October 7th in Burlington, VT @ Higher Ground Ballroom
October 8th in Boston, MA @ Middle East
October 9th to be confirmed
Death's 2009 critically claimed release For The Whole World to See… took the music world by storm with headlines such as "Death was Punk Before Punk was Punk" (Mike Rubin, New York Times) and quotes such as "a wild and exhilarating garage rock album from the 1970s, with a backstory of such mythological heft that it seems, initially at least, implausible." (John Mulvey, Uncut) Peter Margasak of the Chicago Tribune says "The oldest of the brothers, guitarist David, pushed the group in a hard-rock direction that presaged punk, and while this certainly didn’t help them find a following in the mid-70s, today it makes them look like visionaries." Filter Magazine quotes Mos Def saying: “These dudes were pre-Sex Pistols, pre-Bad Brains, pre-all that s#it, and nobody knows them. I don’t understand how the whole world could forget them.”
1970 Detroit, MI – Three brothers started a band and begun playing shows in their garage. At first they played funk and R&B songs, influenced by the Motown sounds coming out of their East Detroit neighborhood. They practiced relentlessly and recorded everything at home. In early 1973, The boys went to the Michigan Palace and saw Iggy and the Stooges perform. From that day forward, their music would never be the same. David wrote the music and Bobby wrote the lyrics and moved more in the direction of rock 'n' roll.
Their songs were political and were becoming more and more complete. The band decided it was time for a deal. David opened up the yellow pages and threw a dart. The dart landed on Groovesville Productions, a label owned and operated by Don Davis. Davis, impressed with the band, brought the demo to the attention of Clive Davis of Columbia Records. Clive gave Death an advance and contracts were drawn to begin recording a 12 song album. After recording the first 7 songs, Clive insisted that the band change their name before the deal was sealed. David and his brothers refused, causing Columbia and Groovesville to back out of the deal. However, with their received advance, DEATH leaked 500 copies of a 45 on their own Tryangle records in 1976.
30 years after Death disbanded and after the passing of David Hackney, sons Julian, Urian, and Bobby Hackney Jr., unearthed the original Death recordings in their father’s attic and helped turn them onto Drag City Records via a record collector named Robert Manis. Inspired by the power and magnitude of their father’s recordings, the young Hackney boys, along with friends Steven Hazen Williams and Dylan Giambatista, created Rough Francis as a way to help spread the word of Death and the newly re-discovered music. The band’s name, Rough Francis, is in tribute to David Hackney, who created the moniker for himself years earlier. Rough Francis began playing and developing their style and sound while sharing their own form of punk rock to select audiences. Although the loud howls, high-energy stage presence, and raw, gritty rock of Rough Francis echoes Death, they are exploring a musical style unique to them. Their sound has appealed to a wide range of fans—from the most core punk enthusiasts to underground hip hop kids.
2010 Burlington, VT – Death and Rough Francis will take the stage in their hometown October 7th, 2010 at Higher Ground Ballroom. This will be one of the most anticipated Death shows since they performed in Detroit last year with many surprises not to be missed. They play Boston, MA at Middle East the following night, October 8th and one more show to be confirmed on October 9th.
Cisco Adler and Miami Ski Team Announce a Remix Contest
Malibu, CA—Following the release of his debut, twenty-three track, free mixtape, “SUPERCALIFORNIALIPSTICKSEXYMAGICDOPESHIT (SUPERCALI),” performer/songwriter/producer Cisco Adler announces “Beat the Remix,” a remix contest to all aspiring MCs and DJs launching Tuesday, August 31st. Any contestant up to the challenge will have three weeks to pull out all the stops to “beat the remix” and come up with a track killer enough to one-up DJ duo Miami Ski Team’s version.
“One of the most exciting aspects of this game is seeing who's next in line and what raw talents are brewing in the basement. Beat The Remix is a chance for all the aspiring producers and DJs out there to show us what they've got,” Adler said.
Only one talented musician will have the remix impressive enough to be chosen by Adler as being the best of the best. Along with bragging rights, he or she will receive a stoke pack from Oakley and New Era. Runners up won’t be forgotten- second and third prize get some goods too.
Contest details and assets for the editing process can be found on BeatTheRemix.com. Entries must be in by Tuesday, September 21st at 12:00pm Pacific time. Check for updates on the judging process at bit.ly/BeatTheRemix, CiscoAdlerPresents.com and Twitter.com/MrCiscoAdler.
About Miami Ski Team:
Miami Ski Team is DJ Supersede and production partner Nick Morrison. In 2010, the pair has been busy in the studio, commissioned for remixes for some of the world’s largest recording artists like Britney Spears, Shwayze and Cisco Adler, Sean Kingston, Jay-Z, and Lady Gaga, to name a few.
