OHTIS

12.20.2007 - Christmas at the Coffeehouse

All ages!

-Adam

11.14.2007 - Ohtis on blog's comp for a good cause w/ Chris Walla (of Death Cab), Boris Yeltsin, Casiotone.

Peace On Earth: A Charity Holiday Album - A compilation of Christmas songs including such artists as Chris Walla (of Death Cab for Cutie), Someone Still Loves You Boris Yeltsin, and Casiotone For the Painfully Alone. The comp also includes our song 'American Christians' at track 12.

You should go buy the album for $7 because along with spending next to nothing and getting 18 good tunes, all the proceeds go to Toys For Tots.

Here's the tracklist:

1. Prayers & Tears of Arthur Digby Sellers - Shepherd's Song
2. Quiet Company - Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas
3. Great Lake Swimmers - Gonna Make it Through This Year
4. Someone Still Loves You Boris Yeltsin / Sweetwater Abilene - The Wheels Are Off
5. Chris Walla - Coventry Carol
6. David Karsten Daniels - In The Bleak Midwinter
7. Casiotone for the Painfully Alone - Hark! The Herald Angels Sing
8. The Winston Jazz Routine - Through the Snow
9. Via Audio - My Boo
10. The Long Winters - Sometimes You Have to Work on Christmas (Sometimes)
11. TW Walsh - Drop the Bomb
12. Ohtis - American Christians
13. Aaron Robinson - End of the Year
14. The Cotton Jones Basket Ride (Michael Nau of Page France) - White Christmas
15. American Music Club - Please Please
16. Johnny Bertram - Merry Christmas (You Won't Get What You Want)
17. Rosie Thomas - Christmas Time is Here
18. Sleeptalker - This is Christmas

Total Tracks : 18
Total running time : 58.6 minutes
Cost: $7

To buy the compilation, go here and make a donation. You're paying for the download; the compilation isn't an actual CD.

11.13.2007 - Updating for the sake of updating

I figured I should update this thing since it's been a while.

The band has been a lot more productive since Sam moved back to Bloomington/Normal. Hey Sam wants to say something. Here he is:

Adam, nooo...! *chuckle*

Sam's been gettin' a lil off the rocker these days. Listen to his side project.

Other than that, we're going to play a show at the Porch Honkey House on January 7th. If that's not soon enough for you, we've been trying to set up a show that will happen a few days before Christmas. I'll let ya know.

In case you missed it- 1) we posted a new song, 'Lollapalooza' on our myspace. 2) if you haven't gone to the new myspace I created at myspace.com/BLONOSHOWS, I suggest you do that. We need more people to participate in the local music scene. The more the merrier.
But uh anyway yeah just sayin hey. It's been a while... Miss you.

-Adam

10.01.2007 - To those of you who came to the show...

Thanks for coming. Hope you had a good time. Be ready for All Tomorrow's House Parties 3, or All Tomorrow's CD Release Parties!

-Adam

09.12.2007 - Music Video: Hollow Body

I made a music video for a song from our new album. The song's called "Hollow Body." The video features Andy Uhe as Leon Finnigan, the new kid in town, and Justin Berry as Jessica Anne Rosenthall, the girl on the workout bike.


Hope you enjoy it...
-Adam

09.04.2007 - Bad news, Good news, More Good News

Here's the bad news: ATHP2 won't be happening this weekend.

Here's the good news: I've been talking to all the bands and it's looking like we'll be able to do it sometime soon. I don't want to say 'within the month,' but that's what it's looking like.

Here's a little more good news: our friend Adam K. helped us put our first album on iTunes! Buy "Saving the Planet" all over again!
THANK YOU ADAM!

-Adam

08.27.2007 - A Slight Change in Plans

Prussia aren't coming to play ATHP2. Here is their message to me from myspace:

Date: Aug 22, 2007 11:32 PM
Subject: dear ohtis
Body:

cant play.


so sorry.

What a bummer; I really wanted to see them. Bunch of assholes though, right? Well, I acted fast and now Skybox are going to play! I should probably be having these guys headline the show... but, my guess is more people around here know Ohtis than know Skybox. In their hometown of Chicago, that's a different story. But, my point is they're really good. Check their music out at their myspace.

