What I want for Xmas

Mathlete Gift of the Century


Ok, so maybe I did realize that 7pm could actually be -6pm. Also 9pm isn't exactly 9pm, but who cares about details like that?

Thanksgiving

What's up everyone? I just got back from my trip to Maine and boy am I fat. In the course of my trip, I had 2 thanksgiving meals, deer stroganof, moose chili, mexican food, indian pudding and of course the smiley face at the top of this post. Am I crazy for loving eggs sunny side up? I feel like everywhere I go I am ridiculed for this. Is it such a shame to essentially enjoy raw eggs? Ahh, what's that awful thing you can catch? I can't seem to remember.




Along with getting really fat over the past week, I did manage to shoot skeet with my relatives. Despite my hunting roots, I had never actually done this and it's a little harder than it looks. The video here shows my sister's boyfriend showing us how it's done. It's hard to see the clay pigeons in the sky that he's shooting at, but I still thought it was postable! Hmmm.."postable" should be a word by now shouldn't it? Stupid spell check.

The band had a great practice the night before our various thanksgiving expeditions and we worked hard on some new material. "You Have No Heart" is a dark, edgier rock tune that we are finally calling "gig ready." We also have a new song called "Fight Fate", which we are just dying to show people. The new stuff is sounding amazing!!

Currently Jeff is in Guatemala and Justin is in Central America...not for thanksgiving, but for fun. Hope you guys are living it up down there!!

Zac Mac

A Broken Thumb, The Hard Rock Cafe and Hot T-shirts

Hey y'all. In case you haven't heard, ZMB t-shirts are the coolest thing to own right now (for sale on our website store) . Well, I should say they are a close 2nd to owning our debut album "Don't Look Down." Check them out! We had two great shows over the weekend. A huge shout out to WPI where we played Friday night at their Homecoming Pep Rally. It was an awesome time! Saturday night we played at the Hard Rock Cafe in Boston for Halloween! It was one of the best shows we've ever had. We opened for The Joshua Tree, a popular U2 Tribute band that is simply phenomenal. The band was in full costume and we really rocked hard. The most Rock N' Roll part of all of this is that Jeff played both shows with a broken thumb. He suffered the injury karate fighting Chuck Norris about a week ago, but did he stop playing bass? Hell no. Jeff played phenomenally as illustrated by the pic below!

A Huge Thanks

First off a thanks to Tiana DeAngelis, a student at CHS and a gifted photographer. She took the above shot of Ben and many more are to follow in this blog entry! Thanks Tiana!

Well, what's new...hmm....Our album dropped last Thursday! BOOOOM! It was a over a year worth of recording and mixing and finally a product, a neatly shrink wrapped cd, bar code and everything (I was almost in a band once called "The Bar Code", but people hated the idea quite appropriately). I began selling the cds weeks ago, since our website was doing a pre-order. Many cds were shipped out the very first day to all the lucky fans that pre-ordered. The cd is currently available at our site and will soon be available at itunes and amazon.




I sold 30 or so out of my backpack on Friday, which was more than I expected to sell. That's indie style right there. My very awesome mom bought 6 or so for my whole family. My very awesome aunt also bought several. So far, those are the top sellers! The response thus far has been excellent. I can't say I wasn't nervous after spending over a year on a project. The songs are my passion and they each tell stories of different snapshots of time in my life. Most of the stories are true, but some of them might be a stretch, haha. To quote Chris Cornell, I just love "creating musical environments that I can sort of walk into." I am so blessed to have moved to Mass and met the wonderful group of guys I have around me in this band. We are also fortunate to have signed on with Zac Cataldo at Night Train Records, someone who put the band in high gear and worked his butt of for us 24/7. Two years ago, I had just moved here and didn't know a soul. If it wasn't for the glory of craigslist, I wouldn't have met any of these people. Just try to avoid the dating forum on there...as many of you have heard there are psychos lurking. So far, the musicianforum has been nothing but a positive networking environment, bringing musical soul mates together all in the name of rock n' roll.

I definitely need to send out a huge thanks to all my friends and fans. It wouldn't be possible without your support. Many of you have bought the album and you don't know how much that means to each of us. We put so much into this project and we hope to release many more albums in the future. Muchos Gracias!! (About all the spanish I know)



With Rocking,

Zac, Ben, Jeff, Justin and Jay

"Don't Look Down" Tracklist

Hey guys,

Here is the tracklist for our debut album, coming out in 14 days!!!

1. Highest Level
2. Roll Me Over
3. 15 Songs on the Radio
4. Lonely Me
5. Myspace Heartbreak (remixed!)
6. Cougar
7. Loaded Gun
8. Stepping Stone
9. Darcie
10. Oh No
11. Trap

Preorder now here!!!!

A Weekend to Remember

This is the incredible tale of the weekend of the Utica Music Festival. Most things will be discussed and the names will be changed to protect the guilty. The picture to your left is the 257 Steakhouse in downtown Utica, NY. We were scheduled to be on stage at midnight on Friday. We hit the road at 4pm, with a 4 hour trip ahead of us and all our gear and personal effects neatly packed. After about 30 minutes, Jay looks at the speedometer and we are apparently traveling at 95mph. Pretty sweet. The radio and everything died. Who needs a battery anyways? Oh how close but so far away we were. Ok, we were just far away at that point.



