Steve Goldberg Tour Diary

Red is the color that will make me blue

2010-02-22T17:17:00.003-05:00

Thanks to everybody who came out to Johnny Brenda's. We had a great time and we hope you did, too. Fortunately we were able to save some of our performance for posterity. Here's the first clip -- this was taken in the green room before the show. We were practicing the harmonies for our new Beatles cover. More to come!

Transversus Abdominis

2010-02-15T00:41:00.000-05:00

Thanks to everyone who's ordered or downloaded Labyrinths. The CDs have been going pretty briskly -- we've got maybe 100 copies left, so get it while you can.

We've got an exciting show this weekend at one of our favorite local venues, Johnny Brenda's. See you there, mothalickas.

I'll Play the Bassoon

2010-01-08T10:22:00.002-05:00

Last night's release show at Kung Fu Necktie was a resounding success. Big thanks to everyone who came out.

Our new music section has a spiffier address now -- songs.stevegoldbergmusic.com. Look for some more upgrades to this site in the hopefully-near future.

Labyrinths Release

2010-01-07T00:17:00.002-05:00

Labyrinths is now available! Head over to our fancy new music section to stream it, download it for the price of your choosing, or order it on CD along with a bonus disc of home demos. The demo disc includes early versions of Labyrinths tracks "Shutterbug," "The Garden of Forking Paths," and "Things I Used to Know," as well as an acoustic demo of "Summer's Ending" from our self-titled debut.

Speaking of which, you'll find that 2007's Steve Goldberg and the Arch Enemies is now available with similar options -- download the whole thing or any song for whatever price you want, or order the CD package which includes a second disc of home-recorded demos.

Tell all your friends!

It may be your last

2009-12-19T19:48:00.002-05:00

We're getting ready to release Labyrinths! The release show will be held at Kung Fu Necktie on 1/7. We'll be playing with two great Philly bands, The Bee Team and TJ Kong and the Atomic Bomb, so don't miss it!

In other news, here are some old-but-maybe-new-to-you goodies for the holiday season.

First a couple of classics:

Steve Goldberg - Silent Night

Steve Goldberg and the Arch Enemies - Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas (w/ the original depressing lyrics!)

And then an SG&tAE holiday original:
Steve Goldberg and the Arch Enemies - Christmas Time for Girls and Boys

Swine '09, feelin fine

2009-11-23T14:28:00.003-05:00

We have returned from our 2009 Swine flu North American mini-tour! It was a resounding success. Big thanks to the fine folks of Waltham, MA, and Baltimore, MD for hanging out with us, and especially to Sophie and Justin for setting up the shows.

And now for the exciting part -- we are proud to present the lead-off track of our forthcoming EP, to be released 1/7/10:

The Ballad of Cherry Hill (lyrics)

Download, enjoy, and spread the word!

Labyrinths

2009-11-16T22:01:00.005-05:00

Coming 1/7/10

(click for a better view)

1. The Ballad of Cherry Hill
2. Shutterbug
3. The Garden of Forking Paths
4. Things I Used to Know

HOT OFF THE WIRE

2009-11-14T23:17:00.002-05:00

GOOD NEWS STOP
EAST COAST MINI TOUR STOP
PHILLY BOSTON BALTIMORE STOP
BAD NEWS STOP
STEVE HAS H1N1 STOP
UPDATES TO COME STOP

END OF MESSAGE

Wrapping it up Pt. 2

2009-11-05T14:28:00.003-05:00

More pictures!

Good vibrations.

Bill at the helm.

Mixing board!

Wrapping it up

2009-11-02T12:49:00.008-05:00

We recorded the last note of our upcoming Labyrinths EP last week. This week has been all tweaking mixes ad nauseum, but now it's finished! Hooray! Next step is mastering. More info soon, but for now I'll be sharing some pictures of the process.

Click the thumbnails for large versions.

Patrick plays some geetar.

Griff chills with a 12-string.

Lem receives extra-terrestrial transmissions.