See you on 9/8/07.

Love,
Adam

08.11.2007 - CAPS LOCK IS CRUISE CONTROL FOR AWESOME

I just made a list of things to tell you about:

1) ATHP2
2) Brothers W/ Benefits Show
3) Ohtis CD nearing completion
4) Pics from Belleville

Numero uno, ALL TOMORROW'S HOUSE PARTIES 2 is coming up soon. For those of you that didn't come to ATHP1, it was a great time. In fact, go here to see how great of a time it was. I can almost promise that ATHP2 will be an even better time. This time, Prussia are driving all the way from Detroit and Elephant Gun from Chicago to play it. Also, great local act Seaby & The Rules. It's going to happen September 8th at 9pm. 610 N. Main St. in Bloomington, or the apt. above Paulie's. Door + cup = $5. 09/08/07. The apt. above Paulie's. Door + cup = $5. 9/8/7. The apt. above Paulie's. Door + cup = $5. 987. Above Paulie's. D+c=5. 987.

A less exciting, but notable show will also be happening on August 18th. Rocky Barnett & the Brothers with Benefits will be playing at Brandon Yager's house around 5 pm during their party. They're throwing a party to celebrate the sorwhority girls moving in next door to them. It should be pretty huge. I can't tell you the full address, but I know he lives on Willow Street in Normal. Oh, and for those who don't know, Rocky Barnett & the Brothers with Benefits is Ohtis, minus Sam and Mike, playing mostly covers. We put on a good show.

Zack got a new bass.

A couple months ago, I made a list of all the tracks I needed to record before I can feel like the Ohtis album is almost done. That list almost fulfilled entirely, so expect a release date or a tracklist or something soon. We're almost there!

Here are a few photos, taken by the lovely and talented Maryann Parrone, from when we played in Belleville for our friend Tor-Tor and Shmemily's wedding:









Love,
Adam

07.02.2007 - Family Matters

Like I promised last week, I posted a new song. It's another one where we sing about our family members, kinda like ultra-bside-rarities Get Along and The Ballad of Jose & Brianna... Don't ask me why we always end up singing about them, but we do.

Sam's pissed at me for putting this online. I think it's a fun song, though. I was in one room playing drums while Sam was in another singing and playing guitar at the same time. It was fun. Enjoy Family Matters!
-Adam

06.27.2007 - Sam moved. Samless cover band has 2 shows. Blog press.

Well, Sam moved to Rockford, IL recently. A lot of people have been asking me if this means Ohtis is breaking up. No, we're not. We've got an album to finish, sillies! In fact, he was in town over the weekend and we recorded quite a bit. Now it's up to me to get to work and try to impress him, send him some mp3's of what I do. As far as playing live, we'll still play live, but for things like house shows, it'll probably be Sam-less. But that's okay because Rocky Barnett & the Brothers with Benefits (Ohtis minus Sam) can rock a party pretty hard.

In fact, we're GOING to rock the party pretty hard twice this weekend-- First we'll play at Paulie's on Friday June 29th. We're opening for our guitarist Mike's jazz band Lexicon. Very cool stuff, they do interesting covers like Aphex Twin and Deerhoof. Then, this Saturday June 30th, we're playing at some apartment above Paulie's. I'm sure you'll be able to find it if you wanna come.

Hmm what else... That publicity stunt of mine (the Pitchfork review thang) made it to Stereogum, a popular music blog. Check it out here. The funny thing is, I e-mailed them from Sam's sister's e-mail account so they would post it. So I actually pranked Pitchfork AND Stereogum there. mmBooyakasha! Here's some more blog press. If you or anyone you know runs a blog, please feature us! Like any other band, we need all the press we can get!

I'll be posting a new mp3 soon. Keep checking back.

-Adam

06.14.2007

Over two years ago, pitchforkmedia.com ran a purposely fragmented review for Eminem's album The Eminem Show. The interview contained a fake AOL Instant Messenger conversation between the reviewer, Ethan P. (et HAN P2 3), and the website's founder Ryan Schreiber (Ryanpitch4k).