Anyways, to make a long story endless, with the van on the side of 495, we had to go back and all get our own cars. Roadside assistance came and we were able to get a new battery into poor old Daisy, but then we thought to ourselves: how do we know it's not the alternator?! The roadside guy, Jake I think his name was, was the man and told us where the nearest garage was. We left it at the garage and transferred all our gear in the rain. By this time, we are cutting it close. We hit the road together (in separate cars) and made it to the steakhouse with 15 minutes to spare. How's that for cutting it close?! A huge shoutout to Autumn who played before us at the steakhouse (sorry we missed it Autumn!). She is an amazing singer/songwriter from Texas that we exchanged cds with. Lovin the cd!


After an awesome show at the steakhouse, we hit the road for another 10 miles to get to our cabins, in a campground in Poland, NY. We awoke the next morning to the sounds of yelling kids dressed up in halloween costumes. Did we sleep until halloween? No, it's just halloween in Poland, NY. Dozens of campsites all decked out in cobwebs and beware signs. Children marched by a groggy and confused Jeff, scaring the poor chap half to death. Later in the weekend, our neighbor asked us 'what was in season?' The whole campground had assumed we were fisherman. We informed them that we were rockstars, chilling at a halloween campground to save money on hotel costs. Such a strange combination.



We then searched the streets of downtown Utica for food for what seemed like hours. Everything was closed. For a moment, we thought Armageddon had happened and we would be living a real life "Jericho" in Utica, starting out with nothing but our instruments and our wits. Luckily, we eventually found the main drag with all the good stuff.....we found several other hungry bands at the one and only Dennys. After eating 1500 calories, we headed back to the cabins for pre-show rock skipping and showed the other campers that we were clearly no fisherman. Somewhere along the way, Ben ended up with a flat tire. While changing the tire, we saw Amash people and a rainbow with a clear ending in front of a small tree. I am not making this up.

We finally headed back to town and found the venue of our 2nd gig. The stage area was outside and had flooded, so we had to squeeze onto a tiny room. Good thing we get along with each other and had an ample supply of TAG at the cabins. At the venue, I met the owner's brother Jay, who taught me how to play buckhunter and floss Cadillac Escalades and also Sick Rick, a cool biker dude who was concerned I was going to hit my head on the ceiling fans. We rocked hard and won over the crowd. Ben had to split at 10 and drive all the back to Manchester, NH...he had a flight to catch the next morning. I learned a lot about my bandmates on this trip....two members of the band snore louder than I sing...1 wears an irish kilt on occasion (he wore it at the show)....and other things which I'll leave up to the imagination.



Not sure why I put this last picture up here....this was on the ride back, with no coffee in my system....I was ready to keep going south and do a tour! Hopefully someday soon!

Jeans + Rock Music?

Well, my internet has been down for the last 8 days, but here I am once again. I'd been meaning to write an entry about our acoustic gig at the Gap in Harvard Square, but the interwebs just have not been cooperating. As you can see by the picture, we played at the Gap and it was actually an excellent time. I didn't really know what to expect going in, but we really enjoyed ourselves. People would walk in and look really confused by the random band playing next to the racks of jeans. It was hilarious. Ben and Jay even strolled around the store while they were playing. We were able to play some rare acoustic songs that we don't normally do at the clubs...like "Fire+Ice" a smooth love song that's the perfect soundtrack to trying on jeans and also "Abminor", which clearly needs a better title.

We also spiced up some of our songs, like "Best Thing" which normally goes "The best thing you've ever had", which we reworded as "the best jeans you've ever had"....it was a catchy little number that hopefully stimulated jean sales. The coolest thing about this gig was that it was the largest ever simultaneous acoustic concert. At every Gap in the world at the exact same time there were acoustic performances happening. It was pretty cool to be a part of it. Special thanks to everyone who stopped and listened as well as the excellent Harvard Square Gap employees who put up with the additional racket and set us up with a nice store front location!

ZM

Maine Trip 2009

Last week, Justin (drums) and I each had our vacations up in Maine. Justin spent his time in southern Maine on the beach, getting a sweet tan...meanwhile, I paraded around the northern and midcoast areas, staying ghostly white, and ending up more drained than I was before the start of vacation! Next time I think I'll try the beach. The above picture is quite clearly a picture of me jumping off a mountain....I have great high range diving skills, so no worries..the landing was smooth. The next picture is of a road in northern Maine (location: Grandfalls Township, Population: 0 or a few when we visit). The road is clearly washed out thanks to some pesky beavers. Luckily, my trusted truck Clifford made it through with only a couple of rocks stuck inside the wheels.



The driveway to my family's camp is also quite developed. As you can see by the picture to the right, it is more or less a tunnel through the woods. This is the same driveway that my mother was chased by a bear on in the late 90s. Don't worry, she only jogs now with a 'anti-bear' necklace around her neck. It has bells that jingle as she runs and you know how much bears hate the sound of bells.

