So, we released In Loving Memory in July, and we've been really, really happy with what people are saying about it - on iTunes, facebook, twitter, blogs, and in emails to us... If you reviewed it or rated it on iTunes, first I want to thank you. Second....... I want to ask you to do it again!!
We just changed digital distributors, and in doing so, we had to re-"release" a new version of the EP, and the other one will be taken down within a few days. Because of that, we're losing everything that we had gathered over the last 7 months - reviews, ratings, likes, sales records, "Listeners also bought," playlists, blah blah blah... If you wrote a review, I'd be super pumped if you just copied and pasted the old to to the new release. If you didn't write a review, I would love you forever (yes, you personally) if you would review it!
Unfortunately, it's going up about $2 for the whole album, because some of the fancy discounts that the last distributor had are unavailable to us. (So, if you haven't bought it yet, it might be wise to buy it now while it's still available from the old distributor, hint hint).
And we WILL be having Manic Monday this week!
Sorry - this blog entry seems to be all business... Let me try to change that up a bit...
This past Monday, we went through a bunch of songs (some pretty much written, some still in the skeleton phase) in order to figure out what we're going to start recording for the next EP! Two of them might be familiar to some of you (Answer and One More Chance) as we've played them live a number of times. The others will still have to remain a secret until we can at least record a little bit to give you a taste. We've got a lot of stuff to choose from, and it all depends on what plays well together. And doesn't run with scissors.
I need your feedback on an idea, too:
There's a big hoopla going around about Crowdfunding - basically, would you be interested in helping us pay for our next record if we gave you something in return? And what would those things be? Stuff that we've thought of:
What would you want us to make available that would make it worth your while to help us pay the costs of our next record? (Just so you know - we haven't started recording yet, so this is just in theory right now)
BLOOMERS ROCK!
-David
MB
Since we (Hildee, Andy, Matt, Brink, and David) share very openly with you, our wonderful fans, I was just sitting her thinking how thankful I am for all of you! Without your constant support and reminder that Manic Bloom is something special, we would have a difficult time persisting in those moments of "normal" life. This brings me to my next quick thought, which is that 4 out of 5 of us in the band spend way too much time at our desk jobs. Granted, we don't HAVE to sit there if we don't want a pay check, but we all like food and shelter too much to give up the constant squint at the computer, entering those number, file those reports and make me something that will impress the public.
This is where you, our friends and Manic Mobsters or Bloom Brood come into play....We don't normally ask for much, but I'm requesting you each a simple, but enormously helpful task to share more of Manic Bloom with your friends, co-workers, family, and neighbors to get them educated on the BEST Epimelodirock band on the market. And I can say that with certainty since we created the genre ourselves...ha, ha.
Again, thank you for your support always, and please leave your comments and conversations with us.... and make us continually proud of our Bloomers! You guys rock and we love you all!
AndiRoo
Hey bloomers, hope this blog finds you all doing well. Just wanted to give everyone an update with what's going on in the world of Manic Bloom.
Obviously, we don't know where you all live, but here in Nashville, we've been getting quite a bit of snow with all this cold weather. Growing up in Texas, I rarely got snow, but since living here, I've grown tired of it fast. Don't get me wrong, I love snow. But I'm just tired of how everything shuts down and the roads become annoying. Several weeks ago, I actually wrecked my car on an overpass sliding on some ice. I slid about twenty feet or so into the car in front of me. Not fun, especially since my car is what we all pile into when traveling. But, don't worry, its been fixed and is good as new now. You can check out the damage below.
Moving on to more interesting things, we've been hard at work with new material. We've also been working on songs that we've had in the works for a long, long time. Some of you who have seen us play live before have actually heard one of the songs that we've been working on. Along with older material, new material has been exciting too. I can't wait to share it with you guys. I promise it's the same Manic Bloom that you all know and love - heavy guitar and drums along with pretty piano and vocal melodies. We're not sure when this will be released, but you won't wait forever.