OKAY!! OKAY!! is a full service marketing and design agency located at 113 Church Street (3rd Floor), Burlington, VT 05401. Please check us out at www.okay-okay.com or call 802-660-9006 for more information.
Cisco Adler Releases Free Mixtape With A Little Help From His Friends
Malibu, CA- SUPERCALIFORNIALIPSTICKSEXYMAGICDOPESHIT (aka SUPERCALI) is the latest offering from Cisco Adler, best known for his role in alterna-rap duo Shwayze. Showcasing his talents as a songwriter, performer, and producer, this mixtape not only shows Adler’s range of skills and dedication to music production– it proves that he is a formidable, triple-threat music force to be reckoned with in 2010. Adler is breaking all of the rules by offering up an album of completely original songs, tallying in at an unprecedented twenty-three tracks- all of which are available for free. Musically, this collection of smash hits touches on everything from hip-hop and electro to rock-love songs and summer super-pop. To have this sort of diversity all on one release while maintaining continuity and flow is rare, but then again Adler’s success in this impressive collection is due in part to the breadth of folks he works with.
The massive release features many incredibly talented artists, including Adler's premiere BananaBeat Records signee Chris Young The Rapper, international club DJ-turned-singer Roxy Cottontail, and Jerk Movement bad boys, Cold Flamez. Skateboard mega-star Danny Way jumps in with his guitar on a track titled "Down on the Westside," which features hip hop legend Del the Funky Homosapien and Adler himself. Pop sensations Cobra Starship team up with Chris Young to deliver the dance floor jam, "Shut Your Mouth," which is hot enough to rival their recent smash hits. Mickey Avalon takes on Guns N’ Roses rock classic, “Paradise City,” with his signature SoCal drawl, while New Orleans duo The Knux show why their debut album made Rolling Stones’ “Top 50 Albums of 2009” with a Weezer-inspired tune called “Cry Myself to Sleep."
“I’m so proud to be working with such an amazing pool of global talent, from my girl Remi Nicole out in the UK to my homies Mickey Avalon and Dirt Nasty in Cali. I am also very excited to give Shwayze fans four brand new songs to get them through the summer. I really put my heart into my music and I am blessed to be able to work with so many great artists. This is only a sample of what’s to come from BananaBeat Records,” says Adler. The mixtape roster also includes newcomers Moses Haughton, TQ the Boi Prince, and Pollination, who come together on “Ay-Yo,” a track that Adler crowd-sourced on Twitter. Haughton also appears with Cisco on the dream-like “Apollonia.” Travis Barker’s protégé pro-skater-turned-rapper Eddie Rap Life shines on the dark electro thumper “Party Til We Die," while a cameo by Lil Jon and a party-rock hit by the infamous Beardo keep things lively. Other projects keeping Adler busy these days include co-writing on G-Love and Special Sauce’s upcoming new album as well as supervising music for the film, “Mother’s Little Helpers,” directed by Asher Levin and starring Jim Belushi. Also, keep an eye out for two tracks produced by Adler off Mike Posner's highly anticipated debut album.
"…a new EP of original material, Introducing … Rough Francis, suggests rock ’n’ roll innovation really does run in the family. 'Don’t Look Back' leads off with big, juicy, Townshend-esque guitar sustains ringing out over Bobby Hackney Jr.’s manic howl." -Dan Bolles, Seven Days
Burlington, VT- In the early ‘70s, three brothers—Dannis, David, and Bobby Hackney—began playing quick-tempo, high-velocity hard rock as the revolutionary Detroit band “Death.” Heavily influenced by the wild on-stage antics, politically tinged lyrics, and kick-in-the-face raw rock of fellow Detroit bands MC5 and the Stooges, Death unknowingly helped create the genre of punk rock that later hit the music world full-force. Ahead of their time, Death, never reached their moment in the spotlight until…
Fast forward to 2009. Already well steeped in the hardcore and punk scene since youth and inspired by the power and magnitude of their father’s recordings, the sons of Death (literally), joined friends Steven Hazen Williams and Dylan Giambatista initially as a way to commemorate the music and put Death on the map. However, the talent and chemistry between these five quickly progressed from this mission to become the catchy, new wave garage sound the band embodies today.
With the eager support of notable acts like Jello Biafra of Dead Kennedys, Jack White of The White Stripes, and rapper/producer Mos Def, this four-song EP entitled “Introducing… Rough Francis” is turning heads in an unprecedented way. The much-anticipated release, which is both limited and hand-numbered was released March 16th, 2010.
“We’re so excited to get this EP out. Our entire journey so far has been just incredible and it feels great to have so much support from our friends and family. When we were recording this album, we really went back to our roots. We channeled some of our major influences and really liked the direction it carried us in."
