SEPTEMBER, OCTOBER, NOVEMBER

Our Fall tourdates have been posted (except for one or two more we're still working on). They include a brief stop in Austin in a few weeks, seven shows in Germany and a big, long, epic tour we're doing with The Velvet Teen and The A-Sides. You can see the dates on the tour page.

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NEW NAME / GERMANY / NEW RECORD / ETC.

Some Things:

1) As of September 2007, the band will henceforth be referred to as Say Hi. This is a decision long in the making and, like most things we do, something that will either delight or horrify you. It’s actually not that big of a deal, we’ve been referring to ourselves as that for quite some time and you always know what we’re talking about. The truth is, we’ve never been completely floored by the current name, it was just something that happened and we stuck with it because, you know, this whole business of ‘is it a band or just one guy’ is confusing enough. It’s also a lot easier to say. Go ahead, try it: “Hey, have you heard the new Say Hi record?” See, wasn’t that nice? Anyway, the next record will be released under the shiny new moniker and we will begin touring under that name in the fall (more on these items below). We still have a bit of stock left, but, if you’ve been thinking about buying one of our merchandise items that sports the extended name, you should do that now (http://www.ilikesayhi.com/shop.htm), because once we run out, they wont be re-pressed. This of course does not apply to the records or that one t-shirt that says I Thumbs Up Say Hi, for obvious reasons.

2) Impeccable Blahs will finally find a home in Germany, courtesy of the very nice folks at DevilDuck Records, who will be releasing it there in September. We will be doing a week of dates in Germany (our first ever European tour), in support of that event. Those dates have all been posted in the appropriate place, although one more might trickle in soon. [side note: we’re still looking for a label to license the records in the UK and the rest of Europe, as well as other places outside of North America, if you or someone close to you have any interest in doing so].

3) We’ll be touring the US in the Fall too. These dates should be posted shortly. In the meantime, we’re doing a couple one offs in LA and New York in July and August respectively.

4) The fifth record is so close to being done. I won’t be done in time to get it out in the Fall, as originally planned, but it will arrive in early 2008 and will hopefully be worth the wait.

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JUNE

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OK

Ok, things are going very well. Moving my studio from the living room to the bedroom seemed to help. I don't know why. Some of it has to do with acoustics and sound reflections, I suppose. Some of it, I dunno, I guess I'm a creature of habit. And man, these API preamps ... I don't know how I worked without them. I'm focusing on about twelve songs right now, dithered down from the three dozen or so I've been working on seriously since I started this record. There are some new tempos, some new keys, a lot more real bass guitar and a lot less synth bass. There's a lot more AC15 too and not as much Fender Twin. Still the trusty Jazzmaster though. We've been discussing the future. Release dates and tours. It looks like we might finally go to Europe in the Fall, which is certainly exciting. I need to not think about the fall and next spring yet though, cause it distracts me too much from finishing the record. Ok. Ok. Time for a little caffeine and then back to work ... Ok.

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()()()()()()()()()

1. the web store is back up.

2. click the shop link above to get there.

3. we now have totes.

4. we've once again changed who processes the orders and ships stuff out.

5. it's better now

6. you can also buy dowloads of the whole albums for cheaper than anywhere else

7. if you buy a hard copy, you get a free download of the whole record too

8. we're back from tour.

9. it was long.

10. it was fun.

11. we played a lot of shows with plus / minus and bishop allen.

12. we miss them greatly now.

13. we also played with a billion other great bands.

14. like the long winters.

15. we enjoyed that.

16. seattle is wonderful this time of year.

17. i'm back working on the new record.

18. i started from scratch.

19. this time with a pair of 512c's ---> an apogee -----> logic

20. there might be a lot of keyboards and drum machines

21. there might not be too.

22. i can't figure it out.

23. i'm all out of things to procrastinate with.

24. especially now that i watched all the sopranos, entourage and this american lifes on on demand.

25. there's a lot of unanswered email in my inboxes.

26. if it was important send it again.

27. i get distracted and too busy when we go on tour.

28. i get distracted and too busy when i make records.

29. i'm trying to get this record done for a fall release.

