Like most musicians, we love Flight of the Conchords. It's a great show, and if you're not watching it you're doing yourself a disservice. That is, assuming you have a sense of humor.
But we have a problem with the show. As unsuccessful as the Conchords are, they have Mel, their number one superfan. Beat Concrete is marginally more successful than them, yet we don't have a Mel. This makes us sad. 75% Mel-ancholy, one could say.
Flight of the Conchords' ever-so-dreamy Mel
All that is to preface the fact that we are opening a contest to give our fans (or is it fan?) the chance to become the official Beat Concrete Mel. What could be better? (Don't answer that question!)
To enter, all you have to do is become a Beat Concrete fan on Facebook (if that link doesn't work, just search for 'beat concrete' on Facebook), friend us on MySpace, or just leave a comment on this website or drop us a line. Then tell us why you think you're the perfect Mel for us.
Rules and Restrictions: Contest not open to actual band members or members of their families. Sorry, mom. Because we believe in equality, both men and women can apply for the position. Contest ends when we feel we've found the perfect Mel.
PS: Have to give a shout out to Kristen Schaal, the actress who plays Mel on FotC. We're big fans. So you can say that we're kind of Mels for Mel herself.
PPS: Still trying to find a good name for the contest. Early ideas are 'Mel Search' and 'Mel-ancholy Baby'. If you have a better idea, leave a comment!
Putting up two live tracks recorded at rehearsal on Sunday: Stereo and Love Bomber. I sing the first one, Beki the second. Because we have songs scattered across the site, we thought it might be useful to put all the songs together to make it easier to grab the MP3s.
To save any of these files to your computer, right-click on the filename and choose Save Target As. Then save 'em to your MP3 folders and play them and share them at will.
These have the same old lo-fi feel as our other tracks. Need to get back to the studio and record these for reals, but if a song is decent it should come through anyway.
PS: I update 'Stereo' with a new live version record 17 May because the original version sucked (I was slightly out of tune and I can't frickin' stand to be out of tune!).
Yes, what no one is talking about is now reality. As many as four people had been bugging us to put up a MySpace page so we finally did it. The coolest thing is that it's easier to listen to streaming MP3s there than it is here.
You can check out the page at www.myspace.com/beatconcreteband. We also put a widget on this site that shows our current MySpace status.
We'll pretty much mirror content from www.beat-concrete.com to MySpace. So no need to go there to find out anything new--but if you use MySpace at all send a friend request our way.
This is part of our 2009 goal to go from one of America's least known bands to not-very-well-known-but-liked status.
By the way, we had to add 'band' to our URL because some DJ in Greece is squatting on the Beat Concrete tag even though he's apparently never used it. More power to him for choosing a good name though.
Today we're heading into the Beat Concrete vaults thanks to a little computer serendipity. I was listening to some live tracks and when Windows Media Player was through with them it moved to the next track, which turned out to be a demo of The Girl in Number Six. I'd forgotten about it, but listening to it fresh I decided it wasn't half bad. The guitar arrangement was definitely influenced by XTC and to reflect their Northern English roots I played the secondary guitar parts through an AC-30 emulation on my trusty little Pandora headphone amp.
If you google 'the girl in number six' you get this--awesome!
The demo started with a mono rough mix of rhythm tracks we recorded in a North Coast studio a few years ago, and then I threw that on my little portable 8-track recorder and dubbed a few guitar tracks using my Pandora to try out the guitar arrangement I'd planned in my head. The mono track had a scratch vocal I'd recorded in the studio live to guide the other band members, and I doubled it with Beki singing alongside me into my 8-track's build in mic. Voila! Instant demo.
Note: If you’re using FireFox, you may need to right-click on the file and choose ‘Save Link As…’ to save the file to your computer. Sorry to have to say that on every audio link but our ISP doesn't seem to like FireFox. We do, though.
Just finished playing some music with Beki. We've been working on my song Slipping Away for a few weeks now. It's a slow, old school folk-blues number with a little Lindsey Buckingham influence, so I've been playing it on my Turner Model 1-LB geetar. The song is in drop-D and I finger pick it, including the solos.
Lindsey's Model One - mine is like this but red
Here are the lyrics for the first verse and chorus:
She waited for years and years
Like a wolf beyond the flame
Huddle close to the fire
No one dares speak her name
She ran laughing in the spring
(A) circle of flowers in her hair
When autumn came she was gone
Her scent still fills the air
You're slipping away
Like water through my hands, like water through my hands
As you fade and fray
Like a curtain in the wind and the rain's coming in
You're slipping away
It's a sad song that I wrote after the passing of a sweet friend of mine. I like playing it because it makes me sad but in a good way.
