I realized it had been a while since we posted about what we’ve been up to, so I wanted to take a moment to share some news with you. First, 2011 was one of a’tris’ most productive years. Last year, we wrote and demoed 22 new songs, over 2 albums’ worth of material. As many of you know, each song was released in the form of a music video on YouTube. Some of these videos featured public domain footage while others were conceived and created by our friends at Bouncing Ball Films. Each song featured an original logo by either alphabetica design or the band and we wanted to thank every one who purchased one of our logo shirts at the a’tris merch store. While we set out to do all of these things once every week, when the dust settled, we averaged one demo every two weeks. We’re totally cool with that.
Did you miss some of our videos? Click the above image to see an archive of our work.
Last year, we had the pleasure of collaborating with Tiger Darrow on a few songs. One of our favorites was a cover of Jonathan Seet’s “A Million Hungry Eyes,” which you can check out here. Tiger recently released a new music video for her song, “Machines.” We’re big fans of what she’s doing and have already begun collaborating with her on something new. We think you’re going to really like it and will keep you posted.
This year is already off to a great start. “Dark Lotus” was the second most popular rock video on Ourstage last month. That puts an a’tris song in the top 10 for 12 months. Craziness. Seriously, thanks for all of your support! Until the next post, we hope to see you on Facebook and Twitter.
This week’s song is a cover tune originally penned by Jonathan Seet. We highly recommend you check out what he’s going at http://www.seet.ca/.
The above video features scenes from the 1943 film, This is the Army starring Ronald Regan. You can learn more about it here: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0036430/.
To download free music and a karaoke version of this cover visit http://www.atrishq.com and sign-up for our mailing list.
To submit a cover of our cover, please post a video response in our comment section.
A Million Hungry Eyes [Jonathan Seet Cover]
I remember in Red Square, the monuments to us.
A little toxin in our drinks had turned our tongues to rust.
It’s so hard to believe you’re a swan.
The curtains hang half-drawn.
You wait for earth or sun to bring you dawn
A million hungry mouths would strip you to your bones
And every note would still be perfectly in tune.
A million hungry eyes would strip you to your clothes.
And everyone would still, they’d say you hung the moon.
They’d say you hung the moon
You brought me pages of hardcore torn and casts of lovers yet unborn.
You carried me across the room in a swoon
to soon forget you hung the moon.
A million hungry mouths would strip you to your bones.
And every note would still be perfectly in tune.
A million hungry eyes would strip you to your clothes.
And everyone would still, they’d say you hung the moon.
Be quiet on the set.
Take one
Be quiet on the set.
Take two
Be quiet on the set…
‘Cause a million hungry mouths would strip you to your bones.
And every note would still be perfectly in tune.
A million hungry eyes would strip you to your clothes
and everyone would still, They’d say you hung the moon.
As always, T-shirts and ringtones can be purchased at our web store.
This week’s song features the incredibly talented Tiger Darrow [Official, Myspace]. We’d highly recommend checking out what she’s doing. We’re big fans.
To download free music and a karaoke version of this demo, visit a’tris HQ and sign-up for our mailing list.
To submit a cover, please post a video response on our YouTube page.
Here are the lyrics and chords to this week’s tune:
Letters From Home
Your mother would like you to visit.
She hasn’t seen you in a while.
When are you coming down?
She isn’t angry. You know she tells us that you’re trying.
You are not alone. You know she’s here for you.
You are not alone. She’s just a call away.
You are not alone. You know she thinks of you.
She just wants to know that you’re alright.
She can hear you through your keyboard.
She can hear you in the choice of your words.
She knows you’re in the middle of a grueling renovation
And, if you need her, she’ll be there when the dust settles.
You are not alone. You know she’s here for you.
You are not alone. She is a call away.
You are not alone. You know she thinks of you.
She just wants to know you’re hanging in there.
And she can help you clean in the corners,
in the cracks and the crannies.
Don’t be afraid; it’s a natural reaction
to panic when you’re standing in fire.
You are not alone. You know she’s here for you.
You are not alone. She’s just a call away.
You are not alone. You know she thinks of you.
She just wants to know that you’re alright.
It’s okay to cry.
We’re proud of you. We love you so very much
As always, T-shirts and ringtones can be purchased at our web store.
