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Post by PokerKitten on Jul 18, 2003 22:28:21 GMT
I thought that we could easily become over-run with individual threads about various bits of GOTR goss, so here is a thread to post news, official pic links and stuff. Individual gigs can still have their own threads, of course! ;D I updated the Musical James thread at BS with the news that Europeans can now buy GOTR goodies from the site that brought us the Euro tour info. And Hallows would like to draw to your attention the rather luverly band pic they now have on that home page. robotsites.co.uk/english/merchandise.shtmlwww.robotsites.co.uk/english/And they also have some fun tour facts! ;D
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Post by PokerKitten on Jul 18, 2003 23:11:04 GMT
The BBC GOTR interview - vid clips here www.bbc.co.uk/cult/buffy/interviews/gotr/index.shtmlAnd transcript courtesy of talkenglish2me at MTS: Talkenglish2me on the MTS board.
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How did the band get started?
James: I was in Santa Monica feeling sorry for myself... (laughs)... no, let's start back a little further than that. It started with two very good bands. Aaron Anderson, who's our drummer, and Charlie DeMars, who's our guitarist - one of our guitarists, had a band called... um, uh...
Kevin: Soccer Hooligans...
James: Thank you Kevin. Soccer Hooligans. And they broke up and hooked up with Kevin to form Power Animal. And that band got a lot of good attention in Sacramento, a lot of good radio play, but then luckily for me, Charlie moved down to Santa Monica, where I met him. And, we thought about forming a band. And as soon as the idea came up, he said he knew exactly who he wanted to go to for the percussion - for bass and for drums. He went straight to Aar..(motioning towards Kevin) uh, Kevin and Aaron... little sleepy. And we met in the recording studio. We recorded our first album before we really even knew our... each other's middle names and started touring right away.
Aaron: My name is Aaron and I beat the skins... Play drums. Charlie: Aaron Anderson. There you go. And I'm Charlie DeMars and I play guitar.
Charlie: We've been working together for what...98 Aaron: Since 98. But the band, Ghost of the Robot, has been together about a year now.
What are the band's musical influences?
Kevin: We listen to everything really. (James nodding in agreement). I know Steve listened to a lot of the Smiths, David Bowie. James gets a lot of influence from Dylan and... James: (nodding) punk rock. Kevin: yeah, and I pull a lot from Weezer and I listen to a lot of Jazz and classical music as well. All that music blended together kind of creates our sound and influences it. James: Yeah, it's a good, strong, hard rock sound that hopefully you don't notice that it's a little more complicated than other bands. Yeah, we kind of pride ourselves on being good musicians but we don't really want people to know that. (smiling) so maybe I should shut up now.
Aaron: I like rock and roll. Charlie: No, like artists Aaron: Okay, let's see. I'm really into Weezer, Radiohead, Blur.. let's see Pavement, just to name a few. Charlie... Charlie: You always take mine and then it seems like I'm copying. But, yeah, pretty much the same thing, the same mix.
Steve: You know, I guess a lot of the times, when I first started playing with these guys, I didn't know the music and so I'd be on stage and I'd forget actually the songs while we were playing them and I would kind of have to mimic my way through them. That's kind of an embarrassing.. for most of the early shows I'd just be up there losing myself and I know if that's a very good story...
Who writes the lyrics and the music?
Kevin: Lyrics are generally done by one person. Uh, James and Charlie are the primary lyric contributors of the group. Aaron's written a lot...
James: You throw it in the hopper though. You know, I mean, more and more, more so with the material we're working on now, as soon as we come back from Europe we're going to get back into the studio and record another album. With the new material, it's getting harder and harder to remember who wrote what, frankly. But in general, the main part of the song will come from one person and they'll bring it to the band and everyone kind of jumps in and we make it our own.
Steve: The other guys are so good at that. Like the stuff I write.. kind of... like I wrote... the stuff I try to write is more translucent. One of the songs I did is a B-side on the "David Letterman" single and it's called "Mefiant", and it's really a lot of layering. And the single I wrote, "Valerie", there's a lot of layering and guitars. I kind of like the way Johnny Marr does layers of guitars and things. That's the way I try to write. Or not try to write but that's the way I try to do recordings. Maybe like Bowie does a lot of layering and sounds. And the guys tend to just write straight ahead guitar tribute music. So I don't know how to describe the music. It's just rock music. I don't think it's anything new, that's never been done before. Just maybe we write couple of catchy tunes...
Do you care that some people come to see Spike?
