"Barcelona" on WFNX

October 25, 2006

We've just received the news that our tune "Barcelona" has been added into regular rotation by the good people at WFNX (101.7 Boston, 92.1 NH/Maine). This means that we're no longer relegated to a spin every few weeks on the Sunday night local shows; Scamper will now be peppering your airwaves a good 10-15 times all throughout the day. (And if people respond positively, who knows what could happen. 15-30 spins a day? 100? All Scamper, all the time?)

This is a pretty big deal for us rock and roll folk, and a great lead-in to our upcoming show at the Avalon Ballroom with OK Go and the Cinematics on November 16. Thanks, as always, for your unwavering support!

Head of the Charles Regatta

October 6, 2006

We are happy to add the Row-a-Palooza music festival to our fall schedule. The merrymaking is in conjunction with the 42nd Head of the Charles Regatta, the famous two-day affair where more than 7,500 athletes from around the world compete in 26 different rowing events. We will be playing on Saturday afternoon at a location TBA along the Charles River on the Cambridge side, at a time TBA going on right before the main act, Nada Surf. We're big fans and disciples, and we're thrilled to shared the day with them.

Scamper Public Library

August 8, 2006

Why so quiet? Scamper is taking some time off in August while we visit various corners of the country, work on some new material (in both musical and choreographed dance form), and prepare for a fresh onslaught of shows come autumn. And if you think we plum forgot about our annual Moustache Show, all we can say for now is "sit tight."

Bus to Wellfleet

July 11, 2006

Scamper is off to Cape Cod on July 21, and we want you to come with us. The band Hooray For Earth has chartered a bus and sends the following details for the road trip:

* * * * * * * * * *

The Wellfleet Beachcomber is located at the top of Cahoon Hollow beach, one of the most beautiful beaches in New England. Wanna go to the beach for the day AND see the show? No problem. We have chartered a bus! For just $40 you can get a ride (with HFE!) to Cahoon Hollow beach, hang out for the day, rock the show at night, and get home safely.

» Click here to purchase tickets

Remember, the $40 admission price includes round trip transportation and admission to the show.

The Details:

The Pickup and drop off point will be the Stop and Shop in Allston, MA. The address for Stop and Shop is 60 Everett St. Allston, Ma 02134. The Stop and Shop is open 24 hrs so there should be no issues with parking. We do ask that participants please park in different areas around the lot so as to not draw too much attention to the cars.

The bus will be departing at 12:00pm and returning after the show late that evening, probably around 1am.

You must be 21 or older to participate.

The Boulevards EP is released

May 9, 2006

Hot on the heels of their crowd-wowing (and tiara-grabbing) performance at the 28th Annual WBCN Rock & Roll Rumble finals, local rock heroes SCAMPER proudly unleash their next great contribution to the betterment of mankind: The Boulevards EP. Produced by wunderkind Tom Polce (Letters to Cleo, Bill Janovitz and Crown Vic, as well as Scamper's Leave Your Glasses On), The Boulevards EP stands as a four-song aural assault of hooky polished power pop-rock, featuring the hot new single "Barcelona" with a guest vocal appearance from Boston rock legend Kay Hanley.

Firmly entrenched in the digital revolution, Scamper's follow-up to their critical darling 2004 debut full-length will be exclusively available through the miracle of modern science that is digital distribution: initially on iTunes, followed by Napster, Yahoo Music, Rhapsody and Virgin Digital. Just as Scamper has touched five continents and counting of this earth with the first season of the Scamper Podcast, so shall The Boulevards EP reach across cultures and unite the feuding fiefdoms of all nations under the flag of radio-friendly rock.

[Editor's note: While we love the feel of a shrink-wrapped, 5"x5" cardboard artifact, costs and overhead suggest that we give iTunes and company a shot at being our main distribution channel. Buying The Boulevards EP online will only encourage and empower us to make more music. The goal may be to release our second full-length album, with perhaps -- or perhaps not -- another batch of four songs released as a separate EP. Either way, we need to see that people will buy music, our music, in this format to keep the boat afloat. Hopefully you can find some change in the digital cookie jar to help make it happen. Comments, complaints, and suggestions on release formats can be sent to keith at scamper dot net.]

The Boulevards EP can be purchased at iTunes; details in our store.

[Oh, and for those who would like to see it and/or print it out, here is the full artwork.]

Wicked Good Music

May 1, 2006

Scamper is happy to be included in Volume 2 of Newbury Comics' and WFNX 101.7 FM's Wicked Good Boston Bands compliation CD series. While Volume 1 boasted bands such as Letters To Cleo, The Mighty Mighty Bosstones and Dear Leader, Volume 2 is so loaded with talent we feel we should list them all: The Damn Personals, Protokoll, Aberdeen City, Dear Leader, Piebald, Unbusted, Taxpayer, Scamper, Ryan Lee & the Mindless, Aloud, Harris, and Pure Impact.

Newbury Comics and WFNX will make these discs available soon, so look for an announcement on how you'll be able to get one from either them or us.

Congratulations to C4RT

April 24, 2006

Campaign for Real-Time took top honors of the 28th annual WBCN Rock & Roll Rumble on Friday night, besting Scamper and The Rudds in the finals after three long weeks of competition. Thanks to so many of our fans who came to support us; your presence at these shows absolutely inspired us.

Six hundred fans of rock music packed the Middle East downstairs for the finals (sorry to those of you who arrived after the show sold out), and we couldn't have asked for a better exclamation point on our amazing experience in the Rumble.