Before I finished reading the review, I quickly tried to register what I suspected to be a fake screen name for Ryan Schreiber and sure enough, I successfully became the owner of the fake screen name. When I signed on, I was sent a barrage of IM's from people claiming to be from Sony Records, people who just wanted to talk to Ryan Schreiber, and most of all, people who wanted to write reviews for Pitchforkmedia.com.

Recently, I signed on to the old screen just for the hell of it and surprisingly still received an IM from a guy wanting to write for Pitchfork. So, I did what any musician would do and asked him to review my band, to show me he had what it takes:

Stickytuesday: I sent an application to PFM a couple months ago. I write reviews for the Voice and recently started doing some writing for Rolling Stone... Sorry to bug you here, but any way I could get an update on my application? I never heard back.
ryanpitch4k: ohhh that's right!
ryanpitch4k: hey sorry man, i've been really busy with the move...
ryanpitch4k: i wanted to have you do a test review. are you game?
Stickytuesday: Definitely. You just moved to New York, right? I think I read something about that on Gawker. ;-)
ryanpitch4k: lol. stalker, much?????
ryanpitch4k: jk jk it's cute ;-)
Stickytuesday: Heh. Just read Gawker everyday.
Stickytuesday: I live in Washington Heights, btw.
Stickytuesday: Welcome to the city.
ryanpitch4k: oh thanks. we should chill sometime!
ryanpitch4k: but let's keep love life and business seperate. ANYWAY
ryanpitch4k: i want you to review this new band ohtis
Stickytuesday: Alright. They've got an album?
ryanpitch4k: No they just have a single for now.
ryanpitch4k: give me a few minutes to dig it up...
ryanpitch4k: ah-ha!
ryanpitch4k: found it
Stickytuesday: cool
ryanpitch4k: http://ohtis.com/press
Stickytuesday: American Christians?
ryanpitch4k: so yeah get me a review, preferably here on AIM, by tomorrow at 8pm. i'll leave this up
Stickytuesday: Sounds good. Single review, so... 200 words or so?
ryanpitch4k: yeah just your typical Pfork review. include the number rating
Stickytuesday: sounds good.
ryanpitch4k: great! hope to hear from you soon, sticky!
ryanpitch4k: i gotta run
Stickytuesday: ditto
Stickytuesday: talk to you later
ryanpitch4k: bye bi!

Only about 2 hours later, I got another IM with his full review for our song American Christians:

3.5/5

"American Christians," the new single from Ohtis's upcoming album, is religious Americana like Sufjan Stevens is Christian pop - Jesus is a foil for the soil and the earth and the twang in the singer's voice. The song takes the form of a devotional to providence. Following in the footsteps of Sam Beam (Iron + Wine), the prayer is just a subtext for the girl they're trying to bed in the background. Note: While the harmonies are charming, I suspect the la-la-la's won't compel the unnamed vixen to sleep with you.

Neofolk singles that explode into orchestral, rapturous aplomb aren't completely in vogue at the moment (just ask Pedro the Lion, or Arthur), but Ohtis aren't exactly sincere about the tone. It's eventually a paean to American Christians, and loaded folk ballads about sex and evangelical America are on the money. Catchy enough for a Christian, ironic enough to leave you guilt free.

-Adam

05.16.2007

Where to begin?

This Sunday, May 20th, we're playing a benefit show for Terry Galtney in Decatur, IL. The recommended donation amount is $5 and Xavier, Linesteppers, Victims of Chaos, and C4 are all playing as well. The event is at the AIW Hall at 2882 N. Dineen, across from Cub Foods.

ALL TOMORROW'S HOUSE PARTIES will be at 214 Lindell St. in Normal, IL on June 2nd. The best bands you've never heard (and Ohtis) will all be playing at it. Go here for a playlist with songs by all of the band. It's SERIOUSLY the show you better come to if you're in the B/N area. There's a recommended donation price of $5 at this show as well, but I'll count the money you pay for a cup as a donation. :)

Mike Anderson's in our band now. You may know him from the local Bloomington/Normal jazz ensemble Lexicon. He'll be playing a lot of instruments with us live. Let's hear a round of applause for Mike, give it up.

