Street Team

December 18, 2004

You're a fan. You're a motivated master of promotions and marketing. You want to get in good with the boys in the band. You want to help Scamper. You want to talk to Mike on his cellphone. Oh, hey, great! Scamper's very own drummer is heading up our street team. There are benefits of signing up for a post, to be sure. Wining and dining. Singing and dancing. Free stuff! Send Mike an email at mike@scamper.net to get more info -- please include the following:

• Name
• Email
• Age
• College? High school? Working stiff?
• Phone
• Mailing address
• Favorite board game

10 songs down

December 6, 2004

We had such a great time making Leave Your Glasses On that it's only fitting we had a blast at the release party, partying into the next day with The Halogens, The So & So's, Fooled By April, and a few hundred of our closest friends. Thanks to all who attended, helped out, and made the release as successful as it was.

We were featured in two local magazines in the week leading up to the show. You can find transcripts of articles written in The Noise and The Weekly Dig over in our press section.

New shows will be announced soon, as well as some other exciting fallout from the release of the CD.

Leave Your Glasses On

November 20, 2004

We are debuting the name & artwork for the new CD today. Leave Your Glasses On will be released on December 2, and will be available FREE (with admission ticket) at our CD release show at the Middle East down that night.

CD Release Show Announced

October 25, 2004

We are happy to announce our long-awaited CD RELEASE SHOW, to be held at the Middle East Rock Club (downstairs) in Cambridge, MA. We'll be joined by three of the most talented bands in Boston, two of which participated in this year's WBCN Rock and Roll Rumble. Natch.

We are making a special offer for one night only, the night of the CD release. Everyone who comes through the door will get a FREE copy of the new CD. No joke. Your admission ticket will get you the brand new disc and an amazing night of rock music. Now that's how you release an album.

We have been working all year on this, and we're so excited to finally get this music out to you all. See you all on December 2!

New Music

October 19, 2004

We just couldn't go all this time without giving you faithful readers something to listen to.

While the album continues to progress through its final tweaks and strokes, we've decided to post a pre-release version of "Sophie" -- the oldest Scamper song to make it on to the album and an appropriate appetizer for the main course album due out soon!

Head to the music section to hear the cut.

Introducing Your 2004 New England Scampers

September 9, 2004

Quadruple Your Pleasure

August 13, 2004

For Scamper's first post-Roderick show (Friday September 3rd, Harper's Ferry in Boston), not only has the band doubled the amount of bass players on stage in one night, it has quadrupled them.

Four very talented musicians will be joining Scamper for a round-robin, rock and rotating evening of pop. Joe W., local guitar god and co-mastermind behind the music of our good friends Fooled By April, will be lending his hands to the bass guitar on what he demands to be "songs that rock". Check. Indie filmmaker and ex-Chippendale's dancer Brendan C. will play as well, and is the winner of the Longshot Sweepstakes. Resident kitten Courtney N. will add some gender variety and high notes never before witnessed this side of Scamper lore. And who could miss Chuck Y., local mad scientist, kicking some ass in What A Shame? Do not miss this festival of performers. Seriously. Not a good one to miss. Nope.

Take heed, this will be Scamper's last show before hiatus; there is a new little Scamp on the way. Subsequently, this will likely be the final local show before the Big Damn CD Release. Yowza.

Goodbye Roderick, Hello Luigi

July 13, 2004

There comes a time in all musicians' lives where we must ask ourselves, "Am I really squeezing 200 pounds of gear and equipment into my aching sedan, plowing into Boston rush hour traffic, paying more for parking than I receive in payment, and dragging all the gear back again at 2:00 a.m. knowing full well I have to be up at 8 in the morning to go to work the next day?" For Marc Roderick, the answer to that question on August 8th will be, um, no thank you.

After three glorious years of heading up Scamper's Low End Rhythm Department, our bassist extraordinare will be tending his fields in peace following the August 7th show at the Paradise Lounge. Therefore, we have decided to do something special in honor of his departure, and his years of service. That's right, we've been dreaming of this day for a long time: The First Annual SCAMPER MOUSTACHE SHOW will be Marc's going-away party, August 7th.

Keep in mind this also means there are only TWO more opportunities to catch Marc doing his thing with us, the first on Thursday July 22 at the Beachcomber in Quincy.

