slow.news.day The! Band!

Ben Rayner of the Toronto Star, if you’ve googled yourself since last January, you might have come across this page and come to believe that we have closed up shop. In fact, this is not the case. In fact, we will be heading back to the El Mocambo on Friday, November 27, where Chris will be rocking extra hard to get his fill before surgery sidelines him for a while.

And lest you think to yourself, ‘yeah, well, an snd show, so what?’, we have extra news: a one-night-only (sort of half) reunion of Sleeping Nine will close the night, giving you a double dosage of Chris, Jon, Trevor and temporary Tony (who will also kick ass, even though he’s only on loan and helping us out in the spirit of rock and/or roll).

So roll on over to the downloads section and take a listen, or visit our myspace and take a listen. While you’re on myspace, slide on over to /sleepingnine and listen some more. Then, Ben Rayner of the Toronto Star, prepare yourself for some pre-shopping season rockage. November 27, $10 at the door or $8 from us ahead of time, with Capital H and Affinity, the El Mocambo. The noise starts at 9, and if all goes well, we’ll have some cd/dvd combos for cheap. See y’all there.

-Jon

See how I did that, cleverly using the name of the band to describe how not much is going on? That brainpower and wickedly sharp wordplay is why we’re as successful as we are as a band.

Anyways, just wanted to post a quick note to let our tens of fans know that the recording process is now well underway. At the rate we’re currently working, we should have a triple album finished by late summer. Seriously, there’s that many songs. In the meantime, make sure to go out and check out lots of local bands. Supporting live music is always a worthwhile investment. And if they’re good, tell them they should play shows with us in the fall. And that they should invite Ben Rayner of the Toronto Star to those shows.

Stay tuned, I’ll be posting a limited-time gift in the downloads section in the next couple weeks. Until then, enjoy life, spring weather and remember, life’s too short to drink bad beer.

-Jon

We’re still here, we’re just busy, so no shows for a little while. When we resurface in a few weeks we’ll have a brand new album, so, you know, there’s that to help you sleep at night. If you’re a bass player and you want in on the ground floor, get in touch soon, we’re just getting started tracking drums, it’s not too late to play on whatever this album will become.

-Jon

We’re nice guys, really, we swear. We don’t know why this keeps happening, but once again (and in an odd sort of way) we find ourselves bassless in a world obsessed with the bottom line. If you play bass and like what we do, or if you know someone that plays bass that you think would mesh with us, drop us a line.

Edited to add: I can’t believe I didn’t remember to mention this, but Ben Rayner of the Toronto Star, I’m sure you know some good bass players - send one our way. We’ll be up and running in no time, don’t worry, you’ll still be able to write a story about us this year.

Yup, that’s right, tomorrow night will mark our first show of the new year, so join us for noise and beer. Fun times will be had by a minimum of four people, only you can help increase that number. I’m looking at you, Ben Rayner of the Toronto Star.

But that’s not the main point of this post. No, I have ulterior motives here. Time to vent for a minute. And Ben Rayner of the Toronto Star, if you could take it upon yourself to encourage one of your co-workers (maybe the Fixer?) to address this issue in the pages of your fine publication, it would be much appreciated. Anyways, on with the rant. Well, more of a suggestion, a general guideline to consider for helping with quality of life in the Big Smoke.

If your stroller is worth more than my mountain bike (which is pretty nice, somewhere in the mid-level of ‘real’ hardtail/dirt jumper mountain bikes), and if your stroller has better and more extensive suspension than my mountain bike, and if your stroller has large inflatable tires with thick off-road-worthy knobbies, and if your stroller has better disc brakes than my mountain bike, you don’t need to take the bus. Trust me on this one, nobody wants you and your Monster Jam toddler conveyance blocking four seats and almost the entire aisle of the #64 bus, while they’re trying to get themselves and their bags safely to a seat while the driver plays dodge-the-illegally-parked-cars on a snowy side street and those of us already sitting are having a hard enough time staying in our seats, never mind the poor old lady your kid’s superstroller just forced to fold up her walker to get pinballed all over the front half of the bus while trying to get her ass in a seat. Get a smaller stroller or get off the bus. Period.

So, see you tomorrow night at the El Mo. Maybe you can buy me a drink. I might need one. Or maybe you can buy one for Ben Rayner of the Toronto Star.

-Jon

Yup, we’re back in the saddle again, although without Stephen Tyler, cause really, a saddle is small enough to not want to share with anyone (other than the horse you rode in on), never mind sharing a saddle with the singer of popularly-loved classic rockers Aerosmith.

