You have entered the SLeDGE News Page, where you can learn about the latest goings-on of the band. This page will be updated (at least monthly) from time to time in an attempt to keep those of you interested in the world of SLeDGE. I apologize ahead of time for any neglect of this particular page and ask that you please bear with me (after all, we DO suffer some slow periods). Thanks.
October 2, 2000
October 29, 1999It hurts that we've been forced to move on without Jeff, but it was time to start again. I know that we had planned to start up again a number of times, but for whatever reason, this has not happened. Jeff's such a transient that he's hard to keep tabs on. At this time, I have no idea where he is. If anyone out there does, drop me a line, please! We need him immensely to fill in the gaps... it just ain't SLeDGE without Grose.
Anyhow, Erik and I have started a new batch of songs, some of which are heading in a new direction -although not by much. These songs have no lyrics and no names, as that part of the process was always left to Jeff. I don't know, maybe I'm prolonging it for that reason, but nonetheless SLeDGE will be back on the circuit soon. We have about 6 songs right now, although they are far from polished. I'm very optomistic, though. We tried to get something ready for Hallowpalooza 1999 but realized that we were nowhere near ready to play out. I'd hoped Jeff would show up at the show (that took place Oct. 23), but no luck. Well, we'll keep working and looking and hopefully we'll have some good news on both fronts by the next time I write. Later.
Also, I have decided, with encouragement from Jeff, that there will be a Hallowpalooza in 1999 -in some form (much like SLeDGE).
That's all for the good news, so until next time: keep your fingers crossed.
For this reason and also because our summer project, Happyface, is a summer project: Hallowpalooza has basically been canceled for 1998. To read all about it, go to the Hallowpalooza page. In other news, i moved the 1997 news to the old news page.
I also urge everyone to take advantage of the special offer at CD NOW. You get $5 off your order IF you link there and order through our site. See the banner on the main page or follow the link above.
SLeDGE: The "season" is scheduled to start. However, since I last posted info on the SLeDGE reunion, something has occurred to alter its success. For personal reasons which I won't discuss here, Jeff and Mike have (at least temporarily) dissolved their friendship. I'm hoping that it is only a temporary condition and that they can repair whatever ill there is between them. Despite this, I am planning on continuing in whatever means I can. I can't say for sure if the future lineup will include either or both Jeff and Mike, but I hope SLeDGE will continue in some form.
On a related note, Erik (Happyface bass-player) seems ready to take on whatever role in SLeDGE available to him (which at this point is pretty wide open). I'm sure that the new band will have him as a member. He has also discussed, although this might not necessarily fall under the category of the previous SLeDGE, introducing some guitarists that he knows that play music of a similar taste. I'll let you know what happens, but I'm determined to stay busy and promise to try my best at re-uniting SLeDGE.
P.S. New band photos on the SLeDGE Gallery page.
SLeDGE NEWS: Jeff and his girlfriend, Kelly, stopped in tonight and we listened to some of the material we have on cassete (including LOI stuff). Jeff is definitely interested in getting back into the music and I, despite having Happyface, also miss SLeDGE. So, it's now just a matter of time before we get back to it. I guess Mike is ready as well, and Erik has expressed an interest in taking part, and Ryan has agreed to participate when possible during our initial start-up period and help us get back on track. I think we're ready.
I've done some thinking since I last talked to Jeff and I have decided that I'm going to start off trying to play drums organically at first and later work the drum machine into the songs, where it 'adds to' and not 'is' the music. I think that this will add another layer to the sound, although I think some stuff I'd rather bow down to the drum machine and settle for playing keyboards. Erik's position might be transferable, too, since we use (or used) synthetic bass in our songs, which -if used- would leave him open to play additional keyboards or guitar. It should work out nicely. I'll let you know.
Happyface, however, is still very much alive and well and planning to really get things rolling next Spring. By then, we should be more prepared to write some original material that satisfies all of us and should have enough cover stuff to allow us to play bars (in our area, bars tend to only book bands playing hard-rock/classic rock genre music -which has long been a problem for SLeDGE). The future seems set and I'm very optomistic for both bands. No other news for now. Bye.
Later that day... I had a chance to go through some old material I had lying around my house and uploaded a small sample of the song "Clearcut", which was the last song written before we went on break (I still say we didn't break up). The song is largely composed by Mike, who arranged and wrote all the guitar parts. I added the drums and 'stuff' to that, Jeff arranged some lyrics, and Ryan built on the riff. The song not only sounded different than our other stuff, but it was written differently -by collaborating. I think it was a good sign of where we were heading, but then... oh well, take a listen, it's not that long of a wait.
As I type, the newlyweds are on their honeymoon and Ryan is on vacation with some friends, leaving Kirk and I to tend to the Happyface outpost. I'm trying to figure out some stuff for the band in the next few months during my time of isolation, but things just aren't working out. I'll let you know if anything comes about.
Some SLeDGE NEWS!:
I have talked to Jeff, who called to let me know he hadn't "fallen off the face of the earth" and he sounds really interested in doing something musically in the near future. It sounds like a SLeDGE reunion is around the corner, although I don't know if it will be the SLeDGE that everyone is used to. I'm trying to work that into our schedule, too. Check back here to see what happens.
In site news, I've added a Obsidian page that documents the rise and fall of the band that pre-dated SLeDGE. Check it out... it's at least good for a laugh!
I'd appreciate it if everyone would check out Sledgehead's Packrat Depot, which is a site I've started up to display some more of my original material. It has some art and some lyrics/poetry and hopefully will continue with updated material in the future. If you like some of the band(s)'s gallery images, why not check this site out?
