Morse Code Heartbeat wants to you get a new browser, OK? This site should work on most IE browsers and any Netscape 6 or above. Morse Code Heartbeat is a hardcore/punk/metal/emo band from Portland Oregon. Fans of Cave-In, Botch should surely take note. Some reviews: <p>"It's a fine line to walk, that of aggressive music that does not come off macho, but local lads Morse Code Heartbeat pull it off with much success. A little old school emo chest-pounding combined with just enough metal to make the finished product a brilliant mess of noise, emotion, and double-bass pedal." <br> -Chazz Madrigal, Portland Mercury </p> <p><i>Paper Cuts</i> CD reviews:<br><br> The bruiser "narcoleptic recluse" preps us for the bludgeoning madness of PAPER CUTS - time shifts galore, irregular and inventive guitar riffs, and feral vocals - which make for one helluva record full of aggressive, jarring metal with splashes of hardcore and grind. The unsurpassable "heroin chic" starts with a dark, sinister riff, while the body of the song is fast and punishing, ending with a hardcore breakdown. "north korea", with its disoriented feel, is a slower offering until three minutes in, when the speed onslaught begins. "late bloomer" is perhaps the most hyper, immediate track - but still, the tempos are all over the place, as some slower parts are mixed in. The real anomaly is the exceptional "dysphasia", a beautiful instrumental that gets somewhat heavier as it progresses. Appearing midway through the album, this gem acts as a slight respite from the chaos. <br> -Janelle Jones, Skratch Magazine <p> Talented tech metal similar to old Converge or Dillenger Escape Plan. Good lyrics dealing with anger, frustration and paranoia. Way better than comparable bands on the bigger labels these days.<br> -Neal Shah, Punk Planet #59 </p> <p> “Paper Cuts” by MORSE CODE HEARTBEAT features nine tracks of flailing and ferocious DEP-inspired metalcore. Stunningly deft and innovative guitar licks weave in and out of a wall of bludgeoning, yet complex, metal. The raw hysteria of the music is courtesy of the band’s hardcore influences and the entire package boasts just enough melodic counterpoise to suck neo-emo fans into the fray. MCH have enough distinction to allow them to stand out in the ever-increasing pack of bands plying their trade in this flava’ of noise. <br> -Jeb, Short Fast + Loud zine </p> </p> <p> It all started way back in the winter of 1997-98. After countless failed punk bands, I was drafted to play guitar in Fresno, California's first real hardcore band - Lifeforce. Named after our favorite Nintendo game, Zach Evans (bass), Zach Markwith (vocals), Nick Moore (vocals), RC (drums), and I set out to terrorize the local punk scene with some vegan straightedge mayhem. This was my first musical endeavor with a drummer who had actual talent, and it became evident that this kid in a ripped up Kreator t-shirt would be accompanying me on my musical journey. However, the other guys who weren't wearing ripped up Kreator shirts began dropping like flies. Zach Evans was kicked out for not being straightedge and replaced by Louis Booth, who if was as good a bassist as he was a human being would be better than Les Claypool. Well, Let's just say that he wasn't as good as Les Claypool. Let's just say that he always played whole notes, regardless of what we were doing. But he's a super nice guy. Nick could never master the concept of 4/4 time (he was, however, very profiecient in -4/4 time. that's when you give the mic to somebody else and have them sing in rhythm), but made up for it with his hampster on PCP vocal style and live fire-juggling acts. Unfortunately, juggling fire and being a nice guy don't mean shit in the recording studio, as any of you who have heard the Lifeforce CD can attest to. Zach Markwith didn't even get to be on the recording - he shredded his throat on the first take and was never able to scream again. </p> <p>Discouraged but not defeated, RC got some DW drums, I tuned my guitar down to D, and we started a new hardcore band with my younger brother Ben (vocals), Kyle Hernandez (bass), Corbin Peters (guitar). We named the band Azreal, which as you all know, is the cat from the Smurfs. It's also the angel of death - the connection my militant Islamic/vegan brother preferred. It was his over-the-top lyrics that got us kicked off the European label that was going to release our record. We recorded a sucky 4 song CD ourselves, went nowhere, and then parted ways with Ben. We then changed our name to The David Lynch Predicament and replaced Ben with Matt Mitchell of The Statistics fame. He was with us for one enchanted Halloween night where he performed in a dress and dislocated his knee cap - relieving him of his vocal duties, but proving to RC and I that he was the 3rd member of this fantastic musical voyage. He was replaced by Chris Hernandez - Kyle's younger brother. We played a few shows around the San Joaquin Valley and even made it as far as Bakersfield before breaking up without recording. Back to the drawing board.</p> <p>RC and Matt, fed up with the futility of playing music in Fresno, moved to Portland in September of 2000. Left to my own devices, I tried to start up DLP again, this time with Mike from Fallen Silent hitting the skins. It went nowhere fast, so in March of 2001 I said goodbye to Corbin, Mike, Chris, and Kyle and joined my comrades up in the Pacific Northwest. They had started a band called Violet, which featured Matt on guitar, RC on drums and Chris Ubick on bass. I completed the lineup at second guitar. I also became the vocalist by default, because we couldn't find a singer and nobody else in the band wanted to do it. Straightedge turned out to be a true 'til 21 kind of thing (as i so shockingly found out one night, when i came home to find RC drunkenly singing along the misfits while pouring a 40oz on his head), so with the return of some bad junior high habits came the return of some bad junior high music which we decided to incorporate into our sound. Unfortunately, we didn't know how to blend them very well and all we got was "I like your fast shit, but then you go and ruin it with that emo crap" or "you should write more pretty songs. I don't like all the screaming stuff" or just