Independence Eve at the Middle East

June 28, 2004

Scamper anchors a very, very solid lineup at the Middle East upstairs this Saturday night, July 3. We've all got our cookouts and fireworks on the 4th, but rest assured some explosive rock will be launched in Cambridge the night before.

THE SPACESHOTS are good friends, and also happen to be participants of the 2004 WBCN Rock and Roll Rumble. And they have an absolutely killer album, Siren Sounds, out independently. THE PRIDS are from Maine, and are well liked here in Boston. By the same token, SCAMPER is fairly well liked in Maine, but mostly because we have some family there.

Recording continues. Yes, it's a long process. Yes, it'll be worth it.

Recording Is Underway

May 18, 2004

Tracking has begun on the album project. Things are going well and on schedule. We simply cannot wait to thrust these songs upon you. Here's hoping people will be thrusting ten dollar bills back at us at the same time.

We'll be hitting the club circuit sparingly during the summer, dodging studio time and gearing up for the eventual CD release. Next up is a date at the Abbey Lounge, playing in their semi-annual "Bands Whose Names Begin With 'S'" series (with Señor Happy and Superlow), on June 17th.

See you there.

Scamper Belt-Tightening

April 23, 2004

Thanks to all who came out for the warm, warm Spring Fling throwdown at TT the Bear's, and of course all the propers to our brothers in Mappari. Most. Definitely.

Now it's time for Scamper to buckle down and, at the same time, buckle up.

Buckle down: we will polishing up the final songs for the recording phase of our 2004 full-length album. This will be the culmination of a lot of hard work; it's all we've been doing and all we'll be doing for a good portion of our lives now. You deserve nothing less, so we're going for broke.

Buckle up: it's going to be wild couple of months behind the scenes here. We'll see you in June and tell you all about it.

Rumors

April 12, 2004

You may have noticed a drop-off in the normally madcap frequency of local Scamper performances. Old age setting in? Interests turning to lawn care?

No. Well, maybe a little of both. But May is a recording studio month for the band - we'll be laying down our debut album in preparations for a summer release. No shows in May, folks.

BUT we've got a very big show planned for next week to get us all through early Spring months. TT THE BEAR'S, with MAPPARI and PASSENGER. Also our good friend Max Heinegg (of the disbanded High Ceilings) will start the night off. Lots of new material and tweaked classics. Note: this show will sell out, please come early!

I guess we should address this head-on... contrary to a rumor we've heard in at least 3 different places, Scamper is not participating in the 2004 WBCN Rumble at the Middle East (see the above notes about the month of May for further evidence). We'd love to be in there duking it out with pals Fooled By April, the Charms and Brett Rosenberg, but we'll just watch from the sidelines this time around.

The Science of The Lambs

April 2, 2004

Okay just a couple of things to get you thinking as we lose an hour of sleep this weekend.

Did you all see that NASA ran a successful test of their 5,000 mph plane last week? That's fast, people. Read here for some ideas about what other kinds of futuristic travel might soon be cropping up. My favorite quote from the article, about the possible downside of owning a jetpack: "Lots of people set their pants on fire and went off in funny directions when they tried them out..."

And some science from our own New England: Lobster zombies. Yes, that's lobsters that come back to life after they've been deemed deceased. Some good quote from this one: "I wouldn't remove the rubber bands... it's not worth the risk." and "It might be a robo-lobster".

Did you know? Scamper will debut three brand new songs at the TTs show later this month. They are "Another Time," "Escaping Flatland," and "The Proof is Altogether Too Late," all of which are slated for our upcoming debut CD.

In The Spring...

March 22, 2004

In the spring, at the end of the day, you should smell like dirt.

Scamper news: Work continues on the album; pre-production is nearly completed. We've got a handful of completely new material that you all have not heard, and we're pretty psyched about it. We'll play it all for you next month at our Boston-area show.

Movie news: Charlie Kaufman's new flick is good (the Carrey/Winslet pic), and I think the thing I liked best was that the "shocking twist" ending was blatantly revealed about 25 minutes into the movie. These days in movies, the completely non-surprising thing to do is to draw out the plot-blending and make it good by making it eventually clever. But in Eternal Sunshine, they give you the cleverness up front and let the movie stand on its own. Kudos CK and the cast.

Things to do: Put your name and city into our file over on the mailing list.

