows, some of which were bands I already dug and some that I found a new liking for.

Of course Jack White infiltrated the party and brought the Third Man Rolling Record Store. I, along with a plethora of others, waited patiently to pick up some limited stuff.

One show I wanted to catch but I happened to have a mistake in the time/day was Miike Snow. My friend and I had a few drinks and apparently mixed up the days but we ended up waiting for a while to see Jimmy Cliff in a small club, which wasn't a bad thing :{D A few bands I saw and also stumbled across while hitting random shows and suggest you check out were Alberta Cross, Band of Skulls, Dinosaur Jr., Strand of Oaks, and Gardens & Villa.

Alberta Cross

If you've never ventured down to the Lone Star state's capitol I would say it'd be a good idea to make the trek and experience this awesome city. "Keep Austin Weird" is their slogan for a reason...

Cheers!

Kevin James

Why we really do this...

Man o man.. Time certainly does fly. It’s been quite a bit since any blogs.



Outside of a release of a sweet Christmas song, one hometown show that happened the same day as the only heavy snowfall in Chicago this year there has only been random status updates we have really been unplugged from the internet. “Oh NO (tsk, tsk)!” The good news is we haven’t unplugged our instruments.


These last two months Model Stranger have been planning their next release and working on a plethora of new songs - deciding what to release and in what order. We separated for a few days, which was so painful we immediately returned to the studio.


This new material is challenging us as performers and writers so we have decided to grant ourselves a little more time than we did for our first record. This is something we have long been looking forward to. Believe me when I say we are anxious to get something out to our fans as soon as we feel it is ready!


Since we released Dreams & Bones (<---- free) we really didn’t grant ourselves adequate time to commit to fully develop the new material we have managed to drum up during our busy schedule. Instead we shot three music videos, released a live EP, went on several tours to different parts of the country which (yielded 150 shows on the road), landed on radio, licensed a bunch of our songs for Television and squeezed in two Christmas songs for our fan club.


It was a really great run, tons of fun and totally not regrettable BUT in the process we lost a lot of the focus we once had on invention, creation and expression… which is really the reason why we do this.

We’ll be hitting the road in short spurts throughout the Spring in between studio sessions and our search for a fourth member trying out some of the more developed songs live and maybe even have a few videos laying around we can share.


We have been very lucky thus far with the fans we have made and the friendships we have found during our short time as a band. We really can’t wait to share our new work with you. Thanks for you for all of your patience and your continued support. Much love!






Model Stranger


Stephen Francis


Kevin James


Vincent Joseph

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