Episode Transcript
[00:00:00] Speaker A: Hey, what's going on, everybody? How's it going, 518? I hope everyone's doing well.
It's another episode of Unsigned 518's Weekend Spotlight. I'm your host, BJ Swinghammer. It's a podcast where we like to take certain musicians playing at certain venues throughout the 518, put them out here for you to listen to and get that, get their, get their names out there, get their music out there. Because when it comes to local music, that is what it is all about.
It is Thursday and because Thursday is just the gateway to the weekend.
So we like to start there and no Fun in Troy.
No fun. We love you guys. At 6pm They've got a great lineup. They've got the Bell Curves, Emerald Groundwater and Lucy Nelligan and that amazing fiddle. It was a few weeks back at the the food trucks and Glens Falls at the Shirt Factory.
I managed to hear Delaney sing some of her music solo. She is the lead singer of the Bell Curves and she's got a great, great voice, great musician, and the Bell Curves themselves have a great sound and some awesome music.
So out of that lineup at no Fun, I decided to pick out the Bell Curves and the song sister off the 2024 album subject to Change is something that I personally enjoy.
So that is what we're going to start this podcast off with. So here we go. The Bell Curves Sister off the album Subject to change.
[00:01:53] Speaker B: Sister tell me your secret what are you holding back by my dear?
Waiting for you to share but you're not willing to yeah there's something more to you I don't understand why you won't let me in I've always been here waiting for you to share you're not willing to yeah, there's sister tell me the truth I can't live without you you've always been here hiding how you care but I was hiding too hiding what I knew Running from are you letting go to soon and I could never be you yeah there's something more to you foreign.
[00:05:37] Speaker A: That song was once again Sister off the album Subject to change from 2024 by the bell Curves Moving forward.
And because it's Thursday, James Mullen and House of M Entertainment. James likes to hop in here and there and let us know what's going on for for the house event entertainment lineup. So yeah. Hey, James, tell us what is going on for this weekend.
[00:06:00] Speaker C: Hey, everybody. Happy weekend Spotlight. It's James from House of M Entertainment checking in to let you know what we've got cooking for the Metroland. Now stage at Rock Hill Bakehouse at this Thursday night's market and food truck Corral at the Shirt Factory in Glens Falls. This week we've got Jay Mullen and the Spotters coming at you with some of the best indie rock jams around. So come on out, put on your dancing shoes and shake those tail feathers a little bit and you can check out all the excellent food vendors and local craftspeople that are going to be peddling their wares at the Shirt Factory this Thursday night from 4:30 to 8. Come on out and have a great time with us. Back to you, bj.
[00:06:33] Speaker A: All right, thanks a lot, James. Once again, that was James Mullen, House of M Entertainment.
You can find them on Facebook under House of M Entertainment. Instagram is House of M under underscore518.
Always go to check them out whenever you can because they have all sorts of services that they do for the creatives of the local area.
So it would behoove you to check out House of M.
All right, going into Friday, Lark hall in Albany, New York, 7:30pm Lark hall puts on some amazing shows.
And this, this Friday is absolutely no different. So something definitely more heavy. You got some metal stuff. For those who want to really roar into the weekend.
Their lineup at 7:30 is the band Thursday with I Am Avalanche and Blood Vulture.
All right, moving into Saturday. Saturday, Empire Underground. So Empire Underground, a lot of you are aware of it and have been to it and I have seen many of you at their shows.
And at 7pm on Saturday, they have once again gracing the stage. A little overboard. So I've seen this band several times.
They got great music. It lets you know where you are in the weekend. It's time to go get some drinks or smoke your smoke or just hang out with some friends.
They're a great band and you know, if you go to Empire Underground, you're going to enjoy them immensely. The album Lies of lovers from 2004 has this one song on it called the Road I Know and so I'm gonna play it. So here we go a little overboard off the album Lies of Lovers. And this song is the Road.
I know.
[00:08:38] Speaker B: It'S been a long go now but we must end the show.
On a midnight ride down a long time I grow it's been some time since I've been home Many miles pass but the road I the places I faces I know the V high the throne was cold if I got the home will be for all I know that familiar be but if I Go then home will be for all I know life a million be Leaves of fall have come and pass Here for the summer When I saw them last till long gone now we must end.
[00:10:04] Speaker D: The show.