Press the Meat

March 8, 2004

Scamper has always found it tough to get press in this crazy town, without a publicist or a band member suave enough to wine and dine the editors at the local rags. Which made it interesting to note that the band made it into so many lines of print on a single day, last Thursday:

• A decidedly positive review in The Noise from our Lizard Lounge show (positive: reviewer thinks we're better than we used to be; negative: he doesn't like The Cure)
• Keith quoted in an article in The Weekly Dig
• Thanks to the popularity of Brett Rosenberg and his minions, last week's show at the Abbey was featured with little write-ups in the Boston Globe and the Boston Phoenix

Next week's lesson: specific PR tactics like contests, surveys, and tie-ins

Out Like Lambchops

March 1, 2004

This week mark your calendars for two events. One, the upgrading of the Scampernet, this Wednesday. Granted that may not be a calendar-marking-worthy event for you, but it'll sure look different around here. Tidy up your favorite corners and expect some new paint on the walls.

Two, join us for an evening of incredible rock at the Abbey Lounge Friday night. We are kicking the evening off early and warming up the stage for Bishop Allen and then Brett Rosenberg, who is celebrating the release of his fourth album. Brett is a force to be reckoned with, so reckon him with us in the intimate confines of Somerville's finest.

Homecoming Scene

February 23, 2004

This weekend, the Boston scene uproots and travels west for two and half hours to land smack in middle of A Great Place To Live, Work, and Play. Okay, it's just Scamper and the Brett Rosenberg Problem doing the traveling, but it is of some significance that these two bands join up at Valentine's in Albany on Saturday. Brett from the BRP, Keith and Nate are all from the upstate (real upstate, not White Plains) New York area, and all got their starts playing in the Albany club scene that once included legendary clubs like Bogie's and the QE2, and still includes the venerable Valentine's and Saratoga Winners (not a country bar, anymore).

A gigantic thank you to all of you fantasic supporters that came out and made last Friday night at the Middle East our fourth sold out show in a row. The night was a terrific success for all involved, and many salutations to Fooled By April and Passenger for co-headling and co-kicking-ass to round out a great night. Our spectacular (and, er, stunning) photographer expertly captured her usual Moments To Remember, and new friend JustBill (of www.justbill.net) added to the ado with his own gallery of snaps. Never before have so many shutters flown in a forty-minute flurry. Much thanks to both Alena and JB.

Let's Pronounce Our Favorite Surnames

February 13, 2004

It's the middle of February and the year is finally starting to heat up. With some super lineups coming up the next three weekends in a row (Cambridge, Albany, then Somerville), may we suggest that you fill up your gullet with enough Scamper to last you a couple months? You see, we are in the midst of a very exciting project here at Scamper HQ (Walpole). Let's just say we're preparing for some long, long, long awaited recording sessions. Details will dribble out over the next months, so please do stay tuned. We promise it will all be worth the wait.

This Friday will see the reuniting of Scamper and brothers-in-rock extraordinaire Fooled By April, with whom Scamper have shared many a stage and many an adventure. Fooled By April cracked the CMJ Top 200 last month with their 2003 release Nice To See You, and that's just cool man. They are headlining on Friday, so the arrive-early, stay-late policy is full effect.

Lunar Lunacy

February 6, 2004

Did you know about this? There's a company called TransOrbital that wants to store your email on the moon.

"The 110-kilogram spacecraft will launch from the ex-Soviet cosmodrome in Baikonur, Kazakhstan. It will spend roughly three months orbiting the Moon, taking high resolution images and video footage, before deliberately plunging into the lunar surface. Company president Dennis Laurie says TransOrbital hopes to eventually develop craft that could land safely on the surface of the Moon. These landers could be used to store data for customers back on Earth, he suggests. Such extraterrestrial data would be immune from natural disasters back on Earth."

I know how safe I'd feel if my digital photos were safe from flooding; so what that they'd be 238,700 miles away?

Do Strange Things happen in leap years?

February 2, 2004

Congrats Pats!

Today is Groundhog's Day. And the little bugger already confirmed six more weeks of winter. Oddly enough, where I work we have an actual groundhog, or "woodchuck." Of course they always make me think of Bill Murray now, which in turn always makes me think of Ghostbusters, which I think I've mentioned here before was my absolute favorite movie when I was growing up. I had a jumpsuit. I learned what little illustrative skills I have by learning to draw the "no ghosts" logo (before the unfortunate trash of the sequel with the ghost holding up two fingers). Man has Harold Ramis gotten big.

