2010 was an AWESOME year for us... so awesome that we've compiled a list of the year's
Top 10 most memorable moments! We'll be updating this page daily (1 entry per day),
from 12/22/10 through 12/31/10. On January 1st, 2011,
we'll be kicking off the new year with a bang.. with the premiere of our brand-new video for "Seashells!"
SEASHELLS VIDEO PREMIERE:
http://www.facetimepolice.com/seashells
The Top 10 Most Memorable Moments of 2010:
(Note: Moments 4 - 10 are in no particular order)
..1. Radio Airplay on Q101 |
Just as we were counting our blessings, getting ready for the new year, and putting the final touches on the new "Seashells" video... on December 19th, 2010, we experienced a Christmas miracle...
Face Time Police was played on the radio.
As you can see from the tweet above, Q101/Local 101 played a few Christmas songs from local Chicago artists. They aired our Christmas cover/remake/medley "Burning Under The Mistletoe" (which features our renditions of Mariah Carey's "All I Want For Christmas is You" and Irving Berlin's "White Christmas"), on their special holiday show! It was the first time a song of ours was played on the radio!!!
[ CLICK HERE for a free mp3 of "Burning Under The Mistletoe"]
[ CLICK HERE for an acoustic performance of "Burning Under The Mistletoe"]
That night, at home, it was definitely a moment neither James nor I (Brian) would ever forget. We sat around the radio with our parents, eagerly anticipating our Christmas tune to air. Then... there it was. The intro kicked in and our faces lit up like you wouldn't believe. Last year around this time, we were recording and editing this song in the room across from us. Now, we were listening to it on the radio! How awesome is that?! Thank you, whoever you are from the Local 101 staff who (a) listened to our song, and (b) decided to air it during the holiday show. We are deeply grateful.
We couldn't help but get choked up over the experience. This, in addition to everything else that happened throughout the year... it just hit us. Hard. It felt as if all the time, money, and effort that we were putting into Face Time Police was finally paying off. This band, this 360 degree art project... it's not a hobby. It's what we want to do with our lives. We love to make music, we love to perform, we live to entertain. We work hard. We fight for our vision to be seen and for our voices to be heard.
Thank you to everyone who gave a damn about us in 2010.
So, moving on to 2011, let's start things off right... with the premiere of our brand-new video for "Seashells!" It was edited by James and myself. That's another first for us... James is usually the "video" guy of the group.
SEASHELLS VIDEO PREMIERE:
http://www.facetimepolice.com/seashells
We hope you enjoyed "10 in 2010." If you missed the daily countdown, feel free to scroll down and read the other entries. Let's make even more moments happen in 2011.
Again, thank you.
-br1an "never gonna stop, so watch me go..." s3rra.
On May 25th, 2010, we played a show at one of Chicago's newest and best venues around... LINCOLN HALL. Since we alternate between 2 live drummers (Paul and Rich), we usually perform as a 4-piece... but for this show, we played as a 5-piece with Paul on secondary instruments: 2nd guitar, bass, additional keys, back-up vocals, and SAX! (see video above) It definitely made for a richer sound during our set, plus, the songs were more faithful to the recordings (which usually have more melodies than a 4-piece band can recreate live).
In addition to playing in an amazing venue (with an incredibly accommodating staff to boot!) with our special 5-piece line-up,
we were able to put our entire set online in HD and with high quality audio as our "Live at Lincoln Hall" series of videos. Our performance that night showcased the versatility of our live band (they can handle anything... bouncy pop rock, metal, a KanYe cover...), plus, it served as a proclamation and declaration of variety and diversity. Someone once told us "you can't follow up a metal song [Without Wings] with that ballad [Nothing Left to Break]." Well, our response to that (and any criticism from people who think that the styles we dabble in don't work together) was and always will be...
"Watch us..."
:)
CLICK HERE for the entire Live At Lincoln Hall concert.
Additional Note:
This show was originally organized by James himself (followed by a small committee afterward) when he kickstarted the then-defunct DePaul Music Business Organization. You can't sit around waiting for something to happen. You have to make it happen.
On paper, our "Seashells" video shoot sounded really simple. Day 1: shoot the performance scenes. Day 2: shoot the narrative. We soon learned that this was going to be much more than a walk in the woods as the shoot unraveled into a 5-day Homeric odyssey that tried and tested everyone's commitment to the project. Constantly tugged and tossed between the Scylla and Charybdis of time constraints and the struggle for artistic merit (don't you just love these analogies?), our band, cast, and crew faced sweltering heat and humidity, exhaustion, equipment failure, ravenous mosquitoes, and even poison oak during the shoot.
Despite the trials that we were put through, the shoot, for the most part, was a fun and memorable experience that none of us will ever forget (watch the behind-the-scenes footage above.. we were constantly laughing, smiling, and in good spirits). We can't wait to take you into a mythology of our own (complete with sea-men, seashells, and sea nymphs, oh my!) when we premiere it on 1/1/11.
