If you missed The Dance Party in LA this weekend...

... you're kidding yourself. Los Angeles was rocked fourfold by my friends from DC, The Dance Party. They demolished a small club east of the 5 called The Airliner Thursday night, flamed the Roxy on Friday, played a raging acoustic set streaming live on Boxeight, and finally tore down a place called Cinespace before leaving Monday morning.

The Dance Party make very good music and put on a very good show, two things many bands fail to do. When they toured with my band and Gist on the Indie Roots tour, they helped make a week of mostly-empty venues feel like a stadium tour. Those are my guitars they're playing, so I'm down from day one, like, tight yo. 

Dig the erotic slow crane up Mick's body at :35. Kinda makes a guy feel uncomfortable.

The Dance Party is the third DC band I've been able to catch out here in DC since moving in 2007. These United States and Le Loup have both crossed the nation too, and both put on great shows. Lots of good music coming out of the nation's capitol. Click here for more Dance Party photos and stay tuned for more HD...

The Dance Party enforce a groove embargo

My old friends from Washington, DC, The Dance Party, have redesigned their MySpace page and are enforcing the rarely used groove embargo: they've only got one track on their profile. 

"Sasha Don't Sleep" easily proves The Dance Party is the best band of the '80s, despite being a modern act. The adrenaline, the fist-pumping, the synthology. They're hyper-attuned to the mandate to move one's body to the insistent party beat. If you've ever been to their shows, you know that the mandate cannot be rebuffed. The fact that they regularly sell out the nation's best venue, the 9:30 Club, should sum it up. They play New York City this Friday night, followed by Halloween in Baltimore. If ever there were a party in Baltimore, surely it's The Dance Party on Halloween.

Go dig their latest track - hopefully a full album will emerge from this, hopefully on the well-deserved major label, hopefully with a million-dollar advance. If we're throwing back to the '80s, it's only fair.  

DC City Paper on Analog Jetpack: "We The Geeks"

The DC City Paper has published a good review by Ben Westhoff on Analog Jetpack's new album, And How They Flew. I have mad respect for Ben, as he's published music reviews and insightful music features in weeklies nationwide. When we met, he was writing a story for St. Louis' Riverfront Times on my brother Jonathan Toth from Hoth and Tucker Booth and their epic hip-hop escapades with The Frozen Food Section. Described me in the story as a "squeaky clean, 28-year old folksinger." Since then, Ben has sat down with 50 Cent, caused a messageboard uproar by calling Jay-Z "hova-rated", waxed big booties for the Village Voice, and served updates on  Trent Reznor, Val Kilmer's music career, and the brains behind blackpeopleloveus.com.

In this good company, I don't mind being called out too:

Rob Getzschman, a former D.C. resident now living in Los Angeles, has toiled in relative obscurity for years, releasing mostly anti-folk solo albums that wear left-field politics (Songs for the Anti-De-Counterrevolution), sense of irony (Heirs of Pretension), and high self-regard (Hypocrisy in the Genius Room) on their jacket sleeves...

...even at its poppiest the band isn’t exactly mainstream—on “ICBM,” the group sounds more like They Might Be Giants and Barenaked Ladies than anything now on the radio. On the album’s opener, “We Are the Freaks,” Getzschman addresses his intended target market: “We are the freaks/A loose union of disillusion/Cold distinguished by the company we keep.” That seems a little off—they’re the geeks, of course, disinclined to do anything more radical than fashion fun hooks and embrace their inner nerds.

Funny that this should come through so powerfully.  The Six Points Music Festival summary by On Tap reduced Analog Jetpack to "Clever and nerdly pop-rock blendings." As if comics and obsolete technology aren't cool or something? Surely the geek niche is looking for a rock band laureate...

Read the full review here.

Analog Jetpack offical debut today

Today marks an important musical date for me, as my first album beyond solo work is being released on The Frozen Food Section label. It feels good to see it being getting out there, as the production of it was a long process, stretching from January to June this year for recording, and right up until last month with manufacturing. Before that, the band involved a long process of writing new material and polishing older stuff. The album features three songs we wrote on as a band, including one which we never managed to play live called "Robot Garden".

The album was produced by Jerome Maffeo, drummer of Jimmie's Chicken Shack, at his Right On Recording studio in Baltimore. We're fortunate to have the hot licks of his lead guitar player in JCS, Matt Jones. And with more solos and lead guitar is Spencer Chakedis of Deep Sound Diver and The Drive-By Proposals. He's also the antifolk producer of my second and third albums. These hands lend much soul to the project.

Friends, the album is good. I think you'll like it if you manage to purloin a copy. Help us crack the 500 record sales barrier in the first week. Buy one for your momma, you daddy and you tippy-toed granny. Hook up your neighbor. Make jubilant Christmas presents for all your co-workers. Myrrh is très gauche this season, because it has consecutive rr's followed by an h. Forget that.

Buy from any of the links below. If you purchase from the Paypal link at the bottom, I personally will drop a disk in the mail for you the same day, and you will have a hot orange envelope in your hot hot hands in a matter of hours. Together, we can make dreams come true.

iTunes :: CD Baby :: Amazon

New 4N4L06 J37P4CK!!