plain "you guys are terrible". To make matters worse, someone in the band (we'll call him Chris U. no, that's to obvious. we'll call him C. Ubick) decided to be ridiculously cliché and sleep with my girlfriend and break up the band, once again without recording. </p> <p>With an unspoken sense of frustration creeping in on all sides, RC, Matt, and I forged on. We changed our name to Morse Code Heartbeat and decided to drop the alternative rock, becoming essentially a metal/hardcore band with the occasional melody thrown in to keep things interesting. While the establishment of our new sound was encouraging, a revolving door of bass players only added to our woes. We had Joe Nealy (who used to play with local rockers Crosstide) play one show with us and promptly vanish like a virgin on prom night. We had a one night stand with Zach Evans (the original Lifeforce bass player!) as well as one practice with a guy who didn't even own a bass, or an amp, or a cord, or a pick, or anything. We finally got into the studio as a 3 piece and recorded a 2 song 7" in March of 2002 for Mr. Ubick's label, which we still don't have as I sit here and type this in November. We were all pretty much ready to raise the white flag at that point when our desperation ad in the paper was answered by a guy named Alan. We were all totally shocked and thrilled to find out that he 1) actually HAS a bass, AND can play it well, 2) likes a lot of the same music we do, 3) is a nice guy who won't sleep with our girlfriends or take our records OFF the market, and 4) was in a band called Chu Chi Nut Nut and the Pine Cone Express who opened for Wesley Willis. I can't decide whether to end this with "And it all came together like Voltron" or "Now our future is so bright we have to wear shades" so I'm just going to stop here. </p> <p>There you have it. 5 years of paying dues. Not a single record, not a single tour, and not a single line of coke done off a midget's ass. </p> <p>-Oliver Merson</p> </p> </div> Lyrics: <br><br> <a name="narcoleptic"></a><i><b>Narcoleptic Recluse</b></i> - this runaway train of thought leaves mangled bodies on the tracks screeching horror of revelation woke up screaming once again the chemical warfare we wage in other people's heads with tear gas we burn the eyes and lungs sense confusion masked figures in the mist shouting in a language i do not understand i lied face down in the trenches pretending to be dead all night beloved leader with a twisted smile of little white tombstones this is year zero you clear cut my forests you polluted all my rivers you consumed everything left me barren as the moon you burned all my bridges and killed so many dreams releasing their ghosts to haunt the ruins of who I once was crumbling statues of utopia this is the place where our nightmares grow these are the things that nobody knows you wake up in your bed and sense you're not alone you brought one back with you and now it's home. <br><br> <a name="northkorea"></a><i><b>North Korea</b></i> - if i stay just right out of their sight they can't see me writing these lines: thoughtcrime does not entail death thoughtcrime is death footsteps creaking furtive doorknobs turning try to look busy now it's your face that betrays you and the things you say in your sleep it's always the same game of cat and mouse i'm tired of covering up my footprints tired of destroying all evidence i never thought there was anything that they could do to ever make me say the words "i do not love you anymore" i'm left here all alone in the pale blue light and the drone of machines you know what it's like to be here alone you were once like me what i saw through the window broke the glass between us you picked up a shard and cut my fucking heart out. <br><br> <a name="marianatrench"></a><i><b>The Mariana Trench</b></i> - i made my bed now i lie in it alone i had my way now i get to watch it fade bury us here in this underwater grave try to shut these eyes i still see it swirling down the drain i'm left shivering with what remains an eerie silence and a feeling that this room is floating out at sea SOS (save our ship) the walls are groaning we're going down pipes are bursting inside my head i watched the water rise above your eyes now it's leaking out of mine i still taste your salty tears on my lips this time the captain will go down with his ship save yourselves women and children first save yourself a searchlight pierces the pitch black silence illuminating our ghostly wreckage which will rest under unfathomable depths forever. <br><br> <a name="dysphasia"></a><i><b>Dysphasia</b></i> - live on the fence stay in the grey never commit to anything that sees the light of day live like a ghost float through the day like sharks in underwater cathedrals. <br><br> <a name="latebloomer"></a><i><b>Late Bloomer</b></i> - sit here and stare at the blank page in front of me opaque snow covered window sometimes ghostly words melt through the frost faint whispers from the other side the storm blows the shutters open and i shudder to think how i have boarded myself up and sealed myself off quarantined like a virus economies crippled by sanctions destabilized by the CIA i'm still waiting for the dream where i can see myself i'm still waiting for the day someone breaks the embargo i shudder to think what could have been had i not been under constant threat of invasion and undermined every single step of the way.