Kevin: That's kind of the idea. We understand that a lot of people will come because of the show and most of them do end up leaving remembering the music and humming the tunes and not what was on last Tuesday night. James: By about the fourth song, they've forgotten all about "Buffy the Vampire... Kevin: As we play more and more the ratio of people who are there b/c of the show and that are there b/c the music is getting more and more... James: And there are huge amounts of people who sing right along with the songs right from the beginning, so uh... Kevin: They know the words better than I do (laughing) James: Yeah, sometimes better than I do (laughing) We don't mind. Whatever brings people into the club is fine. We're not going to run away from that. but the best argument that we're not just a celebrity band is the music. And I think we've succeeded really well in giving people a real experience on the night.
What's been you're favorite touring moment?
Kevin: There's been so many great... we've got the Viper Room, Knitting Factory, Club Med in Paris, you know... gosh...the club the past couple of nights... James: Yeah so many... yeah, they're all incredible. You know really... we played Cologne, Germany the other night. And the band was absolutely tired. I mean, five minutes to go on Charlie's asleep on the couch and we got out and we just totally brought it. And I was real proud of us. I think we've got a lot of heart. We don't throw shows, no matter what. And that's probably my favorite part.
Steve: (a clip plays of Steve talking about Raquel Welch which doesn't make sense but then is played again later and is meant to be a response to a later question)
Tell us about your album.
James: ... Online at Ghostoftherobot.com. We decided really early.. uh... some labels approached us but to tell you the truth, when you sign with a label, you also have to acquiesce to a producer who will come in and help you (James makes air quotes sign with his hand) with your sound. And they often give gloss but they often can make you sound generic. And what I'm very proud of with this album that we've done, Mad Brilliant, is that we have made a sound that I haven't heard before. And I'm very glad that we paid for it out of our own pocket and just took the risk and produced it ourselves. So when you get the album, that is all us. There is nobody standing over our shoulder going, [in funny voice] 'I don't think people will appreciate that'. Kevin: 'Add tambourine here'... James: yeah, oooh (shakes head in dismay) Kevin: It's all on our own. We'd go in for a few days. Couple of months later, we'd come back, 'I want to change this, change that'. It was all on our own and out of our own money. James: Yeah, we got a really good recording studio up in Sacramento that we recorded at called Pus Cavern, which is where a band called, Cake, records all their stuff... there a huge band...and Joe was a genius. He's the engineer.
Who would you most want to interview?
James: David Letterman. I'd like to put him on the other side. [Kevin agreeing] He never would do it, not in a million years but I'd love to look down on him.
Charlie: I'd have to say if I could put anyone in the hot seat, it would have to be Natalie Portman. Aaron: And, I would also say Natalie Portman. Interviewer: You big Star Wars fans or big Natalie Portman fans? Aaron: Big Natalie Portman fans. [Charlie and Aaron both laugh] Charlie: (laughing to Aaron) Thanks for helping me out there.
Steve: Oh god, maybe like Raquel Welch or something so I could stare at her chest (laughing)... sorry.
Do you get things thrown on stage?
Charlie: Undergarments. Sometimes you open up [motioning really wide] and you're just like, 'whoa'. (laughs) Aaron: Hot, sweaty undergarments... Charlie: Hot, sweaty undergarments (laughing, shaking his head) Aaron: ... we won't touch...
What do you think about music on the Internet?
Steve: I think... you mean like downloading songs? I think it's something that's unavoidable. I wish there was a way... I hope they come up with an equitable way that artists and record companies can get reimbursed or somehow taken care of if people are going to download music. There should be a mechanism and a balance to where they can get compensated for the music that they write. I think people should be able to download music but they should maybe also pay maybe 10 cents or something for it... not gouge them but cough up some dough please.
Are you in it for the girls, the fame or the music?
Kevin: The fame and the girls is just kind of a bonus for having good music. (laughs) James: Yeah, that's the thing. You know, everyone wants us to come out and party with them and do all that stuff. And we're always like, 'no, no, we're going to go sleep now b/c we've got a show tomorrow'. Kevin: We're a very conservative band. James: Yeah, we are. (laughing, smiling) Kevin: We're like, we'll you know, 'when do we have to wake up tomorrow? Like, do we have another show to do?' James: We are the band you can take home to mom. In fact, some of us don't even cuss and I offend him constantly. [Both James and Kevin break into big laughs]
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Post by PokerKitten on Jul 18, 2003 23:13:14 GMT
Wanna spread the good GOTR word? You can by visiting rateyourmusic.com/view_albums/artist_id_is_7783 Give the singles and album a star rating and/or write a review or two. Never one to be backward in coming forward, you'll find I have been there and done that!