And finally, in case you missed it, we posted a new song on ohtis.com and our myspace. Hear here!

-Adam

05.10.2007

We didn't ask for it, but June is looking to be a potent month full of important shows for Ohtis.

ALL TOMORROW'S HOUSE PARTIES is going to be on June 2nd with my 4 favorite unsigned bands- The Deadbees, Mahtpa, Prussia, and Seaby & the Rules. All the bands I've always been telling all my friends to check out. And then afterwards, Zach Barr is DJing. We'll have a few drinks, a couple laughs... our fucking troubles are over, Dude.

On June 9th, we have a show at the Subterranean in Chicago with Maps & Atlases and some bands we've never heard of. If you want to come to that, come early because I hear the last time M&A played at Subterranean, they sold out... and because we're the first band to play. K?

We'll also be playing at the Canopy Club on June 21st with Watery Domestic. Should be fun...

-Adam

04.13.2007

Happy Friday the 13th, kids. There are about 10 or so more where that came from! Maybe you'll hear 'em soon... maybe in a while. I'm not at liberty to say.

-Adam

03.06.2007

Oh shoot, it's been a little while since I've updated this guy.

Hi.

How do you do?

Slam Swimsome gave me the go-ahead to start posting mp3's regularly online. So, I've got 3 mp3's for you: two traditional gospel songs- In The Highways & Keep On The Sunny Side... two songs that I think were in O Brother Where Art Thou, coincidentally. I've also got a Sam Swinson original- Sinner's Hymn

These are not songs we would try to sell to you on a CD. But that doesn't mean that we aren't proud of them. Keep coming back to ohtis.com or myspace.com/ohtis and I'll keep posting new songs like these, and if we feel generous we might even post a song that we would sell to you on a CD. Also, I'd suggest subscribing to our blog on myspace if you really like us. OR! you could even sign up to our mailing list and I'll send you an e-mail when we post new songs.

-Adam

01.11.2007

Click here for pics of us playing at the Ground Floor in Belleville, IL!!! -Adam

01.11.2007

Where have we been? Why haven't you updated? Wahhhh wahhhhhhhhh! Seriously, PLEASE STOP SENDING US E-MAILS TELLING US TO UPDATE! OKAY MOM?
We've been recording a lot. Still. That never really ends. But in the past week, we've laid down enough tracks for one particular new song to the point where we can say "hey this is already good enough to be considered finished." But, it's not actually finished. I'm excited about how things are going, though. I got some new headphones and they sound and feel fantastic.
Other than that, we're playing in Belleville this Friday at the Ground Floor with one of my favorite current bands Mahtpa. Who's ready for a weekend road trip??
-Adam

12.05.2006

What up n shot?

We have a couple shows this week. Thursday, us n Bottle of Justus are gonna play at the BBC near ISU's Bone Student Center. The other show's for those of you who fit into the 21+ category. It'll be held at the legendary Paulie's Bar 'n' Girlz, in downtown Bloomington. $2 Long Island Iced Teas, baby! Invite the whole family!

Other than that, been adding tracks to demos.

-Adam

11/22/2006

If anybody actually came to the Coffeehouse for the open-mic, aside from the disappointed few that I've already talked to, I sincerely apologize that there was no open-mic night after all. There was some kind of mix-up, apparently: we showed up with equipment and a blonde Coffeehouse employette informed us that the open-mic wasn't happening, due to the students going home for Thanksgiving. So, we informed the other band that was scheduled to headline and they were bummed out, too. We even put a couple nights of practicing into it! Bummer.

The show at BBC in December is still on.

-Adam

11/17/2006

For those of you under-21'ers who were too scared to come to a show with alcohol, you're in luck: we have 2 all-ages shows coming up in B/N. Scroll down to the "upcoming shows" section for info on them.

Also, Sam posted a couple demos on our myspace.

-Adam

11/14/2006

We are playing on the 21st of November at the Coffeehouse at the end of an open-mic night. It's free, so bring no cash, but bring a friend.

-Adam

11/12/2006

Not playing an open-mic night on the 14th. Might be playing on the 21st.