<br><br> <a name="growingpains"></a><i><b>Growing Pains</b></i> - listen up dear i can't stop thinking but my mouth stays shut a concrete damn turning my mind into a reservoir that is bursting at the seams quite impressive engineering actually now that those two leaky holes have been patched up so efficiently your eyes drill holes into mine your mouth blows up dynamiting my insides sprinkle me with angel dust right before you smash my face through the glass you silenced all the machines so effortlessly with your finger on my lips when my heart is pounding you kiss me with novocaine and smile sardonically sometimes i think i don't know you at all when you lull me to sleep dusty morning sunbeams steal me from my dreams but i can't tell the difference anymore. <br><br> <a name="vampire"></a><b><i>Vampire Invitation</i></b> - i can freeze time and i can change things you sleep for aeons when you blink your eyes oblivious to my eternal gaze tracing the outlines of that perfect face in here we'll never grow old the two of us together frozen in amber wake up in high school wake up in the womb wake up safe with you it was all just a bad dream i had lost you we grew apart and became strangers eventually we grew up and forgot about each other i will find a black suitcase glowing with money and take it home being carefull not to look too suspicious. <br><br> <a name="waspfactory"></a><b><i>Wasp Factory</i></b> poison sheets that toss you around like waves fever's glowing red digital display he won't make it through the night he won't live to see the sunrise this is where i hatch my plans watch them descend from the ceiling on silk threads watch them peek through cracked doors they don't answer when you ask them who they are they just spread across the walls like a black mold consuming everything creeping black roots of despair have burrowed into my chest nourishing this dark forest that grew out of the sink while we tossed and turned feverishly underneath the dirty dishes it grew to overtake us all. <br><br> <a name="heroinchic"></a><i><b>Heroin Chic</b></i> - what the fuck is happening to me? i've been in denial for so long everything is fading everything is gone i hope that it's worth it because i'm at the point of no return and i'm starting to have my doubts that they'll find a cure for this virus that replicates inside your words inside your deeds inside your thoughts inside your dreams you learn to live with it you learn to cope with it you learn to hide all the symptoms it becomes your temptress it becomes your mistress it becomes your best friend in the world close your eyes watch it unfold watch in horror these silent movie memories in our sanctum there was no time only the faint glow from the nightstand that lit your face now the minutes pass by so empty god knows where you are god knows what you're doing you drove a stake through my heart while i slept inside you. <br><br> <a name="entropy"></a><i><b>Entropy</b></i> - you'll find it slumped over in the bedroom the shed skin of the boy that had to grow out of his childhood sadness because of her the big bang theory of the crimes against humanity committed in bedrooms evil energy flowing through telephone lines a star burns out and collapses introverted a big black hold consuming itself self consuming not even it's own light can escape the pull wet faces and bleeding hearts mean so much to me now seeds planted in that fallow soil now starting to grow inside abloom with newborn cries baptized in bright blue eyes risen from the highway twisted metal pyre the wreckage rusts away and the rooms are empty now where the stage was set to enact our tragedy dams broke to irrigate these withered souls and the image fades away the big bang theory of his heart. <br><br> <a name="straitjacket"></a><i><b>Straitjacket</b></i> - i can hear her calling hunting and haunting me she's been after me for years i can still feel those eyes buzzing in my head sometimes i wake up at night and see her in my bed she's come to take me away stare into those eyes of black robotic cruelty see them see you as prey you have such a beautiful poisonous body and it's killed so much of me your silhouette at the top of the stairs seen through the eyes of a child was horror that still echoes in my head and i fell so far from that light falling down the stairs i know it still lurks up there somewhere those wings so sinister this fear so paralyzing they're going to get me for what i did on that schoolyard. <br><br> <a name="impostor"></a><i><b>Impostor</b></i> - you can't trust alarms to wake you up from sleep and i can't trust myself because we are what we think keep it a secret because if it ever got out i'd simply disappear that's why they entrusted it to me i forget everything they're not scared my dreams are to vague to be a threat and whatever is in my head they devour my intentions forced to forage for new hopes offered up to satiate them you should see what they do to you distorted faces in the backseat don't look so friendly ghostly impostor with a crooked smile of false benevolence insincere eyes we've fallen asleep again at the wheel and that's why i keep my mouth shut. <br><br> <a name="chemotherapy"></a><i><b>Chemotherapy</b></i> - walking through his house with a sinking feeling in his gut hallways are dark but instincts guide the way the lights are off so he doesn't have to see where he lives staggering to his room wounded by shrapnel thoughts about her collapsing on the bed cruel doctors go to work on his head emotional chemotherapy it's the blurry visions of you through the haze that keep me hanging on don't worry my little angel soon this nightmare will be over lingering in these hallways like a ghost i can't escape condemned to wander in this desolate wasteland somewhere in the synapse the nerve impulses from your hand become an oasis that i can drink from and stay alive you worry too much my little angel.<br><br> Shows: <br> <b> Here's a list of shows from the past. Or go back to <a href="shows.php">upcoming shows</a>. </b> <b>Tuesday, November 4th:</b> <a href="http://www.haulerrock.com" target="_blank">Hauler</a>, <a href="http://www.shamelady.com" target="_blank">Shamelady</a>, <a href="http://www.geocities.com/rapidfireprocess/" target="_blank">Rapid Fire Process</a>, Morse Code Heartbeat @ Solid State, 624 E Burnside, Portland OR. All ages, $5, 7pm<br><br> Whenever we play at Solid State, we're generally horrible. Oddly, I think we were actually decent at this show. Since we don't have a van, I had to ride my bike to show (5 miles in the cold) and I missed all but 3 minutes of Hauler, who I was really interested in seeing. Apparently they were really freaking good. Shamelady was great, Rapid Fire Process were rockin too. <br><br> <b>Saturday, October 25th: </b> Morse Code Heartbeat, Evening at the Black House + more TBA @ 5266 NE 15th Ave (at Killingsworth), Portland OR. All ages, free, 8pm<br><br> Whoa. Free keg of good beer and Alan are a bad combo. After much delay and hesitation, and missing drums, we played a drunken set. RC and Ollie split soon after, leaving the keg, the naked clowns, and