South Oaks - ( ( ( transmissions ) ) ) - (Sep. 2015)

This project actually started a year ago when we were asked to contribute a song for a Long Island band compilation. We went into My Low Studio in September of 2014 and recorded “Planet X”. A year later, the comp still hasn’t seen the light of day so we included it on this release. 

Eric Hoffman was the drummer on “Planet X”, but our schedule of getting together once a year proved to be too demanding so he bowed out for the ( ( ( transmissions ) ) ) session. His logical replacement was Steve Johnson (Eggplant Queens, Whatsoever). Steve was already our engineer (and owner of My Low Studios) and probably our biggest fan. Plus…he’s a pretty good drummer to boot.

For the most part, the songs on ( ( ( transmissions ) ) ) are in keeping with the traditional South Oaks sound. Two songs, though, are a bit of a departure…or break new ground (however you choose to see it). “Reflection On The Sea” is kind of pop oriented…sad pop, that is. It’s a little out of our comfort zone but yet it totally sounds like us. Our last outing had “Echoes of Laughter”, which was also a departure, so maybe that’s our thing.

The other new-type of song is “APOLLO IV”, a bass solo (essentially). Jim brought that one to the table and he’s also the performer. It’s named after his Apollo IV bass, which he composed it on and only feels comfortable playing it on. The thing is, the electronics inside the bass crapped out a while ago so we were forced to record it with a mic, acoustically. Alone, it was a little compromised sonically and didn’t sound like the rest of the album. But then we added some atmospheric noise in the background and it just gelled – that electro/acoustic thing.

My opinion; this is our strongest recording yet. But I always fall in love the the last thing I worked on. What do you think?

You can download ( ( ( transmissions ) ) ) for FREE at our bandcamp page or by clicking the link below…

[DOWNLOAD] South Oaks - ( ( ( transmissions ) ) ) - (2015)

01- APOLLO IV (†)

02- Planet X *

03- Last Laugh

04- Sword of Damocles

05- Belief

06- Reflection On The Sea

07- Grand Design

08- Forever and Ever After That

We always like to celebrate our new releases with a video for each song. Here they are…

"APOLLO IV"

"Planet X"

"Last Laugh"

"Sword of Damocles"

"Belief"

"Reflection On The Sea"

"Grand Design"

"Forever and Ever After That"

Follow South Oaks on Facebook.

SOUTH OAKS

Jim Burns - vocals

Frank Fusco - guitar

Kevin Purcell - bass

Steve Johnson - drums

Steve's crazy drum chart

Mike Watt Committed to South Oaks for Two Weeks (June 2014)

Not South Oaks the mental institution, South Oaks the band. Yes, Mike Watt, the legendary bassist, played two South Oaks songs in two consecutive weeks on his podcast show, The Watt From Pedro Show. Thanks Mike Watt!

[DOWNLOAD] The Watt From Pedro Show
1- The Watt From Pedro Show 6/15/14
2- The Watt From Pedro Show 6/22/14

SOUTH OAKS
Jim Burns - vocals
Frank Fusco - guitar
Kevin Purcell - bass
Eric Hoffman - drums

South Oaks - and of tomorrow… (May 2014)

We had fun recording the last EP so we did it again. Jim, Kevin and I each contributed two songs and worked on them via email, because we live too far from each other. Once we added our own parts and got them in a good place we went back to Steve Johnson's studio (My Low Studio). Again, like last time, we didn't practice beforehand, just straight to record. We recorded the basic tracks live, then I went back for some guitar overdubs and Jim went back for final vocals.

[DOWNLOAD] South Oaks - and of tomorrow… (2014)
01- Keep Your Judgment Day
02- When Humans Roamed The Earth
03- Halo of Stars
04- See With My Hands
05- Echoes of Laughter
06- Free To Follow

And to coincide with the EP release, I cut a video for each song…

"Keep Your Judgment Day"

"When Humans Roamed The Earth"

"Halo of Stars"

"See With My Hands"

"Echoes of Laughter"

"Free To Follow"

You can also download and of tomorrow… free at the South Oaks bandcamp page.

Follow South Oaks on Facebook.

SOUTH OAKS
Jim Burns - vocals
Frank Fusco - guitar
Kevin Purcell - bass
Eric Hoffman - drums

South Oaks - EP (2013)

In January 2012, I reunited the Barking Spiders just to record our old songs properly (read about Barking Spiders - Fresh For The Kill here). It was a pleasant enough experience that we decided to work on some new material to record. But given that we all live in different parts of two states, we opted to work on the songs via email. Kevin and Jim would share bass tracks and I'd share guitar tracks and from there we built upon the songs, emailing back and forth.