[00:10:06] Speaker B: On a midnight ride Down a long dark road the places I the faces I know the b high the tone was but if I go home will be the road I know that familiar but if I go then home will be the road I know that familiar Sam.
[00:11:43] Speaker A: All right, there you go. If that doesn't let you know what's coming for the weekend, I don't know. You've got some great music at some great venues, so just run amok and sew some discord while you're at it. Why not go for it?
We have something a little different right now. We have our man Andy Scullin. Decided to pop in for a bit and give you some. Some info on some upcoming shows in the area.
So I'm not even gonna waste any more time. Everybody knows Andy. You love Andy. So, Andy, tell us what is up.
[00:12:16] Speaker D: Thank you, bj. Yes, it's. It's my return to the weekend spotlight. You know, obviously BJ took over host a couple weeks ago and you've been doing a killer job. But I. I always said that I'm gonna have to pop in every once in a while because there's gonna be some stuff that, that it's just easier for me to explain to the people rather than. Than pass the information off to bj. So in the last like several weeks, I've been noticing on social media that Silver Factory Books has been putting on shows on the lawn and they've been doing, you know, a lot of like, really cool shows. And then Christopher Ebbs reached out to me and just was kind of like, what's up? And I was like, what's up? And long story short, Christopher is now here in the dazzle den sitting on the couch, and we're gonna talk about what's been going on at the Silver Factory book. So I guess, you know, kind of a what's up?
[00:13:21] Speaker C: Well, bouncing off the wall over here. Andy, I just want to say first and foremost, thanks for having me, especially for being here.
What an exciting time to be alive.
So it's chock a block full with Silver Factory books and records is right on the main strip of Austin Spa, so we have a bunch of local bands performing right outdoors on the lawn. I built a stage out there about three months ago and just wanting to see people perform. I do a lot of photograph photography in my meantime and I like Getting to see and share that happiness and moment with everybody in its pristine fashion. And so I think that's another outlet that we can get people going on out there.
[00:14:04] Speaker D: And is this something. Is it like every week? Is it like a set day every week? Or is it just kind of you're booking like a normal venue just kind of whenever you can?
[00:14:13] Speaker C: Honestly, it's between having bands come reach out to me. They've shot me messages right. On social media. They. We mainly have it on weekends at 6pm on a Saturday day. But we have, we've had people come in on Monday nights. You know, if you've had a rough Monday, you can definitely stop in and possibly see a band perform and let that stress out on the lawn, stomping it out.
[00:14:36] Speaker D: And these are just like pretty much straight up DIY shows.
[00:14:39] Speaker C: Oh yeah, that.
[00:14:40] Speaker D: And they started recently. Like when, when I started seeing it on social media. Is at that about the time when it started? Like, was it this summer or has it been going on and I just didn't know about it because it literally feels like this whole scene just popped up and all of a sudden you know, what's going on in Boston spot?
[00:15:00] Speaker C: So originally I had bought my first record player from Dan, who owns Silver Factory.
[00:15:05] Speaker D: Okay.
[00:15:06] Speaker C: And he said, well, I. Last year we had a couple of different ven. You know, spots people play on the lawn. And I said, well, I know people, I take pictures, I do Radio X. And you know, why don't we just reach out to some bands and say, want to perform and blast your music really loud and what band doesn't want to do?
You would.
I've had 50 plus bands reach out. We started in June, end of June. I was down at Camp Punk Sylvania and it, it just manifested into itself. I started reaching out, telling people, hey, if you're ever in the Boston Spa area, I have this stage, I need you there.
Let's, let's reform the music, let's reform the media. Let's bring photographers, fans, people, anybody. Boston Spa doesn't have that now. They do now.
[00:15:57] Speaker D: Yeah. And again, that's what I like keeps bringing me back is I'm like just, you know, I always say like the 518 scene is more than just Albany. It's more than just Glens Falls or whatever. You know, it's, it's the whole thing. You know, it's the whole thing. But there's always little smaller scenes that, that pop up and then eventually integrate and pull from other scenes and grow and, and just to see Like I said to be like Balls and Spa. Like all of a sudden out of nowhere I'm like, that's rad. You know, because I'm like, like I said my, you know, members of my band live in Ballson Spa.
[00:16:34] Speaker C: Yeah.