After doing some fishing and camp firing, it was off to Hope, ME, to see the famous moose who goes by the name "Hamilton." "Everett" the cow also made an appearance and a good time was had by all! After more hiking and more boating, I was all vacationed out. Justin and I both returned from our vacations in time to rock the house at the Precinct in Somerville. It was good to be back on stage again, but also sad to leave the state that I have so many great memories in. I caught up with the family and saw lots of old college friends. Now that I'm back in town, it's time to finish mastering the album so that we can release within the next month. Stay tuned for an update on a more specific release date.

Zac Mac

Where I Come From...

So where I grew up in Maine, apparently Moose just show up at work. The following article tells the story of how a Moose wandered into the building where my Mom works. Only in Maine, haha.

Moose at Work

Hard Rock Cafe - Boston

We had an excellent set at the Hard Rock on Friday night, opening for "Captured", an amazing Journey Tribute Band. Seeing all of the greats that have graced the stage made it all the more special for me. It's pretty humbling to know that Aerosmith and countless others have played on the very same stage. The below right pic is actually Jay, Ben and Jeff in the green room backstage before the show!



We had an excellent turnout and I'd like to thank everyone that came out and supported us for our biggest gig to date. It's really all about the fans and you're what make it all worthwhile. Stay tuned for the release of our first full length album, "Don't Look Down", which should be out by the end of the summer!

ZMB to play 3 sets!!

Hope everyone is enjoying the good weather we have finally been getting. It's about time summer came.

The band is playing at the Chit Chat Lounge in Haverhill, MA, tomorrow evening. We'll be playing our longest show ever, as in 3 sets of music. We'll go on at 9:30 and play through 12:30, though I think we'll have to take a couple of short breaks. Anyways, if you can't make the Hard Rock gig next week, this will be a great opportunity to check out our full catalog of music!! Hope to see you there!

We'll also be debuting 2 brand new original songs..."Don't Believe the Rumors" and "Heal"!!

123456789

What were you doing yesterday, specifically at 12:34 and 56 seconds?.....In case you missed it, at that moment the calendar looked like this:

12:34:56 on 07/08/09

1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8-9

And do you know what this means???? Do you realize the significance of this??? Absolutely nothing. It happened yesterday and won't happen again for 100 years, but that's about it. Mark your calendars for the next one!

6.27.09: Rock N' Brew/106.1 FM Portsmouth

Well, the band had a hell of a day yesterday. We hit the road for Springfield at about 10am after loading up Daisy (band van). Skies were clear for like the first time in about a month and things were looking good. Jay Fairly, the newest member of ZMB, had his first experience operating "Daisy" and had a bit of adjusting to do as the old girl drifted along the highway. We are sure glad to have the brakes fixed as it was even more of an adventure before those were redone.

We arrived in Springfield at about noon and unloaded, set up and sound checked. The sound guys were amazing and very easy to work with. They had top notch gear and I would say that we had our best sound yet. At 1:00pm, the doors opened and hundreds of thirsty people entered the Rock N' Brew fest. There were about 40 microbreweries on site and basically everyone went around sampling different beers. There was also lots of great food on hand.

We played two sets with a break in the middle until about 4pm. People were dancing and seemed to be having an excellent time! At one point, Jeff randomly started playing the bassline to "Billie Jean" in honor of the late Michael Jackson. Sadly, I didn't know the words and so we called upon a random girl in the audience to come up onto the stage to sing the song. I cannot recall her name, but she just happened to be an excellent singer and a theater major at a school in New York. She took the mic and rocked Billie Jean, which was unexpectedly awesome. We also raffled off a Fender guitar and raised lots of money for our charity, Sherry's House. We jammed on "Highest Level" to end our performance and literally 30 seconds after the last note was played, it started pouring. Pretty good timing on our part I must say.

Immediately following breaking down and packing up the van, we hit the road northbound for 106.1FM in Portsmouth, NH. We arrived in time to meet the DJ, Terry Blake, a Maine resident (ya Maine!). Jeff and I were then interviewed on the air and we also performed "15 Songs on the Radio", "Cougar" and "Loaded Gun" live! It was an excellent interview and we are so glad that Terry had us on his show. We hope to be back in the future!

After a very long and successful day, we hit up the McDonald's drive through to celebrate. Now I am realizing that the van is still packed up with all of our gear. I guess I should head to the band room and unload gear!

ZM

RIP King of Pop

Music lost a true icon yesterday in Michael Jackson. The band just might be doing a tribute song to him in the near future...dance moves could take some practicing though...hmmm. Time to bust out the white gloves.

Cat Surprise

Don't Look Down 2009

Hey all,

Our first album will be titled "Don't Look Down." Stay tuned for its release, which should come during the heart of this upcoming summer. I'd say a more specific date, but that would just be bad luck!

We have been working with graphic design artist, Justin Casanave, who just so happens to be our drummer. I had no idea the man had such amazing skills. It's quite the eye-catching cover that we're working on. It is something eyecatching along the lines of Nirvana's Nevermind album, that so famously has the baby swimming underwater after a dollar bill, although it's not quite that shocking (We were concerned about filming babies underwater).

Anyways, the album will have either 10 or 11 songs on it. Stay tuned for its official release date!