We're thankful for all of you guys. Stay warm!
Brink
This is going to be a rant, so apologies on the front end.
I have no problem with the canned meat... I don't like it, but I don't dislike it enough to write a post about it.
Most of you know that I'm a web developer - partly to pay the bills (as Manic Bloom does not at this point in time), but also because I'm an uber-nerd and just love web development. Besides my day job, I've got a few personal projects going as we speak in addition to the usual upkeep of MB.com, and hopefully some of them will reach the light of day and you'll get to use them. (Click here for a random project that exemplifies my nerddom) As such, I spend a lot of time making sure that things run smoothly, and as easy as possible for the normal user. Not to say I'm perfect at it - there are problems time to time, some of which could be avoided.
Which is why I HATE spam. HATE, HATE, HATE it.
I've been deleting at least 15 spam comments per week from our blog, and just now I had to delete almost 100 spam posts on our forum (which will probably disappear soon - humans don't use it, and I'm trying to build something that will take its place). I've spent hours trying to create some sort of anti-spam script in order to keep the jerks out, but it only slows them down. I'm doing everything I can to avoid using a Captcha, which I've used on the MB site in the past, but let's be honest: everyone also hates Captchas. Not as much as spam, but still dislikes fairly passionately. My vision is good, and I can read, but I still screw those things up. If I can't think of something good soon, it's going to come to that.
I'm not usually a revenge kind of guy, but I think spammers should get 500 emails a day (from different emails and at different times so that they're not easy to delete in bulk) to any and all personal email accounts they might have. And they should also be fined per spam content that they post/email. Like a dollar per. Because it costs time to get rid of them.
That's not too much to ask, right?
I just can't understand why a human (intelligent enough to write a program that can get through fairly tough code security) would rather plaster ads for free thesis papers and divorce lawyers, than use their time solving some great problem of our generation. Or small problems. Or not problems, even. Twitter isn't solving a problem, but I can respect the developers. In the time that it takes for these punks to circumvent new securities, they could instead use their time to figure out how to get clean water to villages in Africa, or food to the guy that holds up a sign at the street corner. Heck, they could write a short self help book on how they resist the strange urges to spam people.
None of our readers/followers/friends want viagra. Or - if they do - they don't want to buy it from a commenter on our blog.
-David
MB
I know this is coming a little late for most of you, but MERRY CHRISTMAS! I found out last week through some of our Russian fans that Christmas is not December 25th everywhere - that some countries celebrate on January 6th or 7th... So if that's you, then I'm early!
We haven't been blogging and Manic Monday-ing as much lately, partly because of trying to focus on writing and getting some other stuff squared away - but a large part of that is because of preparing for and celebrating the holiday season. We should be back on a regular schedule soon - though we won't have Manic Monday this week - a few of us will be out of town.
I got back last night from an extended Christmas weekend - starting on Thursday with my in-laws, and traveling mid-Christmas day to my childhood home. It's interesting how much things change as I grow up, and how much they stay the same... I kept taking note of all the things that are either old or new traditions that make the season meaningful to me... So I've made a short list...
It just isn't Christmas unless:
I'm surrounded by my family - which is growing more and more (my newest neice celebrated her first Christmas this past weekend!).
Throughout the hustle and bustle, I stop and remind myself that the whole point is the birth of Jesus, and that everything else is just different ways to celebrate that.
No matter how much you try, kids will end up playing with the packaging and boxes almost as much as they play with the toys.
My mom makes homemade donuts. (You've got to get them while the gettin's good - they don't have Krispy Kreme's preservatives, so they don't last more than a day)
I blare Christmas music. Pandora is one of my favorite internet inventions. Everytime the Vince Guaraldi Trio's version of "Christmastime is Here" (from A Charlie Brown Christmas) comes up, I have the burning desire to sip some hot chocolate while wearing my Shrek slippers, sitting in the dark except for the lights from our Christmas tree. Even when I'm at work. Which would probably bring some odd looks if I followed through with that...