Equationaphrase: 7x7=no, 7x7x7=maybe

Been recording. Here's Sam on the hi-hat and snare:



-Adam

11/2/2006

Sucks to be whoever missed the shows this weekend. The party got busted on the last song of our set and then we took the keg back to our house and Mahtpa blew everyone's mind with an AK47 of experimental roots folk. The next day, we played a set at another party with just a bass, acoustic guitar, and a djembe.

We're gonna be doing something similar in a couple Tuesdays at the Coffeehouse. 11/14/06, to be exact. It's an open-mic night, so you're all free to come open for us.

-Adam

10/25/2006

CORRECTION
The show Friday (two days from now) is at 100 Mulberry St. in Normal, IL.

Remember, this is a costume party. Wear something cute!

-Adam

PS: Here are some pics of us carving our pumpkins.








Click here for more pumpkin carving pixxx.

10/16/2006

REMEMBER
We're playing Halloween weekend with St. Louis's amazing Mahtpa. This is a show you won't miss if you know what's good for you.

Last time I saw Mahtpa, I got so excited I was running all over Paulie's telling everyone how happy I was and how amazing they are. Of course no one noticed me because they were too busy trying to pick their jaws up off the ground.

The show (which is also a costume party) is at 709 Kingsley Street in Normal, IL. Again, there will be lots of drinking at the show, so if that doesn't work for you, stay home and audition Halloween costumes for your mom and dad.

See you there!

-Adam

10/12/2006

We played live on 88.1 FM's local show last weekend. Here's Aaron at the radio studio:



After the show, they let me stay and DJ until the next DJ came in. That was pretty much just another live radio performance because Sam, Zack, and Sagan came back and we performed some songs on the air.

Click here to check out 'Water Colors' by The Deadbees. Then, send them a message on myspace and tell them how badly they need to come play in B/N.

10/03/2006

chillin, u?

We're playing at IBC in downtown Bloomington this Saturday with Berry. Berry's from Greenville, IL and they are technical indie rock played to perfection. They sound like Murray Street-era Sonic Youth, mixed with a hint of Whocares?-era CometotheShow.

Halloween weekend we'll be playing with the best band you've never heard, Mahtpa! That'll be on Saturday, Oct. 27th somewhere on Kingsley Drive. There will be drinking, so make sure to tell your parents you're staying at a friend's house. More info on this show is soon to come.

Last time Mahtpa came to Bloomington to play with us at Paulie's, they spent the night and woke up to a recording studio set up in our dining room and I forced them to record some demos. They're easily the most-listened to tracks on my iPod now. Hear my personal fave "Darlin' White, Darlin' Black" here.

9/25/2006

A whole hell of a lot!

First, you can now stream our album Saving The Planet here.

Right now, we are in the middle of working on a few things: a new album, a new music video, and a new live approach.

We have written more than an album's worth of demo material at this point. What we need to do now is continue to record the songs in our basement and mess with/add to them. I will take a shot in the dark and say we'll have another album to sell in less than a year.

For those who liked our first album, our new music may take some getting-used-to. We've been performing a handful of new songs at live shows and for the most part, I can say they are a lot darker. And more personal. And a lil more mature. Tiny bit sexier.

As for a new music video, I came up with an idea for a short film literally a few days before John Shaller asked me if I wanted to make a music video with him. So, we're going to shoot that sometime before he leaves for LA to become a big shot. I'd tell you more about the video, but I'd rather just make you wait and see it for yourself. We might film a video for another song if we have time. By the way, if anyone knows a male actor above the age 25 to play a mailman, contact me at butterof69@yahoo.com.

Live, we are going to start performing sets of mostly cover songs in bars, like bands from the 60's did when they first started out. It's kind of a step we forgot to take, so we're retracing our footprints.

One more thing, we had a show at our house with Crown Atlantic and nobody came... but, that's okay. There was no drinking allowed (I'm on probation), it was at 6pm, and it costed $5. Sooo, next month, we're going to try and play a 5-kegger at someone else's house, with the legendary Mahtpa! I'll let you know more when I know more.

I'll try and update this thing often.

-Adam

Anthony's new hit