ZM

24 More Hours to go...

Yesterday at 9:00am the 24 hour relay begins. One person from each team must be running/walking around the track at all times for 24 hours straight. Each person goes 1 mile and then is replaced by another teammate. This was all in the name of fundraising and supporting the community of Chelmsford. A long list of companies sponsored the event, donating food and much needed liquids. Parents chaperoned and often took shifts, since 24 hours of chaperoning straight is quite a commitment!

The weather was perfect. A few morning clouds and then a clear blue sky. Several bands played throughout the day, including our band. Teams set up tents in the middle of the track and everyone was in good spirits. We were happy to have been able to contribute to such a great cause. We raffled off a guitar of Ben's and over a hundred people bought raffle tickets, which will help our charity Sherry's House tremendously! Thanks for the all support!

After a fuse blew and we were without power for over an hour, an electrician showed up and rewired some things to get our amps some much needed juice. Just in the nick of time, we were able to go on and we rocked an hour long set, with some songs we've just added to our set list this week. They seemed to go over really well and a good time was had by all. At 9:00am this morning the 24 hours was complete and all the tired teams could finally go home and rest. I think a lot of people are sleeping right now! Thanks to all who helped put this great event together!

ZM

Don't Mess with Granny

A Writing Frenzy

Amidst trying to finish up recording on our debut LP, I have been writing like a mad man. It felt like I had writer's block for quite some time, but now I have writer's dunk. Get it? Okay, so maybe my basketball metaphor is a little lame....RIP Celtics 2009. Hopefully some of these new songs that I am writing will compete for the next album, but they already have stiff competition. Part of me wishes the songs didn't have to go through the cycle of writing, rewriting, practicing, and gigging before ultimately recording them, but usually that's the best way to make sure they stand the test of time and are truly good songs. I always love a song the moment that I write it, even if it's crap. The true test is whether I still like playing it a month later and even several months later.

Some of the new songs that are currently in the works:

1) Assassin Factory
2) Beautiful Liar
3) A Day in the Life of a Nobody
4) Come Alive
5) Time's Not Waiting
6) Detox
7) Start a Fire
8) Apocalypse

Hopefully some of these ideas will come to fruition!

Zac Mac

Stonehenge was easy to build....

The dude in this video shows us how easy it is to lift massive rocks....Stonehenge ain't nothin' special!

http://j-walkblog.com/index.php?/weblog/posts/moving_big_rocks

Album Titles: Semi Finals

Ladies and Gentlemen,

Welcome to the semi-final round of "Name that Album", where you the fans can determine the album title...unless we go with something else anyways, haha. Seriously though, we value and encourage all input and help. Anyone have any other better suggestions? This is a short list compiled by ZMB and we are hoping to narrow it down in the next few days to our favorites of this list, with 'write-ins' welcomed. Let us know what you think!


1) Despite the Rain
2) 5'22
3) Inertia
4) Black Noise
5) The Long Way Home
6) There and Back
7) Weathered Reflections
8) Orion's Belt
9) Fade to White
10)Minty StarLight
11)Lost Illusion
12)Late Night Screech
13)20 Paces


Zac Mac

Johnny D's June 19th!!

Hey everyone,

We are playing Johnny D's again on Friday evening, June 19th! Thanks to all of your excellent support we were able to sell it out last time. We hope to have an awesome turnout this time as well. We'll be playing with Michael Bernier and the Uprising, which is an awesome original rock band with an amazing draw. I've seen them live twice and they never disappoint. We will be playing several new songs, some covers, some originals. Hope you can make it!!

Zac Mac

First Trip in the Van

Well last week, we took "Daisy", the band van, for her first roadtrip to Utica, NY. It was just over 4 hours and though the brakes are quite sketchy, we made it to the show without any accidents. Basically the brakes pulsate so much it feels like you're a teenager learning to drive stick for the first time. Daisy definitely needs her brakes looked at before we tour the eastern seaboard.

Riggie Fest was an awesome time with over 2000 people in attendance. It was very cool to play on the very stage Bruce Springsteen once performed on. We also opened for touring Spanish performer, Justo Lamas, last week at the Chelmsford Performing Arts Center to packed house of 1000. We could only play a short set, but we nailed it and our performance seemed to go over really well with the crowd. Muchos Gracias to the Justo Lamas soundmen who had to work some last minute magic to get our sound equipment hooked up with Justo's. Thanks so much for your help guys!

This week, we are continuing to work on the album. Several songs are nearing completion, including "Lonely Me" and "Cougar". "Trap" is also getting closer. Can't wait for their release!

Zac Mac


PS We still need an album title....post your suggestions!

Sound Proofing Myths

Interesting article on the common myths of Sound Proofing.

http://www.soundproofing.org/infopages/myths.htm

Too bad, I never noticed this before. I think I've tried all of these myths.

Riggie Fest!!

This weekend, we'll be playing at Riggie Fest for approximately 3000 people! We'll be playing at the Utica Memorial Auditorium in Utica, NY, which Madison Square Garden was modeled after. Bruce Springsteen once played there and so we are super excited to put on a great show. Riggie Fest is a food festival and so we are also hoping to get our food fix there. I usually eat at least 5 meals the day of a gig, so I'm looking forward to inhaling some great food! Three bands will be playing and we'll get 1hr and 15 minutes to rock the place.