Our friend Pierre Masse [Official, Myspace] recently shared his cover of our first #songaweek demo, “Don’t Shoot the Messenger” with us and I think you guys are going to really dig his take on it. I can’t tell you what an honor it is to be able to hear our tunes reinterpreted. If you missed our video, you can check it out here. Also, be sure to give Tiger Darrow’s [Official, Myspace] cover an ear by following this link.
Here’s what Pierre had to say about his version:
Here is my cover of a’tris’ first song-a-week demo, Don’t Shoot the Messenger. I tried to play around with it and ended up adding two minutes to the original length… Oops! I also don’t do the vocals justice but to be honest it’s insanely hard to match Mason’s expertise in that domain. I’ve just tried to have fun with the arrangement because that’s what doing covers is all about. Anyways, hope you like it!
Isn’t he great? Thanks for your kind words and cover Pierre!
Last year I shared a cover of “Automatic Doors” with you that our friend, Tiger Darrow, was so kind to record for us. In case you missed it, you can check it out here.
This year, Tiger has outdone herself! Please find her version of “Don’t Shoot the Messenger,” the first song from our #songaweek project, after the jump.
In a message to us, Tiger had this to say about her version:
I’ve been listening to a ton of Bon Iver lately, and kind of decided to do something
reminiscent of their style…
While I can definitely hear the Bon Iver influence, I think this is Tiger Darrow all the way. Her vocals are impeccable and she truly has a gift for being able to totally capture a moment in a song. I hope you will all enjoy this as much as I did. I can’t tell you what an honor it is to have another artist – especially one as gifted as Tiger – cover our material.
A while back I covered Of Montreal’s “The Past is a Grotesque Animal” in the hopes that my version might be included in an upcoming Spike Jonze short. Still haven’t heard back from his people, or seen any developments, so I’m still keeping my fingers crossed that they’ll dig what I did! Regardless of whether or not it gets chosen though, I had a blast putting it together. After posting a note on our youtube page asking if anyone would like to hear me cover another artist’s tune I received some pretty cool requests. I’ll tell you about one absolutely awesome one in the below video
Hope you enjoyed that! In other new, I just wanted to let you know that “Automatic Doors” was featured on Wednesday night’s Fame Games Alternative Programming! It aired on ABC Radio Networks and has been loaded onto the Meer Music and Fame Games websites!
As the Fame Game staff prepares for their fifth season selected members have chosen their 15 favorite tracks and DJ Sid Olivera picked our song, “Automatic Doors” as one of his top tunes! Sid’s been a figure in the music biz for over twenty years so this is a big honor for us. Check out what he had to say after the jump.
It’s great to be back on Fame Games. They’ve shown us a lot of support in the past and we really appreciate them continuing to help us share our songs with ABC Radio’s audience! If you’d like to help us get some more major airplay please vote for/ review your favorite a’tris songs on our Fame Games page.
Hope this finds you feeling well. I just wanted to share a video our friend, Tiger Darrow, taped of herself covering our song “Automatic Doors”. If you enjoy this clip as much as we do be sure to check out her original music at myspace.com/tigerdarrow!
This week has been treating the guys and me very well. Thanks again to everyone for supporting us by downloading “Dark Lotus” on Microsoft’s Myspace page! While it looks like we won’t be able to afford to repair our van, we’ve been able to pay down some of our tour debts thanks to you and are very grateful for that.
We are also thankful for Headcase Radio’s continued support. Those guys have kept us in their featured artists roster for the past couple of months since we released our new EP and that’s seriously awesome.
Also, I received an email from Rob at Deuce Management today and am excited to share with you that Grant, the Music Editor at Podcast User Magazine, has added our music to his Three From Leith podcast. It’s fantastic to see continued interest in our records.
Speaking of records, I recently relocated to Virginia and am staying here to finish writing some of the material for our next full length. If you live in the Charlottesville area I hope that you’ll keep an eye on our tour schedule. I will be starting up an Open Mic here shortly to begin testing out some of the new tunes and to create an outlet for the many talented musicians from this area. If you’re into independent music keep your ears peeled. I’m really looking forward to sharing some music from the local artists I meet here with you!
Our instruments can’t type so Mason is responsible for most of what you’ll find here. If you like what he’s doing, we hope you’ll take a moment to subscribe by clicking the icon below. If you’re feeling really adventurous, you could even explore our other social networks too. It’s up to you; but we hope you’ll take a moment to get to know us and leave us a comment so we can get to know you.