[00:16:34] Speaker D: And I'm like, that's just such a cool thing because it's so close to Saratoga and like Clifton park and like, you know. But having it be its own little thing. I think it's going to be a beautiful venture, you know, Know it's to.
[00:16:49] Speaker C: See something just pop up and just be successful right off the bat. You will have your ups, you will have your downs. We had a rain out show when Ventry Hill came out and it, it felt like Woodstock, you know, back then. You know, people, we were holding up tarps Copout was there and you know, it, it was a wash. But everybody had fun. Everybody got to live it. Every experience, every band is different. It's not just one solid genre. It. We're Rap battle coming up in August. We're having this giant lawn stock too. It's the first one I'm being part of.
[00:17:25] Speaker D: Yeah, I want to, I want to talk about lawn stock too. Like tell me, tell me more about that.
[00:17:30] Speaker C: So there's this gentleman, there's a bunch of people actually Lawnstock.
I'm building the bridge single community.
We are connecting a lot of bands together on September 12th, 13th and 14th with Adirondack Mafia. Punk Mafia. They're out of the South Glens Falls. Chuck out there is doing a mind blown event on August 30th and I'm meeting up with him and, and that.
[00:18:03] Speaker D: One is like a 12 or 13 band like all day.
[00:18:09] Speaker C: Absolutely.
[00:18:10] Speaker D: And Punk Fest.
[00:18:11] Speaker C: You need to be there. You need to be there and experience that. Shout out to Chuck up there and the boys.
I want to say, well that's such a cool lineup. But what if you can't, you know cool. You can get definitely make it to South Glens Falls. But if you want to be in Boston Spa, how about we have them come open up on Friday instead of Longstock 2 being just a Saturday and Sunday we just have the Adirondack Punk Mafia and just all of the guys from South Glens Falls, Amsterdam, Cohoes, Albany. We come down on Friday, Saturday, whenever and just play it out. Open it up. Open it up for Lawn Stock too because we are having an open sign up. The, the opening slots are now. This is the release.
Get in, Get a Hold of Me and how.
[00:18:59] Speaker D: And while, you know, while we're here at that point in the conversation, you know, like you said, this is like you letting people know, hey, this is happening. Fucking sign up if you want to be a part of it. How do people get in touch with you to sign up up for Longstock 2.
[00:19:13] Speaker C: I'm on Christopher Ebbs Photography. There's an underscore between my last name and photography on Instagram. A good majority of bands, if not fellow people out of the 518, we probably have a mutual friend. It's me in a battle vest. Christopher Ebbs booking on the Facebook.
I do have a small spot there to where I am, you know, switching that around. But mainly Instagram. I've been handing out my business cards supporting local Shout out to Bigger Prince for the business card cards. Gotta get him in there.
And it was just find me at a show. If it's meant to be, it's meant to be. But I definitely want to see you out here.
[00:19:54] Speaker D: And. And so again, if. If you're. You do. I'm sure you have some bands already locked in.
[00:20:00] Speaker C: Brother T and the Boys.
[00:20:01] Speaker D: Nice. And how many. How many are you looking for?
[00:20:03] Speaker C: Like, I still have.
You're looking at 45 minute. Maybe a set list of 45 minutes. I would say maybe at least 25 more for the weekend. We could probably even be. Yeah. Yep.
[00:20:16] Speaker D: Cool.
[00:20:17] Speaker C: I am. We are also having a cut. These bands are being booked out until October or so, at least until the weather changes over.
We have a Tail Light Rebellion. A couple of bands from Camp Punks are coming out. You betcha. You betcha's coming out in October.
We have Cardboard Homestead coming out in late October.
[00:20:37] Speaker D: And I love that too.
[00:20:38] Speaker C: Like.
[00:20:39] Speaker D: Like, you know, down in Pennsylvania. Like the fucking scene in Pennsylvania is more and more being connected to our scene here. You know what I mean?
[00:20:49] Speaker C: Like, and like we're building the bridge, baby.
[00:20:52] Speaker D: Totally. And like, as it builds, next thing you know, it's just gonna be part of like kind of the same thing.
[00:20:57] Speaker C: Yeah.
[00:20:57] Speaker D: And then fucking people in LA are gonna be talking about like the east coast scene. Because it's not gonna be the New York or Pennsylvania.
[00:21:05] Speaker C: It's absolutely.
[00:21:06] Speaker D: Big happy fucking scene.