We'll also be testing out our 'band van' that we recently acquired. Sadly, the private jet will have to wait for a while. Oh well, maybe next year!

Zac Mac

Album Titles

Hey guys,

I need your help with ideas for the album title. If anyone has any great ones, feel free to post them! We were thinking of naming it after a song like "15 Songs on the Radio" or "Highest Level", but something totally random could be cool, too. "Under the Radar" was a last minute idea by Justin for the title of the EP and it ended up working pretty well! Here is a list of other random ideas that have popped into my head recently.

1) Welcome to the Fold
2) Red Sunrise
3) Young Lightning
4) Four Moon Sky or Four Moon Horizon
5) Out of the Darkness

Studio Update

Happy Easter everyone!

We had another successful day in the studio yesterday, recording 2 songs, "Trap" and "Stepping Stone." Now Jeff and Justin have finished all of their parts for the full length LP! Ben just has to do guitar work on one song and the rest is all up to me. I hope to finish recording my parts by the end of the month!

Hope everyone is enjoying the holiday!

Zac Mac

Cougar the Show

Cougar Season 1

We need to finish recording our song "Cougar" and get this show the theme song it deserves!

Album Update

What's up y'all?! In case you couldn't figure it out, my last post was an April Fool's joke. Driveshaft is a fictitious band from the tv show Lost. Justin, Ben and I are all huge fans of Lost....we're working on getting Jeff into the show as well. How awesome has season 5 been?

Just wanted to give you an update on how the album recording is going. Obviously, we have finished 5 songs, which we released last week on our debut EP "Under the Radar." You can preview the songs from our website and you can also purchase it! The EP tracklist is

1) Myspace Heartbreak
2) Roll Me Over
3) 15 Songs on the Radio
4) Loaded Gun
5) Highest Level

Right now I am working my tail off to finish the remaining 5 or 6 tracks on the album. The whole band will also be in the studio this weekend to record a couple more tracks, one which will be on this album, one which will probably be on our next album! Gotta think ahead! Here is what the remaining tracks most likely will be:

6) Lonely Me
7) Red Light
8) The Best Thing
9) Cougar (yes, our song dedicated to cougars....we are currently seeking cougar backup singers to come into the studio and sing on this track!)
10) Trap
11) Chosen


Hope to have this all wrapped up in June sometime! Can't wait for you to hear what we're working on!

ZM

Opening for Driveshaft!!!

Our band just secured a prime time slot, opening for the world famous band "Driveshaft" on their 2nd tour of Finland. "Driveshaft" is lead by the Pace brothers, Charlie and Liam. Charlie was one of the survivors of Oceanic Flight 815.

http://www.driveshaftband.com/


We have always wanted to play with such amazing musicians! Here is our big shot!



Also, don't forget what day it is.

"Lonely Me" and the Banner!

We now have a band banner to put behind the stage when we perform. It's pretty sick looking and was made out in Oregon on vinyl! I look forward to playing our first show in front of it.

In other news, I am currently putting the finishing touches on my parts to the song "Lonely Me". Our EP, Under the Radar, is currently available for purchase at our store, but that doesn't mean album recording has stopped! "Lonely Me" is a dark ballad that I'm anxious to finish and release. I'm really happy with how it's coming together. Ben did some guitar work on it with his ebow and it really sets a nice ambience. It should be released in a week or two!

Hope everybody is enjoying spring!

ZM

The Pogues Were 3 Doors Down

Firstly, I'd like to thank everyone that came out to support us at Bill's Bar on Saturday night. There was tough competition on Lansdowne street alone that night, with The Pogues playing just a few doors down the street at the new and totally sick looking House of Blues. The other bands that we played with were all amazing and all seemed to be pretty close genre wise. I truly enjoyed their sets. Much thanks to "The Future Ghosts", "Air Traffic Controller" and "No Casino" for some nasty sets!

Bill's Bar certainly had a loud enough sound system as our manager said he could hear my vocals in the street before he came in. Guess I wasn't drowned out by the band this time around! The bar is well known for a reason and it was a pleasure playing there. Much thanks to Lionel for setting up the show!

Now it's time to get back to work on the album!

Zac Mac

"Under the Radar" Tracklist

Our EP will be titled "Under the Radar" and will be released in the next week or so. Here is the final tracklist!!

1) Myspace Heartbreak
2) Roll Me Over
3) 15 Songs on the Radio
4) Loaded Gun
5) Highest Level

Bill's Bar 3/21

Hey everybody,

There is a chance that the Bill's Bar gig next Saturday night is going to be a sell out. It would totally suck if you came to the show without a ticket and ended up being turned away at the door. You can buy the tickets now at www.onslaughtentertainment.com and it's actually 2 dollars cheaper (10 instead of 12 at the door). Air Traffic Controller is also playing that night and they have a huge following so it should be a packed club! I hope to see you there!

ZM

EP Recording Finished!

I'm happy to announce that all the recording is now complete for our upcoming 5 song EP release. The songs in no particular order will be:

1) Myspace Heartbreak
2) Highest Level
3) Loaded Gun
4) Roll Me Over
5) 15 Songs on the Radio

All that's left is mixing and mastering, so stay tuned for a release later this month!

Anyone have any great ideas for an EP title?!?!

ZM

Great Gig Coming Up!!