Eight months later, of on and off work, we had composed 5 original songs and 1 cover (Funkadelic's "Super Stupid"). 6 songs felt about right to go back to Steve Johnson's My Low Studio and commit them to hard drive. No practice beforehand, just straight to record. I went back a few weeks later to overdub some guitar solos and Jim went back to redo some vocals, then we mixed it.

Being that 20+ years had past since we last wrote music together, we no longer sounded like Barking Spiders. So we changed our name to South Oaks (named after a mental institution near our hometown). On February 12th, 2013, we released our self-titled EP...

[DOWNLOAD] South Oaks - South Oaks EP (2013)
01- Ghost Dream
02- Jaws of Life
03- Eulogy For A Cowboy
04- You've Never Suffered
05- Modern Clown
06- Super Stupid (Funkadelic cover)

And to coincide with the EP release, I cut a video for each song…

"Ghost Dream"


"Jaws of Life"


"Eulogy For A Cowboy"


"You've Never Suffered"


"Modern Clown"


"Super Stupid" (Funkadelic cover)


You can also download the EP at the South Oaks bandcamp page.

SOUTH OAKS
Jim Burns - vocals
Frank Fusco - guitar
Kevin Purcell - bass
Eric Hoffman - drums

Eric Hoffman - Violent Fits of Rage (2013)

Eric Hoffman's been composing music on his computer lately and posting them to SoundCloud under Violent Fits of Rage...

 "Eye Drops"


"Godley"


"Baladi"

Chorizo Elevator (2009)

Chorizo Elevator is Dave Deluca and Eric Hoffman (from Earl Pickens and the Black Mountain Marauders) with saxophonist Theo Sadriyoun. That's about all the info I got on the trio.

Above is a video of them playing "All Blues"/"Dig A Pony" live in New York City at Underground Lounge on April 23 2009.

Earl Pickens - Turn On the Radio (2007)

In April of 2007 Earl Pickens released a 4 song EP, Turn On the Radio. But the biggest thing to come out of it was the video he made for the song "Can I Turn On the Radio?", where Earl rides a unicycle from NYC to Pennsylvania to deliver flowers to the woman he loves. The video has way over 25,000 hits on YouTube (as of today) and it even aired on Fuse (the music television channel) a few times. (Fellow Bellmore Unscenester, Eric Hoffman, filmed the NYC and NJ scenes in the video.)

Here's the video...

"Can I Turn On the Radio?"


And here's the EP…

[DOWNLOAD] Earl Pickens - Turn On the Radio (2007)
01- Can I Turn On The Radio?
02- The Wildflower Of Pennsylvania
03- I Know What You Want
04- So Wild

Earl Pickens - Annabelle Magazine (4/6/04)

Here's a Q & A interview with Earl Pickens, conducted by an online magazine called Annabelle. You can read these jpgs or go to the site directly – here – for the time being it's still live.

(To view full size, click on the image, drag it on to your desktop and open it in a preview program.)

Random Photo: Hoff and Steve (late '80s)

Barking Spiders - Fresh For The Kill (2012)

Yeah, I know I've been going in chronological order when it comes to documenting Bellmore's "unsecene", but it's my blog so I'll break the rules if I want. And I want! I'm just too stoked to sit on this one.

Steve Johnson - My Low Studio

Every once in a while I'd listen to the old Barking Spiders tape and I was always disappointed. The songs are good, don't get me wrong, it's the production that sucks. But what's to be expected from hitting record on a boombox on the floor of a basement? Back in '88 we were kids with no cash so going to a professional studio wasn't even a thought. But these days it's so easy to record, especially when Steve Johnson is a close personal friend.

So I put some feelers out, by way of email, to see if the other guys were into recording our songs proper. Fortunately they were. We'd lost contact with John Hoffman (Barking Spiders drummer) through the years so we asked Eric Hoffman to join us. Eric was actually the drummer for Face Value – the original incarnation of Barking Spiders – so it made perfect sense.

We decided to record nine of our original songs from way back when, plus a new one for the occasion. Jim already had a song just waiting to be realized – "Fresh From The Kill" – so he sent us a bass line. Through a series of emails we each wrote and refined our parts and played them together for the first time as a band at the recording session, at My Low Studio (formerly Marv Studio).

We're all very pleased with what we captured that day. '80s hardcore at it's fiercest…in 2012!

[DOWNLOAD] Barking Spiders - Fresh For The Kill (2012)
01- Fresh From The Kill
02- Watch Out!
03- Spin
04- One World
05- You Can't Say
06- All Talk, No Action
07- Power Struggle
08- Peace through Chaos
09- Presidents & Kings
10- Separate Ways


"Like" Barking Spiders on Facebook (here).