[00:21:08] Speaker C: It's just like what you and me and are doing right now. Yeah. You know, without this, you know, Andy, I wouldn't have been happier to get on anybody else. You know. This is unsigned 51 8. Just gotta do it. Right. I'm so honored, like to even have my name mentioned, you know.
[00:21:26] Speaker D: Yeah. And that's what I do, you know, like when I see somebody that's Doing something or when somebody reaches out to me and says, hey, I'm doing this. Like that, to me is how everything gets done. Like reaching out to people and saying, hey, I'm doing this. Let's do something together. Or like, hey, I want you, I want your help with this. Or hey, can you check? You know, and so many people don't do that.
And it just goes, you know, like. So I always say, anybody who wants to do anything, just send that text, send that message, send that DM and be like, hey, how's it going? I do something similar. Let's do something together. Because that's how everything. And like you said with, you know, Silver Factory, you're like, yeah, I want to do this. And he's like, yeah, I've got this space. And you're like, boom, Done.
[00:22:14] Speaker C: You know, the coolest thing that really inspired me was talking to these guys at Seed Bomb. They're originally from Pennsylvania, they do their patches and pins and they're, they're gonna be making me some designs for pins and it's like my face is gonna be on people's battle vests. What is?
Like, I, I'm, I could never be more thankful if I didn't get out of this shell and start talking to people. Yeah, start. If you have that passion, look where we're at today.
[00:22:43] Speaker D: Yeah. And, and I mean, literally, you know, I'm.
[00:22:46] Speaker C: I wasn't thinking this in February, right? I was just a photographer. I still am, but we're here multifaceted.
[00:22:53] Speaker D: But yeah, like, I'm in my 50s, so like going even back to when I was a teenager, I got into radio when I was a teenager and it was literally I asked like, you know, there was a station looking for a part time dj and like, I was young, had no experience and looked like a fucking metal head. And it was an easy listening station. But I was like, hey, can I throw my name in the hat? You know, and they were like, well, go in here and do a air check and see what you got. But they weren't taking me seriously, but I did fucking good and I got hired.
And that's led to here. You know what I mean? Like, so many things that have happened just because I was like, hey, I wanna, I wanna try. Like, you know, and a lot of people aren't going to make that move. They'll be like, I want to try, but I'm afraid to say something because what if people, you know, and the worst someone could say is no, but like the best, you know, it's Like a no law. It's. There's. There's no loss. Like, you don't have any risk of loss, but there's a chance of reward.
[00:24:02] Speaker C: Like, so much.
[00:24:02] Speaker D: Every time, so much reach out and be like, hey, I want to do this.
[00:24:07] Speaker C: Get out, get outside. Go to the thing. Don't.
[00:24:11] Speaker D: That too. Yeah.
[00:24:12] Speaker C: Like, I was the. I mean, left speechless because of your words.
The best way that I could say is I didn't wait for someone else. Hey, you want to go there with me?
[00:24:26] Speaker D: I just gonna ask.
[00:24:27] Speaker C: That's right. You know, you gotta go out there and do it. You have to. And do it for you. Because, man, that reward that you're talking about, abs, I could eat that every single day. That. That is a sweetness and a happiness from the inside. Your heart pounds so well.
Like, the people you get to meet at the end of the day from it, the. The opportunity to share what you're experiencing with them, to have that little glimmer takes them away, you know, totally goosebumps. You know, it's.
There's nothing like it, Andy. Like.
[00:25:06] Speaker D: All right, so let's. We're getting close to wrapping it up and throwing it back over to bj, but like, before we go, like one more time, kind of give like the breakdown of lon sock 2, like what you're expecting to put together and you know, how.
Or what kind of bands you're looking for or how they can get, you know, one more kind of call to action to get folks involved.
[00:25:32] Speaker C: On September 12th through the 14th, Friday through Sunday, Silver Factory Books and Records and Ballston Spa proudly presents to you lawnstock2. We're welcoming bands of every kind, whether it be R and B, whether it be freestyle, whether it be punk rock. You got punk rock bands I want to. You play. You. Let's see how good punk rock you are. Let's open up a pit right on the lawn. You know, you have to play the lawn music so loud, you got to play outside.
[00:26:05] Speaker D: You know, it takes a lot to be loud outside.
[00:26:08] Speaker C: We have shoot Christopher Ebbs underscore photography on Instagram.