Hey everyone!

If you've been putting off seeing us live, we've got a great showing coming up in a few weeks that you should come to.

On Saturday, March 21st we will be playing at Bill's Bar in Boston. It's a great venue and we're very excited to be playing there. This is definitely not a dive bar, and the rest of the night's bill looks great too. We'll be playing with Air Traffic Controller, The Future Ghosts and No Casino.

It should be an awesome night of great music and lots of fun, so make sure you get your tickets early, becasue we're anticipating a sell out.

You can purchase tickets from us for $10 before the 21st or $12 at the door.

We hope to see you there!!

----Justin (drums)

Photo and Video Shoots!

Last week we had a 3 hour long photo shoot with several professional photographers in Lawrence. They were pretty nasty at what they did.....It was really quite tiring after a while....I tell you this rockstar thing ain't easy. Luckily, I was able to rest when we acted out some scenes where I was dead and the rest of the band stood above me acting happy. They seemed to do this quite easily, which was a little disturbing. We all had several wardrobe changes and even had a couple of female models in some shots with Justin. Can't wait to see how those turned out!

Then last weekend, we filmed the video for our song "Highest Level" with director Andrew Eldridge. The first day of shooting just contained model/actress Elissa Johnson and yours truly, acting out the romantic story line of the video. Elissa was great to work with and I can't wait to see the final product. The 2nd day of shooting involved the entire band with our instruments, filmed in front of a green screen. Everything went pretty smoothly. What an amazing weekend....We need to make more videos!

Congrats to Camden Hills, 2009 Maine State Champs!!

Camden Hills Basketball

My alma mater just won its 5th championship in 11 years.....I was a member of 2 of those teams. Congrats guys!!! This team was incredibly nasty and went 22-0 ...they were said to be one of the top high school teams in new england.

They faired slightly better than the two teams that I was a member of:

1999 (my sophomore year): 21-1 record
2001 (my senior year): 20-2 record

I'll never forget those days...


ZM

Home Recording

Well after spending over 6 hours troubleshooting last week to figure out where a buzz sound was coming from in my home studio, things are set up nicely at home now. Currently I'm doing vocals on "Loaded Gun" and after that I'll figure out a harmony line.

I'm also feeling a synth part on "Myspace Heartbreak" that would really sound "Killers-esque".....man, I love that band. The new album is insanely good.

Aside from that, we just scored a gig at Bill's Bar in Boston. It's right on Landsdowne street and some pretty big name acts have played there before. It's 18+, too, which is incredibly cool for the 18-21 crowd that's usually not able to get into our gigs.

ZM

2/19 "15 Songs on the Radio"

After a long week of mixing and editing "15 Songs on the Radio", I feel like the song is sounding pretty smooth. I have high hopes for this one, which tells the story of a man pursuing rock n' roll stardom, all while working a day job. Sound familiar? The song also goes on to talk about how only 15 songs hit it big on corporate radio. Such a sad truth, but it really is tough for indie bands to break thought onto the corporate radio scene. Hopefully we can catch some luck someday soon and get our music heard by the masses.

I was even brainstorming album titles yesterday and thought why not call the album "15 Songs on the Radio"? Basically it would be sort of a big 'what the hell?' to corporate radio, while at the same time saying 'here we are..maybe give us a listen and see if you think we're worthy?' Just an idea.


Well, anyways, the song should be released as a single in a couple of days and I hope you enjoy it!

ZM

2/16 Overdubs Begin!

Monday I recorded my acoustic for "Loaded Gun", one of the songs on our upcoming release. I used my old Walden acoustic that isn't all that fancy of a guitar, but it has great tone and I take pretty good care of it. "Loaded Gun" will be the first piano-less song that we've recorded. It'll also be our first bluesy song. Ben has a very long guitar solo on it, which he'll probably lay down later this week. Let the overdubbing begin! It's going to be a long week of recording! My goal is to be finished recording "Loaded Gun" and "Myspace Heartbreak" by Friday.

"15 Songs on the Radio" should be finished soon. The final mix is super close and we are just putting some last minute tweaks on it (that probably no one will notice anyways, haha).

ZM

2/14 Back in the Studio

Another great day in the studio. We kicked off the day, nailing "Red Light" in one take. Figuring out what beat per minute to start at was the key and after a few bars, the click track was turned off. I think we actually recorded it a tad faster than anticipated and it totally rocks.

After that we recorded the slow and powerful, "Lonely Me." It was one of the first songs that we wrote as a group, almost a year ago now. I'm anxious to begin overdubbing on that one.

We also recorded a rough version of Ben's ambient song "Chosen"....We think this might be the song that closes out the album. We envision it to be very atmospheric and look forward to layering over it with lots of strings and guitar bowing.

After several hours of recording, the band was just not clicking on all cylinders, while trying to record "Warlord." Come to find out, everyone was starving...so we hit up D'Angelos and came back with extra energy. On the first take after our break, we think we nailed it. "Warlord" is another song that we wrote together as a band...this one took several months and several lyrical rewrites to get down. It's one of our favorite tracks to play live because there's so much energy and power behind it. We'll have to relisten to the last take to make sure it's the one, but we all felt pretty good about it.