Good luck to C4RT, who put a lot of sweat into their performance and whose fans would settle for nothing less than victory. In our scorebooks, it's 1-1 fellas, so we'll have to settle that score next time!

And then there were three

April 17, 2006

From the 24 original bands participating in this year's 28th Annual WBCN Rock and Roll Rumble, the field has been whittled to three, and Scamper remains standing, no worse for the wear. The finals take place this Friday 4/21 and move to the much larger stage at the Middle East downstairs. Scamper turns it on at 11:10pm. Opening the night will be our good friends and winners of Saturday's semifinal show The Rudds (10:20pm), and wildcard winners Campaign for Real-Time (9:30pm), who are salivating for a rematch. The special guest band closing out the night will be Foo Fighters drummer Taylor Hawkins' side project, the Coattail Riders. And then all this Rumble ballyhoo culminates in the magical moment when one band is crowned the winner and handed the coveted Rumble tiara, though all three walk out with a wheelbarrow full of cash and prizes.

Your support has been instrumental in our victories thus far. Come out and do it with us one final time, won't you?

Round 2

April 5, 2006

Scamper has advanced to the semifinals of the 2006 WBCN Rock and Roll Rumble. We will be joining Campaign For Real-Time, Appomattox, and the wildcard winner We're All Gonna Die on April 14 at the Middle East upstairs. We are on precisely at 10:20 PM.

Thanks so much to all who came out to see us on April 3rd for our preliminary show. Pictures and reviews will pop up here as they come in.

Scamper goes global

February 27, 2006

The Scamper Podcast has opened up a window to the world, as listeners and fellow podcasters pick up on the show from near and far:

• Scamper music was broadcast on a Japanese podcast called In Touch on Feb 24, 2006.
• Podcasts in Germany and the Netherlands have played Scamper songs and traded podcast audio contributions. (See TSP Episode 4.)
• CD sales have popped up in England and Ireland due to podcast plays. UPDATE on Mar 1, 2006: And Switzerland and Italy. Olympic fever!
• Leave Your Glasses On got a rave review in a popular Swedish magazine.
• Press inquiries have started coming in from media outlets in London and Holland, prompting Scamper to seriously reconsider its summer touring schedule.
• Scamper tunes are now in regular rotation on Spanish and French internet radio stations.
• Here in the states, ex-MTV VJ Adam Curry played "Sophie" and a comedy bit from the Scamper Podcast at the top of his daily show.
• UPDATE on Feb 28, 2006: "Sophie" played on Venezuelan podcast Planetaligero.

You haven't tuned in yet? A third of season one is in the books, but there's a new episode every Monday for 8 more weeks: The Scamper Podcast

The Friend Of My Friend Is My...

January 29, 2006

We want to take a moment to introduce several new members in the Scamper Circle of Trust. From across the nation and overseas, these folks are in business to showcase new and independent artists, and they sure have great taste (if we do say so ourselves). Check them out, and tell them we said hi.

• Snap, Crackle, POP!: a radio show featuring pure pop sounds from the 1960s through today. Classic era pop, Brill Building sounds, girl groups, power pop, folk, glam, glitter, bubblegum and synth. Carried on KWVA, the college alternative radio station which broadcasts from the University of Oregon.
• Pop Dreams: a French college radio show out of Saint Etienne hosted by the impeccably-named Gérard Girard. The show has been promoting indie power pop since 1991.
• Kool Kat Musik: a distribution company and indie record label in New Jersey, specializing in pop and rock. That's a swell fit for us.
• Not Lame Recordings: everyone we talk to in the business seems to know Bruce from Not Lame. It's a curiosity why we haven't buddied up with them sooner; they are all about the power pop, and have a built-in music community that rivals any on the net.
• The Rock and Roll Report: competing on an international level with our very own The Scene, this dandy of an indie trend tracker will keep your hunger for new artists and rock outlets satisfied.

If that isn't enough, you can always check out our complete list of friends and radio contacts.

In Having New Eyes

January 20, 2006

The new year brings several new landmarks to Scamper Nation.

The Hanley/Scamper split single has been released and is available in the store. Starting in February, we will be publishing a weekly podcast - akin to a radio broadcast, and available for internet download or RSS subscription - featuring comedy, games, interviews, unreleased Scamper music, and surprise guests. We're trying to be all 21st-century here, so give us a whirl.

We are also happy to announce a new partnership with Not Lame Recordings, a truly swank online retailer of power pop music. Their motto "Good Music For Good People" rings true, and we'll add "Sold By Good People" to that. Check out their catalog, it's right up our alley, smack in our sweet spot, snugly between our lines, and other prepositional phrases.

There are some photos and a review up from the January 5 Hanley/Scamper show, along with a new widescreen format photo set available.

See you February 6 for The Scamper Podcast, Episode 1...

5" is the new 7"

January 2, 2006

You could also say 200-500 rpm is the new 45 rpm... but either way you look at it, we're thrilled to be releasing a split CD single with our good friend and Boston rock heroine Kay Hanley this Thursday at T.T. the Bear's Place. The original plan of releasing a limited edition 7" vinyl had to be shelved due to production company time restraints at the holidays. That doesn't rule out a future vinyl release, so we'll see what happens.

Kay's song is called "Cellars By Starlight" and is a treat especially for us Bostonians. The song name drops enough Boston hotspots and people to fill a duck boat. Scamper's Side B song is "Barcelona", which is not about Boston, and in which Kay provides some beautiful backup vocals.

Kay and Scamper will be supported at the show by Hilken Mancini & Chris Colbourn, and The Knee-Hi*s. This show will sell out the night of the show, so get there for the early acts or get a ticket before the show!