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Post by PokerKitten on Jul 20, 2003 11:35:16 GMT
Um, interesting article from on of the UK's respected papers (not one of the trashy tabloids). The fact that they bothered to review a GOTR gig at all is something, and maybe the reporter being called Angel may account for someof the snippier comments, lol! J/k. Ghost Of The Robot, Scala, London By Angel Brown 08 July 2003
He wasn't wearing the coat. Neither was he wearing eyeliner, nor did he at any time in the gig bare his chest to the Buffy fans who had come out to see their favourite vampire, Spike, and his band play at London's Scala. Ghost of the Robot's final gig of a virtually sold-out European tour was a curious event sitting halfway in the Buffy universe and halfway in the pop-rock world of a band trying to get off the ground.
The band too is a near half-and-half combination of three very young boys in the rhythm section, Charlie, Aaron and Kevin, fronted by old-timers James Marsters (aka Spike) on lead vocals and Steven on lead guitar/keys. Sure, having a star in the band helps greatly but as with Keanu Reeves's band, Dogstar, these guys will never get out of the "Spike's band" box.
The crowd was exactly what you'd expect: hysteric teen girls swooning against the front of the stage, mums in the back and the odd goth wandering around in a dog collar. Still platinum but dark rooted, James was pudgier than on Buffy so keeping the shirt on was perhaps a considered move. Relaxed and comfortable in his denims with a tight black T-shirt, he is no rock god on stage, thank god. At 40, he's older than he looks but still buff even in inflated form.
As for the rest of this Californian band, most interesting is James's co-founder and key songwriter Charlie De Mars. He is a gifted musician with potential, but the band needs to gel before he can really make use of it. The music runs the pop side of rock with a bit of LA's Weezer in the mix. They share the lyrics which are no great shakes and James has a slightly unsettling tendency to return repeatedly to the Lolita theme - "Know they're gonna say you're too young for me/ but think if I kiss you, that would be fine." Erm, right.
Does the band rock? Well, yes it can, but not often. "Dangerous" and "David Letterman" are decent songs from their first and only album, Mad Brilliant, but many just lack hooks. James's singing, though competent, is overly measured and the bouncy, almost goofy, boy trio in the back seems odd fronted by our familiar vampire. That is, until you realise that James is actually not Spike. All the initial cries of "Spike, Spike!" faded as it became clear he wasn't going to be "staccato", "punk" and "mysterious" (his words describing how he nailed Spike's Britishness).
Instead, he played coy and smiley with a lollipop in his mouth where Spike's cigarette would usually hang. Hearing him chatting California-style with the audience, it was intriguing how different he really is. James isn't a bad actor and that's enough for GotR fans. enjoyment.independent.co.uk/music/reviews/story.jsp?story=422763
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Post by HallowsEve on Jul 29, 2003 18:39:01 GMT
Some new photos are up on the official site! Go have a looksie.....
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Post by PokerKitten on Jul 29, 2003 19:35:45 GMT
In addition to those kinda nice pics, they also have put up a band history, and band members' Q&As (click on the guys' names down the right hand side) - www.robotsites.co.uk/english/biography.shtmlI'm liking Kevin a lot these days ;D I'm so fickle... *waves to Aaron*
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Post by nightnurse on Jul 31, 2003 22:20:48 GMT
;D This is from VAMPAK at gotr forums: I just got back from Tampa, and I asked JM if they got a new drummer yet, he did not answer, that question, but said that Aarons last concert will be Dragon-con, then he will be off to his Mission. Aaron if you read this stay safe,& have a good Mission, and I will see you guys in Atlanta. Aw, how long do the Mormon missions last? I wonder where he's going?
