SoundClick blogs by MrSampson (Oliver)

Gig Reports Jun/Jul

MrSampson (Oliver) — Wed, 23 Jul 2008 13:17:54 EST

Too Long for Soundclick. Read it at http://blog.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=blog.view&friendID=102719910&blogID=417419157

Gig Reports. Just Catchin Up.

MrSampson (Oliver) — Sun, 15 Jun 2008 10:19:00 EST

Too long for soundclick. Read it here: http://blog.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=blog.view&friendID=102719910&blogID=405993900

April Shows

MrSampson (Oliver) — Tue, 29 Apr 2008 13:45:16 EST

Too long. check it out here http://blog.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=blog.view&friendID=102719910&blogID=387600633

La Lucyana and The Bar

MrSampson (Oliver) — Sun, 16 Mar 2008 14:36:00 EST

I don't think it's going to be possible to play two gigs back-to-back that are as opposite from one another as these last two RACK gigs were. Friday night we played in La Lucyana, a newerish location (actually an old location with a newerish owner) in Münsingen. La Lucyana is a smaller bar with a cozy little alcove in the back where the band sets up to play. This is the kind of bar where if thirty people were t...

Three Gigs. One Week. Gig Three.

MrSampson (Oliver) — Sun, 02 Mar 2008 13:43:25 EST

Things are in a bit of disarray on Monday the 25th. I call Bahnhof Fischbach to find out when RACK supposed to be there for soundcheck.

"Oh around 7:00 will be fine."
"But the website says that doors open at 7:00."
"No, we'll open the doors at 8:00."
"Okay."

So we show up a little bit before 7:00. There's supposed to be two bands. We don't know when we're going to play (f...

Three Gigs. One Week. Gig Two.

MrSampson (Oliver) — Sun, 02 Mar 2008 13:41:33 EST

Things are in a bit of disarray on Monday the 25th. I call Bahnhof Fischbach to find out when RACK supposed to be there for soundcheck.

"Oh around 7:00 will be fine."
"But the website says that doors open at 7:00."
"No, we'll open the doors at 8:00."
"Okay."

So we show up a little bit before 7:00. There's supposed to be two bands. We don't know when we're going to ...

Three Gigs. One Week. Gig One. Pt 2.

MrSampson (Oliver) — Sun, 02 Mar 2008 13:40:58 EST

We play the acoustic set. We played well, everything worked out and it's time to change the stage for the electric set. I check the tuning--hmmm, no sound. I look at my rack, and it looks fine. No, wait it doesn't. Why aren't there any lights on on my ADA? Did it blow a fuse when the power went? I think I've got spare fuses. I hope I've got spare fuses. I check the fuse. No it's not the fuse, but damn it seem hot in the back of my rack. Power down, power up. Yea...

Three Gigs. One Week. Gig One. Pt. 1

MrSampson (Oliver) — Sun, 02 Mar 2008 13:40:13 EST

Saturday the 23rd of February got off to a bumpy start. I expected to sleep in, wake up, spend a normal afternoon, then pack up for the RACK gig at Bistro Walk In in Munderkingen. Instead what I got was a phone call at the 9:30 in the blessed AM on my cell phone. This had better be good, 'cause if you call me at that hour on a Saturday morning, you just may have moved a...

Sambinha in the Studio

MrSampson (Oliver) — Sun, 30 Dec 2007 07:42:13 EST

Sambinha just finished two very productive days in the studio. After we parted ways with the singer who was on the last demo, we felt it was time to record a new demo that better represented the band and showed the progress the band had made over the last two years as a unit. It's one thing to have super players playing together, it's another to be playing as a unit.
We did two four hour sessions, and recorded seven songs. Beca...

RACK in Gypsy Home, 14 Dec 07

MrSampson (Oliver) — Sat, 22 Dec 2007 16:29:48 EST

Last weekend in Gypsy Home was really a blast. It was a Friday gig, which means bad traffic, and coordinating with work schedules. Gablingen is also about a two hour drive away (pretty close to the max for not staying overnight after a gig), which meant that going into this, there was a list of thing a mile long that could go wrong. What went wrong? Nothing!
Well, except that it's December and not many people showed. Now, this is a ...