the "What's Up Your Ass?!?" contest. Apparently I was involved in a lot of wrestling and other shenanigans. <br><br> <b>Friday, 10/17/03:</b> Morse Code Heartbeat, Jonny X and the Groadies, Silentist, Compact 56, Keenwild @ The Vertigo Gallery, Vancouver WA. All ages, $5, 7pm. <br><br> I think our band is completely falling apart. In a good way though. Whenever we play a show these days, we have to call up all our friends and beg them to loan us any combination of: vehicles, drums, bass amps and guitar amps. We might as well just have someone else play our freaking songs. For this show we borrowed: two cars to haul our "equipment", one bass amp, one bass cabinet, one guitar cabinet, one snare stand, one snare drum (without asking... ooops!), another snare stand after the first one broke, and one rack tom. Someone really needs to buy us a van (one that works this time...) and an endless supply of drum hardware. <br><br> <b>Saturday, 8/30/03:</b> Morse Code Heartbeat, the Unit Breed + Tex Fritter @ The Danger Zone, Portland, OR. All ages, FREE, 6pm.<br><br> This was our little "end of tour" party. We had a bbq, drank heavily, and hung out with the crusty squatter kids who showed up at 3pm like a scene out of <i>Suburbia</i>. <br><br> <b>Thursday, 8/28/03:</b> Morse Code Heartbeat, <a href="http://www.el-buzzard.com" target="_blank">El Buzzard</a> (San Jose), <a href="http://www.geocities.com/countdown_to_life/" target="_blank">Countdown to Life</a> + Rhythm of 84 @ The Vertigo Gallery, Vancouver WA. $4, 8pm, all ages. El Buzzard is freaking good, download some songs from their website. <br><br> This is a great new all ages space in Vancouver. Its a tattoo parlor/music venue, pretty big too. The whole show was rockin, I don't think the kids got into El Buzzard too much though because they don't dress all that hip. <br><br> <b>Wednesday, 8/27/03:</b> Morse Code Heartbeat, the Unit Breed + The Show is a Rainbow @ Ozone Records, 7th and E Burnside, Portland, OR. All ages, FREE, 6pm.<br><br> This was supposed to be the "last show" of the tour, but we ended up tacking another Portland show on the end, because Joe showed up with the van like three hours late so each band only got to play a couple songs. The Show is a Rainbow was really fun, just one dude singing over a pre-recorded CD. Comparisons to Atom and His Package are unavoidable, but TSIAR was more dancy and fun. <br><br> <b>Monday, 7/14/03:</b> Morse Code Heartbeat, the Unit Breed, Dear Diary I Seem to Be Dead + Mustapha Mond @ Nocturnal, 1800 E Burnside, Portland, OR, all ages, $5, 7pm. This is our "tour sendoff" show, so come say goodbye!<br><br> This was one heck of a sendoff show. Dear Diary and Mustapha Mond were both awesome. Lots of friends showed up and good times were had by all. <br><br> <b>Thursday, 6/12/03:</b> Himsa, Countdown to Life, 2 Men Dead, Morse Code Heartbeat @ <a href="http://www.themeowmeow.com/" target="_blank">The Meow Meow</a>, Portland, OR, all ages, $7, 7pm.<br><br> Wow. We hadn't played a show in a while, and we've been busy with getting the recording done and saving money for tour, so there hasn't been a ton of practicing. And it showed. Big time! We always seem a little awkward up on a real stage, especially when there are all these lights on us and uncomfortable silence inbetween songs. So I'll usually try to steal a mic and start talking all retarded, sometimes that works out OK and sometimes it fails miserably. This night I dedicated our set to this guy who died a couple days earlier in a tragic boating accident, and I don't think that really helped make the mood "cheery" at all. Way to go Alan! <br><br> <b>Friday, 5/2/03:</b> End This Week With Knives (Canada), Physical Challenge (Corvallis), Morse Code Heartbeat, TBA @ The Corral, Eugene, OR, all ages, $5, 6:30pm. Directions are <a href="http://www.northwestconcerts.com/venues/corral.html" target="_blank">here.</a><br><br> So yeah, this show didn't happen. Good thing, because we couldn't have made it out there even if it did! Darn you, broken $300 van! <br><br> <b>Thursday, 5/1/03:</b> End This Week With Knives (Canada), Nihilist, Morse Code Heartbeat, 2 Men Dead, Rhythm of 84 @ Solidstate, 624 E Burnside, Portland, OR, all ages, $5, 8pm. Directions are <a href="http://www.northwestconcerts.com/venues/solidstate.html" target="_blank">here</a>. <br><br> End this Week With Knives ended up cancelling, so we had four local bands for $6. Oh yeah, it was $6. Now, I hate to gripe about something as inconsequential as $1, but really, if you're having a show with four local bands, it shouldn't be more than $5. But that's just me and my annoyingly elitist punk rock attitude. Well, and like five of my friends who showed up and said "$6?!?! To see your crappy band? Screw that, I'm going home." I should find some new friends... <br><br> <b>Saturday, 4/26/03:</b> MANDATORY METAL NIGHT! w/ Playing Enemy, Morse Code Heartbeat, Nihilist, Shamelady @ Satyricon, 125 NW 6th Ave, Portland, OR, 21+, $5, 9pm. Your attendance is apparently MANDATORY, as this night is MANDATORY METAL night. <br><br> Now, I have a little bone to pick with mandatory metal night. See, we like to think that we're pretty freakin metal, but really, most any metal dude could kick the crap out of any of us. And all of the bands that played tonight were really good, but only one person (Jayson from Nihilist) from any of the bands has a haircut that could in any way be considered "metal". I was hoping for some serious headbanging, maybe a few mustaches, and a lot of spilled beer. With exception of Jayson, and the staff at the Satyricon, who are very metal in their own right, the crowd was very un-metal. However we did get offered many illicit drugs by audience members, including Pamprin, so maybe that was what they meant by mandatory metal? <br><br> <b>Thursday, 4/24/03:</b> Pikadori, Morse Code Heartbeat, They Found My Naked Corpse Face Down in the Snow @ 5921 N Albina (at Ainsworth), Portland, OR, all ages, $4, 7pm. This is a benefit for arrested Critical Mass riders, so bring some extra cash. <br><br> Its really refreshing to show up at a house show where there are tables full of zines, books and oh yeah, awesome vegan food for sale. Almost everyone was wandering around with a smile on