The mixing console awaits.

Seth blows his horn.

Griff lays down some low end.

Griff vibrates the vibes.

Check back soon for more!

Recording Update

2009-10-13T13:05:00.001-04:00

So we hit the studio with Bill Moriarty last week. Things are moving along very smoothly thanks to Bill's level 10 engineering skills combined with our own impeccably-honed chops. Prepare to be tantalized by the names of the songs and the list of tracks we managed to record for them in 4 days. Tracks we still have to record are in parentheses.

The Ballad of Cherry Hill

Drums
Acoustic guitar
Electric guitar
Bass
2 Trumpets
Trombone
Piano
(Vocals)
(2 violins)

Shutterbug

Drums
Acoustic Guitar
Electric guitar
Bass
Trumpet
Trombone
Piano
Glockenspiel
(Vocals)
(2 violins)

The Garden of Forking Paths

Drums
Bongos
Acoustic guitar
Classical guitar
Electric guitar
4 French Horns
2 Trumpets
Organ
Mandolin
(Vocals)

Things I Used to Know

Drums
Acoustic guitar
Electric guitar
Bass
2 trumpets
2 trombones
Vibrophone
(Vocals)
(Violin)
(Viola)
(Cello)

We'll be going back next week to wrap up tracking, then it'll be time to mix. We lacked a motor for the vibrophone, so Griff stepped up and provided manual stimulation. Photos to come.

Sister Act II: Back in the Habit

2009-09-22T11:42:00.002-04:00

A quick update -- we're playing another Kung Fu Necktie show next month, this time with Dent May & his Magnificent Ukulele. For those of you keeping score, this will be our second time sharing the stage with Mr. May, the first having been at NYC Popfest 2008.

And now the really exciting news -- we'll be going to the studio next month with Bill Moriarty (Man Man, Dr. Dog, Drink Up Buttercup). We will be making an EP. It's going to sound sweet. Stay tuned!

Third Shift Brothers-In-Arms

2009-08-06T15:22:00.002-04:00

Another great show at Kung Fu Necktie on Monday night. It's quickly becoming our favorite place. We debuted a new song, "The Ballad of Cherry Hill." Hopefully it'll get recorded eventually. Photos should be forthcoming, but for now check out this short video clip of "The Road" that I just found on the tubes. Thanks to Mike for uploading it.

Check back soon for a couple of exciting new show announcements!

There will be a processing charge of $2.50

2009-07-07T15:41:00.002-04:00

We had a great show on Sunday at Pianos in NYC with Mama Bear. Thanks to everyone who came and made it a good night! I guess we'll go back to NYC after all.

We also have another sweet show coming up at one of our new favorite places, Kung Fu Necktie -- August 3rd, with Rural Alberta Advantage, whom we had the pleasure of seeing at SXSW in the lovely Central Presbyterian Church. Should be a sweet show.

Finally, I can't remember the stupid password I need to get these up on the sidebar, so for now you can view some photos of the last KFN show right here. Thanks to Oliver for taking them!

Deadliftin' it

2009-06-17T15:00:00.003-04:00

Yikes, I haven't posted here in awhile. Apologies, &c. Lots has been going on around here, though. We've welcomed a new Arch Enemy into our midst -- one Mr. Lem, international man of mystery and faithful servant of Ormazd, in the capacity of drummer. Patrick has moved over to the electric guitar, which he plays with the passion of ten Arabian princesses.

We've been playing a lot of shows! Some have been awesome, and others have been less awesome, as is the way of shows in this ever-changing world in which we live in. We played M'korstock in Cherry Hill. It was fun to rock out with the parents of everyone I went to high school with. We played NYC Popfest in NYC. It was fun to rock out with lots of pop kids at 3 in the afternoon. And last night we played at Kung Fu Necktie with Telekinesis and An Horse, which was just badass all-around, save the unfortunate migraine which beset me after we were done. Big thanks to everyone who came out!