RACK in Gleis 3, Aitrach, 8 Dec 07

MrSampson (Oliver) — Mon, 10 Dec 2007 12:07:54 EST

RACK had a monstrous time in Aitrach, playing at Gleis 3. Gleis 3 is a great little sportsbar, but it really reminds me more of a roadhouse than anything. The stage was just the right size. Any smaller and we would have had to leave gear in the cars!
This was the first time in a long time that we've gotten to play with our official drummer, Yann. Yann has had to miss a few shows because of his obligations as roadie for the RACK) showed up in The Bar last Saturday. The place is huge! At first I thought, "Oh God, the PA isn't big enough." As it turns out, everything went down very well, to the point that there really isn't much to write about. The PA was big enough, and thats with just miking the guitar and the vocals. When I think back to my college days abo...

Sambinha in Singen

MrSampson (Oliver) — Wed, 10 Oct 2007 12:54:35 EST

Sambinha played the Singen Kneipennacht (English: "Bar Night") in Hemmingway's Bar last Saturday. The show was great! However, like all shows, especially when playing a place for the first time, it had its own quirks.
We showed up, and the bar is actually a restaura...

Sambinha in Vogt

MrSampson (Oliver) — Sat, 29 Sep 2007 08:13:49 EST

Sambinha had a great gig last Saturday in Vogt, of all places. We had been booked into the Flammenhof some months ago, and I didn't really know what to expect. I had thought that it was some sort of restaurant or bar or something, but it turns out that it's the name of the concert room owned by the commune. Oops!
Well, that's not so tragic, it's not like we'd play different sets, but my attire of jeans and tropical shirt just was't

Two Gigs. Fourteen Hours. Whew!

MrSampson (Oliver) — Sat, 22 Sep 2007 09:22:41 EST
You guessed it. Too long. Check it out here

Turm Café

MrSampson (Oliver) — Sat, 08 Sep 2007 08:29:25 EST
Too long again. See it over at myspace.

The Future of Music

MrSampson (Oliver) — Wed, 05 Sep 2007 12:46:00 EST
It looks like I've run over soundlcick character limit again. Read the blog here.

Map24.de Integration

MrSampson (Oliver) — Sun, 02 Sep 2007 18:41:34 EST

A little more of the ol' computer elbow grease, and I've gotten some Map24.de integration into this and the RACK websites going. From now on, when you want to check out how to get a gig, there will be a Map24 box next to the address to help you plan your route.
I've still got a little work to do on the layout, but I wanted to get this feature in as soon as possible, because a few gig...

Say Hello to my leeetle friend.

MrSampson (Oliver) — Sat, 25 Aug 2007 13:01:27 EST

I just picked up a new implement of sonic destruction: An Aria SWB-Alpha. Folks, say "Hello!"
I've been borrowing an upright for the last couple of years, so it's nice to have my own instrument now. this was one of the ones that was at the Frankfurt Musik Messe last year, so I got a great deal on it as a demo model. Naturally it's not a real upright bass, but it s...

Sambinha in Halbhuber

MrSampson (Oliver) — Mon, 20 Aug 2007 13:30:01 EST

Posted June 27, 2007

I'm finally getting around to posting about the gig with Sambinha last Thursday in Halbhuber for Jazzport at the Friedrichshafen Airport. (Pictures coming soon.)
It was monstrous! and a just smokin' gig all around. We played as a septet with a piano player instead of the normal quintet ...

RACK in Aulendorf

MrSampson (Oliver) — Mon, 20 Aug 2007 13:28:41 EST

So we (RACK) rounded up two weeks and four gigs, which while not exactly being a tour, is certainly saying something in this area where gigs seem to be getting harder and harder to get. We played a street festival on the backside and down from the Palace in Aulendorf. Down the hill, two bars, which are set up by friends that come back to Aulendorf just for this festival, stand up across from each other and they share a stage between...