their face, and Pikadori, a band from Pittsburgh, were really, really good. Its nice when people will stick around to see a touring band just because they're a touring band, even though no one had heard them before. <br><br> <b>Friday, 4/18/03:</b> Morse Code Heartbeat, Undead Zombie Music Orchestra, S.H.A.T., USA is a Monster, Hit Me Back, Spring Break @ The Danger Zone, Portland, OR, all ages, free, 7pm. <br><br> So we didn't plan on playing this show, but we were kinda drunk, and the Undead Zombie Music Orchestra was going to be a little late, so we offered to hop on the bill to fill up some time and keep people from leaving before the zombies arrived. Well, the zombies didn't arrive until around 2am, but thankfully we stopped playing around 11pm, but not before someone ripped down a heater duct, and beer was spilled all over the floor where the kids were doing pushups. Really, that's my new favorite hardcore dance, when the kids are rockin out and then they jump on the floor and start doing pushups. I want to see more of that at our shows, OK? <br><br> <b>Saturday, 4/5/03:</b> Orchi Bort, Enter the Race, Morse Code Heartbeat, Compact 56, Academy @ The Domino Room, Bend, OR, all ages, $5, 7pm. Directions are <a href="http://www.northwestconcerts.com/venues/domino_room.html" target="_blank">here.</a><br><br> I don't know if you ever noticed, but there's a big ol' mountain between Portland and Bend. I didn't know that, and we certainly weren't expecting to run into a snowstorm on the way to the show. Snowstorms aren't cool, dude. Actually, they are. I somehow missed seeing any snow this whole year, so I was excited to drive in a comfy SUV through the mountains at high speeds while catching snow on my tongue through the sunroof. The rest of the band, however, were not so lucky, as they were driving in Eryn's old Volvo. Volvos are pretty tough, but if you've got RC, Ollie and Matt in one vehicle, you know for sure you're gonna end up losing control and flying off the road. Thankfully, no one was hurt and the Volvo escaped unharmed as well. They pushed it out of the snowdrift and somehow made it all the way to good ol Bend. <br><br> I sometimes get sick of the awkward "inbetween song silence" that we are well-known for, so I opted to annoy the audience and band with many annoying stories about mittens, mountains and I don't know what the heck else. They were not amused. Remember, under no circumstances should Alan be given a microphone.<br><br> After the show we raged hard at the Orchi Bort house. I'm a grumpy old man though, so I wimped out and got a hotel room and slept well. 8 people sleeping in the living room of a 2 bedroom house just didn't really appeal to me that night, and it looked like there would be many drinking games, tobacco chewing and yelpin and hollerin. The next morning I showed up and there was evidence of all three activities. The Orchi Bort kids are real nice, thanks for letting us stay. <br><br> <b>Friday, 4/4/03:</b> Alex, Please Step Out of the Vehicle, No Red Flags, Morse Code Heartbeat @ The C. Ubick Residence, Portland, OR<br><br> I don't know when the last time I've been in a house so full of smoke. I was feeling a little sick before going, but when I walked out the door I had this intense cough that is still here a week later. Every hour or so someone would walk in the door with a couple more cases of PABST, yet it seemed the fridge was always empty. You know that's the sign of a good party. <br><br> <b>Friday, 3/21/03:</b> Inked in Blood, Lum, Time Stood Still, Fighting Jacks, Morse Code Heartbeat @ Solidstate, 624 E Burnside, Portland, OR, all ages, $?, ?pm. More info coming soon.<br><br> We managed somehow to get ol' $300 van running like a, well, like a dried up little creek, which was good enough to get our crappy equipment across town to this show. This was the day after the war started and I think everyone was still in a bit of daze of disbelief over that. Turns out one of the bands (Fighting Jacks) were from San Jose, and I'm from San Jose, so we shot the shit a bit. We took off early because RC was feeling sick and we had a few friends visiting from out of town who desperately wanted to play a game of Catan. <br><br> <b>Tuesday, 3/18/03:</b> Curlupanddie, Nihilist, Since By Man, Morse Code Heartbeat @ The Meow Meow, 527 SE Pine St, Portand, OR, 8pm, all ages, $7. <br><br> We're not used to playing on stages with lights and fancy PAs and room to move around. It was fun but I think you could probably tell we were all a little out of our element. The show was really good though, I thought Since By Man were just fantastic. We suckered Jamesed By Bees into driving us down there, since ol' $300 van still doesn't actually work. Gah. <br><br> <b>Saturday 3/8/03:</b> <a href="www.groadies.com" target="_blank">Jonny X and The Groadies</a>, <a href="http://www.crazeone.com/rock.html" target="_blank">Teen Cthulhu</a> (Seattle), <a href="http://www.nothingenterprises.com" target="_blank">Unit Breed</a> (California), Samus Aran, Morse Code Heartbeat @ 1339 NE Roselawn, Portland, OR, 6pm, all ages, free. <br><br> Holy cow was this show fun. If you missed it, well, that's actually probably for the better because the house was packed to the gills. The Unit Breed and Teen Cthulhu both battered and smashed things and made the whole crowd cry in bewilderment. JonnyX, what the heck can you say about that? They ruled so hard that the blew the circuit breaker twice. <br><br> <b>Saturday 2/15/03: </b> <a href="http://www.lovesongsthemovie.com" target="_blank">Love Songs</a> (CA, New Disorder), Morse Code Heartbeat, Samus Aran and Half Rounded Bastard File @ Heather's House O' Humpin', 3558 SE Morrison, Portland, OR, 6pm, all ages.<br><br> Due to much confusion and bewilderment, we showed up about 2 hours late, and Ollie and Matt didn't even show up until 9:40, which was 20 minutes from when the event needed to be over. Things had been running late as it was, so we played a rather brisk and refreshing three song set. Love Songs know how to rock it hard, and they did indeed rock it hard. Strangely, only about 10 people witnessed the hard rocking sounds of Love Songs, but so it goes. <br><br> <b>Saturday 1/25/03:</b> <a href="http://www.orchibort.com" target="_blank">Orchi Bort</a>, Tesseract, Morse Code Heartbeat, another band with a long name that I forgot @ Musichead, Medford, OR, 7pm, all ages.