At the moment we've got one more scheduled date, and that's July 5th at Pianos in NYC. I hereby promise to update more often and put up some new pictures, IF you promise in turn to come to a show and have a beer with us. Because relationships are all about give and take, baby. See you soon!

SXSW Diaries Pt. IV

2009-03-22T13:40:00.003-04:00

(Note: in case you missed it, here's the entry where I posted the content of our SXSW EP, which includes two new songs. All of the newer home recordings will be going on the music page soon.)

SXSW Day 5
At Brandon's house

Yesterday we practiced, we planned, we got pumped. We ate at a vegetarian restaurant. We went to a place called Home Slice Pizza and caught some bands. We ate at Whole Foods and got recognized by someone who saw us play at the cycle shop on Friday. What are the chances? Don't ask me, I'm not a statistician.

We loaded into the venue and warmed up some more. The staff at the church were perfectly friendly and helpful. They carried our gear around, got us water, and did everything we needed. After attending shows at the church on Wednesday and Thursday night and seeing the place absolutely packed, it was hard not to have high expectations. But there's so much going on at any given time, I suppose it's a bit of a crapshoot whether anyone's going to come listen to a bunch of bros they've never heard of before. We ended up playing to a crowd of 30 or so people, which is about what we're accustomed to. The sound in the church was amazing. It had a beautiful natural reverb. The audience was silent and attentive, as they had been for the other shows there. As sometimes happens when I get really into what I'm doing onstage, I don't remember everything about our set. I remember feeling like we filled the room with sound. I sweated a whole lot and dropped my glasses several times. I was very tired when we were done.

Steve Burns and the Struggle followed us, putting on a multimedia show that was a lot of fun. They distributed laser pointers to the audience and projected a video on a giant screen while they played. It was a choose-your-own-adventure affair, with the audience expressing their collective will via their laser pointers. The whole thing was very well put together and quite a spectacle. However, our names caused a bit of confusion for some audience members. After Steve Burns finished I went back to the lobby to push our free CDs on people. Several people took our CDs clearly thinking they were Steve Burns CDs. A few folks picked them up and then dropped them again after realizing that they were not Steve Burns CDs. Regardless, we distributed about 150 of them in our time here, most of them last night, and that pleases me. We also received very kind compliments from several audience members. One guy told us our sound was full and massive, describing it as "thunder on the mountain." We should hire him to write our bio.

Today we will be chilling and tomorrow we will be returning home. And thus concludes this little SXSW diary. I hope you've learned something and enjoyed yourselves. I know I have. Take care of yourselves -- it's a crazy world out there.

SXSW Diaries Pt. III

2009-03-21T12:15:00.001-04:00

SXSW Day 3
At Brandon's house

I must rescind a bit of my earlier grousing -- our badges and wristbands did pretty well for us yesterday. The more shows I see, the more thrilled I am about the fact that we're playing at the church. We caught Grizzly Bear there last night, a set which I doubt will be topped by anything else we'll see here.

SXSW Day 4
At Brandon's house

This stuff is tiring. Last night I was too tired to blog! Oh noes! I've been troubled by more strange dreams. I had a dream that we were supposed to play at Johnny Brenda's, and it was a big deal and lots of people came to see us, but we weren't going on because the sound guy or some such hadn't shown up, and everyone was starting to get impatient and angry. It was all very realistic, but at some point I realized that I must be dreaming, and suddenly there was a glass of milk in my hand, and I thought, "I will prove this is a dream by throwing this milk across the room," and so I threw it and no one reacted and I thought "Aha!" and then I woke up.

Anyhow, one thing I should've given more thought to before leaving is the comfort of my footwear. These Chucks were not made for walking, it seems. We played a party yesterday under a little tent outside a bike shop. It was a bit far from downtown, but we met lots of nice folks and gave them CDs. The biggest difficulty was posed by the band playing across the street, and hearing their drums everytime we'd hit a breakdown and get quiet. We persevered though and I think it was a good warmup. Tonight's the showcase! I am excited!