Thank you one and all for helping us sell out the Lizard Lounge on Saturday night!

Scamperbowl Saturday Night

January 29, 2004

You heard it here first - we predict that the outcome of this weekend's big competition is going to look like this:

The Rudds 27, Scamper 21 (OT)

Getting even more specific, placeholder John Powhida of the Rudds will take a fake Brett Rosenberg field goal attempt the distance in overtime, sending Scamper fans into another controversy-filled offseason. The officiating crew of Lincoln Conspiracy will flee the stadium, fearing repercussions of another tuck-rule call on the winning play. Orange Park, announcing from the booth, will refuse to broadcast the game and instead just play Cheap Trick cover songs all night long. In a related note, I think the Pats are going to win too.

Anyway, it should be a great weekend here in Boston - do come party with us on Saturday night. Look for new songs, old song resurrections, medleys and new cover tunes, all packed into one juicy Scamper set. We're on a little after 11, but don't miss a minute of the music, which starts a little after 9.

Where are The Kinks when you need them?

January 20, 2004

The Reuters newswire is reporting that Oasis has fired their drummer Alan White. This, in itself, is not big news. I was intrigued, however, by the message on their website: "Alan White has been asked to leave Oasis by the other band members. There are no plans to replace Alan. The band's scheduled recording sessions remain unaffected." Here's hoping that going without a drummer makes them somehow better. Seriously, they put on one of the most spiritless performances I've ever witnessed way back in 1995.

But this news also got me thinking, again, of the glut of actual talent that seeps across the pond from the UK. Travis, Blur, Radiohead, Pulp... I think there were some good ones in the 60's too. But why does it seem like there is just way more great music per capita over there?

Don't forget January 31st at the Lizard Lounge in Cambridge - Scamper hosts your very own New England Superbowl warmup with The Rudds, who were recently pegged to open for the newly - briefly? - resurrected Urge Overkill at the Middle East later this season. Not to mention fellow rockers Orange Park from NYC and Lincoln Conspiracy to boot.

HSCM IV

January 12, 2004

I'm not sure we've gushed enough recently about how lucky we are to be headquartered in Boston, Massachusetts. We were reminded of this last night at the annual Hot Stove Cool Music throwdown at the Paradise Rock Club (all proceeds benefit The Jimmy Fund). The same principles that make this the best music town in the country also make it the best sports town, no matter which sport you follow. Where else are you going to find Kay Hanley getting down with the Dropkick Murphies, Peter Gammons of ESPN rocking out with Bill Janovitz, USA Mike and the always gentlemanly Mike Gent, Red Sox phenom GM Theo Epstein strutting his stuff onstage, Kevin Millar and Bill Mueller showing off their not-so-bald look, and even our behind-the-scenes (and similarly named) friends Pete Stone and Peter Stokes making it all run smooth as Mars rocks?

Also spotted at the party: Seth Myers (SNL), funnyman Mike O'Malley, sportsguy Dan Patrick, Sox manager Terry Francona, local rock superstars The Gentlemen, Loveless, and the return of Kay Hanley & company. You can't find this kind of good stuff anywhere else, people.

Singing in the New Year

January 2, 2004

A brand new year lies ahead, with infinite possibilities and hopefully optimistic inclinations running rampant. New NASA rovers are touching down on Mars, the Patriots might be touching down in Houston, and maybe you're doing some touching of your own with your New Year's sweetheart. In any case, let's hear some 2004 predictions from everyone in camp Scamper.

As for sure things, Boston has a lot of local music dropping in the first quarter '04. Pal and fellow upstate NY-native Brett Rosenberg will release a solo disc in March, and release dates are also set for local giants The Gentlemen, Senor Happy, Loveless, and The Douglas Fir. You can see Brett in action with us when his other other band, The Rudds, join us at the Lizard Lounge.

In the Wacky News Department, Cris Kirkwood has been arrested, as most famous musicians are these days. I remember being introduced to the Meat Puppets when they were guests of Nirvana on MTV's Unplugged way back in '93. They were an indirect inspiration to us, as we found vast differences in the quality of vocals between their early and late work. Rock stars get singing lessons, we learned. There's nothing on the top but a bucket and a mop and an illustrated book about birds... Indeed!