<br> <br><br> and...<br><br> <b>Friday 1/24/03:</b> <a href="http://www.orchibort.com" target="_blank">Orchi Bort</a>, Tesseract, Morse Code Heartbeat, TBA @ Evo's Java House, Ashland, OR, 7pm, all ages.<br> <br><br> Ashland is about 5 hours south of Portland, and since our $374 van can't even make it onto the freeway, we had to sucker our good friend <a href="http://www.suburbanjustice.com" target="_blank">Pete</a> into driving us down. Surprisingly, he agreed, but then a couple days before the show it became apparent that his van transmission was on the brink of self-destruction, so we were looking at the possibility of a very long walk to Ashland. Then, RC somehow went and got a job, which meant we certainly couldn't take off at noon on a Friday. Thankfully, he got fired on his first day, and <a href="http://www.homestead.com/lopezsux/" target="_blank">Joel</a> graciously offered to drive us down south if we bought some anti-freeze for his van. Things were looking up. We cram into the supervan, which has ample room for six people plus a dog, and hit the freeway. We're free. On the road again. Well, its our first trip out of Portland, so just on the road, no again. We're generally in high spirits until we pull into Ashland six hours later and find out the show had been cancelled. Oops. <br><br> The other bands arrive shortly after us, and we hit the town trying to find some kids who will let us play in their house. It seems futile so Joel and I find a bar and drink our sorrows away. A few minutes later four teenage girls show up and offer to let us play in their dad's abandoned barn. Sounds good to me. We trek out there, and play in front of four teenage girls and the other two bands. There was hay in the corner, and saddles on the walls. I was expecting A) for the cops to show up at any minute and arrest Joel and I for being old fogeys hanging out with drunk teenagers, and B) for the whole barn to catch on fire because people were smoking cigarettes right on top of the hay. Strangely, neither bad thing happened, we had fun, and RC and I jammed "Chain" by Fleetwood Mac between every song. I don't think anyone there had a clue what it was. We also attempted to play "Clash City Rockers" (you know, by the Clash...) but I don't think anyone in the barn had ever heard of the Clash. Strange, definitely strange. Being that sleeping in an abandoned open-air barn didn't seem like a great idea, we found a hotel and slipped into slumberland in style. <br><br> Since the Ashland show fell through, Orchi Bort asked us to jump on this bill with them. Fine by me. We met a guy with <a href="http://www.sunnamplifiers.com/" target="_blank">SUNN</a> tattoos on his arms, you know that guy rules. We made $17 off the door and rocked the hizouse! Boo yah. The show was in a record store that had an incredible Blue Oyster Cult selection, but the guy wanted $5 for each album. $5? For Blue Oyster Cult? I put my records back, but convinced <a href="http://www.greyskyrecords.com" target="_blank">Jason</a> to purchase a copy of Fleetwood Mac's <i>Rumours</i>, which everyone knows is an amazing, amazing album.<br><br> <br><br> Shows before this have conveniently been stricken from our memory. Oops. News: <b>4/30/03</b><br> Alright, we were just, ummm, kidding about that whole name change business? Like April Fools, OK? No, we decided it was a bad idea. Too bad we decided that AFTER telling everyone, but really, sharing the same name with a bad George Clooney flick is not a good idea. None of us can agree on a new name, so we figured what the heck, why not stick with the name that is on our freaking 7"? Sorry about any confusion that might have caused...<br><br> Also, it looks like the End This Week With Knives split CD won't be happening. Basically, the label didn't have enough money to put that out and put out our full length CD, and we'd really like the full length (scheduled for july) to come out before we leave on our tour, so there we go. <br><br> And this makes a nice segue into the next topic at hand, the TOUR. Yes, we are going on tour for 6 weeks, all around the US. <a href="tour.php">HERE IS OUR TOUR SCHEDULE.</a> We would LOVE to play in your town. Email <a href="mailto:joe@nothingenterprises.com">Joe</a> if you can help us book a show. The schedule is starting to take shape nicely, but we have some big holes in the south and east coast we need to fill. Oh, and we're playing FOUR shows in Ohio, that state will never be the same when we're done with it! <br><br> <b>4/14/03</b><br> Hey, we changed our name. I know you're thinking "now why would you go do a thing like that?", and well, here's why. We realized that none of us like the old name in any way, and are kind of embarrased of it. You'd definitely agree if we told you the cheesy origins. So after about six months of arguing, and us coming up with incredibly stupid names such as "Attack Choi", "Dungeon Master", "Black Pegasus", we finally settled on <b>Solaris</b>. RC was content with it because he can finally write our name in metal letters. METAAAL! And yes, its unfortunate that a really bad George Clooney movie of the same name exists, but what can you do? <br><br> That being said, we're planning a huge ass tour this summer, from July 15-August 26th. We're coming to wherever you live. Want to help us book a show? Check out the "shows" page for more info and junk. We'll have a new website up soon, no more bloody foot!<br><br> <b>4/02/03</b><br> First off, we're planning a tour with Morse Code Heartbeat and the Unit Breed for August. We'll be out for about a month and will try to hit a good chunk of the US, and possibly Canada. We want to come to your town, so <a href="mailto:morsecodeheartbeat@hotmail.com">email us</a>and help us set up a show!<br><br> Sorry to any of you who may have gone to any of the shows where we were rumored to be playing the past week. A couple people had set up some shows and put us on the fliers before confirming it with us, and I was out of town relaxing on the beaches of Massachusetts. OK, I only know one person who went to the shows hoping to see us, but he certainly gave me an earful of complaints when I got back into town. <br><br> Some new shows were added to the "shows" page, including the CD release show, which is May 1st. With all luck we will actually have the CDs for the CD release show. In other news, ol' $300 van kind of works now, and Joe Demaree came up here to kick our asses at Catan, and he succeded. All hail Joe Demaree, King of Catan!