Reflections

I have a story for you.

It's the story of how HIATVS, a super funky fun rock-n-roll house party cover band, came to be.

It all began in late 2011. AquaMunkee had been in a band called PUPPET SHOW and I (Manwich) had been in GUPPY EFFECT.

At about that time, other band members in both those bands told us they wanted to go on a "hiatus."

In rock-n-roll band speak, this is a polite way of saying, "I quit."

So Aqua and I both found ourselves in a quandary. Each of us had a non-functioning partial band that was about as useful as a pile of sand.

So we had this crazy notion to abandon our other bands entirely and join forces to create a vision for the most awesome rock-n-roll band.

That band was JEEBUS PREEBUS. I know. I know. We had not yet conceived of HIATVS yet.

But JEEBUS PREEBUS was a transitional phase, like the pupa between caterpillar and butterfly.

It was through JEEBUS PREEBUS that we were able to test drive our rock-n-roll vision and conceptualize our ROCK-N-ROLL HOUSE CONCERT performance model.

You see, our previous bands were bar bands, playing late at night in dive bars for a handful of people who were mostly out to party, not to hear great music.

We'd put our hearts and souls into learning songs, hauling music gear all of the place to perform, only to suffer through abuse and repeated calls for "Free Bird" until the wee hours of the morning. [Shudder...]

Our only recompense for that blood, sweat, and tears was to then have to pile all our music gear back into our cars and go home. To add insult to injury, the local police in the small towns we played in would then harass us by pulling us over, thinking we were drunks leaving the bar.

Sure, we might get paid sometimes, but it wasn't about the MONEY.

All we ever wanted was to put on a kickass rock-n-roll show for a packed house full of people who were there to appreciate us. We also thought playing shows at bars starting at 10 PM at night was a dumb idea, if we wanted to attract the kind of high value people who appreciate a good time but don't want to lose any sleep over it.

So Aqua and I recruited a couple of friends who were new to the band scene, blank slates, if you will, and you will. And we powered up JEEBUS PREEBUS, learning a bunch of fabulous high energy cover songs to perform at a packed house of our own creation (our own houses!). No more of this being at the whimsy of finicky ornery bar managers or playing on a Wednesday night to 3 people.

So, on 11/11/11, we hosted our first ROCK-N-ROLL HOUSE CONCERT, a potluck style party with free beer from Capital Brewery, and invited all our friends.

It went really well, and we knew we had something. A ton of friends showed up to hear us. They loved the music and the free beer. Because it was hosted at a house (Aqua's), the accommodations were awesome - comfy couches and clean bathrooms. Since we performed at a decently early hour, people did not have to stay up to all hours of the night to hear us. They appreciated that.

JEEBUS PREEBUS eventually morphed into HIATVS, but we still maintain our dedication to high energy rock-n-roll music and house concerts.

Truth be told, our last two shows were at the Capital Brewery in Middleton, but still at a decent time of day (5 to 9 PM) and for a good cause (I think). We played there because we have a lot of friends who patronize the Capital Brewery and we think of them as kind of the unofficial sponsor of HIATVS. We always buy their beer for our house concerts.

Someday, I'll bet we will have the prestige and fan base to ask them to be our OFFICIAL sponsor. They can give us discounts on house concert beer and we will praise and promote them at every opportunity. Although, right now we do that anyway, so there is really no incentive for them to sponsor us. But if it comes up in conversation, put in a good word about HIATVS, OK?

HIATVS is a power trio of guitar, bass, and drums (The Hammer, formerly PREEBUS ROYCE of J.P., plays the kit). The drums are electronic. As a result, not only do they sound AWESOME (perfect, in fact, because they are digitally sampled) but they can do what no "real" drum kit can do. THEY CAN PLAY QUIETLY.

But not too quietly. We still want to rock at an appreciable volume. It's rock-n-roll after all. It is just that now, the volume can preserve the lining of your ear drums and not attract too much attention from the neighbors (and by association, the cops). Plus, not playing too late at night also goes over well with the neighbors. Many times, the neighbors are at the house concert.

So HIATVS is here to stay. We hope you'll give us a chance to prove we are different and better. There is no reason to be shy coming to someone's house for a rock-n-roll house concert. The hosts want to have the house concert. They want the great rock music. They want you to come. It's unconventional, and we want unconventional people to come.

Let's all get to know each other and make new friends while eating free food, drinking free beer, and rocking to free rock-n-roll at someone's house. It's an inviting atmosphere and everyone is welcoming and friendly. We are still not doing it for the money. We are doing it for the VALUE.

HIATVS has just as much fun at the house concerts as our friends do when they come. It is really a totally different experience than going to a crappy bar late at night to hear a band. You will get a new appreciation for rock-n-roll performances after you have seen us play.

Our next house concert is in Madison WI on Saturday 11/17/12 from 6 to 10 PM. It is kind of a one year anniversary of the band, if you count the J.P. days. But it is also a birthday party for our host Stefan Chandler, whose house it will be at. He's actually the GUPPY EFFECT guitarist who went on "hiatus" originally in late 2011 and helped spark this whole crazy thing to begin with - see above - so it's kind of appropos, don't you think?

Stefan is going to perform a set of his solo acoustic music at the start of the 11/17 house concert. Back in 2011, he actually wanted to go on hiatus to focus on his song writing and working on a solo album. He's fabulous. Then HIATVS will perform after him.

So you get 2 great musical acts, all the free food and beer you can eat, and a fun time, all in a consequence free environment. We are asking for a $5 suggested donation to the party fund, but if you prefer to bring a dish of food or a 12-pack of beer to share instead, that's perfectly fine. A $10 donation gets you a retro GUPPY EFFECT or PUPPET SHOW t-shirt (while they last), in addition to food, drink, and rock.

We would really like an RSVP, so we have an idea how many people are coming.

You can do that via e-mail (info@hiatusrocknroll.com), or you can leave a comment below this post, or you can CLICK HERE (if you want to pledge a small donation to the fund by way of RSVP).

If you haven't been to a HIATVS HOUSE CONCERT yet, we really hope you will try it out. Get out of your comfort zone. You will really enjoy yourself.

Thanks.

MW

p.s. As of this writing, we only have 7 days to hit our party fundraising deadline. We'll still have the party if we don't hit it, but it really helps with the costs if you can make a small contribution of $1 or more.