Bookmark this URL: http://www.facetimepolice.com/seashells
On June 26, we played one of our most nerve-wracking shows ever... for our biggest fan, Tami, from Dallas, Texas. She's definitely one of our biggest fans (if not THE biggest FTP fan) since 2007: whenever a new item was available in our online store, she was always the first to buy it (we're notified by email, so we know this for a fact), she's constantly promoting us, and once, she even waited on the phone for over half an hour just so she could talk to us during an internet radio interview. Tami has been in constant contact with us throughout the years, and she had always tried to make plans to come up to Chicago to watch us perform live. It wasn't until June of this year that our schedules finally meshed, and she was finally able to catch a Face Time Police show.
She sung along to our songs! How awesome is that? (That was a first for us)
CLICK HERE for a live gallery from the show.
Note: For clarification's sake, we don't think any less of you if you don't show Tami's level of enthusiasm for our band. Casual fan, hardcore fan, newer fan, old school fan... you're ALL appreciated!
Our "Bare Bones" videos are our annual stripped-down, yet dressed-up, Halloween acoustic performances. This year, we wanted to film an acoustic performance of "Seashells" since the music video was nearing completion. At the last minute, we decided to film an acoustic cover of "Airplanes" by B.o.B. (one of our favorite artists of 2010) and an acoustic version of our song, "Minute Made" as well.
CLICK HERE for the Bare Bones (2010) performances.
We had always wanted to play a show on Halloween night itself and perform in masks/costumes, and this year, we finally did (at Goose Island - Wrigleyville)! There's just a different energy that's projected when you're behind a mask, and it made for one of our most memorable shows. We dubbed it the "Monsterman Masquerade."
Additional Note: We modified those masks ourselves! :)
BEST OF 2009 |
In the early Spring of 2010 our EP, The Definition of Deviation,
was named the Best of 2009 on not one, but TWO music review sites!
- Best Recording (EP) of 2009 -
RockWired Magazine
- Jen's Best Albums of 2009 -
Away-Team Music Reviews
(Senior Editor: Jen Conrad)
On September 11, we performed at Action Territory in Kenosha, Wisconsin. It was particularly stressful as it had been several months since we had played a show with Rich, who was on drums that night (short explanation... we alternate between 2 live drummers: Rich and Paul). Because of our work schedules, we weren't even able to set aside time for a single rehearsal with the full band.
It was quite an eye-opener to witness the caliber of musicianship that our live band possessed. The set turned out amazingly well.... we put on one of our most energetic shows to date, plus, the crowd was very lively and responsive to our performance. To pull off a show like that without any practice? We couldn't be happier to be in the company of such hard-working, versatile, talented musicians.
CLICK HERE for a live gallery from the show.
Additional Note: In remembrance of the tragedy that occurred on September 11, 2001, our guitarist, Phil, was asked to play the national anthem that night.
BEST PHOTOGRAPHY |
TOP 500 (out of 1000's) |
VIDEO SHOWCASE
|
Throughout 2010, we received several noteworthy nominations and moments of recognition... not just for our music, but also for our graphic design/photography and even our videos. Since there isn't any aspect of our art that we aren't responsible for, it was encouraging to know that all our efforts didn't go unnoticed.
- Billboard World Song Contest - Honorable Mention -
"Of Man and Monster" placed among the Top 500 (out of 1000's of entries)
CLICK HERE to view the certificate from Billboard.
- Independent Music Awards - Nomination for Best Artist/Band Publicity Photography -
CLICK HERE for the interview/feature.
- The Chicago International Movies and Music Festival -
Our video for "Minute Made" was showcased.
CLICK HERE to watch the video.
On November 4, we played a show for Columbia College in downtown Chicago for their inaugural
Second Floor Sound Off series of concerts. The event had a very diverse bill. We played inbetween reggae ensemble The Roots Rockers Club and "space rock" band Castor and Pollux. The crowd was very receptive to every band on the bill. Whoever thinks that variety doesn't work simply hasn't seen shows like this.
In addition to the variety of the bill and the receptiveness of the crowd, the show was also memorable
due to the size of the stage. It was the largest and most open stage that we've played on so far, and it
allowed us to move around more during our set.
CLICK HERE for a live gallery from the show.
On July 30, we had a unique opportunity with Six Flags Great America.
As part of their "Live and Local" series of concerts, we were to play 5 consecutive sets
throughout the day on the Hurricane Harbor Beach Stage.
Given that we put on a high-energy set, you can imagine just how tiring this was for us.
While we were extremely tired by the end of the day, we did get a handful of tickets to the park
for playing. We used the tickets a few weeks later as a "thank you" to a few friends who had
helped us out as crew members on previous shows.