<br><br> <b>2/15/03</b><br> Boy, we sure have been busy little updaters! We got the record covers back so they are like "officially" for sale now. You can <a href="music.php">buy them from us</a>, by sending us money, or go to <a href="http://www.greyskyrecords.com" target="_blank">greyskyrecords.com</a> and get them there. Paypal option hopefully coming soon. Oh, we have some denim vests, hoodies and t-shirts for sale, real cheap, so if you want one let us know. One of these days I'll put them up on the website. <br><br> Sadly, we have yet to have a Catan rematch. It will happen, oh, it will. And Ollie better start writing some songs about Catan, because that's where its at. Rumor has it we are mixing some more songs today for the <a href="http://www.endthisweekwithknives.com" target="_blank">End This Week With Knives</a> split CD. In other news, 3/4 of Morse Code Heartbeat are currently employed, and the $374 van is still hella busted. <br><br> And RC would like to point out that our band is Post-prosperous-prospo-core.<br><br> <b>2/13/03</b><br> The show on Saturday has been moved to Zach's house! He and his roommates are suckers, and let us move the show their last minute in exchange for some freshly baked vegan cookies. I lied and said I make good cookies. Anyway, it is now at 3558 SE Morrison St, near Belmont and 35th. Starts at 6pm, Samus Aran, Love Songs, Morse Code and hopefully one more band will be playing. Here's a <a href="http://aldroid.com/morsecode/images/lovesongs-flyer.jpg" target="_blank">flyer</a>, ok?<br><br> <b>2/11/03</b><br> Come to the show on Saturday! Its a post-valentine's day excitement fest with <a href="http://www.thelovesongs.com" target="_blank">LOVE SONGS</a>, Morse Code Heartbeat and more! Love Songs totally rock, they play good poppy punk but not like cheesy poppy punk, OK? Go to the <a href="shows.php">shows page</a> for more info. <br><br> On the Catan front, well, lets just say my big plans didn't quite follow through. See, a game of Catan rides on a delicate balance between an amazing amount of alcohol and just the right amount of alcohol. None of us were able to properly straddle that line, and soon enough we all fell down a steep, steep slope to our demise. Ollie had to quit about 3/4 the way through, and <a href="http://www.blackandredstar.com" target="_blank">Zach</a>, who had been watching and quietly calculating his master plan the whole night, stepped in and whisked away the victory from beneath the rest of us. He was pretty proud of his victory, but everyone knows that the bulk of strategy lies in the beginning of the game, so he can't take all the credit. <br><br> Rumor has it there is a hot new band in town called <a href="http://www.mendedstar.com/plunderedbyturks/" target="_blank">Plundered By Turks</a>. Not much is known about this devious gang of hooligans, but I would advise you to stay far, far away and make sure to NEVER let them near your vegan cookies. <br><br> <b>1/17/03</b><br> We're gearing up for another big game of Catan tonight, but I thought I should give a quick update. I added some <a href="shows.php">show</a> changes, most notably that Blessing the Hogs dropped off the 31st show, Green Angel cancelled their tour, but is sending a replacement band, and we're not playing the Sinai Beach show anymore. I predict that this evening I will rule the newly discovered land of Catan, ward off barbarians and possibly even achieve the unthinkable: Wrestle the Longest Road away from RC. We're not really as geeky as we seem, I swear. <br><br> <b>1/5/03</b><br> Whoa, lots of stuff happening soon! The 7" will be done in two weeks, and we will be playing several <a href="shows.php">shows</a> in the next two months. <br><br> We've been very busy writing songs and playing RISK 2210 AD, Cities and Knights of Catan, and a little Scrabble. And watching TRON. Did I mention we have been very, very busy watching TRON. <br><br> Looks like we are putting out a split CD with <a href="http://www.endthisweekwithknives.com" target=_blank>End This Week With Knives</a>, a great band from Vancouver, Canada. We'll be using the three songs left over from our last recording session, which we still need to get mixed and mastered and whatnot. I'll estimate that this CD will come out in March or April. <br><br> The $374 van now needs a new power steering pump, it has a radiator problem, and it still has all the problems it had before. I imagine that it may become a $1000 van any day now... <br><br> <b>12/21/02</b><br> Ok, I've been lazy and haven't been updating this stupid excuse for a website. We played a few shows recently and they were fun. Two were with Oskorei, an amazing band from Santa Cruz. You'll probably never hear or see them. I think we have a show in late January and a show in late February, but being as the rest of the band never bothers to tell me anything, I don't know where or when. We're thinking of hiring an official band liason to relay information between members, since none of us know how to do that. <br><br> I heard from a friend of a friend's mom that we are possibly putting out a little split CD with some band from this place called Canada. I don't know where Canada is, but it sounds like a neat place so its cool with me. Plus, the other band members haven't mentioned anything about this, so maybe its all just some rumor. Or a rumour. Or perhaps we are just re-releasing one of the greatest albums of all time, Fleetwood Mac's <i>Rumours</i>. That would be hot. <br><br> Lyrics coming soon, I swear. And a bunch of pictures. Speaking of, check out some pictures from <a href="http://www.nothingenterprises.com/records/pics/allthumbs.php3?band=oskerei" target="_blank">a recent show</a>. Feel free to also witness Morse Code Heartbeat <a href="http://www.aldroid.com/emo" target="_blank">modeling stupid emo clothing</a>. <br><br> <b>11/24/02</b><br> We finished recording, sort