BARKING SPIDERS:
Jim Burns - voice
Frank Fusco - guitar
Kevin Purcell - bass
Eric Hoffman - drums

Earl Pickens and the Black Mountain Marauders @ Rodeo • MTV/CMT Party (5/15/03)

MTV/CMT were throwing a party at Rodeo Bar and invited Earl and the boys to be the entertainment. This was also one of the first, if not the first show for Merle Twang's replacement, Andy Reidel. Also sitting in for the night was some guy named Hank on lap steel (didn't get his last name). Unfortunately you never get a good look at Andy or Hank because MTV had set up some monitors flanking the stage, obstructing my view.

"Annie, Say The Word"


"Wonderin' Where You Are?"


"I Saw The Light" (Hank Williams cover)

Earl Pickens and the Black Mountain Marauders - Annie, Say The Word (2003)

By the sound of it, this single was probably also recorded during the Mach II sessions (yesterday's post). Again it's just Earl, Joe Horseman and Chief Dave Strongbow. Power trio!

[DOWNLOAD] Earl Pickens and the Black Mountain Marauders - Annie, Say The Word (2003)
01- Annie, Say The Word

Earl Pickens and the Black Mountain Marauders - Mach II (2003)

Earl Pickens didn't title this collection of demos, so I did. They were recorded during the brief stint when Earl and the Marauders were between lead guitar players. Mach II seemed to work.

Merle Twang quit the band to pursue other interests and without his distorted guitar attack you'll notice the songs are more stripped down. Also adding to this is the absence of The Reverend and Tink. Earl chose to record this batch of songs as a trio with Joe Horseman and Chief Dave Strongbow.

[DOWNLOAD] Earl Pickens and the Black Mountain Marauders - Mach II (2003)
01- What Am I Asking For This Time?
02- She's Been Starting To Notice
03- Evylina, I'm Dyin'
04- Mary Lou

Earl Pickens & Polly Peabody @ Lakeside Lounge (12/3/02)

Earl Pickens and two out of the five Black Mountain Marauders changed it up for this performance at Lakeside Lounge by adding female vocalist Polly Peabody. You may recognize Polly from her performance with the Eggplant Queens (here).

"I'm Your Man"


"It Takes A Man"


"I Wish I Were A Lesbian"


"Jackson" (Johnny Cash cover)

Earl Pickens And The Black Mountain Marauders @ Rodeo Bar, NYC (11/8/02)

This show kicked off with an Earl imposter! Check out the screen shot on the first video...that's not Earl! Chief Dave Strongbow was the first to notice – some fine acting by Dave. What happened to the real Earl? Watch and see...

"Earl's Intro" & "I'm On Fire"


"It Takes a Man"


"Mucho Grande"


"Tell Your Mama Not To Worry"


Earl Pickens - vocals, guitar
Merle Twang - lead guitar
Reverend Jedidiah P. Houston - acoustic guitar, backup vocals
Tink Travers - Harmonica, Pedal Steel, backup vocals
Chief Dave Strongbow - bass
Joe Horseman - drums

Earl Pickens and The Black Mountain Marauders @ Lakeside Lounge (11/1/02)

I forget the full story behind this show, but it had something to do with Dick Clark choosing the 10 best unsigned bands in NYC – during the CMJ festival. Unfortunately, Earl Pickens and The Black Mountain Marauders were not chosen. That's why Eric Hoffman (Joe Horseman) asked me to design some flyers with the headlines "The 11th Band!" and "F*ck Dick Clark!"

"New York Woman"


"If I Could Sing Like That"


"Mary Lou"


"Wondering Where You Are"


Earl Pickens - vocals, guitar
Merle Twang - lead guitar
Reverand Jedidiah P. Houston - guitar, backup vocals
Tink Travers - lap steel, harmonica, backup vocals
Chief Dave Strongbow - bass
Joe Horseman - drums

Earl Pickens @ The Cutting Room (11/11/02)

Here's a poster I made for Earl Pickens and the Black Mountain Marauders for their show at The Cutting Room, back in '02.

Earl Pickens and The Black Mountain Marauders @ Rodeo Bar, NYC (7/13/02)

After the Eggplant Queens show (last post) a bunch of Bellmore folk stumbled up to Rodeo Bar to catch Earl Pickens and The Black Mountain Marauders' second set. If you're going to watch just one video, make it "I Saw The Light". It's Bellmore lively.

"Mucho Grande" & "Up To No Good"


"Pretty Drunken Thing"


"I Saw The Light" (Hank Willams cover)


Earl Pickens - vocals, guitar
Merle Twang - lead guitar
Reverend Jedidiah P. Houston - acoustic guitar, backup vocals
Tink Travers - Harmonica, Pedal Steel, backup vocals
Chief Dave Strongbow - bass
Joe Horseman - drums