For all the peoples in the know,

The latest mixes off the forthcoming 4N4L06 J37P4CK album "And How They Flew" are available at www.myspace.com/analogjetpack. These new songs include "We teh Fr33ks", "Tenuous Confessions", and the rocked out electric take of "Bury My In My Jetpack".

We've returned from the Indie Roots tour with good press and good momentum for a homecoming at the Velvet Lounge in DC this weekend, playing with Hello Tokyo again, Red Racer and Red Collar. No word on the odd confluence of the latter two, but it should be a hot rocking good time.

Indie Roots tour coverage (UPDATE)

The Washington Post and the Associated Press covered the Indie Roots tour over the weekend. This makes the tour a success -- many more people will read these than we could reach playing city to city.

The Washington Post ran a photo of me and a photo of The Dance Party in the print edition, and video of Analog Jetpack on the online edition. That's Mick of The Dance Party singing backup vocals with me.

Story / Video

The Associated Press covered our meeting with celebrity via Colbert Report, Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton. Story

And today I'll be singing on the National Mall, at the reflecting pool in front of the Capitol. I'll go on around 4:30 pm:

www.votingrightsmarch.org

UPDATE: The crazy wind and rain didn't stop the march, but it did restrict the activities at the Capitol reflecting pool. The scheduled 2-hour program was reduced to a few speakers, including Mayor Fenty, and then there was a mixer or something with Joe Lieberman in the Dirksen Senate Office Building afterwards. So I didn't get to sing, but I braved the wind and rain to get down and see the crowds of a thousand or so. Good times.

The DC Voting Rights Tour 2007 leaves in one week!

Brothers and sisters!

One week from today, The DC Voting Rights Tour 2007 smashes the proverbial bottle of champagne over its metaphorical hull as we set off for Philadelphia! We've been inundating the press and buzzing the social networking sites, and we want you to help us get the word out. We've got one week left to generate a turnout -- not just for amazing indie music, but to baptize the unwashed heathen with the gospel of DC voting rights!!

Aside from being District citizens, we love this issue because it is inherently non-political. Everyone can support voting rights for the DC citizens, because it's the American way. It's why we revolted against Great Britain: to have a say in the government that taxes us, makes laws and wages war. And we're 580,000 people like you that don't have that vote. The blinding irony, of course, is that we are the seat of power of history's greatest democracy.

Do you have any friends or family in the cities listed below? Old college pals? Fickle internet acquaintances? You can let them know by forwarding this email, blogging about the tour, posting it on message boards, IM'ing, texting, calling, and sending a postcard. We recommend all of these in rapid succession. If you want to use our tour posters, you can download all three of them or link to them here:

http://www.indieroots.org/thenationaltour/indierootsoldgeorge.gif
http://www.indieroots.org/thenationaltour/indierootshearye.gif
http://www.indieroots.org/thenationaltour/indierootsepluribus.gif

Finally, and most importantly for our friends in the DC metro area, the DC voting rights tour culminates in DCVote.org 's Voting Rights March on the Capitol (www.votingrightsmarch.org ) April 16th, at which I'll be singing a new song called "Three Red Stars", an anthem for the District in support of the two-century old issue of voting rights. I'll be joined by some of the members of the bands on the tour below, and we hope you'll come out to take place in this historic celebration.

However you can help us get the word out, we'd love you for it! On behalf of Indie Roots, myself, Max, Dan, Gist, The Dance Party, Analog Jetpack and Telemetrik, thanks for your help in making this historic change. Check out our lineups below and read more about everything at www.indieroots.org.

yrs,


rob getzschman
Indie Roots DC, Inc.
www.indieroots.org


Tuesday, April 10th
The Manhattan Room - Philadelphia, PA
http://themanhattanroom.com/
11:00 - Gist
10:00 - Analog Jetpack
9:00 - The Dance Party
8:30 - Telemetrik

Wednesday, April 11th
Cafe Nine - New Haven, CT
http://cafenine.com/schedule.html
9:00 - Analog Jetpack
8:15 - The Dance Party
7:30 - Gist
7:00 - Telemetrik

Thursday, April 12th
T.T. the Bear's - Boston, MA
http://ttthebears.com/public/calendar.php?month=4&year=2007
12:00 - The Dance Party
11:00 - Gist
10:00 - Analog Jetpack
9:00 - Telemetrik

Friday, April 13th
Firehouse 13 - Providence, RI
http://www.firehouse13.org/index.php
11:00 - Analog Jetpack
10:00 - Gist
9:00 - The Dance Party
8:30 - Telemetrik

Saturday, April 14th
Galapagos Art Space - Brooklyn, NY
http://www.galapagosartspace.com/events2.html
9:00 - The Dance Party
8:00 - Pawns
7:00 - Analog Jetpack
6:30 - Telemetrik

H.R. 1433 passes the House...

... and Bush's advisors are urging the President to veto it. There's a showdown brewing...