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Post by PokerKitten on Aug 7, 2003 15:45:26 GMT
At The Harvest, Steve was saying he still hoped they could get him to stay.... and he was mad at James for having spilled the beans about Aaron's mission way back in the Lovelines show Missions can be up to 2 years.... Anyhoo, new gig announcement: September 27 El Ray Theatre in Los Angeles, California. Two bands will open at 8:00 p.m. and 9:00 p.m., followed by GOTR at 10 p.m. This will be an hour and a half show by Ghost of the Robot! Tickets are $20 and can be purchased at www.webookbands.com
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Post by WGRASS on Aug 9, 2003 19:48:00 GMT
SEPT. 27TH
I'm going! I'm Going!- happy day. Hubby is going too. This should be interesting.....
wgrass
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Post by PokerKitten on Aug 9, 2003 22:30:30 GMT
Hey, fantastic Wheatie!! Report, pics... PLEASE!! I am particularly anal about the set list
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Post by wajoma on Aug 19, 2003 21:52:15 GMT
the second of the two Marstersofoz (aussie James Marsters fanclub) fundraising auctions is up and running .... this time .. its BOTH of the GotR singles ... 'valerie' and 'david letterman' they are still in their plastic wrap, and have never been opened. mint condition... Valerie is just about Impossible to get any more ... the url is cgi.ebay.com.au/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=2188447145don't forget that the auction is in Aussie Dollars... this starting price of AU$40 is about $24 american for the PAIR .... the first of our auctions is doing very well .. you can see it here ... both these auctions end .. this sunday ...(aussie time) anyone interested in joining the fanclub, can go and join the MoZ yahoogroup and put your name in the database there ...
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Post by PokerKitten on Sept 30, 2003 13:59:10 GMT
Hmm, the supposed interview with the band and fans that was taped by E! News at El Rey turned out to be a damp squib by all accounts, when broadcast on Monday 29th. About 15 seconds long, no interviews, James said a few words, then *poof*
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Post by Cyrus on Oct 12, 2003 2:15:59 GMT
You gals who live on ebay may have already seen this. I don't trust anyone, let alone ebay, but you might...
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Post by PokerKitten on Oct 12, 2003 11:21:22 GMT
Well, the guys have sold stuff on ebay before, like James' sofa, and Aaron's drumkit, but I don't know the seller this time (used Linda Judd before).
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Post by PokerKitten on Nov 12, 2003 18:17:00 GMT
If you were wondering where the lovely Aaron would be going on his mission, check this out: www.gotr-forums.net/index.php?showtopic=696&st=0 Message to anyone who wonders about aaron's mission: Aaron is really going to Tijuana, Mexico, not south america His mission will be covering most of Baja. He leaves on january 21st. First he will go to what is called the Missionary Training Center (MTC) in Provo, Utah. He will stay there for about two months learning spanish and then he will leave for tijuana!
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Post by PokerKitten on Nov 16, 2003 12:33:14 GMT
News of a gig on Saturday 31st January at The Key Club on Sunset Boulevard. GOTR will be headlining, with Powder, with four opening bands. Tickets $20. Details at Sean Healy presents...Not confirmed elsewhere yet, but the official site is kinda slow...
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Post by PokerKitten on Nov 17, 2003 14:44:44 GMT
Oooh, I was just about to go offline and then I got this email: For the latest Ghost Of The Robot news and website updates.
NEW ALBUM ON THE WAY
Ghost Of The Robot are heading back into the recording studio to begin work on their eagerly-awaited new album.
The band are planning to begin work in the next few weeks and will be laying down several new tracks before the end of the year. They are aiming for an April release.
The album, as yet untitled, will be the follow-up to the group's debut offering, Mad Brilliant. They hope to tour the new album when they visit Europe next May.
Fans can still get hold of copies of Mad Brilliant and the band's two singles, Valerie and David Letterman, from www.ghostoftherobot.co.uk
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Post by PokerKitten on Nov 19, 2003 12:26:05 GMT
News from the offical site: GHOST OF THE ROBOT will be playing the Key Club January 31, 2004. They will be launching their first single from their new album. The single will be available for sale at the Key Club. www.ghostoftherobot.com/home.html
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Post by PokerKitten on Nov 24, 2003 0:30:29 GMT
Official Merchandise NEW GHOST OF THE ROBOT BARGAINS
Get in the picture with rock band Ghost Of The Robot and snap up a whole range of new photographs.
We are offering an exclusive number of signed band photographs in black and white as well as general photographs of the Californian rockers in action and shots of lead singer James Marsters.
We have a limited number of photographs available for sale as well as bargain price tour t-shirts, rare band guitar picks and tour badges. Don't forget you can also still buy the band's debut album, Mad Brilliant, and two singles Valerie and David Letterman as well.
robotsites.co.uk/english/merchandise.shtml
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Post by nightnurse on Nov 24, 2003 1:03:32 GMT
GOTR 2004 Calendar - I'm assuming this is on the gotr-forum site, I'll have to check it out! Yep...they have some rather nice things on there, including the calender...go to: www.gotr-promo.com/main.htmland click on the link in the left column
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