News, Archived
01.28.2006
As you may have heard, or seen, or both...New Year's
Eve at the Granada was about as much fun as I've ever
had. We actually pulled off "The Wall" in its
entirety, and everything seemed to work. Though we
had a great time doing it on short notice at the
Barley in November, this time we had the chance to
really "get it right." The expanded Surrogate band
was amazing - the guys (and gal) hit it note for note,
for the most part...in fact, I think I made the most mistakes...typical. And the visual show succeeded beyond my wildest dreams...the animation, the sound effects, the costumes...and of course, the building of the wall itself, and tearing it down in the end. I was into it I nearly fell off the stage and broke my neck. Luckily, I managed to fall backward instead, and walked away with minor bruises. The Spo show that
followed was just the icing on the cake. I haev to
extend my thanks to everyone who worked hard to make
this long-standing dream of mine happen...Eric, Tom,
Nick, Britt, Jen, Cas, Grant, Mark, Peter, Thomas,
Drew, Kurt, and Kevin...everyone's help was crucial,
and all in all, it was a hard day's night. Next
year..."Tommy!" Or maybe we'll do "The Wall" one more time...hell, it'd be a shame not to, right? Next time we'll get roadies, though. I must say, it's kinda hard to keep the tunes flowing when you're switching instruments after every song. If anyone out there can both tune a guitar and stay sober at the same time...call me.
Okay, enough of that. I won't listen to or mention
Pink Floyd for at least six months. In other news,
there's a lot happening musically that doesn't include
playing dramatic, depressing cover songs. I've
actually been doing a lot of work in the studio and in
the rehearsal room since NYE. My solo band,
previously known as The Egos, is working hard and
considering a name change...but we have nothing yet
that we all like, so I guess we're still The Egos.
Anyway, we've got a lot of new, jagged guitar songs
that we're gonna be playing in the next few
months...so keep your eyes and ears open for upcoming
shows this spring.
"Summer Reverb" is about to be re-issued in the spring
as well, with a bonus EP of outtakes and acoustic
tracks. The album is remixed and remastered, and the
artwork is improved as well. While promoting that
this spring, I'll be continuing work on my new solo
album, which I'm working on with Paul and Tom at his
brand-new Tomcast Studios. Hopefully that'll be done
sometime this summer, and maybe we'll get it released
by the end of the year. The new material is, as I
said before, a little more jagged and
guitar-heavy...not as much acoustic stuff this
time...I'm expecting it to rock mercilessly.
Olospo is also working on a new studio album, but that
may take us the better part of the year to finish.
Britt's wife Whitney is due any day now, so Britt and
The Spo will be on hiatus for at least a few months.
I expect that we'll continue work on the "Film At
Eleven" sessions in the meantime, and we'll probably
announce some shows in the late spring or early
summer.
The Jones Thing and The Lonelies have also got studio
albums on the way this year, and as always, Salim is
working on a new one...so if all goes well, I'll have
about six new albums ready to go in '06, from all my
various projects...let's hope I don't break my hand
and ruin it all. Seriously.
Another noteworthy bit of news: I'm now writing a
column for the Sports Page, a local Dallas
publication. My column is basically an opportunity
for me to rant about a variety of things, mostly pop
culture observations and snooty opinions of music and film...but...I've been told that "anything goes". I like that kind of freedom. I'll expect to be fired within a few weeks.
For now (meaning February and March), the shows will
be scarce, because I've got a lot on my plate. First
and foremost, my wife Aubrey is pregnant with our
first child, and she's due in July. We just bought
our first house and we're gonna be spending most of
our time working on getting everything ready for our
family. To say we're thrilled would be the
understatement of the year, unless the understatement
happened to be "I'm busy."
Wow. I need a vacation. Don't we all. I'll try to
update this site a little more often, for those who
care about such things!
Until then...thanks for listening.
CH
10.24.2005
Hey everyone, sorry for the long wait between
updates...I can't seem to remember to take care of
these things...anyway, there's a lot to
report...Olospo is finally back on the map, after
our performances at Xingolati with The Flaming Lips
and others...suddenly we're all revitalized and ready
to get back to it. We're planning to spend the early
part of next year finishing the long-awaited "Film At Eleven"
album, as well as polishing additional brand new material.