30. i don't know how realistic that is.

31. if that doesn't happen i will be sad.

32. but i'll get over it.

33. no use rushing.

34. lest you come up with crap.

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ROAD

A handful of dates are still trickling in (the west coast), but the spring Say Hi tour is mostly booked and ready for your perusing. This is a big one. Actually, the longest we will have been out for any single trek. As always, we’re very much looking forward to seeing you. We’re adding a couple songs to the set that haven’t been played in a while, for those of you that always seem disappointed when we skip your favorite Discosadness or Numbers track. I’m bringing my new friends Andrew and Nouela along to help me play the songs and my friend Alina to help with the selling of merch. They’re all a hoot and you will like them as much as I do, I guarantee it.

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JANUARY

The spring tour is coming together nicely and we'll be sharing bills with The Long Winters, Bishop Allen and +/- (Plus / Minus), all bands we're big fans of. We'll also be hitting a few cities we haven't yet visited, so we look forward to seeing new faces. The fifth record has also started to congeal into something somewhat organized, although a few stylistic decisions still need to be made. We'll of course update you once those are made ...

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2007

Hm. I thought I’d post one final message for 2006, although, to tell you the truth, it’s been an exhausting year, and I’m feeling even less sentimental than usual during this holiday season. Sorry, that sounds bleak, I  know. I’m just looking forward to all this faux-happy holiday-special humdrum to be over with so that we can all get back to work. To recap: the fourth record came out, I broke my foot in Florida and it seems like we spent more time on the road than we were home. I actually put about 53,000 miles on the van this year, if you can believe that. Oh, and I moved to Seattle, Washington. It’s quiet here, more so than I expected it be. Much of that, I suspect, has to do with moving to Ballard instead of downtown somewhere. The rest, with having been privy to the cacophony on New York City for seven years. Still, I’m very fond of what is the closest thing to small town living I’ve ever immersed myself in, for it is indeed a very small town here. I’ve been spending much of my days trying to write the fifth record. It’s been hard trying to figure out exactly what I want to write about this time around and what I want it to sound like. Some days I’m sure I want it to be a rock record, other days something far more digital. Some days I’m sure I want it to be another concept album, other days something more varied in its thematic content. I’ve been scouring Wikipedia a lot, in hopes of broadening my palette, revisiting 17th century epic poetry I haven’t though about since university, researching the shared traits of fictional superheroes, attempting to conjure memories of heartbreak, from when I still cared about that sort of thing. The music has been coming together slowly and steadily, and I’m trying hard to write better melodies and longer phrases, to arrange parts more sparsely so that certain voices don’t step on others, and to not wimp out with my whisper voice when I know I should be singing from the gut. So that’s it for now, time to submit my top ten lists to those who asked for them, to decide on new year resolutions and tactics for keeping them and maybe for a couple South Park reruns on cable.

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NOW WITH NORTHWESTERN FLAVOR

In light of our recent move to Seattle, Washington and our inability to find the right candidates during our last round of employment opportunity proposals, we are happy to announce that we have begun a second wave search for one or all of the following:

(1) A drummer
(2) A girl who can sing as well as play the guitar, the bass, or the synthesizer
(3) Someone of either gender who can play the guitar, the bass, or the synthesizer

There are, of course, rules, because Say Hi does not equal chaos (for better or for worse). Most importantly, the ideal candidate(s) will live in Seattle, Washington and be willing to leave a job to go on tour for weeks at a time, beginning with seven weeks in March and April, including a stop at SXSW. You will be modestly compensated for your time on tour. It would help if you have done this sort of thing before. It would help if you like the same sorts of bands we do. It would help if you don’t get too drunk to play. It would help if you’re good at telling jokes. It would help if you don’t play notes when they aren’t necessary.

Should you be interested, please send us a little bit about yourself, links to music you’ve played on as well as some pictures of yourself, preferably clutching a variety of stuffed animals:

secondwave@sayhitoyourmom.com

Regards,
Eric / Say Hi To Your Mom

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HI,

We're Say Hi To Your Mom from Seattle, Washington.

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