Anyway, not much else to say today except that we're rehearsing on Sunday with the full band and we wish everyone a happy weekend despite the rain. Just remember that the rain is good for all the plants and animals and it'll make you feel better.
Just realized it has been a while since we posted a new song. Went back to the well of rehearsal tracks and pulled up a bucket of Dark Love. This is a song I wrote a long time ago and we've been playing it for years. But we updated the middle section to add a slow blues groove in Cm and Ken recently started singing on the song. So this version is 'new'.
This one clocks in at about five and a half minutes. Some nights it's shorter, others it's loooonger.
Note: If you’re using FireFox, you may need to right-click on the file and choose ‘Save Link As…’ to save the file to your computer. Clicking on the link may only play the beginning of the song.
Not what I envisioned when I wrote Dark Love, but who am I to argue with Google?
Hi everyone, we'll be playing on Friday, 17 April, at the Chapmantown Farmer's Market from 3:00-4:30 (approximately). We'll be playing a new song along with our 'new' set, and it'll be Ken's first time singing background vocals live. So come on out and support the only farmer's market in California that is cool enough to accept food stamps! Farmer's markets shouldn't just be for yuppies and such, they should be everyone! So that's why we're coming out to play.
Come prepared to rock a little bit while you get your fruits and veggies. You can also get your blood pressure taken.
Peace.
Update: We had a great time playing and met some very cool people--all power to Richard Roth for his efforts in creating a positive event for the people of Chapmantown and environs. Hope to come back again!
Here's another live rehearsal, this time of song that Rebecca wrote that we've been playing forever. I re-arranged my guitar part a few years ago and this is the way we play it now. Ken sings backup vocals on the middle section--one of his first recorded vocals in a Beat Concrete context.
As with the other rehearsal tracks, the audio quality is as you'd expect from the built-in microphones on our lil' Portastudio.
Note: If you’re using FireFox, you may need to right-click on the file and choose ‘Save Link As…’ to save the file to your computer. Clicking on the link may only play the beginning of the song.
I wrote this song before the economic downturn was fully in effect, but somehow it seems right for the times. This is our first good runthrough of the song, captured at rehearsal on 15 March.
We've started bringing a little portastudio to wherever we play so we can record the performance using its el cheapo built-in mics. Have a listen; hope to be playing it live for you soon.
Live the vocals would be mixed louder, but otherwise this is what we sound like live:
Note: If you're using FireFox, you may need to right-click on the file and choose 'Save Link As...' to save the file to your computer. Clicking on the link may only play the beginning of the song.
Fun Fact: Originally, I called this song '75% Melancholy' since that lyric is repeated a lot in the song. But 'One Quarter Full' captures the "optimism" of the song. I figure if you're having one good day out of every four you're actually doing pretty good.
Fun Fact II: I forgot a line during the runthrough. Here are the last four lines of the second verse so you can spot the flubbed line:
Less every year
The harder I try the deeper I delve
No one owns me
I can't even afford myself
Beat Concrete is a little Northern California trio that plays original independent music that veers stylistically from rock to britpop to jazz to funk, sometimes in a single song. But it always sounds like Beat Concrete. We're DIY all the way, firmly committed to operating by the seat of our pants.
The name 'Beat Concrete' was inspired by the experimental electronic musique concrete movement of the 50's, with the philosophy that the band would make beat-driven music that was forward-thinking and thoughtful. Despite the French language reference, 'concrete' is pronounced American-style as in the word for 'real' or 'cement'.
The band is composed of songwriter and guitarist/singer David Lee, bassist/singer Beki Li (who also writes), and drummer Ken Hardy (who also sings). Beat Concrete originally formed in Chico before splitting to explore San Francisco, the North Coast, and Europe and then reuniting in Chico to become a full-time band again in late 2008.
Beat Concrete plays gigs around the North State and is committed to making itself available for benefit appearances for worthy organizations.
David Lee
David sings and plays guitar and lots of other instruments. His main guitar is a Gretsch G6120 but he also plays Heritage H-150 and H-150 Les Pauls, a Jeff Beck Strat, a Reverend Wolfman, and a Rick Turner Model One through amps by Budda, Vox, and TopHat.
Beki Li
Beki sings and plays upright, fretless, and electric basses and keyboards. Live, she sings and plays bass, mainly her BSX Half-Note upright bass, which sounds totally phat. She plays Chapman Stick in her spare time.
Ken Hardy
Ken plays the drums really well. It's almost like he's had training. He also sings. He plays a Tama Swingstar set with about 10 cymbals.