I get mad at myself for eating too many sweets, and possibly pass out into a sugar induced nap.
Somebody cries from overwhelming emotion. (Besides the children) It's often me... I'm a softy.
After gifts are exchanged, everybody migrates back to just sitting around and talking, putting a puzzle together, playing a new or old game - kind of a reiteration of my #1 and #2 - that it's far less about the stuff than it is about the people and the season.
I know I've missed a number of things, but that's just what's in my head right now. And I also know that not everyone celebrates Christmas - that Hanukkah, Kwanzaa and a host of other holidays are around the same time. So feel free to wish me a happy whatever you celebrate!
What is it that makes the Holiday Season special to you? What are your traditions, or ones that you're wanting to start?
Again - Merry Christmas - and a slightly early Happy New Year!
-David
MB
Hey Bloomers,
Just wanted to let you all know we started working on writing new material this week. We are very excited to have some time to be creative again (even though our faithful Mac computer that we recorded our last 2 albums on has finally gone to "a better place".) I know we are still very proud of our last 2 releases, but I believe I speak for all of Manic Bloom when I say..."Wait till you hear some of this new stuff....OMG!" Mike and Melissa (management) have been a huge help in getting our minds right to be a band again and taken the business work load off of us, so we can focus on you and our music. Thanks M&M!
Secondly, I want to wish you all a wonderful Christmas and Happy New Year. MB is getting together this weekend to celebrate our brotherhood, families, and the blessings we share as a team. I hope you will all do the same in the next few weeks and please give us some great stories/feedback on what you are doing for the Holidays. I'm saving my snowboarding trip for a couple months, so it will be like having two Christmases,.... Christmasii,....Christmasees....OK Google says "Christmases", so we'll go with that. Love you all and thank you for continuing to be the best fan base a band could ask for.
AndiRoo
Manic Bloom
Happy late Thanksgiving! I realize that Thanksgiving isn't celebrated everywhere, as it's an American holiday, but regardless of whether or not you celebrate it, I just want to say that we're thankful for you! On this difficult road of following our dreams, I am continually blown away by the support that all of you give us.
We're hoping to spend a lot of time over the holidays writing and recording, which we're incredibly pumped about! Unfortunately, that means that we'll probably not have Manic Monday some of the time, since it's hard to concentrate on the creative process when we're hanging out with a bunch of people! We're definitely not having it this Monday (SORRY!) - so we'll make sure that when we DO have it, we'll announce it a bunch and pack a whole bunch of fun into it.
But about writing... We've got a few ideas brewing, and we're really looking forward to developing them beyond just ideas. We've got one song - Answer - that we've been playing live for a long time that we're planning on recording. It's one that we started recording for the last EP, but it didn't fit so we dropped it. Good thing - not long ago we completely rewrote the bass line - and since the verse is centered around the bass line, it changed the song quite a bit. Other songs have verses or choruses or instrumental riffs, and we're going to hunker down and bloom them up. No promises on when you'll hear them, but I assume future blogs will have some tastes...
I'm in a thankful mood, so here are a few videos that are examples of why I'm thankful for you:
There's hundreds of other reasons I'm thankful for you! YOU ALL ROCK!
-David
MB
Hey Bloomers,
I just had a couple minutes here to give you an update of our week. Manic Bloom has had some great meetings this week with management to take the next step up the Hurculean ladder of the music industry. Mike and Mel, our co-managers, are working day and night to help us in this, for which we are very, very grateful for. It is amazing to explore and attempt to grasp the concept of "letting go" of all the responsibilities that the 5 of us have had to endure for so long. It is liberating and mysterious all at the same time as we go through the change of adding new members to the Manic Bloom Squadron. I wake up everyday wondering what new information the 5 of us will get to experience. Very exciting!
In other news, Hildee was admitted to the ER last night for stomach and chest pains, so please keep our brother in your prayers as we wait to find out what exactly is wrong. We will keep you updated as we find out more details. He had some head pain last week when he was working out, but we don't know if it is related.