Also, I changed the Guestbook a little, as well as the sidebar on the frame edition of SLeDGE HeadQuarters, so it should now load a little faster. I'm working on really cutting down the load time.
A side note to Noise Buffet fans: Matt Miller's new band, the Telefunken Two-tones played their first gig last Friday, but I haven't heard how it was (more later on that). See ya.
Another page I've added is a list of links to various websites around the WWW that are devoted to the artists with songs we cover in Happyface. If you notice anything wrong or want me to add something, let me know.
I've also added a link to Secon Spin, a great place to find CDs you're looking for cheap. Check this place out, please. Other than that, no real changes...for now anyway
I know frames are sometimes unfavored and realize that not everyone has the browser capability to view them, but I feel that using them helps to organize the whole site much better. Now you don't have to wait as long fo the main page to load just to get where you want and also have a much better guide to get where you want to. At this point, I should mention that some pages were not used in the navigation/sidebar section of the frames, but these should be easily linked from another associated page (i.e. the Hallowpalooza 1996 Gallery can be reached from the main Hallowpalooza page, the 1996 News page can be reached from the main News Page, etc.).
I hope that I have provided those not wanting to use frames an equal oppurtunity to do so. Please let me know if I, in fact, haven't and I'll work on it.
I have re-arranged some pages so that they look right when viewed through frames and I want to state that the frames version (.02) is my default manner of viewing the site from now on. This is why some of the pages now look rather odd when viewed without frames (the data's the same, just the appearance is different).
That's all for now, except that I've added links to the Punxsy page and added to the Happyface songlist. Bye.
May 26, 1998
Okay, I'm done beating myself up and am ready to try to mend the damage done. Okay here's a list of new renovations that have been done to the site in the last two weeks:
I think that should cover the main changes that have been made, but there was still a lot of dialogue that is lost for good. I feel like my diary has had pages ripped out of it... oh well, no use crying over it now, right? Anyhow, like I've said before, the future looks fairly optimistic, not only for my new band, Happyface, but for Sledge as well. It seems like a reunion might be in the works before the year's end. Look here for further details.
Thanks again for everyone's continued support. Feel free to write and let me know what you think about the band, the new look, suggest a link, comment, or complain. I'd appreciate any (I think) feedback thrown my way. C-ya!
All in all it was a good night, but the crowd was a little less responsive to Polemic than I had expected, at least in their first set, which was some really heavy stuff. They played great, but as the singer, Andy Hood said, they just came out and "hit the audience too hard." I also think that a major factor was that they are an all original band, which -from doing shows as Sledge, sometimes overwhelms the crowd and too often the majority of them lose interest when they don't recognize what they're hearing a band play. I think their next show will be better though, as the audience is now more familiar with them. More details can be found on the gig at the Show's Webpage.
As far as the site goes, I've added a few minor changes, as well as a link to CD NOW, which is a site that I frequent often. It's a great source to listen to and try out new bands that you've only heard of and are curious about. Most of the CD's they sell have Real Audio samples of tracks on the album and it's really helpful in evaluating a CD before forking over the cash. I've also exchanged a banner with them that looks like this:
And that's all.
P.S. I just noticed that we've reached the 2 Year Anniversary for the site (May 10th). Thanks again to everyone who's visited us in this time and I hope you continue to show interest in the future, as I will do my best to keep you interested.
page that provides anyone who's interested with the further background history of both Sledge and Happyface (as well as all the other stages in between). You can find it here: The History Page. (Note: I hope you'll excuse my rambling at the end) =) Anyway, the new band is starting to get on a roll. We're organizing a show with Polemic, a new area band that offers heavy original tunes with a punch (by the way, polemic means controversy or argument -in case you wondered, I did). That should happen around the first of May and hopefully a series of dates will come together throughout the summer with the recent emergence of local bands. Speaking of which, Matt Miller, formerly of Noise Buffet, is organizing a ska-inspired band that should prove interesting. More on that later.
Well, nothing else to mention now, other than I think I've finally fixed the guestbook and the counter (last checked=1272) ...at least I hope! Please take advantage of the guestbook if you're feeling whimsical and I'll see you later!
Happyface made its premiere at last year's Hallowpalooza festival (which went really well) and was greeted with some cheers, some applause, some moshing, and some hostile looks from the punks waiting for the Mad Cows =) .
The show's line-up was Happyface, the Mad Cows, which were formerly Starch, and a new band Vinal (by the way, this is not a typo, Vinal is not vinyl -which I made the mistake of putting on the fliers!- and means "of the vine". The favorites seemed to be the Mad Cows, followed by Vinal and then us (still not bad for the first gig).
Of special interest to Sledge fans, both Mike and Jeff attended the show and Jeff even acted as the emcee, doing a great job of introducing the bands and keeping the crowd interested. We had discussed the future in terms of music and all expressed an interest in continuing Sledge or a band similar to Sledge. I know that Mike has been playing over the "hiatus," and I'm sure he's expanded his sound and come up with some great new stuff. I think the return of Sledge isn't that far off, so keep an eye on this page.
We are currently planning another show in March and another one in April (hopefully opening for the Mad Cows). I plan on starting an official Happyface Homepage, but haven't had time lately (I'm in a semester soaked in philosophy and politics). I'll let you know when it happens.
That's about it for now, except that I am thinking of re-doing the audio samples, maybe with some new material that we have recorded. What do you think?
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