RACK in Bad Saulgau

MrSampson (Oliver) — Sun, 12 Aug 2007 08:46:21 EST

We (RACK) got booked on short notice to play at Franziskaner in Bad Saulgau. The idea here was that Bad Saulgau was having their annual Old City Festival (German: Altstadt Fest), and it was supposed to rain cats and dogs. If it rains, the people won't want to be outside; they'll want to go inside, so the owner wanted a band to draw the crowd. IMO, sound thinking. We ...

RACK in Turm Cafe

MrSampson (Oliver) — Sat, 04 Aug 2007 09:26:31 EST
It seems that I've (yet again) bumped into the character limit here at Soundclick. Check out the blog post over at Myspace.

Planet Pop at Rutenfest

MrSampson (Oliver) — Sun, 22 Jul 2007 10:37:55 EST
It seems I've bumped into the character limit here again at Soundclick. You can read my blog post about my gig yesterday at Rutenfest at my Myspace page

1600 Downloads

MrSampson (Oliver) — Tue, 26 Jun 2007 05:52:27 EST

In case you haven't noticed, RACK's fist video Skin has had over 1000 downloads over at Soundclick.com. That combined with the Myspace views and the YouTube views brings us to a total of about 1600 views in a little over two months!
Now, that's cool. And remember, if you like it, share it!

Gig in Gohren

MrSampson (Oliver) — Tue, 15 May 2007 13:26:19 EST

[I'm finally getting around to writing about the gig on Saturday..].
WOW! That was a blast. We (Sambinha) had the pleasure of playing a private birthday party in Gohren, which is as close to being direcly on the lake as you can get without actually being directly on the lake. The thrower of the party had set up a couple of tents for the band and the guests in case of inclement weahter, but we were very lucky and had a beatiful, clear, if not...

Gig in Guggloch

MrSampson (Oliver) — Sun, 06 May 2007 14:20:29 EST

We (RACK) had a great time last night in Guggloch, a cool beer and music bar a few kilometers outside of Constance. It was a good show, and our good friend Florian filled in on drums, while Yann is on the road with Spider Murphey Gang. The video worked, quite a few members of the crowd had seen the video on Szen...

Virginia Tech

MrSampson (Oliver) — Mon, 16 Apr 2007 18:28:19 EST
By now, you may have heard that there was a shooting at Virginia Tech, and that the count is 33 dead including the dead gunman. Virginia Tech is my Alma Mater (B.S.Cp.E. '92), and my heart goes out to the families of the dead and injured, the students, and the faculty. For those of you that haven't been there, Virginia Tech is one of America's most beautiful campuses, and it's a tragedy of immense proportions that VT will now be remembered and uttered in the same breath as the University of T...

The New Video

MrSampson (Oliver) — Mon, 16 Apr 2007 18:08:32 EST
The first RACK video is done! And you can see it right here at Soundclick. Yann really did a great job with this! The video will be featured for two weeks starting next week on Szene TV on Euro 3 (http://www.euro-3.de).

Musikmesse 2007

MrSampson (Oliver) — Sun, 01 Apr 2007 13:40:08 EST

I went to the Musikmesse on Friday and had a dandy time as every year. I ordered a new fretless! I orded a Marleaux Consat Custom 6 Fretless Edition. I predict that it will have God's own tone.
I checked out some of the new gear, and finally got to try out an the entry over on my myspace page.

Phillip van Endert

MrSampson (Oliver) — Sun, 18 Mar 2007 19:19:02 EST

Last night I had the chance to see Phillip van Endert perform with clarinetist Lajos Dudas and a percussionist. (It was actually billed the other way around, but whatevuh.) The concert was in the Spiegelsaal in the Neues Schloss in Meersburg* and was also recorded by Soundclick wooDLawn page. The album can, of course still be purchased over at CDBaby. Enjoy! Oliver

Video Production Started

MrSampson (Oliver) — Sat, 10 Mar 2007 07:49:30 EST
We spent last night shooting the live sequences for Rack's first video. It was really a lot of fun, and we've got a lot of people to thank. The lovely Katrin, the model who will be appearing in the video; Club Esperanza for the location, Litecto for the generous use of their lighting equipment, and