SXSW Diaries Pt. II

2009-03-19T17:52:00.002-04:00

SXSW Day 2
Austin Convention Center

It seems much of the promised free food and drink has failed to materialize. A doorman I asked attributed it to the economy. Another sad effect of this recession. Help me, Barack Obama! Where's my stimulus package? We did, however, enjoy some delicious non-free tacos this morning.

The lines around here continue to be obscene. The festival seems to have a kind of split personality -- it features dudes like us, without label, management, etc., while at the same time hosting the likes of The Hold Steady, Grizzly Bear, and what have you. Does this festival exist to spotlight worthy unknown bands, or as a place for listeners to catch all of their favorite headlining acts in one week, like Sasquatch and Coachella and the rest? It is a mystery.

I am, however, drinking a free Miller lite right now. Joe is drinking two, that crazy cat.

The SXSW Diaries Pt. I

2009-03-19T13:52:00.002-04:00

SXSW Day 1
Onboard a Boeing 737, somewhere over the United States

And we're off! My flight is unsurprisingly filled with SXSW-goers, including indie promoter extraordinaire Sean Agnew of R5 productions and members of the band Po Po. The ones with ironic facial hair and alternative haircuts are easy enough to identify, but the mainstreamers are out in force as well. As I wrote this the regular-looking fellow in the adjacent seat asked me who I was writing for and told me he was headed to the festival for the fifth time. He became the first recipient of our SXSW-exclusive EP. Only 199 left to give out. The joys of networking!

Excitement is in the air. I'm gradually working up some enthusiasm. I'm not much of a festival guy myself; I'm not fond of crowds, hustle and bustle, or waiting in lines. However, I do enjoy playing shows, drinking for free, and not going to work, so hopefully it'll be a net positive.

Last night I dreamed that I arrived in Austin with my guitar case only to find it empty. As Coleridge wrote, we do not feel horror because we dream of a sphinx; we dream of a sphinx in order to explain the horror we feel. And knowing me, such a nightmare scenario is not inconceivable. I have a talent for forgetting to pack crucial items -- I'll bring my cell phone and forget my charger, or bring socks but forget underwear, for instance. I think I've got everything covered this time, though: ear plugs, extra guitar strings, plenty of CDs, various hip T-shirts, digital camera, moisturizer.

We're set to play a party on Friday at a bike shop and a showcase on Saturday at a church, which I'm told is a good place to play. I wish we were playing more -- although I'm not sure I'd like to play ten times in five days, as some bands seem to be -- but I'm glad we managed to get more than just one set. I'm already running on insufficient sleep after last night's warm-up show in Philly. I figure the sound at our shows in Austin couldn't possibly be any worse than it was at a certain Girard-Ave. venue that shall remain nameless, so we're well-prepared.

I did my best to make an itinerary online, but I have a feeling it won't hold up very well. It was hard enough to even skim the ginormous schedule without my eyes glazing over. I've checked off and RSVPed for multiple events for every time slot so that I'll have a backup in case I can't get in to things. Once more into the breach.

SXSW Day 2
At the home of Brandon the Beekeeper

Well, that was something. It's like some kind of hipster apocalypse out there. You can't go anywhere without hearing somebody's kick and snare or bumping into some bro's goofy moustache. We registered at the convention center, spotting various dudes from various bands. We drank free Miller lites (hey, they were free) at a tent where international bands were playing. We made our way to the Central Presbyterian Church, where we'll be playing on Saturday, only to be halted by a gigantic line. The deal is that my whole band gets wristbands but we only get one badge (which I'm wearing, natch). At most events there are two lines for entry, one for wristbands and one for badges, with badges getting priority. My bandmates waited with me for awhile until they realized there was no way anyone without a badge was getting in. I ended up standing there for an hour and missing M. Ward, but I did get to catch Department of Eagles. The church was a very impressive venue. I'm pumped for Saturday.