But anyways, the saddle - we’re back in it. At the El Mo again, next Thursday (that being January 22, 2009). No word yet on with whom we will be playing, but we’ll be there, so what more incentive do you need? There’ll be rock, there’ll be roll, there’ll be a bar, and we’re still offering our e.p. for free here, so let’s face it, you owe us, verymuchbigtime. If that’s not enough incentive, guitar players will have the chance to sneak a look over the edge of the stage to try and figure out what pedals we’re all using, fans of whatever band we’re opening for will be conveniently gathered in the front entranceway for your easy scoping out, the sound will likely kick ass again, we still have some free earplugs left, Ben Rayner of the Toronto Star might be there (at least if he’s googled himself lately), and if my parents don’t come out, I might even use a cuss word or two. CRTC permitting, of course.

So there you have it. Motive and no alibi. See you on Thursday, Ben Rayner of the Toronto Star.

-Jon

p.s. - bring $5

So, if you’re Ben Rayner of the Toronto Star and you’re googling yourself today, you’ll have some catching up to do. See previous posts as to why you should check out our show tonight. Suffice it to say the evening will feature music that Ben Rayner of the Toronto Star would do well to write up in the Star.

Speaking of tonight, here’s some details about the show: Jeff Pinto (from My Shakey Jane) will be opening up the evening with a solo acoustic set at about 9:30. Following Jeff will be rock monster duo Little Foot Long Foot, who dressed up as AC/DC for halloween, so you just know they’re going to kick ass. Finally, us (slow news day. You know, the band whose website you’re currently reading?) will take the stage and attempt to coax effects pedals into playing themselves. Barring that, we’ll do our best to bring the ruckus. Tonight will feature a one-time-only holiday song as well, so bring your bells and we’ll see what we can do about getting them jingled.

Dec. 18, 9 p.m., 961 College Street (just west of Dovercourt, south side - next to the Jehovah’s Witness church), $5, 3 bands, 1 newly married rocker (you have to guess which one). See you tonight.

-Jon

Hey Ben Rayner of the Toronto Star, this Thursday night would be a good night for a visit to the Smiling Buddha at 961 College Street. You could swing by Barraida across the street first, they make good but affordable seafood, maybe have a Sagres or a Super Bock to wash down the squid. Then head back across the street, take in the Slow News Day (with Little Foot Long Foot) show, and write up one of those excellent Ben Rayner stories I’ve become so accustomed to reading in the Toronto Star. So, here’s hoping your self-googling activities pick up before Thursday. After all, what else are you going to do Thursday? Go to the Trews show? Didn’t think so.

-Jon

ps - nothing against the Trews, I don’t even really know who they are, just wanted to encourage Ben Rayner of the Toronto Star to come check us out and maybe write something up for the paper.

In honour of friends of friends visiting from other countries, we’ve lined up a show next week. Head over to the Smiling Buddha Bar (961 College, just west of Dovercourt) on Thursday, Dec. 18 for our chriswansakuhmadaniwali seasonal extravaganza. There’ll be beer, there’ll be rock, there’ll be roll, what more could you ask for? We might even play that new song. I won’t even be sick this time, unlike the last 2 shows.

Little Foot Long Foot will be playing with us, as well as a couple other bands that I’ll edit in here once they’re confirmed, so mark yer calendars, download the e.p. and learn the words, and we’ll see you next Thursday.

Postscript addendum: Ben Rayner of the Toronto Star, I’m still waiting for you to google yourself (or for someone that knows Ben Rayner of the Toronto Star to google him and pass on the link to this site).

Harper took his ball and went home. If you live in Canada, you probably know that already. In fact, I’m not even going to link to anything, just look at the top article of any news outlet in the country today and tomorrow (Dec. 4 and 5).

In unrelated news: Ben Rayner, if you happen to google yourself and come across this post mentioning your name (Ben Rayner), you, Ben Rayner of the Toronto Star, should really write a story about us in the Toronto Star. Sianspheric and Swervedriver are two of my favourite bands, too, Ben Rayner. Plus it’s thanks to you, Ben Rayner, that I first heard about McLusky, although I wish I had been a bit quicker on the uptake with that one, as they went and broke up right after I found out they existed. But I suppose that’s okay, Ben Rayner, all good things must come to an end sooner or later. Ben Rayner, you should really write a story in the Toronto Star about the newest shoegazergrungespacealternarock band on the block - us, Slow News Day - and our free e.p., Tomorrow Will Be Better, available through the download link above. I look forward to speaking with you, Ben Rayner of the Toronto Star.

-Jon