Gist
Analog Jepack
The Dance Party
Telemetrik



(from the Indie Roots blog)

Hear ye!

Dig a new song on the Indie Roots profile page, and all ye with ears to listen:

grazi to Pocheco for the design!

Our response to "DC is not a state"

The Bush administration intends to veto the House bill which would give DC citizens a vote in the house. To that, we say



grazi to Pocheco for the design!

These United States at the RnR Hotel last fall

Here's some DC indie for the peoples: These United States at the Rock and Roll Hotel last fall. It's a one-camera shoot, but the music's good.

I got called a bitch last night

I'm not a sucker, and I'm not an softie, but I've fallen for the occasional hustle now and then. Usually you can spot a hustler from a mile away, looking for a mark with darting eyes. But last year some time, I was on the E2 bus across DC when a dear old woman asked me about my guitar.

"Are you a musician?" she asked, telling me how she loved music. She proceeded to say she was mortified to be riding the bus, feeling like a beggar asking people for the fare. She said she was a lawyer, and had locked her keys in the trunk of her BMW at work. Could I spare $5 for the metro fare at the end of the bus line?

She was smartly dressed, looked me in the eye, and wasn't asking for a huge sum by any means. So I said sure, and as soon as I opened my wallet, I saw her lean over the seat railing and ogle all the cash money and prizes I had in there.

"It'd be $30 for a cab..."

At this point, the rational mind says, "She just got a look and upped the ante." The compassionate side says, "Give her the benefit of the doubt. You don't want this old woman to have to take the metro too." So I gave her what I could without change, which was two $20s.

"God bless you," she said, "I'll pay you back, just give me your phone number and I'll call you as soon as I get home." She didn't have a pen, but she assured me she had a "good head" for numbers, and she'd remember it. At that point, I knew I'd been hustled. She put her head down like she was taking a leisurely nap and stared at the ground. I think she even kissed me on the cheek when she got off the bus.

Last night I might've had the odd click in my head when I saw the tiny figure of a woman like her at Safeway. It didn't register, though, until my lady and I stepped outside to leave.

"Do you know anything about electronic locks?" this slight old woman asked. We told her, we're sorry, we don't, and she launched into a precise story about how she locked her keys in her trunk. And she got aggressive quickly, saying that nobody offers assistance... "I don't mean you, of course." I told her that AAA can unlock the door for her, and she shot back angry that they couldn't with her model of BMW, because the jimmy would sever some important part in the door. Wow, grandma knows her beamers.

At this point, I knew the hustle and I was vaguely recollecting that this may even be the same woman. She made some generalizations about how shallow men were and didn't know anything. As she introduced herself and tried to get cozy with us, I cut off the conversation and said, "well, good luck ma'am."

"Good luck isn't gonna help me! Did you offer any assistance at all?" She was pissed at this point. I knew why.

"No, we didn't."

"That's right! You didn't offer any help. Bitch."

We paused and looked back at her.

"That's right, I called him a bitch." Her aggression confirmed the hustle. I had to call her on it.

"Ma'am, I believe we've met before." She started to move.

"No we haven't! All black people don't look alike, white boy! And I'll beat your fuckin' head in with these cans wah wah wah..."

Yikes. Turns out my roommate has met her on the same E2 bus, and even asked her for a job -- she went so far as to give him an email address, which, curiously, she didn't respond to. But she did ask him for $5, told him she was a lawyer who'd locked her keys in the trunk of her beamer.

At this point, I'm pretty sure I'll run into her again. I'll just act so happy to see her. And ask for my $40 back.

DC Vote eBulletin covers Indie Roots

Got some love today from the authority on DC voting rights, DCVote.org! Having their support is great, because they know DC voting rights from Adam. Read up:

http://www.dcvote.org/library/bulletin.cfm?bulletinID=38#tvspfeevwa

another Analog Jetpack live cut

For those that missed it on the Analog Jetpack page, here's another live cut from late last year of "We The Freaks", a song that'll be on the album we're creating right now up in Baltimore.

Exclusive soft launch: indieroots.org!!

MySpacers et al:

Today I offer a salve to all the slandercasts, sloganeering and slacktivism of the last 7 years. Some DC friends and I have formed a non-profit with a specific mission: to realize voting rights for the District of Columbia.

It's my feeling that effectively no one in America knows that DC citizens have no Senator nor Congressman. Congress has "exclusive" power over the city of DC, but we don't have a vote in Congress, even as we pay taxes and serve in the military. It's been like that since 1801.

Our remedy for these ails is to take a tour of DC bands coast to coast to let America know.

Please read all about it at

www.indieroots.org

The site is still in development, but we're starting to spread it underground to get the word out. And then we'll release a firestorm of sexxy press releases on the mass media. And then we'll be on Good Morning, America.

We feel like this issue is a no-brainer. Who can say 580,000 citizens don't deserve voting representation in Congress? That's why it's a cure for the slacktivist flash-animation blog assassinations of the political '00s, because this is something we can all believe in, without an ill word toward any party involved. Dig more on the site, and here on MySpace, you can add us at myspace.com/indierootsdc!