Next I made my way over to Stubb's to catch The Decemberists debuting their new album. This time I only had to wait a couple of minutes, but one of my bandmates got stuck waiting for almost an hour before he gave up. I suppose the way things are set up is reasonable, but considering that festival attendance is our only compensation for coming out here, it'd be nice if it were a little bit easier for us. But maybe I'm just being a curmudgeon.

In any case, my main objectives for today are to eat free food and minimize line-waiting. More on this story as it develops.

Book of Imaginary Beings

2009-03-18T01:19:00.002-04:00

We are Austin-bound tomorrow. We are excited. We made some new recordings. Here is the tracklist of our little SXSW sampler EP:

1. Shutterbug (demo)
2. The Garden of Forking Paths (demo)
3. Things I Used to Know (demo)
4. Summer's Ending

The Garden of Forking Paths

2009-01-29T13:50:00.003-05:00

'Ello friends. Did you like how I said that? Like a British person. Anyhow, just checking in with a few brief updates. We'll be breaking out performance hiatus next month with a couple of shows in NYC and Philly. Then in March we're playing a show in Philly before leaving for Austin and the SXSW festival. Exciting! We'll be playing some new songs about Borges and camera phones. See you soon.

P.S. Happy birthday to Steve, who is me, and who turns 24 years of age on this day.

We'll have to muddle through somehow

2008-12-19T13:32:00.003-05:00

Season's greetings from Steve Goldberg and the Arch Enemies!

We had an excellent time playing at Arlene's Grocery in NYC last week. Thanks to our wonderful friends, new and old, for joining us despite the rain. We felt like the luckiest guys on the Lower East Side. Pictures possibly forthcoming.

And now I have some new recordings to share with you. First, here's my take on Silent Night, featuring guitar, ukulele, and 4-part harmony.

I also did this rendition of Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas with the original depressing lyrics. Here's the backstory:

"Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas" has had several rewrites since Hugh Martin wrote the original lyrics for 1944's Meet Me in St. Louis. Judy Garland thought the song was "awfully dark" and Martin rewrote the lyrics for her performance in the movie. Frank Sinatra called Martin in 1957 and said, "The name of my album is A Jolly Christmas. Do you think you could jolly up that line for me?' Sinatra's version, with its peppier lyrics, became a holiday standard.

And finally, don't forget last year's Christmas Time for Girls and Boys, an SG original.

You can catch us next at the M-Room for a New Year's Eve Eve spectacular. After that we're going to take a short performance hiatus, but we'll still have some exciting things to share with you, so stay tuned.

Letter to the Author

2008-12-02T01:18:00.002-05:00

We've just returned from a wild and crazy two-date Thanksgiving 2008 tour. Things started off with a bang at the North Star in Philly. The audience was a regular who's-who of the Philly scene, packed with movers and shakers like Jenny, Jordan, and Matt. It was also our first show with Patrick, the newest Arch Enemy, on the drums. What's that, you say? Another one? Yes, I reply. We now stand at 5-members strong. More on this soon.

Things wrapped up with a smaller bang last night at Garfield Artworks in Pittsburgh. It was good to be back in the old four-one-two, appreciating such Pittsburgh institutions as The Murray Ave. Grill, Pamela's, and Manny Theiner.

Here are the songs we played:

February Third
Julia (Joe's sister version)
The Spy
Hideaway
Scattered Pearls (Casiotone cover)
Things I Used to Know
-----------
Encore: Summer's Ending

Next stop -- Arlene's Grocery in NYC on Dec. 11th., where another song will make its live debut. Stay tuned!

In what respect, Charlie

2008-11-07T12:55:00.002-05:00

New shows! We're coming back to Pittsburgh! Plus another NYC date! Woo!

This is Just to Say

2008-11-04T02:10:00.003-05:00

I have scheduled
another gig
at The North Star
in Philly

which is where
you have probably
seen us
before

Forgive me
it will be awesome
so sweet
and so cold

P.S. OBAMA