The Xingolati cruise was amazing...I'm not really sure
where to begin. Just imagine a bunch of music freaks
all partying together on a giant ship in the middle of
the ocean...and that's pretty much exactly what it
was. The Lips were amazing, as usual, and it was
really cool to meet them. They're really nice guys,
in addition to being great inspirations. I hope we
get to do that again...it was a wonderful vacation
from
reality.
In other news, I'm entering the studio with producer
Paul Williams in mid-November to continue tracking the
follow up to "Summer Reverb", which will hopefully see
release sometime next spring or summer. We're still
working on getting the remastered and expanded "Summer
Reverb" finished, for release early next year as well.
As for other projects, The Jones Thing is currently
in the studio recording our second record, and The
Lonelies are putting the finishing touches on our
first full length. So, needless to say, it's gonna be
a busy few months for me and the guys.
Am I repeating
myself?
I'll try to keep this thing updated a little more
often than I have in recent weeks. I've just added
some new stuff to the calendar, so please come out and
see the shows!
Thanks for listening,
CH
08.29.2005 Hey everybody, sorry for the lack of updates recently.
I've been pretty busy with a lot of really
important...well now, I shouldn't lie...I'm just too
damn lazy to send updates all the time. But, really,
I am busy. There is a lot of music being made, and a
lot more to come. Let me bring you up to speed on
current happenings.
We've got big fall plans for Olospo. We've had a
considerable amount of time off this year, as I've
been busy with so many other projects. But we're
about to kick back into high gear. First we've got a
show at the Granada Theater coming up, then we're
heading out to California to do the Xingolati Cruise
in October with The Flaming Lips. Check it out if you
can, it's going to be an amazing time for everyone.
We're still hoping to do the next Olospo studio album,
but we really have no idea when we'll get
started...money's tight and so are the schedules.
On the solo horizon: I'm planning to re-release an
expanded version of "Summer Reverb" on Summer Break
Records this winter...ironic, huh? I've re-mixed a
few tracks with Paul Williams at Last Beat, and we're
also going to include a bonus EP, with several b-sides
and acoustic tracks. I'm also planning to get back
into the studio this fall and begin work on my next
record, also to be released on Summer Break. I've got
about 30 new songs and I'm ready to get back to work
as soon as possible.
The Egos are really starting to click onstage and each
gig is getting better than the previous one...despite
the fact that I can't seem to get all of them together
at one time. That's what I get for asking busy
musicians to be in my band. I guess they're busy for
a reason. Nevertheless, we've begun working on new
material, some of which has been heard at recent
shows, and will likely be heard on the new album.
In other news, I've been playing quite a bit with
Salim Nourallah, both with his new band (The Noise),
and at his acoustic shows. His new album "Beautiful
Noise" is excellent, and I'm very proud to have played
on a handful of the tracks. Salim and I are really
enjoying playing together and we're making big plans
for the next year.
The regular Barley House acoustic shows are on hold
for the time being. I just got a little too bogged
down doing them every week. I needed some time off,
to focus on a variety of other priorities. But I
anticipate getting back into the regular acoustic
shows sometime in the fall or early winter...I'll keep
you posted.
As far as other projects...The Lonelies have been in
the studio in Denton working on a new album, and I
can't wait to finish it...Doug's new material is
fantastic and the tracks sound great. The Jones Thing
is also planning to record a new album this fall at
Last Beat, if we can get everyone together! Unfortunately,
scheduling complications have forced The Slack into
limbo for the time being. Despite all
this, I've started working on a new project called
Ween For A Day with some friends...you guessed
it...it's a Ween tribute band. We haven't had a lot
of time to get it off the ground yet...but soon enough
we'll do a show...and it will be browner than brown.
I'll keep you posted on everything...as long as I
don't forget. We'll update the website soon with more
audio, more pics, more swag, and more useless
information for those who crave it...there are some of
you out there, right? Thanks for listening.
Chris
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