of. Well, we ran out of money, so we have two finished songs and three unfinished songs. If anyone wants to give us $100 we'll totally finish those songs. You can download our new crap on the "<a href="music.php">Music</a>" page, OK? <br><br> There's not a whole lot of exciting information to report. We are playing a couple of "<a href="shows.php">shows</a>" in the next month, conveniently both at our house. We don't even need to fire up ol' $300 Van or anything, woohoo! <br><br> <b>11/20/02</b><br> Ah, the life of the rock and roll star. We arrived at our show Friday to find out we were "headlining" (large rock acts such as ourselves are often found in this position), except apparently there was a slightly different definition of "headlining" at this venue. It meant "loan the other bands your equipment, but don't actually play". So after the other bands played (Shredding Machine, Gehlen Project and another band, all of whom were really good) we loaded our equipment back in the trusty $300 Van (which is, at last count, actually a $374 van) and almost headed home. Naturally, the van wouldn't start, and after about an hour of jumpstarting it we gave up and walked our equipment home. Whatever God invented those little wheels that go on the bottom of amplifiers received an unduly amount of praise, and only a small amount of swearing. It was decided that after a 24 hour burrito we should celebrate our rock triumph by indulging in banana splits, butterscotch sundaes and just about any other ice cream concoction you could make out of the many fine products we bought at unSafeway. <br><br> <b>11/12/02</b><br> Some newsworthy newsitude: Turns out our "debut" EP, <i>Straightjacket</i>, isn't going to be released, and in fact never was going to be. 'Twas a bit foolish of us to think it might have had a chance of coming out. For some background info on this, refer to our "<a href="history.php">history</a>" section, perhaps starting right around the time that a certain individual we'll only call isChray Ubickway enters the picture.<br><br> That being said, we are "in the studio" this week laying down some hot new tracks. They're smokin! Well, RC was smokin anyway, he gave up cigarettes, but decided that its OK to smoke cheap cigars all the time instead.<br><br> In other news, Ollie still has yet to return Martin Lawrence's <i>You So Crazy</i> to Blockbuster, and a scary robot man keeps calling the house asking for him.<br><br> Come to our show this Friday. Please.<br><br> <b>11/08/02</b><br> In case you didn't notice, its a new website. Ain't that a thing. <br><br> Supposedly a 7" coming out soon? Yeah right. And maybe some shows in the next couple of weeks? Dream on. Rumor has it MCH is recording some tunes for a couple new 7"s that will also never come out! More News: <b>8/27/03</b><br> Holy cow, we just got back from tour. Our CD is finally done! You can get it at record stores around town, or order it online from <a href="http://www.greyskyrecords.com" target="_blank">Grey Sky Records</a>. We'll put some mp3s up soon. Here's a fancy picture of it, OK? <br><br> <div align="center"><img src=http://www.greyskyrecords.com/images/papercuts200.jpg width=200 height=205 alt=paper cuts border=3 bordercolor=black></div><br><br> In other news, Matt quit the band, so we're a three-piece now. A big tour diary with pictures and shit-talking with show up sooner or later, don't you worry.<br><br> <b>6/22/03</b><br> We've been busy recording our new CD, entitled <i>Paper Cuts</i>. Hopefully the mixing will get done today or tomorrow, and if we're lucky they'll be ready by the time we leave on tour! Speaking of tour, please come out to the first show of the tour: July 14th at Nocturnal, 1800 E Burnside in Portland. Morse Code Heartbeat (hey that's us), the Unit Breed (our tourmates from San Jose, conveniently Alan and RC are playing in this band on tour), Dear Diary I Seem to Be Dead (rad band from New Orleans) and Mustapha Mond, who all the kids are talkin about these days. Seriously though, they're great. Should be a really fun show. We should have CDs available at the show.<br><br> <b>6/10/03</b><br> <div align="center"><img src="images/alligatorcd300.jpg" width=300 height=300 border=0 alt=""></div> <br> Ooh, look, its a new CD thing. No, its not the full-length, its just a little five song CDr with the tracks from the 7" and a few older unreleased numbers. No one seems to own a record player these days, at every show people want CDs, not vinyl, so we thought we'd make this little number to tide over the teeming masses until the new CD comes out. So yes, we are making 10 copies only, that should be plenty to tide over the teeming masses. It has an alligator on it too. Only $3 at shows, $4 through the mail. And, check out this wacky deal - get the CD and 7" together for only $5 at shows, $6 through the mail. Does it get any better than that? Probably. <br><br> Don't forget to go to the HIMSA show at the Meow Meow this Thursday, its the only show we have scheduled for a while, plus it will be one heck of a lineup. 2 Men Dead are fast becoming one of my favorite local bands, Himsa is amazing, and I'll bet Countdown to Life are pretty rockin too, although I've never heard them. We play first, show starts at 7pm, its $7 at the door, all ages!<br><br> All new <a href="pics.php">photos</a> added too! <br><br> <b>6/03/03</b><br> We've been taking a little break from playing while we prepare for tour and recording. Hopefully we will finish this recording business up in a week or two. Apparently the album will be coming out on vinyl and CD, although the vinyl probably won't be done in time for tour. Heck, the CD might not even be done in time, that sure would suck, wouldn't it! Speaking of tour, after being hassled by Zach and the rest of the band repeatedly, I've finally updated the tour schedule. We still have some big holes, but its coming together! Please come out to the HIMSA show on June 12th, it should be a ton of fun, and its our only local show for a while!<br><br> In other news, CATAN has been pushed to the wayside temporarily, and DIPLOMACY and RISK 2210 AD have been catching most of our attention. Its ALL about the moon, baby.<br><br> <a href="news1202.php">Click here</a> to read old news. </div>