So this weekend we recorded 6 songs and we had only planned to record 3! The main purpose of the sessions was to get the bass and drums down. Ben and I now have lots of work to do adding our parts; then there is mixing, which I am super meticulous about. Tomorrow, I'm headed back into the studio to work on the final mixdown of "15 Songs on the Radio" with producer Zac Cataldo...we're looking forward to releasing the song this week!

2/13 Studio Success

Last night we kicked off this week's studio stint with the rerecording of "Loaded Gun." We hadn't been happy with the previous recordings and we thought we could do it better. On the third take, we were all happy and content. Tempo was the big issue, since the song really has a slow bluesy riff that sets the tempo for it...anything faster just felt off.

We weren't planning on recording anything else last night, but ended up nailing "Cougar", our shout out to well, Cougars. We nailed that one the first take! We also nailed "The Best Thing" on the very first take. The band truly was clicking last night......aside from the fact that we couldn't seem to agree on a new font to use for our band name. It's tough getting 4 guys and a manager to all be happy with one font..you try it! Well, I'm off to the studio again. Hopefully today will bring as much success as yesterday.

Big Weekend in the Studio

So we're heading into the studio this weekend with lots to lay down. Right now we have finished "Roll Me Over" and "Highest Level", with "15 Songs on the Radio" due out next week. This leaves us 2 more finish to have our 5 song EP!!!

Just to give you an update, "Myspace Heartbreak" is coming along great. Ben was in the studio last weekend laying down his guitar tracks and they sound totally sick! I have laid down vocals, but still need to add piano and harmony. Singer, Becky Vinci, will most likely add a harmony to the song, too...can't wait to hear how that sounds!

This weekend, we're going to work on "Loaded Gun", "The Best Thing" and possibly "Chosen" or "Red Light". The more the merrier, since I have next week off from work and am looking forward to recording like a mad man!!

What else to record for the full length LP.,,.hmmmmmm......

Name That Lyric!

This is my first 'Name That Lyric' contest. I'll post 5 per week and I'll try to mix it up between genres and decades. Do not google the lyrics...that's just totally wack. Be honest and lets see how many you can nail out of 5. Comment if you know an answer.

1) "At home drawing pictures of mountaintops"

2) "I'm becoming less defined as days go by; fading away, well you might say I'm losing focus"

3) "I've been walkin' the streets tonight, just trying to get it right. It's hard to see with so many around, you know I don't like being stuck on the ground..."

4) "Reluctantly crouched at the starting line"

5) "Sometimes I get nervous when I see an open door..."

Guess what i did last night?

I spent the evening in the ER at the Elliot Hospital in Manchester, NH. Here's Why:
I was using a halberd (it's a medieval weapon that basically consists of an axe head on an 8' pole) to chip ice dams off my roof. The water was leaking in the house and it was the only thing long enough and strong enough to work. Well, the pole broke and sent the 8lb axe head careening towards my head. Since I was standing in 2 feet of snow at the time there was no whee to go, so I moved out of the way and it got me in the leg....That was a fun story to the the ER nurses.... They were impressed with my home turniquit though.... It pays to be a medic in the Army!

Not good.... I have got to be more careful....

So far this year:

Justin - 2
Death -0

---Justin

Would you tip this street musician?

Amazing article...check it out

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/04/04/AR2007040401721.html

Covers

ZMB is going to start learning some covers...does anyone have any suggestions for songs to do? We are going to try to think outside the box on some of these and avoid playing songs that fit us to a T. Even if your suggestion is way out in left field, we still want to hear what it is. The more the merrier.

RIP Billy Powell

Rock N' Roll lost a true legend today. The piano player from Lynyrd Skynyrd died this morning at 56. Many of the band's members were lost in a plane crash in 1977, but Billy survived and continued to tour and play with Lynyrd Skynyrd. Billy was one of my major influences and Lynyrd Skynyrd was the first concert that I ever attended.

Rolling Stone Article

Free Bird

Tuesday's Gone

"Cause I'm as free as a bird now,
and this bird you cannot change"

The Legend of Andrew Marx

Andrew Marx has been tremendously helpful to our band. He has written two concert reviews for us and has also written an article about us. Andrew runs two websites and he has also just finished writing a book. Does the dude ever sleep??

What is the book about?? The book by Andrew and Dara Shifrer is titled "What Do You Say to the DJ?" and it chronicles their personal journeys to adulthood in their own words. You can check out a summary of the book here and you can also order it from here. My copy should be arriving soon! Aside from documenting his trials and tribulations, let me give you the 411 on Andrew's music sites.....I also have the links to the articles he's done about ZMB....

Concert Central: This website has concert reviews and set lists of various bands playing in and around Boston. Andrew is often seen at shows with a pen and pad...collecting set lists from bands and critiquing the performances. The coolest thing about this site, is that you can submit your own concert review without even registering to the site. It truly is an interactive community of music critics. Here are the links to Andrew's Concert Reviews of ZMB:

9/13/08 @ Kennedy's Midtown

1/23/09 @ Johnny D's


Smart Remarx: Smart Remarx is a blog with many topics aside from just music. There are several bloggers on the site in addition to Andrew and it's definitely worth checking out. For one of Andrew's entries, he interviewed our band and wrote the following article.