Follow, Follow for more. There's advertisements. Get your band in there, get your name out there. Let's play it for the fans. Let's connect those bridges for every. Every genre Lawnstock is happening, you know, if you want to be a part of it, be a part of it. But this band slot is filling up quick.
[00:26:34] Speaker D: Sweet. Yeah. And that's, like I said, why I'm.
You know, normally episodes are released a long time after they're recorded. And I was like, we gotta. We gotta get this one out immediately. So we're doing kind of the record and release on this one to get that information out so that people can reach out. Christopher Ebbs Photography. And even if you just send a DM and say, hey, I'm a band and I want to find out, that's all it takes. Because then Christopher will be like, oh, well, cool. Here's what you do next. And then the conversation has started, and next thing you know, you're fucking rocking the house at. At Longstock too. So, Christopher, thank you so much for taking time out of your day and coming up to the Dazzle Den and. And doing this with me. I truly appreciate it.
And I guess we'll throw it back on over to you, B. Jay.
[00:27:24] Speaker A: All right. Thanks, Andy. Like he said before on the first episode, he's not going anywhere. He's still gonna pop in here and there, so. And that's always some of the best things ever.
Here we go. It's one of my favorite parts of the podcast, if not my favorite part. It is the Metro Land now hot single of the week, which is a list carefully crafted by TJ Foster. If you don't know TJ Foster, shame on you. He's awesome. He's an amazing guy. Jesus.
And what he has picked for us a month ago, because it's always a month behind. So in June, it goes for July, July, August, so on and so forth. And he picked out this song called your garden from the band Mall Goth. And having not heard them before, I've been missing out. I've been missing out. And now I'm not, which makes me very happy. And now you're not. Now you're not missing out. Let's just get right on then. So the band is Malga and the song is your garden. It's their new single. Here we go.
[00:28:37] Speaker B: Rainbows wrinkles pink flowers swimming and sleep Pass on the way to work Pass on the for the sun we watch so much to do Water living frozen water hiding, talking I don't have much to say no one so hard.
[00:30:43] Speaker C: All.
[00:30:44] Speaker A: Right, there you go. That is your hot single of the week, Mall Goth. And the song was your garden. So just. And just check out the rest of the album. Just do it. You can go on Apple music. You can go anywhere. They've really got themselves out there, and for, you know, that's wonderful. So go listen to them, have a ton of fun and see him whenever you can.
And Metroland, you know, once again, check out themtroland.com metroland. Now it's on Instagram. It's on Facebook. Facebook www.themetroland.com. with just a ridiculous amount of information of creativity and creatives and music and art in the five winning area code and beyond. Go check that out if you're ever just kind of stuck. And this podcast, we do a pretty good job of letting you know here and there what's going on. But if you really want, go to themetroland.com check that out. You will not regret. Read it. And also, don't forget Metroland. The Metroland's back in physical form. So you can just go grab a copy, take it to work, read it in the bathroom. You can, you know, read it while you're just kind of like TV in the background. You can do all sorts of stuff with it because it's a physical copy of the Metroland. So. And if you can't find it, if you just like, oh, yeah, swing hammer. That's great, man. Good job. Jerk. It's not near me. Let us know. You know, go to the metroland.com go to contact. Message me Weekend Spotlight on Instagram. No ease. And I'll do my best for you. All right, you know what, 518, I'm having a lot of fun doing this now. This is, I think, my fourth podcast, and it's been so much fun. It's getting more fun. I'm meeting such incredible people. It is outstanding. So thank you so much for your support and just know that I love supporting you. All right, so. So that's it for me.
Let's go out. Let's enjoy the weekend. Let's listen to music. Let's just take it all in. And you know what, 518, you stay cool. Cause I know I'm gonna.
[00:32:40] Speaker B: I'm calling shotgun.
Where's the party tonight?
Let's take a ride. Been swinging or driving?
[00:32:56] Speaker A: The Weekend Spotlight.
[00:33:04] Speaker B: Get ready.
[00:33:05] Speaker D: The Weekend Spotlight is a production of Unsigned 518 and part of the Metroland now network of podcasts. Unsigned 518's Weekend Spotlight is produced by Andy Scullin and hosted by BJ Schwinghammer. Look for new episodes every week at the metroland.com and everywhere you stream podcasts.
[00:33:26] Speaker B: Sam.