The Burlington, Vermont based band will be hosting local album release parties at Nectar’s on Friday, March 19th and Monkey House on Saturday, March 27th. To herald the release of their new album, Rough Francis will join Death for an East Coast tour slated for spring 2010. An up-to-date list of confirmed shows will be released in the coming months. Check Myspace.com/RoughFrancis for updates.
If you’re at the US OPEN OF SNOWBOARDING down at Stratton, VT this weekend and are lucky enough to get the invite, be sure to come check photography work of two of snowboarding's most beloved shooters. The show “SnowMad” features the work of Cole Barash and Dean “Blotto” Gray as they travel the world capturing the most compelling imagery in snowboarding, their friends and the world around them. The event will have music provided by BTV based duo: DJ D-KID & D-CUTZ. Following the show there will be a FRENDS afterparty.
This show is made possible with support from:
ID PRINTS.COM, BURTON, KODAK, FRENDS, PABST BLUE RIBBON, & OKAY!! OKAY!!
Our man Cisco Adler of the group Shwayze has been been working on a side project for a few months. SPRING BREAK LOVER, featuring Dirt Nasty and Lil Jon and is the first single off this project. The new album will have appearances by Cold Flamez, Cobra Starship, Too Short, John Legend, Dirt Nasty, Mickey Avalon, Lil' Jon, and Eddie Rap Life.
Right now, THIS is your Spring Break Anthem!! Download it here: http://bit.ly/a9o6ih
These dudes are what’s up. We’re so excited to be working with these guys, it’s almost silly. Believe us, We live in a cool but relatively small town; knowing what we know about the music industry and the potential these guys have, then finding them in our backyard makes us smile…a lot. OKAY!! OKAY!! is working with these guys on a variety of projects but were focusing on Press. If you would like to know more about these guys, please read their story below. Google around a bit too. The story gets better and better. For a complete kit please reach out to info@okay-okay.com.
In the early ‘70s, three brothers—Dannis, David, and Bobby Hackney—begin playing quick-tempo, high-velocity, hard rock as the revolutionary Detroit band, Death. Heavily influenced by the wild on-stage antics, political-tinged lyrics, and kick-in-the-face raw rock of fellow Detroit bands MC5 and the Stooges, as well as the high energy of more mainstream bands such as The Who in England, Death unknowingly helped create the genre of punk rock that later hit the music world full-force. Ahead of their time, Death, unfortunately, never had their moment in the spotlight. After changing musical directions; the three brothers moved to Burlington, Vermont. The Hackney’s continued to develop their musical interest and eventually settled down and raised families of their own, the days of Death seemed only a memory of the distant past.
Walter Schreifels is a rock legend and producer based out of New York City. In the late 80's, he played in notable New York hardcore bands Youth Of Today and Gorilla Biscuits. After GB disbanded in 1992, Walter formed a band called Moondog which eventually transitioned into the more metal-oriented post-hardcore band Quicksand. Walter then collaborated with his former GB bandmates in the melodic hardcore band CIV. Later, he helped create the melodic indie rock-styled band Rival Schools. Rival Schools served as a hardcore "supergroup," with members from many of Walter's previous bands, until they called it quits in 2003. Walking Concert, his next project, was heavily influenced by classic British acts such as Elvis Costello and David Bowie. In June 2008, Walter reformed Rival Schools with plans to release a new album in addition to a new solo acoustic LP scheduled for release in early 2010. Walter has been a good friend of ours and OKAY!! OKAY!! will be working with Walter to fulfill various marketing needs. For more info please contact us at info@okay-okay.com.
Watch Walter's brand new music video for Arthur Lee directed by Heidi Hartwig:
In-Studio/Tangent: An exibition curated by Marshall Harmon in conjunction
with the the League Treatment Center and League Artists Natural Design (LAND)
The opening—with additional marketing support from OKAY!! OKAY!!, FutureClaw magazine, and the Scuffer Steak & Ale House—will be held on Friday, November 6, from 6 to 9 pm.
Regular exhibition hours will be Monday-Friday, 8:30 am-5:30 pm.
The JDK Gallery
47 Maple Street, Burlington, Vermont Tel: 802.864.5884
As part of an on-going series with the JDK gallery, OKAY!! OKAY!! Lends a hand with this amazing show. For all media inquires please reach out to us directly at info@okay-okay.com
Our friend Zach Hooper has been releasing banger after banger of mini movies he's been putting together, mostly of his Colorado based homies. We're just going to go on record here and say this, If your Snowboard movie doesn't have Zack Hooper touching it then your snowboard movie ain't worth shit. I know it's a bold statement and a lot of our friends in the industry might catch feelings but I can't remember the last time I watched videos that made me pray for snow the way his do. Maybe it's the music, maybe the fact that there are so many hand held shots that after a while you actually feel like YOU are riding, whatever it is it's ridiculous AND here is a fact; Zach Hooper is the new HOT shit of Snow film. Now which of you brands out there are going to get him while he is affordable.