ZMB Interview: Increased Gigging


Anyways, I just wanted to give you all a rundown of a true journalist warrior, Andrew Marx...check out the book and articles if you get a chance!

ZM

One of the most sampled albums

Stevie Wonder Songs in the key of life...

Amish Paradise
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GsfVw9xxoNY

Gangsters in Paradise
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9_A8Ya9SzA8

The original pastime paradise
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=840uku8_T4Q

listen to the rest of the album... many songs taken off there.

Thanks for making Johnny D's a Sold out show!

Thanks for the great turn out last night! It was amazing.
Post your favorite part!

Johnny D's Gig!!

Hey everybody,

I'm getting pumped for the Johnny D's gig. We're expecting a lot of people out and my sister is coming all the way down from Maine to see us. And yes, my sister is incredibly tall as well....6'1 to be exact.

We are going to be debuting a new song called "Cougar", which is a pretty funny song. I wrote the lyrics on New Years Day with my friend Nate Curll and the next week, the band added their parts to it...hopefully we can get the crowd singing "She's a Coooouuugar". Maybe they'll even be some cougars there and we can satisfy their dire need for an anthem song. Needless to say, I an amped and itching to get out there and rock hard. Hope to see you all out at the club tomorrow night! You'll be helping out a good cause in the process....see below post about our charity.

Zac Mac

Help Us Help Sherry's House!

Hey everyone! Justin here...

I just wanted to remind everyone that we've partnered with an awesome organization. They are called Why me - Sherry's House. They are located on Worcester, Mass and their goal is to provide a place to stay for families with children receiving treatment for cancer.

Going through such an emotional experience can be very hard for families, especailly if they don't live close to the treament facility, and Sherry's House provides comfort and support for the parents, siblings and the children being treated.

We are proud to work with such an amazing, selfless group of people, and as a band we ask that you help us to give them as much support as we can.

For our initial show of financial support, I will be donating my full salary from our show tomorrow night to Sherry's House. We are playing at Johnny D's in Somerville so if you can make it please come by! Tickets are $10 at the door and the more people we get at the show, the more money we can give to Sherry's House!

In addition, we will also be donating 100% of the proceeds we make in the month of February on our single "Highest Level" to Sherry's House. So, if you haven't bouth the single yet, now's a great chance get a great song and help out an awesome charity!

Thank you all so much for your time and I hope to see you all at the show tomorrow!

----Justin

So you want to fly? You need one of these suits

These guys are sick...
http://vimeo.com/moogaloop.swf?clip_id=1778399&server=vimeo.com&show_title=1

I think we need to re do our band jump with these.

-Jeff

side note: Van Halen parachuted into one of their shows.

OK... So I almost died yesterday....

Hey Everyone... It's Justin...

I just wanted to tell you a little bit about the adventure I had yesterday....


So, yesterday morning on my way to work, i was heading north on I-93 abot 200 meters from the Hooksett tollbooth when i saw an Isuzu Rodeo heading south bound very fast... it was just past the tolls and FLYING down the road... my guess is between 60 and 70 MPH. Way too fast to have just hit the toll plaza. Anyway, the Rodeo looses control and swerves into the northbound lane. The Kia in the lane next to me T-Bones the rodeo and the Rodeo lifts about 10' in the air, still heading in my direction. The back end of the Rodeo passes over the hood of my car missing my windshied, and my definite demise by about 4". The Rode hits the ground just on the other side of my car, skids about 5 feet and then comes to a rest. The only damage to my car was a cracked windshied and a smashed drivers side window that were hit by debris from the other 2 cars impact...

I swear, i literally thought I was going to be smashed....

It kinda makes you think about a lot of stuff when something like that happens....

----JC

My Favorite 10 Albums

I've been thinking lately a lot about what albums have influenced me the most. It's tough to compile a short list for this, but I'm going to give it a shot...I've also listed my favorite 3 tracks from each album.

10) "Final Straw" by Snow Patrol
Favorite tracks: "Run," "Ways and Means," and "Same"

9) "Physical Graffiti" by Led Zeppelin
Favorite tracks: "Kashmir," "Ten Years Gone," and "In the Light"

8) "Parachutes" by Coldplay
Favorite tracks: "Spies," "Yellow," and "Everything's Not Lost"

7) "Day & Age" by The Killers
Favorite tracks: "Spaceman," "This is your Life," and "Dustland Fairytale"

6) "Audioslave" by Audioslave
Favorite tracks: "Like a Stone," "I Am the Highway," and "Show Me How to Live"

5) "Use Your Illusion II" by Guns N' Roses
Favorite tracks: "Estranged," "Knockin' On Heaven's Door," and "Don't Cry"

4) "Hopes and Fears" by Keane
Favorite tracks: "Somewhere Only We Know," "On a Day Like Today," and "We Might As Well Be Strangers"

3) "Dosage" by Collective Soul
Favorite tracks: "Run," "Heavy," and "Crown"

2) "Sam's Town" by The Killers
Favorite tracks: "When You Were Young," "Read My Mind," and "Why Do I Keep Counting?"

1) "A Rush of Blood to the Head" by Coldplay
Favorite tracks: "Politik," "The Scientist," and "Amsterdam"