And lastly, we are hoping to start writing new material soon, while starting a promotional tour of "In Loving Memory." Please continue to tell more and more of your friends and family about Manic Bloom (it helps more than you know) and if we are lucky we will be in a city near you coming this Winter and Spring. Let us know what venues in your city we should be checking out in your comments.
We love you all and as always, spread the BLOOM responsibly.
AndiRoo
Hey Bloomers...Hildee here, I wanted to catch everyone up on the latest happenings in the world of MB. Presently, I'm laying on the floor of an empty house with a pillow and a sleeping bag trying my hardest to remember the whirlwind of events that have unfolded over the last 7 days. In that time we have: traveled to NYC, back to Nashville, then to Dallas. Ridden transit trains, subways, an RV, and an SUV. Walked a million miles. Met a ton of people. Consumed a variety of cultured food. Watched street performances and Broadway plays. Chased squirrels and played for sleep deprived college students. Shot tons of video and took hundreds of pictures. Fought for ten more minutes of sleep and stood in the shadows of a world series. Went to bed early in a town that never sleeps and stayed awake through the night in a state know for its simpler ways of life.
All in all, we have lived a lot of life in a pretty short amount of time. I'm writing this from Arlington, Texas, where we are here for a college conference called NACA. We played last night at 11:30 in a hotel ballroom for a hundred college students from schools all throughout the central part of the US. We rocked so hard the hotel actually shut us down. We got stopped as we were about to play our last song which was a total bummer because it was gonna be our best part of our set, Never Back Down. We felt like Rock Stars to say the least. But, alas, we didn't want to ruin our chances for playing next year. Maybe then they'll let us play in a better place then a hotel ballroom that sits underneath 12 floors of sleeping patrons. Either way, we made a lasting impression and will hopefully see some bookings come out of it.
New York was spectacular. I, myself, walked away from the experience forever changed. I told Matt that it didn't take but ten minutes for me to fall in love with the city. Even now the whole experience feels like a dream. I can't wait to go back. Our performance there for CMJ went really well. Mike, our manager, said it was our best show yet. We all played and sang really well to a crowd that was largely unaware of who we were. So it felt good to travel to such an esteemed place as NYC and deliver a show worthy of its prestige.
We took so much video while we were there that Matt (our resident film maker) has decided to break the trip down into videos by day. So be on the look-out for those on our YouTube page. I've watched some of them already and they are hi-larious.
That's it for now. We've got to get up early tomorrow and leave for Manchester, Tennessee. We've got a Halloween show to play and yes, we will be dressed up in costumes. This will surely be a show to remember. Fear not, photos and videos will abound.
I'm out!
Hildee
P.S. Here are some pictures to hold you over!!!
I wish there was a way for someone to read words exactly the way you write them... I almost wrote "Hi everybody" - but in my head I was saying it like the crazy doctor from The Simpsons. The text loses the emotion...
Anyhoo, we're gearing up for some shows in Georgia this weekend! I'm pumped! Are you pumped? Well? Are you? ...you're not? Well you should be! Saturday we're going to get to ride the Gravitron and stuff our faces with Cotton Candy at the Rockdale County Fair (Conyers, GA), and the next night we're playing at Smith's Olde Bar in Atlanta. Haven't played in GA in a while, so be there!
We also have some new shirts in our store, and I'm pumped about them. (They were designed by Stewart Wade) We also have tour posters, but I think they'll only be available at live shows for now - too expensive to ship - I don't want to charge people $10 for them.
Brink and I have been sick lately, but Brink's had the brunt of it. He got sick right after the Buzzfest (Sept 10), and he's just now getting better. I started getting sick at the end of last week. We both went to the doctor on Sunday, and we're both MUCH better now. He got a shot. I got antibiotics. I'll take pills over needles any day. That's another one of those things that, taken out of verbal context, would sound very strange...
-David
MB
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